Remember the Spoon

Posted on Sun Nov 16th, 2014 @ 6:22pm by Captain Enalia Telvan & Aewia Larani & Staff Warrant Officer Nexi

Mission: Something Amiss
Location: Various

Nexi stared out at the inky blankness of space before her somewhat disbelieving that it was true: she was free to do whatever the hell she wanted, her life was her own. She heaved a sigh of relief. Finally. How long had she been struggling to buy her freedom? Well, now she had it but at the cost of her sister's sanity and with the knowledge that their parents were dead. At least now coming out into the open about who she was wouldn't have nearly the negative affect on Betazed politics as when their father was alive. If that had come out just a few weeks ago...

Nexi adjusted the trajectory of her ship to intercept the Hera. She had promised she would return and now she was making good on that promise. Still cloaked, she opened a channel to the Captain's Ready Room.

Enalia was there trying to enjoy a cup of tea and looking over report after report. It seemed to take more and more to keep this ship running right every day, especially with that fool of a chief engineer. She wanted to strangle him then throw him out the nearest airlock. Maybe she should...

Suddenly, her comm chirped, the screen lighting up. Enalia pressed the receive button and smiled when she saw who it was. "Nexi, it's good to see you again."

"Good to see you too," Nexi replied honestly, though she seemed uneasy. "I'm on my way to you, maybe another 15 minutes... Can you have the docking bays open for me?"

"Of course. I assume the same berth is ok?" Enalia said as she started tying out commands to the auxilliary shuttle bay.

"Wherever you wanna put me is fine," Nexi said. "How is Aewia?"

"About the same, unfortunately. The doctors have been able to replace some of her lost grey matter with implants, but there's just so much damage..." Enalia shook her head sadly.

"Well, I guess this means I should bring her some cake," Nexi said in an attempt to lighten the mood. "Has she asked about me?" Nexi had been worried Aewia might freak out when she left and it made Nexi feel slightly guilty, but she had to go, there was no way around it.

"Several times. I explained to her that you'd be back soon and that you just had to take care of something else first but she seems to forget things easily." Enalia said.

Nexi nodded sadly. Her one, last biological connection in this universe and she couldn't even keep track of what was going on around her. "I know I said I didn't need a room on Hera, that my bunk on my own ship was fine, but... I want to stay with her and there ain't enough room on my ship so... Can you put us in quarters together? I know I probably ain't the best role model for her, but we're all the family we have left and that's gotta count for something."

Enalia smiled warmly at the sentiment. "Consider it done. Role model or not, I think she instinctively knows you even without any telepathic abilities left."

"So her telepathy is gone?" Nexi asked. She couldn't believe they had taken that away from her. Nexi was only half Betazoid, but that telepathy was such an inherent part of who they were as a species and culture. Not that Nexi understood all those kinds of things, but she couldn't imagine what it would be like to be without her Betazoid senses.

Enalia couldn't imagine losing such an important sense either. Especially the way the romulans removed it... "It looked like they literally burnt those parts out of her. There's nothing left but scar tissue and we don't know of any way to repair that damage other than the slim chance of a brain tissue graft from a cloned brain. Even then, chances of her surviving the graft are slim, let alone for it to work."

"Fuck..." Nexi just couldn't fathom what had been done to her sister. She had done some pretty brutal things in her line of work over the years, but this was something else entirely. "Well, I'm minutes out. I'll go see her as soon as my ship is secured."

Enalia nodded. "She should be in wardroom 3 doing some therapy. The computer will have trouble tracking her, by the way. She's tried to eat 3 comm badges so she's not wearing one..."

Fucking hell... "Did none of you think about a subdermal tracker? And if she's going to be like this, it might be worth considering acquiring a Ferengi UT for the ear. I modified mine to serve the same function as a communicator." Though Nexi still had the communicator badge given to her and would wear it.

"The doctors are still pulling subdermal scrap out of her. We'd rather not put any more in her for now since most of the ones left were used for interrogation." Enalia elaborated.

"Fair enough..." Still, Nexi would look into an ear unit for Aewia. "Alright, I've got Hera on visual and I'm coming about. I'm still cloaked for your safety. I severed my ties with my boss, but I'm gonna play it on the safe side for a while."

"Sounds wise. The shuttle bay doors should be open now. I ordered them to vent the bay for a few minutes to get rid of some lingering odors. Apparently one of the crates our Ferengi friends gave us was full of raw meat."

Nexi made a gagging sound, but she was used to it. She had been brought up around Ferengi, so it was hardly the worst thing she had been exposed to. "You really know how to make a girl feel at home, don't you?"

Enalia shrugged and grinned. "Sorry. It was either that or tell them to tractor a cloaked ship. This way there's no shield to pass through and you won't be heard at all until you touch down on the deck. Besides, this is a Nebula class. As soon as those doors are sealed the room will be full of fresh air in 20 seconds or less."

"Sounds good," Nexi said as she adjusted her speed for docking. "See you in a few..." Nexi cut the transmission so she could focus on landing procedures. She swiftly landed her ship in the bay and the bay operators could see evidence of her cloak affecting the floors so they shut the door. As soon as the doors were shut, she disengaged the cloak and began powering down her ship for long term docking. By the time she was done, atmosphere had been restored and she left her ship and the bay to head for Sickbay.

Aewia was sitting at a table, mulling over some blocks with letters on them. She had forgotten why she had them and what she was supposed to do with them and was just looking them over with a look of consternation on her face. She could identify most of the letters, but a few of them didn't look too familiar.

Nexi entered the Sickbay and made her way to wardroom 3 to find her sister. She saw Aewia looking at the block letters as though they were completely foreign, though they probably were after all the crap that had been done to her. Nexi tapped on the doorway to get Aewia's attention.

Aewia looked up in surprise, smiling and waving happily when she saw it was Nexi. "There you are! You were gone so I missed you."

Nexi smiled, pleased that Aewia at least remembered her. "I was gone, but now I'm back," Nexi said simply as she drew up a chair to sit next to her sister. "This looks boring. What are you doing?"

Aewia looked back at the blocks in consternation as she slid one hand across the table to take hold of Nexi's hand. "I don't remember."

Nexi gave Aewia's hand a squeeze. "It's alright, you don't have to remember right now," Nexi said, though she could see a problem with the therapy already. The blocks were displaying English when it should be displaying Betazoid text. She brushed the blocks away and found a PaDD on the table. It was displaying some simple text for Aewia to practice with, but again it was in English. Nexi changed it to Betazoid text to see if that would help any. "I asked the Captain if we could have a room together once you're out of here," Nexi said. "She said that was okay."

Smiling brightly, Aewia squeezed Nexi's hand back. "That sounds good. We can eat together." Looking at the PaDD, she realized she could read it just fine now. "See Spot... See Spot run... No, I only see text... What was your name again? I forgot."

"My name is Nexi. What is yours?" Nexi asked without missing a beat. It kinda hurt that Aewia couldn't remember her name, but getting upset about it wouldn't help.

Aewia thought about that for a few. "Nexi..." she mumbled, trying her best to memorize the name again. "I'm Aewia. Aewia... La... La... Larani? I think that's it."

Nexi nodded. "That's right," she said. "Let me know when you're ready to get out of here and I'll take you to our new quarters."

"I think I'm ready now. They say I'll be blind the rest of my life. Is that true? Thinking is still hard with just my thoughts. Do you know about the silmaran virus?" Aewia's thoughts were disjointed and random, her expression rapidly changing between confusion and hope.

"What about the silmaran virus?" Nexi asked to see if that train of thought would go anywhere. She didn't know if they had been able to debrief Aewia yet, but on the off chance they hadn't because of her mental state, it was probably best to get any information she could.

"What about it?" Aewia asked blankly. "It reanimates corpses. It's based on the way Kobali reproduce but far less subtle." Looking back at her PaDD, Aewia tapped a few keys. "Who is this Spot person and why do they run?"

"I don't know, but that's a really good question," Nexi said as she looked at the PaDD to what Aewia was reading. See Spot run, deep stuff... "I think Spot is a dog... So, Kobali and corpses. Sounds like fun. Do you know how the virus works?"

"A dog?" Aewia tossed the PaDD across the table. "I don't like dogs. too slimy. They have viruses too."

"Good to know," Nexi said as she put the PaDD away. She would have to talk to Enalia about what Aewia had said about the virus. Even the smallest bit could be important. "Come on, lets go find our new quarters." Nexi stood and found Aewia's doctor and told him the bit about the language barrier and that Aewia didn't seem to like reading material about dogs. And while she looked up her new room assignment, the doctor gave her a few things to keep in their quarters for Aewia to practice with, just a few puzzles to keep her mind engaged. Nexi accepted them, then took Aewia's hand and they were off.

Aewia strolled happily, humming to herself and smiling goofily as she looked at everything as they went to their new quarters. "Can we have dinner soon? I'm getting a bit hungry."

"Sure," Nexi said. She wasn't sure she was ready to take care of another person, but she couldn't leave that job to someone else. Aewia deserved better... "What do you want to eat?"

Aewia thought about that a while. "Not gruel or ration bars. What about... it's a roll thing... with meat and rice... wrapped in cabbage..."

"No more gruel, and we can definitely do better than ration bars," Nexi said, though she had no idea what a 'roll thing' with meat, rice, and cabbage was called, but she was sure she could find something in the replicator.

"And spicy too. Like hasperat." Aewia said, not realizing she just described hasperat.

Nexi chuckled. Okay, now the description made sense. "Alright, how about hasperat? That's kinda like meat and rice rolled in cabbage, right?"

Aewia nodded happily. "And spicy too. Like a meatloaf with rice and veggies rolled in cabbage can be. Don't tell father I eat it though. It's bad for his image."

That caused a pang of pain and regret to settle in Nexi's chest. She was glad that Aewia had been stripped of her telepathy, neither were ready for the discussion about what had happened to their father just yet. "Well, what he doesn't know can't hurt him," Nexi said with a grin. they made it to their new quarters and Nexi let them in. "Go pick which bed you want to sleep on while I get dinner."

Aewia headed over to the couch and flopped in front of it, getting comfortable on the floor. "This is comfortable." she said, rubbing her face against the plush carpet.

Fuck, this was going to be a challenge wasn't it? "You look comfortable," Nexi said as she set Aewia's therapy puzzles on the coffee table then headed to the replicator to get some hasperat for them. "Ready to eat?"

Sitting up, Aewia placed her hands on the coffee table. "Ready! What's for dinner?"

"Hasperat," Nexi said as she retrieved the plates from the replicator, not even bothered that Aewia had already forgotten, she just rolled with it. "I hope you like it spicy. Do you want to eat there or up here at the table?"

"Ooh my favorite!" Aewia picked up one of the rolls, munching on it happily yet very guarded as if she was worried someone would take it away from her.

Nexi made no attempt to try to correct the behavior. She remembered being in the same position at one time. She would just have to make sure Aewia felt safe enough that she wouldn't have to guard her food. "It's alright," Nexi said as she sat across from Aewia with her own roll, eating slowly and trying to remain relaxed so Aewia would relax. "I like potato soup with little cheesy crackers."

"And those little cubes of yellow stuff too? Like cheese?" Aewia relaxed a bit, eating a bit more casually.

"Yeah, just like that," Nexi said with a chuckle. "Do you like the room? Think you'll be comfortable here?"

"It's big. Almost as big as my room back home." Aewia looked around at the room, staring out the window for a long moment before going back to eating.

"It is big," Nexi replied with a nod. She wasn't really all that into the hasperat and left the rest of it on her plate. "Can you tell me about your home? What do you remember?"

"I remember..." Aewia scrunched up her face in thought. "Home? A big house. Father worked a lot but he still ate dinner with us every night."

"That sounds nice," Nexi said with a genuine smile even though it made her sad. She knew she should probably tell Aewia about what happened to their father, but not yet... "I can't promise I'll be here to eat dinner with you every night, but I will as often as I can. This is home now, okay?

Aewia nodded. Her eyes seemed to clear up as she remembered more. "I also remember mother was a stuck up bitch. We parted with rather harsh words. I'd like to reconcile with her, though I doubt she'll ever talk with me again."

Fuck... This was getting really tough for Nexi, she just didn't know how to deal with this! "Aewia, there's something I need to tell you..." Shit, she didn't even know why she was bothering to tell her now, Aewia probably wouldn't even remember it tomorrow... "There was an incident. Your mom and dad... our dad... They were traveling for a rally on the Betazed moon and their shuttle had been sabotaged. They're dead."

Aewia looked down at her hasperat silently. "I guess I won't get that chance... Do you think I'll remember this later? I'm so... Wait..." She looked up, something dawning on her. "You said 'our'. So you really are my sister?"

"Yeah, I really am," Nexi said sadly. "I don't know all the details, my mom died before she could tell me, but it was before you came along... I was an accident, I don't even try to pretend otherwise. And your dad never even knew I existed. I was content to stay a secret, but you needed me... So here I am."

"Thank you." Aewia said, the clarity fading from her eyes.

Nexi could see the lucidity fading, feel the connections within Aewia falling apart. Whatever moment they had was gone and it was anyone's guess if she would remember it later. Nexi sighed and took the rest of her dinner back to the replicator to recycle it. "Are you done eating? Or would you like some more?" she asked, trying not to let Aewia hear how this was affecting her. It wasn't that hard to hide it, she had been living behind a mask almost her whole life...

Aewia was totally out of it by this time, staring at the last few bites of her hasperat. "Some more? There's more?"

"Yeah, there's more," Nexi said with a hint of a laugh. "If you're still hungry, the replicator can make more for you. Just don't make yourself sick eating too much."

Aewia finished up her hasperat and started licking her fingers. "No, I think I'm ok now. There's always more, right? Did you eat enough?"

"I'm alright," Nexi said as she picked up Aewia's plate and ran it through the replicator too. "I might get a snack later, but I guess hasperat's just not my thing."

"How about... That cold sweet stuff..." Aewia was at a loss for words again but this time nothing was forthcoming and frustration showed on her face, her hand moving to a scar on her head. "Ow..."

"You alright?" Nexi asked. "We can go back to Sickbay if you're feeling bad."

"No, no more doctors today please. The pain is fading." And so it was, Aewia was relaxing a bit and the pressure in her head from trying to remember was slowly tapering off.

Nexi nodded, but she would bring it up with the doctor later. "Ice cream," Nexi said, browsing through the replicator patterns. "Cold, sweet stuff... What flavor?"

"Ice... Cream..." Aewia mulled the name over for a few seconds. "I don't know. Something good."

Nexi got a bowl of vanilla for herself and a bowl of neapolitan for Aewia so she'd have some options to try. She set the bowl of ice-cream before Aewia, then plopped down on the couch. this was going to be so tough for Nexi, she didn't know if she could take care of Aewia, but all she could do was try.

Aewia noticed something about Nexi. She wasn't sure what it was, but she knew she wanted to do well for her and that she wanted to try to take care of her. Standing with her bowl, she sat on the couch too, similarly to how Nexi was sitting. Leaning into her sister Aewia held up her spoon. "I don't remember what this is called. I know it's used for eating though."

"But you know what it's used for and how to use it," Nexi said quietly. "For now, that's enough."

"That's enough... Just like Research Station R-134A..." Aewia mused, spooning into her ice cream and almost purring at the flavor.

There it was again, little tidbits of intel. Was she trying to remember it or was it just coming on its own. Nexi couldn't tell, but she was proud of Aewia either way. She put her arm around her sister as they ate their ice cream. She was going to have a talk with the Captain at some point to pass along that information, but for now, Nexi was going to enjoy this little bit of time with her sister...