SIM:Ensign Wil Ukinix - 'ere we go, 'ere we go, 'ere we go

((USS Veritas, Turbo Lift - Shuttlebay 1))

Wil's arrival had been relatively routine - apart from the large, swirly energy anomaly he had observed en route to the USS Veritas. It looked like someone had beautifully dropped and sculpted a serve of rainbow ice cream on a floor. Once inside the Veritas' shuttle bay however, it was eerily quiet, so he headed straight for the turbolift. On the way, he got a single acknowledging nod from one the officers in the shuttle bay, and that was it.

But now he was standing in the turbolift, and things suddenly got real. He'd wanted this his whole life. He was following in his mother's footsteps and was now an actual Starfleet officer. This was a milestone moment, he'd made it. Yet, he was walking into the unknown for the next part of his life. He was so far from home, literally light years from Marine Terrace. He felt so small. And he then realised the most important thing of all - he was still standing in a turbo lift which wasn't yet moving.

Ukinix: ::Looking up:: Oh, yeah. Bridge.

As he felt the turbolift suddenly moving in response to his voice command, his mind started wandering again. His thoughts ran back over his late teens. School, spending time at his dear grandfather's winery, running and football. How he was doing so well at school, before discovering he was feeling what other people were feeling. It had mentally exhausted him and threatened to set his education back. He remembered how his parents were concerned for him for almost 18 months. How his mother had asked T'Rav, her fellow Starfleet officer who was temporarily stationed on Earth, to have several counselling sessions with him. And at age 17, that had finally worked.

His mind went back further - how his parents had tried many different Betazoid counsellors when he was 16. Each one had helped a little in their own way. He remembered how one of the counsellors had told him to try to appreciate the emotions expressed in art. So he found some appropriate art - he discovered music of his native Earth of the mid-20th to early 21st century. Not only was he surprised there was so much of it and of many different genres he'd never heard of, he also found a lot of it conveyed raw emotions. At first, he thought most of the music of that time was rubbish, but he kept going back to it - and eventually acquired a taste for a lot of it.

While having these thoughts, the introductory part of one particular song entered and continually rolled over his mind - a piece named "Hells Bells", by a musical outfit named after types of electrical current - which he found odd - but then again, not much about music from that era made sense. He just knew he liked it. He could hear the sound of a large bell tolling in his mind.

Ukinix: ::Humming quietly and nervously:: Dum da da dum, da da dum, da da dum, da da dum da da dum...

He could hear the tune in his head. But it wasn't helping his nerves. He also thought back to the dizziness he experienced from the sharp emotions he felt from his colleagues in the holodeck at Starbase 118.

oO That's behind me now. It was a one off. Betazoid Schmetazoid, I'm mostly human! Remember T'Rav's teachings. Oo

Ukinix: Da da dum, da da dum da da dum...

His quiet humming and accompanying mental rendition of the riff stopped, interrupted by the turbo lift doors opening in front of him. He now had the view of bridge of the USS Veritas and its officers. He took a deep breath, before exhaling.

Ukinix: ::Under his breath:: Here we go...

((Bridge, USS Veritas))

Wil walked towards the centre of the bridge, in the direction of the captain's chair. Facing the captain, he felt his face turn slightly red. He swallowed, stood straight, looked ahead, felt his pulse rate rise, and opened his mouth to speak.

Ukinix: Captain Rahman. Ensign Wil Ukinix reporting for duty, Sir.

Rahman: Response

Ensign Wil Ukinix
Engineering Officer
USS Veritas
V239511WU0