Farewell Party

Posted on Sun Oct 31st, 2021 @ 12:48am by Lieutenant Mothim-Ril
Edited on on Fri Nov 5th, 2021 @ 11:03pm

Mission: Starbase Shoreleave
Location: USS Voice; Main Dining Area
Timeline: Mission Day 1 at 0000

[USS Voice]
[Main Dining Area]
[2000 Hours, A couple weeks before the USS Sojourner takes shoreleave on Starbase 2]



“Don’t you see,” Mothim motioned at the equation on the whiteboard. “It’s hilarious. The funniest joke I’ve seen all year.”

The rest of room gave half-hearted smiles. Mothim knew they weren’t here to talk about math, even if it was a joke, but it was his party. If they had decided to throw a party to celebrate Mothim’s transfer to a new ship, he might as well throw some math jokes in there. It was only fair. Now they were obligated to listen and it would only be polite to fake some amusement. Even the faked amusement was barely enough for a few smiles. No laughter. After a moment of quiet Mothim conceded his personal defeat against the crowd and stepped away from the whiteboard, his orange feathers smoothing a bit in dismay to make him look smaller, weaker in that moment. He was no comedian, apparently. He looked back at the whiteboard as he grabbed his drink from a nearby table.

a=b
a^2=ab
a^2-b^2=ab-b^2
(a+b)(a-b)=b(a-b)
a+b=b
2b=b
2=1

Hilarious. Mathematical fallacies were some of the most hilarious things in the galaxy. Just taking the rules of mathematics and shoving it back at its own face. If none of his crewmen saw it the same way, well, that was on them. The Aurelian made his way back to his seat, taking a sip of his drink as he walked. Cups were definitely made for people with lips. The scientist had to lift his cup high and pour a bit into his mouth, on account of his rigid beak not able to bend with the shape of the cup to form a seal for suction… How tight exactly would such a seal need to be? Surely there was an equation for-

“Mothim!” One of his fellow scientists smiled at him as he reached his empty seat with a half-eaten plate of food in front of him. Mothim nodded at the man in greeting and sat down. This would be his last meal an official crew member of the USS Voice. While Mothim wasn’t sure he would call anybody on the ship a close friend, he was glad to he got to share the table with other scientists, folk he had known for years. “That was quite the speech.”

“I know,” Mothim shrugged. On his body the expression seemed exaggerated, the wings on his shoulders shifting a bit with the motion. “I shouldn’t have tried for a comedic aspect.”

The biologist chuckled. “That was comedy?”

“The absolute peak of comedy,” Mothim responded with a straight face – not too difficult to do when humans had trouble reading his facial expressions. The biologist and him were always ribbing each other about their respective professions.

“What are we ever going to do without your humor?”

Mothim shrugged again, grabbing the fork from beside his plate and picking at the section of replicated beef in front of him. “I’m guessing you’ll just suffer. Better question is, who are you going to tell all your bird jokes to?”

The biologist smiled at that. “But really,” his voice turned more serious as he spoke. “We’ll miss you here.”

Mothim smiled. The expression was barely perceptible, using only the small, flexible segments at the very corner of his mouth, but it was a smile nonetheless. “I’ll miss you guys as well.” He spoke towards not only the biologist, but at the two other scientists at the table as well, including the Chief Scientist and a promising younger Ensign. They were a good crowd. Here he was confident in the department. As for his new ship, well… Mothim knew next to nothing about it. It was smaller, yes. But he would be in charge of the science department. In charge! He wasn’t sure he was ready, and at first had been nervous at the concept but as the transfer day grew closer and closer he found a strange sort of excitement to it. He was more than ready to meet his new crew, to hear about all their projects and to share in their passion for discovery. He was looking forward to the future.



A backpost by:

Lieutenant Mothim-Ril
Soon to be Chief Science Officer, USS Sojourner