Posted Oct. 3, 2023, 12:40 p.m. by Fleet Captain Alexander Cochrane (Commanding Officer) (James Sinclair)
Posted by Fleet Captain Alexander Cochrane (Commanding Officer) in Holodeck 2 - A Musical Introduction
Posted by Civilian Sair Songz (Counselor) in Holodeck 2 - A Musical Introduction
Posted by Fleet Captain Alexander Cochrane (Commanding Officer) in Holodeck 2 - A Musical Introduction
Posted by… suppressed (6) by the Post Ghost! 👻(snip)
Sair sat carefully on a rock next to him, gazing at the back of the waterfall with wonder. “You speak a truth, and I have advocated something similar to people over the years in one capacity or another. But when I was the Outpost during my first stint in the program, I had a fellow doctor tell me about an expression Terrans have about doctors making terrible patients. I think it is quite possibly a universal sentiment,” she said with a rare (these days) grin. “I guess I didn’t know I needed something like this till you showed me just now.”
~Sair Songz, CNS
Cochrane laughed and said “Doctors do make terrible patients. I’ve seen it first-hand.” H stared at the water for a moment and then said “Well… you are welcome to this program. But maybe designing something of your own would do you more good. I created this because this place is special to me. Maybe you have a place like that of your own.”
Cochrane, CO
“You know, it was suggested to me at one point that I could make a program of places on Kobliad so that people here and elsewhere could some of what makes our world special. There are Kobliads in the Federation, but it’s exceptionally rare and before it was usually under less than ideal circumstances. That and sometimes it’s hard to feel deep fondness for our world, even when we’re fighting so hard for it.”
Sair inhaled deeply and blew it out before looking at Alex. “I’ll think about it, but for now thank you for letting me use this program.” That he let her in to this place and into this piece of her life was not lost on her. What she knew so far of Alexander Cochrane was that he didn’t something like this on a whim, so she was humbled and honoured.
~Sair Songz, CNS
“My pleasure.” was all he said before he stood up and started walking out from behind the waterfall. “Careful, narrow bit right here.” he said as he moved to the right of the opening and out onto the natural ledge.
Cochrane, CO
With a smile and small lightness she hadn’t felt before they entered this secret space, Sair rose and followed him, mindful of her step. Stepping onto the ledge, her stomach tightened and she grinned. “You know, I get a secret thrill from doing something even a bit risky. I mean, I know it’s the holodeck and I would never do anything intentionally to leave Koro without a mother, but when you told all your life that you’re special because of a quirk of your DNA and that you should strive to be careful, well, sometimes you just want to do the opposite,” she said with an impish laugh.
~Sair Songz, CNS
Cochrane stopped and looked back. “I can only imagine.” He looked down off the ledge and then back at her. “You should jump.” and he turned and kept walking.
Cochrane, CO
Her face screwed up with confusion. “You’re not serious, are you?” Sair said, coming to a stop. “I know there are safeties, but… really?” Her mind was trying to fathom the action and it created a strange feeling in her stomach.
~Sair Songz, CNS
“Don’t think about it. Just jump.” he said over his shoulder. “Do the opposite of what you think you should for a change. Take the chance.”
Cochrane, CO
Something about what he said made sense, even if it was utterly ridiculous. But it was still just the holodeck and the safeties were on. She knew enough about the holodeck to know that there was a moment after an action where the computer needed to decide if there was risk of serious injury or death. Once that determination was made, forcefields engaged to protect the person by whatever means made sense for the action. In this case, it would catch her.
But Sair wasn’t so great at the concept of blind faith. That was probably her professions at work. She did trust science though, even if it had failed her numerous times over the years. But it did contain the truth.
She turned and looked at the cascading water. There was some distance between the ledge and the water, but not much. If she dove off, she’d dive through the water into the unknown below, and from her memory of their hike up here it looked pretty rocky. Sair planted her hands on her hips and stared at the water. She could do this. Alex was right, she should take the chance.
But she couldn’t move. Her breath caught in her throat and for a moment it was like she was being crushed by the weight of everything. All the expectations, the demands, the necessities, the worries and grief. Somewhere along the way she had surrendered her excitement about life and she didn’t want that for Koro. She wanted to feel the full breadth of what life had to offer, especially since his reality was going to be so vastly different than those before him.
With a growl, of determination and of pain, she pushed off the wall and dove head first into the waterfall…
A moment later, the programming kicked in and the now soaked counsellor was cradled midair beyond the waterfall by a forcefield.
~Sair Songz, CNS
Cochrane stopped and looked down. “So? How’d it feel to buck the system? Other than wet?” and he chuckled.
Cochrane, CO
bump
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