Bring Your Android To Work Day

Posted on Sun Jan 27th, 2019 @ 6:12pm by Captain Enalia Telvan & Kodria Mizu & Commander Rita Paris
Edited on on Sun Jan 27th, 2019 @ 6:46pm

Mission: Section 31-B
Location: USS Hera, Deck 1, the Bridge
Timeline: 2396

Standing before the turbolift on Deck 4, Rita Paris prepped her android tourist for the last stop on the tour. "So... are you ready to see the Bridge and meet the Captain?"

This was the moment Kodria was actually fearing. Meeting the Captain. "Captain Enalia Telvan, right?" Taking a deep breath, she braced herself. She'd heard a lot about the woman in her day and she wasn't sure what to make of most of it. She then nodded, as ready as she figured she'd ever be.

"Herself, in the flesh. Bridge, though- exciting, right? The Captain's usually in her ready room- she handles a lot of very classified data. So we might have a chance for you to see the bridge first." As the turbolift arrived and they entered. the fulsome first officer called out, "Deck 1, the bridge please."

When the doors opened once more, they opened on the blue and grey interior of the bridge of the starship Hera.

When she stepped out of the turbolift, the young android couldn't help but be struck with wonder. Her scans showed that this bridge was filled with tech that shouldn't exist in this era and even this bridge shouldn't be part of a normal Nebula class starship. This was definitely an Intel Science vessel...

Cooing softly, she ran a couple fingertips across one of the nearby panels. Reactive touch stimuli for blind crew? Variable view angle filtration? Full holographic display systems? She could see it all as clear as day - this bridge had the same systems that were commonplace in her day. For the first time since she woke up, she felt like she was home.

Watching the young woman's wonder at the antique bridge, at least to her sensibilities, was heartwarming to the throwback. Softly she asked, "Anything in particular you'd like to see, Miss Mizu?"

"This is almost just like the bridge I know on the Haspatia. The console tech is the same, the layout is similar, the gelato machine is in the same place..." Kodria wandered around in wonder, amazed at how it could be so close, yet so removed in time.

"Perhaps Captain Telvan's designs and choices were ahead of their time, then. I'm afraid I'm a poor judge- it's all the future to me," Rita chuckled, then eyed the young android's expression as she asked the question. "Speaking of which, are you excited to meet the Captain?"

"Nervous and scared, actually. I've heard a lot about her but..." Sighing heavily, there was so much she wanted to say. So much she wanted to warn them of. She couldn't though, and she knew it. "Ok... I'm ready."

The eyes of the old-fashioned officer narrowed, but there was no help for it. She couldn't ask questions, because if she did, the youngster might just answer. If she did, then she might be damaging her own future. But then again, the future wasn't a concern to Rita Paris- Enalia Telven was. Temporal Prime Directive... her conscience said, but the here and now was her reality. Speaking quietly, Rita broke the rules. "What about the Captain...?"

"Well..." Kodria got a bit evasive at this point, averting her eyes and shuffling her feet a bit. "If you promise not to tell and to not act on it..."

Stepping closer to Rita, she tugged on the taller woman's arm so she could whisper into her ear. "I was told that after some sort of tribulation or tribunal thing, she really wasn't the same person in private... She did find happiness in her daughter though. My mother..."

Stepping back, Kodria clasped her hands behind her back and stared down at her feet. "That's why I'm scared. I don't know who I'll meet and I've never met her before. I've never even met Telvan before..."

Leaning down, Rita whispered in return. "Well, this Captain Telvan hasn't done those things yet. She's a good person, so give her a chance, okay?"

Saying the words and knowing her own planned course of action, Rita wondered just whom the young sentient should be more afraid of, as she tabbed the captain's door chime.

As Kodria nodded, the call to enter came from within and the door slid open, allowing the pair to enter. "Ah, Commander, please come in. Is that our guest from the future? Kodria Mizu, right?" Standing and coming around her desk to greet them, Enalia offered her hand in greeting, which the young android shook out of politeness.

"Yes, ma'am. Thank you for coming to save me." Kodria was still a bit scared but the smiling face of the Trill woman was definitely not what she was expecting.

"That's what we do," Enalia replied as she motioned towards the replicator. "May I get you something? Tea? Juice? Milk? Brandy? Sorry, I don't know what, or even if, androids drink..."

"How about if we all have a seat, Captain. There are a few things we need to discuss, aye?" Paris offered solicitously, trying to steer the situation. Because it wasn't terribly likely this was going to be a very pleasant duty. Once everyone was seated, Rita began.

"Yes ma'am, Miss Mizu is apparently from the future. Our future, to be precise. I assume you read Miss Dedjoy's report and the subsequent reports you've been receiving. Our visitor here, as delightful as she is, belongs 96 years in the future. Which we might be able to work with and we might be able to keep DTI off our backs, but she is potentially endangering her own existence by interacting with us. And the longer she does so the higher the probability that she's going to alter the timeline irrevocably. Which is generally considered bad, as I understand it."

"So I have a very simple plan to return Miss Mizu to her own time, which I feel should be enacted as soon as possible. For her sake as well as our own." It wasn't Rita's proudest moment, to have to tell the lost kid from another time that she couldn't stay. But the facts were what they were, and she felt she had a responsibility to take care of the young android. This was the best course of action, even if it made her feel like a heel.

"The Temporal Prime Directive, of which even we, in this time, aren't fully aware of all the articles of yet," Enalia confirmed, her expression turning grim. "What's your plan then?"

"Time travel to the past is hard, ma'am. But we're all time traveling into the future," the chronal cosmonaut observed. "I propose that we bring Miss Mizu to Starfleet Command, and let Starfleet Medical put her in stasis for the appropriate amount of time. They can watch and monitor her, and wake her up when there will be no paradox. To her friends and family she will have disappeared, but reappeared on earth. But she will have had quite the adventure in getting home." Stopping to directly address the time displaced android directly, Rita's tone was sad but resigned.

"I'm sorry, Kodria. I would love for you to stay, and I think you would make a wonderful addition to our crew. And I can see that we're all very fond of you already. But you don't belong here, in this time," the ancient astronaut explained. "After all this excitement and change, don't you want to go home, to your friends and family?"

The young android had to nod in admission to that. "I do want to go home..."

"I can't blame you there. Home is where the heart is, after all." Enalia leaned back in her chair and thought it over a moment. "However, since the mission was classified and even your rescue is known only to Intel Command at this point... It might be best to let them handle the stasis. That way they can monitor the timeline and pull you out of stasis at the appropriate time and we don't have to worry about answering uncomfortable questions on any front with Starfleet Command itself. At least until well after the mission data has been declassified, anyway."

"Which will be a little while before you wake up, actually. So, Kodria? It isn't that we aren't glad to see you or that we don't want to spend time with you, but you see why this has to be this way, right?" In truth, Rita Paris had grown more than a little fond of the plucky little android, and she herself wished it could be otherwise. But a lost child needed their own parents, not people who would someday be a part of her life that could be wiped out by interacting with them. At least she hadn't told Rita anything about herself, expect that she was apparently going to be quite long-lived for a human being, which was remarkably surprising to Rita, given her talent for trouble. For now though, she hoped the youngster could see the light, although in truth she was trying to convince herself just as much.

Kodria, for her part, was searching within herself for an answer - literally and figuratively. She was running data analysis matrices as fast as she could, but she wasn't entirely programmed for this sort of thing. Eventually she did come to an answer though. Looking up, she nodded to Aunt Rita and Captain Telvan each in turn. "Yeah, I think that would be for the best. Please give me a little time to let my self repair systems finish first though. It shouldn't take more than a few days to get most of my systems close to where they should be."

"We're en route to Earth, and we'd definitely want you up and running at full speed before we start such a process. So I think it best that you take your time and say your goodbyes before we get there. But don't be too sad- you'll see some of us again when you wake up, right?" Trying to convince the young woman from the future to do the right thing and return to it was feeling harder on Rita than the young artificial life form herself seemed to be taking it. What the hell, Rita, it's not like she's one of your kids...

Which was when it struck her. Aunt Rita. She might not have built her, but it was clear that she'd helped raise her. That's why she felt the bond she did so quickly. That's why letting go was so very hard for Rita. Because Kodria acted like she'd expect one of her own to act. The patterns were all there- it was just that Rita had no children, so of course she didn't recognize the patterns.

Time travel was a bitch to process emotionally, in Rita's ongoing experience.

"Thank you, Aunt Rita. I will." Kodria couldn't help but smile brightly knowing she'd be able to sleep through the intervening years and wake up and see her family as she remembered them again.

Enalia couldn't help but feel a strange warmth in her bosom at the exchange. It felt odd, like she was bleeding, but different... Was this what having children was like? "Well... If that's settled..." Enalia was actually a little off. She'd never had friends growing up and she and her sister had never been allowed to just be children, so being faced with one now... And an android one, at that...

"Indeed, Captain. Kodria will stay with us for the remainder of the ride to Earth, then we'll have Intel put her into stasis, to monitor her and insure she manages to travel back to the future with no troubles. And she'll see us all again someday," Rita smiled, still surprisingly choked up over all of this. "Is there anything you'd like to say to the captain, Miss Mizu?"

"Well... There are a lot of things... Most of them I shouldn't say because of the future..." Kodria stared down at her hands for a moment before looking up at the captain. "But I will say this." Switching to the Trill language, she continued. "We shine brightest during our darkest hour."

Enalia was a bit stunned at those words - they were on her personal Artan pirate coins and few people knew it. Reaching into her desk, she popped open a hidden drawer and pulled one out. After looking it over, she handed it to Kodria. "Wherever you heard that from is right."

The human girl who wasn't up on every language in the Federation- well, really one native language and Federation Standard- realized it was another language, but she still heard the translation. "Okay, I'm going to guess that is significant and that you just bent the rules of time travel just a smidge without breaking them and you certainly look surprised Captain, which isn't your usual default ma'am..." Rita rolled her eyes and sighed. "We have a stop to make along the way to drop off a stowaway, but you'll have five days, give or take, to sightsee and spend time, Kodria. Make the most of them, and try not to give away too many spoilers, eh?"

Kodria flipped the coin over in her fingers a few times, studying it carefully before tucking it away. "Thank you. I'll treasure it always." Standing, she tugged down on her uniform top. "Ok, I'll need to let Asa know. I think I might also write a letter to myself just in case. Thank you."

"You are welcome to stay with Doctor Dael for the rest of the voyage, if you would like, or we can assign you quarters of your own if you would prefer privacy," Paris offered solicitously. "We'll accommodate your needs as best we can while you are here, and we'll see you off back to the future in style." The friendly first officer offered a warm smile, surprised by the undercurrent of tension in the room.

"I'd rather not be alone," replied the young android.

"As you like, Miss Mizu. All right, I think that ends the tour. I hope that you enjoyed it," It was disturbing how quickly things had turned cold with the young android upon meeting the Captain. Maybe it was because she's feeling rejected by you and sent home? She sure as hell knows something about that tribunal, and I'll bet I know what. All in time- for now, focus on the moment, Rita.

Rising, Paris stepped toward the exit, causing the door to open as the explorer awaited her charge.

"Thank you, Captain. I'll never forget meeting you." Kodria bowed slightly and respectfully before following Rita out of the ready room. When they got to the turbolift she finally broke down in tears, leaning against the wall and burying her face in her hands. Slowly she sank to the floor. "She looks so happy now... Please don't let her lose that happiness..."

"Deck 2, please," Paris ordered, then as the lift deposited them on the mostly empty deck, Paris got up under the young android who was not as light as she'd been in EVA armor, and got her up onto her feet, then she got her into Paris' office. Settling her in one of the moderately uncomfortable plastic retro chairs Rita preferred for her office, Rita knelt before the chair. "She kills her mother in the tribunal, doesn't she? She kills her and murders some part of her soul in the process, and she becomes what she's always been afraid of all these years, doesn't she?"

Still crying, Kodria could only nod in affirmation before reaching out for a PaDD. Tapping into it with her palm receptors, she downloaded an image into it of a much older Enalia Telvan in civilian garb standing with Maica looking as young as she was now. Between them was a teen girl that looked like a cross between them. While Maica's smile looked as bright as the sun, Enalia's looked forced, as if she hadn't smiled in decades. Underneath the picture was an obituary article for Enalia Artan/Telvan dated about thirty years from then. This PaDD she dropped into Rita's hands.

Immediately on each of her shoulders a 3cm Rita sprang up- one wearing the green wrapover Mirror Universe uniform, and one wearing her gold 2268 uniform.

You canNOT, you know you are so, SO not supposed to look at that. You should erase that article immediately then explain to-

The kid's bawling her eyes out. That's her grandmother, stupid, and she can't just leave it like this!

The Temporal Prime Directive-

Has never been fully explained to you except as to why you couldn't go back to where you came from, and it's crap. If the Captain's in trouble-

We could be endangering the Captain's future. This one's future! There is a reason that directive exists!

So which matters more to you, Rita? The here and now and the immediate future, or the kid from 96 years from now who's so fraught about this she knows she's endangering her own existence. And she still feels so strongly about it she's doing it anyway? If you think you had a hand in raising her someday, then she knows exactly what she's doing here. The question is, do you respect her enough to trust her, or are you just a rulebook in a miniskirt?

Here's that moment of trust again...

Gravely, Rita read over the article, fully aware that this could very well lead to the end of her Starfleet career. But she was the First Officer of the Hera. If there was harm to her ship or her Captain, it was her duty to interpose, evade or otherwise prevent it from harming her charges. The future could write itself after she headed off calamity.

The article was brief. It listed Maica III 47 and her daughter Moira Artan, a bright young cyberneticist, as surviving family members. Cause of death was voluntary separation from the Symbiont at age 70. A living wake was held a week prior to the transfer as per Trill tradition. The Telvan Symbiont was passed on to one Franco Delb. The picture was taken during that living wake.

"I'll bet I lectured you about this too, didn't I? How you can't change the past just because you want to save someone you love from being hurt, didn't I?" At the nod from the weeping young woman, Paris nodded. "Guess I also taught you to do what was right, and to trust your heart, huh?"

"I'll... I'll do what I can to save your grandmother, Kodria. I'm convinced the universe dumped me here for a reason, in this time, on this starship. I know that, and I know that she needs me, for a lot of reasons. But not the least of which is to reminder her that she's Starfleet, not a pirate... no matter what your great-grandmother may try to drive her to do. I can't promise you that I'll save her from herself- but I can promise you I will do everything in my power to not let that light go out in her eyes." Looking up at the young android Paris managed a rueful smile. "We do what we can with what we have where we are, eh?"

Looking up with hopeful eyes, Kodria smiled and wiped at her tear stained face. Yes, in the future even androids could cry. "Thank you Aunt Rita." With that, she gave the time tossed chrononaut a big hug.

"You little rebel rulebreaker. I'm really going to miss you... it's going to be very hard to wait another 94 years to meet you again, you know that?" Rita was making a bold play at restraining her own tears as she held the petite young woman, with her usual lack of success. The unexpected android had touched her heart quickly, and Rita's feeling for her were practically parental in no time. Making the realization that she could be returned to her own time, thus she should be returned, had been heartbreaking for Rita. But she knew it was the right thing to do, and as always, Rita Paris followed her heart.

Which was why she was now resolved to keep her own counsel in this matter, and wait for the moment in time when she'd be racing with destiny to save the soul of Enalia Telvan.

 

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