Lt. JG. Gnai - A Sudden Feeling Of Slight Inadequacy Has Just Arisen
Lich
(( Holodeck 2 - Deck 2, USS Artemis-A ))
Whatever Gnai had been expecting to see when it entered the holodeck to greet Ens. Imril (who had invited it to start their project of attempting to recreate worlds of the past in holodeck format), the ensign floating in space had not been at the top of the list. Upon further inspection, they were not exactly floating, merely standing, supported by some invisible structure in the holodeck, and surrounded on every side by representations of the quadrant.
A few of the stars glowed brighter than the others, connected by a smooth line that swerved this way and that across the systems, some of which Gnai recognized from its own recent travels aboard the Artemis, others that it only knew from their relative position in the starcharts it had studied. Perhaps some record of where Ens. Imril had visited before?
Gnai: Hello Ensign, is this interrupting anything?
Imril: Hello, Lieutenant. Come on in.
At their invitation, Gnai did just that, somewhat giddy at the prospect of stepping out into space, this time without any of the fear of decompression or Changelings, like it had experienced just before the horrors of Frontier Day. It had seemed like enough of a horror then, being spaced and then deliberately spacing - and killing - its Changling attacker. But in comparison to what followed, that truly barely registered as a minor fright.
Even if it knew that it was just an illusion, its tendrils flared out within its suit, flashing quickly and brightly with delight and joy the moment that it had crossed the threshold into the stars. When the door to the holodeck vanished, fully enveloping the two of them again in space, it couldn’t contain its excitement anymore.
Gnai: This is… this is absolutely spectacular.
Imril: Oh, this? It's just an attempt to visualize my own travels through the galaxy.
It bobbed in its tank, glad that its initial guess had been right.
Gnai: You’ve traveled far more than this has… ::pointing to where Imril joined the Artemis, the Meirashi homeworld:: These points are shared, but before your arrival, while this was aboard, the Artemis stopped here ::pointing to Betazed, where it had been sent from the Academy to join up with the ship, before being snapped by CloQ into the past:: and here ::pointing to the Bajoran system::.
Technically, Gnai supposed it could count Romulus amongst its travels as well, as it had been snapped there into the past, and then forced to assassinate a Romulan senator, but that might take too long to explain.
Imril: Response?
Gnai: Then the ship got caught up in the Badlands ::pointing to it, nearby to Bajor::, before heading to Earth for Frontier Day…
It shuddered within its tank slightly, tendrils flashing with all sorts of negative emotion, writhing around its bell.
Imril: Response
Thinking back to that day was deeply unpleasant. Watching its own tank kill others, and then turn its fists upon itself still played on repeat some nights in Gnai’s nightmares. It didn’t know exactly how to react to Ens. Imril’s words, except to express a similar pain.
Gnai: This also… doesn’t enjoy reliving those memories. ::long pause:: But after an extended shore leave then… it wasn’t long before you caught up with the ship’s travels. ::pointing to the Meirashi homeworld::
Outside of that, Gnai had only ever been on Galador II. It had gone straight to the Academy on Earth once it left its home planet, and in the face of all the various travels that Ens. Imril had done, it felt somewhat… perhaps uncultured? Undertraveled at the very least.
Imril: Response
Gnai: Thank you for letting this relive some of its travels, even if not all the memories are pleasant. ::flashing with gratitude, before switching gears, now curious again:: What were your travels like, before the Artemis? ::pointing to Bajor:: This only got to experience a bit of the wilderness on Bajor… and a hospital. None of the cities, or anything like that.
It really hoped that Ens. Imril wouldn’t poke further about the hospital. That tricorder training session was best left to the past, as while it found revisiting Frontier Day scary for the obvious reasons, it was hard to justify being almost equally afraid of the captain’s ire after that whole fiasco. Well, maybe not almost equally, but it was still frankly embarrassing how much her reaction had set the fear of being airlocked into Gnai.
Imril: Response
Tags/TBC :)
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