Ambient Wonder - Part One

Posted on Thu Mar 19th, 2020 @ 3:45am by Commander Ethan "Hardcase" Duval & Lieutenant Commander Elizabeth Yamaguchi-Solusar

Mission: Mission 98: Building Our New Home
Location: Various Locations - Starbase Vanguard
Timeline: 0900Hrs - July 10th, 2393

Commander Ethan Duval sighed softly as he had reported for duty this morning but he had been nursing a shoulder injury from lifting weights in the gym, the previous evening. "Dammit. I think I've overdone it," he muttered, as he was commanding his own ship, he had a great deal of latitude on how he could do things and he laid down more or less the same rules for his crew, so long as he knew where they were and were ready to ship out within four hours, he was not going to be overly demanding of them.

Duval walked into the massive hospital complex, clutching at his shoulder. He went over to the main desk. "Hey, guys. I need to get my shoulder looked at."

The nurse paused as she regarded Duval. "What's happened?" she asked, concern clear in her tone of voice.

"I was working out in the gym and I was hoping it would heal. I guess I'm getting old." Duval explained.

"Alright Commander. Have a seat and I'll ask one of the Doctors to come to take a look at you okay?" the nurse responded.

Duval nodded before he went over to one of the two eating areas where there was presently nobody seated so Duval knew he would be seen relatively quickly, he had just sat down when a very large and tall female came over to him, she had a thick and heavily muscular build with large arms and legs, she had the physique of a champion volleyball player. "Good Morning Doctor." Duval addressed her. He saw Ouros in the woman before him but he opted not to comment about it.

"Good Morning Commander Duval. Why don't you come with me and I can take care of your ills." Elizabeth Yamaguchi-Solusar commented before she turned and marched off into the main hospital complex, towards one of the nearby examination rooms.

Duval followed her in silence, as he mentally memorized his route back out while he watched her, and everyone around them both at the same time.

Yamaguchi-Solusar regarded Duval as she could hear his mind working, some would think at a tepid pace, a few thoughts at a time, while others had a mind that was quick and sharp while yet others had minds that were special, multifaceted and could handle a lot at once. Duval had one of the latter. Yamaguchi-Solusar quickly realized that this man was older but he had one of the sharpest minds on the Starbase. He was also not mentally undressing her either which was something refreshing to her mind.

The two of them reached her destination as she smiled. "Take off your uniform jacket and undershirt please," Elizabeth commented. "Then have a seat please.?" she added.

"As you wish." Duval didn't argue with her as he figured it would help her get to the root of the issue, as the old saying went. He did as she asked before he hung up the uniform jacket on the clothing rack which was fitted next to the door, specifically for this purpose.

Yamaguchi-Solusar smiled as she admired his physique with feminine appreciation before she drew her tricorder and went to work. "How often do you work out in the gym?"

"Four days a week," Duval answered her in a flat tone of voice, all business. "Day one is legs, day two is chest, shoulders, and traps, day three is back and arms and day four is cardio," he added. "My average time in the gym is about two and a half hours."

"Sounds like you have a heck of a workout routine." Yamaguchi-Solusar responded. "you mass training or strength training?"

"At present. mass building. I'll be switching back to strength toning in about two months time." Duval answered with a smile.

Yamaguchi-Solusar nodded evenly as she ran her tricorder over his frame. "You're strained your right shoulder, it's not too bad but the muscle does show signs of being heavily stressed." the large female explained evenly. "I can repair the damage and I can also assist your other issues with an age rejuvenation treatment if you like," Yamaguchi-Solusar explained.

"An age what?" Duval answered. "Is that like some kind of miracle cure for cancer or something?" Duval inquired.

"No. It means exactly what it says. Its some new medical technology that's only come out in the last year or so. More or less what it does is it will restore your genetic sequences and your DNA strands. I can take twenty-five years off of your life if you wish." Yamaguchi-Solusar explained.

"Sign me up for it then," Duval answered quickly.

Yamaguchi-Solusar suddenly grinned at him. "Woah, hang on big man, first, let me explain first what this does. This will reset you back to the age of whatever the heck you wish but it will cause your body to go through some massive changes, your system will quite literally become unstable for a while so no hard partying, no sex, nothing stressful of any kind for forty-eight hours." as she smiled at him. "If you still feel funny after that, then come back and see me." the tall female added with a wide grin.

"Well, I'm not seeing anyone. I am not a party animal and I plan to go back to work and get on with some of the paperwork I had built up. But... If this works. Can I go for a swim?"

Yamaguchi-Solusar raised an eyebrow. "I don't see why not so long as you don't start wanting to swim a hundred lengths. If you want to sit in a jacuzzi, poolside and relax then that's totally fine, in fact, that, I will encourage." the tall female slowly smiled as she turned to select the items she would need. "First, however, let me resolve the shoulder issues for you." as she pulled out a dermal regenerator and went to work on his shoulders. "Several of the connections between muscle and the bone has been torn off so I need to attend to those first."

Duval nodded as he watched her work. "The resemblance is remarkable. You look just like Ouros... She is well?"

"She is. If somewhat anti-social." Yamaguchi-Solusar responded evenly. "She does not speak of what she endured in her original reality and I do not ask. She does, however, seem happy here. Even if she doesn't tell us." the large female explained. "Why. Do you know anything about her?"

"She was one of my finest students. I taught her how to fight, in a brutal world, she needed to know how it was done." Duval answered without emotion. "She learned quickly, she enjoyed the training, others didn't... She grew to relish it, to live for the thrill of battle." Duval regarded Yamaguchi-Solusar as he spoke. "I knew what she wanted, she wanted me to beat the last of her humanity from her, she didn't want to think or to feel. I refused and I trained her as best as I could."

Yamaguchi-Solusar nodded her head. "I think I understand," she said softly.

"I hope you don't Ms. Yamaguchi. I would spare you her pain if I could." Duval explained.

"Just, tell me something... Did you.. ever.. have sex.. with her.?" Yamaguchi-Solusar asked softly. He wanted to know if he had been the one who had raped Ouros.

"No. She was my student, not my bed bunny." Duval answered. "I did, however, catch someone in the act of sexually assaulting her, he left me no option really, I had to kill him," Duval added with a heavy sigh.

"Ouros has been through some really fucked up shit, there's no denying that." she paused. "Okay. Now the anti-aging treatment comes in two stages. The first stops you from aging and the second is the really heavy stuff, its good for twenty-five years so... You will be your new age for twenty-five years, after that, you go see your doctor for another treatment."

"Sounds good. You may proceed whenever you are ready." Duval responded as Yamaguchi-Solusar gently administered the first hypo. "Now the clock will tick its last seconds by as we wait for dawns holy light," she commented.

"Hmmm.??" Duval regarded her.

"Nothing, Just something mom once said to me once as the clock ran down before some deadline," Yamaguchi-Solusar explained with a smile on her lips.

"Ahh," Duval responded.

Yamaguchi-Solusar proceeded with the second administration of medication after she ran a quick check of Duval to see how he was coping with what was going on inside his insides. "You are adjusting well. But remember, nothing stressful for forty-eight hours. That means no weightlifting." she explained with a smile. "How's your shoulder?"

"It's good. I suddenly feel great.," he said, sounding rather hesitant on the subject. "I mean better than ever."

"Good, it means the medication is working but your system will need time to process the changes and adjust to them accordingly," Yamaguchi-Solusar responded. "You can dress now."

"Thank you." with that Duval donned his clothing as Yamaguchi-Solusar nodded. "I will update your records."

"Thanks, Doc. I'll be seeing you." and with that, he departed in silence.