The Clear

Posted on Sat Jul 12th, 2025 @ 7:12am by Captain Rovak & Lieutenant Commander Yy
Edited on on Sat Jul 12th, 2025 @ 7:12am

1,053 words; about a 5 minute read

Mission: Histories
Location: Arboretum, Lower Bravo Wing, Starbase 51
Timeline: 2395 (After 'Herding Cats')

Rovak entered the doors to the arboretum, and had the distinct sensory shock of entering a holodeck. Though the arboretum was arguably a real forest, the simulated ecology was an evolving program rather than a real life form, and Rovak found that distasteful somehow. The computer told him Yy was here, and though the room itself was small, the abbreviated holographic space was vast. He could disable the program, but that would likely make many unhappy and necessitate more work by the Operations department to get it back to where it was. He set out in search of Yy.

Yy was sitting on a hill, overlooking a slow flowing river. Although it was only a simulation, it was no less beautiful for the effort. The sun was setting slowly, sunsets lasted longer in here. Every last ray of slow, exquisite bleeding light burned the fluffy clouds orange. Yy had read that it was based on a Bajoran location called inspiration point. She had made a note to visit it one day.

She heard the Commander approaching up the other side of the hill, the nest of baby starlings in the tree nearby began to chirp. Yy wondered whether that was a deliberate feature, a sort of subtle proximity alarm within the arboretum's program. She stood to greet him. "Good afternoon Commander. Are you here for the sunset also?"

"I am afraid I do not have time for sunsets at the moment, Lieutenant. I was hoping, if you will forgive the circumstances, that we could get my evaluation out of the way before too long." Rovak said, knowing that he would need to lead the charge in this respect.

"Of course." Yy said, happy to accommodate. "Have a seat." She sat back down on the little spot of grass she'd been occupying earlier.

Rovak sat down next to her, folding his legs under him. "I will admit it is fortunate to be here at this time of day."

"It's glorious, isn't it?" Yy sat there basking. She'd taken the time to change into one of the regulation skirts earlier, and was all the gladder for the warmth on the skin of her legs. "Have you kept Kolinahr, Commander?"

"I have. My last confirmation was the week previous." Rovak said honestly.

"Then you're fine by me." Yy said, grinning.

"Is that all?" Rovak asked, feeling something that resembled disappointment, which he discarded once analyzed.

"There's an old saying about the Vulcan brain. It's like a computer. And if you're running Kolinahr, that's the best system anti-virus you can get. Honestly your people don't generally have a lot of use for counselors. If a Vulcan can sort something out themselves, they will. Otherwise all the usually need is another Vulcan to set them straight. In a pinch, any telepath will do. So naturally if you every feel your control slipping, please see me." Yy offered, leaning back with her hands under her head.

"Thank you, Lieutenant. Are you certain there is nothing else you need to ask?" Rovak said, hoping she would get the point.

"Well, we could go through the Proust questionnaire if you think I'm being remiss." Yy responded.

"That may be a little in depth. Though, perhaps I have time for a couple." Rovak figured he could take ten minutes or so before things backed up too terribly. It was an agreeable vantage.

"I suppose I'd better choose some good ones, then." Yy said, rotating to face Rovak. "I suppose all the ones about emotion can probably be excluded."

"It is a common misconception, Lieutenant, that my people do not experience emotion. It is our ability to repress and control that emotion that measures our attainment of Kolinahr." Rovak explained, assuming Yy knew that already, but was just being polite. It was his people's way to explain their differences clearly and objectively, whether or not they were assumed to be common knowledge.

"I thought you might want an out. If you want my time, Commander, I expect honesty." Yy told him, serious without being cold.

"As well any counselor should." Rovak advised.

"On what occasion do you lie?" Yy asked, beginning suddenly. She watched him with calm curiosity.

"I would not lie. I am Vulcan." Rovak said.

Yy raised her eyebrow at him, in the way she'd seen his people do so often.

"However, I may embroider, embellish, or omit the truth if the gain to the greater good is of more value than my personal honor or the objective truth. I have not made a habit of it in my life."

Yy nodded, feeling a certain respect for his explanation, but also a disappointment that there was nothing more scandalous there. "What trait do you most deplore in others?" She asked in follow up.

"Stubbornness. The unwillingness to accept new ideas or concepts. The unwillingness to change."

"A very Vulcan trait." Yy noted.

"Indeed it is." Rovak nodded, blank as ever. Whether it was her passive Deltan telepathy, or the fact that she was an aesthetically agreeable woman, Rovak trusted something about Yy.

"What is the trait you most deplore in yourself?" Yy asked.

Rovak did not answer immediately. He folded his hands, steepling the fingertips in thought. "The inability to forget."

"To forget what?"

"Anything. I can recall with reasonable detail, the entirety of my life. If it were my choice, there are aspects I would omit." Rovak said, looking out across the holographic valley they sat in.

"Like what?" Yy asked, fascinated by what he would possibly forget.

"People." Rovak said.

"A person?" Yy wonder aloud.

"Just the one." Rovak said, his thoughts lost out with the setting sun.

"Have they forgotten you?" Yy asked.

"I do not know." Rovak said, looking back to Yy. He stood up then, and seemed to realize the state of himself. "Thank you, Lieutenant. I believe that will be sufficient for your report."

"Of course, Commander." She smiled as warmly as she could, standing up carefully. "If you ever want to talk about the things you can't forget, that's why I'm here."

"I am sure we will speak again soon, Lieutenant." Rovak said, as noncommittally as he was able. He walked back down the hill, to where the doorway appeared. He passed through it, onto the empty promenade, and back to the real world.

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