Alieth Posted March 8, 2021 Share Posted March 8, 2021 (edited) A bit of context because this sim deserves it. This series of sims are based on the premise that "Teller has a Vulcan katra (Sern) in his head and it's not where it should be". Obviously, that leads to problems, so the inevitable "let's see if we can find that katra and get it out of his head" is compulsory. What does that give us? A mind-melt, a guided tour through little vignettes of the character's career and previous life, intermingled and confused and at the same time delightful and amusing. My perception may be a little biased in this matter, but I think it's a great representation of something we've seen in several star trek series, and it's always a fascinating story. thanks for this @Geoffrey Teller I can't wait to see where we go next. ((Chief Engineers Office, USS Veritas, 2396)) Teller: What do you mean, my fault? Why is it always my fault? Alieth: Usually a meld can be guided into the core of someone else's mind. It often takes the form of a library, or a household and one only has to look for the correct book or unlock the required door to find out what is sought. Geoff considered the idea and looked around with fresh eyes, somehow no longer surprised. The Veritas had been a home for him, and one that had nurtured him in ways he was still discovering. He'd made lifelong friends and celebrated their successes. He'd seen the officer he wanted to be in the people around him. Alieth: But since you are a calamity incarnate, your brain is not wired as a small house but as a whole engineering deck full of Jefferies tubes in which everything is interconnected.:: She let out a small sigh:: This is going to take a while. Geoff laughed, a little bit too delighted at the prospect. Teller: Are you kidding, this is great! I haven't gotten to crawl around in the jefferies tubes for months, and I could take you through the ones on this ship blindfolded. I should've let you go wandering around in my brain earl...::Geoff stopped midsentence, his hand going to his temples. The stabbing pain behind his eyes was getting worse.:: ...alright maybe we'll skip the grand tour this time. Alieth crossed to his old desk, lifting a Brew Continuum mug and inspecting the coffee ring left behind on his desk. Otherwise, his desk was unusually clean, not covered in the routine assortment of PADDs and reports that typically accumulated on the real one. Alieth: Are you aware that the fact that even the core of your mind has some sort of caffeine shrine speaks very poorly of your restraint with these brews? We are going to have to deal with that when we get out of here. Geoff snorted, but the look Alieth gave him was grave. As his wonder at their surroundings passed, a feeling of wrongness had begun seeping in around the edges of his perception. The lack of crew had been jarring, but there was a strange unnatural stillness to everything. Teller: When we get out of here, after we find Sern, right? Which we're going to do....how, exactly? Alieth: I do not know, even though you belong to a telepathically null species, you are like a kind of telepathic sponge, and I have little control over all this. Geoff held up his hands defensively, fairly certain he'd been insulted. Again. Alieth: The plan is to go out there, open a door and see where it leads, and hopefully we will find some indication of where Sern's katra might be, maybe something misplaced, or not as you remember. But I have no way of where to start on…. ::waving her hands around::: ...this, so you are the one who should lead us. Teller: I just want to be sure I've got this straight. We are going to wander around in the hope we accidentally trip over Sern? Is that about the size of it? She gave a very, very slow nod. Alieth: Trial and error is an apt description. Geoff shrugged and turned to face the office doors that would lead out to Main Engineering. The Warp core would be on his right, the main workstation table to his left, and the Engineering lab off to the side behind reenforced doors. He knew every jefferies tube access point on both floors, and exactly how to get anywhere on the ship from here. Teller: Well, fine, so how do we get started? Alieth: You just need to get out of the office. Geoff stepped forward, the doorway parting silently. His foot stepped down but the deck was gone. ((First Landing Park, Tuckerberg, Archer IV, 2376)) His foot found soil and grass, and the sky opened above them to just the right shade of blue. Flowers he hadn't smelled in years tickled his nose, and it was a struggle to keep his eyes from watering. The wind came down from mountains, as it always had, cool and pleasant on the warm spring day. A day that had passed almost twenty years earlier. Alieth: Does this place look familiar? Geoff fought to keep the lump out of his throat. He could feel his memories of the day, his emotions. The love and simple delight of childhood. It was nearly overwhelming. Teller: Yes...this is First Landing Park. It was near our house...we came here all the time. Alieth: Makes sense. ::Her gaze fell into the small group:: So they are...? Teller: Mom and Dad, and my older sister Sarah. We'd go to an old tree, down near the south end of the park. There's an urban legend that it was the first tree Porthos ever peed on, it's supposed to be good luck. My parents thought that made it a good spot to picnic. ::Geoff could feel tears at the corners of his eyes, and his voice grew quiet:: They were right. Geoff stepped forward, lost in the moment, longing to join his family in the distance. He would've been gone forever if a strong hand hadn't closed around his wrist and stopped him cold, breaking the dangerous trance Teller had fallen into. Her voice helped to pull him back and ground him. The pain behind his eyes had become an almost blinding pressure. Alieth: We will not find Sern here, Geoff, so we should leave. :: She then made a pause and glanced at the plain expression on his face.:: But I can help you to come back later, when we get all this sorted out... Geoff shook his head. This moment was best left to the past, a halcyon day that would stay forever green in his rememberings. Teller: Lets get out of here. Alieth nodded and they stepped forward in unison, the hiss of a starship door closing behind them. Immediately, the hairs on the back of Ensign Geoffrey Teller's neck stood on end. oO No. Oo ((U.S.S. Artemis, 2395)) The endless corridors yawned before him once again, and Geoffrey Teller was standing inside a dreaded memory. He'd been newly assigned to the Veritas, on his first mission as Acting Chief Engineer, and it was as close to death as he'd ever come. Computer: =/\= All Hands, Prepare for Slipstream in t-minus Six Minutes. Warning. Slipstream corridor instability detected. Warning. Do not engage Slipstream drive. Warning. Automatic Safety Interlocks Non-Responsive. Warning. Do not engage Slipstream drive. Warning. Slipstream jump in t-minus five minutes and fifty seconds. Warning.... =/\= The lighting and the drone of the computer voice were all exactly as they had been, and Teller felt a dangerous panic creeping into his thoughts. Alieth: What...? Is this the Veritas again? Teller: No..no...we're...we're aboard the Artemis...we have to...::the pain behind his eyes magnified tenfold, collapsing him to his knees.:: We have to get to the shuttlebay...the ship is going to explode... Geoff felt a new pain, a sudden horrible jarring in his chest. The first time, he'd broken a rib trying to escape this ship, and it had punctured his lung. Before Taz Shandres strapped him into the only flyable thing left aboard, he'd begun coughing up blood. As he was now. Geoff looked at the crimson splatter in his palm and began pulling himself forward, desperate to escape. Teller: We have to get to the shuttlebay Taz! Come on! It's our only hope! Alieth: Response Geoff was jogging down the hall, picking up momentum even as his head felt like bursting. He was lost in the memory, his mind solely focused on flight. He had to get out. Computer: =/\= All Hands, Prepare for Slipstream in t-minus Six Minutes. Warning. Slipstream corridor instability detected. Warning. Do not engage Slipstream drive. Warning. Automatic Safety Interlocks Non-Responsive. Warning. Do not engage Slipstream drive. Warning. Slipstream jump in t-minus five minutes. Warning.... =/\= Teller: You can't give me an order, now come on...::Geoff lurched to his feet, moving as quickly as he could.::...we have to... Alieth: Response A strong hand was on his shoulder, keeping him from moving forward, impeding his escape. Teller: Dammit Taz! Don't have time for... Alieth: Response Geoff felt himself falling, tumbling away from the deckplates and hallways of the Artemis. He landed somewhere worse. ((New Risa Resort and Spa, Limbo, ~2395)) Lt. Jg. Geoffrey Teller looked around in horror at the sunbaked survivors encampment that had come to be jokingly called the New Risa Resort and Spa. An agency from the far future had tried to remove the Veritas from the timeline, and had arranged for the crew to be marooned here, on this tropical moon where time moved more quickly than the outside universe. The crew experienced months of relative time while only moments passed in the outside universe. It had been a special hell for a Chief Engineer, where little technology worked and he was focused on digging ditches and building an irrigation system. They had been some of the most difficult months in his life, and they had passed in an eyeblink. But his uniform was tattered, and his face felt itchy with the thin scraggly beard he'd accumulated. Geoff lost his temper and began yelling at the air. Teller: Sern! If you want a slideshow of all my personal traumas, subscribe to Taz Shandres's channel on Fednet like everyone else. Enough of this! Come out you irritating son of a b... Alieth: Response Geoff tried to focus but found it impossible. Teller: I can't...it's...I can barely think. It's not...it's not going away. Alieth: Response [[Tag! & TBC]] =============================== Commander Geoffrey Teller Executive Officer USS Thor - NCC 82607 Commodore A. Kells, Commanding V239509GT0 Edited March 8, 2021 by Alieth item prefix 2 1 Quote Link to comment
Meidra Sirin Posted March 8, 2021 Share Posted March 8, 2021 Quote Absolutely fantastic trip through Teller’s trauma. I can see now why he puts on an air of bravado, he’s lost so much. 1 1 Quote Link to comment
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