Doing Homework

Posted on Thu Jan 4th, 2018 @ 11:54pm by Lieutenant Temperance Zachary & Commander Rostra Tang

Mission: https://wellington.pegasusfleet.site/index.php/sim/missions/id/4
Location: StratOps Offices

The next stop on the resident Dalacari's train of stops was Strategic Operations. Personally, a favorite of her's, as she was always fascinated by games of strategy and skill. She also understood that people's lives weren't like a game of chess, but knowing and anticipating your enemy was key to winning without any form of real confrontation.

Back home, they'd have Thinking Engines to do most of those calculations for them. Here, they had to make due. Some of the most brilliant people Rostra knew were StratOps officers, and today she got a chance to make a new friend. With that in mind, her dual forms entered the offices of the Strategic Ops division, one of the two forms holding a PaDD under an arm. "Hello? I'm looking for Lieutenant Temperance Zachary, chief of the department?" she commented to the first grey collar she came into view of. Well, one of her two bodies did.

Temp looked up and smiled. "That would be me," she said easily, casting a quick glance over the figure/figures who had spoken to her. Dalacari, twins, this would be the first officer. Almost immediately she came to attention, "Sorry, Ma'am... Ma'am's..." she faltered for a moment before offering another smile. "Sorry, lets just start over. I am Lieutenant Temperance Zachary, but please call me Temp. You would be Rostra Tang? First Officer if I'm not mistaken?"

Rostra gave a pair of smiles, and the figure that wasn't holding the PaDD made something of a calming gesture, "I am, but please, just Rostra. For future reference, I'm just Ma'am." she corrected politely, "I understand the misconception is easy to make, so I promise I won't take..." and she stopped talking. Her twin picked up exactly where the conversation stopped, mid-breath, as though she were always the speaker.

"... any offense. It's very good to meet you, I love meeting new people and to be honest, I prefer meeting people over ranks." she said with a pair of smiles, as she handed over the PaDD.

"Just keeping departments appraised. There's a number of worlds that we'll be going nearby, cosmically speaking, that have already been surveyed by my people and..."

"... our allies, the Ts'usugi. Most of them are listed as biodiversity and mineral worth, which means farming or mining." she admitted with a smirk. "Ts'usugi love fancy labels." She paused, to at least give Temperance a chance to retrieve the PaDD and give it the slightest of glances. While one of the pair kept her glance on the woman, to keep the conversation alive, the other started to idly look around. "Do you mind if I ask you a question?"

Taking the PaDD, Temp thumbed it quickly and started scanning the data. While reading she shook her head quickly. “Of course not, ask away!” She looked up quickly to let them know she was listening before glancing back at the information once more. Definitely more than she could take in with a quick glance, she would need more time to study this in-depth. Holding he PaDD aside, she turned her full attention back to Rostra and smiled.

"Do you prefer coffee or tea?" it seemed such a simple question, and yet Rostra asked it as though all the world hinged on it. "See, if we ever need to collaborate on a long term project, I'd rather not..."

"... waste time getting you the wrong drink. Pulling an all nighter required caffeine, after all." the pair smiled, "Plus, I have an advantage in this." that smirk widened.

"I have a personal store of Dalacari coffee, and Ts'usugi tea. I also happen to know a certain engineer who has stores of actual, real coffee. He adds cinnamon..."

"... to the grinds, and it's delightful."

Temperance laughed softly. "Well, if the intention is to stay awake and pull an all nighter, then definitely coffee, the stronger the better... but if it is to sit down and relax after a long day then probably more a cup of tea. In the evenings I am rather partial to a chamomile tea with a dash of honey." She paused for a moment. I must be honest, I know very little about the Dalacari, or the Ts'usugi... so I am not at all sure what the coffee or tea is like, but I am definitely open to trying anything once," she finished with a grin. "Now, how about for yourself? Tea or coffee?"

"The perk of being a Dalacari is I can actually answer that question with... Yes." she smiled. "Though I prefer coffee while on duty. Tea, like you said, is more for relaxing..."

"... though it has just as much kick as coffee, chemically speaking." there was a pause, almost as though Rostra literally were gathering her thoughts. "This is something of a momentous..."

"... occasion between our three peoples. Working on an alliance, considerations for joining the Federation of Worlds. So please, I don't want you to think you'll..."

"... embarrass or insult by asking questions. Please, if something pops in your head, feel free to speak your mind and ask." she spoke warmly, like a friend rather than an officer. "Dalacari are people of..."

"... indulgence. We've freed ourselves of mundane tasks to allow ourselves to be able to follow our curiosity and choose any career that suits our fancy." she explained, her other form resuming the conversation, "So as you can imagine, we're avid conversationalists once something catches our fancy. Me, I'm a people person."

Temperance looked between the two of them with amazement. "I will be honest, I find the way you speak to be something rather interesting... You share the same thoughts at all times? I must apologise, I know very little of your species other than the tidbits I was able to glean from crew records, but I do find you rather intriguing."

"There's one mind." the speaker motioned to her own head as she spoke. "Dalacari evolved from swarm predators that shared something of a group empathy, a sort of cloud mind." she started.

"As they got more clever, got more intelligent, the size of the swarm became smaller. A few thousand generations or so later, and the first Dalacari stood upright..."

"... and looked around at the world in curiosity. Dalacari are always pairs, but in truth there's only one Dalacari per pair. There's one mind, one personality."

Now, they both spoke in unison, "I am Rostra Tang." and she paused for a moment, before only one spoke next, "Don't get me wrong, it has its benefits, but man sometimes do I get..."

"... in my own way. Worst part is there's no one to blame but yourself really." she giggled, which flowed from one form to the other. "You're taking it up rather well. By now, I had to ask Jason to close his eyes so he'd stop trying to..."

"... actually follow the conversation. Trust me, having to adapt to speak to a Dalacari is probably just as weird for you, as adapting to speak to a Single species..."

"... is for us."

With a laugh Temperance shook her head slightly. "It is equal parts confusing and fascinating," she replied. "It actually isn't that hard to follow, I just needed to leave my own expectations behind, and, to be honest, that isn't that hard to do." She paused for a moment. "Well, at least, it's easy enough with just one of you. I think if there were more than one I'd need to close my eyes." Her eyes widened ever so slightly. "There is only one of you on the ship, isn't there?"

The pair each gave a nod, "I'm the only Dalacari posted on the Wellington." she seemed to make that distinction very specific. "If you ever do find yourself in the company of more Dalacari..."

"... one thing to be aware of is we have a stigma attached to the term Single." there was a weight there. There was a capital letter there.

"A Single Dalacari is one that has lost their other half." each twin in this case motioned to the other. "It's a tragic, lifelong crippling condition that usually ends in assisted termination."

"Now..." she perked back up, "... this is just for future reference, but yes there's only one Dalacari on board, and she's me." another pause, and another pair of smiles, "And it's good to meet you."

"Ask away." she motioned, "Trust me, I read up on humans before I met Jason and Michelle. You're a very interesting read, as a species. Tragedy, hope, despair, redemption." she noted, before her twin spoke up, "You're an amazing species, and an amazing people."

"What? Humans?" Temp asked, surprise clear in her voice. "Seriously?" She shook her head slightly. "Humans are absolutely crackers. Gods only know how we've survived as long as we have! Honestly I am sometimes very surprised that we haven't been annihilated completely!"

"Exactly!" they said in unison, before only one spoke, "You have singular forms, so fragile and undefended, and yet you achieve so much. You wage war, you commit to..."

"... peace, you invent new ways to defend yourselves, new ways to hurt yourselves, new ways to war, new ways to peace. You detonated fission weapons in your..."

"... only habitable biosphere, you strapped a pair of warp inducers onto a weapon of war and pressed the button not knowing if you'd survive!" she sounded very enthusiastic about this.

"You're a crazy, reckless species utterly insane and often devoid of anything akin to restraint or self-preservation." she smiled, and motioned, "And you made it..."

"... to us. You crossed the gulf of infinity to stand on our doorstep." a pause, "Be proud human." and then there was a pause, then a smile, then a giggle from both of them.

"Okay, I admit, I rehearsed that but I meant every word."

Temperance laughed openly, unable to help it. "Rehearsed or not... I am impressed... You seem to have a very unique perspective on everything you see," she replied. "I am not entirely sure I would sum up human history in such a... a..." she paused, struggling to find the right word. "In such an interesting manner, and be able to say it all with a straight face! But, I guess there is some truth in it. I shall have to make a point of reading up on your own people, I'm sure it will be equally interesting!"

Rostra joined in the laugh, a good moment of mirth shared. Once the merriment died down a little, Rostra was still all smiles, "I'm an optimist. What can I say?"

"But please, my door's always open if you just want to chat, ask questions, or on the off chance it's actual business." she said, that last part almost with regret. "Though I have to cut this a little..."

"... short, departments to visit, officers to advise. The life of an adviser is never dull. I've got contacts in six bureaucracies across the Republic and I know one or..."

"... two people in the Empire, so let me know if I can answer anything or fill in any blanks." she offered. "Looking forward to working with you Temp."

"And I look forward to working with you Rostra, I'm sure we'll chat again soon." Temp smiled warmly. "My doors are always open for you, any time."

=========

Comm. Rostra Tang
Executive Officer / Mission Adviser
USS Wellington

Lieutenant Temperance Zachary
Strat Ops
USS Wellington