Just Keeping Swimming | March Planet Mingle

[thespaceopera]

Who: Everyone!
Broadcast: If you want!
Action: Anywhere on Mafik
When: The month of March



[Welcome to Mafik, the water world! Hope you brought your best swimming gear and don't have a paralyzing fear of water, because that's all that's here! So get out those wet suits and enjoy life under the sea!

In other words, it's a mingle! ]

> System Information

Comments

[dancingmd]

[Beverly nods.]

So I've heard... it's why I brought my bat'leth, seeing as phasers don't do much good under water.

[Though the bat'leth does make swimming a little more cumbersome, so for now, she walks along the seabed towards the front door of the temple.]

[universal_charm]

_{[ Kirk came equipped with a knife on either thigh and some tools around his waist, but little else that would work well underwater and in unknown spaces. ]}

Always a good idea to be prepared.

_{[ They found the door, which after seeming to sense their presence slid open. Kirk motioned for Beverly to come behind as he made his way in, floating down the long hall and towards the first chamber. He recognized the puzzle format, which was good - this wasn't a very dangerous one to start. ]}

All right, if this is set up the same way as the others, this is a 'light them in a specific order' challenge - a nice warm up.

[dancingmd]

[She huffs softly, sending out a small trail of bubbles around her. A warm up. Great.]

And if we don't light them up in the right order?

[universal_charm]

Usually in the first room it's nothing to serious - they'll go out or you have to reset them and start over to open the door.

So, first, we need to find the clue telling us which ones might be first. It's probably on the bases, so look for marks that might resemble a numbering system.

[dancingmd]

[She nods.]

All right.

[Following his instructions, she squats down and begins to examine the lights. It takes a minute, but finally she finds little raised dots, like old braille, arranged in clusters along the bases.]

You think these could be it?

[universal_charm]

_{[ He came over to look at nodded. ]}

That's the beautiful thing about math in the universe - more is more.

All right, so we need to find the first, and so on. It's best we mark them out before hand and make out a plan. Some of these things are on timers of a sort. But thankfully, there's only four, so we should be okay. From there... well, who knows?

_{[ He gave an excited smile to Beverly. ]}

[dancingmd]

[She laughs, delighted by his enthusiasm.]

You live for this, don't you?

[universal_charm]

_{[ He chuckled, ducking his head slightly. But his eyes are lit up, his cheeks flushed with the excitement of solving a puzzle. ]}

What can I say? There's nothing like this in the universe, you know? This thrill of discovering something new, solving a mystery. I really can't imagine doing anything else with my life now.

[dancingmd]

So is that what brought you to Starfleet?

[universal_charm]

In the beginning? No.

No, I got challenged by Pike. He challenged me to make captain in three years, to do better than my dad. So I laughed in his face and said I would do it in three.

_{[ He glanced her way and gave a crookedly sheepish grin. ]}

Not the best reason looking back, I admit.

[dancingmd]

Oh, I don't know. I've heard of worse. And in either case, you're looking for a challenge, which Starfleet definitely will provide.

[universal_charm]

Maybe. I think, at the time... at the time I was just looking for a way out.

[dancingmd]

That sounds like fair enough reason to me.

[universal_charm]

What about you, Beverly? Why did you join up? Clearly tales of my exploits didn't scare you off.

[dancingmd]

[There's a pause before she answers. Not because of any distrust, but simply because this is a difficult subject to broach with people. Finally, though, she moves out of her crouching position and stands to look at Kirk more directly.]

My planet was hit by a pandemic, when I was a child - only a few years older than I was when you met the younger version of me. I saw my neighbors and friends dying, thousands of people without medicine or a cure. I never wanted to see that happen to another group of people again.

[universal_charm]

_{[ He is quiet, listening to her intently. He tries to keep his face passive, but he can't quite keep some of the blood from draining, his lips from setting in a thinner line as he held back a wash of emotions. His hands clenched into fists at his side and he nodded quietly. ]}

I'm sorry. That's... That's a hard thing to go through.

[dancingmd]

[Her smile is gentle and sad as she lays a hand on his shoulder, offering what reassurance she can.]

I will always be marked by that experience... But I hope I have been successful in bringing some healing to others because of it.

[universal_charm]

_{[ He nodded quietly, glad she seemed to come through her experience. His had not been - well, he would not say not nearly so kind. But it was tinged with something darker, a cruelty and a madness that haunted him in particularly dark times. He frowned after a second, but it cleared and he touched her hand. ]}

Good, I'm glad. We shouldn't let things like that be the whole of us, just another thing that helps to shape us.

[dancingmd]

I am just glad that if they were going to make me a child at least it was before that.

[universal_charm]

Yeah, I can't - I wouldn't want to relive that, to say the least. To be so close to it again.

[dancingmd]

No... and I would have been even more frightened than I was.