Polly & Chrome

Posted on Fri Sep 19, 2014 @ 7:49am by Lieutenant Cassandra Kennings

666 words; about a 3 minute read

Mission: All this has happened before...
Location: Cassandra's Office

Cassandra had returned to decorating her office, sitting on an anti-grav and placing objects on a shelf that ran around the room. When the chime rang, she glanced at the door below her and said, "enter."

Yarin entered the room as instructed. "You wanted to see me Counselor?"

"Well not specifically you, Mister Yarin," she said, looking down from her perch, smiling slightly, "it was a general invitation to the crew. But you're welcome just the same." She adjusted the controls and floated gently to the ground, stepping off and nodding her head gently. "Welcome."

Yarin sat down and got comfortable in a chair made of some gel material which conformed perfectly to his body. "Where did you get this?" He indicated to the chair. "We have something very much like it on Nya."

"Oh I'm glad you asked," Cassandra said brightly. "It's my newest acquisition. I picked it up on a visit to the Hera colony. It's engineered from a bio-gel and adapts to exterior shape. I hope it's as comfortable as they promised." She sat down in a cushy armchair across from him. "What do you have on Nya?" she said. "You're homeworld, I'm assuming?"

"It is much like this, although this gel has a bit more give to it. Yes it is my home," Yarin said.

"I don't think my travels have taken me there, tell me all about it," Cass said, crossing her legs and getting comfortable.

His skin changed to a calm blue and he closed four of his six eyes in contemplation. "It is a wondrous place. The great forest, the flaming swamps; and when the sun shines on the Gor'mtik canyons, it creates a shimmering effect that is just breathtaking, especially when seen between the 3 and 30 hertz range. There are city-spanning libraries open 32 hours-a-day. I do wish to return someday,"

"I can tell. It sounds very serene," she said. "It is nice to see you can appreciate it for it's aesthetics as well." She sat back and crossed her legs. "What do you hope to accomplish here, before you return?"

"The same thing all Nyac seek," he said "Knowledge."

"That can be acquired in a city-sized library," Cassandra said. "You could have requested assignment at Memory-Alpha as a civilian researcher. Why join Starfleet and ship out to such a remote location?"

"There are somethings that can not be learned from study and must be experienced first hand," Yarin replied.

"True," Cass said, nodding. "What will you do with the knowledge you acquire?"

"I will use it to better myself, my people and the universe." Yarin said simply.

"How?" Cass said, resting her elbow on her knee and her chin in her hand, her violet eyes looking into each pair of his.

"Besides the fact that knowledge, in and of itself, is valuable, the more we learn, the more we understand; and the more we understand the more we can explore and so on, ad infinitum."

"So you equate knowledge with understanding," Cass said, nodding. "Interesting, but one could argue they're two different things. Plus, knowledge of the working of a phaser and an understanding of a phaser beam doesn't mean you'll dodge it any better. So where does knowledge, for you, begin to show value other than intrinsic?"

"It begins when I can properly apply it to my experiments. Would you like to see how I experience the world?" he asked.

Cassandra smiled and shook her head. "Perhaps another time, but I'll keep the offer handy," she said. "But I do thank you for stopping by. I'm from a little-known species myself and I always appreciate meeting other unique individuals."

"Indeed this was a learning experience for me and I thank you for it, good day." Yarin said as he got up and left the room

Cass opened her mouth to say goodbye, but he was out and gone before she could. She shrugged, shook her head and picked up a padd, making several notes.

 

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