Lieutenant JG Meris: A United Federation
Meris/Brian
((Inside Ero’doth Temple, Test Chamber 3, Sonoe))
Watching Taj’el unravel under the assault of sound had been more unsettling than any collapsing door or alien mechanism. They had seen the composure they relied on fracture into doubt and, for the first time, understood how thin the line was between discipline and despair. Holding them steady in Wiecek’s arms had not felt strategic, it had felt necessary, and when Taj’el found their note within the harmony they built together, it felt like witnessing someone reclaim a part of themself. Perhaps that was exactly what it had been. When the crystalline resonance swelled and the world fell away into darkness once again, Meris held on as long as they could, trusting that if unity had brought them this far, it would carry them through whatever waited on the other side.
Saa: Meris? Taj’el-
Saa: My... voice...
Saa: Taj’el! Meris! Wiecek...
Someone shook them gently and Meris’ eyes fluttered open, looking up into Saa’s. For a split second they braced for Wiecek’s baritone to answer, but what emerged instead was their own voice.
Meris: Did-did it work? ::a pause:: Did we pass the test?
They froze. That was their voice. Meris lifted a hand slowly to their throat, half expecting unfamiliar muscle memory. Instead, they felt the familiar line of their own jaw, their own breath, their own balance. A glance downward confirmed the return of red uniform instead of black.
Taj’el: C-Comander?
Taj’el spoke from nearby, sitting up quickly and touching their ears and hair, examining their uniform with methodical urgency.
Saa: The harmony... ::she exhaled:: The harmony between us was the solution, we did it!
Taj’el: Harmony... this was... quite inconvenient. ::a faint smirk had escaped:: However... we did it.
Meris pushed themself upright, slightly unsteady in their own smaller frame.
oO I will miss Aleks Wiecek’s six foot three inches. Oo
Meris: ::thoughtfully:: They wouldn't call it a test if it were easy to complete.
Saa: Before we go further, how do you both feel? ::Studying them both:: Is everything feeling properly synchronized?
Taj’el was already scanning each of them with clinical precision.
Taj’el: Physically, we are all well. I believe I am slightly hungry.
Meris’ mouth twitched upward.
Meris: That may be the most reassuring sentence I have ever heard from you.
They reached out and gave Taj’el’s shoulder a brief squeeze.
Taj’el: Shall we, then, see this to its full conclusion?
Meris nodded, instinctively checking their phaser, tricorder, and palm beacon. All present. All in their right place.
oO Smaller frame. Same responsibility. Oo
Saa: Response.
This time it was Taj’el who moved to retrieve the still sleeping form of Aleks Wiecek. The sight was almost comical - a Vulcan hauling a human twice their mass.
oO I suppose that is repayment. Oo
Meris hoped the Intelligence Officer would return to them soon. The fact that he remained unconscious suggested the Aenda were not quite finished with them.
((Inside Ero’doth Temple, The Void, Sonoe))
They left the resonant chamber and entered what felt like a hallway, though that word seemed inaccurate. There were no walls. No ceiling. No floor that could be seen beyond the immediate space beneath their boots. It was a void.
Meris extended a hand into the darkness. Nothing. No resistance. The absence was unnerving.
Taj’el: There must be something here?
Meris lifted their tricorder and frowned.
Meris: Indeed there is. Biosigns. Four of them. The lifesigns are jumbled. I cannot isolate a species marker. They are approaching from directly ahead.
oO Four. Oo
The biosigns that had brought the team to Sonoe had remained stubbornly out of reach the whole time the team had been on the planet. Slowly they had become clearer, forming into two, then three, and now four individual entities. And yet, their patterns refused to coalesce into a clear image of who or what they might be dealing with if and when they found the heart of the Ero’doth temple.
oO Is this it? Are we now in the heart of the temple? Oo
Saa: Response.
Taj’el carefully lowered Wiecek to the floor. The void felt familiar, like a memory stripped of context.
Taj’el: Thoughts?
Before Meris could respond, a light coalesced ahead of them.
At first it resembled a distant star. Then a silhouette. Then more familiar humanoid forms.
Four figures emerged, luminous, translucent, haloed in flowing white light.
They resolved into shapes Meris recognized instantly.
The figures were each of them.
Wraith Saa: Greetings. We are...
Wraith Meris: ...the Aenda.
Wraith Taj'el: There is no need...
Wraith Wiecek: ...for alarm.
Wraith Saa: We mean you...
Wraith Meris: ...only peace.
The air felt lighter. Not colder. Not warmer. Just thinner somehow. The light surrounding the wraiths shimmered like refracted starlight. Meris could not smell ozone, nor incense, nor stone. There was nothing sensory to anchor them.
Only recognition.
They were not seeing strangers.
They were seeing themselves.
oO Of course. Oo
Meris stepped forward slightly.
Meris: You are the Aenda.
Wraith Taj'el: We are.
Wraith Wiecek: More than two millenia ago our people evolved beyond the need for our corporeal forms.
Wraith Saa: This temple was used to guide our people through the ascension process.
Wraith Meris: And, once completed, it remained as a monument to that part of our history.
Wraith Taj’el: We now exist as the stones, the air, the trees. All that you see or touch.
The realization struck like a quiet bell. Ascension. Not conquest. Not transcendence through domination. Through unity.
Meris studied their luminous counterpart. The wraith version of them seemed serene, composed, complete. There was no tension in their stance. No fragmentation.
oO They are what we are becoming... or what we could become. Oo
Saa: Response.
Wraith Saa: Ah yes, time…
Wraith Taj'el: Time functions differently for us.
Wraith Wiecek: The Aenda are non-linear.
Wraith Saa: We are simultaneously aware of the past, present, and future all at the same time.
Wraith Meris: This is why your symbol was carved into the ceiling of our temple. As well as the symbols of many others we’ve encountered or will encounter.
Wraith Taj'el: We have been aware of your arrival here since before this temple was first constructed.
Meris’ stomach dropped slightly.
oO They knew. All of it. All along. Oo
There was no malice in the revelation. Only inevitability.
Saa/Taj'el: Response.
Wraith Taj'el: We assure you, at no time, were you in any danger.
Wraith Wiecek: You were free to go whenever you wanted.
Wraith Saa: Had you left the temple, your psyches would have realigned to appear in your normal forms.
Wraith Taj'el: We believe the Vulcan word for this would be, “katras”.
Meris exhaled slowly.
oO We chose to stay. It never occurred to us that we could simply leave. Oo
Wraith Wiecek: The trials you participated in are how we learn about other species.
Wraith Saa: Your Betazoid empathy.
Wraith Meris: Your J'naii harmony.
Wraith Taj'el: Your Vulcan logic.
Wraith Wiecek: Your Terran instinct.
Meris felt a strange warmth at that.
oO They did not test us to judge us. They tested us to understand us. Oo
Wraith Saa: It is all quite fascinating to us...
Wraith Meris: ...your united Federation...
Wraith Taj'el: ...how you exist as individuals...
Wraith Wiecek: ...together, and yet apart.
The void seemed less empty now. It felt... observant. Curious. Not hostile.
Meris glanced at Saa and Taj’el.
They had not ascended.
They had harmonized.
And that had been enough.
Wraith Saa: We thank you for participating.
Wraith Meris: We have learned a great deal about your species as well as about your Federation.
Wraith Taj'el: We hope you have each learned a great deal about one another as well.
Wraith Wiecek: And we hope that you take what you have learned with you, as you return to the stars.
Wraith Saa: As a thank you, we have uploaded the combined knowledge of the Aenda to your shuttles databanks. It spans over five millenia of gathered wisdom. We hope that, from us, you can learn a great deal. Just as we have learned a great deal from you.
Meris stood straighter.
oO We certainly will. Oo
Saa/Taj'el: Response.
((Tags/TBC))
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Lieutenant JG Meris
Helmsperson
USS Thor
A240207M14