The world cleared from a haze but was replaced by the warm light of lamps in the living room, them fighting to blot out the dark of space outside. An artificial fireplace crackled with light and warmth, helping to illuminate the room. Even though it was still holographic and being produced by a holoprojector in the middle of the coffee table, it still felt real. On one sofa sat two women – good family friends – and on the other, C’Sara sat in the middle while two others sat to either side. All four were clad in Starfleet uniform, and the two to either side of C’Sara were both Caitian, having the same brown fur and patches as her. Words became audible over the crackle of the holographic fireplace. “Mary, T’Shan – can you believe it?” A paw-like-hand was placed on C’Sara’s shoulder, and even without looking you could hear the pride in the speaker’s voice, clearly said with a smile. To the left was her father: large and burly, with cropped fur at the top of his head which made him ‘bald’ by Caitian standards, but sporting a fine, furry beard at the bottom of his face. “She’s decided to apply to Starfleet Academy. Our daughter, joining us in the fleet!” - They were confused. Their parents died when they were 3, how are they here now. T’Shan saw them die, how is she not suspicious of this? “Mom? Dad? How are you here? And I’m not your daughter.” They stated. - The young Caitian's father almost flinched away at the strange tone in their child's voice, but their mother stretched out a paw, placing it on the unoccupied shoulder. "We're sorry, C'Sara. With our time being away - trapped in that place... It's just taking us a while to adapt, that's all. Your father didn't mean any harm in that word. You know that we're doing our best to catch up." A reassuring smile was offered, warm eyes sparkling. "You know we'll do our best to do better. We promise that to you." - “You didn’t die? But- how?” They turned to T’Shan and Mary. “You witnessed their deaths, you told me they died- did you lie to me?” Their voice was anguished. They wanted their parents back- but T’Shan and Mary WERE their parents. They raised her and guided her through life, even though they didn’t share blood. - "Sweetheart..." The words had been stated by one of them - all - of the figures there having the air that parents did, and all of them having that protective aura, and all of them feeling real. "Are you feeling okay?" It was Mary's turn to ask, her brow furrowed. "I know that this is a lot to take in, but we've been over this, remember. There was that singularity around the planet - we thought they were gone..." She turned to T'Shan, lowering her voice. "Perhaps we ought to call Medical, or just let her get some rest... This level of confusion..." - “I’m fine! But this isn’t! This shouldn’t be happening. Logically, it can’t be.” They started crying, pulling Mary into a hug. - "Hey, hey..." Mary spoke as C'Sara crossed the room, shuffling aside so the Caitian could sit between herself and T'Shan. She returned that hug immediately, rubbing C'Sara's back. "This is going to be a difficult period of transition for us all, okay? And I know it shouldn't be happening, sweetheart, and I wish it didn't have to be like this. We all wish that the fleet had worked out the void between the singularity sooner. But it's okay now - and we're all back together, see? And everything can be alright again. We can move on." - They sat closer to T’Shan than Mary. If they had to pick a mother, they’d pick T’Shan, though they loved both of them. “Let me get this straight. My parents who I haven’t seen since I was three magically come back from the dead, and now they stroll into my life like no big deal? I barely remember anything of them.” They weren’t a child anymore. They didn’t dream of their parents coming back. Because T’Shan said they weren’t coming back. Because T’Shan gave her a new outlet for their pain in the form of engineering. This couldn’t be true, so why was the most logical person they knew suddenly acting like it was? - T'Shan was the one to speak, turning slightly so she could regard the young Caitian as they conversed. Being a Vulcan who had been brought up on pure logic, she found conversations like this to be difficult... But she also understood the necessity of reassuring the one who she had seen as a child for many years now. "We have discussed this in our meeting in which we were aided by family resources, C'Sara," she reminded. "You were very young when it happened, and so not having a memory of them is understandable. But your parents are here now, rescued from the void beyond the singularity. Their disappearance was not their fault, and you cannot place blame on the faultless. This is an emotional time -- but you must think with logic." - They stood up, regarding their parents. Something felt off, about everyone. They were skeptical about them. T’Shan raised them to question everything, even their own emotions. But this wasn’t just emotion driving their actions. This was logic, emotion, and deep, primal instincts working together to tell them that Something Was Wrong. “This isn’t real. I don’t think any of you are real. Something’s happened to me. I’m hallucinating, or something. I was young, yes, but I remember you coming back and washing blood off your hands and telling me my father got stabbed and died. And I know you wouldn’t lie to me. Lying is illogical, and I may be illogical too, right now. But I will not sit here and keep telling myself that this is really what’s going on.” - "C'Sara? Please, sit down," their father asked - their actual, flesh and blood father who was sat right there on the other sofa. He lowered his voice, speaking to his partner by his side. "What if this is all too much for them to handle? Maybe we should call the family relations officers again. Oh, I knew that this wouldn't be easy -- but they're our child, I just wanted our child back..." "You remember this well, C'Sara," T'Shan confirmed. "Do you remember what we spoke of back then - but in a different way, for you were young and speaking of death to a child is a delicate task? We returned from the away mission in which we had been ambushed. Only half of the team had the fortune to survive. We were not aware of the capabilities of the opposition's singularity device, or that it may have created a rift beyond in which your parents were forced to reside, separated from our own reality. ...You were also not supposed to see us return. I apologise for your witnessing of me cleaning the blood from my hands. I understand what an impact that may have had on you, and how it may have harmed your perception of matters now." - “Yeah, it turns out I’ve got a pretty good memory. Too bad I wasn’t smart enough to find out you were lying. And to your own adopted child, no less.” This was horrible. The same pricking, a scream from the depths of their mind that these people cannot be trusted. They tried to pick apart their memories and thoughts, to find out what was making them hallucinate. - "No one has lied to you," came the monotone reply, that traditional, flat, incredibly Vulcan tone that could drive a person wild by itself. "We have only ever informed you as to the truth. Your perception of events has been skewed by your age at the time, and the confusion of the situation. The unfortunate death of a parent is difficult for anyone to process, never mind a person so young." The next statement was from their father again, sounding almost pained by what was unfolding in front of him. "Please, C'Sara," he stated, pleading. "Just come and sit down again. Sit here with us, stay with us. We can talk through this..." - “I wish I could trust you. But, unfortunately, I cannot. I want to be alone.” They said. The screaming in their head was getting louder, to not trust these people. What had happened to them? What horrible delusion were they under? Who- what- why was this happening. They wanted something real to anchor themself to. They chose the skepticism they learned all their life. Question everything, trust no one until they have earned your trust. - "I don't understand," their father stated this time, gaze downcast and looking downtrodden. Even his ears flattened somewhat as he stared to the ground. The other four of the room kept their eye on C'Sara, scrutinising, but somehow still founded in concern. "We all know that this is difficult. It's difficult for your mother and I, too. We've spent years out there, stuck in that singularity, frozen there - only to be spat back out to find that we've missed all of that time. We've missed you; your first years at school, your first time writing poems in class or - or taking equipment apart and putting it back together for the first time!" He chuckled at the thought of that, but sniffed - clearly emotional. "All of that time, gone. But we can make up for it now. Please - come and sit down. Join us. Just stay here." - “No. I need to go. I don’t know why, but something is telling me this isn’t really what’s going on- and it’s not just emotion.” They began to look for a way out, of the room, of the nightmare. They needed to get out. They didn’t want to be here, they’d fight to escape. A memory slipped to the surface- of Starfleet and teammates, and the need to uncover the truth filled them. - "I... Alright then," he stated, still looking towards the floor. "I understand. We always knew that you would be smart when you grew up." His gaze raised from the floor. Those typical cat-like, Caitian eyes had been replaced. Her father no longer had those slitted pupils with the green and yellow eyes that C'Sara had inherited. One eye was a murky black, the other a piercing red. "Well done," he stated -- and the world faded to a haze once more.