Give Me Some Credits

Posted on Mon Jun 22nd, 2020 @ 1:36am by Cailus Griffin & Commander Mindo
Edited on on Tue Jul 7th, 2020 @ 2:10pm

Mission: Divided We Fall
Location: Holodeck 4
Timeline: Current

A Mission Post by Lieutenant JG Cailus Griffin & Lieutenant Mindo
Mission: Divided We Fall
Location: Holodeck 4
Timeline: current
Mon Mar 12th, 2018 @ 1:04am

It's not uncommon for lonely people to go to the Holodeck to score. People had been doing it since the technology was created. Mindo had scored several times in the Holodeck, but today he was having no such luck.

"These balls are too small," he said. "Computer, enhance size of balls by forty percent."

The balls increased in size.

"Now let's see about that high score," he said, pulling the shooter and sending a silver ball rolling up and around the top of the table, until it hit one of the round stoppers, bounced off a wall, hit another stopper, and rolled easily down the center of the table, until it bounced off a metal flipper before it could go down the center. "This feels right," said Mindo. The pinball table was a very basic design, but Mindo was only using it as a starting point.

The Arcade was only about a third done. The walls of the Holodeck still had the bare yellow stripes going up and down, side to side, but there were a number of already-working game cabinets on the first floor, and on the second floor one already-working Ski-Ball ramp with room for at least two more.

The ball went down the center again, but this time it had taken longer, and his bonus was much higher. Soon the game ended, and Mindo moved on to something else this time. Making the arcade had been an idea he'd had way back on the Rhys, but it had never come to fruition. Now Mindo had the perfect arcade lounge. His intent was to keep the program active permanently, so he could hire real help with real drinks and snacks and real prizes. Mindo had been programming the replicators to make little doohickeys, toys, stuffed animals, and various other trinkets for prizes you could get with tickets earned from various games. He hadn't cleared it with the Captain yet, but his hopes were high that Nyx would approve. The Pandora needed more than just a restaurant and pool tables. It needed a place with all kinds of games and activities, as well as a small concessions stand for those feeling snacky or thirsty.

So far creating the games had gone well, but he needed more atmosphere. He was also trying to make an even blend of classic games from Earth's twentieth century. There was Pong, Donkey Kong, Ms. Pac-Man, Missile Command, Tron, Mortal Kombat, Virtua Cop, and even more in the works. He wanted the place to have a lot of different features for every taste. He'd modeled the place from a classic arcade that was still in business while he attended the Academy. It was located right next to the Doohan School of Science and Engineering, the place where Mindo went for most of his classes. He'd befriended the owner of the place and asked him to give him the specs on each game, saving them onto his private PADD and holding on to them until the right time came to set up his own arcade. It was a dream realized now.

He walked over to a particularly confusing game called "E.T." and pushed the start button, not sure if the game was programmed wrong, malfunctioning, or just a really awful game, but he was assured that it was a classic. Mindo still thought about deleting it, but he hadn't done it yet.

Behind Mindo, the massive double doors to the Holodeck opened and Mindo turned to see who was there.

And thus he saw Cailus, the Martian lieutenant looking around with curiosity. The arcade was plainly half-finished, but there was nevertheless a certain wistfulness in his expression as he walked in. The lack of a phaser on Cailus’ belt made it obvious that he was off-duty, although as always, his uniform looked neat and tidy.

“Mindo,” Cailus said upon seeing the small Fesarian, nodding his head in greeting. “Sorry, I didn’t realise that the holodeck was occupied. I was going to do some unscheduled training, but I’ll come back another time.” And so, without even waiting for Mindo’s reply, he turned to leave, but hesitated, his mind suddenly catching on. Slowly Cailus looked around again with fresh eyes before returning his gaze to Mindo.

“Mindo, is this place what I think it is?” he asked in subdued amazement.

Mindo smiled and stepped down from one of the empty crates he had replicated for him to stand on.

"If it looks at all like Caesar's Palace from back at the Academy, then yes." Mindo grinned big. "These machines work. Wanna try one?"

Curiosity overrode habitual dislike, and so Cailus stepped up to one of the machines labelled Donkey Kong, his hands tracing the strange joystick and buttons. It felt like a lifetime since he’d last played on such a thing, with his old Academy friends laughing at the old game. Bemused as he noticed the period-accurate coin slot, he raised an eyebrow at Mindo. “Got a credit?”

Mindo smiled. "The slot is there for appearances. Just press Player one or two and the game will start. No currency needed."

So invited, Cailus duly selected the game and started it up. Predictably, he was utterly terrible, running into as many barrels as he dodged, and soon enough the GAME OVER message blared, taunting him for his failure and daring him to do better. Nevertheless Cailus turned to Mindo, and for once, he was smiling, although the smile was barely detectable.

“This is an excellent idea,” he said in all seriousness. “Really, Mindo. I had no idea that the arcade stayed open all this time.”

Mindo nodded back. "It was a family business as far back as 2087. That place has been there longer than the Federation!"

Cailus nodded, looking around the holographic arcade again. Even incomplete, he recognised various aspects that sent a wash of memories over him. “If you’d consent, I’d appreciate it if this program is made public when you’ve finished it. I think the crew could use something like this. Lots of them have probably been to this place, or at least heard of it.”

Mindo looked around the unfinished room. "I'm hoping Nyx will let me keep it up permanently. That way we can have actual prizes for various games. Prizes that can go outside the holodeck." He looked back to Cailus. "Hey, you wanna see the upstairs?"

There it was again, that instinctive twinge to distrust Mindo, but for once, Cailus ignored his instincts. He had some happy memories of his time in that arcade, both with his old Academy buddies and with Harriet, and exploring this recreation with Mindo was an appealing prospect. “Sure. Lead the way.”

Mindo led him up the stairs in the back to a large room that had a bar to their immediate right with stools. By the wall was a large ramp for Ski-Ball, and three more blank plots still needing to be filled. To their left were two large platforms with big screens and safety bars. The name on the screens was "Dance Dance Revolution," a game that was popular at the old arcade on Earth, but Mindo had never played it.

As Cailus looked around, Mindo told him more about his plans for the place. "I'm also putting in a couple air hockey tables and some more various games all along the wall. I still need to edit the atmosphere, but I think it's going to be pretty close to the real thing once it's done."

Listening intently, Cailus nodded. “A place like this doesn’t feel right if there aren’t at least a few other people around. You could talk to the Rec staff about setting certain times for the program to be running, rather than 24/7. Like just after the duty shifts. That way when it’s in use, there are plenty of people here.” He glanced at the dancing machines and smiled faintly, remembering when a couple of his buddies had gotten a little too enthusiastic with their dancing, ending up falling to the metal floor in a tangle of arms and legs.

Mindo looked around. "I wanted to do this on the Tornado, but never got around to it." He sighed. "Have you heard from the Tornado? Have you kept in touch with anybody?"

“Not as such,” Cailus replied a frown, surprised by the question. “I talked to Deloria a few days ago, but she’d left the ship by then. Why?”

"No one is answering my letters," said Mindo. "Not even Cara."

That caught Cailus’ attention, and he crossed his arms, suddenly back to his stern professional self even admist the somewhat colourful and ridiculous surroundings. “I knew that you and her were getting close. How serious was it before you got reassigned?”

Mindo hesitated. He hadn't actually talked to any other Tornado crew members about him and Lieutenant Eunidas, and he wasn't sure how much she had shared. Mindo had talked to Ensign Vecon Fick, the Pandora's main pilot, about his relationship, and he'd also told Captain Nyx, but he didn't think he'd get any answers from them.

"We were getting pretty close," he said finally. "But I haven't heard from her or anyone since I was reassigned. I don't even know if she's still on the Tornado. Every time I try to bring up info on the old ship it tells me the information is not available. We're stretched out so far apart... maybe the letters just haven't arrived yet."

Watching Mindo carefully, Cailus noted with some surprise that the engineer really was invested in this. It was strange to see, given Mindo’s laxadaisaical approach to romance. This wasn’t some passing whim. Mindo really was deeply concerned, and perhaps underneath his confident demeanour, even a little hurt. Most telling of all, though, was that of all the people who Mindo could’ve gone to, he’d asked Cailus, and not even in an official capacity. Approaching a friend such as Nyx and Shae would’ve been hard, but asking a man for help whom he so clearly despised? That took remarkable courage.

“The Tornado was undergoing classified ops last I saw,” Cailus said slowly, “but that shouldn’t have stopped them from accessing the Starfleet datanets. Even if they’re running dark, a Rhode-Island class don’t have much endurance. They should’ve checked in when getting resupplied by a ship or starbase.” He glanced at one of the dance machines, his usual frown gaining a suspicious edge. “Now that you mention it, Shae hasn’t heard from Caradan either, and they were friends too. The only thing we heard is second-hand from Ziara, something about Caradan and Riaan getting intimate.”

Mindo's heart stopped dead. He felt a pit in his stomach. He had to sit down. He backed up, leaning against the wall next to the bar. "So she's already moved on," he said. His head went down and he closed his eyes. For a second, it looked like he was going to cry. Finally he said, "Riaan's a good person. I... I don't know her very well but... but I suppose Cara could do worse." He sighed and stood up straighter. He glanced at Cailus, but immediately looked away; Cailus' face was the last one he wanted to see right now.

Mindo cleared his throat. His tears did not fall, and he rubbed his eyes to get the moisture out. "Cara and I were never exclusive," he said finally. "But we spent most of our free time together." Mindo let out a small laugh. "Actually, I was in a heavy flirtation with Ziara before I was transferred here."

Mindo looked down and cleared his throat again. "I've had an empty bed now for over a month," he said. "I don't know why I'm telling you these things. You're the biggest enemy I have on this ship; after what happened with Shae and me." He wiped his eyes again. "That might make you the only close friend I have on this ship." Mindo chuckled a little again and shook his head, trying to shake away the remorse, but also trying not to cry in front of Cailus.

For his part, Cailus didn’t move to comfort Mindo, nor indeed do anything. He simply watched, waited and listened, as cold and unaffected as a statue by Mindo’s obvious turmoil. A small, detached part of him marvelled that Mindo was even capable of such intense feelings for another person, before then realising the horrible arrogance implicit in such a thought. Still, the rest of Cailus’ mind ran the chain of logic with machine-like efficiency. It didn’t add up. Mindo’s presumed conclusion did not tally with the available data.

“I’m going to investigate this,” Cailus said with surprising gentleness, still examining Mindo carefully. “The Caradan Eunidas that I served with was honest, direct and principled, and almost certainly romantically inexperienced. You and Shae got to know her better than I, and I have no reason to doubt your assessments of her character. A woman like her...a Changeling, more accurately, would not ignore you nor move on without some form of closure, given the intensity of your relationship. Combined with the myriad threats to you both within Starfleet, an alternative explanation is possible.”

At that, Cailus took a couple of steps forward and hesitantly reached out, lightly grasping Mindo’s shoulder. The cold mask cracked, just a little, revealing a sliver of compassion in his blue eyes. “One way or another, I’ll try to find out what is happening. I can’t promise success, not when we’re so far away from the Tornado, but I’ll do what I can. Until then...” he paused. “Hold onto that hope.”

Mindo nodded and straightened his posture. "Thanks, Cailus. I don't know how to repay you." He looked around. "I could give you an advance of ten tickets toward prizes if you like. We're going to have all kinds of stuff to win here."

The corner of Cailus’ mouth flicked upwards in what could charitably be called a smile. “Don’t worry about it. I’ll earn my prizes the proper way.” He glanced around the arcade wistfully one more time. “I need to get to work on this investigation, but let me know if the captain gives you permission for this place.”

"Will do," said Mindo. "I think a lot of people are going to like it. We need a name for it, though..."

Cailus harrumphed. “There are more than four hundred people on this ship. You know how it works. Someone will think of a name within a couple of days and it’ll stick. Mindo’s Magic or somesuch nonsense.” It took a moment for Cailus to realise the double entendre and he rolled his eyes, turning to leave. Verbally ordering the door to reappear, he turned back to Mindo with a small but unmistakable smile and added, “I’ll see you tomorrow for Aoife’s trip to the sea. That was another good idea of yours.”

"Thanks," said Mindo. "I know it must hurt to say that," he added with a smirk.

In a flash, Cailus’ smile transformed into the cold, unforgiving glare that was the cause of terror for many a junior Sec/Tac officer on the Pandora. “Don’t push your luck,” he said quietly before striding through the doors, leaving the big holodeck portal to close behind him with its distinctive loud groan.