Geordi LaForge sat on his white cot in a white room wearing what he figured
was a white hospital gown, wondering how many days had past and were the
Enterprise was.
After being gassed at the asteroid, the next thing that he had remembered was waking up in this room. The room had been empty except for him, three cots, and one door. The door had of course been locked with no visible control panel to override.
It felt like it had been hours since he had woken up, and he had wondered what had happened to Riker and were he was. When you're alone in a room there isn't a whole lot to do but wonder. He started to wonder who was handling Engineering and when, if ever, would Data die, and why he had been born blind.
All these things swarmed into his mind and he started to wonder about more and more things when suddenly the door slid open. Two people entered and the door promptly shut behind them. One was a tall Vulcan man with upswept eyebrows and Geordi wondered how old he was. It was hard to tell with Vulcans. They could look thirty and actually be 100.
A small girl with red hair and three small bumps down the center of her forehead stood next to him. They both were wearing the same white gowns as he was and the Vulcan nodded to one of the two cots left.
"I have not seen a human in quite some time." The Vulcan said, "How long have you been here?"
Geordi shrugged, "A few hours, I'm not sure really. How long have you been here?"
"Two months, twenty-seven days, three hours. I am interested, what are you thinking now?"
"What am I thinking?" Geordi sputtered, "What kind of a question is that?"
"I am trying to form a hypothesis about what kind of tests are being preformed on us. If you do not wish to answer, I will retract my question."
"I'm wondering about lot's of things all the sudden." Geordi said, "Like I wonder why that girl is just standing by the door. She hasn't moved a mussel since she came in."
"Yes, what you say supports my theory. I believe that the rooms are being flooded with some sort of neuro waves that heighten the imaginative process. Unfortunately prolonged exposure to the waves causes a digression of the positive imaginative process, leaving the individual with the negative. They loose track of what is real and the negative possibilities. According to the patients who were still coherent, it's like a living nightmare."
"Is that what happened to that girl?"
"I'm guessing so, but I cannot tell because I have never seen her before now."
Geordi got to his feet and went to the girl, "What do you remember?" he kindly asked, "Do you remember your mommy and daddy and your safe home?"
She slowly looked up at him as though coming out of a trance, and the absolute hollowness of her eyes chilled him to the bone. It was like jumping into a frigid lake. He gasped with shock.
"I killed them." She rasped in a low menacing voice. "They were my family. They loved and cared for me and I killed them all." Her voice grew louder and more forceful. "I was the captain's assistant, and I GOT THEM KILLED!" she was yelling now, tears streaming down her cheeks. "The ship blew up because of me. I spit on their graves by living. I want nothing more in the world than to rejoin them." Her voice dropped to a low whisper, "But you can't kill your self here. It's like you're in a holodeck with the safeties on. I suppose it's a fitting sentence for me to serve. Eternity to remember what I did, but if I had one wish, It would be to return to my family." She looked up at him again with those hollow eyes, "Don't worry, you'll soon find you have a crime to pay for as well." She went to the corner and slid down to the floor hugging her knees.
"She is not a killer." The Vulcan said, "The murdering of loved ones is a common story here. I think it's because many people have loved ones who care for them and killing them would be their worst nightmare."
"Are you saying I'll become like that?"
"Probably, unless you can find some way to fight it."
After being gassed at the asteroid, the next thing that he had remembered was waking up in this room. The room had been empty except for him, three cots, and one door. The door had of course been locked with no visible control panel to override.
It felt like it had been hours since he had woken up, and he had wondered what had happened to Riker and were he was. When you're alone in a room there isn't a whole lot to do but wonder. He started to wonder who was handling Engineering and when, if ever, would Data die, and why he had been born blind.
All these things swarmed into his mind and he started to wonder about more and more things when suddenly the door slid open. Two people entered and the door promptly shut behind them. One was a tall Vulcan man with upswept eyebrows and Geordi wondered how old he was. It was hard to tell with Vulcans. They could look thirty and actually be 100.
A small girl with red hair and three small bumps down the center of her forehead stood next to him. They both were wearing the same white gowns as he was and the Vulcan nodded to one of the two cots left.
"I have not seen a human in quite some time." The Vulcan said, "How long have you been here?"
Geordi shrugged, "A few hours, I'm not sure really. How long have you been here?"
"Two months, twenty-seven days, three hours. I am interested, what are you thinking now?"
"What am I thinking?" Geordi sputtered, "What kind of a question is that?"
"I am trying to form a hypothesis about what kind of tests are being preformed on us. If you do not wish to answer, I will retract my question."
"I'm wondering about lot's of things all the sudden." Geordi said, "Like I wonder why that girl is just standing by the door. She hasn't moved a mussel since she came in."
"Yes, what you say supports my theory. I believe that the rooms are being flooded with some sort of neuro waves that heighten the imaginative process. Unfortunately prolonged exposure to the waves causes a digression of the positive imaginative process, leaving the individual with the negative. They loose track of what is real and the negative possibilities. According to the patients who were still coherent, it's like a living nightmare."
"Is that what happened to that girl?"
"I'm guessing so, but I cannot tell because I have never seen her before now."
Geordi got to his feet and went to the girl, "What do you remember?" he kindly asked, "Do you remember your mommy and daddy and your safe home?"
She slowly looked up at him as though coming out of a trance, and the absolute hollowness of her eyes chilled him to the bone. It was like jumping into a frigid lake. He gasped with shock.
"I killed them." She rasped in a low menacing voice. "They were my family. They loved and cared for me and I killed them all." Her voice grew louder and more forceful. "I was the captain's assistant, and I GOT THEM KILLED!" she was yelling now, tears streaming down her cheeks. "The ship blew up because of me. I spit on their graves by living. I want nothing more in the world than to rejoin them." Her voice dropped to a low whisper, "But you can't kill your self here. It's like you're in a holodeck with the safeties on. I suppose it's a fitting sentence for me to serve. Eternity to remember what I did, but if I had one wish, It would be to return to my family." She looked up at him again with those hollow eyes, "Don't worry, you'll soon find you have a crime to pay for as well." She went to the corner and slid down to the floor hugging her knees.
"She is not a killer." The Vulcan said, "The murdering of loved ones is a common story here. I think it's because many people have loved ones who care for them and killing them would be their worst nightmare."
"Are you saying I'll become like that?"
"Probably, unless you can find some way to fight it."
