Dark Shores Part IV
Posted on Wed Dec 28th, 2022 @ 3:36am by Staff Sergeant Shayla Kunadt & Lieutenant Commander Alyssa Maren & Lieutenant Junior Grade Mignon Mejia & Senior Chief Petty Officer Sha’Zen D'Tem
Edited on on Wed Dec 28th, 2022 @ 3:46am
1,611 words; about a 8 minute read
Mission:
Episode 13 - Crooked River
Location: Romulan Encampment
Timeline: MD005 0330 hrs
Because of Alyssa's intense concentration, she felt the emotions of both Shayla and Sha'Zen. The strength of them reverberated through her head and she had to concentrate to raise her mental shields and block them. As she did, she caught the growing panic coming from Mignon and sent her a tightly-focused message. "I don't know what it is, but I think it's part of whatever experiment they're doing. We have to fight it." Her foot began to tingle. She mentally recited the periodic table of elements, then she listed the major worlds of the Federation and their primary cultures, doing everything she could to keep her focus tight.
Mignon heard Alyssa, but she sounded like she was talking from a long way away. It didn't really matter, did it? She wasn't sure why she was even here. She wasn't a fighter, and there was no reason to have two archaeologists. Fathom should have been here instead of her, especially as the limbs washed up on shore. Her left foot began to itch. She reached down to scratch it, which only made it itch more. At the same time, it felt good to scratch.
Cortana could see that the drugs had their desired effect. However, she thought she may be able to speed up the process. She activated the overhead speaker system. This was a very old piece of technology, and as such the voice that emerged crackled and sounded tinny. "Now that you are settled allow me to tell you what we have done to you. We are testing methods of transplant for certain body parts. To that end we have attached foreign body parts to you. I am sure you can sense them. These parts may help or they may hinder you. However, you have the ability to remove them. You may cut the limb and remove it as one would remove a torn piece of clothing." The Romulan believed that this goading would push the officers over the edge and right into where they need to be.
Foreign body parts? Alyssa's initial reaction was to search for whatever they attached and remove it. She first felt for her foot. Was this the foreign entity? No. Yes? No. She had two feet. She felt the other one. They were both identical. But were they? She had two thoughts fighting each other. Had she always done so? She'd worked one summer with a team of Vulcans who tried to teach her about meditation and logic. Right now, she needed that. She needed to focus, to look inside herself and feel for what didn't belong. Wait. The Romulan said to cut it off. But with Federation science, surely there were better ways to deal with such a problem, if one even existed. Then another thought: the Romulan wanted them to cut something off. Why? She was experimenting on them. Was this part of the experiment? She needed to think. She needed to listen.
Sha'Zen ignored the Romulan's words as the creature continued to move towards her. Why is it taking its time? She thought.
"I would like to assure you that no harm will come to you if you remove the test limbs. In fact, we will make sure that you are restored to your normal health." Cortana went on. The truth was this was a test of a drug that if it worked, they could administer to an enemy. Then the Empire could sit back and relax which they watched their enemies tear themselves limb from limb.
She was lying. Alyssa could feel it. She didn't know why, but there was definitely something wrong with her words. Test limbs? Her leg tingled, but it was hers...wasn't it? She wasn't sure anymore. She didn't trust the Romulan. But she couldn't get rid of the feeling that there was something wrong with her leg and especially her foot. She needed to think. To focus. She concentrated on the archaeological sites she'd visited, listing them first in the order she'd first seen them, then from oldest site to the most recent.
Mignon's foot itched. Was it true? Was it a foreign entity? She continued to scratch. But she could feel it. How could it be foreign if she felt her foot and her toes? It didn't make sense, but there was definitely something wrong with her foot. She reached out telepathically to Alyssa. Archaeological sites? She tried to think of ones she'd visited, but her thoughts kept scattering as her foot continued to itch. If this kept up, she would have to do something to stop it.
Shayla's eyes twitched she could not control what happened to her. These test limbs they called them should have never been attached to her. She felt like she had let everyone down, she could not protect them and could not save them. What made matters worse was this damn hand was not hers. She picked up the scalpel that lay on the instrument tray and began to stab it between her fingers in a rhythmic pattern. Her idea was if she cut off one of the fingers during the game then it wasn't hers and either way she would win.
Mignon watched Shayla play with the scalpel. Could that stop the itching? Was the foot at the bottom of her leg a mimic? She took another scalpel and gently rubbed the back of it against her foot. The feel of the metal was erotic and she closed her eyes, savoring the touch of the instrument against her flesh. It felt good, but she wanted...needed more.
Alyssa's focus tightened as she fought to block out the growing feeling that the numbness of her leg was an indication that the foot was not hers, but the foreign entity the Romulan said it was. She'd practiced Vulcan meditation in the past and used the technique now. She had to concentrate. She had to block out sound and feeling and just focus on logic.
That didn't work so much, so Alyssa switched to musicals, focusing on songs and plays to the exclusion of all else. She set the stage, designed the costumes, and directed the cast. Sometimes she would be the one singing. It gave her something to concentrate on besides her growing panic.
Cortana smiled from her observation room. Everything progressed as she suspected. So well in fact that she believed she could take some time off. She would leave Sulim in charge. He was a low-level functionary and would not question what she tried to accomplish here. However, she could not rest until she saw it first-hand. Until she saw one of her subjects cut their limb off.
Mignon could feel the stump at the end of her leg, or where it was supposed to be. It was where the tingling, itching was driving her crazy. Below that wasn't her. She knew that if she could remove the part that didn't belong, the burning itch would stop and she would feel whole again. She drew a line around where the stump should be with the scalpel, reveling in the pleasure-pain and the surety that this was the right thing to do. She went around again, cutting a little deeper, and groaned out loud. Yes, this was what she wanted. What she needed. While she still felt the ripples of pleasure, she sliced hard and deep . The pain made her vision go dark, but she couldn't stop now. She had to finish what she started. It took all her will, but when it was done, she cast away the unwanted appendage and passed out.
Cortana's eyes twinkled happily as she watched the subject hack off her own foot. This was the culmination of her life's work and it went sublimely. "Now I can rest..." She said to the empty room.
Shayla watched in horror as Mignon cut her foot off. The horror was short lived however, as the feeling to cut her own hand off took over. She began to see everything as if in split screen. On one side was the image of Mignon and the thought that she should help the scientist and on the other side was the idea that her own hand should be removed for her safety. Kunadt's eye began to twitch and a small amount of paranoia and insanity crept in again. She collapsed to her butt and rocked back and forth, mumbling incoherently as she did so.
Alyssa was only vaguely aware of Mignon's scream as she was fighting her own battle in her head. Every time she thought she was suppressing the feeling that her lower leg was not hers; it would disrupt her concentration. Her focus tightened again. If...WHEN...she got out of this, she would put more effort into personal meditation. She turned up the volume on her mental music to try and drown out the unwanted thoughts.
A Joint Post By
Sergeant Shayla Kunadt
EVAC Specialist HQ, The Cure
USS Pioneer
Chief Petty Officer Sha’Zen D'Tem
Biologist, USS Pioneer
Lieutenant Commander Alyssa Maren
Chief Science Officer, USS Pioneer
Ensign Mignon Mejia
Alien Archaeologist/Anthropologist, USS Pioneer
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