Not A Fan

Posted on Mon Sep 21st, 2015 @ 11:46pm by Mamu B'yaga & Ensign Six of Ten
Edited on on Wed Dec 16th, 2020 @ 12:24am

Mission: Further Challenges
Location: Mamu's Curios

* Mamu’s Curios *

Suresh was expecting Lazan, so Six had cleared out of their quarters to let them discuss business. Suresh had said she was welcome to stay but she had admitted that Lazan creeped her out. When he stopped laughing, Suresh had sent her on her way. She decided it would be a good time to get to Intel and see Dae. It was also a great time to hit the Promenade and check out a few places. First on her list was the little shop where Vic had gotten her bracelet, which she now wore.

Stopping outside the shop, she took a few minutes to look in the window at a mix of things spread out beneath a small spotlight. There seemed to be no rhyme or reason to the display but it certainly was interesting. Finally, she stepped to the door and when it opened, she entered. The shop proved to be a much bigger version of the display window, the sort of place you could spend hours in and still not see it all. It also appeared to be empty.

“Hello?” she called out.

“Hello?”, echoed back at Six from behind a counter. “Ah... wearing the lover’s bracelet, I smell.” There was a shuffling sound and then the scrape of a chair. After a moment, there was a bit of grunting and then a woman in a hooded dress appeared behind the counter. “Looking for what cannot be found, you are.”

Mystified by both the statement and the tiny little woman, she moved closer to the counter. “You know who I am?” Belatedly, Six realized it was likely a dumb question. She was the only Borg on the station.

“Borg, you were. Do you know who you are?” The woman blinked, one eye at a time.

The alternating blinking was just a little disconcerting and when Six started to answer, she stammered. “I am….I mean I was….but now I’m…” She stopped and scrambled mentally for an answer. “Six of Ten. I’ve had the name all my life, though I was born with another.”

“Mothers name children for a reason. But you do not use it. Why?”

“I don’t remember a time when I did. I only know it from the knowledge of the Hive,” Six answered. “Just because I changed doesn’t mean I should change my name.”

“An end, a beginning, a new slate, a new name,” Mamu shrugged. “But, if you know who you are, then you know. Why ask me?”

“You asked me,” Six reminded her. Something in her words gave Six pause, however. “What do you mean a new beginning and a new slate?”

“You were Borg. You are no longer. You had a new beginning. You could chose what goes on your slate. There is no need to adhere to old things.”

“Good point.” Six ran her fingers over the bracelet, a purely nervous gesture. She hadn’t expected to encounter someone who seemed to be able to look right into her. “Maybe, but everyone knows me as Six. I think they like it actually.” She smiled slightly. “You know who I am, so who are you?”

“I am the shopkeeper. A shopkeeper who is missing her clerk,” Mamu looked distressed.

“You mean Falasin? The Andorian?” Six frowned. “Where is she? I see her a lot at Java but not since I got back from Archadia.”

“The foulness that is Niro holds her. Twisting her mind, he is.” Mamu’s fingers twisted and she made a fist. “I fear he will not allow her out.”

Six didn’t care at all for that bit of news. “Is there anything I can do? I see him often in Saturnalia. He...he had his eyes on a friend of mine not so long ago.”

“Hmm, the young Orion. Trouble no more there,” Mamu nodded. “What could you do, child? She is a child, too.”

“I am far from helpless. There is also...the gentleman who has claimed me,” Six informed her. “I’ll be happy to look into it if you wish.”

“You are not a thing to be claimed.” She tsk’ed at Six. “But Falasin, she will need help. Please, into this, look.”

“Very well, consider it done.” Six paused for a moment, then held up her wrist. “This bracelet. What made it catch Vic’s eye?”

“Magic? Sparkles? Magic sparkles?” Mamu shrugged. “You should ask him, not me.”

“He’s not on the station, I checked.” Six shrugged. “He likely will not be too happy with me when he returns either.”

“He must return to be unhappy,” Mamu said. “You will not need to worry for long.”

“That’s not very reassuring.” Six ran her fingers over the bracelet’s stones once more. “He didn’t know they were Brenari sight stones. They were...very revealing.”

“As they are known to be at times, for those who are attuned. Did you like what was revealed?”

Six’s fingers froze. “It was complicated. And difficult. Still will be, for a time.”

“Life is complications and difficulties. Living without them is not living.” Mamu, ever the philosopher. “Would you rather not have the complications?”

“If it means not hurting someone who loves you? Maybe.” A sigh escaped Six and she wondered now just how Mamu knew so much about this situation. “He deserves better.”

“Be careful what you wish for,” the old creature whispered. “Many wish for a thing and then find it isn’t what they wanted.”

“I know. I had to choose, that’s all.” Six looked back at Mamu. “You can’t always have everything you want and have to make a choice.”

“Do not worry. A choice will be made.”

“Oh, but it already has been,” Six admitted. She looked around the shop, and finally back to Mamu again. “So how do you know so much about this...situation? Was it Vic?”

Tsk’ing at Six again, Mamu tapped the side of her own head. “Vic, you, others,” she shrugged. “Each is like a talking book, announcing their stories, their characters, their fears and dreams.... You see?”

“Oh. Yes.” She suddenly worried that this tiny woman would read too much. “I should get home to Suresh before he starts to wonder where I am.” She stepped back from the counter. It was only now that she realized she wasn’t getting any emotional readings at all.

Smiling, Mamu blinked at Six, this time both eyes were in synch. “Stop by anytime, dear Six. And think on who you are.” She patted the woman’s hand.

“Do you have anything here you think he would like?” Six asked. “We just got back from vacation and it was a good one.”

“I have many things. Bright, shiny, satiny, matte, marred, old, not much new actually,” Mamu climbed down from her stool, disappearing behind the counter before coming around the side of it. “Faster this, Falasin could do,” she complained. She hunched along the aisles, stopping every few feet to examine a piece or two before moving on. “Suresh. The old, I knew. Much like Niro he was. Tasted bad, his air did. Foul, like it was breathed by a dung beetle. Know what a dung beetle is?” She paused, turning toward Six and looking up at her.

“I’ve heard of them, yes,” she answered. She chose not to comment on Mamu’s clear hint that she knew that there were different Sureshes. “I agree where Niro is concerned. I’ve seen him in action.”

“Take him out of action, I’d like,” Mamu muttered and continued muttering as she went back to walking along the aisles and pausing to look at her merchandise. “Your man, I know little. Ah!” She suddenly crouched down and reached to the back of a shelf, drawing out a small velvet box. “Dealings with Niro, he will have? This he must have.” She handed the box to Six.

Six opened the box and looked in it to find a small black oval disk on a latinum chain. It seemed to be electronic but at casual glance, it appeared to be a man’s necklace. “It’s very pretty but what does it do? This is...not just a normal pendant is it?”

Sneering at the thing, Mamu said, "Few things here are normal. That, will prevent harm to your Suresh. That will keep Niro from spreading his foul fingers into his brain, touching memories, viewing intimate moments." The old woman took a ring off and slid it on her finger, up and down, several times. "Vile, he is."

Six’s attention was drawn to the ring. “You have your own version, do you?” She closed the box and tucked it into the pocket of her skirt.

"No need. Harm me, not many can."

Six watched Mamu for another moment as she fidgeted with the ring, then blushed a deep red. “Understood,” she murmured. “What do I owe you for the necklace?”

Mamu named a price in latinum strips. "Wear it, you must make him."

“I’ll explain it to him and he will, don’t worry. I’ll find Falasin.” Six touched the old woman’s shoulder gently. “Let’s go up front, I’ll pay you and then start hunting.”

As they went back to the counter, Mamu muttered, "Good tree, he fell from. Look at Nico. Good boy, unfortunate in some ways, particularly with his twin. Yin and yang." She climbed her stool and sat, breathing as if winded. She accepted Six's payment and said, "On his ship she'd be."

Six nodded. “I’ll find Niro first and see what’s up and take it from there. Don’t worry.” Six waved and started for the door. She had a mission to deal with and it would be easy enough to find Niro down below. He seemed to be everywhere. “We’ll talk soon.”

"Not soon. Beware Niro, child." The creature waved at Six and waited till the door closed behind her before slithering back behind her curtain.

********
Mamu B'yaga
Ensign Six Of Ten
Not Fans Of Niro