Trekkies United: Going Boldly

"it really was," brianna agreed wholeheartedly. "I guess maybe you'll be able to teach me the base notes and theories. I'm afraid I won't be able to just pick it up like you can and play that well. in fact it might be a while before I can string enough notes together for a melody." she tapped her chin with the whistle and frowned slightly. "oh dear...I should probably learn to read music too..."

Matrix nodded, looking amused. "Yes, that would be helpful," he agreed. "And I can certainly do that. Eventually, you should hopefully be able to tell a particular note just by listening, and then, learn to play by ear, but that will take time, of course."

Mr. Solus shook his head slowly, looking impressed. "Never was able to learn an instrument myself. Just didn't have the ear for it, I guess." He paused. "Well, I've got to return to work. Good luck, the both of you."

"well, you know that some people are tone deaf, right? like colorblind but for sounds?" she asked, nodding at Mr Solus at his words. "thank you again, sir. you've been very kind to me." Brianna waggled the small flute in her good hand. "let's go drop this off in my quarters, since I can't use it for now. what time is it? almost 1600 yet?" she knew he would know the time exactly.

Mr. Solus gave a chuckle. "Yup, that's me," he laughed. "Can't pick up a tune for anything, and don't even try to get me to sing - I've been told I'm terrible!" He smiled. "Of course, Cadet. If you need anything else just let me know. And good luck to you both."

"Thank you, sir," Matrix told him with a smile in return, and Mr. Solus nodded at both of them and headed out to return to finishing up repairing the replicators.

Once he was gone, Mat looked to Brianna with a tilt of his head. "1547, more or less," he affirmed. "We should have just enough time to take that to your quarters, return to mine, and get settled."

"good. I want to be punctual for your father and the others," brianna told him, leading the way to her quarters and leaving the small flute on her bed, then turning expectantly to him to lead the way to his own quarters. truth be told, she didn't know where they were, and had only found them before by following her sense of him.


Data was passively expecting the transmission, as Matrix had never given him an exact time to expect them. in fact, he wasn't really expecting them for another 3 hours, until after dinner when they should have free time.

Matrix nodded with a small hum of agreement, following her to her quarters and then leading her to his. She didn't seem to know the way, despite having found herself there last night, and he presumed she'd simply been following her senses and not been consciously aware of where she was going.

Once there, he brought an extra chair to his desk, nodding to Brianna with a smile to take it, and sat down in his own chair, sending out the transmission to his father.

(Guess I should play Troi, though I have no idea what I'm doing... x'D)

The Counselor, too, was not expecting them for at least another few hours and was still in her office, reading over some patient files at her station.

(well we can switch if you'd rather?)

brianna fidgeted nervously as the ping was sent out, trying to straighten her lozenges again. it took only seconds for them to be answered, and Lieutenant Commander Data saw and acknowledged his son first, before seeing the other cadet. "I assume this is Cadet Dhaki?" he inquired politely, offering a small polite smile. she managed a small nod and a shy smile, suddenly apparently unable to talk. "allow me to page counselor Troi, so she may also speak with both of you."

(Well, I kinda suck at playing Data-with-emotions, too, but I'm probably better at him than Troi xD If you're sure?)

Matrix could sense Brianna's nervousness and shifted, his own discomfort beginning to rise. It seemed to him to take forever for the ping to be answered, and when it finally was, he stifled a sigh of relief, greeting his father with a smile. He then glanced over to Brianna, feeling a flicker of embarrassment as Data tapped his commbadge.

"Data to Counselor Troi. Matrix and Cadet Dhaki are ready to speak with you. Are you available?"

Counselor Troi sat up slightly in surprise, quickly responding that she was available and on her way. Brianna couldn't help a slightly wider smile as the first thing she noticed about the new woman were her deep black eyes, identical to her own. they looked, of course, much more striking on the redhead, at least most people thought so. "I'm glad you were able to meet with us, cadets," she greeted.

Matrix looked between Brianna and the Counselor and his father before giving a nod to Counselor Troi. "We're glad you were able to meet with us," he told her amusedly. "I know you probably weren't expecting us so early."

Data nodded. "I was expecting you would not be available until at least 1900 hours," he confirmed. "Your early call was a bit of a surprise, I will admit, but certainly not unwelcome."

"I'm afraid that's my fault," Brianna confessed, finally speaking up. she held up her hand, covered in the protective mitten. "I hit my thumb with an impact hammer, so i'm not allowed in class around dangerous tools until it's fully healed in a few days..." she looked a bit sheepish and counselor Troi coughed in a clear attempt to hide a giggle at the girl's misfortune. 

"well, in any case, now that you are here, we can get down to business. have your records been corrected to reflect your half-betazoid heritage yet, cadet?" she shrugged, not having asked the head nurse yet. "have you been offered empath/telepath counseling yet?" at this, brianna shook her head, and Troi frowned a little in concern.

Data frowned with confused concern as she held up her mittened hand, before his eyes lit with amusement at her explanation, and he quickly looked away, not-so-discreetly trying to hide it by pretending to look interestedly at the wall, feeling sheepish for his feelings despite the urge to laugh.

Matrix gave a slightly nervous giggle, looking over at the protective mitten. "Well," he added to the conversation, glad of the distraction. "The head nurse knows about the records needing correction, and the station commander now does, as well. I am sure that it will be resolved soon. As for counseling, I expect that will be offered soon. Frankly, I'm a little surprised someone hasn't approached you already," he added to Brianna, looking a little concerned, as well.

"as am I," the counselor agreed with a nod. "it really is imperative that you receive that aid and counsel. you were raised as a human and matrix told me you know almost nothing of your betazoid heritage."

brianna nodded at those words, agreeing with a soft frown. "I'm sure my dad knew some things, but it hurt him so much to even mention it that I never pressed him for information..."

Data frowned at that. He opened his mouth to speak, then closed it, thinking perhaps what he was about to say was not the nicest thing. Certainly her father would have thought to get her counseling, right? How could he just have ignored her need, even if it hurt him to think about it?

"I expect your mother was... not present, based on your words," he said softly instead, his gold eyes filling with sympathy. "I am sorry for your loss, as well as his."

Matrix looked from his father to Brianna, frowning a little sadly. "I wish you could have gotten counsel as a child," he murmured, though his tone was not accusatory. "It certainly would have made things a lot easier for you..."

"yes, well, the past is the past," Brianna said, waving a hand slightly in dismissal. "didn't you want to speak to us about something specific, counselor?"

"well...yes, I did." Counselor Troi straightened up a little at the reminder. she explained that Matrix had come to them, concerned about a malfunction because he had heard her voice inside his mind. Brianna nodded along, glancing at Mat every so often. "so, with those signs, it is fairly clear to me that you have likely become imzadi, at least in a platonic sense. if that is the case, you both could use some additional counseling from a betazoid, if possible."

Matrix nodded. "The problem is, we don't know who to see. I don't know that there are any other Betazoids on board, and especially any that would be in a position to help us. I suppose we'll have to ask, though the whole thing is a bit awkward..." He blushed a little, glancing at Brianna briefly out of the corner of his eye.

Data tilted his head a little but said nothing. He wasn't sure how he would feel if he were in Matrix's position. On one hand, forming such a bond could be seen as a rare honor, but on the other, he wasn't sure he liked the idea of having someone in his head all the time, or of being in anyone else's, for that matter.

Troi nodded at their dilemma. "it is likely that you will need to return to earth to seek help at starfleet academy, I'm afraid. how much longer are you assigned to the station?"

Brianna shrugged and turned to Matrix. "I don't remember...everyone was so excited to be going to space that I can barely recall any of the briefing before I came here..."

Matrix glanced again to Brianna before turning back to the screen. "Eleven months, four days," he said with a frown. "We were assigned for a full year. I'm not sure if we would be allowed to leave for something like this or not." He looked between the counselor and his father, knowing they would know.

"While there is not a specific protocol for your particular situation, students are permitted to return to Earth for both physical and mental health reasons," Data piped up. "I would expect your situation would fall under the category of a mental or emotional health concern, even if it isn't really a 'concern', per se."

"and they would send us both back, together, right?" Brianna asked, nearly cutting off the last word of Data's by accident. she looked anxious at the very thought of being potentially separated from her friend. 

"I believe so, if they are made properly aware of the situation and of you being Imzadi," Troi assured her just as quickly. "anyone with half a thought would know better than to separate you, as it would cause mental anguish at the very least."

Matrix shifted in his chair nervously, glancing to Brianna before looking back to the screen again. "I hope so," he murmured. The thought of losing his friend was bad enough, but he didn't want to know what being separated would do to their minds now that they were so closely intertwined. "We'll be sure to explain thoroughly." Of course, being an android, there was little chance of anything not being explained thoroughly with him around. It was his very nature.

"I am certain that the station commander will understand if you explain it to him," Data reassured mildly.

"he does seem like a very nice fellow," Brianna noted. "everyone seems to like working with him, though I haven't met him yet personally..." she glanced to Matrix, who had met with him already. "I'll let you do the talking and explaining, okay? everything I know about this situation I learned from you anyway." 

Deanna offered a reassuring smile to them both. "was there anything else you wanted or needed to discuss with us, or with me?" she asked, more to the betazoid than to her kind of sort of adopted 'nephew'.

Matrix nodded. "He is, yes. He even seemed to be familiar with you, Father. Said he was in your year at the Academy."

Data perked with intrigue at this. "How fascinating."

"He said you were a very fine man - better than most of the organics there were."

Data blushed noticeably at this. "Well, that... that was very kind of him to say," he murmured.

Matrix nodded, then looked to Brianna at Counselor Troi's question, waiting to see if she had anything to ask. After a few moments of silence, he decided to ask a question of his own. "Well... I was wondering if there were perhaps any other exercises or other things we should be doing now that we're... well... Imzadi. And also, are there any activities we can do together that would help strengthen and hone Brianna's telepathic skills?"

there was a distinct flash of gratefulness from Brianna as Mat spoke for her. her brain did feel a bit scrambled and she couldn't think to phrase the swirling mass of questions in her mind. luckily he could. 

"well," Troi frowned slightly and hesitated. "I suppose that first depends on whether you intend to remain imzadi or not. there are things you can do to help strengthen and solidify the bond further, as well as things you can do to weaken and eventually break it. for now, though, I would say that until you are back on earth and in the company of proper counselors, it might be wise to refrain from any further telepathic or empathic training. I just don't believe it's terribly safe."

Matrix nodded sagely, sensing Brianna's thankfulness and glancing to her briefly. "I understand. I suppose we'll have to consider whether we truly want to strengthen the bond or not." He looked over to Brianna again, curious as to her thoughts on the matter. He didn't really want to weaken their bond, though perhaps it would be easier to manage that way. Given they didn't yet know how to control it, he was unsure of the best way to proceed. "Thank you for your advice, Counselor. It is very much appreciated."

there was a very brief flash--brief enough that no one, probably, besides an android like matrix would have caught it--of uncertainty and fear from bri at the thought of losing this bond with Mat. truth be told, she needed him, or at least someone, to be there for her in such a fashion. it was likely that Data had also seen her split-second grimace, if he had been looking at her. Deanna alone didn't see or notice the girl's discomfort. "I'm always happy to help, Mat. if you are able to call and need more advice, please feel free to reach out, all right?"