Ensign Falt - A flood of memories
Tom Cholewa
OOC: Trigger warning as SIM covers child mortality. Reader discretion advised.
((USS Juneau, Deck 10, Clanhouse))
Oddas: ::softly, sadly:: I don't think they are here maybe the nebulae is projecting something, or something else.... I was at Alea's funeral ::stammering:: t-t-ten years ago.
Williams: Then it's safe to say none of this is real… yet why do we all see them?
Tomas took a breath and steadied himself. Truth was had no idea what was going on.
oO Stay calm Tomas, think objectively Oo
Falt: I'm not so sure sir, real is subjective. This could be anything. A mass hallucination, a temporal disruption, even an alien incursion. Without a tricorder I can't get any more information at present.
Ijo: I feel real, maybe I'm here to help?
Any: Response
Falt: All of them could pose a danger to the ship, what if someone hallucinate's a core breach and eject's the core out here in the nebula.
Oddas: I agree, we need information about what's going on outside this room.
Ijo: Another adventure!
Williams/Tito/Any: Response
Tomas took a breath and steadied himself. Truth was had no idea what was going on, but regardless he knew he had to act. It had been drilled into them at the academy, the first priority was always the safety of the ship and the crew.
He took another deep breath. He was probably going to get demoted for this but his vision's, whatever they were, were clearly not yet as strong as the others so he was probably thinking more clearly. He knew what he was about to do risked an escalation but he had to warn the rest of the crew. As an Ensign he didn't have any command authority but he sure as hell could raise the alarm.
Falt: ::raising his voice:: Computer, intruder alert. Deck 10, Clanhouse.
There was no response from the computer and no alert sounded. He could only hope alarms were now sounding in other areas of ths ship. The girl was suddenly next to him.
Girl: Tomas, how could you call your best friend an intruder.
Tomas went cold.
His memories came flooding back all at once, jumbled up and out of sequence. Each one passing through his mind's eye in a flash.
One moment he was climbing a tree with her, laughing together as they got higher and higher. Not going back down until it had gone dark and her parents had grumpily fetched flashlights to help them see.
The next moment she was helping him off the floor after they'd snuck off and joined a group of teenagers playing Parisses Squares. He'd broken his arm that day and she stayed with him until the medic arrived, even though the other kids had run off to avoid getting into trouble.
More memories followed, all in a matter of seconds. Each one filled with laughter, fun and friendship. How could he have forgotten her, his best friend. Tomas only faintly registered the Captain standing and issuing orders.
Oddas: ::to the group:: There is an emergency toolkit and emergency med kit behind the bar, please retrieve it.
Any: Response
Tomas didn't move, he couldn’t. Another memory. This one in a white room where a grim faced man was telling his parents that it wasn't memory supression, but rather memory avoidance, and that they would all come back one day.
The sense of unease he'd been feeling exploded into pain. Tears streaked his face as he remembered an overnight school trip to New Berlin. Finding her in her room the next morning cold. So very, very cold. He had held her, tried to wake her, tried to warm her up. He'd heard himself screaming. Help had come, but too late. The medics had to sedate him. He'd been told later the environmental controls had somehow failed in her room. The fail-safes had only kicked in when he accessed her door the next day.
The girl was Enni, his best friend. Dead for twenty years.
With an effort of will he smiled at her through his tears. Softly, so softly, no one else could hear he whispered.
Falt: Hello Enni.
She smiled back. Tomas didn't know what was going on. Enni might not be real but the grief certainly was. He forced himself to calm down, lest the memories overwhelm him. He looked up, searching for something to ground himself in the present.
The first person he saw was the Captain. Tomas hadn't even notice her leave the table. She was at the emergency bulkhead, attempting to access the manual override. The panel showed red.
Oddas: Hold on! We're showing zero atmosphere in the corridor!
oO That… can't be a coincidence Oo
He pulled himself together as best he could and moved from the table.
Falt: :: heading for the Captain:: Sir, it's not real.
Any: Response
Suddenly she was joined by another Bajoran woman. The resemblence the new arrival had to the Captain was striking.
Ushow: ::sarcastically:: And now we get to see some of the amazing Aria engineering she is so famous for.
Oddas: I - I need to know if the readings are correct or if they are a false negative.
Tomas arrived at the bulkhead door. Enni had followed him.
Falt: ::to Oddas directly, ignoring Ushow:: Sir, it's not real. The readings are wrong.
Oddas: Response
Any: Response
Falt: Short version sir, ::indicating the girl:: this is Enni. She died twenty years ago when the environmental controls failed. If this is some kind of shared hallucination that can't be a coincidence.
Oddas/Ushow/Any: Response
Enni: I'm real, I'm here.
Falt: ::softly:: I'm so, so sorry, you can't be. I really wish you were, but you're not. ::to Oddas:: She's not really here, she can't be. The logic follow's that if she's somehow an hallucination from my head than so are the failed environmental controls. ::pause:: Trust me sir.
Oddas/Ushow/Any: Response
TAG / TBC
OOC: Posting today as away now until Monday morning UK time.
Ensign Tomas Falt
Science Officer
USS Juneau, NX-99801
J239807TF2
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