-= Felix’s Quarters, USS Lone Star =-
The captain looked at the assembled company, now seated and engaging
with their starter: a selection of charcuterie from across the quadrant
with freshly-baked breads, home-made chutneys and a paired Bajoran ice
wine. While Monkfish chewed his ear off about alternative theories
regarding the demise of the Lone Star-A, he glanced down the table and
winked at Edie who, as the next most senior officer, sat opposite him at
the long end. That would’ve been Tonx’s seat if she hadn’t screwed up
to the extent of demotion.
Burgundy noticed that the avatar of his department head wasn't eating at
all. The hologram emitters in the ship could handle replication and
de-materialisation the same way the emitters in old holodecks could; if
Perdita would eat anything it would cease to be normal matter and turn
into photons, just as most of the avatar was only photons until it was
about to interact physically with its surroundings. The technology was
quite frankly a marvel, but so old and tested by now that nobody thought
about it. As for why the science chief wasn't eating? Probably because
they didn't understand the point of it, thought Burgundy.
As the commotion settled down the synthetic voice of the science chief
was heard over the crowd. "Have I told you how truly sorry I am about
the Lone Star-O, Captain?" it said, flat but loud enough to carry
through the room. The avatar was seated a few feet from the wall where
Felix had placed all the models of earlier Lone Star incarnations. They
were transfixed; their non-blinking gaze falling upon the Akira class
model whose real counterpart was lost in 2400, almost to the day 19
years earlier. "It still haunts me." Despite the unnatural character of
their voice a deep sense of loss and regret came through.
Trust Perdita to come up with a tale of doom, Felix thought, well aware
the gelatinous being was liable to be able to read his inner mind. That
said – or, rather, thought – it was unusual to find Animo in reflective
mode. “Her end was ignominious, even for a Lone Star.”
“Before Thalev,” Regina uttered to Harun at her side. “A most
unscrupulous man. A psychologist. A lieutenant. And, I believe, a
hairdresser.” She whipped an antibacterial cloth from about her person
and wiped fastidiously around her place setting. “I forget the tale of
the O, Commander.”
Animo was quiet long enough for everyone to start wondering if they were
going to divulge the story or not. "The Lone Star was fleeing a battle
when their sensors picked up an irregular singularity that was about to
form. In an attempt to shake their pursuers they decided to slingshot
around it, and tried to fire quantum torpedoes just around the event
horizon hoping that the enemy sensors wouldn't see them coming. The
singularity interacted with the forces at play near it, warped out of
shape and exploded in 87 dimensions."
The lieutenant commander turned to eye everyone around the table,
unblinking and slowly. There was more to the story, of course. Everyone
recognised that an event like that would leave no survivors, yet the
scientist wasn't in the habit of peddling stories as fact. So how did
they know?
Regina was about to speak up – maybe to ask just that , or maybe to hit
on Harun – but was interrupted as Perdita Animo continued.
"I was the reason for that singularity. It was a ceremony among my
peers, in which I was supposed to transcend to higher planes. There was
no way for me to know that an event in the minor four dimensions would
so interfere; they are usually as invisible to us as bacteria are to
you." For the first time since the food was served the hologram paid it
some attention, poking and prodding it absentmindedly with a fork. "As
it so happened I did not ascend. Instead I was transposed into a most
rudimentary existence. Barely a fragment of what was once me remains; my
physical shape in this plane was hastily thrown together from organic
debris around my point of entry, as I quickly lost functions my
consciousness has always taken for granted."
Felix nodded silently. He had promised Animo long before that he would not divulge their origin story without their permission.
A moment passed as that sunk in, but then Burgundy couldn't hold his
curiosity. "Wait a minute," he said, "Are you saying you're composed of
the bodily remains of former Lone Star crew?"
The avatar turned to face him, expressionless as always. "Only the
useful grey matter," they said, "But mostly neural gel packs, to be
honest. You humanoids have precious little brains." They turned to face
the captain. "I believe the incorporation of humanoid memories in my
being is the reason I have such a keen understanding of the humanoid
condition," they said flatly, before putting their fork down and
resuming to look placidly at the room decorations.
Before Felix could respond with an observation about the calibre of that
understanding – its lack of respect for interpersonal boundaries, say –
Regina had intervened on his behalf. “Do you remember each of the
crew’s memories up until the point of the accident?” The CoB was
suspicious, as ever, of foul play. Felix shot her a look imploring
sensitivity. “I assume you do not hold yourself responsible,” she added
hurriedly, primping a lateral clump of her hair back into position.
Perdita didn't bother to face Ms Monkfish as they replied. "Only bits
and fragments. As neurons were rearranged in my formation most was lost.
Some is clear as day, still. Like the fact that Captain Yanu was
planning her wedding while cheating with her yeoman on a regular basis."
The gelatinous being considered this a fact as easily shared as, say,
someone's favourite colour. They looked at the different Lone Star
models again. "And no," they added, "I am not responsible. But it is a
loss nonetheless, and one in which I played a part."
Burgundy thought about splattered brains assembling into a gelatinous
thing as the looked at his food. Jelly-like. A little like the chutneys.
He put his cutlery down with a grimace of disgust, deciding that he'd
lost appetite for the time being.
If Harun was bothered by the fact the science officer was made of the
pulverized remains of the crew of the Lone Star in one of its former
incarnations he gave no outward sign of it. He merely cast a sideways
look to to watch Burgundy squirm, an activity the Cardassian was finding
very enjoyable. When the Ensign inevitably looked over Harun very
carefully popped a bit of food into his own mouth and chewed with an
expression of Cardassian intestinal superiority. The ensign tried to
hide his abdominal reaction at the sight, but couldn’t quite suppress a
shudder.
Edie eyed the holographic avatar of Perdita and absorbed the tale of the
Lone Star-O. Unbecoming of her own self, she remained quiet and
reflective as she played with the food on her plate. There was one
particular and most-disturbing thought that kept creeping its way
forward into the forefront of her mind:
What does Perdita taste like?
Indeed. The disturbing thought was one even Edith Freelove knew was best
kept to herself; unexpectedly even the flighty and most-forward CEO of
the Lone Star-S was capable of some proper etiquette at the dinner
table.
At that moment Animo looked at Edie, fixated for quite some time, before again resuming their survey of the room.
-= [to be continued] =-