driftfleet | (no subject)

Who: Dr. Crusher
Broadcast: Fleetwide
Action: Marsiva
When: Now

[The first thing Beverly becomes aware of is how cold she is. Something must be wrong with the environmental controls. She rolls over on her side and opens her eyes. Time to call Geordi-

Suddenly she sits up in alarm. This is not her bed. These are not her quarters. And this is certainly not the Enterprise. A big picture window on the other side of the room, open to the familiar view of a star field flying past, tells her that this is a starship of some sort, at least, though the design is not like any she’s ever seen before.

Reflexively, she taps the place on her chest where her combadge would normally be located. Upon discovering its disappearance, she clutches at the empty space on her uniform. Take some deep breaths. One, two. Okay, what’s the last thing you remember? They were all in Will’s quarters, playing poker, and Deanna was triumphantly revealing a royal flush, then … nothing.

Standing up, she begins to search the area for anything that might give her a clue as to what’s happened. That’s when she finds the communicator, sitting on a small table near her bunk. Tentatively, she turns it on, ignoring for the moment the disconcerting fact that she knows exactly how this device works, despite its obvious differences from Starfleet communicators.]

Hello? If anybody is listening, this is Dr. Beverly Crusher of the U.S.S. Enterprise. I am trying to get in contact with my ship. Please respond.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

No.

[... okay, then.]

Nothing you do for fun?

I'm supposed to find my duties fun.

"Supposed to"? That's very different from actually finding them fun.

[ She folds her tiny arms. ]

Are my abilities insufficient?

I'm sure they are quite sufficient. But well... I'm a doctor, and a good one. I suppose I could be satisfied with just that, but I've always wanted other challenges, other interests to pursue. Variety is the spice of life, after all.

[ She's at a bit of a loss for what to say, so she repeats what she has been told, what she has always known: ] The ELN series was created to be companionship for sentient interstellar craft, for long journeys through light speed. Without companions, the sentient ships were unstable.

[ a beat. ]

With it, they're just boring.

[ No, she's not happy. ]

[Oh, now we're getting somwhere! She'll have to ask more about these sentient ships later. They sound fascinating.]

You see? This is where a hobby might come in useful ... it's hard to be bored when you're engaged in learning a new skill. Besides, you never know when some skill that is seemingly unrelated to your job might come in handy.

[She thinks for a moment.]

Have you ever played chess? It's a game based on logic and strategy, you would probably be very good at it.

ELNs who develop skills unrelated to their jobs are placed in other jobs.

Or culled.

[Now it's Beverly's turn to look shocked.]

They cull you? Simply for showing an interest in new skills?

[That's ... barbaric.]

If an ELN is incapable of satisfactorily executing duties without distraction, what's the alternative? Consumption of resources is very finely regulated on a spacecraft.

But it's murder!

It's an operational rule. Even humans will kill one another out of law or necessity.

Not where I come from, we don't. Not anymore.

And what makes where you come from better than where I come from?

Look, I'm not saying we're perfect, far from it, but at least we don't kill people just because it doesn't suit us for them to be alive anymore!

[She is completely dumbfounded as to how the ELN isn't outraged by how she and her people are treated.]

Edited 2015-04-01 01:54 (UTC)

[ Her emotions are so far buried even she isn't really aware of them. She doesn't want to think about this as terrible, because then it is terrible and large and terrifying; she can't be traumatized over her own reprogramming; ELNs can be easily grown and decanted; it isn't as though twenty or so years of human maturation is wasted, which, as far as she can tell, seems to be the main objection to murder.

So she justifies, and holds her chin up. ]

It doesn't happen often.

When I displayed abnormal patterns of behavior, my cortical stack was exchanged and I was reassigned. I wasn't culled.

[Oh well it doesn't happen often. That changes everything. Totally justifies murder.]

[Wait. They switched out ELN's cortical stack for another? This isn't any better than what the Borg do to those who are assimilated. Beverly is getting more frustrated and upset.]

I'm glad you're still alive but they can't - you're a person. With your own thoughts and interests and feelings. To just exchange all those things for traits they like better... it's wrong.

Stop it!

Don't talk about me like that!

[ She doesn't know what she's really objecting to, only that it makes her feel bad and wrong, and like she's sinking on the inside. ]

[Beverly looks taken aback and goes quiet for a minute, trying to understand.]

I think we both need to take a step back from this conversation.

[ ELN sits down hard, curls up her knees, and starts to cry into her hands. It's all such a big, confusing mess, and now she has to be something beyond anything she was ever trained or programmed for, and it's frightening and all so different. ]

I-if it's so - [ and her chest goes all tight, in a sob ] - so bad, why did they do it - to - to me?

[Oh no, oh no, Beverly desperately wants to comfort this poor young woman with a hug or something but she's stuck on this damn ship with no way off and all they have is the video screen. At the very least, her voice is low and soothing.]

I don't know ... it isn't fair, but it isn't your fault.

[ She curls up in a little, periodically shaking ball. Once she's started, it's hard to stop. ]

It - is. I was - inefficient.

No, it sounds to me like you were just trying out new things, exploring your options. It's perfectly normal. Change is part of being a person.

I'm an ELN.

[ No one's ever called her a person before. ]

Re: video

dancingmd - 2015-04-04 01:04 (UTC) - Expand

pocketpal - 2015-04-04 21:10 (UTC) - Expand

dancingmd - 2015-04-04 23:21 (UTC) - Expand