Star Trek: Starbase 777

It was a fine setup of various foods from across the Federation. Many member planets were represented, with what little space the buffet had to offer. Everything was warm, and delicious. There was even a plate of little cupcakes with the SFA logo on them, and a chocolate fountain! Seems like SFA was pulling out all the stops!

The USS Ada Lovelace, or just Ada, was currently in front of the chocolate fountain, watching the chocolate flowing through the layers with great interest. She had collected various foods on her plate and had, for a few minutes now, been dipping them into the chocolate. All of them, be they sweet or savory, chicken or rice crispy treat. She had thus far concluded that sweet and savory things were good in chocolate, and was only slightly disgusted by the sushi roll she’d dipped.

Aparajita's uniform had been ironed twice– mostly because she didn't trust the machine to do it properly on its own. Crisp lines and clean fabric were the least that she could present herself with for something this momentous. It wasn't just the opening celebration, it was an opportunity to make a fantastic first impression.

Had arrived just today! and already thing's were happening, immediatly greeted by the sight of someone dipping sushi in chocolate... and considering wether maybe the whole federation was a mistake, he went over the hasperat first... briney and veggie, okay time to meet some people! contact's are important in starfleet! "Evening everyone!"

Ohhhhh prophets ohhhhhh Sisko it was happening it was today. Classes were starting. The people milling around the room were his teachers and classmates. He felt like he was going to hurl. He entered the hall in his hoverchair, knowing for certain that even if today wasn't a bad pain day, his legs might still give out due to fear. The idea of going to a buffet table with the current state of her insides was perhaps not a wise one, but there, across the room, Aro saw the one familiar face she knew: her roommate, Aparajita. She zoomed through the crowd, muttering pathetic "excuse me"s as she weaved in and out of small gatherings, stopping a few feet away from where the tactical cadet was standing. "Hi," she said in a small voice.

Ada plucked another fork from the table and pierced a mibo fruit with it, lifting it up and dipping it into the chocolate fountain. She didn’t know that they were very sour. Well, not yet, at least.

Offering her roommate the closest thing to a smile she had given anyone so far, Jita stepped aside to allow Aro space to stand beside her. "This is a good opportunity to build connections with others, for advantages in the school year." She whispered to her, "It's easy if I structure it like a challenge. Care to join me?"

1

Couln't help himself, he knew it was his first day... but he was noisy this specific way, he aproaches the cadet using the chocolate fountain and... "You know chocolate goes better with salt than meat" And offered her a nearby churro

Ada paused in her attempt at eating her next little experiment and took the churro from Vokk, giving a smile, “Ah, thank you!” She took it for a dip, “I’m still learning about certain tastes and where they land on my tongue. For the first few years in this vessel, I only ate nutrient paste,” She explained cheerily. (edited)

"Oh god you poor thing, years?!" He considered himself a foddie - as in he fancied eating - and this wouldn't do at all "Simple rule of mind! salt goes well with most things, you can balance spice with sugar and you can put combine anything pasta like with meat!" He nodded sagely

“Well, the first few years! After that, my doctors let me try various diets,” She still had a little smile on her face, though her neutral expression was one that almost made her look like she was staring off into space. What an odd little cadet. “I’ll keep that in mind!” She took a bite of her chocolate-covered churro and mulled it over, “Ah, I see what you mean! A lot better than the sushi roll,” She beamed. Quite the first impression of the station, wasn’t it?

He smirked proudly, seems anyone that agreed with him was in his good side by default "Well you stick with me and we will eat like klowahkans! replication is convenient but i prefere cooking" He grabbed a owon' plate and added some earth pepper. (edited)

Ada nodded, happy to have already made a new friend aboard the station she’d be spending her school days aboard. Though, Vokk’s advice did have a bit of an unintended consequence of Ada making a plate of only churros and other sweet and salty things. Oops! Well, it’s a party, no one has to eat healthily. Ada poured a healthy amount of chocolate over the top of her plate and turned. Seeing Jita and Aro, she once again beamed and waved, “Hello Jita! Hello Aro! It’s me, Ada!!”

3

Oh prophets someone was talking to her-- oh. Oh! It was Ada, the slightly odd but seemingly very nice command cadet she'd met in the chatroom. The one who... used to be a ship? "H-hey," he gave a shy wave, seemingly trying to make himself smaller while doing so (which wasn't really working-- it was kind of hard to miss his hoverchair.

Having been eyeing the ferengi cadet with his culinary companion, Jita was hesitant to initiate a conversation, but it seemed the latter had decided to before she could. "Ada. From the chatroom, yes." She nodded, adjusting her visor, "I'm glad to meet you in person. How are you?"

“I’m doing well! I’ve been experimenting with the foods that were here at the buffet, but I had some help from a new ensign friend!!” She gestured toward Vokk, “It’s nice to meet you all too!”

"So now i have everyones names, I'm Vokk, nice to meet you, and yes ensign friend may be accurate" He eyed both of the newcomer's carefully. "We were just enjoying all this food, hasperat?".

She peered over Ada's gesture, nodding to Vokk in greeting. "Good afternoon, Vokk." She replied, hesitating to accept any food, as who knows what could be in it or what could have touched it, but ultimately relenting, "...and I will make a plate."

Aro perked up at the mention of hasperat. Perhaps some food from her home planet would help put her more at ease. She started looking for a plate, leaning forward in her hoverchair to reach the dish that was offered (but unfortunately, she was buckled in, and it was one of the further dishes from the edge).

"So you're all Cadet's?, guess we are in a similar boat since i recently graduated myself, what are you're tracks?".

“I’m going to be a helmsman!” She said with a smile, lifting up the plate of hasperat and holding it out to Aro without missing a beat, “I plan on flying Constellation class vessels. I used to be one!”

"I'm taking part in the Tactical division. I'm planning on going into combat analytics." She replied, matter-of-factly, "What division are you?"

Smiled at Ada, and checked his badges universal translator.

4

21:10

"Sciences. Graduated in xenoanthropology but i wish to learn as many subjects as i can, how about you Cadet Aro?".

Aro gave Ada a sheepish, thankful grin as the plate was handed to him, hoping she saw it and that it was enoguh of an acknowledgement. He was finding his vocal cords were putting up quite a fight to make any sort of noise at the moment. Ack. Eep. Ough. Of course it would be the exact moment she realized her anxiety that she'd be directly asked a question. She held her plate with trembling hands, her heart hammering in her chest. "M-medical," she stammered.

“Are you going into any specific track?” Ada asked Aro as she put the plate back.

Aro prayed for the day when a casual and friendly conversation didn't convince his nervous system that he was running from a cryptid. His mouth felt dry. Reaching for a cup of pre-poured water, he took a sip, taking a moment before answering, hands still shaking. "Pharmaceuticals," he responded, voice cracking. Benjamin Lafeyette Sisko, he was terrible at this.

3

“Interesting!!” Ada said with a smile. She had no idea Aro was kinda freaking out. It went clear over her somewhat dissociative head.

4

She nodded along with the other answers, more questions than clarity in her head at the moment. "Ada– you were a vessel?"

“I am currently?” She replied, tilting her head before going, “Oh! Yes, I was,” She nodded, “I was previously a Constellation-class vessel by the name of the USS Ada Lovelace. I helped the ship’s computer with navigation! But I had to upload myself into this vessel during an evacuation,” She nodded once again to punctuate her statement, as if it didn’t sound crazy.

Aro was just glad the attention was turned away from him. Did anyone else notice the room spinning?

Weighted if it be rude to pull out a tricorder "I--..." Looked at the other's like, is she serious?

She blinked, took off her visor, wiped some dust off of it, and put it back on. "Ah. Interesting. That would provide an educational advantage in your years as a cadet, no?"

Oh. Wow. There was a LOT of food here. Usually, he didn’t see events like this very often, maybe a few family gatherings where everyone brought dishes, but he’d never been somewhere where so many people were eating. And almost everything was new, too. He wasn’t exactly afraid to try anything, but he didn’t really know where to start either. At least there were a couple of fellow first years here. So, he walked over to the one that looked like they weren’t talking to anyone, he didn’t want to be rude and interrupt anyone. So, he walked over to Aro, giving a polite little ta’al and keeping a respectful distance. “Ah.. hello. Are you also a first-year?” He asked quietly.

2

“I suppose so! Though, I’m still getting used to operating this vessel,” She replied to Jita, taking a bite of her chocolate-covered concoction, “I used to have access to a lot more information than I do now, so I’m not sure how much of an advantage I’d have. I wouldn’t want to make anything unfair.” (edited)

Of course. No unfair advantages. "That's... cool. That's very cool." God, the word felt weird coming out of her mouth. Had she ever called something cool before?

"Unfair would be anyone expecting you to curtail you're talents during service".

Holding onto the tiny plastic cup in her hands like it was a lifeline, Aro jumped what felt like a mile when she heard Sidak's voice. A couple drops of water spilled on her lap. "Gh-" she choked out before spinning her chair around to face the Vulcan. "Wha-? Oh, y-yeah. I'm, uh, Aro," she nodded, somewhat absent-mindedly.

“Cool!” Ada said with a smile, before glancing at Vokk and tilting her head. She thought about it for a few moments before nodding, “That’s a very fair statement as well. I guess we’ll just have to see how classes go!” She took another bite and mulled it over again, figuring out where the tastes went, before looking at Vokk, “You graduated recently, do you have any advice for us?” She asked. (edited)

"Take it easy, and make sure you are in love with the track you choce and if not you may transfer, overall, don't press your'selves too hard is not a race is a team effort".

2

Oh, oh no.. he didn’t really know any greetings in Standard. He didn’t really know any Standard at all. He really should’ve studied more, but he’d been too busy obsessing over plants. “It is a pleasure to meet you, Aro. I am Sidak, I am a science cadet. Ah.. do you by any chance know what is good at the buffet here? I have not had any of these foods before.” Such was life when you lived in the middle of nowhere on Vulcan, you really didn’t get exposed to a lot of new stuff.

“The chocolate fountain is good!” Ada offered to Sidak, gesturing to the fountain. Her statement was only emphasized by her chocolate-covered plate.

"Wait what is... ahem what's you're body exactly?" He asked Ada trying very hard not to sound weird about something that was weird.

“Ah?” Ada turned from Sidak to Vokk, “This vessel is a golem,” She said with a nod.

"I am unfamiliar is it like a synthetic?, or like one of those mechanical bodies with tactil sensors?". Seemed genuinely curious now. (edited)

In the midst of their conversation, and Aro talking with someone else (which she hoped would allow her to feel a little more comfortable here), Jita slipped away to one of the tables.

“It’s a biomechanical android body with a stem cell grown body based off of a genetic library from my previous ship,” She explained rather quickly, like it was something that wasn’t as complicated as it was.

"Did you use a specific genetic template? or was it an approximate of various humanoid common genomes?".

“I based my appearance off of my captain, Captain Vel Satis, and so used mostly Betazoid genes,” She replied, before lifting a finger to her bottom eyelid and pulling slightly to show her eye, like a perfectly normal person, “As you can see!” Her iris was completely black, like a Betazoid, though her pupil was a reflective silvery-gray. (edited)

"Using a telepathic species as template must been a challenge!, would you mind sending me some pointer's.. after this reunion of course. Do you consider this makes you feel closer to the species?". Yeah, he was nerding out now

Ada hadn’t really thought about it before. She stood still for a few moments as she mulled over the question before she replied, “I consider myself myself. Though, Captain Satis is my legal guardian, so I guess that makes me closer to her!”

"Interesting, my teacher's used to say ship's had a personality of their own, but i never took it literal" He thinks for a while "What do you like the most about being organic?".

Ooo, that’s a good question! “I like my sense of smell! I like flowers, and candles, and the smell of food.”

"I guess for me is... well taste funny enough, food is an expression of a culture, not to mention delicious" He grabbed some Klowahkan Oysters with Grubfruit Mignonette "My moogie says i have a black hole instead of a stomach."

1

“True! Captain Satis has told me that there’s been a lot of good diplomatic decisions that were reached over the dinner table,” Ada said with a smile, “It’s why I’m still trying so many things! I want to try all kinds of food, just to see,” She paused, “Or taste?”

"We should try the betazoid and ferengi dishes then! let's call it a taste test, good for getting insight's into each other's homeworld's... adopted ones included" He offered a snail steak and went to find an oskoid.

1

Sidak knew the whole thing about chocolate, but he assumed it would be Vulcanoid-safe here. He wasn’t planning on taking anything mind-altering today, thank you very much much. Or at all. “Thank you, I will try it then.” He had come here expecting to have a meal, but he trusted this girl that the chocolate fountain was the best thing here and that he should try it. So, he headed over and selected some fruits to dip in the chocolate. He didn’t know what any of them were, but they probably tasted good. He left with a plate of chocolate covered fruit, and he tried a strawberry on the way over. “You were correct! This is very good.” He said to Ada, before realizing he hadn’t even introduced himself. “And.. ah. Hello! I am Sidak, I am a science cadet.”

"Hey so you're in my department!, Cool!, what are you aspiring to spec on Cadet?" He noticed the chocolate, but didn't remember the factoid.

“Hello!! I’m the USS Ada Lovelace, but I prefer Ada,” Ada said with a smile to Sidak. She’d learned that smiles help people feel like she likes them, which she did! She liked to meet new people, “I’m a command cadet!”

Sidak didn’t smile, but he did give her a polite little ta’al like he had to Aro. He was much too traditional to be out here smiling. He was in public! “What field are you intending to go into? I will be a botanist.”

"I'm already Anthropology! but botanics are fun too" He look's at Ada then waiting for her response.

“I’m going to be a helmsman! I intend on flying Constellation-class vessels,” Ada gave a nod.

Now he was finally thinking about that first part- had he missed that? It was awfully loud and overwhelming in here. Even if you hated Xial Province, which he didn’t, you couldn’t deny that it was peaceful and quiet. He wasn’t used to this amount of background noise. “Also.. did I mishear, or.. you are a starship? How?” Sidak was definitely confused.

Oh, many people were asking about this. Maybe that meant she was popular! She had no idea, “Ah, yes, I was part of a ship’s AI matrix before being uploaded into a golem,” She nodded.

“Fascinating.. what does it feel like to suddenly have a body? As opposed to always having one like most people do.” Sorry Ada. You got stuck with the curious guy.

This is the second person to ask her about having a body. Ada didn’t find it rude or insulting, even though the implication of it being a bit rude hanging in the air. She didn’t really understand social cues. “I spent my first few years in a longterm medical care facility learning how to operate it,” She said, “I needed a respirator for a while, because I didn’t know how to breathe,” She said it very cheerily and then…smiled? “I’m still learning how to sleep!”

“Ah.. I do not know if intriguing is an appropriate word to call your situation, but it is. How does one learn to sleep? Is it that you have to learn how to actually go to sleep, or how to wake up? Or both?” Unfortunately, Sidak also did not know social cues. He was kind of hopeless like that. He had spent most of his life talking to plants.

“I have no trouble waking up or staying awake, it’s getting to sleep that causes me problems,” Ada said with a little hum, “It’s a synthetic equivalent of insomnia.”

“Oh.. I had insomnia for a long while. For most of my teenage years, actually. I mostly manage it by meditating more, but I do not know if that would work for you.” Of course, his insomnia was mainly stress-induced. He knew how to sleep, but the decision he was making to leave his family to join Starfleet had weighed so heavily on him that he basically couldn’t sleep from the moment he had made it.

Ada hadn’t considered meditating. “I hadn’t considered meditating!” She said upon immediately having the thought, “Wouldn’t that be be like sitting up in your bed staring into the distance?” She asked, kinda…staring through Sidak for a moment, “When I was aboard Starbase 225, I stared out the window of my room a lot while in my biobed.” (edited)

“I stare at one of my plants, but a window could work too. I use the time to sort through my thoughts and reflect on the day that I just had. It clears my mind a bit so I can actually fall asleep.” He said, not minding the staring. He stared a lot too, though he always stopped when he realized it.

In walked another officer. He too was in the dress uniform, but unlike the expected triad of Starfleet colors, this one's accents were done in deep purple. Kairos drifted by the drinks table then, picking out a glass of bloodwine by inertia, all the while raking his keen eyes through the gathered crowd, picking out the cadets like ripe apples off a branch... (edited)

"I could do so much if i didn't sleep as much, but then again sleeping is a fun activity in itself, sometimes i also wish i could sleep more". He picked at a redbat stew as soon as he had finished the oskoid.

Sidak had not seen many Trills in his life. In fact, he hadn’t seen one in person at all until he left his hometown two weeks ago. But this newcomer was a -weird- looking trill. The uniform was a different color he hadn’t seen before, and they just looked.. off. Maybe he was being too judgmental. That wasn’t polite at all. This person was probably fine and normal. So, he gave Kairos a polite little ta’al as he passed by.

1

Abby was quiet. She felt invasive, almost, here for this event for so many cultures and peoples she hadn't even known the existence of until a year ago. She was still struggling with the names of all the ordinary technology, let alone knowing anything about the aliens here. Still, she was compelled to join. This was a class including Earth's brightest of youths. As a veteran herself, she wanted to see the class who would be protecting their home. She kept to herself, in a corner, sipping on a glass of juice. She donned a standard blue suit she tended to wear formal events.

After mingling with some offscreen cadets and lecturers for a while, he'd felt a bit peckish and had wandered over to the buffet to sample the finger food. He started with one of the little cupcakes with the SFA logo, since he appreciated the extra effort, but he had his eye on a bowl of crispy grub bites. He noticed someone in a corner, and decided he'd quite like to be in a corner right now, too. Approaching, he asked, "Is this corner taken?"

Suddenly straightened and saluted with the spoon still in hand, flinging a bit of stew "Commander on... buffet?" Do Captains eat with mere mortals?.

1

2

Seeing ~~his first victim~~ the cadet offer him a greeting, Kairos did the same with a small smile and a lift of his glass. He made the effort to look presentable, today - it'd be easy to think of him as some Trill with strong enthusiasm for tattoos and such. Which wasn't wrong, technically! "Are you one of our new science cadets?"

“Yes, I am a science cadet. I will be studying botany.” Did this guy have claws? Weird. He didn’t think Trills had claws. Though.. maybe some did and he was just uneducated. It wasn’t like he was in Medical. “It is good to meet a few actual officers.. what division are you? I have not seen that color uniform before.”

"Oh, no, go ahead." Abby scooted aside for Mo. He seemed older than most of the cadets attending, though she shouldn't assume. "Are you... a new recruit?"

He laughed. "I was once. No, I'm a bit higher ranking than that now." Quite the understatement. "Just here to talk to the cadets 'n lecturers... See what the next generation is like, see how everyone's feeling about this new project, get to know the staff, etcetera. What about you?"

Finished the stew with some haste and considered who to interact with next. The captain seemed focused on helping abby interact so he just walked towards Kairos and Sidak, and waited for kairos to answer.

"I'm not in Starfleet, heh." Abby chuckled. "I just wanted to see who would be joining. I served once, but under different circumstances. So, I want to pay some respect to our members of active service." It sounded more like an obligation when she explained it, but to Abby, it was common respect. It was a hard challenge ahead of anyone willing to volunteer themselves for something like this.

Bullseye-e-e. Kairos nodded along to Sidak's words, "I see, I see. I'm from Intel. We don't get our own cadets, so I couldn't miss an opportunity to come and see what the other divisions are gonna be working with."

“I think all of us will do well this year. At least, I hope we will not inconvenience our divisions by studying here.” Sidak certainly planned on being a help rather than a hindrance, for sure. He assumed all his fellow cadets planned on being the same. He didn’t know a ton about Intel, but he did know that it was a lot of secret stuff that this guy probably wouldn’t talk about. There was probably no point in asking a lot.

"Just nosy, then? Understandable. It's hard to judge what the cadets will be like this year, though. Can't tell much just by lookin'. There was a guy who seemed nervous earlier, but that might've just been 'cause I was 'ere." He made a mental note to talk to that cadet later. If anyone could give advice to a Ferengi joining Starfleet, it was him. He'd been there.

"Nonsense!" He spoke directly to sidak now, being once again somewhat nosy "You're here to learn, and i imagine get more contact and know how from officer's! i'm sure if theres a crisis you'll have the common sense to stay safe and out the way, and humans say you never stop learning".

"Why would you?" he angled his head, motion smooth. He had to agree with the Ferengi guy that was near. "If you did, the starbase wouldn't have become an outpost, I can assure you. Don't sweat it!" Hm. Why did this guy's facial features feel so... familiar?

Abby laughed at Mo's remark. "I don't know, I guess it comforts me. I've met a couple different people in Starfleet now, since I've lived on this station. It seems like a good place for these kids."

He briefly wondered if it would be a good place to raise kids. He had no plans to any time soon, but he supposed it was. "It is. Lotta work put into this station to make it not just livable, but an enjoyable place to be. Some people even visit just to visit, like stayin' in a five-star hotel." He sounded proud. This was a project of his, in a way.

Abby thought for a moment. About the wide arrays of people she met that she would have been unable to get to know otherwise. "I'm only really living here because it's convenient, but it's kind of become a nice community to me. It would be nice to give back to the people here sometime. I still don't know what I really want to do. I used to be an engineer, but I have no idea where I can be of use."

"Hmmm. I mean, get in touch with the engineering department and maybe they'll commission you for some repairs? But we like to take care of most of that kinda thing ourselves, so that we're only liable for our own mistakes. No need to give back to us, anyway; just livin' is enough." A community should exist to serve individuals as well as the whole, ideally, without needing them to return the favour all the time. "That said, people tend to give back in ways they aren't really aware of all the time. Sometimes you don't realise what a person is doin' for a community 'til they're gone."

"That's comforting," Abby said, genuinely. "But I really just want to provide something." A deep breath pooled in Abby's lungs. It was touched with a strange melancholy, but in a way she couldn't describe. "I don't know, I like seeing so many young people with such direction in their lives. It reminds me of when I had that."