.o0o.

McCoy closed the door behind them, practicing the technique he'd learned earlier on the outside wall to create a hole for the link to go through. Spock looked on and McCoy could feel his vague sense of being impressed. Was he impressed by how quickly he'd caught on to the process or by his control over his emotions? Knowing Spock, it was probably the emotions thing. To be fair though, McCoy had impressed himself by his control. 'What's next?'

'I believe your memories would be the next place to secure.' He reported as they followed the chain back to the main forum. It reminded McCoy of the myth about the minotaur in the maze, and the man who'd used string to avoid getting lost. Only, this maze wasn't really there. Hopefully there wasn't a minotaur waiting around some corner, either.

'So, I should be able to find it the same way that I found the other room?'

'Precisely. Do select a strong memory.' Spock instructed. Without hesitation, McCoy was immediately drawn back to his daughter's birth all those years ago, before his divorce, and how happy he was when the baby was lowered into his arms. The strength of this memory flared instantly, and the passages that had confused McCoy as he felt along blindly for his pride were very clear to him now. McCoy found himself jogging there unthinkingly. This door was tall, slender and opened up to his touch.

This room had to be at least three times the size of the enormous room that had housed his emotions, so large that McCoy could not even see the ends. Scattered in a random pattern around the room were small, round mirrors, hovering in mid-air. One of them was glowing and McCoy thought that was likely the memory that had brought him there. McCoy blindly stepped forward, only to be grabbed from behind by Spock. 'Be careful,' he whispered into his ear before releasing him. Spock pointed downwards, and McCoy saw the deep pit he'd almost fallen into.

Glancing around the room, McCoy realized that there were pits everywhere. This one seemed to whisper a single wretched word up to him, 'divorce.' It seemed as if the pits were filled with unhappy memories while the happy ones were floating in the air. McCoy side-stepped the pit and plucked the glowing mirror from the air. The most adorable baby McCoy had ever seen lay curled up in his own arms inside.

'I'm afraid we haven't the time for this,' Spock warned, and McCoy shot him a reproachful look, though he still released the memory. He stayed by with his arms outstretched to catch the dear image if it should fall, but it floated back into its place without a problem.

'Well, hop to it.'

'The link will be stronger if I can anchor it near memories you have of myself.' Spock patiently explained. 'Ideally positive ones,' he added as an after-thought. McCoy thought he knew as well as McCoy did that at least one of those pits had his name on it. McCoy tried to recollect more positive images. Debates, though sometimes misconstrued as arguments, had always been fun to him. Several mirrors began to glow, but McCoy wanted something stronger. McCoy thought about Spock's fierce loyalty, intelligence, patience, and kindness. A whole section of mirrors lit up now, and McCoy was surprised by how numerous they were. They hurried over, careful of the landmines scattered around the floor. Somewhere along the way, McCoy passed an old, moldy chest that instantly began to shake and tremor. He noticed a large lock on the front. It gave him the heebie-jeebies.

'What's that?' McCoy stopped and drew Spock's attention.

'That is something that I believe we should discuss in great detail at a later date.'

The pair continued walking toward the glowing mirrors, but McCoy wasn't prepared to leave the conversation at that. 'But what is it?'

Spock did not sigh or complain at his persistence, simply answered the question efficiently. That's another thing that Spock was good at. Efficiency. Another set of mirrors lit up, and he quirked an eyebrow at McCoy. 'It is a repressed memory. A memory that you have consciously and forcefully chosen not to remember.' McCoy consciously and forcefully chose not to dwell on what could be in that box as they had arrived. To distract himself, McCoy picked up one of the glowing mirrors while Spock anchored an end of the chain to the ground. The doctor watched through the mirror as Spock and McCoy discussed the pros and cons of an omnivorous diet. it was one of the few debates that McCoy had actually won by logic. Evolutionarily, it made sense for people to eat both meat and plants because it would allow them to have a wider range in diet and obtain necessary vitamins and minerals more readily. Spock had conceded his point but did not desist in consuming a strictly vegetarian diet.

By the time the memory ended, Spock had finished his work and shifted to glance through the numerous images hovering in the air around them. Even he could not resist the curiosity. His reaction to this new link was much better than how he'd handled linking to his emotions, which was great because McCoy wasn't sure what he could have done in this room to protect him. Spock nodded in a satisfied manner and led the way out of the room. He wasn't talking, so McCoy started a conversation himself, 'So... there are two more anchors? Where do they go?'

'I intend to anchor one into your logic and reasoning center and the other into your knowledge.'

'Shouldn't my knowledge and my memories be, like, the same thing?'

'They are closely related in the same way that your memories and emotions are closely related. However, they are not one in the same.' Spock explained, 'Have you ever worked with a patient who has amnesia?'

'Yeah.' McCoy agreed, not really sure where he was going with this. McCoy had, in fact, worked with several.

'And although many cannot recall anything about their past, they are still quite capable of communicating. Are they not?' Spock asked it as a question but did not wait for a response. Why would he when he already knew that McCoy understood? 'However, I am less concerned about protecting your knowledge than your logic, no matter how small that may be, as Ninyal appears to value your knowledge.'

'Now, listen here, you -'

'Quiet.' Spock interrupted and went completely still. 'They're coming. We have only a few minutes.' In silent agreement, both took off running. McCoy nearly fell into a hole, but Spock grabbed his hand and yanked hard. He did not let go as they hurried out the door. McCoy slammed it shut. 'Which way?' Spock urged.

McCoy wasn't sure, but they didn't have time for McCoy to not be sure. He reasoned that Spock was probably right and his logic center would be smaller than his knowledge. Not because he didn't have much logic, but because he had an abundance of knowledge. The building had been very symmetrical from the outside so perhaps the room they were looking for stood opposite of his emotional room. It was all McCoy had to go on, so McCoy ran that way, using the dimensions of the building, the recollection of the path to the emotions' room and a fiery desperation to get them there. Whatever half-baked reasoning that he'd employed worked, and they were able to find the room. McCoy wondered if it simply appeared because he'd used logic to find it or if he'd actually been accurate in his assessments but dismissed the thoughts immediately.

Spock called another end of the link to him and followed McCoy into the room. Spock didn't hesitate to anchor the link in the room. He used none of the same care in placement and sturdiness as he had before, but they were out of time. Whatever he accomplished now would be all McCoy could hope for. He turned to the doctor, opened his mouth and vanished.

.o0o.