Leo sipped his tea, thinking about how it'd been a little over a month since his arrival onboard Voyager. The realization had struck him while preparing for today's lessons; he'd noticed that he was done with his immigrant courses and only had a few proficiency tests in modern technology left to become the Doctor's full-time student; further education in Federation science would be combined with that. Sure, he only really had a very broad understanding without much in the way of details now, but at least he didn't feel so much like a reverse isekai anymore.
Looking outside, past his makeshift memorial, Leonardo watched stars streak by. Excitement had been building among the crew for the last few days. Tom had explained that today would be "mail day". It was their once-a-month data stream with home; Voyager sending back messages, logs, really anything they'd recorded since last stream; receiving in return letters and any potentially helpful data Starfleet's deep space arrays had collected. After years of no contact, that communication with family, friends and the familiar was like a stream flowing back into drought-stricken land.
Eyes refocussing, now on his own paltry reminders of those left behind, he couldn't blame them. If I could talk to them, even just in letters… Shaking the thought away, Leon gulped down the last of his tea, disposed of his dishes in the replicator and headed out to morning lessons. No point in dwelling.
He needed to be mentally present today anyway, he was gonna learn to fly.
Within an hour Leonardo was sitting in a shuttle, trying to memorize every control asTom explained. It wasn't as though he was being expected to become a regular pilot, Leo was just required to learn enough that if he was the only person available, he could get where he needed to go. Even then, it seemed rather involved. I could fly with a game controller, why don't they have something like that? Resolutely ignoring his attempts at flying one of Donnie's hovercraft, there's no gravity in space, that means I can't crash it right?
"You got that Leo?" Tom asked, eager grin in full bloom.
Leon swallowed, slipping into Leader mode to control his nerves. "Nope. Not even close."
That earned him a laugh. "Yeah, it's a bit much all at once, but this is just an introduction. We'll start small." The blond paused, hitting a button, "Paris to bridge, Sacajawea ready to depart."
"Acknowledged." Chakotay's voice replied. "We'll drop out of warp and proceed at impulse. Return in an hour."
"Understood." Tom replied, hitting a couple buttons. "Return in one hour. Sacajawea out."
Sitting, waiting while the experts did their thing, Leo felt the pitch of the ship's engines change for the first time since he arrived. That must be the "dropping out of warp". There was still a subtle vibration, but it was definitely a different pitch than what he'd been learning to tune out.
After a moment, alarms started to sound, and the giant metal door ahead of their shuttle smoothly raised; a blue light quickly snapping in front of it. "What was that?" Leo asked, squinting to see particles occasionally flickering, like a huge bug zapper.
"Oh." This is gonna be one of those common things they didn't think to explain isn't it? Leo thought, watching Tom startled out of his thoughts. "That's a forcefield. Guess you haven't seen one yet. It's a charged particle field."
Leo deliberately blinked a couple times for effect. "You say that like it explains anything."
The pilot thought for a moment, softly laughing to himself. "Uh…. See through, temporary, wall of electric stuff that stings if you touch it? And you can change the settings to let somethings through but not all."
"That's better." Leon answered with an imperious sniff.
"Alright, alright. Hold on." Tom chuckled, as the great door ahead of them finally opened completely. Pushing a few more buttons, Leo heard the shuttle's engines kick in and they started to move.
It felt like the starfield burst around them. One moment they were in the shuttle bay, next Leo was surrounded by more stars than he'd ever seen in his life. A riot of different colours and sizes, flickering in their dark void. Clumps shone brighter to one side, a pink/purple nebula hung distantly above. Then Tom swung the shuttle around.
Voyager. Another first, seeing the ship as it really was, not just a diagram or schematic on a screen. Grey, sleek; glowing … nacelles, they were called nacelles, propelling her forward, Leo stared at his new home, imprinting her on his mind.
It was weird, he'd spent most of his life in contained environments; the two sewer lairs and then innumerable underground bunkers hiding from the Krang. But he'd always had the option of OUTSIDE. There was somewhere else to go. Home gets found by enemies? Run away and find another hiding place. Here and now, Voyager was it; a ship no bigger than some of the apartment buildings Leo had played on as a child. And if something happened to it, too far from a decent planet… He suddenly felt very small and fragile, like staring down a giant Krang mech all on his own.
"Leo?" The ninja turned to see Tom looking at him, concerned. "Are you ok?"
"Yeah… just…" Leon looked around some more, really taking in how far they were from… anything. "We're really on our own out here, aren't we?"
Paris sighed, years, stress, memories and losses on his face for a moment, then it settled into iron resolve. "We are, but we've made it this far. We've got experience, and now we're in contact with home. I know it's a lot, but take it from me Leo, this crew can go the distance. You're in good hands."
How many times did I say something like that to a soldier after years of fighting the Krang? The difference was, Voyager wasn't trapped. Wasn't scrambling for rapidly dwindling supplies with an equally rapidly dwindling workface, surrounded by an ever-increasing enemy. Leo had spent decades cradling a flickering flame of hope, carefully nurturing what little there was to help his people keep limping along; Voyager gained more hope with every message from home, every new tech acquired and every inch closer to Earth they got.
Taking a deep centring breath, the student pilot turned to his teacher, "Well, we've only got an hour, so let's get on with making me a productive member of society."
Tom smirked, "Let's."
The next hour showed that lack of gravity did not, in fact, improve Leo's flying skills. Turns out his bouncing around through portals and parkour was more akin to his slider nature than any arial ability he might have. Turtles weren't meant to fly (except Donnie and Mikey, but that was more like hovering, shut up). In the end, it was a good thing they were in an open void and Tom had his own set of controls. Once they'd gotten back on board, he was treated to his friend sheepishly asking B'Elanna to send someone to fix a few burnt-out inertial dampeners on the shuttle, whatever that meant.
Walking to the mess hall, Leo felt Voyager shudder ever so slightly as the engines picked up. We must've gone back into warp.
As they strode into the mess hall, he noticed an immediate difference. It was quiet. Just the tinking of cutlery bumping dishes along with Neelix's many pots boiling and spitting oil. Everyone was sitting and eating, but no one was talking. They were all reading. Every single person had a pad in hand, absently bringing food and drink to their mouths. Even Neelix was leaning on the counter, going over whatever messages he'd received in today's mail.
Sitting down to eat, they had a few moments of stilted small talk, Tom squirming the whole time. Finally, Leonardo took pity on him. "Go read your mail, man."
Pale eyes flicked up, startled and embarrassed. "No, no. It's ok. There's nothing that can't wait."
"I can eat on my own Tom, it's not like I'm getting stood up at a restaurant. Imma big boy, go." Leo smiled, gesturing to the nearest door with his head.
Flashing a big grin and a thanks, Paris took off, likely to grab his own pad; wherever he left it.
Polishing off his meal quickly, Leo disposed of their dishes and headed for his quarters, leaving the unnervingly quiet mess hall behind. Still having some time before he was supposed to report to sick bay, he decided to check if there were any updates or messages razzing him about his morning's performance. Harry had specifically mentioned he'd be watching from the bridge, and probably laughing.
Pulling off his sweaty shirt, he traded it for the pad left on his bed. Flopping onto the couch, Leo started checking for updates and messages. There was one from Harry, giving him a 2/10 and telling him not to fly drunk, followed by another from B'elanna, chewing him out for being so hard on the shuttle. Leon smirked and sent a message back that she shouldn't schedule maintenance on both the holodecks at once. There was a third message too, from a sender he didn't recognize. The heck is the Daystrom Institute?
He read through the letter:
Dear Mr Hamato (apologies if this does not conform to your naming conventions),
I am writing to you from the Daystrom Institute, Lifeform Database Division.
We would like to add any information, that you are willing to share, to our database. The purpose of our database is to make knowledge of all species known to the Federation, available to sapients; Federation citizens and otherwise. If you would like portions of the information you provide to remain confidential during your lifetime, that can certainly be arranged.
I eagerly await your response,
Sincerely,
Dr Alphonse Hira, Daystrom Institute, Lifeform Database Division
Well… he was planning on making a record of his world and all, it was just, kinda sudden? How do I even? Deep in thought, anxiety churning in his gut, Leo sat there for a time, trying to order his thoughts on how to tackle such a monumental task. Everything he knew about an entire world and its peoples… How do you do that justice?
He was determined to do his best though, to make sure they were remembered, that what they went through had an impact on someone, that they mattered. Leonardo could see it taking the rest of his life. So be it.
Leo was unusually quiet today.
While the turtle was perfectly capable of standing back and observing the Doctor treating patients, when it was just the two of them, they usually a pleasant flow of banter. There was none of that today.
Standing at the central console, the Doctor's student was dutifully completing his tasks, scheduling routine patient testing and exams according to the individual crewmembers' needs. There was no stream of questions though, only a heavy atmosphere and dull eyes flicking across the screens. Perhaps it was an anniversary of some sort? Glancing up from his latest holonovel publisher's letter, the Doctor decided it was time to see if there was anything he could do for his friend.
Closing out the letter, the hologram got up from his desk and walked around into sickbay proper. "Is anyone giving you trouble about making appointments? Some of the crew practically have to be hunted down." He very carefully didn't name the Captain.
"Hmm? Oh. No, it's fine. Jus' thinkin'." Leo answered absently, then promptly got a loud error sound when he tried to enter his command. Huffing, the ninja closed his eyes and just stood there a moment, jaw twitching with frustration.
"You need to do this first." The Doctor quickly entered the correct command sequence, carefully watching his companion's face.
Eyes opening to watch, he nodded, still silent.
"If something is bothering you," the Doctor hesitantly began, "perhaps I could help you talk through it?"
A dark eye slid sideways, contemplating the human façade. Eventually, Leo seemed to resign himself to talking. "I… got a letter today."
That was unexpected. "No offense, but who would be writing to you?"
Leonardo replied to his incredulous question with a sardonic little snort. "That's what I said." Giving up on getting any work done, he turned to face the Doctor, leaning against the console. "What do you know about the Daystrom Institute?"
"Ah. Them."
A raised eyebrow, ridge? Was his reward. "Well, that's ominous."
The Doctor rolled his eyes, copying Leo's relaxed lean. "They aren't THAT bad. The Institute does an excellent job of researching, collecting information and making it available. The problem is that they can be… overzealous in their methods. Notably they've argued against artificial lifeforms being granted full rights of autonomy. I imagine they requested your life story, DNA and a record of everything you've ever learned?"
Leo actually smiled a tad. "Not in those words exactly, but basically anything I could have to share. Said they'd keep stuff confidential 'til I died if I wanted."
"You don't have to if you don't want to." The Doctor tried to reassure, "They have no authority over you, they can't order you to comply. At most they could put in a request with Starfleet, but even then you aren't a Starfleet officer, they can't really order you to comply either."
"It's not that." Leo replied, looking to the ceiling. "I WANT there to be a record of my world, my family. I WANT them to be remembered, it's just, a lot. How do you record everything you ever knew about… everything you knew?"
The Doctor hummed, turning to the console again, continuing scheduling while they talked. "Well, how did you learn about everything you knew? Maybe start at YOUR beginning? Start with you."
"Huh. That's an idea."
The hologram smiled. "You're not going to be able to focus until you get started. Why don't you use my office, begin a draft. It doesn't have to be everything in one go, you can do it in multiple letters over time; the Institute will likely have questions based on what you send. And our next transmission isn't for a month anyway."
Leon took a step towards the office, then looked back. "Yeah. Do you think.. would it bother Neelix to ask how he went about it?"
"Well," The Doctor mused, "he's always been happy to tell stories about his family. I don't think it would hurt to ask."
"Ok." The ninja replied with a small voice. The Doctor watched as his friend sat down at the hologram's desk and started working on his letter. I also have a message to send the Institute regarding my patient, about TIMING.
Chakotay froze as the Captain's ready room door hissed shut behind him. The look in Kathryn's eye as she glanced up froze his blood. He hadn't seen her seething like this in a thankfully long time. "Bad news from home I take it?"
She actually GROWLED and spun her desktop computer around for him to read while she recited, "From Starfleet Security. Captain Janeway, we have become aware that you have taken on a genetically augmented being as a member of your crew. Due to the ban on such individuals joining Starfleet, we are concerned about your newest member having access to Starfleet technology and information. Have you determined the full nature of his augmentations and the purpose of them? Recommend you restrict his access and shipboard movements… so on and so forth." Kathryn launched out of her chair and walked around the desk to her replicator. "Coffee. Hot. Black."
"Ah." Chakotay settled in to read it properly, going over the details his Captain had been too angry to convey. "There wouldn't be much of anywhere for Leo to go if we follow these recommendations."
"I know!" She swung an arm up. "He'd essentially be confined to his quarters, corridors on the residential decks and the holodecks. Even the mess hall would likely be restricted as so many of the crew take pads with technical data there to have working lunches. I suppose we could ban that but… I'd rather not restrict anyone on this ship. Not when they're likely to be with us for the duration," the brunette wound down sadly.
"Hmmm." Chakotay hummed, finishing up the terse message. "Well….wouldn't be the first time we've told Starfleet Security no," he mused, thinking back on when they first made contact and the organization threw, an understandable, fit over Maquis terrorists crewing one of Starfleet's newest vessels not to mention a former Borg drone running around.
"Yes. We did do that. It's not like they can enforce their orders here, though I'm not sure I'll maintain my rank once we get back, or even my commission for that matter." Janeway answered, sitting in the chair next to him, cradling her drink. "Chances are I'll be ready to retire by that point anyway though."
He huffed a little laugh, pondering over their discussions on the future ramifications of some things they were doing out here in Delta Quadrant. Come to think of it… "Do you think… the civil rights lawyer that helped the Doctor get recognized as an artificial lifeform, do you think she might be able to help?"
The Captain paused. "She did mention helping genetically engineered immigrants deal with prejudices they'd encountered in the Federation."
Mostly with humans. Chakotay remembered with shame. The wounds of the Eugenics War still run deep.
Janeway took back her computer and began making notes. "I'll send her a message in the next databurst. In the meantime, we should talk with Leo; explain the history of genetic engineering here and ask about the circumstances of it in his world. Perhaps it was a measure to combat these Krang invaders."
"Hopefully," the first officer responded, "Starfleet Security would have a hard time arguing against that."
His hopes were dashed the next morning.
Inviting Leo to the Captain's ready room for breakfast, the command pair had explained the message they'd received and this Earth's history with genetic engineering watching Leo become paler and paler the longer it went on. Eventually the turtle had set his breakfast aside entirely on the low table in front of him to lean forward, hands clasped in front of his chin.
Chakotay could see the leader in him now. Emotions buckled down, eyes flicking back and forth as he took in new information and decided how to work with it. Those eyes closed the moment a decision was reached. Straightening up, Leo began to speak.
"Starfleet Security is NOT going to like me."
Sharing a glance with the Captain, the former Maquis steeled himself, moving empty plate out of his lap.
"My brothers and I were made for the express purpose of killing humans."
That's not going to help at all.
Leo huffed at the looks on their faces. "Obviously, we didn't do that. Let me explain." He settled back, natural hand fidgeting with the angular planes of his metal one. "On my Earth there were three types of people, yokai, human and mutant. The yokai came first, I'm not sure from where, there was this stuff called empyrean that they said was their source." He waved a hand, not elaborating further. "Later, humans and yokai coexisted for awhile before humans became so numerous and aggressive that yokai went into hiding in underground cities. Eventually yokai faded into myth and it was mostly humans on the surface with the occasional yokai in disguise."
"I can't imagine that all the yokai were happy with that state of affairs." Kathryn interjected, sipping on her ever-present cup of coffee. Might be time to whisper in the Doctor's ear again.
"By our time, most were used to it." Leonardo answered, eyes unfocussed, lost in his memories. "There were some that still remembered life before though, and were angry, and scared. They were afraid of what would happen when humans inevitably found them again." His jaw worked a moment, "That's where Baron Draxum came in."
"He had a very unhealthy dose of both. He thought humans would eventually wipe out the yokai and decided to be… proactive."
The two humans winced, all sorts of historical examples flashing through their minds.
"Skipping over a LOT of details, he used the DNA of our human father, a martial arts expert, to make my three brothers and I. We were supposed to be the beginning of a mutant army to wipe out humanity."
Starfleet Security will never forgive us…. Oh, well. It was nice while it lasted.
"Our human father escaped though, getting mutated himself in the process, grabbed us and ran. He raised us in the New York city underground, we made human friends, grew up and eventually ran into our creator again."
"How did that go?" Chakotay asked, getting up to retrieve some coffee for himself and Leo. They all needed something for this.
"Uh… he threw me off a roof? About thirty stories up?"
"Lovely." Janeway commented with grim sarcasm, leaning back into her seat.
Their storyteller outright laughed at that. "Oh, don't worry, I never let him forget it. But we stopped him, he'd started just trying to convert all humans into animal mutants like us; and then my baby brother, Mikey, worked his magic." His eyes were glossy now. "Michelangelo, the most amazing … he found Draxum after the battle, helpless and homeless. Got him to safety and TALKED him around. By the time the Krang came, the old goat was firmly on our side and a major reason why we survived as long as we did." A couple tears slipped free, ignored as they fell.
"Redeemed himself then?" Chakotay asked, handing over a cup of warm brew.
Leo nodded his thanks and agreement, taking the mug. "He did. Even I considered him family by the end." He shook his head, dismissing the memories. "Look, I get why humans would be spooked about a literal genetically engineered super soldier, what with your history and all, but I'm a person, with my own ability to choose who I want to be. What I was made for doesn't matter. Heck, I ended up doing the complete opposite!"
"I agree with you." Captain Janeway firmly said, laying down her support as the ultimate Starfleet authority in the Delta Quadrant. "Individuals should be judged by their own choices, not the choices of others."
She leaned forward, also placing her cup on the table. "There's a precedent for genetically engineered individuals gaining Federation citizenship, though none have yet been permitted to enter Starfleet. The ban spawns entirely from Earth's experience with the Augments and frankly, it's not appropriate for one species to dictate such a thing to all others. It's only happened because Earth was one of the four founding worlds and made it a condition of forming the Federation, every world since has agreed to the restrictions on genetic engineering since in order to join.."
She leaned forward to pick up a pad off the table between them and hand it over. "There was a Tellarite civil rights lawyer we worked with, Tezra Sha, who helped the Doctor gain his rights as an artificial lifeform, only one of a handful currently recognized in the Federation. I'd be happy to write a letter of introduction for you to speak with her; I'm sure she'd relish the challenge."
He took the pad, starting to read over Sha's bio, "I .. can't afford a lawyer."
Chakotay smiled, "If you can communicate a need, the Federation provides an advocate. Don't worry about it. Like we went over in your lessons, all necessities are provided to anyone within Federation boundaries, free of charge, only luxuries have a cost."
"Right. Right." The turtle went back to reading, mulling over the new information. "I guess my answer to the Daystrom Institute is going on the back burner."
"The Daystrom Institute?"
Floating in a hot bath, Leo did his best to let the stress go. Flow right out his stripes and into the bath….. that he was stewing in just like his brain was stewing in anxiety and pain and agh! Violently sitting up, some water splashed over the side. Why am I having a hard time with this? Stress has been my whole life since like, fourteen. The Captain promised that she won't kick me out an airlock for being a weapon of mass destruction and I can take my time with the whole Daystrom thing. I could even have them keep it all secret until I die! No super soldier hunting mobs for me! But .. blurgh.
As best he could with a shell, Leo flopped to hang arms down over the edge of his tub. It's cause I'm safe now, isn't it? Don't have to focus on the fight just to stay alive so my brain's like, "Hey, guess what we can deal with now? Allllll your issues!"
The bath wasn't cutting it. Getting out, drying off and throwing on a pair of shorts, the ninja contemplated an impromptu trip to the ship's "gym", since Commander Chakotay had given him the rest of the day off to deal with everything their mail drop had dumped on Voyager's newest crewmember. He was just grabbing a t shirt when his door chimed.
Striding over, shirt in hand, it whoosh open to reveal Tom Paris, dressed like he walked out of a Sherlock Holmes movie? "Uh.. hey Tom? Going to shoe a horse?"
"Ha!" The human barked a laugh, "No, Harry and I have some time booked on the holodeck this afternoon and we wondered if you'd like to come."
Well, I did want a distraction. "I don't have any clothes like that. Will that mess up your program?"
The blond waved a hand. "Nah, we'll start with a dressing room and you can pick something out. Don't worry, this program is kinda.. unique anyway. C'mon, I'll tell you on the way."
Shrugging into his shirt and grabbing his shoes, Leon followed his friend down the corridor, deliberately focussing on the info dump.
"So this program is set in a nineteenth century Irish village called Fair Haven. It's a relaxation program. Just walking around the village, interacting with its people, going to their businesses, stuff like that. We had a problem with the program a few years ago that meant the holograms became aware that we weren't regular people, so now the characters think we're visiting time travellers."
Double reverse isekai…. "Okaaayyy… and how are these characters different from the Doctor?"
"He's way more advanced, and if you try to have them move too much beyond their parameters, the character's programs would glitch so much they'd break down. The Doc almost had that happen a couple times actually, but he managed to work through it. It's like comparing a monkey and a human; they can reach a certain point but can't measure up to what a human can do." The dark tweed clad man explained, dodging some crewmembers to enter a turbolift.
"So… when they look at me they'll see… me, and be like, 'Oh, new alien boy is giant turtle, cool. Anyway?'" Leo asked, bracing against the motion of the lift.
"Pretty much," Tom bounced a bit, clearly excited, "You might get some funny looks and grumbles, but no hostility. Just let me do the talking."
Leon raised an eye, "I get the feeling you say that a lot."
Slipping into a fake Irish accent, his mischievous companion replied, "I've got the gift of the gab boyo."
This is gonna be interesting