Posted by Lieutenant Junior Grade Solal Segal (Oncology and Immunology) in Side sim - The Holo Library

Posted by Lieutenant Junior Grade Achilleas Petrakos (Chief Science Officer) in Side sim - The Holo Library

Posted by Lieutenant Junior Grade Solal Segal (Oncology and Immunology) in Side sim - The Holo Library
Posted by… suppressed (12) by the Post Ghost! 👻
Down time was, oddly, one of Solal’s least favorite things. Generally, he preferred being busy. But he hadn’t enough to do lately, and that had resulted in a lot of this dreaded down time. He found himself quite bored for most of it. This particular day, he found himself headed for the holodeck. He wasn’t sure exactly what he planned to do, but he was sure he could find something useful to do.

The half-Vulcan headed through the doors to the Holodeck, forgetting to check if anyone else was already there.

~ Lt. JG Solal, Doctor

As happenstance would have it the Holodeck was occupied and a program of a cozy library was running. Upon immediately entering one would first smell the scent of aged paper. The next thing that would catch attention was that the lighting was soft, the myriad of bookshelves in rows just past a checkout desk were bright enough to read titles when up close but not really bright enough to read the tomes themselves for any extended period. Towards the back of the library and just barely in sight from the entrance was a table with better lighting and stack of books upon it.

CSO Petrakos

Well, that wasn’t quite what Solal expected. But he could definitely live with it. “Hello?” He said as he went in, heading for the stack of books. The dim lights didn’t make much sense to him. How was one supposed to read in here without giving themselves eyestrain and a massive headache? A mistake he’d made before, for sure. He hadn’t meant to intrude on someone else’s program, but, well, now he was just curious.

~ Lt. JG Solal, Doctor

There wasn’t a response back. After entering a bit and starting down the row of bookshelves towards the table with the books on it, a man would come into view who was currently focused on a book in front of him. Whatever it was about it seemed to hold his attention firmly.

CSO Petrakos

As soon as he saw who it was, Solal recognized him from a certain tea party… He figured he wouldn’t be quite the same now. Either way, he didn’t want to disturb someone who was clearly focusing hard on whatever it was he was reading, so instead, Solal read the titles of the other books in the stack.

~ Lt JG Solal, Doctor

The titles varied a great deal. One was on the affect of dark matter on the gravitational curve of spacetime. Another was on how to fish and prepare the catch for lunch. One was about how to formally ball dance without injuring your dance partner. The subjects were seemingly random and not related to each other at all.

CSO Petrakos

Odd, but who was Solal to judge? He was usually either reading Earth history books or medical textbooks. Rarely, fictional novels. Moving a book out of the way, he accidentally pushed one off the edge of the table, which landed on the floor with a very loud Thump!

~ Lt JG Solal, Doctor

Achilleas was quite shocked at the loud noise as he head snapped up and towards the sound. The hands he was using to hold the book tightened as his forearm muscles bulged a bit, his fight or flight reaction amping him up. When he noticed the other man though he relaxed his grip and smiled at them. “Wow you gave me quite the fright. I was sure I was alone in here. I obviously got a little caught in my own world.” He said sheepishly while he waved a hand at the book in front of him.

CSO Petrakos

He jumped at the sound as well, before stooping down to pick up the fallen book. “Sorry,” Solal said quickly. “Seemed like you were focused. I was going to leave you alone.” He explained, and then added, “This library is very nice.” He set the fallen book back on the table, taking note of the title… something about rabbits, apparently.

~ Lt JG Solal, Doctor

Achilleas smiled wider at the mention of it being a nice library. “I actually walked into the holodeck on accident when our previous Counselor was using this program. After her departure I kind of claimed this program as my own. You can read a book or the latest science journal on a PaDD but sometimes there’s nothing like surrounding yourself with an environment that is meant for reading and holding a book in your hand.”

CSO Petrakos

Solal nodded. “Can’t agree more. I keep some hard copy books in my quarters. Though, they are in French,” he said. He pulled out another chair and sat down. “The old counselor had good taste, then.”

~ Lt JG Solal, Doctor

Achilleas had a weird look come over his face. “She did…” He mused for a second before he shook his head. “I suspect it was more a place to get away for her though. Despite needing to sit down with people and talk through their issues, she wasn’t a very social person. Which isn’t a bad thing or anything, but I always thought it was a little odd. Oh well. So what are these books you have in French?”

CSO Petrakos

“No, not a bad thing at all,” said Solal. He could definitely relate - he wasn’t much of a “people” person either. “Quite a few of them. A lot of French and world history, a few medical textbooks, and a few novels. Mystery and the like,” he answered with a shrug. “My family like books, too. Keep sending them, whenever they can. What about you, you keep books besides holographically?”

~ Lt JG Solal, Doctor

Achilleas shook his head. “I have a few books back on Earth with my family but I didn’t bring any of them with me. Other than some family pictures and clothing, the only object I brought was an antique telescope. Most of my reading lately has been science journals and all of the latest goings on there. I just wanted a change of topics and environment, so here I am.”

CSO Petrakos

“I’d rather not have so much to lug around, but it’s just easier to let it be this way. Looks like you’ve read every topic I could think of.” Solal said, gesturing to the stack of books. “Anything you read ever come in handy?”

~ Lt JG Solal, Doctor

“Oh sure.” Achilleas nodded enthusiastically at his pointed at the dark matter book. “That’s related to my area of expertise and so keeping up on the latest theories is always beneficial.” He then pointed at the book regarding how to catch and cook fish. “When my girlfriend and I get a chance to visit her family on Bajor I’m hoping to catch some fish and cook it for them.” He then pointed at the ball dancing book and smiled with a bit of embarrassment. “I’m hoping to surprise her with a dance and my skill at it. She likes to wear Victorian style dresses from Earth, which surprised me at first since she’s Bajoran, and to see her wearing one on a dance floor would be especially delightful.”

CSO Petrakos