04-11-2024, 06:00 AM
As Jez began, it was hard for Alex to restrain himself. Outwardly, he gave no indication at all, but inside, he was in near shock. This young woman was making wild speculations about how being born on another planet might somehow magically alter your DNA and augment a person's capabilities in unimaginable ways. He stopped himself from addressing these issues though, because he knew the impact that would have. In his youth, he would have countered her point for point and tried to educate her on how amazingly wrong she was about how such things worked. It wasn't her fault though. She had no education in these matters. She also had no idea that he had actually minored in Xenology and Exopsychology, for the very reason of giving him insight into the physiology and cultures of various other worlds. He did massage the bridge of his nose as Jez spoke about her and the Elaysian conversing telepathically, but still remained silent.
Jez continued to speak and Alex listened, though he did tap briefly on his Arm PADD once, causing a small platter of grapes and other assorted fruits to silently materialize on the table. He grabbed a couple of grapes as she got to her father. He did raise a finger and clarify, "I would never wish to cause you to question your father. The relationship between a child and parent is a sacred one that none but they can understand. It is like a marriage and none but those in that relationship can truly grasp the depths of it."
His eyebrows shot up at the mention of him teaching her. It was almost comical, as he looked up and stroked his well trimmed facial hair with a hand before letting out another sigh. He looked to Shione and saw her grin at him. He knew his friend well enough that he could tell she was secretly struggling not to laugh at him.
"By the Fates, what have I gotten myself into?" He then deliberately addressed Shione, "Well, you've been silent far too long. Tell me, do you think she can be saved? She's practically feral."
Alex flipped over the PADD and slid it over to Shione, "Her record indicates a good foundation to work with though."
As he slid it over to Shione and she picked it up, Jez would glimpse that he had her detailed file on it already, her image from the Academy in clear view for a brief moment. The Ensign didn't know that he not only had a long history of being a Department Head on a number of ships, but that he had also been a First Officer in his career. In fact, at one point, he had actually filled in for more than one DH position at a time while still covering his FO duties, so he had become an expert at reviewing records and managing people. It also helped that he had a very good memory, could play 5 different kinds of chess at expert level or higher, and a few people would say he had played his hand at being a god a few times too many.
As Shione glanced at the PADD, Alex stared at his glass for a moment, but it didn't take a telepath to see that he wasn't looking at the glass, he was thinking. Then, he did something that probably confused Jez, but would have been familiar to Shione. Alex said to his glass, "Give me a statistical analysis for chances of success."
Almost instantly, a female voice came from his left forearm and replied, [78 percent.]
Alex snapped out of his staring contest with his glass and looked at Shione, "That's better than I would have thought. Not bad, really. I've certainly dealt with worse odds, but then again, I've almost died against better odds. This is a tough one to call. You know, on the one hand, if I get anyone else killed, they're never going to let me come back again. But on the other hand, I have to say that retired life isn't that bad. Maybe I could open a little shop on the Promenade and become a civilian. What do you think?"
== Tag to Shione and Jez ==
== This is getting interesting, but I need to let Shione actually post before I make their head explode with too much writing...lol... ==
Jez continued to speak and Alex listened, though he did tap briefly on his Arm PADD once, causing a small platter of grapes and other assorted fruits to silently materialize on the table. He grabbed a couple of grapes as she got to her father. He did raise a finger and clarify, "I would never wish to cause you to question your father. The relationship between a child and parent is a sacred one that none but they can understand. It is like a marriage and none but those in that relationship can truly grasp the depths of it."
His eyebrows shot up at the mention of him teaching her. It was almost comical, as he looked up and stroked his well trimmed facial hair with a hand before letting out another sigh. He looked to Shione and saw her grin at him. He knew his friend well enough that he could tell she was secretly struggling not to laugh at him.
"By the Fates, what have I gotten myself into?" He then deliberately addressed Shione, "Well, you've been silent far too long. Tell me, do you think she can be saved? She's practically feral."
Alex flipped over the PADD and slid it over to Shione, "Her record indicates a good foundation to work with though."
As he slid it over to Shione and she picked it up, Jez would glimpse that he had her detailed file on it already, her image from the Academy in clear view for a brief moment. The Ensign didn't know that he not only had a long history of being a Department Head on a number of ships, but that he had also been a First Officer in his career. In fact, at one point, he had actually filled in for more than one DH position at a time while still covering his FO duties, so he had become an expert at reviewing records and managing people. It also helped that he had a very good memory, could play 5 different kinds of chess at expert level or higher, and a few people would say he had played his hand at being a god a few times too many.
As Shione glanced at the PADD, Alex stared at his glass for a moment, but it didn't take a telepath to see that he wasn't looking at the glass, he was thinking. Then, he did something that probably confused Jez, but would have been familiar to Shione. Alex said to his glass, "Give me a statistical analysis for chances of success."
Almost instantly, a female voice came from his left forearm and replied, [78 percent.]
Alex snapped out of his staring contest with his glass and looked at Shione, "That's better than I would have thought. Not bad, really. I've certainly dealt with worse odds, but then again, I've almost died against better odds. This is a tough one to call. You know, on the one hand, if I get anyone else killed, they're never going to let me come back again. But on the other hand, I have to say that retired life isn't that bad. Maybe I could open a little shop on the Promenade and become a civilian. What do you think?"
== Tag to Shione and Jez ==
== This is getting interesting, but I need to let Shione actually post before I make their head explode with too much writing...lol... ==