Posted by Lieutenant Corinne Dalton (Scientist) in XO’s Office- Reunions

Posted by Commander Dr. Royal Sinclair (Executive Officer) in XO’s Office- Reunions

Posted by Lieutenant Corinne Dalton (Scientist) in XO’s Office- Reunions
Posted by… suppressed (2) by the Post Ghost! 👻

(snip)

On the bridge, Sinclair scowled. He knew that he had made no such request. He also knew that the R&D Chief was not always the most straight-forward individual, so Sinclair simply sighed and looked at the Science Officer on duty. “Lieutenant, you have the conn.” and he stood and walked to the turbolift.

The XO’s office was decorated in a warm fashion, not too unlike his office as Counselor on the Saracen. The desk had been moved to the corner of the space where the bulkhead met the outer hull’s windows, opening the office space up for a seating area large enough to hold more than the single or pair of individuals. A few chairs were set around a meeting table, on which sat a crystal bowl filled with multicolored glass beads that seemed to have a small amount of internal light inside them. Two chairs sat facing the desk, probably allowing for more formal conversations or for administrative needs.

Low bookcases lined the walls, each one closed with a glass fronted door with brass hinges, in which sat some real books, many notebooks, and a few bookends of various sizes and shapes. On the wall behind the desk were several pictures on either side of a display case. Each shelf was filled with a few items the Executive Officer had collected in his time in the Fleet; but on the top shelf prominently sat a single item housed in a rounded glass display: The Star Fleet Medal of Honor, the highest award given by the Federation.

From her perch, Cori studied every item, trying to remember if she had seen it before or if it might be new. But all in all it felt so much like Royal.

A few minutes passed and the door slid open. The big Scot filled the doorway as he walked in, looking at a PaDD. He suddenly stopped and his head snapped up as he felt someone else in the room. His eyes fixed on the figure sitting on his desk and he said “Can I hel…” and his voice trailed off as his mind caught up to what he was seeing. He blinked a few times and then said, so softly that it was barely audible…

“Cori?”

Sinclair, XO

Her blue eyes intensified as her heart drummed harder. “In the flesh,” she said before she carefully slid off the corner of the desk. As her feet hit the deck, she grabbed the cane, feeling herself needing some extra steadiness and she leaned on it mostly out of an abundance of caution. Despite her jokes in the quarantine bay, she was mindful that this body was so very new and fragile still, even if that was diminishing on a constant basis.

Cori never took her eyes off of him. “Hey there handsome. Been awhile.” She didn’t move closer, uncertain how’d he’d react or how she even felt in this moment. She had had far too much time to contemplate the past in those two weeks in virtual land while the Kanes went to procure her body. She had to remind herself that she had had that time, but Royal had not.

~Corinne Dalton

Sinclair stood dazed and very confused. “I… I don’t understand.” he said, still very quietly. He took a small step forward and then said “I… is… is it really you?” He put his hand in his pocket and pulled something out, hidden in the size of his hand, and looked at it and then looked at Corinne. “I don’t understand.” he said as the object slid back into his pocket. His tone was one of deep confusion and hesitation. “How are you here?”

Sinclair, XO

“It’s… a long story, and one you get to hear every detail of.”

Cori took tentative steps towards him, not really putting weight on the cane as just having it with her as she closed the distance and came to stand before him. Cori wasn’t exactly short but he still towered over her. Reaching out for a hand, she took his fingers and lifted them to her neck. Yes, her chest rose and fell with her breath, but it always had, even if the breaths he had seen her take weren’t real. This though, this was different and as she pressed his finger tip into her neck, her carotid artery pulsed beneath them. “It’s not a trick, or a delusion. I’m a real girl,” she said, breaking into a tiny and familiar grin as the referential joke, her blue eyes glimmering.

~Corinne Dalton

Royal kept his finger on her skin, feeling the beat… the flow of blood. He stared at her for minutes in silence; processing what was before him. He then pulled his hand away, bent down, and wrapped both arms around her under her waist and lifted her her up into a giant, firm-but-gentle, bear-hug.

Depending on how overwhelmed he was by his emotions, Royal might notice that not only was her body tangible and solid, but it was warm.

He buried his face against her neck and shoulder, laughing and crying simultaneously. “Fu<%ing hell, Cori… just… I cannae fu<%ing believe this!” he said into her shoulder as he held her off the floor and against him. He finally pulled away enough to look at her, his eyes red with tears and joy. “Ya do know that I’m not putting you down for the foreseeable future, right? I cannae let go until I know I’m not dreamin’.”

Sinclair, XO

She laughed as tears streamed down her face. “Just know that this body is still really new and still a bit on the weak side. Squeeze me too hard and you might crack some ribs. I know a married pair of doctors who would be mighty pissed off. So maybe we go sit and be comfortable and talk and stuff?”

~Corinne Dalton

Royal stared at her, smiling. “Nope. Not gonna happen. Not till I wake up or whatever is gonna make this go away.” He squeezed her to him, but then really did set her gently and gingerly on the carpeted floor. “No promises I won’t do that again.” he said and took her hand and led her to the meeting table. He pulled out a chair for her, slid it in when she was seated, and then went to the replicator. “Water, chilled, two glasses.” and he came back with the drinks and took a seat. He sat next to her, and reached up and cupped her cheek with his hand. “I don’t… never mind. Just… just tell me what happened.”

Sinclair, XO

For a brief moment she leaned into his hand, feeling that solidity of touch that reminded her not only was she real but that she could once again connect with people.

Taking a steadying breath, Cori launched into the story. She told him how she remembered talking to him one minute and then the next she appeared in a strange lab in an agonizing pain that she could only equate to having her limbs ripped off her body. She was fractured, incomplete, adrift. The Saracen was gone, but she hadn’t understood how she could be anywhere else. And then there was the strange man who asked her question after question and she felt so disconcerted but what could she do but answer the questions and hope it would get her somewhere and get answers of her own?

She explained the man known as Kane coming and going and then eventually bringing Dr. Alexis in to meet her. Then came the bomb shell that there might be a way for her to have a body but they’d be gone a couple weeks. She was promised that she wouldn’t be left alone and there had been a notification that would have gone to Royal should something have happened to them.

Then came the time for the transfer, meeting Captain Myqian and getting the whole thing explained. She decided to take the risk… and it paid off when she woke up in the quarantine bay with a beating heart and a mind that was still functional. The bombshell that Royal on not only on this ship, but the XO. She explained how the positronic brain and body worked together and her rehabilitation which would be ongoing for sometime. The final version of the cover story and her patient file that had a temporary and false name of Hope Ballard, hoping no one would draw the connection with her birth name. The chats with Myqian that left her hopeful even if she found it kind of weird to have had such conversations with a commanding officer before. Her experiences with CO’s previous had been highly variable.

“And here we are. I wanted to see you right away, but the reality was that my body and brain were still learning to talk to each other. Hell, I couldn’t even tell if I was hungry or needed to pee. You can imagine the awkwardness that would have created had I rushed to see you too soon.” Her eyes glistened and a single tear rolled over her cheek. “You have to know though that I haven’t stopped thinking about you since I appeared on this ship. I kept wondering what you were up to, whether you still…” Cori shook her head. “Then I learned you had my stuff and it seemed to answer any questions or worries I had.”

~Corinne Dalton

Royal listened, hanging on every word as if they were water and he had spent months lost in the desert. It was her. The tones, the inflections, the way she held herself. The more she spoke, the more he learned about the past two years and her sudden and wholly miraculous transformation from holographic etherealness to a living, breathing woman. When she finished, he just sat and stared at her for a long time… not wholly realizing she had stopped talking until his mind kicked back into gear and he turned red and looked away for a moment. “Well… I suppose I should think of some way to thank Doctors Kane.” he said while he composed himself. He looked back at her and grinned. “I had all your belongings moved to a secure, private storage facility. And I monitor them regularly to make sure nothing went missing. I can have it all brought here for you. It will take a few weeks, though, with the distance and all.” He took a deep breath and then said “And then there is this…” and he reached in his pocket and pulled out a small object that was completely familiar to Cori… her portable hologram emitter from the Saracen, the one she wore that let her move about the ship. It was obviously well-worn; as if it had been, perhaps, continuously in a pocket and handled frequently. He set it on the table in front of her. “I never gave up that you would come back, Cori. Not once.”

Sinclair, XO