Ensign Morton: Bloom Tide Blues
James
((Holodeck 3, Deck 8, USS Octavia E. Butler))
Vala knelt on the beach and gaped at the architectural abomination before her. Where she had hoped for a serene recreation of home stood a beachfront fever dream – as if some mad deity had taken a temporal blender to two centuries of Lolagi architecture. A weathered colonial porch with peeling blue paint jutted awkwardly from a shimmering Haliian-inspired oval structure, while half the roof appeared to be hovering several inches above where it should have connected. One wall displayed the iridescent properties of modern bio-mimetic materials, shifting eerily from azure to emerald as the simulated breeze passed over it, while directly beside it stood a primitive wooden wall with shutters that clearly belonged to the colony's earliest days. Her carefully planned homage to the Bloom Tide Festival now faced an unexpected challenge. How to honor one's heritage while surrounded by what could only be described as an architectural crime scene.
Morton: Oh this is a real mess. What a disaster.
Unfortunately for Vala, that was far from the only issue plaguing the recreational program she had already poured so many hours into creating. Her throat tightened as she realized there was no breeze caressing her skin, no familiar tangy scent of Lolagi's copper-rich seas that had greeted her every morning of her childhood. She blinked rapidly, fighting back the sting of tears. In the wake of the gut-punch from Bernadette she had decided that if she couldn’t go home, she would bring a piece of home here. Everything stood as stiff as concrete, including the sand beneath her feet. It looked deceptively grainy and soft, dotted with shells, pebbles, and strands of seaweed. A small sand castle sat a little further down the beach. At first glance it was a perfect recreation of the ones she used to build with her brother during the festival. The Haliian knelt and pressed her hand against the "sand," wincing at its unyielding surface. If someone tried to kick that castle over, they'd break their toes. Just like her heart felt right now. Beautiful memories frozen into something cold and wrong. Many hours of programming, countless personal photos scanned in, all for this mockery of home that only made her miss Lolagi IV more acutely than ever.
Perhaps the strangest thing of all was the sea itself. During The Bloom Tide Festival, the ocean's unique bioluminescent microorganisms reached their peak concentration. This natural phenomenon coincides with the blooming of rare coastal flora, creating a spectacular display where the shoreline glows with ethereal blue-green light as gentle waves wash ashore amidst flowering plants. This year, Bernadette had enjoyed the natural wonder and all that the festival had to offer. This year, all Vala had was a lifeless grey sea that, contrary to the laws of physics and all sense, was not even flowing in the right direction. Usually the waves washed in and out rhythmically. Predictably. The depth of the water was exactly what she expected to see but instead of washing forwards and backwards, it was moving from side-to-side. It was hands down the most bizarre sight she had ever seen.
Perhaps the strangest thing of all was the sea itself. During The Bloom Tide Festival, the ocean's unique bioluminescent microorganisms reached their peak concentration; a natural phenomenon that coincided with the blooming of rare coastal flora. Back home, right now, the shoreline would be glowing with ethereal blue-green light as gentle waves washed ashore amidst flowering plants, creating a magnificent display that had defined her childhood summers. This year, Bernadette had experienced that wonder, and Vala was filled with visions of her ‘friend’ dancing beneath stars and ocean light. This year, all the Haliian had was this lifeless grey sea that, contrary to the laws of physics and all sense, wasn't even flowing in the right direction. She hugged herself tightly, a hollow feeling spreading through her chest as she watched the waves. Usually the tide washed in and out rhythmically, predictably, a metronome her people had built their lives around for generations. The depth of the water looked exactly as she remembered, but instead of pulsing forward and backward, it moved bizarrely from side to side, like some cosmic child had rotated the entire ocean ninety degrees. A laugh escaped her lips, sharp and bitter, as she realized it was hands down the most bizarre sight she had ever seen. The pinnacle of her homesickness rendered as a literal sideways ocean. How perfectly, wretchedly appropriate.
Vala’s shoulders heaved as silent sobs finally broke free. The tide of homesickness she'd been fighting crashed over her, more powerful than any ocean on Lolagi IV. Images flooded her mind. Her family gathering on the real shore, Bernadette likely showing off her latest accomplishments, everyone drinking sweet bloom-nectar while trading stories beneath the living light. Three minutes. That's all she would allow herself. Three minutes of pure, unfiltered grief before straightening her clothes with trembling hands.
Morton: Absolutely not. ::Whispering fiercely and wiping away tears:: I won't let Bernadette win. I won't let homesickness win.
Her eyes narrowed with determination. She could fix this, starting with the bizarre sideways sea. It had to be a simple matter of adjusting the flow angle in the environmental parameters. Her fingers flew across her PADD, making what should have been a minor correction to the ocean physics.
Morton: Computer, implement changes.
The holodeck hummed softly, and then Vala watched in mounting horror as the grey ocean began to pulse vertically, rising unnaturally from the seafloor to the normal water level and then draining back down again like some massive liquid elevator.
Morton: You have got to be KIDDING ME! ::Screaming::
Vala hurled her PADD with all her might. It bounced off the rock-hard sand with a pathetic clatter that only intensified her fury. She stood motionless, staring at the absurd vertical tide, her chest heaving with exertion and frustration. The realization crashed down on her like a physical weight - with her limited programming skills, she'd be lucky to create even a basic functioning simulation in time for next year's festival, let alone salvage this disaster. This year was a lost cause. No amount of determination could overcome her fundamental lack of holodeck expertise. Her gaze swept across the empty beach, noticing for the first time the eerie silence, the complete absence of life. No bartenders mixing the traditional bloom-nectar cocktails, no meditation leaders guiding festival-goers through the annual renewal ceremonies, no musicians playing the gentle percussion that mimicked the rhythm of the proper tides. She had expected to start adding these features to the program but there were so many other issues that needed fixing first. She gave the architectural monstrosities and physically impossible ocean a final glare and wiped her face with her sleeve.
Morton: Computer, end program. ::Voice cracking::
The beach resort flickered but stubbornly remained, another glitch in her catastrophic creation.
Morton: END PROGRAM! :;Shouting, the words tearing from her throat.::
This time the holodeck complied, the nightmare dissolving into the familiar grid pattern, leaving only her cracked PADD lying on the floor. A small monument to her failure. Vala didn't bother retrieving it as she stormed toward the exit. The doors parted with a gentle whoosh that seemed to mock her rage. She stepped through without looking back, leaving behind both the broken device and her broken attempt to bring home aboard the starship.
Science Officer
USS Octavia E Butler NCC-82850
O240205VM3