Lt. JG Natasha Cole - Rain, Religion, and Really Bad Ideas

[Natasha Schell]

(( Auditorium - Operations Center, Deck 5, USS Artemis-A ))

Cole: Are there places you would recommend to someone visiting Ferenginar for the first time?

 

Imril: Again, food crawl! What better place to experience the positive aspects of market-based competition than restaurants? Each establishment striving to outdo the last in terms of providing unique culinary adventures?

 

Bergman: So… if you want a unitary culinary experience, I can recommend ChiggerBurger, where you get always the same, yet it’s that time of establishment where you get what you paid for. If you want a more specific and special experience, I would recommend you to check with the Federation’s travel guide for Ferenginar. And be cautious of the warnings at individual businesses, as pickpocketing is not the only way to get robbed on Ferenginar.

 

Tho'Bi: I keep my D'Ar in my top pocket ::taps chest:: Ferengi can't reach.

 

Natasha let out a laugh, but stifled it quick. She appreciated Tho’Bi’s … approach to things.

 

Imril: I think I’ll stick to Latinum, myself. I already had all of my budgeted credits converted into it. Be sure to have some half-slips handy for the admission boxes by the doors. Doors to places that aren’t selling something, that is. 

 

Bergman: Yes, that’s right. Except for D’Ar, you can pay with gold-pressed latinum on the planet as well. Some establishments prefer Latinum, some D’Ar, so inform yourself before visiting. ::pauses:: So, have you explored any establishments for a visit?

 

Tho'Bi: There is a holosuite that models the USS Enterprise NCC-1701 REFIT right down to the wiring. It's really good noodles. …I've been three times.  

 

Cole: That sounds like a fun attraction.

 

Jaran: What can you tell me about Ferengi religion? Is it accurate to say that commerce is their religion? Is it structured? I have so many questions! ::laughs::

 

Natasha was intrigued by Jaran’s round of questions. Admittedly she, like others, presumed profit was the Ferengi religion. She listened intently.

 

Bergman: ::nods:: Technically, you can take commerce as their main religion, but it’s a little more complex…

 

Imril: I remember one of the Dabo girls on DS9 telling me about the Great Material Continuum. Interstellar supply and demand envisioned as an endless spiritual river that one navigates through their lifetime. She didn’t describe it as ‘structured’ so much as a personal journey with individual turns and pitfalls. Winds of opportunity, shoals of bankruptcy, the Grand Nagus up ahead of the others charting the way into unknown reaches of prosperity.

 

Bergmen: Yes, Lieutenant Imril is right. ::smiles:: Thank you, Lieutenant. (beat) The Ferengi religion is this idea of the universe having millions of worlds of surplus and shortage, where the Great Material Continuum flows through them all like a mighty river, from having to want and back again, as the force that binds the universe together. And your life is like a ship flowing through that river with your entrepreneurial skill and grace to get everything you desire. When one path is blocked or drained, you must find another while navigating obstacles and pitfalls to ease the dearth.

Tho'Bi: ::absent mindedly:: Zee once traded a holosuite game for a bottle of Romulan Ale with a Station Deckhand, the Romulan Ale for Targ dewormer with a Betzoid Vet, the Targ dewormer for a collection of Klingon Opera with the Captain of a Klingon Transport, and the Klingon Opera for a set of Non Federation Trading Routes with the navigator aboard a Cargo Hauler.

 

Jaran: That's, of course, valid. But it really does seem genuine to me. Does it not to you?

 

Cole: I’m curious how their culture has been adapting since the Ferengi Feminist Revolution, I know some societies struggled for decades if not longer after similar movements.

 

Imril: The travel guide I read said to expect to see some Ferengi women going about their day in the nude, still. Especially in urban centers out of the rain. It was rather unclear if that was due to personal choice or family expectation, though.

 

Tho'Bi: Andorians are often naked at home …but not because of gender.

 

Jaran: I'd been hoping the practice of female nudity had largely died it, to be entirely honest.

 

Cole: :: to Tho’Bi :: and I am grateful that you were considerate to your roommate.

 

Bergman:  Yes, with reforms from Grand Nagus Zek and especially with the later introduced Rom’s Women Bill of Economic Rights, you can still see both ailes of struggle. Some women are still more satisfied with their insignificant role in the old order, which, on the other hand, requires little of them; while other women take their chance for economic and civic freedom fully and turn their families upside down, quite literally. As said, the simple answer is yes, you can still see naked women in Ferenginar streets, as cultural struggle to the new order is still ongoing.

 

Imril: Also, the occasional nude man.

 

Bergman: So… ::pause:: …with this, we have tapped into Ferengi laws and regulations. Don't forget to pack the Ferengi Rules of Acquisition, including Starfleet explanatory notes, since you'll be going planetside. You'll encounter them often, and they'll frequently test you with them. Respect them and try not to break them, as behavior like this would be perceived as an insult at best or a criminal act at worst. Understood?

Tho'Bi: If in doubt ::shrugs:: let them rip you off. ::smiles::

 

Jaran: I plan on doing the best I can. If I approach them as though it's the religious and spiritual culture I believe it to be, it should go smoothly. After all, nothing bad has ever happened from religious mistakes, right? ::laughs::

 

Natasha nodded, she wasn’t planning on getting into trouble due to a misunderstanding of the Rules of Acquisition, Bancroft wouldn’t let her live it down.

 

Bergmen: Yes, as you are all officers, your departmental chief will be informed in case of your arrest, and some unhappy Security Officer will pick your sorry soul back on the ship for whatever senior officer will be in command to be your summary judge at hand, and you will not want to meet our XO or Commander Jovenan that way.

Tho'Bi: Plus you’ll be doing mandatory training until the day you die.

 

Jaran: We're already doing that, aren't we?

 

Natasha offered Jaran a shrug.

 

Cole: As a Security officer, please do not get in trouble. I’m sure Braga and the rest of the security team would appreciate it.

 

Imril: Response

Bergmen: So, as our time for this lecture is running out, any last questions?

Tho'Bi: ::deadpan:: Can we walk around naked?

 

Natasha face palmed with such force, others had to hear it.

 

Cole: ::to Tho’Bi:: You can certainly try. ::mouths:: please don’t.

 

Bergman/Jaran/Cole/Imril: Response

 

Tho’Bi: ::deadpan:: ….so that's a no.

 

Jaran: Would you want to? It seems like an emblem of submission to me.

 

Cole: I think it’s different for each culture.

 

Bergman/Imril: Response

 

Tho'Bi: ::puts his hand up:: How would you describe the weather? Drizzle? Downpour? Light Shower? Heavy Shower?

 

Jaran: Obligatory "one hundred and seventy-eight words for rain" comment here. I'd say it's probably all of those.

 

Cole: Sounds like some areas on earth where it rains more than often then it’s sunny.

 

Bergman/Imril: Response

 

Cole: What are you planning to do on Ferenginar, if we can ask?

 

Bergman/Imril/Tho'Bi/Jaran: Response

 

Cole: I’m considering visiting the Ferengi Center for Forged Arts and the Dominion War Memorial.

 

Bergman/Imril/Tho'Bi/Jaran: Response

 

Cole: I’m not opposed to shopping, I might meet up with you, if that’s ok.

 

Bergman/Imril/Tho'Bi/Jaran: Response

Tags/TBC

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Lt. JG Natasha Cole
Security Officer
USS Artemis-A
Writer ID A240205NC4