Location Shift -- Arrival

Posted on Sat Mar 18th, 2017 @ 11:59pm by Commander Kaelyth Solmarr & Lieutenant Commander Kiyrra Iyvanna
Edited on on Wed Sep 12th, 2018 @ 7:00pm

Mission: My Place In This Universe
Location: Iytha Rhaen, Command Center
Timeline: 2388/08/15 0700 (August 15 2388 0700)

Iytha Rhaen
Near Starbase One, Earth Orbit

He had not expected her to react as everyone before her had; she was not like everyone before her. He had, however, expected her to react. The sight of the Iytha Rhaen never failed to impress with her ice blue crystalline hull shot through with filaments of the gold-and-silver crystalline-metallic. And yet, his current companion appeared not only completely unmoved but actually disassociated from her surroundings.

Tilting his head slightly, a look of concern shifting over his features, Kaelyth touched her shoulder gently to acquire her attention. When she looked at him, he asked, "Are you all right, Kiyrra?"

Kiyrra Iyvanna, formerly First of Six of the Borg Collective, studied her companion carefully for a moment. She had been removed from the Collective long enough to have learned some of the mannerisms that singular life forms used among themselves, and his current pose and tone suggested that he genuinely cared whether she was all right or not. It confused her a bit; they did not know each other well. How had he read her so easily? "Did I do something which implied that I was not?" she asked to clarify how he had come to this determination and possibly mask that symptom in the future.

Kaelyth's head remained tilted. "It is nothing you have done, Kiyrra." He studied her in return, having noted her study a moment ago. "It was more of something which you did not do."

It was now Kiyrra's turn to tilt her head in a pose of non-understanding. "I was supposed to do something?"

Kaelyth paused for a moment. Was this how he looked and sounded to others? It would certainly explain their amusement at his reactions. "No, there was no requirement, Kiyrra." he told her with a warm, reassuring smile. "It is more that most people have some sort of reaction to where we are, and you were... internalized. This made me wonder if something troubled you." He paused and frowned. "Have I overstepped in asking?"

Kiyrra considered him a moment. He did appear genuinely caring, so she shook her head. "No." It was partially a lie; she was distracted. Ever since she had gotten orders to go to the Delta Quadrant, she had been uneasy. No, the starbase and colony were nowhere near Borg space, but neither did she have any desire to go anywhere near their space. The whole thing had brought up memories she had thought she had dealt with, terrifying memories she did not want to relive, either in her dreams as she had for years or in the waking world. But kind or not, he did not need to know these things.

She pushed her own demons to the back of her mind, compartmentalizing them into her subconscious, and looked around her at the bridge of his ship. What she saw was stunning! Even the Collective had seen nothing like this ship! It literally was made of an icy blue crystal shot through with some form of crystalline-metallic element that she had never seen before. Her optical implant showed her its structure, and her somewhat enhanced brain immediately searched her memories for matches, but found none. She wondered if the Borg could even assimilate this technology.

"This is extraordinary!" she breathed, the first sign of real emotion she had shown him, besides her confusion of a moment ago and the distractedness, that was.

Kaelyth had never met another of Kiyrra's species, so he was not entirely certain how to read her. Therefore, he took her moving on at face value and did so as well, letting drop the question she seemed to wish left alone. "She is called Iytha Rhaen."

Kiyrra let the name slide over her awareness. The words had no meaning for her, which only meant that the Collective had not assimilated that language. "What does it mean?"

"In Standard, it translates to 'Silent Runner', but its true meaning is much more expansive, more conceptual, than that." He was proud of this vessel, of her Artificial Avatar, of their friendship; and it came through whenever he spoke of her.

Kiyrra thought about the meaning of the ship's name and his assertion that the meaning was greater than the words. Many languages had a deeper connotative association with their words than their denotative meanings suggested, so it was not so far beyond belief that his would as well. It occurred to her at that second that she saw no crew. There was no one here save herself and Kaelyth. Yet, if the size of this bridge was proportionate to the size of the ship, this vessel should be extremely large. "How does she fly with no crew?"

This was always the fun part for him. Everyone always got here eventually, and he enjoyed introducing them to Kiyanna. "She has an Artificial Intelligence that can run the ship if needed. She was designed to have a crew of 4,000, but Kiyanna can control the ship if necessary." He turned away from Kiyrra and spoke to the currently invisible Artificial. "Kiyanna, would you please come and introduce yourself to our guest?"

From one of the crystalline walls, some of the icy blue crystal appeared to melt and flow over the floor toward them. When it had reached a spot on the floor approximately three feet from where they stood, it gathered itself, growing from the floor to a shifting mass of liquid crystal approximately five feet and six inches tall. It then shaped itself, solidifying into a vaguely humanoid shape over which a hologram shimmered into being. This hologram was a woman with raven hair shot through with streaks of gold and silver. Likewise, her midnight-colored eyes had the same streaks through them. She was slender and lithe, possessing the look of grace.

"Welcome aboard, Kiyrra Iyvanna. I am Kiyanna." She smiled and gave a slight half-bow of greeting.

Kiyrra watched the whole display with awe. She was normally unmoved by most things, finding the emotional reactions of most difficult to understand at times and even more difficult to deal with when they flared within her. But this whole display had taken her off guard, and she could only stare at the ship's Avatar for a long moment before gathering her wits, the voice of the Borg echoing in her memory that these emotions were irrelevant and unproductive. "Greetings, and thank you, Kiyanna." she finally said in a tone closer to her normal calm.

"Kiyanna, please set a course for the new colony in the Delta Quadrant and engage the Shift Engines when it is safe to do so." Kaelyth told the Artificial as he moved to sit in the command chair.

"Yes, Kaelyth." Kiyanna acknowledged, then turning from the two in order to communicate with Starfleet for permission to leave the system. Once out of the system, she engaged the Shift Engines, and the darkness of space before them was shattered by a flashing, twisting storm of blue energy. It was into the very center of this that she flew. The Blue surrounded the ship, embraced her and drew her forward along her desired course.

Again, Kiyrra felt stunned by the beauty. Starfleet had Warp -- most things had Warp -- the Borg had Transwarp Conduits; but nothing she had ever encountered - nothing the Collective had ever encountered -- had this! She stood staring at the forward screen for several minutes, just letting the experience take hold of her.

Iytha Rhaen
Near The Orbital Space Station, Above Serene Colony

It was difficult to tell time in that place that Kaelyth and Kiyanna called Shift Space. Even her very precise Borg mind refused to cooperate in that place. It was as if the place somehow skewed the very fabric of space-time. Therefore, she could not tell how long it had taken them to reach the colony. "I am embarrassed to say, but I could not determine how long we were in flight." she admitted quietly to Kaelyth.

Kaelyth smiled. "That is to be expected. Whereas the Transwarp Conduits utilized by the Borg utilize tachyons to travel faster than Warp, ShiftSpace is an entirely different layer of space. Time seems to become... warped inside that space." he explained. "But it was only minutes."

"Six minutes and forty-seven seconds to be precise." Kiyanna clarified.

Kiyrra frowned in thought. So this vessel could move at similar rates to Borg ships, but through a different layer of space. She wondered if other species had this ability and asked the Artificial this.

Kiyanna shook her head. "To our knowledge, only crystal vessels can travel the currents of Shift Space., and there are not many species who build of such materials."

This was all fascinating, but her brain was chastising her once more that they were wasting time. Inefficient. She gave the two an apologetic look. "Perhaps we can discuss this further at some point, but I believe we should begin our duties."

Kaelyth frowned at first. Sometimes he forgot this lady had once been part of the Collective. She was not at all as stiff as many of the rescued drones tended to be. And then she would "snap back into place", and it tended to be jolting. "Ah, we are a week and a half early, Kiyrra. There is no rush." he assured.

He was right, of course, but she felt as if she should be doing something, preparing. "I am aware, but we should be ready when the starbase and campus officially begin operations."

Kaelyth could see the discomfort, felt compassion shift through him. She could not simply stop for long without being pushed back into work by her own mind, so deeply conditioned for efficiency. Perhaps with more time, and the right circle of friends, she would learn to relax more. But for now, he acquiesced to her request and had Kiyanna request coordinates for transport.

-= End For Now =-

OOC: I could have had them go further in conversation, but I didn't want to risk boring any of you straight out of the gate. Heh heh Anyone interested in a JP with either character, please feel free!