Star Trek: Starbase 777

Not being able to escape a holodeck program was... not ideal. He'd heard horror stories from his colleagues at the Academy, as well as his professors when he was still a student. The safties seemed to still be on, for now, but P'lerratex knew very well that it wasn't guarunteed it would stay that way. He reached into his pocket for his tricorder and... right. Holodeck magic. He pulled out a giant magnifying glass, almost comically large, like something you'd see in an old Earth detective movie. He sighed, hoping it would still preform the same function, and began looking around for an exposed holodeck panel in the freight car of the train.

Scanning the surrounding area for a holodeck panel would lead Tex to the front of the train, where the conductor would be.

As Tex moved around the room, magnifying glass in hand, he focused on the sound of the scan rather than the data itself, eventually leading him down the length of the train and towards the conductor's car.

Verelan led her girls (gender nonspecific) to the freight car, sitting down on a crate to tug at her collar. "Man, those people get loud. Did they have to all end up in the same car?"

So his fun cowboy LARP was interrupted by holodeck glitches? Come on, man. He was busy trying to roleplay as his magical cowboysona, Holden A. Lasso. He even had the accent down! Forlorn, he took off his cowboy hat and donned his wizard hat instead. "I suppose I'll have to look into fixin' this illusion chamber... On my day off..." In the distance, it was heard: the world's smallest violin.

7

6

“Oh, yay, broken holodecks.” Edgar whispered, definitely having been here this whole time, “I guess we should just go for it?”

"Whatever you do, spare yourself the dining car," Verelan recommended. "It's wildly busy out there, ain't no room to fix anything."

"Sure looked like it. Couldn't hear a darn thing in there. Not that I can hear a darn thing that well in the first place!" He was hard of hearing, but not totally deaf, so he would be able to hear enough in the train car that it would ironically make it harder to understand people than if he couldn't hear anything at all.

The freight car was mostly full of fake belongings; suitcases, valuables that made a Maggie's fingers twitch in a long forgotten impulse. They huffed, pulling a pocket mirror from their dress to reapply their lipstick and fix their hat, which was clipping through their head. "I'm just glad to be somewhere quieter.."

Moving through the cars swiftly towards where she knew more of her fellow yellow shirts were, Suun paused, looking around in search of some exposed console or something she could poke around on.

Vialara sat down tucked next to Verelan, adjusting her hat after it had been dislodged squeezing past all of the other guests on the train. "It was starting to get a little cramped in there. People really do like to congregate."

They reached over to fix one of Vialara's many frills and bows, gaze drifting to Suun as she entered. "Any luck, Commander?"

Like he said, K’Graarra followed the Lieutenant-Commander. He stayed near - either besides or behind her. Now that he noticed other prople, his right, concealed arm tensed under the shawl, hand ready on his revolver, ever vigilant.

“None yet, unfortunately. I’m hoping we can find an exposed console or panel to fiddle with in the meantime whilst we try and get into contact with the outside officers.” She shot Maggie a sheepish, thin-lipped smile, “How’s it been here? Any glitches?”

Jayri had moved along with her other fellow yellow shirts, trying to find anything on her belt that resembled a proper, modern tool. All she had was a book, a wrench, and screwdriver. Now, one would think the book was at least somewhat useful, but all that was in it was 1's and 0's. Not her domain, to say the least... (edited)

“Oh, hey!” Ed perked up at the sight of the other yellow-shirts, “Welcome to the club. Not that exclusive and, uh… no drinks or dancing. Just holodeck bullshit.”

“I’m plenty aware. Thank you.” She stated, raising a brow as she began running a hand over the walls in search of one of the real panels in the holodeck room.

Oh! Yellow-shirt things were happening? He'd always wished the engie shirts were blue, though. "Let me know when you find something! I might be able to help."

No beans...

"Oh, are they here already?" Maggie perked up. "That's good, I'm glad."

“Ah. Alright, can someone check if they can reach a teammate outside of the holodeck?” She bit the inside of her cheek, adjusting her hat and standing up from where she’d been crouching, “Just to make sure our comms are still working. I’d hate to lose them while on the job.”

“Yes ma’am.” He looked down at his chest, at the commbadge that had turned into a… strange, red-gold star that was pinned to his shirt, which he tapped. “K’Graarra to Bridge, does anyone copy?” And he waited for an answer, finger on his badge.

Static...

“…it seems no, Ma’am. All static, no reply.” His voice denoted slightly more panicked, a shaky breath escaping from his nose despite his stoic façade.

No response was… not a promising sign. “I don’t believe it’s reaching them. Maybe there’s something jamming it within the holodeck itself.” She replied, furrowing her brow, “Alright. Occasional checks to the comms are warranted as we figure out what else is happening.”

“Yes Ma’am.” He took his finger from the badge, lowering it again and hiding it under his shawl.

“And I don’t think formality is necessary here. Suun is perfectly fine.” She nodded towards him, hoping to at least keep it a little friendly for the sake of the stressful situation at hand.

He sighed, ears pressing against his head in slight anxiety. “…force of habit, Suun. Then ‘Raarr’ will do fine in this situation for me. Or K’Graarra if you really want to call me that.” He relaxed his posture a little, slacking his shoulders as to not look so ridged. Or like a brick wall.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Raarr.” She responded, nodding once more before glancing out the window. “No comms, no open panels here— what else is there to do in this case?”

"We might try exploring some of the other carriages," Serin said, suddenly popping into the conversation.

Vida tentatively entered the freight car, following the yellow shirts' leads. "Yeesh, I wasn't expecting so much walking."

“That sounds like a good plan.” She replied, falling behind the group slightly and pinching the spot where her nose bridge met her forehead. One break, *please…*

“Oh, shit! Hey, Vida!” He lit up, falling over himself slightly, “Shit, I didn’t know you were here, good to see you! I like the hat.”

"Ooh! Howdy, Ed!" She trotted up to his side. She brushed off his jacket a little "Love the outfit. How'd you get tied up in all this?"

“They brought us in here, figured it’d be a fun chance to get all old western for a day.” He chuckled, “Obviously a bad call, but I think it’s still fun.”

"Well, your hero has arrived!" She proclaimed. "After the engineers fix the holodeck, that is." Vida looped an arm around Ed's, holding her umbrella over her shoulder. "'Til then, you're stuck with us."

He took off his wizard hat and stared at it, brow furrowed. Then he came to a realisation: he could LARP while he was working! He always did that anyway, right? It didn't particularly matter whether it was as a wizard or a cowboy. He put the cowboy hat back on. "Giddyup, yellows! To the caboose!"

“Alright. Yeehaw.” He mumbled, laughing at Serin’s combination wizard-cowboy vibe. Dude could pull it off for sure.

1

Off they went, cruising to the caboose!

He steps forward, to besides Suun, and sighs, resting a hand on his neck as he turned to look at her, his ears sideways now instead of back. “…do we follow, Suun?

“We might as well. It seems there’s nothing left here, at least.” She said, “It may be better to not be separated from the group here, in case of malfunctions.”

“Then we go in stride.” He began walking, following the other two, his shawl flower gently as he moved to the Caboose.

Aaand he came back in. "Never mind. Not the greatest idea to be out there right now. To the sleeper car!" And off he went.

Tavek had come with the rest of the rescue team, pleasantly surprised to suddenly find himself in a cowboy hat and leather chaps. He’d assumed this would be somewhat of an easy fix at the beginning, but all these glitches were making him question that. He was a bit less pleasantly surprised when these bandits started showing up, however- he’d run in from the caboose once the horses started gaining on them.

Garcia, who had not been with the rescue team but rather had come to have some off duty fun, came in while her hands frantically fixed her hair and smoothed her dress, for reasons one could only suppose. And speaking of, what a dress! It was black and in shades of red, a structured corset with an elegant dark print sat atop a voluminous skirt, all made in layers that fell down to the ground. Her hair was half up in a up-do and adorned with black and red feathers. On her neck a chocker made of black lace and tiny red crystals. “Heya guys!!!” She smiled wide at all of the present. “What did I miss?”

“Oh hey Garcia!” He waved. “Uh, nothing much. Just some bandits running up on us to spoil our fun, yknow, normal stuff. You look great, by the way!” He joked.

“Lovely weather, though.” He huffed out a half-assed laugh, “Nice to see you, though! And sick outfits, both of you.”

"Bandits?" Maggie echoed, green eyes widening a little. "We didn't even choose that as an option! Ugh, stupid faulty holodeck..."

Everything stopped. Textures unloaded rapidly, flickering, before an ERROR message flashed across the holodeck, allowing everyone a glimpse of their fellow holo-goers, before everything reloaded. Reset.

“Whoa. Fuck— uh, guys?” Ed stammered, eyes wider than usual (which is surprising, dude’s got some massive peepers), “God, this is creepy. We’re back where we started?”

“Well.. damn. Did that take care of the bandits, you think?” He remarked, looking around at the reset scenery. This was why he didn’t usually frequent holodecks. More trouble than they were worth, sometimes. “Hey, still beats having guys with guns after us in real life, no? Unless the safety’s off.. wait, is it off?”

“Not sure, honestly. I think a bunch of people got blipped out of here, I don’t know where they ended up.” He thought for a moment, “And— yeah. No guns is better than the alternative.”

He looked around to see who might be blipped.. oh no! No Garcia to be found anywhere. The engie trio was down to two. “Wait.. Garcia’s gone. She must’ve been blipped..” He said, a little sad and worried for her.

She was making her way through the train when the.... glitch happened...? She wasn't so sure. "Hmm. That is a good question. I think it is best to assume the worst case scenario, for now. Especially with some of us missing." Her hand rested just above her holster. A rather old habit.

“Oh, shit! Where’s she at?” He furrowed his brow, “In fact— where’s everyone at?”

"... Vovvi?" he turned around sharply, his grip on Ev'kor's clothes only tightening. "Where did she go? She was right here..."

3

The program distorted, unceremoniously dumping the inhabitants anywhere but here. It forgot it was locked. Mari totally didn't. (edited)

9

Alright. Time to unravel this mystery and hopefully finish the programme, so then he could go back to his quarters and watch train documentaries in peace. He took the key from the pocket of his suit jacket, having found it had spawned in there when the conductor vanished, and unlocked the door.

Hat adjusted once again, Suun peered over him, before stepping around to see what exactly was inside. “So much hassle for a single car.” She muttered.

“Here goes,” Sykes said, nearly holding her breath as they waited for the door to open.

Shortly after Giles opened the door, William entered into the car as well. He looked around, intrigued but exhausted considering everything that had occurred. (edited)

”I really hope its a huge cake!” Garcia peaked from behind Tarsek.

5

3

Inside was...... darkness, at first. The team waited with bated breath as the sunlight filtered through, illuminating the cargo— luggage, first, then it landed on gold. Riches beyond imagination, crowns and fancy candelabras and cold hard cash. Worthless to the team, worth a lot to the characters they played, but maybe the real treasure was the friends they made along the way. And at the center of it, on a gilded table, was a cake. Distorted and glitching between entities. How appetizing! A banner unfurled from above, painted in red letters; BANDITS WIN! (edited)

8

9

8

“…sonuva…” Sykes pinched the bridge of her nose.

1

“Wow.. there really is a cake..” He said, stunned. He didn’t care about the riches anyway. All he wanted was that cake.

“You were right.” She chuckled at Garcia, moving to take a look at the pile of what would have been riches. “We’re set for life.” She put on a shitty western accent, “More cash than we can handle, pardners.”

"Do not eat that," Vovvi mumbled, squinting sucoiciously.

“Yeehaw, pardner,” Sykes muttered toward Suun as she shook her head about the glitching cake. They did it, they won! Please let the holodeck just break down and not work anymore for forever.

"...Does anyone want to go to the mess hall and get cake that isn't glitching through multiple dimensions?" He asked, and then watched as the banner unfurled. "Hey, that's not fair. I unlocked this voluntarily!" For someone who hadn't shot a single paintball, he was suddenly competitive.

4

”Cake!!! I definitely will not be eating the glitchy cake, but how about a slice later?” She turned to Suun. “We can pair it with that drink!*

William looked into the contents of the freight car, just eyeing everything that came into view. The glimmering gold, the cash, and then... the cake. I mean, considering everything here was a holographic projection, it was mostly worthless. But the cake on the other hand, would at least taste good. That alone made it more useful than everything else here.

“Oh, yes. Please.” She grinned, nudging Garcia, “I’m glad we’re still on, then.”

“Let’s all get cake after this. We deserve it.” He said, not bummed in the slightest that his team didn’t win. He just wanted to get outta here.

"...Sure. Sounds fun. As long as none a'you mind the Captain being there." He didn't want to ruin it for everyone.

“I don’t know how much ranks matter here. You’re just another cowboy for the day.”

The Intel agent took a seat on the gold and let out a big sigh, “You know? For a relaxing holoprogram? I did a whole lotta goddamn runnin’.”

”I had tons of fun! See Tarsek, I told you these adventures were worth it!” She smiled at the Vulcan. And then turned at Mo. “What??? Its not a post hologram party unless everyone is there! Come on cap!”

"Look guys." William started to speak, his throat a little hoarse. "I mean, sure, 'bandits won', but think about it. We all got here together, and it wouldn't have happened without any of you." "Truly this means we all won - using the power of friendship, eh?"

5

4

“Indeed. You did fine work, lieutenant. I applaud your effort today, too.” She chuckled, arms crossed over her chest.

"I'm still writing the programme author a strongly worded email," he quipped, but this time it would be about the 'bandits win' ending which was clearly a coding flaw.

1

“There will not be paint on me once this program ends, correct?” He asked, genuinely concerned for a second that he might be stuck with all this paint on him. All colors of the rainbow, five paint splatters. This poor guy was a walking pride flag.

5

4

3

"Si. Friendship." Paco raised his gun to do the classic American thing of shooting the air, but aimed at shot William instead. Guns are fun, that's the lesson Paco got from all this.

4

3

Sykes leaned her head against the wall of the freight car from where she was seated, taking in another heavy breath that turned into a yawn, “Ooohhh…lord…the instant I’m outta here, I’m running a million debugs on this…well, no, the first thing I’m doin’ is takin’ a nap.”

”Do not worry. The clothing and the paint will be gone.” The older Vulcan addressed the younger. “Your original state will be restored once you leave.”

"I dunno, I've always wanted to eat multidimensional cake, and now we like, have a chance, so..." he looked at the cake. It genuinely seemed tempting.

“Oh, that is good to hear. I apologize for shooting you, too.” He replied.

“I’ll take one for the team, we need to see what this thing tastes like.” He said, walking up to the cake to see if there was some type of knife to cut it. He wasn’t just gonna take a bite out of it like a monster.

5

”You did as you were supposed, no apology is needed.” Talking like they had been at a real life and death situation. But thats just the Tarsek way.

Yeah, there was a knife.

Wonderful. He took the knife, cutting a few slices of the cake. Now, were there plates and forks, too? Tavek was a distinguished little gentleman who didn’t want cake all over his hands.

Eat like a barbarian, robot boy.

9

5

William sat down on some of the luggage close to the cake. He wanted to watch the whole thing unfold, though he needed to rest his legs a bit after the whole ordeal they had all just gone through.

Well, he supposed he’d just have to be a barbarian then. He separated one slice from the rest of it with the knife as best he could before picking it up with his hands and taking a bite without a singular care in the world about what this thing would do to him.

Suun moved to rest on a box, finding yet another bottle of holodeck wine somehow, and taking a huge swig.

Absolutely bolting over from jail, Ed slammed into the doorway shoulder-first with a cheer. “You guys did it!!”

1

He smiled. "Thanks, Suun. Hopefully this cake don't give us some kinda glitchy food poisoning." You eat it and start T-posing.

3

William motioned over towards Suun, who he saw once again taking a swig out of another glitched-out wine bottle. Perhaps not the best idea, but y'know - to each their own. "How is that? Is it really any good?"

Tasted like nothing. Air cake.

4

“It’s… an experience. Tastes like alcohol, then water, then alcohol, some kind of fruit juice, and then static.” She chuckled, “I didn’t know static had a flavour until today. Do you want one?”

Vida entered, still holding onto her back. "What happened? Is the program over?

Ed turned to her, grinning. “Bandits won!”

"Ah, nuts..." She'd have to come back to this sometime. Without the banditry.

William was on the verge of refusing for a moment, not super into synthahol or alcohol or any of the like. But after a few moments of reconsideration, he loosened up a bit. I mean, who knows when he'll be able to drink glitched-out beverages from the holodeck again? "You know what? Yeah, if you see a spare one over there." William said towards Suun.

"Yep! We won!" Said the man who hadn't been on the bandit team.

1

Glancing around, she pulled out yet another one. “For you, my friend, for a job well-done.” She handed it over with a smile.

"I technically never officially switched sides....." You jerk.

"Hi," he bumped against his uncle's shoulder, ultimately deciding that his blackmail-roastage session can wait until they get home. He delegated his own hat to Rojin, while still wearing the one given to him by Ed, "How was the shootout?"

"Mm," he trew his hand around Saren's shoulders, squeezing the younger Lareth close. "Didn't do much. I got distracted."

5

"..." Sweet Romulan Mary and Christ. "I see!"

7

William gladly took it into his right hand, but left his arm extended for a moment. "Cheers, to us both." William exclaimed, hoping to clank their two bottles together in a little celebration. With that, William used his left hand to pull down the bandana from his nose and mouth, leaving it drooping by his neck, and took a swig from the bottle. Huh. Funny sort of taste and feeling. First alcohol, he thinks. Then water, then a juice of some kind, before reverting to alcohol again. Woah, odd. "What were y'all up to before the whole uh... conductor car thing?" William said, directed towards Suun.

“And it doesn’t even taste like anything. Just great.” He said, dropping the slice.

Sykes had since fallen asleep. She was snoring kinda loudly.

3

1

“Cheers.” She nodded, clinking the bottles together before taking yet another sip. Maybe it wasn’t as bad. “I had just started my shift, actually. I was just checking the custodial staff schedule, when I got the message to get down here.” She took her hat down onto her lap, “How about you?”

”Well if the cakes tastes of nothing then I want drinks!” She the approached Suun with her puppy eyes, asking for a sip, not wishing to impose much on the conversation she was having with the other guy.

"Nothing much honestly. Heard about some kind of holodeck thing going on and I figured I'd check it out. Next thing you know, I'm teleported into the damned dining car. And then later - poof - off to the canyon."

She nodded, before glancing at Garcia, handing over her bottle without a word. “Ah, yeah. It’s not the worst of the holodeck glitches I’ve heard of, but certainly not the most pleasant.” She agreed.

As a lover of bland foods, he cut himself a slice of glitch cake and enjoyed it. "I was here to begin with. Wanted a rootin'-tootin' cowboy adventure. Guess I got what I wanted. Was supposed to be a date, though."

1

Tarsek spotted Saren as the people he supposed had died during the game appeared around them. So it seemed it was truly over and they had reached the end successfully. “It is good to see you well, Lieutenant.”

She took a seat next to them and drew a long gulp from the bottle. “Freaky! In a good way!”

With the palette of a garbage disposal, Edgar took a slice as well. He’d never had flavourless cake before, and… probably wouldn’t again.

"No kidding. Were you in the uh, firefight before that conductor car truce?" William took a small swig from his glitched-out wine bottle, finding it just a little interesting, but also a little hard to stomach. "I guess firefights plural is more correct but y'know." He watched as Beatriz approached, giving her a greeting nod. "Yeah, I honestly think a good amount of people would like this. Just imagine if you could replicate it on the Starbase."

“I wasn’t, thankfully. I have most of my lives still. Were you?” She raised a brow. “absolutely. It’s strangely pleasant.” She nodded, reaching out to take back her wine for another sip. She didn’t mind sharing, honestly.

"'Freaky'?" He asked, looking to Garcia, then looked at Suun. "Hold up, now I've gotta try."

”Maybe we can convince whoever is in the maintenance crew to keep the glitch on the drinks!” She laughed. “That way we can still have it here. OH! NOW YOU WANT MY BEVERAGE YOU LITTLE TRAITOR???” She feigned a look of shock at Allan.

3

21:02

It wasn’t even hers, but the point stood!

3

"Can I get some of The Beverage?" He asked, either to Garcia or Suun. Whoever was willing to share.

"Your beverage!? Last time I checked, Suun's got the bottle," he absolutely started laughing though, "no but really, uh- there's definitely gonna be a way to actually see what this was. And recreate it, don't worry."

"Me? Naw." William replied to Suun. "Honestly I found myself on the train roof most of the first time around. I only jumped down once I saw that the conductor car had been opened up." William then towards towards Garcia. "Oh my god you're right. Is that something they can actually do?"

21:04

"Hey hey, look I've got one here." William raised his bottle higher. I don't mind sharing if y'all want some, it's kinda... well, odd. Not sure if it's for me."

She turned to Mo. ”Sure cap!” Again, not even her beverage and Suun had already reclaimed her bottle rights, but the point stood!

"Hello, Commander," he nodded at the approaching Vulcan, a small though perhaps a bit confused smile appearing on his lips. "I am, of course, even though I've had quite a bad streak out there. You're a good shot, by the way."

"Commander V'hgai," Rojin offered a deep nod to the man. There were definitely no reasons behind such gesture... none.

2

She laughed at Allan, it had been enough of her pretending to be angry. “All I hear is holloparty!”

“You two can take turns like adults.” Suun snickered, “Or use the other bottle, I don’t know.” “And probably! Maybe we take that on as a project soon.”

Having a chef's refined palette, Vida could confirm: Non existent cake was, in fact, ass. "Wow. This is probably the least satisfying thing ever."

"Oh, thanks," he smiled at William and reached a hand out for the bottle, and assuming the man handed it over, he took a drink, then looked down at the floor with squinted eyes as he tried to figure out just What he had just tasted. "Uh... huh. Yeah, no, that's - interesting, for sure. Kinda fun, though? Yeah. Yeah, 'they' can do that. Simple programming, really." He shrugged.

Sykes had now slumped over in her nap, sleeping atop gold bars as if a dragon. (edited)

5

2

He tried a slice of cake himself. "This is what I imagine zero calorie food tastes like." Not that he'd ever tried it. He preferred good food.

“This is suspiciously tasting like the colour gray.” He stuck out his tongue.

He borrowed the bottle from Allan and gave it a sip, then winced. "Yeah, no, too many flavours at once for me. I'll take the cake that tastes like pins and needles."

4

William gladly let Allan have a bottle, nodding as he handed it over. "Hey that's pretty cool. I think it's a 'you either love it or hate it' type thing, y'know? Not quite my thing, I usually only drink synthahol when it's in small amounts or something." William then looked towards the captain. "Oh god is it really? Damn, I was looking forward to that."

”Technically it IS zero calorie!” She shouted over to Serin.

“Fair enough. It’s definitely a strong flavour. Flavours, plural.” She hummed, “I prefer the non-synthetic stuff, though. This is… strange.”

"Well, it tastes like negative calories, then!" He shouted back, instead of getting closer to Garcia.

”Considering the shots I took at you were the only successful ones, I would say I am a mediocre shot, at least today.” A bit too long without a war to fight plus a type of weapon he was not familiar with seemed to produce that outcome. He looked over to Rojin, though that name was still unknown, and took the older Romulan’s gesture as a simple show of respect for his rank, since the man clearly knew who he was. He nodded back. “I believe we have not met before.”

William smirked and nodded. "Maybe it's an 'acquired taste'. I dunno." He rubbed the bridge of his nose again, still somewhat decompressing from the whole ordeal. "Damn though, that was great everyone. Not gonna lie, that really got my blood pumping."

“Acquired or situational. Next time we’re in a broken holodeck, we can check again.” She joked, before nodding, “And yeah! Very fun stuff.”

”I’ve had immense fun shooting at my crewmates. I wonder what that says about me!” She laughed.

Ev'kor remained by Rojin's side even as the hand was dropped from his nape upon the appearance of a certain nephew. "Commander," he greeted, even if he was content to people-watch for the most part. He was coursing on a strange sort of elation that made him feel weirdly bubbly.

1

William laughed at Garcia's comment and raised his hands in the air. "You know what, I think it works. I mean, if you can't shoot at your friends, who can you shoot at?"

"I damn near shot you toward the end there, Garcia," he said, looking for his revolver and not finding it. "What I'm gettin' from this is that I and several others here would really enjoy paintball."

”Awn, you should have cap!” And she would have puffed into a beautiful yellow cloud and gone straight to jail! Fun! “But yeah! Paintball sounds real good.”

“I’d love a good game of paintball, honestly.” He said.

Not missing a chance to plug his nerd shit, he added: "You know, I run several LARPing events where we end up doing things like this, except we're shooting one another with spells! But, you know, using props and harmless ammo. If anyone's interested, just let me know and I'll invite you along sometime!"

“Paintball, fuck yeah!!” He cheered.

Oh shit, it was that guy he obliterated. "Sorry I shot the hell outta ya. Nothing personal. What's your name?"

"I am just a very good target, you know how it is," he tried for a joke, only to immediately feel the squeeze of Rojin's hand on his elbow, which prompted a quick, "Joking, joking. There are no hard feelings between anyone, though. Only paint." Talking with Tarsek made for a decent distraction from the... very much present Ev'kor on the other side.

"We have not," he lied, smoothly, though it was only a half-lie, really. They've met, under a different name and face. "Rojin tr'Lareth. I own a bar here, and am Saren's uncle. Pleasure to meet you properly."

“Edgar Castelo. And no hard feelings.” He laughed, before leaning in, fully serious, “But I am going to get you back for that.”

"Hey, where'd that chick who killed me go?" Vida asked. "I gotta get some payback. She ruined a good coat and a good streak."

"I'm a chick?" He gasped, as though this was true and accurate information that had been new even to him.

2

Saren’s words made the Vulcan immediately stop his current interaction to avert his eyes to the younger Romulan. He knew exactly what he was referencing, and for one moment he thought he might have triggered the recall of such terrible events. That would have been a disaster. Whatever assumption he made was quickly ignored, however, as Saren assured them it had been a joke. To joke about oneself could often be an interesting tool against trauma, one he had seen before many times. “Indeed no animosity has developed.” He looked at Rojin again. “You already know my name, so I will simply state it is, indeed, a pleasure. And you as well.” This was directed at Ev’kor, who had only greeted him and then proceeded to be silent by the Romulans side. Tarsek did not wish to be impolite.

A confident smile. "Strong words. You'll have to back them up in a paintball match against me sometime. Maybe I should organise something station-wide.... No, that would probably be too big." Something smaller, then, for those interested here? It would be nice to do something like that with the senior staff as well.

Vida's author, as it turned out, gave her memory loss. "Oh, that was you? Sorry, someone I was shooting at fell on me in jail, I assumed she killed me."

“Look, let me know, yeah? I just wanna get my revenge.” He chuckled.

”Oh I’m also demanding payback for that shot Eddie… you just wait!”

"Well, all right." William said, starting to stand up. "I think engineering's gonna start working on fixing this holodeck - or at least I hope they do. Do y'all think they're gonna kick us out soon?"

"Oh... Er... Yep! My mistake! It was definitely her!" He was sweating.

"Prob'ly. Well," he said, raising the bottle of glitchahol, "A toast to a situation resolved."

4

William, having given his bottle to Allan which... he think is with the captain now, raised his fist as if he held a glass of some kind. "Cheers, everyone."

1