Posted by Lieutenant Commander Alexis Kane (Assistant Chief Medical Officer) in Holodeck- Memories Of Time And Places Long Past

Posted by Lieutenant Commander Dr. Solomon Kane (Research & Development) in Holodeck- Memories Of Time And Places Long Past

Posted by Lieutenant Commander Alexis Kane (Assistant Chief Medical Officer) in Holodeck- Memories Of Time And Places Long Past
Posted by… suppressed (24) by the Post Ghost! 👻
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He nodded and led her out of the alley and then said =/\= Computer, move location to Kane Mark Six =/\= The scene shimmered and then snapped back into clarity. They were standing in a very beautiful park. Flanking the green space were spiraling, gold and silver towers… they were in the elite section of New Detroit. Kane looked around and said “This way.” He led towards a road and looked around before setting off again. His movements here were not like they had been previously. In the slums and sprawl they started in, his steps were sure and he simply moved through the claustrophobic oppression as if he was born to it… because he was. Here, however, his steps were less assured. He paid more attention to landmarks and paused to get his bearings from time to time. A few minutes later they found themselves in front of a tall, luxurious building. A gold sign above the door read ‘Halcyon Spires - Tower 3’. Outside of the front door stood two large Orions in suits.

Kane

This part of the city felt even more off than the rest. It seemed even more out of sync, but in a way that was very subtle and made one paranoid. She looked at the two Orions and stood closer to him, some instinct perhaps. She glanced around again, “This place feels more dangerous than the slums and brutal violence.” Maybe it was just the way Solomin didn’t move so effortlessly through here.

Lt. Cmdr. Kane, AMO

Kane nodded. “It is. Back there, they’ll just beat you or kill you, but its survival. Here? Here they will use you… they kill you slowly… and they will enjoy it. Revel in it. Hell, one of the most popular past times here was betting on how long it would take you to drive someone to kill themselves. Bonus points for style doing it.” He looked away from the building and looked at Alecis. “That’s how a few of the people in this building made and kept their fortunes.”

Kane

It was awful and beyond cruel. This must be where the syndicate was, or where they ‘owned’ him. He was young when that happened, or Alexis thought he had been. “Did they try to do that you?”

Lt. Cmdr. Kane, AMO

Kane chuckled and looked at the building. “Only once. I think it cost someone over a thousand credits.” and he looked back at Alexis. “And two fingers when I found out who made the bet.” He winked and then led her inside.

Kane

Alexis knew Solomon had a violent side, born of a need to survive. She’d seen it, but it never bothered her, and despite what others might think, it was never to excess. Enough to make his point and make sure it wasn’t forgotten. He was different here though. There was new sharper edge to him, or really, probably one she’d just never seen before, brought about by the place and the memories. She followed him inside, the guards, like everything else, completely ignoring her.

Lt. Cmdr. Kane, AMO

Kane led her inside to a well-appointed lobby. The contrast between this area and the place they began was so drastic it was nauseating. Where before they were stepping over bodies in stairwells and on the street; here was impeccably clean and smelled softly of flowers and fresh air. The people walking around were well-dressed and seemed to not have a care in the world. But even here, the cruelty of this New Detroit was visible if one looked. A janitor with a fresh black eye. A doorman who was pushed forcibly to side to make way for a baby stroller. The receptionist trying so hard to smile through the degrading come-on of the much older human man. Those who had, had. And those that didn’t, even in this area of cleanliness and seemingly peaceful atmosphere, lived with a fear that showed constantly in their eyes.

Kane led her through the lobby of the tower and to the lifts. Wordlessly, he pushed the button for the penthouse. As they rose up the outside of the building, the view was only of the City Center and all it’s lights and sun and sky. When the lift stopped, they were almost a hundred stories up. The doors opened onto an almost palatial room. Comfort and luxury were the themes, and it showed everywhere. And there, seated in the middle of the scene, were two Orion women. Kane’s jaw involuntarily clenched at the sight of them. “Dravilla and Shaen.” and he looked at Alexis. “They are the ones who bought me.”

Kane

There was an emotion that Alexis wasn’t familiar with - rage. And a desire to protect him from the nightmare that he was facing. She quietly slipped an arm around his waist, for just a moment to hold him to her. She studied the two women. They were beautiful, gorgeous in fact. Their bodies screamed of pleasure and things that would even make them blush. It was obvious and if one looked long enough, it was repulsive. “They died when the building collapsed.”

Alexis

“They did.” Kane said flatly. “Shaen’s body was found. They only found a third of Dravilla’s torso.” Kane stared at the two green-skinned women. “These two…” and he shook his head and looked at the floor, “… these two taught me a lot, I’ll give them that. None of it was anything a kid should know; but it’s served me well after I got out of New Detroit.”

Kane

Alexis stepped in front of him, the toes of her boots entering his field of vision. She’d never seen him do that, look down in an almost ashamed way. Like he couldn’t face it directly. Maybe that wasn’t what it was, she just knew she’d never seen him do that. She laced her fingers with his and held them. Her thumbs rubbed over the backs of his hands. She wouldn’t like whatever it was that they taught him, but she would listen if he wanted or needed to tell her. She waited for however long he needed, her silence a promise to listen to whatever he needed to share.

Lt. Cmdr. Kane, AMO

He didn’t speak, but he looked up at her. The fire in his eyes was sputtering. Whatever happened here… as resilient as Kane was, she could see that this place may have actually broken him. He squeezed her hands and then then started moving. He led her through the lavish and opulent penthouse, down a long hall past almost a dozen doors that opened onto various themed bedrooms and ‘play’ arenas, and finally to closed door next to the far doorway at the end of the hall which opened o to the Master suite. Through the open door was the most expensive and garish bedroom Alexis had ever seen. Precious metals and gemstones were everywhere, and in the center of the room was bed big enough for a dozen fully grown adults. But it was the door next to that one that Kane took her to. He took a deep breath and said “Like I said… you aren’t gonna like this. But it’ll explain a lot.” and he pressed the control. The door unlocked and slid open.

Inside was a well-appointed bedroom, but much smaller than the rest of the rooms. Bed, dresser, sink, toilet, sonic shower, and a desk filled the room. On the bed, back to them, was single figure. They were human, male, and in their early teens. Long, wild hair fell down to their shoulders. Kane moved them inside and they could see the boy was reading. The book was an engineering text book. On one of his arms was a familiar tattoo… the one Kane had shown Alexis when he first spoke about the Orions. They could also see the bruises on his arms… and on his throat in a pattern where fingers holding him would have been. Kane took a deep breath and said “Dravilla liked to choke her… toys.. during…” and he stopped, the anger in his voice creeping back in in a fashion that was much more… sinister… than had ever been there before. He pointed at the textbook. It was a structural engineering book opened to a chapter on manipulating and redirecting forces generated against structural supports.

Kane

She didn’t need him to explain what had happened, the evidence was blinding. The different rooms and ‘decor’ in them. This one locked away with only a single door connected to the master suite. The images that flashed through her mind were hideous. She couldn’t help the child sitting in front of them. This wasn’t time travel, she couldn’t say anything to make him fight. Not that she would know how. The bruises had long since healed, the things out there long dead - and by Solomon’s own hand. The look in his eyes and the tone in his voice were terrifying. She understood more about him now in a very stark and harsh way.

Alexis thought she was going to be sick standing in that gilded prison. She wouldn’t though it was a near thing. She stared at the teenager in front of her. “How long?” the question came out as a whisper, as if she didn’t want to disturb the planning he was obviously doing.

Lt. Cmdr. Kane, AMO

“Four years. Eight months. Two weeks. Three days.” he said as he looked at the seated figure. “Took me almost nineteen months to figure out how to build the bomb. Another nine to get everything I needed. And another six to get it built and planted.” He looked at her. “I actually didn’t know that I wasn’t going to be here that day.”

Kane

She understood what he was telling her: he had chosen to die, and he was taking those women with him when he did. The teenager was sitting right there, planning their destruction. Did they not notice? Or did they just think it was amusing to let him try? Alexis looked up at him, “Where were you?”

Alexis

Kane chuckled. “They sent me to be fitted for a new suit. They had decided at the last minute to attend a pet-party that night. I was their submission for ‘pet’.” He shook his head and smiled slightly. “I couldn’t believe it. I just went with it… which almost tipped them off. I was normally… well… ‘resistant’ to them doing crap like that to me. I think that is one of the reasons Dravilla kept me around. She liked trying to make me do things.” A dark chuckle escaped his lips. “When she asked why I didn’t push back about the suit…” and he looked at her smiled a truly malicious smile, “… I told it it didn’t matter because I was gonna kill her in a few hours anyway.” He looked out the small window and shook his head slightly. “They though it was hilarious. Never occurred to them that I hadn’t ever lied to them. Sure, I may not have told them things… but I never lied.”

Kane

Alexis only shook her head, but she never let go of his hand. The boy sitting with his back to them made her heart ache and her throat tighten up. “I’m glad they were stupid. I hope they knew it was you before they died.”

Alexis

Kane looked at her and said “Oh, I’m sure they did. The blast didn’t kill them, I made sure of that.” and he looked at the teen reading on the bed. He looked back at Alexis, his face hard and rigid.

“They were alive the whole way down.”

Kane

She hadn’t expected that. Solomon had a vicious streak, and that was no cruelest than blowing them up. They had suffered, most likely terrified. Their hearts could have given put from the fall and the panic. It was kinder than what they did to him. What was most disturbing in all of this was the change in him, but she wasn’t afraid. “Do you want to tell me about it?” How he did it, or what finally pushed him to this decision, or what he did next. It didn’t matter, he could tell her anything.

Alexis

Kane stared at the youth for a long time in silence. “You know…” he said finally, “… if someone had told at tis moment right here that I would end where I am now, I would have laughed the hair off their a$$.” He looked at her, all the rage and anger… no… hatred… seemingly gone from him. “But no matter how I got here from there, I don’t care. I’m happier here than I ever could have been there.” and he looked back at himself sitting on the bed. “They had it coming, Lex. All of them in this building. And what I did? They got off light. And the ones like me? Like him that were in here when it happened? What happened was a blessing compared to what they were living in.” and he looked back at her, his eyes bright with barely held back tears. “But they are the only ones I ever felt… feel… bad about.”

Kane

Alexis stepped in front of him and laid a hand on his cheek. “You know if they were capable of expressing it, they would have wanted out. They weren’t able to find ways out. Even if they did, a good portion of them wouldn’t have survived,” psychologically or physically. “You weren’t on the outside looking in and making decisions. You were in it, and made the only decision you could to get out.” She couldn’t make it better; Alexis knew that. She wasn’t trying to, but only trying in her way say she understood what he was telling her. The lost innocent lives was awful, but they were also much better off than they were before the explosion.

Alexis

Kane looked at Kane for a long time in silence. “Was it, though?” he asked to no one, really. “I mean… I could have probably just killed them. Poison… sonic shower sabotage… lift failure. I could have done any of those things, too.” He turned his head slowly and looked at Alexis. “But instead of two… I killed three thousand.” He looked back at himself sitting on the bed. “I chose to be a mass murderer over an assassin. And to this day… I don’t know why.”

Kane

Alexis wasn’t sure what to say about that. That was a burden she couldn’t begin to imagine, and one she certainly could not carry for him. She wasn’t sure he would have gotten his freedom though. If he had just killed them, someone would have come looking for the boy that got away. Even if they didn’t know he did it, he would have been hunted. He thought he was the only one to get away, to survive the explosion, but there was no way to know. Anyone else who did, would not have mentioned it. They would have run and hidden too. The whole building went down, and everyone died. It wasn’t as if Solomon had chosen to avoid the same fate, it had just happened.

She walked around the bed again and knelt in front of the much younger man. Her keen trained eyes saw everything. Every hurt, every ache, every injury and illness. The program wouldn’t let the young man interact with her, but she set a hand over his for a moment anyway. “I’m not sure, he knew there was another choice,” she stared up into the face that would one day be her husband, “Not at this very phase of his life.” She was no psychologist, “I don’t think he knows how to focus his rage to be an assassin.” The rules on this world were different. Collateral deaths didn’t matter. No one cared. All the better, a hundred less mouths to feed. Alexis was sure he understood the personal loss of one person at that point, but only if that person mattered to him. He was not that young boy anymore, shaped by him, but not him.

She rose and walked over to him, slipping her hand into his, unafraid to meet his gaze and the pain and anger and hatred there. “Is there anything I can do or say to help?”

Lt. Cmdr. Kane, AMO

Kane stared at his younger self for sometime in silence before he turned to his wife. His face was unlike she had ever seen it… he was afraid. Not of the past. Not of the deaths he was responsible for. Not of the pain and fear and remorse and anger and hurt he carried. No… here she could see that the fear was centered around her. A tear fell uncontrolled down his left cheek as he barely whispered “Please tell me you still love me, Lex. Even knowing what I did… please tell me you don’t hate me.”

Kane, R&D

Alexis’ eyes widened in shock. That was not what she expected for him to say. She never really knew what to expect from him. Solomon always kept her guessing. Her eyes were soft though, and in a rare moment of deep emotional understanding, she cupped his cheek, stretched up, and kissed the single tear away. Then she placed her other hand on his other cheek and stared into his eyes. “Of course I don’t hate you, Solomon. I love you, and I always will. Your past won’t change that. You come from an existence that I can never fully comprehend. I will never experience what you did, and I know you would not want that for me. I will never judge you, and I will always love you.” She held his gaze for a long moment, and then putting her arms around him, she pulled him to her and held him.

Lt. Cmdr. Kane, AMO

Kane didn’t cry. Hell… he wasn’t certain he even could even if he wanted to. But as Lex’s words washed over him and he felt her arms around him; the long, slow, wracking exhale that came pouring out of him was as close as he could get. He put his arms around her and held her and for the first time in as long as he could remember, in the place where almost all of his rage and defensiveness originated, he felt at peace. Or, at least as close to that as he could come.

Kane, R&D

Her fingers spread through his hair and rested at the base of his skull, holding him to her, and her other arm tightened around him as the wracking exhale shook him. She turned her face into his neck and placed a soft kiss on his neck. Her voice was warm as it whispered softly over his skin, “I’ll always love you.” Alexis didn’t know if she should end the program for him, or if he needed to hold onto her in this place just a little bit longer. Alexis had no opinion either way, she just wanted to do what was best for Solomon, what would help him the most. Whether the program kept running or not, she held him close to her.

Lt. Cmdr. Kane, AMO

Kane held onto her for a long few minutes. He didn’t speak, didn’t move… but after a few minutes he lifted his head from her shoulder and said “C’mon. One more stop.”

Alexis nodded, kept hold of his hand and followed him out of the building. Although it was clean there, and well kept the offness of it all made it feel like wading through a pandemic ward. She couldn’t imagine how Solomon handled living with this niggling sick feeling all the time.

He led her wordlessly out of the tower, the high-end luxury section of the city, and back into the slums. If the trip through was bad the first time; going back after the time in the elite area was positively nauseating. The amount of disparity between the have and have-nota was soul-crushing.

Kane led her back into the some of the worst parts of the city. Even all these years later, he moved through the oppressive architecture and social dispair like a predatory fish swimming through a sea of violence and waste. They came to a very narrow and dark alley and Kane turned and led her into it.

Alexis watched him, more than she did what was around them. He was different here, which wasn’t surprising, but it was frightening the amount of violence the seeped from him. Solomon was dangerous, Alexis knew that, she had seen it, but it was exponentially more. It was fascinating how it affected him, even though it was only a simulation and he knew the place no longer existed. It was also heartbreaking to her, to see how it affected him and made her respect him more for choosing to walk back into this. She was proud of the man he had chosen to become.

The walls of the buildings on either side made the space utterly claustrophobic; and there was almost no light. But one thing was different… the alley was clean. No trash. No refuse or offending odors. No bodies to step over. The ground was completely clear of trash. As they reached the far end, the alley dead-ended. It was there that enough light came through that Alexis could see the walls behind and before them.

The building walls were not buildings. They were a single, gigantic mural. A mural that instantly transported her to the scene. All around her was a giant open field filled with sunflowers that covered rolling hills that stretched as far as she could see. Behind her, the hills rolled gently down to a far off shore of an ocean. Birds and insects and animals seemed to almost move… as did the flowers around her and the clouds far above her.

“Took me almost four years to make it. Piece by piece. I finished it after the tower came down.” He laughed softly, once. “I never thought anyone would give a damn about it and it would be tagged by graffiti inside of a few hours. Never was though.” he said softly as he looked around at the piece. “People’d come here and sit and just… look… sometimes for hours. Random people kept the alley clean. Hell, even the local gang kept it as a ‘protected’ place.” He gave her a half-smile. “Only thing I’m really proud of in this place.”

Kane, R&D

Alexis let go of his hand and walked slowly through the alley, her hand brushing against the painting. She knew Solomon was an incredible artist. He sketched often and the pictures always amazed, the tattoo he’d created for her was equally a masterpiece, but this… this was something altogether different. It was alive. This wasn’t a trick of the holodeck. Solomon was far too good with programming and far too honest to not recreate it exactly as it had been. She wandered from one end to the other, taking in every detail. He would never have seen these things when he painted it. All from pictures or his imagination.

His wife didn’t need to ask why he chose the NDFD over being an artist. It wasn’t an option, and going to Star Fleet was his only way out. Making a career of such a artistic talent would have been a waste in a place like this. Instead he simply gave it freely to those who needed it the most. She was staring at a particular bird on the mural as the light hit it and the wings seemed to shift and ruffle. “If you ever want to retire, become an artist. You will make Ferengi Damon’s weep with how much latinum you’ll make.”

Lt. Cmdr. Kane, AMO

“What? And waste such a wonderful beside manner? Oh, the horror…” Kane replied flatly. He wasn’t looking at the mural, he was watching her, how she reacted. It always made his heart race when he showed her one of his pieces. He knew she enjoyed them… hell, half the reason he drew most of them was to make her smile.

Kane, R&D

Solomon really was rubbing off on her. “I happen to like your bedside manner. Well, to be more precise your in bed manner,” Alexis flashed him a look over her shoulder before turning back to the mural.

Kane’s mouth opened slightly in surprise and he actually smiled a little. When he first met Alexis, she was… what’s the word… oh, yeah. A prude. He had found her annoyingly self-absorbed and wholly cold. But there was also something that had drawn him to her. And that something has brought them to this moment. Married, and standing in the middle of his nightmares… and dreams.

If this were the real thing, she wouldn’t touch it. It was holographic after all, so she reached up and touched one of butterflies. The detail was exquisite. “It’s so accurate. I’ve seen these in person, you even have the feathering on the overlap. I expect to feel the velvet texture of it, but it’s just paint. I’m touching it, but my eyes still tell me it’s moving.” Admiration was clear in her voice, there always was, but there was a level of awe in her voice that was new. She turned to stare back down the alley where the mural looked like it was leading to a beach and the ocean. “It’s like The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe. We went through and now we’re in a different place. All the ugliness of the world doesn’t exist here.”

Lt. Cmdr. Kane, AMO

“Don’t know that one, but I’ll take your word for it.” Kane said quietly. He looked at her back for a moment and then said “Lex… you believe in fate? Pre-destiny? That kinda stuff?”

Kane, R&D