driftfleet | dreams in digital

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dreams in digital

[ Calibration Rooms ]
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ROOMS BY CHARACTER

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Connor

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Haggar

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Lup

(last updated: 1/21/19)

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_{[ He felt the tingle of someone entering his room, the faint pressure
of it, like a leaf landed on water and displacing a fraction. It roused him
enough to go and see whom it might be, deciding to be a touch cheeky and
have a mug of coffee in his hand. Not that the caffeine did anything for
him here, but the ritual of it was nice.}

_{The cup didn’t last long.}

_{The quiet hum of the bridge broken as the cup shattered at his feet,
dream coffee pooling over the immaculate floor, across his boots. No. There
wasn’t... how could it be? Even his brain wasn’t this cruel. Plus he had
never imagined a whole other person before. In the memories yes, but not
here. Walking. Talking. He had seen it in other’s rooms, but those had been
like puppets. A distinct action and one purpose. Not someone with the
ability to form an opinion, a thought of their own.}

_{His throat choked on the words he wanted to say, his heart twisting,
waiting for the knife to slip in as he finally managed to get his tongue to
untangle itself. ]}

Spock...?

[His name.

Spock turns quickly at the sound of the mug dropping. It's then that he sees Jim, here, and the pieces fall into place. Jim's mind. He's in Jim's mind. That was why it had felt the way it had when he came into it. But, clearly, he had not been expected.]

Jim...

[Spock walks closer, ignoring the planets in lieu of this unexpected companion.]

Jim. You have also been captured. Has the entire crew been abducted or simply us?

_{[ Spock was asking questions. Logical, immediate questions. There was
no way he was making him up. That he wasn’t here. Wasn’t right in front of
him. His eyes stung and his chest constricted, lunging the last few feet to
the other, throwing his arms around Spock. He knew Vulcans weren’t big on
being touched, but he didn’t care in the moment. His arms were around Spock
and he was real and there and present. The tears flowed, hot and salt and
stinging his cheeks as he clung to the other. ]}

You’re here. You’re really here.

[Spock's arms went up, wrapping around Jim tight to make sure he was not going to fall or otherwise hurt himself with that launch. Confused, he used the context of what had just happened to fill in some information about what was going on:

1. Jim's response indicated that he'd been missed. Ergo, Jim did not arrive recently, as Spock had.

2. Jim was clearly comfortable in this room by virtue of the coffee and the easy demeanor he'd had and lost. Meaning he'd been here for quite some time.

3. Jim was crying. Something he rarely did outside of extreme emotionally responses.

That had to be taken care of, first.]

I am here, Jim. [He wasn't an immense fan of contact but he knew humans were and knew, at times, how necessary that contact was for them.]

I am truly here with you.

_{[ He couldn’t speak for a long moment, the tears choking off his words
as he pressed his face into Spock’s shoulder, fingers digging into his
shirt. He was real and solid beneath his hands, warm against his cheek.
Fuck, he was really here. After all this time. It was both saddening and a
comfort, and right now the selfish part of him won out with taking the
comfort. ]}

When? When did you get here? How long-?

[Spock knew better than to move away right now. He just stood still, letting Jim soak up whatever he needed from him at the moment.]

I awoke here two days ago. I had been awaiting the completion of our new ship when the abduction occurred. [Jim still acts as though he's been here awhile. It's baffling]

We conversed. You, Doctor McCoy, and I. An hour before I appeared here.

_{[ He got enough of himself together to lean back and away from Spock, though he kept a hold of the other, as if afraid that if he let go, the other would dissolve into nothing. ]}

Spock... Spock it's been three years for me.

[Spock's face shifts ever so slightly. For anyone who knew him, it would be clear that 'concerned interest' has changed to 'alarm']

That is not possible.

It's very possible. Atroma can reach through time and pluck people from different points in the time stream. Even different realities.

_{[ He let go and rubbed at his face, leaning back against the railing, sniffing as the tears gave way to a congested nose. ]}

It's been three years for me in... wherever this is.

Jim...

[The idea of it is staggering. The very thought that his friend had been here for three years without him and he hadn't even noticed. Time travel would do that, certainly, but it's a devastating thing to learn all the same.]

I am here, now. [He reaches out and grips Jim's shoulders.] We will discover a way to return home. Together.

_{[ Jim didn't want to say how unlikely that was. That in three years of being here, none of them seemed any closer to an answer of leaving. People who could open portals between realities had failed. What did that leave them with? He tried his best to remain confident, but honestly, after three years, some it had been chipped away.

Still, it was comforting to have his best friend and science officer with him after all this time. But speaking of together... ]}

There's... something else you should know. When I said multiple realities? I meant it.

There's another me here, Spock. Another Jim Kirk. Like there was another you. Except he and I share a lot of the same memories up to the point, it seems, where we were taken out of our reality and sent elsewhere. I was sent here and he was sent to a place called Riverview, and then brought here after a number of years.

[Of all the things that Spock thought Jim might say, it wasn't that. Two James Kirks? How was that even possible? Where was Riverview? How many times could one person be taken out of their timeline without anyone noticing at all?

Questions sprung up on the inside of Spock's mind like he was back at school again. There were just too many for him to focus on one for any amount of time. And, besides, there were no answers to be had. These questions, before today, would have been considered hypothetical at best. Fantastical at worst. And now he was living it.]

Fascinating.

[Understatement of the year.]

To clarify: in terms of perceived time away from your original universe, you have been absent for three years and this alternative version has been absent longer still, having originally been taken to 'Riverview'.

[His eyebrow is never coming down]

To what end?

_{[ Oh, it was possible. Kirk hadn't been sure about it at first, but
now... now he was almost kind of glad. It was like having a brother, in a
way. How Spock would handle it he had no idea. He was sure just one of him
was more than enough for anyone. ]}

Well, I don't know how long he was in Riverview, actually. I just know he was there, and for a long enough time to want to engaged to someone, who ended up here with him. So, knowing me - at least a couple of years, most likely.

_{[ He shook his head at the other question. ]}

I don't really know. About Riverview or here. They say we're here to be on some sort of reality television program, but that... doesn't sit right. For one thing, they've put augments in us - something in the back of our heads. Chips most likely, but don't quote me. You'll have one too. They determine our rolls on the ships. And, we suspect, are the way they monitor us, and keep us trapped, perhaps. My hypothesis is we're one big science experiment, but again, to what end I don't know.

That's, unfortunately, the answer for a lot of things here. We just don't know. Atroma keeps all its cards close to the chest, that's for sure.

_{[ He sounds particularly frustrated by that, and he was. For a
multitude of reasons. Three years and barely able to scratch the surface of
things. How pathetic was that? ]}

Engaged?

[He has no idea what he is more surprised by: Jim engaged, him having been gone for years on top of the three years already stated, the chips in their heads, or the idea that they were a science experiment. In the end he just closes his eyes for a moment and exhales slow]

There are ethical concerns inherent in the forcible kidnapping of individuals for entertainment. I do not see any logical reason why those who have already engaged in this activity would not further utilize us for experimentation. [Not a comforting thought]

Has anyone experienced an event that would appear to be such?

Ethical is logical for vulcans, a guiding force for many humans, for most species. Without understanding who is actually doing it, it's dangerous to prescribe any sort of ethic or moral code to its way of thinking. The honest truth is we have just the barest scrapes of information, and nothing else, and what scraps we do have just... add up to a whole lot of nothing right now. Data points without any correlation.

_{[ He threw up his hands in exasperation and then quieted, looking to
Spock again. His eyes widened a fraction, the fact Spock was here hitting
him all over again. Trapped, like the rest of them, but god he was here. He
was here and real and saying the things that Spock says and giving him the
looks that Spock did. He felt his throat close in a choke as emotion welled
again, tears threatening once more, hot and stinging. ]}

I know it's selfish, but I really am so glad you're here, Spock.

[Spock doesn't smile. Vulcans don't smile. But the corners of his mouth do turn up the smallest fraction as his eyes go warmer, looking at his friend before him. The sound of his voice cutting off like that is all he needs to hear to know how affected Jim is by his presence. Indeed, thinking about how he would have managed in the same situation, Spock is acutely aware of how grateful he would be to see Jim here after so many years.

He steps forward and rests his hands on Jim's shoulders, bracing them in his palms. Jim's eyes are so bright, right now. Spock won't mention it but of course he notices.]

It is not selfish to desire the company of a close friend in trying circumstances. Your wish was not the cause of my being here. [His grip tightens just a little.]

While the situation is hardly ideal, my place has been at your side for many years, Jim. I too am relieved, if I am to be here, that I am not alone.

_{[ Captains were not supposed to break down. If they cried, they cried
in private. Their pain was not something to show the crew, to ask them to
share. The captain held the crew’s pain and stood as the pillar, as the man
who could work though the pain and the tears and the grief and see them
through to the other side while empathizing with that pain and shielding
his own. That was what captains did.}

_{But even captains have their breaking points. Sometimes it is all just
to much and the shields give.}

_{His shoulders shook in Spock’s grasp and the tears rolled down his
cheeks, letting out a choked sob. His arms wrapped around Spock’s barrel,
holding tight as he pressed his face info Spock’s chest and cried in
relief. It was the second time since seeing Spock, maybe in ten minutes,
but he didn’t care. He was just so happy to have him here, a piece of his
soul finally back in place. ]}

[ Spock didn't have the time here that Jim did. He hadn't spent years without the other, wondering if they'd see each other again. He couldn't imagine such a thing nor could he fully understand what it would be like to have Jim walk back in again, after everything. But even without understanding, Spock could sympathize enough to not think twice about these tears. Not think twice about bringing his own arms up and wrapping them around Jim's shoulders, one hand pressed between the blades and the other just holding his friend steady. ]

I am here, Jim.

[It felt important to say it again. To have Jim understand fully that he was here and intended fully to not leave without him. If, that was, he had a say in it at all. But those were thoughts for another time. For now, he just held Jim as his body shook.]

I am here.

_{[ He knew it was unfair to ask Spock to respond as a human, to lean on is human side, but he was very grateful that Spock, in that moment, chose to act less like his Vulcan side, and more like the human. You never knew how much you needed a hug until you got one.

Slowly he got control of himself, leaning back to wipe away tears, his eyes heavily rimmed in red, puffy from his tears. He smiled softly at his friend, reaching up to cup his face, tracing his thumb over the sharp cheekbone. ]}

I think I'll believe this one hundred percent when I see in the morning, when I'm awake. And we'll figure out where you're staying.

_{[ He didn't care what ship it was, if it wasn't the Tourist, he would move the stars to get Spock on it, with him and Chekov. ]}

[Jim always enjoyed a higher level of physical intimacy than other friends he had. It was in part due to how tactile his captain was but also a testament to the closeness of their relationship. But even so, the touch to his cheek is warm and unfamiliar. Not unwelcome, though. Spock allows it as he looks at Jim's tear-streaked face. Gently his own hand raises, the pad of one thumb rubbing at a particularly visible track.]

I will find you, when we awake. My vessel is yet to be determined but my preference, as always, is to follow under your command.

[Spock isn't sure what else he's supposed to do here. It's his first room and he's fairly certain that there was more to do than just find Jim and bring him to tears. But he can't bring himself to pull away when his captain and dearest friend is still so affected.]

There's a main common room and a kitchen. Find me there in the morning. But if you want to stay here longer, I don't mind. I can make us coffee. Sort of. It tastes real enough, anyways. I have... a lot to fill you in on.

_{[ He smiled, sniffing again when Spock traced his tears, feeling
silly, but not sorry. He was sure Spock found it quite illogical, all this
blubbering, but at least he was kind enough not to say anything about it.
]}

[Surprisingly, Spock doesn't see it as illogical at all. Tears were a human expression of emotion and he could understand such a show after being kidnapped and kept away from one's friends for years. Spock rests his hand on Jim's shoulder to squeeze it once more.]

It is my assumption that you have been allowed a sufficient amount of time alone. As I have no other matters to attend, I believe I will remain with you. However, having consumed your coffee previously, I would ask for the favor of being provided water.

_{[ He gasped, which no doubt looked a bit more ridiculous than usual
given the state of his cheeks and the ruddiness of his eyes. He punched the
other lightly in the shoulder. ]}

My coffee is just fine, thank you! Properly strong to keep you awake on the deck!

_{[ But then he smiled, leaning his head forward and onto Spock's
shoulder. ]}

God, I've missed you....

[Spock's hand pressed securely on the center of Jim's back, keeping it as a reminder of his presence.]

I am at a disadvantage as I saw a version of you yesterday.

[But he understood. He understood acutely what it was to miss someone yanked out of your life abruptly. They both did.]

However, the idea of two years separated from you leaves me confident a sudden reunion would leave me similarly effected. [His hand moved just a little. Not stroking but something like it.]

Although I do not believe, even then, I would consider your coffee 'fine'.

_{[ Those little touches, tiny and probably unnoticed by anyone else, did so much to stitch his heart back together, to close the hole that had been punched through when he'd realized how far from home he was, how far from one of the most important people in his life.

He let out a snort and turned his head, rubbing his face into Spock's shoulder. Ass. But - it was nice. Really, really nice. ]}

Well it's been two years. Maybe my skills have improved. Never know unless you try, right?

_{[ He smiled, winder than he had in a very long time, and went to dream up coffee. ]}

dreams in digital

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