I woke up and then instantly regretted that fact.
I snarled and twisted, my claws ripping through the normal claw resistant sleeping pad and leaving a score in the metal beneath it as I rolled, twisting.
The feeling of ants all across my body was not going away! It wasn't a dream!
Snarling, I rolled and wiggled on my back as I looked at myself. I couldn't see anything, what's happ- oh no.
I had felt like this before, but somehow now it was different. It felt stronger.
Growling I rolled onto my paws, unable to stop myself from digging my claws into the deck, "Computer," I snarled, "Open channel, Janeway."
"Janeway here."
I tried not to rip a piece of the deck free from the sudden furious annoyance, how dare she spe-
Clamping down on that hard, I tried not to crash through the nearest wall, "Captain," I answered, trying to keep my voice under control, "I regret to inform you that I and holodeck one will be unavailable for the next few days."
"Some more details please, Lieutenant."
Now I did growl, "I am shedding, Captain. It is an extremely unpleasant experience and I need somewhere with a lot of sand and no people that may accidentally become not people. Once I am inside, I require the doors to be locked until I am done."
There was silence before she answered, "Understood, do you require assistance getting there?"
"Keep people out of my path," I growled, "I am not in the best of moods."
"Understood, Lieutenant. Janeway out."
I headed for the door and a couple of seconds later the ship's intercom activated,
"This is the captain. Medical alert. Please remain in your quarters. If you are in a hallway, find a room and get inside it as quickly as you can. More information forthcoming."
The door was too slow to open.
I snarled at it, barely able to keep from ripping it out of its mountings because I knew that if I did, I would be the one to fix it.
Then I rubbed against the doorframe firmly on my way past out into the corridor. It helped for about a second on that side and then it was back as strong as before.
I bounded down the corridor, stopping to scratch against each corner.
By the time I reached the holodeck, I thought I'd lose my mind.
This was so much worse than last time!
"Computer," I growled as I came to a stop, "Load scenario, Zephyr-Scale-Alpha."
"The program is re-"
"Open the doors! Open the doors!"
The doors opened and I bounded through them fast enough that I almost took them out in my rush. I landed on a sand dune of rough sand and I rolled quickly, wiggling on my back. After last time, I had made a program specifically for this when it happened again. Not just a random dessert, but rather one with plenty of different kinds of sands, rocks and outcroppings.
"Computer, s-security override," I growled and rolled onto my stomach, "Seal holodeck one. Lock access to Chief Engineer Zephyr. Authorization, Zephyr-Mouse-Lambda!"
The arch with the doors disappeared.
"Command initiated."
I wiggled against the sand, rubbing the side of my head against a nearby rock. Whenever I find whomever made me like this I'll rip their head off!
#########
I slowly blinked my eyes open. Where was I?
Who am I?
For several long seconds my befuddled brain had no clue. Then information started to slowly filter in. The last... I had no clue how long it was just a blur to me. I didn't itch anymore and at some point I had to have fallen asleep, but I had no memory of either of those events.
I was also half buried in sand right now and despite just having woken up, I felt exhausted and starving.
Slowly blinking my eyes, I looked out over the landscape, the sun warm above.
Am I going to go through this every five years for the next six hundred years at the very least? Fuuuuck that. Next time, I'll have somebody sedate me and then have them peel me like an onion.
There had to be a better way to do this.
Forcing myself to start to move, I pushed myself up to lay on my stomach at least, the holographic sand streaming off me as I shifted my wings before slowly stretching, looking down at my forelegs.
As much as it sucked, it wasn't all bad. My scales were all shiny again. I stopped polishing them for a while after the battle at wolf 359 and never got them back to that state again.
Best be better about it this time, I liked how it looked. I likely couldn't keep it quite as good all the way until next time, but I could try.
"Computer, time?" I asked, shaking the worst of the holographic sand of myself.
"The time is 16:34."
Which told me absolutely nothing.
Suppressing a sigh, I decided to poke Tuvok about my suggestion of attempting to make the ship computer a bit more proactive.
"Computer, how long have I been in the holodeck?"
"The holodeck has been active for four days, seven hours and four minutes."
Damn.
No wonder I felt like I could eat a bison.
"Computer, open a channel. Zephyr to Janeway."
"Janeway here. Do you feel better, Lieutenant?"
"Much, thank you, Captain. Shedding skin is an unpleasant experience, it feels like you have ants crawling all over you. It's... itchy. My apologies if I caused any trouble."
"Not at all, Lieutenant. But I do want you to report to sickbay to let the Doctor look you over, just to be safe."
"Of course, Captain. Please lift the holodeck lockout and I will do so at once."
Felt unnecessary, but likely for the best. And I best signal Muninn to go clean this place out, there was bits of dragon all over the place."
"Your access is restored," she said after a couple of seconds, "Good to have you with us again."
"Thank you, Captain. Zephyr, out," I said before getting up, "Computer, end program," I then added as I headed for the door. It opened only for me to find Dinah waiting outside, her back against the wall, arms crossed.
"Have you been there the entire time?" I asked, tilting my head.
"No, just an hour or so, I figured you wou- woah!" she exclaimed.
I posed a bit, wings a bit raised. That's right, bask in my magnificence.
"You're red!"
Not the reaction I expected and I blinked at her, "I'm what?"
"On the top of your head and along your spine!" she said and motioned at me, "Look!"
I turned my head and sure enough, while the rest of me was still a greenish grey, where it before turned more towards a green on my back, it now faded into a deep red along my spine and the top of my tail..
I quickly retreated back into the holodeck, "Computer, mirror, maximum size."
One of the walls turned into a mirror and I looked at myself.
The red started more or less on the top of the bridge of my snout and continued all the way along my back to my tailtip. Not a lot, only like a decimeter wide strip that then faded into my usual greyish green.
Well, that's new.
