The Lesrai Exchange

Posted on Mon Aug 19th, 2024 @ 2:03am by Lieutenant Astrid Nyx & Lieutenant JG Amari

1,187 words; about a 6 minute read

Mission: To Boldly Go
Location: Deck 7 sickbay
Timeline: Day 1-3

"Deck 7... section..... 4...sickbay." Amari said to herself as she followed a map of the ship projected on her computer implant, she had been on the ship a few days now but the layout hadn't completely ingratiated itself in her memory just yet. Several crew greeted her as she passed them on her way, a couple she recognised like the massively tall cat person, some were new to her entirely.

Soon her map terminated its guidance and she stood outside of sickbay. Taking a breath and closing down her computer she headed in and looked around for the nearest person. "Excuse me I'm looking for Lieutenant Nyx."

"That... would be me," the woman said, turning around to face the newcomer. Her eyebrows raised slightly as she took in the Lesrai's somewhat unique appearance

Astrid had seen a fair number of alien species over the years, and had treated more than a handful, but she had never met one of the Lesrai face-to-face. Until learning of their newest exchange-program member, Astrid hadn't even heard of them at all. It still amazed her just how full the universe was with life, and yet how closely patterned so much of that life seemed to be. She smiled, though she knew she must look a little weary. It was nearing the end of her duty shift, and the onboarding procedures for the crew were turning into a project of Herculean proportions.

"How can I help you, Lieutenant?"

"I'm told all crew must go through a medical examination when they start a new assignment." Amari replied. "So here I am, and as a non federation species there are lots of thing about me I think you need to know about."

"Oh?" Astrid tried not to smile, but felt that she had probably failed. "Well, that's probably true. You're Lieutenant Amari, right? I saw that we had an exchange officer on the roster."

"That's right." Amari smiled back at the woman.

"Well, have a seat on the biobed. I would actually like to run some scans, to make sure we have an updated profile in the database. But that's pretty simple. Otherwise, why don't you tell me a little of what you think I should know."

"Well the biggest thing is," Amari began as she moved to sit on a bio bed. "I have a few bits of technology implanted in different parts of my body."

"I seem to recall something about that." Astrid picked up a PADD taht had been sitting on a nearby mobile diagnostics bench and quickly pulled up the official file on her new transfer patient. "I've got details on that here, but I'd be more interested in hearing about these implants from your own expierience."

"Every Lesrai gets several pieces implanted in them when the reach adulthood, some are very common to everyone, some only certain clans will implant. Rejection is almost zero percent." Amari explained. "I only have five implants right now."

"Zero percent, for late-stage implants? Fascinating." Astrid pulled up a tricorder. "Mind if I get a baseline scan?"

"Sure." Amari replied expecting the answer. "You'll find three up here and one in each arm." Pointing towards her head.

The tricorder beeped and hummed as Astrid flipped it open and slowly passed it up and down the other woman's body. She raised her eyebrow at the results on the screen. There were none of the telltale markers that usually resulted from late-stage implants like this. "It's like they just switched off the T-cell response completely..." she mused, speaking more to herself than to Amari.

After a moment, she flipped the device closed again. "Incredible, Lieutenant. That's the sort of medical science our cybernetics researchers would kill to explore. Even with the best drug therapies we have, the body usually fights back against foreign intrusion. I don't think I've seen something this efficient outside of the B--" she stopped herself just in time, realizing that the comparison to one of the galaxies most enigmatic predator species might not be welcome.

"The Borg." Amari completed the remark Astrid was about to make. She had read about them, what the database would let her know of them anyway. "You are not the first to make that comparison. We're nothing like them." She said in a tone that showed she wasn't offended by the remark.

"I... well, I think it's a sign of a cultural area a lot of people in the Federation have some growing to do with how we judge people who use technology differently than we do," Astrid said. She was pretty sure the woman wasn't upset by the gaffe, but it was difficult to get a read on her. Or maybe Astrid was just tired. She rubbed the back of her neck. "There's a long history, especially with humans and Vulcans, to avoid overt implants. Unless they're for medical reasons."

"All our implants are pretty subtle, designed to work with and blend in with our bodies. My most overt one is this and that's only when it's being used." With a thought she turned on her computer implant, her left forearm lit up as the interactive projection formed a few millimeters above her skin.

"That's... honestly quite beautiful." Astrid watched the intricate pattern hover above the woman's skin. "Are there any standard diagnostics that need to be run? Anything I should be particularly aware of while you're on the crew?"

"The computer is linked to the other implants and runs checks on them at regular intervals. But this will be the longest I've been away from home, not sure how things will react." Amari replied. "As for power, there is a battery but with average use they're designed to last many years before needing to be replaced and use the bodies electrical field to help keep it topped up."

"Incredible..." Astrid nodded, her mind already racing with possibilities. "Well, we’ll keep an eye on things, just to make sure everything continues running smoothly. I'll set up regular check-ins to monitor how your implants are adapting to the new environment, especially with the extended time away from home. If anything feels off, don't hesitate to come see me."

"I will do." Amari said giving the woman a small smile. "If you want we could arrange a time and I could go through more thoroughly how each of my implants work."

"Of course," Astrid replied, returning the smile. "Welcome to the Fenrir, Lieutenant Amari. I have a feeling we’re going to learn a lot from each other."

With that, Astrid wrapped up the scan and patted Amari on the shoulder. "Just comm my staff or set up an appointment with the computer if anything comes up. I'll be around if you need anything, but for now, you're cleared for duty."

As Amari left, Astrid found herself reflecting on the encounter. The Lesrai were as fascinating as she'd hoped, and she looked forward to getting to know Amari better. But for now, she had a shift to finish—and she could already hear the next patient entering sickbay.

The future, it seemed, held plenty of interesting challenges.


END

 

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