Posted by Lieutenant Junior Grade Joseph Rainns (Incoming Chief of Security) in Side Sim- A private stroll

Posted by Cadet Sharah Fayth (Doctor) in Side Sim- A private stroll

(snip)

Joseph pointed to his uniform collar, “I’m security, I’m not out here to solve the mysteries of the universe either.” He felt sorry for Sharah that her only time in solitude was with holographic people. “How come you don’t go to the holodeck more often then?” He asked.

LT JG Joseph Rainns- COS

Sharah shrugged. “It’s not like being in the holodeck gives me real solitude, I still hear and feel everything that goes on outside the holodeck door. It can be a fun distraction, but more because the holodeck, it’s not real. A grouping of light and force fields doesn’t make a real person. They aren’t friends, family, or anyone at all. And no amount of programming will make them real. They are just imitation copies of someone’s imagination. In this particular case, the illusion doesn’t help.”
She stared out the window again, “I learned a long time ago not to delve too deep into the illusion, it’s very depressing when the illusion shatters.” She smiles up at you, “Besides if I spent more time in the holodeck I wouldn’t have gone to that mixer trying to meet my fellow cadets, and I wouldn’t have met you.”
Cadet Fayth, Doctor

The inner critic in Rainns felt compelled to inform Fayth that the mixer had been in the holodeck, but that was not her point and he knew that. “I try to avoid every and any illusion in my life.” Joseph said, “ that’s one of the ways I’ve gotten to the point where my head is as clear as it is. I block out the fantasies.” He turned to Sharah. “And I’m very grateful that you did, and I almost left before you came in, that would have been regretful.”

LT JG Joseph Rainns- COS

She laughed, “I know it was in the holodeck, but the people were real, except for that bartender. The programming on that guy was awful.” She began walking again, “I guess illusion isn’t the right word. Example: I told you that first night we went to dinner that going somewhere less crowded didn’t really make it easier, but the illusion helped. Because the number of people in a room, in the end, doesn’t matter unless I determine it will. I decide, or try to decide when I’m strong enough, that the fewer people physically present lessons the strain, simply because they aren’t there to be seen. I’m not sure that makes sense.”
“I’m glad I did too. I stood outside forever trying to decide if I should or not. I guess I decided at just the right time.”
Cadet Fayth, Doctor

Joseph nodded, “Fair enough.” He lingered at the window even after Sharah began walking away. The nebula was amazing to look at, and Rainns soaked every second of sight in. He then pursued Fayth and caught back up with her. “I mean when you can hear everybody, you could just stay out in the hallway, listen for a few minutes, and then leave.” He posited with a smile. “I would probably do that from time to time if I had that ability.”

Lt. JG. Joseph Rainns- COS

She leaned in and “whispered” conspiritorially, “I’ve done that on many occasions, too afraid of what I might do, when I was too tired to face people and their minds. But I was ordered to go, so unless I wanted to get in trouble with the CNS and Cmdr Ballaris, at the Academy, I had to at least go inside. I guess, for once, the stuffy old man was right.” She squeezed Joseph’s hand and stopped at another window around the corner, facing the same nebula. “It amazes me how a change of vantage point changes the way it looks.”
Cadet Fayth, Doctor