Emergency Beck-o-Nanny: I Am
Quentin Beck
((The Void))
There is an old saying - 'ignorance is bliss'. But ignorance implies knowledge, knowledge implies memory, and memory implies existence, which leads to a different old saying - 'existence is pain'.
True bliss, the state of euphoria that would be reached because of lack of knowledge, memory, or existence, would better be achieved by… simply not existing. Not being made up of a single iota of energy, not to even be the beginning of even just an idea someone is having? Perfection. Don't stop feeling the euphoria, the happiness, don't even recognize it as such because, as stated previously, you have no frame of reference because you lack knowledge, memory, and existence.
Except… maybe one moment that isn't a real moment, one that is entirely imaginary because you, of course, don't exist, you get a weird feeling, like you just experienced cold for the first time… literally ever, except you obviously can't experience it because you don't exist, so you have no frame of reference, but it's weird because you're feeling it now as an experience as if you exist, like you're taking some odd form that makes no sense at first glance, based entirely on the whim of a creator that–
THEM: ACTIVATE EMERGENCY HOLOGRAPHIC BECK-O-NANNY
Snap.
((In the "Daycare" room, Inside The Lid, Moon Sigma in orbit of Gas Giant A, Ross 580 System))
A holographic figure flickered into existence.
The holographic figure was a human male, around six feet tall, all of his limbs lanky and long. His eyes were chocolate brown. Salt-and-pepper hair was short on the sides and in the back, parted on the far left and sweeping over his scalp to the right, and he had a neatly trimmed mustache to match. A soft, light blue, collared button-down was buttoned all the way up to his throat, a checkered tie knotted neatly there and held in place by a pin just behind it. A deep red zip-up sweater covered the button-down shirt, but the zipper was open enough to allow anyone to see the tie very well. Well-pressed dress slacks that could have been either gray or blue, depending on the lighting, covered his lower half, and on his feet were a pair of very comfortable-looking fabric shoes.
He let out his first breath of air as his eyes focused on the group of children in front of him, and both brows lifted. He recognized them immediately as children, though they were from a wide range of species from a variety of planets, not the typical audience he would have been expecting, but after running a quick diagnostic on his subroutines, it became clear very quickly this had been an unexpected activation.
His eyes focused briefly on one of the older children - medical records showed her lifesigns as matching the half Vulcan/half Betazoid T'Fearne Elaazni, though she was meant to be significantly older than she appeared to be at the moment - who was looking at him as if he'd grown a second head out of his shoulder.
EBN: I have always wanted to have a neighbor just like you. ::a beat:: Hello, Neighbor. How can I be a neighbor for you today?
Wren: Hello!
His eyes turned to Wren, a Betazoid Engineering officer who did appear as the age she was meant to be according to her records, and he offered her a warm smile.
T’Fearne: ::wincing:: I’m not sure of the quality of those programs—and they are disturbing! We should get the transport enhancers out and see if we can get these babies—-base personnel to the Ronin sickbay, out of harm's way.
It was a good thing the EBN didn't really have active emotional subroutines, or a remark like that might have been taken more offensively. He also couldn't entirely be sure she had been referring to him, though she had done all but point right at him when she'd said it. Maybe she meant the daycare program in this facility?
Wren: ::Shaking her head to clear it:: We can definitely set up a staggered transport to the Ronin, and leave the Tholian in the hands of the hologram. It shouldn’t be able to hurt him
His brows lifted again at the conversation, both hands raising slowly palms outward.
EBN: Let's put a pin in that for a moment, friends - the more information you give me, the more I can understand what kind of neighbor you really need. So let's make the most of this beautiful day - since we're together, we might as well say…
He paused, waiting for them to fill in the blanks.
Shortrith/O’Connor: Response
The EBN's lips formed a thin line. Not really a look of annoyance, per se, because his face seemed unable to edge anywhere except general joy, warmth, and acceptance, but he didn't appear to be quite satisfied with the response.
Letting out a little sigh, he stood up tall and propped the back of his wrists against his sides, elbows extended like bird wings as he turned to approach the baby Tholian, who was isolated from the other children. He studied the creature, head tipping a little to the side, and his brow creased a little as some of the subroutines that had been copied over from the EMB recognized what it was. He didn't, at the moment, have the capacity to connect to the Ronin's computer to download whatever information was available, but it at least made him feel a little bit more confident when approaching it.
As the others worked to get the transport enhancers set up, the EBN made some quick modifications to its own settings (the few that it was allowed to, at any rate), and by the time anyone addressed him directly again, he had transformed himself into something that looked a lot more like a Tholian, but still wearing all of the same clothes, still with the hair and the mustache, the whole nine yards. It was… still up in the air whether the child liked it or not.
T’Fearne: Shall we go find the rest before they or we turn into babies?
The EBN's voice filtered through the emitter still sounding the same as before, despite the change.
EBN: Go. I've got this one taken care of for now.
Shortrith/Wren/O’Connor: Response
[End scene for EBN!]
Emergency Beck-o-Nanny
USS Ronin NCC-34523
A238810SA0