ten_fwd | Protection (Ten Forward Lounge)

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Protection (Ten Forward Lounge)

There were two ways to gauge Billy's stress level: as he worked later and later into the night, the pages of discarded notes would build up around him, and his hair would start to stand on end. Considering his frizzy-haired and paper-surrounded appearance at the moment, he'd clearly been at whatever he was doing for a while.

What was he doing, exactly? At the moment, he was kneeling on the floor in front of a round table. There was a doll standing in the center, a stuffed bear wearing a belt with a button next to the buckle. He reached over and pressed the button, producing a blue bubble around the bear. Billy tried to pass his hand through the bubble, and he met solid resistance.

Excellent. He then picked up a screwdriver and tried to pierce the bubble at varying speeds---it blocked most of his hits with a solid bounce, but the light still broke too soon, sending the bear tumbling to the ground. Billy scooted to the other side of the table to pick it up, frowning. "All right, we'll need to prioritize upholding the integrity of the shield. Nothing I haven't done before."

He gave the bear a quick squeeze before removing the belt, picking up his screwdriver and wire cutters for another go. He was getting closer to producing an acceptable defense, surely? He hoped so.

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As Billy spoke, the tea in the pot started to rise up out of the pot. Up and down, up and down it went, rising up a little higher with each crest. Taking a deep breath and focusing, Wan finally pulled a small sphere of tea up and out of the rest of the water, then floated it upward and right into his mouth. He swallowed it down just as easily as if he had taken a sip from the tea cup he'd given to Billy.

"I haven't really talked to a lot of the people here," Wan admitted. "So many of the people here are always so busy. And they don't like me wandering the halls much. But that's the only way to learn where everything is."

Billy continued to be amazed. That was some magical display.

"It's been difficult to earn trust, even for those of us who've been here a while," Billy commiserated. "They have reason to think I'm just a meddling teenager, of course, but...well, I'm hoping to change that," he admitted, gesturing to his project.

"We all have an interest in keeping the ship safe, right? It's our only home right now."

"Just a meddling teenager?" Wan lifted an eyebrow in confusion as he repeated that. What did being a teenager have to do with being meddling, to the point that it was that specific? But that wasn't the point of it. The point was this guy wanted to help.

"I know it's hard for them to give us their trust. But all we can do is just keep trying. Eventually, our actions will prove to them if we can or not," he continued encouragingly before slightly shifting the subject. "My name is Wan."

Billy was glad for the subject change and smiled, pulling himself together for a proper greeting. "I'm Billy. As you can probably see, I'm an inventor, currently trying to gain acceptance with the Starfleet crew."

He smoothed his hand over the table. "Have you been adjusting to this life all right?"

Wan let out a heavy sigh and for a moment a flame flickered out. He clamped his mouth shut in the next before taking a much more controlled deep breath and let it out. This time, without the flaming follow up.

"Honestly, it's hard," he answered, hands cupping the teapot again. "There's barely anything to do and we can't go anywhere outside the City-Ship. I've spent a lot of time in the gym, but I can't be there when more than a few other people are because I just end up getting in their way. And the holodecks are amazing, but they aren't real. I want to like them... but all the 'programs' I've been told I should try just keep reminding me how not-real everything in there is. I miss the balance of the elements. I miss the earth under my feet and the moon in the sky at night. I miss curling up against Mula to sleep and rising with the sun."

Another sigh before he finished, "I miss having something to look forward to and something to do, the most, though. I have no purpose here. I haven't been without a purpose in a long time and I can't just travel the world exploring it. I'm barely allowed to travel and learn the places inside this City-Ship. And no one will let me even try exploring the space outside it. I mean, if there's nothing out there, then how is it dangerous? Why shouldn't I be able to walk on the walls of the City-Ship?"

"I know that feeling," Billy had to agree, glancing at his hands for a moment. "I had a purpose in inventing before, but it's been so difficult to get supplies and space that I've held off for a while. This is my first serious attempt since arriving here."

He thought on that for a bit, then gave Wan a shocked look. "You don't require oxygen?" he asked.

"No?" Was his bewildered response, a little wierded out by Billy's shock. Thus, he he continued in ignorance with: "I've never even heard of it."

"Oxygen is a gas, one that most life forms need to breathe. In the simplest terms: without oxygen in the air, we would die. The ship pumps oxygen through the halls, I'd guess, but there's no oxygen outside these walls."

And there were other causes of space-death, of course, but there was no need to overcomplicate things right way.

Wan frowned and his face scrunched up as he processed that, "So... there's no air?"

"That's essentially it," Billy confirmed, cocking an eyebrow. "There are special pressurized suits with oxygen tanks that can be worn if someone needs to venture out there to repair the ship, but that's all."

Billy folded his fingers together. "I guess space travel isn't common where you're from?"

He shook his head as he took that information in and processed it, "No. No one's ever been to the space between the stars. I've tried flying that high before but I always wear myself out before I can get too far beyond the point the air starts to freeze up. And I never thought there was anything but stars in it anyway, so I didn't really try all that hard..."

"No air at all? Really?" Wan asked incredulously. It seemed impossible that there wasn't any air out there. Air was pretty much everywhere! Unless it was pushed out by water or earth... "Are you sure there's nothing displacing it?"

Billy nods. "Really. Space is largely a vacuum...it contains some dust particles, but it doesn't contain gases in the quantities we need to survive. It's possible to walk out there with the right equipment, as I said, but I imagine they'd want you to have a serious reason before lending the equipment."

"Then there is something out there," Wan said, mind working to figure this out for himself. "What about using the wind to draw the air, the gasses, to you so you don't have to use equipment? Counter the vacuum with your own."

Because there had to be wind if there was air. No matter how small it might be.

Billy frowned, biting his lip. "If there are even enough oxygen particles out there for you to draw...but I don't see any way to test it safely, unless your powers can extend outside even from here---or if you obtain one of those suits."

There was a slight chance it was possible, but could Wan's powers stretch that far? He worried---already he was slightly concerned for the other man.

Wan considered that for a moment, then turned an looked out the window, squinting at it, "I haven't tried yet. But it's not physically that far. I should be able to. And even if I can't pull air to me out there, I'm sure I could take some with me. Make it move around my head so there's a ball of it where I need it."

A second ball of water lifted up out of the teapot and floated idly into his mouth.

Billy considered it, tapping his forehead in thought. "I'd like to see it. I just don't want to see you hurt. Maybe the holodeck simulator would allow you to safely test it first?"

"No," Wan answered with no hesitation, frowning and looking back at Billy as he shook his head. "It's all fake. Everything it makes in there is just an hallucination. None of the elements except air are real. I don't think it would work."

"Hmm. I guess not even the cleverest of reprogramming could do it," Billy conceded defeat. "But a proper space suit might not be that impossible. I've been researching modern construction methods, and with the right opportunity, maybe I could build one? Materials and funds are just hard to come by."

Wan shifted a little, dropping one leg off the edge of the table as he leaned forward, curious, "What's the suit for?"

"It's both to keep the oxygen in and keep the air pressure around you steady. Air pressure's a bit of a complicated concept, but the effect is simple: you go out without a stabilized air bubble, your blood will boil."

Billy looked rather concerned about that.

"Oh. I can stop that. I can control the heat of my body just like I can control the power of fire," Wan grinned, not at all worried. "My blood won't boil. I don't need a suit."

"Maybe magic can do anything that science can..." Billy mused. "I'm sorry---I don't have personal experience with magic, so that tends to come out as extreme skepticism. I hope I haven't offended."

"If it was magic, I might be offended," Wan smirked and leaned forward, resting his arms on the handle of his teapot. "But it's not magic. It's just the power of the elements. Completely natural."

"Still nothing explainable by my understanding of science," Billy sighed, confounded. "But I guess it doesn't have to be. I'd like to see the outcome of your experiments, but I'll probably still worry."

Wan laughed at that, "Good to know. I'll try not to do anything that really makes you worry. Or anyone else worry. I just want outside the City-Ship for a little while. But tell me more about you and this thing you're making. I've talked enough."

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morphitudinous - 2015-01-26 02:11 (UTC) - Expand

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