SIM:Della Vetri - Internal Dialogue - More questions than answers.
Groaning slightly, Della opened her eyes, only to be greeted with the sight of the ceiling. Propping herself up, she realized she was laid out on a biobed, and clad only in the sheet resting across her body. She quickly secured the sheet to stop it escaping, and then began to take in details of the room around her.
The sickbay was bigger, airier, and utterly empty. Dark consoles and dimmed lighting gave the room a slightly surreal air, as did the total silence, broken only by the sound of her own breathing. Still, the place did seem strangely familiar...
Slipping off of the bed, Della wrapped the sheet more firmly around herself and took a closer look at the equipment around her. In a flash, she realized why she recognized the place - she'd worked there before. Well, not *her* exactly, but still...
Marik: Regular home from home, isn't it?
Only her recognition of the voice stopped Della from leaping completely out of her skin at the unexpected comment. Turning with careful dignity, she saw the old Trill man standing by the door, noting the pristine lab coat over the uniform of Tycho City's medical personnel.
Vetri: For you, perhaps, but this isn't where I'm meant to be. And you're dead. I know this, because the symbiote is currently ::tapping her abdomen:: right here.
Marik: ::Smiling:: I know, I was there. Kinda had to be, really, since I was carrying it before you.
She could remember it clearly. The old man before her laying on one bed, her on another, medics working with calm assurance to transfer the Vetri symbiote from the dying man into herself. The dawning sense of awareness and memory as the Joining was completed, followed by the feeling of her senses expanding bright balls of emotion flooding her mind, overwhelming her until she'd blacked out.
Vetri: Not an incident I'm likely to forget in a hurry...
Marik: ::walking over to one of the beds:: Yes, it was a little unexpected. Nothing like that happened to me, you know. But of course, you do know, don't you.
Vetri: The sordid and fairly bland details of your life are, indeed, at my disposal. That's not the point.
Marik: Bland, huh? Now I *know* you're a Vetri host. Never see a belt without hitting below it.
Della simply stood and stared at him as he sat himself on the bed and got settled.
Marik: Ah, yes. The point. What's the last thing you remember?
Frowning a little, Della tried to recall, eventually coming up wit an answer, just not a very reassuring one.
Vetri: Walking down one of the Deck 5 corridors. Big explosion from somewhere. I think I must have smacked something pretty hard, because that's about it. I also think this ::waving a hand around:: isn't real.
Marik: So, memory loss, hallucinations. Diagnosis?
Vetri: ::Glaring:: I'm not imagining this conversation so I can work out something any one of Indria's medics can do just as well, if not better.
Marik: No, you're not.
Della waited for him to continue, but after a few moments it became clear he was content to just sit there. Struggling to contain a rising sense of frustration, she began to pace around, nearly tripping over the sheet wrapped around her.
Vetri: FRAK IT! What the hell is going on?
Marik: Have you noticed anything about Rynn's memories?
That brought her up short. She'd been thinking about that a lot over the last few hours. T'Lea had suggested - hell she'd flat out stated - that there was something in the earlier host's life that was important, but she couldn't work out what.
Vetri: Yeah, he was a bum. Drifting about, doing this and that. Travelled a lot, but never seemed to *do* anything.
Marik: True, but there are...inconsistencies.
Vetri: What the hell is that supposed to mean?
Marik sighed, and looked straight at her for a moment before replying.
Marik: Look at them, study them, there are glitches. Things which don't quite match up. Slight, subtle, but there.
Della felt utterly lost now. This whole scenario was spiralling rapidly out of her comfort zone.
Vetri: So, what? Someone's done a number on my memories? Great, just what I needed right now...
Marik: No, not yours. Rynn's. And it's starting to unravel a little.
Vetri: How do you know, you're a frakking corpse! This whole situation is only remotely sane if you're a construct of Marik's memories from the symbiote, or if my subconscious is screwing with me.
Marik: The second one is closer, actually. That little download from T'Lea shook something loose and bits are starting to peak through.
Vetri: Like what? And what do you mean, closer?
The old man grinned, seeming to take great amusement in Della's increasing confusion.
Marik: I mean, there's a compulsion of some kind embedded in the symbiote.
Della's mind flashed straight to the memory of Tash, and what he'd done as the result of a telepathic trigger. At her look of horror, Marik's smile changed to one of reassurance.
Marik: Nothing like that, don't worry. You've usually had to go looking for Rynn's memories, haven't you?
Vetri: Yeah. The rest of you are always just...there. But him, I've got to actually think about.
Marik: That's because he can't talk to you directly.
Vetri: The compulsion?
Marik: ::Nodding:: It effects the symbiote, so this conversation shouldn't be happening.
Vetri: So why is it?
Marik: I told you, something shook loose. Been working on it since you where joined, actually.
Vetri: So why am I talking to you? Why isn't Rynn here so I can kick his ass?
Marik: ::Laughing:: That'd be a sight to see... I said "loose", not "free". He can't talk to you like this, but that may change.
Della stood silently for a while, trying to process what Marik - or at least her subconscious pretending to *be* Marik - had told her. It was uncomfortable, to say the least, to think that someone had messed with memories she carried within her, not least because she still had no idea who could have done it. Looking back at the old man, she spoke again in a very quiet voice.
Vetri: I need to think about this.
Marik nodded and stood, heading for the door. When he got there, he looked back over his shoulder.
Marik: Time to wake up.
As he spoke, Della felt an almost blinding pain build up in her head. Staggering to the nearest handhold, she fought to stay upright, but quickly lost, and felt her legs give way beneath her.
Groaning slightly, Della opened her eyes, only to be greeted with the sight of the ceiling. Propping herself up, she realized she was laid out on a biobed, a sheet laid over her uniform, and surrounded by the bustle of Indria's sickbay. The pain had dropped to a nagging ache, and she lay back down to think about the dream she'd just awoken from, still clear as crystal in her mind. It could have been just that - a dream - or maybe, just maybe, there was something to it.