Ensign Neeya Velix - Mediation

[Alora DeVeau]

((V’luna’s quarters, Starbase 118))

 

The room was dimly lit, and the pillow Neeya was sitting on made her position just comfortable enough to give her an excuse to be distracted.

 

 

*Breathe in peace. Breathe out emotion. Allow your thoughts to settle into silence.*

 

 

On the table in front of her sat a small, fuel-powered lamp. The mediation lamp in itself was perfectly balanced and harmonious in color, and it kept it’s flame steady and controlled.

 

 

*Inhale. Exhale.*

 

 

Neeya found that V’luna’s voice was softer than usual, even though the Vulcan had never been harsh in her words. 

 

 

*The flame flickers as air currents brush past it. Your thoughts flicker as emotions come and go.*

 

 

Emotions. They were a difficult thing for Neeya to handle. That had been evident by the initial reaction she had to V’luna’s suggestion to join her for meditation. She wouldn’t admit it, but secretly she was relieved that the older woman was patient with her. 

 

 

*Inhale. Exhale.*

 

 

Despite having been back on the Starbase for only a few weeks, she already had a list of people to apologise to. And those were just the people she had openly agitated. If she were to apologise for every unkind thought, she’d be busy for the rest of the year. 

 

 

*Watch the flame dance, and let its movement still your soul.*

 

 

So why did V’luna care? The woman had been Neeya’s teacher, but she had been teacher to plenty of cadets, a lot of them brighter and more pleasant to deal with than the young trill. 

 

 

*Inhale. Exhale.*

 

 

Perhaps it was because of Dekim, the symbionts previous host. He had been one of her students, for a while. He had been bright and charming, and begun a stellar career within Starfleet. And then he had joined the Maquis. 

 

 

*The lamp is control. Without control, the fire would spread and destroy everything. Without control, emotion is overwhelming and destructive.*

 

 

The reason was something Neeya didn’t quite understand yet, but she knew that she would keep it a secret. 

 

 

*Inhale. Exhale.*

 

 

It was his disappointment with Starfleet that spilled over into her consciousness, that made her assume the worst, and that filled her with anger which lead to her outbursts. 

 

 

*With control, the flame provides light and warmth. Without the fuel the lamp provides, the fire would die. Control is life. Without control, emotion bleeds away your life.*

 

 

She wondered if the Symbiosis Commission had known about Dekim’s true feelings. When the Dominion War had started and the former Maquis were offered a return to Starfleet, he had taken it. He had, seemingly, made peace with what had caused his malcontent, and lived a full life within the rules. 

 

 

*Inhale. Exhale.*

 

 

Officially. 

 

 

*What is, is. You cannot change the nature of existence. Accept what is now and change what can be changed in the future.*

 

 

Would they have joined here with the Velix-symbiont had they known? Or would they have given it so someone else?

 

 

*Inhale. Exhale.*

 

 

Perhaps they did know. Perhaps they had decided that Neeya, with a calm and gentle demeanour, was a good candidate to offset Dekim’s lasting influence. 

 

 

*The lamp is control. Meditation is control. Let your meditation control your emotion as the lamp controls the flame. Let your breathing slow. Follow the rhythm of the flickering fire.*

 

 

If so, it was just proof that the system was wrong. That there was something fundamentally wrong with how things worked.

 

 

*Inhale. Exhale*

 

 

Like a cage one needed to escape out of.  

 

 

*Inhale peace. Exhale emotion.*

 

 

[End Scene]

 

*****************

Ensign Neeya Velix

Science Officer 

Starbase 118 Ops

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