Mostly it involved the rest of his life, and the commitment made by his best friend who had recentlydeparted beyond the blue sky above to enter a harsher, yet more rewarding career.
The bigger man stopped before the assembly and entered into a peculiar squeaky dialogue with the jawa in charge. When they wished it, the jawas could be understood.
Luke stood nearby, listening indifferently. Then he shuffled along behind his uncle as the latter began inspecting the five machines, pausing only to mutter an occasional word or two to his nephew. It was hard to pay attention, even though he knew he ought to be learning.
âLukeâoh, Luke!â a voice called.
Turning away from the conversation, which consisted of the lead jawa extolling the unmatched virtues of all five machines and his uncle countering with derision, Luke walked over to the near edge of the subterranean courtyard and peered down.
A stout woman with the expression of a misplaced sparrow was busy working among decorative plants. She looked up at him. âBe sure and tell Owen that if he buys a translator to make sure it speaks Bocee, Luke.â
Turning, Luke looked back over his shoulder and studied the motley collection of tired machines. âIt looks like we donât have much of a choice,â he called back down to her, âbut Iâll remind him anyway.â
She nodded up at him and he turned to rejoin his uncle.
Apparently Owen Lars had already come to a decision, having settled on a small semi-agricultural robot. This one was similar in shape to Artoo Detoo, save that its multiple subsidiary arms were tipped with different functions. At an order it had stepped out of the line and was wobbling along behind Owen and the temporarily subdued jawa.
Proceeding to the end of the line, the farmerâs eyes narrowed as he concentrated on the sand-scoured but still flashy bronze finish of the tall, humanoid Threepio.
âI presume you function,â he grumbled at the robot. âDo you know customs and protocol?â
âDo I know protocol?â Threepio echoed as the farmer looked him up and down. Threepio was determined to embarrass the jawa when it came to selling his abilities. âDo I know protocol! Why, itâs my primary function. I am also wellââ
âDonât need a protocol âdroid,â the farmer snapped dryly.
âI donât blame you, sir,â Threepio rapidly agreed. âI couldnât be more in agreement. What could be more of a wasteful luxury in a climate like this? For someone of your interests, sir, a protocol âdroid would be a useless waste of money. No, sirâversatility is my middle name. See Vee ThreepioâVee for versatilityâat your service. Iâve been programmed for over thirty secondary functions that require only â¦â
âI need,â the farmer broke in, demonstrating imperious disregard for Threepioâs as yet unenumerated secondary functions, âa âdroid that knows something about the binary language of independently programmable moisture vaporators.â
âVaporators! We are both in luck,â Threepio countered. âMy first post-primary assignment was in programming binary load lifters. Very similar in construction and memory-function to your vaporators. You could almost say â¦â
Luke tapped his uncle on the shoulder and whispered something in his ear. His uncle nodded, then looked back at the attentive Threepio again.
âDo you speak Bocee?â
âOf course, sir,â Threepio replied, confident for a change with a wholly honest answer. âItâs like a second language to me. Iâm as fluent in Bocee asââ
The farmer appeared determined never to allow him to conclude a sentence. âShut up.â Owen Lars looked down at the jawa. âIâll take this one, too.â
âShutting up, sir,â responded Threepio quickly, hard put to conceal his glee at
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