Changes In The Wind

Posted on Nov 18, 2016 @ 5:02pm by Ensign Sofia Andersson
Edited on on Nov 18, 2016 @ 5:03pm

Mission: Aftermath

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“Changes in the Wind”
(Continued from “Kubadilisha Majira” written by the linguistically skilled Marko)
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LOCATION: EARTH
SD: [2.16] 1118.1500
SCENE: Versailles Detention Center
TIME FRAME: Very early morning, overlapping with the ANUBIS posts "Rage and Confusion" and "Torn"

One would assume that such news, as important and wide reaching as this one was, would not have made its way to those in isolated seclusion like herself, yet the guards and security officer in charge of keeping her on task as per her sentenced had made sure she knew. The Federation no longer counted the humans as members of the council. EARTH had been delegated to being nothing more than a simple world like so many the others within the Federation, and by so doing its people had been knocked down several pegs on the ladder of respect.

To Sofia this change meant nothing, her sentence would still be the same. The only difference the woman could see for the immediate future in regards to her situation was that there would likely be less people working at the triage center, many of those who had been there having been non-humans. People would need time to process the event and its significance.

Some would see this as being nothing more than the taking of a political stance, others would be quick to ring the panic alarm seeing this move as the first step to some darker final goal. So many people out there with different views, there had been no way to accurately predict how this news would change the way people dealt with the current situation EARTH hd found itself in the middle of.

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SCENE: Versailles Triage Center
TIME FRAME: Later that morning at around 0700

She had been right, there was a lot less people working the triage center. Humans had likely been too angry to work while non-humans had been to confused or scared. The uncertainty of it all had been the worst part of this, but that had in no way changed what she had to do.

As the blonde woman worked through the bodies, her only thoughts were on whether or not the decision to move the Council to VULCAN had proven the Neo-Essentialists right? The move would certainly not help relations between EARTH and the other races, but that had been beyond her reach and concern. All that she needed to worry about was her sentence and to stay out of everyone else's way.

Unfortunately, like the wind of changes, some things are impossible to avoid.

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Excerpt from Jayson's "Rage and Confusion"
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"Sofia?"

"No. Please," the woman pleaded as she tried to run away once again but unable to do so as this time Jayson had taken hold of her shoulders.

"What's going on? Why are you so desperate to avoiding me? What did I do?" Jayson emotionally demanded, this situation having been one of too many for him to handle at this time.

"It's not what you did, but what I did," Sofia explained through tear filled eyes.

"What you did?" Jayson questioned in utter confusion. "What could you have possibly done?"

"I killed your wife!" the woman admitted before collapsing onto her knees sobbing.

It had taken several minutes for both Jayson and Ya'Han to get Sofia back to her feet and to an isolated rest area where they would be able to remove their HAZMAT suits to talk. The security officer had opposed this but the Chief of Security of the USS ANUBIS had quickly convinced the man that everything was under control.

"Alright," Jayson began as he kneeled before the still emotional woman sitting on one of the benches. "Let's take this from he start because right now I need to get every possible detail straight. How do you figure that you are responsible for my wife's death?"

"You are here searching for her, looking for one last chance to say your goodbyes," Sofia explained through shattered breathing from her trying to hold back her tears. "Everyone in Paris was killed by the Neo-Essentialists, and I was one of them."

"You were a Neo-Essentialist?" Ya'Han asked rhetorically, this admission explaining the presence of the security officer as well as the woman's own state. "You were sentenced to help with the cleanup," the Chief of Security further clarified.

"Yes," Sofia cried as she looked up at the standing woman. "I killed your wife along with 28 million others," she added after having shifted her gaze to meet Jayson's eyes, which still reflected a certain level of confusion.

"My wife died five years ago in a terrorist attack," Jayson explained in a gentle whispered voice. "You had nothing to do with it as i am sure you had nothing to do with Edgerton using the Aegis Shield's weapon system on Paris."

"I was still a Neo-Essentialist," the blonde haired woman pointed out sure that this had been a fact that would leave her at the man's rage, at it should be.

"Was," Ya'Han countered. "We all make mistakes," the Nylaan continued clearly speaking of personal experience. "A person should not be judged solely on their mistakes but also on what they are willing to do to correct them. Obviously someone somewhere thought that you deserved a chance to prove yourself or you would have been tossed in a keyless cell. Instead they sent you here."

"You were not responsible for what happened to Paris," Jayson supportively said, "and you were certainly not responsible for my wife's death."

Sofia started once again to cry, this time out of joy as she wrapped her arms around the man's neck, holding him as tightly as she could out of general gratitude.

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End of excerpt
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In the nightmarish chaos that had seen so many deaths, a ray of light had managed to break through into Sofia's world. For a moment she forgot where she had been, what she had been a part of and more important how lonely and depressed she had felt.

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Excerpt from Hanali's "Torn"
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"I cannot express how much I appreciate everything that you have said and done," the blonde haired woman said, as if the weight of the world had been lifted from her shoulders. "Thank you."

"You have nothing to thank us for," Jayson said, his gaze lost in the woman's eyes. Ya'Han closed her eyes wishing for an instant that he had looked at her that way the night before. She had tried as any woman might have, this even if her final goal had only been to tease him, or had it been? Had she truly only meant to tease him or had she unconsciously wanted to test his interest in her? Either way the final result had been the same, his thoughts had been on someone else, and that someone else had been the woman he was now kneeling in front of.

"In the middle of the chaos that is now Paris, we are all friends here," Ya'Han said as she straightened her posture. "Whatever we were, whatever we had wanted or even hoped to be, this is where we are now. What is important will be the direction in which we take our next steps. They will dictate where we go and the person we will strive to become."

"No one could ever ask to have friends as great as you," Sofia said with a beaming smile. "Thank you, thank you both for being here as friends."

Ya'Han returned the smile although somewhat hesitantly as her eyes went onto the still kneeling man. Friends? Would she be able to control her emotions? Being a college would not be an issue, it never had been, but accepting that they would now be nothing more than friends at best had proven to be something more difficult to accept. Unfortunately, like in the decisions of her past, there had truly not been an option. She could reveal her feelings, whatever they had been to him or she could stand by in silence wishing him to find the happiness she believed he deserved.

The decision had been a simple one.

"I will leave you two alone," Ya'Han said as she grabbed her HAZMAT suit and began making her way to the changing room, casting one last glance over her shoulder and the couple. There had been so much more she had wanted to say but in the end only silence filled the small rest area.

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End of excerpt
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"Maybe we should go as well," Jayson suggested. He had not found the embrace displeasing in any way, or the way that their gaze had locked but he feared his own desires would cause him to stay here alone with her much longer than would be considered appropriate.

"You are right," Sofia agreed, reluctantly moving away from the man whom she had not injured as she had believed she had. "You two are amazing," she added thinking of how lucky they had been to have each other in their lives and in such a strong supportive friendship.

As Sofia and Jayson put on their HAZMAT suits once again, she found herself looking at the man wondering how the friendship she had seen between them had not evolved to become more. Granted she had known them for a very short time but still the question remained in her mind.

Thanks to them she had taken on a new, more positive view of her own future, one that held some level of hope despite the constant changes that had been happening around them. Her guilt for what had happened to the population of Paris had not been erased, not by a longshot, but she no longer felt directly responsible. As simple as the words from Jayson and Ya'Han had been, they had made her feel something that she never expected to feel again. Hope.

The trio had resumed their work for only a short period of time when one of the supervisors approached them. "You three seem to be working well together, would you be interested in doing something different?"

"Guess it depends on what you are talking about," Jayson answered in a half amused manner.

"We are taking a team inside the main radiation zone." the supervisor explained. "We need a few extra bodies to help with getting on sight readings and observations. The radiation is playing havoc with the drones that were sent in."

"Well, you did say you wanted to see Paris," Jayson said as he turned to look at his shipmate.

Ya'Han sighed. This had not been the way nor the reason she had wanted to see the legendary city, still she could not find it in her to say no even if Sofia would be there with them.

"Looks like we're in," the blonde haired woman stated.

"Perfect," the supervisor happily said. "Be sure to pass by the equipment room to pick up what we will need. After that, meet by that building in an hour. We will be heading in using ground transport."

"Well, it can't be as bad as doing what we have been doing for the last few days," Sofia said trying to keep a positive spin on things.

"I doubt it," Ya'Han countered recalling their fly over in the shuttle when they had arrived from the ANUBIS.

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NRPG:

Another cross over post. Thank you to Hanali and Jayson for being such amazing people and participating in this little project of mine. Hope everyone is looking forward to seeing what the trip into Paris is going to be like.

Francois, if you are up for it I may have an idea to bring more of the ANUBIS crew into this little side story of mine. If only I could find a way to drag Janeel and the BASTET into this I could write a single post that would land into three archives. Oh well, another day perhaps LOL.

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Tiffany Reeve

Ensign Sofia Andersson
Currently sentenced to the
VERSAILLES Triage Center