Lieutenant Commander Lael Rosek & Exile Agent Kazuri: Revelations, Part II
Lael Rosek
OOC: Set after Lael’s conversation with German in the Officer’s Lounge and before the awards ceremony.
((Pickled Fish Bar, Havley’s Hope Colony))
::The older woman went back to drinking from her beverage as the girl seemed to be pondering her words. As she drank her eyes darted back and forth and her head turned slightly. Exceptional hearing let her pick up every single conversation in the room either all at once, or individually depending on how she focused. When Desai finally spoke up she looked back to her, brow raised slightly and a scrutinizing gaze directed at Lael.::
Kazuri: Convenient. If one is truly an Exile already then there is no issue, once she checks out. ::There was a long pause:: Beginning to question the beliefs and casting them aside are two wildly different things girl.
::She set the glass back down a moment.::
Kazuri: I will not risk our safety on the ‘chance’ that one of those you know may accept self imposed exile rather than be beholden to the Council.
Rosek: ::pauses:: He's at high risk of being ordered to face rehabilitation again or be exiled if the Council finds out what he's done. I know him well enough to believe he'd choose exile himself rather than undergo a third set of therapies.
::The woman’s head half turned to listen to something elsewhere in the bar, splitting her focus for a moment but something the girl said caught her attention and her head whipped back around. Sending her hair billowing about slightly.::
Kazuri: Did you say third? ::There was a deeply horrified tone to her voice:: One is bad enough...but twice? I didn’t think a person’s mind or body could endure more than one rehabilitation.
::For the first time since she had been speaking with Lael, the older woman’s stoic visage was that of utter disbelief and horror. She looked like someone who was suddenly nauseous, though Kazuri had a wrought iron gut. She finally composed herself and she face Lael fully.::
Kazuri: Do you have any idea what rehabilitation means?
Rosek: ::grimaces:: I’ve had access to the mind of the man who’s been through it. While I haven’t gone through it myself, I’m not completely ignorant.
::She’d only caught glimpses of what he’d been through, but it had been enough for her to be enraged on his behalf. Her gaze locked with Kazuri’s and a thought occurred to her. Would it change Toryn’s perspective if Kazuri spoke with him? The woman understood better than Lael could about the mandates of the Al-Leyan culture. Maybe she could persuade Toryn--She mentally shook her head. No. She couldn’t ask that of someone she’d just met, no matter how much she loved Toryn.::
::The older woman’s face darkened as she locked Lael’s gaze with her own, he voice growing hushed. Glancing around the room briefly before looking to Lael’s eyes.::
Kazuri: You say that, and yet your very words reveal your ignorance child.
::She took a quick draw from her glass then held it in her hands as she continued.::
Kazuri: Rehabilitation is conditioning. Brainwashing. It’s an excruciatingly painful process. They break the mind, using probes that burrow into the spinal column. ::break:: Once they break a person’s mind, they condition them to believe whatever it is they want them to. ::break:: To correct whatever thing they don’t like. And all under the guise of helping others.
Rosek: ::grimaces and tosses back the remainder of her whiskey, and motions to the bartender:: I really could have gone the rest of my life without knowing the details. But yes...I’ve felt the results of the spinal column bit down his back.
Kazuri: But you should know, child. More people should know. It’s not right. It’s the one thing about our culture that I despise most. It’s why I got out when I could no longer stay there and help them do that to people.
::Kazuri had spent decades of her life working in rehabilitation centers across Leya-I. The last one she’d worked at was over ten years ago. It was by far the worst and haunted her to this day.::
Kazuri: When they started rehabilitating children, I knew I had to leave and never go back. I could no longer be a party to experimentation. ::Something caught her memory and she looked at Lael, eyes wide:: Wait. What do you mean you’ve felt the mind of the man who was rehabilitated?
Rosek: ::blushes and diverts her gaze:: He and I...well, we have a psionic connection of sorts. But telepathic and empathic. We--we share dreams sometimes.
::Kazuri’s brow narrowed and she looked at the girl with a stern expression.::
Kazuri: How? Al-Leyan’s aren’t telepathic or empathic by nature. ::She looked at the young woman in front of her as if scrutinizing her:: You are half human though, and it’s possible among their species. ::Her tone suggested she was pondering something but was disturbed by something::
Rosek: ::shakes her head:: Not even slightly, no. ::pauses:: I’m able to communicate telepathically with other Al-Leyans and am able to communicate with most species by touch. Though my abilities have been amplified through contact with a Human who gained his own through an accident. ::shakes her head:: I don’t understand T--the Al-Leyan man and I’s connection completely. It’s just sort of happened. The attraction was instant and very powerful.
::As she listened the older woman gripped the glass of whiskey she held, even as the bartender brought them both replacements for their drinks. She was on edge. As this discussion was forcing to the surface some painful and regretful memories.::
Kazuri: Oh, I see. So you’re the one with the abilities, not him. ::She seemed relieved when she said it aloud and drank from her glass once more::
Rosek: ::smiles shyly:: Well, he does have telepathic abilities...which might compensate for my weaker telepathic abilities.
::Kazuri froze when she heard that, glass in one hand staring at the Desai girl with an almost terrified look in her aged eyes.::
Kazuri: What did you say, child? ::her glass hand trembled slightly:: He is like you and stronger?
Rosek: Only telepathically. He has no empathic abilities. Mine must compensate for that in some way. ::pauses:: Like I said I’m still not sure why it goes both ways.
::It had taken her a moment to make the connection between the woman’s terrified expression and the reason why that piece of information might disturb her. Perhaps it was the whiskey or maybe it was just her exhaustion.::
Rosek: ::pauses:: I can see why this information would bother you. If you wish to terminate our meeting, I’ll understand. But I’ve received extensive training in the art of mental shielding. I’m quite practiced at hiding things...even from other telepaths and I’m currently on inhibitors, which reduce the effectiveness of my abilities.
Kazuri: What’s his name? ::Her voice wavered slightly and she leaned towards Lael slightly, whatever confidence and resolve the woman had when she first arrived had been replaced by a cocktail of emotions::
Rosek: ::pauses:: Given our brief acquaintanceship, Kazuri, I’m not sure how comfortable I am disclosing that. If this doesn’t pan out, I don’t want to risk him being implicated by the Council and sent for another therapy...or worse, being exiled because of me. ::lips form a thin line:: If he’s going to leave Al-Leyan society, that should be his choice...not theirs.
---
“Kazuri”
Exile Agent
As simmed by
Lieutenant Toryn Raga
Chief of Security and Chief Tactical Officer
USS Atlantis NCC-74682
PodCast Team
Atlantis Staff Member
Writer ID: A239410TR0
&
Lieutenant Commander Lael Rosek
Chief Engineering Officer
USS Veritas NCC-95035
I238110RH0