Star Trek: Eventide 777 - lt-jgs-four﹢t’zan

She got out of her uniform and into a white t-shirt with blue basketball shorts. She then left her quarters.

The Borg entered the quarters and for some reason felt... empty. The quarters weren't the ones he had expected to find. But those were on the Hollonbeck. Not here, he shouldn't have thought they would be the same, it was inefficient to think they would be the same. He quickly brushed that off and moved to one of the workstations and logged into it.

The Vulcan/Romulan hybrid walked into her quarters, expecting it to be empty as always, but she spotted someone in her quarters that's new. She never saw them before. But she got excited that she finally got a roommate.

He looked up from the workspace, making the skin tone colored remains of a Borg optical implant clearly visible. "Hello." He said in a monotone voice to the new comer before giving her a small nod.

She got slightly startled, a Borg! Or at least, a Liberated Borg. She heard that some Liberated Borg were in Starfleet, but she never met one until now. His voice has no emotion, but she decided to break the ice. She gave a soft smile. "Hello, I guess you're my new roommate."

"I believe I am." He said with the same monotone voice with a polite edge tacked onto it. This one looked like a member of species 3259 but it had the forehead ridges of species 3783... another hy... mix species. Interesting.

"I'm Lieutenant JG T'Zan, Science Division. " She stuck out her hand for a shake.

He stared at the hand for a second before he hesitantly shook it. He wasn't a person all about physical contact... "Lieutenant Junior Grade Four of Six. Operations." He said, mimicking her introduction with his own information in the same monotone voice.

She noticed that he still called himself with his designation. Maybe he isn't as independent? "Do you have a name?"

6

"Four of Six." He repeated as if she had just asked the stupidest question that could have ever been made in the existence of the universe.

"How about I just call you Four? It's shorter than just Four of Six." *Maybe he hasn't decided in a name for himself yet *

"That would be acceptable." He said with what could be a verbal shrug at the end of a very monotone sentence before looking down at the terminal.

T'Zan took her spot and sat on her bed. She giggled, she almost forgot to change her sheets. But she also wanted to get to know her new roommate. "So Four, what do you like to do?"

"I do not understand. I don't see why that is important..." He said in the same tone as he looked at her through the open door to her personal room.

"I want to know about you. I mean, we can't just be roommates and not know about each other. For example, I like to do card tricks."

"I regenerate and then I work." He said, once more returning to the same monotone voice. "I do not see why doing card tricks is important."

"It's not supposed to be important, it's supposed to be fun. You do it because you like it, because it makes you happy."

"I don't do anything really. I just regenerate and work." He repeated without a change in tone. He avoided contact with people, the best way to not hurt others was to avoid contact with others after all...

"Regenerate, what do you mean by that?"

"I do not eat or sleep. I regenerate using an alcove."

"You should try eating, even if it's not for nurishment, there's alot of tasty food out there."

"Why? Its a waste of time. And if I don't need it why use it?" He asked the rhetorical question in his usual tone.

"Just because you don't need it, doesn't mean you shouldn't try it. Is it ok if I show you?" T'Zan stands up and gives the Liberated Borg a smile.

"I do not see the point." He said firmly, tapping something on the desk he was working at.

T'Zan decided on something simple, an apple. She went over to the replicator and it made her an apple. "How about this, this is an Apple, it's an earth fruit, try it out"

"It is inefficient, I do not need to." He repeated without taking it, instead tapping on the desk's terminal again.

She shrugs and puts the apple away. "Have you ever been to Earth before?"

"Yes. For the Academy I was there for four years." He said with a small nod.

"Have you ever taken a tour around earth? I have, it's a beautiful planet. And no, I'm not from earth." She giggled.

"No I have not, it would have been a waste of time."

She rolled her eyes, she decided to play along. "Regenerating is a waste of time."

"Agreed... if I could I would prefer to not do that." He said without looking up from the terminal. "But I must do it."

"You said must, so you don't want to regenerate."

I just said I would prefer if I did not have to." He said with a small dip of his head, his voice still completely monotone.

"Why did you pick Operations as your division?"

"It is what I am most efficient at." He said with emphasis on 'efficient'.

"So you like Operations." She wants some personality from Four.

'What did this particular hybrid want?' He thought to himself as he looked up. "I am indifferent."

"So you hate Operations."

"The definition of Indifferent is and I quote 'neither good nor bad'. You may extrapolate any conclusion from that you wish." He said with a firm edge tacked onto the monotone voice.

Flashbacks of Vulcan appear through her mind. She decided to give a much more fun approach. "Let me show you a card trick."

He focused his attention onto her. "Lieutenant. May I ask what exactly you need?" He asked with a firm tone and a slight hint of annoyance peaking through.

"Call me T'Zan, and well I wanted to get to know my roommate. I don't wanna try and share quarters with a stranger. Is there anything that you need to tell me about the room? Like temperature? Lights? Anything you don't like that I shouldn't do?"

"I am indifferent to most things as long as it is habitable. And I do not plan to spend extended time in the common room to worry about it."

"Can I show you a card trick?"

He took a deep annoyed breath. "Yes. You may show me a card trick." He said firmly, the annoyed tone coming through a little clearer, while putting emphasis on the 'a' part.

She smiled, she went into her drawer and pulled out a deck of cards, she gave a shuffle before spreading them out and showing them to Four. "Pick a card!"

He mentally rolled his eyes, why did he agree to this...? and then he picked a random card, he knew exactly what she was going to do...

"Ok, now put it back!"

He did so.

She did an awesome false shuffle and some cool card flips and suddenly she pulled out a card from the top of the deck and showed it to Four. "This is your card!"

He studied it and nodded. How very predictable... "It is." He said in a monotone voice that was no different from before.

"Yay! I told you I know about card tricks!"

"Yes. You did. On several occasions." He deadpanned.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing." He said, the monotone voice returning as he lied smoothly.

"Well I'm going to get ready to begin my experiments."

"Understood." He said with a nod, looking back down at the terminal.

T'Zan started at Four for awhile, with an impassive face.

He didn't look up, maybe he if ignored her she would leave him alone...

She shrugged and started to get to work, in order for her to concentrate, she needs to pay so music...very loudly.

He ignored the music, closing himself off from the outside work as he finished up what he was doing on the terminal. 'Why couldn't the Borg have taken my hearing along with my right eye?" he thought to himself with a slight bitterness.

1

She turned off the music after finally getting her experiments finished. She finally could understand Time Travel more clearly...well...time to annoy- I mean- talk to Four again.

He stood, preparing to find and 'reappropriate' an engineers Sonic Driver to finish what the Borg started and take out his hearing... maybe he can get a pair of hearing aids with an... On/Off mechanism.

"Hey Four!" She shouts loudly across the quarters.

He looked over at her. "There is no need to shout."

She blushed green "Sorry...I just wanted to get your opinion on something."

"Yes?" He asked with the same monotone voice.

"What's your opinion on temporal anomalies?"

"I have none."

"Let me guess, you're indifferent to temporal anomalies?"

"You are correct."

She smiled. "I'm already understanding you much better now."

"I see." He said as he ran his hand through his hair in a nervous tic, he didn't want to deal with this person right now.

She wondered what's going on with Four, maybe he never had a roommate before. Maybe being social isn't his strong suit. She decided to do something that would try to upset his balance. "Red or Blue?"

"Lieutenant, what is the point of this?"

"Red or Blue, a simple question."

"That doesn't answer my question Lieutenant."

"You can call me T'Zan. Anyway, you want to know the point of this?"

"I have asked that three times now. Yes."

"Hmm...well...if I tell you, you have to answer my question."

"What is the point?" He asked firmly.

"Colors match our personalities, so I wanted to see what color matches yours, blue or red."

"I do not understand..."

How can she try to explain this to him? "You say you're indifferent, but why did you choose Starfleet? You could've just stayed on earth, but you didn't, you know what i think?"

He shrugged. "I have no real reason."

"If that's true, then you just joined Starfleet out of the blue."

"If you insist on that..."

"So Four, Red or Blue?"

"Red." He said, just trying to get the conversation done.

"Red. Ok, that means you have strong emotions...most of the time..." T'Zan smiled at Four. It was so much fun to have a roommate.

"That is not only inaccurate it is also a complete lie. Now if you will excuse me I need to regenerate." He said as he started to walk to the door to his personal room.

"I'll see you tomorrow roomie!" She walks over to her personal room too, where she instantly fell asleep.

He halted just inside the door after it closed most of the way, he waited until he heard her door close before returning to the terminal to finish his work.

Before T'Zan awoke he quickly exited his quarters.

The hybrid woke up and got ready for another day of work. She brushed her teeth and got dressed in her uniform. She wanted to say hi to Four, but it seemed he had already woke up and left. Well, she'll see him again. She left her quarters.

The hybrid entered her quarters, she took off her uniform clothes and threw them around on the quarter floor. Socks, shoes, and everything. T'Zan later got dressed in her light blue pajamas and started to sit down. She picked up a book from her room 'Romeo and Juliet' by Shakespeare.

The Borg entered mere minutes after she had sat down and he had immediately moved to the desk closest to his quarters and sat, not even acknowledging that T'Zan was there.

She spots the Borg and got excited, but she needs to try something different, someone more calming. "Hey Four."

"Hello Lieutenant T'Zan." He said without looking up as he logged onto the console.

"How was your day at Ops?"

"It was exactly the same as the day before." He said in the same monotone voice.

"What did you do in Ops?"

"Issue out supplies and resources to people who needed them." He said, once more without looking up.

She sat down in her chair and read her book. "Who did you issue supplies to for today?"

"Several ensigns, a few lieutenants." He said with an verbal shrug added onto the end of his monotone voice.

"It's amazing how much we help people here, don't you think?"

"I do not think about it. I simply do it."

"Hmmm...well, don't you have to think about something in order to do it?" She joked

"Not necessarily. No. After a while it becomes second nature."

"You remind me of a Vulcan."

"I was a part of the Collective . I do not see how I can remind you of a member of species 3259"

"Species 3259? Wait, do you always number the species of the galaxy? That's kind of impressive."

"I use the species designation given to a species by the collective." He said firmly.

"What's the designation for a Klingon?" She smiled, she wanted to she how far this can go.

"Species 5008."

"Cool" She giggled. "How about Andorians, what's the designation for them?"

"What is the purpose of this Lieutenant?" He asked with a firm voice with an annoyed edge. "I am very busy."

"I'm just trying to see how you catalog your aliens. Like, how high does your numbers go? Also, if the Klingons are 5008, who's Species 1?"

"Lieutenant. I am very busy..." He said firmly

"I know, I know, I'm annoying you as usual. I'm just asking a simple question." T'Zan noticed that he never seems to sleep, or even be comfortable. It is like sleeping with a robot. "I mean, I get that you're busy, but it's not like I'm purposely trying to ruin your day or something."

"The questions are of things I would rather not talk about... Sometimes I slip into it, especially with species, I do not think about it." He explained with an almost awkward edge.

Is he being akward? It's kind of adorable. This is the first time she has seen Four akward before. Maybe he's trying to forget something from his past, she knows the feeling. She put away her book and sighs. "I understand, there's somethings from my life I'd rather not think about either."

"Good. We can not talk about them separately." *He said with the firm, monotone voice again

"What are you working on?" *She sat right next to him to get a peak *

And off he turned the screen as she sat. "A Personal project." He said firmly, leaving his hand between her and the screen so she couldn't activate it.

"I love personal projects! Show me, show me, show me!"

"Personal" He said in a hard tone, the annoyance coming through clearly. "Means personal Lieutenant. Not Public."

"Ok, I understand." She backs away and picks up her book. "I have a couple of personal projects I'm doing myself."

"I see." He said, losing the annoyance from his tone.

"You get annoyed easily don't you Four?" She joked.

"I see..." He repeated, he wasn't paying attention to what she was saying, he just registered she had finally shut her mouth so he gave her a indifferent response.

The hybrid smiled at the Borg, maybe she could try and crack another joke "Guess what Four."

"Hmm..." He grunted, not responding and focusing on his work.

"What do you do to make a robot baby stop crying?"

He didn't respond for a second, solely focused on finishing his task before speaking up. "You remove its batteries."

2

"Close, you give it a ro-bottle." She laughs loudly at her own joke, man she loves science puns.

"I see..." He said, giving her the edge of a 'shut up now' tone.

She noticed his tone, maybe it would be better to try one last thing to make him feel happier. Or at least a soft smile. She remembered her academy days. "Do you remember your days at the Academy?"

"I remember them quite well." He said firmly with a unidentifiable edge to his monotone voice. He dislike his time at the academy, especially now that he realized that he was the brunt of several thousand jokes told there.

"I remember my days as well, I wouldn't say they were all amazing. Not everyone was happy about a Vulcan/Romulan in Starfleet, not the Vulcans or the Romulans." Her voice was full of disdain and anger, she hated her old classmates. "I was bullied a lot, even beat up a couple of times, apparently, everyone had a bone to pick with the Romulan Empire. I just wish I could go back and just show them how stronger I am." Both of her hands clench in anger.

"That would only result in you getting in trouble." He said with the natural monotone returning.

"I keep having these thoughts sometimes, don't you just wish you could just hurt the ones who hurt you?" She tried to calm herself down, but the anger was flowing through her.

"No. I do not." He said with a firm nod before returning to his workspace.

"I guess you're right." She walks over to her chair and sat down, she continued to read her book in silence.

He continued to work for a few minutes before he logged out and stood.

"Workaholic," She joked

"How am I working if I an going to regenerate?"

"Just don't stare at me while I'm sleeping."

"As I said... I am going to regenerate..."

"Well, goodnight Four. I'll see you in the morning." She got into her bed and slowly fell asleep.

He entered his personal room and shut the door, making sure it was locked... before going to his alcove and stepping into it to regenerate.

T'Zan woke up, got dressed and left for work.

She walks in and begins to look for her favorite book, she hasn't seen Four yet, maybe he was still regenerating. Did it take hours for him to do that? Like a phone charger?

He exited his personal room without so much as a glance towards T'Zan as he made his way over to the workstation and sat down. He had actually recently returned and had been his room trying to just cool off after seeing him on the station and finishing his shift.

She spots the Borg come out of his room. "Hi Four!"

"Hello Lieutenant." He said with a small nod to her as he continued to sit there. He made no move to log onto the work station though.

"Still being a busy bee? I already managed to finish the hours on my post today."

"I finished my hours already. I an working on a personal project." What he was actually doing was studying. Just reading and soaking up all of the knowledge that he was able to from the computer.

"Do you mind if I ask you something personal?" She looks at Four nervously.

"You may ask of you wish." He said with the same monotone voice as always before logging into the workstation after he finished talking to her.

"W-what was it like in the Borg?"

"It was... unique. I will never have the thoughts of others in my mind... it was... filling, now I am... alone... why do you ask?" He spoke with the same monotone voice, but with several pauses as he struggled to find words to describe it.

"I-I never met a Liberated Borg before, I wanted to know more. Is it bad for you? Having your own thoughts?"

"No. It is not." Be said with an almost verbal shrug as he looked up from the workstation and looked at her.

"It isn't? I thought it would be hard for you. It would be hard for me to have the thoughts of others inside of my mind."

"If anything, that is what I miss most about the collective. It is... quiet... without the voices." He said with a small nod to her, his voice still monotone.

"What do the voices say? I know individually is hard for Liberated Borg, but what do they actually say?"

"It is just... what they are doing. If one drone goes and does something we hear them do it." He said with a shrug.

"How did you get free from the hive mind?"

"The Borg Sphere I was on crashed and we lost our connection to the collective before crashing on a moon." He said with the same monotone voice as always before looking down at the workstation.

"Then you got rescued by Starfleet, right?"

"That is correct, yes." He said with a small nod.

"Did they treat you well? Some Starfleet officers still had grudges over Wolf 359."

"Yes, quite well. One person I never met was the captain though."

She sat down next to Four and smiled. "Then you decided to join Starfleet right? It's a pretty good choice. Oh, did you join some of the Cadet parties?"

"No, I did not. I... avoided contact." He said with a firm tone.

"Avoided contact? Why?"

"Because I... it is safe to assume most of them would not take kindly to a liberated Borg drone." He said with some hesitation. He didn't mention the fact that he was insulted often and even throttled by a cadet, and later the same man as an ensign, who was now on the station.

"I'm fine with you being here," She smiled at Four. "Some Starfleet officers don't take kindly to Romulans in Starfleet, so I felt like I had to distance myself from them too."

"Borg are despised by everyone." He said firmly without returning smile. He looked back down at the workstation.

"I don't despise the Borg, I actually don't despise any other alien species. I actually find you really interesting, a whole species of Cyborgs!" She giggled.

"The Borg are not aliens. We are... they are... a monster." He said firmly.

"Is...that what you think of yourself? A monster?" She looks at Four concerned.

"That is how most view the Borg."

"I don't think that about them."

"As I said, most see them that way."

T'Zan teared up, she tied to give Four a hug, but she fell out of her seat and landed flat on her face.

He leaned back, getting away from the attempted hug. "Are you alright Lieutenant?" He asked with the same monotone voice.

"I was trying to hug you, but I'm too clumsy!"

"I would appreciate if you didn't." He said firmly.

"Ok! But what about a high five?" * She raised her hand to Four*

He just stared at the hand and gave her a look that said to NOT touch him.

She gave herself a self-high five and giggled

He continued to stare at her, what was happening...?

"Wait, what day is it?"

"Friday." He said firmly with a nod.

"Oh no! I forgot I had a physical today! I'll talk to you later Four!" She ran out of the room in a hurry

"Understood." He said before returning his attention to the workstation. Strange woman...

2

[D] A courier put a box down outside of Four's quarters before ringing the buzzer, knocking on the door, and leaving. Quick service! The box was addressed to Lieutenant Junior Grade Four of Six, and had air holes in it along with a label that said "Live animal. Handle with care."

[D]Four nearly stepped on the box before he noticed it and picked it up. For him? What would anyone want to give him...? He picked up the box carefully and carried inside. A better question would be why would anyone trust him with an animal...? He entered the quarters and went to the workstation closest to his personal room and opened the box. He felt a small hint of an emotion he didn't know he could feel anymore, surprise. He studied the Crab like animal before noting the note hastily taped onto the lid of the box.

21:08

"Hey Four! I wanted to send you this. I want you to take care of it for me please. You should be able to go to a scientist to get information on what to feed it. It had food pellets in the box with it so it is well fed. Please let me know how you two are doing in a few months. P.s. you get to name it. -Lieutenant Elva Parsons, counselor, U.S.S. Hollonbeck"

21:08

The letter read. He reached in and put a single finger in front of the animal as if it was an IED, only to have the Crab like animal with feline paws instead of claws pounce on it in a clearly playful manner. He jerked his hand back, nearly falling out of chair at the workstation. The animal of course, stayed in the box, trying to grab at Fours rapidly leaving finger. Four straightened himself in the chair and then looked into the box again, only to see a pair of crab like eyes staring up at him and it's paws resting against the side of the box. "What are you?" He asked the creature in a monotone voice with the slight edge of a rapidly leaving panic. He knew that the creature wouldn't response, which made his speech a waste of breath, and therefore an ineffective use of breath. He studied the creature and put its finger in the box only to have it grab it with retracted claws and swat at it.

21:10

He slowly, almost hesitantly picked up the creature and set it on the work station, which it responded by immediately skittering around sideways on the workstation to figure out its confines. After it had explored the workstation to its hearts content, it returned to him and looked at him with confused eyes and then climbed onto Fours arm which he had set on the work station. Four almost immediately moved it off his arm and back into the box before picking up the box and moving to his personal room...