Posted by Lieutenant Dr. Solomon Kane (Chief Science Officer/Research & Development) in side - sim: Social Experimentation at its Finest (Tag Kane)

Posted by Lieutenant Alexis Bonner (Assistant Chief Medical Officer) in side - sim: Social Experimentation at its Finest (Tag Kane)

Posted by Lieutenant Dr. Solomon Kane (Chief Science Officer/Research & Development) in side - sim: Social Experimentation at its Finest (Tag Kane)
Posted by… suppressed (12) by the Post Ghost! 👻

<snip>
It was less then three minutes for Kane to return. When he walked in, he simply came in and sat down. In the middle of the table, he set a small black pyramid; each face only fifteen or twenty centimeters. He pressed one face, and the top moist point began glowing red. Kane held his finger up for silence before anyone started talking. Seconds passed, then slowly each point began to glow a soft green… one at a time… until finally all were green. Kane leaned back and said “Ok. We’re good.” He looked at Alisson first and said “Ask what you want. But I’m going to tell you… the answers you get will not be all pleasant. And… they can get you both in a great deal of trouble for just knowing it, regardless if you talk about it or not. There are a lot of very paranoid and powerful people who want what you want to know to be kept very quiet. But I’ll answer anything you want to know.”

Kane

With Solomon’s return Frigga had stayed with her but released the pressure against her legs. Alexis stood stock still in the doorway until the lights turned green. Then she returned to her chair beside him, Frigga on her opposite side, boxing her in.

Alisson looked at the strange little piece with total confusion. “Put simply, it blocks transmissions and recordings, mom.”

“I know what it is Nugget.” Alisson swallowed really hard and her father turned in his seat to look at his wife, obvious surprise. “When you were serving on the Hathaway, a man came to the house, asking all kinds of questions about you. He had one of those. He said I would be seeing a lot of him, had a heavy Irish accent.”

“Alisson why didn’t you tell me.” Anthony slipped an arm around her.

“He described in very great detail what would happen to Alexis if I said anything.” She swallowed and looked at Kane. “Your marrying my daughter, I guess I just wanted to get to know you, but I suppose that’s a complicated question. So why don’t we start with why your story needs one of those,” she pointed at the pyramid. “Because ai don’t know where else to start.”

Frigga barked, Alexis saw black, and was going to be very very sick.

Bonner

Kane put an arm around Alexis and said “Easy… you already how all this ended. The past is the past and there is nothing to do but move ahead.”

Alexis set a hand on his leg, and her shoulders rose and fell as she breathed deep. She might feel sick but she was not going to faint. She absolutely did not panic when Soulis was trying to strangle her and drag her off the ship, she didn’t scream when Solomon turned the lights off She was not going to act like a toddler with a nightmare just because Soulis had been in her parents’ home. It was foolish to think he hadn’t. “I’m okay.” Or she would be.

He then looked at Alisson and said “And that brings us to me. So why my story needs that is… well…” and he took a breath.

“I’m around 162 years old, and I am not from this universe or reality.”

Kane

Alisson wasn’t sure what to make of that. “So you really meant you aren’t from around here in the most grandest sense. I suppose I should ask how you got here, but I doubt I would understand it.” She folded her hands and rested her arms on top of the table. Asking him how he got into science and about his family, now seemed like very frivolous questions. “I would ask if you’re alright, but that seems a rather invasive and rude question. And if you weren’t, at least physically, my daughter would be doing something about it.” Maybe she just needed to break the tension, “You look d@mn good for your age.”

Kane smiled slightly. “I was brought here through n accident. A race that doesn’t exist here was experimenting with a new kind of transporter. It… didn’t work as they intended. I got caught in an energy spike and wound up here. Well, not here here… but on a Star Fleet ship. Left my hand behind. I guess my friend that was trying to save me wanted a souvenir.” and he chuckled.

Alexis was quiet but suddenly started to laugh, not loudly, but a thought had just occurred to her. She and Hannah shared a ‘type.’ The thought was so absurd and unlike her her it startled a half laugh out of her. “Sorry.”

Alisson would always be a mother first, “Are you going to leave and take my daughter with you?”

Bonner

Kane laughed. “Oh f÷<k no.” and he laughed again for a second. “Not only do I have no idea how I would manage that, I don’t want to go back. That timeline had… problems. You see there, a Romulan yerrorist destroyed Vulcan. And I mean destroyed… nothing left. No warning.” Kane’s eyes unfocused for a moment. “We lost billions in just a few minutes.” He shook his head and refocused.

Anthony blinked, Vulcan destroyed? By a Romulan terrorist? The implications, the loss, everything would change in their history. Alisson looked stunned, “A…a whole planet?” Did they even have weapons that powerful now? Alexis was still leaned against him and she squeezed his leg gently. The news has shocked her as well.

“Besides, its not like I’d have anything to go back to.”

Kane

“Well, I guess that negates asking about your family.” Alisson knew this was all for her benefit. When she asked earlier she never would have guessed these would be the answers or that she’d be sitting in a room with another one of those devices. “Were..” she sighed, “I suppose…I honestly don’t want to know things I shouldn’t. Cowardly perhaps. Ummm…I guess what do you want to tell us? Other than you hate people because they always disappoint, and you have already planned my husband’s demise, what should we know?”

Bonner

Kane took another deep breath. “I was born on a god-awful excuse for a colony called New Detroit. Corrupt, crime, slavery… you name it, it was there. I’m an orphan, never knew or have an inkling of who my parents were. When I was around ten, the orphanage I lived in burned to the ground. All of kids were tossed in the streets. And yeah, it was as bad as you can imagine… and a whole lot worse. Regardless, I made it through school and got trained as a paramedic. Got a job with the New Detroit Fire Department.” and he pointed to the tattoo of the department’s crest. “Anyway, I did some stuff, was good at my job, and ended up deciding to go to the Academy. I applied, was rejected, so I got pissed and spent every cent I had to get to Earth and San Francisco. Walked in, refused to leave until they let me in. I was probably gonna get arrested, but there was a massive wreck outside the gates. I went and helped, ended up getting burned pretty bad, woke up in the Academy hospital. Some Admiral liked what he saw, so I got in. Became a doctor. Made my way up to CMO of a starship. Also ended up blowing a vovert Intel operation and beating one of their agents to a pulp. So, in typical Intel fashion, they recruited me. Long story short, I got shunted to this reality, was picked up in solitary for what I think was around two years while I was interrogated over and over. Finally convinced them I wasn’t a threat to this universe, so they let me back into Star Fleet and trained me up in medical and science that had changed since ‘my time’. I harbor no illusions, though… Im where they xam keep an eye on me.”

Alexis shook her head, “Don’t look it up. It will draw attention you don’t want. New Detroit existed 150 years ago. It was as bad as he says. The colony is gone now.”

Anthony didn’t ask, anything. He had made a deal with Kane. He had intended to keep it. Unfortunately his wife’s curiosity and impatience got the best of her. And Alexis…was never a good liar. He could only shake his head. But a doctor and a scientist. His story had just enough of an edge to tell Anthony he had a temper. “Are you happy, Alexis?”

She nodded, “I really am.”

Kane stopped and took a drink. He then looked at Alisson and said “Oh, and Irish guy? He’s gone. He came here to the Ogawa to try and get Lex. We, Lex and I, made sure he’d never do anything like that again. No, not dead. Lex made a neurotoxin that attacked his synapses and information processing center. I made the delivery system. We figure we lowered his IQ about sixty to eighty points. He’s of no use to Intel now, and last I checked he was in a group home for the developmentally challenged.”

Kane

Alisson gasped and grabbed and squeezed Alexis’ hand. Giving her a long hard once over. Was she okay? Anthony looked conflicted. “Alexis? Did you…?”

Her turn she supposed. “Daddy, you don’t understand. The things he was capable of. I know…I took an oath.” She took a deep breath and sat up a little. “He was hurting people, innocent people, and he wasn’t going to stop. I met him when he was assigned to the Hathaway. He was very charming, interested in my work. Of course I know now, it was a well orchestrated performance for my benefit. I trusted him, discussed anything he asked, until one day it made uncomfortable and I refused to discuss it further.” She shook her head, “In the end he was transferred, but he stole a lot of my notes. A year ago when I transferred away from Ogawa it was to get away from him. I was told I would be working to develop a drug to help officers that suffered with mental trauma. When I got there…I found out he was there and was put under his command. It’s a long story, but the drug wasn’t for mental trauma. He was trying to create augments. When I refused…he shot Frigga.” Alexis stopped there, turning her attention to the dog pressed against her other side. She leaned down burying her face in her fur.

Then she explained briefly but clearly the things Soulis had been up to. “He disappeared, and I returned here. Then so did he. I took an oath to do no harm, and I weighed the consequences. To leave him alone would have done far more harm to the masses. He was a virus, and now he’s harmless.” She hoped. “I know the risk and the consequences. I couldn’t let him hurt anyone else, or succeed at what he was doing.”

Alisson muttered, “Good riddance,” then looked at Kane, “Thank you.” She picked up her forgotten glass of bourbon and downed it. She needed time to let it settle, and so did her husband. She waved a hand in Kane’s direction. “Which tattoo is your favorite?”

Bonner

Kane looked at her and said “All of them. They’re all me… my life. Each one is a story. A memory. Even when I lost my hand, I tattooed the ones I lost back on. Every tat, every scar… they remind of who I am. What I am. Where I came from. And they are a reminder not to go back.” and then he laughed. “Not that I could. Even the New Detroit here was a hell-hole, apparently. Somebody nuked it.”

Kane

In his ear came Alexis’ voice. “What you are is amazing, and most of the time a jerk, and brilliant. I love you, Solomon.”

It was a lot to take in. Every question Alisson had wanted to ask had been answered and then some, but she wasn’t sure she understood it or quite believed it. Oh she didn’t think they were lying, it was just unbelievable. Anthony got up and came back with the bourbon and filled all their glasses. He pulled Alexis up to her feet and hugged her, kissed her cheek, and then looked at her a long moment before he let her go.

Alisson lifted her glass and paused. “I think I’ve asked enough. I promise if I ever think of more to keep them to myself. Unless there’s more....?”

Bonner

Kane thought for a moment and then said “The only other thing is the people that that guy worked for? I work for them, too. Not by choice, but because they want to keep me on a short leash. In the other reality, when I was just made CMO, my ship was sent one mission. It resulted 8n our entire crew getting captured. Our captors were torturing us, splitting us up and making us go through dangerous mazes and obstacke courses. Then, when were exhausted and hurt and really stressed, they’d tell us we could stop it if we’d just turn on the other groups. Me and my Captain, Taggart, he and I started seeing some really odd things. Flickers at the edge of our peripheral vision… things not I the exact same spot as they were when we turned back around… just little things. We figured out we were in some kind of hologram-created environment. Think of a really early holodeck. Anyway, we figured this out and I worked out how to break it. And I did. Thats when we discovered that we had never left the space dock, and our entire crew had been knocked out right before we left and moved into this simulator. We were being tested by Star Fmeet Intel.” He looked at Alexis and said “I’m sure yiu can imagine how that went over with me.” and he looked back at everyone. “So… I found the Agemt that was running it. They still hadn’t realized that we had broken the simulation, now. Anyway… I found him and beat him into a six week coma. And thats when that reality Intel asked me to join. And I did. Well, when I shifted here, during my interrogation, it came out that that reality and this one had a lot of similarities. And I happened to know more than a few secrets that were really embarrassing in this one. So I was told I can either keep working for ‘em or I could stay in the hole I was in.” He picked up the drink and downed it.

“Pretty simple choice.”

Kane

She grinned, knowing but not really humorous. Alexis didn’t really have to imagine how that went over, nor how easy it would have been for Solomon to put the guy in a coma. She had seen the evidence of what he could do in a few seconds with Soulis. She’d seen the permanent scars on Soulis jaw those few minutes had inflicted and heard the perma-click when he talked. Alexis stared at the glass in front of her, that wasn’t really her way. When things were too much Alexis preferred to bury herself in lab work. “The truth is I work for them too.” That was immediately obvious when the woman threatened to put them both in ‘the hole. “It was an ill-conceived deal I made to get away from that other guy.” She stopped her father before he began to speak. “Yes it has occurred to me that they sent Solomon here because of me. We were placed on the same ship because there is something they want from us. I don’t think he was part of their plan, but I have no doubt they used it to their advantage.” Then she picked up the glass and downed the whole thing, coughing as it burned on the way down.

Anthony was deceptively relaxed about it all. “What kind of deal?”

“They keep that other guy away from me and I’ll work on research projects for them. But I get to pick the projects. Yes I am aware of how nieve that was.”

Bonner

“And they didn’t keep him away, so we had to.” He looked at Anthony. “I told the XO what was happening. Told her that I was gonna kill him if he showed for Alexis again. She couldn’t condone that. Anything short of killing was ok. So… we wrecked his brain. And now he’s ruined and Alexis has some room to seperate herself from those parasites.”

Kane

Anthony’s hand flexed, covering the tremble. “They’ve been after since she was 6.” He stared at his daughter across the table. “They offered think tanks, interviews, private tutors whatever would convince me to let her work for them as a child.” He tightened his arm around his wife who, poor thing, had obviously hit her limit. He looked at Kane. “You know they won’t stop trying.” Anthony wasn’t a scientist and he wasn’t trained or equiped to deal with anything like this, but he had, trying to protect his daughter. To find he had failed anyway was a bitter pill to swallow.

Bonner

Kane grinned. “Oh… but they have. See, I’m the senior Intel field agent here. So… Lex works for me. I know its not not having her involved, but at least she doesn’t have some schmuck sending her off on stupid crap. She has this schmuck, and I keep her right here so she can work in the most productive environment.” and he laughed.

Kane

Anthony rolled his shoulders to remove the tension and laughed slightly. “When you aren’t locking her out of the labs for working too much.” Alisson looked at Alexis and the look she was giving her father and Kane. “I think that’s wonderful, Alexis always worked too much. Sometimes she even forgot to eat. Alexis come help me.” Alisson stopped next to Kane, “Thank you.” She wasn’t sure what else should be said, but she understood she had made things difficult and problematic even though she’d been unaware at the time.

Alexis got up and followed her into the kitchen, Frigga right on her heels, for once not looking for treats. In the brief minute they were gone Anthony downed his bourbon and offered Kane a refill. The Q&A session over.

Kane downed one, and motioned for another. “You know, it took trained interrogators over two years to get all that outta me. Scratch that, they didn’t get that much.” and downed the refill. He reached over and turned off the damper and slid it into his pocket. He looked at Anthony. “I’m gonna make you one before you go. I’m sure you and the Mrs will want to talk when you get home. And I’m serious… don’t let any of this slip. None of us would see the others again… ever.”

Anthony had poured them both another and downed his own. Alisson would probably have something to say about it. He never had that many in an evening. Tonight deserved the exception. “Yeah I’m sure she will.” He should probably call that friend of his and have the house scrubbed. No telling what man left behind in his house…did those things have batteries that died? He had no idea. “Not a breath.”

Plates were set down in front of them - peppermint cheesecake brownies. Alexis and her mother sat back down. And half way to the first bite, Alisson spoke, “So when’s the wedding?”

“Mom!”

“What? I know I’m allowed to ask that.”

Bonner

Kane took a bite and said “I’m game. Y’all are here for two weeks, right? Plenty of time to swing a wedding.” around the bite. He chewed a second and then said “Wow, this is amazing.” as if the first part of his words had never happened.

Kane

“W....” she gasped stunned and then Alexis choked and whatever she was going to say was lost in the coughing. Alisson nodded, “Two weeks.” Then beamed, “Thank you. It’s one of Alexis’ favorites.” Anthony was watching Alexis expecting her to get up and disappear into a lab. Instead she was staring at Kane. It was that look she got every time he pushed her to the edge of her comfort zone. It would have always been that way, Kane would just walk in and go “Let’s go hurry up.” or it would be a picture he’d drawn…and then it would happen.

Bonner

Kane didn’t look at her, he simply ate another bite and said “How do you layer in the peppermint so evenly, Alisson? I mean, every bite has almost the exact same amount of peppermint. That’s a trick.”

Kane

“Actually that’s partially Alexis. She was…” she looked at Anthony, “What 3?”

He nodded, “Yeah 3 sounds right.”

Alexis finally managed to stop coughing and staring at him like he had the third eye this time. Baby stories, they were telling baby stories. “I was 3 years, 4 months, and 1 day to be exact.”

“She was complaining that there wasn’t peppermint in each of her bites. And swore we could make it better. So I let her help me. At some point Anthony got dragged into it and showed her how to set up an experiment and test it and change it. And after about 15 batches she was happy.”

“And a lot of mess, don’t forget the mess,” Anthony added.

The mess has been horrendous, “I was right they were better.”

“But…the evenness of the layers is simple. After you pour each layer you chill the pan and batter half an hour so it firms and the layers don’t mix. Takes extra prep time, but it’s worth it.”

Bonner