Chapter Eight: Settling In

After parting ways with Jake, Chris makes his way to the open doors of the security office. As he gets closer, he catches a fleeting glimpse of Kira's face on a monitor within. As the screen darkens, an unfamiliar security officer turns to face the open doors. Even though Chris is technically new to the station, he is acutely aware of Odo's absence. It's strange to see someone else in his chair.

Having turned from the communication screen, the security officer's eyes focus and narrow as Chris approaches. It slowly sinks in that this will be the first true stranger Chris will have to interact with on the station. He puts on an uneasy smile and raises a hand in an awkward wave to fend off the officer's martial scrutiny as he closes the distance to the desk.

"May I help you?" the officer asks without a hint of pleasantry.

"Uh, yeah," Chris responds meekly to the cold greeting. "The, um… Kira sent me? I believe you were just talking to her on the… thing over there?"

Chris points to the monitor, but the officer maintains direct eye contact with Chris.

"Your name?" the officer asks flatly, refusing to acknowledge Chris' gesture or mention of the colonel.

"Chris. She said you could assign me quarters and…"

"Very well," the officer cuts him off, seemingly satisfied that Chris is the man he was told to expect. "Take a seat. I'll need you to answer some questions so I can enter you into the system."

Chris takes a seat and sits uncomfortably as the officer turns his focus to a panel on the desk. After only a few seconds of fidgeting in his chair, Chris breaks the cold silence. "So… what does it mean to be 'entered into the system'?"

The officer's chiseled features don't display annoyance, but Chris hears it in his tone all the same.

"You won't be able to use your combadge, or receive any personal communication, until the station computer recognizes you and your location."

"I'm getting a combadge?" Chris' face lights up.

The officer slowly blinks half-opened eyes. "I have been instructed to issue you a combadge."

"Awesome," Chris smiles.

"The colonel wishes to keep tabs on you," the officer squints further. "As do I."

Chris shrinks in his chair. "Oh."

"Also," the officer says as he hands a PADD across the desk, "personnel records are recorded, maintained, and utilized in accordance with station regulations and procedures—of which you should become familiar."

Chris accepts the PADD and groans at the screen full of miniscule text.

"Is there a problem," the officer asks without the inflection of a question.

"N-not at all."

"In that case…" the officer clears his throat, "I need you to answer the following questions to the best of your ability."

Leaning forward in his chair and resting his elbows on his knees, Chris clasps his hands together and nods.

"Name?"

"Chris."

The officer blinks once—slowly and deliberately. He wears a stern but otherwise blank expression. "Full name."

"Sorry." Chris shakes his head at himself. "Christopher Michael Simmons."

"Human. Male. Correct me if necessary."

Chris shakes his head.

"Date of birth?"

"April 10th, 1978."

"Stardate?"

Chris shrugs. "I have no idea."

The officer lets out an emphatic sigh. "Very well. I'll have the computer convert it when we're through. Point of origin?"

"Twenty-three fifty-four Martin Street, apartment 3C…" Chris trails off as the officer looks up from the panel to eye him with disdain. He tries again. "Earth?"

"Thank you."

Chris takes a deep breath and lets out a long sigh.

Yep… I'm an idiot.

The officer continues to speak while typing on his console. "A birthdate in stardate format would calculate your age automatically, but since we haven't…"

"36," Chris interrupts the officer, wanting to redeem his poor first impression by anticipating an easy question. "I'm 36. But… when you convert that date I gave you, it won't come out to 36. Did Kira mention that I…"

The officer is quick to regain control of the conversation by interrupting Chris in return. "The colonel did mention that a temporal anomaly is involved. I've made note of it."

Chris can only wonder how often "temporal anomalies" must occur to warrant no more than a footnote in a personnel record. The officer expresses no surprise or curiosity whatsoever. Perhaps it's just the nature of being part of a security force near a wormhole with deadly aliens on the other side and godly aliens on the inside.

Chris struggles through several more questions and is grateful when the officer signals that he's satisfied with the information gathered. Not a moment too soon, as Chris believes he was close to reaching the limit of the officer's patience.

Chris slouches in his chair and rubs his temples while the officer presses some buttons on his panel and opens a compartment to remove a combadge. Chris perks up at the sight of it.

"This is not a toy," the officer says flatly as he holds the badge up for Chris to see clearly.

"Of course not," Chris says, "I just… nevermind."

The officer makes it clear that the device is now linked to Chris' personnel record. "Do not lose it," he says as if speaking to a child. "If you do, a replacement can only be acquired from me. I can assure you, the process of securing a replacement is much less cordial."

Chris nods as the officer places the combadge in his hand.

The badge is the same design as those worn by Kira and other Bajoran personnel, including security. As he marvels at it, the officer launches into a fast-paced, well-rehearsed description of its operation—much like a flight attendant going through a pre-flight safety presentation. Chris is unable to catch everything the officer says, but he isn't about to bother the man to repeat it.

"Now, if you would follow me," the officer says as he stands, "I will lead you to your quarters."

Chris follows the officer closely through the busy Promenade to not get separated. Despite having travelled the reverse path earlier with Kira, Chris has no idea where he's going. He does his best to observe the officer's operation of the turbolift as he has no intention of asking more questions of this man than necessary. He's very grateful for the map PADD Julian provided, as it may give him a fighting chance of finding his way to the Promenade again.

Though the hallway they end up in doesn't look familiar to Chris in the least, the officer stops in front of a door.

"Here you are," the officer states plainly. "The colonel's quarters are four doors down on the same side."

The officer points down the hallway and waits for a nod of acknowledgement from Chris. As the officer opens the door in front of them, Chris pays very close attention to how he does so.

The last thing I need is to get stranded outside my new apartment.

"If there's anything else you need, the colonel has asked that you contact her directly."

"Thank you… sir." Chris suddenly realizes he never caught the officer's name. Since both men seem eager to part ways, he doesn't bother to ask. "I think I'm good for now."

Chris sighs and feels himself relax as the intense officer nods and walks away.

Walking through the doorway of his new home, Chris is quickly aware of the stark contrast between the bustle of the Promenade and the silence of his quarters. A quick scan of the room reveals simple furniture and décor, a replicator, a doorway to a bedroom, and windows to the vast sea of stars surrounding the station.

Chris tosses his PADDs on a table and approaches one of the windows. He strains to see as much of the station's structure as he can, including a docking pylon on the far right of his field of view.

This thing is massive!

As Chris is gawking through the window, an object blinks into existence in the distance.

"Whoa."

Looking more closely, Chris realizes he just witnessed a federation ship dropping out of warp.

"Amazing…" Chris says aloud as he watches the ship approach. "Looks like a Galaxy class."

Chris blinks at himself, still not used to drawing from memories that aren't real. He watches in awe as the large ship drifts silently towards the station. The ship seems to be headed to one of the upper docking pylons.

Chris strains to read the large characters visible on the bottom of the saucer section before it glides out of view. "NCC-71854. USS Venture."

Chris pulls his face away from the glass. He feels like a small child who's just seen his first hippopotamus at the zoo.

I knew these things were big, but… damn.

"I need a beer."

Chris walks over to the replicator and hunts through the menu. After a few haphazard button presses, he looks down at his newly slim waist. He recalls his New Year's resolution list that was abandoned in a 'cozy' apartment 350 years ago.

"Orange juice," Chris hears himself mutter as he closes his eyes and leans against the machine. When he opens them again, a large glass of orange juice is waiting. He raises the glass and takes a cautious sip. He shakes his head at the replicator.

This thing… is incredible.

Chris recalls the amazing turkey sandwich he had for lunch and considers the fact that he can ask for anything he wants, anytime he wants it.

This new body is screwed.

Chris pulls a chair from the dining table in the room and turns it to face the windows. He sits and stares at the stars as he tries to process the events of the day.

It isn't long before one of nature's gentle reminders catches Chris' attention and he realizes he hasn't used the restroom once since arriving on the station. Thinking about it, he can't recall the show giving any evidence that the station even has bathrooms, and he failed to investigate any of the blue dots on the map Julian provided.

Chris walks through his quarters to find another door in the bedroom which he assumes must lead to the bathroom. The panel by the door is slightly different than the one in the hall, so he blindly presses buttons until the door slides open. He cautiously peeks inside.

I have no freaking clue what I'm looking at.

Chris rubs a hand down his face before reluctantly tapping his combadge for the first time.

"Chris to Kira," he says nervously. "Help?"

What ensues is one of the most awkward and embarrassing conversations Chris has ever had. It helps that he's talking over the comm system and doesn't have to watch this woman explain how to use a 24th century space toilet. He's very glad she can't see his mortified expression.

I sure hope she's alone right now.

"Chris," Kira's utterance of his name pulls him back from his wandering thoughts. "Consider that we use artificial gravity on this station. Now imagine if things were any different and it failed."

"Eww."

"Exactly."

Chris can tell his reaction almost coaxed a chuckle.

"Now," Kira continues. "I need to stay in Ops a while longer. I'll try and stop by around 1600 to see how you're doing. Try and get some rest; I'm sure you could use it."

"I could. Thanks, Kira."

"And Chris. Call me Nerys."

"Thanks, Nerys," Chris says again for the sake of trying out her 'given' name.

After the transmission ends, Chris finds he's smiling in response to Kira's direction to address her by her more personal name. He scoffs.

Dammit, Julian. This is your fault.

Chris blows out a long breath as he crosses his arms and stares into the bathroom. He carefully recounts the conversation before braving the facilities.

After washing his hands and returning to the main room of his quarters, Chris is happy to find another item he can't recall seeing on the show: a clock. Though it isn't very late in the day, he feels like he's been awake for an eternity. He gets comfortable on the couch, situated under a window to the stars, and notes the time: 1317.

Closing his eyes, Chris quickly falls asleep.