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The Voyage Within

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    • Beep beep.

    Beep beep.

    Slowly blinking my eyes open, I lifted my head off the floor. That was my room com. Huh?

    "Enter."

    The door opened and Jennifer walked in, "Zephyr, sorry f-" she started and then she paused, "Did I wake you?"

    I glanced at the time and pushed myself up to sit, "It's fine, I was just dozing. What's up?"

    "I kinda need your help," she admitted with a small nervous smile, "I'm going to ask Dinah to move in with me."

    I blinked at her and then nodded, "Congratulations," I said before I tilted my head, "...But wouldn't her cabin be bigger?"

    Jennifer was an enlisted crewman, Dinah had an officer's cabin.

    "Yes," Jennifer said and smiled, "But I have brought it up with Commander Chakotay and we have a number of two-person cabins unclaimed. I'm looking at one of those."

    "Ah," I agreed, nodding, "That makes sense. Need some help carrying heavy things?" I offered.

    "No… well, yes, but if it was just that, I could just grab some other friends or just some drones," she admitted with a smile, "But I want it pretty ready by the time I ask her. You know her longer than anyone onboard, and know her better than anyone else. Likely even including me."

    I slowly nodded, "You want me to help decorate."

    "And pick furniture and that sort of thing," she agreed.

    I looked around my cabin empty of any furniture but a sleeping pad, "I'm not exactly an expert on furniture."

    "But you are an expert on Dinah," she said, "So?"

    "Of course I'll help," I said and got fully to my paws, "Want to go have a look?"

    "If you don't mind?"

    I shake my head, "Of course not. Let's go have a look. Did you pick out which cabin yet?"

    "I have, this way," she said and led the way along down on deck to a free set of quarters before pressing the button to enter.

    I glanced around before following her inside into the fairly plain. One outer living room and one smaller bedroom.

    Bit bigger than standard senior officer quarters. Not as big as mine of course, I had the biggest onboard anyway. Then again, even then my room's dimensions are still the smallest ones allowed for my body size according to Starfleet regulations.

    "So, what do you think?" Jennifer asked, looking around, "I'm thinking about adding some red? Maybe the couch?"

    I nodded and sat down, curling my tail to take up as little room as I could, "She does like red," I agreed, "But it's a strong color, better for accents."

    Jennifer grinned, "You know color theory?"

    I tilted my head, "Not really," I admitted, "But I do know some things. And I do know Dinah."

    "Yeah. Alright, I'm thinking like this," she said and motioned to one corner, "Couch, table. Big open space in the middle of the room."

    "Dinah does yoga," I agreed.

    "And has big visitors," Jennifer added with a grin, "And moving on across the space, table with chairs for eating by the replicator. Nothing big, just for four people. Mostly for breakfast I think."

    "Keep the bed as it is?" I asked, poking my head in through the bedroom door.

    "Yes," she said and ducked beneath my head to get inside, "But nightside tables, some natural material like wood. And a bookshelf."

    I nodded in agreement, "For books and boardgames."

    "Yep. PADDs are all well and good, but I prefer paper if I can get it. And it's easy enough to replicate a book," Jennifer said with a smile, "And the favorites get a place of honor on the shelf!"

    "You have room for one now?"

    She grinned, "Box beneath my bunk," she admitted, "But this way we'll have room for a shelf. Oh," she then added and ducked beneath my head again out to the main room, "And I'm thinking shelves beneath the windows with plants? Two or three levels?"

    "Sounds good to me," I agreed and tilted my head, "Actually considered it a couple of times for my quarters, but I always decided not to. It's too easy for me to knock over when turning around."

    Jennifer nodded, "I suppose that makes sense," she said before she smiled, "That gives me an idea, have a look at this," she said and walked over to the wall console and opened the database to bring up an image.

    I peered at it over her shoulder. It was one of those plant walls, the plants mounted vertically along the wall instead of in planters, causing a kind of plant waterfall effect.

    "What do you think? Would that work for you?" she asked, glancing up at me.

    "...I like that," I admitted and then looked towards the wall between the living room and bedroom, "And it could work there as well I think?"

    "It's not too much? Combined with the plants beneath the windows?" she asked and walked over to the wall, "They're more my thing, don't want her to feel like she's living in a jungle."

    I considered that for a second before I shook my head, "Not sure," I admitted, "I'm not the best person to ask. I may have human memories, but I haven't been human for a long while. I would like it, but I'm also not Dinah. Maybe do one and then have that discussion with her later?"

    Jennifer nodded, "Just by the windows then," she agreed and then smiled, "Think she'll like this?"

    "I think she will like it very much," I told her seriously while trying to think of what to get them as a moving-in gift.
     
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    • Aineko said:
    Why not gold? They've collected the stuff in bulk, it probably wouldn't be a significant issue.
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    For the swords and armor at least, bronze is relatively low maintenance compared to iron/steel, since it doesn't rust. Archaeologists have found examples of bronze armor from as far back as 1500-1600 BCE that's relatively intact, and it's worth noting that during the Irish Rebellion of 1798, one of the Irish rebels fought with a bronze sword estimated to have been made around 1000-700 BCE, though the organic material of the hilt had been replaced.
     
    Aineko said:
    Why not gold? They've collected the stuff in bulk, it probably wouldn't be a significant issue.
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    What they said up above, but also that copper and tin are much less useful in industrial processes and are much much more common just by being lower down the elemental table. Plus honestly I think it looks better and less tacky than pure gold?
     
    I'm really, really hoping they didnt get away clean. They learned NOTHING about a mystery that's been looming since the last book. One that only got more interesting when it vaped that Vidiian ship.

    I just want SOMETHING to come out of that entire endeavor beyond a 'Huh, neat. Anyways let's fix the ship and never think about that again.'.
     
    Roaming_Guardian said:
    I'm really, really hoping they didnt get away clean. They learned NOTHING about a mystery that's been looming since the last book. One that only got more interesting when it vaped that Vidiian ship.

    I just want SOMETHING to come out of that entire endeavor beyond a 'Huh, neat. Anyways let's fix the ship and never think about that again.'.
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    Eh, at worst you know Zephyr will be back within a century with a faster ship. He raised that possibility himself.
     
    Roaming_Guardian said:
    I just want SOMETHING to come out of that entire endeavor beyond a 'Huh, neat. Anyways let's fix the ship and never think about that again.'.
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    They were on that planet for months, completely unprotected except on a gross physical basis. There is a possible issue of living creatures coming aboard, maybe secretly, maybe as mementos/'pets'. Internal ship sensors might be... compromised, if the solar-system intelligence wanted that, never mind... extra passengers being so subtle they aren't spotted. Pet lizards might be... 'on topic'.

    This is ignoring possibilities that the Drones have been 'got at'. But. If Zephyr's 'property rights' are/were being respected, that would restrict what would have been done.

    It's a 'wait and see' situation...
     
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    Arch1987 said:
    What do you mean by got at? I presume you mean ai uploaded itself or a copy into voyager/drone management system
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    There are lots of ways to 'get at' a Drone. Extra processing capability that looks like structural components, for an enhanced intelligence to run on, would be one example. Covert upgrades, similar, to Voyager's main computer system, another. Or, both. Signature might be Drones behaving smarter than they should.

    This sol-system has 'ultra tech'. Assuming it can't full-on create subspace processing elements, things would need to sit in a subspace 'pocket', with a physical anchor, if they aren't completely physical (the Founders/Changelings (likely) use that sort of trick). This is ignoring femtotech systems. For vaguely real-tech, that isn't using subspace for power source/cooling, those sorts of 'fingerprints' can be a give-away, if things are inspected carefully enough.
     
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    • "No, I don't think those bother me," Jennifer said as we walked back towards my quarters, "It's not like she's got a sword on the wall. Besides, I'm security too. I have my own phaser stored in my quarters."

    I eyed her in amusement, "Not a full phaser compression rifle?"

    "Don't have room for it."

    "We're on a starship, why would you possibly need a compression rifle in your quarters?" I asked.

    Jennifer frowned, "In case we get boarded while I'm asleep?"

    "Your new quarters are half a deck away from the armory. Surely the red alert klaxons are enough to wake you up."

    "Better safe than jumped by Vidiians," she said with a shrug, "Besides, you keep your phaser in your quarters."

    "Yes, because it's built into my suit helmet," I said and sniffed, "I don't see why I would ever need it in my sleep."

    Scents from my door. Dinah, a Vulcan, other humans. One was Harry.

    Why are there people in my quarters.

    "If you weren't as tough as you are, I bet you would still keep one, just to be safe," Jennifer said with a smile as she stopped by my quarters.

    I eyed her suspiciously but answered anyway, "A phaser, yes. A full on rifle, no," I said and hit the open button with the back of one claw.

    "Surprise!"

    Dinah shot confetti onto my face.

    I blinked at her, "Surprise?" I asked, "I don't like surprises."

    She grinned, "Which is why it's just a small one. And I made sure we went in and out a bunch to give you a scent warning," she said and motioned to the people inside.

    She, Harry, B'Elanna, Carey and to my slight surprise, Tuvok.

    "Commander, you went along with this?" I asked him.

    "It seemed the easiest way to prevent any unfortunate accidents," he answered.

    Fair enough.

    "And surprise for what?" I then asked Dinah as I moved into my quarters. There were balloons in the ceiling and streamers hung up along the windows.

    Dinah grinned, "Your birthday was a couple of days ago. But you were too busy doing checks of the ship after we jumped to warp and wouldn't be able to relax so I figured I'd wait. Happy birthday!"

    Oh.

    So it was.

    I had not even noticed. Then again, it wasn't really my birthday either, it was the day I had appeared on Earth. Rather than try to calculate how old I was with my human birthday and try to correlate that to the age of my current body and having to keep writing that I'm four hundred years old depending on how you count, we had just decided to go with the date I appeared.

    "...Thank you," I told her and then looked around, "And thank you all for coming."

    Harry smiled, "Real party is in the lounge, but Dinah wanted a surprise party."

    "But you don't like surprises, so I kept it small," she said with a grin, "Not sure how Jennifer managed to keep you distracted for three hours though."

    "I'll tell you later," Jennifer said with a smile.

    Ah.

    Sneaky. I approve.

    "But first," Dinah continued, "Present!"

    I blinked at her and then looked past her. There was a big present laying on the floor. Huge actually, over a meter long and almost as wide.

    "Thank you, but didn't need to get me anything," I said and carefully moved past everyone, "What is it?"

    "Well, open it?" B'Elanna said, sounding amused.

    I eyed her suspiciously before hooking a claw into the paper and starting to unwrap it to find... a giant chewtoy. Shaped like a deer.

    Dinah smirked at me, "Maybe that'll keep you from scaring the local wildlife whenever we land."

    I growled at her and then gave it a poke.

    Squeak.

    Heh, that did almost sound like one of those deer I hunted in the holodeck.

    I poked it again.

    Squeak.

    Not sure if it was intended to, but it was a really satisfying sound.

    For me anyway.

    I looked Dinah in the eye, and then settled down and picked it up in my jaws, biting down.

    Sqeeeak.

    "See, fun!" she said with a grin.

    Squeak squeak.

    Her smile slowly started to fall, "Oh no."

    Squeak squeak squeak.

    "This was a mistake," she said.

    "Tried to tell you," Jennifer said with a grin, arms crossed as she leaned against the wall by the door, "Funny or not, he'd turn it around on you."

    Squeaksqueaksqueak~
     
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    • Hiver I do not appreciate you spying on my cat after he got a mouse toy,

    you did not need to break into my house for inspiration for your oversized ship cat story
     
    Hiver said:
    Dinah grinned, "Your birthday was a couple of days ago. But you were too busy doing checks of the ship after we jumped to warp and wouldn't be able to relax so I figured I'd wait. Happy birthday!"

    Oh.

    So it was.
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    Oh hey, me too! Well, technically my birthday ended six minutes ago as I'm writing this but eh, I haven't got to bed yet, so it's still the same day.
     
    This is actually the most impressive display of Federation materials science I've seen yet. A dragon grade chewtoy is no easy feat.

    And my goodness, the memes!
     
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