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Shadow

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About Shadow

  1. Dr. Jeffrey Kjeldsen, MD Address to the 115th Xenobiology Symposium [This is an excerpted direct transcription of Dr. Kjeldsen’s address. Images and more information can be found in the digital archives of The Journal of Xenobiology.] The Journal of Xenobiology Special Issue on Exceptional Species Vol. 7, August 11, 2418 The Shadow Being Consider, if you will, a universe in which there is no time and no finite space. There is nothing solid, nor is there anything biological. In fact, in this universe all things, all beings, exist and interact as pure energy. There is no linear time, nor is there cyclical time. Time exists. Time is. Past, present, and future are one. Moreover, there is no finite space. There are no boundaries whatsoever. Imagine this universe and put it as firmly into your mind as you can. With that firmly in mind, imagine that at this very instant, without any warning whatsoever, you are transported into that universe. Your body is intact. You are fully clothed. You have in your pockets what you had when you left the house this morning. Absolutely nothing has changed, except that the universe in which you lived a split second before has transformed into a totally alien universe—a timeless, limitless, universe inhabited by beings of pure energy. You have no idea what happened. You might think that it is a dream and try to shake yourself awake, but you can’t, no matter what you do. Then you become confused, you look for a way to get back to where you were, and you grope everywhere looking for a door, an opening, or something that will help you escape. But there is none. You cannot return to your own universe. You are, in essence, stuck in this alternate universe for eternity. You must sustain yourself. You must fend for yourself. You must find food, shelter, companionship—everything that sustained you in your own universe. Pause right now, take a minute, and consider that. Is it even remotely imaginable how you would survive in a universe without time, without distance, without solids, liquids, or gasses? I would wager that most of you would be dumbfounded at such a fantasy, yet this is exactly what happened—in reverse—to a being that has hitherto been a closely guarded military secret. This is what happened to the being that has come to be known as Shadow. According to Starfleet records, this inter-dimensional energy being was snatched from its own dimension and trapped in ours when an alien subspace probe created a dimensional rift in the vicinity of Sky Harbor Aegis 30 years ago, on February 1, 2388. After a long period of adjustment and a steep learning curve, the being and the crew accepted each other. The crew eventually named the being "Shadow" because at first contact it appeared as a shadow, and some of the more superstitious among them believed it was a ghost. Although its species has neither male nor female, for ease of communication… and for no other reason, mind you… the being is spoken of in the masculine. Shadow is a sentient being who exhibits intelligence, reason, emotion, the will to survive, and the need for companionship, shelter, and sustenance. In short, he possesses everything we possess except for a biological body, and he exists today trapped in our universe of finite space and time. After 30 years he is still uncomfortable. He still puzzles over much that he finds in this reality. During last month’s conference on Beta Zebulon I had the rare opportunity to study Shadow, and I can assure you that, as a Xenobiologist, it created a challenge that suggests an oxymoron of infinite proportions in the world of Xenobiology, since there is nothing biological about him. His very existence seems to defy reason. His survival in our universe has challenged my own concept of the universe, and it definitely broadens the Vulcan idea of Kol-Ut-Shan: Infinite Diversity in Infinite Combinations. There were, of course, certain basic questions that had to be answered. How does he sustain himself and survive? How does he move? How does he communicate? Does he reproduce, and if so, how? How did he function in his own universe, and how does he function here, outside his own universe? First let us consider survival. As do most beings, Shadow seeks a safe haven wherever he goes. The first place he encountered in this universe was Sky Harbor Aegis, and he considered the station his safe haven. Sky Harbor Aegis was the only link to his own universe—his home—and it was the first place that he found everything he needed to sustain himself: energy, shelter, and companionship. Thus, he was initially reluctant to leave the station for fear of losing the source of everything he needed to maintain his existence. How does he sustain himself? He is energy, therefore he seeks energy. After some experimentation, the engineering staff configured the energy output of a reactor that would meet his needs. The reactor became his home. He wrapped around it and drained just enough power to recharge himself, for lack of a better term. He has, on occasion, mistakenly drained certain systems, but he does not have the ability to drain the energy of entire starships, shuttlecraft, or other large craft. For him, it would be the equivalent of one of us eating the entire fare of several buffet tables, the complete stores of the San Francisco farmer’s market, and then finishing off the contents of the Galaxy Mart down the street. How does he move? He thinks, and he moves. His movement is beyond time and space. Distance is no barrier. One meter is as one light year, and one light year is as a thousand. Within a nanosecond he is able to transport from one ship to the next, or from one galaxy to the next. I say he is able to because being able to and having the desire to are two distinct concepts. Also, to move from one distant place to another, he must have a focus—an energy signature or frequency he can focus on—just as we would need galactic coordinates to plot a course. As for communication, Shadow’s pure energy state enables him to connect with the life energies of those around him, including their brain waves and any variances that may occur with their changes in emotional state. He is able to speak by producing sound waves that transfer to our auditory processors as words, but he does so with difficulty. He can also enter communication equipment, such as PADDs or monitors, manipulate the characters within them, and form rudimentary sentences in several languages. However, he prefers to communicate through energy waves and brain waves, quite similar to telepathy. Full telepaths, empaths, and those with telepathic and empathic tendencies—all of which I lack—have been Shadow's most common contacts. Socially, Shadow is an emotional being who craves companionship. In his own universe he forms energy bonds with like energy beings. In our universe he forms what I will call a companionship bond with those whom we might call his friends. With a few, especially telepaths, he forms an inexplicable solid connection. With that connection he can contact a telepath regardless of distance, even though it might be beyond the ability of the biological friend to reciprocate. He associates with his friends much as we do. He is reluctant to leave their company and will vigorously protect and defend them when they are threatened, to the end of his existence if necessary. Shadow prefers to ease himself into situations and relationships. When encountering a new situation he often manifests himself as a fleeting shadow until he reaches a certain comfort level with his surroundings. He can take on any form, but prefers to take a form that would be familiar to the biological who wishes to make contact. In that sense, I would say he is extremely polite, with a desire to conform to the expectations of the civilization in which he finds himself. In my case, he manifested himself as a Starfleet science officer, most probably because I knew he operated with science in some capacity. Because he is a ward of Starfleet, he bowed to my expectation that he would look like a Starfleet officer. Shadow calls himself a seeker, which not only suggests that he comes from a complex societal structure, but that within that structure his function is much like a scientist. He has a great deal of curiosity and has learned many facts about our universe but is still working on the comprehension of those facts. Just as a child learns that a certain object is called an apple, the child must learn that the flesh of an apple can be eaten and the core cannot, an apple grows on trees and can be used for sauce, pies, and other delicacies. Like the child, Shadow is still working on entire concepts: comprehending the things in and the function of our universe. In fact, it was several months before the concepts of home, planet, and Sol System were explained to him so he could effectively help a ship navigate in the desired direction. Some of you will no doubt point out that we have encountered deceptive, dangerous energy beings such as the anaphasic lifeform, and suggest caution with this new form, which could also prove deceptive. Of course, at first contact, Captain Ramson, then commanding officer of Aegis, proceeded with extreme caution. But time has proven, and I assure you from close observation, that Shadow is very unlike an anaphasic lifeform. Anaphasic energy is extremely unstable and anaphasic-based lifeforms require some sort of conduit to maintain molecular cohesion. They require a corporeal host with compatible biochemistry in order to take physical form. Shadow, on the other hand, requires no host to maintain molecular cohesion. He requires only a sufficient energy source with which to charge: a place to figuratively plug in. He might use—and has on occasion used—a phaser, a force field, a tricorder, or a console to recharge. Then he produces his own form as he wishes. After 30 years of careful, close observation by various groups within the Federation, we are certain that Shadow is the first sentient and inherently benign energy being we have encountered in this universe. Now to the ultimate question: can Shadow die? We know from his own fears that he must be able to diminish to the point of extinction, but can he die and how can he die are two questions that have yet to be answered. Theoretically, all things must pass. However the type of energy that is Shadow has yet to be identified, for obvious reasons. Since he is a sentient being and there is no other being like him, how would one proceed in identifying his type of energy without taking the risk of damaging or destroying him? It is, indeed, a conundrum. According to Shadow, in his universe groups of energy beings exist in bonds, or what we might call cohorts or clans. Shadow considers himself a positive (for lack of a better term) energy being, and those of his bond are of like leaning—they are positives. Positive energy groups seek knowledge and harmony. They are the diplomats, the scientists, and the philosophers. Conversely, there exist bonds of opposite leaning which we shall call negative energy beings. These negative groups thrive on discord and strife. When they join in large bonds they produce conflict, dissention, and disruption—something akin to our wars. Using the terms positive and negative for these groups can be confusing because, for us, positive and negative, when used with energy, usually refer to an electrical charge, and positively and negatively charged particles attract one another and seek balance. In Shadow’s dimension positive and negative seem to be opposites on a philosophical plane, though that analogy is woefully inadequate. Positive and negative cohorts vie for dominance. Should Shadow come in contact with a negative energy being, a conflict would ensue and continue until one is either run off by the other, or one is totally dissipated by the other. The energy is dissipated, not destroyed. What exactly happens after this dissipation remains a mystery as deep as the mystery surrounding a shadow being’s infinite existence. Shadow has no concept of birth or beginning. When asked, he says with some puzzlement that he simply is. He has no recollection of any type of birth, any type of creation, only that the universe, he, and other beings like him, exist and always have existed. So, can Shadow die? Certainly not in the sense that we understand death, but this dissipation may lead to some kind of ceasing to exist. Whether the energy is absorbed by another being or that the energy floats around, dissipated, until it regains cohesion and continues on as the original being has yet to be discovered. The nature of Shadow beings, being positive and negative, leads me to the thought that our universe was indeed fortunate to have trapped a positive being rather than a negative one. Then I wonder what might happen if a negative energy being should be trapped somehow and enter our universe. We do not know if there are other Shadow beings present in our dimension, but the possibility exists that there have been other Shadow beings trapped that have remained undetected. Also, there is the possibility that, should similar circumstances akin to those of Sky Harbor Aegis recur, another might be similarly trapped. As unlikely as that is to occur, we should certainly be aware, and on guard against trapping a negative energy being. Let me say in conclusion that we still have much to learn about these beings and much to learn about the nature of the universe, or the multiverse, in which we coexist. We seem to question the very nature of creation, and discoveries such as this cause us to struggle to find our place in it. As a scientist I find that the more I explore, the more questions I have, and the more questions I have the more ignorant I feel. Yet, in our pursuit of knowledge we must go wherever that pursuit leads us. Our search today has led us into strange territory, and no doubt our search tomorrow will lead us into even stranger realms. All sentient beings—even sentient energy beings—are inherently seekers. It is humanoid nature to explore, to ask questions, and to look for answers. In the words of TS Eliot, “We will not cease from exploration. And the end of our exploring will be to arrive where we started, and know the place for the first time.”
  2. Dr. Jeffrey Kjeldsen, MD Address to the 115th Xenobiology Symposium [This is an excerpted direct transcription of Dr. Kjeldsen’s address. Images and more information can be found in the digital archives of The Journal of Xenobiology.] The Journal of Xenobiology Special Issue on Exceptional Species Vol. 7, August 11, 2418 The Shadow Being Consider, if you will, a universe in which there is no time and no finite space. There is nothing solid, nor is there anything biological. In fact, in this universe all things, all beings, exist and interact as pure energy. There is no linear time, nor is there cyclical time. Time exists. Time is. Past, present, and future are one. Moreover, there is no finite space. There are no boundaries whatsoever. Imagine this universe and put it as firmly into your mind as you can. With that firmly in mind, imagine that at this very instant, without any warning whatsoever, you are transported into that universe. Your body is intact. You are fully clothed. You have in your pockets what you had when you left the house this morning. Absolutely nothing has changed, except that the universe in which you lived a split second before has transformed into a totally alien universe—a timeless, limitless, universe inhabited by beings of pure energy. You have no idea what happened. You might think that it is a dream and try to shake yourself awake, but you can’t, no matter what you do. Then you become confused, you look for a way to get back to where you were, and you grope everywhere looking for a door, an opening, or something that will help you escape. But there is none. You cannot return to your own universe. You are, in essence, stuck in this alternate universe for eternity. You must sustain yourself. You must fend for yourself. You must find food, shelter, companionship—everything that sustained you in your own universe. Pause right now, take a minute, and consider that. Is it even remotely imaginable how you would survive in a universe without time, without distance, without solids, liquids, or gasses? I would wager that most of you would be dumbfounded at such a fantasy, yet this is exactly what happened—in reverse—to a being that has hitherto been a closely guarded military secret. This is what happened to the being that has come to be known as Shadow. According to Starfleet records, this inter-dimensional energy being was snatched from its own dimension and trapped in ours when an alien subspace probe created a dimensional rift in the vicinity of Sky Harbor Aegis 30 years ago, on February 1, 2388. After a long period of adjustment and a steep learning curve, the being and the crew accepted each other. The crew eventually named the being "Shadow" because at first contact it appeared as a shadow, and some of the more superstitious among them believed it was a ghost. Although its species has neither male nor female, for ease of communication… and for no other reason, mind you… the being is spoken of in the masculine. Shadow is a sentient being who exhibits intelligence, reason, emotion, the will to survive, and the need for companionship, shelter, and sustenance. In short, he possesses everything we possess except for a biological body, and he exists today trapped in our universe of finite space and time. After 30 years he is still uncomfortable. He still puzzles over much that he finds in this reality. During last month’s conference on Beta Zebulon I had the rare opportunity to study Shadow, and I can assure you that, as a Xenobiologist, it created a challenge that suggests an oxymoron of infinite proportions in the world of Xenobiology, since there is nothing biological about him. His very existence seems to defy reason. His survival in our universe has challenged my own concept of the universe, and it definitely broadens the Vulcan idea of Kol-Ut-Shan: Infinite Diversity in Infinite Combinations. There were, of course, certain basic questions that had to be answered. How does he sustain himself and survive? How does he move? How does he communicate? Does he reproduce, and if so, how? How did he function in his own universe, and how does he function here, outside his own universe? First let us consider survival. As do most beings, Shadow seeks a safe haven wherever he goes. The first place he encountered in this universe was Sky Harbor Aegis, and he considered the station his safe haven. Sky Harbor Aegis was the only link to his own universe—his home—and it was the first place that he found everything he needed to sustain himself: energy, shelter, and companionship. Thus, he was initially reluctant to leave the station for fear of losing the source of everything he needed to maintain his existence. How does he sustain himself? He is energy, therefore he seeks energy. After some experimentation, the engineering staff configured the energy output of a reactor that would meet his needs. The reactor became his home. He wrapped around it and drained just enough power to recharge himself, for lack of a better term. He has, on occasion, mistakenly drained certain systems, but he does not have the ability to drain the energy of entire starships, shuttlecraft, or other large craft. For him, it would be the equivalent of one of us eating the entire fare of several buffet tables, the complete stores of the San Francisco farmer’s market, and then finishing off the contents of the Galaxy Mart down the street. How does he move? He thinks, and he moves. His movement is beyond time and space. Distance is no barrier. One meter is as one light year, and one light year is as a thousand. Within a nanosecond he is able to transport from one ship to the next, or from one galaxy to the next. I say he is able to because being able to and having the desire to are two distinct concepts. Also, to move from one distant place to another, he must have a focus—an energy signature or frequency he can focus on—just as we would need galactic coordinates to plot a course. As for communication, Shadow’s pure energy state enables him to connect with the life energies of those around him, including their brain waves and any variances that may occur with their changes in emotional state. He is able to speak by producing sound waves that transfer to our auditory processors as words, but he does so with difficulty. He can also enter communication equipment, such as PADDs or monitors, manipulate the characters within them, and form rudimentary sentences in several languages. However, he prefers to communicate through energy waves and brain waves, quite similar to telepathy. Full telepaths, empaths, and those with telepathic and empathic tendencies—all of which I lack—have been Shadow's most common contacts. Socially, Shadow is an emotional being who craves companionship. In his own universe he forms energy bonds with like energy beings. In our universe he forms what I will call a companionship bond with those whom we might call his friends. With a few, especially telepaths, he forms an inexplicable solid connection. With that connection he can contact a telepath regardless of distance, even though it might be beyond the ability of the biological friend to reciprocate. He associates with his friends much as we do. He is reluctant to leave their company and will vigorously protect and defend them when they are threatened, to the end of his existence if necessary. Shadow prefers to ease himself into situations and relationships. When encountering a new situation he often manifests himself as a fleeting shadow until he reaches a certain comfort level with his surroundings. He can take on any form, but prefers to take a form that would be familiar to the biological who wishes to make contact. In that sense, I would say he is extremely polite, with a desire to conform to the expectations of the civilization in which he finds himself. In my case, he manifested himself as a Starfleet science officer, most probably because I knew he operated with science in some capacity. Because he is a ward of Starfleet, he bowed to my expectation that he would look like a Starfleet officer. Shadow calls himself a seeker, which not only suggests that he comes from a complex societal structure, but that within that structure his function is much like a scientist. He has a great deal of curiosity and has learned many facts about our universe but is still working on the comprehension of those facts. Just as a child learns that a certain object is called an apple, the child must learn that the flesh of an apple can be eaten and the core cannot, an apple grows on trees and can be used for sauce, pies, and other delicacies. Like the child, Shadow is still working on entire concepts: comprehending the things in and the function of our universe. In fact, it was several months before the concepts of home, planet, and Sol System were explained to him so he could effectively help a ship navigate in the desired direction. Some of you will no doubt point out that we have encountered deceptive, dangerous energy beings such as the anaphasic lifeform, and suggest caution with this new form, which could also prove deceptive. Of course, at first contact, Captain Ramson, then commanding officer of Aegis, proceeded with extreme caution. But time has proven, and I assure you from close observation, that Shadow is very unlike an anaphasic lifeform. Anaphasic energy is extremely unstable and anaphasic-based lifeforms require some sort of conduit to maintain molecular cohesion. They require a corporeal host with compatible biochemistry in order to take physical form. Shadow, on the other hand, requires no host to maintain molecular cohesion. He requires only a sufficient energy source with which to charge: a place to figuratively plug in. He might use—and has on occasion used—a phaser, a force field, a tricorder, or a console to recharge. Then he produces his own form as he wishes. After 30 years of careful, close observation by various groups within the Federation, we are certain that Shadow is the first sentient and inherently benign energy being we have encountered in this universe. Now to the ultimate question: can Shadow die? We know from his own fears that he must be able to diminish to the point of extinction, but can he die and how can he die are two questions that have yet to be answered. Theoretically, all things must pass. However the type of energy that is Shadow has yet to be identified, for obvious reasons. Since he is a sentient being and there is no other being like him, how would one proceed in identifying his type of energy without taking the risk of damaging or destroying him? It is, indeed, a conundrum. According to Shadow, in his universe groups of energy beings exist in bonds, or what we might call cohorts or clans. Shadow considers himself a positive (for lack of a better term) energy being, and those of his bond are of like leaning—they are positives. Positive energy groups seek knowledge and harmony. They are the diplomats, the scientists, and the philosophers. Conversely, there exist bonds of opposite leaning which we shall call negative energy beings. These negative groups thrive on discord and strife. When they join in large bonds they produce conflict, dissention, and disruption—something akin to our wars. Using the terms positive and negative for these groups can be confusing because, for us, positive and negative, when used with energy, usually refer to an electrical charge, and positively and negatively charged particles attract one another and seek balance. In Shadow’s dimension positive and negative seem to be opposites on a philosophical plane, though that analogy is woefully inadequate. Positive and negative cohorts vie for dominance. Should Shadow come in contact with a negative energy being, a conflict would ensue and continue until one is either run off by the other, or one is totally dissipated by the other. The energy is dissipated, not destroyed. What exactly happens after this dissipation remains a mystery as deep as the mystery surrounding a shadow being’s infinite existence. Shadow has no concept of birth or beginning. When asked, he says with some puzzlement that he simply is. He has no recollection of any type of birth, any type of creation, only that the universe, he, and other beings like him, exist and always have existed. So, can Shadow die? Certainly not in the sense that we understand death, but this dissipation may lead to some kind of ceasing to exist. Whether the energy is absorbed by another being or that the energy floats around, dissipated, until it regains cohesion and continues on as the original being has yet to be discovered. The nature of Shadow beings, being positive and negative, leads me to the thought that our universe was indeed fortunate to have trapped a positive being rather than a negative one. Then I wonder what might happen if a negative energy being should be trapped somehow and enter our universe. We do not know if there are other Shadow beings present in our dimension, but the possibility exists that there have been other Shadow beings trapped that have remained undetected. Also, there is the possibility that, should similar circumstances akin to those of Sky Harbor Aegis recur, another might be similarly trapped. As unlikely as that is to occur, we should certainly be aware, and on guard against trapping a negative energy being. Let me say in conclusion that we still have much to learn about these beings and much to learn about the nature of the universe, or the multiverse, in which we coexist. We seem to question the very nature of creation, and discoveries such as this cause us to struggle to find our place in it. As a scientist I find that the more I explore, the more questions I have, and the more questions I have the more ignorant I feel. Yet, in our pursuit of knowledge we must go wherever that pursuit leads us. Our search today has led us into strange territory, and no doubt our search tomorrow will lead us into even stranger realms. All sentient beings—even sentient energy beings—are inherently seekers. It is humanoid nature to explore, to ask questions, and to look for answers. In the words of TS Eliot, “We will not cease from exploration. And the end of our exploring will be to arrive where we started, and know the place for the first time.”
  3. Considering Shadow Shadow and Nijil It was strange, this place he was in, wherever it was. Had he discovered a new universe, a place where most energies coalesce into a very compact state, into extremely close bonds? He strained to find the appropriate nomenclature, but what he saw, what he experienced, where he was and everything that surrounded him was so foreign, so bizarre. How it happened was a mystery—as much a mystery as were the inhabitants he encountered. Some inhabitants were biological—a complex mix of energies that moved, manufactured, and communicated in waves and vibrations rather than using the energy waves that emitted from the top of their construction. Other inhabitants were thick, compact, and formed a shell that the biological inhabitants occupied. They had many names for the shell: station, ship, fighter, drone, quarters, home.... They came in different sizes and served different purposes. There must be more shells, he thought, and he wondered if the biological inhabitants could survive without them. He thought not, and he mourned for the energies that formed the shells. They were trapped, doomed to a certain function for the duration of their existence. He sighed. Movement came from and moved to everywhere. One particle smashed against another with immense power. Some joined together, broke the other apart, and formed many pieces. It was a perpetual battle in which neither won nor lost. Instead, it changed forms. He saw movement in the elements that formed the shell, and movement in the objects that flowed through it and around it. In some cases, the shell served as a conduit for the particles, but to what purpose? Did that energy have no sense of being? Of presence? Of existence? Did one exist to serve the other until it ceased to exist? Cease to exist. Cease. To exist. If he stayed here, would he cease to exist? His sigh would have echoed in engineering, except that the main shell was vibrating and producing sound that drowned it out. Chaos. Many vibrations. Many discharges of energy. Much destruction, dissipation, and reformation. He often dissipated for survival, but when he re-formed, he was still intact, unchanged. But the immense discharge of power from this large shell—what they called the station—to a smaller shell they called a ship—changed things. It rendered the small shells unusable. Why? What was the purpose? Again he sighed. In the chaos of many vibrations and expulsions of energy, the biological inhabitant closest to him had stopped moving. But its elements were moving. Would it cease to exist? This one that communicated? Would it cease... to... exist? From his shelter around the reactor, Shadow slowly unwrapped to investigate. He dissipated to a thin mist and floated cautiously toward the inhabitant, coming to a stop close enough to watch, and not close enough to disturb. Or frighten. Or make it cease to exist. The biologicals were delicate. Fragile. "Don't worry abo- oof!" Cried the downed engineer-in-charge Nijil as one of his associates tripped over him. Seeing as he was in the way of everyone he pulled himself against a wall. A broken leg was minor compared to other possible injuries, but he wanted to play the role as intended. The wall behind the main console provided a more or less decent view while others worked. Their training allowed them to get the job done without his intervention. Thinking of it, was he really necessary? Jennifer Larson gave him a quick rub on his shoulder as she took command in his absence. He nodded; she nodded. They each knew what to do. Nijil was to sit. He watched as others around him worked, which would give him an opportunity later to evaluate good and bad choices. That was short lived as something caught his eye from a corner. Nijil squinted to block out the overhead lights. "Foggy?" Shadow watched, uncertain of this form’s condition or intent. It splayed against the support element, the element that did not communicate, the one that formed the inner part of the shell. Why did it hug that element? Why did it not move like the others? Nijil checked to see if other engineers saw what he did, but they were too embroiled in their work to notice. He tried to wave the entity over, but like before he had little hope of it not simply dissipating. With a loud whisper as to not arouse others he spoke. "Hey, what are au doing here?" What are au doing here? It was communicating. Vibrating. Wasting energy. Shadow reached out to the place of information for understanding. What is here? Here is… location in space. Intersection of coordinates. Place. Like the place of information. Strange concept. "I'm guessing au won't say either way, or na... positive... negative... bah, binary. This is not the first time I've been quickly dispatched...but at least this is simulated." Within a nanosecond, Shadow materialized by the inhabitant’s side and took a form that vaguely resembled it. “Here,” he said, without moving his awkwardly formed lips. Then he struggled to produce a vibration. “Cease… to… exist?” Still, his lips did not move. "What?" Asked Nijil, looking puzzled. "Oh me? Not today, though if the simulation called me deceased I'd practice the eternal sleep in my own quarters. Oh no. My daughter is getting a musical instrument. Scratch that." He looked directly at the formed mist. "I thought we lost you. How are you doing?" “Here,” he said again, puzzled. “Sim….” He stopped. Vibrating to form words took much energy. Waste of energy. He began to fade. Use place of information. “Sim...ula...tion. Imm..itate. Fake?” "Not easy for you, this speaking form of communication. I don't blame you." He thought progress was being made. "Yes, fake, but on purpose. Training. Lesson. Practice." Perhaps breaking up thoughts into their meaning would help. “Why?” The upswing of inflection took even more energy. “Waste energy.” "To learn, improve, so we know what to do when this is real. Glad you are asking questions" “Words… fake… energy… waste....” Shadow was fading into the bulkhead with the strain. "Be that as it may, here we are. Hey, don't go." Nijil reached out for the fog like he would towards Annisha and brushed him only slightly just before the fog dissipated. The touch ricocheted across his skin, up and down his legs and to his extremities. "Fvadt! Ugh." He shook violently, but more like a twitching eye. He felt it more than performed it for all to see. His eyes opened wide as his head jerked up. He stared at the lights above as the impulses carried across his body. Muscles contracted one moment and relaxed the next. "Ah..." Things were looking up. One pain was replaced by some kind of burning sensation he hoped was not real. "Oh..." He may, or may not have regretted drinking so much coffee that morning. "Ugh..." The oscillations were subsiding as was the pain, but he could not tell as his senses were mixed up like a Ferengi trying to argue logic with a Klingon. Nothing made any sense. Clarity replaced by pain. Nijil let out a sigh as his body finally gave out and his mind shut down to protect itself, once again. His body rested as though he was sleeping on a bed of rocks. When he regained consciousness, a soft voice spoke from the void. “No…. touch.”
  4. The Return A Shadow Log In the grand scheme of things, one energy being made little difference. For a particular energy being, however, it made all the difference in the universe, whether it was his own or the one into which he had been thrust. Shadow had adapted, in a manner of speaking, to the universe into which he had been drawn when Agincourt returned from the Perseus Arm. The shock overcome, he turned to survival. He was a seeker. He would learn. He would survive. All energy in this new universe seemed the same as in his own - except for the corporeal beings who befriended him. He learned to identify each one by sensing their energy signatures and classifying them as either friend or foe - that is, one to be avoided or one to embrace (figuratively speaking, of course). As awkward and misunderstood as it often was, Shadow first learned, for the sake of his friends, to form a corporeal shape. Then he learned to communicate. He identified the corporeal being then traced its energy waves to its energy center, what they called the brain. He read the synapse patterns used to produce what they called thought and speech. In common terms, Shadow had learned to "listen" to brain waves and respond in one way or another. He had also learned to decipher the sound waves they produced and to produce them himself by compressing the atmosphere at various frequencies. In short, Shadow had adapted as much as he could to this universe. He had learned, in the absence of his positive energy bonding mates, to swarm with positive energy wherever he found it. He existed. He was. He endured in this alien reality. Until the Soltan. Until Corianis, where dark energy lurked long after their departure. Until the Alpha Quadrant front line skirmish that stirred the Soltan dark energy into fury until it overflowed and disbursed what little cohesion Shadow had left. Without the aid of his cohorts to swarm and protect him from the Soltan massive dark absorption, the positive energy being known as Shadow dissipated. Since he knew not time he could not gauge how long he drifted, each particle separated from the other. He only knew that at one point he wasn't, and then he was. Soon he sensed others. The Hefner. The Grafton. He was home.
  5. Missing Shadow was missing. He missed his cohorts, his bond-mates, those of his own kind with whom he interacted on a level unimaginable and unattainable for these beings with whom he interacted in this universe. For Shadow, bonding was a complete assimilation of his energy with the energy of his bond-mates for the total, intimate sharing of information, for support, and especially for protection and defense. This bonding was not possible here, or at least he had not yet discovered it. Yet he had formed bonds of sorts in this universe and, as a Seeker among his own, charged with investigation of the unknown for the strengthening of his kind, he had observed that a sort of bonding existed among the biological beings of this universe. He knew not time, but to put it in the terms of these corporeal beings who called themselves the crew of Agincourt, over time Shadow had formed a type of bond with a certain group and he noticed that they seemed to have types of bonds with which he was not – and could not be – familiar. The Tay was his closest corporeal bond. The Tay being – dubbed strange by the crew, yet no stranger than Shadow – communicated on a basic, familiar level. The subtlety of energy communication known as telepathy seemed to escape the others, so the intimacy Shadow felt with Tay he considered a type of bond. Though the concept of place escaped him, this communication knew no bounds. Shadow received Tay’s thoughts no matter what point in space Tay occupied, though what Tay called distance seemed to hamper her reception and, therefore, her ability to respond. Shadow had also formed a sort of bond with others of the crew: the Harper, the JoNs, the Odile, the Kairi, and the Hefner. Those energy signatures he could pick readily from the rest of the crew; others required more concentration. As a Seeker, Shadow had noticed that, though they lacked the energy bonding with which he was familiar, another type of bond existed among certain of these biologicals, one that went beyond the bounds of the most common union for procreation. For instance, the Harper seemed to have a bond with her crew, a certain resonance that told the crew her mood or the likelihood that she would make a certain decision. Likewise, she seemed to sense her crew’s disposition, which sometimes gave them pause. They used the phrase eyes in the back of her head quite often, which puzzled Shadow, not only because of the literal interpretation but because to him it was logical that the resonance flowed both ways. If they could sense her, why should she not be able to sense them? No matter. Suffice to say that these bonds, however strong they had become during his captivity in this strange universe, were weak in comparison to the bonds he experienced in his own universe, and he regretted having taken those strong bonds for granted. Now he took nothing for granted. He formed the bonds he could, however tenuous, and continued in the hope that he would some day return to his own. Until then, he missed them, and in the missing and the waiting he absorbed the energy available to him, and slowly weakened for lack of true bonds, the all-absorbing intimate contact that affirmed his value, his worth, his need for his bond-mates and they for him. Especially in this time of Soltan attack, his energy waned, the Soltans’ negative energy slowly but deliberately overwhelming his positive energy. He had clung to the junction outside main engineering as long as possible. Then, as one clinging to a bridge no longer had the strength to endure, he had succumbed to the inevitable and passed into the ether.
  6. Congratulations go out to Jerry "Skip" Maxwell, who graduated from STSF Academy on August 6, 2009! Welcome, Ensign Maxwell!
  7. Game Master - STSF Kansas Game Master - Shadow Command: Commanding Officer (CO) - STSF Kansas Executive Officer (XO) - Lisanna Security: Chief Security Officer (CSEC) - Jerry "Skip" Maxwell Asst Security Officer (ASEC) - C. T. Caine Asst Security Officer (ASEC) - Schawnsee Medical: Chief Medical Officer (CMO) - Eva Jaz Asst Medical Officer (AMO) - TKAR MISSION BRIEF: In a continuation of last week, the cadet crew of the USS Greenleaf (Kelvin Class) has landed the Shuttle DeForest Kelley on a colony planet. A distress call originating from a section of the planet about 15 minutes away on foot is being received, and we are to investigate. We are all planetside. ThursChat09_08_06.txt
  8. MISSION BRIEF: This sim is set in the New Original Series timeline from the movie. The USS Greenleaf (Kelvin Ship Class) is on patrol; we seem to have lost our Class F Shuttle, the DeForest Kelley, and are attempting to locate it and her small crew. Command: Commanding Officer (CO) - STSF Kansas Executive Officer (XO) - Shadow Bridge Crew: Helm/Ops Manager (HOPS) - Samantha Kent Tactical Officer (TAC) - Mreh K'hal Engineering: Chief Engineer Officer (CENG) - Pneuma Asst Engineer Officer (AENG) - James Howell Asst Engineer Officer (AENG) - Ens Hawke Science: Chief Science Officer (CSCI) - Leila Kalomi Medical: Chief Medical Officer (CMO) - Eva Jaz Asst Medical Officer (AMO) - Erika MR Asst Medical Officer (AMO) - TKAR Unfortunately, the chat log for this academy is not available.
  9. Congratulations to Pneuma, who graduated from the Thursday Academy on July 23.
  10. Does that qualify for Le Poof? Taboo cat!
  11. Taboo cat watch birds? Tay! Tay! Bad kitty. Down! Chase yarn.
  12. Mission Brief: The crew of the USS Olie <Norway class> are enroute to Vergas V to determine its terraforming potential, all systems are nominal and the crew is relaxed and looking forward to this scientific mission, a chance to create a new world in effect. Command: Commanding Officer (CO) ----- STSF Dacotah Executive Officer (XO) ----- Will Marx Bridge Crew: Ops Manager (OPS) ----- Wade F Knight Tactical Officer (TAC) -------- Princess T'Lak Helm (HELM) ----------- Eagle Security: Chief Security Officer (CSEC) - Cadet Wolf Asst Security Officer (ASEC) -- Vilanne Engineering: Chief Engineer Officer (CENG) - Kairi Asst Engineer Officer (AENG) -- Gugeyewalker Science: Chief Science Officer (CSCI) -- Torre Ze'Rea Asst Science Officer (ASCI) --- Samantha Kent Medical: Chief Medical Officer (CMO) --- TKAR 090128.txt
  13. Of Hair and Other Things A Shadow Log It had occurred to Shadow that biologicals had an innate need to categorize not only inanimate objects (which, of course, were not inanimate at all, they only seemed that way to the observationally challenged senses of an organic being), but anything they came across, including other biologicals, even those they considered similar to themselves. Moreover, their classification went beyond the complex taxonomies that constantly changed because of DNA sequencing. They either craved or enjoyed what The Hefner called pigeonholing according to rank, behavior, hair color, quirks of communication, etc. In fact, anything that could differentiate one from the other tended to create a pigeonhole, though Shadow had yet to locate this hole aboard the Agincourt. For instance, in the absence of anything concrete on which to base their decision, they had first named this energy being Shadow then renamed it Casper and had given it a gender, which was beyond strange on so many levels. For lack of, or perhaps in complete disregard of Tay Nightflyer’s proper designation, they had named her Bat, among other things. But she didn’t seem to mind and the crew seemed to derive a degree of amusement that kept the crew occupied during otherwise dark and dangerous times. All that aside, Shadow had noticed that he, too, in his observations of this universe, had begun to categorize. It intrigued him immensely and he wondered if it was a sign of progression or regression. However, the more intrigued he became the more he categorized and he wondered how far he could go with said categorization until one day the use of the transporter caught his attention. These finite biological beings stood on a platform and trusted a mechanism to disassemble their atomic structure, transport it through the ether to a destination, and then reassemble it – hopefully in the original configuration. If, he wondered, they could do that, why did they not remain in that disassembled state, an infinitely more efficient state of being than the complex energy-wasting biological state to which they were born? ‘Twas, indeed, a puzzlement. In their original biological state they consumed stored energy in the form of food, used only a portion of said stored energy to sustain, grow, and reproduce, then disposed of the stored energy that was not needed. This disposed stored energy eventually disintegrated into its prime components, bonded with other components, began to grow into another biological item to be used as stored energy, and the cycle continued ad infinitum. Their seekers called this the conservation of matter and energy, though Shadow begged to differ that there was any kind of conservation involved, only consumption and disposal. Disposal. Removal. Discarding. Clearing. Throwing away. It was all such a waste. And evidence of such seemed to litter the ship, though the crew didn’t seem to notice it as much as Shadow did. Except for The Harper, who kept what she called a lint roller by her chair on the bridge. It had something to do with The JoNs and a process called shedding, which Shadow took to be similar to other biological life that the crew considered non-sentient. Deciduous trees found on some planets seemed to exhibit the same phenomenon: the shedding of a part that is no longer needed, or falling away when its purpose is finished, such as when the fruit is ripe. Was The JoNs’ shedding similar to that? Did The JoNs produce a tiny unseen fruit beneath what she called her coat? Yet, The Harper didn’t seem to notice the shedding of her own hair, which seemed to drop occasionally, especially when she was faced with incalculable odds in stressful situations. Though she occasionally removed a hair from her uniform tunic she seemed to be more obsessed with The JoNs’ shedding than her own. The shedding of hair and dead epidermal particles also seemed to be ignored, except by the lowliest of the lowly who were tasked with cleaning the ship. Yet another categorization. ‘Twas, indeed, a puzzlement.
  14. The crew of the USS Greenleaf (Steamrunner class) are flying through the Sigma Draconis Cluster, taking scans of the various space phenomena and a nearby swampy planet. Command: Commanding Officer (CO) ----- STSF NDak Executive Officer (XO) ----- STSF Jumper Bridge Crew: Mission Commanding Officer (MCO) - STSF Jumper/NDak Mission Executive Officer (MXO) - Samantha Kent Helm/Ops Manager (HOPS) ----- WadeKnight Tactical Officer (TAC) -------- Dusty506 Science: Chief Science Officer (CSCI) -- TKAR Others: Swamp Thing - Shadow
  15. The USS Firebrand, Akira Class, is headed towards the edge of Breen space to assist a vessel in distress. Command: Commanding Officer (CO) Samantha Kent Executive Officer (XO) T'Prise Bridge Crew: Helm/ Ops Manager (HOPS) TKAR Tactical Officer (TAC) Wade Knight Security: Chief of Security (CSEC) Shadow 081023_Thurs_Academy.txt