Holo-Jealousy

Posted on Thu Jan 21st, 2010 @ 1:48am by Lieutenant Jimmy Cooper & Lieutenant Commander Eliza McAdams

1,257 words; about a 6 minute read

Mission: Testing, Testing, 1-2-3
Location: Corridor
Timeline: Current

ON:

A blonde-haired girl was stomping through the corridor. Her hands were gripped to fists, her eyes pure thunder.

Eventually, she found who she was looking for.

Technically, on a ship this small, it was not a difficult task, especially when it wasn't Serha's want to fade into the background. Of course, it also wasn't typical for her to be standing around in corridors analying terminal displays but stranger things have happened and she did occasionally perform duties that didn't simply involve her having fun. It was just a quick schedule check, she'd forgotten where she was due next.

The sound of footsteps prompted a diversion in attention, however, though the Betazoid wasn't completely tuned in yet to the fact that she had company. It was a corridor, people walked through them, and as she glanced up to offer the obligatory cheerful greeting, Sehra hadn't come anywhere close to suspecting that the person was actually in pursuit of her.

Before Sehra could finish her sentence, a flat hand slapped her in the face. "You... You!" The girl was so seething, no coherent message came through.

Well that was... Okay, she couldn't say it hadn't happened before, but she usually had more of an idea why. There existed out there plenty of women who couldn't differentiate between a friendly conversation and an attempted seduction and Sehra had been forced on a few occasions to take a break from festivities to change out of the garment that had just been "accidentally" soiled. Jealousy was a ferocious force and it was hard to reason with someone who believed that the key to a successful relationship was to keep every other woman at least ten feet away from their partner. She'd been slapped before too, but this was rather...abrupt.

Wide eyes blinked as the petty officer lifted a hand to her stinging cheek, shrinking back against the terminal with understandable wariness. "I'm sorry, do I...know you?"

Suddenly, Holly started crying. "T'kaarch... he is mine - my father - my... friend."

Father? This was rapidly making less sense than her grandfather's fashion choices. Now that she'd had time to centre herself, to take a look at the woman and collect her senses, Sehra became aware of something rather...unusual. Well, it was downright odd given that the young blonde appeared human. Some species were naturally insulated from telepathic sensitivity but it was rare not to get any sense whatsoever of a person standing so close and yet Sehra felt nothing. Her eyes told a different story, as did her ears and the red mark on her cheek, but the one sense the telepath intrinsically trusted beyond all others was failing to register anything. It was disconcerting.

Still, whoever this was, she appeared upset and though Sehra was bewildered by her lack of ability to verify that emotion, she was trained to interpret body language too. This could have been an attempt to lure her closer for another assault but she didn't think so.

"Listen, I'm sorry if I've done something to upset you. T'kaarch and I..." Oh boy, this was always a tough one. Claiming they were just friends was pushing the definition somewhat but Sehra was honest and she truly didn't believe she could claim ownership of another person, least of all someone who had only just expressed an interest in getting to know her intimately. "Why don't you tell me your name?", she suggested softly, changing tact slightly.

Holly, still with tears in her eyes, looked down. "I'm... sorry. I'm Holly, and T'kaarch... well, I'm a hologram, and he made me. I - I shouldn't have hit you..."

A hologram. Well, that explained the lack of presence, at least, but only marginally explained the outburst. Sehra had to admit she hadn't kept abreast of the advances in holotechology, other than a vague notion that there had been advances. It wasn't in the woman's nature to be dismissive of anything and if the...entity...before her was displaying an emotional reaction, then it seemed natural to respond to it. As a telepath, however, and a psychologist, this was rather a grey area. Could a hologram have a psyche? Their matrixes had the capacity for intricacy, she realised, but to what extent was their ability to change a direct result of their interactions with others, with the world around them, or with their own sense of reality and self? Did they even have a sense of self?

She really hadn't expected to have a psychological debate with herself in the middle of the corridor.

"It's all right," she said kindly, far too warm-hearted to ignore the upset blonde despite the fact that she couldn't quite decide if her emotions qualified as being 'legitimate'. "Of course, it's perhaps not the best way to deal with what's upsetting you. Perhaps....you could just tell me instead? Maybe I can help you."

"T'kaarch has been all I know since... since I was born... He cared for me, taught me everything, trusted me with his shuttle..." Holly's eyes glimmered with the memory. "That stupid cat always got himself into trouble, and I always got him out." Holly was now positively smiling, but it faded quickly. "Then we found the Archimedes, and all he talks about now is captain Kerr, lieutenant Larkin... and... and..." Her hands gripped into fists again. "I DON'T WANT TO SHARE HIM!"

"I see."

How did you counsel somethi...one...whose emotions were determined by a series of subroutines? Organic psychology she understood but as much as Sehra harboured a pioneering soul, even this felt somewhat out of her league. Still, she could try, if for no other reason than this hologram was part of T'kaarch's life, apparently, and ignoring her wasn't all that respectful to him. She could decide how she felt about disrespecting Holly herself later.

"Well, you know, just because he's found more people doesn't mean that you're less important." The Betazoid smiled brightly. "It's actually quite normal for people to have an extended network of friends and family, different personalities provide stimulus and support in ways that others might not. But being friends with one person doesn't make you less of a friend to someone else, most people are very social creatures, they thrive on the interaction and actually benefit from it more than being alone. T'kaarch's world has just got....bigger. That doesn't mean that you got smaller."

Holly calmed down again a little. She closed her eyes. Counted to three. Thought about what this girl... this 'rival' for T'kaarch's affection just said. "Are you his girlfriend?" she hadn't opened her eyes yet. But she had to know.

Before Sehra could answer, however, T'kaarch came walking down the corridor. "Oh, hi Sehrrra, Holly." He seemed blissfully unaware of the situation, and his tail started waving happily with the sight of two of his best female-friends.

Holly opened her eyes and saw T'kaarch. "T'kaarch." Anger swell up in her again. "Is she your girlfriend?" T'kaarch blinked, aware of what Holly was suggesting, but appearantly unaware of Holly's feelings. "Eh... are you?" The question was directed at Sehra, but Holly didn't wait for the answer. "You're coming with me right now" "Wha... OW!" Without hesitation Holly dragged T'kaarch along his tail down towards their room. It did look quite painful, actually.

OFF:

A romantically infused post by
Ensign T'Kaarch / Holly
Assistant Science Officer
USS Archimedes

Petty Officer Sehra Vahn (PNPC Martin)
Morale Officer
USS Archimedes

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