LtCmdr Jovenan – Keep playing, kid, me and your babysitter are just gonna talk

[Jovenan]

((Holodeck 1, Deck 2, USS Artemis))

MacKenzie: Forgive me, Lieutenant – I didn’t realize that investigating a power draw from one of the ship’s public spaces constitu-

Jovenan: Vitor, uh, Lieutenant Silveira was showing me his new project, sir. Uh, Earth… cultural… history…

Jovenan doubted her attempt of an explanation helped at all. She had only known about arcades for a moment, though she couldn’t tell exactly how long it had been. The time spent playing with Vitor had felt both an eternity and an instant, a point where the existence lingered yet that rushed away. As the only non-human present, she wasn’t sure either if she could offer an account the two officers of Terran descent would find sufficient. Still, she wanted to try and say something, anything that would break the tension in the room. Her cheeks were entirely rose pink over being surprised besides Vitor so, and when he stepped back closer to her, she noticed that his entire face was crimson.

Silveira: I am building an old 20th century Earth Arcade, with games for the crew to enjoy.

MacKenzie: That sounds fascinating, Lieutenant – given your knowledge of the time period, I’m sure you’re curating quite the collection!

Jovenan: The Lieutenant had actually picked a game for you, too, sir. Maybe you would want to see it?

She nudged Vitor while avoiding touching him. Any distraction that would keep Captain MacKenzie from asking further questions or overthinking what she had seen would be welcome. So far, it seemed to work, and maybe Captain MacKenzie was genuine in her interest of Vitor’s collection.

Silveira: Well, since our joyride in Demes I was wondering if we could repeat that experience. So when I was picking up arcades, or games, yours popped up instantly. ::He gestured to the labyrinth of arcades:: Shall we?

MacKenzie: You have my attention.

Vitor nodded to the Captain and turned, winking at Jovenan before leading the way. She smiled awkwardly as they left the bubble shooter game behind; when Vitor had invited her to see his project, she hadn’t expected she would be sharing his attention with Captain MacKenzie, but so far, the change hadn’t turned out to be the worst possible. She didn’t need to feign emergency in the Science Centre, yet.

On the way to the game Vitor had shown her before, the cadre of officers passed by two dolls and a note. How could have she and Vitor not notice them any earlier? They must have been too occupied looking at the games to realize the objects that didn’t belong there. He grasped the note and put it in his pocket before Jovenan could read it.

Silveira: It looks like the other intruder had some fun, and beat my high scores. ::he pointed to the figurines:: I think we all know who that is.

Jovenan tilted her head trying to identify the two toys. She didn’t know who the red-headed doll was supposed to represent, but the other one looked oddly familiar. The brown hair and the smirk, Jovenan couldn’t get over how adorable the doll was. The comfy dress and a large yellow bow underlined how pretty it was.

MacKenzie: ::nodding:: It’s definitely you, but why is it dressed so funny?

Jovenan: I thought the dress is cute.

She hadn’t fully registered what Captain MacKenzie had said when she had opened her mouth. As Vitor’s blush deepened, Jovenan realized what she had blurted out. The doll was Vitor! Her words must have come across weird or embarrassing, but her opinion still stood: the doll looked lovely.

Silveira: That’s me in my Toga… I have one and Al… Ensign Lyara had seen it.

A toga? Jovenan hadn’t ever actually seen one, though she recognized the word from the human history courses in the University, and she also knew that a modernized version of the classical outfit had some standing in the student parties in both the University and the Academy, though she had never actually participated those occasions. She wondered what Vitor looked like wearing one and if it was as comfortable as the Edo rompers she sometimes wore. The doll didn’t seem to mind.

Vitor moved on to remove the dolls, but doing so, he must have activated some mechanism in them, as the other doll suddenly started speaking.

Mini-Alroyo: Eat my dust!

Captain MacKenzie’s brows furrowed upon hearing that, while Jovenan’s rose up. Vitor, too, seemed surprised and tried out his replica.

Mini-Silveira: I’m not superstitious, it brings bad luck.

Silveira: Well, that’s actually true…

Captain MacKenzie shared a look with Jovenan. She responded by wrinkling her brow and biting her lip; she didn’t have anything to do with the dolls.

MacKenzie: Uh huh…

Jovenan: I know nothing of this.

Vitor set down the dolls and gestured them to follow. They returned to the driving game she had seen earlier.

Silveira: Looks like we have another player in town. Now, want to see that racing car of yours Captain?

Jovenan looked at the chairs and the wheels on the consoles. She was under the impression that similar round, turning physical interfaces were still used in situations where the movement and the affecting forces made typical, flat touch interfaces difficult to use, but she had never actually used one. Even flying a shuttle was difficult for her, so she would have been happy to never experience driving with one of those. From what she had just learnt from Vitor, the Captain had a whole different view. The sparkle in her eyes reveal everything.

MacKenzie: Racing game, eh?

Silveira: What else could it be?

Jovenan: The Lieutenant told me you’d like one.

Captain MacKenzie wasted no second to sit down onto the chair and take a strong grip of the control wheel.

MacKenzie: This might be the most thoughtful gift I’ve received in a long time. … How do you make it go?

Vitor had been excited to show the game to Captain MacKenzie, but Jovenan had still underestimated how much she would like it. She looked at Vitor, finding him with his jaw dropped. He clearly hadn’t expected such a major success. Jovenan didn’t always catch sarcasm or attempted humour in her service-mates, but she assumed the Captain was being largely genuine here, and Vitor knew her much better than Jovenan had thought.

Silveira: It's well deserved. Now the steering wheel works the same, the pedals are for braking and acceleration, and the shift goes up and down a gear. ::Vitor leaned and exemplified.:: Only thing left are the views. ::He pointed to the four buttons, explaining them, from left to right:: Track view, as if you're in front of the car. Cockpit view, as if you're inside. Top view where you see the hood, and zoom out, where you see the whole car. I think that covers it.

MacKenzie: Response

Vitor winked and gestured Jovenan to come closer. She stepped next to him and observed as Captain MacKenzie orientated herself to the game. The console made sounds like every other game she had already seen, but this one also played a song and spoke, giving instructions in an oddly echoey, metallic voice. A car ran across the screen several times in a simulated environment. It was more akin to a simulation than the game she had played, though she supposed the historical value of the game console made the experience different from asking the holodeck to create more realistic surroundings.

Silveira: Now you can pick the track and if you want manual or automatic shifts. The auto settings are easier, but the car doesn't go as fast, no matter the track you pick.
There's three tracks: easy , medium and hard.
And the option to do a one on one race.
You have to get the highest position out of twenty cars and reach the waypoints in time. I think each race is three laps.
Obviously you start from the bottom.

MacKenzie: Response

Vitor reached for Jovenan’s hand behind the Captain’s chair, and she squeezed it lightly. As the countdown on the screen ran down, she stepped even closer besides Vitor and placed her other hand over his arm.

Silveira: Have fun…

Jovenan: You got them, sir!

MacKenzie/Silveira: Response

Despite Jovenan cheering, she had little understanding in what was happening on the screen. The simulated ground vehicles on the screen kept rushing forwards and turning in corners that all looked similar to her, and she couldn’t tell which vehicle was operated by Captain MacKenzie. Seeing that the Commanding Officer was occupied with the game, she stepped a little aside and turned to face Vitor.

Jovenan: Thank you for showing me this place. It’s amazing!

Silveira/MacKenzie: Response

Jovenan hadn’t even realized at what point she had taken Vitor’s other hand as well, standing face-to-face with their hands together. Ignoring Captain MacKenzie and the loud zooming sound from the game, she smiled at him and squeezed his hands some more. His warm and gentle hold allured her to inch even closer to him until the space between them vanished. She spoke slowly, distracted by his sharp, gentle blue eyes and her desire to step up and see them closer.

Jovenan: I would… love to stay and… play another game with you… ::steps away, quicker:: But I think I should get back to work now.

Silveira/MacKenzie: Response

TAG/TBC
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Lieutenant Commander Jovenan
Chief Science Officer
USS Artemis-A
E239911J11