Steam swirled from the cup of freshly replaced green tea that T’Mor had set on the table. It was chaotic, elegant, governed by the collision of several complex systems. Not like 3-D Chess.

T’Mor set up the board in preparation for the game. Each piece had to be orderly arranged, placed into its exact starting position. The board was ridged, a contrast of black and white. It was a game of strict rules, exact movements, one simple set of systems governed the whole game.

As much as she would like to think of herself as being as ridged and predictable, T’Mor still found a certain beauty in the way the steam billowed up from her mug. Perhaps that was her problem. Or perhaps it, would be wiser to embrace that it was just part of her nature.

She remained lost in this musing for a while, as she waited for her chess partner to arrive.

|Lt., j.g. T’Mor, Scientist|