Made Up My Mind

Posted on 13 Jan 2013 @ 10:24pm by Lieutenant Kiri Cho
Edited on on 13 Jan 2013 @ 10:43pm

2,152 words; about a 11 minute read

Mission: Episode 03 - Frontier
Location: USS Galileo: Multipurpose Laboratory
Timeline: MD -1 1840

ON:

Kiri had kept her attention on work almost all day. Trying to put the horrible parts of the last few days behind her, mostly it had worked. Stone had brought her to tears recounting the events, her friends on the ship had helped too. At least the people that were starting to become her friends. Right now though, that wasn't on her mind, at least not as much as it had been. The matter of training her possible mental abilities was at hand and after work had brought her to the lab that not so long ago had left her rather angry. Having talked to Peers though had guided her way though that, that if she wanted she could be something more than even most other Trill. This was something that could make her smarter, all round better at everything and in a way meant she could live for hundreds of years. It wasn't a bad thing, never the less she was still wary of having someone inside her brain.

Still dressed in uniform, her eyes back to normal and her lips healed she looked like she had when she first joined the ship. Bags under her eyes were gone, her posture was better, she even wore her little fake smile to everyone she met without thinking again. Dark hair tied back into a folded knot she took a deep breath before pressing the door chime, this might change her life forever now.

The door to the laboratory opened, revealing the ship's diplomatic officer clearly entranced in some kind of algorithm or another. He was dressed only in a tunic and pants, forgoing the uniform after his duty shift had ended. Unbeknownst to many, he hated that uniform with a passion. Not because of what it stood for, but because it was just plain ugly. Of course, aesthetics were illogical. Still, there was no logic to wearing it off duty, so Liyar justified leaving the abomination in his quarters with brilliant logic, if he did say so himself. From the past few days, he'd been on a rollercoaster. From being denied clearance to duty, to regaining conditional duty, to being put on his old medication. It had worn off a couple of hours ago, and he found his best work was in that window of time when he wasn't feeling like a dying thousand year old sehlat. Now he was wearing the psi-clamps around his wrists which were easily visible as he'd rolled up his sleeves to avoid messing up his calculations, fingers flying across the mathematical fereikek reh, surrounded by numbers and equations that devolved into strings of nothing.

2 1/2=0.5, 0.5+1=1.5, 1.5, 1/1.5 = 0.666..., 0.666... + 1 = 1.666..., 1.666... 1/1.666... = 0.6 0.6 + 1 = 1.6, 1.6, 1/1.6 = 0.625, 0.625 + 1 = 1.625 1.625, 1/1.625 = 0.6154..., 0.6154... + 1 = 1.6154..., 1.6154... He continued, translating the Vulcan equivalents in his head to the strange Terran mathematical writing. "1.6 180339, 8874, 9894, 84820," greeted Kiri as she walked into the door. The laboratory's occupant drew a circle on the holographic grid in front of him, resembling a seashell. This was overlaid with the anatomical proportions of the mesiofrontal cortex and the temporal lobe. He was surrounded in the fereikek reh's sphere, they were everywhere. He calculated the rest of it with a shake of his head. "4586, 834365638, 11772030917, 980576286213, 5448622705..." he trailed off. "Lieutenant Cho," he finally saw her from the corner of an unoccupied area of the hologrid. He called the fereikek reh down and the grid and colorful numbers and letters suddenly disappeared. He placed the white ball on the desk in front of him, and picked up his coffee. "How may I assist you?" he asked, sounding more lucid than he had in the last two days.

While she didn't know all that much about brains Kiri knew her numbers. Seeing a golden ratio flash up grabbed her attention and the rest seemed to unfold at least a little in the brief second, "I wanted to talk to you about training," Pausing she added, "Can I ask what you were working on?" Sellen hadn't sent her a problem for two weeks now, this was interesting.

"Yes, a simplistic algorithm. The golden ratio. I am attempting to map katric patterns. The easiest way this can be done is by generating the correct proportions of the genetic makeup of both parts of the brain utilized by Terrans and Vulcans to process music. Once this is done, this will be compared to the map I am creating of the synaptic pattern engram," he was speaking in fractured sentences again, eyes tracking back and forth unseeingly while he began writing again, this time on a small whiteboard in the corner. "Once the engram is complete, the ratio differential between both the engram and the aforementioned genetic sequences should give me a gap. This gap will allow me to generate a harmonizing algorithm to compensate for psionic drop-loss. Psi-native music will sound as it is meant to, psi-null music will sound as it is intended," he looked up, as if he'd just recognized she was still standing there, and blinked. He put the old-style marker away. "Training? Yes. Psionic training. You have made a decision with regards to this," he said, his speech sounding slower, less frenetic, as he seemed to pay attention to her now.

Numbers were a yes but brains were still a no. Kiri didn't know much about music either but the idea seemed interesting. She wasn't even aware that it was a problem, that there was music that was psionic in nature. Looking brighter now there was a prospect of numbers she nodded, "Yes, I would like to do it."

Liyar nodded. He gestured to the table and pulled out a few more PADDs, really, he seemed to have an infinite supply hidden in an alternate dimension which he accessed at will. He stacked them on top of one another and sat down, it was only small, and more informal. "And as you have come to me, I am assuming that you wish to proceed with myself as your guide?"

"You are the most knowledgeable aren't you?" Moving to the table the looked at the pads and then back at him. If she was going to be trained it was best with someone she could trust, at least somewhat trust and the more he knew about it the better.

"It is possible," Liyar said. He did not know how much Coleman knew, or what her abilities extended toward. But her lack of understanding of the Shi'kahr Convention led him to believe that while she may be more powerful, that did not mean she understood the disciplines themselves, the legal recourse. Or maybe she did, but did not care very much. She was too old for such formalities, perhaps. Liyar nodded more succinctly after thinking on it a moment. "I am the most logical choice, if that is your parameter of judgment. However, there is the other issue. Are you willing to trust me to work with you mentally? Have you fully thought through what this may mean for your wellbeing? That it may be painful, and unpleasant?" he asked, tilting his head forward. "It is not my intention to cause you pain, but I know that it will naturally occur, as deep as these disciplines go. They are your Self. Your being. If there is pain there, it will make itself known. This, I cannot control. I will not force you to relieve any events, or speak to me of anything that you do not wish to. I will not focus on your pain. But it will come up. Are you prepared for that? The last time, I recalled you were quite angry with me about it. Why have you chosen me as your guide, with this in mind?"

"Yes," She nodded, "I trust you not to tell anyone," That was what mattered to her most. "That you won't judge me on what you find?" That was more of a hopeful question. Kiri worried that if everyone knew about her feelings inside that they would hate her, think she was horrible and stupid. What other people thought mattered hugely. Having powers like the ones she might have though would impress them, make her seem better. They might even like her more, while Liyar was a risk, he didn't seem a very big one. Dea might talk to other people, Evelyn was a stranger to her and she knew even less about any other choices.

"You do not need to concern yourself with that," Liyar said with a solemn nod. "I am not interested in judgment. I am only interested in assisting you. As we progress, you will be able to understand this on a level that verbal ability cannot convey," he promised. "I will arrange a series of sessions. This will allow time to practice less intrusive, more simplistic elements of psionic discipline and it will allow you to understand my presence and my role better. These will build in intensity as time goes on, at a pace that you may choose. It will also allow you to anticipate my reactions and my perceptions, which will aid you in becoming emotionally comfortable over time. This will minimize the impact of the pain you could experience during the training. The aim of these sessions will be to improve the degree of control you will have over your abilities, and to explore the possibilities of what it is you can do," the Vulcan explained calmly. He slid the stack of PADDs forward.

"For this first meeting you have set up, I have only one thing I would like for you to do, and it is to study these. This is what is known as the Shi'kahr Convention. It is so-called after Vulcan's capital city, Shi'kahr, where this convention was originally ratified. When the Federation was founded, Vulcans decided to join, but their only stipulation was that this be ratified across all Federation territory. At the time, Vulcans were the only telepathic race to be in the Federation," he explained in his impromptu history lesson. He slid the main PADD forward. "The Shi'kahr Convention states that no telepath shall enter the mind of another without that person's express permission. Should that permission be withdrawn at any time during mental contact," Liyar continued, "It is in violation of the Shi'kahr Convention to continue any previously established mental contact. In effect, this law operates much the way Terran consent laws do. You must always ask permission. The full explanation is embedded within. The difference between entering another's mind, for instance, and picking up surface thoughts, or thoughts directed at you specifically, and how the law applies to a person who may not have control of their abilities." He raised his wrists to indicate the psi-clamps. "In any case, while it may not seem like it will be useful to you right now, as training progresses, you may find that you are able to telepathically connect with others, and then it will be important to remember this."

"Okay," This was what Peers had talked about, she knew some of this but there seemed to be a lot more rules to it than she remembered at school. Picking up the first one she looked at the screen, "I will do so." It didn't seem all that likely that she would be able to do any of these things but if it was part of the training she would apply herself to it completely.

Liyar nodded. "Very well. Once you have read over these documents, I would like for you to draw up a schedule for meeting with me that will work for you. As for myself, I am available after 1600 hours each day, unless there is pressing concern. These sessions should only last at a maximum of two hours. They can be, as you have witnessed, very draining."

"Right," Kiri nodded again and looked down at the PADDs, it might take a while for her to get up to speed. Not so very long though, already she was trying to plot her time for when would be good. Maybe two sessions a week, one after a work day, another on a day off maybe? "Would a session in two or three days be okay?"

Liyar stood and clasped his hands behind him. "Affirmative, Lieutenant. I shall make the necessary arrangements."

"Thank you," She gathered up all of the pads, "And, if you need any help with numbers, I'd be happy to." It would almost be fun but right now she should get down to reading these pads and making notes.

Liyar merely nodded up to her, raising one of his many PADDs in salute as she made her way out of the lab before he turned back to his work.

OFF:
---------------------
Lieutenant (JG) Liyar
Diplomatic Officer, VDF/SDD
USS Galileo

Lieutenant (JG) Kiri Cho
Assistant Chief Science Officer
USS Galileo

RSS Feed