Round 25 PNPC Crewman Chelsea Ames, "Bacon Cheeseburger, hold the burger�

[Sal Taybrim]

((Sickbay, USS Columbia))

::A sonic shower was an abomination of nature, some genetic anomaly
that had taken the shower and transformed it into some medical,
hygienic necessity. On the Starbase, Chelsea had been able to get a
real water shower on occasion and while it did take longer and make
much more of a mess, it was a therapy that she rather looked forward
to after a long, hard week. The warmth, the pitter-patter of small
droplets against her skin and the floor, they were wonderful.::

::In this moment, a real shower was a medical necessity, although
nobody with actual medical expertise had seemed to agree with her.
Instead, she had been run through some decontamination procedure that
left her feeling more like a science experiment than a victim of
post-traumatic stress. "Making the best of it" was the order of the
day, and while she was - still - only half-way through the procedure,
at least now all of that residue had been cleaned off of her. She
caught an occasional whiff of manure from time to time, despite the
medical staff's assurance that it was all in her mind.::

::She was just placing her commbadge back onto her newly replicated
uniform when it chirped.::

Connory: =/\= Connory to Ames =/\=

Ames: =/\= You startled me, sir. I'm here. =/\=

::She smiled as she said it. How was it that this officer, she
actually felt she could talk to? She'd felt that way once before, back
when she worked with Livingston on that ...::

::The thought floated away, willed away by the same mind that had
brought it unbidden to her conscious thought. She sighed as Ian
continued. Maybe someday she'd remember that differently. Or not
remember it at all.::

Connory: =/\= How are you doing with the Health-less Holstein and the
cattle cadaver? =/\=

::A shiver pulsed through her as he spoke, rattling her. After a hot
shower, she'd be still in that afterglow of warmth when nothing could
go now. Sonic showers offered no such lingering protection from the
world; she was thrust back into its harshness. That stink returned.::

Ames: =/\= I'd like not to think about it, Ensign Connory. Anyway,
after I beamed it to sickbay's isolation unit, I figured I would never
need to see the thing again. =/\= oO Good riddance. Oo

Connory: =/\= Good thinking, Wait. You beamed them where? =/\=

::She slipped her shoes back on as she spoke, and headed back out to
main sickbay where she'd been instructed to wait.::

Ames: =/\= Well I couldn't move it on my own - sickbay is set up
perfectly for this, after all. Let the science department worry about
it. It's not our oO job Oo area of expertise. =/\=

Connory: =/\= No don't worry I'm sure that'll be fine. oOI hope. Oo
Commander Brek is trying to see if there is a vet among the colonists.
'Til then hold tight and make sure the containment fields hold. =/\=

Ames: =/\= They'll hold. I will personally reroute power from whatever
systems are necessary to ensure that that thing stays in there, where
we're safe from it. =/\=

::From her perch up on a biobed, she watched as nurses passed back and
forth. One stopped to take her vitals, and as she breathed deeply in
and out upon request, Connory continued. She wondered, was he always
this chatty? Or was he keeping her occupied for some other reason? It
occurred to her that he was probably trying to do her a service,
keeping her mind off of the incident. Although it did seem to be what
he kept talking about; the theory seemed not to hold water after
all.::

Connory: =/\=Oh and Ames good work. First round is definitely on me.
After you clean up that is.=/\=

Ames: =/\= Thank you. I'll need a drink after this. I'm only half-way
through their battery of tests, and I'd much rather just get to take a
little nap. =/\=

Connory: response

::She gave a small smile, and the nurse left her to compile some more
data. What was in all those charts?::

Ames: =/\= I need a bacon cheeseburger. =/\=

::She imagined biting into that big, juicy sandwich. The bacon smelled
as it always did, that wonderful aroma of perfect happiness, and she
could feel her teeth sinking into a big, puffy bun and into -- ::

Bacon Cheeseburger: Moo.

::With a start, Chelsea snapped out of the daydream she'd fallen into.
Hands spread for support on the biobed behind her, she shivered from
the cold sweat that had broken out on her brow. Burgers hadn't been
made from actual cows in a century - at least not on Starfleet
vessels. But there it had been. She'd seen it, heard it. It could not
be unseen. The cold sweat returned as she realized the inevitable.::

Ames: =/\= Oh. Oh, no. I may never have a burger again. I think I may
become a ... a vegetarian. I need to lie down.=/\=

Connory: response

::Their conversation ended cordially, and Chelsea laid down. What
would it take to undo this damage? What was the point of going to the
Galactic Halo now? She'd just be conversing and eating a vegetable
platter. Was there no mercy in this world?::

-----

Crewman Chelsea Ames
Operations
USS Columbia NCC-85279

As simmed by

Commander Ben Livingston
Commanding Officer
USS Columbia NCC-85279

[Sal Taybrim]

I believe this is actually for round 25, but the prefix wouldn't let me select round 25.