Star Trek: Starbase 777

A special area featuring open top pools where guests can pet the fish inside! At the front of the set up is a sanitising station as well as a very kind Monean marine biologist who instructs guests on how to be gentle when touching the fish. Just like the rest of the room, the pools are lit up with a soothing blue light (provided by the Antarean glow fish present in many of the pools) with 'bubble' decor made from washi paper to give it that transparent effect. Guests can 'slack off' (as the Chinese word for 'slack off' means 'touch fish') and touch a number of different aquatic creatures in the pools. Each pools hosts a different collection of species of aquatic creature. Guests are instructed not to eat or drink and to only use two fingers/appendages to touch the creatures. divider

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Small pool 1: 24C (75F) - Antarean glow fish - Light gray in colour, A fish native to Antares B III, it's edible and is noted for its natural glow - Small crabs - A variety of colours, these crabs are from various places in the galaxy and although they do pinch, their claws are much too small to hold a humanoid appendage. - Rigellian Dagger Fish - Dark green in colour, Used in many dishes inn the Rigel system, the Rigellian Dagger fish also boasts two spines!

Small Pool 2: 20C (68F) - Red Garra - Ash onyx gray in colour, Also known as 'doctor fish', red garra are most famous for being used for medicinal purposes on earth. They eat away dead skin on hands and feet but don't worry, it's painless!

Large Pool 1: 35C (95F) - Vulcan Jumbo Mollusk - Ivory in colour, beloved by both Romulans and Vulcans alike, these mollusks are great as food. Their slimy bodies make touching them quite the sensory experience.

Large Pool 2: 24C (75F) - Romulan Jumbo Mollusk - Ivory in colour, beloved by both Romulans and Vulcans alike, these mollusks are great as food. Their slimy bodies make touching them quite the sensory experience. - Romulan Kakabam in'hhui - White with black spots, a shark-like creature similar to terran bamboo sharks

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Large Pool 3: 24C (75F) - Asnor Fish - A fish native to the planet Bajor in the Jo'kala region, it's edible, and its secretions used to be harvested to be used in a number of beauty products. They're very soft and smooth, definitely a good sensory experience - Hevrit - A Cardassian fish that was once endangered but has once again become one of the most prevalent fish within the Union. Hevrit juice is a popular morning drink for Cardassians due to its prevelance and ease of harvesting. The idiom 'Catching Hevrits' in Cardassian means 'business as usual'.

Medium Pool: 10C (50F) - Reman Vivverfish - A fish found under the ice on Remus. It's known for being very resilient to things like pollution and the elements - Andorian Rock slug - A slug known for its rock-like pattern. These are great as pets!

Stingray Pool: 25C (77F) - Stingray - A Terran animal also lovingly called 'sea pancake'.

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As Xal made their way to the bar, they meandered through the rest of the event space, pausing as they came to the touch pools. They couldn't help themselves but to stop and investigate. When would they get to see marine life up close again, especially living on a Starbase? "Fascinating," they said, and walked up to the first small pool. They peered into the shallow water, spotting a myriad of colorful crabs scuttling about the bottom of the pool. "Oh, how cute!" They exclaimed, belatedly hoping they didn't scare any of the fish.

Ekhesai lead the way to the touch pools, scanning over all of them until she spotted the stingray pool. "Over here! I don't think there's manta rays but there are stingrays, so, ah.." She stopped by the pool. "Close enough?"

"Are they... not the same thing? What's the difference?" Neya genuinely didn't know. Earth animals were confusing, alright, there were a lot of them and she'd not ever seen most of them. Still, she stuck out her hand, to try to touch one of the flat sharks. They were still pretty cool.

"I have no idea." Ekhesai shrugged, squatting down to look at the little dudes. "Maybe manta rays are like, magic, or something. Manta power."

"Maybe," Neya agreed, though she didn't know what Ekhesai meant, at all. The stingrays were rough to the touch, which she hadn't expected. "I don't think I've ever touched live fish before,* she said, thinking about her, admittedly short, life so far.

"No?" Sai hummed, not too keen on actually petting any of the fish darting about, but still curious from afar. "My dad and I used to try to catch handfuls of little ones. I only managed to catch one once."

Xal had been lost in thought, reading the little placards about the marine creatures and considering what their little lives might be like. So simple, eating and thriving in the water, no cares in the world except not to get eaten... when they heard voices just a few meters away! They turned their head to see Sai and Neya, a dashing pair, engaging with one of the other pools. Curious, Xal meandered over toward them and raised a gloved hand in greeting. "Jolan tru," they said, their voice syrupy sweet. "I like your outfits," - a raised Romulan eyebrow and a sly smile on their painted-pink lips. "You both have an eye for colors that suit you," they said, genuinely, covering their smile with their hand coyly.

"I only ever ate dead ones," Neya explained, before turning to Xal. "Hello! You look great yourself!" Pink was Neya's favourite colour, after all. "Do you know the difference between a stingray and a manta ray?" Maybe this guy would know.

"Hi, thank you so much!" Ekhesai gushed, smiling widely. "You look so lovely too, thank youuu!" Hopefully he could settle this moment of confusion for them. Terran animals were NOT their strong suits. "Worst comes to worst, I can message Saren about it later."

"Dead what?" Xal said, eyebrow still raised in curiosity. They seemed to have been having a fascinating conversation. And then, a little ego boost never hurt anyone did it? "Yes, of course darlings. You," they said, with an exaggerated look at Neya, "are so sleek and gorgeous in that dress. A figure like that? I could never." A pause. "And you," they said looking coyly at Sai, "are so handsome in that suit. The colors make your skin glow." They paused, looking surprised when the two asked him about the rays... "Oh... hmm. Well, I'm not a scientist or particularly informed on xenobiology however, if you use the Federation Standard translation of these words," Xal said, switching from Cardassian to Federation Standard and letting the UT keep up, "the etymology of the words suggests one is named for its stinging characteristics, and the other is named for its shape. 'Manta,'" they said, making air quotes, "is derived from a Terran language and means blanket." They paused and pointed at the different rays and made gestures toward the outline of their silhouettes. "Terran languages are generally quite descriptive." Xal smiled and leaned forward, craning their thick Cardassian neck to see the animals in this touchpool better.

Handsome? Handsome!!! The young cadet visibly brightened, eyes practically sparkling at the compliment. "Ah, well, that.. didn't actually help very much, but it is really interesting! Blanket, huh." Maybe manta rays were like. Fuzzy or something. "That's cool.."

Neya rolled her eyes a little bit at the compliment. She wasn't insecure about her figure, or she wouldn't have put this on, but she knew she was a creature built for pushing others around, not for fitting in tiny dresses. She said nothing about it, though. "A blanket ray..." she just said, adding it to her list of things to find holoprograms about. She wanted to pet a manta ray even worse now. "So they put the more dangerous one in these pools? Starfleet scientists have some guts," she concluded.

Xal smiled at Sai's brightened features. What a pleasant young officer, Xal thought to themself. Neya didn't seem as pleased about the compliment, which was fine, but Xal hoped she knew he'd been genuine. He hummed softly, then shrugged noncomittally at the ray thing. "Like I said, I'm good at languages not taxonomy." They laughed. "Oh yes, guts indeed. I suppose they've calculated the likelihood that this ray will sting anyone and it is far too low to matter. Certainly nothing a hypospray couldn't fix, hm?" Xal peered into the pool, considering whether they were going to take a glove off to touch the creature or not... "Are either of you going to endeavor to touch this creature?"

"I already have! It's quite rough to the touch, more than I expected," she explained, sticking her hand in again to feel the scales against her nails. It was quite a good sensory experience.

Obviously, Haru was going to go to the touch pools first! Anything that involved touching, he was there! He heard some unfamiliar voices chatting in the area, but wasn't sure if the people chatting were facing him or each other. Either way, he waved his hands just in case they could see him. He slowly walked over towards the stingray pool, holding one hand out in front of him so he wouldn't end up walking into the glass. He thought it was neat to hear people talking about the creatures! He knew nothing about stingrays or.. manta rays?? It seemed those were two different creatures.

“Oh!” A surprised giggle came from the pink-clad Romulan-Cardassian. “That sounds fascinating,” and they moved around Neya and Sai, pulling one of their translucent gloves off in one smooth motion, revealing their manicured hand, how scurrilous! They leaned forward and reached out to let their fingertips graze the stingray, feeling curiously. The ray stayed where it was and its ‘wings’ flapped in the water, rippling. “Oh, how wonderful!” They said softly, looking up at Sai and Neya and seeing Haru walk up from afar. Xal stood, their fingers dripping with warm water, and shook their hand off. “Hello, darling,” they said to the approaching Romulan.

"I'm darling?" Haru pointed to himself, confused by the random term of endearment. The only one to call him any sort of term of affection like that was.. his family. His auntie and parents loved calling him sweetie or 'my love'. T'Sareth wasn't too into terms of endearment, surprisingly. But he was loving in other ways. "jolan tru, I'm Ha'taaraakkakkaa... Just Haru," Haru introduced himself, turning towards the greenish grey blob that was slightly taller than him. Even after T'Sareth and his auntie had tried to teach him how to say his name, Haru was still bad at it. He was true a monolingual wonder. "And you?"

"Certainly," Xal replied, a mischievous smile on their face. "I'm Xal, by the way," they said to the small group, including Sai, Neya, and Haru. "Xal tr'Vamodein. It is a pleasure to make all of your acquaintances," and they made a little wave with their fingers. "What are your names?" They asked, then scooted over just a bit so Haru could come touch the stingray if he wanted. "And, dear, there's plenty room for you to come touch this odd little creature if you'd like." Xal used lots of terms of endearment. Always.

"Hi everyone," Haru said with an enthusiastic smile. He couldn't see anyone's faces, but assumed the dark blobs were the people. If they weren't well it wouldn't be the first time Haru greeted a pillar or inanimate object. Since he had already given his name, he stayed silent so the others could give theirs and walked slowly up to the pool when he noticed the taller man step to the side. Haru put his PADD in his pocket so he could use both hands to reach into the water. He couldn't see anything, but was hoping that the fishies would come up and touch his hands!

Kallek moved with the Bynar duo through the ball, openly admiring both the holograms and the more physical decorations. Logically he knew where that line was, but it was easy to imagine this was real, that they were in another world... and he found himself doing that. Once they reached the pools, he had to stop to take it all in. The pools were beautiful. Some fish that he recognised, but many more he did not. Kallek was quick to divest himself of gloves, tucking them away, and turn to the station to sanitise before he'd touch any of the various life. "They're so pretty..." he murmured as he stood over the first small pool and admired the glowfish. They reminded him somewhat of his own outfit inspiration.

Xal watched as Haru bent forward and stuck his hands in the water, exclaiming with glee as the ray swam up to his hands and bumped into him. “Oh it looks like the little guy likes you, Haru!” Xal said with a giggle.

"Ohhhh nice!" Haru giggled excitedly as he felt the creature swim up to brush his fingers. "What does it look like?" Haru squinted slightly as if that would make the image clearer but it really didn't. He moved his hands slowly in the water to try and get a feel for how large the creature was.

Maggie snuck into the room quietly in a rainbow scale dress with her hair done up in Princess Leia buns as she went over to the fish. “Hiiiii little guys. Oh aren’t you cute, yes you are, yes you are!”

Once over at the touch pools, Triple 1 said to them, smiling, “Hey, you two can enjoy the touch pools. I’ll be over there, I’m going to enjoy through Triple 0,” *They pointed to a specific spot and broke away from the pair as they moved to the side and felt through Triple 0. They didn’t want to deal with all the textures and sensory experiences themselves. That was one of the perks of their connection with each other!

Triple 0 listened to them as they nodded, properly sanitizing before moving to the fish with Kallek. They gazed at the glow fish, then shifted their attention to the crabs, attempting to pet one that almost immediately pinched them, prompting a giggle. *“Pinchers!” *They grinned at Kallek, moving away from the culrpit, unharmed,