JP: Lt (jg) Zenno & Ens Saava - Serendipitous Shuttle Shenanigans (Part 2A)
Cobalt Penumbra
((OOC, this is a follow-up to Part 1: She Ain’t Heavy, She’s my Sister, parts 1A and 1B))
((Parrises Classic, Galactic Cosmodrome, Theta Reticuli IX))
Zenno and Saava arrived without incident. Although Zenno was still aware that Saava had a problem that she was reluctant to discuss. He didn’t want to press the issue before the games began, but he was resolute that they would broach the topic on the trip back. Very little had been private between them at school since they were together in their cadet units and on the sports team together. It nagged him that she wouldn’t just come out with it, but it wasn’t her way.
Instead on the trip, they had busied themselves analyzing the standings of the various teams, their likely strategies, and who was likely to emerge victorious. Saava had done extensive calculations and created several predictive models. She was confident that the Andorian Ice Pirates were clear front runners and had decided that they had a 60% chance of outright victory without a sudden death playoff.
Zenno, for his part, after reviewing all the game videos for the past few months had selected the Rigellian Riders. He simply stated that they had more heart and a fierce fore-guard. Of course, Saava had said his analysis was lacking, as he had intended. He enjoyed being a counterpoint when she went full Vulcan. Even though she put up a good façade, he knew it annoyed her and this was enormously pleasing to him.
They had stopped at the refreshment center and Saava had selected some snacks for them, noting that Zenno had likely not been following her prescribed food plan for him and she was taking this opportunity to correct his errors.
Saava had insisted on good seats and the price was quite steep, but they were worth it once they got into the stands. The crowd was rowdy, loud, and cheering in the loudest possible way. Zenno cheered right along with them while Saava stood silently with a PADD, performing calculations on the latest results and reviewing video of the last matches.
Zenno: You know you’ll miss the action with your nose in the PADD. It’s guaranteed, a major play will happen and you’ll be updating a model or something and miss it.
Saava: ::raising an eyebrow, not looking up:: You know you will miss a critical component in your assessment of team strengths. It is guaranteed, you have a major flaw in your estimation and you will have false predictions.
Zenno: Ah, fine.
Saava knew they enjoyed different parts of that sport. She loved doing the analysis. She loved being right about her predictions. But standing next to Zenno and seeing him rooting for his team had something about it that she liked. There would be no version of her that would do the same. But maybe there was a small portion of her that would find it agreeable.
She looked at the game for a few moments. The Rigellian Riders were on the attack pushing the Ice Guards into their defense. She would never admit it directly, but it concerned her how different the game was going to what her models had predicted. She never had been this… off. Maybe her department chief was right with the estimation of her performance and something was wrong with her?
She pulled up the interim scores on the games that were going on in other stadiums and compared those to her predictions. Several of the games that were played contradicted her predictions to an extent she found to be extremely unlikely.
Without moving her lips, her mind sighed and she put the PADD down again and watched the game as Zenno cheered for his team on the attack.
Saava: It is an illogical choice to keep the Riders’ number 8 in the game. His passing accuracy is below 32 percent. His teammates should keep him out of the drive. He will reduce their possible scoring by 2.41.
Zenno: Raunchy Rider Rickle? He brings the energy to the team. See how they look at him? ::smiling and shaking head:: How can you have played the Squares for so long and not know how this works? ::shakes head, but with a smile::
Saava: What ‘energy’ could he possibly bring to the game?
The energy Zenno talked about was one of the things that fascinated the Vulcan. It was one of the things that made her predictive models so tempting. If she would be able to simulate that part of a Parrises Squares game, she would be even more precise.
Zenno: Remember when we were playing? We could look at each other and know the play. No signals or callouts. And you knew that I would be right where I was supposed to be and the same in reverse. Where’s that in your model, my friend? ::loudly and joyful:: Feel the energy and get with it!
Saava: You know that the Ice Pirates should be in the lead by 6.2 points by now. The probability of this happening is below 0.2%. We might be witnessing a historical event.
Zenno: It’s the Parrises Classic! ::gesticulating:: They are ALL historical! And you are missing it! The Andorian team is having an off day… ::sees a play on the field:: Whoa! That was more than “off.”
Saava looked at the game. Zenno was right… Some plays looked a little off. The Vulcan had blamed the fact that they were watching from a different perspective than they usually did on the holodeck or when watching games on a screen. But Zenno was right. Things just looked a little off.
Saava: What are you getting at?
Zenno: The shuttle hit should have pushed that Rigellian right off the marker. But… it didn’t? What is going on? oO Only those who don’t appreciate the game would call it a “ball”. Oo
Saava turned her attention to the game physics with a new determination, but she didn’t have much time to assess the situation, as the shuttle wasn’t hit correctly and it flew off the squares, and directly at them!
[TBC]
Ensign Saava
Nurse, Medical Division
USS White Pine
As simmed by
Lt. Connor Dewitt
Engineer
USS Arrow
A239901CD3
And
Lt (jg) Zenno
Acting Security Chief
USS Arrow
A240006Z13