Holodeck "Maintenance"

Posted on 15 May 2012 @ 3:23am by Lieutenant Commander Chauncey Remington III (KIA) & Lieutenant Lilou Zaren

4,528 words; about a 23 minute read

Mission: Episode 01 - Project Sienna
Location: Galileo - Deck 2 - Holodeck 1
Timeline: MD05: 1900
Tags: Hoobishan Baths

[ON]

Three hours into Beta shift, she'd been working in the shuttlebay when Willis had shown up and given her a strange look, recommending she check her PADD. The messages awaiting her there had been... curious was one way to put it. One from the Chief, informing her she had been given Beta shift off for no apparent reason. And the second, from Will, informing her that she should report to holodeck one at 1900 hours. That message had reminded her that their planned outing for the day before had been dramatically postponed due to the rapid failing and following jury-rigged repair of the Warp Core. She hadn't forgotten so much as been too exhausted and distracted and - she could admit to herself - too shy to go and try to reschedule with Will. He was probably just as busy as she was. More so. She'd been hearing rumors of how the Operations department was dramatically understaffed. But there he was, keeping track. So organized, she thought with a sideways smile.

She wasn't entirely sure what one was supposed to wear to a spa, but she didn't have many options. Her wardrobe consisted of sweats, tank tops, two uniforms, and that single black dress. She'd never had much need for civilian clothes. With an hour to spare, she did her best to clean herself up. She brushed her hair, did what she could to embellish her eyes, and changed into a pair of fitted Academy sweatpants and a plain gray tank top. Then, with the anticipation of a child going to a theme park, she skittered to the turbolift and rode up to deck two.

When she reached the holodeck, she found the panel blinking with an offline message. The holodeck was undergoing maintenance it seemed. But Will had told her, rather mysteriously, that no matter what, she should join him on holodeck one.

Wondering if maybe he'd had trouble with the upload or - even worse - if this wasn't about their plan at all and he'd actually needed her help with repairing the holodeck, she entered her access code and waited for the doors to let her inside.

The inside of the holodeck didn't look like it was undergoing maintenance. She found herself outside, on a lush world, her feet pressing into a carefully kept lawn in a garden. Rising over the gardens was a large complex with architecture in the modern Trill style, curving lines and copper tones. The building was built into the side of a steep hill surrounded by tropical foliage and below it, to her left, was a gorgeous beach of white sand and tropic-green water. The sun shone down warmly but there was little humidity at all. She was standing on a path that led from the holodeck arch to the building.

A delighted laugh escaped from her at the sight of so much green. There was something about the landscape that called to her on a deeper level than just its beauty. She didn't put much stock in ideas of genetic memory, but she'd always been especially drawn to Trill architecture. There was something so calming and simple about it. Unembellished beauty; the elegance inherent in its clarity of design and economy of space. She wiggled her bare toes in the grass path for a moment before following the path forward. As she walked up the hill, she paused and looked around. She couldn't see anyone anywhere. More importantly, she couldn't see Will. And that meant... she looked back down the hill longingly, bit her lip and looked around again. A mischievous grin peeling across her face, she ran up a few steps and then cartwheeled down the hill time after time until she collapsed in the grass at the bottom, laughing. She'd wanted to do that since she was a little girl.

Rising and brushing off the stray pieces of grass from her shirt, she continued to climb the hill. When she was most of the way up, she turned and looked out over the water that stretched lazily out into the horizon. It looked so cool and peaceful. That was the trouble with beaches. The water was so inviting, but you had to get past the sand to get to it. Laughing softly, she opened the door to the building.

The door opened to a large lobby of sorts, furnished with the best. Copper and dark purple seemed to be the motif for the Hoobishan Baths, with splashes of other materials like red velvet and black marble. Will was standing by a table. A segment of the wall was missing, revealing the holodeck controls. Will looked up at her and smiled. He was wearing something like black swim trunks and a dark blue tank top.

"Oh, Peers, I was just about to activate the holograms. It's not the Hoobishan Baths without a pleasant crowd of turists and rich people."

Lilou smiled. "Then, by all means, avail us of the wealthy tourists," she murmured, her gaze shyly darting away from him to focus on the high ceilings and rich decoration. Maybe she'd feel more confident if there were other bodies, even if she knew they were holograms. "It's beautiful. Just the feel of the grass was so nice."

"Yes," he agreed, his voice sounding a bit funny coming out of the wall where he'd stuck it to work. "There... we... go."

Suddenly, all the holograms appeared. There were species froma round the Alpha quadrant all of a sudden, milling about in pairs or groups. All the employees were Trill and just about everyone was dressed, well, in a way that would fall short of Starfleet uniform codes.

"There now," Will said, closing the panel. "The holodeck really did need a checkup though. I ran a diagnostic on the holograms because I was afraid the EMH mafunction might have been a problem with the ship. Fortunately it's not."

"Are you still having trouble with it?" she asked automatically. "Do you want me to try taking a look at it? It might be a hardware connection problem; if even two of the optic cables are crossed, they might be causing a disruption in the system's ability to navigate its programming-" She ducked her head, her cheeks reddening. "And I'm talking about work." She expelled an airy, self-deprecating laugh and crossed her arms behind her back, looking around at the people milling around the baths. Some of the clothing - or rather lack of it - deepened her already present blush. How could people stand to wander about in public with such... she couldn't really call it indecency, but certainly shamelessness applied, didn't it? She suddenly felt enormously overdressed her in sweatpants and tank top. Even the employees were wearing... far less. The lines of their spots in full display from head to toe.

Will chuckled, "Yes, you're talking about work," he admonished gently, offering her a hand. "Now we're on Trill, so pretend the Galileo is- oh. Computer, set time to sunset." The light outside faded in a matter of moments until a rosy glow drifted in from the windows. "How about a visit to the beach? The water is supposed to be warm all the time."

Lilou smiled, inclining her head. It would be a shame to avoid a part of this carefully designed holoscape just because she disliked sand. At least she knew it wouldn't stay with her when she left the holodeck. As they stepped out of the building, she let her hands float to the sides, admiring the way the sunset light reflected on her skin. "I'll probably never see this, really. It's..." her smile wobbled a bit as they headed down the hill towards the beach. "Thank you very much for this."

"You're welcome," he said as they took a turn down the path that led to the beach. "You know if you really wanted to see it in person you could go to Trill. A Holodeck is the next best thing though."

"I don't know that I could. The embassy wouldn't even let me in to talk about it," Lilou lifted her brows, still bewildered by that fact. "Strange. But it is beautiful. Something about the light on the copper and all this green. Even the water. Green all the way through." She paused at the edge of the sand and brushed her toes against it, awaiting the gritty hotness of the sand she'd experienced on Earth. Here it was soft as silk and cool, not hot. Her feet slipped in and out of it without the tiniest scratch. "I've never been to a planet besides Earth. Have you?"

"I was in the Academy," he reminded her, "but what's that about the embassy? You're a Federation citizen practically from Trill."

She'd thought he'd gone to the Academy on Earth. Had she misunderstood? "I'm not practically from anywhere," she disagreed. "I'm a Federation citizen by benefit of having been born on a Starfleet station. My father was from Trill, but my genetics don't entitle me to the rights of citizens of the homeworld. And he's no longer in communication with them, so." She shrugged, "I'm not even wholly Trill, something they seemed to distrust when I went and tried to make my case-" she paused, clearing her throat. "I don't- you said the water's always warm?" She pulled the drawstring of her sweatpants and stepped out of them, running full tilt and diving into the water.

Will watched her running towards the water, looking confused. There must be something more to her story than there appeared to be. If he'd been a security or intelligence officer, he might have looked into it but he wasn't so he let the matter drop. He jogged to the edge of the sea where the water lapped around his legs, his eyes scanning the sea for her.

Lilou emerged, blinking the water from her eyes and treading in place about ten feet from him. She wiggled her fingers and toes in the water and, for once, they felt warm. Was this what it felt like for other species all the time? This odd, over-blooded, tingling sensation at the ends of their extremities? "Don't swim?" she asked.

"I do," he said with a smile, "I was watching the sunset." He pulled off his shirt and waded into the water towards her. "I would have invited you earlier but I didn't want to reschedule too many holodeck reservations... I hope you enjoyed having an afternoon off?"

She sank a little and kicked her way back to the surface. "I was in the shuttlebay, upgrading the sensors on the Waverider until about an hour and a half ago," she smiled. "That's what I get for not keeping up with my PADD. But this... this is a nice break. After yesterday and Alpha shift today... I couldn't think of any better way to spend my evening." She rolled her shoulders, letting the warmth lap at her neck. She could feel her muscles slowly uncoiling; maybe it was the temperature of the water, or the color of the sky, or the semblance of a world she wanted to belong to, or the company. It could have been the company. She allowed herself to sink again, soaking her head, before rising again. "What did you do with your afternoon?"

"I read a Cardassian love story. A ridiculous lot of garbage is what it was. Romeo and Juliet have nothing on those five. You ever try to read a book about a love pentagon?" He grinned and ducked his head under the water, taking a few quick, powerful strokes to get him further towards the sea before he popped up a few yards away. "I'm sorry you had to spend your afternoon upgrading," he called back to her as he tread water, sounding a bit disappointed.

"It's all right. I got some work done. Met one of the-" she frowned a little. Thinking about meeting Kiri made her shoulders wrench into tight cords all over again; her brows drew together. She could admit to herself that she was still shaken by the very unpleasant glimpse in the mirror, but she didn't really want to bring it up. There was the tangibly soft glow of the sky and the reflective verdant surface of the warm water. And there was Will, who'd thought of bringing her here and read Cardassian love stories in his spare time. It was nice to have friends. "How does a love pentagon even work?" she asked, flattening herself out on the surface of the water.

He swam towards her, watching her with a curious expression. "Oh, even after reading it carefully, I couldn't tell you. I know each of them loved or hated one other person and I'm still not sure who's straight and who's not." He laughed but then turned a little more serious. "But who did you meet this afternoon?"

Lilou smiled as he described his impression of the story, but when he asked the question, she shut her eyes. Dealing with the other woman had been so... privately painful. More so, because she'd known that letting Kiri know just how distressing it was seeing both the effect Lilou had on her and her own self reflected in Kiri's eyes... that would have hurt the girl, too. How awful it was to be shy and lonely and unsure. How much worse to see how that made other people feel, about her and about themselves. She'd felt like a monster for asking a simple question. It was horrifying. She felt the tears start, hated them, and rolled to wash her face in the slightly tangy sea. When she resurfaced, she blinked the water from her eyes and shook her head, "Science officer. Nice girl." She could feel all the tension roiling back through her muscles, despite the temperature, company, and landscape. And now she couldn't even feel what she felt with impunity, for fear she might make Will experience what she had only hours ago. "What was the title of that novel? Maybe I should read it."

Will hesitated, deciding which direction to move. He choose a tentative step towards pushing her further. "Living on Betazed rubs off a bit," he said with a kind smile, reaching out and placing a hand on her shoulder. "What happened?"

"That's a pretty unwieldy title, even for the Cardassians," she joked. The largest of the knots in her shoulder actually twitched when he touched her. She thought, seriously, about leaving it at that, but he was treading green sea water with her and the longer his hand stayed on her shoulder, the less the knot hurt. "I scared her," she admitted, pressing her back teeth together to try to staunch the mortifying flood the admission provoked. "She was mad at me - suddenly, for no reason - so I thought - this once - I would not just take it. I'd say something. Figure out what I'd done. So I asked and... I scared her. With a question. I just asked... Agh," she exhaled the sound and rubbed her face with her hand. "Stupid. I know it's stupid to let it bother me. It's just... that's me. It made me think... how many times have I been shaken because of something that... maybe for someone else wouldn't be anything at all? How awful do I make people feel on a regular basis?" She rolled her eyes. "Like now." She sniffed. "I'm so sorry. I really didn't want to talk about it. It's obnoxious. I know."

"You didn't do anything wrong," Will said, wincing. Perhaps he should not have pushed her. "She was probably having a bad day. Come on, let's go get a massage, it will make you feel better and help you relax." It seemed he'd chosen the right program. After all, what could be more relaxing than the Hoobishan Baths on a bad day? Maybe Risa, but they had copyrights on holodeck material of the planet and didn't like people visiting with really visiting.

She nodded, her gaze falling to his shoulder bashfully. "Thank you. Yes." She looked back at him and willed herself to push away the hurt. The tension was back, but he wasn't running away from her terrified yet. That was a nice change for the day. "Thank you." She tried a smile. "Race you to shore?"

"Good luck," he said with a grin before dipping under the water and shooting off. He was hardly an Olympic swimmer, but he was a good one.

For all her acrobatics, Lilou really couldn't compete in a water race. Or any race for that matter. Especially not against someone taller and more muscular than herself, but she wasn't concerned about winning. It was the exhilaration of pushing through the water, using her muscles, and focusing on her body instead of her thoughts. She reached the shore quite a few paces behind him, but the race had fueled her. Walking the last steps out of the water, she fished her sweatpants from the sand and shook them out, tying them around her waist in an attempt at modesty.

Will watched her emerge from the sea from his perch upon a rock, sleeveless shirt in hand. "Took you long enough!" he teased, "I had time to make a drink and leisurely sip it down." He jumped off the rock and held out his hand. "Come on, let's find some massage room or whatever it's called."

A little burst of laughter escaped her as she reached him, ducking her head slightly as she took his hand and left the beach behind them. "I thought you'd done this before."

"Not that often," he said, "always with a group of friends. It's not quite teh same by yourself. We tended to wander around until we found something to strike our fancy." he picked up the pace so they were traveling at a brisk walk towards the bath complex.

"At least you know your way around," she said, taking two steps for every one of his.

"A bit," he agreed. "It's become a large resort."

Once the reached the entrance again, he walked with her down an airy hall and into a large courtyard filled with more gardens, massage tables, hot tubs, and a swimming pool that wrapped around three sides of the area, interspersed with a walkways over the water. Will gestured over to the group of masseuses and led her towards them.

Lilou eyed the tables as they approached them; the Trill employees in their scant uniforms heating little bowls and pressing on the bodies already on some of the tables. One blue-tinted man grunted in what sounded like a great deal of pain. Lilou's hand reactively tightened on Will's. "And this is a good thing, you say?"

"Of course," he said with a laugh, "They aren't chiropractors. Haven't you ever had a massage before? You'll enjoy it, promise."

When would she have had a massage, Lilou wondered. How did anyone find the time? A tall Trill man approached them and gestured to a pair of empty tables with a welcoming smile. Lilou rolled her shoulder and looked at Will. "You too?"

"Well I'm not about to let you enjoy yourself while I sit around like an old rag," he said with a wink. Giving her arm a pat, he climbed up on one of the waiting tables and lay on his stomach, tilting his head on his arms to face the table she was climbing onto. "After this, we should try the bar and pools. Unless you prefer something else?"

She shook her head, mirroring him, and offering a quick smile to the attendant. He was a hologram, sure, but it didn't hurt to be polite to the stranger about to put his hands on her. "That sounds nice," she said with a half smile. The first few minutes of the massage were a lesson in not twitching, but after a while, once the scented oil began to soak into her skin, she felt slow and malleable, like plasma under the influence of a duotronic probe. Her eyelids fell closed and a quiet sound almost like a purr escaped her lips as knot after muscle-bound knot was carefully released.

With the sun set and twilight descending, several lamps with real fire had been lit and dotted the area with a soft, wavering light. It was quieter now, presumably because the guests had gone to find more private areas to relax or returned to their rooms to get an early start the next day.

Lilou wasn't sure how much time had passed, but she was certain of one thing. Her body was never going to move again. She felt the most relaxed she ever had; then the masseur pressed his thumb to the base of her heel and she lay there, completely content to remain in a coma for the rest of her days. The idea of moving even a finger sounded lovely, but impossible.

At last, Will opened his eyes. He'd been asleep, he realized. He might have checked the time but had no motivation to do so. Watching his companion, he did his best to judge how long they had been there but just to be sure waited a while longer, letting himself relax for a while longer. They must have been lying there for a good half hour or more by now, he guessed. With a sigh, he shrugged the Trill administering the massage away and pushed himself up into a sitting position on the table. "You want to stay?" he asked her.

"Nnnn?" Lilou slowly peeled her eyes open. She wasn't sure if she'd been sleeping or just lost in a knotless coma. "K'n go," she murmured, somewhere between sleepy and sated. "Just..." she sighed, "have to...move."

Will laughed. "See? Told you you'd enjoy a massage." He might have encouraged her to move, but he was feeling so relaxed himself that he just slid off the table and leaned against it, waiting for her.

It took a little time, but Lilou slowly righted herself, her legs slipping off the side of the table. She sat there for a minute, blinking dazedly at him. "Hi."

Will smirked at her in amusement. "Hey," he replied, standing up and walking over to her. "C'mon." He took her arm to help her up and guided towards the center of the courtyard. "There's lots of places we haven't seen yet."

She hummed her agreement, walking along side of him. Her legs felt like those of a foal, unused and unsure. Blissfuly loose. "You lived on Betazed?" she asked, her heavy lidded gaze roaming the courtyard around them as they walked.

"Well, not exactly," he said, "I live on my ship. But I spend a lot of time there when I'm on leave, more time than I spend on Earth or Jupiter Station."

"How come?"

"I love Betazed," he told her, "the honesty and openness of the Betazoid people, their understanding for others. I first went on shore leave there during the Dominion War. That was the day before the Battle of Betazed... but that's when I fell in love with the planet and its people."

Lilou nodded, thinking about Kestra. She'd been unkind to the Betazoid, too wrapped up in her own drama to be able to really accept the kind of friendship Kestra was offering her. Maybe she owed it to both Kestra and herself to give it another try. "My... I had a friend, when I was little. Betazoid. Her family travelled around between different ships and stations, playing music, putting on plays, reading poetry..." She smiled thoughtfully, "Culture bombs, they called them. She was the first real friend I had. One of the few, the proud," she admitted with a little wrinkling of her nose. "She'd show me pictures of her home on Betazed. All this black marble and big sweeping arches. Gardens... not unlike these." She trailed her fingers along the long leaves of a scented bush as they passed. "I remember being so jealous when we were little. Even when she didn't... I mean, she was just a kid, like me, a little older. Not... she couldn't read me then like she can now. Now," she shook her head, "she scares me a little. She's so..." she trailed off, searching for the right word, "present. I tried to imagine what it would be like - to just see someone and know. How they felt, what they thought." She exhaled. "I guess I still envy her. All of them," she said, admitting to him what she hadn't been able to say to her childhood friend.

"Well, they are good people," he replied quietly. "But you still speak to her? That's good; it's so easy to forget about old friends when you have lightyears separating you, especially when you are in Starfleet."

"Hard not to speak to her," Lilou murmured wryly. "She's here. Showed up when we docked at the station."

"Did she? That must have been nice, to talk to her again." Will turned down the path which led them to a bridge over the pool. "So, we were going to get some drinks, weren't we?"

"That was the plan," she said, peering down into the pool as they crossed over it.

"I hear they have some unique drinks made from fruit that only grows in certain regions of Trill."

"Other than lida?" Lilou asked as they headed down a path through tall, dense greenery. It opened up into a small clearing where a single counter with a variety of dispensers, punch bowls, and glasses sat. Other than the drinks, a few benches, and a few ethereal light sources in the greenery and around the counter, the clearing was bare and quiet. "Maybe we found the secret one," she chuckled low in her throat. She hadn't felt this relaxed in... she couldn't remember ever having felt this relaxed, actually.

"Yes," Will replied, "it would seem we have." He wondered if all the holograms had gone to their rooms in the simulated resort. Walking up to the table, he looked around but they were alone. "Well, guess I can try my hand at bar tending." He picked up two glasses and began to pour a reddish-orange liquid into them. "I have no idea what I'm making."

She leaned against the bar, watching as he mixed portions of the different containers into the glasses without tasting any of it. Chuckling quietly, she took a twist of some sort of green and blue fruit and added it as a garnish to each finished glass, taking one from him as he finished it. "It can't be worse than narcotic-laced coffee," she murmured and lifted her glass in a toast. "To experiments and sleepy holograms."

Will smiled at her and raised his own glass, leaning on the bar beside her. "And to holodeck maintenance," he added with a wink. Then they drank their toast together.

--

[OFF]

MWO Lilou Peers
Assistant Chief Engineering Officer
USS Galileo

Lt. Cmdr. Chauncey William Remington III
Chief Operations Officer
USS Galileo

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