[Medlab]
Emni t'Meihan stands a little hesitantly in the far corner of the Medlab, watching the Medical chief work on the strange, green Tribble-thing. D'Tarik suddenly looks over at Emni from the table where Sprinkles is tied down and squeaking hysterically, "Emni was it?" he asks distractedly, "Could au please take this stool sample?" he hold out a plastic container with an odd looking substance in it.
The Erien wrinkles her nose, but silently comes forward and takes the container, holding it away from her at arm's length, "What do au want done with this?"
"Put it in cooling storage with the weekly samples I take."
She looks surprised at that, "Au take *weekly* samples, rekkhai?"
"Well ie....do au think I should take it more often?" he asks her with an honest look on his face, "I would like your input here Erien. I would like to do whatever we can to make us working together a....learning experience.
The Erien looks almost frightened by that aspect, "Uh...I suppose once a week is plenty, rekkhai...." she shrugs, "Is the ...umm.." she glances at Sprink, "The...thing sick or something?"
"Please, call me D'Tarik." he gives a kindly smile and looks back down at Sprink, "I'm not sure..... I have found two upgrades to his "chasey" since I have started examining him."
She seems a little more relieved at his informality, "Ie...well, D'Tarik...what kind of upgrades? Nothing dangerous, na?"
"Na, not dangerous. Just some jet powered wheels...and he turned off my ability to shut him down. He's acting odd though...not himself at all." the Tribble lays there completely still, "I had to put him under for now."
Emni looks confused by it all. "What do you mean, 'to shut him down'? Is it a creature, or a machine?"
"Well... he is both! A thing of my own creation!"
"Ah..." she looks at the container in her hand then crosses the room to put it away, "And...why did au ... create the thing, rekk....errr...D'Tarik?"
"Because he is my friend! I don't have many of those..." he looks down at the ground at his feet and frowns. When next his eyes raise, there's an odd look on his face, "Na-one....understands me....But au do! Don't au Erien?!" his eyes get rather large and buged out.
Emni looks almost pitifully frightened at the strange look he's giving her, "Ie...." she pauses, and swallows then tries to sound convincing, "of course rekkh....I mean, D'Tarik." Emni tries to smile and forces herself not to take a step away from him.
The Maniacal looks disappears, and he once more seems friendly enough. Tilting his head in curiosity he asks, "Putting my rank aside....do I scare au?"
Emni, being an honest girl, nods her head slowly and hesitantly answers, "Uh...a little rekkhai... ie."
"I see...." he turns, and picks up the jar with the antenna in it, handing it to her. "Here. Sit this over there by Sprinkles' pen." then just as suddenly shifts topics again, "Now why do I scare au exactly?"
Emni looks at the jar's contents curiously, "Uh...well...I don't know au very well rekk..." interrupts herself with a shake of her head, "D'Tarik. And...well...au tried to inject me with something, wanting to try an experiment on me the first time I met au." she finishes quietly, lowering the jar, "That's why."
Once again swiftly changing subjects, tr'Rekkohan suddenly blurts out, "Hey! Before I add these antenna to Sprink.....do au want them?" he looks at her very matter-of-factly; almost wishing he could order her to have them added.
The question only served to confuse her again. "Na, hann'yyo. Uh....why....would I want them?"
"Well with antenna au would have ninte senses boosted to a new level! Au see... insects use them to not only see in the dark, but also to have a kind of awareness. They would really come in handy." he delivers this pitch like a used-flitter salesman trying to unload a real clunker.
The Erien looks horrified at what he was implying and drops the jar, backing away and shaking her head frantically, "I don't *want* them at all!" she protests, thinking the Medical officer crazy.
The plastic jar bounces, then rolls across the floor, stopping by D'Tarik's feet. Erien, please! That's an important specimen!" he picks it up, then looks at her curiously, "Are au okay?"
Emni, almost on the verge of tears, is now convinced that D'Tarik's not flying on a full set of thrusters, and she shakes her head, "Na...I'm na feeling well...I may go to my quarters a bit if that's alright rekk...D'Tarik." Before he could answer this, the girl spins on her heel and runs towards the door as fast as her feet would carry her, only to crash into Rylan's arms, knocking him through the just open doorway, the two of them landing on the floor.
Rylan looks startled, then grins as he recognizes the girl who has the odd habit of knocking men down in the corridors, "We've got to stop meeting like this..." he smirks, "People will talk."
Emni flushes with embarrassment, and quickly scrambles to her feet again, allowing Rylan to stand once more. D'Tarik only stands there looking very confused, then finally addresses the girl, "Erien, I did na dismiss you yet. Is it a habit of yours to run off in the middle of duty like that?"
The Erien looks frightened again and looks up to Ryland for help, as she answers quickly, "Na rekkhai...um...but I thought au said...ahhh...." she trials off.
Rylan casts a confused look from the girl to the Chief Medical officer, "What's going on ...." he pauses dramatically, then adds with a smirk, "I mean with Sprink. The Tribble alright?" The girl stands slightly behind him, hoping that she won't be noticed...or at least, hoping that the taller male will distract the Medical officer from wanting to use her as a test-rharit.
"Jolan`tru Rylan!" D'Tarik says cheerfully as if noticing the taller male for the first time, "How are we today? Oh, I'm not sure about Sprinkles....he's odd...it almost seems he upgraded himself....."
"We?" Rylan pauses then let's that question die as he listens thoughtfully to D'Tarik's summation, "Uh huh...So, how'd Sprink do that without au noticing?"
"I'm not sure.... I almost wish he could talk so I could ask him...." he pauses as another thought occurred to him, "Which I could easily do actually...."
"He'll answer ie or na." Rylan interjects almost proudly, "I at least understand that much."
"Ok.... but I could give him a full vocabulary. Erien...." D'Tarik addresses her without looking at the young girl, "Can you put Sprink in his pen and turn on the force field around it, till we get all this worked out?"
Emni glances up at Ry then answers, "Uh....au want me to ...touch it?"
"Ie... I do." he pauses to sigh in frustration, "I hate to pull rank....that's so unlike me," he shakes his head, "But that was an order not a request, Erien. Then you may go...both of our duty-shifts end."
Again looks up at the taller of the males to see if he'll protest this, but Rylan has looked away; pointedly ignoring the conversation between the two, seemingly not paying attention to them.
Hesitantly, she nods at D'Tarik, "Ie rekkhai...." she picks up Sprinkles with a visible expression of distasteful fear on her face and carries the creature to it's pen.
D'Tarik watches her, then nods, "Hann'yyo... now just turn on the force field while I put away the antenna you dropped, and au may go." He picks up the jar and sits it on a table, then walks over to the erie`Arrain. "Rylan? Join me on holodeck? I have made a much....less scary program then the last. Emni... au can join us, if au wish." he adds to the girl before she can leave the room. The girl only pauses at the door at the unexpected invitation, and waits to hear Ry's answer before she accepts.
Rylan shrugs, "What kind of program, DT?"
"Just a fun little thing. I'm sure you will enjoy it."
"Ie..." he agrees hesitantly, then adds in warning, "As long as we don't have to...see old friends, then alright."
"Oh, we wont. This is fully an entertainment program."
Rylan nods and smiles, "Ie then. I'll come along." he glances back at the girl to see if she has made up her mind yet. Emni smiles, looking relieved, then accepts D'Tarik's offer with a quiet 'hann'yyo for asking'.
[Holo-deck]
Ry prepares himself for whatever lurks beyond the door, and follows after DT, Emni close behind. As they enter the small, white room, tr'Rekkohan calls out as the doors close.. "Computer...run program, D'Tarik's laboratory...."
Ry's eyebrow goes up as he whispers a repeat of that to the girl, "D'Tarik's laboratory.....?"
Emni tugs gently on Rylan's arm, "That doesn't sound so entertaining to me...." further words die off as they both stare in wonderment at the scenery around them.
The three are encased in a huge dome that's apparently underwater. The top half of the room proclaims a view of a vast sea with all kinds of weird and unusual 'fish' swimming about that captures the attention of the two visitor's to D'Tarik's created world. The rest of the lab has a few cages and pen scattered about with all kinds of odd monsters in them. Some seem harmless, some of them don't. Various couches and chairs are scattered about the huge room, and a few games and gaming tables are scattered around in almost a hap-hazard pattern, and of course... lots of scattered lab equipment. The room is so huge, it seems to go on for miles in every direction.
Rylan stops to admire the 3d chess set somewhere near the center of the laboratory, "Nice. Do au play this much?"
"Well I did at home and at the Academy....but not for a bit. I am kind of rusty." D'Tarik almost grins.
"Really?" Rylan grins back, "I'm a little rusty myself...been a while....I don't suppose au bet on chess games?" he asks almost slyly. Emni realizes what Rylan's trying to do, and she shakes her head disapprovingly as she wanders around, peering at the various creatures within them
"Hmmm betting..." D'Tarik pauses in thought, "I'm not much of a gambler Rylan."
Rylan nods, setting the chess piece back down, "Too bad...."
tr'Rekkohan relents with a shrug, "Ok Rylan...just don't take advantage of me or anything. Chairs!" Suddenly, a pair of chairs appear, one on either side of the chess board.
Rylan covers a grin, and feigns insult, "Take advantage? Me?!" he looks innocent, "I wouldn't do that....." he trails off as he accepts a chair.
"If I win," D'Tarik says cheerfully as he sits down across from Rylan, "you have to feed and clean Sprink's pen for a year. If au win...."
Rylan looks up startled, "Sprinkle's pen?" he looks almost confused "And what exactly were au going to bet? Betting isn't a barter system, DT...." he tries to explain patiently, "It's based on money."
"Oh, ok! I'm new to this whole thing...." he smacks his forehead, "What would be a good amount?"
Rylan smirks and adds jokingly as if he hadn't heard D'Tarik at all, "I'm na touching Sprink's pen at any rate. He's ninte pet...ninte responsibility. Au deal with he's mess."
"Ok.... fine...fine! I am sorry Rylan...so how much money? I have never really bet before."
Rylan feels a twinge of conscience, "Umm...well...it's just a friendly wager.....so, 50 credits sound okay?" Not sure if Rekkohan had 50 credits.
"Na, I thought betting would be higher then that....but your the expert at this! I have..." he reaches into his pocket and pulls out a whole hand full of credits, seeing as the Medical officer doesn't spend much money.
Rylan bites his lip to keep from upping the stakes, as he doesn't want to put DT in the poor house. "Na...just a friendly wager..." he looks away from the money. "Bet's can be higher, but this is all in fun."
Emni looks closely at one of the smaller creatures in a cage...<< like a hamster with tiny antlers >> and asks softly, "Can I hold this io...or is it dangerous?"
"Oh, ok." D'Tarik answers Rylan, "I thought you were good at this and all, you would not be scared...ok let's play!" He looks over at the girl, "Oh, that is fine....it's in a cage with a open top... just don't touch the one next to it."
Rylan grins almost evilly, "Scared? Me?" he chuckles, then shrugs, "250 credits then DT."
Emni looks at the creature in the next cage, which resembles a snake with green-looking bat-wings, and makes a face, "Don't worry...I won't touch that io."
"Ok... well the furry one is fine to pet and such!" D'Tarik calls out to the girl, then turns back to Rylan, "Ok Rylan let's play.....you said 250 credits? I hope that's na too much..."
Rylan smirks, "It's na too much." he nods his head at the board, "Go ahead...ninte board, au move first."
tr'Rekkohan leans forward to rest his arms on the table so he could study the board, and ends up hitting the table hard with an elbow, knocking the pieces over. "Ah, fvadt! Computer! Reset board!"
Laughing, Rylan teases, "Please tell me au'rh na going to do that after the game starts. That would be a forfeit...I would win."
"Na... I'm not that bad." D'Tarik shrugs, as the computer resets the board, "Au want to play just one game or best two out of three?"
Ry shakes head, "Io should suffice."
"Ok, fine." He leans forward a moment, looking at the board, then suddenly makes a move. "Ninte turn."
Having taken the little creature out of it's cage carefully, Emni gently holds it close to her, and talks to it quietly. Wondering how the game between the boys was going, she heads back toward the "dueling chess masters" with the creature still in her hands, and takes a seat on the couch nearest to Ry's position to watch the game.
Rylan shakes his head but doesn't say anything, and moves the knight. D'Tarik looks over at his lab assistant as she sits, "Au know....I can make a real io of those for au, if au wish." he smiles kindly. Without looking at the board, D'Tarik rapidly makes another careless move, which Rylan again countered.
Emni smiles back at D'Tarik and nods, "Oh ie...hann'yyo. It's a cute little thing. What's it called? I never seen io before."
"It doesn't have a name, really." D'Tarik shrugs, and makes another bad seemingly bad move on the board. "And I made it myself!" he says proudly. He watches Rylan capture one of his pawns off the board, then again makes another stupid move.
Rylan shakes his head and has another fit of conscience. Sighing he asks with a note of pity, "Are au *sure* au want to bet on this game, DT?" he tries his best not to offend the boy with the implication that tr'Rekkohan's game playing sucks.
"Na...I'm fine.... I mean, I want to see ninte skills." D'Tarik shrugs, then asks concerned, "Au sure au'rh na just scared or something?"
Rylan looks at D'Tarik seriously a moment, "DT...I'm na scared...but ninte move was..." he pauses, then shakes his head, "Never mind..." he take tr'Rekkohan's bishop with his knight and thinks '...easiest 250 creds I ever made....'
Emni, who has been waiting for the boys to stop talking, finally sees her opportunity and asks, "Au said au made this?" she holds up the tiny creature, "How? Out of what?"
D'Tarik looks over at the young girl and smiles tilting his head. "Oh, well...I programmed it from Earth animals...." he doesn't even look at the board as he makes yet another ill-conceived move, "and a few of my own genetic implants." he continues his explanation to the girl, "See...not everything I make are horrible freaks of nature."
Emni blushes slightly, "I didn't say ninte pet was a freak..." she shrugs, "Just...that he's a little....scary looking."
tr`Rekkohan looks from the board as Rylan's rook captured another of his pawns, and addresses the girl, "Just help me out in the lab a little more, and I can make one of those guys for au in a jiffy." he smiles, then holds up a finger, "One second...." he turns his attention back to the board, then skillfully moves one of his pieces, finally managing to capture one of Rylan's favored knights. With his turn over, he looks back to the girl again, "What was I talking about...?"
Rylan nods his head approvingly and mumbles, "Getting better..." he leans back in his chair, getting ready to really enjoy the game now. Not the least bit intimidated, Rylan makes a bold move with his remaining knight, capturing one of D'Tarik's rooks.
Emni looks almost guiltily shy, as she answers D'Tarik's question. "Au were saying au wanted my help in the lab a little more...." she trails off.
"Yeah," D'Tarik nods, "And then I will make au one of those guys..." he pauses, and adds sheepishly, "And I will try to control myself when it comes to my experiments." he again turns back to the board and moves...taking full advantage of Rylan's bold move. As the tr'Rekkohan's queen came out and attacked tr'Tuhmek's knight, Rylan suddenly looked at the board with new eyes...and realized that he hadn't seen that DT had made it possible for her to come out...and yet still be protected.
"Um..." Emni continues her conversation with the medical officer, "If au have all these animals and such....why don't au simulate ninte experiments. That way, au wouldn't ....alarm any io when they...went unexpectedly wrong."
Ry desperately tries to recover himself, but realizes he can't. He sits hopelessly by as DT rapidly pulls him into a corner and grins, "Check mate."
As Rylan's jaw drops in surprise, tr'Rekkohan turns towards the girl, "But that's half the fun of it! Au have so much to learn...au can help me make your new pet. I will show you how..." he smiles at Rylan as he stands from the table, "Don't worry about the money. Computer! End program!"
Rylan grins and shakes his head, pulling out the credits he had lost, the old damaged holopic that he found on ch'Vania falls out to the floor, unnoticed by the occupiers of the room. "Na...au won." He holds out the credits to tr'Rekkohan, "Here's ninte money."
D'Tarik only turns from him, still refusing to take it. Addresses the girl again, "If au want to come with me to my quarters we can discuss your pet further. I can basically make it custom for au.
Emni smiles and nods, "Ie...I would like a creature..." she hesitates, "I'm just na that um...thrilled about hurting things."
Rylan shrugs and makes a mental note to send the money to DT's account later and heads out.
"Then we'll make it from scratch." D'Tarik smiles again, to the girl. "Come join me in my quarters, and we can discuses it." Emni looks torn between following Rylan and following D'Tarik, but finally decides to agree to her supervisor's idea.
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