Odo never had the chills, he never shivered but after that spectacular light show in the Holodeck circuit board, he had that strange sensation that he was in the middle of a ice cave.
The sensation wasn't that strong at first, it came in short intervals but as the waves of chilliness embraced him, each wave became more intense than the next.
There was something invigorating about this biting chill, it brought him to life and it crystalized all the truths and thoughts of logic, solidifying his train of thought like it had never done before.
"What do you mean by hum, Taya?"
This wasn't the first time he had asked her this.
"The Hum, the Pagh, the life flow that lives within all life in the universe".
Taya was gritting her teeth in difficulty as she was rearranging and adjusting the couplings amongst the circut board.
"I didn't know you were religious".
"It's more of a form of spiritualism".
"I didn't know you were spiritual either".
"It's not something I usually bring to work with me, Constable. I keep it tucked away so it won't interfere with my work but I wear it as a banner over my heart.
I wear my true spirit as a tattoo upon my soul".
"That's very... poetic but...why are you so spiritual all of sudden?
What brought all this on?"
"I'm afraid you wouldn't understand unless you could hear the hum for yourself".
"I thought that was just a myth, that the Bajoran's constructed long ago to bring stability and order to Bajor."
"It's only a myth to those that don't understand."
Odo was getting very nervous by the way in which she was speaking; it was all very unlike her, she was speaking as some ancient sage or teacher, as an emissary, A Kai or some other Bajoran spiritual leader.
However as unsettling all of this was he was greatly intrigued by what she was saying and he had a inescapable desire to learn more about this seemingly
new found spiritualism of hers.
"Well then maybe I want to understand."
Odo challenged her ever so shrewdly as she continued to tinker with the holodecks vast connections.
"What did you see?"
Odo was whispering at this point in his reflective thoughtfulness still his apprehension betrayed him by the worrisome dread that seeped through his eyes.
"I saw you, Bashir and Jadzia.
Only they were not you, they were merely speaking through you all, they were wearing your faces and using your voices and your present forms"
"Who were, Taya?"
"They don't really have names at least none that I can remember or recall.
The Bajorans believe them to be gods, their writings of old refer to them as the Prophets.
Perhaps you've heard of them".
"Of course. How could I not?
This is a Bajoran station and I currently still work under Bajoran law and Bajoran authority.
I was here at the end of the occupation and I was here when the provisional government took over, I also witnessed the end of that particular government, so I am quite familiar with their culture.
I am well versed in Bajoran History as well and I am quite knowledgeable when it comes to their spiritual and political customs.
I was raised Bajoran, although I admit I didn't see Bajor in quite The right lense at first, I saw most of Bajor through a containment field, I observed most of their culture and customs through a stasis grid.
So yes I am familiar with the works of the Prophets.
I'm not really a believer but I have no problem with those that are and those that do believe in such things.
Belief is a important part of being solid and sentient afterall.
What else did you see?
I'm curious" .
"I saw Yandera Prime as it was before the wars came.
It was beautiful and I heard my mother humming and that humming was coming from the center of the eye".
"The eye of the universe.
You wouldn't mean the wormhole by any chance would you?"
"If that's what the wormhole is called then yes."
"I think you may need to talk to Sisko alot sooner rather than later.
Mediating is one thing but communicating with a ancient race of aliens that live on the other side of a worm hole is quite another matter, one that I think needs looking into possibly by someone more spiritually inclined than I am.
Thankfully Sisko is very spiritually inclined and he may be able to help with these other repetitive dreams and visions you've been having lately.
I'd like to mention that you should probably explain to Sisko how you managed to repair this abandoned holodeck in a matter of seconds.
I'm sure he'd be very interested in the subject.
Just don't leave out any details like you did with me, alright."
"So you mean that you want me to tell him everything?"
"Yes I mean everything, at least everything you know so far. We will pay him a little visit after you're finished up with modifying the holodeck.
Are you even anywhere close to being finished yet?"
"I think so but severing the couplings to the computer is tricky.
I don't want the holodeck to be completely offline but I also don't want any of these connections to leak whatever virus might be on that USB chip.
I want the program to run but at the same time I don't want it gaining access to the rest of the computer's systems that's running through this entire station.
There needs to be some links still present of course but I'm just having a hard time deciding which link is the most necessary and which link would be less likely to cause any risks.
So it has to be important but not important enough to relay throughout the entire station."
"Have you tried severing all possible connections that lead to the computer and then going back in later to create your own?"
"That would render the whole holodeck System offline and then the power would shut off immediately, rendering this whole unit completely useless which means we would be stuck here, no oxygen, no temperature control, no anti grav and no functioning exits.
So that door would be sealed shut until power was restored to this unit which would be a similar harrowing situation to one you experienced in that Turbo Lift.
You'd eventually would have to revert back to your natural state so severing all connections is not really a convenient solution at the moment."
"As harrowing as that may be, you can create the new connection before you sever all the connections to the main computer, you know".
"Aw yes that's it I could create a bypass coupling and then combine with it a reversed flow filter.
It's a also known as a binary switch or a binary connection.
I'd literally be creating a normal coupling but I'd place a bio gel filter in the center if it, then I'd wrap a binary cord around the ordinary coupling and simply thread it through the bio gel pack, that way all the power and information wouldn't make it back to the computer but everything flowing in would be circulated into a loop like cycle, processed and absorbed by the bio gel filter.
It's that simple!"
"A filtering system, well I must say that's quite ingenious.
The question is can you even do that? Is it even possible or is that just wishful thinking?"
"I can do anything, I set my mind on Constable.
Watch and learn".
Odo grunted out a closed scoffing laugh.
Taya eyes misted over with a vast spectrum of colors, very much like a rainbow but not the kind you'd see stretching over the sky, rather it was a dull metallic rainbow, the kind you'd see reflecting within a puddle of gasoline.
Odo heard her hum once more yet this time her hum was somewhat arcane, a sonorous and mellifluous harmony that seemed to loop over in layers, almost as if she wasn't the only one humming but rather she was humming with a chorus of other hummers that sounded just like her.
Gold and Purple ribbons explosively blossomed outwards like fireworks blasting off into the sky, then there was sparkle within the circuitry system, which twinkled into existence a ordinary coupling cord, a average grade A bio gel pack and a strange dark green binary cord which gracefully wove around the coupling and then intricately slipped through the bio gel filter, connecting the 3 pieces and combining them as one.
"There you have it.
All done and ready to go.
I've finished up now.
Are we heading out now?"
"Yes we will come back to this later, perhaps tomorrow.
Don't forget to grab the tools on the way out, Ensign.
We can't have your tools just lying about now can we?"
Odo softly smiled.
Taya knew by the way he had phrased that sentence that he was saying he was sorry, sorry for being petty and ornery towards her.
Taya got up from the floor, firmly clamped onto to the tool box handle so she could be ready to follow him out the door.
"Is Sisko even available right now?"
Taya spoke through her small sighing grunts as she struggled to steady the awkward weight of the tool box in her grasp.
She kept thinking it would swing with ease as she walked but the extra weight that was in the back kept putting a uncomfortable amount of strain on her shoulder muscles.
"No but he will be.
I'll make sure of it.
Odo to Sisko, Come in Commander".
Odo mindlessly tapped his Bajoran communicator badge.
"Sisko to Odo Ital.
How can I be of service to you, today, Constable?"
Benjamin answered back through the small speaker of Odo's intercom.
"I need you out on the promenade, the tactical floor of course.
There's something I wish to discuss.
It's urgent and very much over due".
"Certainly Sounds Intriguing Constable.
I'll be there right away.
I suppose you'll be covering for me here in Operations."
"Yes of course Commander.
I'll be there shortly but first the promenade.
You know where to find me, I trust".
"I always do.
How could I forget?"
"Those same flight of stairs would do it for starters.
How is Kurland doing these days anyway?
He is recovering well, I hope".
"Last I heard he was fine.
There were a few complications with his recovery, something about a minor brain bleed and an emergency craniotomy.
Apparently he must have fallen fell a lot harder than we had anticipated.
His road to recovery seems to be fairly steady now, just a few bumps in the road but he'll get there eventually."
"Sounds promising.
I do hope it stays that way, I'd hate to be stuck manning this entire station all by myself for a whole eternity".
"You're never alone Odo, that's why you have me.
I've got your back all the way, Odo.
No Manning Alone, Allowed".
"I'll keep that in mind Commander. Odo out".
Odo ended transmission by pressing his badge yet this time much more firmly and deliberately.
"Here, let me take that.
I don't want people thinking I'm working you to the bone... again."
Odo snagged up the toolbox from Taya's grasp and he tucked it away under his arm as if it were a package rather than a awkwardly weighted box of engineering tools.
"What do you mean again?
Has there been complaints about your management recently?"
"Bashir was under yet another impression, an impression that I was working you too hard.
It was then that he used the terran term "working her to the bone" which just makes me out to be some cruel and relentless slave driving villain.
It's best not to dwell on it I know but still it bothers me to be seen and portrayed in that way."
"You know he respects you, Constable as everyone aboard this station does.
He admires you a lot Odo.
He even looks up to you just as I do.
I don't think he means to undermine your authority, he cares about you, I'm sure all of this meddling he's done in the past was only in a effort to look out for you and protect you.
Sort of like my grandfather did for me".
"Yet again you speak sense.
Too much sense at times.
Then you deflect my own logic back onto me to prove what you know to already to be true.
Your truths always seem to be uncannily accurate.
Why is it that you're always right?"
"Became I hear the hum of all life and I know the song of every creature within this vast and glorious universe.
I don't just hear truth, I embody it.
So in a way I am the truth, the Truth is in me and the truth and I are one".
Odo glanced over at her as they approached closer to tactical floor of the promenade, his eyes were suspiciously quizzical.
He almost appeared disturbed by the serene riddles she spoke to him regarding her connection with the truth.
His mind was blown by the sheer wisdom she coveyed with him.
Taya's face glowed rather abnormally, flushed by pinkish rose hue as she thought about how kind he was being at the moment and she thought on all the moments before where his kindness has shined through; a glimmer of goodness, flickering in and out like a constant star amongst the hosts of celestial bodies that decorated the vast expanse of the sky that hung over Deep Space 9 as a canopy.
"Something about you is different.
I don't know quite how to put it, or how to describe it but there is something about you that's changed somehow.
You don't seem to be the same terrified girl that arrived here to this station about a month ago.
I don't know if I like it...at least not yet".
Odo's worrisome tone reflected his inner thoughts, thoughts that he originally had no intention ti say aloud.
"Would you prefer me to be more edgy, more neurotic and awkward like I was before?"
"No, that won't be necessary.
It's just different that's all, I'll adjust but still this sudden change is unsettling.
Perhaps it's because I don't understand the change that's taking place, that's why I called Sisko to the promenade, I'm hoping he'll be able to explain it to me."
"Do I not make sense to you?"
"No, it's quite the opposite, you make perfect sense to me and nearly in every way too. It's just rather disconcerting that's all.
You were a plucky pest before now you're actually being helpful, useful and amicable."
Odo narrowed his eyes yet again in suspicion.
"This worries you?
Me being nice and helpful?"
Taya was disbelievingly amused by this.
"Yes because you usually challenge me all the way through out the day.
I'm used to being challenged and now it all seems too easy for me. I keep waiting and dreading for something disastrous to happen.
Is that unusual, this type of anticipation?"
"Yes it is actually."
Spoke the familiar dramatically thrumming voice of Sisko.
"We are all created for certain conflicts and those of us that aren't designed for any sort of challenge, must learn how to prepare for these challenging conflicts that life throws our way.
So it's natural for someone as accustomed to conflict as you are, to feel something is somehow amiss when no sort of challenge is present.
You were trained to be disciplined, logical and always on guard against all conflicts and challenges, yet you also were trained to solve them no matter the presssure or the difficulty.
You like to oversee things, you enjoy order and I happen to know for a fact that you simply love to take control of choas.
You love to watch over people. it give you anonymity and immunity to any rejection or recoiling that people might have if they were to encounter you directly.
Terrans like to call that motherly qualities or my personal favorite "a nurturing nature".
"Yes, Sisko, I'm the mother of this station.
I'm the mother looking over her nest, I'm the Shepard looking over his flock, I'm a mother hen, a mother bear if you will.
I have such a nurturing and motherly nature, I'm a comfort to all who come here, you might as well Call me your rock and you're anchor while you're at it.
I'm the mother figure, that's just what I am, if you hadn't pointed that out I would have never known what my role was on this station.
Thank you so much for clearing it up for me.
Your help and wisdom is simply invaluable.
Please tell me more.
So Are you the father figure around here or does that role go to O' Brian?"
"Oh yes of course.
I'm always the Father figure, besides O' Brian is retired, he hasn't been a father figure since Molly went off to college.
So the father figure role naturally goes to me.
On a serious note why I am here besides listening to you banter on about mothers?"
"Simple it has to do with your role as emissary.
This is a incredibly unsettling and unusual situation, the circumstances are unusual, awkward and not to mention considerably disconcerting.
Even now I'm beginning to be at loss for words.
I suppose I'll just get right to the point instead of wasting my time describing everything that has happened so far,
Taya I believe has found a way to communicate with the people beyond the worm whole".
"The Wormhole aliens?
We are talking about the prophets that actually live in the worm hole and not any of the Dominion dominated races on the other side right?"
"Yes it is Worm Hole aliens, the ancient ones, the ones that the Bajoran Bajorans, call the prophets.
She somehow connected with them and she somehow had such a efficient level of communication she had an actual intelligent conversation with them."
"Fascinating.
Is what Odo says true Taya?
Did you actually communicate with the people living within the wormhole?"
Sisko raised one eyebrow rather questioningly as he addressed her.
Taya was silent for awhile.
She was silent for so long that Odo became worried that she'd deny the whole thing altogether.
"Yes I have.
What Odo says is true.
I can't deny it, I spoke with them and this isn't the first time either.
I've spoken with the ancient ones many times over the years.
It was quite the norm when I lived on Yandera Prime but after my captivity, I found it harder to connect with them.
I think it might have been because the wormhole was much farther away, since I wasn't as close as I had been before when I was relocated from the Gamma Quadrant to the Alpha Quadrant.
However whenever I was in a state of extreme pain or whenever I was really nervous scared or confused, they'd sometimes would connnect with me then.
They were a comfort to me but after awhile I gave up trying to contact them.
I didn't really see the point since they never did anything to get rid of all my pain and suffering.
It was stupid, I was stupid, I know they helped strengthen me many times, they gave me wisdom and power to overcome all my struggles yet the pain alone was enough to blind me to that fact.
I couldn't see them, I couldn't see their hand guiding me and helping me every step of the way.
I'm sorry".
Tragic tears choked off her last words.
"There's no need to be sorry Taya.
Let's take this inside, Taya, some place private perhaps Odo".
Sisko reluctantly rested his hand on Taya's shoulder while Odo just stared at Taya incomprehensibly as if what she was saying was somewhat overwhelming and confusing to him.
"She can come into my office, Commander.
I'll make sure there's enough privacy for the both of you".
Odo sounded distracted as he said this.
"Thank you Constable."
Sisko nodded a matter a factly.
Odo returned the nod with one of his own which as reassuring as that official nod of his was to Sisko, the fact that he hardly looked at him directly was very concerning to him.
"Don't mention it.
It's no problem. I'm glad to be of help to you".
Odo shot his gaze straight down to the promenade floor but then he allowed his gaze to drift over to Taya.
Taya understood immediately that he was talking to her now and not to Sisko as she had thought before.
Odo then darted his gaze away and pretended to be preoccupied with something else.
He was being genuine, not just genuine but genuinely he meant every word be said, there was something unmistakable in his eyes, something she hadn't noticed before.
It wasn't concern, it wasn't love, it was empathy.
Did he actually feel her pain?
Was he actually feeling every emotion or was it just certain choice emotions that he chose to feel with her?
Maybe that's why he appeared so overwhelmed, he was overcome by emotions and possibly by her own.
Was it possible for a changeling to experience complex emotion at such a level?
She believed it had to be true and it had to be certain.
It was a truth her heart couldn't deny but even as she stood there staring back at him, she knew this was a truth that was best unspoken, so she kept it to herself as she plodded forward into the security office.
