Disclaimer: I do not own any of the star trek characters, Paramount Pictures does. I do own these terrible OCs and a bunch of plot bunnies that don't understand the concept of sleep.
Operant Behavior
By fuzzyllamas164
Chapter 1: Hypothesis and Experiment
Satok slumped his shoulders as he exited the examination circle of his school by walking up the slope of the walkway that lead to the flat entrance way of the room. His scores of the last exam were less than what he would have wished, but this was not his main worry. His main worry always waited for him at the end of the exams, his four tormentors. They were four older students that decided that they needed to put his frizzy blond hair and blue eyes into place, a place that was lower than their on the social hierarchy. Being a part of a long line of scholars on his Vulcan father's side and living up to the deeds of his human father in Starfleet was its own punishment enough, but obviously his peers only wanted to further make his life harder than it already was. There they stood, Hanesh, Kor, Makov, and Talok, like four mountains blocking his exit out of the room. Hanesh, the tallest one of the group, moved to block his path first.
"I presume you've prepared new insults for today", Satok said, staring Hanesh in the face.
"Your human father was a whore." Hanesh said.
"You are neither human nor Vulcan, therefore have no place in the universe" chimed in Kov.
"Look, he has human eyes. They look sad, don't they." Malkov added as he further blocked in his potential route for escape.
"This is the 30th time you have tried to elicit an emotional response from me. Logic dictates you would cease by now. Please… leave me alone. I have no quarrels with you". Satok replied. He attempted to move around the three bullies but the last bully, Talok, closed the circle around him preventing him from escaping. Satok braced himself for the verbal assaults to become physical, but a voice in the distance seemed to draw his bullies' attention.
"Hey, you should leave him alone, "shouted T' Vaakis. She walked with purpose to look his tormenters face to face. She was shorter than he was by five or so inches, but she was one of the most powerful telepaths of the class. She was what humans called a cousin, although he shared almost no genetic material with her since her mother was a genetic experiment of sorts that was based off of the long-lost brother of his grandmother, T'Pau. Honestly, he just accepted that she was family, but many of his classmates did not know or at least did not believe that he was related to her since he looked radically different from her.
"Oh, look… the genetic aberration speaks." Hanesh jears.
"I am giving you one more opportunity to leave him alone… and apologize for your past transgressions."
"Oh? Is this your bonded? The two outcasts paired together bringing down the entire species… sickening."
T'Vaakis stared down all four of his tormenters and … smiled. With a sweep of her hand, the tallest bully, Hanesh, fell to his knees from what seemed to be a telepathic punch to the stomach. She then reached out with her right hand and swung the air. Malkvo, the bully that was to the left of Hanesh, tried to block the blow but instead stumbled to the right and tripped over Hanesh's prone form landing on his face and did not get up again. Kov and Talok decided it was best to try to knock over their petite opponent and surged forward only for Kov to take an invisible strike to his inner thigh on his right leg. Kov fell forward as he seemed to lose control over his right leg, which left him sprawling on the floor screaming in pain. With T'Vaakis distracted taking down Kov, Talok managed to close the distance with his target and grab her shoulder only to receive a sharp kick in the groin for his efforts. Talok immediately fell to his knees and curled up in a fetal position.
The room fell silent as he felt all the eyes of his classmates stare at him, his cousin, and the contorting forms of his former bullies lying on the ground. The headmaster of the testing center stood up from her stool in the corner of the room where she was monitoring the testing protocols from the nearby computer station and walked over to face the small group.
S'chn T'Gai Sartok Tiberius and S'chn T'Gai T'Vaakis Margret please report to my office, the headmaster spoke.
Waiting in the headmistresses' office, Sartok cringed internally while trying to keep as neutral as a face as he possibly could. However, his cousin stood serenely next to him and was as "cool as a cucumber" as his human father would say. He never quite understood this human idiom beside the idea that cucumbers, which he has eaten once on a visit of his human father's farm, could maintain cool after a period of refrigeration but were not cool in temperature by themselves.
He had never been in the headmistress' office before. It was a small room that sat adjacent to the testing center. The small room only contained a large desk on which a computer terminal and organized collection of documents, PADDS, and books sat. Behind the desk was a series of different sized cabinets that were built into the wall and a series of bookshelves that housed both the older version of bound texts and a few scrolls. The room lacked little personality with its standard metal furniture and grey walls.
The headmistress walked into the room with the sounds of the swish of her robes the only sound that broke the silence of the room. She turned and addressed his cousin standing next to him. "T'vaakis, your response to this stimulus was unsatisfactory. You have allowed your emotions to rule your behavior. "
"I disagree with you, " T'vaakis said, staring the headmistress in the eyes. "I was merely testing my hypothesis that the usage of the human psychologist, B.F Skinner's operant condition could be used to decrease the presentation of a behavior. Although they were given a verbal warning to remind them to stop their behavior exactly 5 times, they continued to issue verbal threats and harassment. Since they have exceeded my fixed ratio schedule for this behavior, I decided to apply the positive punishment in the form of physical punishment as a means of applying a stimulus that would decrease the behavior of verbal assault. My initial hypothesis was correct in that the subjects, once the stimulus applied, stopped their negative behavior. If they wish to not receive positive punishment, then they should consider their actions towards my cousin.
Additionally, I feel that it is my responsibility as the older female of my generation to look out for other members of my clan and their wellbeing thus the need for me to intercede on my cousin's behalf. This position of responsibility is what lead me to potentially violate the privacy of my cousin in his own affairs. Furthermore, the physical punishment used was more of an application of an alternative means of behavior modification than of emotional outburst or violence that Surak teaches is not conducive to obtaining logical thought and control of emotions. If the academy had measures similar to Terran anti-bullying measures, I would not have had to result in applying my hypothesis in the first place."
The headmistress stared coolly at his cousin who continued to stare her in the eye. A few minutes passed but they felt like eons. Finally, the headmistress was the first to break the silence.
"I will consider these facts in the investigation of this case. Sartok, you are free to go home since it is now past the end of lessons for the day. T'Vaakis, stay here. Although you have made a sufficient justification for your actions, you still violate the rules against violence in the classroom. Your punishment will commence after this meeting." She opened a closet that was behind her and pulled out an archaic broom and dustpan and handed it to T'Vaakis. "The outer courtyard needs sweeping. As you finish your task, please meditate on the results of your actions on others. I will be speaking to your mother about your behavior. You are both dismissed", she said. Her attention then turned to the computer terminal.
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Chapter 2: Results and Conclusions
T'Vaakis stared at the now clean, grey hexagonal tiles of the outer courtyard. Two hours and what felt like several blisters on her hands later, they were finally clean of the red dust that would be blown in on the winds from the deserts outside of ShiKar. She has finally finished the first part of the task. She neglected the other. The bullies would be better off with what her mother, in her less logical moments, had called an "attitude adjustment". They will probably require a trip to medical, but then they would have to explain the cause of their injuries. Being beaten without being touched would be a sting on their masculine pride. The position of Eridani in the sky was waning indicating it was now late afternoon; according to her internal clock, it was exactly 1800 hours. She reached for her communicator in her pocket and sent a message to her mother to let her know she had finished her task. Knowing the headmistress, she had already contacted her mother and explained her late arrival home. She exited out of the large courtyard gate and turned towards the pathway by the road that lead to the academy. If she took the path to its end down the road and turned left, she would be on the walkway that lead home.
She began her walk down the path until her attention was diverted by a familiar beep. She turned to see a familiar flitter on the road. The bright red color and black "racing" stripes indicated that it belonged to her uncle's human bondmate, James Kirk. He rolled down the window, said, "So, I heard that you needed a ride." He popped open the passenger door of the flitter and T'Vaakis climbed in. Her uncle shot her one of his signature grins as he started up the engine of the flitter and sped away from the academy. He was wearing one of his worn navy-blue Starfleet expedition jackets with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows. Despite being retired on Vulcan for over fifteen years, he still mostly kept wearing Terran clothing: old uniforms mixed with casual wear. She could only remember a handful of times that she had seen him in regular robes; he only wore them for festivals and always looked uncomfortable wearing them. The windows of the flitter were rolled down, whipping the waves of her uncle's blondish salt and pepper hair in the dry breeze.
"Your mom asked me to pick you up and talk to you about what happened at school today. Your uncle and your grandfather wanted me to take you to the temple for you to further meditate on your actions. However, I thought we could stop for refreshments on the way."
Uncle Jim piloted the flitter in the opposite direction of her home and the temple district and towards the mountain that the Vulcan Science Academy sat on. The flitter roved over the red sands cliff that dropped hundred of meters to the desert below. The little vehicle followed the trodden path that ran over the rising incline of the road from above and landed in front of a small shopping center that stood on the cliffs. The stores in the center mostly sold goods for students that weren't sold on campus: PADD repair services, books, and science equipment. A recent enterprise between an Andoran and Human couple was her favorite: Over the Moon Ice Cream Parlor. The friendly visage of a smiling cartoon cow jumping over a grey cratered planet graced the sign above the parlor. Students, families, and a few Starfleet personnel could be seen in the restaurant. Uncle Jim parked the flitter and walked around the vehicle to open her door. She nodded her head in thanks. They both walked through the parlor's glass door.
Over the Moon Ice Cream Parlor had a chrome, red, and white interior that Uncle Jim said was supposed to mimic the look of a diner from the middle of the 20th century on earth. He had said that the décor reminded him of an old fashion ice cream parlor that he used to visit as a kid in Iowa. The only features that Uncle Jim stated was different was the parlor's windows and the outdoor patio. The parlor's windows were made of transparent aluminum that allowed customers an unobstructed view of the cliffs and desert below. The patio, with its chrome-colored picnic tables with white and red umbrellas, look unassuming, but they were contained in a force field that lowered the temperature of the air around the tables so the ice cream, would not instantly melt in the unrelenting heat of Eridani's rays and to keep away any flying insects or pets that may disturb diners.
Walking into the parlor, they were greeted by the smiling face blue face of the proprietor, Thelin th'Valrass. He was wearing the parlor's standard uniform: terran white button up shirt with a collar and a red and white striped bowtie.
"Hello Admiral. It is nice to get to see you again. Do you want your usual? " said Thelin.
"You bet."
"Alright, one scoop of Mission Control Cookies and Cream with a dash of chocolate sauce coming right up", thelin said" He move quickly to scoop out an extra-large serving of ice cream.
A human woman that looked her mother's age opened the door that led from the kitchen. The human woman was a few inches taller than her mother. She was slightly slimmer and wore her long blonde hair in an elaborate blend of braids and an updo her mother had called a beehive. The human woman smiled at Uncle Jim. "Hello Admiral", said the woman, "Is this your niece? She is absolutely adorable."
"Hello, Janice. You look great. Yes, this is my niece, T'Vaakis."
Her warm grey eyes glanced over at T'Vaakis. "Sweetheart, what would you like."
T'Vaakis walked over and pressed her face against the glass of the ice cream display. The chilled cooler had quite a few choices besides Uncle Jim's favorite: Tranquility Sea Vanilla, Rocky Rocket Road, Sally Ride's Apple Pie, Armstrong's Orange Tang, Coltrane's Chocolate Warp Factor, and Edwin's Chocolate Fudge. Coltrane's Chocolate Warp Factor is her favorite. Thelin th'Valrass managed to make the chocolate and fudge swirl ice cream to have all the taste of real chocolate without the intoxicant ingredient that made most Vulcans to feel "tipsy".
"I would like a scoop of Coltrane's Chocolate Warp, please", replied T'Vaakis.
The human name Janice scooped up T'Vaakis' order and gathered Uncle Jim's order before handing her cone and Uncle Jim his sundae bowl. They walked over to a deserted part of the patio and sat down.
"Your mom shared with me verbatim what you said to the headmistress. Somehow, I have a feeling you had help with that," Uncle Jim said.
T'Vaakis looked down at the remains of her ice cream scoop. "I had my tellerite friend, Cartem, work through possible argument that would be logically, socially appropriate and possibly lead to the least amount of punishment."
"So, you planned this in advance" Uncle Jim's blue candy eyes seemed to stare through her as his attention turned away from his half-finished ice cream.
T'Vaakis attention focused on her uncle, but on a drip of ice cream that was trickling down the cone. She reluctantly took her uncle's bait and answered, "Yes, I did. I couldn't stand it anymore. He won't stand up for himself; he just tries to ignore them. But… they won't let go, so I decided that I had to do something to make the tormenting stop. I kept telling them to stop, but they won't listen to me. So, I…"
"Tried to bend the rules." Uncle Jim interrupted her, "I may have experience in that area. I talked with your Uncle Spock about the same issue, but I came to the same conclusion as you did. Look, I think you did the right thing in standing up for Sartok; your heart was in the right place, but the way you went about doing it was… not the best."
"You're not ashamed of me", she said quietly.
Uncle Jim sighed and continued, "No, I am not ashamed of you as a person, but I am disappointed with your actions. Your Uncle Spock will feel the same way. You may have a copying of Surak's teachings in your near future. Look, most importantly, I want you to know that you are not alone. You don't need to solve all the problems yourself. You can always ask for my help for anything. If anything, this whole debacle is partially, if not totally, my fault."
He momentarily turned away from her staring back at a large eagle soaring through the dessert skies before continuing the thought," I spent too much time trying to find a way that I could help him without stepping on too many Vulcan toes. I should have just marched down to the academy and gave them a piece of my mind." Uncle Jim seemed to gather his thoughts and turn back to T'Vaakis and his half-finished cone before finishing his thought, "But I will admit that is one hell of a hypothesis and hopefully there will be a continued positive conclusion."
T'Vaakis finally stopped staring at her cone and looked up to see her uncle's relaxed face that might just be carrying a slight smile.
"To bending rules and positive conclusions", Uncle Jim toasted holding up his ice cream cone like a champagne glass.
T'Vaakis allowed herself to let out a rare smile and toasted back with her own cone," To bending rules and positive conclusions."
FIN
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Thanks y'all for all of you that has gotten this far reading this little drabble. I took the beginning part of this work directly from the script of the 2009 movie, Star Trek. As someone that has been bullied mercilessly as a child for being "different", I really wanted to have an alternative ending where the behavior that Spock and many other people experienced was not tolerated. I didn't really have a great way to do this with Spock himself within my own universe, so I went ahead and found the best way to do this was to substitute Spock with Spock and Jim's son instead.
This is a part of my larger universe focused on T'Vaakis' mother, Aurelia Clarke, who is a lone human on a mostly Vulcan ship. I just haven't had the time to write out her story… the plot bunnies have simply dug too many holes for me to fully excavate.
Anyways, I hope you liked it, and please let me know what you think of the story by leaving a comment.
Live Long and Prosper, Y'all … to next time.