Lt Zenno - The Eternal Circle

[Randal Shayne]

Quote

Compelling as always- there's just something about how John brings Bolian culture, and its people, to life that butters my croissant. Splendid job. 

((OOC The events that Zenno is concerned about were told in the sims: “A Foe Whispers…” and “PPE 2: Electric Boogaloo” and others in which he had visions speaking to him.))

((Zenno’s Place, Temporary Berthing, DS9))

The tides pulled him in every direction. He was under the water now and there was no way out. He wanted to talk to his sister, but she was away. He was worried about the girl they had rescued from DS33, but he had not heard back yet. He had had a most peculiar set of… Communications? Hallucinations? Visions? These were when he was in the middle of combat on Deep Space 33. But most of all he wanted to talk to Saava. As infuriating as she was, she always made things better. But her ship was also gone for now. So there was only one route open to him.

He hadn’t told anyone on the ship about the visions… hallucinations, or whatever they were. But they were deeply concerning. He had thought about seeing his ship’s counselor, but they seemed to have been called away too. After pondering it for a good while, he had contacted his Blood and Water Uncle… his Mother’s Brother. Uncle Vidd always seemed to have the proper perspective on things. While he didn’t expect a resolution, he was sure Vidd would have some good advice on where to go next. In preparation, Zenno had sent along a rather lengthy set of excerpts from his personal logs to explain the situation.

Zenno looked at the chrono and waited for the correct time for the call to connect.

Computer: ::Blorp:: Incoming call.

Zenno: Accept.

The screen illuminated with the image of his Uncle Vidd.

Vidd: Boy, what are you doing? Are you dead?

Zenno: No Uncle. I am not dead. It would upset Mother.

Vidd: That’s fine then. I said you shouldn’t join Starfleet. It’s no place for our kind. And it upsets my sister. And her husband, But I don’t care one way or the other about him.

Zenno tried not to smile. The battles between his Uncle and his Father had been the stuff of legend. Vidd, very much on the side of tradition and culture had battled Father who was a complete rationalist on every issue for as long as Zenno could remember. For his part, Zenno always stayed neutral, just trying to appreciate them both, difficult as it was.

But in this case, Zenno knew he had to talk to his Uncle. Those visions had had such personality and vitality. It didn’t seem like a fleeting mental imagining. It felt more… real. But it was not real all at the same time. To resolve this apparent conflict, Vidd seemed like the right choice.

Zenno: I understand. ::beat:: The tides brought me to seek your advice. The whole experience has shaken me. It wasn’t the combat. It wasn’t the fighting, the bits of the dead all over the deck. I was trained for that. I expected it. I was not prepared for spectral apparitions.

Vidd: I read everything you sent. The fighting sounded awful. 

Zenno: It was. But I thought I might be going insane.

Vidd: Now you say you had both the living and dead? At the same time? 

Zenno: Yes, my Uncle of Blood and Water. But they were speaking to each other about me. It was most disconcerting.

Vidd: Xott I know. Who was the other one, the woman?

Zenno hesitated, unsure of what words to use.

Zenno: A… an academy classmate. A friend. 

Vidd: My Nephew of Blood and Water, you are a terrible liar. It’s good you didn’t join the Diplomatic Service.

Zenno: I don’t know what you mean, Uncle.

Vidd: Just promise me I can be there when you tell your Father. I want to see his head burst open when you tell him.

Zenno: I have no idea what you mean.

Vidd: ::Harrumphs:: And an old teacher too? He also appeared?

Zenno: Yes, Nardello. A very strict and demanding Officer. 

Vidd: He spoke to you? 

Zenno: Yes, he… he taunted me. An opponent also spoke to me, even though he was deceased.

Vidd: This next question is the most important. You must not prevaricate. You already did once on this call. I won’t tolerate it again if you want my help.

Zenno: I swear upon ocean and river.

The older Bolian nodded.

Vidd: Did you see anyone who wasn’t an actual person? Like a made-up imaginary person?

Zenno was taken aback by this question. He hadn’t considered that, or what it might mean.

Zenno: No Uncle. They were all real. Much about Xott was exaggerated, but he is historical. Everyone I saw, they all exist or existed.

Vidd sat back in chair and put his finger to his temple. 

Vidd: I know what this is. I know what happened to you.

Zenno leaned forward. At most, he had hoped for a sympathetic ear. He wasn’t expecting that his Uncle would know what it was.

Vidd: Where to begin? ::pauses, he closes his eyes and swirls his finger against the temple of his head:: We are not a telepathic or empathic people. You know this. Everyone does. But the world is much bigger than that. Some of our people carry.. uggh… the words aren’t sufficient to describe it… cultural memories. But not of events or places. But of people. The word is Zuwah Itzay. Someone close to Xott had it, and thousands of years ago he or she imprinted Xott and passed it down to you. It’s not a spirit or a ghost. It’s the sense of the man and how he was. And now we know that you can imprint others and will pass them down in your time.

There were a million questions and they tumbled out of him in no semblance of order…

Zenno: Who gets imprinted? Can I choose who? Is it biological? How do I know for sure? Is it debilitating? Can I call up other people? How many are there?

Vidd: ::waving his hands in the Bolian way for “no”:: No, no. Stop. You misunderstand. This is not a talent. It’s not something you can use or develop. It’s something to be endured. There is a reason there is no science on this. It can’t be controlled or evoked in a lab. 

Zenno squinted, trying to make sense what his Uncle was saying.

Vidd: The imprinting happens and you’ll not know if you did it or who you did it to. You don’t choose it. There’s no way to test it or call it up. The visitations, that’s the correct word, will only happen when you are under extreme stress. And you’ll have no say over if you’ll find the experience helpful, debilitating, or irrelevant. Now if you happened to be hooked up to a brain imager in the most life and death situation you can imagine, then they might see something on there if a visitation occurs. But even then, a visitation may not happen. It’s out of your control.  It is not an advantage or a useful skill. In a more primitive time they would have called it a curse.

Zenno: But I thought I spoke with a deceased opponent. 

Vidd: He may have been dying when you came across him. It doesn’t matter. You still imprinted him. But you weren’t speaking with him. You were speaking with your interpretation of what he was like. It’s not exact when you are dealing with other species. Xott, that one was probably much closer to how he actually was, since whoever imprinted him was probably someone of long acquaintance with the man. ::pauses, exhales:: But I am rapidly exhausting my knowledge here. 

Zenno: What should I do? 

Vidd: My Nephew of Blood and Water, I have no good advice. This is not good news. What I can do is this. I can connect you with an informal group that has the Zuwah Itzay. It’s just a support group really. And I suspect some of them are pretenders. But there’s no way to tell. But they would know the most of anyone, and there is precious little to be known. 

Zenno: This is a great deal of information. I don’t know how to feel about it.

Vidd: It’s somewhere between rare and uncommon. But even some Bolians who have it, it may never manifest. Life in the Federation is easy. If the lore is to be believed, the kind of stresses that have a chance to evoke a visitation are extreme. Many could have it and not even know. That’s why it’s so rare. Most people haven’t even heard of it. 

Zenno: Uncle… I regret that I know this. I regret having this. I… don’t want it.

Vidd: I am sure you aren’t alone in that. But you are strong and you get that from your Mother’s side. You shall endure it with grace.

Zenno: Thank you for your wisdom, Uncle of Blood and Water.

Vidd: Be well, nephew. Also, don’t speak to your Father of this at all is my advice. He won’t understand.

Zenno nodded, turned off the communications panel, and sat back in his chair with his hands over his eyes. He had a lot to consider.

 

NT/END

 

LT Zenno

Security Chief

USS Khitomer

A240006Z13