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INTERREGNUM EP 02-03: The Calm Before the Storm

[ INTERREGNUM EP 02-03 | The Calm Before the Storm ]

[ Captain's Quarters | Deck 05 | USS Theurgy ]

After a long night of random sleep, Jien Ives had finally slipped from her tangled white sheets.
 
Usually, she would be in the Gymnasium at that hour, yet given the events of the former day, she was content to go through a few sword forms in her living room. She did not bother to change her form further than to add a set of  black undergarments on top of her skin since she had yet to take a much-needed shower.
 
As she walked to where Arashi sat on top of a low shelf, she hoped a log entry would help collect her thoughts. That, together with the focus that her swordsmanship demanded. "Captain's Log, Stardate 57505.16," she said quietly, and Thea chirped in recognition to that was said whilst Jien withdrew the steel from its sheath. She cleaned the weapon first with a cloth, the long strokes preparation for both mind and blade, "Yesterday, we were visited by an alien entity that sought to gain power through our bodily worship of its specific theological domain. It was evident that she might have been a figure that shaped mankind's early history, not to mention all other planets in the galaxy that drew inspiration from her when forming the core of their religious beliefs."
 
After tending to the blade with the oil cloth, she stepped out into the open area - standing still with the weapon by her side. Her eyes searched the dim light for words. "Today, I find it interesting that the most evil acts made in life - even the poorest choices with the most dire of consequences - were once attributed to the will of gods."

She began - the weapon becoming an extension of her spine even though it was not a part of her form. The ardent silver arc of steel danced with her as the counter-weight to each swing and thrust - the only sound heard being her bare feet upon the floor. Stopping, blade extended, she continued her log. "Yet as Mankind, Vulcans and other species became more affluent, their living standard and style beginning to ascend the material scale, it would seem our gods descended the scale of responsibility. We needed them no more, and based on what we have learned, the absence of need seems to me the main reason they vanished."

Whirling around, Jien cut the air - the steel making the air thrum with sharp force. Each step sent the blade into new patterns, until she reached the end of the room. Lungs heaving, she spoke to the featureless wall. "James Joyce once said," she swallowed, " 'The artist, like the God of the creation, remains within or behind or beyond or above his handiwork, invisible, refined out of existence, indifferent, paring his fingernails.' "

Another turn, twain cuts leaving her crouched down upon the floor - blade held vertically next to her. "Perhaps he was right," she said quietly, and she straightened, perspiration making her lithe yet powerful figure gleam in the dim light. "Perhaps... the purpose was to help raise us to our feet, just so that we might be able to stand up on our own."

Lowering her head in thought, Jien soon decided that there were no answers to be found. As many that had been present when facing the entities were the same number of interpretations made - each pair of eyes seeing different things because of differing background.

"Computer, end log." The chirp gave her the closure she needed, for there were more pressing matters at hand.

OOC: The IC time-frame for this thread is from early dawn on the day after Episode 02 ended to 2200 hrs on that same day. By that time, Episode 03 begins, so please do not write that several days or weeks pass by in this thread. Try to plan the day ahead of time if there are many scenes you wish to write out between the Episodes. Please note, however, that you are all free to develop scenes for the evening and night before in the Post Meridiem thread. Have fun and don't hesitate to PM me if you want me in any potential scene you wish to write!

Re: INTERREGNUM EP 02-03: The Calm Before the Storm

Reply #1 –
[Lin Kae - Hololab]

"It's fairly complicated."  Kae had been working with Thea for hours now, developing all sorts of new sensors in her programming.  Though she had tactile sensors that allowed her to ascertain things such as hot and cold, rough and smooth, they were far more limiting, and provided more of a true./false statement in her mind then real sensation.  Since her transformation during the incident with the mysterious and powerful being that had switched Kae's body with that of Skye Carver, Thea was much more open to the idea of his development of her body.  Maybe she saw what she had been missing now, and wanted to truly experience what he wanted to offer her.

After all that time, they had successfully replicated an organic's tactile senses, but only in a single hand.  He had rewritten numerous lines of code, that new hand constituting three times the volume of her entire body's tactile sensors before he started.  He already knew that it was going to take massive amounts of space in the computer's systems to store this, perhaps more then he would be allowed, but for now, Thea could enjoy the feeling of touch in her right hand, from her finger tips to her wrist.

"Thea," Kae spoke, his voice already indicating that he was about to be the bearer of bad news.  "by my calculations, by the time we finish converting your body to this new format, your programming code's volume will have been increased by roughly thirty times it's current space, and there is still so much more we can do then just rewrite your tactile sensors.  The Captain won't possibly be able to approve of this much resources being used up from the ship's computer banks."  There was a small glimmer of hope, though, something he hadn't told her about yet.  "I've been working on an idea of creating a sort of Mobile Emitter.  In some ways, it's inferior to the model acquired by the Voyager EMH, but also superior in other ways.  I'm thinking if I build it specifically for storage of holographic data, I can construct the memory banks to contain your code much more easily then the ship's systems.  You could become autonomous from the ship, and when I'm done, you might even be able to leave the ship and take part on away missions if you so choose."

Re: INTERREGNUM EP 02-03: The Calm Before the Storm

Reply #2 –
[ Hololab | USS Theurgy ]

Standing in the Hololab with her hands behind her back and shoulders squared, Thea was wearing her golden body suit since she was working with the Engineering department. The hours gone by, as lacking as they might have been socially because of the ground-breaking yet tediously slow progress they made, had been quite interesting. Lin Kae and her had been working together before to take care of the errors in her programming that were inherent to the 'freedom' that she had been granted during the Niga Incident. Yet now, besides the quick and easy augmentations that Lin Kae had given her, she was beginning to appreciate the true genius of the young organic.

For when they got to the point where the tactile sensors in her hand had been altered, she raised both her hands before herself and flexed them - immediately feeling the difference. She looked at them as they moved, and while they appeared exactly the same as before, her right hand reminded her about her brief time as an organic being. It was hard to put words to the difference, even if she had been able to assist immensely in the trial-and-error process during the session with Lin Kae.

One thing that had become plain was that the difference between her hands at that point was the margin of error in which her original programmers failed to capture true sense of touch. Lin Kae had put a lot of time into the sensory sub-routines of a single hand, while her original programmers had used standard Federation programming that was considered adequate for photonic beings with the sense of touch, and they had applied it to her body as a whole. Perhaps it was unfair to hold such short-comings against her programmers, given that it was unprecedented that a photonic creation was given the opportunity of first-hand experience as an organic being, with the full range of emotions and bodily functions that came with it.

Of course, the difference she felt made her want more; that her entire body would be able to sense touch in the way her right hand now did. They had found the recipe for success in their session, and the parameters and sub-routines could be copied and...

Yet Lin Kae told her about the cost, and it devastated her that it was too great. The starship's systems were burdened as they were, and here she was, with a dream to become more... at the cost of everyone and the upkeep of her titanium hulled physical body. Flexing her 'new' hand, her 'thoughts' attacked the problem immediately... only to hear Lin Kae offer a solution right away.

"A physical component?" she asked quietly as she raised her brown eyes - looking into the Lieutenant's, "An emitter with data-storage that would rival the available storage capacity of my systems? You must be comparing my isolinear chips to the capacity of data crystals."

While isolinear optical chips served as data storage for various forms of Federation technology with a maximum capacity of 2.15 kiloquads per chip - enabling storage for everything between tricorders, PADDs and computer consoles to entire starship databases - data crystals were small, sophisticated information storage devices able to store a much larger amount of information. Less ideal for machinery and secure data transfers between thousands of separate units... yet vastly more capacious.

She stared at her saviour - a title that had survived their initial encounter. Lin Kae's words had sprung all manner of conclusions, and Thea wondered if the Lieutenant had drawn the same ones she now did.

Because organic memories were known to be stored inside data crystals so that the identities of undercover agents could be restored after their assignments were complete. Digital memories, such as her own limited sensory and optical surveillance input, were bound to be even easier to store. "What about my connection to me - as in the real, physical 'me'? This ship. The systems that are just as integral to me as they are to this Starship. Are you considering some kind of patching-interface. Or are you..."

To be removed from herself, made into something so small. Her pasitronic brain was inside the Main Computer Core of the ship. Separated? Without her brain, she would...

"Oh..."

Her processing powers were working very hard now, and she walked over to a wall panel - not having to touch it as she drew up the network map that just occurred to her - perhaps the same one Lin Kae had in mind already. "Dataports are used with data crystals, and with such a device as you suggest, you mean to create a constant wireless feed between my pasitronic brain and my mobile unit - a unit that would store all the programming for my projected humanoid body? In theory, it might work, but what about range and tracing of that signal? What kind of signal would the two access point dataports have that would stand the trial of range, capacity, discretion and encryption? These four parameters are still measurable, restricting... "

His mind could not be upon a solution with a wireless patching-interface.

"You mean to remove my brain from the ship systems... and put it into an emitter, with data crystal storage capacity." The feeling of mobility was also a feeling of mortality now, as she would be reduced to something that would fit her pasitronic brain and become so vulnerable that a phaser shot could through her passive state... No, she would not be able to enter passive mode - escaping through walls when needed.

"Are you quite certain the Captain would agree to have the ship rely on an outdated, standard Federation AI to handle the ship systems?" Oddly, that was her first thought. Not that she would loose her 'immortality'. No, for what she would get in exchange was something that surpassed the heightened risk of 'death', if one might be so bold and say that a hologram could actually die. If it worked, could there still be a patching solution for while she was aboard the ship? Would she be able to hook into her current systems and replace a standard AI? Could Lin Kae really do this for her?

"What would that make me... if not a whole new kind of life-form? An android with a holographic body? An isomorphic projection with a heart-emitter?" She could not help but run her 'new' hand up and down her own abdomen as her 'thoughts' raced - feeling the texture of her body suit in a whole new way.

"Tell me more," she asked of him, eyes intensely staring into his, for she wanted to know how much the holographic specialist truly meant to free her with his design.

Re: INTERREGNUM EP 02-03: The Calm Before the Storm

Reply #3 –
Despite the early hour, Nicole had barely slept, not that she'd really been getting a lot of it lately anyway, but her normally chaotic thoughts had something else to dwell on, on top of everything else.  In her mind's eye, she kept seeing the captain's glance in the reflection of her screen and was still, hours later, unable to decipher it.  It made it nearly impossible to lay her mind to rest and allow a normal sleep to follow.  If it hadn't been the captain, though, it would have been something else.  The warp nacelles, perhaps.  They'd been acting like they were in need of alignment and, like most things aboard, that would require a space dock in order to fix.  Those eyes of his, though... what if he'd been wanting her to follow him?  To talk to him?  No, better to think of how the holodecks still needed work.  If she scavenged... but, no, no more scavenging one system to save another.  She'd have to replicate the parts she needed.  It was something she'd come to realize as chief engineer.  Scavenging just meant one more system to fix later.  Still, what if she'd gone after him?  And, what if he'd scorned her, told her he hadn't meant anything by his look?

She rolled onto her stomach and noticed the clock.  She'd already spent most of the night on this and her next shift started in a few hours.  Tired as she was, she still didn't feel sleepy and just lying there in bed was getting annoying, since slumber seemed as elusive as it always did.  With a huff, she pushed up and padded naked to the bathroom, running a cold shower to try and wake herself up and shake off some of her exhaustion.  As she stood under the water, she realized she would have to face him and damn the consequences.  She had to know and couldn't keep on like this.

Decision made, she dressed and left, checking with Thea on her captain's location.  As she took the lift and walked down the short hallway, she worried about how to approach whatever was to occur.  She was hardly the most diplomatic of people and, if she wasn't careful, might just blurt out the first thing that came to mind, whether it helped the situation or not.  Realizing she'd reached the captain's quarters, she took a deep breath, then tapped the door chime.

Re: INTERREGNUM EP 02-03: The Calm Before the Storme

Reply #4 –
[ Captain's Quarters ]

The exercise had worn on for some time at the point when her door chimed, and Jien's dark hair hung wet with perspiration before her eyes when she turned her head that way - dai-katana still in hand. Bronze skin damp and chest heaving, she calmed herself from her straining sword routines with a few breaths.

"Computer, who's at the door?"

[Lt Cmdr Nicole Howard, Captain,] said Thea's voice impassively.

Nicole... The scene from the temple repeated itself in Jien's head, and she supposed she had to talk with her Chief Engineer about what was going on. Both what had happened right there in her chambers not long ago, and what had transpired in the Ishtar entity's prison. Yet how was she to receive her now? In the state she was in? Then again, considering what had happened between them, this way would be far more appropriate than last time regardless.

Gently grounding the tip of her weapon against the floor, Jien leaned upon it to catch her breath, calling out to the expected visitor, "Enter!" She altered not her form either, her black undergarments remaining just as she remained at the centre of the spacious living-room - only a kind smile touching her features faintly when the sliding doors opened. Whatever she might say would turn out strange, so she decided on something common.

"Commander," she said between two laboured breaths in greeting, 'How are you faring since yesterday?"

Re: INTERREGNUM EP 02-03: The Calm Before the Storm

Reply #5 –
[Lin Kae - Hololab]

Kae had actually been rather disappointed with the simplicity of what Thea had been using until now.  Her photonic skin was equipped with sensors which worked like true/false modifiers.  When she touched something, a list of conditions were presented, and determined as true or false.  Soft, hard, warm, cold, rough, smooth; these conditions then fed to the emotion program in her code and created an appropriate response.  It was functional, but hardly what he would have called true feeling.  She had been proud of it when they first met, but after her experience as an organic, she now knew how far she was from the real thing.  Now, Kae had taken that simple programming and made it so much more, turning what was originally twelve sensors in her hand into about a million, each one equivalent to a human being's pore.  More then just a list of conditions, he had programmed in the ability to simulate pressure, the elasticity of a finger when skin was pushing upon something, the feeling when a nail scratched along a surface.  Hell, if she wanted, Thea could have experienced a paper cut

"Let me show you." he told her, as he opened up a program in the lab, making a small device appear beside  Thea.  Right now, he was using the holodeck as a way of designing the device, rather then wasting resources by replicating parts.  He set up the hologrid to simulate the properties and effects of all components, making him able to properly test the device.  It was multi-sided, each of it's many sides having a tiny holoe-mmiter.  Overall, it was approximately the size of a softball.  "The device can project an omni-directional field, sort of like a shield bubble, but this bubble serves to create a photonic environment that can be used to replicate physical forms like yours.  Like a Holodeck shifts perspective as someone walks through it, this device moves as it anticipates your movement, using a combination of your visual sensors and the forward motions of your feet to tell it to move.  It's ability to move is thanks to an anti-gravity unit similar to the kind found in remote-controlled shuttle toys, but hooked into the central core where your actions determine it's pitch, yaw and acceleration."

That explained projection and movement, but there was still one key factor; how it was a better storage device then the ship itself.  "Isolinear chips are standard because they accept a wide variety of data.  It's universal, but specialized data can benefit from newer technologies.  For example, on the station where I studied holography, we were working on a storage device specifically for photonic data, which operates by buffering unused data until it is needed.  This could be as simple as buffering the sensation in the soles of your feet between footsteps or as complex as shutting down all functions during 'sleep' to make room for dreaming, a subroutine developed for the Voyager EMH to daydream with.  This device would need recharging when not in use, and you could be uploaded into it whenever you wish to be.  I can also set it up so that your ship-wide operations are unaffected; you could be loading data from both the device for your own personal use, as well as still be connected to the ship to function as it's AI.  We can use the standard ship's AI only when you leave the ship."

He had thought things through.  He was offering her a chance to grow without her roots being ripped out.  She would still be the heart of the Theurgy, it's primary AI, but she could also be a person, or at least work towards becoming more of a person.  He looked to her in anticipation, to find out if she approved of his ideas and his plans.  He had been working on it for weeks to get the concepts right, Skye helping inspire the device during the trip to Nimbus III.  It all served to do just as he said he wanted to do; to allow Thea to become everything she possibly could be.

Re: INTERREGNUM EP 02-03: The Calm Before the Storm

Reply #6 –
[ Hololab | USS Theurgy ]

When Kae uploaded the prototype projection, Thea walked around it while he spoke - studying it with her optical sensors as well as the file itself that was stored in her systems. Her intital reaction was that the faceted device looked so incredibly small. An organic might have called it premonition of claustrophobia. Am I to fit inside there? How...

With a gesture of her gloved hand, the projection was enlarged and the many components expanded outwards - making the inside of the unit visible. She tilted her head and glanced towards some of the components.

"The quality of my AI, what makes me different than an ordinary one, is inherent to the design of my positronic brain, stored inside my main computer core." Her line of thinking deserved an explanation, so she paused to tell him her reasoning, "My computer core is based on isolinear systems augmented with bio-neural circuitry and gel packs. The core's processor is capable of sustaining over 575 trillion calculations per nanosecond, granting simultaneous access to 47 million data channels, and operating in conditions ranging from 10 to 1790 Kelvin. The upper and lower computer core, for when I am in MVAM, possess the same capacity - only remaining dormant during Standard Operation Mode for sake of preserving the copious amount of energy they would require. My positronic brain, however, is merely capable of a computation rate of sixty thousand operations per nanosecond. My point is that the key to my AI is not in computation capacity to run a holographic program, but in the unique computation device that my brain is; hardware with capability of artificial sentience. Consisting of an artificial neural network and designed to imitate the human brain."

She turned to face Kae gesturing with her hand while she spoke. "The program you use to break down my source code in the matrix of my brain is a positronic decompiler that is specifically attached to my physical brain inside the computer core. It has an ultimate storage capacity of eight hundred quadrillion bits that house the sub-routines of my holographic projection. My brain - me - seamlessly tap into the main computer to make it execute operations, read and search for data at an exponentially high rate. I am so intimately connected with my physical body I find it hard to tell where I end and the computer core or my nervous system - the bio-neural network - begins. My point is that if components that can properly run my AI in the fashion that my brain now does isn't installed into this new mobile unit, my AI would but a shadow of what I really am. To be reduced to mere a mere holographic program, uploaded and downloaded seamlessly to this duranium crystal is theoretically possible at best, but would it really be me if..."

She paused, having overlooked one of the components in the unit - hidden under a new denomination. Now she deciphered it. "I see."With her fingers, she magnified the component.

"A cortex processor..." she said, a mere whisper, "...identical to mine."

She walked around the holographic image as she considered this. The positronic brain was designed to run a humanoid mechanical body with positronic links, a sub-processor and a memory cell. Yet she was no Android. She was a projection, and if Lin Kae's device with its uniquely formatted storage could serve for the rest... then she would have the same unique kind of computing capacity she already had... minus the assistance of the main computer core. Her emotion chip possessed sub-routines that could be easily transferred along with the current set-up in her positronic brain. Her program in its entire moved to the mobile unit, and it would be able to host it because of that specific processor - the most integral part of her positronic brain.

"How l-long," she began to ask for sake of saying anything at all, yet she paused since she had to swallow - tears in her eyes, "how long does the power cell last before it has to be recharged?"

The strong emotional reaction to being given this by the Engineer overwhelmed her - the emotion chip still not restored to her control since the Niga Incident. No more had she been given the answer than she walked up to Lin Kae and hugged him tightly. Holding him close, she could not express how grateful she was for all his hard work. "Thank y-you."

She repeated the two words endlessly until he'd stop her.

Re: INTERREGNUM EP 02-03: The Calm Before the Storm

Reply #7 –
 "Distracted," was the first word out of Nicole's mouth as she took in the nearly unclad sight of Jien before her.  She'd always been bisexual as far back as she could recall and here, before her, was a being who met both sides of her attitudes at once, or could, anyway.  To walk in on her captain dressed as she was seemed almost more intimate, somehow, than the last time she'd been in these quarters.  As she stepped inside and the door closed behind her, she suddenly felt a bit embarrassed to be here, like she was a 15 year old girl about to tell her first crush how she felt.  That wouldn't stop her, though, as she had to find out, had to know where exactly they stood.  An apology first, then a question or two.  Something to get the conversation moving.  And, of course, her captain's first words seemed so... distant.  Impersonal, as though they were just two officers and not two people who had shared the most intimate act people could share.

The sword didn't help, either.  It made her feel as though she were interrupting dangerous, as though she were being what her father used to describe as "uselessly womanish" while her captain was doing something masculine.  She'd come here to discuss their relationship, though, and not be distracted by anything else.  With a sigh, she stepped closer, "Yesterday was... difficult.  More so for others than for myself, given I didn't have anything really happen to me, but it still wasn't easy.  It made me realize, though, that I'd been... that I'd hadn't... I mean to say..."

She tried to come up with something to say, something to explain how she felt and what she'd been willing to give up to be with Jien, but her mind, for once, failed to provide anything and she stood there looking just a bit helpless.

Re: INTERREGNUM EP 02-03: The Calm Before the Storm

Reply #8 –
[Lin Kae- Hololab]

When she saw the cortex processor, he felt even more proud.  She saw how this one piece changed everything she had thought about the device until now.  With that one component, it went from a theory to a practicality.  Suddenly, it wasn't a matter of if the device would work, but when it could be completed.  "It's a sophisticated piece of machinery, so the battery would be used extensively.  I'm aiming for a twenty hour battery life and a four hour charge."  Four hours of downtime a day wasn't much.  Humans spent longer then that sleeping.

"I still need to get approval from the Captain before I can begin work.  This sort of project has a lot of components that could be quite costly.  I can't just build it without approval."  It was the one remaining obstacle that still had to be overcome, but when Thea hugged him, tahnked him over and over, he knew he had to finish it.  He couldn't let her down, not if he could help it.  She was the most sophisticated hologram yet devised by Starfleet or the Federation as a whole, and she deserved to explore the full limitations, to exceed her current form and become as much as an organic was.

"You're welcome, Thea," he finally said, to tell her she didn't need to keep saying it.  He was happy that she was happy, but there was still something more he could do for her right now.  Once their hug was broken, he worked at the console again to replicate the results on her right hand to the left.  It was a simple manner of mirroring the new sensors and mapping them in place.  She now had two hands capable of every touch, every feeling that an organic hand possessed.  A small step towards being what she wished to be, but it would build toward bigger and better things.

((OOC: Sorry it's short.  Had about a dozen posts to make today))

Re: INTERREGNUM EP 02-03: The Calm Before the Storm

Reply #9 –
[Deck 01: Main Bridge]

It was early morning on the Theurgy and the Lieutenant Commander made his way across the distance of the bridge.  He looked at the chair of the captain's for a moment as he traversed from the Tactical chair over towards the Mission Ops desk checking the readings on the displays as he walked the distance.  For a moment he looked over the mission ops display seeing the locations of the Wolves during this early morning sortie.

After looking over the data he walked towards the XO's read room and pressed the door chime knowing Commander Rez should be in her office at this hour.

((sorry for the short post not really sure where I could go from there))

Re: INTERREGNUM EP 02-03: The Calm Before the Storm

Reply #10 –
[Edena Rez - XO Ready Room]

"Come in," Edena responded to the door chime.  It felt like more of a warm, friendly response then the "enter" that she used to use.  That was Jona's influence, but after seeing the way that man had acted during the last crisis on-board the ship, she came to realize that she couldn't become the second coming of such a man.  She had to forge her own path, and part of that was drawing upon some of that naivete that belonged to her to make others feel comfortable, but temper it with Kiya's wisdom and experience, pair it with Illya's insight and intuition.  It would make her a more rounded individual for the effort she placed into it.

When Miles entered, she was starting to wish for her strong wall of Jona Rez again.  She had already discussed with the Captain the incident with Kiya, but Miles and Illya felt like a much more complicated mess.  Jien and Kiya had been forced together, but Illya had simply been her usual self, hungry for some intimacy and getting it from Renard.  On top of that was the Vulpinian's statement that he was more attracted to Edena herself.  She lowered her gaze to her desk to hide her blushing, at least until Illya was able to coach her through putting up the kind of face she wanted to show.  When she raised her head again, she was all professional.  "Is there something I can help you with, Lieutenant Commander?"

Re: INTERREGNUM EP 02-03: The Calm Before the Storm

Reply #11 –
[ Captain's Quarters ]

When Nicole told Jien that she felt distracted, the Captain did not make the connection about the sight that met her Chief Engineer. The glistening strength of her bronze-coloured body, light caressing her as she reclaimed her breath, the light ripple of muscles underneath her skin as she streightened and tossed her hair back from her eyes - dark brown hairsticking to her high cheek bones and long eyelashes. She knew her own physical representation, of course, since she was a Chameloid. Yet she did not realise she had such an effect upon Nicole right then - her training coming naturally to her since a very young age.

"Yesterday was... difficult.  More so for others than for myself, given I didn't have anything really happen to me, but it still wasn't easy.  It made me realize, though, that I'd been... that I'd hadn't... I mean to say..."

It was not only Nicole that had difficulty picking out words, which was evident in the lingering silence in the room. On hand upon her hip, Jien rolled the hilt of her grounded weapon in her fingers where she stood - head lowered in thought. The lamplight caught the blade as it rotated - sending fleeting spectres of gold across the walls around them.

"When you stepped forth," she said quietly and lifted her large brown eyes to meet Nicole's gaze, "regardless of your intent, it made me realise I've been disinclined to talk through what happened between us last - unintended words or not. If I hadn't been so stubborn in my claim to be native of planet Earth and the Sol System, and chosen to debate the topic good-naturedly, I think we wouldn't have to be stepping on our toes around each other."

Stepping towards her dai-katana's stand, Jien picked up the sheath.

"A little belatedly," she said and glanced over her shoulder, with a faint smile, "yet I am sorry. Can you forgive an outsider for trying a lifetime to belong somewhere, and defending her right to have a home?"

She sheathed the weapon in a fluid motion - 'burying the hatchet', in a way.


[ Hololab | USS Theurgy ]

Four hours of recharging and twenty hours to be free - uprooted from the computer core.

It would be so strange, to rely on her own capacity and not draw on the computation powers of the ship. Away missions. Walking solid ground. Real ground, away from the holodeck. Away from herself - her physical body. From being bound to sixteen decks, four-hundred and seven meters of length, sixty-four meters of height and one-hundred and sixty meters of width, the entire universe that she could reach within twenty hours seemed so much to her. Provided they could arrange portable means of recharging her ...whatever Kae would name it, there would theoretically be no way of stopping her.

Was this what organics called vertigo? For it all made her mind stagger with the implications, and that was saying much for her specifically.

When she parted from Kae, it was not with a sense of regret that she did so. She had wanted to linger more, for comfort and to tell him how grateful she was for all he had done for her. Instead, he continued to provide for her, adding her left hand to gain the same kind of sensory set-up that her right did. It caused her to run her hands over the front of her body-suit again, forgetting herself in how it might affect the young man if he took notice.

"If you want," she said, her hands making her crude sensory receptors in her breasts tell her how they were being stroked. The digital input was something along the lines of 'bodily warmth, pleasant'. Not the reply they had given her the day before, to say the least. yet her hands, they felt like she remembered them. Since she had such a limited frame of time which she had used her organic body, and the activities during that time were... specific, she wondered if she could find out if the sensors were accurate. Oh, She had lost her trail of thought, her bodily diagnostic greedily taking priority all on its own.

"If you want, I could be there when you plead my case with Captain Ives. Perhaps, we ought to discuss this at the Senior Staff meeting tonight, since it is not a decision that the Captain would make without counsel from his First Officer. Perhaps, the question of my right will, again, have to be discussed before the whole of the Senior Staff. I can send a message to the Captain about your need to attend the meeting right away."

The last time had been hurtful for her, but it had served her to go through that hearing.
 
"Also..." How to broach this topic in a socially acceptable way seemed beyond her. "Perhaps, if you are willing to, I would like to test the input of my new sensory system. There is no way to make certain if there are any flaws unless it is put to trial properly. Do you have the time... or do you have pressing duties elsewhere?"

Thea swallowed, the emotional chip fighting to make her blush. She knew he had the time, yet it was better to ask in matters such as these. Of this, she had been convinced since the Niga Incident. Besides having to ask, her second regret lay in how only her hands were to be put to trial right then, and the rest of her body yet to be mapped with the new system.

Re: INTERREGNUM EP 02-03: The Calm Before the Storm

Reply #12 –
Hangar bay

Lone Wolf Thomas Ravon was tweaking the final adjustments with a member of engineering to make his Valkyrie more agile in combat. A few tweaks to the propulsion system gave him that little edge to others when it came to racing towards a particular target area or making a tight turn. Thomas had spent last night on a recon patrol with Carver and his SCO after the events that had displayed before them with the mysterious entities.

After that patrol Thomas was knackered and he decided to go to his personal quarters after the mission debrief. He had slept until noon. After that he decided to return to his duties before the entire event that kept haunting through his head. Perhaps haunting was the wrong word, it wasn't a bad memory that followed him around all the time, yet the idea itself was wrong. He had promised the captain to not speak a word of this with anybody else, which wasn't that hard since Thomas had little contact with the other crewmembers. He reminded himself to be more social and to mix a bit more with the crew, yet the thought got carried away while working with the engineer on his Valkyrie.

He thanked the young ensign for his assistance and the ensign said that it was no problem. Thomas smiled a bit faint and returned to running a diagnostic check on his ship just in case. Little did he know that time would be flying past that it was already nearly afternoon when his stomach gave him a warning. He was getting hungry...

Re: INTERREGNUM EP 02-03: The Calm Before the Storm

Reply #13 –
Miles nodded, "Actually, I just wanted to talk if you had a little bit of time."  He paused as he entered the room and the door shut behind him.  "I can only assume that you, like me, have memories of what happened to all of our individual forms.  I just wanted Illya to know that No amount of reputation or rumors could measure up to actually having the pleasure to meet her, and it was my honor to be her escort during her brief time among us."

He then paused for a moment as he looked down fumbling with his hands as his tail swayed behind him slightly.  He began to look up his ears slightly low as if in  state of shame or embarrassment as his tail hung a bit lower than usual. 

He then continued "Commander Edena, I apologize if you feel as if I took advantage of the situation in my encounter with Lady Illya.  I must also apologize if you feel my statements to her regarding my physical attraction to yourself were unprofessional.  I just wanted to make sure I meant no disrespect and I sincerely hope this will not hinder our professional relationship or the friendship I felt we had built both previously as Counselor and Patient and now as an officer and his superior."

Re: INTERREGNUM EP 02-03: The Calm Before the Storm

Reply #14 –
[Lin Kae - Hololab]

Watching Thea test out her new hands, smoothing them down her holographic body, was a distracting thing.  She was so enamored with touch, even against surfaces which were only simulated.  Touching something organic has more nuances that would have no doubt given her even more to be amazed by.  She had experienced these sensations already to a degree, but even Kae didn't know the full extent.  He knew she had been human during the incident, but not what she had been doing with herself.  Likewise, his own situation, being in the body of a woman, was known, but not that Ensign Skye carver and he had slept together while their bodies were switched.  It was an experience that Kae thought might help him one day, to be personally familiar with the female body.  It might be helpful in programming Thea's more gender specific body parts  he even considered recruiting Skye for help with that matter in time.  He thought she might be willing to help with that, even if it would turn into another unusual circumstance for them.

"I sure it would help us along if you were there to help the Captain see the importance of this project.  Hologram development like this could be seen as unnecessary, especially in our current situation, but you could help him understand.  I'm sure of it."  The ship needed it's crew to become more then it was, to be smarter, better, to help keep the Theurgy flying against the threats that kept coming it's way.  Thea was no different.  She was becoming more, and that helped her to become a more dedicated member of the crew, to better understand those she served alongside.

When she asked about testing her new systems, he would have thought it would be a matter of touching a variety of surfaces, testing to assure all of her sensations were working accurately.  "I'm your personal holographic engineer, Thea.  I have all the time in the Quadrant for you," he responded with a smile.  He was at her call for whatever she might have needed.


[Edena Rez - XO Ready Room]

Edena's gaze lowered when he said the word "pleasure," which only served to shake free a memory she had been trying to keep at bay.  Having absorbed Illya's experiences with Miles during their time separated, she knew what it was like with the man as though it had been herself, even if Illya's body was a bit more . . . weathered then her own.  Weathered?  If that your way of calling me loose, Eden?

Edena ignored Illya's ghost in her head for a moment, instead keeping her focus upon Miles.  "I do not think you took advantage of the situation, Lieutenant Commander.  Knowing Illya as I do, even if I didn't have the memories of the event, I would more then suspect her to be the predator in such a situation.  I thank you for keeping her from causing too much trouble.  As for your comments regarding me . . . it's a confusing time for me right now, so I do not know how to properly respond to them."  She was in the process of reinventing herself, of learning from her hosts rather then following their lead, and relying far less upon Jona as an example of what kind of officer she had to be as a member of Starfleet.  In many ways, she felt like the woman she was back before the blending, which was essentially who she was when she was still back in Starfleet academy.  She was directionless, uncertain, and very much a wallflower.  She wasn't like Illya, who had more past lovers then she could count, nor had she known the committed love of Kiya for her husband of many years.  Edena wasn't a virgin, but in many ways, she could be just as innocent as one. 

"Commander Renard, I assure you that nothing that has occurred will affect any professional relationship we have.  One thing they teach Trill who go through the blending is the importance of letting go.  If not, there can be a drive to try and integrate into the lives of past hosts.  That training was helpful to me in my part as a counselor when I first came on-board, in helping others to let go of that which kept them from moving on."

Re: INTERREGNUM EP 02-03: The Calm Before the Storm

Reply #15 –
[ Hololab ]

Since Lin Kae wasn't hesitant in discussing the update on her sensory system as well as its mobile solution with the Senior Staff so soon, Thea paused for a minute amount of time in order to compile and send both the Captain and the XO a thorough outline of what the Holographic Specialist wished to present at the meeting, along with a note that she would like to be summoned for the presentation as well in order to answer questions.

Finished, she lifted her chin a little and spoke while taking a couple of steps closer to her Saviour. "Thank you, Lieutenant. I will begin now, if you don't mind." Her emotional chip was sending all kind of strange data into her processor, half of which she could not quite make sense of, but the general take on the data-stream was awkwardness and fear that he thought her repellant - that he wished not for her to try her sensory system in the only way she knew how.

When standing close to Lt. Kae, she looked into his eyes impassively and raised her new hands. Her gloves gone, the passionless look in her eyes were in contrast to her sudden approach. The emotion input from her systems affected her projection, made her stomach queasy with trepidation, yet still she never hesitated to run her fingertips along the bottom of his hair - feeling the texture course along her upgraded sensors. "I surmise hair can feel different depending on species, treatment and washing. Yours is smooth. Silken. Yet short and practical. This is familiar, as different that yours is compared to what I felt as an organic."

Next, her hands took different paths. One settled on his shoulder. A male shoulder. Angular and stronger than a female's, she supposed. His warmth could be felt through the fabric of his uniform. Her other hand ran fingertips to his lips. She brushed them lightly - the tactile response to the male mouth not something she was familiar with. Even though her emotional input told her that she longed to feel Lin Kae kiss her with her soon upgraded lips, her following words were controlled, all pragmatic effectiveness. "Open your mouth please, and extend your tongue."

Once he complied to her wish, she used her thumb and two top fingers to stroke the oral muscle slowly. The halfblood Bajoran's tongue was nowhere near the animal muscle of a Vulpinian in its natural form, yet the texture and response to her fingers were rather similar. "Soft," said her analysis, eyes still looking into the Lieutenants from time to time, "strong yet able to relax. Warm. Flexible. Saliva-coated. Hard to make one-hundred percent certain, yet I think nothing is missing."

One hand still on his shoulder, Thea let go of Kae's tongue - looking into his eyes intently.

Then she looked down between their bodies. It was not until she raised her eyes again that she spoke.

"Would you please open your belt buckle and unzip your uniform trousers. I would like you to push down your underwear so that I have full access to your aroused penis. I am sorry if this might seem socially inappropriate, but I need to make as many comparisons that I can."

She tilted her head a little to the side, wondering if there was anything more she should say. "You told me, when we first met, that you would rather like to engage in sexual activity with me than most others aboard the ship, so I hope this will not be too unpleasant for you. To preserve your modesty, I have sealed the doors to this lab - disabling your fellow crew members to see you in a state of undress. I have also cut the feed from the surveillance systems."

Realising that she might not be attractive to Kae in her current form of projection, and thus disabling him from maintaining his aroused state, she removed her clothing in a brief shimmer. "Is this satisfactory to you?" she asked and smiled, not able to keep the blush from herself - the idea about Kae in her hands vivid to her already. She could but hope that her calculated guess, stating that her bare body would be attractive to him, wasn't erroneous.

Re: INTERREGNUM EP 02-03: The Calm Before the Storm

Reply #16 –
He smiled hearing his Commander's words then looked back to her as he walked closer to her. "To be honest Illya wasn't the only predator in Below decks yesterday.  I also wanted you to know that everything I said to her about you is true.  Your shyness is one of your best features.  Your body for lack of a better term is the kind of approachable beauty. That I cannot help but feel pulled towards."

He smiled to her as he continued to approach just a bit never getting too close but it was obvious by the way he looked at her what his greatest desire was.  Still there was that bit of holding back that was obvious.  That professionalism that separated an animal within from the professional officer.  He walked that line expertly trying to show his superior officer that even if they let themselves go he would not think less of her he woudl never be less professional towards her.  Their encounter if there ever was one would be the actions of two beings wishing to express a physical need. 

If she ordered him to he co course could hold back.  He could break of his desires and never peruse them.  still he hoped his commander would indulge in the possibility of enjoying herself for a while.  "I guess I am more used to my own peoples ways.  I guess in our military we always were much more detached when it came to sexual liaisons.  I guess in a sense it is the detachment which has allowed me to remain professional despite what happened moments before.  I just want you to know that how I see you how I desire you, is completely independent of your rank no mater what suspicions your perverted friend might have.  Frankly, I just have a thing for cute sort-of-shy girls and you seem to fit that mold quite perfectly."

Re: INTERREGNUM EP 02-03: The Calm Before the Storm

Reply #17 –
"I, too, am sorry.  I never meant to even imply Earth wasn't your home.  We each pick our place to call such and I imagine the people of where you were raised see you much as one of their own," Nicole answered, relieved to have found something to say.  Had the silence gone on for a second or two longer, she wasn't entirely sure she wouldn't have gone screaming from the room in panic.  Still, it was only partly what she'd come here to say and she meant to say everything.  Emboldened, she stepped closer to Jien, until less than a sword length lay between them and met her captain's eyes, "When I stepped forward yesterday, it was an honest and unthinking response, entirely devoid of doubt.  I realized it in the moment after that I meant to stay with you, even if it should mean the end of everything I am here, the end of my life, so to speak.  I respect you, Captain, I trust you as I have no one else in my life, save my father, and after what..." she looked around the room where they'd been so close, "after we..."

She struggled for words for a moment, then pushed on, "I want to find out if there's more to be had between us.  A fight's a fight, all lovers, even friends, have them.

Looking slightly miserable and hoping she hadn't messed up any chance she might have had with Jien, Nicole nonetheless watched Jien with hope.  It was hard to do, waiting for her captain to respond to her words, but she had no others to offer and no choice but to let them hang there.  Either Jien would answer in kind, or dismiss her.  Either way, she could think of nothing more to add and could only try to not fidget.

Re: INTERREGNUM EP 02-03: The Calm Before the Storm

Reply #18 –
Scosche had slept soundly, which wasn't difficult given how exhausted he'd been, though he did have odd dreams.  They faded the moment he awoke, but he still felt uneasy.  As he opened his eyes, he tried to remember where he was and why he was awake at all.  Shouldn't he get a few more hours sleep?  That sounded nice.  Maybe just another few minutes with his eyes closed... lying there... in his bed... in his quarters... he jolted up into full consciousness and looked around, this time remembering easily.  He was a cadet now and, as his eyes were drawn to the clock, he bounced out of bed.  He'd be late and without breakfast if he didn't hurry.

A short time later, he found himself wandering the halls.  Wandering probably wasn't the word his superior would have wanted him to use, but wandering was what he ended up doing anyway.  He'd never been aboard a ship of the fleet, mostly traveling in smaller, cruise-line ships when he needed to get from event to event, luxurious but not the nitty-gritty of a scientific/military vessel like the Theurgy.  His assigned task, at the moment, was to familiarize himself with the layout of the vessel, to walk each deck and be able to recall what was where.  Fortunately, most of it was labeled and, while not eidetic, his memory was adequate and he felt, despite his pace, that he would at least be able to find his way to most of the places he'd been.

Thankfully, he was almost done.  He felt like he'd spent hours aimlessly walking the halls, noting down this here, that there, looking at sign after sign and hallway designator after hallway designator.  Everyone else seemed extraordinarily busy and none paused to talk to him, though whether that was because of their business or because of his status as a cadet, he couldn't be certain.  Either way, it had been a lonely hike.  Second to the last deck and finally something he was interested in seeing.  He'd heard of the Valkeries, of course, but never seen one up close.   As the door whooshed open onto the flight deck for the space fighters, he couldn't help but smile at the ships before him.  Not that he'd ever wanted to fly one, but what child didn't envision doing so once or twice?

Re: INTERREGNUM EP 02-03: The Calm Before the Storm

Reply #19 –
Junior grade Lieutenant Ravon looked up from his cockpit when he heard the doors whoosh open. He saw Scosche walking in, a small smile on his face as he seemed to have discovered the hangar bay. Thomas knew little of the newest addition to the crew, he only knew he was new since the man was a cadet. Doubting about the growling stomach he decided to get out of his fighter and to address the young cadet. After all, he needed to fraternize a bit with the other crew members, beside the fellow Valkyrie pilots.

He waited till the cadet was in earshot and he saluted him as he saw Scosche look at his bird "Cadet." He said short and smiled a bit, trying to be friendly "Decided to go and inspect the fighters?" He asked him and his eyes went over the man now. Not really sure if the man knew him he decided to introduce himself "Junior grade lieutenant Thomas Ravon, nice to see some other people besides engineers here."

Re: INTERREGNUM EP 02-03: The Calm Before the Storm

Reply #20 –
Scosche jumped in surprise, not really expecting anyone to have been down here, much less willing to talk to him.  As he turned to the young pilot, he was a bit shocked that someone so young, seemingly younger than himself, was a pilot.  Not that he hadn't accomplished more than most his age, but flight was well beyond his abilities, at least through the same means he'd applied in his gymnastics.  Nonetheless, he smiled and offered a hand, "Ravon.  Sounds like a bird, which is fitting, I would guess, given what you do."

With his other hand, his smile broadened, "That's quite a sight.  How long did you train those?"

He fingered his uniform, "They put me in security.  Not much chance they'll let me fly one of those.  Then again, not sure I'd want to, really, not against other people."

Re: INTERREGNUM EP 02-03: The Calm Before the Storm

Reply #21 –
[Lin Kae - Hololab]

When Thea reached out and touched his hair, he was surprised, but soon very accepting.  It felt nice.  She wasn't yet aware of it, but when he improved the sensors in her hand, it also allowed him to better map the digits as well.  Not only was feeling more realistic for her, but she also felt realer to others.  Her skin acted like real skin, responded to pressure as real skin did, and he could tell when her fingers fell upon his lips, made his heart beat faster.  Lips symbolized something far more tender then hair.  He almost would have expected her to kiss him.  If he had programmed her lips as he did her hands, maybe she would have, but these experiments were all about the fingers, the palm, the parts that had been upgraded.  What would happen when he upgraded her lips?  Her breasts?  Her vagina even?  Would she want to test them all with him?

After she was done probing his mouth with her fingers, she dropped a bombshell on him he hadn't been able to expect.  She asked to touch him far more intimately., ways he had only been touched by two organic women . . . well, technically, he had been the woman in one of those scenarios, thanks to the reversal of bodies he experienced with Skye Carver.  Still, he had Rihen as an example.  Strange that he was already seeing Thea as organic now.  He had dated holographic women before, yet she seemed far too advanced to see as one of those girls.  She was closer to a flesh and blood, albeit still sterile, which helped his fear of infections.  With a shimmer, her bodysuit vanished, leaving Thea in the buff.  Her beautifully rendered, painstakingly handcrafted buff.  He began to wonder who created her physical form, what artist spent hours upon hours crafting each and every portion of Thea's physical avatar to look so good?  Was she based on a single woman?  An amalgamation of ideal parts?  Or was each piece just designed to be the definition of beauty?  Regardless of the answer, Kae's pants were already getting a bit too tight for him at the sight of her bare form.

He reached down and undid the buckle as she requested, his eyes sweeping over her, getting familiar with each and every part of her.  He started to wonder if there was anything she might have changed about herself.  She was perfect, but organics also had flaws, ones that added character.  For example, Thea's breasts couldn't be anything but artificial, far too firm and shapely, like a surgeon forming an ideal pair after putting in breast implants.  She never had to deal with hair growing, with an uneven hip-to-bust ratio with a far slimmer waist in between.  As beautiful as she was, she looked like a hologram.  It was the uncanny valley to a new degree, not because it was eerie to have her so lifelike, but because she was superior to real life.

Still . . . so beautiful.  So arousing.



[Edena Rez - XO Ready Room]

"I'm not so sure what mold I fit into any more.  All I know is that Illya wouldn't leave me alone until I promised to do something for her."  She rose from her desk and came to stand in front of Renard.  Her stature was that of a superior officer, the kind that subconsciously urged other officers to stand up straight, to worry that their uniform was anything less then pristine.  It was exactly the kind of stance that those in command positions worked to obtain, to set the mood of professionalism without uttering a single word.

"Lieutenant Commander, you are relieved of duty until otherwise told.  Likewise, my own duty is temporarily relieved," she stated, effectively ending his shift and hers, no matter how much time they had left.  After doing so, she leaned in and placed a kiss to his cheek.  Illya insisted that it had to be Edena that did it, not her using Edena's body.  Negotiations had to be worked out.  At first, Illya wanted Edena to sleep with Miles, something her heart and mind was not prepared for.  After that, there was varying stages of kissing before Edena relented to a kiss on the cheek.  It was something small, something she was prepared to let linger.  She let his lips press against him for ten seconds before they finally pulled back, Rez returning to her original position. 

"You can report for duty again now, Lieutenant Commander."  She removed them both from duty so that the kiss was not a workplace one.  They were on their free time technically.  By reinstating their shifts afterward, it assured that her act, however small and innocent, had been off the record of Starfleet protocol.  "Did you . . . have any other official business, Mr. Renard?" she asked, still looking a bit nervous.  She definitely wasn't Illya, not someone who could be rushed into anything.

Re: INTERREGNUM EP 02-03: The Calm Before the Storm

Reply #22 –
[ Captain's Quarters ]

Hearing Nicole dismantle the argument they'd had so casually was a relief, and that she approached her was... somewhat enticing. The Chief Engineer stirred memories from when last they had been there, in Jien's quarters. The memories brought the notion of them having sexual intercourse whilst she had been in her male form, but their disagreement when she was in her current one, yet she did not think it had anything to do with what had happened. Nicole had shown clearly, back in that shower they'd shared, that she liked her female form too.

The next part made her stop spinning the sword - the spectres on the walls drifting to a stand-still.
It touched her on a deep level, that despite how she - as Nicole's Commanding Officer - was leading them all under the worst possible kind of conditions for a crew to be in, she had come to earn the Chief Engineer's trust and respect. Even to the point of self-sacrifice at the hand of the Ishtar entity. A very humbling thought, and an admission hard to deliver a decent reply to.

Yet when it came to the query of whether or not there was more to be had between them - despite how wide open for interpretation that statement was - Jien did have an answer for Nicole. She smiled faintly to the halfblood Bajoran, her smiles always ghosts since their exile began and they had to kill their own in Starfleet to get away. The highest cost of duty to be paid, death being far more kind.
"If there is more to have," she said quietly, standing still before Nicole - a trickle of sweat running down her neck, "I would like to find out. I might be obligated to duty first-hand, and the mission far more important than my personal feelings and desires, yet whenever there is breath and time for it, I would like to share it with people that reciprocate my feelings towards them - be it friends or not."

Tilting her head a little, Jien lifted her sword from the ground - signalling that she meant to step away even though her big brown eyes remained on Nicole's.

"I mean to take a morning bath before I head to the Bridge."

The simple statement left it completely open to Nicole to decide whether she wanted to stay or not, and also, if she would ask if she could join in on it. Jien was not going to push her into anything, so she eventually broke her gaze away in order to return to the cabinet - to sheath her weapon and end her training.


[ Holographic Laboratory ]

Thea made sure to run every kind of calculation she knew in order to determine the very simple fact that his silence and the act of opening his belt buckle indicated that he wanted her to proceed with her comparison analysis. The way he looked at her body was one determining factor. The erection that strained against his clothes another.

"Thank you," she said, in lack of any other kind of statement to make in the current situation. Then, she crouched down - her eyes lingering upon his as she settled her knees against the deck and bent her legs to the point where his crotch was right before her face. She supposed she had to break the eye-contact at some point if she was to seem earnest in her analysis, so she did, and raised her new hands - pragmatically undoing the top button of his uniform trousers and unzipping them.

"Your uniform seems to feel the same as the one I donned during our recent incident," she said, swallowing as she realised there were only a thin layer of black underwear between her fingertips and Kae's aroused male genitalia. She lay her palm against the hardness, moulding her fingers around it and pushing lightly against his lower abdomen.

"Bodily warmth. Throbbing. Pressure straining against the palm." In pushing at it with one hand, she saw that the clothed member almost reached the Engineer's navel. She had biological references in her database, and therefore she was not comparing Kae to a Vulpinian in her estimations. She already knew that the beast-form of the SCO was something completely else. This was her first contact with a more ordinary humanoid penis, and it seemed to her that Kae's was larger than the average sized instrument. She cupped both her hands along the sides of the proudly standing manhood - running her fingerstips along the cloth slowly.

Yet there was only so much to analyse from touching the cloth and feeling the warmth. She tilted her head and wrapped the tips of her fingers behind the hem of the underwear - pulling it down slowly to bare the thing inside. "Erection maintained," she commented idly as she worked the trousers and underwear down across his hips and behind, "comparative analysis of sensory input commencing now."

Lightly, she slid her fingertips along the sides, and she looked up into Kae's eyes as she spoke. She tried a smile, even if her focus was upon what she held in her hands. "You feel very hard to me," she said, realising that a more personal approach to the analysis made the situation more bearable socially. "You continue to throb. Your skin respond to my touch yet the erection is adamant - hidden behind the outer layer. I can feel it well and... the head of your penis is... so smooth."

She had to lower her eyes to it - see how one of her hands stroked across the head while the other hand sought a firm grip around she shaft. Doing so, she looked up again. "Is there anything specific I should do, in your professional opinion?"

Re: INTERREGNUM EP 02-03: The Calm Before the Storm

Reply #23 –
Thomas thought about the words now and he had to grin a bit and nodded "Now that you mention it. Does sound like a bird.." Thomas knew little of Scosche, even the fact that he was a galactic gymnast champion had eluded the pilot. He was happy to see the smile on Scosche's face though and he shrugged at the question of training "Long enough I guess."

"Well, I guess you could always try on the holodecks. Though it's not entirely the same when you're out there in space though... Perhaps you could as for a ride on auto pilot?" Thomas suggested and smiled. His stomach however wasn't so happy with being delayed and a grumble escaped. Thomas patted his stomach now and he sighed soft "So, do you like security so far? Or do you think you'll ask for a transfer to another position?"

Re: INTERREGNUM EP 02-03: The Calm Before the Storm

Reply #24 –
As she waited for a response, Nicole's eyes were drawn to Jien's neck, watching the bead of sweat as it made its way down her smooth, soft skin.  Her eyes immediately returned to Jien's when she spoke and Nicole listened intently.  It was the response she'd wanted, hoped for when she'd entered Jien's quarters and she felt a weight lift off of her, a smile lighting up her face at her relief.  It could certainly have gone a lot worse, as she knew her captain might have decided her duty left her no room for other distractions.  Nicole understood the logic behind such a commitment, but wanted more than just duty, more than just the burden of commanding in such an impossible situation.  If nothing else, Nicole would offer herself as stress relief, one of the few people aboard her captain could talk to who would listen without objecting in the least.

She watched as Jien slid her sword into its sheath and start towards the bathroom.  Watching the woman's backside was nearly as interesting as watching Jien's front and it took Nicole only a moment to make her decision.  As the doors to the bathroom swooshed open, Nicole walked up behind Jien and wrapped her arms around the slightly shorter woman, palms resting on Jien's stomach as she kissed Jien's neck, then licking the line of sweat.  In a quiet voice, she whispered, "Our first fight.  We get to have makeup sex?"
 
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