[I-BSR] JP-Saveron, Skyfire & Moonsong: Genetic Variation Part 2

[chythar skyfire]

((Biosciences Seminar Room, USS Invicta))

::Raissa stared at the DNA strands with the same understanding as she had felt with her own. Little. All she could comprehend was that their situations were different.::

Skyfire: Evident by? :: This was truly fascinating, though Skyfire didn’t have much wracking around in his brainpan of what it was Saveron was getting at. ::

Saveron: Several transposons - small sections of DNA which are able to change their location within a sequence - have been liberated, and are in the process of re-arrangement. Your initial telepathic contact acted as the stimulus.

::The Vulcan then went on to detail each transposon, it’s original location, it’s apparent path of relocation and the resulting effect on Skyfire’s telepathic status.::

Saveron: I was able to culture a few cells and observe a rearrangement in real-time. What is apparent is that the rearrangements are still continuing, hence the changes in your telepathic abilities. Any further telepathic contact will likely encourage this rearrangement, potentially altering or enhancing your abilities. Our contact may have facilitated this. So I would suggest the question is not what you may have done to Raissa’s DNA, but what she may have done to yours. There is no way to know when, or even if, your DNA will stabilise into its final configuration.

:: The explanation turned long and complicated, but fascinating. After several paragraphs of what would bore an engineer, CD smiled softly as his DNA strand was revealed and the explanation continued. He wasn’t fond of the idea of requiring more counseling to deal with his issues, or the fact that he was going to eventually connect with other species. For now, it seemed as though his connection to Devlin would be sufficient to keep him from going insane, though that was still a horrifying thought when he realized his issues could spiral out of control. ::

Skyfire: I see...interesting.

Moonsong: We are… I am still confused. Did he affect my DNA or did I affect his?

Saveron: You affected each others’ indirectly, by providing telepathic stimulus which encouraged the expansion of your abilities. Neither of you directly affected the other’s DNA.

::Which was vastly preferable. The kind of contact that could cause another’s DNA to mutate would likely be considered illegal. The Vulcan sat down at the table again, laced his fingers together and rested his hands on the table.::

Saveron: I would note that both your cases are fascinating. However one would consider the impact which this has on yourselves.

::For he was a doctor before a researcher; always there was the patient to consider.::

Moonsong: It means I have no life.

::She held her head in her hands. Because of Saveron’s Vulcan controls, she didn’t pick up much from him unless she deliberately initiated contact as she had accidentally a few days ago. She wasn’t sleeping and had started avoiding contact with others, even Carter. The minute she would try to relax, the roar of voices would descend and she ended up spending her time just trying to just block them out.::

Skyfire: Not true, Ris.

::He could point out that Raissa was very much alive, but Saveron knew from experience that was not her intended meaning. She referred to what Terrans called ‘living’, as opposed to merely ‘existing’.::

Saveron: I would enquire as to the source of your distress.

::Was it the lack of the Community minds, where there had been the reassuring presence? Or was there some other factor that was affecting the normally vibrant Counsellor? He wasn’t her treating physician, that was Doctor Skyfire, but as the most experienced telepath of the three and a doctor regardless, he could not help but want to alleviate her distress.::

:: Raissa hesitated. She knew if she told the two of them to back off, they would. CD had never pushed her when she withdrew and Saveron would probably consider it bad manners. She was the one who pushed people. It was part of her job to get to the heart of a patient’s suppressed issues. And her mind circled back to Saveron’s question like a hamster in a wheel.::

Moonsong:  Silence within…. the roar… without. Too many voices… emotions...

:: He blew a strand of hair his still black hair out of his face, muscles tensing as he latched onto the words and felt the emotions. His hand tightened around the cup out of reflex, a bit of warm cocoa still within. He tried once again to adapt some mental shielding to prevent the onslaught he was experiencing from her. ::

Skyfire: I kind of know the feeling...

:: Saveron looked over at Chythar, met the other man’s gaze. He thought he understood what Raissa was saying; the loss of the Community had a far greater impact than even he had anticipated.::

Saveron: The Community provided shielding abilities as well as company, did they not? ::He suggested gently.::

Moonsong: They must have… I wasn’t at this level before them… They assumed… and I did too, that I would go back to what I was.

Skyfire: Whatever they taught you, I’d like to learn it...I’m thinking that may help…

Moonsong: They didn’t teach me anything. Their minds function… differently.

:: CD set what was left of his drink on the table, his hands gripping the arms of the chair. There was a moment in which his eyes met the Vulcan’s as though sizing him up or reading him, attempting to pick up on the calm that he was sorely lacking. ::

:: It earned Skyfire an enquiring look from the man he was watching. ::

Saveron: You appear to have something on your mind, Chythar, however unlike yourselves I cannot read it without contact.

:: He was a powerful telepath, but with that marked restriction. The Vulcan’s abilities required physical contact to operate, beyond that he had a mild empathic sense and nothing more. ::

Moonsong: If I’m broadcasting again, I’m sorry.

:: Raissa focused her fragile controls again to try to keep her mind within her own mind. She forced herself to ignore the urge to reach for the minds of the Community. They were no longer there to comfort and protect her. ::

Skyfire: I….would you believe me if I said I’m trying to find Saveron’s calm? When I needed to make sure I wasn’t crazy after seeing a fossilized Vulcan, I couldn’t sense him. Now I can...kind of.

Saveron: You sense the carrier wave.

:: Skyfire would be able to sense the presence of his mind but not the contents. If he concentrates Saveron could shield even that, but he had no need to. ::

Moonsong: I’ve heard of that before… I don’t remember where…

:: Chythar nodded slowly, able to sense him now with a basic awareness that he didn’t possess when he needed to verify that Saveron was alive instead of dead after the return from the past. ::

Skyfire: Right...

Saveron: I can offer to teach you both Vulcan shielding techniques, if you would consider such preferable.

:: Whether or not they would find them adaptable to their own situations was entirely up to them; his people’s way was not for everyone. ::

Skyfire: I would welcome it.

Moonsong: ::she shuddered and looked between Saveron and CD.:: I will take any help I can get.

:: Saveron turned to look directly at their suffering Counsellor. ::

Saveron: In the interim, fitting you with a telepathic dampening implant is an option. Or, if you wish, I can provide a temporary solution.

:: Uncharacteristically he held out his bare hand. ::

:: Raissa stared at him her dark eyes wide. The idea of suppressing her telepathy was not something she had even considered. It didn’t occur to her. She had been the one who pushed CD to wean himself off the chemical inhibitor he had concocted. The fact that he was back to using them felt like a step back in his progress. Her eyes dropped to his hand. Vulcans were not ones for casual contact. He was offering her help. ::

:: Trembling, her cold fingers slipped over his. ::

Moonsong: Please…. help me….

:: He met her gaze squarely, and with that contact his mind was suddenly more than a simple presence to her, all thoughts guarded. He was right there, closer and more immediate than any other, right in her personal space, save that in the realm of the mind there was no space. ::

:: For him where there had been silence there was that sudden, vibrant awareness of Raissa on a whole new level, the brilliance of the mind that, unlike her, he only ever saw one at a time, and that all too rarely. But when he did he perceived that mind in incredible depth. ::

Saveron: ~ I can help you, if you will allow me to.~

:: The contact did not have the same depth as the hand-to-face of a Mind Meld, but it was more than enough. ::

:: Chythar slowly set his now-empty mug on the table and leaned back in his chair, eyes closing for a brief moment. His head throbbed, and he suspected that he was being overloaded by the fear from Ris. The solution, however temporary, could at least be a starting point for adapting his own mental shielding. CD dimly recalled his own chemical inhibitor which he used during the mission, and was momentarily afraid he’d have to go back on it to control his abilities until he sorted them out. Again. He silently hoped he wasn’t transmitting those thoughts. ::

Skyfire: I’d advise that Saveron help you first. I can wait, elsewhere if need be.

Saveron: There is no need. ::He spoke simply, concentrating.::

:: Raissa looked at CD. ::

Moonsong: I need you to stay… If this stops you from feeling me, then we need to know. I’m trying not to… broadcast… If I focus I can stop… but if I’m distracted….

Saveron: An external observer would be preferable.

:: Chythar would know immediately if Saveron’s efforts were effective. ::

:: Chythar nodded faintly in agreement as he attempted to readjust his mental shielding. While not exactly the perfect time to do so, this seemed as good a time as any to work on adjusting the filters within his mind. With a slow exhalation, he gave his answer. ::

Skyfire: Alright.

:: To him Raissa’s mind was shifting and billowing, the gentle reaching and perceptiveness of the Betazoid style of telepathy, but now greatly increased in power. She was too open, too receptive, her usual shield insufficient. Saveron’s own mind was like a fortress, thoughts completely walled away from the casual observer, emotions walled away even from those. Logic and order prevailed. ::

Saveron: ~ It is my intention to build you some temporary walls. ~

:: They would not last, they required maintenance and Raissa was not practiced in Vulcan techniques. But they would offer her some respite whilst she learned to build her own. ::

Moonsong: ~ Thank you…. ~

:: The kind of shields that would suit her and her new level of telepathy, she would have to develop over time herself. All he could do was give her, temporarily, what he himself used. Synaptic pattern transfer could only be done permanently by those with a lifetime of training in the practice, but anyone who had been through a mind-meld would know how easy it could be to temporarily take on some attributes of the other. And there had been a time in the Vulcan peoples’ distant past where force patterns had turned enemies into willing slaves. No more. ::

:: The walls suddenly appeared, generating seemingly out of nothing as Saveron copied his own telepathic wards for Raissa. Not the internal bulwarks of logic and emotional control, but the external barricades that kept out unwanted mental intrusion, and prevented unwanted telepathic perception. For a short time she would be detectable only as a presence, and detect others as the same; she would neither perceive nor project beyond that. It would not last. ::

:: Chythar watched in silence, dimly aware of them both. He couldn’t maintain a read on his sister of choice as the wards started to take effect, or on Saveron. His own shields, temporary and imprecise, had collapsed, and he knew it. Hopefully, they wouldn’t notice. Though they were both stronger telepaths than he was, so it would indubitably come to light if they checked him. ::

:: Once he was certain that the wards were as secure as he could make them, Saveron carefully withdrew his mind and hand from Raissa’s. ::

Saveron: I anticipate that the transplanted shielding will remain stable for approximately twelve hours.

::That was the best that he could offer. He wasn’t trained for the kind of redactive telepathic moulding that would give Raissa lasting relief; she would have to learn the necessary skills herself.::

Skyfire: I can sense you both...dimly…. :: He did not seem proud of that admission. Or about the fact that his own shields were hopelessly inferior to them both.::

TBC

=====

Lieutenant Commander Saveron

Xenobiologist

USS Invicta

and

Lieutenant Chythar Skyfire
Chief Medical Officer

USS Invicta

and

Lieutenant Raissa Moonsong

Chief of Counseling

USS Invicta