The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance (Season 2+)

The Voice in The Wall

Machinations whirred to life as skekTek flipped the switch. The gears spun. The arms flipped. The restraints clamped shut with a satisfying metallic cling. The bellows huffed and puffed air, which sucked through the tubes with a whooshing sound. And the machine continued with these satisfying sounds as proof that it was working.

"Yes!" he shrieked in delight. "Yes, yes, yes, yes, yesss!!! Finally! Days of toiling and fine tuning finesse have paid off!!!"

His celebration was not shared with others. There was only him and his lab. And the creatures in his lab were scared of his machine. Its noises and motion made them uneasy. And the fact they were caged did not help their condition. But the fear is what stuck with him. The animals were afraid of him, and his fellow skekSis comrades were indifferent to what he did for them, being more focused on the outcome rather than how it was achieved.

"Shut up!" he screamed to the cages, flipping off the switch. "Your screeching is most pestering on my mind."

The animals continued to squeal, chirp, and hoot, forcing the skekSis to bring his hands up to his ears to mute the sound. Despite this action, he continued to become overstimulated. The noises grated his teeth and rattled his brain to the point his neck began to hurt. He squeezed until his head felt like it would pop, but he could bear it no longer. With great, and noisy exertion, he grabbed the sack of meal. He drove a hand into the bag and pulled out a fistful of generic feed. He violently threw these fistfuls into the cages and the little bits pelted the animals, finally making them silent. Once the noise had died down, he took a deep breath and let out a calming sigh of relief.

There was a small bowl which he took from a counter and scooped out a small bit. He then opened up the small hanging cage and put the bowl in the bedding of his sidetic. The little green creature gleefully hopped to the bowl and began to eat. skekTek stroked the feathers on its head with relaxed tenderness which helped calm him down all the more. The sidetic had been the only animal to not scream.

"One of the few friends I've ever truly had," he said.

"So this is how you spend your days," skekUng said. He had entered the scientist's Chamber of Life and was pacing around its perimeter. The skekSis was looking around at the cages and equipment with almost disgusted fascination.

"skekUng," the scientist greeted. "I did not expect you to meet me in this place."

"I simply came to see the process of essence making," he said, turning from a cage of solobe to face the scientist. "This is a visit for educational purposes. Nothing more."

The scientist's demeanor visibly sank. This was not a social visitation, and he had nothing to show for what skekUng was looking for.

"And its Garthim Master," the skekSis said, standing taller. "In case you forgot my new standing."

"Of course Garthim Master," the scientist sneered with a half-hearted bow.

skekUng made a threatening lunge for the scientist and skekTek coiled back in fear.

"Forgive me!" he shouted, and the skekSis stopped, a hand raised. He took a few steps closer until he was threateningly close to the scientist. skekTek kept his eyes down and away.

"I don't much care for your cheek," skekUng growled in his ear. "You'll do well to avoid it in the future."

"Yes," the scientist conceded, backing away from his aggressor.

skekUng stood tall, proud of his victory and looked to the chair.

"This is the extraction device?" he asked.

"Indeed," the scientist answered. "The process is simple. A gelfling is placed in the chair and restrained. I flip the switch, which locks them in further, and then the extraction begins. I was able to create a reverse charge on the crystal, forcing it to take life force from the gelfling, as it is no longer able to take from Thra itself. What we are left with is pure, uncontaminated, gelfling essence. More invigorating than drawing from the crystal if you ask me."