One on One

Posted on Sun Aug 29th, 2021 @ 12:21am by Ensign Ezra Gonzalez & Captain Björn Kodak

Mission: The Place of Skulls
Location: Captain's Ready Room
Timeline: Mission Day 3 at 1130

[Science Lab]
[Day 3, 1130 Hours]

Ezra studied his PADD again, making sure he had all the questions he wanted to ask, then he sat back in his desk chair and let out a nervous breath, his fingers hovering over his commbadge. "Phone calls," as they used to be called, were hard. Finally he managed to tap on the badge and tried not to sound nervous as he spoke.

"Gonzalez to Kodak. Um, Captain, do you have a few minutes? I was hoping I could ask you some questions."

"Sure Ensign, came the Captain's reply. "I've got a bit of time here. Meet me in my Ready Room?"

"Okay, that works. On my way."

A few minutes later, Ezra found himself standing at the Ready Room door and pressing the chime.

[Ready Room]
[Moments later...]

Looking up from the PADD he'd been reading, Captain Kodak eyed the door as its chime sounded. "Come," he called out in a friendly rasp, setting his PADD aside as the Chameloid regarded the young ensign who entered. "Mister Gonzalez," Kodak nodded, gesturing to one of the two chairs in front of his desk, "please have a seat. What can I do for you today?" Behind the Captain, a few bonsai of differing species -- including a miniature cherry tree with its lovely pink blossoms -- framed the man as they sat on the shelf in the background.

Ezra placed his PADD and stylus down on the desk in front of him and settled rather awkwardly into the chair, taking a moment to run his fingertips across the upholstery of the armrests before retrieving his device.

"Um, so..." he began, as was his odd habit when initiating conversations, "I'm, uh, I've started working on a datafile on th-the Chameloids, kind of an ongoing project, and I figured since you are one, you would be the best pla--uh, person to start with. I was hoping I could...pick your brain, so to speak, on anything you might know about them. Every little bit helps. I say that a lot."

"As common phrases go," Kodak smiled thinly, "it's an apt one. Unfortunately, I'm not entirely sure how much help I can be, Ensign," the Captain lamented softly. "While I am a Chameloid, I actually know very little about my people. I can certainly answer any questions you might have about my own...uh, biology," he smirked at that, "including our ability to shapeshift -- that's what most people want to know about, at least. But when it comes to my people, their history, their culture, etc...I'm actually hoping this mission will shed some light for me, too. But please," Kodak nodded slowly, "ask whatever questions you have and if I can answer, I will. Did you want a beverage while we talk?" He stood, moving to the replicator to get something for himself but looked back expectantly for Ezra's answer.

"Um, no, thanks," Ezra replied. "Okay, I guess I can start with the shape shifting, then. This question kinda has a few parts," he added, writing in some adjustments on his PADD. "First of all, how does it work, exactly? Do you need to look at someone in order to replicate them? And is it ever painful? If you're basically changing your genetic structure, I would think it would hurt."

Kodak had returned to his seat, sipping from a steaming mug of kaffee, the German equivalent of the beverage so many of Terran ancestry enjoyed. Though this, in itself, was curious since the Chameloid was not, in fact, of Earth himself. He listened attentively as the young ensign broke his question into several different parts. Of course he wants to start with the shapeshifting, the Captain smirked inwardly. It was the first thing anyone ever wanted to know about when he revealed his ancestry. Kodak didn't mind, however: he knew Ezra was building a case file to help them once they'd reached their first destination.

"Well," the Captain began, "as far as I can tell, our shapeshifting abilities manifest in our adolescence. Until then, we're locked into a certain shape that stays with us until we figure out how to wriggle into other forms. I don't exactly know how that shape-locking is accomplished, though," he sipped again from the cup. "I looked human -- aside from the eyes," Kodak gestured to the startling-yellow orbs, "until I was about 13 years old. That's when I realized I was capable of changing my form. As for how it works..." he shrugged, setting the kaffee aside, "it just...does?"

He laughed at that. "I realize that's a terrible answer. I guess I just don't think about the mechanics of it. Yes," Kodak nodded slowly, "I do need to see what I want to become. I don't know how, but my brain and body are then able to make changes based on what I see. But it must be more than that," his brows furrowed, "as I also take on their internal traits as well. Increased strength, better eyesight, faster movement speed...it's more than just camouflage: I literally become something else. If I'm going to become someone else, though...I need to study them for a time. Watch how they move, listen to them speak. And then?"

"Then my brain makes this," he gestured to his now-morphing body, "all work." While his Starfleet uniform stayed in place, the Chameloid's body shortened and slimmed, age lines and wrinkles giving way to the taught smoothness of youth. Ezra stared back at Ezra, though this version exhibited those same golden-yellow eyes: themselves unalterable. "It doesn't hurt, per say," Ezra's own voice spoke back at him, "but it does take a great deal of effort at times. It can make me very tired."

Ezra scrunched his face and made a noise. "I don't like my voice." He quickly made some notes and moved on. "My guess is they evolved shapeshifting as a defense mechanism against...against hunters, like the vahar'ai for the Kelpiens, or...maybe as weapon. That would make them the hunters." He glanced up as he wrote. "That one wasn't a question."

He tapped his stylus on his upper teeth. "From what I can tell, that must mean that the planet we're going to was either a hiding place, or...a hunting ground."

He blinked. "Or both."

"At this point," Kodak's shifting form flowed back into normalcy, "all we can do is guess. But given that my people seem to be in hiding from the galaxy at large," the Captain offered, referencing the scavenger hunt they were now on, "the former seems more likely than the latter. If this place is, indeed, connected to my people," he continued, "I'm just hoping we find some artifacts or other evidence that helps us better understand them. Speaking of which, I'd like you to be part of the Away Team that beams down to the surface. Mind helping us comb through whatever is down there?"

Ezra blinked again. "M-me? I mean, yes. Yes, sir. Of course, I-I would be happy to," he quickly added. Then he let a long pause hang in the air before he spoke again. "But...the...the last away mission I went on didn't go well. And I didn't do very well after it was over. I'm..." he swallowed hard. "...scared."

Kodak had, of course, been made aware of the Cadet-now-Ensign's condition and struggles post-Vidiian horror show. The Captain was hopefully that the young man was working with the professionals to stare down his demons and overcome them. But it didn't mean such progress was instant, nor everlasting. He hated to put someone into a position that could make things worse but, at the same time, there was work to be done; specialized skills that were needed, especially on a crew so small.

"I understand, Ensign," the Captain nodded slowly. "Fear is a good thing. It keeps us safe. Keeps us careful," he stressed. "Fear can be a friend. But it can also lie to us," Kodak appended. "It can tell us we can't do something. It tells us the worst case scenario will happen. It tells us," the Chameloid rasped, "that we must be less than we are sometimes. That's the kind of thinking we can't let win."

"We have a job to do and your skills will be essential," Kodak stressed, needing to underscore the need to work through the fear for the greater good. "How can I help you to work through how you're feeling, Ensign?"

Ezra took a long moment to think. "I...I really don't know," he said. "It's impossible to predict all the variables that might happen. It seems like someone always gets in trouble no matter how many precautions are taken. But...when Admiral Picard was captain of the Enterprise, he consistently sent his entire senior staff on away missions and they somehow always managed to make it out alive, so..." he thought for another moment. "...maybe I could...get some medication? I really don't like going places when I'm medicated, but I'm not really sure if I have much of a choice this time."

Not for the first time, Kodak found himself wishing Counselor Karim had not gone on extended leave. While the Captain could identify with some of what the ensign was feeling, he was out of his depth when it came to this kind of stuff. "It may be worth talking to Doctor t'Nai about. Perhaps there's a level of medication that can help with what you're feeling without debilitating you? I definitely get it," Kodak nodded slowly. "I once tried to work under the effects of strong painkillers. I'd hurt my back, you see, and didn't want to stay in bed for multiple days. So I leaned on the pain killers and tried to work. They made me feel loopy; not exactly something you want in a Captain," he chuckled softly.

Kodak offered a nod then. "I'm looking forward to exploring some ruins with you, Ensign. Hopefully it'll be a fun and uneventful excursion off the ship. Get some good rest ahead of time and, hopefully, an examination of what's down on that planet will yield some of the answers I've been searching for. With your help, of course," he smiled. "Thanks for dropping by. I'm glad we got to talk," came the Captain's rasp.

Ezra nodded. "Me too. My attempt at interviewing you got a little derailed, but I guess I shouldn't be too surprised about that." Taking that as his cue to leave, he stood and took a few steps away from the desk before turning back. "I'll...try to do what I can to get ready before we leave. Thank you, Sir." He motioned with the PADD. "Every little bit helps." He turned and walked back to the door, taking a deep breath to try to dispel the adrenaline fallout shaking his body.