Lt. Cmdr. V'Len Kel - Baby blues
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Don K
Dec 13, 2025, 1:57:04 PM12/13/25
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((Arboretum, Deck 05, USS Ronin))
V'Len reached up and tapped his comm badge.
Kel: =/\= V'Len to Om-Zora, Poagie and k'Oar-€l. If you're available I could use your help in the Arboretum. Our new Xeno-botanist has found something highly unusual. =/\=
Om-Zora, Poagie and k'Oar-€l: =/\= Response? =/\=
V'Len sniffed the air and reached out to place a hand on the large mass. He'd seen knots on trees of course. Great balls of bark and uncontrolled cell growth. This was different. It had an eerie blue-green color which weas quite different from the dark brown bark on the rest of the tree. The large bolus itself seemed to glow and perhaps even pulsate.
Kel: It's warm. Seems unusual.
Wells: ::sharply:: Ne touche pas! ::gently admonishing:: It's best not to touch it with bare skin. It would be most embarrassing for me to allow my new department head to be eaten on my first day.
He knelt down closer to the ground and sniffed again. Rising he sniffed once more. He released the mass and looked at his hand. He'd broken one of his own rules about touching unknown biological specimens, which was highly embarrassing. He hoped he wasn't blushing too much.
Kel: There's a smell, sweet like a flower. Is that coming from this mass? Seems more concentrated up here rather than lower down.
Wells: Ah, it smells like barbe Ă papa, non? Have you ever had the Earth candy, daddy’s beard? Perhaps more commonly known as cotton candy. A self-defence mechanism, I think. "Oh, if I smell harmless, nostalgic, delicious… you hesitate". Or worse—you touch!
Kel: ::shuffling:: I have an extensive collection of fungi from several quadrants. I've worked hard to keep in quarantined, but fungi, like all life, finds a way. Any chance this could be a fungal issue?
Wells: Oui, non, peut-être! This is nothing your fungi could have done. Be at ease about that. But your instincts are every bit as formidable as rumoured to be. I suspect this is a very rare, unusual, and potentially hazardous issue, more cnidaria than fungal, and over time, it could be detrimental to the ship and its crew. I have no idea how the larva got picked up from its nursery world and transplanted here. It has probably been doing its best just to survive.
V'Len cocked his head to one side to gaze at the mass further. The mention of cnidaria intrigued him as these were most often associated with aquatic species like jellyfish or anemones. That the mass could have harpoon like cells made him wonder what exactly had gotten into their tree.
Kel: Fascinating. ::rubbing his chin:: So you believe some kind of spore traveled into the ronin and then infected this tree? ::pausing to consider:: Are you familiar with this life form?
Wells: I have not encountered one of its kind before, and probably never will again, but I do know of it. It is a living organism, one that is poorly understood. ::eyeing him expectantly:: My recommendation at this stage is that we transplant it—carefully—and do our best to provide what it requires to thrive. Do you have any shuttles that you don’t need? Something old or damaged or just thought to be unlucky?
V'Len considered. The Rhine was considered unlucky, but the crew seemed to have a particular love for the little vessel, so V'Len was reluctant to use it. The Oliphant would have been idea, but as far as he knew it was still acting as the central computer for the Compass Rose. That left only one option.
Kel: I have a friend who has just the thing. An older model shuttle with good space inside. The question is where do we put it and what happens to it after that?
Wells: ::careless shrug:: Then it will continue to do what all life does. Grow. Change. Adapt. It’s just a baby, Commander. In some respects, it has grown here, on the Ronin, and under your watch. One might even consider it… your baby.
V'Len gave the woman a sidewise look. He'd wasn't sure he was prepared to be a father, let alone a father to an unknown space bolus. Suddenly Rhodium gave a sharp cackle and poked him in the shoulder. She then plucked leaf off his jacket as casually as a Terran might eat popcorn. He was surprised at the move considering she'd just scolded him for touching the blue-green "baby" that was growing nearby.
Kel: I'm afraid I'm a bit out of my depth with this little one. Would you be willing to assist me?
Wells: I guess we could co-parent. ::gaze sharpening with a playful edge:: How old are you, Commander? The Kel symbiont, if you don’t mind me asking?
Kel: Not at all. Kel is young for a symbiote, only 219 years old.
Wells: Response
V'Len glanced at Rhodium and then back at the blue mass.
Kel: At the risk of being impolite, how old are you?
El-Aurians were known for their longevity and so V'Len suspected she might be even older than Kel.
Wells: Response
Kel: I see. So what do we think the best way to move this baby is? I'm assuming we don't want to damage it by hacking it off the tree. The medical transporters could be well suited to disentangle the two life forms.
Wells: Response
Kel: One thing, how will we feed kiddo here while we move them? The last thing we want is a hungry, cranky baby.
Wells: Response
Tags/TBC
--
V'Len reached up and tapped his comm badge.
Kel: =/\= V'Len to Om-Zora, Poagie and k'Oar-€l. If you're available I could use your help in the Arboretum. Our new Xeno-botanist has found something highly unusual. =/\=
Om-Zora, Poagie and k'Oar-€l: =/\= Response? =/\=
V'Len sniffed the air and reached out to place a hand on the large mass. He'd seen knots on trees of course. Great balls of bark and uncontrolled cell growth. This was different. It had an eerie blue-green color which weas quite different from the dark brown bark on the rest of the tree. The large bolus itself seemed to glow and perhaps even pulsate.
Kel: It's warm. Seems unusual.
Wells: ::sharply:: Ne touche pas! ::gently admonishing:: It's best not to touch it with bare skin. It would be most embarrassing for me to allow my new department head to be eaten on my first day.
He knelt down closer to the ground and sniffed again. Rising he sniffed once more. He released the mass and looked at his hand. He'd broken one of his own rules about touching unknown biological specimens, which was highly embarrassing. He hoped he wasn't blushing too much.
Kel: There's a smell, sweet like a flower. Is that coming from this mass? Seems more concentrated up here rather than lower down.
Wells: Ah, it smells like barbe Ă papa, non? Have you ever had the Earth candy, daddy’s beard? Perhaps more commonly known as cotton candy. A self-defence mechanism, I think. "Oh, if I smell harmless, nostalgic, delicious… you hesitate". Or worse—you touch!
Kel: ::shuffling:: I have an extensive collection of fungi from several quadrants. I've worked hard to keep in quarantined, but fungi, like all life, finds a way. Any chance this could be a fungal issue?
Wells: Oui, non, peut-être! This is nothing your fungi could have done. Be at ease about that. But your instincts are every bit as formidable as rumoured to be. I suspect this is a very rare, unusual, and potentially hazardous issue, more cnidaria than fungal, and over time, it could be detrimental to the ship and its crew. I have no idea how the larva got picked up from its nursery world and transplanted here. It has probably been doing its best just to survive.
V'Len cocked his head to one side to gaze at the mass further. The mention of cnidaria intrigued him as these were most often associated with aquatic species like jellyfish or anemones. That the mass could have harpoon like cells made him wonder what exactly had gotten into their tree.
Kel: Fascinating. ::rubbing his chin:: So you believe some kind of spore traveled into the ronin and then infected this tree? ::pausing to consider:: Are you familiar with this life form?
Wells: I have not encountered one of its kind before, and probably never will again, but I do know of it. It is a living organism, one that is poorly understood. ::eyeing him expectantly:: My recommendation at this stage is that we transplant it—carefully—and do our best to provide what it requires to thrive. Do you have any shuttles that you don’t need? Something old or damaged or just thought to be unlucky?
V'Len considered. The Rhine was considered unlucky, but the crew seemed to have a particular love for the little vessel, so V'Len was reluctant to use it. The Oliphant would have been idea, but as far as he knew it was still acting as the central computer for the Compass Rose. That left only one option.
Kel: I have a friend who has just the thing. An older model shuttle with good space inside. The question is where do we put it and what happens to it after that?
Wells: ::careless shrug:: Then it will continue to do what all life does. Grow. Change. Adapt. It’s just a baby, Commander. In some respects, it has grown here, on the Ronin, and under your watch. One might even consider it… your baby.
V'Len gave the woman a sidewise look. He'd wasn't sure he was prepared to be a father, let alone a father to an unknown space bolus. Suddenly Rhodium gave a sharp cackle and poked him in the shoulder. She then plucked leaf off his jacket as casually as a Terran might eat popcorn. He was surprised at the move considering she'd just scolded him for touching the blue-green "baby" that was growing nearby.
Kel: I'm afraid I'm a bit out of my depth with this little one. Would you be willing to assist me?
Wells: I guess we could co-parent. ::gaze sharpening with a playful edge:: How old are you, Commander? The Kel symbiont, if you don’t mind me asking?
Kel: Not at all. Kel is young for a symbiote, only 219 years old.
Wells: Response
V'Len glanced at Rhodium and then back at the blue mass.
Kel: At the risk of being impolite, how old are you?
El-Aurians were known for their longevity and so V'Len suspected she might be even older than Kel.
Wells: Response
Kel: I see. So what do we think the best way to move this baby is? I'm assuming we don't want to damage it by hacking it off the tree. The medical transporters could be well suited to disentangle the two life forms.
Wells: Response
Kel: One thing, how will we feed kiddo here while we move them? The last thing we want is a hungry, cranky baby.
Wells: Response
Tags/TBC
Lieutenant Commander V'Len Kel
Chief Science Officer/Second Officer
USS Ronin NCC-34523
T239811VK2
He/Him (player/character)
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