Jade Idol

Anomaly TrekMUX Episode (#01-007) 8/3/00

Mall S4 - Level 7 - Station 419 - [IC]
Mall Level/Sector Four is moderately well trafficked as most portions of this level. The gunmetal-grey corridor of the mall is much more spacious than any of the other station corridors, approximately ten meters across and two decks high. There is no upper level, but the raised ceiling gives one more of an 'open air' impression. Large, elliptical transparent aluminum viewports overhead provide a spectacular view of the stars, contributing to the simulated outdoor impression of a perpetual night sky. The whole impression of the mall is one of passing through a garden. Planters throughout the corridor, blooming with all sorts of strange and exotic flora, give a gradual 'winding path' effect which tends to break up the monotony of the circular corridors. The fresh oxygen that the plants provide carries with it the smell of their many perfumes. All manner of sentient beings can be seen moving through the Mall, heading into a shop, or loitering at one of the smaller kiosks.
The anomaly flashes a bright blue-white through one of the viewports, a spectacular stellar siren.
Obvious exits:
Clockwise <CW> Dream Factory <DF> Counselors Office <CO> Shop <S> Counter-Clockwise <CCW>

Tyler comes into view among the corridor's foliage, arriving from the clockwise direction of section five.

Tyler has arrived.

Jade is just straightening, back unbending and hands sliding back into his pockets. His apparent object of study was one of the numerous flowers placed in this part of the mall. Silent, and for once not paying attention to the scene and people around them, Alexander stands near the Dream Factory. Though almost certainly not consciously so.

Tyler comes into view carrying a large white plank over her head, trying to keep it balanced by keeping it rested on her head. She's short, though, and almost knocks a rather large Andorian in the chest with it. The plank appears to be just under a meter wide, and approximately three meters long. The Andorian, a civilian, cries, "Watch it with that thing, girl!"

The cry attract's Jade's attention. His gaze releases the last of its attention on the flower and flits quickly and sharply towards the origin of the exclamation, and from there to the young ensign. For now no expression graces his face, but he turns at once and begins to weave through the crowd towards Tyler.

Tyler lifts the plank higher. She's trying to be careful with it - but it's just so bulky that she's not having an easy time with the crowd. She starts to wend her way toward the Dream Factory. She hasn't spotted Jade through the rest of the people as she tries to concentrate on not bopping someone in the head.

"Ms Tyler!" Jade isn't far enough away to justify the manner in which hecalls, though his speech is not overly loud, not strong enough to attract the attention of those not reasonably close, or before him. A hand half rises in an attempt to attract the girl's attention, as does his brow, in confusion at the odd burden being carried, as he approaches.

Tyler stops when she hears her name called. She sees Jade and smiles to herself, then moves toward one of the bulkheads. She unloads her burden and props it against the wall. She gives Jade a little wave.

"Why...are...you...carrying a plank?" Jade murmurs, slowing as he neats and gesturing vaguely to it, and following the gestures with an almost embarrassed half-sniff, half-laugh, as if not so confident at asking such a question as might appear. He slows fully, stops. Then: "And...can I help?"

Tyler grins to him. "It's cuh-called a suh-surfboard," she says. "I w-was going to the h-holosuite to go surfing."

Eyebrows raising, Jade shifts, the corners of his mouth subtly rising in consideration as he eyes the board. "A surfboard? What... period is that from, I've studied our culture, but..." He looks back to the girl, and for just a moment perhaps, just perhaps, flinches in some internal reaction to what he sees there. Then carries on: "I've never heard about this."

**Tyler**
Her long, straight straw-blonde hair is tied back in a floppy ponytail. Her blue eyes are the color of ice, the sparkle of youth still entrenched there. Her nose is a slender slope, bracketed by high cheekbones and a very attractive smile. She tends to blush a lot. She's pretty, and has an attractive figure, but she looks.. Well, she looks a little young.

She is currently wearing a black spring suit made of neoprene. The legs and arms are short-sleeved. The shoulders are blue, the same blue as the piping around the sleeves and legs. Her feet are bare.
Tyler is carrying the following:
Surfboard.

Tyler grins. "Cuh-come on, I'll show you."

Tyler picks up the plank, narrowly missing Jade's forehead as she positions it.

Jade shifts backwards to avoid just such a fate, then, as he falls into place beside Tyler, though aware of that wood at all times, murmurs quietly, "Was this what you said you'd show me?" Tone low, quick, even, but his face is laced with curiosity.

Tyler shakes her head from beneath the surfboard she's got over it. "Nuh-no," she says quietly. "I cuh-can't show you that until I know you better, I d-don't think."

Tyler enters the Dream Factory.

Tyler has left.

You walk into the Dream Factory.

Dream Factory - Station 419 - [IC]
A long, narrow shop with a high metal counter near the entrance. Along each long, black metal wall of the shop are a pair of heavy sliding doors. A double row of comfortable black upholstered benches runs down the center of the room. Several patrons of a variety of species sit about, either waiting for their turn in the holodeck or waiting for a friend to come out.
+roomhelp is available here.

Contents:
Tyler
Obvious exits:
Holosuite One <1> Holosuite Two <2> Out <O>

Tyler signs in for her hour of holodeck time, then heads toward holosuite two.

Tyler enters Holosuite 2, the doors sliding shut behind her.

Tyler has left.

You enter Holosuite Two.

Holosuite Two - Station 419 - [IC]
The room is cube-shaped, three meters to an edge - and lined with a grid of struts along the walls and ceiling. Where the struts meet, about every foot or so, is a highly complex and rather amazing piece of technology - the holoemitter.
+roomhelp is available here.

Contents:
Tyler
Obvious exits:
Out <O>

"Alright." Jade half-whispers, as if apologetic for the guess, and then remains silent, for some distance, until into the Holosuite. Then: "So...how did you get into this?"

Tyler sets the surfboard down near the arch, then looks up. "Computer, run Tyler Fiji simulation four."

Tyler loads a new program into the holodeck.

Tyler looks to Jade with a smile as the room transforms instantly to a beautiful beach. She steps forward out of the arch so it can disappear, and complete the illusion. "I guh-grew up on the ocean," she says. "M-me and my brother h-have done it since we were young." Not that she's old by a long shot.

"How..." emerges before Jade takes in the scene, but it is a good few moments before a halfhearted "...young?" follows it. During that time, the younghuman has become absorbed in the scene. Silent, completely so, save for the end of that question, Alexander looks up, to the sky, out, to the ocean, glances back, then stoops to cup the sand in his hands. Oddly for a Federation citizen, he seems almost amazed by all of this.

Tyler smiles, her shoulders tugging up a little in a mild shrug. "Since I w-was f-four, I guess?"

Jade rises again, eyes narrowing at the myriad grains of sand spilling from his fingers, though obviously some part of his mind works as normal: "That's young for this...exposure." Almost distracted, thoughful, to himself: "I didn't see the sea until I was..." Then a shaken head, a thought dismissed, and Alexander focuses on Tyler. "Your brother? And...where did you do this?"

Tyler kneels down beside the surfboard. She drops a little neoprene bag from off her shoulder and removes a chunk of white material. She starts to rub it across the surface of the board. "My brother t-taught me how to surf. We l-lived on a boat m-most of the time I was on Earth. We surfed at Fiji." She gestures toward the waves out on the point. "See those?" she asks him. "I paddle into the wave on this board, and the momentum of the wave starts to catch the board - pushing it along in front of it. Then I stand up on the board." She grins to him, shielding her eyes against the artificial sun. "Puh-pretty easy, d-don't you think?"

Jade's lips peel open into a grin, an incredulous one. "You...the wave carries you on that? That actually works?" His hands shift to his hips, his brow knots; perhaps more for show, but: "And...it's not dangerous?" A beat, his head tilts down. "Of course, not here, it's a holosuite." Another pause, then, as Jade's eyes sweep outwards towards the horizon, then back to the young woman before him, he adds, "Easy? Not so sure..."

Tyler wrinkles her nose. "Wuh-well the /real/ Fiji.. You g-got to worry about shuh-sharks. See, w-we look like s-seals from below. So shuh-sharks think we're duh-dinner. Though this board," she says, gesturing to the surfboard before her, "has a transmitter in it which drives them away. It's a hand-crafted b-board. Machine-muh-made boards don't feel right.. And yeah, it's s-safe here. And pretty safe on the ruh-real thing."

Jade paces on the sand. His expression now is distant. Perhaps every artificial sensation is being registered, analysed. Certainly his eyes seem only half on Tyler, the horizon, the board, as they sweep the scene, and half on something else. Then, quietly, but audibly, "Show me?"

Tyler grins. "Sure." She finishes rubbing the wax across the board, then puts it back in her neoprene pouch. She stands up, dusts her knees off and picks up the board. She stands there for a moment, watching the waves, then plunges in. Once off land - the clumsy board immediately becomes another extension of her body. In one smooth stroke she launches it before her, then dives onto it gracefully, sending it faster toward the breaking waves... She starts to paddle out, duck-diving the front of the board as a wave is about to break over her. All things said and done - this clumsy, self-concious little girl is very confident in the water.

'Little' in perhaps fewer ways than all. As Tyler moves into the waves, Jade seats himself, sweating with the dark of his clothing and the heat of the sun as he then leans back on the sand, supported on his elbows, watching the Ensign. Though the tick at the corners of his mouth increaases, though his attention, now, seems to have been shifted from surrounding to subject, he remains utterly silent where he lies. The confidence is not passed over without note.

Tyler sits up on the board, the nose popping out of the water as she waits for a wave. Then, she decides on one, turns and starts to paddle rapidly. She's not going to make it, it seems - the wave is coming up on her too fast. Then suddenly, the board accellerates, and she quickly hops up on it into a crouched position. Cutting from side to side in graceful arcs, she races in front of the wave as it shoots her toward land.

The only sign, perhaps, of any concern with Jade is the almost imperceptible pumping of his right hand, near to the fabric of his coat. His gaze and focus remain on Tyler, though his expression no longer registers a reaction to her attempts. Still, as he half-rises to remove his coat, still watching this rider of the waves manipulate her board with ease, the fused colours in his eyes sparkle in the artificial sunlight.

Tyler looks like she was born to do this and this alone. She looks totally at home as she cuts up the wave and sets up for a tube ride. The wave consumes her as she disappears into the barrel, and for a few seconds, it seems as if she has wiped out. But then, like a bullet, the surfboard slides out of the pocket. She cuts back again, then drops down to the board onto her stomach. She paddles back inland. She did make it at least /appear/ easy. Finally making it back to the shallows, she splashes out of the water with a large grin on her face, board under her arm. It makes her look so small.

Jade rose at her first disappearance into the tube, coat on the sand behind him, movement taking him towards the water's edge. Even though consciously he knows this is all a replicated illusion, still...still no relief or surprise shows as Tyler reappears, though perhaps that smile of his finally and completely reaches his eyes. And stays there as he steps further towards the wet shingle of the ocean's edge to meet the girl. "That was...most impressive..." Alexander comments, looking from Tyler to the board to the waves, and gesturing, briefly, before returning his hands to his pockets. "I'm astounded that fourteen years is all it took..."

Tyler laughs. "I actually stood up on my suh-second try. You should try it sometime. It's quite fun."

Jade sniffs a laugh in reply, and, almost certainly subconsciously, takes a step backwards, palms outwards and waving at the idea. "Ah...for now, no...never really had to handle the ocean. Perhaps some time...but for now, it's enough to see you master this." He shifts his centre of balance back to normal, then flaps his waistcoat a few times, as if to cool himself, but remains silent.

Tyler laughs. "Chicken," she teases.

Jade wags a finger, exhaling again then glancing to the horizon. "I...uh... well, you know, research in stuffy archives and libraries is a long way from..." A hand extends to indicate all...this...planetary openness. Breath escapes from beteen Jade's almost closed lips, then the turning of his head ceases, and he seems almost to be mouthing something to himself. His brow knots for the briefest of seconds, then: "Well...not -now-...but sometime? Soon, perhaps." A beat. "I mean, duty allowing? You never know until you try, right?"

Tyler grins and shrugs. "Sure. I th-think you'll do fine. You l-look like you've got good balance." She sits down on one of the chairs after having set the board down in the sand.

The look has not yet entirely left Jade's face as, sitting himself, though on the sand, he murmurs, "Sometimes I'm not so sure." Mostly to he alone, head tilted down. As he finds his place on the minute yellow grains, he adds, "I'd appreciate that, though I hope you're a patient teacher. Mine need to be, it seems. Still..." His head tilts, eyes narrowing at the sun's glaze, "I think my father would have quite liked seeing that. His opinion was always that we were never exposed enough to the real world, forced to 'master' parts of it."

Tyler nods at that. "My f-father said about the same thing. He was an oceanographer." A melancholy look replaces the happiness that was there a moment ago, as she shifts her gaze out over the faux ocean.

That change, quickly noticed, merits a few moments of silence. Jade's eyes close as the sea wind catches his face and breath, then murmurs, "Was?" in a tone equating to 'I'm sorry'. Alex's eyes shift casually from sea to sand to Tyler, and remain on her face.

Tyler nods slightly and looks down to the sand. "Yuh-yes. My parents d-d-died in a shuttle accident when I w-was six." She starts to fidget with the sand, tooling her finger in concentric rings.

Jade now says the words previously implied. "I'm sorry." A moment, and his eyes slip to those rings in the sand. "I shouldn't have asked, I'm sorry."

Tyler wrinkles her nose again against the sun and looks to him through a squint. "It's okay. It w-was a long time ago." She sighs softly.

"I've heard those words a lot." Jade whispers, just audibly above the sea breeze, after a few moments, "When it's not okay. And when it hasn't been long enough." Alex runs his hands through the sand again, lifting a handful and watching, eyes narrowed, the thread of grains that slip between his fingers...then repeating the action. "I don't know if it can ever be either, so I apologise for my curiosity. However... for what little it is worth... your father seems to have begun a skill at which you now excel. And that is... more than some have."

Tyler nods, watching him play in the sand. "It's one of the reasons I've always b-been afraid of space. I hate it out here. This," she states, gesturing to the water, "is what keeps me sane."

Jade begins to shake his head, slowly. "Oddly...it's just the opposite with me." He swallows, letting the final handful of sand be cast, half-blowing, half-falling, to the rest of the beach. "The ocean is full of lost things, new and old beginnings, treasures, dangers. Space... space is just somwhere to lose yourself. The galaxy is a big, big place..." His voice actually dwindles, losing its definition, and then Jade shifts, starts to rise. Dusting off his coat - quite unnecessarily of course - he murmurs "I really should be heading off, Ms Tyler. But...thankyou for the demonstration."

Tyler frowns a little, but nods. She seems disappointed, somehow. "All right," she says softly. "I'll see you later?" she asks of him.

"Perhaps..." Jade turns even as he speaks, then turns back, a ripple playing briefly across his face, ephemeral and unreadable. "I know you don't like eating in public, but...perhaps I could cook you dinner...some time?" He is still stepping back as he speaks, one side of his face invisible for the cowlick, and other hair, that has been blown across it.

Tyler laughs. "You cook?" The response isn't meant to be denegrating - but.. She just can't seem to picture Alex picking up something that's not replicated.

"I cook -well-!" Jade replies, stopping in his retreat and grinning, just for a moment, hands flapping out to the sides then falling back. "Ferengi, Klingon and terran cuisine. I eat out mainly because that's where you meet people." If the question could have been misconstrued, then naturally or deliberately, it has not been read so.

Tyler considers it a moment, before nodding slowly. "Oh-oh-okay.. This isn't.. Like.. A date is it?"

Jade's expression remains as it is, as if such a response were, if not expected, then listed as a possibility. "It is me cooking you a meal. No more, no less, and nothing different than what you read into it." His head tilts, and the corners of his mouth slip down gently. "Oh and...Ms Tyler... of oceans and the void... there's much more to say, when I am not speaking in haste. Still... until next time?"

Tyler nods slowly, and watches him as he goes - the mysterious civilian to whom she's taken a great fondness. She stands up, grabs the board, and rushes headlong into the pounding surf.

Jade does not look back as, coat under arm, he steps slowly back up the beach. His head, slightly bowed, is filled with the sound of the ocean, what it represents set beside the sky above it. In an almost tired tone, as if some internal conflict wearied him, Alex murmurs, "Computer, exit.". And a few steps later, is gone.