Posted by Civilian Sisnil Zoi (Intelligence Consultant) in Too Often to be Coincidence

Posted by Ensign Dradvia (Medical Officer) in Too Often to be Coincidence

Posted by Civilian Sisnil Zoi (Intelligence Consultant) in Too Often to be Coincidence
Posted by… suppressed (8) by the Post Ghost! 👻

(snip)
Sisnil went to the holodeck and got to work. He started programming a holo program. He created the environment - a zen style building with hardwood floors and sliding doors, red trim with wood walls, thatch roofing.

It was fully stocked with several different foods and drinks, mostly teas and water, and robes and comfortable clothing for meditating as well as traditional atires for a number of cultures.

Outside, a koi pond, beautiful, with a small waterfall, stretching into a river running around a lovely garden with lightly scented plants and herbs: lavender, mint, some Betazoid and Vulcan plants too.

In the koi pond, he programmed several different koi, and gave them a complicated behaviour pattern and ‘personalities’ to replicate real fish. There were a few turtles, and some other fish compatible with koi as well. Birds and other wildlife occasionally landed, stopped, or passed by.

There was a zen sand garden, with a rake, and the stone in the middle. The sky was blue with scattered clouds. The little property was surrounded by lush temperate forests, complete with ambient, relaxing nature sounds.

Next, he programmed in actual holographic monks to maintain the property and give zen-goers tips on mediating. Some were Vulcan, some were Betazoid, others were human, or Orion. Each he gave names to, personalities, and programmed them to respond in accordance with their personalities. They would seem like people, as much as a hologram could.

He based their meditation tips on other meditation programs, or to pull answers from the computer’s mainframe. He set them to go about their holographic day.

Sisnil spent all day, making sure every detail was perfect, realistic. The whole nine yards. When he was happy with it at last, he called Dradvia on her communicator. =^= “Dradvia, come to my location. I’ve got something to show you.” =^=

~ Zoi

It was after her shift. Not by much, but she was curled up in her silent, empty quarters trying to read. The sound of her comms made her jump. It took her a moment to steady her breath and answer. =^=Alright. On my way.=^=

The whole way she wondered why she was going anywhere without knowing why. She shook her head and reminded herself of where she was and she was fine. It was just Sisnil. It couldn’t be anything bad if he wanted to show her.

She arrived a few minutes later.

Ens. Dradvia, Medical Officer

Sisnil stood outside the door, grinning. “Step inside and see my monkish activity for yourself,” he said to her. “I think you’ll approve.” And with that, he let the door open and stepped inside his holodeck with her.

~ Zoi

Her brows went up. He’d taken her suggestion? She stepped through the doors, eager to see what he had come up with. She stopped right inside looking around wide eyed. It was so detailed and lifelike. The smells, the sounds, the movements of the people. Had he already let other people try it out? Those couldn’t be holograms. “Wow…”

Ens. Dradvia, Medical Officer

Sisnil smiled at her reaction. “No one else has seen it yet.” He said, catching her thought. “I just barely finished it. Thought I’d show you before putting it on the mainframe for anyone’s use.” He ushered her in further, “Go ahead, explore.”

~ Zoi

She glanced over at him and then headed into the program. She found a pebbled path that wound around and through the different areas and followed it. She stopped, examining every small detail, from a different colored pebbled to the shape of the clouds to the smells of the different flowers. She soaked it in.

She watched the monks raking the sand garden for several minutes as they created simple beautiful patterns. She didn’t venture inside rhe buildings, not yet. She was enjoying the outside far too much. The more she explored, the more she forgot about all the things that hounded and haunted her, and she just was.

Ens. Dradvia, Medical Officer

Sisnil quietly stood on the rock in the middle of the sand garden while she wandered around. “The paths and trails will always be the same, but the exact details will change, as they would in a natural environment.” Sisnil said, making the holoprogram make it so she’d hear him. “So long as the process can run in the background, the program will continue to run, the monks will take care of the place, walk the paths themselves, meditate, feed and care for the animals. The animals will age and change too.” As he spoke a small black cat came out of the garden shrubs near Dradvia and mowed cutely, looking up at her.

~ Zoi

“This is amazing. So it will never be quite the same experience.” She stopped and squatted down to pet the cat. It was extremely soft and purred hard enough to make its body vibrate. She grinned at it and made soft kissing noises as she scratched behind its ears. The cat rubbed and wove around her. Dradvia was totally enthralled with it.

Ens. Dradvia, Medical Officer

“I always like cats,” Sisnil said standing a distance away as he watched. “Couldn’t resist including one. Her name’s Umber.”

~ Zoi

“Did you have one as a pet? Ever? I’ve never had a pet.” She turned her attention back to the cat. “Umber. That sounds very serious. Are you a serious cat?” Umber did a little hop-head butt and meowed at her. Dradvia laughed in delight and sat down cross legged on the path. The cat crawled into her lap.

Ens. Dradvia, Medical Officer

“Uh, no. I’ve always liked cats, though. Odd little critters, they are.” Sisnil said. The way he said “no” though, well, Dradvia didn’t need to be a mind reader to know he was lying to avoid talking about something.

~ Zoi

Dradvia didn’t ask. She played with the cat, pulling a long strand of grass and dangling it in front of Umber to bat at. “She’s so cute.”

“And a total menace. Leaves paw prints in the middle of the sand, tears the hanging vines down, and terrorizes the koi.” The deep voice rumbled on a chuckle, “She brings necessary chaos to our peace.”

Dradvia grinned and looked up… and up, into the dark green, bald visage of an Orion male.

Ice siezed her body making her shake, and it froze and burned her throat, chocking her until even air couldnpass through. Her fingers and feet went numb, and her vision tunneled and darkened. Her heart was going to Crack through her ribs.

A scream squeaked out, like she was caught in sleep paralysis. But the mental cry of terror was loud enough to deafen Sisnil.

Ens. Dradvia, Medical Officer

Sisnil jumped and turned to look at her and then raced to her and hugged her gently. “Dee, it’s okay. Nothing’s going to happen. He’s a hologram, okay? He can’t hurt you.”

~ Zoi

She was too far lost in the shock and terror and flashbacks for his words to register. When he touched her, she cringed, curling into herself, covering her head as if she expected to be beaten. She was waiting for the massive fists to strike.

Ens. Dradvia, Medical Officer