JP: Cmdr Teller, Lt Petras, Lt Ukinix - Sonic Highways [Part 1]
Danny Lee
((Flashback - Counselor’s Office, Deck 6 - USS Veritas - 6 days earlier))
Ukinix: Is there anything you’d like me to do between now and my next counselling session?
Orrey: Hmm. Well that is a good question I suppose. You seem to be doing well in most regards. I would offer you the option of trying to find more personal time to relax and ground yourself better. Meditation gives you pause so something a little more active,
you could attend a concert on the holodeck. You have the music, the interaction of people, but there is no weight of emotion there.
Wil pondered for a moment as he nodded.
Ukinix: A music concert. That’s a great idea Jansen. I’ve hardly ever seen music being played live. Except for that one time-
Wil thought back to the time with his crewmates (along with two fellow contintental ring-ins “Gaz” and “Daymo”) at the Explosive Decompression bar on Ketar V, where an Andorian thrash band was playing - right before a large bar brawl broke out. Given the Veritas
was back in orbit around Ketar V, there was a fleeting thought of going back to the bar - but he quickly decided against it.
Ukinix: Live music in a holodeck is a good idea. I’ll start wrestling with the computer to come up with an appropriate holo-program.
((End Flashback))
((Room 04-3417 – G’var/Ukinix quarters, USS Veritas))
Wil sat on the bed, and looked at where G’var would have normally lay. His chest rose, before he let out a large sigh. He missed her. But he couldn’t continue
to let himself be in the dumps every night that he came back to his quarters from Engineering.
The thought of Jansen’s live music idea entered his idea. He closed his eyes, and the exhaustion he was feeling rolled over him. The events in the void had left the
Veritas with many repairs and had kept him busy.
Ukinix: ::Muttering to himself:: So much for shore leave.
He let his body flop onto the bed, before he opened his eyes. The live music idea kept entering his mind. He fought past his exhaustion to sit up again. He wasn’t in the mood for dealing with the computer and heading to the holodeck. But maybe that was
a better than lying on the bed, feeling sorry for himself. He sat up and tilted his head up to the ceiling.
Ukinix: Computer.
The computer chirped a confirmation tone.
Ukinix: I need to run a holodeck program. A concert of some sort, live music.
Computer: There are eighty-five thousand, two hundred fifteen programs in the holodeck program library meeting that criteria.
Ukinix: ::Under his breath:: Oh great, here we go… ::To Computer:: Something that I would like to see.
Computer: Insufficient parameters. Specify music genre, era, and venue type.
Ukinix: ::Head in hand:: Oh really?… ::Frustrated sigh:: Alright. How’s this. Analyse my personal music collection, authorisation Ukinix-Tango-Nine-Three-Seven-Omega. Determine listening patterns, and work out something from that.
There were a few moments of silence, before the computer finally responded.
Computer: Working.
Wil blinked his eyes in surprise, and stood up off the bed.
Ukinix: Wonders will never cease.
He walked into the main lounge area, making his way to the replicator.
Ukinix: Water. Cold.
A glass of water materialised in the replicator. Wil picked it up, and took a sip from it.
Computer: Analysis complete. Vice Admiral Winning Pants’ music tastes consists of music from the late 20th and early 21st century. Favored genres include alternative rock, indie rock, hard rock, brit-pop revival, grunge, punk, pop-punk, post-punk, trip-hop,
progressive metal-
Ukinix: Bloody hell.
Computer: -yacht rock, grunge, post-grunge, electronica, big beat, and garage rock. Choose a genre or sub-genre from the compiled list.
Wil had no idea what any of the words he had just heard meant. Other than listening to the music he had collected from that era over the years, he knew virtually nothing about the related composers, origins and culture.
Ukinix: Aaaaaaaaaahhhh… ::shrugging:: The first one.
The computer chirped confirmation before continuing.
Computer: Specify venue type. Small, medium, or large.
Ukinix: ::Shrugging:: I dunno, large?
Computer: Analysis complete. Holodeck program will be ready in thirty-three point five-eight minutes in Holodeck 2.
The computer chirped once more with a different tone, indicating that the computer’s “transaction” was complete. Wil finished his glass of water, before he spoke to the replicator.
Ukinix: Clothes appropriate for the holodeck program.
He put out his bottom lip while he looked at what had materialised in the replicator. After raising his eyebrows, he tapped his combadge.
Ukinix: =/\= Ukinix to Teller. Hey mate, would you be interested in experiencing some live music in the holodeck? =/\=
Almost asleep in the chair in his office, Teller started awake at the comm call. He should be back in his quarters sleeping after a long shift, but his father had locked the door and explained that he had ‘company’ when Teller attempted to bypass the lock. Somewhere between horrified and impressed, the younger Teller shook his head and headed back to his office in Main Engineering. At least his chair was fairly comfortable.
Teller: =/\= As it turns out, I don’t have any plans this evening - what’d you have in mind? =/\=
Ukinix: =/\= Great, it’s a music concert from late 20th or Early 21st century Earth. See you at holodeck 2 in half an hour. Oh, and uh, dress appropriately for it, let’s get out of our uniforms. =/\=
He looked at his balled up uniform jacket which had been pressed into service as a pillow. A change sounded like a great idea.
Teller: =/\= Fine by me, I assume the computer can whip me up something suitable. Oh and I bumped into Petras earlier, she’s bored. Says there’s not enough to fix around here after being on the Diligent for a few weeks. =/\=
Ukinix: =/\= Sounds good, I’ll let Jayla know, see if she wants to come. Seeya there. Ukinix out. =/\=
Wil grabbed the clothes from the replicator before sitting on the nearby couch. He smirked, before pressing his combadge again.
Ukinix: =/\= Ukinix to Petras. Geoff tells me you were looking for something to do tonight… how about some live old Earth music? =/\=
Petras: =/\= Sounds like fun. I’ll be there. =/\=
((Holodeck 2, Deck 5 - 31 minutes later))
Jayla made her way down the corridor with a bounce in her step and a smile on her face. She loved dressing in costume for holodeck adventures. She had no idea what Wil had meant by ‘live’ concert. Probably the alternative to a ‘dead’ concert. Although when she was scrolling with the computer for an outfit, she ran across something called the Grateful Dead. She decided to skip past that. But it was music and she did love music.
The outfit she settled on was a
leopard print affair that she thought was rather cute. She skipped
the part with the suitcase thinking she wouldn’t need it. On the upside, the walk down the corridor had garnered her more than a few appreciative glances. She should bare her midriff more often.
Wil made his way from Deck 4 to Deck 5 via the turbolift, wearing the outfit that had been replicated for him. It was a
pair of ripped and faded denim shorts, black shoes with white shoelaces
and no socks (which freaked him out) and a black t-shirt with the letters “AC” and “DC”
written on it. On his way, several of the crew had “commented” on his outfit.
Ukinix: ::Holding out hands:: Heeeey, Jayla, look at you! You’re either going to stand out, or be so camouflaged that we won’t see you.
Petras: ::laughs:: I’m hoping for the former.
Ukinix: ::Looking down:: I let the computer pick my clothes for me to suit the program. Look at these shorts! I had no idea humans from the turn of the millennium liked to let their clothes get so tattered. ::Smiling:: I’m keeping the t-shirt, though, it’s
kinda bad-arse.
Petras: ::looking him up and down with her hands on her hips:: Its… ummm…. Quite the fashion statement.
Teller had wrestled with the not entirely helpful replicator database for almost twenty minutes, trying to come up with something the computer deemed ‘era appropriate.’ The results, as far as Teller was concerned, were less than ideal. A red and black flannel button down shirt, a pair of denim pants that were so tight people could probably count the freckles on his backside and a pair of flat soled sneakers the computer insisted were called ‘Chuck Taylors’ in black and white. The ensemble was completed with a tattered black leather coat which, even though it had been replicated minutes before, somehow stank of old beer and something the computer identified as a ‘mild recreational hallucinogenic popular in the late twentieth century.’ Whatever it was, Teller though, it smelled like someone had smoked a skunk.
When he arrived outside the holodeck he came to a skidding halt in the hallway. His outfit seemed, at least, vaguely like Wil’s. What Jayla had chosen on the other hand looked like something out of a bad nature documentary or a good Ferengi holosuite program.
Teller: Damn Jayla. I think the computer likes you more than me.
Petras: Probably. So an Earth concert? Will there be beer? I’ve read it's not a concert without beer.
Teller: If there isn’t, just stand near this coat and take a deep breath - pretty sure I’m already hearing music.
Ukinix: I have no idea, but there better be something to drink. I don’t know much about the program. In fact-
Wil leaned forward to look at the console next to the door to the holodeck. Below his name, it read
Foo Fighters, December 10, 2011, Gold Coast Stadium, Australia, Earth. Wil nodded in appreciation.
Ukinix: Ah, I recognise this composer - I mean, band. ::Rubbing hands together:: I’m excited about this, I didn’t even have to wrestle with the computer too
much.
Jayla smiled, a slow mischievous smile as humor sparkled in her dark eyes.
Petras: Really? How interesting.
Teller: Do...do they fight the foos? Or are the fighters made of foo? What the hell is a foo?
Ukinix: Computer, begin program.
The doors to the holodeck opened. In front of them was a set of turnstiles. They walked into the room, and the doors closed behind them, leaving them standing just outside of the stadium.
Petras: So now what?
Teller: Oh I’ve seen these before - they used to use them for crowd control at big gatherings...I think you’re supposed to jump over them to prove you’re fit
enough to attend.
Ukinix: Well, I guess we walk through those turning metal bar things.
Petras: Well… as long as they don’t trap me.
Teller: I’m jumping it.
TBC…
=====================================================================
Lieutenant Commander Geoffrey Teller
Chief Engineer
USS Veritas - NCC 95035
Capt. R. Rahman, Commanding
V239509GT0
And
Lieutenant Jayla Petras
Computer Operations Officer
USS Veritas
As Simmed by: R. Moonsong
Author ID:G239107RM0
And
Lieutenant Wil Ukinix
Assistant Chief Engineer
USS Veritas
V239511WU0