A Different Set of Ears [Arch/Reyaen]

"You may take a blood sample if you wish, doctor."

Reyaen rolled her head around slowly, stretching her neck. One hand was still firmly over the tender area at the base where it met with the shoulder. It was almost as if she were guarding it. Afraid that any tampering would set off some morbid fail-safe. There was some comfort that Starfleet doctrine was far less cruel than that of the Dominion, but she was still considered an asset more than a person.

"I doubt anyone will have any inclination to match the work of my previous allegiances. Vorta aren't very good soldiers. Weak eyes. Ears are good though. You have an unusual heartbeat..."

"Thank you..." Although she was quite surprised by the offer, Zero wasn't about to let it pass, not when she had the chance to open a new project that she had wanted to start ever since learning that the Vorta had been constructed by the Founders in much the same way she had. Picking up a hypospray and a couple of empty cartridges, she started to draw a blood sample into the cartridge.

"Impressive hearing indeed, if you are capable of determining that my heartbeat is not the norm for humans," she remarked. "If you have weak eyesight, that is perhaps something that we are able to correct, if the defect is similar to a condition very regularly seen in humans."

Reyaen's face cheeks flinched from the hypospray. It was not a painful experience, but was not enjoyable either. She felt a bit warmer and a touch lightheaded. Perhaps something to eat soon would be in order.

"I'm not defective!"

The Vorta's eyes shot to the floor as a sudden wave of fear came over her. What an outburst would mean for her she had no idea. She had just arrived. Considering what the captain had said, it was within possibility she would be sent right back to a Federation maximum security facility.

"I-I'm sorry, Doctor."

Although she didn't flinch back at the outburst, but she did raise an eyebrow again as she set the hypospray aside, tilting her head to one side. The Vorta's reaction had been most curious.

"I did not mean to infer that if there was a defect that it would be a severe one. Issues with eyesight are for the most part easily repaired with simple procedures. It is common for humans to be afflicted with such things."

With her blood sample collected, the Augment left her patient for a moment, returning with a glass of orange juice and two cookies, setting them on the biobed next to the Vorta. "I would advise you to eat and drink in order to restore your blood glucose levels to an acceptable norm."

"To be considered defective is the worst insult to a Vorta. Gods don't make mistakes and to purposefully create a clone that was inferior shows a sign of great... well, I don't really have a word for what it means other than it can mark us for the duration of one's line if not cause it to be ended entirely. At best to set an example for other Vorta."

A cookie was taken first and nibbled on with the orange juice in hand. Crunchy, but it turned to small grains with a few chews. Strange texture to become mush so quickly. The juice had some hint of flavor, but mostly it was the strange burning from the cool liquid that caught her attention. Lightly acidic, but not poisonous in the least.

"What if you were created to have poor eyesight? Could my brain even handle more input from my eyes?"

"Am I to understand that your Founders somehow managed to identify a solution to replicative fading?" Zero asked, her curiosity piqued. She wasn't particularly bothered by the fact that she had apparently insulted the Vorta, more interested in the fact that there seemed to be a treasure trove of interesting genetic research sitting on the biobed.

"It is not difficult to accustom one's brain to an increased neural input as long as the levels are kept constant and stable," she replied, shrugging one shoulder.

Reyaen froze. She had not put thought into it for some time, but there was a chill that gripped her chest. A shiver down her spine. Had they just been nightmares or were they actual memories? She had never been on board a Klingon ship before, yet she knew what the inside looked like in sharp detail. Almost as sharp as the blade plunged into her abdomen. The hot blood that rushed out was nothing compared to the heat of the plasma from a Jem'Hadar rifle. No matter which dream it was, she usually awoke in a panicked state. Sometimes screaming.

"The Founders... Found solutions to many problems. This thing around my neck used to be my termination implant. To use if captured. It's not so bad when you consider that there's also a transmitter that sends off our memories when we die. I'm not quire sure how it works, but it's to help make the decision more readily. Same mind, new body. It makes it easier to... End. Part of the reason for my confinement was in case Reyaen 4 could share my memories while I am still alive. I don't think so though."

"Curious. A device capable of copying and then transitting neural patterns in such detail as to be able to replicate the same mind in such intricate detail. Quite a feat of medical engineering," Zero replied. She tidied up her instruments. "As far as I am able to determine, you are fit enough to serve. Your medical is terminated."

Pausing for a moment in her tidying up, she considered the Vorta. "The other humanoids may not be receptive to you, but I have also noticed that they are highly adaptable beings. I suggest that you allow them time to acclimatise before taking it... what is the expression? 'Personally'."

Terminated. The word caused the startled Vorta to protectively cover her jaw where the implant used to be. She scanned Zero up and down, then somewhat relaxed when she saw no hint of hostile intent. Instruments were being put away instead of about to be used. No euthanasia today.

"...I won't. I've managed good working relationships with others in Starfleet. Besides, Vorta don't make friends. Even with each other."

Reyaen slid off the biobed and cautiously reached for her case.

"Might I be able to observe your research into my genetics, Doctor?"

Having returned to putting her instruments away, Zero didn't notice the few moment's of discomfort in the Vorta at the word 'terminated'. She frowned slightly though, looking at her patient at the declaration that Vorta didn't make friends. It was certainly curious.

"I have found that friendships are difficult to form, harder to maintain and near impossible to understand," she agreed. She seemed to perk up though.

"You have an interest in genetics."

There came a slight nod. This doctor was certainly odd compared to the rest she had encountered. The Vorta had heard of frequent interspecies courtships, perhaps she was the result of such a case.

"I suppose it's a hobby of mine. I never understood how a small, simple vial of the white could keep Jem'Hadar going and going. Such a wonderfully handsome race. The Federation thought of them as simple soldiers, mindless cannon fodder. Nothing could have been farther from the truth."

Zero tilted her head to one side slightly, pondering for a moment. She had only given the Jem'Hadar a cursory glance over during the long months she had spent incarcerated in Starfleet Medical during the Dominion War. They had never particularly interested her, even if had she been able to get access to the sparse information that had been collected on the artificial species.

"I believe that one of the main components of the ketracel white was an enzyme that they were unable to produce and yet they required to function. It is not an uncommon disorder in humanoids, a genetic flaw or acquired condition that causes a humanoid to lose or not develop the ability to produce a chemical element they require. In contemporary medicine, such flaws are easily corrected in the species we most frequently encounter."

Reyaen returned the slight head tilt as she pondered the doctor for a moment as well. There was a sudden realization of her usefulness. An opportunity really, to show Captain T'Koris what her work could do for the ship.

"I have a proposition for you, then. The project I'm working on is a Dominion interface system. It causes substantial discomfort and pain to Human users, but Cardassians and some other species don't suffer the same side effects of its use. Perhaps you could assist me in finding a solution?"

A Dominion Interface system? An interesting project, that was for sure, but how could she be of assistance? Zero was well aware that her talents were in genetics, not in systems.

"I would be a fascinating project, but I do not see how I can be of assistance. My area of expertise lies in genetics, not in Engineering, and I would hardly make a fitting test subject. Any data recorded from me would be false and unreliable."

"Your knowledge of anatomy trumps my own by lightyears. I don't even really know yet why the Human brain acts so adverse to the device after extended use. If that can be narrowed down, a modification could be made. Whether or not it's the device or user would matter little compared to the gains in efficiency and command awareness. Not to put an unjust burden on your shoulders, but my life rather depends on the success of this project. So, would you like to join in this endeavor?"

The Vorta gave a warm, hopeful smile. Perhaps this doctor could find something the others missed.

"It is certainly an interesting endeavour, but I have learned that we are not permitted to use members of the crew to experiment other than ourselves," Zero pointed out. She had learned of that one the hard way. Fortunately, it had been as Starfleet Medical and the incident had been contained. "We will not be able to test the device on anyone in order to determine what the cause of this adverse effect."

She set the final hypospray back into its proper place. "I would be very interested in covering the medical side of your project"

"I'll need volunteers, yes. They'd be under your observation and care during the observations. A few migraines are treatable, yes?"

Reyaen had perked up considerably compared to when she entered sickbay.

"I'm quite relieved to hear your willingness to help. Out of curiosity though... You mentioned your domestic partner and yourself had a child. How?"

"You misunderstand me. Experimentation on crewmembers is not permitted at all. If any medical experimentation happens, it must be on one's self, or with holograms. We will need to use holographic test subjects in this case as neither you nor I are suitable for this endeavour."

The Augment pondered the question of how she and her partner had conceived a child, tapping her tricorder on her palm. "I am a genetic expert. It was not a difficult process to exchange the genetic code in a donor spermatazoid with my partner's and fertilise one of my own ovums."

Reyaen's head turned slightly and her eyes narrowed toward the doctor who though thin, stood a fair bit taller than the Vorta.

"How are you unsuitable? You're Human and an expert in a medical field would be most apt. The only other option would be to dissect my soldiers who fell on Draken IV. We crashed in the southern hemisphere of the planet in a rather cold region. Their bodies should be preserved quite well."

It was not an ideal solution. She regretted immediately even suggesting it. Her dead deserved at least to be left undisturbed.

"...We could also compare brain scans of the crew from medical files. I noticed a few Cardassians on the roster. The device works perfectly well for them so we'll have a more thorough sampling."

Zero's eyes narrowed slightly at the Vorta's question as to why she was unsuitable for the project. That wasn't a question she was ready to answer yet. The Vorta was just going to have to make do with knowing that she was unsuitable and leave it at that.

"I am not suitable. That is all you need to know," she stated before continuing. "There are extensive scans of a Cardassian brain in the medical data banks. They are of damaged tissue, but it will be easy enough to rectify that in simulations.

"Care to show me, or should I return at a more convenient time to begin the work? Come to think of it, in my excitement, I don't even know where my quarters are."

Reyaen's jovial Vorta self quickly returned. A well-detailed facade to be sure. She was genuinely excited about the project, but uncertain about the doctor before her. True she had the knowledge and skills to be exceedingly useful, but it seemed she was a bit more than was meeting the eye. A mystery to unravel in due time, however.

With all of her tools neatly stored away in their precise locations and the blood samples stored in a small box for her to come back to later, Zero turned back to her patient.

"The captain instructed me to guide you to your new living accommodations. We can leave now if this is acceptable to you. Your quarters will be located on the same deck as the junior officers, although I believe you have been allocated a single berth."