[sb118-butler] 2LT Ithri Sh'Shelor - "Swept Away"

[Lhandon_Nilsen]

When you're writing the kind of sims that pull from a characters backstory, such as in this case where there is some kind of alien intelligence digging around our brains to pull out our very worst fears, it's easy just to focus on yourself. After all, these fears and anxieties are often private and even the most stoic character can crack.

What is not easy to do is pull everyone in to the hallucinations in a way that is a) fun & b) helps us build our own stories, while also developing yours.

@Alora DeVeau manages to do just that; she went not just into our wiki pages but also what we have written in the past and picked out that one little detail, that one little weakness, then stuck the knife in and expertly twisted it for maximum pain.

This is the kind of pain and ✨️truma ✨️ that we love to write as simmers. In short, Amanda has set not just herself, but also the rest of us, for success and a shining example for the rest of us on how to pull it off

 

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((Engineering, Deck 20, USS Unity Dow))

 

 

Like all Andorians, Ithri was strong, but even strength could not stop

her shoulder from popping out of its socket when a man came tumbling

down the shaft with little preparation. Thus, her arm suffered for it

and weakened the hold she had upon Nilsen. Fortunately, it was enough

for Nilsen to tangle himself in the rungs of the ladder and catch hold

of Caras, preventing anyone from breaking their neck. Once everyone got

on more solid ground, they continued on. There wasn’t far to go, and

soon enough, the group emerged from the tubes right into Engineering. 

Pulling herself out and to her full height, which was far smaller than

the men with her, looked around, her antennae shifting from one side to

the other, seeking out anything that might be dangerous.

 

Sh’shelor: Now what?

 

Arlill: Now we get to…

 

The man paused and as Ithri studied him, she found his expression

shifting even as he asked a question of his own, though one completely

out of context.

 

Arlill: I don’t remember professor, can I look it up?

 

Had she not heard and experienced the hallucinations, Ithri might have

been more concerned and dragged the man back to the OEB and then to a

counsellor.

 

Nilsen: I mean, I’ll take the nickname bro, but there isn’t a professor

here.

 

Pulling out his tricorder, he motioned for the others to do the same

even as he checked the readout of his own.

 

Nilsen: Look at your tricorders, nothing, just us.

 

Silence settled among them only briefly as the others checked their

readings. Although Ithri refrained, it was not out of fear, but rather

it gave her the opportunity to walk around the area and ensure

everything was as it should be.

 

Voice (To Ithri): Broken.

 

The whisper brushed her ear and she whipped around, but no one beyond

her fellow comrades were there.

 

Caras: I think whatever is making us hallucinate has found a way around

this. It must know how we receive information from tricorders. Something

that makes audio and visual hallucinations, can just make us hallucinate

the technology not working, just as well as it can make you hallucinate

things from our past or things we might assume happened. Which means it

understands us now.

 

At that point, Arlill broke from whatever reverie had seized him and

came back to the present reality. Ithri shook herself as well, brushing

off the hushed word that had grazed her thoughts.

 

Arlill: We’ll need to get the fusion reactors back online before we can

fire up the core.

 

Nilsen: I’ll get the navigation systems primed. Hopefully ::sharp ping

of pain:: hopefully the system should behave.

 

 From Nilsen’s reaction, Ithri could tell he had not gotten out of that

fall unscathed. Her own shoulder ached as a reminder of the close call,

but she would not let it slow her down. Narrowing her eyes, she followed

the man’s movements, noting how he favoured one ankle.

 

Caras: ::opening his engineering kit:: I’ve got just what i need for the

reactors. I’ll get right to it sir.

 

Arlill: I’m not sure, but if we spend too long on this we might not be

able to tell the difference between realities for much longer.

 

Nilsen: I’ve turned our tricorders to audible scanning mode. So if there

is something out of the ordinary, that is real, it will ping loudly.

 

Caras: I think it knows about tricorders now. It might be muting them

from our perception, but it's still worth it to keep them on and

pinging. Just in case.

 

Ithri nodded, keeping up with the conversation, but as her role was to

protect rather than offer engineering support, she merely stood by and

let the experts handle it.

 

Arlill: We should also attempt to get a connection back to the OEB.

 

Nilsen: Shouldn’t take long, ::to Sh’shelor:: Lieutenant can I get a

hand on this console? We’ll need to be in sync.

 

Except now, Nilsen directly asked her to engage. Hooking her rifle to

the back of her suit, she moved forward and joined Nilsen at the

console. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Caras take up a position

closer to where the nodes for the warp core should have been, but were

no longer present.

 

Caras: Once I start routing power, the foreign nodes are going to start

moving to it to try and shut down impulse. Lieutenant.. Um Sh’elor.

 

The Ensign paused as he butchered her name, but Ithri merely let it go

and waited for him to finish.

 

Caras: Lieutenant, you might have to blast these things when they start

showing up. They look like StarFleet technology, but they aren’t. You’ll

also need to possibly rotate frequency… like fighting a borg.

 

While Ithri was not an engineer, she had passed the basics which were

both required in the Andorian Military Academy as well as Starfleet

Academy. In other words, she knew enough to be halfway useful and

somewhat dangerous. She also understood what Caras met, for any

weakness to an enemy like the Borg was dutifully taught to everyone.

 

Sh’shelor: I understand.

 

Embarrassment drew its veil over Caras, even though others might have

missed it. She noticed. Once again, she said nothing, for it wasn’t

really relevant in the grand scheme of things - they had more important

matters to attend to. Turning to his job, Caras worked diligently, and

as Ithri started to look over the console, Nilsen’s voice rose, his tone

seething.

 

Nilsen: Commander, you are not real, if you were, I would be whimpering

like a scared pig right now.

 

Another hallucination plagued them, that time focused on Nilsen, and

Caras’ tried to shake him out of it.

 

Caras: There is no commander here. Nilsen. Can you hear me?

 

Sh’shelor: Nilsen. Tell me what you wish for me to do.

 

Perhaps focusing the man on the job would assist in fighting whatever

demons ran through his head.

 

Voice (To Ithri): You can try and help all you want, but you’re still

broken.

 

And just like that, it was her turn. Grinding her teeth, Ithri’s

antennae crouched downward, but she, too, attempted to focus on the

matter at hand.

 

Arlill: Response

 

Caras’s attention returned to his work,and Nilsen also snapped out of

whatever plagued him. Like the verbose man that he was, he offered

something of an explanation,though he didn't give names.

 

Nilsen: Someone very unpleasant who didn’t like people like me.

::looking up at the rest of the party:: And if you don’t mind, I’ll

leave it at that he was…::beat, changing the subject:: these

hallucinations are not fun. Why can’t they ever be fun? You know like

erm…gimme a MX-5 or a Type 14R racing shuttle or something fun ::smiles::

 

Caras laughed, but the nervousness undermined any sincere humour.

 

Caras: Wish it were like that. I think it tries to find the things that

will upset us most.

 

Voice (To Ithri): No, I speak the truth. It’s always the truth. You’re

broken, but not like Thirishar. He was blessed by Uzaveh to become more.

You couldn’t possibly become less.

 

Distracted, though Ithri’s eyes remained fixated upon the console, her

hands clenched into fists. Those words had echoed in her ears far too

many times from her own kind. She didn’t need it from some hallucination.

 

Fritea’s Voice (to Arlill): Toxin! Toxin!

 

The oh so familiar tone of his mother’s call was underscored by a

trembling fear that rippled through the syllables of his name.

 

Arlill: Response

 

Caras’ attention returned back to Nilsen who addressed Arlill, at first

in a familiar way, but halfway through, more formally.

 

Nilsen: Tox…::stopping himself, knowing Toxin’s preference:: sir. comm

lines are established with the bridge of the OEB, we can talk to them

whenever we need to.

 

Once again, Ithri tried to shake off the voice in her head, and realised

that she had done little, really, to assist Nilsen despite his request.

 

Arlill: Response

 

Caras: Reactors primed, ready for ignition. Not an amazing patch job,

but it will work. It’ll hold for a few hours.

 

With that done, Caras returned to an upright position. Nilsen, in the

meantime, brought Ithri back to the present even more firmly.

 

Nilsen: Commander ::to Sh’shelor:: I need to you keep those inertia

dampeners engaged while I fire up the thrusters igniters to breathe life

into those little things.

 

Caras: I’ll keep an eye on systems once we have ignition to make sure we

don’t have a blow out.

 

Nodding, Ithri acknowledged Nilsen’s, though she realised he had

addressed her incorrectly. Had he been hallucinating again?

 

Sh’shelor: Lieutenant, not Commander.

 

With the Marine way of calling ranks, perhaps he’d gotten confused. 

Even as she set about monitoring the inertia dampeners, she noted

movement from Caras, and the way he placed one hand, ready to grab his

phaser at a moment’s notice.

 

Voice (to Nilsen): I was never the same again.

 

It wasn’t the commander that time, but a different voice.

 

Sh’shelor: Inertia dampeners online and remain active.

 

Voice (to Ithri): Some day, it will all fail and you’ll remain dependent

on others just to eat a crust of bread. You’ll be unable to take care

of yourself. But who would want a burden like that?

 

Fritea’s Voice (to Arlill): Toxin, Please!

 

Arlill: Response

 

Caras: Yes sir. On it.

 

Nilsen/Sh’shelor/Arlill: Response

 

Nilsen lit the ignition and Caras took care of all the little details

that were required when dealing with hasty repairs and by passes that

were necessary on a ship that had its warp core ejected and other issues

that made navigating more difficult. As a sound of engines filled the

room, the Orion’s enthusiasm became too much to remain bottled in.

 

Caras: It’s working! It’s working!

 

Suddenly, a tricorder pinged, soon followed by another,then a third, and

a fourth. In seconds, all four continued the brief, high pitched tones

that indicated the alert that Caras had mentioned earlier. Annoying, it

certainly caught their attention.

 

Sh’shelor: What is this?

 

Arlill/Nilsen: Response

 

Caras: I think that means that the nodes are on their way, and they’re

hungry for power. Get ready to phaser them…

 

Suddenly, everything around them vibrated and shook, the ship trembling,

or at least the room. Lights flashed in what appeared to be a positive

manner, but before anyone could do anything else, nodes shot out from

the opening hatch to the Jefferies tube. Then they came from another

hatch. Thena third. The doors to Engineering parted, only to fill with

nodes upon nodes upon nodes. Caras attempted to use an anti-grav, but

eventually it became too much. They covered the floor, quickly up to

their ankles, then their knees, then suddenly an entire wave swept

through the room. Ithri was caught in its flow, and a cackling sound

howled in her ear.

Voice (to Ithri): Let’s up those implants don’t fail. You can’t even

stand up without help!

 

The nodes didn’t stop,they kept coming and flowing about the room, like

ocean currents carrying away anything in their path.

 

Arlill/Caras/Nilsen: Response

 

Voice (To Arlill): Toxin! Help me! Help!

 

A vision of Toxin’s mother appeared, her eyes wide with fear. She

plunged through a wave of nodes and stretched out her hand toward her

son, only to have a Zet emerge and drag her back under.

 

Another body emerged from the crashing of the nodes, forming into a face

and body that was all too familiar. That of the pilot who had been

seriously injured in the crash, face twisted in pain.

 

Voice (to Nilsen): Never the same. Never the same. Never the same.

 

Arlill/Caras/Nilsen: Response

 

Z’mat’s voice (to Caras): Really now, Morro, do you call this a life? 

You weren’t meant to actually fix things. You know you don’t want this

life. This is you. And this isn’t yours. It’s all a pottery on a

spindle, and once it stops spinning, it will all come crashing down.

 

Voice (to Ithri): Invalid. Incompetent. What can you do? You’re nothing

but u’shelat!

 

And all the while, the nodes swirled around and around them, trying

desperately to carry them away.

 

Arlill/Caras/Nilsen: Response

 

 

-----

 

2Lt Ithri Sh'shelor

Marine Intelligence Officer

USS Octavia E. Butler

M239008AD0