for ZEX

[bornsnarky]

[scowling at the communicator]

Yeah, but what the hell happened to him? You could give me a little more-

[Jim barks something curt about not having time and you'll just have to deal with it, Bones]

Oh, great. Just great. Guess I better get ready for anything from the Antares Two-step to Denobulan Mudfever.

Comments

[bornsnarky]

[yawning comfortably as I sit]

[I'm more relaxed in your quarters now than in anyone else's]

All right.

[zexyandiknowit]

[Tea time, time for tea]

[bornsnarky]

[smiling at you]

[zexyandiknowit]

[The spines are totally gone, so that's something]

[bornsnarky]

[that is indeed a relief; I like the thought of being able to touch you without gloves]

[zexyandiknowit]

[Clinkin' around the mini-kitchen]

...I realize I should begin at the beginning, but I cannot recall what that is.

[bornsnarky]

Take your time.

[sitting down, fidgetty fidgetty fidget]

[zexyandiknowit]

[whyyyyyy do I like you so much and then do this to you]

...Well.

How much--I wonder, how much do you know about my transfer from the Armada? The reasons behind it?

[bornsnarky]

[good God, man, listening to you, supporting you is hardly'a burden, you moron]

Very little. I try not to listen to scuttlebutt. Got burnt too many times by rumours started by Jim.

[zexyandiknowit]

[Dryly] I can understand this impulse.

[Then, sobering] I... hmm. I may have to tell you a few things--for context--that... fall under the generous definition of classified information, at least to my people, and I therefore must ask that these things do not leave the room. There is enough doctor-patient confidentiality to waive the rules, a bit, but things would still be... uncomfortable, politically speaking.

[bornsnarky]

[hint of affection] He is such an asshole.

[nods, turning to face you, no more fidgeting] No problem, of course.

[zexyandiknowit]

Mm.

Well, firstly, a few decades ago the VUX Armada took control of a few outlying human colonies. As there were no Armada-Federation talks at this point, the Armada took it upon themselves to... enslave these humans. For years.

This has all been swept under the proverbial rug, of course, but as humans were not considered a sentient race at the time they were not actually considered to be slaves, and were instead marked as beasts of burden.

At this time, sympathizing with humans or attempting to prove their cognizance was considered... perverse.

[bornsnarky]

[deep breath] No one did any goddamn testing to confirm if humans were sentient?

[zexyandiknowit]

No. They...

VUX tend toward the religious, and... in general, at first glance, humans seem to possibly be... abominations? There is no kind way to say this, I'm afraid...

[bornsnarky]

Oh, that's just fucking great.

[zexyandiknowit]

These were my sentiments, and also the reason behind my first court-martial.

My youth was a very... strange... time.

[bornsnarky]

[shaking my head]

Sounds it.

[zexyandiknowit]

And so, being the only VUX human rights activist, I began to feel a bit... protective.

Of your species.

[bornsnarky]

[starting to get a handle on all this]

I bet that didn't go down well.

[zexyandiknowit]

Well.

I was banished. A bit.

[bornsnarky]

A bit?

Is that how you ended up in the Federation? C'mon, ZEX, I know there's more to it than that.

[zexyandiknowit]

[Sigh]

The Federation approached me during my trail and offered me good work, peace, and coexistence with humans. It was this or be banished to a distant planet with no one but the three or so people willing to follow me. It was not a difficult choice to make, and so I enlisted, signing a few complex contracts in order to transfer my rank and become accredited in many pre-requisites I'm certain you encountered in the Academy.

And, just as there is with all contracts, there were things I did not catch upon first reading. These are also political secrets, I'm afraid.

[bornsnarky]

Phew. That sounds like a helluva few months -- months? -- for you.

I got to skip or take accelerated versions of a few things. They needed doctors.

...so basically you came into the Federation expecting it to be the opposite, right? All peace and love and perfection and shit?

[zexyandiknowit]

Months, yes. And yes, that is how they sold it to me.

Apparently I am contractually obligated to remain in Starfleet until I would have qualified for retirement from the Armada. Meaning, of course, until I perish, for the Armada does not have retirement. I do not know which organization wrote that contract, but either way, I am a bit peeved.

I also... I also promised I would not interact with slavers, given my... past responses. And yet.

[bornsnarky]

I take it you didn't have terribly helpful people giving you advice? Or was it just a case of not really having a choice?

...Federation's pretty good, don't get me wrong. But yeah. Far from perfect.

[softly] And yet sometimes things are difficult to avoid.