Posted by Lieutenant Junior Grade Sharah Fayth (Chief Science Officer) in Arboretum

Posted by Ensign Tabris Asam (Engineering Officer) in Arboretum
(snip)

Geoff’s song started to adjust in pitch and tone, she could make an easy home here. It would be by far the most luxurious of the homes she’s been on! Climate controlled room with optimal soil composition and perfect humidity and temperature mix? This was a plant’s heaven. As her roots started to settle the melancholic tones started to wane until the plant felt something unexpected. Well the fact that Geoff was feeling anything was an interesting thought in and of itself, but when she felt the familiar presence of Tabris it was… different somehow. It felt, sorrowful in a way. Geoff wasn’t able to understand the man’s sadness on learning of his beloved ficus’s sentience from another. Geoff had been singing all along, Tabris just couldn’t hear it. There was a mourning quality to her song now, not for herself or for Tabris himself, but for the centuries of lost communication and time. Geoff had been singing to a deaf audience for centuries and while Tabris took care of Geoff and pampered her, there was no dialogue, no song sung between the two. Geoff, as much as a plant can be, was sad.

Geoff, CFP

Sharah felt the emotions coming from Geoff as Tabris got closer, it was…happy. Geoff was happy and content in the space she had been given, but when Tabris got closer, the symphony changed, it was still happy, but it was unique to his presence. Geoff was certainly ‘talking’ to Tabris, and then Tabris’s hurt communicated itself, somehow, to Geoff and the symphony became sad. So sad in fact it affected Sharah. She repressed a gasp of sorrow. She closed her eyes pulling away firmly from what she was hearing. Oh Joseph was going to think she was cracking under the strain....and he might be right.

The thought was rude. “I know you were alive when my grandparents were babies. But this IS weird. Earth Ficus is NOT sentient. It’s not supposed to be and it’s not a fluke of genetics. This plant was altered. It has not just instinct and emotion, but thoughts. Cognoscente fully formed thoughts. That IS extremely strange from an ecological and botanical point of view.” Sharah finished her little come back and then her eyes got big and she covered her face with her hands for a moment. Then she looked at Tabris. “I’m Betazoid. I’m empathic and telepathic. I apologize.”

She recorded the information that he provided. She would look up the environmental information for each of those and run DNA scans to figure out how he had manipulated Geoff. See if she could figure out how this happened. She looked at the tricorder again, a hypothesis forming in her mind. But she would have to wait. She was too tired and overwhelmed from other things the past two weeks to approach it appropriately. But Tabris was so sad and it pulled at her empathy. The sadness from both Tabris and Geoff nearly overwhelming her on their own. And she responded to that deep need she always had to help those who were hurting. This might not be physical injury, but they were hurting none-the-less. “Your species is empathic isn’t it? You could learn to hear her probably. It’s…not quite the same as humanoids. But she’s been singing for you, her whole life.” Geoff wanted Tabris to hear her, that emotion was clear. She closed her eyes briefly trying to imagine that calm, quiet space Joseph had for her. Trying to recreate it in herself. It never worked, she didn’t have the strength to stop the input but she could sometimes quiet it just a little.

Lt jg Fayth, CSO

Tabris stood there, in shock himself as he realized in a slow wave of horror that his inner thoughts were no longer his own. His jaw was slack as he thought ‘Was she probing his mind? Would she hear that question? Of course she would. He wasn’t trying to be rude, he didn’t have any secrets or anything but it would have been nice to know his entire mind was on display. Oh no, she’d hear that too. And this.’ Tabris went on in circles for what seemed like ages but was only a few seconds before he shouted in his mind ‘STOP Tabris’ to himself. He closed his eyes and said verbally after the CSO’s scolding, “I apologize for my thoughts, I was unaware you reading them and I have no ill thoughts in regards to the matter. If possible though would you please let me know if you’ll be in my head? I have nothing to hide however I don’t want to insult.” Tabris said, talking slowly and calmly as he does his best to suppress any lingering irritation, residual from the realization his thoughts were no longer stuck in his head.

Sharah heard the swirl of thoughts, the man had no barriers at all, they were all floating around in the air for any telepath to pick up. She took a deep breath though, she shouldn’t have responded to his thoughts. She was so caught off guard by Geoff and focused on ‘hearing’ what she was trying to tell her, Sharah hadn’t split her attention, she’d simply answered. And she’d always been treated as less than, when it came to her work. Zarath had done so much to help correct that misconception. Sharah was very brilliant and she hated that her quirky behaviors, caused by this illness in her head, made her look stupid to others. Her voice comes out a bare whisper. “I’m sorry ensign. I wasn’t probing your mind, your thoughts were just there. I don’t enter people’s minds.” And she didn’t, she’d never had the need to in order to hear, they came to her anyway. The only mind she’d ever entered was Josephs.

Tabris started to speak, “Oh I didn’t know they were just…” As he spoke he watched the Lieutenant get more agitated. Something was wrong and he was concerned. Did he really manage to insult and hurt this person with his thoughts? “It’s ok…” He started to say as he could feel, yes feel, her emotions slipping into the realm of grief, loneliness, and self hatred. It startled him and took him a moment to realize it wasn’t coming from him. It was coming from her.

No matter how much he tried to hide it though, he felt violated in a way. He didn’t know she couldn’t control it and a few thoughts slipped through ‘Maybe the rumors are true’ and ‘Why would you just probe someone’s mind like that without even telling them’.

People were telling rumors about her? Her face drained of color and there was a heavy weight suddenly on her chest. It was like the Academy all over again. Very slowly she returned her tools to the tray. She picked up the tray and stood.

Watching the lieutenant stand he wanted to say something, he could tell from her body language, coloration, and reactions that this was deeply bothersome. Tabris had been alive for a very long time and had been in love. Married. Divorced. Outlived partners. Fought. Hated. All things that were bothersome in their own right but this. This was new.

He breathed calmly, trying to clear his mind and process the information , ‘Geoff is sentient and has been trying to communicate. He… no she has been reaching out and I’ve not heard a word. I’m ashamed, maybe if I had grown up with my people I’d have heard? Maybe if I had practiced I’d be able to know what she’s feeling?’ Tabris looked up at Sharah and said, “We are empathic yes but, as I’m sure my head has already told you, I’m quite poor at it. Most of the time if I sense anything I think my head is just making it up. I wish I could hear and feel, but I don’t know where to start.”

Ensign Tabris Asam, Eng

“There are many telepaths on board, I’m sure they could help you.” Sharah would have offered, but she doubted her wanted to be around her anymore. And at the moment the self recrimination, doubt, and self loathing was too loud in her own head to make sense of the noise that was a constant in her life. As she walked away Tabris would have no doubt that what he was feeling was from her. She wasn’t feeding it to him, but was intense: the grief, loneliness and self hatred.

Sharah returned her tray to the tool cabinet and made a long way around the arboretum trying to avoid anyone and everyone.
Lt. jg Fayth, CSO

Tabris sat there, a hand on Geoff as the emotions faded from the room and he was left with his usual lack of perception as he looked to his plant. “Tell me old girl, what do I do? I really must have triggered something but I don’t know what. Was I wrong? I don’t think so. But I also didn’t know I was basically speaking my thoughts out loud.” Geoff just sat there, Tabris unable to hear a thing as he removed his hand and stood and walked to a data terminal and logged on to check what was on the schedule for tomorrow. Morning meeting, refresher course on proper bio-neural gel pack maintenance. And then he saw it and winced. 0900 Begin remodel of Lieutenant Fayth’s Quarters: Ensign Tabris Asam. Not like he could get out of it, he was the designer after all and no one but him knew how it was all supposed to be put together.

He had to think of something while still wrestling with his own thoughts. He wasn’t wrong to be insulted. He wasn’t wrong to feel violated. But in doing so he hurt someone else. And that was not ok.

Ensign Tabris Asam, Eng

Ensign Asam would receive a memo from the chief science officer later that afternoon. ‘You mentioned that you wanted to continue to care for Geoff despite her being planted in the arboretum. We, the arboretum staff, welcome you to do so. Bed 31 has been assigned to you. If you would like to care for the whole bed you are welcome to do so. You will find everything you need for those plants, including the solution for Geoff in locker 19B. If you wish to only care for Geoff that is fine as well, just let the staff know your preference. No work will be done to or around Geoff without your consent.’
Lt jg Fayth, CSO

Tabris saw a blinking light on his antique PADD, he smiled a little as he had been futzing with that to get it to work with the updated software everyone had moved to nearly a hundred years on as his face fell a little when he saw who it was from. Reading it over the ensign twirled the stylus between his fingers as he wondered allowed “No work will be done without my consent” He put the stylus down and contemplated writing a snarky reply as he re-read the memo and said, “To think I thought I was on the verge of making a friend on this ship. Guess you screwed that one up buddy.” He took a shallow breath and paraphrased the memo out loud, “Despite choosing to plant Geoff in the arboretum you can still care for her. In fact please do our job! You can do extra work if you want, and here are some tools. I’m sorry I read your mind but you were being a jerk in your thoughts and instead of working out what went on I’m just going to go hide now… Oh yeah, we won’t do anything without your consent so it’s all on you again buddy. I don’t have to be responsible…”

Tabris fumed before sending a curt reply, “Thank you for informing me which bed and locker are at my discretion. Let me get back to you if I am able to take on the whole bed at this time.”

Ensign Tabris Asam, Engineering