Posted by Warrant Officer Jacen “Flex” Flexwood (Security Officer/Special Forces Division) in Alt Timeline - Holodeck
Flex entered the holodeck for his weekly scheduled session and was glad to be there. It had been a long week… and for no particular reason. Nothing significant had happened to make this week any more challenging than any week before, but he couldn’t help but feel like his brain simply a four pound pot roast stewing inside of his skull. Some physical activity was his self-prescribed remedy for the day. =^= Computer run program Flexwood Theta Two. = ^=

With a beep of acknowledgement, the room around him changed into a small gazebo with a single heavy bag hanging from a chain in the middle. The gazebo was attached to a small locker room by a small covered walkway. The most notable feature of the program was the active storm raging around the scene. Flex had always found rain, thunder, and lightning to be incredibly soothing so when he wanted to clear his mind… this was the go to program. He took a couple of minutes in the locker room to change out of his uniform. He pulled on a faded pair of short from his marine days that cut off approximately mid-thigh. There was a logo on the right leg of the short but it had long since become unreadable. Jacen took longer than needed to wrap his hands and wrists allowing his mind to fall away into the routine.

After a time that Flex couldn’t quantify, he made his way out to the gazebo. Working his neck side to side as he slowly alternated rolling his shoulder, the large man began to bounce lightly from one foot to the other as he limbered his body. After a moment or two, he began to slowly circle the heavy bag. He snapped off a straight left handed jab and relished in the crisp pop of his fist against the bag. As time passed he began to work up a slight sweat and his movement started to noticeably increase. It wasn’t long before he was bobbing and weaving, working in and out, all the while the storm raged outside of the gazebo.

Kelly entered the holodeck program and instantly her face dipped slightly into a frown as the words, “what the f,” slipped from her lips in a soft whisper. She tended to treat the holodecks with a more civilian approach than a military one with a first come first served mentality. There were too few holodecks and too many crew to use an actual reservation system on all of them. Instead of having rank as a privilege, she just showed up, like everyone else to the suite of holodecks listed as open access. This meant if you were there first you got to pick the program. If not you joined in what someone had or found a small corner of the running holodeck and adapted. More times than not she laughed at how the real-life view of twenty people mulling around the holodeck box looked like sheep in a barn while the virtual world with the twenty people inside it only viewed it as being on a long beach or dense forest where none of them saw each other.

Her plan had been to run but the weather in the program threatened to electrocute her and the terrain was more garden party than long winding roads. She debated about just going to the track in the gym until she noticed who was in the middle of the gazebo. Standing still she watched her newly appointed CTO waltz with the two-hundred-pound bag hanging in the middle of the gazebo. He had grace and rhythm. Kelly wondered if it spoke to training, life experience, or a combination of both.

Jacen’s movements were fluid, nothing was rushed. He snapped off crisp two and three punch combinations… and they looked effortless, rhythmic even. He was so lost in his own mind that he never noticed he was not alone until he heard a voice from behind him. He wasn’t sure who was here, nor how long they’d been watching. He made another half-circle around the bag finishing another combination before stopping and resting his right hand on the chain supporting the bag as he turned his attention to his company.

Flex

“Interesting set up for a holodeck,” she stated gesturing around. “Has the I want to take off your head and then engage in high tea with cucumber sandwiches vibe,” she gestured to the bag and then gazebo, “only you don’t look like the type that eats cucumber and cream cheese sandwiches.” Her smile indicated she found humor in his choice of programs but also was intrigued. Most people were far more complex than their normal personalities presented to the world. Jacen was no different. He was the perfect officer with the perfect record but no one was that transparent. Behind his perfect record was a story of someone who rose through the ranks getting his hands dirty and working hard. It was why Kelly had requested him to fill the vacant slot she had on her ship. Finding officers was easy. Finding officers that worked hard alongside everyone in the crew regardless of rank was more difficult. Jacen seemed to easily fill this role.

“You learn your moves from brawling on shore leave or training?” The comment was not a slur but more an observation. Jacen had not gone the traditional route in Starfleet to get where he was standing now. For what little she knew of boxing, Jacen seemed to be marrying trained skill and ingenuity. It interested her to see where he had achieved his skills.

Kelly CO