hejjo again

lil intro?? sure thing. this is indeed a McCoy story, because personally i don't think that he gets enough love and tends to get left behind compared to the other crew members and i personally adore him and his cantankerous ways. so he gets a story first. i can't really think of much else to say...i don't love this first chapter, but it gets better. that's about it.

review??

(I do not own Star Trek. I do own the plot/story line of this story and Samara and other non-original Star Trek characters. No Stealing. Thanks)

"How would you feel if your whole life was a hologram? How would you feel if one day you woke up, went to school and your whole world disintegrated and pixilated around you…literally? How would you feel if you were an experiment? Tell me. How would you feel?

'Get up.'

My mom clicked on the light on my bedside table.

'Happy Birthday.'

She pokes my bed head and I groan loudly the realization of my 18th birthday dawning on me. School was close to ending and the taste of freedom is sweet on my tongue as I stretch out popping from my neck to my toes and shivering as my fan blows cool air on my exposed arms. The days recently had sped by quickly in a frenzy, finals and book returns, vacation plans and college choices were all proving to be Hell but I'm managing by the skin of my teeth. I get dressed and yank on my hoodie lazily over just my arms saying goodbye to my mom boredly as I waltz out the front door patting and kissing my cat on the head on my way out. My 1998 black Mustang sits in the front driveway and purrs to life as I turn the ignition and I find the noise so very sweet, soothing almost as I pull out of the drive.

Magic Carpet Ride blasts from my stereo as I swing into my usual space beside my best friend Tyler who wears a smile on his face as he leans against his blue Cavalier.

'Well, well, Happy Birthday, Miss Mara.' He chimes as I jump out of my car cutting off Steppenwolf mid-Aladdin's lamp rolling my eyes. Tyler had been my best friend since Freshmen year, I'd known him since 6th, and was going to be moving upstate once the year ended. I myself had no clue what I was going to be doing, Art was by far my best subject, though I love certain Sciences and History. We'd talked about me going with him, but knowing us it was a 50-50 chance of it really happening.

'Do you feel any older?'

He grins and hands me a box wrapped in orange wrapping paper with a neon green bow holding the top to the bottom. I laugh and raise an eyebrow opening the gift as we walk towards the doors of the school.

'Not really, today does seem kind of weird though. Have I told you I love you lately?' He laughs a little and pushes me to open the gift telling me a quick 'I love you' as his boyfriend runs up behind him. The two share a quick little kiss and proceed to watch me open the present. Inside the neon outside sits a short lengthed necklace with a Starfleet emblem in the center. I stared at the necklace, then to him and back at the necklace. It was something I'd been looking at for ages but never found the time or money to spend on it. Starfleet was an organization from our favourite book series. The books had stories of different captains, the history of warp, crew logs, and even books describing how the different technology worked and was extremely interesting, and given the chance both of us could probably take apart and put back together a phaser with our eyes closed. But the technology was nowhere near and living in 2011 no less wasn't bringing it any closer very quickly.

The first bell of the day rings and I give Tyler a hug and pull back, the smile on my face quickly diminishing as he is suddenly becoming blurred. My best friend for 4 years begins fuzzing and soon with him the school behind us. My chest tightens and I look at my hands that were still the same lightly tanned colour they'd always been, no blurs. Everything starts melting, the colour fading, Tyler's grin drooping and falling from his features. This isn't a dream because I'm not waking up and the fear is real. The cars are turning boxy, pixilating, dispersing into the air. I want to run but I have nowhere to go. Everything and everyone around me is paused in motion and breaking down. The box and necklace in my hand are still a shiny metal, still real like me. A whooshing noise makes me jump as a large gust of wind sends my hair flying and every ounce of everything I'd ever known sweeps up into the crumbling sky.

And it is dark.

I stare up, waiting for the world to fall back into place. Waiting for Tyler to jump from the darkness, waiting for something real to show itself. Something bumps up against my leg and a small meow follows. My cat is still real as she rubs against me worried. I am in a room. I am in a room and it is dark and I do not know why or how I got here. I know that there are strange beeping sounds and little lines and dots all along the walls and I briefly wonder if I was abducted by aliens but quickly dismiss the notion. A light opens behind me, casting my shadow along the wall before me.

'Samara.'

It is a male speaking and I do not want to turn around. I don't want to turn around and it not be Tyler. I don't want to turn around and see someone else vanish into thin air. He says my name again and I have no choice but to turn and squint into the light.

'Come with me. We have much to discuss.'

He holds out a hand and I look down at the box and back to his hand. Chewing my lip I put on the necklace and shove the box into my cargo pockets and snatch up my cat thinking that maybe if I held her she couldn't go away. The man at the door is tall and lanky with chestnut hair and blue eyes, had this been any other situation I'd have commented on his eyes and the pretty little smile he was giving me but any other situation wasn't the current case as I followed him down a futuristic themed hallway.

'My name is Jamar.' He smiles again and I stare at him warily. He has on a blue shirt with a black shirt under it and I notice the Starfleet pendent on the left breast of his shirt and absentmindedly touch my own, scaring the poor feline in my arms as she slips a little.

'We hope that you will enjoy your stay here on the base. And we thank you for your contribution to our work. Someone will be with you in a couple of hours.'

He leads me to a room and shows me in, reciting to me what seemed like an overly rehearsed line with a cheesy salute that does not match his exterior before spinning and walking off, the doors sliding shut behind him.

I am confused.

Very confused. So confused that I can't quite find myself able to move and my cat manages to squirm her way out of my arms leaping to the floor and over to the bed in the corner of the room. She squalls in hunger and I feel bad because I can't help her at this moment because my legs still won't work and if they were I wouldn't quite know how or where to find her cat food anyway.

I sigh and lean back, falling against the edge of the bed settling on the floor rubbing my face and killing the tears.

'What is going on…'

'Please rephrase the question.'

I jump and look around the room for the owner of the feminine voice that had just spoken. No one was in the room and even my cat stares around oddly. I gulp a little and ask a different question. "Who are you….?"

'Computer Program 6-07-98-4.'

'Well then…who am I?'

The room around me is small with computer screens built into the walls and a bathroom to my right and I look around taking in the layout as I ask the question half-jokingly with a sigh resting on my tongue and not expecting the voice to respond.

'Samara Harley Cornwell. Holographic Experiment 0001.'

My heart leaps and I panic.

'What does that mean?! Holographic Experiment?! What does that mean..'

The computer actually answers without complaining about my sentence structure this time and restates my name and the number of a file log.

'Dr. Francis Cornwell placed his daughter in to the experimental Holographic experience room 1 as an experiment at the age of 3 after the death of her mother to prove his theory-'

My brain is absorbing the information slowly and I find myself highly annoyed but amazed that this computer proceeds to show it knows more about me than myself as it rambles on.

'So, wait. Why 18…'

'According to Dr. Cornwell's logs his daughter would stay for 18 years to prove a Holographic reality could sustain a humanoid lifeform for extended periods of time. If she was still alive with no help from anyone outside the manufactured world at the age of 21 the experiment would be seen as a success.'

My brain stops working for a minute. 21….that's right…I was put in at the age of 3…fuck… 'Not only is my life a lie so is my age.' I curl a lip in a snarl and the computer asks me to restate the question and I look for a speaker to glare at as I dwell over the information just fed to me.

'So. Wait…humanoid. Am I not human?'

'Negative.'

'Then what am I?'

'Samara Cornwell is one half Betazoid.'

'What is a Betazoid?'

'Similar to the human species in aesthetic views the Betazoid are highly empathic and telepathic creatures.'

'Well,' my head rolls back onto the bed and Mulder starts licking my forehead. 'I must not be a very good one, I've never felt anything from anyone ever.' 'According to Dr. Cornwell's logs Samara's empathic abilities may at first be impaired due to extended periods of time with unfeeling, unreal, holographic beings.'

'Well, isn't that lovely. My head will probably explode once I get around actual people with emotions.' I groan and fall into a flat position on the floor thinking of all those fiction novels that suddenly weren't so fiction anymore. The computer continues to blabber about something to do with Betazoids and I find myself uninterested and quite uncaring about the history of me. My gut tightens and I realize I haven't eaten today as it growls and something suddenly occurs to me.

'That is why he always had me read those books about the futuristic technology…'

'Please restate the question.'

'So I wouldn't be completely ignorant when I came out.'

'Please restate the question-' 'Shut up!' I growl out and rub my face before continuing. 'Computer.' It beeps in response. 'Who is your manufacture?' 'Starfleet Academy-' 'Hmmm…' I think carefully before I speak again, recalling all of those books I had read over the years. 'What is this place? Where we are now?' 'Port Kaizer.' 'This is a port, as in ships come here for short shore leaves?'

'Correct.'

'Computer, are there any Federation vessels currently docked?'

'Affirmative. The USS Hermes is currently docked at Port C for another 2.3 hours.'

'Computer.' I get to my feet and clasp my hands behind my back, suddenly feeling very important and gaining a feel for the new technology. 'I want you to give me a map and an animated location of all guards between myself and the Hermes. Make sure it's the quickest route and include the guards' routes and schedule changes as well for the next 2.3 hours.'

While the computer calculates I run at the closet and dig around through a pile of bags that had been delivered before my apparent arrival almost an hour ago. Luck ever graces me with its lack of presence and I find none of Mulder's carrying supplies as she stares at me with a 'now what?' expression. The screen to my right illuminates with the routes and schedules and I quickly rush to memorize the quickest and easiest ways around the guards deciding that my new life was no longer going to be under the control of people behind the generated walls of a room that was my entire old life.

The doors of my room slide open and I readjust Mulder in my arms wrapped up in the hoodie I'd had on earlier and I run to freedom.