Come Together
Posted on Fri Aug 17th, 2012 @ 8:30pm by Lieutenant Commander William Harding M.D. & Lieutenant Norval Tigan & Ensign Ian Bren & Lieutenant Commander Ophelia Payne & Lieutenant Mi Lo-Tseng & Lieutenant Eric Edwards & Ensign Chanella Jackson
Mission:
Sections of the Delta Quadrant
Location: Piper Memorial Medical Center
* * * Piper Medical Center * * *
“Laser scalpel.” Harding’s voice was muffled behind his mask. He held out his gloved hand and Ophelia placed the scalpel in his palm. “Mi, how’s everything over there?”
“Everything’s ready, all we need it the star of the show to arrive.” She was suited up and ready to go when Ian arrived.
Harding hit one of the foot pedals under the table. “Leighis, where’s Ensign Leyva?”
Leighis’ voice came back through a speaker. “On their way, sir.”
“Alright. Opening now.” He adjusted the light over Natalia’s body and with the press of a button, the laser scalpel came to life. The incision was a perfectly straight vertical line up the middle of Natalia’s belly, as it would give better, faster access.
“Stasis chamber ready,” Chanella informed him.
Mi moved over to stand across from him and together, they opened her up. With slow and careful movements, Harding removed the symbiont from Natalia. Mi immediately ran a scan and nodded.
“Good. we won’t need this but for a few minutes, but I’m taking no chances.” Harding lowered Bren into the stasis chamber and Chanella sealed it. “Ophelia, close. Mi, get ready with the local. Time is of the essence here.”
And immediately, the OR staff sprang to life.
“E’tarna, Mills, and Haskell. That’s who I’ll ask,” he said and added, “Though I doubt any of us will be comfortable in the brig, Eric. Perhaps just a holodeck?”
But there was no time to answer him. The lift stopped and the doors opened onto Piper Medical, where a team waited to escort them to the prep and waiting areas. For Ian, there was no waiting: Doctor Lo-Tseng ordered him to strip and he was on his back on a gurney, covered with just a sheet with a big hole in the middle in no time flat.
Norval and Eric may have both paid a little too much attention to the operating staff prepping Ian for surgery. Norval, at least, could say he was assessing the physical condition of the new host. Eric might contend that he couldn't very well look away... he had to watch, for his protection!
They both knew it was total crap.
"We'll be right out here," Norval managed to say as they began to cart Ian away. "The next time I see you, it'll be as Ensign Bren." He gave a reassuring smile, Eric patting Ian's hand.
"Good luck," the Security officer offered.
Ian smiled and gave the man a thumbs up, hoping that he got the gesture right. Luck would have nothing to do with what happened next. It was all just a routine procedure. Again, the fingers of his right hand started to pluck at the fabric nearest them; they continued that right up until... well, it just kept going.
Harding moved over and looked down at Ian, his lower face covered by the surgical mask. He reached to Ian’s exposed mid-section and poked him. “Can you feel that?”
“I feel pressure.” Ian answered. “Shouldn’t I be asleep?”
“No, I can’t put you out completely, you have to be conscious for the assimilation, if you’ll pardon the term. Pressure but no pain?”
Coming on the heels of the Borg simulation, that phrase made Ian frown. “Let’s not use that word. Just pressure. I know you’re poking me, but I don’t feel it on my skin.”
“Excellent, we may proceed.” Mi rolled the stasis chamber over and opened the seals. Harding opened the pouch and moving the skin back, he nodded to her to place the symbiont within Ian. It was a matter of seconds for it to slip into place and Harding to close the pouch. “Alright, start the scans.”
Ophelia turned her attention to the readouts. “Vitals returning to normal.” She paused for several long moments and she nodded. “Assim-- integration complete.”
Harding smiled beneath the mask. “Well then, congratulations, Ensign Bren.”
For several long moments of his own, Ian lay there, not answering Harding. His eyes went wide then narrowed; his mouth bent in a moue then smoothed out into neutrality. Finally, his mien settled on a look of general dismay. Having something alive and moving and damned cold in a normally vacant area of his body was... dismaying. His nose wrinkled and his teeth showed as the symbiont did something that felt rather awfully like it might have just bitten him, but there was no pain. “Thank you, Doctor Harding,” he managed to say, though he looked completely unsettled.
“It will take some getting used to. I’d like you to stay here for a few hours so we can monitor you. I know you have a security detail as well, it will be easier for him as well.” Harding took a blanket from a shelf and covered Ian. “Ophelia will get you settled in.”
“Wow... you’re such a patsy,” Ian muttered. Shocked at his own statement, Ian covered his mouth with a hand.
“Excuse me?”
“I don’t know where that came from,” he admitted. “Oh... Natalia didn’t like you much, did she?”
Harding broke into laughter and shook his head. He removed the surgical mask and finally his laughter eased. “Detested is more like it. Tried to frame me for some of her misdeeds as well.”
“Right. Told someone you...,” his brows furrowed, “...threatened her with... something. It was funny, to me... I mean, her.” He shook his head. “I want to stop talking now. Could I see Norval?”
“As soon as we get you settled into your room, yes. Ophelia, he’s all yours.”
Ophelia arrived and smiled. “Let’s get you out of here and into something a little better at least.” She took hold of the end of the biobed, pressed a button to set it in motion and steered him out into the corridor.
“What? The open hole in the middle isn’t working for you?” Ian joked, and then, just as efficient as his intake had been, his installation into a small, private room was also quick. Ophelia helped him ease into an almost-sitting-up position and he waved off her offer to help him dress. “The blanket will be fine for now,” he said, already feeling more relaxed than he was five minutes ago.
“Call if you need anything at all then.” Ophelia smiled, then hurried out, leaving the door open for Norval to enter.
Norval did, though Ian looked past him for Eric. Seeing the Security officer there, he smiled and then focused on Norval. “This is... very strange...,” he said and was hit with a memory of Norval, a discussion, but he couldn’t quite grasp it. It certainly wasn’t his memory.
“For now we see through a glass, darkly,” Norval quoted, smiling. Eric stood right behind him, hands folded behind his back as Norval moved to Ian’s bedside. “How are you feeling?”
“Weird. Like my stomach is crawling around. Will it stop moving or do I just have to get used to it?”
“Bren will find a comfort zone, but motion will never really cease. You’ll become used to it, the same way you don’t usually notice you’re breathing. Sometimes, during periods of extreme stress, you’ll really notice it... especially if you inherited any particular phobias.” Norval’s smile was more muted than usual, as he recalled inheriting Andam’s almost debilitating fear of fire and Darius’s inability to handle extreme turbulence in shuttlecraft... or, well, anywhere. “But believe me, the benefits of the joining outweigh any little drawbacks.”
“Phobias?” Ian considered that. “That’s something I should ask during the zhian’tara,” he decided. “Did you have yours right after being implanted?”
“I took a few weeks to acclimate,” Norval admitted. “You’ll have a few days before the Guardian arrives, though you could likely delay the procedure, if you’d prefer to travel home to perform it on your own terms. Guardian wouldn’t be happy... but then, they rarely are.
“As for your zhian’tara, you’ll be able to ask any and everything. That’s the point. It’ll help you distinguish the voices that now inhabit your memory from one another. More... voices, personalities, quirks, than actual faces of course, since they’ll be inhabiting people you already know.”
“Okay,” Ian nodded. He knew there were a hundred or more questions he should be asking of the senior Trill, but he couldn’t think of them. His right hand fussed with the blanket edge near his neck. Once he noticed himself doing that, he frowned at the hand and moved it back to his side. “How much will Bren control my body?”
Chuckling, Norval laid a hand on the exposed part of Ian’s stomach. “Not at all. This,” he said, referencing his hand, “will never define you. It will enrich you, and you will notice that you’ve picked up mannerisms of past hosts. But your actions and your choices will always be your own. You just have a wealth of experience on which to draw, knowledge on which to base your actions.” He withdrew his hand. “You should probably rest, get to know... yourself again. Because you are a new person, with the benefit of all those memories. If you feel up to it, and they consent to let you out of here, Eric and I will probably be in the Nexus tonight. In the meantime, feel free to comm me.”
“I will,” the new entity agreed, quietly thinking he’d rather call on Eric, though. “The Doctor said I’d be here a few hours. I think I’ll nap a little.”
Norval started to turn and leave, but stopped when he realized Eric wasn’t following. Instead, the Security officer sank into a chair on the far side of the recovery room. Noticing Norval’s confused look, he shrugged. “Commander Zeferino hasn’t released me from watching him, so I’ll be here. But feel free to go dancing. You probably want to see Jackson anyway, given all that’s happened.” Eric slipped his hands behind his head and sat back smiling, knowing Norval would detest going out without him. But still, the Trill smiled, said, “I’ll see you later,” and vanished into the corridor.
The name ‘Jackson’ resonated with Ian, though he’d never been one to frequent the Nexus. Once Norval was gone, he asked Eric, “Is Jackson... a boyfriend?” But then he already knew who Jackson was.
Eric laughed, good naturedly, grinning across at Ian. “Well, I’m sure he’s someone’s boyfriend. But if you’re asking if he’s Norval’s, no. That’d be me.”
“You? Ohhh... then I suppose I’d better stop developing a crush on you.” The words were out before Ian could stop them. Usually he’d be too shy to utter such a bold statement.
“I’m flattered,” Eric admitted, chuckling a little bit. It was obvious how much Ian had changed from the slightly awkward exchanges in the holodeck already. “But honestly, the way we were both ogling you out in the hall, I hardly think you’re the only guilty party here.” Importantly, he never said it was necessarily a bad thing.
Chuckling at Eric’s admission, Ian shifted on the bed and yawned. “I’m going to try for that nap,” he said, and fluffed his pillow.
“Well, no one’s getting in here in the meantime, so sleep tight,” Eric said as he shifted his chair closer to the door and loosed his phaser. Working in Sickbay was pretty boring, he thought, but at least it was rarely very stressful.
__________________________
Ian
Suddenly Cubed
Lt. Commander William Harding
LIking The New Host Much Better
Lieutenant Norval Tigan
Mentor Extraordinaire! (especially if you like the Borg!)
Lieutenant (j.g.) Eric Edwards
Sickbay’s Guard Dog and Object of Affection
Lt. Mi Lo-Tseng
Assistant CMO
Lt. Ophelia Payne
Head Nurse
Ensign Chanella Jackson
Nurse
