Safserim's Good Child Academy

[Shrin Safserim]

The school is absolutely ginormous. Yes, ginormous, because gigantic and enormous are not enough on their own. Six tall spires are arranged as a hexagon, marking corners of the Academy. The main entrance is settled perfectly in the center of the two southern spires, where crowds of children and their parents are gathered for preliminary registration. The new semester is due to begin in a few days' time, and the children are being given free medical check-ups to ensure their good health before school begins.

Shrin Safserim, the seven year old son of the Academy's headmaster, winces as a needle pinches his skin and draws his blood. He's had three shots today, as the various colored band-aids on his arms clearly show, so this is hardly any trouble for him. Once this is done, he gets to go and play in the central courtyard with his friends. They finished a little while ago, and are playing a game of catch.

"There ya go, big guy," says the man taking his blood. "You're a soldier, pal, a real solider." He applies another bright bandaid to the spot on the boy's arm and claps him between the shoulders. "Run play, school starts next week."

[Shrin Safserim]

The week comes all too quickly for little Shrin's tastes. He pushes open the big doors to the school, entering ahead of his father. He's here way early with his dad, and gets to amuse himself for an hour until classes start. He hugs his father good bye and goes running down the hall, in a hurry to reach his class and play with all the toys in there.

He shoves the door open and looks around at the neatly arranged tables, each with four chairs. He finds his seat, close to the front, and sees a piece of paper at his place that the others do not have. He opens it up and squints at the letters.

"Af...after..s...cool," he mumbles, stumbling over the words as he reads, "Meeet Mr. Safserim in the lunch room..." He blinks in surprise. "I wonder what Dad's got planned?"

[Shrin Safserim]

The teacher finishes the book she's reading to the class and claps twice to be sure she's still got their attention.

"Class is finished for today. I'll take you out to the shuttle. Line up single file by the door. Shrin, come here for a minute."

As the other children gather their things and stand at the door, Shrin approaches his teacher.

"Shrin, honey, you have to go to the cafeteria. Will you be okay going by yourself?" The little boy nods, and she hugs him tight."Good luck, sweetheart."

Shrin takes his bag and goes tripping off down the hall as his little feet fly faster than they can carry him. He's the first to the lunchroom, running full tilt into his father's arms.

"DAD! What do you need me here for?" he asks immediately. His father laughs.

"Patience, son. Wait for the other children."

He paces about anxiously as the rest of the boys and girls trickle in through the cafeteria door. There are twenty children gathered at the feet of Mr. Safserim when at last he calls the roster.

"Thank you all for being here. Today we're starting something special, that only you kids will get to do," The children cheer and he smiles, waving down their clamor. "There's a catch though, and that catch is that you must keep what we're doing here secret! Don't tell anyone about these special Good Child classes you'll be taking after class, okay?"

The idea of a secret has the students whispering excitedly; they'll know things other kids don't! Safserim arranges the children into a line and leads them out into one of the spires. At the top of the west spire he has them spread into four rows of five children. Little Shrin is standing front and center.

Remember where you are," advises Mr. Safserim. "Where you're standing will be very important over the course of the school year. We'll start with some warmup exercises. Run in place!"

[Shrin Safserim]

The children give it their youthful all, and once they've been properly warmed up, Safserim addresses them again.

"Every third day will be physical training. You'll need to be in top physical condition for when you begin to learn the art of being Good Children. Today we will build your strength. Perform ten pushups, go!"

The children eagerly do their ten, and the headmaster repeats his command for ten more. The kids start to struggle; he notes this and waits for them all to finish.

"Next, this front row will turn and face the person opposite them in the second row. The children in the third row will turn and face the kids at the back. Do two sets of ten sit-ups. Your partner will pin your feet to help you. When you've finished, stand up."

He puts them through some basic exercises, working them hard for two hours. At last the weary children are sent home, and Shrin slumps against his dad as they drive back to their own house.

"This Good Child stuff is fun..." he yawns. "I can't wait for tomorrow."

[Shrin Safserim]

The next day finds them in the spire opposite the one they practiced in the last time. The children all sit on the cold tile floor, legs crossed and eyes shut. Each is trying to clear his or her mind of thoughts, to "become a vessel", as Mr. Safserim put it. Shrin's having a hard time of it; the more he chides himself not to think, the more he realizes he IS thinking, and thus runs himself in a cycle. At last, he sighs, and for a brief moment, feels a flash that makes him gasp, disrupting the entire class. His father grins knowingly.

"Feel that? That's the Force. And I'll be teaching you lot to use it!"

[Shrin Safserim]

The other children are profoundly jealous. Force? How did Shrin feel a force? Shrin's not sure he gets it either.

"How'd I do it? All I did was sigh!"

The other kids all start sighing, but soon stop and growl frustratedly when it yields no results.

"Your mind was empty, Shrin, because you let go of the frustrated emotions and thoughts you held. And when it became empty, you were filled with the Force. When all of you are able to do what Shrin has done, I will be able to teach you how to be Good Children. Now, let's try for another hour before we call it a day."

The kids shut their eyes and try again. Shrin shuts his and let's his head and shoulders sag, sighing and muttering "It doesn't matter."

And with that, he let go of his need to excel in this exercise, and felt the Force rise to fill him.

[Shrin Safserim]

Day Three of Good Child training finds the twenty students in the center courtyard, sitting in two rows around their teacher in a half circle.

"There is a pattern to Good Child training," says Mr. Safserim. "The first day is physical exercise. The second, mental exercise. And the third is devoted to explaining why we are Good Children, and what we must do as Good Children."

The kids get grumpy looks; they had their lessons already. They wanted to do something fun.

"Remember yesterday when you all had short encounters with the Force?" The kids not, not getting it quite. "How did it make you feel?" Hands go up all over, and a girl two spaces down from Shrin is called to answer.

"I felt happy!"

A little boy behind Shrin is called.

"I felt like nothing bad would happen to me."

A timid girl at the far end from Shrin is the last.

"I didn't feel nervous anymore. I thought I could do anything."

Mr. Safersim nods at these.

"Yes. Happiness, peace, and confidence are all emotions Good Children will feel when they touch the Force. As Good Children, we must use these feelings along with the Force to help people. It won't be easy to keep these feelings close in your heart if you're doing something hard or scary, but that's what these classes are for. These third classes will help you to keep it close, especially if you should meet a Bad Child someday."

Shrin immediately asks what's on everyone's mind. "What's a Bad Child like?" As the other kids murmur their agreement, his father starts again.

"Bad Children use bad feelings, like fear and anger to do mean things to people. They try to hurt other people and steal from them, and they use the Force to do it. They will be your opposites, and they will not be easy to stop."

The kids murmur nervously, bringing a chuckle from Safserim.

"Don't worry, kids. I'll teach you how to do it in the other two classes."

[Shrin Safserim]

It's months before the children can tap the Force at will, and so, after a long period of training, Safserim is finally ready to teach them the first of many skills.

"Today, we will begin to learn the first of the Good Child Exercises. I have called it Vapor Thrust. Watch me, and see what I do."

The children stand up to see, and Safserim draws the Force. A protocol droid gripping a piece of pipe stands to the side as the training dummy. On the headmaster's cue, the droid shuffles forward and swings it awkwardly at him.

"Push the droid's pipe aside through the Force..."

Safserim gestures, throwing the droid's aim wide, then pushes back hard, spreading his closed fingers and throwing the pipe from it's grip.

"Then break his grip and throw it away. This is a simple exercise, and we'll be practicing it today. Go to it!"

[Shrin Safserim]

Shrin steps up to the protocol droid, focusing on that pipe in its hand. It's hard not to laugh at how silly the droid is, apologizing profusely as it waddles forward, but Shrin clamps his mouth shut and gestures, throwing the pipe away. He squeezes his fist as he cuts the motion of his arm, and the pipe flattens and rends itself into an odd pretzel shape.

"Um...I...it was an accident!" Shrin yells defensively, but his father's impressed.

"Say now...not a bad idea. Though the intent of flinging away an opponent's weapon is that you can try and get it for yourself, and take a better advantage."

[Shrin Safserim]

Shrin scurries to the side, shuffling his feet. The next day finds him the same way, as bamboo kendo sticks are passed around.

"Self defense is key," instructs Safserim. "If you can defend yourself, you can defend others. We'll begin with the first key to self defense: learning to strike with the sword."

"But DAD!" Shrin pipes up. "I thought we were learning DEFENSE."

"We are," replies his father, "But how are you to practice against each other if you cannot strike as well?"

Shrin turns red and shuts his mouth, paying attention to the lesson. They're taught basic vertical and horizontal strokes, and spend the day learning to follow them up after each other.

"Learn these, kids...the basics are essential to mastering the Good Child Kata."

[Shrin Safserim]

The children spend the rest of the semester honing their skills with the Vapor Thrust and the basic attacks. They've learned to block by the time the semester ends, and each have promised to go home and work hard on their Good Child training.

The start of the second semester brings the children in with marked improvement; they've been meeting secretly in a small, out of the way back lot to practice. Now, Safserim begins to instruct them in a second Good Child Exercise.

"Bellows Maris," he says, "has two parts. The first is to create a barrier of the Force. The second, to use the barrier in a method the enemy would not expect."

[Shrin Safserim]

"Like how?" prompts a girl in the back.

"I was hoping one of you could tell me," Safserim replies. "Does anyone have an idea?"

The same girl replies immediately. "Can barriers be used to attack people?"

"Ooh! You could throw 'em at people to push 'em around, or try and squish people with 'em!" adds a boy to Shrin's left.

"I would push my barrier and run behind it," Shrin answers. "Like the riot shields the police have."

Safserim rubs his chin.

"These are excellent suggestions," he encourages. "We'll try them all, but first you must form a barrier with the Force. Go ahead; do it the same way you did the push for the Vapor Thrust, only this time you'll get the Force to make a wall."

[Shrin Safserim]

Shrin has gotten accustomed to clearing his mind, at least a little. It's certainly easier than before. Soon he's full of the Force, and sees in his mind a thick durracrete wall. That's what the barrier would be like. The Force warps and shifts, but does nothing. It can't create a durracrete barrier.

[Shrin Safserim]

"You're imagining an actual wall, aren't you?" asks Safserim, feeling the Force go awry at the children's attempts. "Try this: imagine an invisible wall...see how that works."

The kids try it, and soon Shrin's got a small ripple in front of him. It's a start, but it's not much...

[Shrin Safserim]

"That may be all you can manage for the moment, children, but it's fine. They'll get better as we go. If you'd like, you can try making your little shields do some stuff, like Shrin and the others suggested, but for now, just try to get one of a suitable size and strength."

The children try hard, but their shields are all either too weak or too small for practical use.

"No worries," Safserim encourages. "We'll get this done."

[Shrin Safserim]

It's weeks before they can manage a barrier large enough to shield their torsos. Right now Safserim's not worried much with strength; that'll come in time. Right now, it's important that they be able to cover themselves, even if it's with a weak, flimsy shield.

"Now, kids, I'm going to be the enemy. I want you to make your shields and guard against me, and then use your shields to your advantage, okay?"