Lieutenant Amelia Semara - Entrenched Beliefs

[Max]

(( Aft Compartment, Shuttlecraft 4, departing Khitomer ))

Amelia was thoroughly enjoying playing dress-up with Ras in the back of the shuttle.  There really wasn't another option.  Be awkward?  Be terrified?  The alternatives all seemed depressing, so why not take every chance for a silly joke and to devolve into fits of giggles every time she made eye contact with Talia - who, truthfully, was enjoying it at least as much.

What other possible reason could there be that the lacey black sensor-spoofing garments she just replicated needed to be so... accomodating?

Semara: :: A tilted smile. :: You'll need to put these on. :: Grinning bigger. :: Think of it as helpin' you with your method actin'.  I'll give you two a moment a' privacy.  I'll find some makeup, unless you need help with somethin' else, Doc?

She smirked at Talia, appreciating the irony that yes, she had already seen it all.

Then something shifted in the view out the window in the front past the silhouettes of Michaels and Torado, pulling Amelia's eyes.  Spires slowly emerged through the pink mist, the shape of the ship crisping up as they got closer.  When she turned back, her smile was a little lessened, and she eyed Ras again.  This needed to work.  And fast.

Ras snatched the garments away, hording them along with all the residue of self-respect he still had.

Ohnari: Alright Ras arms out, we're going to attach the prosthetics, and then on go the magic spy underwear. Amelia? We need hair and uniform replication. He's going to need a little more room up top...

Amelia was all giggles.  Normally she wasn't one to relish another's discomfort so much - especially someone she liked so much - but truth be told he put himself in this absurd situation, and she was just doing her best to make sure he got out of it, too.  Might as well enjoy it.  Besides, she had a few ideas how to make it up to him later...

Showing admirable discipline by not indulging her curiosity, she turned away to the replicator again.  Wig and uniform.  Neither ought to be hard.

El’Heem: This cup size seems a bit indulgent. ::glancing with annoyed eyes towards Amelia who was working on the last of the ensemble:: What do you think Amelia? Perky enough? ::grumbling:: I hope you’re happy with yourselves.

But if she was being practically asked to do quality inspection?  She cast a look over her shoulder while the replicator whirred, eyes moving demurely before a huge smile terraformed her face.

Semara: I think it gives you a lovely shape...  Balances out all that height.  :: A neverending smirk. ::

She turned back to start on the wig, putting the neatly-folded uniform on top of a console.  He could pout all he liked (she knew that's what he was doing inside, even if not on the outside), but it was true.  She'd never let him be anything other than pretty if they were doing this.

What color was it Talia said for the wig?  Right.  Red!  Amelia grinned again.  Why not with full, lucious curls to go with?

Ohnari: And tada!! ::beaming, with a jazz hand flourish:: You wanna do a quick jump and test out the bonding material? ::leaning forward:: Maybe a little shake? ::catching the color his eyes were currently displaying, she straightened and cleared her throat.:: Um..or not. I'm sure it's fine...Now hold still; I'm going to inject some bio-gel that will help soften your angular features. It will dissolve within twelve hours of injection.

Which reminded Amelia.  He'd need makeup, too.  She studied him for a moment, imagining black pencil around the eyes and a silver metallic-flake eyeshadow to act like natural mirrors of the chromatophores in his eyes.  A dark but faint purple blush for the ridges along his cheeks.  Maybe something a little lighter for the lips.  Maybe a faint white - subtle, but delicious like one of the few mushroom species that grew back in Nantahala.

His head snapped up and immediately caught her staring, hand already passing the wig along to Talia.  She just grinned a little too mischeviously, and started prepping the kit for him.

Ohnari: ::snorting:: This is so not what I pictured doing today...

Semara: Me neither. :: Sitting next to Ras with a lapful of makeup. :: Now we can't forget the finishin' touches.  :: Beat :: If you'll allow me...

She uncorked the first color blend, and with no complaint carefully started to apply her grand design on his face.  It was going to be easier for her steady, practiced hand than for him to self-apply, but she didn't expect the shock of sudden intimacy having her fingers on his cheek to help steady her hand as she elevated the getup to the final levels.

El'Heem: I’m glad you’re proud of what you’ve done to me. I hope this image haunts you forever. Because if I’m doing this ::attempting to raise his voice an octave or two, and failing:: I’m doing this.

Warm laughter poured out of her in response to him finally laughing about it.  See?  It was funny.

Michaels: Amelia. Talia. Ras. You are going to want to see this.

She glanced towards the front.

Ohnari: Go on, Amelia. We'll finish up and join in a moment.

Turning back to Talia, she passed the makeup over like it was precious and delicate.  She was already smirking again.

Semara: Now, just remember, a lady always stands with good posture.  No slouching or hidin' from you.  You're a proud, indepedent woman.

El'Heem: Ha Ha. Very funny. I hope you like woman too because this get up is going to stick around an hour longer every time you crack a joke.

She tilted her chin as her shoulder was already turning around, keeping her eyes on him until the last possible moment.

Semara: :: Still giving a glittering grin. :: Oh, I should only be so lucky...

Roughly two steps took her into the forward compartment, and took a breath when she saw the dark ship getting bigger and bigger in the window.  The scale if it played with her sense of distance.

Michaels: I was unaware you were there, Amelia. :: turning back to the front. :: Our new found friends appear to have complete control over the nebula. That requires an immense amount of energy and, unless they have mastered matter to energy conversion, there is only one feasible source of that energy; the star. :: beat :: I suspect that the nebula, at its core, is actually a form of Dyson Sphere constructed of cables rather than plates.

Her features stilled a little.  Complete control over a nebula was a hell of a thing.  Speculating at a Dyson sphere was massive.  She didn't have the capacity for mental math the Vulcan did, but it did seem  like a possible solution for the energy requirements.  Not necessarily the only one, though.

Semara: It's possible.  Seems like the 'cables' can absorb all kinds a' energy from all kinds a' sources, so why not a sun?  I s'pect the real question isn't power, but command and control.  There must be somethin' like trillions times trillions a' filaments in a nebula this big.  Let's keep an open eye for how they do it, even if it doesn't match that theory.

Something made Lera slump and frown.  It felt like the woman's whole self was twisting another direction, like she might cower in that chair if she could.  Amelia made a note to check in with her after all this, wondering if some of it had to do with what she heard had happened.

Michaels: Amelia. I am concerned on behalf of Ras. It seems logical to me that any society that heavily favors females over males would have laws to enforce that system. Quite probably laws to punish male insubordination or pretending to be female. :: Lera turned toward the back of the shuttle to face Amelia directly. :: It follows that those laws would prescribe severe punishments which might include a death penalty. If our hosts decide that we are subject to their laws... Perhaps bringing Ras along was a non-trivial mistake.

No kidding.  Luckily for Lera, Amelia wasn't the sort to get her uniform in a twist over what another officer might interpret as questioning orders.  Not that Ras coming was her order.  He'd volunteered.  Naxell apparently was convinced.  She could see the reason even if she didn't like it: they were going in painfully short-handed for a two-pronged mission.  And Ras wanted to save his friend.  As far as she could see, this ruse was their best shot at Ras actually being able to do his job.

Still, there were a lot of "seems logical" and "probably" and "if" doing some very heavy lifting in Lera's complaint.  She chewed on it a moment.

Semara: I hear ya...

She drew a breath, but the marine was ahead of her.

Torado: I mean, maybe it's good they figure him out.

Sometimes, being an empath meant literally hearing an idea when it lit up.  The glissandoing chime of feeling made the corners of her eyes crease.

Michaels: Response

Semara: Good how, Lieutenant?

Torado: Not good, but useful. Maybe they take him the same place they took Matthews, and then we bust ‘em both out.

The smile blossomed a shade, and she nodded.

Semara: Then that's our contigency.  Work up an extraction plan, but we try diplomacy first.  :: Beat, grinning a little bigger at Michaels :: For all they know, dressin' up Ras is our way of sanctifyin' a man who's demonstrated his intellect and prowess and worthiness to be among women... And to lay a finger on 'em will anger us somethin' fierce.

Torado / Michaels: Response

The texture on the hull of the ship was getting clearer by the moment, conduits running under the hull like veins under the skin.  She stared at it a moment, empathically feeling the mass of life aboard becoming more definite.  How priveledged and superior they must believe themselves to think they could just pluck a man off the hull of his own ship.  That could be useful...

Semara: On ancient Betazed, they thought men lacked the telepathic strength of women.  You can read scientific treatices even from the early space age that confidently states a man's ability averaged as much as ten times less than an average woman's.  And you might start to believe readin' it yourself...  :: Beat :: Only, turns out they didn't even bother to test a statistically significant population of men back then.  When someone finally did, the number dropped to fifty percent. :: Beat, a growing smile. :: And then someone realized that's because men didn't get the telepathic education women did.  When they did, it dropped to a ten percent difference on average. :: Looking to her side at Michaels :: Now there's studies that say even those differences could be evened out with trainin' appropriate for the developmental differences of male neurology.  :: Beat, Looking back out the window. :: That's the problem with entrenched beliefs.  Tend to blind you to the possibilities.  Don't count "Rasha" out just yet...

She couldn't help but grinning a little bigger just for herself.  If men weren't even worth speaking to, who could imagine they'd have the intelligence to look so convincingly like a woman?  Maybe they didn't even have a notion of drag.

Torado / Michaels: Response

The portal for the ship's shuttlebay was visible as a little lip of light almost biolumiscent in quality.  Markers invisible to the eye but bright in the UV spectrum on sensors gave the impression of flight directions, guiding them in.  Like the way a flower guided its pollinators in to the nectar.

Semara: Either way, we're all at risk 'less we can figure out how to escape this nebula.  Extraction ain't gonna work without an escape plan, and diplomacy'll go a lot easier if we ain't helpless.  If they'll help us, great.  If not... You've got your work cut out either way, Lieutenant Michaels.

She offered a small smile, letting the subtle shift to using the Vulcan's rank show that Amelia needed Lera's help and her singular mind focused on one problem at a time.

Torado / Michaels: Response

The shape of the lights on the hull slowly resolved as their approach came into the final vector.  Movement indicated a bay opening to receive them.  A subtle churn inside her ears sloshed in tandem with an alert lighting.  They were in a tractor beam.

Semara: :: Knocking on the bulkhead to aft. :: We're comin' in.  Let's all be our most charmin' selves...

Looking back, she caught a glimpse of Ras all glammed up, and couldn't help but give the biggest smile.

Torado / Michaels / El'Heem / Ohnari: Response

Tag / TBC...

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Lieutenant Amelia Magnolia Semara

Intelligence Officer

USS Khitomer - NCC-62400

A239710MA0