Situational Awareness

Posted on 24 Sep 2023 @ 1:08pm by Petty Officer 2nd Class Alizabeth Omari & Ensign Unknown 'Weirdo'

1,736 words; about a 9 minute read

Mission: Deus ex Machina
Tags: Lou, first meeting, Alice, blind luck

He walked through one of the wider hallways of the ship, wearing the tophat Harva had given him some time ago. Since the hat was meant for a hat several sizes bigger than his own it didn't balance on his own head, but actually covered the better part of his face so that only his chin and part of his mouth were visible. If people had been able to see under the hat, they'd been able to see the additional blindfold which covered his eyes. And underneath that, just to cover all bases, he simply kept his eyes closed.

With the way he had explored the ship from stem to stern and had memorised at least most of the routes it wasn't too hard to find his way, as long as he took care to measure the length of his stride. He had tried this before, a few times, in the middle of the night. What made it harder were the people which were around now. He could only rely on his ears. The other five regular senses were mostly useless: smells were too varied and mingled to give any practical information, most minute vibrations of approaching or receding footsteps got lost in the slightly more dominant tremor of the ship's thrumming engines, and taste was the most useless sense of all. Which was why he had filled a pocket with candy and occasionally popped one, at random, in his mouth.

The other senses, the more mental ones, were also less useful than people would assume. People's minds were even more varied than their appearance, the active telepaths were bright beacons which tended to outshine minds near them, some people were so withdrawn in their own minds that they barely emitted a signal at all, and a group of people just formed one mental blur which yielded almost no information regarding who was were.

All in all, a nice challenge to train his situational awareness.

In this manner he moved through the ship, walking slowly but with a steady pace, trying to keep track of where he was, and more importantly trying not to bump into anyone else.

Alizabeth was continuing on her journey to meet as many on the ship as she could before she needed to focus on learning the captain’s patterns and preferences. She had done well so far, many check marks were on her list, she just spent her free time wandering the halls, poking her nose into places and using her patience to not pester people she had already spent time with.

Turning down a hallway, her datapad in her hands and her eyes dropped to it, that attention allowing her to miss the odd sight before her. Watching as the top hat wearer walked along the corridor, when they got near her she pressed to the wall, wondering if they would miss her altogether, then considering how rude that might be considered she wiggled her feet and spoke quietly. “Do you have a tea pot in the top of your hat? I remember a children’s story about an interesting land and he was stuck in what was then afternoon time forever.”

The Yeoman kept her voice easy doing her best to not startle this person before her. “Hello, I am Alizabeth Omari.”

"Hello Alizabeth!" came a cheerful, if slightly muffled voice from under the hat. The visible part of his face showed that he broke into a wide smile. "Oh, and there was no need to step aside like that. The point of this is for me to avoid bumping into other people, not for them to evade me!"

He lifted the ridiculously large hat with one hand, the blindfold with the other. The face thus revealed had a strange ageless quality, eyes the colour of a shallow sea, light blue with hints of purple and green, under a mop of curly hair. The graceful movement continued as he made a bow, holding the top hat in front of him and the hand with the blindfold still in it at his back. When he straightened again he planted the hat on the back of his head, where it remained in precarious balance. The moment he would move his head, no doubt, it would slide right back down. "What's this idea of a tea pot in the top of the hat? That sounds delightfully practical. Warm head and tea at hand in one! But where would one store the cups? And there'd have to be sugar, and milk for those who want it, and cookies of course…" He looked at Alizabeth for answers.

“Children’s stories were delightfully impractical, but I am sure anyone with a hand in engineering might be able to make one that makes more sense.” The dark skinned woman’s golden eyes were bright with delight at this meeting and the turn it took, light caught the freckles on her cheeks and the decorations in her pulled back hair, “I apologize for interrupting your training exercise. To make up for it I will see if the computer has video files for the story I was thinking of and we can watch it?” Taking in his interesting appearance, “Of course to organize this it would be easier if I knew your name.”

"That makes two of us," the man laughed. That alone was enough to make the hat slide down, he caught it with an automatic gesture and pushed it back where it belonged without interrupting the flow of his words. "I have no idea what mine is. So feel free to make one up for me. What's the story called?"

Alizabeth paused for just a moment and brought a finger up to tap at her bottom lip, “Hmmmm, what have others called you? Otherwise it might be confusing if people were trying to get your attention in a room. And the book was called Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, which was changed for adaptation to video to Alice in Wonderland.”

"Thus far? Tychon, or Ref, though that's technically not a name, or Riddle, or…" He shrugged with a grin. "I'm always open for more though."

“Well the man that wrote the story is Lewis Carroll, how do you feel about Lou? It really is not as refined as Tychon, but still recognizable. I am happy to use either of the others, which ever you are comfortable with. May I ask what experiment you are attempting?” She relaxed and crossed her hands in front of her.

"Lou sounds great! I quite like having different names from different people. Kind of like a suit for each occasion, but different." He balled one fist as he spoke and stuffed the blindfold inside it with a long finger of the other hand, then opened his fist to reveal it was empty. "And I'm training myself on how to move around if there's a situation where I can't see. Because it's completely dark or because I've been blinded for some reason. Getting a feel for where I am in relationship to my surroundings and other people." He looked around, once again catching the top hat and pushing it back where it belonged before it could slide down again. "Seem to have misplaced my blindfold, though… Oh, wait, there it is." He reached forward and seemed to pluck it from Alizabeth's collar. Or… seemed? She could actually feel the fabric move as he pulled it out.

“Oh! And a trained magician, I have had to chance upon a very talented person indeed. How lucky for me.” Aliza tipped her head, “And what do you do on the ship? I can’t imagine we have set up a stage just for you, though you deserve it.”

The man's eyes lit up again. "You're a magician as well? Oh, how lovely! I'm only a self-trained amateur, to be sure, but it's such fun to do! As to what I'm doing on the ship – not very much, presently, but I'm working my way through the curriculum to become a security officer one day. How about you?"

Aliza chuckled brightly, “I meant that you are a magician. A delightful addition, to be caught in a beautiful illusion that is. I am the new Yeoman, would you like an explanation of what I do? Not sure where you are in your studies yet.”

"Ah, I see," the man said unfazed. "Well, if you ever want to branch out, I'll be happy to give you some lessons. And no, no spoilers, wait-" he closed his eyes briefly, mentally scrolling through the huge amount of PADDs he had read and memorised. "Ah, yes, there," he said, opening his eyes again. "Yeoman, Captain's aide, yes? Involving various tasks, up to and including maintaining their agenda, announcing their presence on board or on deck, and so on."

“Exactly so, that is what I will try to do at least. A lot depends on how much he allows me to help him to do my duties.” She smiled at him and tipped her head slightly, “You know what I think will be fun, Lou? We listen to Alice’s Adventures, then we program our own holodeck adventure together, use the story as inspiration for our own fun one?”

"That sounds absolutely marvellous! The holodeck is seriously one of the greatest features of this ship." The man looked delighted. "Let me know when you have the time for it. You have a fixed schedule, I don't."

She smiled and nodded her head, “As soon as I am settled in place I will reach out. I am so glad I stepped out of your way, Lou.”

"As am I. It's been a delight to meet you." He began to fasten the blindfold around his head again as he spoke and bowed again when he was done. This time, when the movement caused the hat to slide back and cover his face, he let it. "I'll see you later!" the slightly muffled voice came from under the hat. He deftly stepped around her and continued on his way.

Alizabeth chuckled and spoke into a recording device she used for notes when she was on the move. “Have the ship find a copy of Alice in text, vid and make time with Lou soon.” As she planned she started back off opposite the direction of him, her smile a little brighter, if that was possible.

 

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