Playdate

[Daniel Brooks]

==For Kurasa and Thorn== Holodeck Two==

[Alexander Talion]

Alex approached the holodeck menu panel and grinned as he slid his isolinear chip into the slot. A couple of keystrokes later, it was ready.

The doors swished open to reveal nature in all it's beauty. There were trees of all shapes and sizes and birds could be heard in the distance as the branches barely moved from a light breeze. The sun was shining and it looked about mid morning. Off to one side there was some play equipment that could be climbed on and entertained with. There was also a large open area that could be seen.

Reyna closed her eyes and inhaled deeply at the door, "Ah, green stuff! I miss that smell."

Indeed, all manner of organic matter could be smelled, including the smell of the rich soil itself beneath feet than crunched on a stick or leaf here or there or rustled a bit of grass. The variety of plants and other organisms that were simulated were vast, but by design. There were also a number of animals, but most of them were timid and elusive. It was an entire ecosystem that was very accurately modelled.

Reyna got a big smile and threw a ball as hard as she could into the open area. Instantly, Thor took off at blinding speed, his pats tossing up a little bit of dirt as his powerful legs propelled him. The girl laughed and took off after him at only a small fraction of the speed, but determined to catch him all the same.

Alex gave a satisfied sigh and strolled into the park and stood under the shade of a tree. It was good to see his daughter enjoying herself.

[Shione Kurasa]

Jelaya was delighted when Shione floated the idea of a holodeck playdate with Talion's daughter Reyna. They were almost identical in age and both had dogs even though Reyna's was one of Talion's toys.

They arrived just after Alex's daughter ran in throwing a ball for the 'Dog' and Aashaa was clearly excited. The two officers lived only a matter of a few doors away from each other, both being placed in the Senior officer's section of the Quarters deck. As they stopped to watch Alex could see Jelaya intently studying the cybernetic dog and seemed to want to speak with him but after the second time, she hesitated Shione 'pushed
her' and the Caitian Engineer spoke up. "The dog is perfectly safe with other children Alex? You understand why I am asking hmmn?"

However clearly excited herself Aashaa had already proceeded to throw her own ball in and the tiny Westie was off on a chorus of yips and barks with the Caitian/Mirak hybrid child speeding across in pursuit.

"Well at least it works for the kids, Shione added looking askance at Jelaya as she awaited Alex's response

==Tag Alex==

[Alexander Talion]

Alex chuckled and replied, "Thor is programmed to behave like a dog MOST of the time, but is actually designed with primary programming as a holo-nanny. It is completely capable of voice interaction and in an emergency will turn into a version of Sarah, so that the program could lead my child by the hand to an escape pod or interact with staff as needed to manage first aid, defend them against an enemy or any other contingency. Thor remains as a dog because it makes people think before acting and is also a fun playmate for Reyna. Make no mistake though, Thor keeps an eye on her and is one of the safest babysitters you would want."

[Shione Kurasa]

Aashaa had no interest in what her mothers were talking about or why the girl's father looked so old.

As Asoka returned the ball to her she held out her hand to the other girl, "Hi I'm Aashaa, mom said your name is Reyna; that is a pretty name. My dog is Asoka and she is a West Highland Terrier, what is your dog called?"

Jelaya understood what Alex was explaining and having had experience with him when they both served on the Cop, she simply rolled her eyes and glared at her mate when Shione rolled her eyes at the exchange.

[Alexander Talion]

At the same time, Thor returned his ball to Reyna, but sat down and patiently waited for Reyna to be available again. Reyna gave a friendly smile and replied, "I'm very pleased to meet you, Aashaa." She began to reach for the offered hand and then hesitated and asked with a very questioning look on her face, "Do you shake hands, or do you touch paws?" Reyna held out her hand, palm up in the cultural greeting more common between the feline species, where they would touch paw pads in a more gentle form of greeting than the human shaking of hands, which was sometimes awkward or even painful for Caitian or Mirak. "Am I doing this right?"

[Shione Kurasa]

Aashaa, make sure her claws were retracted, before shaking Reyna's hand just as humans do. The fur would feel soft and she had 4 fingers, with a thumb just as Reyna did.

Looking around the area she grinned, "Did your dad make this place Reyna , it's amazing, can we explore with our dogs?"

As they were greeting Asoka trotted over to Thor and sniffed in a fashion that dogs do when greeting, but made a quizzical sound when the smell didn't 'seem' familiar to her, and she barked once at Thor almost as if to say, "You don't smell right."

"It's OK Asoka, " Aashaa added before turning back to her parents; "Moms would it be ok if Reyna and explore with our dogs?"

Jelaya knew that Aashaa had some friends on Betazed and missed them, and nodded to Alex, asking. "I am sure it's safe, yes?"

==Tag Alex==

[Alexander Talion]

Thor looked at Asoka and instantly evaluated the creature and then adjusted his programming accordingly. Especially in the holodeck, things were altered instantaneously. Thor not only smelled appropriate, giving an interesting idea of what his diet and microbiome contained from his history, but he then took a couple of steps to the side and "marked" a tree with the lifting of one leg. The large dog then casually strolled back over to Asoka and returned the gesture of sniffing and giving what appeared to be a grunt of approval.

Alex chuckled at the interactions of everyone and nodded, "Yes, it's quite safe. They might earn a scrape or a splinter along the way, but there are safety protocols engaged. Nobody should get more than a bruise if they fall from a tree, that sort of thing. I also don't have any dangerous predators in this program. They might find a box turtle or a small grass snake, but that is about it."

[Shione Kurasa]

When Reyna's dad said it was safe Aashaa turned to her, happily; "Let's go explore , the dogs will protect us," and she winked before turning and ran deeper into the park heading for the playground equipment.

'This stuff is great, it's just as if we were in a real playpark," Aashaa climbed the ladder on a slide and then rolled Asoka's ball down before sliding down herself. The terrier barked at her but still caught the ball just as Asoka slid into her.

"What do you want to do Reyna?"

[Alexander Talion]

Reyna tried the slide a couple of times, Thor watching the entire time. She then went over to a tree that had some low hanging limbs, perfect for climbing.

Looking to Aashaa, "This should be easy for you. You have claws. I just have hands." She then began climbing up the tree as high as she could go. Thor gave a soft growl and a mild woof sound that was more a huff than a woof. Reyna responded, "I know, I'll be careful." Thor gave an uneasy groan in reply.

[Shione Kurasa]

Aashaa bolted over to the tree and with the advantage of claws caught up to Reyna and sat on a branch beside her, talking in a quiet tone;

"Most of the kids I played with on Betazed were not into outdoor adventures. All this telepathy thing and studying science; yuk.

I guess everybody is different, but." and she switched to a whisper. "Is your dad really protective of you? Mom is always worried that I will fall and 'break something'" Aashaa rolled her eyes in dramatic fashion, and then giggled looking down.

Asoka was circling Thor; yipping and play barking trying to get the larger canine to run with her. "Does your dog not like to play?" Aashaa asked.

[Alexander Talion]

Reyna looked down at the dogs and replied to Aashaa, "No, he likes to play, but he's learning about your dog first. He doesn't want to hurt it. I know Thor looks big and scary, but most of the time he's a big cuddler."

About that time was when thor stopped just watching Asoka and finally engaged a little. Using small huffing sounds that were like muffled half barks, he would drop from standing to where just his front half dropped down, paws extended in front of him, tail wagging high in the air. He would freeze in that position, then dash a few feet to the side, repeating the gesture. It was classic posturing for play invitation, or as in this case accepting an invitation. Soon they were trotting around, playing. Thor even found a stick that wasn't too big for the other dog and offered it as a tugging toy. He would give a good fight, but then let Asoka win enough to keep it fun. Thor knew not to make it a real competition, because that wasn't what it was about. He even rolled around on the ground now and then, letting the other feel equal in their play, trying to keep it fun.

Reyna looked around and asked Aashaa, "I know what you mean about learning things sometimes. Oddly enough, my life is filled with telepathy things and science as well, but I like them. The trick is to not make any one thing ruin your day. Variety is key. you have to mix it up a bit. In simple terms, all work and no play makes for a very boring life." She gave her friend a serious look as she asked, "Have you ever played make believe stuff? Holodecks like this are amazing for make believe stuff." She leaned in and whispered, "Besides, they like doing things in here because it is almost impossible for us to actually get hurt. Watch..."

Then, just like that, Reyna let herself fall backwards off the tree branch to plumet to the ground with a thud. Thor stopped instantly to look at her. Alex perked up in a way that was comically almost identical to Thor, standing and looking over at the place where she had fallen.

Reyna sat up, spit a few blades of grass out of her mouth and held up a single thumb to declare, "I'm good! No blood!" She flopped back down for a second and mumbled, "My butt hurts though, oof!" She slowly got up, brushed herself off and rubbed at her backside before looking up to Aashaa, "See what I mean?"