Star Trek: Starbase 777 - village-central-square

Like veins to the heart, all roads led to the central square. In the middle stood a large fountain, full of water and various little streams of it that all created a pleasant ambiance if one stood nearby. The sculptures themselves portrayed a variety of mythical characters, from all over the different cultures, potentially symbolizing the eclectic mix of Fatum I's colonists. The central largest figure, though... it was a complex amalgamation. You could see different figures, depending from where you looked at it. It towered over the rest, mysterious and... a bit ominous. There was a golden plate attached to the front of the fountain. "In memoriam of the Fatum I colony's founder, Enril Fobosse."

“Huh. These are neat.” He glanced up at the statues, somewhat intimidated by the sheer height and grandeur of them, “This guy… Enril Fobosse. He looks cool.”

Maggie hummed as she was lead in. “Oh I love the fountain! Very cool!”

Nevada crossed her arms as she to a stop next to Edgar. Her footsteps were quiet enough for him to miss even in the uniform boots. “You probably shouldn’t ask them about him. I made that mistake of asking about a plaque in the medical center.” She set her mouth into a grim line to convey her seriousness.

He nearly jumped out of his skin at Nevada’s sudden appearance, and had to muffle a very high-pitched shriek. “Holyfuckokay— hi, sorry. I won’t.” He breathed.

Twelve, being herself, happened to walk up behind Edgar as he reacted to Nevada. "Indeed, as Lieutenant Commander Rakim would have said, the temperature in the room if dictated by reactions, would have dropped to freezing." The El-Aurian informed the Lieutenant then. "All due to be the already mentioned query."

"Why is that? Why have a plaque if they're uncomfortable answering anything about it?" She pondered out loud, tilting her head to the side as her brow furrowed. (edited)

She followed the group into the square and did her best to stay close, but not in easy conversation distance. Clearly that was not her strong suit. Instead she entertained herself by looking for the power conduits and trying to ID the standard they used. Maybe that would explain all the wear on the grid… Shocei really just has the one mode. She interjects quietly, “Is anyone else getting a weird vibe? They barely answer questions about anything.”

“Oh, god, the vibe is so weird.” He shuddered, “The folks we had with us… you heard them, actually, it was weird.”

Groznin entered the square and looked around. His take was that it was fine, everything was just ok. He looked around to make sure that everyone who was on the away team returned.

He'd been contemplating the events. On the one hand, danger. On the other... Danger! Wasn't this exactly the kind of thing he'd been looking for? A strange energy bubbled and fizzed inside him, like a shaken-up bottle of soda. "In memoriam: Prof. Alexandra Deima, Fatum I's lead meteorological researcher. Curiositas nocet. That's what it said." He laughed a little, like that had been a joke. "You hear me? Fuck around and find out, that's what it says!"

That was totally his Dmitri Durovsky. Fuck. Groznin moved a little further away from him.

“The vibes are rancid.. I wanna go home. They don’t even want us here.” He said quietly to Ed.

“Me too. But we gotta stay and do diplomatic Starfleet shit.” He muttered back, “At least until they let us go.”

“Man.. I’m a shit diplomat. I hope everyone else here is better at that.” Tavek knew how to fix machines and that was it. Tavek was not very good at anything else, unfortunately.

1

He took a deep breath, then exhaled. Calmer, he moved toward Groznin. "Running away?" He asked, quiet enough for only Groznin to hear. "How in-character." (edited)

“I think the vibes here are completely normal,” Nevada said completely stone faced. It was hard to tell if she was joking or not.

2

“I don’t know, I thought the people we had in the warehouse were nice. There were some odd circles on the walls, but I guess it was just some kind of fancy interior decoration.” She said, desperately wanting to believe this would be a normal field trip.

“We call it a strategic retreat actually, something we do often in Starfleet.” Groznin whispered back, “But you’re an officer now, so you should know that.” (edited)

“There were circles on the casings of the generators, too. Weird.” What was their deal with circles?

"Of course I know. But why should I ever have to put that into practice? Medics are non-combatants, you know." Out of the corner of his... Ear? His hearing? He was registering all that shit about circles, though. When he mentioned pentagrams he was JOKING, guys!

He stayed silent for a moment, looking into Dmitri’s eyes. He had never since seen eyes so red, so striking. “Of course, Doctor.” He drew out the word doctor, almost as if he didn’t believe in the man’s medical degree.

She looked between the two officers, taking mental notes of the second, smaller, weird vibe. Not important right now. Thinking back to the mention of food, she looked around the square for some sign of tables. Or anything indicating food.

Having initially mulled talking to the Lieutenant Junior grade who seemed to be newly arrived to the stations medical department with what they'd upped and said about the plaque and how they'd elected to say it, Twelve had initially been focused on him. Though she'd upped and decided to not talk with the Lieutenant, at least not yet even if their tone had somewhat concerned her, she occasionally glanced his way. Did so even as she inquired to nobody inparticular. "..What's 'vibes?' That question asked before, as she glanced back toward that medical officer for a moment, she noted him and the officer he was near. Did so, the general atmosphere between the two as indicated by body language considered, before she turned her gaze elsewhere.

”Guys let’s try not to be rude okay?” She whispered to Ed and Tavek. “They are a private people… of course they are not particularly happy about needing us or about having us sneak all over their business.”

A bitter laugh at the implications. His red eyes hadn't left Groznin's for a second. It had been so long that he'd forgotten the other man's eyes were a warm shade of brown. "Doctors are people who directly diagnose and deal with problems. What is it you do, again? Tell other people to do it for you?"

Groznin narrowed his eyes and then turned away. He didn’t tell people what to do, not exactly. “Later, when we’re back on the ship. This is unbefitting of Starfleet officers.” Running away again? No, because it hadn’t been running away the first time.

4

"Ugh. You're so..." He didn't finish the sentence. Note: his tone was not entirely venomous, like when a friend shows up late for the third time this week, and you scoff and tell them they suck but you don't have it in you to hate them to your fullest capacity. Not yet, anyway.

Hii, normal not red faced detective reporting for duty. "All done, civilian safe and sound," they reported quickly, standing up straight somewhere on the outskirts of the group and keeping their head down to admire the pavement.

Groznin ignored him. All of this could wait, they were almost done here and could return to the ship soon. Though Groznin didn’t even really want to continue the conversation at all. “Good job.” He told Kirio as he walked past.

Iki arrived to the square with three books in hand and Eddie in tow, blissfully unaware of the sour vibes the other teams had experienced in different places. All things considered, they were having an incredibly easy time of it, just as they said they would before.

Diahjir had been lost in throught, even if he had been working on patients. Of course, being lost in thought did not stop him from helping others. But it was something to note. He wanted to know more about this place -- and what was truly going on here.

Eddie followed close behind Iki happy with their work so far. It has turned out to be a fairly easy away mission. (edited)

Upon arriving in the town square Evoras had looked around to check on the others, before approaching the fountain. It was an impressive monument, especially the central figure.

Paco had definitely been here being helpful the whole time, and also happily looking at the sights, especially the fountain. He was just about around where the others have congregated.

"Yeah, it's been great, I felt very defended," asshole. The Romulan quirked his eyebrow then, taking in the palpable anxiety running through the team like rogue electric currents: "Hey, what's with the funeral mood?"

"Well, there was a plaque with -" Then he repeated what was on the plaque. What? I'm tired of writing it. "I think it's telling us not to be too nosy. Of course, now I want to be even MORE nosy."

"The moment the plaque was the subject of a query, everyone in the room with us promptly ceased conversation." The El-Aurian added on the heels of the Lieutenant comment, as on the heels of Maiek's question, Twelve headed over to them. "The reaction was significant and very much suggested something was amiss, if the temperature of the room had been linked with the reaction.." "It'd have got ice cold in there, the moment we asked."

Iki was keeping half an ear on Dmitri's words, and the medical officers' assessment of the situation. In their opinion, first of all, Twelve's metaphor was a little clunky, but also, they did not feel that a dead meteorologist was a particularly suspicious ordeal, even if they were also inclined to get more curious about things because of it, rather than less. In an effort not to butt in on the conversation though, they opened the first book, the encyclopedia, and started perusing its contents. (edited)

7

The woman had been desperately trying to ignore and not be affected by the others suspicions. What if they were a bit more secretive? What if they had closed religion practices they wouldn’t want to share? What if some weren’t very happy about their presence? All of those were on par with the briefing she had received about their society and secrets didn’t mean the guys were doing anything wrong. Maybe they were trying to protect themselves, maybe they had had previous trouble with outsiders. Maybe, maybe, maybe. Maybe they were a secret cannibalistic cult and all of them had been gathered here to be sacrificed to their gods! Ha! No. She shook that thought right out. She had enough experience with missions like these to not jump into paranoia plus Starfleet had been in contact with them before and certainly wouldn’t have kept helping if these people were any danger to her or the other officers. “Let’s just get over with the formalities, they mentioned some food to thank us for the help. I think that is pretty standard.” And she refused to be a biased prejudiced bitch thinking dark thoughts about the meal. She smiled, but it was not a typical Garcia smile.

6

Paco raised a brow to what was said by the two Medical officers. Although generally inadvisable to snoop into things that may be more on the culturally sensitive side without permission, but it seemed people got upset over them asking about a plaque. If that plaque was something like the plaque here, it must be for someone quite important in the community, so Paco didn't see much reason on why they wouldn't be open to talking about it. Judging by Twelve's account, that particular person may have been subjected to damnatio memoriae, or someone who had been removed from record. "Condemnation of Memory", its referred to in common. Definitely someone possibly controversial, yet memorable if their name is still on a plaque that mentions them. This is all just a very overblown theory based on vague assumptions from the vaguer accounts of two starfleet officers, and Paco didn't want to assume anything negative just yet until more information can be gathered. As a anthropologist, and a religious person, Paco wanted to check out the church, but didn't since he was elsewhere. Perhaps a similar incident would happen there if there was a plaque like that which the medical officers saw, again a theory. He should ask someone who had been there earlier later on what it was like. While in thought, Paco looked over to Iki and noticed they had acquired books, and so quietly walked over to them because books are interesting. "Hello." Paco greeted. "May I ask what kind of book you're reading?" (edited)

Twelve effected a slight shrug then before, as she turned to look to the engineering officer, she observed. "Food does sound agreeable." She'd certainly eaten before she'd joined the away mission but well. Getting to experience food from another place? That seemed an agreeable prospect to Twelve.

As they were talking, people slowly began to gather, bringing along thin, light tables while others brought things like cutlery and bowls and plates of freshly made food. Hey, not so bad after all?..

Sweet, food! Maybe! He really didn’t want to assume it was for them, but he was also hungry enough to think it. “Hey, check it out.”

Having just gotten off his shift of moving stuff, Groznin decided that a good use of his time would be moving more stuff. He walked over to one of the townsfolk. "Do you need assistance moving anything?" He asked curtly, but politely.

“Oh wow, this looks good actually. Free food!” He said, looking over to the tables hoping to spot any sort of dessert. He was still Tavek, after all, and little else ever interested him besides sweet things.

"Please, you've done your work. You're our guests now," a Cardassian woman politely declined Groznin's offer with a smile. "Though if you want to help, you can begin eating the food. We'll have less leftovers that way!" The food looked good - a variety of preserved foods, likely a habit formed from the "bad weather season", but there was also a lot of early spring vegetables already, bringing up a wide array of vegetarian options in pastes and salads and purees. Then there were the meats, carefully and lovingly prepared in a wide variety of ways, starting from simple cold cuts and ending with aromatic stews. There was cheese, of course, a proud display of what locals made - with some jams and honey strategically positioned nearby. There were drinks, water and juice and, of course, some alcohol, and a colorful array of desserts, many of them in small glass jars and bowls.

“In that case, thank you.” Groznin said with a nod and sat down at the table as far from Dmitri as he could feasibly get. He started out with a small pasta dish and imagined to be later going to get a stew. No reason to be suspicious and the food looked so good!

“Thank you!” He said, both to be polite and because the food did look tasty, he never got hungry per se, but he liked to try things. He was of course drawn to the sweet things, so he got some cheese with probably a little more jam and honey than you’re supposed to put on cheese, a couple desserts, and whatever alcohol they had. That was all Tavek needed, so he sat down by Ed and the other engineers. He’d turned off the ability to get drunk so he wouldn’t embarrass himself.. he and his engineer brethren had already done that enough.

He pursed his lips, taking a moment to look at what they were being offered. “What, um… what do you think looks good?” He asked Tavek, in some last-ditch attempt to be polite about having no fucking clue what was going on.

He started assembling a plate that had a little bit of everything on it, but he started with the vegetables and meats. He wasn't really a dessert guy, but he'd still give that a try, too. He ignored any beef, though. Beef sucked. The only thing he didn't get was the stew, because it was hard to get just a little bit of stew. Stew was a commitment. Then he sat wherever the nearest medical division person was. Doctor gang.

“I dunno, go get a pastry to nibble on or something. Something small, maybe?” He said, very much insinuating to not eat a lot in case it was tampered with. Tavek was poison and drug proof, Ed was not.

“Fair enough. The cheese looks good, honestly.” He muttered, moving to take a small plate, enough to be considered polite but definitely not a large enough portion to be a meal, “It all smells nice, though. Very pretty.”

OH THEY HAVE CHEESE GROMIT! "I see no reason why to turn down cheese." Paco said to Ed's direction as he helped himself to the cheese, maybe a bit of a jam that caught his eye and some honey, alongside a spread of the vegetarian paste and purees and some cold cuts. Oh! Don't forget the stew, who wouldn't love a hearty stew, but maybe a small bowl of it to not overfill himself at the first helping. At heart, Paco's a foodie with an adventurous stomach. * "I wonder where these veggies were grown?" *Paco asked himself as he poured himself some juice and smelled the kool aid. (edited)

Diahjir did not know whether he should eat anything put in front of him. But, at the same time, he could not simply refuse. And so, he ended up with a plate mostly full of a few different desserts that he could nibble on throughout the course of whatever this was... (there really were more questions than answers).

"Sweet tooth?" Dmitri asked Diahjir, having sat close to him after spotting he was medical division - and the CMO, no less.

Everyone who just ate exploded.

11

6

18:06

No, obviously not. It was very nice, actually. The locals also joined in, right after their guests did - perhaps out of respect.

8

6

"I... well... the sweets looked the most appetizing" Diahjir responded with a small smile, happy to have someone to sit next to.

"You should try the cheese." Paco offered to Dmitri and Diahjir. He ate the cheese and he seems fine. If he wasn't, then he would be lactose intolerant which would be very sad, because he loves cheese. Who would poison cheese

"They do look nice. I like how they presented them, too, especially in the little jars. It indicates a satisfying level of frugalism. After all, why not use your jam jars as bowls when you're done with them? Perhaps I can take leftovers home in a jar..." He munched as he talked.

She looked around at the food being offered, nothing went better than some well deserved meal after a job done. After observing what everyone got, including the locals once they started, she decided on starting with the stew. It was usually a safe bet, meat and vegetables!

Groznin heard Paco mention the cheese and you know what? It did look good. He grabbed and ate some of the cheese.

Paco decided to put some of the cheese into his helping of the stew. This is a common practice that makes both the soup and the cheese taste good.

2

Maiek, in the meantime, took strategic placement near the meats table, his own bowl placed on the table for the time being as he was approached by a familiar face.

Said familiar face was asking the man a whole barrage of questions, pointing at her palm and drawing a little circle on it as she did. Curious! (edited)

1

Shocei had gotten a plate of cooked vegetables or grains, but skipped over meat and cheese. After seeing their power situation, she wasn’t so sure she trusted the refrigeration or preservation they were using.

Groznin made no connection between the circles in the warehouse and the circles Rami was making. He had to focus. He was shifting into stew mode.

4

Kirio didn't think they were hungry, but a glance at the colorful array before them quickly tested that notion... "This is very kind," they said to the Cardassian woman, smiling nervously, "thank you." Just a little water, cheese and jam for them would be fine.. they'd keep an eye out, make sure none of their fellow officers reached for the booze. They would 100% be snitching if they did.

“This stuff’s great. Is it, um— you guys grow this locally, or?” He took a small bite off his plate, chewing and swallowing and hoping for the best.

Maybe the circles relate to the production and quality control of the cheese. He wanted to see where the produce was made. "The cheese is great, and the stew's quite nice." Paco said. "If its okay for me to ask, what kind of meat is in the stew?" he asked out of curiosity as he continued to eat his cheese and stew while reaching over for some of the strategically placed meat. "Also, if it's alright, maybe we could take a look at where the produce is grown, perhaps we can help make growing the veg more resilient against the bad weather."

As she ate, and plucked some pastries from the tables, Shocei looked for someone who seemed open enough to talk. So pretty much anyone except the Rude Man from earlier. She thought of herself as an open and friendly person, how hard could it be to make friends with some weird colonists on a strange planet? She made a small gesture to some fruit on the spread and asked, “Does all this grow here? It’s an impressive variety.”

"We do," came a response from an Orion. Hey, the two science ensigns could recognize her! "Food replication comes in handy of course, bu-u-u-u-t... this just tastes so good!" "Literally no difference between the two, but okay..." another villager commented, with no real heat behind their sentence, but a knowing smirk. "We are not having this discussion again!" she rolled her eyes, before refocusing on the officers, "Local wild game and also our own grown farm animals. The various vegs are grown in our compact little greenhouses, the wonderful things. I think we can certainly give you a quick tour before you leave... but we'll let Arnin speak first." (edited)

“Arnin?” Groznin asked between spoonfuls of stew. Not that he really cared about a greenhouse or a tour, but having more time between now and having to talk with Dmitri on the ship was welcome.

She smiled, trying to ignore the snide comment. At least this Orion seemed friendly and normal. “Oh, I’ve always thought real produce tastes better. You get the variation between fruits, weather conditions… I can tell the difference at least.”

"What kind of wild game? and more importantly, what kind of farm animals do you have that could produce such good dairy and cheese?" Paco asked as he took a bite from a slice of cheese before spreading some of the jam onto a slice of meat and eating it. Good stuff.... Paco still held his stance that replicated produce doesnt taste as good, but will not say anything for now. "A tour sounds nice."

At this point, he'd devoured everything and gotten up for stew and some water (alcohol tends to interact with medications badly, so he avoided it). He was the kind of person who would forget to eat for hours, then when food was placed directly in front of him he'd realise how hungry he was and eat the whole thing in seconds. Walking up to Paco & Co with his bowl of stew, he asked, "Were any of the animals injured in the bad weather?" Not that he would stoop so low as to treat a cow. He was not a veterinarian.

Iki and unfamiliar food was a battle on any day of the week, preferring to stick to things they were used to. It had been a battle coming to the Federation, where replicators did not always readily carry the recipes they were used to, and they had gotten used to carrying their own recipes with them whenever they went somewhere new. Now, that would be impolite, so they settled for a small bowl of one of the meat stews, hoping it would be good and at least not wasting much food if they didn't like it, before settling next to Paco, obviously recognising the Orion lady, who they greeted with a head bow. "Lieutenant Umali, we were interrupted when you were asking about the books before. I received them from this woman earlier, after we helped her right some fallen trees."

Eddie had absolutely been here the whole time milling around and chatting to people like the eager beaver he was. Unlike Iki, he had an iron stomach and, much to his partner in crime's horror ate just about anything up to and including live gagh. He had a plate full of various meats, cheese and fruit clearly enjoying the free food in a scene that looked like the federation never fed the poor ensign.

"Oh I see. What kind of books are they?" Paco asked Iki out of curiosity as before he continued to subtly and politely snack on the things they would otherwise not because he enjoyed them and nothing bad would probably happen.

"Yeah-h-h-h, exactly," she nodded, giving her heckler a (playful) poke in the side: "See? That's exactly what I've been saying." Paco's question took her attention, then: "Well, it kind of looks like a deer." "I think it's more of a targ," the civvy from before supplied, thoughtful. "... Well, it does look like a targ if you look at it from the side. I guess. Anyways, uh-- there's a whole lot of them up north. We don't hunt too many of them, keeping sure the population's fine, all that stuff. As for the farm ones, our first settlers brought some with them 20 years ago. They are well protected, I assure you! And well taken care of. Last time Starfleet brought us some new animals, to keep our farm healthy. Did you taste the deviled eggs yet? You ought to. You'll regret not tasting them."

"It's their leader," Maiek politely informed Groznin, after unintentionally(?) sneaking up on him from behind, like a normal person. "The religious one, at the very least. He's the caretaker of the churches."

"Ooo! deviled eggs! Why thank you!" Paco took a few, like 6, and tried some. Deer and targ are two completely different animals that both look and taste different. Paco should know, he's eaten quite a good deal of Klingon food and was/is the throat goat... jokes aside, does it taste like targ?

"They're books on folk tales. I expressed the scientific relevance of folk tales, and she gifted me them as thanks for our aid." Iki took a bite of the soup, and it was fine, really, but probably not something they'd seek out to eat again.

"Ah, right." Groznin said, flinching slightly at the sudden appearance of Maiek. He had remembered that the leader had been named in the mission report, but he had forget what exactly that name was. He must have been distracted by something, either moving boxes or the stew. "Thank you Mr. tr'Shen."

"Okay, continuing on the animals," when did she acquire a drink in her hand? What the hell? Perhaps she was a sorcerer... "None of them got hurt, thankfully. We've taken the task of building the farm section very-y-y seriously! No storm nor beast shall barge through."

He nodded slightly. Then, quieter, "Two humans at the dessert table are throwing some rancid stink eyes at the engineers. Thought you'd like to know that." And just like that, he moved on, melting into the crowd to talk some more with Rami.

He swallowed some meat. "Well, that's good, but if they ever get injured, we actually do have some vets on the station." He didn't know how many were Starfleet, though. Lots were probably civs.

Edgar had 100% not noticed the stink eyes. To be fair, he was just trying not to make the situation more weird, but again, bad vibes.

Groznin narrowed his eyes at the engineers, having more reason to suspect them than the colonists based purely on most of them being a young cohort. "Thank you." Oh, nevermind, Maiek was gone. Groznin didn't do anything at the moment but keep his eye on the group and continue eating his stew.

3

Evoras had taken herself water and small portions of some spring vegetables that she wasn't familiar with. Despite being truly curious what they might taste like so far she had done little more than pick at her plate, opting instead to look around and more or less intentionally listening in on what the people around her were talking about.

Stink eyes... Oh, yeah, that reminded him of something. He approached Edgar, the most immediately available engineer. "By the way, did your group see anything... Strange?"

“Uh… well, the generators had little scratch marks and chewed wires, like animals got into them, and then when we brought it up, the folks showing us around got weird.” He admitted, “And the one me and Tavek were working on had a weird circle symbol on it, if that means anything.”

"Circle symbols..." Did he see something like that earlier, or was that just Onyon reading everyone else's posts? "Okay, thank you. I'm going to ask the other blues the same thing." The sciency folks.

1

“Cool beans. Have fun, I guess?” He offered an uncertain smile.

He nodded and approached a sciency folk. Probably Evoras or Iki. Whoever replied first. "Did you see anything weird while you were helping them?"

She was enjoying her stew and looking around. It was not like Garcia to just look around. Usually she would just effortlessly be making light conversation with the colonists, joking around, sharing food, having the usual fun. This, this was unsettling, even for her. Maybe being on a diplomatic ship had made her… spoiled? In some sense? There had always been those hard first contacts or follow ups but the crew was used to it, everyone kinda knew how to de-escalate those situations. Here, she had a sense it would be too easy for some officers to end up pick up fights… plus what had happened on the towers made her feel bad. Which is why once she noted the two colonists of before, some glares being thrown around too, she decided to make a risky move. “Hello… I believe you were with us before…” She approached slowly and talked with a soft voice and an hesitant smile. “You were right, it’s a nice feast your people prepared for our crew. The stew I got is delicious, I’m sure the others are enjoying the food as well.”

"There were circle symbols in the warehouses as well, we were told they held decorative purposes." She raised and eyebrow and took a quick glance at the people around them. "What brought on this investigation, Lieutenant?"

"Well, I saw a plaque saying curiousity hurts, so... Ouch?" As if that was at all a coherent explanation, he walked away.

2

21:01

Who was left? The warehouse group and the church group... Well, the only person he could remember going to the warehouse was Groznin, and the vibe was weird right now, so he approached that one priest instead. "Hey, did you see anything weird in the church?" (edited)

The man - the one that blew up - straightened out as Garcia approached them, slowing his chewing of the stew and narrowing his eyes even further. His companion, in turn, kept a politely neutral expression on her face. Before he even opened his mouth, the back of her palm lightly smacked against his chest, as she spoke: "Thank you. We try to do our best to showcase our gratitude, and it is always nice to do something grand for one reason or another, is it not? Though, perhaps grand is a strong word here. But you get what I mean."

Said priest, who was watching the transpiring trialogue like a hawk, briefly looked away to stare at Dmitri instead. The question was... peculiar. Maiek lost count of how often someone asked him something similar. So carefully, he replied with a question of his own: "What exactly... would you call "weird", in a place of worship?"

He shrugged, putting his empty bowl of stew on a nearby table or something and wiping his mouth with a napkin. "Circles. Strange plaques. Things that seem... Unsafe."

Groznin could hear Dmitri, he was no expert on religion but he could tell that this was getting into offensive territory in a place where it seemed the away team had already made at least a few social faux pas. However, saying anything would require speaking to Dmitri, and Groznin really didn’t want to do that. Instead, he rested his elbow on the table and buried his face into his hand. Long, long day.

“The circles could just be a different form of worship!” She said from her spot amongst the group. “But I saw them while I was in the warehouse yeah.”

Evoras blinked a few times, before exhaling forcefully through her nose and promptly following after the Lieutenant. It wasn't that she wasn't interested, but considering they were on a colony that they knew was secretive going around calling their customs weird without knowing about them seemed extraordinarily risky. "Lieutenant, I understand wanting to know more... Perhaps try to word your questions better at least?"

He could help but snort, then. "Circles? Why, they were all over the place. Some believe that for something otherworldly to intrude upon the living, they need a path, a nook to bleed into, like runaway ink. When nearing an engraved circle, it shall get stuck on it's line, and walk about it endlessly, forever." He gestured to the tables, which were... ah. Arranged in a large circle. "They're wards, Lieutenant. Where have you been seeing them?.." (edited)

”Well I think its pretty grand.” Her answer was so straightforward, clearly natural, it left no place for anyone to doubt it was insincere. “Reminds me of the barbecues we would do at home. The food was different, but we also gathered everyone around, all the neighbors… sometimes people would invite coworkers or people that did some job at their place. A way to say thanks.” The tension on her shoulders dissipated a bit. Talking about home felt good. “Went there recently again and they organized one of those.” She stopped there, realizing she was getting carried away, and gave them time to react to what she had shared. Talking a bit too much was also a specialty of hers. She took another spoonful of her stew to mask it.

Garcia received a double blank look, but, hey. At least it wasn't more antagonism? Right?.. "Sounds lovely," the woman commented mildly, before staring back at her companion. He sighed. "My apologies for the words I've said at the field," he said, perfectly rehearsed. But then, he wrinkled his nose: "I did mean it about the hardships, though. Could've said it kinder, but I did. We have it different, and I'd prefer it respected."

He listened to what people were saying, then sighed. "Well, they can have their rituals if it makes them feel better. I'm more interested in if there's any reason they might have to ward against things. Ghosts?" Someone had acted strange earlier when ghosts were mentioned.

Crinkles appeared in the corners of his eyes, evidence of amusement. "Usually there are reasons, yes. They can be as simple as a superstition, or some sort of fear, or even a mere tradition, passed through so many generations it became compulsive, instinctual, irrational. What is it that is bothering you?"

He recalled his conversation with Edgar. "People act strange when certain things are brought up. Animal marks, strange plaques... As in, the whole room reacts, from what I've discerned. It's like everyone here knows something we don't, and I don't like that. There is strength in knowing things, and weakness in not."

"Mm," he muttered, picking a toothpick up to stick it between his lips. He couldn't smoke here, so... "I will say that these people are heavily superstitious. Couldn't pry out the details, but the main guy said that... oh, well, speak of the devil..."

A man walked out from the crowd, followed by Rami. At some point, a small podium was set up, which is exactly where he ended up. A Betazoid as well, shaggy-haired and thin, it was easy to confuse him for some villager with how easily he blended into the crowd... (edited)

He turned to look at the podium. "What, another priest?"

"More like the local pope..." was that... a hint of dislike, in his voice?..

She drifted to the edge of the party with a plate of desserts. She had vaguely notes the podium, because that’s a weird thing at this party, but the whole thing was exceptionally weird, so it blended in. The religious overtones were lost on her, particularly those of Earth origin.

He could understand tone. Call him tone-reader Dmitri. Because he could could understand tone. Really well. Yeah. "What's your beef with this guy?"

A fucking pope???? Here he was, with his cheese and his dirty uniform, and they were meeting a pope??

2

From the context, it was pretty easy to gather that a pope was an important religious figure of some kind. Iki abandoned their stew, and stuffed their books into a bag that I've just decided they totally have. That's also where they keep their tricorder, you see. "He looks rather unassuming," they stated. They didn't recognise him, at least, so they couldn't have stepped on those particular dogmatic toes on accident, as far as they were aware. (They preferred not to speak to the actions of the others. Seemed like they'd been sticking their noses where it wasn't wanted a bunch. Which, they weren't going to fault any of them for that, they were finding the medical Lieutenant whose name they hadn't learned yet intellectually quite sufficiently developed even if his personality was not necessarily, but still. Sounded like those guys might have stepped on some toes.) (edited)

Groznin turned his attention away from Dmitri’s… whatever Dmitri’s deal was and towards the newcomer. “I take it that’s Arnin.” He said lowly, but without any dislike in his voice, just idle curiosity.

"Balked at my ears while expressing his surprise at the fact that Romulans now work for Starfleet," he replied to Dmitri, voice as sweet as poisoned honey.

1

He actually laughed. "They do? This is news to me!"

”Actually…” She gulped down on the stew, minding her manners. “I came here to apologize to you on behalf of my crew.” She wasn’t particularly surprised that they didn’t connect with her story, but the apology of the other, even if clearly rehearsed, meant there was space for offering her own. “They are young and most have not dealt with colonies such as yours. You could have said it kinder, but so could the members of my team. This is actually something I’ll be bringing back to our superiors, I think we could all use some diplomacy training… honestly, I’m sorry for the general overstep.”

"Yeah," he squeezed the toothpick between his teeth, a grimace. He followed Arnin's figure with his eyes...

It seemed like they wanted to say something more, but the arrival of Arnin just turned it into a rushed nod from both of them as they turned to listen. A subtle signal for Garcia - and the rest - to do the same.

Well, important person just entered the room alert. She followed their eyes meeting the guy in question. She had not heard what Maiek said, so she had no idea who he was, but still she stayed quiet waiting for whatever was about to happen.

"Our dear guests," the man began to speak, his voice easily carrying over the gathered people. "I am honored to welcome you here, in our home. It has now become a semi-annual tradition of ours to work together, though this was the first time we've received aid from the Starbase 777's team. We are humbled by Starfleet's unconditional generosity, and can only offer a feast and our company as a thank you. We hope that you are enjoying it nonetheless." He smiled, then - something akin to Rami's gentle beam, but duller: "I shall refrain from boring you all to death with a long, drawn-out speech. Please, enjoy the rest of the feast."

Was it time to clap? It felt time to clap. He clapped awkwardly.

8

He released a breath he didn't know he was holding. For a moment, he thought they'd all be subject to an hour-long preachy ramble about... Circle jesus, or something. "Well, that was..." Huh? Was that clapping? Was he supposed to clap? He clapped a few times, awkwardly stopping if nobody else was doing it.

"Anticlimactic?" Maiek offered, his own claps as dry as a desert. Their combined efforts were drowned out by the people around them applauding their leader.

Oh, clapping. Kirio moved to clap, narrowly catching their plate before their cheese went flying. Reflexes, baby.

"Yeah. I kind of expected this to all be some trick to get us to follow their religion. No offense," a phrase that never preceded anything non-offensive, "but you priestly types can strong-arm people into this kind of thing sometimes."

Thankfully for everyone, due to the clapping, Groznin did not hear what Dmitri just said.

4

Shocei put her plate on whatever nearby flat surface she could find and joined in the polite clapping. She still felt the weird vibe, but maybe she was just being judgmental.

"Your dealings with the priestly types have been limited, then" he responded, unbothered. "There are fundamental differences in intentions, and anyone's who's is coercion can coerce themselves into choking on a fffff--" The sentence turned into a deflated hiss as Maiek bit his tongue. "Mm. I can't say that. But you get the point."

Might as well clap a little. He joined in, quietly and somewhat sparsely, as he pushed around a slice of something on his plate. “Hear hear.” He muttered under his breath.

”Ha… usually those are given before people start eating where I come from…” She shook softly her right hand, a repeated turning motion of her wrist, since the left one was occupied with her cup. It was a way to clap, without making noise. “He speaks well…” Maybe it was time she came back to her group… she had already said what she needed to the other two.

"Not a particularly inspired orator, is he?" Iki asked rhetorically.

He laughed at the almost-swear. "Limited, yes. Impactful, though... And unique. I don't take kindly to people trying to manipulate me into changing my perception of reality." Prophets know - or, well, they didn't - he had a hard enough time staying tethered to reality sometimes. "Sensus est mundus." (edited)

He opened his mouth to respond, but... instead, Maiek suddenly furrowed his eyebrows and looked backwards, straining to look over the crowd: "What is that sound--"

Footsteps. Footsteps were thundering down the path, the villager's breathing ragged and desperate as they barged through the crowd, "MOVE! Move aside!!" The Betazoid - one Groznin and Maggie could recognize as the same one from the warehouses - ran up to the podium, choking on air as he screamed upwards, right into Arnin's face, "The fog! It's coming! The fog is crawling down here! The f-fog is..." Thud. He fell down, a heavy weight, awkwardly hitting the pavement. And the crowd exploded, panicking and running into all directions. The tables were being turned over as people clambered over them, trampling food and each other as the feast was forgotten...

12

Kirio moved swiftly, attempting to navigate through the chaos to the person who had collapsed. "What's happening!?" they shouted over the noise, re-activating security officer mode. "What's going on?"*

“The fog?!” He exclaimed, shoving away from the table and hopping to his feet, and looking to the other engineers, “Uh… guys? What the hell?”

Groznin looked around, quite frankly dumbfounded by the quick series of events that had just occurred. “This was NOT in the mission briefing!” He yelled over the commotion and then tried to get to the man who had fallen, he recognized him after all.

Shocei did the thing that seemed the most reasonable at the time: absolutely nothing. She stayed with her back glued against the building behind her, unmoving as people sprinted around. Unless one of the officers gave some kind of instruction, she was staying right where she was. She took another bite of pastry, because there was nothing else to do.

2

The officers could instantly feel the push of the panicking crowd. Better think quickly... and perhaps prioritize their own safety.

Well, the first thing to do in a crisis scenario was calm down and not get trampled on. He began making his way to the fallen man, not to pick him up but to see if he needed medical attention. "Is he breathing? Injured?"

“Oh Jesus Christ not fog again.” She said with a shudder as she grouped up with the team. “What do we do?”

Luckily, they were trained precisely for scenarios like this. Kirio kept their voice loud enough to be heard, but even, devoid of panic, still trying to make their way to the man. "Everyone needs to get to shelter. Whatever this is, if they're distressed enough to run for cover, you all need to do the same. The doors— they all have seals, all that matters is that we get inside. Go!"

Didn’t have to tell him twice. Ed moved with the group of engineers, as fast as his legs could carry him, towards the nearest building.

Groznin got near the man and the group surrounding him. He tried to act as a human shield but at 5’8? Yeah he wasn’t doing much. “We should evacuate, call the Eventide for an emergency transport.” He stated simply. The safety of the away team came first and what better way to escape the fog than to leave the planet.

Tavek was right behind Ed, hightailing it towards shelter.

Those who were currently running could see a house with an open door!.. but behind their backs, those who lingered by the fallen man, became separated.

7

Maggie began heading for shelter, now just realizing that perhaps she may have been bullshitted to about the circles.

He hit his combadge, static, shit. “Comms are down, we need to get to safety before we get trampled.” Or Fogged. He spoke like the Lieutenant Commander he technically was, this was an order.

There was power that could come sometimes when someone was small. To sneak around places, to go unnoticed… today the only power in being 5 feet came with her fall to the ground not being too hard. Once the people ran rampant, Garcia, who had been a bit farther away from the group due to her trying to talk with the two colonists of before, was pushed down by the desperate horde. She managed to protect herself enough by a table that was standing on its side, also thrown over in the middle of the chaos. Her only thoughts were: WHAT THE FUCK IS HAPPENING. JESUS, MARIA, JOSÉ. As she tried to look around, not spotting those of her crew who ran much less the open house to where she could have ran. The small party with the man on the ground was all available in her sights. She approached. “Are you okay? Oh shit, OH SHIT! We gotta move, and we gotta move him too!” She assumed the man couldn’t do so by himself at the moment, or he would have.

It was hard for Nevada (who had definitely been there the whole time) to follow what exactly happened. One moment she was eating contently and the next… everything exploded. Suddenly there were people on all sides of her pushing and shoving. She was like a lone palm tree being buffeted in a hurricane. She was NOT built for shoving through a crowd, and she had immediately lost sight of most of her compatriots. The decision was made for her: she was forced to follow the villagers and hope her fellow officers were doing the same.

One large negative of being minus three feet tall is that you get swept up in crowds really easily. Like, really easily. So without knowing where they were going, or what was really happening aside from a fog rolling in, Iki had the choice of either moving with the crowd or getting trampled like Mufasa in The Lion King. The choice was rather easily made.

One moment, Paco was just enjoying some nice cheese and may be going to get a tour of the community's farm and produce, the next moment came in Armin who seemed like a nice enough guy and apparently a religious figure, and now here they were.... In the middle of a stampede as a apparently deadly and/or dangerous fog began to roll into the colony. Paco saw one man fall, heard Groznin announce that comms were down, he smelled where the shit and kool aid were blowing in the fan, and felt like he needed to start running to the nearest shelter, but before two things. First, save what cheese he could save; and second, help whoever he could help not get trampled and into shelter.

The push of the crowd is a relentless force. The officers could feel near constant, violent bumps against their shoulders and sides as people ran, terrified, having no care for the Starfleet no more. Dmitri, Kirio, Shocei, Groznin, and Garcia huddled around the fallen Betazoid. His hair and clothes were damp, as if he ran through a raincloud. He was breathing, deep... asleep. "Run! Run, hurry!" someone yelled right at them. The Orion! "Run for shelter! House, church, anything! Don't get stuck in the f--" Her voice was too weak and strained to get carried over the crowd. Said crowd paid them no mind, and it was clear as day - they were about to get trampled if they did not move.* *Paco was unable to pick up any food - as soon as he would approach the overturned tables, he was swept away. The other folk getting carried away by the crowd - Edgar, Maggie, Tavek, Nevada, Iki - could spot a high porch going upwards to a red door of a house, which sported a similarly red roof. People all around them skattered into random shelters, clearly uncaring of which house belonged to who, often in large groups. That left some of the homes vacant... perfect shelter. "Run!" "Hide!" "Get into the house!" "Lock the doors!", screams of panic all around them...

"NO!! THE CHEESE!!!" He shouted as he is swept away by the crowd, a crowd that trampled over the cheese... It is just like that lost hawaiian pizza during the Station Science Fair all over again... a traumatic war story that he really needed to talk about to someone like Allan, Saren or Maggie. * *Not wanting to risk having the same fate as his cheese, Paco relented and followed the crowd with an occassional turn whenever there was a path of least resistance he can move towards. If he were to find some other house or church-like building, he would go there.

"I've got you," Kirio muttered, attempting to hoist the man up and onto their shoulders, struggling against the current to remain standing. "We have to get him out of the crowd— and to safety, as soon as we can."

Helping Kirio lift the man up so that he was between the two of them, he looked around for places out of the way of the crowd they could set him down. "We might have to settle with just getting him out of the way." He wasn't sure they were going to get to shelter in time - at least, not before people closed their doors and refused to open them again.

Thud. Thud. Thud. Bodies could be heard falling in the distance, as from one side of the square, fog began reaching into the heart of the colony. (In it, a shape - everchanging, neverlasting. It laughed, and gurgled, and wheezed.) The panicked screaming and running only increased. Again, people did not care for the officers - if they stood in the way, they might as well tear through them. Someone violently pushed the trio to the side, growling out something vulgar, and the houses around them were already being closed shut... HURRY.

”Guys… I’m afraid we gotta go!” She had noticed all the noise. The screams, the falling bodies, the diabolical gurgling laughter. “I know it sucks!” And her heart ached knowing she wouldn’t be able to help everyone around her. “But we need to prioritize our safety! We won’t help anyone if we’re knocked out cold!” Or dead. In her heart a desperate prayer begun to form: that staying in the fog did not necessarily mean death, that they found a way to come back to the colonists and that they survived long enough for it.

"HEEELLP!" Paco shouted as he continued to get swept away by the crowd, which only gotten drowned out by their screams. He never knew he could feel this claustrophobic while being squished and somewhat trampled by a crowd as he moved towards a house with the red roof.

"Yeah, yeah, we're moving—" Kirio pivoted to start following the flow rather than fighting it, trying to make their way towards the closest shelters. They couldn't save everyone, and they had to come to terms with that. All they could do was pray it wasn't something poisonous.

Well, that changed things. There was some kind of Thang in there. He wasn't getting eaten by a Thang. His altruism had its limits. "Are you seeing that thing too?" He asked Kirio as they moved the guy.

The situation was quickly becoming dangerous even without the fog. “Not in the mission briefing!” Groz said again, almost like a curse as he moved with the crowd. He tried to keep an eye on as many crew members as he could as the crowd moved him toward hopefully safety.

After the first group made it to the house with the red roof, the door slammed shut, possibly because the house had reached capacity, maybe out of simple precaution for the fog. Either way, that was one half of the team secured... Now for the rest.

A familiar voice called out, sounding a little panicked. "Starfleet, over here!" Rami shouted, leading Garcia, Groznin, and most of the group who had stayed behind into what was presumably her home, located slightly off of the main square but still absolutely in reach. The door was left slightly ajar, to keep the fog out while Rami waited for the group to get inside. "And lock the door behind you!"

As for Dmitri and Kirio however, both of these houses were out of reach. The crowd around them began to thin as people rushed inside, closing their doors to them when they saw the sleeping man between them. Whether done in fear or disdain, it was hard to tell. Eventually, the fog came licking at their feet, and inexplicably, the man between them seemed to become twice as heavy to carry... but there was at least a small brick shed-looking building for them to lock themselves into, though they were cutting it unimaginably close.

Brick-shed building it is. "Over there," he said to Kirio, making his way over to the shed.