Builders of worlds- bonds of friendship

Posted on Tue Dec 1st, 2020 @ 10:55am by Lieutenant JG Vespa Kale & Ensign Wulfgar Duergar

Mission: Survival of the fittest
Location: Holodeck 2
Timeline: After the mission post right???

Jane had arrived first or had thought she was first. She smiled warmly as she saw Wulfgar knelt down working on the panel to the holo suite. She pulled her wagon right up to him. "Hey I missed you this morning for coffee. I am still getting use to the new Counselor want to help him feel welcome." She said then as she got closer she asked him softly. "Is it just us for now?" she asked feeling that eagerness to just bounce into his arms to steal a kick kiss. He looked so tired, but happy, yes happy she could see it in his eyes. He loved what he was doing. It made him feel proud and accomplished. It would be unfair for her to distract him from that but it had been days, and felt like years since their last tender encounters. She missed them. Missed him.

Wulfgar looked up and smiled at her. He had pulled a double shift the night before and had only gotten off duty an hour ago. Then after a quick shower he had come here to get the computer ready for holoprogramming. "Sorry, had duty and couldn't make it." But he nodded to the whispered words and smiled. He stood up and engulfed her in a hug and kissed her forehead. "Oh, I spoke to my Chief., she figured out about us and so has the Captain. So it's safe to not hide it just keep it professional on duty." He leaned down and kissed her lips then, a lingering kiss.

Jane indulged in his attention and the affection that they shared. She had come to really look forward to these tender moments. how had she ever thought that this torch they carried was ever a bad thing? Then the sound of approaching foot falls ended the moment as she pulled away pink faced looked around shyly for the source.

Rounding the corner of the hallway were the twin forms of Vespa Kale. A PaDD in one hand, and a smile on each face, the pair were still a new sight onboard the Pennsylvania. The one with the PaDD had her nose deep into the lines of documentation, a spring in her step at something cheerful she read on the device, while the other kept her eyes ahead and essentially navigated for the two of them. "Oh, hello. I'm sorry, I didn't want to get here too soon. Turns out I didn't have to burn any Buoy time, I had a lot of home recipes with me. Tee Eee Phi Eighty Three..."

"... you clever clever engine. Anyhow, seven dishes to prepare in Singular Space and four drinks to chase."

"Vespa!!! So good to see you!" Jane said bounding over to embrace and then the other twin. "I have been looking forward to this ever since Wolfy told me about it!"

Vespa welcomed the hug, and accepted another hug with a giggle. "I guess I should get used to being hugged twice." she said, completely amused. "So I was going to ask the Captain if I could use the subspace comms to dial in the Buoy..."

"... Network and call home for some supplies but it turns out, a few tastes of home were packaged in on my PaDD. Some food dishes, and some beverages." she said, beaming with joy.

"Also, I did a little research on barbeques, and I'm very excited to try one. See, we're facultative carnivores so when you mention a firepit with meat platters well..."

"... you're speaking my language." she giggled. "So, one of the dishes is pretty easy to prepare, so I *should* be able to manage it without drone assistance."

"Don't worry I can bee your drone for the day. How's that?" Jane offered

Wulfgar nodded from where he stood while the ladies chatted. He smiled at them before he turned back to the console and returned to the basic programming algorithm he had been working on.

Vespa gave a pair of giggles, "That's awfully sweet of you, but if I had a drone here, the extent of my cooking would be 'Drone, I could go for some plassa balls' and the drone..."

"... would reply 'Yes of course. Please relax, and when they're prepared they'll be brought to you'." oddly enough, she didn't change her tone to pretend to be a drone. No monotone, no robotic voice. Just a pleasant natural voice. "So while I appreciate the help, and I will be taking you up..."

"... on it, we can work on it together. I'd like to at least give it a try."

Jane chuckled, "Okay yeah defiantly. We can go over to Holodeck one and start the cooking while Wolfy here gets the engineering matrix laid out to format for the designs for the program." Jane offered pointing to the arch across the hall from the one Wulfgar was working on. "I think I have a kitchen program all set up."

"Oh this is going to be so much fun." one of the twins chimed in, while the other handed over the PaDD she was holding. "That's the one I want to try first. Plassa Balls. See, they come in pairs, and the idea is for each..."

"... form to eat one, so the flavor combines but each body gets to experience one full flavor distinctly. I suppose for singular consumption, just chop two in half and eat them..."

"... at the same time. Take a look at the recipe while we get set." the recipe seemed simple enough, and the measurements seemed to have been converted over to Federation standard units. A third of a cup of crumbed bread. Half a cup of dairy. 35 milliliters of heavy dairy. 1 large yolked egg. 1 portion ga...

By some random chance of probability, or some underlying universal law, the recipe looked more and more familiar as it went on. Black pepperspice. White pepperspice. Minced Pork. Minced Beef. The names were jumbled, sure, and there were a few extra steps to season half of these Plassa Balls one way and half the other, but aside from two extra steps, the truth of the matter was that 77,000 light years away from the closest vendor, the Dalacari had accidentally invented Swedish Meatballs.

"Before you ladies leave, do you have the holos Vespa?" Wulfgar asked as he looked up from his work. "And could you bring me some strong coffee heavy sugar no cream please Jane dear?"

"Oh, oh yes I do. There's a compressed iso in my personal files, transferred over with my effects. Once we get started in Simulation One, I'll make it publicly available to..."

"... access and decompress, then you can compile it. I mean, that's how your Simulation Rooms work too, yes?"

"Yes but I need to manually input the holos in to the holo grid. The iOS data is a different compression rate than a holo programs is." Wulfgar explained, smiling.

Jane didn't mind at all she smiled and with a quick, "Ill go get that for you hun no problem." She headed off to one of the nearby replicators to get Wulfgars coffee. It warmed her heart to be able to do even this small thing for him.

"Ahhh well if that's the case, then I'll get you access to them right away." she went over to a wall console. "Ummm, okay so... System? System? SYS...tem...?" she paused, then a proverbial light went off.

"Oh, sorry, silly me, COMPUTER." and that was the key word. A chime indicated that the computer was listening for commands. "Prepare Filename Dalacar Simulation Room ISO, compression four. Please..."

"... decompress and share with Wulfgar. Grant full access." and the system seemed to acknowledge.

Wulfgar smiled at Vespa. "Thank you, now you two run along and have fun cooking." His eyes shifted from the twin spectacle that was Vespa to watch Jane's movements.

Jane returned with the coffee in a travel mug to help keep it warm as he worked. "I hope I got it right." She said as she handed it over to him. She looked to Vespa. "Ill get our refreshments after we get to the holodeck with the kitchen."

"Your coffee is always perfect. You never get it wrong." Wulfgar said taking the mug, his hand sliding covertly over Jane's. "Now go and have fun with our good friends Jane." He flash the three a smile and made shooing motions with his hands.

Vespa didn't really know what to look for in Single Instance life, so any of the clues hinting to their involvement together went directly over her head. Instead, she saw two friends helping one another, and that made her smile. "You two are such good friends." she complimented as her and Jane made their way to the Simulation Room One, as Vespa would know it.

"Were you friends before you came to the Pennsylvania, or did you two just meet on the ship? You have such a wonderful friendship." one body started the conversation, though as usual it was the other one that would pick it up.

"I think it's just that you're a people person, which helps because Dalacari are social by nature." a pause, "And we love food, so this is going to work very well."

"I have to agree. Anything involving food has to be good. But anything involving food and friends is going to be awesome." Jane said her tone was excited and she was feeling bubbly after getting to see Wulfgar if even for a short span. She felt privileged to be invited to help work on this project and bring it to fruitarian. She was nearly humming as she started to replicate ingredients and lay them out. She loved anything that brought the crew together. And this defiantly was going to help in that aspect.

Vespa started to go over the recipe on the PaDD, checking and double checking each piece, each ingredient. Most of them were conventional, some were specific to the Dalacari recipe, and required they be added to the replicator database. No true issue, just a minor speedbump. Once everything was laid out and accounted for, Vespa gave a pair of nods, "Excellent, let's begin."

"You know, I really admire your friendship with Wulfgar. You're both such splendid people it's great that you found friends in one another."

Janes cheeks flushed pink. "Yes, it is. He is really a very sweet guy and we just love each other to bits." She replied her voice gone soft and almost shy. As she started to lay out the bowls and measuring utensils.

"Oh is it Love Love? I can't see the signs because, well, I don't know what to look for but if it is then that's fantastic!" she went from chipper and happy to absolutely over the moon in three seconds. "Another something to celebrate."

It was odd to see a Dalacari like this. Well it was odd to see a Dalacari, period. But here, one was so expressive and emotive while the other focused on the task, but then there'd be a switch that went off, like during a conversation with her, and the pair would swap roles. And with it, the focused one would become emotive and pleased, while the other would simply smile wide and begin to set things up. Picking up where each other had left off.

"I mean, unless Starfleet doesn't allow it? Then I'll try my best to keep it secret."

Jane frowned a little her face not pink from the heat of loved fueled bliss, but of deep rooted shame. "No, its not that.. Starfleet does have rules about fraternization and all but our relationship still fits within those guidelines I was careful to check. Its more my family. They have certain expectations of me and I just.. I worry about how their rejection will effect things when they do find out. And I know that... well Wulfgar says he doesn't care if he has their approval, that it doesn't bother him at all. Still I worry about the long run. About what might happen."

'If I am putting him into danger, his family even.' her mind finished after she trailed off. She was sorting the ingredients and starting to measure out spices. As her mind slipped into that familiar worry. That was just her biological family, what would would happen when word reached the Chaste that she had fled them as well. what sort of revenge could she expect when that gate came open again? And here she was putting a target on Wulfgar's head. She had tried to warned him away, she had. When the bounty hunter had got tired of waiting for Sentalic to contact her and had tried to kill her as a lure. She had warned him then in the brig. Its all she could do. He wanted to be with her. Truth be told she was happy for that, because she really enjoyed being with him too. It felt so good to know that what ever danger was coming she wouldn't face it alone. Not if she didn't want too. Finally the worry faded from her face replaced with the usual acceptance, then that little smile crept back onto her face. It would be okay.

Vespa gave a pair of nods. She didn't understand fully, but she knew it was important enough to worry about approval. "I think I understand some of your concerns. There's rigors and limits to families even on Dalacar, but I don't pretend to know your full situation. We all worry about..."

"... rejection, acceptance, and the hardships that follow. Can your family turn its back on you over love? Would you turn your back on them? Those are terrible questions to ..."

"... have to consider, and even worse questions to have to answer. In the end, I hope things work out in the best for everyone. They say Love is worth fighting for, but..."

"... that also means that in the end, there was a fight. We don't like violence, but Dia can we yell when we get upset." a smirk, "It's the whole Two Mouths thing."

Jane had begun to mix the breadcrumbs together with the milk, cream, eggs, garlic, salt, peppers and spice, to allow the milk to soak into the breadcrumbs for at least the next 10 minutes. She chuckled at Vespa's joke and took care to make sure she was showing the twin cooking with her what to do. "My parents had me engaged to be married at age five. We were raised together in an effort to try and bridge the differences in our customs and so on. We became good friends, use to get into a lot of trouble together. We both knew what was expected of us. But as we got older we started to joke about it. How ridicules' the whole idea was. We were just too different. He was a fighter, very aggressive and forceful, Where as I am a pacifist which he found to be almost insulting. He was always trying to prod me into a fight. Became sorta a game. Its how I learned patience I suppose." She actually chuckled at the memory of it. "When we hit the age of assentation we both made excuses. He wanted to get into ship building and such so he went to study amongst the Klingons. Where as I went for a career in Diplomacy. or that's what my father was steering me towards as we tried to find a way to by time. I think we had known for a long time that as well as we got along we just we had to find a way out or we'd just never be happy."

She continued moved on to the next set of instructions. She moved a tray with some waxed paper on it over to the twin helping her and one for herself. "Now we mix and roll them into about 16 to 24 little balls." She instructed quickly as she began to mix the contents of her bowl together in easy practiced fashion.

"Since you were five? Is it wrong of me to compare that, in a distant distant sense, to the life of a complete Dalacari? To consider two beings as close to one as possible?" she romanticized it heavily. Though it was clear she understood the deeper meaning.

"I'm sorry you had to go through that experience. Having your life arranged for you is never a fun endeavor. Now now, I know I know, but Vespa you live by a schedule isn't that..."

"... the same thing? And I'd say No, because it's my schedule. I'm in control of my lunch breaks." she giggled. "I admire your pacifism. Never let anyone tell you you HAVE to be violent."

"Violence is a choice. To a Dalacari, it's the last choice. Life, safety, health... they're the most important facets to the Dalacari Republic. So, when you say you're a pacifist, to me..."

"... that's a noble choice." she was silent for a moment to let that sit in, before turning to the food prep. Rolling meatballs into pairs was easy when you had an extra set of hands. Or in the case of Vespa as a helper, and extra EXTRA set of hands.

"Thank you. Its a choice that to this day seems to bring those around me nothing but grief. Its nice to have someone who finally understands and excepts it as a part of who I am." She shot them a smile as she finished up the little balls with the twins help in nearly no time. She then took the trays over to the stove top where a skillet sat waiting. "Already sorta half way done with this first lot. What do you think so far?? Having fun?" She said curious as to what the Dalacar thought of the whole cooking experience thus far.

The pair gave a nod each, "Oh this most certainly is fun. I've never actually really did this before, but you know... it's not that hard." she offered. "I mean, it helps a lot to know what you're doing but..."

"... I've known a lot of people who didn't know at all what they were doing and it never stopped them." a giggle from the pair. "Okay, so we got that part, what's next? Spicing..."

"... or more rolling? Cause I've gotten the hang of rolling." she said with a pair of smiles.

"Now we cook them over here in the skillet I think." Jane was hoping she was reading it correctly. Yes, cokk them in the skillet and then you used the moisture left behind to make a sauce... She felt like she was missing a step so she read it over again to be sure. "Oh wait your right, we were suppose to separate the mix and spice them, "Shoot. Okay well looks like both." Jane said with a note of apology. She had gotten distracted talking and had skipped a step. At least it was mendable.

Vespa gave a pair of giggles, "Oh, no problem. I haven't done this either so it's alright." she said, "So, I mean we can spice the mix we have left, or I can return the meatballs back to the mix." she offered two choices.

"Either way, this is still al lot of fun."

===== Outside holodeck 1=====

Wulfgar accessed the holos that Vespa had given him access to and started the compression conversion then moved on to completing the initial coding of the program. He had to access medical records on general Delecari data, copied it and added it to the population parameters so that it could have a more lively atmosphere.

Wulfgar stood up and retrieved his cup and PADD from the deck next to him. "Computer, run program Vespa alpha alpha 001, diagnostic mode." He waited a second or two before he heard the computers chirp. The doors slid open and he stepped inside.

There it was: Dalacar.

Towering spires, beautiful architecture, well cared for roads and sidewalks of smooth stone. It wasn't too hot, it wasn't too cold, it simply was rather comfortable. The system would account for the increased gravity later, and in diagnostic mode the gravity was set to 1G. Earth standard.

The sky above was clear and blue, clouds lazily rolling across on their own accord. Two moons hung in the sky far above, and while it was still daylight it was faint and hard to tell, but there was certainly something on one of those two moons. Though, back in the plaza there was beauty. A fountain sitting in the center of a massive traffic roundabout. The entirety of the region had an urban feel to it, but there was at least one park in view. Space seemed to be at a premium for the species, so whatever area WAS available had to be used to the fullest.

The city was devoid of people, of activity, of anything. Almost an abandoned city, but pristine. Her shops, her districts, everything was intact and perfectly preserved. There were just no beings in it at all, which was a credit to the diagnostic mode. Though, those weren't the only thing missing.

Signs. There were no signs on a Dalacari road. There were places marked for foot traffic to cross the various streets and roads, but the actual roads themselves had no signs. Nothing to indicate where one would go. Off in the plaza square there was something that resembled an information kiosk, but how a Dalacari got from point A to point B was, at the moment, a mystery.

Wulfgar's breath was taken at the beauty of what he saw. He was the first human to set eyes on Vespas home. He spun in a circle slowly, taking in the beauty. "Computer run test simulation and populate with dual copies of characters. All characters must have a double and split the standard so between the two. Begin." He watched after a second as ghostly forms started appearing in twos here and there.

'Looking good so far now for the hard part.' Wulfgar thought to himself as he turned to the viable arch. He pulled up the standard profile for Dalacari and added it to the character files so that they would, hopefully, act similar to Vespa where the two halves alternate. He would occasionally look back at the scene being constructed before him and smiled.

Slowly the scene started to build. Magnificent sights, and now the populace that inhabited them. No wonder the streets, the sidewalks, and the buildings seemed so big... Dalacari needed all that room! At first it was just test dummies, humanoid mannequins that just went through the motions until Wulfgar set them to imitate Dalacari. Then the real magic happened. They walked like Vespa, moved like her, shared perspectives like her. Population density left a lot of room still, but the species needed it. Still though, there seemed to be something missing. Not the Dalacari, no they were there, but there was something missing from the scene. Something that Vespa had mentioned.

Wulfgar scratched his head, trying to figure out what he'd forgotten. He turned back to the Original holo and had it materialize in his palm so he could turn and zoom in. As he studied what the larger scale hologram he stood it had been created from he finally seen what was missing. The drones. He closed his hand and the mini holo evaporated.

Wulfgar opened the files that Vespa had supplied and began reading it. He would transfer bits of data over to the main files to be converted to programming code and updated to be added into the Drone programs. He spent about an hour completing the transfer of data before he felt confident enough that it would imitate what it said the drones could do. He activated the files and drones appeared, filling a large portion of the space.

The drones were bipedal platforms, intricate mechanical constructs with a white plating that almost looked ceramic, but was clearly an advanced form of plastic or mesh hybrid. Durable, lightweight, and aesthetically pleasing. Rather than the Dalacari themselves, each drone was a singular platform. They didn't seem to work in pairs, but rather seemed to work well with each other. Perhaps there was a planetary network that the holodeck didn't know how to properly simulate. Though once they were added to the simulation, Dalacar came alive.

There was a drone on every street corner, giving directions and assistance. Drones handled driving the vehicles that went along the streets. Automated hovering drone craft, barely three meters in any direction, patrolled the skies. A drone in the park kept an eye on the children that played there. It was hard to look in any singular direction and NOT see a drone performing some task. Street sweeping, carrying boxes, giving guidance and direction, driving, summoning a ride for a Dalacari... the list of basic tasks went on and on. Through it all, the drones themselves sounded cheerful when given the chance to assist. Never referring to themselves in anything other than the most distant third person. "This unit" was the closest they came to self-reference. They knew everyone by name, addressing with the most courtesy possible. Husbands and wives, children, and all manner in between going about their day in the plaza center.

Standing in a sea of society, nearly drowning in a culture, it was easy to see how Vespa could get used to such a life. Drones to carry your bags. Drones to carry your boxes, arrange for mailing, handle your transportation, direct you to destinations, handle your schedule...

Almost every aspect of Dalacari life was either managed by or assisted by drones. But how much did they REALLY influence Dalacari life, would be another question for another day...