Jane in Wonderland? (Part Two)
Posted on Sat May 22nd, 2021 @ 8:10am by Captain Elijah Rutherford & Commodore Jane Saulitis
Mission:
End of Line
709 words - 1.4 OF Standard Post Measure
"Actually it is something Adna wants, she wants your ship. She wants the codes to leave. She wants you and your DNA codes." Shabol said, losing his cool.
Once she understood that he was serious Jane could feel her blood run cold.
"Why?" Jane asked, trying to sound casually. "She has a station. What is she going to do with a ship?" It was probably going to be something like take over the universe. But she still needed to hear the answer.
"She wants to live, she wants to be solid, she wants to be like you. And the only way she feels she can do so is by taking dna, the codes and go find someone by the name of Dr. Soong or a species termed the Borg." Shabol replied. "The great Adna has promised that we would all have bodies to live breath and touch. To actually feel the wind on our cheeks, on our skin. Some of us who have hair to brush it. " Shabol was waxing poetic, touching his cheek as he expounded on what Adna had promised.
"what is it like to truly kiss someone, to feel hunger. Feel pain..." Shabol paused, as he pictured it all. "I have seen the ecstasy of those who enjoy pain, it is something I wish to experience. It seems so delightful" he growls in Janes ear as he walks around her.
"Apple pie anyone?" Indigo interrupts Shabol's speech, looking at Jane.
"Good Heavens cook, you still need to attend to your business. "Shabol said with such disdain.
"But people who have bodies also die. They cease to exist. Programs could technically live forever and pain can be programmed in." Jane responded thinking she'd like to give them a lesson on the subject. "You can experience all that without taking someone else's DNA."
"I want to be a real boy, I mean Adna wants to be real, she doesn't care if she dies of old age. She wants to live." Shabol stated. "Therefore we need some of your DNA, and then we can prosper."
Indigo muttered but Jane could hear, "We're supposed to learn how to interact with solids, not become one."
"And what if we don't offer it up? Are you willing to deal with the consequences of making a choice to harm others? Right now you can turn back and we can forget that any of this happened but there is a line and if you cross that line there's nothing Starfleet won't do to hunt you down and make sure that you don't live happily ever after." Jane said very seriously though her heart was pounding in her chest now.
"Are you certain that Starfleet will hunt us down? We'd be invincible!" Shabol walked away slightly his arms raised high towards the ceiling . "Matter and technology, combined to make a powerful species."
Indigo carefully placed several cooking utensils near Jane, within easy reach, he not making any overtures of wanting to harm her.
He muttered quietly, "he's gone a bit bonkers."
Jane looked at him questioningly. If one of the holograms was malfunctioning why wasn't the other one. Didn't Adna control everything? What was the endgame here. "Thank you for the lunch but I think I'll be going now."
"Oh no you don't." Shabol moving to try to prevent her from leaving. "You can't leave now, we are not finished talking, Commodore Jane Saulitis."
Indigo moved in his way. "She is leaving, and you are not going to stop her. Your programming is malfunctioning, Shabol, just like the rest."
"Hah! you will not stop me!" Shabol screamed out. "you are just a cook!"
Indigo gave a glance over his shoulder toward Jane. "Run... say Protection Protocol 179." he was getting ready to take on Shabol.
"Computer," Jane shouted as she took the hint. "Protection Protocol 179." And without looking back she made a break for it.
As she ran, Jane could hear a fierce battle raging on behind her and shouting. As the sounds faded away with the distance...she woke up and sat bolt upright in bed, clutching her baby bump. She sucked in a breath to control her heart rate. It had all seemed so real.
"Woah, no more chocolate before bed."
END
