Cause And Effect

Posted on Mon 4th Mar, 2013 @ 12:02am by Lieutenant JG Xavier Lee & Commander Paul Graves PsyD

978 words; about a 5 minute read

Mission: http://sb109.sim-station.net/index.php/sim/missions/id/3
Location: Chief of Operations Office
Timeline: MD-02: 2256 Hours
Tags: Paul, Xavier

It had been an hour and a half since the discovery that changed the station. Xavier couldn't think of anything else and even though he was meant to be investigating for the Colonel, he found himself sat in his chair staring out of his window, trying his best to forget the images he had seen and felt down on deck 1030. This task seemed easier said than done. It was for this reason why he was happy when the door chimed, he needed a distraction.

"Come," he said hoarsely, having not spoken for a while.

The door slid aside, and Paul entered Xavier's office. Though he was responsible for seeing to the mental health of everyone on the station, Paul had decided to pay particular attention during the current situation to the needs of Col. Drake, Capt. Treia, and Lt. Lee. He even had a second tier in mind--Jessie, Dr. Nyx, and Devin Kell. Aside from all of them, he was also concerned about the well-being of every psi-gifted person on the station.

That and what he and Lee had felt in section 49 Alpha were the reasons for his visit to Lee now.

"Hi," Paul said, noting Lee's shell-shocked look. "I need to talk to you about what you and I noticed on deck 1030. Are you up to it?"

"No," Xavier said as he managed a weak smile. "To be honest it's all i can think about, maybe talking will help. Take a seat," he said as he gestured to one of the chairs on the other side of the desk. "Are you here as the Counselor or as a friend?" Xavier wasn't quite sure why he asked the question or what difference the answer would make but he felt like he needed to know.

Paul thought a moment. "Both," he said. "I'm worried about you as your friend because I experienced the same thing, and it was sheer hell. But there's also some investigating I want to do as the counselor."

Xavier nodded. He was grateful that this wasn't just business, that his friend was concerned about him enough to pop by.

"Did you ever believe in the Psychic Talkers?" Xavier asked as he ran his hand through his hair. It was at this point that Xavier was grateful that Paul was Betazoid, saving him the time of explaining his culture's term for telepaths who believed they could speak to the dead.

"Not really," Paul said. "To project strong emotions requires a mind. A mind requires a brain--unless you believe in reincarnation." He paused and then looked directly at Xavier. "Or unless you believe a brain can be artificially created. That's part of why I came."

Xavier wasn't surprised by Paul's answer, a lot of Betazoids didn't believe that communicating with the dead was possible. As the Counsellor had pointed out, a brain had to be involved and that went beyond the realms of science, which Xavier had spent his life believing in. But there were superstitions among their people, beliefs that went well beyond science and into the regions of faith and the afterlife. These Psychic Talkers spent years studying how to bridge a gap between the living and the deceased. It was preposterous and foolish and until today Xavier would never have given the principle a second thought. But he had never experienced anything like he had today and the fact that Paul had felt it too meant it was very real. In Xavier's head there couldn't possibly be another explanation, until now.

"Are you suggesting that what we felt down there, the psychic imprint, was from an artificial mind?" Xavier asked gobsmacked. This seemed more unrealistic than what the Psychic Talkers believed, but given what they saw down on 1030 also made a lot of sense.

"No, because I have no facts," Paul said. "And I don't exactly mean an artificial mind, really. I'm thinking more of a repository for the collected emotions felt by the...experimental subjects in that lab. Actually, I hope I don't find a repository, because that would be too horrible a thing to be true; I'd rather be able to safely consign the idea to nightmares or horror stories. But whoever worked in this place--they were working with the nervous system as well as with muscles and bones. If they were sick enough to do that, they might also be sick enough to create a psychic repository--simply because they could."

Xavier pushed his seat away from the table and stood up. He turned his back to Paul and once again faced the transparent window that looked out on the black void of space. That was how he felt inside, like there was nothing left, only a endless, empty void. This whole situation was so much worse than he ever imagined, so much more gruesome and stomach churning. To experiment with someone physically was bad; to experiment with their mental state was horrific; but to capture a mix of the two, to steal the fear and pain and emotions of such an act, just to bottle it up and release later was the sickest thing Xavier had ever encountered. It took him a while to get his head together long enough to form words again and even when he did, he still couldn't turn around and face his friend.

"This is a Federation base," he said in a whisper, "how could this happen, here?"

Xavier wasn't expecting an answer, and wasn't surprised when Paul didn't offer one. There wasn't much that could be said, all they had were theories, each one worse than the last. All the young Betazoid could do was think of the poor people who had died down in the pits of the station, lonely, scared and their memories left to echo and haunt telepaths for generations to come. He shuddered at the thought...

OFF

 

RSS Feed