Inspection Tour Guide

Posted on Wed Jan 23rd, 2019 @ 2:32am by Commander Rita Paris & Lieutenant Asa Dael & Kodria Mizu

Mission: Section 31-B
Location: USS Hera, all over the place
Timeline: 2396, en route to ion dark matter storm

It was a sad truth that Commander Rita Paris had lost men under her command before today, and there was a sadly high likelihood given the lifestyle that she led that statistically there were more men under her command that would die in the future. There was a certain inevitability to the universe, after all. Everything dies, even stars. What mattered is how we live was the philosophy of the ebullient Miss Paris.

Those men had died badly, led by a rank amateur. The captain had charged her with turning the department around, thus she would turn the guilt that she felt now into resolve. She'd improve the department, weed out and reform the troublemakers. In this, Rita could follow her gut and make it work.

Together they spent the night curled up watching a randomly chosen romantic comedy. He would talk through the film pointing out the inconsistencies and internal logic flaws while she would mock the entertainment as the jokes came to her. They went to bed together, cleaning up after each other in that efficient flow of teamwork that made their lives together wonderful. Then they came together, sharing their bodies and their minds, and they explored the universe between them once more.

In the morning she'd rearranged her schedule, and filed a few reports while sitting on the toilet in the morning- or the 'matter reclamator' as they liked to call them in the 25th century. Over breakfast, they made vacation plans- the first night in town they would try to recreate their first date, then go surfing in the morning and explore the city itself, get in touch with what it had become one dimension over and 131 years since they'd seen it last.

Working out the design, Rita figured out how to get what she wanted from the replicator. When she got out of the shower she had her new uniform which, paradoxically was her old uniform... kinda. With the broken ribbon above the solid wound braid gone, it was another wound gold braid on her sleeve. To her own era at least it would be readable, and the three pips on the collar would make her rank reasonably evident to most Starfleet personnel. The Captain had cleared her for hosiery, but Rita had frankly liked the sensible addition of tights. Modern uniforms were very durable, after all, and coverage was important. A pair of boots she'd been wearing for about a week completed the look. Running her fingers through her hair, Rita realized she'd have to cut it again soon.

Pulling the familiar garment on from the bottom, the stretchy fabric a friend to her curves, she was dressed in a flash, zipping up her boots at high speed- the thing that often had her replicating a new boot, oddly enough. Standing, she asked for a few mirror views from the computer and what she saw brought a smile to her face. With Sonak back and a comfortable routine to their lives, her appetite had returned and her fulsome curves had rounded themselves out.

Regular running kept her from becoming too voluptuous, as Rita Paris was no longer a girl, but a woman in her prime.

In the gold uniform, she pirouetted before her logical mate. He noted that she herself seemed quite pleased by the development, which he found acceptable. He admitted it was familiar to him, and he complimented her logic on her tactic in regaining the confidence of the security force in part by joining their ranks in color. In marking herself as an anachronism she managed to identify with their coloration designation, making her one of their own, which he found an intriguing synchronicity.

Dressed, with a pair of PaDDs in hand, the first officer kissed her husband good-bye, then marched into the hall. As she strode to her destination she tapped her badge, making it jiggle slightly. Which in turn made her giggle.

"Paris to Ops, give me the location of Kodria Mizu if you please." Rita was pretty sure that since she hadn't made any quarters assignments that the young android had spent the night having a sleepover and pinky swears with Asa Dael. Now the morning had come, Rita planned to ask a few objective questions, and it was time for 'take your android to work day'. All of which she had time to wait for while ops worked the sensors to figure out where the unique life form completely unlike any other onboard the starship was right now.

=^= Kodria Mizu is on Deck 8, Compartment for 26-O starboard, Commander. =^=

Standing outside Deck 8, Compartment for 26-O starboard which she colloquially refereed to as Dr. Dael's quarters, a short walk from her own, Paris marveled at the inefficiency. The ship's computer could do it in less than 5 seconds, and that was without a comm badge on the target in question. Shore leave, see what they could do for transfers then she had some thoughts to consider with the captain. For now, she needed to have a conversation or two. Tabbing the door chime, Rita waited for the El-Aurian xenophysician.

"Enter," answered Asa. As Rita entered, she found a bedraggled Asa padding around in pajamas made of light orange soft cotton shorts and a oversized shirt in light blue with little clouds on it. Perhaps unsurprisingly Kodria was in matching garb, and both seemed to have what could only be called bed head hair.

There was an old fashioned book version of The Hobbit sitting by the bed, held open by being placed open upside down on the bedside table. It was clear the book had been read for at least a few hours the night before, by the number of pages that had passed.

Doctor Dael went to sit on a beanbag in the living room next to Kodria, leaning affectionately against her. Turning to face the Commander, Asa said, "Good morning, ma'am. Can I get you anything? I am off duty for another four hours so we were going to watch Lilo and Stitch if you want to join."

"I very much appreciate the offer, Doctor, but I'm afraid I'm on a bit of official business. Miss Mizu, would you mind going to the other room to give Myx Dael and I some privacy, please?" Rita delivered the lines with the same friendly tone, as there was nothing wrong and no urgency.

"Take a shower if you want," Asa chimed in,"The water probably will feel amazing, and grab whatever you want from my closet."

Once Kodria had left the room, Asa turned to Rita questioningly, "Ma'am? What's up? You look....more yourself....today. If everything ok? Kodria did great last night, reminds me of my little brother..." they trailed off wistfully.

Asa didn't know why Rita was wearing her old uniform again, but they were pretty sure it was an important distinction. Rita's posture also seemed to be better, she was carrying herself with more confidence than she had in the new uniforms, and Asa could understand that. A person naturally walked with more ooomf in their step when they wore what they liked. However, the doctor had no idea what Rita would need with Kodria. The kid was still getting used to being in this century, but showed no signs of being a security threat. The doctor had immediately fallen into a familial pattern with Kodria, and was concerned.


“Everything is fine, Doctor, have no fear. Since you’ve had an evening to spend observing the subject and organizing your thoughts, I would very much like to hear your professional assessment of Miss Mizu,” the gold-clad commander asked. Her demeanor was by no means cold nor distant, but it was deliberately professional. Rita had already seen that Asa latched onto the young android and was immediately bonding, but she was using professional behavior this morning to test the doctor’s reactions, to see if they could exert their objectivity in regard to a case they were already clearly involved.

Absently running their hands through their close-cropped hair, Asa took a moment before responding. Mornings were never their strong suit, and they were waiting for the coffee to kick in and hopefully boot up their brain to form a cohesive response.

“She’s a bit adrift. I can see her start to say something and then stop, as if realizing she would potentially disclose things we should not know in the process. To me, that indicates good discipline and awareness of the consequences of ones actions. She has been very physically cautious, I suspect she has augmented strength compared to you or I and is aware that her movements must be measured to avoid harm. To be frank, it struck me as an adolescent interacting with a baby for the first time. The adolescent knows they could accidentally crush the baby and are being careful because of it. She takes in information at a remarkable speed and can quickly form thoughts and conclusions. For instance, she immediately posited the world in the Hobbit was being constructed to a larger purpose than the one story she was aware of. However, socially she is as a child. She seems to need strong bonds and is missing her caretakers still. The time she spent in isolation has not helped her social development, in fact I believe that has regressed from what it likely was. It is my belief that with proper support she can be a contributing member of the crew, should she wish.”

“Mmmm. According to Dejoy, her strength is actually quite low- apparently she was built with an eye to insuring that she wouldn’t be dangerous,” Paris countered, as she recalled the brief overview of their visitor’s systems when they encountered her in the ‘Castle of the Dead’ Section 31 base. “I appreciate your input on her cognitive ability, and I am taking her for a tour of the ship today in order to gauge her reactions, have a talk with her and see just where she might fit into the crew. I suspect that being a chronal castaway her options are a bit limited, and it seems she might have history with some of us already. You know the Captain- if a stray shows up on our doorstep, they are our responsibility now. Not that I’d have it any other way.”

After all, the Commander herself was a chronal castaway, flung more than a century forward in time, where she had adapted and thrived, under the tutelage of Captain Telvan. This case was a bit different, but no less bewildering for the subject. Thus Rita was the perfect woman for the job, to help her acclimate and see this strange unexpected world with eyes that did not see it is modern and familiar.

Smiling, Asa replied, “I agree, I’m glad she’s here too. I would like to recommend we ask engineering to double check what we can of Kodria. I would hate the stresses of this new environment to cause cascade failure, but I know we probably will not be cleared to know too much about her structure or processing matrix. Because of that, her emotional learning will need to be greatly cultivated to avoid any undue stresses, and I recommend she be kept as far away from opportunities for physical damage as possible. If her self-repair function becomes hindered, there likely isn’t much we can do for her without breaking the temporal prime directive. Of course, just my two cents commander. If possible, I would ask her quarters be somewhere nearby. I would like to check on her until she is on her feet, as it were.”

It was clear the young doctor had imprinted quite strongly on the android, and was highly protective of their physical and emotional well-being. If Kodria had been organic, Asa would likely have been feeding them soup for the next 40 years. Nervously picking their fingernails in apprehension of Kodria’s fate, Asa turned to face the commander with huge eyes, trusting Rita to make the right call and wanting to help.

“Calm down, Doc. First, she’ll have to be checked out by Science and Engineering, as she is a life form that requires intervention by all three departments to insure that she is healthy and fully functional. I don’t plan on bringing her on any dangerous away missions, believe me- it was nerve-wracking enough rescuing her from where we found her without allowing her to get hurt, and I think that might have given me my first gray hairs,’ Paris chuckled.

“We’ll determine her developmental stage and you will have input into her developmental program to be certain. As for her living arrangements, that’s going to be part of the conversation today, and I will definitely keep you posted. Trust that we all have Miss Mizu’s best interests at heart, Doc.” The golden girl gently rested her hand on the frail physician’s shoulder. “I appreciate that you’re already quite attached, and I am glad to see that it isn’t coloring your perceptions and that you are still prepared to be objective about her case despite your own involvement.”

With a sigh of relief, Asa nodded in the affirmative. “Yes ma’am….I’m….I’m sorry. I know everyone wants the best for her. I’l…I’ll do my best. It’s just….I’ve lost a younger sibling before, and….well it’s hard not to see her like a baby sister….albeit one that can think circles around me, but still. I….I just want to see her happy. Whatever that means for her.”

The sound of the shower turning off could be heard in the room, so Asa wiped an unexpected unshed tear from their eye, pasting on a huge smile in anticipation of Kodria’s return to the room. There were four different scented soaps in the shower and the nosy part of Asa was curious if Kodira would opt for a floral soap, an earthy sandalwood, a fresh eucalyptus and mint, or an exotic passion fruit. It was completely unimportant, but Dael was looking to learn as much as they could about Kodria’s preferences and was studying whatever choices the young android made that would indicate her personality.

“Um, how much of that do you think she heard,” Asa asked in a quiet voice, realizing too late that it was probable that even through the shower that Kodira heard at least part of their conversation.

“I assume all of it, Doctor. While I asked for a bit of privacy, it seems a safe bet that Miss Mizu is quite perceptive and capable, and more than likely she registered our conversation- thus why I insured that our discussion would be one that would not be at all harmful for her to hear. The privacy was more for your benefit, to refocus you." Voice softening a bit, Rita made eye contact with the El-Aurian person. "It’s okay, Doc… I understand, and I think Miss Mizu inspires a bit of a protective streak in most people. She’s a young person, and if you aren’t defensive of a child, that makes you a little bit of a monster. Which I say knowing full well the collection of unhappy childhoods on this boat,” Paris gestured, bringing her hand around as if to encompass the crew of the Hera.

“Last time I checked, aside from giving you some unusual perspectives on parents, it means that we ourselves are a bit fiercely defensive of young impressionable individuals who come under our care. Not a single solitary thing wrong with that, Doc- it means we’re the good guys, and that she’s in good hands. Woe betide the Starfleet bureaucrat who tries to take her off to some foster facility within the Federation- once our lost souls find their way here, unless there is a very strong desire to be elsewhere, here they’ll stay. Where we can help, because that’s what Starfleet does.”

It was yet another one of her cornball old-timey speeches, but Rita Paris meant every word. Today she would take the young android with her about the starship, and they would see where she might fit into this unusual crew of lost souls, misfits and amazing individuals who were all just a bit different than their peers. But that difference was their strength, and it seemed another patch was being added to the quilt.


"Right, um, I mean, yes ma'am," Asa replied, a bit surprised at their depth of emotion, but utterly unsurprising at Rita's compassion. It was a defining characteristic of Commander Paris, and Dael was relieved it would be her showing Kodria around.

"So, sleepovers aside, how can I help?" Dael inquired. They knew they would not understand most of the engineering jargon that science would throw around in discussing Kodria's capabilities and needs, and Dael was genuinely curious to ask Sonak what type of emotions should be expected from an android activated at the Vulcan Science Institute. It was a sure thing Kodria did have emotions though....and those Asa felt comfortable developing. They could only hope to do so in a way that would help Kodria make good decisions and feel happy as she developed.

“You already have, for now. I’ll be bringing her down to Sickbay for a review as well, unless you’ve already completed your physical assessment of her and filed the report?” At that, the archaic astronaut held up her hand to forestall any pending objections. “No one expects you to have it done, Doc. You were busy last night, and frankly, given the horrors we had to wade through I thought a bit of a sleepover might do you both some good to unwind and settle back into non-horrifying shipboard life. So no beating yourself up over this, just proceed from here. Miss Mizu will be coming through Sickbay today, so you’ll have plenty of time and I expect you to be thorough, as you are in all things.”

“Beyond that, we’ll keep you posted. There are some decisions to be made by Miss Mizu as well as the captain and Starfleet,” Rita admitted, “but as I mentioned, I suspect many of them are already in progress and we all want what’s best for our young friend. So just do what you always do, Doc- follow your moral compass and do what you think is right. Meanwhile, I’ll collect Miss Mizu and we’ll be on our way about the Hera for the grand tour.”

The young android was indeed able to make out the entire conversation as she showered. She had expected it though - it was a logical conversation to have. She still did her best to let them have it though. She was developed enough to know that they, and she, needed it. She had gone through all the soaps in the shower and settled on the sandalwood simply because it reminded her of her mother.

When she got out she ran through a series of self tests to give the two more time as she dried herself off. Most of her systems were recovering well but her personality core took a big hit. The diagnostic program for it kept returning errors every time she tried running it and the best she could get was 43% functionality with guesswork...

Sighing heavily, she finished drying her hair and went to program the replicator for her uniform. As Aunt Rita once told her, she needed to wear what she was comfortable with. Seeing her in her characteristic gold uniform was comforting and had brought a smile to her face. She just had to remember not to let on that she was one of Kodria's mentors in her early development.

Having finished getting ready, Kodria steeled herself and stepped into the living room in her Sierra series uniform, the upper part in that eggshell white that civilians still wore in her era. "I've finished." She then clasped her hands behind her back and waited, trying to hide her nervousness.

“Here she is now. Good morning, Miss Mizu. I’m Rita Paris…” the old-school officer smiled, opting not to offer her hand to the child or drop to one knee to come more to her level, because it seemed like the right choices, and Rita was nothing if not a follower of her instincts. “I might look a bit different out of the armor suit, but I assure you, it’s still me and I don’t bite,” Rita offered, hoping a little joke might ease the young woman’s anxiety. “I’d like for us to take a tour of the Hera today, bring you along on an inspection tour I'm performing today. It will give me the chance to ask you some questions and talk with you, while you get to see our starship and see how she works, and together we’ll work on figuring out your future. Would you like that?”

Kodria couldn't help but giggle at Rita's word choice. "Of course you're you. You're just a lot younger now." She then turned serious again, realizing her mishap and looking sheepishly away as a hint of a blush graced her artificial cheeks. "I mean... Ah... Yes. That sounds like it would be a lot of fun, thank you. Seeing things as they are now will help me figure out what I can and can't let slip. You can figure out where to assign me as well."

"You look very nice, Kodria," Asa replied, "Ya'll have fun, ok? Movie party later, the Commander is invited too, as well as anyone else ya'll want."

“Very well put, Miss Mizu- I’m glad to see that you understand, and that you are excited as well. You’ll be seeing Doctor Dael again presently as well as much of the rest of the crew, so for now, let’s get started with a tour, shall we?” Paris offered one of those winning smiles meant to out the young one at ease and give her a friendly face to walk off with after a calming night in the doctor’s quarters. Striding toward the exit, she waited to see if the young one would need to say good-bye or would just come along.

Which she did. Kodria gave Asa a quick hug and bounced after the golden clad Commander like a young girl on a date. "So what are we going to see first? Are the computer cores really centralized? Can I meet the Captain? Is this really a Nebula class?"

“All the way down to Deck 28, as we are going to start at the bottom and work our way up, Miss Mizu,” Paris answered cheerfully as she led the young woman out into the corridor, sparing a farewell wave for the doctor. “We’ll save the best for last, right? As for the rest of your questions, I’ll be honest- I don’t know, yes and yes. And of course we’ll chat some while we walk, so that we can establish a few things as we go along. Now, let’s start with a basic question- do you require sustenance, and if so have you eaten?”

The young android wrinkled her nose. "I had some nutrient solution earlier so my semi-organic bits can recover faster. It didn't taste good at all. I should be ok to eat normal food any time as long as it's easy on my tummy. My ah... Organelle system is modelled after Aunt Maica's... You know her, right? The android one?" Kodria held her breath lightly, hoping she hadn't let out another spoiler again.

“I think I’ve heard of her,” Rita allowed. “Maica is a complex discussion, it seems, but I believe the captain mentioned an android version. It’s okay, little one,” Rita reassured, or at least tried to. “I imagine there are going to be somethings that you say that might be spoilers. I know it will be very hard not to tell us a lot about ourselves, about the lives we will lead and who we will become and where we’ll go. Because you know us, in your time.”

Without waiting for an answer, the lost navigator pressed on. It was an odd experience having this conversation with a young person she’d help raise someday, but in the life of Paris, weird was just a Tuesday. “If you know me in your time, then I probably told you that if you are ever alone, then you stay calm, and you work out a way to call for help, and you wait, and you don’t give up hope. Because there are people out there who spend their lives answering those calls for help in the darkness when all seems lost, people like Starfleet. Did I ever tell you that?”

Kodria couldn't help but smile and get a little misty eyed, even with her fully black chrome eyes. "Almost word for word. I didn't really understand then, but I do now. Thank you. You and Doctor Artan taught me so much before I joined the Starfleet Civilian Corps."

Stopping, Paris looked down at the petite artificial lifeform and felt something that she would not be able to recognize as parental pride, but she knew what to do about it. Kneeling down, she wrapped the little android in a brief hug, then pulled back to make eye contact that was harder to maintain while she was holding back tears of pride that seemed misplaced, yet she didn’t question. “Then old me can’t be here to tell you, but I’m here, so I can. That was an incredibly brave thing that you did, and I am very, very proud of you. Most people would not be brave enough to do what you did, and they would not have had the strength to hold out hope for that long. But you did, and while I don’t know you very well yet, I know that much. You are a very brave person, Kodria.”

"Thank you." Kodria clung to Rita like she'd been separated from her for an eternity. "I thought I'd never see you again, Aunt Rita. I did just like you said and there you were. Thank you for coming for me. Thank you."

“It's all right, little one,” Rita soothed, patting the girl’s back. “I do have questions about the future, but I won’t ask. It sounds like I taught you what you needed to know, and that’s good enough for me. If you are in trouble then you know what to do… and yes, in this time and place, if you call I will come for you, because we’re Starfleet. That’s what we do. And if you join us then that’s what you’ll do as well. Whatever happens from this point, we’ll forge the future together, right?” It wasn’t her best speech, but she just had to give a little girl some security after all she had been through, and that was something Rita understood all too well.

The shorter android nodded and smiled, finally easing up her grip on Rita. "Yeah. We can make our own history now, can't we? I mean, most of the people I knew aren't even born yet, so I guess that helps. But I know you and Asa and Captain Dox and Ambassador Sonak..."

She scrunched up her face again as she realized she didn't know how to address any of those people in the current place in history. "Um... Those aren't their titles... Are they?" Sighing heavily, Kodria hung her head. "Please don't tell anyone I said that..."

"Ohhh, sweety," Paris took the android's hands in her own and gently chucked up her chin. "That my husband might be an ambassador is unsurprising, he's ideal for it and it's what elder Vulcans do. That our Miss Dox will achieve a captaincy is an assumption- she's a fine officer and will go far. But it does bring up a point." Rising smoothly, Rita motioned for Kodria to come along as she walked, picking up the pace as she tended to do. "How do you process information? Do you read like an organic or can you download? And if I ask an insensitive question I apologize, because I've never met an android before."

"I can do both, actually." Kodria held up her hands and pointed out the pads on them. "I have wireless contact points on my hands as well as wired interfaces in my arms for high speed data transfers. On top of that, I can read all known languages as fast as I can see them. Mama really wanted me to be the best at what I could do. When my muscular structure is rebuilt I should be on par with most Vulcan children, but my central processing core will be able to handle the entire workload of most Starfleet vessels."

It wouldn't be a stretch to say Kodria was proud of her capabilities and in what her creators had been able to cram into her. "But I have a flaw..." Here she turned a bit crestfallen and had to admit the truth. "My personality core was made to develop over time but... Something's wrong... Diagnostics is throwing errors..." Kodria reached out and took Rita's hand as they walked. "I'm worried..."

There was a 45% to consider, as Rita recalled. "We'll get you fixed up. That's on the tour as well- you're going to meet Thex! She's our ship's engineer, and she's a very clever lass. She'll do her best to fix you right up," Rita reassured, with a confidence she didn't necessarily feel. An android from 80 years in the future was liable to be sophisticated- but then, so were the crew of the Hera.

When they entered the Secondary Shield Network Generator compartment, it was a surprise to the crewmen there, who simply... weren't there. No one appeared to be on duty, despite the fact that there were supposed to be 4 personnel down here manning the station. Rita located the crewmen in the enlisted mess hall on deck 9 as she reviewed the system logs and found them 'rubber stamped'- checked off but no actual thoroughness to the reports. Starting diagnostics, she read the diagnostics logs and took notes, then left the compartment.

Moving on to the Forward Tractor Beam Emitter, at least this time she found someone on duty, although he was asleep. Pressing her fingers to her lips to emphasize quiet, Rita turned down the volume on the control panel, read the diagnostics logs and checked the maintenance logs before beginning a level 1 diagnostic. Sneaking back out, leaving the sleeping crewman there. Rita turned a prim smile upon the little android.

"You see, the Captain wants me to take over the security and tactical departments because she thinks incompetence has taken root. What do you think, Miss Mizu?" Rita asked as she walked the youngster toward the turbolift.

"I think the Captain should be worried about all the departments..." Kodria wasn't sure why Rita wasn't busting anyone but these people had responsibilities. What she was seeing terrified the young android.

"Mmm hmm. Oh, she is. Have no fear, Miss Mizu, they'll be whipped into shape in no time. So given what I've seen I know all I need to know from my tour." The old school officer explained with an expression that meant somebody was in trouble for sure. "So let's get your tour underway, and take you to go meet our favorite engineer, hm?"

Kodria bounced back from her worries almost instantly. "Yes please! I want to see engineering too. Your top speed is... Warp 9 something, right? Seeing a classic warp reactor will be very fascinating." Here again, the young android had to keep from revealing too much information. She had advances of nearly a hundred years of subspace, warp, and transwarp theory and analysis tucked away inside of her that couldn't get out.

"Classic warp reactor," Rita snickered. "You kids today Why, back in my day..."