Alethea felt the presence of her companion in the Force as she reached out and explored their destination. It didn't surprise her in the least given the nature of the mission. Never mind the fact that they had plenty of time on the journey ahead to meditate and to seek answers within the Force. Their explorations were fundamentally different, each of them searching for something a bit different, but they both sought answers about what lies ahead of them. If they both sought and found different answers, then perhaps they would learn even more about this.<br/><br/>The young Jedi Consular felt only a few faint presences remaining on the freighter, which brought little comfort because she knew too well that they would fade long before she and her companion reached them. Still, she could try to find some answers within the jumbled messes of their minds, and that was exactly what she planned to do. She searched their minds, fighting to block out the presence of her companion, which grew stronger with each passing moment, making it more and more difficult to focus on anything else. For now, however, she managed. She felt a dull ache begin to form inside her mind as she sorted through the mess of information that flowed freely into her mind from the three remaining life forces on the freighter. Their pasts, presents, and futures all collided into something of a kaleidoscope of thoughts flooding into her mind.<br/><br/>She gained little useful intelligence from the three, but she was able to gather enough information to piece together exactly what had happened to them. So, it was the storm, then. She then reached out beyond the freighter to the station that had presumably created the storm.<span style="font-style: italic">Lucky me.</span>She thought as she felt the presence of multiple lifeforms aboard. She searched their minds, allowing everything to flow freely into her mind, sorting through it all as it came, tossing out information that was of no use and retaining that which pertained to them. While she allowed this information to flood into her mind, she continued to fight to hold the presence of her companion at bay. This was not an easy feat, especially while she allowed everything else into her mind so freely.<br/><br/>After what seemed like an eternity of taking in the thoughts and memories of those on the station, she pulled her mind back, still finding residual flashes of information flitting through her mind. She would have to sort through it all later. For now she needed to pull back completely before... No, it was too late. She felt a sharp pain in her mind as the barrier that held her companion's mind at bay shattered. Whether it was because she was weakened by the sheer volume of information she'd just taken in and processed, or because there was too much flowing into his mind and pushing on the barrier, she did not know. Perhaps it was a combination of both. But whatever the reason, it was too late to try to bring the barrier back. In this state, already weakened by everything else, she didn't have the strength it would take to pull the barrier back up, or to pull away from the information that poured into her mind unhindered.<br/><br/>All she could do was let the information flow into her mind and wait for the inevitable end to it all, or at least until it slowed enough that she could pull her mind back and put a barrier around her own mind, preventing any new information from entering. She watched as countless visions flashed through her mind. Was this what was to come? It was almost too much to bear, taking in all of this information in her present state, but there was little she could do but ride it out.<br/><br/>That was precisely what she did. She sorted through the information until it finally came to an abrupt stop and she instantly pulled her mind back, erecting a barrier around her mind and returning to consciousness. The abrupt return to consciousness sent everything in the room crashing to the ground, including her. Luckily she had been only a couple of inches from the couple of inches from the ground, so she didn't fall far, nor did it harm or faze her. It simply made a lot of racket when everything else crashed down around her. She held her head, shaking it lightly, as if to shake away all of the residual information that lingered in her consciousness. She laid back on the floor and sighed, exhausted from the sheer volume of information she'd taken in. Her head ached, every beat of her heart resounding in her head like wave of pain crashing into her mind. She massaged her temples, not bothering to move for several minutes.<br/><br/>Instead of moving, she simply laid on the floor, staring at the ceiling and contemplating everything she'd just learned. The machine was, in fact, the cause of the storm. And she knew the purpose, thanks to the information she'd gathered from the minds of those aboard the station. She'd inform her companion of what she'd learned when the pulsing in her head stopped, or at least eased enough that moving was a feasible option.