Arrival of the children

Posted on 24 Mar 2015 @ 9:15pm by Lieutenant Min Zhao & Lian Zhao & Lieutenant Jared Nicholas & EBH Mark I "Raven"
Edited on on 01 Mar 2016 @ 3:53pm

3,511 words; about a 18 minute read

Mission: Episode 08 - NIMBUS
Location: Childcare Center, Deck 264, Starbase 84
Timeline: MD-04, 1900 hours

[ON]

"...and I don't think black fishnets are an appropriate image for a child's role model!" exclaimed Miguel. He was irate, even more so than usual for a man often stressed out by the task of looking after a dozen whiny children day-in and day-out. Gesticulating wildly in the director's office, he nearly knocked one of her knick-knacks off the shelf.

"She is equipped with multiple different avatars," replied Rachel McAdams, the director of the centre. "If her current avatar is not to the children's liking, then perhaps we can ask her to use a different one." Looking up at Miguel, she could see that he wasn't particularly satisfied by her response. He would almost never storm into his boss's office, slamming the door behind him and letting her have it like this unless something serious was troubling him.

"This is about more than her avatar, isn't it?"

Miguel took a deep breath. "I don't feel comfortable having some hologram taking care of the kids. How do we know that IT is safe?" he asked, emphasizing the word 'it' in contrast to the director's use of 'she.'

"The crew of the Galileo assures us that she is perfectly safe," Rachel explained for what seemed like the twentieth time. Miguel was far from the first to go barging into her office to talk to her about this. "And she is programmed with over twenty gigaquads of data, from childcare practices to first aid to the language and culture of dozens of--"

"That's all well and good," interrupted Miguel, not caring to hear Rachel extol the virtues of the abomination just on the other side of the door. "But it's a computer program, not a caregiver. There's no way that this program will be able to care for children the way we do.

Rachel sighed. Apparently the only difference between being a childcare attendant and the director of a childcare center was that you had to deal with bigger children. "It's just an experiment, Miguel. Only for a few days. You should be honoured that we were chosen to watch over this EBH in her first trial in the field." Rachel offered Miguel a smile, but his expression made it clear that it wasn't accepted. "Think of how exciting this is, Miguel, she could be the next big thing in childcare."

"And then what? We'll just have all our children raised by unthinking, unfeeling, uncaring computer programs? People like us will be tossed aside in favour of the latest hologram. Is that what you want?!"

"You're being unreasonable. Look at the EMH. We've had them for twenty years and Starfleet Medical Academy is still taking on students."

"For how long," shot back Miguel. "These holograms come here, they take our jobs, they devalue our work, and--"

The heated conversation was interrupted by a knock at the door. Through the frosted window, they could see a black blob in the vague shape of a woman with a rather unusual hairstyle. "Come in," called out Rachel, giving Miguel a glare that made it clear that he was to play nice.

"Hi," started Raven, entering the room with a banner underneath her arm. "I'm sorry to interrupt, but I made this banner to welcome the Galileo children aboard. But I need help putting it up. Miguel, you're tall, could you give me a hand?"

"Miguel would be glad to help you," replied Rachel, returning the EBH's friendly tone. "Isn't that right?" she added, glaring at Miguel.

"Of course," he replied with not much enthusiasm, glaring back at the director.

"Great! I've got some hooks here we can attach to the wall. The Galileo children will be so happy to see that we're thinking about them!" With that, Raven bounded out of the office towards the entrance to the center. Slowly and unenthusiastically, Miguel followed, but not before delivering a parting shot.

"This little discussion isn't over."

****************************
10 minutes later...


"Okay, up about 3.57 centimetres... nope, too much, down 1.12... that's perfect!" exclaimed Raven. In reality, he was off by a few millimeters, but as Miguel appeared to be having a bad day, she decided it would be best not to press the issue. "Thank you so much. You're a lifesaver!"

"You're welcome," grumbled Miguel as he turned and returned to his work.

Raven took a step back in to admire her handiwork. Before they even stepped through the doorway, the children and their parents would be greeted with a welcoming banner in the hallway. It was a good thing she thought of that and her matrix contained the skills to design a banner quickly -- and that the entire section the center was on was equipped with holo-emitters, enabling her to step out into the hallway.

But before she could return to her work, she heard a noise from down the hall. Could it be... her first real children to take care of?! She clenched her fists in excitement, and took a deep breath -- a quaint human tactic for calming down, but one which, for some reason, her programmers thought to include for her.

Delon ran into the room, well ahead of his father and siblings. "Raven!" he called out, bounding into her. "You look so cool!"

Naois followed at a more sedate pace, carrying Laura on his left arm while holding Revan's hand with his right. None of the three children seemed uncomfortable with the idea of being left behind; it was almost as if they were used to it. "Raven," the Vulcan greeted the hologram as if she were a real person.

Feeling a little out of place as the children weren't really hers, despite Eva's bonding to Naois making them so, Eva tagged along with Naois to the childcare center where they were to leave the children during the wargames. Seeing one mother there with her newborn, Eva wondered what must be going through her mind.

Naois reached out to her, wrapping his arm around her waist, his hand comfortably resting on her stomach. "It will be alright," he whispered to her, "they are used to spending time apart from me. It will be harder for me to spend time apart from you."

Eva tucked into Naois. She'd only moved in maybe a week or so ago, but it felt like forever and now, being separated again, it felt like a part of her was being torn from her. She could feel the beginnings of tears well up and she fought to push them back down. Eva merely nodded when Naois spoke, unsure if she could keep from tears if she opened her mouth.

In silent response, he just pulled her closer.

"Hello, Delon, Revan, Laura," said Raven, greeting all three of the visiting children and tussling Delon's hair a little. Before she left the Galileo, her database had been updated with the profiles of all the children who would be in her care, so she recognized them all at first glance. "Thank you, Delon, you look cool too," she said with a smile before turning towards the parents. "And you must be Naois. It's a pleasure to meet you, and I can assure you that your children will be in good hands."

Jared looked over at Min who was carrying their sleeping daughter. He'd been a good officer, following all the rules, at least since the incident in the kitchen that seemed so long ago, but he felt like he wanted to rebel now. He didn't want to leave her behind. Nonetheless he would do what he had to do.

Min held Lian close to her chest. As much as she understood the need for safety, and this was the best way to ensure that, the thought of leaving Lian in the care of people she didn't know scared her. It was tempered somewhat by the knowledge the primary caregiver was a hologram of her own design. Derived from the EMH and based on a doctor from the Galileo, both of whom she trusted, Min still wasn't 100% sure yet.

Looking over at Jared, she gave him an unsure smile. "We can trust Raven. Her subroutines are those of the EMH, she's got Tuula's personality in her, and the code's been under my care since day one so I know more about Raven then she does."

Jared looked over at Min, forcing a smile, "My head tells me its the right thing to do, but my heart tells me its wrong."

"I feel like a part of me is being torn away. And with us on different ships, I'm having the two things closest to me being torn from me. Even if it is only for a short while."

Despite the audience Jared leaned in and kissed his new wife, "We'll make it through this,"he told her with more confidence than he felt after the kiss had broke,"trust me."

Min closed her eye's as Jared's lips brushed her own. "I know. Doesn't mean I won't miss you and Lian though."

"And I am going to miss you too," he said his fingers entwining hers, "you're my one true love, you make me complete, I'll be counting the days."

Revan sedately walked over to the couple leaning over their sleeping child and stood up to the tips of his toes to peer into the baby's face. "She'll be okay," he said, holding out his arms. "Can I hold her? I held Laura all the time when she was a baby." He indicated the little girl standing by his father's side. "She's three now, and I'm almost eight." The Betazoid child gazed up at Min and Jared. "I'm Revan."

Min glanced down at the young boy. Seeing who he'd pointed to, Min knelt down beside him. "Hi Revan. I'm Min. This is Jared. *pointing to her husband* And this is Lian." Min said as she held up her daughter. "She's only a few months old so you have to be really carefull when you hold her. okay?"

The child nodded. "I'll be careful, I know how to hold a baby."

Min quietly waved at Naois & Eva. She knew both from the Galileo, Eva was a junior NCO and Dr Mercy one of the ship's doctors. She also knew the two were living together, a recent change as she'd only approved the quarters reassignment a short while before, but wasn't sure how long the two had been together. On a small ship like the Gally, news of such things travels fast, and these two had kept it below the radar.

Naois watched the interaction between Min and his oldest son, while occasionally shooting a glance towards his middle child still fiercely hugging the hologram. "Interesting," he murmured at Eva.

Eva watched Revan & Min interact. "How so?"

"Just marveling over how different our sons are," he murmured, "and now interested Revan seems to be in infants."

"They are aren't they." Eva remarked. "Revan will have two siblings to help us look after." Continuing before Naois could reply. "Doctor says there's actually two in there, boy and a girl. Apparently one was hiding from the scanner or something."

Sharply, Naois turned his head, his blue eyes settling on his mate. "What?" he choked out, taking a small step backwards. One was already frightening enough for him, the whole idea of her being pregnant scared him out of his wits. but now there were two? Feeling suddenly very light headed, he stumbled and fell into a faint.

It took a second for Eva to realize Naois had just fainted. By the time she did her husband was already on the ground. Kneeling beside him, Eva called out. "Can I get some help?" Loosening Naois' shirt, Eva shifted him so he was lying down. Bundling her sweater up, she rested it beneath his legs, elevating them just as the training has said. He was still breathing which was good. Squeezing his hand, Eva patted his shoulder. "Naois?" she quietly called out. "You okay?"

For the moment, there was no response from the fainted Vulcan.

Revan held out his arms, watching the baby intently. "Lian," he said, "I like that name. My sister's name is Laura."

Min gently, somewhat reluctantly, held out Lian, passing her into Revan's arms. "I know you'll be careful Revan. New moms are sometimes very protective of their children, especially this young. You're only the third person to hold her other then Jared and I."

"Only the third?" Revan asked in surprise, "can I help with feeding and changing her, while we're all here? I'd love to help, I help with Laura all the time. Can I, please?"

Encumbered by Delon on her leg, Raven made her way towards Min and Jared. "I'm sure that can be arranged, if her parents agree," she said before turning towards the couple. "I'm Raven, aka the EBH," she said excitedly, "You must be Min and Jared."

Min smiled at the EBH. "We've met before Raven." She glanced at Jared before turning back to Raven. "And yes, properly supervised, Revan is welcome to help care for Lian."

Jared was a little less sure than his wife about the situation, but he was deferring to her judgment for now.

The boy turned shining black eyes to the new parents. "Oh thank you!" Revan breathed.

"You can rest assured that Lian is in good hands," said Raven, detecting a little bit of anxiety on the part of the parents and Jared especially. "I've got over twenty gigaquads of data on taking care of children of all ages, and I'm programmed with knowledge of first aid practices and..."

Trailing off, Raven got the feeling that her explanation on her program's features wasn't doing much good. She knew she was up to the challenge, and that her programming was sufficient, but getting parents to entrust their children to the care of a hologram was going to be a tough sell. "...it will only be for a few days. I can keep in touch with you via holo-communicator if you want."

"Raven. This is just the first time we've left our child in the care of anyone else before. It's natural to be anxious. " Min motioned for her to come closer. "I wrote you Raven. I know what you can do and I trust you. As does Jared." Min replied, glancing at Jared for his agreement.

"I do," Jared agreed. If Min helped create you, make you what you are, then I am confident too. Things will be just fine."

"Then in that case," said Raven, placing a finger on her chin, deep in thought for a moment. "We're going to have so much fun together, aren't we!" she exclaimed, tussling Revan's hair, and beaming down at the children.

Delon beamed up at her, while Revan bowed his head. "Uhm..." the older child pointed to his father. "Can someone please help my dad? I think he's unwell....."

Min looked over where Revan was pointing. Seeing Naois lying on his back, Eva knelt over him, Min swore under her breath. Leaving Jared with their child, Min rushed over to Eva. "What happened?"

Eva looked at Min, still cradling Naois' head. "We were talking my pregnancy and he fainted. He's breathing but I don't know if he's okay."

Min glanced Naois over briefly, she had about as much medical training as Eva so they needed somebody with more knowledge. Glancing over at Raven she yelled. "Raven. I need you over here now. This man just fainted."

At Min's comment, Raven diverted her attention away from the boys and towards the Vulcan lying on the ground, rushing over to his aid. "He's still breathing, that's good..." she said, accessing her medical subroutines. "Doesn't look like he hit his head too hard," she said as she adjusted the position of his head to fully open his airway. "What happened? Was he surprised? Did someone tell him something shocking?"

Eva grimaced. Kinda sheepishly she spoke up. "I did mention I found out I'm expecting twins, not a singleton as we'd first thought. I know my pregnancy has been somewhat stressful on my husband, for reasons I'm not prepared to explain at this point. I just didn't expect this reaction."

"Okay, that might do it..." replied Raven as she turned back to Naois. "If he doesn't wake up within a minute or so, we have a problem."

Just as the Vulcan seemed to stir, a young Vulcan female came walking in at a brisk pace. She didn't look very happy as she carried a small bundle in her arms. THe bundle was secured to her chest by a long colourful strap of cloth. "I am T'Vanna Murray, I am looking for Raven," the woman stated, her voice laced with unhappiness.

"I'm Raven!" exclaimed the hologram, leaping into action, leaving Naois on the floor. "Nice to meet you, you must be T'Vanna!"

The Vulcan woman nodded but made no move to hand over her child. "You are programmed with all childcare parameters," she stated, "but how do you propose an infant who has never been bottle fed? How will you reproduce my milk?" Her eyes went to the adult Vulcan prone on the floor. "What happened to him."

"Oh, he'll be all right," replied Raven, motioning towards Naois. "His wife just told him they were having twins."

"Nice," the woman responded, not even casting the other family a single look, "and my other questions about feeding my daughter? I don't want her to be fed anything artificial. How do you intend to feed her breastmilk?"

"We can replicate milk with the exact chemical composition as your breast milk," explained Raven, beaming at the marvels of modern technology. "Little..." she paused, accessing her memory files "...Emmaline won't even know the difference."

"It isn't the same, replicated is artificial" T'Vanna argued, "and she's never had a bottle before...how will you feed her?"

"It has the exact same chemical composition," countered Raven. "In fact, according to a study done in 2387 by Kardashev, Wallace, and Xarath, replicated milk is in fact healthier for children, and is associated with a 2.8% increase in..."

Seeing that T'Vanna was clearly unimpressed by her studies, Raven moved on. "She's what, about eight weeks old? That's the ideal time for her to learn bottle feeding."

"Absolutely not," the Vulcan woman all but snapped back, "studies show that the best nutrition for a baby is to be breastfed for at least six months, because my milk will adapt to her specific needs and requirements. I ask again, how do you plan to breastfeed her?"

"I dunno," muttered Raven. "That's not really in my programming." Not to mention that six out of the last seven studies published in the Lancet show that... she added mentally, having realized there was little point in arguing. "But I'm sure she will be just fine with a bottle."

Min was watching the exchange between the T'Vanna & Raven with some curiosity. A good stress test of the program, though she already noted several tweaks they'd have to make after the exercises. Glancing down at a padd on her hip, Min read the message. Given T'Vanna's concerns, she might have a solution. Quickly texting the sender, Min piped up.

"May I interject for a second? I have a possible solution to this problem." Min looked at T'Vanna. "If I said I had a possible wet nurse for your daughter, would that work? She's human so there will be some minor differences in the composition of the milk, but she will be breast fed."

Turning her head, T'Vanna nodded and actually smiled. "If she is
willing then I accept that solution," she answered.

Min nodded. "My mother just texted me back. You met Shen at my wedding T'Vanna, my sister in law that was almost ready to give birth? She is going to be on the starbase a while. Some complication related to the pregnancy but she's okay, her birth went well, and my brother flew in to join her so they're going to stay a while longer with my mother."

"She's agreed to wet nurse Emmaline & Lian, just she can't provide full time care of them as she has her own newborn, so my mother and Raven will have to assist."

"That sounds wonderful!" exclaimed Raven, relieved that this little standoff was over. "Now," she added, looking down at the children, "why don't we say goodbye to our parents and go make some new friends? I'll be inside in just one minute..."

Swiftly, Raven walked over towards the stirring Vulcan. Leaning over him, she examined him closely. Seeing his eyes fluttering, she leaned over him, getting face to face with the man. "Good morning, sunshine!"

OFF:

Ensign T'Vanna Murray
asst. CIO
USS Galileo

Lieutenant j.g. Naois Mercy
Medical Officer
USS Galileo
[PNPC T'Vanna]

Revan, Delon & Laura Mercy
children
USS Galileo
[PNPC's T'Vanna]

Raven
Emergency Babysitting Hologram
USS Galileo
[PNPC Tuula]

Lieutenant Min Nicholas
Chief Operations Officer
USS Galileo

Lieutenant Jared Nicholas
Linguist
USS Galileo

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