EXETERRPG: (1 - 1904) ACEO Lt(jg) Alistair Brightwood and Physio Lt(jg) Cerise Blake

[Mark Howard]

Mission: Auld Lang Syne

Day:01

Stardate: 2445.12.28



(Risa– Red Tiki Resort, The Laguna Bar and Grill - ACEO, Lt. JG Alistair
Brightwood and Physio Lt(jg) Cerise Blake - 19:04)



 It had been a long day, but it was relaxing. Alistair had finished at
least two novels and gotten a slight tan. He was hungry however, and after
heading back to his room and changing into khaki linen pants and a light
fabric hawaiin shirt, blue with green turtles all over, he made his way
down to the bar for a drink and maybe something to eat.



He was tempted to put a horga’hn out out of scientific curiosity, but as
much as he was curious, it wasn’t his style. He preferred more structured
experiments.



Sitting down he asked the bartender for a large water and a gin and tonic
and perused the menu to see what looked tasty.



Cerise had had a lovely afternoon, after a beautifully cooked lunch of
fresh Risan Sea bass, and a green salad; followed by a beachside tai-chi
session that she’d stumbled across, she’d had a nap in her room, a nap that
had admittedly turned into a full on sleep.



After a shower and change, she’d pulled on a dress that she’d picked up
months ago, but had never worn, a figure clinging rich blue halter neck,
that plunged down her back. She was terrified to wear it, but had fallen in
love with the dress, and figured that now was the time to wear it. No one
would be looking at her anyway.



“One please.” She said to the waiter, “If you can’t fit me in that’s not a
problem.”



“We’ll find you somewhere ma’am, she said pleasantly. “Over here, it’s near
the bar, but that only means a quicker drinks service.” She smiled.



Alistair took a sip of his Gin and tonic and saw a familiar face. He was
still feeling embarrassed from their previous encounter. His face turned
red and he tried to hide.



Looking at the next table over she smiled gently at the occupant.
“Alastair...How are you?”



“Oh Cer...Cer...ise” He stuttered. “So good to see you.”



“Good to see you too, you look refreshed.” She said carefully, with a
gentle smile.



“You meeting anyone?”



“No one to meet.” Cerise answered. “All of my acquaintances have partners.
I don’t know many people, just Ash, Ailynn, Trip, and you.”



~Me?~ Brightwood asked himself.



“Surely you aren’t so lonely that you avoid your coworkers.”



Cerise looked pensive for a moment. “Not intentionally, I tend to be a
solitary bod, Most of my work I’m on my own, I’m not exactly part of a team
in the same way a nurse or Doctor is. If I’m doing a treatment or a class
I’m going solo. I’m not lonely, I talk to people, but…”



“But…?” Brightwood asked inquisitively.



“I have issues really opening up to people. Letting them in, you know?” she
smiled.



“Not uncommon. Totally natural.”



“Look, It’ll be nice to talk to you, but I don’t want to shout across two
tables?” She ventured gently.



“Well you  could, umm join me if you want.”



Cerise smiled, and lifted herself up from the chair, and slunk over.
“That’s kind.” she said sitting down.



“My mum always said, better to eat dinner with a stranger, than to eat
alone. At least then you give the impression of importance or something
posh like that.”



“That sounds sweet. The stranger might have been lonely all day, and a tiny
gesture could lift their whole life up.”



“Perhaps, but my mum was very into appearances. Being alone gave the
impression of being less or a loser yourself. Mum didn’t want any of our
family appearing as insignificant or unimportant. Posh Oxford types and all
that.”



“Ah. I see.” she nodded, she’d known a few like that.



“I never cared much for appearances, probably because mum cared too much.”



“Please forgive me...you keep using the past tense? I’m sorry to
ask...don’t answer if you don’t want.” Cerise asked gently, a genuine tone
of concern.



“She’s alive. We just don’t talk much anymore. My dad and I do, every so
often. She was….well her family were landed, going back centuries. Members
of the old British House of Lords. So even though the titles are gone, the
attitude remained in her family. She did not want Starfleet for me. She
didn’t even like engineering for me. I was supposed to be a great
philosopher, teaching at Oxford, and lecturing across the quadrant.
Starfleet had lost its prestige, not as important. We had to keep up with
the neighbors. The neighbors were all posh, and I became a grease monkey.
She even picked out a potential spouse for me, but I wanted freedom and
choice. So I went to Starfleet, and she...well… hasn’t forgiven me for
ruining her image,”



“Ouch. I’m sorry to hear that truly. At least my parents still speak to
me...mostly.”



“I…” he paused a single tear. “She was overbearing at times, but she was
also...sweet. I miss my mum. I should...I should call her, while I can.”



Cerise nodded. “You never know what will happen, tomorrow could be too
late.”



“Sorry you were saying about your parents.”



“They...had ideas for me, now; they were ideas that I wanted too, they
pushed but weren’t pushy.” She sighed. “Do you have your little device
thing? Can I get videos on it? May I”



He pulled his personal communication device and handed it to her trying his
best not to drop it on her chest a second time.



“Here you go.”



“Thank you.” She tapped a few things into the search. “If you’re ordering,
I’ll have the same as you.” She smiled gently toward the approaching
waitress.”


Alistair smiled, “Another gin and tonic for me please,” he said, feeling as
if he needed more gin to talk to the pretty girl. “And an order of the
Risian Tropical Pizza.” It was a flat bread pizza with a honey glazed oil
base, cheese, fresh onions, tomato, cilantro, and something resembling an
apricot/mango salsa. Seemed odd, but he heard it was tasty.



“Here.” She passed over the device, it had a video of a gymnastic
tournament from what seemed like a million years ago.



“Look at you in your little gymnastic costume. I bet it gave quite the
wedgie.”



She blushed, and giggled. “You have no idea.” SHe was glad that he’d
relaxed enough to be able to be a tiny bit cheeky.



He watched the video intently. “You seem to be enjoying yourself, and good.
The spins of your routine, a well oiled machine if you ask me. Pardon the
engineering parlance.”



“Good analogy to be fair. I was on the verge of being the best. Probably was
the best.”



“Why did you stop?”



“I said I knew Ash and Ailynn. I was at school with them, and I was super
competitive. After a while the competition doesn’t leave you, I became
horrid, and overbearing. I was a bully, of the worst kind. Teased Ashlyn
for not being pretty enough. Yeah...now the Captain’s wife...and I was vile
to her.”



Alistair didn’t say a word. He just sat there listening intently.



“Night of the prom, I got in a car with someone...didn’t know they’d been
drinking.” Cerise could feel a tear welling. “Another girl, who was just a
cute, innocent kid, excited to be suddenly in with the cool kids you know?”



Alistair nodded his head.



“There was a crash. She was killed. I was badly badly injured. Took me a
year to be able to walk again properly, and longer to be what I am now.”
She sighed. Taking a deep sip of her drink. “So yeah...a lot of me died.
The competition, the bully, the horrid person I was. Left me rightfully
with all the memory, the pain. It’s why I don’t often let people close
anymore.” She looked at him and shrugged.



“You know, people are a lot like Starships.”



Cerise looked up. He was still talking to her. He hadn’t jumped up and
bolted. “Oh? How so?”



“Take the old Constitution class.” He said as he took his personal
electronic device, laid it on the table and brought out a holographic
display of the NCC-1701 Enterprise on the date it launched in 2245. “See
this is how she looked when she launched under then Captain Robert April.”



She nodded. “Okaaay?”



“Then,” He said changing the image, “This is how she looked in 2257 under
Christopher Pike. Notice how the skeleton is the same, but there are slight
cosmetic upgrades, same with system upgrades.”



“I see.”



“Then here we have Kirk’s enterprise in 2265 and then his Enterprise in
2282. Again, same skeleton, but different cosmetics.”



“I never realised that they were quite so different.”



Alistair then pulled up a side by side display of all 4 versions of the
NCC-1701 Enterprise. “So here we have the evolution of one single ship, one
class of ship. From launch to destruction. The skeleton never changes, who
she was at the core never changed. But the cosmetics changed as technology
approved. The interior changed. The systems changed. As we gained new tech,
the ship was refitted over time. Time and again. Changing for the better.
Every time she was damaged, as long as she was salvageable, they fixed her
and made her better.”



“That’s a quite a poetic analogy.” Cerise said, a few things slotting in
her mind.



“You were damaged, you underwent a refit. The skeleton of the Cerise that
was is still there, but the Cerise that is, is changed from the experience,
and from a systematic standpoint, not the same. She’s better. Cerise 2.0.”



“I like it, the more you describe it the more profound it becomes.”



“Like I said, mum wanted me to be a philosophy professor.”



“I suppose it’s like the axe of my grandfather?” She sipped her drink again.



“Oh?”



“Over the years It’s needed a new handle, because the old one broke, or a
new head, because the old one got rusty and wouldn’t hold an edge; but it’s
still the same axe the my grandfather wielded.”



Alistair nodded, “Like the ship of Theseus?”



“Exactly that, we are the sums of our experiences.”



“I hope you don’t mind that I ordered a pizza to share rather than
individual dishes.” Alistair said changing the subject. He enjoyed the
conversation but he was afraid of it getting too deep.



“It’s perfectly fine. I don’t tend to eat much bread and carbs anyway.”



He nodded. He wanted to say, Hey I can tell by how shapely and perfect your
body is. But he knew that was not appropriate to say.



“Mind if I pay you a compliment without you getting flustered?”



“I can try not to get flustered.”



“You’re not like others. I can talk to you, and when you talk to me you
look at my eyes...mostly.” she winked cheekily. “And that’s lovely.”



“Well, the eyes, they eyes tell you everything you need to know. It’s like,
if you want to know how a system is doing, you run a scan or use a
tricorder. The eyes give everything away. So why wouldn’t you focus on
them. Especially when they are so clear.”



“That’s wonderfully poetic...in a...sciencey way…” she smiled.



“Ermm, sorry, umm yes. Right, less poetic, more toxic man, shall I stare at
your breasts?” Alistair then began laughing. “Sorry, I’m trying to make a
joke but I’m not that humorous. Not intentionally.”



She was shocked slightly that he’d had the guts to say what he had, but it
made her laugh. “You’re a daft one. You should relax like this more often.
It’s lovely company.”



“It’s probably the gin. The alcohol is probably making things more
relaxing.”



“It has that habit doesn’t it. Gin on an empty stomach is possibly why I
opened up so easily. Not that I regret it.”



The waitress then came by with their pizza and smiled. “Oh we were out of
real gin. It’s synthehol. Sorry for over hearing. Just thought you should
know. We can get you some real alcohol if you’d like.”



Alistair shook his head, “No thats quite alright.” The waitress smiled and
left and Alistair then turned to Cerise, “Guess now I know I don’t need
alcohol to talk to you.”



She blushed deeply, a colour clashing horribly with her dress. “Erm...wow.
I...I guess not…”



“Probably for the best. I guess I can be myself around you.” Alistair took
a bite of the pizza. It was tasty, tangy, sweet, fruity, and spicy. He
liked it.



“Is it warm in here? My face is on fire…”



“Oh is it...something I said, or the pizza, are you allergic to anything?”



She shook her head. “I’m fine...just a little embarrassed. I guess it’s my
turn to try to throw a gadget down your top yeah?” she laughed as she
finished the sentence.



“If it helps, we could always get some real alcohol. I hear Risa has their
own version of tequila.”



Cerise blushed. “Did...Did you just ask me out for drinks?”



“Ummm…..no...because...you don’t date...and I’m sorry for crossing your
boundaries….I respect you and your choices.”



She smiled. “Funny thing about boundaries...If you look on maps none of
them ever stay still…I don’t mind being on my own, but that doesn’t mean
that is someone comes along who I can talk to that I can’t...be asked
out...on a really tentative basis?”



“So are you asking me out for drinks?” Alistair smiled.



“Lets eat, then we can find that bar”



“Sure. careful though, the pizza is spicy.”



Cerise nodded. “Carbs, spicy and alcohol. I’m going to need such a detox…”
She chuckled gently as she bit into the pizza.



(Reply none)

(Posted by Mark and Will)
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