ILLUMINARRPG: (3,0900) CSRD Lieutenant T'shalaith

[Aaron DeLay, Teacher]

Mission: Prelude

Day: 3

Stardate: 2446.03.25

(Illuminar - Deck 3 - Officers quarters - - CSRD Lieutenant T'shalaith -
0900)

She sat up carefully.  They had released her late last night for overnight
monitoring, and as she put her feet to the ground, she glanced at the
screens displaying her vitals.  There had been no alarms in the night, and
the readings were showing normal.  She carefully sent an update to sickbay,
and a few moments later, she was cleared to remove the sensors.  She would
need to follow up with a return to duty physical.  There was also the
matter of her mind and the state of her Kolinahr.  She stood carefully and
walked across the bedroom and into her living room.  The device which held
her father’s hologram sat on an end table, blinking.

T'shalaith edged closer to it, her eyes staring at the device.  Within it
was a representation of her father, Sath.  Not his rotten Katra.  What she
had built was pure…or at least she imagined it was.  There was now the
question in her mind about what influence her father had wielded over her
as she had built his holographic doppelganger.  She sat quietly on the
couch, watching the blinking light and thinking.  What would come of
activating the program?  Would her father have coded it to act in case his
plan had been discovered?  T'shalaith hesitated for a moment and then stood
and tapped lightly on the console of the unit.  A shimmering image
flickered and soon filled the space before her.  Sath, her father,
solidified.

“Good morning, daughter.”

She leveled her gaze at the representation of him.  She did not feel a fear
of him as she thought she would have.  She felt…disgust.  “Did you know
that before his death, my father had transferred his Katra  to me without
my consent?”

Sath’s projection cocked his head to the side, “I was not aware of this.”
His holographic computer chips quickly came to a conclusion, “You are free
of him?”  She gave a quiet nod, and he let out a quiet sigh of relief, “I
am heartened to hear this.  My understanding of the implications of such a
thing…would be quite troublesome.”  He paused and moved to sit in a chair,
“You activated me for a reason, daughter.”

T'shalaith sat forward on the couch, “I want to know my father.  The man I
loved…respected…trusted.  I want to know why.”

A curious look from the hologram, “Why he betrayed you.  This question is
filled with emotional pieces of your puzzle, daughter. Why do you wish to
know?”

She quietly explained Tegian Pex and her ongoing…developments with him.
She ended with, “...I do not wish to betray him…if my father was capable of
such subterfuge…I do not wish to repeat the sins of my father…father.”

Sath furrowed his brow, “There is more to this…there must be.  You would
not be in such a state over a man.”  He qualified that with, “Having you in
a state over a man is a different experience for me; you must understand.”

T'shalaith sighed, “Teresa Jackson.”

Sath’s eyebrows went up, “Ah. Yes.  The Human friend.  What is it?”

She thought for a moment and started with words but stopped herself again.
It took her five good minutes to grasp the words she needed to speak, “I am
afraid of what I have done to her…and what I will find when I seek her
out.”  She shook her head, “She was as close to me as any sister would have
been.”

Her father shimmered as he stood, “You must seek her out.  Your heart is
mending, and your mind is rebuilding.  This is the time with which to find
the last piece of your soul’s puzzle.”  He stepped back nearer to the
device projecting him, “Teresa Jackson was…and is important to you,
daughter.  Fail to mend this…and your healing will be incomplete.”

T'shalaith sat back in the couch, feeling the bitterness of tears tickling
at the corner of her eyes.  He was right.  She knew what she must do.
“Computer save program and end.”  She stood and snagged the PADD from
Tegian.  She was going to find Teresa Jackson.

(reply none)

(posted by Aaron D.)
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