Lt. Commander Sevantha Saa - Just to get a glimpse beyond this illusion.
Sevantha Saa
((Dresden Point Set, Studio 9, USP Quantum Containment Realm 5))
Sevantha felt immense satisfaction with her experiment in summoning the title card and observing how it changed the camera's focus. Real Matriarchs of Betazed had visible drone cameras, that was the reality part, but these more scripted episodic dramas appeared to hide them. Every production had new rules to learn so she could find a way to manipulate and break them, getting them all out of here. What they could tell one another was limited, and it all had to be in the characters the two of them were forced to portray.
Luckily, when it came to people, she was a quick study. Morro and Nera clearly played characters close enough to themselves but manipulated in ways to appeal more to a wide audience. Their clothing was surprisingly well done, fitted to their forms with removable layers. These were key objects to note as they’d both probably lose them throughout the episode. Leaning back onto her hands, Morro’s included, she looked around.
Saa: Oh, did you two see what I hit?
Might as well get to the plot while she continued her observation.
Caras: We tried looking for it, but nothing. It didn’t even leave any blood or fur. It seemed shadowy so..
Nera: So, no definitive form yet. Still just thought, trying to take shape. So..
Caras: Yep so it’s probably …
Sevantha’s attention darted between the two of them as they continued one another’s train of thought. They really had been together for awhile now.
oO Cue dramatic reveal in three…two…one..Oo
She was so used to the silence of her prison she inadvertently found herself listening in to the internal dialogue of the two men. Expectantly, she followed Nera’s lead and looked around, someone was supposed to arrive.
Professor Gibbs (tulpa): Boys, how could you do this? How could you leave me to die?
Caras & Nera: :simultaneously:: A tulpa
So this was a tulpa. Sevantha stared at the unfamiliar man and studied his physical responses to the boys. Clearly, he was someone the show deemed important, but Nera and Morro’s reaction painted a exhaustion with the concept, a recycled element that had worn out it’s welcome.
Caras: Really this one again? This is all you could come up with?
Nera: This is getting old. You’ve thrown this image at us again and again. It doesn’t work anymore.
Tulpas were made from fears. Morro and Nera repeatedly faced this fear and overcame it, indicating the writers' significant struggle. If they were in there for the equivalent of 19 years what ideas could they still tap for a good story?
Professor Gibbs (tulpa): Idjits! You left me! You could have saved me!
Saa: …You’ve lost your cadence, you sound desperate.
Unexpectedly, Morro fired the gun a few times, which hit the manifestation to little effect. She did not take issue with the violence, it was more, she knew Morro detested it and felt her chest tighten at the idea he had to indulge even the fantasy of it for the viewers.
Caras: Look please don’t mention the pee blanket again. That was when I was a child, my earliest fear; Trying to suffocate me is still a pretty bad memory though.
The tulpa changed shape. Instead of an old man, it turned into a slender blonde woman with a swimsuit, one who bore a rather striking resemblance to her old face. A single eyebrow rose as she stared at therecreation, debating whether she ought to be amused or further insulted.
Sabamtha (Tulpa): What about now Morro, think you could hurt your fiance?
Insulted, Sevantha concluded the best choice of action was to be insulted, and to let the petty she learned in the Real Matriarchs of Betazed bubble over.
Caras: Look you should know I finally got over Sabamtha’s death six years ago, when I found peace with her mother and performed the candle burning rite. I also had to shove off advances from her sister. It’s all water under the bridge.
Oh no, had Velaan, Vivi, been written as a desperate sister. She was so happy he was on leave on Betazed and not stuck in another multi-dimensional prison.
It took a moment for it to settle in, that Sevantha was now walking in her brother’s footsteps this mission. Someone who had entered a prison willingly in an effort to save the people trapped inside.
Sabamtha (Tulpa): What about you, pretty girl? Who are you?
Caras: Be careful what you tell them.
A hint of a smile touched her features as its attention shifted to her. One supernatural entity with some striking parallels to a changeling couldn’t get the better of her.
Saa: The upgrade, clearly.
Sevantha would not give it fear. Instead, she chose provocation to incite the beings' growing frustration and desperation with the need to feed. Tulpas existences were so incredibly flawed that the Counselor was stalling in the solution because she was busy dissecting its emotional responses before she had her fun. Besides, she needed to give her presence more of a personality, and chose blatant antagonism towards the villains. That attitude had produced satisfying results on the reality show, so she’d experiment with it here too.
Sabamtha (Tulpa): Well well, Don’t we make quite a little pair. Me and Morro, does that make you jealous?
Nera: You’re not as clever as you think you are.
Raising a brow, Sevantha looked at Sabamtha, then down her manicure in subtle disinterest.
Saa: Jealous of what? ::Studying her:: A woman throwing herself onto her ex, desperate for attention? ::rolls her eyes:: Please, have some class and respect for the dead.
Caras: All of my fears are old news by now. You should really get a new imprint on me, but just know, we sleep on an overlooked schedule, But it doesn’t matter because we’re f… we’re not scared anymore. You’re going to starve.
Clearly, tulpas didn’t understand the concept of exposure therapy.
Sabamtha (Tulpa): We’ll see about that.
It retreated behind the treeline, stalking the group, searching for an opening.
Nera: This one’s really persistent. Inexperienced or desperate, probably.
Saa: Do you think it will back off?
Caras: No, it’s becoming one of Nera’s old fears. His are… Sometimes.. a lot worse than mine. We have to get to the car… Run.
Run? Sevantha wanted to talk to it longer, test a few newly formulated theories with a little therapy. Fearless wasn’t her show, however, and she needed to figure out the rules before she went trying to break them all.
Nera: You make me sound like a walking bundle of trauma ::his gaze flicked to Saa briefly:: Don’t get any ideas.
Saa: Please, Nera… You make me sound like I’m just waiting in the shadows to lure you into my office. ::She winked then turned towards the tulpa:: Besides, your annual is due-
The red beam of light erupted from the darkness, followed by heavy steps, and Sevantha’s expression dropped to one of considerably more seriousness. The mechanical sound differentiated them from the bio-engineered assimilation she had witnessed on Frontier Day but she knew what shape it took on.
Drone (Tulpa): We are..
Nera didn’t hesitate in his next several shots. Was his gun’s ammo endless?
Nera: No. Not going to work. You’re a bad copy. Bye now.
The light disappeared. Sevantha stood, acknowledging now they were likely reviewing Starfleet records to find new fears to give shape. By now, they were searching for hers, which only left a few options to manifest that she needed to make sure didn’t also cause Morro to spiral. Moving through the woods, Sevantha winced as the simulated pain of nature ripping at her feet reinforced the power of this technology wielded.
Saa: Do these tulpas ever give up?
Caras: Response
Alexander (Tulpa): Hello again Ay. It's a pleasure to see you. It’s been so long. Where’s your little green friend? That dear brother of yours? Do I have you all to myself? Goodness. How will we pass the time?
Nera: That’s low ::muttering::
The tulpa was once psychologically torturing the boys, this time, the target was Nera. Whoever the shape was, it stopped Nera in his tracks and two more shots rang out. Turning towards Morro, she stared at him before looking back, they couldn’t leave him.
Caras: Response
Run?! She expressed disapproval of the instruction on her face as Morro charged back to get Nera. Wasn’t she the commander here? Though it had been her decision that had gotten them trapped there. Morro and Nera understood the rules of their show better than her still, and they were sticking to the format. As he sprinted off, she looked down, hearing the metallic clanking of keys clattering to the ground.
Saa: …?
Kneeling down, she swiped up the fallen keys and realized they belonged to their vehicle. Had the cameras followed them? Eyes widened as she realized she might have a precious few moments away from the director.
Nera: We put the real Alexander down. Pretending to be him won’t do anything; I’ve moved past that.
Alexander (Tulpa): You can't run Ay. Not from me. I'm inside that angsty little head of yours, even if you won’t admit it.
Despite the distance from the conflict, she could still hear them faintly. These dramas worked differently than the reality format the directors had trapped her in.
Rushing up to the Black Pearl, she unlocked the vehicle, and slid into the driver’s seat. Throwing on her seatbelt, a lesson learned through various terrible crashes, she started the car and familiarized herself with the dashboard. Scrutinizing it, she looked for what she suspected to be a bug in the car, it’d be one of the best ways to get good angles of the boys after all. Studying it, she identified the mirrors as the best possibility and flipped them. Was it dangerous to drive without those? Sure, but there likely wasn’t any traffic coming this way.
Caras: Response
Turning the key, she frowned as the engine revved but struggled to fully start, possibly rejecting an owner other than Morro and Ay.
Saa: Come on… ::She speaks to the car:: Don’t make me use my amazing percussive maintenance skills to get you started.
As she suspected, the car itself was practically its own character and, in an act of self-preservation, it started.
Nera/Caras/Tulpa: Response
The exchange was still happening. Sevantha could have stayed, talked down the Tulpa, but she wanted to get them moving and she was going to need to throw the director off their game. Beside this was Nera’s fear to face and Morro saving him was the desired outcome.
She was here to play along until she could break the show. She hadn’t forgotten her mission, and these producers had stretched their deal long enough. They had all played along willingly in a place where time seemed to no longer matter, and now they were done.
Hitting the gas, she glanced back over her shoulder, lined it up the shot without the use of mirrors.
Tulpa: Respons-
The Black Pearl’s tail slammed into the tulpa and rolled further back, trapping it underneath the vehicle’s body, as Sevantha leaned out the driver’s side window to call.
Saa: Get in!
Nera/Caras: Response
Once the two had piled into the Black Pearl, Sevantha ignored any comments about her treatment of the vehicle or questions about the mirrors. Beneath the vehicle she felt a rumble, a warning that the tulpa wasn’t happy, nor was the director.
In fact, she could practically hear the disapproval of her rescue, which only fueled her rebellion further. Revving the engines and tires, she quickly pulled them back onto the practically abandoned road and sped away.
Saa: So that’s a tulpa. ::She kept her eyes on the road:: How that species isn’t extinct is worth a study considering they’re walking contradictions. I know a nice little spot called “ The Chapel” , an old prohibition-era bar that had a church front, converted into a bar some time ago. Heard of it?
So many lies, her mother would be so ashamed, but this was survival. Plus, she was encouraging the boys to create more world-defining details the writers, who were stuck improvising, would have no choice but to accept.
Nera/Caras: Response
[[To Be Continued…]]
