Smooth Sailing
"So, you are finally willing to show us what you've been working on the past six months?" Katye asked with a smirk.
"Wait, she has kept it a secret even from you?" Tom asked.
"To the point of encrypting her data pad when she isn't working on it," Raven chuckled.
"I knew you were trying to peek," I retorted, activating my holo-deck program.
The others that I had gathered for my unveiling all chuckled as well, and the doors opened up. Aside from my little group, I had asked Janeway, Chakotay, Tom, Harry, B'Elanna, L'Naan, Neelix, and Kes to be the first ones to try out the program. I had a couple of other games that I was working on, but this was the one that I had spent the most time on, and was finished more or less. They all walked into the holo-deck and looked around while I took up the rear.
"Really? This is what you made?" Raven asked with disbelief.
"You're a fool," Katye laughed.
"I don't understand. What is this?" Chakotay asked.
"Mario Kart. It was a popular video game in the twenty-first century, but it was a game that you could only play with a controller. What I've done is remade it for the holo-deck, so that you can drive the different vehicles and race your friends or computer opponents," I explained with a smile. "I'm working on a couple more, but they are individual games and figured that this would be something that the crew could enjoy together."
Currently, we were all standing in the garage that I had created where people would be able to customize their vehicles, but I had slapped the Mario logo everywhere I could like it was an original part of the game. I even went so far as to recreate the cartoony nature of the textures and colors like the game had. There were some members of the Mushroom Kingdom in little mechanic's outfits running around and working on the cars and bikes, though they were there just for decoration rather than actual function.
"So, to start, pick a station and use the console to select a vehicle. You can customize them by bodies, wheels, and gliders, but I'd recommend picking one of the presets for now, since they affect everything from the speed and acceleration, to handling and traction. After that, we can look through the courses that I've created and pick one," I explained.
"I hope Sweet Sweet Canyon is an option," Katye said with a smirk.
"Madi's favorite? It was the first one I did," I replied, smiling.
While Mario Kart was not exactly something that Janeway, L'Naan, or Kes were in to, they were willing to indulge my request, and even seemed to have some fun. Tom, Harry, B'Elanna, and Neelix all enjoyed the races, so I knew they would help spread the word about the program to the rest of the crew. Aside from the obvious boost to morale that having a fun distraction would bring, my other motivation for recreating the game was to encourage people to play the others that I was working on.
The debate of where we should go in our 'next' life had been going on for a while now, with three games as the favorites: Dragon Age, Skyrim, and Dark Souls. I knew things could, and would, change no matter which one we entered, so I wanted to outsource the possibilities. My hope was to use the crew to see how different ideas and choices would play out in a more dynamic setting than the actual game itself, using the computer to calculate the possible reactions to everyone's choices. It would not be perfect since real life and Chaos was not something easy to replicate, but any bit of help could not hurt.
Another episode came and went without us needing to step in. We discovered an inversion nebula which the Federation astro-theorists had theorized as being so unstable that they would burn out within a few years, but the one that we found was centuries old. The reason why it had survived so long was due to a hidden space station that would activate a dampening field whenever a plasma strand would ignite to prevent the others from burning away too.
The drama had been caused by the operator of that space station, who tapped into the Voyager's systems and posed as a holo-deck character. Harry fell in love with her, so he sought out Tuvok for help to eliminate his emotions, thinking she was just a holo-deck character. Tuvok had Harry introduce him to Marayna, who quickly became interested in Tuvok, and things spiraled out of control between Tuvok and Harry then between Tuvok, Marayna, and the ship. She blocked our ability to leave the nebula and tried to use it as a weapon against us when Tuvok refused her advances. However, just like in the episode, we solved the problem by locating her space station and beaming Tuvok to her where he talked some sense into her.
A month after that episode, another popped up, though the fun started the night before. When Neelix organized a talent show, which Katye had signed me up for without letting me know beforehand. I would have tried to avoid it since I remembered the joke about Tuvok's reading of Vulcan poetry, but she would not let me, and the poetry was as dry and boring as you can imagine.
"Thank you, Tuvok. That was... ah, wonderful. Next, we have Rebecca who will be preforming a song for everyone," Neelix said as he took center stage.
I walked up with a cherry sunburst gibson acoustic guitar in my hands. The decorative pickguard was proof that it was a hummingbird just like the guitar that my brother, Tori, had when I was growing up. Raven had replicated it for me after Katye told her about the talent show, since she knew how important it was to me.
"This isn't an original song, but I doubt anyone would know it despite that it's from Earth since it was made in the twenty-first century. Still, it holds a special place in my heart and I hope you all enjoy it too," I said as I sat down on the stool in front of the small crowd. My fingers strummed the guitar, playing the first chords of "We're Going Home" by Vance Joy.
"Under the surface you don't know what you'll find
Mmm, until it's your time...
No second chances but all we can do is try
Mmm, I made up my mind...
"I can't see you,
But I hear your call.
Baby, hold on now...
"We're going home...
If we make it or we don't, we won't be alone
When I see your light shine, I know I'm home
If you're waiting all your life, you won't ever go.
When I see your light shine, I know I'm home
When I see your light shine, I know I'm home
When I see your light shine...
"Some things are simple and hard to ignore, they say
Mmm, the truth is like that...
We're getting colder, so far from the shore, I say
Mmm, the world is like that...
"I can't see you,
But I hear your call.
Baby, hold on now...
"We're going home...
If we make it or we don't, we won't be alone
When I see your light shine, I know I'm home
If you're waiting all your life, you won't ever go
When I see your light shine, I know I'm home
When I see your light shine, I know I'm home
When I see your light shine...
"There's a place that I
Wanna run with you...
Darling, there's a place that I
Wanna run with you...
"We're going home
If we make it or we don't, we won't be alone
When I see your light shine, I know I'm home
If you're waiting all your life, you won't ever go
When I see your light shine, I know I'm home
When I see your light shine, I know I'm home
When I see your light shine, I know
I'm home...
I'm home...
When I see your light shine."
It was quiet for a moment as the song touched the hearts of the lost crew, which was why I had chosen it. Everyone had left friends and family behind when they were pulled into the Delta Quadrant, so they all understood the longing and love behind the lyrics. Katye and Raven were the first to start clapping, causing the rest of the people to clap as well, while I gave my three a smile before I stood up and walked off the stage to rejoin them.
I was one of the last performances, with only Janeway left to go after me. She performed her version of the Dying Swan ballet, which was not bad, but she was a little out of practice. After she finished, the talent show was over, and everyone started to disperse slowly.
The next day, I was assigned to the Bridge while Janeway and Chakotay took a shuttlecraft down to a planet to collect some nitrogenase compounds. I knew that this was an episode, and even asked to join them, but since I did not push it, Janeway just asked for me to watch Voyager. Unfortunately, that meant that Janeway was injured in the shuttle crash and was inhabited by an elemental creature known as a Mogwai. It was another type of Yin Spirit, similar to the Wraith that had taken over Tuvok long ago, which would draw Souls into its Domain where it would feed off that energy, but the catch was that it had to trick its victims into willingly entering.
Thankfully, Filigree could purge the creature from her, so we dealt with the problem easily once we took the Fae Dragon down to the planet. The Doctor was able to treat the rest of Janeway's injuries without any difficulty after it had left her body. After everyone boarded the Fae Dragon, I used our ship to tractor the broken shuttlecraft back to the Voyager where B'Elanna could have an Engineering team repair it. Janeway was, surprisingly, not too shaken up by her near-death experience, but then again, she likely had several other experiences throughout her life as a Starfleet captain.
It was good to see that things could work out without too many problems despite following the plot of the show, but not everything could work out by feigning ignorance. Our powers were too well known at this point, to the crew and captain alike, so we were pulled into an episode that I had been worried about, not because of the danger, but rather because it could prevent one of my favorite relationships from forming. It was not like I could tell Janeway that I did not want to participate in the away mission because I wanted to see them together in the future, so I would have to get creative if I wanted things to play out right...