Lieutenant Doz Finch - Borrowed Time

[Jo Marshall]

I do love this sim. It underpinned the feelings going on for @Doz Finch in that moment; the inevitability of time and the human experience of loss, as well as the friendship between Doz and Meru. Beautifully written, as always!

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((Corridors, USS Gorkon))

After leaving the library, with a last and quick glance towards her most dear friend Tahna, Doz found herself in the corridor, its walls imbued by the red alert and the passing silhouettes of officers hurriedly going to their stations and duty posts. To her right and further along, she could see Vylaa already making headway having departed moments before her, the woman's soul no doubt torn to shreds by the reality that her children were now desperately unsafe, and even more dismally, on borrowed time.

An officer passed her by, dropping one of his many PADDs, and she knelt down to pick it up for him, the pinches of her cheeks rosy and smiling, his the same in gratitude.

She’d known that feeling well for quite some time. Living on borrowed time; as soon as she had turned sixty, it had been as though an invisible clock had started to tick. The inevitability of time…the inevitability of being Human…and the inevitably of being Doz Finch. She was sure of it, you see, because once there was no one else for the universe to take away from her…who else could it take but her?

Another officer, this time a Caitian, lost her balance along the wall but was held up just in time by the diminutive engineer who waited with her, until she had gathered enough confidence to carry on.

As she began her journey towards the nearest turbolift, her pace a tad slower than some of the others, thoughts coursed through her mind. About how cruel and deeply unfair it was. All of the loss she had gone through. All of those she had loved. Family, friends. As if she was constantly being tested by something…unknown. Something callous. It had to be callous to repeatedly strip a person down and expect them to carry on with their Humanity. And many often couldn't carry on.

Confusion from a junior scientist this time, who had wandered out of a holodeck suite with a pale expression, hand shakily gripped around a cocktail. She couldn’t have left him standing there. Not in that state. So instead she stood with him, hand on his shoulder, and for the next few minutes explained what was going on and what he should do next.

She thought next about how much Tahna had unintentionally helped her. How she’d properly introduced her to the Prophet’s…maybe even reintroduced faith into her life, assuming that she’d ever had it to begin with. She had gone through so much, you see, that the idea of a benevolent anything felt puerile. Who could have faith in a universe that could so willingly bombard a singular soul with so much grief? It had been a miracle that she hadn’t turned morose, frankly. Well, part-miracle anyway. Her intention had always been not to become that way.

Time was ticking. Her colleagues would probably start wondering where she had gotten to.

Before reaching the turbolift, she paused next to a viewport…to take one last look. And as she did, everything around her disappeared. The blaring alerts. The shuffling officers and the swooshing of doors. And she just stared.

Silent, still, with her arms flat to her sides.

Into a galaxy ruled by Borg.

Into the face of a universe that had taken so much from her.

Alone.

Fin - End Credits

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Lieutenant Doz Finch
Assistant Chief Engineer
USS Gorkon NCC-82293
C239809SH3

[Doz Finch]

Ah thank you for this lovely appreciation @Jo Marshall! Happy you enjoyed it. 🥰

[Tahna Meru]

I loved how @Doz Finch used formatting in this scene to show Doz on autopilot while her mind was elsewhere. It felt like one of those scenes in movies where time slows down but the narration carries on-- it was very cinematic!