inhistorybooks | [023: voice]

Kinda nice to have some quiet, apart from that flood. Of course, now that I've said it, there's gonna be some catastrophe and everyone'll start pointing fingers about me jinxing it, but still. Gotta admit, it's nice.

For any of the new people, my name's Commander Charles Tucker the Third, but everyone calls me Trip. I'm the Chief Engineer on board the starship Enterprise - not Jim's, the NX-01, the original one - and here I'm a warden and the head of maintenance and repair.

Anyone up for another movie night sometime this week? I'm kinda in the mood for somethin' like a thriller, but I can probably be talked out of it if that's not what everyone else's in the mood for.

[Private to Preston]

John Preston? Trip Tucker. We should probably talk.

[Private to T'Pol]

Four inmates in five months. Must be some kinda record. How're you doin'?

[Private to Kay]

I've got a couple questions for you, if you're not busy.

[Private to Jim]

I've got a couple ideas for the new lock.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Trip had kind of been hoping for some wetlands - not that he was really necessarily dressed for it - because it reminds him of back home, but the forest is just fine with him anyway, and he goes to put the action figure back in his pocket.

His inmate's reaction was not what he expected, though, and looked at Preston, brow furrowed in concern. There's nothing in Preston's file that would really hint at just how different and mind blowing something as simple as stepping outside into a forest could be for him, so the warden immediately wondered if something was actually wrong.]

You okay?

I-

[ The urge to answer the question is immediate; he's responding to Trip like he would to a superior, to a Council of a Tetragrammaton. But that's pushed to the back of his mind as he reaches out- flattens his hand against the bark of a tree, feeling the roughness beneath his skin. He watches as the bark flakes off, falling to the ground and he jumps back a little. That's-

He bends down, picking up a piece of the bark, sstaring at it for a long moment before he reaches up to tug a branch down, feeling the waxy texture of the leaf beneath his hand.

Swallows. ]

I've never seen anything like this before.

[Trip had had a similar reaction to the Xyrillian simulator that had been able to recreate any environment so long as you could write the program for it. It had been able to recreate anything basically perfectly, without a beginning or an end, and it was just like actually being there, in person.

The CES wasn't all that different from that, and considering the rest of the Barge was so... not like this at all, it wasn't surprising to be a little caught off guard by how real everything looked.]

The CES?

No. [ Pause. ] Yes.

But I meant- [ he sweeps his arm out, and there's a suddenly-helpless look on his face because he doesn't know how to vocalize how he feels. The awe, the wonder- the rarity of such a view. How much it sweeps through him, the majesty of the entire environment- and makes him feel small. Insignicant. Even better than Libria had ever managed. ]

This.

[It finally clicks, and Trip's immediately sort of overwhelmed by what that actually means. What the hell had Libria been doing to these people?]

The woods?

[ He nods and just- tips his head up and looks at everything around him. Feels the cool wind against his skin.

He wonders how it would smell like after the rain- he remembers how it felt, the first time he saw the rain. ]

Mm. There was never- [ He shakes his head. ]

Not even in the Nethers.

[Trip nods and takes a moment to try processing that, and to give Preston time to adjust to it, before gesturing away from the door.]

Do you want to walk around a little?

I- [ Blink. Blink. Head cock. ]

Can I?

[Which is getting an eyebrow raise.]

Yeah. Why couldn't you?

It's-

I haven't done anything to deserve that.

Walkin' around up here isn't somethin' you have to earn. If you wanna go explore, go explore.

[ Blink. Blink blink. ]

... Alright.

[ He's obviously confused, but he's not going to deny the chance to explore a place he has never seen before. So he's walking into the forest~ ]

[And Trip is keeping right up with him because yay, outdoor time. c:]

So, what d'you think?

It's- [ he sucks in a breath, breathes in the smell of the forest and the trees. Drinks in the sounds. ]

Libria restricted vocabulary after it was established. Because there are too many words that are no longer needed.

[ He reaches out a hand, wondering, as a butterfly flits past. ]

There's nothing left that can describe this.

Nothing? Really?

I've been reading. Books. Dictionaries. [ A shy little smile, then he looks away again. ]

But I think even 'beautiful' doesn't explain it fully.

[023: voice]

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