Ens. Tahna Meru - Time to Explore!

[Quinn Reynolds]

I really loved this sim! The insights into Meru's current state of mind completely captured me, and the beautiful and thoughtful world-building around Iyira was just fantastic; so many evocative details that really brought the city to life. Such a wonderful read. 💖 
 

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((Emerald Reef Hotel, Deluvia IV))

Tahna Meru was awake. 

Tahna Meru was a Starfleet scientist. 

Tahna Meru was reciting these affirmations over and over in her head as she stared at the colorful schools of fish outside her bedroom window, coming down from the panicked high of another Skarbek nightmare. She counted the affirmations on the seaglass beads on her touristy twine bracelet. Awake. Starfleet. Awake. 

Her heartrate eventually slowed and she let go of the bracelet. She had planned to do something today, what was it? She pulled up her notes from the night before on her PADD -- explore Iyira, right. 

On the surface, the idea of exploring an underwater city seemed weird and dangerous, but she reasoned it was no different than living in space and anyway her underwater hotel room hadn't drowned her yet. And hadn't she joined Starfleet to explore strange new worlds? So far the strangest world she'd explored was Earth, everything since then had been a kidnapping or a nightmare. 

So Iyira it was. 

Her hair was still braided into a crown from the day before, mostly because she was too lazy to do anything else with it at the moment. She threw on a pair of sandals and a loose green dress she'd bought on Bajor, before the Academy. Before she signed up for a lifetime of trauma. 

Joining Starfleet was beginning to seem like a pretty bad decision. 

Iyira wasn't far, close enough for a Selkie or anyone else with the proper skills and gear to swim comfortably. Meru was not equipped with the proper skills or gear, so she had the option of transporting down to the city or taking one of the public submarines that shuttled back and forth from the Lagoon she was staying at to the capitol. She opted for the sub. Maybe she'd take a transporter back to her room, but she might as well take the scenic route to get there. 

They passed over the reef and dove along a path marked with anchored, floating lights. Just outside of the marked path she saw a colorful group of Selkies swimming -- their equivalent of going on a jog, she supposed. The submarine passed myriad schools of fish eventually stopping at a landing to let its passengers off into part of the city full of breathable air made possible by the force fields holding back tons of salt water. 

((Iyira, Deluvia IV))

It was breathtaking. 

She followed the passengers from her sub down the footpath until it widened to reveal a city. She hadn't been expecting underwater skyscrapers -- what would a skyscraper that doesn't reach into the sky even be called, anyway? -- or as many colors of buildings as there were colors of coral. 

Where was she going again? 

She pulled up the map she'd downloaded to her PADD the night before -- Ichiya Market, maybe eight blocks away, though the city architecture flowed so gracefully she wasn't sure "blocks" was the right term either. She oriented herself and set off through the city toward the market, avoiding the roads that dove into water for the amphibious residents. 

She was nearly there when she saw someone she recognized from the Gorkon. She thought briefly about ducking her head and avoiding her, but her therapist wanted her to try making more friends. He had pointed out that they had all been through the same trauma so there was no need for her to feel different and shut herself off from them, and hopefully she would be on the Gorkon a good while longer and she should know the people she was working and living with. 

So she took a deep breath, rubbed the bracelet on her wrist, and smiled and waved. 

Tahna: Hello! 

Namura: Response

Tahna: I was heading to this market-- Ichiya Market? You're welcome to join me. 

Namura: Response

--

Ensign Tahna Meru
Science Officer
USS Gorkon (NCC-82293)
G239801TM4

[Mallora Vossti]

I'm in full agreement.  This is very high quality world building and it deserves appreciation from across the fleet.  Brava!