Joint Personal Log - Cmdr Ivanova & Lt Waterhouse - "I'm Doin' Fine on Cloud Nine"

Posted on Sat Aug 2nd, 2014 @ 7:24am by Commander Amelia Waterhouse & Admiral Rochelle Ivanova

3,159 words; about a 16 minute read

Mission: In the Dark

As the holodeck door opened, it revealed a room of sleek black marble, cool brushed steel, and smooth geometric shapes. Three walls featured floor to ceiling windows, looking out on the New York City nighttime skyline on Earth. The fourth wall had a bar running along side it with an entrance into a kitchen behind it, a spiral staircase headed up, and elevator doors — this was where the holodeck arch appeared in the program. The windowed wall to Amelia's left as she entered opened into a large outdoor space with planter boxes interspersed between tables and along the windows, providing some pockets of privacy. The wall across from the turbolift had a stage floating about four feet above the main floor with a podium in one corner. The spiral stairs by the turbolift lead to a space filled with tables, looking out over the main floor.

Amelia's cowboy boots clicked on the floor as she walked in, and she pushed her matching hat back off her forehead with the tip of her pointer finger as she whistled. A lime green PADD appeared floating midair in front of her. She grasped it as she strolled over to the stage, jumping up to sit on the edge while she waited for Rochelle Ivanova to arrive.

Tired and worn thin from her daily grind, Rochelle had almost told Amelia no and allowed the willowy woman to run freely with the ceremony preparations. She'd said 'I don't care.' and 'Whatever you think is necessary', delegating absolutely nothing other than requesting darkness. At the time it may have seemed like an odd request, but for the woman who was barely able to make it through a single REM cycle a night, it made every bit of sense. Stepping onto the Holodeck the Commander hit the brakes, looking around at the setting her friend had created and regarding it with a quiet sense of awe. "Amelia?" She called out, listening to her voice echo in the great empty space.

"Ain't it cracking?" Amelia asked, jumping off the stage again, having to place a hand on her hat to keep it on her head. "Uncle Spiegel based it on a place in the city, when he put together the original version for Mama's promotion to Lieutenant. I added the balcony and upstairs so we'd be able to fit the whole crew," she explained with a grin as she walked over. She offered Rochelle the green PADD. "The controls."

"It's lovely." Rochelle replied, turning to face the sound of her friend leaping from the stage to the floor with a thud and a clatter of leather soled boots against marble. The sound echoed, the Commander nearly flinched. "Your Uncle has impeccable taste." She admonished, moving to meet Amelia half way, her smile genuine as they came to rest and her eyes lifted to take in the features her friend made mention of and then had the flash of lime green catch her attention, stealing it away with a furrowed brow. "Controls?"

"To customize it, add wait staff, music, change the view, whatever. Duct Tape'll pull from any of Mama's programs, or anything else that has the hooks. Noah and I drove Mama crazy when we were young, she put it together so we could customize holoprograms without her help." Amelia grinned. "The PADD doesn't have to be bright green. I can set up a trigger for you, and you can make it look however you like."

The Commander nodded in understanding, thumbing through the information on the PADD and the controls it afforded her. One touch, the entire thing could change and the illusion would be cast to oblivion. "No," She replied with a shake of her head, "It's perfect the way it is. I'm impressed."

Amelia grinned at the complement, even if all she'd done was put pieces together and only a fraction of it was directed at her. "Did we want hors d'oeuvre and music before the ceremony? If we have anyone on the ship that plays in a band, something live could be nice..." she suggested. "And I think the bar's designed to interface with the replicator system if we want to serve synthathol or virgin drinks."

Nodding quietly, the petite one mulled the bigger part of her answer as she paused her search through the padd. "We do. I'll let you hunt the entertainment, something classy. Black tie worthy." She finally replied, wrinkling her nose as she toggled through light settings before coming back to, and leaving, the one Amelia had already selected.

"If I don't find anyone who plays something black tie, I can pull the band out of the swing lesson program," Amelia mused, "Or I've got some good bootlegs of Zhatha's Ushaan, a tight little Andorian blues combo. Or I'll see if Noah has anything new, he's the one who turned me onto Zhatha's Ushaan anyways." Her little brother had always had a jazz and blues bent to his music tastes, where Amelia always preferred to sample widely of many genre.

"Whatever you see fit. You know what I like." Rochelle offered the padd back to her friend and crossed the floor to stand at the widows overlooking New York. Down below taxis and pedestrians streamed past in droves on the slick wet pavement while another summer storm flashed lightning in the distance. It almost seemed like magic, the perfect capture of the city that never slept as it stood through the dog days.

"Captain Neyes would have liked it too, I think." She mused out loud, folding her hands behind her back as she studied the scene in all it's glorious detail.

Amelia tapped the screen of the PADD and it disappeared as she followed the smaller woman to the window. Music and other details could wait until later, the details never really matter anyways... Until they do. Amelia's eyes traveled over the scene below, and it occurred to her she hadn't realized how much detail had really gone into this program. She honestly couldn't say if it was uncle Spiegel or her mother responsible.

"We could hold a toast to him, either to open or close the ceremony?" Amelia suggested softly. "I might even be able to come up with a bottle of real champagne, enough for the senior staff at least." She left it unsaid that it would be a challenge to get enough for everyone else, unless replicated. She'd still try, if Rochelle wanted her to.

If she tried hard enough, Rochelle could almost swear she heard the sound of sirens and horns screaming loudly at one another, the cacophony of a city. It would have soothed her if it weren't already too late for that. Peace would be a long time coming to her soul, instead it raged like the world below. "No. I don't think that was his style." She spoke as if he were dead, and in a way he was.

For a second she was back in that frozen Hell, standing there bleeding in the snow with no hope, no solace, only anchored by him as they braced against the wind atop a horrid cliff. The kiss itself had been blinding, heavy, passionate... A hello and a goodbye all at once as they prepared to die together. Her lips ached at the memory and her fingers reached to touch them before she shook her head, "We'll mention him, but no champagne."

Amelia nodded, her eyes focusing on the raindrops on the other side of the glass. She considered their diagonal trajectory a moment, then turned towards the balcony.

"I think the building would keep us dry, if we go out on the balcony. The view's better out there," Amelia observed, seeking eye contact with Rochelle's reflection in the glass. The view off the back of it included central park, and she hadn't even realized it was there until she'd added the balcony. She suspected that was uncle Spiegel's doing, hiding that away but for some hidden nook on the building in the original version.

Slowly, the fire maned Commander tore herself from her vantage point, listening to the welcomed sound of the Lieutenant's voice. "I'm game. A little rain never hurt anyone, right?" She smile and motioned for the taller woman to lead the way to the balcony that, without a doubt, would be invaded by the love struck the night they pulled into Klingon space. For now, the dynamic duo would enjoy it for themselves, affording a minute or two of platonic closeness as one showed the other the strange perfection to be found in fine tuned holoprograms. "You know your family has entirely way too much time on their hands, right?"

"This program was a labor of love, Mama and Uncle Spiegel love this city. You can't always tell with how Mama will tease him about it though," Amelia explained with a laugh, as she lead the way outside. "Mama did her share of time on space stations when she should have been flying starships though. That's when she learned to program a holodeck." She stayed close to the building as they headed to the back side of the balcony. As they reached the ledge, Amelia only paused a moment when faced with the rain blowing onto the railing before she leaned against it, tilting her hat down to keep the light rain out of her face.

"Again. Too much time on their hands." Rochelle grinned and ribbed Pond. The hot blast of wet, humid air caught Ivanova by surprised as they stepped outside to the sound of the sirens she'd thought she'd heard before. They were muffled by the distance between them, but only barely. The feel of drizzle freckling her face was almost refreshing, her eyes closed briefly. "Incredible." She breathed, stepping towards the ledge and wet railing. "I'm thoroughly pleased."

"Good," Amelia insisted with a grin. She was happy the program measured up, but more importantly, she was happy to see her friend smiling. That had been far too infrequent since they'd come into contact again. "I can easily make this program available to the crew regularly, after the ceremony. Maybe we could schedule regular lounge nights, to help keep morale high."

"I think we should. Maybe go through your list and see what else is available that they'd appreciate? Lord knows that some of us don't know what's available." Rochelle allowed her hand to slide along the wet banister, allowing the residual wetness to run down her fingers and land on the balcony floor in little splashes and splatters. It was amazing, truly, how real the environment was.

"I think there's a master list somewhere, with keywords and descriptions... Flying Spaghetti Monster knows Mama's a little whimsical with her naming schemes," Amelia murmured, watching Rochelle fiddle with the water. Amelia had grown up with these programs, so she truly didn't realize how lucky she was to have them. She was certainly more than willing to share. "I'll put the list in an easier to browse format," she agreed.

The shorter woman nodded, "Thank you." genuinely appreciative of her efforts and ideas. "What would happen if someone jumped? There's a safety protocol on this program, correct?" The shorter one asked, peering over the rail. The rain beat a steady tattoo against her hair, neck and shoulders as she leaned.

"I think the system won't allow a program without safety protocols, there are native ones within the holodeck itself that will kick in unless they're specifically overridden. Mama has a couple programs she had to triple lock the protocols in place though, just to be allowed to have them on a fleet ship..." Amelia trailed off, realizing she'd wandered into a tangent. "I think it depends on if Mama fiddled with it or not. If she did, it'll be something weird, but if she left it to uncle Spiegel or the defaults, it'll probably just be an invisible net that neutralizes the inertia from the fall."

Amelia leaned further over the edge to look down, trying to judge the distance down. When her hat slipped off her head, she made a quick grab for it, missing it as she dangled over the edge, one leg kicking up behind her to keep her balance. She frowned as the hat drifted through the rain towards the sidewalk and people below. "I have half a mind to jump and see what it is," Amelia muttered, her lower lip jutting out in a pout as the hat looked to land in the middle of a puddle.

Rochelle blinked at the falling hat as it fluttered down to the street below, barely avoiding an oncoming cab. Her silence eventually gave way to a sigh as she hoisted her delicate body up over the rail and tip toed on the opposite ledge, barely balancing as the hot, humid wind blew the wild red hair from her face. Instantly the rain, in her mind, became snow. Cold, violent snow billowing from a cliff face.

And she jumped.

Amelia was so focused on her hat, that she almost didn't notice her friend hoist herself over the railing. If they'd been somewhere other than the safety of the holodeck, if they hadn't just had a conversation about the safety protocols, Amelia might have responded quicker to Rochelle being on the wrong side of the railing. Instead she was still processing when the smaller red-head jumped.

"What are you doing? I thought I was the crazy one here..." Amelia asked, her eyes wide. She'd been seriously considering jumping just to see if her mother had indeed put an easter egg in there, but it hadn't even occurred to her that Rochelle would. She kept herself leaning forward to watch, getting a little nervous with how quickly the ground seemed to be approaching her friend.

This time transporters didn't lock on and save her as she threw herself to chance. She didn't have a thriving mess of angry humanoids clamoring at her back. This time Rochelle fell, reaching terminal velocity, and felt the cold press of fear resume its course.

He was gone.

But would he have wanted her to die now after all he'd done to save her?

She didn't have time to say her mental sorries or to repent as the saturated concrete rushed up to meet her. She hit it with nearly brutal force, and it gave way with a loud and impressive splash. It was cold, freezing, and the uniformed officer clawed through the watery darkness to scramble for the surface, gasping for air when she finally did, her eyes wide with shock.

Amelia had found herself second guessing her mother's sanity, right up until the pavement swallowed Rochelle whole, sending waves and ripples out to show where she'd been. Amelia yanked herself back from the railing, whistling her trigger to the program to make the bright green PADD appear. As Rochelle's head burst up through the street that was no longer behaving quite like a street, Amelia's fingers quickly flew over the PADD, initiating the site to site relocation. It was wrapped in shiny effects to look like a transporter beam, but the holodeck simply rearranged the holograms around her to place her where she wanted to be.

Amelia had blindly trusted her mother that the holodeck was a safe place, and even as she grew old enough to learn how it worked, and that there were safeties that could be disabled, she'd still assumed that nothing could harm her in her mother's programs... well, no more than could easily be fixed with a short visit to sickbay. When Rochelle jumped, Amelia realized how blindly she'd placed that trust in her mother. When the street stayed solid under her feet, even as she walked over ripples from Rochelle, Amelia moved within a couple feet of the smaller woman and offered her a hand up out of the street.

Grabbing the floating hat, Rochelle handed it to Amelia first — it had been the intended target and now a perfect cover for her temporary lapse of sanity. She sputtered, finally being able to take hold of her friend's hand, and began to haul herself up out of the icy liquid. "Your mother," She began through chattering teeth, "is a special individual."

Amelia had let go of the green PADD as she approached, and it floated about chest height next to her. On it was where she placed her hat before helping the drowned rat that normally was the formidable Rochelle Ivanova out of the street turned body of water.

"Lunatic is the word you want," Amelia explained as if she was talking about something as mundane and obvious as the weather. "She probably intended to scare the living daylight out of Noah or I if we got it in our heads to jump. And considering both of us had done our share of climbing to high places and talking of flying..." Amelia shrugged. "Computer, large fluffy towel, please." A blue towel materialized folded next to the green PADD and stetson hat. Amelia grabbed it and offered it to Rochelle.

"Something like that." She grumbled, wrapping herself in the comfort of the towel. A Tardis. She should have known. If she hadn't been freezing cold and suffering from a fine mix of embarrassment and depression, she'd have teased Amelia endlessly about her choices.

"Tea'll help, I think I have a traveler with something in it," Amelia said, slipping a hand into her back pocket. Out came a palm sized round flat tin. She popped it open and held it under her nose as she inhaled. "Earl Grey with Lavender. Your choice if you want it alone or with company, but you should get out of that uniform regardless." Amelia smiled and held out the opened tin for inspection.

The scent of tea and lavender wafted past Rochelle's chilled little nose. She couldn't help but come out of her quiet shell to study it, taking the tin and inhaling the aroma. It instantly settled her nerves, calming the savage little beast and promising her comfort associated with the life giving nectar that was a good hot cup of tea. "With company... Dry company." The grump grumbled and tightened her Tardis around her shoulders and looking up at the quarter Klingon expectantly.

"I can host at my quarters after you change, if you like, but if you'd rather go to yours, I should dry just walking the corridors." Amelia plucked her hat off the floating green PADD, and pressed a button. The arch appeared next to them, and the willowy one waved her Commander and friend forward. "Rank before cheek," she insisted with a grin.

With a wary eye, Rochelle snorted her response and trudged out of the holodeck, "You have Ninja Turtle tea pots last I checked... We'll go to yours."

=/\= END LOG =/\=

Commander Rochelle Ivanova
Executive Officer
USS VINDICATOR

Lieutenant Amelia Waterhouse
Infiltration Specialist
USS Vindicator

 

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