Table for Two ((T'Prise/t'Tamarak))

[Jaiysa t'Tamarak 0]

"Awaenndraev...locate Arrain T'Prise."

 

"Lieutenant T'Prise is in the mess hall."

 

Good, Jaiysa thought with some satisfaction. The Vulcan wasn’t on duty, or in the lab; she was somewhere she might be more willing to talk. The irony was not lost on Jaiysa that she was, in fact, seeking out the yyaio for conversation, given that every previous encounter with the scientist had driven her quite mad; however, she was besieged with a sense of restlessness, a need to do something she couldn’t put her finger on, and given that all three of those who had experienced the “Core” would need to remain in contact with the sickbay staff for some time anyway, this seemed preferable to idling in sickbay allowing her mind to drift. Lately that had become a disquieting pastime…

 

Leaving Vil behind in sickbay, Jaiysa walked into a turbolift and rode down to the mess hall deck where she stepped through the doors and looked around.

 

*****

 

Selecting a small table in a quiet corner of the mess, T’Prise set down her bowl of soup and a data PADD before going to retrieve a glass of chilled theris-masu. Settling into her seat, she methodically began to list the materials required for constructing a prototype UV. She wanted to have the specifications prepared prior to going planetside, in order to procure any necessary equipment while at the Daystrom. Setting the PADD down, she took a few sips of miso, a human dish she found agreeable.

 

Prior to the Manticore’s mission on Oppo, she had had some success in the simulations of her latest engine design, and now felt that creating a small prototype would be the next logical step in the project. Continuing her work was an important part of returning to her normal routine, to expedite a full recovery from the trauma inflicted by the Core. Her body was healing and soon there would be no physical evidence of the incident. Picking up the PADD once more, she returned to composing her list of needed materials.

 

With a typically blunt lack of nicety, Jaiysa quickly crossed the room, pushing past a few other loann'na officers to come to a halt in front of T'Prise's table. "Arrain," she said curtly, and took a seat across from the yyaio, catching her eyes over the PADD the Vulcan was working on.

 

Cocking a quizzical brow, T’Prise glanced up at the Romulan who had so abruptly intruded upon her solitary meal. “Dr. t’Tamarak? I surmise that this is not a social visit; do you require something of me?”

 

"Ie, as a matter of fact," Jaiysa said, folding her arms across her chest and leaning back. "It has been several days since we were...retrieved from the Oppo 'core,' but I am still trying to determine exactly what was done to us, to ascertain the potential extent of neurological damage. Now that we are somewhat distanced from the experience..." She paused. A blatant lie, that. She was nowhere near distanced from it, but this was hardly the place for that admission nor the person to whom to make it. "Now that we are somewhat distanced, I need to know as much as you can tell me."

 

Pausing for a moment, T’Prise studied the woman across from her, wondering what had precipitated this impromptu inquisition. “I have filed my report on the incident; it details my account of the mission in its entirety. Any information you require should be available within it.”

 

Jaiysa made a noise of irritation. "Please, Arrain, you are quite aware that is na what I am referring to; if I had wished for an official report I could have located my own. All the reports were quite similar, really, the bare facts." She paused, then shook her head, and said, almost to herself, "It was difficult to explain, was it na...?" She had not known how to explain it to Vil when pressed, though she would have to determine how, and soon...

 

She shrugged, and raised her pointed eyebrows at T'Prise. "I want to know what you experienced...in full..."

 

Reaching for her glass, T’Prise regarded Jaiysa dispassionately. “We were integrated into the Core, our cerebral cortexes used to expand the processing capability of its vast neural network. Integration was painful, but induced a state similar to that experienced by comatose patients. The experience was unpleasant; however, we received treatment and should recover from the physical injuries.”

 

"I know the biology of it, yyaio," Jaiysa snapped. "I am na...I am na looking for a scientific report." A tight smile pulled at her lips. "Na doubt au would rather yy'a than tell me something that is na based in numbers, but...try. While integrated...what did you experience?" She paused, tracing a finger almost absently along the edge of the table. "It was not a coma in the truest sense. We were not unconscious…not entirely." She paused, shooting the scientist an almost glaring look to cover any hint of the unsettled tone that had crept into her voice. "So explain to me -- what did you see?" Then, almost casually, as if it meant nothing, though of course it meant everything, "What did you remember?"

 

Unbidden, images flashed to the front of the Vulcan’s mind, memories and thoughts she had stored away for later analysis, to be contemplated when the physical scars had healed. The Romulan’s prodding brought them rushing back to the forefront of T’Prise’s consciousness, things she had never fully reconciled, things relived and re-experienced within the Core, things she was not prepared to contemplate in a logical manner. An icy chill now colored her tone as she shifted in her seat before articulating her next reply. “I have explained my experience to you in adequate detail. Anything else is irrelevant.”

 

The slow progress of Jaiysa's fingers along the table inlay abruptly halted and her eyes narrowed sharply at the sudden shift of tone in T'Prise's voice. It appears I've touched more of a nerve than I thought... "Clearly na irrelevant," she said, keeping her own tone scrupulously even, as she met the Vulcan's eyes with an unblinking gaze. “You would merely rather I did na discuss it. Why?"

 

T’Prise’s eyes narrowed and her posture became rigid, her muscles tensing as she formulated a response. “I have discussed with you that which was pertinent to your inquiry. Given your further insistence on delving into the subject, it is only logical to conclude that you are suffering from some type of psychological trauma as a result of your own experience. I suggest that you schedule some time with the counseling staff to discuss whatever emotions you are attempting to articulate with me. I am neither capable nor qualified to sympathize or consult with you in regards to any emotional repercussions you may be experiencing,” she intoned dismissively, shifting her glance from the Romulan to the glass of herbal iced tea in her hand.

 

Jaiysa’s head snapped back as if she had been slapped, and she scowled at T’Prise, her fists clenching on the table. "I did not come here looking for comfort," she snapped, and the words emerged with such force that even as she said them, she suddenly knew that they were a lie. "I came here to learn what you experienced for the purpose of your own good to determine whether you might have suffered something which would present problems for you in the future, neurologically or...emotionally. I have already seen you once under my care and nohtho enough to forget your own location and I do not care to do it again. So before you give me grounds to have you re-examined, I suggest you determine just what it is that you are not telling me -- and hiding from yourself."

 

Her diatribe was cut off sharply by the sound of the Vulcan’s glass being slammed down with enough force to crack it cleanly in half and leave an indentation in the table top.

 

A short, stunned silence fell, broken by the drip of the spilled iced tea off the edge of the table. Her features still devoid of any emotion, T’Prise silently rose from her chair.

 

“You are not my attending physician,” she said coldly, “nor do you have any logical reason to compel me to submit to an examination, and as I have been cleared for active duty, I can only surmise that your emotional instability is causing you to make irrational threats. Your deflection of your own mental state onto me is illogical. If you are going to persist in this type of behavior, I will emphatically reiterate that you need to schedule a session with the counseling staff for your own benefit.”

 

Her posture stiff and expression cool, T’Prise stepped away from the table, heading out of the mess hall without looking back.

 

Jaiysa stared at the spot in which the Vulcan had sat, her eyebrows raised in a startled expression, She had not expected to get such a reaction; indeed, she had not expected to get one at all.

 

But she had hoped for one. She realized that suddenly, and that fact itself surprised her. She had hoped – she needed to hear what T’Prise had repeatedly denied – that behind that implacable exterior she too had seen things better left forgotten, and that it had bothered her. That Jaiysa was not alone in feeling battered beneath her armor.

 

It had not been said out loud, of course. But she had heard it all the same. And that was something.

 

****

 

Arrain -- Lieutenant

Awaenndraev -- Computer

ie – yes

na – no, not

nohtho – insane, crazy

yy’a – die

yyaio – Vulcan (lit. “dead one”)