Thank you to everybody who read or reviewed the last conversation. You are absolutely fabulous. Please remember that the messages are about two days behind.
Also, sorry these are getting very long, but they have so much to talk about. I think this is now the longest chapter in the story.
Same content warnings as other recent chapters.
Day 301: Really, I'm on my best behavior (but I won't vouch for anyone else)
From: NyotaUM
To: Spock's_cuddlebunny
Time arrived: 12/19/2260 00:00:01
Subject: I'm on my best behavior; I promise
I will have you know that I am being extremely well behaved. I have not looked at anybody's emails without prior authorization. I was tempted to look at a certain asshole cadet's personal emails. However, I'll leave that to the investigation team because it's not my job.
Although I did hear from my team that apparently, they're doing a scan for human supremacists and other terrorist sites being accessed on the ship. I wouldn't be surprised if Chris 3 had some of that stuff in his recent reading materials. That should definitely be checked out by my team, not by me.
I feel like you may have lost your trust in me long-term in this area. I had to explain everything that happened regarding that to Josephine. It's never fun recounting your screwup to your children. Josephine asked Len what happened, and he refused to answer. Therefore forcing me to do so in front of Spock's father. I love Leonard, but he is a dick sometimes.
Thank you for looking after Leonard anyway. I definitely don't want him to go back to his sad bachelor mode without us there. He needs people despite saying otherwise. He also needs to do things other than work. I know that you're making sure he's eating. He hasn't been sending me rapid messages every hour, so keep up the good work.
No, we never did make it to the Vulcan tea House. This is sad because we both really needed a drink, especially after what I saw in the stairwell walking out. I assume you now know that I am the one who caught that situation. I'm glad I did. I hope he's in the brig by now. Fingers crossed, I get that drink tomorrow.
Be glad Spock looks out for you the way he does. It's good to have someone that loves you like that. I'm happy it wasn't a trigger for you. But, unfortunately, it was for Ashley 2.
Yesterday she threw up again just passing by the stairwell. She threw up the first time when she found out about what happened. She couldn't sleep at all, per Ashley 1. She woke up screaming and crying. It made me realize I couldn't leave her there.
BTW she told me I could tell you this. You're her support group friend now that Becky is on earth. For a while, I thought I would have to call you to talk to her, but Jay was able to get her to calm down.
Anyway, I talked to your father-in-law, and he said that Ashley 2 can come to stay at his house for the rest of her visit. He agreed to it without even knowing the details. So once the kids get done with Vulcan history day, we will pick up her stuff and take everything to the compound. She's also going to come with us to the family dinner along with her boyfriend. OK, we don't want to risk her being there when the other cadets go through the sexual misconduct seminar. She needs to be away from that—poor child.
I think it will be better in the long run. The kids are already planning a sleepover tonight. I've gotten a few food request text messages. Ashley 2 hasn't done one in forever, and she is looking forward to it. Good news Vulcan does have pizza places. Local, not chain. I guess it makes sense for there to be Vulcan pizzerias since they can be made very easily vegetarian. Pizza can also adapt to the culinary culture of whatever planet you find it on.
Josephine just informed me that they are only spending half the day at the Vulcan cultural center. Per the text message, my child thinks this is a good thing. The only thing exciting that happened was one of the historians grabbing Peter's PADD when one of the Chris's started accessing stuff they were not supposed to access. They're leaving now for lunch outside of the cultural center. That's different than the schedule.
I just received a text from your father-in-law, who needs me to immediately meet him at the Vulcan cultural center. I think there was an incident. I hope nobody got in trouble. Why do I feel like one of the Chrises accessed porn? I bet they're calling me in because Gina is done at this point. I don't think she's going to resign, but she might renegotiate her contract.
Cxxxxxx
From: kitten_loverJJMU
To: Doctor bones
Subject: Vulcan history is too censored to be interesting
Time arrived: 12/19/2260 00:00:01
Yes, grandfather was responsible for our attire. Apparently, he contacted the quartermaster while onboard Enterprise. He received all of our sizes so that proper attire would be ready for us to use at the etiquette dinner and the banquet. But we're going to pick out our banquet attire ourselves tomorrow. At least those of us with grandpa. I think the other kids are going to be wearing what they wore to the etiquette dinner. I'm glad we will get to pick out our own outfits because I want something a little brighter. Grandpa likes dark colors.
Good news, two out of the three Ashleyes will be with us. Unfortunately, Olivia said no to Ashley three staying with us, but grandpa yes to Ashley two, and her guardian agreed. So we're going to have a sleepover tonight. Ashley three can live with that because she is moving into Ashley two's old room. Really she just wanted to be away from Chris two. The naked studying is just a little too much.
I think Ashley two is staying with us because of the thing that happened that nobody wants to tell me about. Mom was in a bunch of meetings with Pav. Considering Ashley two is so freaked out about it, I think I have an idea of what happened and why nobody wants to say anything. I'm really getting tired of all of you treating me like a two-year-old.
You know I know what happened to Ashley two, right? She told me. I know what happened to Uncle Jim too. Not the details, but I know. I spent the first 10 years of my life with an emotionally abusive alcoholic of a mother. I'm well aware she didn't want me to go anywhere near grandpa because he used to hit her. I might be 12, but I'm not innocent. I don't think I ever was. I know maybe too much.
Thankfully I never went through what Ashley or Uncle Jim did, but I've seen a lot. So don't assume I can't handle it. I'm stronger than you think I am, even though I'm still spending a lot of quality time with Dr. Margarita.
OK, I just spent the morning learning even more about Vulcan history. Granted, it's highly censored because we were getting the off-world version. Gina referred to it as the whitewashed version. She realized this when it became apparent that Peter was given access to the full history of Vulcan. I wonder why? Unfortunately, his PADD was taken away before we got to the good stuff.
Parts of it were interesting. I wish they would've spent more time on pre-reform society and the Vulcan-Romulan split, but that stuff was glossed over quickly. In our version anyway. I have to ask Peter later if he got better stuff. A lot of it was about the battle of Vulcan, which was traumatic for several of my classmates for reasons I'm sure you're aware of. Honestly, I'm glad we got the short version since our day got cut short. I wonder what we're gonna do this afternoon. Watching Vulcan opera is definitely more fun than learning about genocide.
Our dinner two nights ago was also fun. Nobody got sick or had an allergic reaction. At the dinner anyway. Chris three had an allergic reaction at breakfast this morning. You might be right about the planet hating him and fighting back. The silver lining was because of the allergic reaction, he wasn't there for history morning.
We're on the shuttle bus now. And mom just joined us. She looks very stressed and extremely annoyed. I don't know why she's here. Spock's dad told her to come. I'm sure she'll let me know later.
Apparently, somebody was mad Peter qualified for full access to Vulcan history. They apparently accused him of hacking into the system. I can confirm that didn't happen. So mom and grandpa had to fix things.
I think fixing things is why we were only spending half the day going over history. It seemed strange that we were going to tour the government building instead of our afternoon history lesson all of a sudden. We just found out about that. I think we actually got kicked out of the Vulcan cultural center. However, nobody will confirm that. I will investigate more later.
Anyway, tomorrow I'm going to be meeting one of your old work colleagues, Dr. Suarez. She's an old friend of Uncle Jim's. Apparently, she's known him since he was my age. That should be fun. I wonder if she has pictures? Of course, Peter's curious. We are also supposed to meet Spock's "grandfather." Peter has so many questions.
Honestly, I am looking forward to shopping and trying Vulcan food. We're going to go to a couple of restaurants since we will be out all day. Yes, we got to try some stuff on food day, but everything has been so healthy so far. There must be Vulcan junk food. I need to try it for my research project.
Mom just confirmed there's going to be a sleepover tonight celebrating Ashley two joining us. I regret that there will be no chocolate cookies, but apparently, there'll be lemon bars and pizza, so I can't complain. It should be fun. I think Ashley will be asleep halfway through the first movie, but it will probably be good for her. I don't think she slept at all last night because of what happened.
Xxxx
From: Peter_K
To: Spock' s_cuddlebunny; Jim's_cuddlebear
Time arrived: 12/19/2260 00:00:01
Subject: Greetings from the halls of Vulcan bureaucracy
I definitely want to hear your version of how you got together. Although I did hear about the email stuff from Nyota. Uncle Bones said something to Josephine in her letter, and her mom had to come clean. I'm kind of surprised you didn't kick her off the ship for what she did.
Although I'm glad you didn't because I really like having Josephine here. I didn't have any friends on the colony. At least those that were close to my age. I had a couple of friends among scientists, but no one like Josephine or Ashley. I also have Jay and Chris one. I wouldn't consider the other Enterprise kids friends yet, but they're cool to be around. We may have passed snarky notes to each other during this morning's Vulcan history lesson. This should've been expected when they gave us an hour to do self-study in the archives.
Which led to Chris two realizing that I had a less censored version of the history than everybody else. Gina was annoyed but gave us some interesting search terms to look up. I found out later that the system viewed me as Vulcan because, legally, I'm Spock's child. We are going to have to talk about that later. However, my PADD was taken away from me before I could look up what pon fire is. (Apologies, that's probably misspelled.) Actually, as soon as I tried to enter the term, my PADD was taken away. That's also when we found out we weren't doing the second half of history day. Thankfully after lunch, we found out we were doing a government visit instead.
Well, the others got to tour the capital. I got to fill out more paperwork to get my full Vulcan citizenship. Also, grandpa spent a lot of time yelling at somebody in a very Vulcan way. It was quite entertaining. My Vulcan is a little weak, but I think someone called him a human lover who eats pork chops. Although "human lover" may have actually been "human fucker". Aunt Nyota doesn't really want to teach me Vulcan curse words yet.
Josephine was wonderful and stayed with me even though that meant not seeing the capital with all the other kids. Grandpa said we would take another tour later.
I'm not upset about that because we might even get to see some stuff that the other kids didn't see. I hope Gina is not expecting an essay on this. For something that is supposed to be a vacation, we've been doing a lot of papers. I've written essays about every activity we have done so far. Also, Gina will make us write about everything else we're doing on break when the other kids return.
I'm glad you and Spock enjoyed all the pictures. I think my favorite part is just getting to take photos of everything. Unfortunately, I don't get to do it on the ship because of security issues. However, I used to do it on the colony. I wonder if my photo files were ever recovered. I did back them up but to something that only mom had the password to, so I don't know how to find them. Do you have any ideas?
It's not that I don't like science. I love science. It's just that Uncle Spock actually makes it interesting. It's why I asked Grandma Winona for junior science kits so we can do projects together.
However, the farm presentation was very dry. I grew up in Iowa and a research colony that grew our own food crops. A lot of the stuff presented I already know. Plus, I feel like they were dumbing it down for the humans. I get that for some of my classmates that might be necessary, but not for me. I appreciate the fact that you and Uncle Spock never talk down to me. I hate when people do that just because I'm young. Again I spent most of my childhood around scientists. I know this stuff.
I hope things go better during our time at the Academy. Apparently, we're going to take a test in the morning on our first day so they can break us up into interest groups.
Fingers crossed they don't put me with Chris three. Thank God we are staying at grandpa's house. Otherwise, I'm pretty sure I would've punched him out on day two. I may have been working with Chris two on our independent study to develop ways to get our vengeance on Chris three.
Thankfully we had a Chris 3 free day today. The God of allergies looked upon us favorably. He is allergic to everything; you can now add Vulcan oats to the list. This seems weird because I've seen him eat oatmeal before. Although, is replicator oatmeal different than actual oatmeal? Like if you're allergic to strawberries, can you eat replicator strawberries? Not that I would try, but I'm just a little curious.
XXXX
From: NyotaUM
To: Spock's_cuddlebunny
CC: Jim's_cuddlebear
Time arrived: 12/19/2260 00:00:01
Subject: Good news, it wasn't porn
Bad news, it was almost close. So the kids were given an hour before lunch to do independent study on Vulcan history with PADD access to the cultural center's history database. However, the database has Peter listed as the son of Spock and therefore was considered Vulcan for access purposes.
Chris 2 realized he had a different version of history than she did because they worked together as a team. She called Gina over. Gina had Peter look up the one word that definitely would not be in the off-worlder version to test the theory. I can't type it due to it automatically being redacted due to writing this on the colony. Although I am sure you know which word I'm talking about.
Just looking up that word got everybody kicked out, and Peter was accused of hacking. Gina being the mama bear teacher that she is protected Peter from the accusation. Especially because she was the one who suggested that he look up that word. Despite having a Vulcan special friend, she wasn't aware of how severe the taboo was. Probably because her Vulcan special friend is liberal. Thankfully she was able to call the ambassador and me in during lunch to smooth over the situation. The kids were at a restaurant next door.
That was a really fun meeting. The cultural center liaison was mostly angry because, legally, Peter is entitled to access the information. He's Vulcan by adoption. This led to the curator criticizing Spock's parenting skills. A good Vulcan parent would never let their child do research on that. At that point, we didn't want the kids to spend the afternoon at the cultural center. This is why the kids spent the afternoon being led on a tour of the Vulcan House of Representatives by your father-in-law's assistant.
Due to the incident, I spent my afternoon with the ambassador, filing citizenship paperwork and helping Peter with his paperwork to ensure he had all rights as a ward of Spock's house. Did you know that I qualify for Vulcan citizenship? Apparently, all it took was one quick look at my head to prove that. I decided to apply for it because it will be easier for me to eventually take a position at the VSA with citizenship. Also, I was a little annoyed after our meeting with the Vulcan cultural liaison. I feel like it's my personal mission to make as many human Vulcan citizens as possible.
The person processing my case was really snooty until I started replying to them in perfect Vulcan. It's always fun when I can do that. I got a double eyebrow raise when they realized I understood when they called me the daughter of a prostitute who eats meat. Why are all the asshole Vulcans in government? Everybody at the VSA was so nice to me.
After today, I definitely need a free day. I am looking forward to actually try high Vulcan cuisine tomorrow. As well as seeing Dr. Suarez again. I adore Margarita, but I do miss my last therapist. I also have 20 credits on Peter recognizing Spock's grandfather for who he really is before we hit dessert.
The shopping district is a bit mixed—more restaurants than stores at the moment. A lot of the stores are sex shops. They have three. That's a lot for any mall. Which might be what you're going for. You know Spock's father will be happy to watch the kids. I'm hoping to get away to pick up a couple of things myself. We shall see.
XXXX
From: Spock's_cuddlebunny
To: NyotaUM
CC: Jim's_cuddlebear
Time arrived: 12/19/2260 06:49:01
Subject: Glad it wasn't porn; Spock is in charge of talking to Peter and Gina
That feels like a sucker bet. Especially because you been having him read time travel comic books lately. Peter just discovered the TVA in Marvel. Actually, I will put 20 credits on him referring to grandpa Spock as a variant before we arrive on the 22nd. Of course, you're betting against my husband, so more power to you. This is going to be fun.
BTW you should be aware Spock reads almost all my emails. Sometimes he reads them out loud to me. I love that voice. Super sexy.
I didn't get a rapid message yesterday from you. I am going to take that as a good sign. I hope you actually did get that drink. You so deserve it as well as time to go to that certain store. Maybe if Leonard got a new toy, he would be less cranky.
Good to know you're not backsliding. I know you were tempted to look at the email account. However, I'm glad you didn't, especially because of what the investigators found. The prick cadet was stalking the poor girl. It really is a mess. Silver lining because of that, we can now put him in the brig. Spock was happy about that.
Yes, your team is looking into the inappropriate access of certain sites issue. In the last month alone, 17 people on the ship have accessed human/earth supremacy sites. Chris three and his mother were on this list. It might've been him on her login, but we're investigating. Because of this, everybody will be taking the cybersecurity and counterintelligence training modules again next month.
In addition, everyone will do the sexual misconduct seminar beginning in January. The med team wants to do some updates, which is why were not starting immediately. Spock and I are debating if the regular Starfleet population needs to go through the drug and alcohol seminar again. We have a tendency not to actually enforce those policies for the people that are of age. The reinforcements to the architecture that Scotty put in to protect his "special project" are the only reason the damage to engineering was not worse during the explosion last week.
I really appreciate Spock trying to keep me out of the sexual misconduct investigation, but Ashley 2 needed me. I've gotten several rapid messages from her since the incident. I'm glad you got her out of there. Just being in the building was a trigger for her. She was definitely happier with the sleepover. I heard all good things and have gotten some pictures. Although she did say pizza with vegetarian pepperoni just wasn't the same. They should've just gone with mushrooms or black olives.
Helping Ashley deal with this has been a really good thing for me. I feel less hopeless when I help people. Margarita thinks I should take the sexual assault counselor certification course. Not that many captains do that, and she believes it could be a good thing for me later in my career. I'm thinking about it. Especially if I'm going to keep the support group going without Rebecca. Dr. Reyes is helping out, but she is still a bit of an outsider in this regard.
Gina and Olivia told me the seminar went well in the morning. Although yes, it was best Ashley wasn't there. Especially because apparently, she and Ashley two kept Josephine from punching out two of my sister-in-law's bullies. Thank God for more mature friends. Did you know about that? I don't know if you were there when it happened. They were shopping at the time. I feel like maybe you would've sent me a rapid message if you were there.
So how was dinner with everybody? Did anything actually happen at dinner? We haven't received pictures yet, so I don't know. How was the food? Since the kids were there, I am sure you can only consume the regular tea. I'm definitely gonna have to hit up the tea shops. Spock has an exemption, so I can get anything I want. I'm supposed to be going out for tea with grandpa, so that should be good.
Why couldn't Peter look up the history of Vulcan cannabis consumption? That type of search doesn't get you called up for an emergency meeting. Although from our conversation with Gina, that was kind of the point. I think we were called in to speak with them before you and the father-in-law got there. I got called a son of a meat-eater that screws goats. I never did inform the cultural center prick that I speak Vulcan. This was right before Spock showed up on screen to prove that he is my husband, which means our kid is Vulcan. Therefore he could search that word if he wanted to. So no, we are not continuing the culture of shame.
You should definitely get your Vulcan citizenship. It's actually come in handy with some negotiations. Yes, the same thing happened to me when I was doing my paperwork. It was probably the same guy. I was called the son of a sewer worker that eats meat. That just screams classicism. I expected this, which is why I had you giving Peter extra language lessons. Although I think we should start doing Vulcan night, where we watch Vulcan movies and only speak Vulcan all night. It would be good for the kid. What do you think?
Peter explained why he looked that word up in his letter. Although that word only got through because he misspelled it. Neither Spock nor I are mad at Gina because she was trying to verify if Peter had a different version of Vulcan history. Again she didn't know how much of a taboo it is to the older generations, and it would cause the kids to get kicked out of the cultural center. I'm really glad my father-in-law could pull some strings and get the government visit pushed up.
We decided that Peter should know something about this. Especially because who knows when Spock and I will need to take medical leave because everybody's cycles are completely fucked right now. We got some extra data when Spock's father visited. In hard copy.
Spock bear is writing that response as soon as he verifies how much he can tell Peter. All questions our kids ask about Vulcan biological functions will be answered by Spock. I get to cover the human ones. He can begin getting practice now.
Our emails are definitely going through a filter. I talked to the other enterprise kids' guardians, and they got their letters the same day. We are the group with the longest delays. I blame my encryption. However, I'm not going to decrypt for faster email. In an emergency, everybody knows to use rapid messages. We had to reinforce that point with Ben, but I'm sure he gets it now.
No, Gina hasn't resigned yet. Well, she tried after the cultural center incident, but we talked her out of it. I will have to get her a shoe gift basket or something while we're on the planet. And probably a whole box of Vulcan headache bars. She needs it after everything going on. I'll look into it while we're on the colony. I do not want to lose her. I'm never going to find a teacher as competent as her again. I only found her because Chen got involved. She has known Gina since preschool.
I now know which stores I'm going to on the New Vulcan colony. Spock bear definitely needs new toys. We had to get rid of a bunch after we discovered the new allergy.
Anyway, I'm probably going to see you in person before I get a response from you. We were going to do a handover meeting a couple of hours before beaming down. Although I don't know if it's happening down there or up here. I should probably send a rapid message for that.
I am doing that now. I guess you will hear from me in a few minutes.
Xxx From: Doctor bones
To: kitten_loverJJMU
Subject: Re: I promise I'm doing well on New Vulcan
Time sent: 12/19/2260 07:05:01
I should be surprised that New Vulcan has pizza, but I'm not. All societies have junk food, but that doesn't mean you should eat all of it. Or really any of it, but I'm not going to tell you not to have pizza or lemon bars at your sleepover. Especially because it's already happened . Just tried to eat in moderation. Considering I have to lock up your Oreos, I'm not sure you have that concept down quite yet. Although neither does your uncle. He's gotten better in recent years with exercise and eating a balanced diet, but that might be Spock's influence. He eats vegetables now, so that's all I can ask for.
We don't think you're a two-year-old, nor are we keeping this from you because we believe you are too young to handle it. Sometimes because of the type of work your mom and I do, we are not allowed to talk about some of the things we encounter. We both have a top-secret security clearance for a reason. In my case, I have to take the confidentiality of my patients seriously. I can't come home and talk about what's wrong with them. That would be inappropriate and a violation of their rights as my patient.
In general terms, the sexual assault or attempted sexual assault of a Starfleet officer is not something that I can talk about as a doctor or your mom as a mandatory reporting official. We have to respect the privacy of those involved. Unfortunately, some of your classmates did not respect that privacy, and rumors are floating around. Whatever you come across regarding this, keep it to yourself. If you are having trouble processing what you're finding out, talk to Dr. Margarita.
The person involved has the right to decide how much people know in this case. At present, they want to keep the situation private. We must respect that.
However, the thing you can do right now is be a good friend to Ashley. What happened is hard on her. It's bringing back many unpleasant memories, and she needs you as her friend to support her. It's probably best for her not to be at the dorms. Honestly, we should have put her at the ambassador's house in the first place. But she probably wanted to be near her boyfriend.
I hope you and your friends enjoyed your day of shopping. I'm sure you'll find the perfect outfit. Just remember, we only have so much closet space on the ship. Of course, Scotty adores you, so he probably will make you more when he gets back. He is counting the days until he returns to Enterprise, especially after the explosion.
I assumed you had a good dinner. I think Dr. Suarez has all the embarrassing Jim stories, and Jim authorized her to share. Apparently, he sent a rapid message recently to her. He feels that this is another way for him to bond with Peter.
Anyway, stay hydrated. I've received reports of some of your classmates succumbing to heatstroke yesterday on free day. I'm not at liberty to say who. I would tell you to scan your food at the Vulcan shopping center, but that happened yesterday. Thankfully, I received no reports of allergic reactions from your group. Although others were not that lucky, and I'm sure you know who had an allergic reaction. Somebody should probably come up early.
Also, send more pictures. Everything has been adorable so far.
XXXX
From: Jim's_cuddlebear
To: Spock' s_cuddlebunny; Peter_K
Time arrived: 12/19/2260 22:23:01
Subject: Re: greetings from the halls of bureaucracy
Your uncle has decided that I am the best one to reply to you today. To alleviate any of your concerns, you are not in trouble for what happened at the Vulcan cultural center. Neither is Gina. We have already discussed this.
Please do not attempt to consume replicated strawberries. Yes, replicated food has somewhat different properties than natural growing food products. However, research has shown that in 84.3% of cases, individuals allergic to naturally grown items are also allergic to the replicated version. Anecdotally, your Uncle James is allergic to replicated strawberries. Therefore, it is highly likely that you were also allergic to replicated strawberries.
It could be that the Vulcan variety of oats is very different genetically, and therefore it triggered an allergic response. When Chris three returns to the ship, he will undergo allergy testing. They will be able to figure the exact cause. Of course, allergy testing does have limitations. We discovered your uncle's latex allergy by trial and error. If I were not Vulcan, that would have been a very embarrassing medical encounter.
In Vulcan culture and society, the concept of family is slightly different. Although in Federation society Jim and I are your guardians. In Vulcan society, we would be considered your parents or fathers regardless of the exact legal status. The only thing that is required is permanent guardianship which James and I have.
Because we are your permanent guardians, I applied for citizenship on your behalf. I chose to do so because this would provide you with additional protection. Your maternal grandfather will never get out. Your maternal grandmother can be paroled within the next three years due to "good behavior" and making adequate use of various rehabilitation programs available to her. I want you to be able to stay with us. I do apologize for not explaining completely what making you a Vulcan citizen would involve. It is not an adoption. That has not occurred yet and will not occur without your full consent.
I am upset to hear that you were given a redacted version of Vulcan history. Or at least the others that were not of my household. This is unfortunate. I can understand wanting to not share certain parts of our culture with outsiders. History should not be censored. It's unfortunate that they are doing so, but this is a common practice. You will see that many societies like to avoid discussing the darker parts of their history.
The word Gina asked you to look up to verify your alternate access is one of Vulcan's greatest taboos. Although you misspelled it, I understood what you were referring to. This Vulcan word refers to a specific event that's part of the Vulcan reproductive cycle. Every Vulcan has a period of increased fertility levels. Traditionally it was every seven years. Because of the implosion of Vulcan, the cycle has decreased, and it could happen as often as every 16 months. Researchers are still examining this phenomenon.
Unfortunately, this increase in fertility causes other Vulcans to behave in a way that is considered inappropriate by Vulcan standards. There is an increase in belligerence, violence, and illogical behavior. This behavior change is deemed shameful, so my people wish not to discuss this with outsiders. However, as a child of a Vulcan Guardian, I feel that you must be aware.
This was so taboo to the older generations that no research was done on this aspect of Vulcan reproduction. It wasn't until the Vulcan genocide that scientists began researching the cycle. If you're interested, I will present you with research papers on the topic when you're older.
I apologize that your presenters are dumbing down the curriculum, as you would say. Most Enterprise minors' program members are highly intelligent and can understand a great many things. It is inappropriate to assume that they would not understand the material being presented. I promise that I will never underestimate your intelligence or talk down to you. Such behavior is inappropriate. I will make sure that the instructors at the VSA will not do that.
I hope all went well yesterday with my father and grandfather. I expect you had a great day in the shopping district. We look forward to seeing you in a few days.
PS: Your uncle James will look into accessing your mother's files during our free days on the colony. We regret not looking into this earlier. There is probably other information that we need access to.
To be continued...
A few production notes. I wrote most of the first draft of the chapter on Father's Day weekend, which made me think a lot about how fatherhood has changed the characters. Jim and Spock are trying their best.
I also decided that the Spock in this story is a bit more sex-positive than his prime counterpart. So he can explain something in scientific terms that he wasn't really able to talk about in the original timeline. Also, surviving a genocide makes you reevaluate certain cultural taboos.