Star Trek: Starbase 777 - observation-deck

Styre entered the observation deck; it was rather vacant and that was nice, as Styre felt the need for a more private location.

Ava stepped into the room. It was empty and pretty big, with grand windows through which one could see parts of the starbase as well as the wide darkness of space and trillions of stars… She marveled for a moment, before turning to one of the tables. She took the freedom of picking a chair and sitting down. From here, she had a nice view on the stars.

Styre moved to sit directly across from Ava. He spent a silent moment sitting and staring out the window towards the Starbase. “Where shall we begin?” he said abruptly.

Ava took a moment to think. What to start with? Good question. “Well, I think I’ve understood the basics about Vulcan culture. You use logic to control your emotions so that they will not lead to outrage; this is the teaching of Surak. No news there.” She paused. “Styre, can you tell me more about your sisters? The topic won’t leave my mind to be honest.” It was personal, she knew, and they weren’t exactly here for personal questions, but she was curious.

This question caught Styre offguard. His sisters were both hybrid, but did not stay as strict to the Vulcan doctrine as he did. They were much akin to Ava, just without the hatred or bias against Vulcans. He shrugged and looked towards Ava. "Lieutenant, what specifically do you wish to know?"

Ava tilted her head. “Just… What are they like? You said they grew up more human than you did. How come? And what are they up to now?”

"They did grow up more human; they were raised by my mother: a human." He gave a nod as he continued looking towards Ava. "They look akin to me; blonde curly hair. But it is longer." he said with a pause. "I believe they both still live on Earth."

Ava’s eyes lit up. “So… they grew up a bit like I did? With human culture, that is.”

"They grew up the same as I did. Though the human influence was far more pressing on them than it was me. I believe it to be because my mother was looser with restrictions than my father." he said; facial expressions refusing to change.

Ava nodded. “Hm, I see. You said you believe they still live on earth. Why believe? Do you not keep in touch with them?” She hoped it wasn’t a sensitive topic or anything. Then again, it was hard to ‘struck a nerve’ when it came to Styre, anyway. (edited)

Styre went silent for a moment; his ears twitched once before he began to speak. His voice was a little, 'colder', than normal. "To be honest, I only believe because they tried to live on Vulcan; but I do believe they hated it there and thus moved back. But I am not sure; I've not retained normal contact with them since the beginning of my Starfleet career."

Ava didn’t miss the slight coldness in his tone. She’d gotten quite good at reading these little things. After all, she’d spent a whole year working under him. “I see. I’m sorry I asked.”

Styre shook his head and eyed the Lieutenant. "You were curious, thus it was a logical choice to inquire, no?" by now his tone had returned to normal. "How about you, do you have any siblings?"

Ava was surprised for a second. She hadn’t expected a counter question. Knowing Styre, he wasn’t one to ask personal questions or make small talk. But she was delighted by this unexpected inquiry. “I don’t, actually. I always wished for a big brother when I was smaller. Someone who’d protect me from my peers… Anyways, my mother didn’t want another child. As a single mother, she already had enough on her plate with just me. Thank God Ayala Roe was there so much. She’s a bit like a second mother to me, she was a close family friend and helped raise me.” She shook her head to snap herself out of it and laughed apologetically. “But I’m babbling.”

Styre gave a quick nod in response to the answer Ava provided. "Understood, Lieutenant. My sisters are Holly and Molly..." he paused. "Molly and Holly Styre." he repeated.

Ava saved that info in her brain. “You know, I’ve been meaning to ask… is it usual for Vulcans to have first and last names? Because you have a first name, right? It’s not just Styre.”

Styre shook his head. "Vulcans normally do have family names; much akin to Humans surnames. But they are very... very rarely pronounceable in standard and thus, we have forgave them when we joined the Federation in all-but-official terms." he stated simply. "But my first name is Floyd." he said simply. "My fathers name was Styre; and thus we were all given the surname Styre."

”Huh, I see.” She looked at the stars for a moment, getting slightly carried away. “Floyd… does that name have a meaning?” She once tried to find out the meaning of the name Ava, and she’d gotten quite a couple of different answers.

Styre kept his gaze towards Ava and shook his head. “I do not believe so. It was just a name my mother thought sounded nice.”

Ava nodded. “It does sound nice.” She smiled and looked back at him as she asked, “Okay, let’s get back to the original topic. Can we talk about meditation? I’d be interested in that.”

"What about meditation?" he said, his tone returning to normal; stoic and bland. "What specifically do you wish to know?>"

”Well,” said Ava, “When I meditate, I focus on being with my feelings. I don’t suppress them, I try to feel them consciously, on purpose, in order to understand them and let them go.” She made a small pause and gave a lopsided smile. “I’m pretty sure your kind of meditation is quite different.”

Styre gave a quick nod in response. “Indeed. Our meditations are probably vastly different. Especially considering I do not believe you were ever taught Vulcan meditation. Have you?”

She shook her head. “No. I was taught how to meditate by a Bajoran.” She looked interested. “What’s Vulcan meditation like?”

”Vastly different.” he said simply. “A very sacred process meant to suppress and control our emotions, strengthen our connection to logic and our Katra.”

”Oh, yes!” Her eyes lit up as she remembered, “I wanted to ask about that, too, the Katra. It’s one’s soul, essentially. Right?”

”It’s a transferable essence of one’s mind. You could relate it to a soul fi you wish for an easy comparison. But they’re are quite unlike each other.” he responded.

Ava tilted her head. “Hm, yeah, sounds different. Essence of the mind, you say? No, that’s not the same as the soul. But… how is it transferable?” She squinted her eyes. She’d heard of the Katra, but she hadn’t heard of it being transferable. Or… had she? Hadn’t there been an article on it once? Something about the renown first officer of the Enterprise…? She couldn’t quite remember.

"Transferrable with a strong enough Mind-meld. The interchanging of minds, bodies, thoughts all interconnected between two peoples. That is how a Katra is transferrable." he stated simply.

”Wow, that must be a really really strong mind meld,” noted Ava, “Speaking of which… Is it common for Vulcans to mind meld with others?”

"No. Its a very intense process. If one Vulcan does it... it's most likely only to one other Vulcan." he said, continuing on. "Even less common for Hybrids to do them... they're very intense processes that require concentration and dedication..."

“Oh, I know...” She paused, considering how to phrase the next question. “May I ask if you’ve ever mind melded with someone?” (edited)

"No." he said, his voice and tone not changing, but his ears did twitch slightly.

Ava looked at him with narrowed eyes. “Is that a ‘No, you may not ask.’ Or a ‘No, I’ve never mind melded with anyone.’?”

"I will leave that up to your determination." he said simply, his ears twitching slightly more this time.

Ava’s eyes widened. “Would you look at that, Styre being mysterious…” She chuckled and raised her hands in surrender. “Alright, I’ll stop asking.” She had a knack that he had, in fact, mind melded with someone once, but for some reason felt uncomfortable talking about it. Maybe it was something she’d come back to later…

"I can forward you my file if you wish to know my history in-depth, Lieutenant." he stated simply. "But there are some questions that aren't answered there."

Ava smiled slightly. “If you don’t mind, I would actually be interested. You know I’m curious.”

Styre pulled out his PADD and tapped a few times here and there. After a minute he looked back up towards Ava. "There." he said simply.

”Thanks.” She’d look at that later. “There was another thing you said… about meditation. You said it’s sacred. How so? Is there some kind of religion in Vulcan culture?”

"There is no Vulcan religion; not a faith in the traditional sense. But Vulcans are a very spiritual people. We maintain temples, priests, and many customs that aid us in our spiritual stupor, but we have no faith in a god, or a higher power. Those would not go well with our values of Logic."

Ava nodded. “I thought so.” There was a pause in which she looked at the table and then out at the stars. “Commander, allow me to ask… What do you do on your shore leaves? Do you have hobbies?” She looked back at him. “Is entertainment even logical?” She sounded a little skeptical. That was due to the simple fact that she could hardly imagine Styre doing anything else but working, meditating, or being otherwise productive. The guy was an enigma to her in that sense. She’d never seen him smile and she doubted he ever really had fun.

"Shore leaves? I stay aboard the vessel and ensure that despite the crew, it is in otherwise optimal conditions. On my previous assignments I continued my experiments and research. I investigated the environments around us and if that was not possible, I meditated." he said simply. "Entertainment to some is logical. But for me, it remains a more logical choice to remain productive."

”Why did I already know that,” she muttered quietly to herself with a tiny smile. She tried to redirect her thoughts and find some more things she’d been meaning to ask him about Vulcan culture…

"Lieutenant, if I ask you the same question, what would your answer be? What do you do on your shore leaves, in your free time?" he continued on.

Ava looked up in surprise. Another question? From Styre? He was on a run today. “Well, I like to go home to Earth from time to time during my leaves. You know, visit the family, enjoy some weeks back in New York.” She smiled fondly at the memory. “I like surfing and diving; oh, and cooking with my mother. I appreciate the extra free time a lot usually, I finally get around to reading the books that have been piling in my quarters, or watching the movies I wanted to see, but couldn’t.” She tilted her head, curious now. (As always.) “Why do you ask?”

Styre nodded; an answer that he had expected. An answer most anyone could respond with. "But why do you do those things on shore leave? What do you get out of it?"

Ava was again a little surprised. “Well… it makes me happy. It’s not that my work doesn’t make me happy as well (it does), but I love spending time with my family. They’re happy to see me and I’m happy to see them. It’s… sentimental reasons.” She shook her head slightly. “Then again, one just needs breaks from time to time. If I work non-stop, I’m gonna get bored and depressed because of the monotony of it; even though I like what I do. I just need a change and a break from time to time — that’s why shore leaves exist, isn’t it? You can take your mind off things and return refreshed and with new energy!”

"Alright then. You have your reasons for shore leaves and enjoying them. I do not share those same reasons, Lieutenant." he took a pause. "It is more logical, more beneficial to me to stay aboard and continue operations and meditation. That is what I strive to do. I will pose another question: what do you love more, your family or your work?"

It felt like he was actually interested, which was quite baffling. He’d never really been this keen on actually finding out things about Ava. “My family, obviously,” she responded without hesitation. “My research is important to me, as is my career. Still, my loved ones will always be my first priority when it comes down to it.” Ava found that it was a bit of a peculiar question. She found that the answer should be obvious. And that could be heard in her tone.

"Alright, and now what do you spend more time with? Your job or your family?" he inquired further. It was clear that he was trying to get at a point that would only come by asking these questions. Despite this, his tone refused to change.

Ava narrowed her eyes as she responded, “My job. What are you getting at, Styre?”

"And if your job required that you remove any and all contact with your family, would you stay there?"

Ava shook her head. “No, I wouldn’t. That would be a sacrifice I’m not willing to make. But, again, what are you getting at?”

Styre continued to ignore her inquiry and pressed further. "What about your job do you love? Give me specifics that entail your enjoyment and love for your current career."

”What is this, an interrogation?” She raised an eyebrow. Wasn’t she the one supposed to be asking the questions? But whatever, she’d never had a conversation like this with him. So, she went with it and answered, “I love finding out new things. Chemistry enables me to understand the physical world on a deeper basis and help with the development of medication and new material. I like to think I can help others in this way. And about biology I love finding out new things. Life has always fascinated me! One of the reasons why I chose marine exobiology was because life often originates in water. I love understanding new things and asking questions that haven’t been asked before. I like animals and plants, I get to do research on both! I also like the educational aspect of my job. I get to publish my work and share my findings. I get to share with the world the wonders of life, to be a little poetic.” She smiled slightly. There was a glitter in her eyes as she spoke which made it clear that she meant all of this very much and she really did love her job.

Styre listened carefully, making mental notes of the points she brought up and the things she enjoyed. He heard her explanations behind it and gave another nod to her. "If you wish not to answer, just say so. I'm merely trying to get at something." he paused. "Now, what about your family? What about them do you love?"

Ava was pretty confused at this point, but she answered, “Well… everything. Pretty much.” She laughed and scratched her neck. “Except for when my mom tries to make coffee. Oh, God, it’s so awful!” She shook her head with a grin. “No, but… They raised me. They taught me how to deal with life.” She smiled fondly. “Roe always helped me deal with my emotions. Both her and my mother were there for me in my darkest moments. They never gave up on me, even when I did… They certainly aren’t perfect, but nobody is.” She looked out at the stars once again. “But to answer your question… it’s hard to pinpoint specific things I love about them. Take my mother for example. I admire her for her strength and persistence. And what I love about her is that despite all this, she can still be very gentle. Roe is similar in that aspect. I love her for being optimistic at all times and cheering us up when we needed it. She always provided a new point of view and taught me how things change when one looks at them from a different angle. You see,” her eyes returned to him, “Listing all the things I love about them would take forever.”

Styre nodded another time. Ah yes, an answer he was expecting to his question. "Would it not be possible for anyone else in the world to have these qualities? So it musn't be the qualities that you love about them. Because there are trillions of individuals in this galaxy, yet you choose to admire two of them. Is it because you merely grew up with them, spent time and made memories with them?"

”Sure,” said Ava, “They raised me. There’s a special bond there.” She fumbled the sleeves of her robes as she looked at him. “Please, Styre, what point are you trying to make?”

"Not yet." he continued. "Could anyone else not raise you? Are they the only ones capable of raising you, Lieutenant?"

Ava shook her head. “Whether someone else could have raised me is irrelevant. They did. That’s what matters. Look, my father could have stayed with us, he could have raised me. He didn’t. Ayala Roe chose to stay with us and raise me, even though she wasn’t related to us, she was just a family friend. Trust me when I say I’m very much aware that someone else could have raised me in theory. And again, it doesn’t matter to me. What matters is who actually did raise me.”

"One question, Lieutenant." he looked directly towards Ava. "Would you prefer to continue research and save hundreds of thousands of lives or would you stay with your family for hundreds of years?" he lowered his tone for the last part. "There is no correct, nor is there any wrong answers."

Ava tilted her head. “If this is a thought experiment, I need more details. I like the way it is now. I do research and occasionally I meet up with my family, we stay in touch, and so forth.”

He shook his head but didn't press further. "Your experiences are your own, Lieutenant. Your philosophy, upbringing, experiences, opportunities, outcomes, they all define who you are as opposed to who I am." he said simply.

Ava raised her index finger. “Now, hold up a moment! All these questions just to make that point?” She narrowed her eyes. “That can’t be right. What were you really getting at?”

Styre shook his head. “I believe that is all, Lieutenant. But back to your point of meditation. What do you wish to learn about it?”

Ava leant back in her seat and continued watching him with narrowed eyes. There was no way he just asked her so many personal questions, only to say something as obvious as the fact that their different lives defined them. No, she wasn’t having that, that was suspicious in her mind! Really, it wouldn’t have been suspicious for any other person. But this was Styre sitting in front of her. He never asked personal questions unless it had a logical reason; at least in her experience. She looked at him and didn’t say anything, unafraid of an awkward silence.

Strye stood up and grabbed his PADD. He looked down towards Ava. “I presume you have no more questions?”

”No, wait, I do!” She sighed. “It’s just, I don’t get why you asked me all those questions.” She blinked up at him.

Styre completely disregarded her comments proceeding so sit back down. “Then what are your questions.”

”My question is when did you get interested in my personal life?” She wasn’t going to let this slide.

”I found it relevant and pertinent. Not once did you have to answer my questions.” he paused. Another twitch of his ears occurred. “Are we done discussing Vulcan traditions, then?”

No, Ava was not done. “There’s something you’re not telling me,” she insisted, “Your ear twitched, it only does that when there’s something bothering you. What is it?” She clearly had that persistence that she’d mentioned her mother having.

”You failed to answer my question, Lieutenant. Are we done discussing Vulcan traditions?” he inquired again.

”No,” said Ava, “You failed to answer mine.”

”You asked what’s bothering me? Nothing.” he said. His tone turned colder than normal and his ears twitched again.

Liar, she thought. She was absolutely sure that something was bothering him now. “Is it the trial?”, she asked, taking a wild guess.

Styre shook his head. “No.” he said plainly.

Ava sighed. “You’re not going to tell me, are you?”

”Tell you what?” he inquired.

Ava ignored the question. It was obvious enough. Instead, she asked, “Tell me, is lying considered illogical or immoral in Vulcan culture?”

”Lying? Ah, lying is definitely illogical.”

”And withholding information?”

”Withholding information is entirely logical in circumstances. Others, not so much.”

Ava nodded. “And is it logical right now not to tell me what’s bothering you? Something clearly is.”

”I am fine, Lieutenant.” he restated. “Is something bothering you?”

She tilted her head. “Well. In all the time I’ve known you, you’ve never really asked me personal questions. Let alone several in a row and just for the sake of making a point that could be called obvious. However, you did that just now. Furthermore, I’d never have taken you for the type to even consider breaking the Geneva convention — or any regulation, for that matter.” She shook her head. “I don’t think less of you because of it, not at all. However, it all does strike me as odd.”

Styre shook his head, his ears twitching once again. “Lieutenant, I’ve been demerited for attempting to save the crew.” he said plainly before pausing. “But alas, shall we continue our discussing on meditation?”

Ava sighed. She felt like she wasn’t get anything more out of him, at least not on the question of why he’d asked her so many personal things. Or why his ear twitched. There was something upsetting him, she was sure, but he wasn’t going to tell her, apparently. Maybe it really was the trial. He hadn’t expected to be demerited, it seemed.

17:19

”Fine. Let’s return to meditation. Is it true Vulcans use meditation lamps?”

”Some do, some don’t.” He sighed as he spoke. “I personally do not. I meditate in a silent, tranquil area that is personal to myself. Most often in my own quarters.”

”Why do you need it to be silent?” Ava seemed like she couldn’t quite grasp it. She herself didn’t mind too much when there was some noise, as long as nobody was speaking directly to her, or very loudly, or touching her.

”Silence allows further concentration. It makes it easier to focus on my emotions and suppression therein.”

”Huh.” She supposed that made sense. While he needed the quiet to suppress, she didn’t mind things in the background that gave her new emotions. She just let those be there as well. “How does it work? The suppression, I mean. You have to do it constantly. I mean, imagine I told you something that really upset you or surprised you, you’d have to suppress the reaction immediately! That’s what you do, right? But… doesn’t it get tiring? Don’t the emotions just… bubble up to the surface at some point?” She tilted her head. It was a truly baffling concept to her.

He sat and nodded. “It’s an intense process of learning. I bottle my emotions until I can learn to suppress them in the meditation sessions. It’s not difficult once you get into it.” he paused. “But, following logic instead of emotions is far more difficult than just the mere suppression of emotions.*

Ava looked at him, interested. “Explain.”

”I so not feel emotions when I have been suppressing them. Yes they exist, but they do not come to fruition until meditation when I can suppress them easily.”

Ava nodded. She shifted in her chair to get more comfy, then she said, “You said that following logic is harder and takes more than just suppressing emotional responses. How so?”

”What is logic to you? Isn’t logic subjective and always changing, Lieutenant?” he continued forth. “Because the absence of emotion does not equal logic, but logic is void of emotion.”

Ava nodded. “Sure. But… that’s where I find it hard to understand. All Vulcans who follow the teachings of Surak follow logic. However, if you say logic is subjective — and I agree with you — then, how are there not constant disputes about what exactly is and isn’t logical? As you know, things can be more or less logical, depending on the point of view. How are those issues sorted out?”

”Because to Vulcans, Vulcans who follow Surak, logic is objective. We have legal scholars dedicated to the field of logic much akin to history scholars who dictate our history. It’s ingrained in our society so it comes natural to us; think of it as a language we have learned since birth.”

”Hmm…” She looked at the ceiling for a moment, mulling that over. “Yeah, makes sense. Good comparison.” She looked back at him, relatively content. “You’re better at this whole teaching thing than you said you would be.”

He nodded but moved on. “But much akin to a bilingual child who is much more fluent at one language than another, logic is not a natural language to me, or at least not as natural as it is to a born Vulcan. I have to work twice as hard to get half the results.” he paused. “Hence my more frequent meditations.”

Her voice was a little softer than before as she asked, “Do you ever feel disadvantaged, because you did not grow up fully Vulcan?”

”All of the time.” he stated simply. “My human mother; despite her attempts to conform and help me with my culture, was still a hinderance in the end. Not to her own fault, she did her best.”

Ava blinked and raised her hands. “Woah!” She looked like someone had just slapped her across the face out of the blue. “Did you just… Did you just call your own mother a hindrance?!”

”A hinderance towards my goals of complete logic and submission to the ways of Vulcan? Well yes, it’s a logical word to describe her role in me getting there. Does that make me think less of her? Hate her? Absolutely not. She is still my mother.”

Ava gave him a sceptical look. “Still, not a nice word to use,” she muttered. She really wasn’t in the position to say stuff like that to someone who was theoretically her superior officer, but they were way past that line anyways.

”What word would you use instead?” he inquired.

She thought about it for a moment. “I wouldn’t connect the difficulties to her in particular. It’s not she who makes it difficult growing up between two cultures. It’s just the matter of things.” She sighed, “Just like it isn’t my father’s fault that I had difficulties dealing with my emotions. Those things just are the way they are, they can’t be blamed directly on other people.” She shook her head. “But let’s move on to something else…”

“It’s not her fault, no. Despite who’s at fault, it is true that she was a hindrance. No?” he inquired again necker nodding. “What would you like to discuss then?”

Again, Ava shook her head and shifted slightly in her seat. “I still object to using the word hindrance, but let’s talk about something else that’s been on my mind. You said that some Vulcans find entertainment to be logical. Not you, of course.” There was some snark to that addition which she kind of hoped he didn’t notice. Then she proceeded, “However, you must know some things about it. What does Vulcan entertainment look like?”

”Some indulge in reading novels, others like to watch holomovies or participate in holograms. Others prefer to listen to music or participate in operas.” He gave a quick nod.

”Oh, yeah, I’ve actually heard Vulcan music,” said Ava, perking up, “It’s actually pretty nice. What’s your stance on music?” She knew from experience that he wasn’t one to listen to music while he was working. Something that had collided with her own preference. Still, she was curious. Did he just never listen to music ever?

”I have a neutral stance on music. I play it sometimes during my free time after I finish meditation; it helps to further increase the tranquility.”

Ava really wanted to ask Styre about what kind of music he played, but just then rang an announcement through the Comms: "Now hear this, all members of USS Eventide senior staff report to the Command deck for a briefing immediately." “Welp, looks like you have to be going,” she said.

Ava looked at the stars for a moment while Styre had already gone. She took the time to sort her thoughts about all the newly heard information. Then, she stood up and headed for the door.