Lieutenant JG Meris: The Unseen Voice

[Meris/Brian]

((The Nexus Gallery, Deep Space 14))

 

Meris had followed Naledi deeper into the exhibit expecting a shared experience shaped by intention, only to find themself quietly recalibrating as Naledi moved through the space with a purpose that felt both distant and precise. What began as discomfort and disorientation had shifted into something far more personal, the art drawing out memory rather than simply presenting meaning. In learning to experience the exhibit through Naledi’s perspective, Meris had found themself pulled into something unexpectedly intimate, and now, with that understanding in hand, they chose to offer something in return.

 

Meris slowed as they approached the rotating sculpture, adjusting their orientation with careful control. The piece turned in quiet balance before them, its materials catching the ambient light in soft transitions - wood, chitin, stone, alloy, nacre. Distinct elements arranged as though striving toward unity.

 

Meris: I wanted to see "Five Voices, One World". I could tell you wanted to say something when I mentioned it earlier in the turbolift. Now's your chance.

 

Naledi: Tick Snap Pop Hiss... The Title is incorrect.

 

Meris blinked once, their head tilting slightly as they looked back at the piece, then to Naledi.

 

Meris: How's that?

 

Naledi: Tick Snap Pop Hiss Crack... This piece was commissioned as an anniversary commemoration of the destruction of its homeworld. That’s back when there were not five races of Xindi.

 

Meris’s gaze lingered on the sculpture, searching it again as if something might reveal itself under closer inspection. But the shift wasn’t in the piece - it was in Naledi. There was a subtle change in tone, in stillness, something held tightly beneath the surface.

 

oO Something is wrong. I should proceed carefully. Oo

 

Meris: Not five?

 

Naledi: Tick Snap Pop Crick Snap... People seldom remember what they cannot see. They think about the materials, the intentions. They forget the casing. This piece of art has always been exposed to air. The home of the Avians, who remained on Xindus until the very end. Who died with the planet.

 

Meris stilled. Their eyes moved across the sculpture once more, but this time they were not looking at what was present. They were looking for what was missing. For the absence that had gone unnoticed until it had been named.

 

Slowly, they turned their attention back to Naledi.

 

There it was - the tension held in stillness, the subtle movement of their palps, the way their focus lingered not on the sculpture, but somewhere beyond it. Not instruction. Not demonstration.

 

Something remembered.

 

oO This is not about the art. This is about what was lost. Oo

 

The pilot’s posture softened, just slightly. Instinct pulled them forward, a quiet urge to close the distance, to offer comfort in the way that felt most natural to them but they stopped themself.

 

oO Let Naledi choose the terms. Oo

 

Meris drew in a slow breath, grounding themself.

 

Meris: That's... terrible. I'm sorry, I didn't know there had once been six species of Xindi. I've only recently taken an interest in your people, and most of what I've studied has focused on the Insectoids. I hadn't come across any mention of an Avian species.

 

Naledi: Response.

 

Meris inclined their head slightly, listening with full attention, allowing Naledi’s response to settle without interruption.

 

Meris: They were lost when the homeworld was destroyed during the Xindi Civil War... so they've been gone for nearly four centuries?

 

Naledi: Response.

 

Silence settled briefly between them, not empty, but deliberate. Meris let it remain, resisting the instinct to fill it. Their gaze returned to the sculpture, tracing its form again with new understanding.

 

oO It is not incomplete. It remembers something that is no longer there. Oo

 

Their hands remained still at their sides, fingers tightening slightly before relaxing again.

 

Meris: I apologize if my interest in this piece causes you pain.

 

There was a measured pause from the J’naii Helmsperson.

 

Meris: If you'd prefer, we can move on... or take a break. Somewhere quieter.

 

They looked back to Naledi, steady and present, their tone softer now, more deliberate.

 

Meris: Whatever you need. ::a pause:: I’m here for you.

 

Naledi: Response.

 

((Tags/TBC))

 

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Lieutenant JG Meris

Helmsperson

USS Thor

A240207M14