Come along and follow me... Who: Morgan Himmel and Senar Earth Date: April 5, 2382 Where: Sealab What: When Morgan met Senar (they talked about fish). Rating: G Status: Complete
Morgan was not lost. No, really, she wasn't. With a PADD of the corridors running throughout the Odyssey, she was as good as gold as she made her way through the vast interior of the ship. Yeah, she knew that she could've taken the turbolift and been deposited neatly on the doorstep of her department, but since this was her first day aboard the behemoth ship, she figured it was a better idea to get a look around the place and gain a feel for it. Her innate sense of direction was nothing to write home about, and all the halls basically looked the same, but she knew she was drawing close to the science sector and all the labs therein.
This ship was nothing like the Axiom had been. A small science vessel, the Axiom had been her home for several years, and she'd grown pretty close to the crew. They'd been like a big, nerdy family. She hoped that she'd eventually feel so at home in this ship, but she wasn't going to hold her breath.
Senar was also not lost. While he didn't have the luxury of a corridor map, he had memorized the layout of most of the ship on his trip over from the Institute. His slow pace and interest in the laboratories that were clearly not his own was purely for curiosity's sake; having never served on a starship before, he was as eager as a Vulcan could be to see how well equipped their science stations were.
He had already inspected one of the general purpose labs further up the corridor, and was currently standing in the threshold of the currently empty Geology lab. He supposed that, so far, the equipment was acceptable, but it would be illogical to make a final assessment until he did a thorough inspection of his own workspace.
When Morgan rounded the corner of that particular corridor, she noticed Senar standing around the geology lab's door. Another scientist? It would make sense to have a Vulcan geologist, since their planet was basically a big rock anyway. She couldn't imagine living on a planet like that, but she'd heard they had some interesting subterranean water reserves.
Geology wasn't her area, though, so she passed by the man with a polite nod and headed to the oceanography lab. She wanted to get a good look at her own turf before she went sniffing around in any of the other labs. The interior was everything she'd hoped, filled with bubbling tanks and basins to keep live specimens of any creatures they picked up on their travels. Morgan could barely contain her excitement as she made her way around the laboratory and examined every tool, tank, and computer console.
Nope. Not a geologist. He continued down the hall further until he reached another doorway to lurk in. It was marked for oceanography, and he noticed that the woman who had passed him in the hall was now inside. She looked...excited.
The room, full of tanks, more tanks, and other tanks, made little sense to him. As Vulcan had only a few small bodies of water that were generously referred to as seas, he was simultaneously baffled and intrigued by this particular field of study; not the most logical career choice for a Vulcan, however. He hesitated to enter the lab, not wanting to bother the woman as she poked around. Somehow doing that seemed worse than walking into an empty lab that was clearly not his own.
When Morgan heard the whooshy sound of a door opening, she turned her head to see the same Vulcan officer that had been peeking into the geolab earlier. Was he lost? She didn't think Vulcans got lost. Might as well ask and see. "Hi!" she greeted him with a wave, "come on in. Are you looking for a particular lab?" Judging by the blue of his uniform he was either in science or medical, so he shouldn't have been too far off in any event.
He stood in the doorway a moment longer before stepping inside. Were he anyone else, he might have been nervous at the sheer amount of water just sitting there in such relatively flimsy containers, but he wasn't, so he just ignored it. He offered the woman a small nod in greeting. "Hello. I am proceeding to the cybernetics laboratory; I did not mean to disturb you. My apologies." He wasn't necessarily looking for it, as he already knew where to find it, but was taking the scenic route instead.
"Cybernetics?" Morgan knew next to nothing about the inner workings of computers and that sort of thing. If it didn't swim or grow in the water she wasn't really that interested, but she still respected people who worked in those fields. It was pretty brainy. "That's cool. Have a look around. We don't have any fish yet but that'll change soon, hopefully." She grinned and waved off his apology. "There's no need to apologize, honestly. I was gonna go snoop around in some of the other labs too, once I was done here," she said with a mischievous smile.
"My name's Morgan, by the way. Morgan Himmel," she added as she extended her hand in introduction.
"I am Senar," he said as he glanced down at her hand. He had realized long ago that Humans were a very touch-oriented species, but he had never been able to truly figure out what it was they gained from the experience as they were not naturally telepathic. Which wasn't to say he didn't know what she wanted; the handshake was one of the most basic Human gestures, and seemed to carry a lot of weight and meaning in social interactions.
After a few moments of staring blankly at Morgan's hand, Senar raised one of his own from his side and clasped hers firmly. The whole thing might have been culturally significant, but that didn't mean he had to like doing it very much. "Thank you for your invitation."
Morgan returned the handshake with a firm shake of her own. Even though most humans weren't naturally telepathic, she believed you could still tell a lot about a person by the way they shook your hand. She definitely didn't really like it when people gave wussy handshakes, even if they weren't human. She was amused by his initial reaction, though, looking at her hand as if it were some strange, possibly venomous foreign organism. That was okay; she'd learned that Vulcans were Just Like That.
"So, what do you think about the ship, then?" Morgan asked, gesturing around the lab once she'd released his hand.
Once his hand was free, Senar tucked them both safely behind his back as he let his gaze sweep around the room again; so much water. What did he think of the ship? He had done some checking when he'd first received his orders, and had studied as much as he could about the ship before he was even anywhere near it. "I find the Odyssey to be satisfactory; I believe the ship will do well, assuming the crew is suitable. It is an acceptable first assignment."
Morgan quirked an eyebrow, chuckling bemusedly. Acceptable? Satisfactory? She supposed that was about as much enthusiasm as a Vulcan could be expected to muster. As long as he was dedicated to the work she figured he'd be okay. "That it is," she agreed with his assesment, giving him a friendly arm-pat before heading over to a computer console to order a few fish and begin setting up one of the tanks.
"First assignments are always an experience to remember. If you like exploring, this seems like the place to be." She glanced over at him from the console. "You know anything about fish?"
If there was one thing that he was absolutely sure of, it was that he would never truly get used to all the random touching; he would have to put up with it, though, which wasn't as hard as some might have assumed.
Senar moved across the room to stand in front of one of the large tanks, and though nothing was inside it, he stared at it intently, as if fish would somehow magically appear. He wasn't exactly sure what he thought about exploring, so he opted to skip addressing that particular statement. "I trust you are aware of the number of fish species native to Vulcan," he stated, still studying the tank. "I believe the count is now up to three, and two of those are very nearly amphibians instead. Therein lies the sum of my knowledge on that particular subject." Well, that and he knew most other people ate fish, but he was sure that wasn't what she'd meant.
"And the other one has no eyes and lives in ponds in caves, yes. We have fish sort of like that on Earth, too," she told him, typing up two orders to a fish hatchery down on the planet; one for several freshwater species and one for a list of saltwater species. There were certainly enough tanks to contain them all, and it just felt wrong to be in an oceanography lab without any fish swimming around. "I guess you wouldn't have much reason to be interested in fish with a selection like that," she admitted. "I grew up by the ocean, and Earth has thousands of aquatic species. Not as many as we used to, but there's not much for that at this point."
During his time at the Academy, Senar had seen the ocean. Or at least one of them, as Humans seemed to have different names for different parts of the same large body of water. After growing up on Vulcan, the wide expanse of water and the bright green of Terran plant life had been the most impressive sight he seen in his life. Not that he would have ever admitted it.
"I must confess that, during my time on Earth, the only aquatic life I saw was on dinner plates." Human eating habits had taken far longer to get used to than anything else.
Morgan made a face of surprise at Senar's admission. "Are you serious?" ... Well, that wasn't really a bright question. He was a Vulcan, of course he was serious. She shook her head and waved her hand as if to strike that comment from the record. "What I mean is, I'm just surprised. You went to the Academy and you never saw more than some salmon on a platter? That's crazy." She'd have to introduce him to some aquatic life, post haste.
"Look, I'm ordering some fish right now, if you wanna stick around you can take a look at 'em." She might even be able to con him into helping her get some of them settled into their tanks.
He turned away from the tank and crossed the room to stand a respectable distance behind her as she worked at the console. "May I inquire as to where you believe I should have seen live specimens?" His particular field didn't do testing on anything that most people would consider alive, and though one student had almost perfected a cybernetic fish for her senior project, he didn't think that counted.
"What?" she asked, looking befuddled. Considering the planet was around seventy-five percent water, it didn't seem farfetched to believe that someone who'd lived there for three or four years would would've seen a fish or two. "Weren't there even tanks in any of the rooms at the Academy?" Morgan was enlisted so she'd never spent much time at the Academy proper.
"It would be irresponsible to keep tanks of water in classrooms designated for robotics and cybernetics. Other students may have kept fish as pets during their time at the Academy, but I was never in a position to find out for certain." Possibly some of the professors had them as well, but he didn't exactly frequent their offices either. Hunting down fish to look at had just never seemed all that important since, in theory, he knew what they looked like. Mostly. In general.
"Okay, fair's fair," she said. He had a point. Not that that's what she'd meant, nor did she expect to find fish in a cybernetics lab, but it was the principle of the thing, man. "Well, just wait here, okay?" Morgan pointed an authoritative finger at him and bustled back to the computer, fussing around for a moment before grabbing a PADD and scurrying over to a decently sized tank. This would be her saltwater habitat. She obviously had experience with this type of equipment, setting the salinity and temperature of the water before having the computer replicate coral formations around the bottom and side of the tank.
Morgan made light humming noises as she worked; not a tune, but little 'yes,' 'no,' or 'that's not quite right' sounds rather than straight up talking to herself. If this was going to be a reef-like setting, she'd need some urchins and anemones as well as fish. "Almost done!" she called over to Senar. Once her saltwater order was complete, she pressed a button to confirm it and have the specimens beamed into the lab.
As Morgan worked, Senar stood, unmoving, off to the side and out of her way. A part of him was interested in how she was setting up the tank, what the temperature was, how she chose what underwater landscaping would be the most effective, but he didn't ask. She seemed so intent on her task, and as he was unsure how much actual concentration it took to accomplish it, he didn't wish to be the cause of any accidents.
When she seemed to have finished, however, he did venture a little closer to the prepared tank. Was that...really what the bottom of a Terran ocean looked like?
The faux coral wasn't alive or anything, but it was colored and textured to look exactly like living coral, down to the feathery fronds on some of the species. It would take a bit of time for some living coral polyps to grow within the artificial construct, but with the technology available, the process could be sped up for some of the more fleshy varieties. When Morgan saw that Senar had approached the tank, she smiled and activated the first transfer.
All the labs had the ability to beam specimens directly into predefined study spaces, such as the tanks and holding tables. The first shipment materialized onto the platform next to the tank in a large, clear container. Several live sea anemones and bristly urchins were contained therein; they would have to be placed manually. A few colorful sea slugs and cucumbers were located in a separate partition of the same container. "These aren't the fish," she clarified with a grin. Using the console to confirm that she'd received the first container, Morgan initialized the second transfer, restraining her glee when a load of beautiful tropical fish appeared in the tank with a swirl of light.
For the moment, Senar was busy studying the invertebrates as they very slowly inched across the bottom of their enclosure. There were so many questions he wanted to ask about them. What purpose did creatures like this serve? Was there a reason for their colors? What did they eat? How did they eat? Were they dangerous? How did they move? What effect did the temperature have on them? Could they only survive in sea water? Could they survive for any length of time out of water?
The dim flash of the transporter depositing the fish inside the tank drew his attention, and he took a small step to the left as if he were trying to avoid Morgan's enthusiastic response. Humans were consistently driven by their emotions, and he was always surprised by their intensity, especially in response to even the most mundane of stimuli, such as fish appearing in a tank.
Morgan couldn't help that she had an intense personality. It was just in her nature. And she really couldn't help the rush of glee that coursed through her system when the fish appeared in the tank. They were so beautiful in their various shapes, sizes, and colors, darting around the tank in alarm after being transported. Fish were simple creatures, so the shock of transport wasn't something they ever got used to, but it was a very temporary jolt, and eventually they settled down into smooth, gliding circles around their enclosure.
Morgan bounced a bit on the balls of her feet and refrained from making kissy faces at the fish, since that would've looked silly. "What do you think?" she asked with a glimmer of excitement in her eyes. "Aren't they beautiful?"
The list of questions grew by at least a dozen as he watched the fish gradually calm from their trip. Was that detrimental to their health? Apparently not, as Morgan didn't seem the least bit concerned with their behavior. He took a step closer to the tank, peering in at the fish intently; most of them looked too small to form an entree.
"They are...aesthetically pleasing," he commented in a tone that, from anyone else, would have implied sarcasm. There was just something about them that made it hard to look away. Strange.
Hmm. Maybe he could be taught after all! Grinning, she touched the tip of her finger against the tank's glass and made little figure eight patterns, pleased when one small fish followed the shape for a moment before swimming on. "These are all tropical species," she explained. "Most of them live in or around coral reefs, which are also actually alive. It's an extremely complex and intricate ecosystem. I made sure to choose fish that wouldn't eat each other, too, 'cause I don't wanna come in here one morning and find some of my fish have been devoured."
Senar arched an eyebrow, and managed to look away from the tank long enough to turn and look at her. "They will consume one another?" Which, really, made a lot of logical sense, but how did they determine which ones would eat which other ones? Not to mention, how did the fish themselves make that determination, and, ultimately, how had anyone ever discovered which ones were safe for Human consumption?
This, he decided, was far more complicated than artificial intelligence.
"Well, a lot of reef fish eat coral polyps or brine shrimp, or little worms. Some of them filter little plant particles out of the water to eat. But there are fish that eat other fish. They have a variety of hunting techniques, too, but none of the fish in here are very aggressive. Some fish will sit perfectly still at the bottom of the sea floor and wait for smaller fish to pass by, then they gulp them down in one bite. They can perfectly camouflage themselves, or hide under the sand. Some reef fish are poisonous enough to kill a man, too." She could literally talk for hours about marine ecosystems, but she doubted that Senar would be keen on hearing her prattle on about her fishy friends for quite so long.
"Humans have been studying these animals for hundreds of years, so we know a good bit about them at this point. We almost completely destroyed most of our reefs back in the twenty-first century, but a great deal of conservation effort has been put into preserving them since then."
Actually, considering the number of questions he had, Senar probably wouldn't have minded as much as she thought. Then again, standing there for the rest of the day wasn't exactly practicle; he did, after all, have his own lab to attend to, and she probably had more to set up herself.
"I see." He turned away to watch the fish drift past. "I am unsure what purpose destroying them would have served." Certainly they hadn't needed space on the ocean floor for anything, right?
"Well, it isn't like people were going around purposely destroying reefs, but there was a lot of carelessness. People would catch larger fish for sport, boat anchors would damage the coral, pollution would kill them. They're all dependent on each other in some way, so when one species would start to die off, others would be effected as well." Her face took on a look of, not sadness, but slight remorse for the irresponsibility of her ancestors. Countless species had been lost, and Earth's biodiversity had suffered greatly because of it. Last ditch conservation efforts had gone a long way toward restoring the reefs to their former glory, but it wasn't always enough.
"We've learned our lesson, though. You might've read about when the crew of the Enterprise had to time travel to retrieve some whales from the past to prevent Earth's destruction. By that time we had ramped up conservation efforts, but that was a pretty harsh wakeup call." [23:37] theacidtwinkie: Ancient Humans were so destructive, but at least they had been steadily trying to rectify that. "I do recall hearing about that particular incident." At first he had been skeptical; even though time travel seemed to happen with rather alarming frequency in Starfleet's history, it hardly made much logical sense until one broke down the math and mechanics. Now, though, he was forced to wonder if every creature on Earth had been placed there by someone else. If that were the case, the continuing struggle to keep as many species alive would make considerably more sense. If not, then, what was the reason they were so committed to it?
"Were the efforts not so successful, do you believe your planet would have suffered ill effects?"
"Well, we believe that, yeah. I mean, I guess it depends on your point of view. Biodiversity doesn't keep the planet spinning, but with the loss of various environments and ecosystems, it takes away a lot of the natural richness that Earth used to have. Like the rainforests, for example. Thousands, maybe even millions of species, and so many of them were killed because of pollution and deforestation. The loss of those habitats makes Earth a worse place for humans to live, if nothing else." As she spoke, Morgan made broad gestures, an intense look on her face. This was obviously a topic she was very passionate about.
So she wouldn't just be standing around, she busied herself with the containers that held the slugs and anemones. Those would have to be placed into the tank now. The clownfish would need a home, after all, and she thought the slugs were cute and colorful. They would make a lovely addition to the tank.
He watched her reflection in the tank, taking note of how much more serious she had become; clearing the topic of conversation was one that she found most important. "So it is all an effort to keep Earth a desirable place to live." From what she had said, he believed that to be an accurate summation. He glanced over to watch her as she began her work with the creatures in the holding container.
"And those creatures, what are they?"
"It's not just that. The animals have just as much right to live there as humans do. It's also about humans being responsible and taking care of our home, you know? Just 'cause we think we're the one sentient species on the block doesn't mean all that much, in my opinion." Maybe it was just an emotional attachment to the creatures that lived on the earth. Morgan loved them and wanted to see them thrive. "It's our heritage, I guess."
When Senar questioned her about the sea slugs, Morgan's posture lost some of its rigidity as she relaxed into a less intense topic. "These little guys are nudibranchs," she told him. "Also called sea slugs. But not every sea slug is a nudibranch. Does that make sense?" she asked with a grin. "There are over three thousand recorded nudibranch species. And these over here are sea anemones.They're named after flowers but they're actually related to corals and jellyfish. Jellyfish aren't actually fish, though. And they're not jelly, either. Naming conventions can get confusing if you aren't familiar with Terran species."
He completely agreed that everything had a right to live, but he was aware that not everyone shared that sentiment. For some, keeping the planet a pleasant place to exist was probably their only concern. At least it wasn't something he needed to be concerned about; it would also do well for him to remember her reaction to the topic in general. Just in case.
Now, though, they had moved on to a far less tense subject. He shifted to get a better look inside the container, the tiniest of frowns flitting across his features. "The naming conventions used to identify these species is highly illogical." If it wasn't a fish, and it wasn't actually jelly, why would anyone call it that?
Morgan laughed lightly, rolling up her sleeves and dipping her hand into the container with the slugs, scooping up one she knew wasn't going to sting her for her troubles and bringing it up closer to the surface of the water, though not removing it altogether. "Who said humans were logical?" she asked him, unknowingly echoing the words of Dr. Gillian Taylor from hundreds of years prior. "And anyway, we have scientific names to help identify them as well. Jellyfish are phylum Cnidaria, with plenty of species under that."
Returning the slug to the bottom of the container, Morgan wiped her hands clean and began to initiate a site-to-site transport, moving the little colorful nudibranchs to the soft, sandy bottom of the large tank. The sea anemones went next, placed carefully on a rock face they could cling to. "Watch the clownfish," she commented then, pointing to the bright little fish. "It's the orange and white one there. They live inside of sea anemones, but the anemones have stingers and would sting any other fish that touched them."
Senar had been wondering at the texture of the slugs, and as Morgan reached in and lifted one to the surface, he thought he was given a rather good example of what it was; it didn't seem appealing. Neither did the residue she wiped off her hand afterward.
Following her suggestion, he turned back to the tank and watched as the indicated fish took up positions inside the anemones. Fascinating. "How do they determine which type of fish is near?" They didn't seem to have any of the organs one would usually use to distinguish one thing from another.
"The anemone can't tell. It's a symbiotic relationship, see. They fish's mucus coating is based on sugar rather than protein, so the anemone doesn't recognize it as food and doesn't sting it. The clownfish keeps the anemone clean in return for using it as a house. Works out pretty well, if you ask me." She grinned as she watched the fish flit to and fro in the tank. The back wall had a screen with images of the ocean, which made the tank seem to extend for miles into the bulkhead against which it was situated.
"I agree." He nodded at her explanation. He had never been much for biology, but he at least knew the very basics, and could only assume that she was pleased that she didn't need to explain everything in minute detail. The optical illusion created by the screen was slightly distracting at random intervals; he knew it was a false image, yet caught himself searching for things moving in the distance. Had she put it there for herself, or for the fish? Would they be fooled into thinking they had more space than they did in reality? Did it improve their health, lifespan, or disposition?
Huh.
If he'd asked, Morgan probably would've replied that the screen 'just looked pretty,' but she suspected that the fish liked it too. Not that they behaved differently, but she had a hunch. The two stood together in silence for a moment, watching the fish swim through their new home. A generator created a slight wave in the water similar to the push and pull of the shallow waters in reefs and tide pools. It was kind of mesmerizing.
"You can come in here whenever you like to see the fish," she said at length, smiling. "I think they like you."
It was mesmerizing. So much so that he found himself reluctant to leave to continue on to his destination; highly illogical. There was a strange soothing quality to standing there and watching the fish swim, and Senar wondered if it was something everyone experienced, or just himself. And if everyone experienced the same calming effects, was it something the fish did consciously, or a defense they were not aware they were using?
"Thank you for the offer, however, I have not detected any change in their behavior that would suggest they are even vaguely aware of my presence, let alone fond of it."
... Right. "That's... I mean, just come by whenever you want," she reiterated. Explaining that it was a figure of speech seemed silly at this point. "Fish like a lot of people, they just don't always show it," she said instead. "As long as you don't try to eat them, mostly." Okay, so that was sillier.
Morgan scratched the back of her neck and put her hands on her hips, satisfied that, for now, the tank would take care of itself, since she had programmed it to feed and monitor the fish before they'd been transported in.
At her final comment, he looked over at her, brows drawn together a bit more than usual giving him the appearance of being displeased, when he was actually just giving some very serious thought to what she had said. Surely she knew that he would never consider eating anything like that, especially if he didn't know if they were even edible, which was beside the point anyway. "You are aware, are you not, that Vulcans are vegetarian? You do not need to concern yourself about such things; they do not appear to be even remotely appetizing."
Morgan had to bite her lip to keep from snort-laughing in a rather undignified manner, although she was sure she looked ridiculous. She couldn't help it! For a people that were collectively as funny as a burlap sack full of potatoes, Senar was definitely unintentionally amusing. "I do know that," she confirmed, well aware of Vulcans' general distaste for meat. "I know you wouldn't eat my tank fish anyway, even if you did eat meat."
"Correct." One eyebrow arched as he took in her expression; it was not one of her more flattering ones, that was for certain. Apparently she believed that something he had said was amusing, but he couldn't decide what that might have been. The Human sense of humor was a complicated thing, and he had decided not longer after entering the Academy that it was a concept he wasn't going to bother trying to understand.
For the next few minutes he was silent, turning back towards the tank. He was giving serious thought to something again, and when he took a step backwards, he finally spoke. "I should be going now."
When Senar moved to leave, Morgan nodded. He'd been in the lab for quite a while now and certainly had his own lab to attend to. "It was nice meeting you," she told him with a smile, having calmed down from her earlier near-outburst. The eyebrow quirk had given him away; he probably thought she was something zany, all right.
"In all seriousness, though, come back whenever you like. I don't know how many people I'll be sharing the lab with, but even if I'm not in here, you're welcome to look at the tanks. I'm sure we'll be picking up plenty of new specimens on the way."
Senar gave her another nod of thanks, and then turned and left the room. He would, most likely, find himself in oceanography again, probably sooner than he'd care to admit. His own lab was nearer to the end of the corridor, and as he let himself in, he ordered the computer to raise the lights. The room was empty, sterile, and slightly colder than he found comfortable, but any warmer would have been detrimental to the work that was performed there.
In the center of the room, at the end of a line of consoles, a carefully packed box sat on one of the workspaces; part of his experiment from the Institute. As he settled in to unpack it and make sure it had not been damaged, he put all thoughts of fish out of his mind; there'd be time to think of them later.