Considerations

Posted on Sat Oct 31st, 2020 @ 6:39am by Lieutenant Commander T'Par

Mission: End of Line
Location: Gardens
Timeline: MD-1: Immediately Prior to "When the Moon Is Round"
1127 words - 2.3 OF Standard Post Measure

T'Par was quiet at first as she walked through the gardens with Lilith. It truly was beautiful. Relaxing. She did not consider appreciation for beauty and quiet to be an emotional response. It was rather meditative. But her mind was wandering. "This is a very peaceful design," she finally commented to her companion.

"I'm consistently amazed by the quality of holographic projections. You would think I'd be used to it by now, being an officer with access and all, but even after years of simulations for work and recreational programs for personal use, it's still uncanny to me how real everything is. One snap of the fingers and poof, it's all disappears. I'd imagine there's a deeper connection to life and its fragility to be found in that, but I'm not in a philosophical mood - I'm not tipsy enough to find it engaging, but too drunk to focus on any existentialisms."

Lilith's stream of consciousness flowed in parallel with a large stream meandering its way through the gardens. Small waterfalls with their sources hidden by formations of granite cascaded over tiers of planted crops. As part of a horticulturalist's dreamscape, a seemingly endless array of flowering shrubs and trees lined the dirt path the two officers followed. The smell of tilled soil permeated the area, mixing in with the fragrance of the flowers on the cool breeze. It was easy to forget that every sensory stimulus was procedurally generated.

"Oh look! An apple tree!" Sullivan pointed. "You know, this place sort of reminds me of the old human mythology surrounding the Garden of Eden. Are you familiar with it?"

"I am," T'Par confirmed. "God created man in His own image and then placed him in a garden filled with trees and with the Tree of Life and the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil the center. He told the man, Adam, that he could eat of every fruit but that of Knowledge. Then God created all the birds and animals before finally He created a woman, Eve, from Adam's rib. They lived happily together there in Paradise until a serpent tempted her to eat the forbidden fruit and to give it to her husband." T'Par walked over and looked up at the apples. "They were then expelled from paradise. They had to toil the Earth for their food and give birth to children in pain and to eat the flesh of animals. I always thought it was a story about the loss of innocence. Knowledge can be a burden at times, perhaps."

T'Par looked to Sullivan and lowered her voice. "Did the hologram seem at all strange to you?"

"Ha, well, if we're continuing the parable, then I suppose Shabol or whatever his name was would serve in the role of the serpent," Sullivan giggled. "And if that's the case, we probably shouldn't eat any apples," the pilot gave her friend's assertion a thought. "I guess our interaction was a little weird, but who knows what the people in this sector are like. Societal norms differ - I don't have to tell you that. Maybe folks around here are into that type of escapism. Everyone is trying to escape every now and again, right?"

"They might well be. I believe most Ferengi holosuite programs with Vulcan in the title have a similar theme," T'Par agreed. "It's not so much the sexual theme that bothered me as his response when I did put that sort of entertainment off the table. It seemed almost passive aggressive."

"It didn't seem passive-aggressive, my friend, it was passive-aggressive," Lilith's giggles continued. "Hey, maybe that's what folks around here are used to. Maybe that sort of thing is what passes for hospitality around here. Although, now that you mention it," she raised an eyebrow, "as a hologram connected to a cultural database, Shabol really ought to know how to... behave for lack of a better way to put it. You think there's anything to it? My perception is, uh, not quite one hundred percent."

"I'm not sure," T'Par said. "It's not what he offered that perplexes me. It's the passive-aggression. There is little logic in building such a response into a hologram designed to please guests. It is most likely for a more realistic effect or perhaps some reflection of the programmers own sensibilities. Still..." Even if she was a science officer now, she had some of the paranoia she'd learned in intelligence. "Worth observing closely." She looks around the garden again. "How are you feeling?"

"Never been better, my friend," Lilith smiled broadly. "But back to the holograms. If you think something is awry, then we should do what we do best as Starfleet officers. Which is to say, we should experiment with the holograms. As long as we write things down, we'll be good to go. The only difference between screwing around and science is writing things down, T'Par. Never forget it."

"That is, perhaps, one way of summarizing the scientific method," T'Par said. Her tone of voice was unchanged but a lifting of one brow might indicate a small glimpse into the elusive world of Vulcan humor.

"The question becomes," Sullivan continued, "how should we go about it? C'mon, now you've got me intrigued. We've got to get to the bottom of this."

"The simplest way, scientifically speaking, would be to refuse further offers and see if the response is the same. On the other hand, that would tend to defeat the entire purpose of a shore leave and might pose a danger. We do not know how far their reactions will go. We might also try a more diplomatic approach, reacting as we might to living beings who seemed offended or underappreciated. It would not be the first time holograms developed some degree of sentience or at least independence." T'Par glanced around the gardens. "There are no humanoid holograms here. Just plant life. Perhaps we should go visit some of the stalls?"

Serenity and silence were quite often two sides of the same coin. Lilith did her best to shake off the chill running down her spine once she realized things had been unusually quiet for a long period of time. The two of them may have been in the furthest reaches of the station, but to hear nothing from the other crew enjoying themselves on the station overshadowed the picturesque view.

"Yeah, I think we should. They were back towards the central lounge where everyone was congregating, right? Let's start walking back that way."

"That might be a good idea," T'Par said.

"Back towards the promenade," Lilith nodded. She zipped up her jacket and pulled her hood up. The gardens faded away as they walked down the corridor.