Future Experiments

Posted on Sun Oct 4th, 2026 @ 2:36am by Lieutenant Vincent Cavendish & Lieutenant JG Rhee Xiviu

2,332 words; about a 12 minute read

Mission: Mission 4 - Siphoning of Stars
Location: Operations Office

ON:

Giving an old fashioned knock on the frame of the door before moving through into the Ops centre, Vincent glanced around to find who might be on duty. He gave an easy smile when he spotted Rhee, pleased he hadn't invested in a wasted trip. "Lieutenant? Would you have a few moments?"

Rhee looked at him with surprise at being requested, but nodded. "Of course," she said, giving him a small smile back in the instinctual response that people had when someone smiled to them. It disarmed, it bonded. It also hid fear, but that was a different scenario. This, she knew, was genuine.

"Perfect," Vincent made his way over, his hands clasped neatly behind his back as he made it a stroll, smiling gently. "So I've been thinking, there could be opportunity sooner rather than later to start gathering samples from our new surroundings. I was hoping an Operations expert could come and take a look at the set up in my lab? To make sure it can remain efficient and self-sufficient under all circumstances?" And most importantly, not lose power at the worst moment to ruin quarantine measures or carefully configured environments. He didn't say that out loud though.

Rhee nodded, her head tilting to the side for a moment. "I'm happy to do that," she said, giving a nod. "I have time now if you are available. If not, we can schedule it in for the next shift."

"No, now is perfect, thank you," he smiled with genuine warmth to her...before clearing his throat because he realised he probably shouldn't seem quite so pleased when they'd just been stranded on the other side of the galaxy. "I appreciate your generosity."

She shook her head, glancing at him before she gave a small smile. "Well, keeping people going and happy is...what I enjoy," she said, not quite a lie but a softening of the truth.

"And being Betazoid, it must be annoyingly obvious if you've succeeded or not," he chuckled, looking across to her as they walked. "You...*are* Betazoid, yes?"

Rhee raised an eyebrow before she nodded. "Yes, I am," she said and met his eyes. "It's not something that...always is spotted. Maybe there's not many Betazoids in Engineering within Starfleet." She wasn't sure though, she suspected it was because she kept to herself more often than not. That she was...cold.

"No, I could...feel it," he couldn't think of a better word to use, even if it seemed completely vague. "I'm...half-El-Aurian. I recognised it in you. But yes, there aren't many in Engineering," he agreed the last with a chuckle.

She looked at him, studying him for a moment. She could sense it in him, now he said it. Now she paid attention. "Not many half El-Aurians either," she said gently. Because that was the truth.

Vincent chuckled, his lips pulling into a slight grimace as he shook his head with a soft sigh. "Well I hate to be a walking stereotype, but I used to be a Counsellor," he shrugged a playful apology to her.

She bit back a snigger, looking at him for a moment. "Did you now. Hm. Well, it's a stereotype I am desperately avoiding myself," she said before she smiled. "Do you miss it?"

He took a few moments to reply, strolling at a casual pace next to her, his hands clasped neatly behind his back. "Yes..." he replied softly. "I suppose I do if I'm honest. But...when I was forced back to the Fleet for the Dominion War, I refused to do it. Science seemed...the best choice from a poisoned chalice."

She nodded with understanding, a slight frown working itself between her eyebrows. It aged her. "My own anxiety levels have dramatically increased since the war," she said openly. "More because of everyone around me dealing with the effects of it. Like you, Operations was not expected of me. But it was...something I wanted to do, because it was different."

Vincent looked to her with concern at the admission, shaking his head gently at the predicament she must have been in. "I'm sorry," he said softly, meaning it. "It must have been ever so overwhelming, having to deal with feeling other people's war trauma, not just your own."

"I never enjoyed it. People's thoughts and emotions," Rhee said as they walked, considering it. "So really this is not much more of an inconvenience for me. At least no one's poking back. That...is truly frustrating." She gave him a smile, surprisingly easy considering the topic of conversation.

He smiled back gently to her, watching with interest. She was certainly...refreshing in her perspectives. "I had a home on Betazed," he admitted with a gentle smile. "I...think I know what you might mean."

She met his eyes with some surprise at that, curiosity poking at her enough to make her stop walking. "Why? I mean...why did you have a home there?"

Vincent stopped with her, chuckling gently as he smiled good naturedly at the question. He watched her with honest dark eyes. "I have a daughter there. Half Betazoid. Aurora. She's 21 now. I miss her, but...I have no doubt she's well."

Rhee nodded as she watched him, understanding suddenly. She wanted to say that it depended on her abilities but she didn't. She had a little more tact than that. Especially so far from home. "I am sorry you are so far away from her."

"I wouldn't have left at all if I'd have had my way. I resigned...it was this blasted war, I was recalled," Vincent gave a half shrug with a tired sigh, but it was clear it still irked him. "Aurora's feisty though, spirited."

"Then she will do well. Spirited is applauded more often than not," Rhee said with a smile that said it all. She was jealous of that streak. She herself had always been viewed as sullen.

Vincent chuckled softly at the unspoken words left hanging in the air between them, starting them off walking again. "I'm not sure she'd care if it wasn't..." he said lightly with a glance her way.

"Good," she said, firmly, giving a nod at that. It somehow mattered to her. She would want her to do well in society...where Rhee had always failed amongst her own people. Her dismay was always written on her, her face, her emotions, her thoughts. She preferred...this. Privacy. "She takes after you?"

"Me?" he looked to her with surprise before laughing, a glint of wryness in his eyes. "Hm...would that be admitting that I'm also feisty and spirited?"

"I can see it," she said, after a moment. "You hide it well, but mostly because of what is...expected." It was how she saw it, not how she read him. She was keeping herself in control. It was radiating in her straight back, the way she had her hands behind her back. The tightness in which her hair was braided back.

"It takes one to know one," Vincent replied, an all out smile finally breaking through as he looked to her with warmth. She had scathing honesty wrapped up in cautious control. It was a fascinating mixture. "I was raised to be a gentleman, there's only so much you can get away with."

"Hm," she nodded at the words, considering it as they went into the lab. "Social and cultural rules between different species can feel like balancing glass orbs on your toes."

"I love that image," Vincent winked to her before laughing, moving behind the main console in the room, logging in and bringing the screen to life. "Welcome to my realm. I shall try and make sure it does not become a hideaway."

She looked at the screen, surprised at it, taking it in before she nodded. "You wanted to be...self-sufficient? Regardless of what happens, to remain...operational?" she asked, her hands going over the console, not actually touching anything except the casing of it.

Vincent nodded as he looked over his work so far. He was by no means an operational expert, but he'd made some changes already to the set up. "Yes, or as much as possible. And crucially, not to lose all power at the worst possible moment."

Rhee gave him a smile, giving him a nod. "I can do that," she said and moved to get into the system. "I can ask engineering to help as well...and I can create a low-level power loop that should help if we lose main power for a bit. A chance for the system to catch up."

"Perfect," Vincent nodded, a pleased smile coming to his features as he clasped his hands behind his back. "I managed to arrange some settings before I realised it was probably best to get an expert..." he teased lightly.

Rhee chuckled, a soft and warm sound that usually only her friends heard. "It's...a balance. I don't want to steal power unannounced, but I also want to make sure your needs are served for this." She moved her hands as she started to divide the power.

"A bit like life then," Vincent laughed softly as he rested back against the edge of the opposite console, crossing his ankles and arms casually as he watched her. "Is that what makes you so good at your job? You're...attuned to the balances of life?"

"No," Rhee shook her head as she let out a breath. "Systems make sense. You can see the problem, and any consequences have a meaning. It's the opposite of emotions...it's why I am so good at my job, because it's something I..." she stopped herself as she realised she was revealing more she had planned. "It's nice to know that some things don't care what you say, only what you do."

Vincent smiled weakly as he watched her. How out of place she must have felt amongst her telepathic and empathic kin. "Emotions have their own pathways of cause and effect," he pointed out, gently.

"Yet they can be erratic," she met his eyes, holding them for a long moment. "And not always follow a logic. I personally find it more difficult to follow through those paths."

"And I find it difficult to navigate through those ones..." Vincent chuckled softly as he motioned to the computer she was working on. "It takes all kinds to make a world," he offered softly, a saying he had heard a lot during his childhood.

Rhee gave a small nod, taking a deeper breath before she looked at her hands, at what she was doing. "If everyone was the same, we'd be boring."

"As well as deeply, deeply bored," he laughed softly, moving in closer so he could watch her work. He had a faint hope he might pick something up, but he doubted it. "Something we are unlikely to do well with, considering our need for stimulation has seen us throw ourselves out into the great unknown."

She raised an eyebrow, a small smile coming to her. "I never considered it like that. I thought it was more a sense of duty and...wanting to serve that made most join Starfleet. But you see it as stepping off a ledge in pitch darkness."

"I think...that even if someone were to follow this path out of a sense of duty, the need for stimulation, excitement or adventure must go with it," he shrugged lightly. "It's been a few years since I was a counsellor though."

Rhee nodded with understanding, before she let out a soft breath at the idea of it. "Doesn't mean you don't..." she bit her lip for a moment, a small smile coming to her. "...keep that perspective."

"I like to think so," he admitted with a soft chuckle, before shaking his head with modesty and glancing down with warmth. "But who knows...maybe I'm getting muddled in my old age."

"No," she said, and she meant it as she watched him. "You're as sharp as you were back then...I can tell." Her black eyes studied him before she looked away, taking a deeper breath. "Think even a non-Betazoid could tell."

Vincent gave her a small but fond smile, just watching the woman for a long moment. She reminded him of his daughter. At least, the spirit in her. "How's it going with the console? Think we can make the back up power loop work?"

"Almost done," she said and looked back at it before she moved some isolinear chips, changing the configuration. "Okay, let's try this now.."

Vincent reset the console, watching with raised eyebrows to see if the loop would kick in. "Is it holding?" he glanced to her, unsure if they were on a fool's errand.

"It is," she said and nodded, looking at him before a small smile came to her. "It'll hold, Cavendish." She started to pack up, head tilted slightly.

"So what will I need to break for us to meet up over a drink at some point?" Vincent smiled warmly, enjoying her company. He hoped she wouldn't take it the wrong way though.

She looked at him at that, a slight frown coming to her. And then she raised an eyebrow. "Replicator, in your quarters," she said, lightly. That she could handle. "Maybe tomorrow after shift."

"I'll get to breaking it in the morning," he teased with a soft laugh, nodding with gratitude to her. She really did remind him of his daughter, in spirit at least. But he wanted to get to know her beyond that.

"Good," Rhee packed up and took the toolkit, meeting his eyes with a small smile. "Do a good job at it. Have to be worth sending me..." her voice was light, playful...a brief look into how she could be if she felt comfortable.

----

Lt. Vincent Cavendish
Science Officer
USS Concord
(PNPC Wilde)

&

Lt. jg Rhee Xiviu
Operations Officer
USS Concord
(PNPC Gaeta)

 

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