[JP] Cmdr. Genkos Adea & PNPC Gila Sadar - Quality of Mercy, Price of Compassion ( Part II )

[LT Tamio K'Wara]

((( Timeskip: Present Day (Post-explosion) )))

(( Medical Lab 42 - Deck 247, Deep Space 224 ))

Genkos held up a PADD which displayed a detailed scan of the mandibles inside Gila’s jaw. He peered at it with a look of calm interest on his face, and then he handed it to Gila.

Adea: There you go, the most recent scan. 

Gila’s hands trembled as she accepted the PADD. She hadn’t done anything even remotely resembling medical work since getting booted off of the Artemis-A, despite still being cleared for it. It had felt dishonest to seek out a profession that she’d abused in that way, and yet she felt that ominous sense of familiarity now that she held the PADD in her hands. Her brain worked through the information displayed with the ease of someone who’d done this millions of times, and could likely do it in her sleep.

Sadar: ... Th-They haven’t gotten, b-b-bigger.. At least.

Genkos placed his free hand on his hip, and regarded her with a serious expression plastered on his face. It had seemed churlish, now that they were both on 224, for him not to dedicate some time to her. At least until the Eagle-A was launched.

Adea: So, do you want to remove them?

That was the big question...

Sadar: Mmh.. M-Maybe- 

Adea: Doctor, if this was someone else, what would your recommendation be?

Gila physically recoiled as Commander Adea addressed her as ‘Doctor’, the title that she’d made herself so entirely undeserving of feeling like a physical wound. And then, she paused.

What would she recommend, if this wasn’t her? She’d always believed that trusting the body to heal itself, to enable and support natural developments, was the truer approach to medicine. Too often, modern medicine focused on the faster, more efficient method. That was not, and had never been, Gila’s first choice.

Sadar: … W-We don’t know enough.. We have no basis on which to presume that removing the ::brief hesitance:: a-appendages, will stop the process that caused them to d-develop in the first place.

Genkos nodded, for that was a sensible diagnosis. He interlaced his hands behind his back, fingers lightly playing with his cane, the tip tapping against the ground.

Adea: So what would you do next?

Genkos felt like he was being patronising, and he tried to keep his voice light and airy; he’d found in the past that talking things through with Gila was the best solution - to let her come up with solutions herself. She was a very clever doctor, but her self confidence left a lot to be desired.

Sadar: Ph-Physical samples? Comparison of the g-g-growths to the other bones in the body? 

She wasn’t able to make herself say the most obvious and most apparent test available to them, given what data they had available: recreating the incidents that prompted the mandibles in the first place. It was the first test she would be considering if this wasn’t her case.

Although Genkos was a mind reader, he didn’t need to be one to know precisely what it was that Gila was thinking about.

Adea: That’s not what you’d do next, if it weren’t you, is it, Doctor?

Gila looked away from him.

Sadar: Th-That’s...

Genkos swung his arm around from behind his back and shot a finger in the direction of her mouth.

Adea: We need to determine what triggered these mandibles, what causes them to appear, and then we can know what to do next. Don’t you think? 

She twisted her anxiety band behind the PADD she was clutching in her fingers as she imagined she felt something prick into the top of her mouth. It was something she was imagining, she knew that, it had practically become a ritual for her to verify that there was no visual indication in the roof of her mouth of hidden sharp instruments waiting to spring towards any unsuspecting victim, and yet, it felt so real. She recalled the sensation of them penetrating the roof of her mouth, her jaw dislocating to make room, and her knuckles grew white with the effort with which she held the PADD.

Sadar: ... S- C-Commander, I... Y-Yes, that’s- But, I-

Genkos rested both hands on his cane in front of him, and leaned forward, his eyes wide and reassuring.

Adea: I know it will be hard, but I believe you can do it.

She bit roughly into the inner flesh of her cheek. Logically, she knew this was what needed to be done. Removing the mandibles was a bandaid solution - it would solve the issue temporarily, but she had no guarantee the mandibles wouldn’t just grow back. They needed more practical data, and the only way to get that...

She swallowed a lump in her throat.

Sadar: ... I-It’s a good thing I scare easily, I-I guess.

Adea: I want you to know how hard it is for me not to shout “boo” at you right now. 

(( A short time later - Medical Holodeck 32, Deck 247, Deep Space 224 ))

Gila’s fingers trembled as she worked on inputting appropriate parameters into the Holodeck’s computer. The first time the mandibles had materialized... Stardate 240108.07, on the Bridge of the USS Kitty Hawk. She triggered the Holodeck programme and closed her eyes, her heart already galloping at the mere thought of what they were going to be attempting. It was ludicrous, dangerous, and entirely against everything she believed about herself and these things that had cursed her.

FORCING them to appear? It made her sick to her stomach. But it was the logical next step. And for the first time in her life as a member of Starfleet, Gila cursed the concept of logic to the farthest reaches of the universe.

Genkos watched from the relative safety of the Observation Suite, although his voice was piped through the holodeck’s auditory processors.

Adea: =/\= I'm not going to ask if you're ready, but does this look right? =/\=

Gila breathed out, as she turned about, taking in the Holodeck. The recounting of the Battle of Frontier Day, as it looked aboard the Bridge of the USS Kitty Hawk on that day, was paused in front of them. They saw rough holographic approximations of LT Wong and LT Iko from Amity Outpost locked in a phaser fight with assimilated crewmembers of the Kitty Hawk, and on her back, a holographic representation of Lieutenant Gnai was carried in the backpack they’d replicated for it after the loss of its suit.

The suit, meanwhile - the massive exo-skeleton that the Galadoran officer used to get around the starships that didn’t cater to its aquatic nature - was standing a short ways off, turned towards her, and the vulnerable Galadoran on her back, the ominous green hue of the Borg programming that had taken over it reflected in its displays. It was everything that had featured in her nightmares for months, and looking at it now made cold sweat condense on the backs of her hands.

Sadar: I- I think so... ::looks around:: I-I don’t- ::uneasy breaths:: I-I don’t remember much aside from... Aside from- 

Genkos nodded, though she couldn't see it. 

Adea: =/\= Aside from the obvious =/\=

The obvious being the massive hulk of metal ready and poised to tear her limb from limb, yes.

Sadar: Y-Yes… ::deep breath:: I-I’m- 

She couldn’t quite say ‘I’m ready’, as she doubted that statement would ever be true, but she did nod in the general direction of the observation suite, and hoped that would be enough confirmation. And then...

Genkos pressed play on the programme and watched practically every measure of Gila’s physical body immediately fly through the roof, which was impressive because her resting state was somewhere in the eaves already. He was quite impressed with the programme - he'd pulled a few strings with an old friend from the Resolution, a delightful little Ferengi, who'd happily designed the programme from Gila’s specifications. Although he hadn’t been able to disguise the hesitant fear in his voice when he'd answered the call.

Genkos reckoned Gila would have got on well with him. 

Adea: =/\= Just keep breathing Gila =/\=

(( Bridge of the USS Kitty Hawk - Holodeck 32, Deck 247, Deep Space 224 ))

Holo-Gnai: ~ GILA! DUCK! ~

It’d been so long since Gila last heard Lieutenant Gnai’s voice she felt stunned for a couple of seconds, before she saw the exosuit start to swing its metallic arm. She ducked, as bidden, even as numerous phaser shots started firing overhead. She covered her head with her arms as sparks from the suit’s arm impacting the metal console behind her showered over her and Lieutenant Gnai, as she started hastily crouching away.

Holo-Suit: Resistance is futile.

She knew that. She knew that she couldn’t resist this, she wasn’t supposed to resist this. And yet she crawled underneath a console, trying to outrun it. If she could just outrun it for long enough-

Adea: ::stern, but softly:: =/\= Gila… =/\=

She squeezed her eyes shut.

Holo-Gnai: ::to Sadar:: ~ The suit! It’s behind you! ~

And then, the cold grip of fear, a sensation that Mizarians had forgotten over the countless millennia of peace and societal control. The desperate flight of someone desiring to survive with a fervor that would terrify even the staunchest philosophers back home. 

Holo-Suit: ::advancing on Gila, trying to restrain her:: Accept elimination

It wasn’t real pain - the safeties were on - but Gila remembered the pain she’d felt as a suit claw arrested one of her arms mid-jump and dragged her back towards it. And even though she knew it wasn’t real - that the creaking sound she heard in her tympani wasn’t her actual bones breaking beneath her skin from the pressure, but an audio byte she’d instructed the Ferengi engineer to input into the program - the sound made her teeth itch. 

Sadar: ::desperate voice:: Sir, it’s not working- I-I can’t-

But, to what end? She was sofarih - Kolya wasn’t even talking to her anymore - and she’d never be welcomed home. She’d lost everything.

Eleven of Eleven: Resistance is-

oO Sacrifice that which is dear and let the Wheel guide your way. Oo

She would never see the Rises again, never see the morning sun playing in the curves of white steel, casting rainbows into the streets below. She’d never hear her sister’s voice again, or get to revisit her office at Pozaron University. She’d never be able to show Sil-net, or Vai-net, or Lt. Commander Jovenan any of it. She’d never be their friend again. And it scared her.

oO Violence is the cursed spring from which all suffering flows. Oo

With a scream, her jaw unlatched itself, opening her mouth wide to allow the sound to tear through the holodeck, overpowering all sound around her. Her chin touched her collarbone as wet black bone tore from her soft palate to seize the arm of the exosuit, which had stilled. Gila stumbled backwards, detaching herself from the suit’s grip which grew lax as she reached for her head, tears running down her face as she pulled her hood further down her face, trying to cover herself, even as the massive length of the mandibles stuck from her head like the physical manifestation of everything she’d been running from for the past decade.

oO We both know what you are, and it’s only a matter of time until they do too. Oo

Adea: ::under his breath, so as not to be picked up:: By the four… ::louder:: =/\= There we go, you got there =/\=

Genkos couldn’t quite believe it - the scans were one thing, but to see it, quite another. It was akin to something from one of the aforementioned Ferengi’s horror-deck programmes. Although twice as terrifying because it was real and happening to someone he knew. However, it was filled with fascinating data.

Within the Holodeck, that now shimmered as the familiar black-and-gold grid pattern replaced the warzone that Gila had now lived through twice, Gila fell to her knees, rapidly blinking her eyes as black bone stared her in the face. It had worked..

Tapping one hand on the console, the other supporting his weight, Genkos pulled all of the data onto a PADD, downloading it with a simple flick of the wrist. It was truly brilliant; a defence mechanism in the purest form, and one he’d ever encountered before.

Adea: =/\= Clean yourself up and we’ll meet in medical conferencing. =/\=

Gila couldn’t even offer a response, her blood was still rushing through her, her breath ragged and uneven. She didn’t know how long she had there, staring at black death before her body realized she was out of danger, and the blades retracted back into her mouth. She reached up her hands, to put her jaw back in place, but to her surprise, her jaws did so of their own volition, a muscle she hadn’t known she had pulling taut to close the open chasm that the mandibles had demanded.

And somewhere, behind the anxiety, the fear, the self-loathing, the utter confidence that she was the stuff of nightmares parents told their children to be wary of, a long-forgotten memory stirred.

oO By the Wheel... I was right. Oo

TBC in Part III

JP Written by:

Cmdr. Genkos Adea

Commanding Officer

USS Eagle

G239502GS0

&

PNPC Gila Sadar

Civilian

DS224

As simmed by

LT Tamio K’Wara

Chief of Ops

USS Artemis-A

A240006GS1