The Pinocchio Effect

Posted on Wed May 15th, 2024 @ 6:49pm by Lieutenant Reeza Cuyu & Lieutenant Commander Rayek trLhoell & Crewman Doria

2,569 words; about a 13 minute read

Mission: Short Treks
Location: Cuyu Quarters
Timeline: After 'What in Reality..'

Cuyu Quarters

With the ship once more on enroute to Earth to meet with this dimension's Federation, Rayek excused himself from the Bridge. There were an number of things the Romulan wanted to check on to ensure the security of the ship, but first and foremost Rayek felt an obligation to check in on Doria and Miss Cuyu. Thus he soon found himself standing outside the Cuyu quarters and chiming Reeza's door.

Doria sat on the bed having enjoyed her juice and coloured. She was smiling more then normal as she laid there keeping occupied while wiggling to get comfortable in the new clothing. She was unable to do self diagnostics which bothered her. Looking up hearing the chime, Doria carefully rose and walked swiftly to the door. The newly not Android, but now T'Kon girl was panting from the exertion. Motioning for the door to open the out of breath little girl smiled up to Rayek and jumped to leap into his arms. If caught she would be discerned as so so so much lighter and the weight of a real girl now.

At seeing the android leap up towards him, Rayek reacted and opened his arms to catch Doria only at the last moment remembering to brace himself for her unaverage weight; except this time she was inexplicably light. On any other day, Rayek might have been stunned by this realization, but after having their Chariot-class starship turn into a Galaxy-class. This alteration seemed to just 'fit'. Readjusting his hold on her so that she was more hip-carried, he walked further into the room. He released her with one arm so that he could place a hand on her forehead. "Doria, are you okay? I was told you had a fever..."

Reeza herself excused herself from the Bridge. Now that things were cleared up, she had to make sure that Soja and Doria were both OK. She made her way down to Medical, checked in with Lt. R'Elle, and then headed to the sitters' to see how her daughter was surviving the weirdness. A bit later, after seeing that Cuyu Soja was fine, and was sleeping, and seemingly unaffected by the strangeness, at least according to her caretakers, she made her way to their nearby quarters. She needed to see what the HELL was going on with Doria. She walked in. Rayek was already there.

"Hello," she said, warmly.

Still with a hand on Doria's forehead, Rayek turned towards the arriving Ms. Cuyu. "Reeza. Is her condition, what it seems? Is this why a doctor was needed? Is she... alive?"

Doria nestled into His grasp and smiled so brightly as she wiggled in. She breathed, her heart beat, she coughed, she was warm. Her forehead still warm. She was very much alive. But she was also confused. "Master Rayek? Why doesn't my self diagnostic systems work? Can you fix them?" She hopped down and wiggled out of her dress bending to allow access to the panel in the small of her back that was no longer there. "You can access threw my diagnostic panel?"

When Doria wriggled to get down, he obliged, even as he was trying to take in the existence of this new reality. Her questions about her self-diagnostic made it seem like she hadn't yet clued into the changes of her new form. This was further proved when Doria undressed to present her 'diagnostic panel' to him.

Rayek almost reached out to double-check but caught himself. He fixed his gaze towards Reeza though he addressed the little girl - aware of her movement in his periphery. "Doria, get dressed. You no longer have a diagnostic panel to access. You are no longer an android. You are a living, breathing being; the same as Miss Soja or Ms Cuyu or myself. You must learn to recognize cues from your body to determine how you feel. Your skin feels overly warm to the touch, so you seem to still have a fever... often a sign of infection or illness. So we will need to take you to Sickbay to have that checked."

Reeza sighed. "I assume it's leftover from whatever mess we just came out of," she said. "I haven't had a moment to sit and explain," she said. "I needed to be present at work." Reeza took Doria on her hip. "You're heavy," she said. "Please go to the bedroom and put on your dress," she said, "And we'll go see Dr. Harrison," she said. She turned to Rayek when Doria left the room. "I gave her some of the pediatric medication I usually give to Soja," she said. "I suppose a full workup is a good idea, though," she said. "Her people haven't existed for a few millennia," she said. "I don't know what to do..." she admitted. She didn't like not knowing what to do-mothers always did.

At the sigh, Rayek realized how tired Reeza must be. He couldn't imagine what it must be like to be a single mother - and now to be responsible for not just her own daughter but an 'adopted' one - that had once been an android - as well. It would be much for anyone.

"In every family, there should always be one that puts the welfare of the children first, above all else. I was wrong to keep you from checking on Doria earlier." He offered a slight apologetic bow of his head. When he lifted it once more, he met her gaze sincerely. "Next time,.." Of course there would be a next time. "if the children need you - put priority to them. The bridge and crew will manage without its counselor for that short time. As for what to do now. We will figure that out together."

Reeza nodded. "It wasn't until today that I felt like I couldn't handle it. There's usually the school to lean on, and at our old posting, plenty of people to look after Soja. We're still so new, and with Erol gone, it felt like the move was necessary, but I wonder if a starbase wouldn't have been a better choice. Still, I appreciate the understanding," she said.

Doria bowed her head, "Yes Mistress Cuyu and Master Rayek. She turned and hurried off. It was not a long while before she was in the dress and trying to get it situated. "My holographic circuits do not work? If this one is no longer a Doria unit? Then is this one the species this one was imitating when the reality alteration began? Does that mean this one is a T'Kon now?" She walked forward and the dress needed obvious help getting situated.

"Also this unit is starting to feel the sensation that came before this unit had a coolant leak? How does this unit handle such?", Doria asked calmly.

"Coolant leak?" the Romulan asked, oblivious.

Reeza realized quickly what Doria meant. She dashed after the T'Kon. "Yes, it means you're T'Kon now. Or Onlie, or...whatever you were before you became DORIA. And that means you need to use the head," she said. "Come on," she said. She placed the girl in the refresher. "Do you know what to do?" She asked. Oh, gosh, how to navigate THIS?! With Soja, she'd toilet trained normally, but Soja had been a year and a half old, and had a special potty.

At Reeza's suggestion that Doria needed to use the toilet, the Romulan's expression turned to one of surprise. "Oh!" He was ever so grateful Ms Cuyu was there to assist with that. Potty training was not something Rayek was prepared for - even with his own son that scenario hadn't yet been discussed. Fvienn had only begun gap-walking a short while before Rayek found himself here - and as much as Rayek had helped his parents with looking after his younger siblings, potty training has not been part of his duties.

No. It was best if Rayek just waited and allowed Reeza to deal with that.

Doria nodded to Reeza, "This one has observed the biological function of Mistress Soja. This one is tentatively aware the use and function of the refresher and of sanitation post. This one shall return once the function has completed. Please alert Master Rayek that this one was remorseful for causing any panic. This one will be out um soon."

Reeza nodded once. "Excellent. If you need help, just call for me," she said, stepping out of the refresher room. She went into the main living area. "Commander, Doria is alright. She didn't realize that she needed to...urinate," she explained. "I think we have it figured out," she said. "Do you think it's going to stay this way? Will Doria be human...forever now?" She asked. This was now newer territory than having an android child in her life.

"I am glad that her issue was easily remedied." Rayek stated as they waited. Reeza's question however had him wondering. "I don't know but my assumption would be yes..?"

Reeza let out a sih, but nodded. "As far as I understand it, the known information about the T'Kon empire is lost to history, right?" She said. Reeza was a researcher at heart; she needed to know everything about everything before making a decision. Usually.

"I don't know. Possibly? The T'Kon are not a species I have concerned myself with prior to now. I will attempt look into it and let you know what I am able to find."

After finishing and properly sanitizing Doria returned, "This unit was mimicking a T'Kon when transformed Mistress Reeza. Logic states this one is now a T'Kon?" She then teared up slightly, "This one has monitored the conversation. Do you not want this one here Mistress? If this one is a burden then this one could find lodging in a storage area?" Tears were rolling down the girls cheeks as she desperately tried to stay stoic.

The Romulan let out a sigh at Doria's misunderstanding of the conversation. "That's not what Miss Cuyu said at all. If you are going to have an eidetic memory, it would best to use it properly."

Reeza smiled. "You are not a burden. It will just be a new experience for all of us," she said. "Yes, the Commander and I think that you will remain T'Kon forever," she said. The good news was that she'd age over time. The bad news was that she had no home or countrymen when Reeza and Soja were gone.

The girl looked to the Romulan with a hurt look, "This one didn't understand. This one is sorry. Thank You for explaining to this one Mistress Reeza." She lowered her head sadly, "This one is sorry for not understanding but will work hard to improve and learn." She began to paw at the side of her head at the confused thoughts she was having. "This one did not mean to misunderstand."

It was odd to see Doria with a hurt expression at his comment.. or a sad one ..it really drove home the reality of her new state of being. Rayek stepped forward and gently took hold of the hand that pawed at her head, clasping it between his own hands. "It's okay, Doria. Forgive me. I shouldn't have said that. You aren't an android anymore to have an eidetic memory. You and I can't expect for everything to be the same. You will make mistakes - and that's okay as long as you learn from them."

She stopped pawing when he took her fingers and looked up wanting to speak but instead nothing came out when her mouth was open. But a moment later tears rolled down her cheeks and she pressed against him sobbing, "Thank You.. Da... this one means Master Rayek. This one will work hard to learn and try to find proper ways to improve this ones memory banks and understanding. This one... I.." She hushes and just sobs.

Rayek felt terrible for making Doria cry. He leaned down and hugged the little girl as she sobbed. His heart wrenched when she almost called him 'Daddy', but he tried not to think overmuch on that. Leaving would be hard enough when it came time. For now, he just tried to console her. "You'll do fine, Doria. I trust this."

Reeza smiled. "It'll be easier as time goes on," she said. Her training had taught her that. "We will all make mistakes along the way. What will matter is how we talk about them, and move forward from them," she said. At least she had experience raising live children. That would make things easier!

The girl smiled up feeling better from his words and hugged to him before smiling to Reeza as well. "Thank You... this unit will work hard and learn and improve.
This unit is just... scared."

"We all are, I think. Or at least...uncertain," Reeza said, gently. "Alright, Commander. I think we've figured out what the problem is. What do we want to do about it?" She asked.

Rayek released his embrace and stood back up to his full height. Reeza's question had him confused. "I'm not certain there is anything that can be done to alter this. All we can do is support her in adapting to her new normal."

Reeza let out a deep sigh. "Alright," she said. If reversal wasn't possible, she supposed he was correct. "But I actually meant more or less how do we want to HANDLE it? Things will be...new. Perhaps switching off teaching Doria about how the humanoid world operates?!" She was really at a loss; this wasn't in her training manuals, nor had motherhood courses prepared her for this (or much of anything, actually. In truth, they were dumb and useless but it had made her feel better at the time).

"Ah, yes. Sorry, I misunderstood. I'm not sure how this is any different than before... other than obvious biological functions. But yes, I will help in teaching her as best I can." Rayek agreed.

"Well, before, I don't think she had the...urge to use the restroom that you and I do, and Soja does and your son, and so on," Reeza said. "That's all," she said. "But yes. We will do our best." She crossed to the kitchen area. "Anything to drink?" She asked. "Doria, when did you last eat?" She asked. "You can have dairy now, I suppose. How about yogurt and juice?" She asked. Soja would need a snack, as well.


Rayek nodded skeptically. As he understood it, the Doria unit had been intended to learn about other species. He would have assumed she would have been aware during her time aboard of the biological functions, even if she didn't have them herself. But perhaps not. When offered a beverage, Rayek hesitated. He didn't wish to be rude but he had a number of tasks to accomplish before he felt he could take a break. "I am fine for now. I have things to attend to, if all is well here."

"Understood, Commander," she said. "We'll see you later," she said. She had some chatting to do with Doria; she'd put Soja down for a nap and let Doria stay up so they could talk more. She watched as the Romulan took his leave, and then got the girls sorted for the afternoon.


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