The Final Countdown

Posted on Tue May 17th, 2022 @ 3:56pm by Ensign 'John Smith' & Lieutenant Avira zh'Kenarh M.D.

Mission: Mission 6 - Memory
Location: Rec Room
Timeline: Day 295 20:00
1348 words - 2.7 OF Standard Post Measure

John looked around the crowded rec room and grinned at how many people were there and seemingly enjoying things without him having to do much other than provide a device that they could sing with. No alcohol but plenty of atmosphere was all that the batteries needed and it became easier and easier to slip into their lives.

Everyone looked like they were having fun apart from the blue figure who was practically clinging to the wall in his mind. He shook his head and moved through the crowd towards her. “Good evening Doctor. Did not think you would be here?” He questioned.

Avira didn't quite know why she was there either, all she remembered was that the morale officer encouraged her to bond with people more. Since John Smith was the morale officer it was only logical to conclude he was the one that did the encouraging. "Well, I would not be much of a medical officer if I did not accept the professional opinion of my colleagues." She looked at John and conjured up a smile, it made her feel slightly lightheaded. It was quite busy in the hall and she wasn't much of a social person, so she wrote it off as stress from the situation. "Will you be taking to the stage?"

“Oh goodness no.” The man said quickly. He did not need to be under that spotlight this soon. It would do no good for his persona at all. “I cannot hold a tune to save my life but I am loving the atmosphere and the happiness it is creating. Well deserved for everyone and especially you.” He said over an engineering crewman butchering a song that everyone seemed to know the words to.

"I don't think that's necessarily true." The entire crew had been through a lot, Avira didn't quite know why she would be especially deserving of anything above the others. "But knowing the crew they might not accept no for an answer from the person that organised this little social gathering, so I guess you should consider picking a song."

"I am sure they will be too wrapped up in themselves to want to bother me. Nowhere as fun as getting you up on the stage. So if I go dear Doctor so do you." John said lightly as he smiled as he watched Lexi hobble up to the microphone and start singing a catchy pop song. "She is good." He said interested in the blonde.

"I don't know any of your Earth songs." Avira had been practising on this excuse all evening and was glad she had the opportunity to use it and was able to do so smoothly and quickly to shoot down any attempts on getting her to sing. "Besides, people need to be able to see me as a professional, reliable, medical professional." She turned to look at the person on stage and saw Lexi. "It's good to see she's recovering well."

John nodded. He did not know any earth songs either but he would be easier for her to pass off compared to him. He would be blending into the background to avoid that, he could put other people in the spotlight. "I forgot she had been hurt." He said spotting the leg cast. "Did not know she could sing though." That was something that he did not think anyone knew as he spotted a few people open-mouthed at the singing.

Avira wondered how he could've forgotten about that. A morale officer would play a big role in the recovery of memory loss. She had wondered why Smith hadn't been involved. A low hum in her ear started to rise. Had Smith not been there? It was impossible for him to have arrived after the incident in the tower. He had been there, right? The low hum whined into a high pitch. Pain radiating from her ears to swirl around the base of her antennae. She felt something stream down the side of her face and when she reached to touch her ear felt a warm liquid. She looked at the dark blue blood coating her fingers. "Oh." She had trouble focusing her thoughts and wondered what she had been contemplating just moments ago.

"Wow, doctor... I feel like you need a doctor." John said as he took her hand and guided her to a quiet corner where he grabbed a cloth to press against her ear. It was what happened when someone thought too hard about things and tried to think outside of what he wanted them to. "Here." He offered pressing it against her head. "You really need to rest more. This is a sign over working. The Captain will have to hear about it."

"I'm fine. It is fine." Avira had heard her nurses complain about an unusual number of nosebleeds, also attributed to stress. She'd had ear bleeds when she was younger but it was odd. It was a relatively calm stretch of space that they were travelling through. No boarding actions, there was plenty of sustenance. If anything this should be the least stressful time in a long while. "No need to involve the Commander. If I start informing her about every stubbed toe and cut finger she'll never be able to address any real issues." She gave a nod in the direction of the podium, "if it really is stress, something like that should release enough endorphins to counteract it. Perhaps you should pick out your favourite song and we can do a duet."

"I have to involve her. I am duty-bound to report any of the senior officers if they are in a situation ... like this." He countered not quite as put off by the prospect of reporting something to the captain. The man moved back as the cloth was taken by her and she sorted herself out. "Not even that prospect will stop me from what is the term mother henning. I do not believe I actually have a favourite song. Do you have a favourite human song?" He wondered.

Avira slowly shook her head, "I do not think so. Just pick one. I am sure they do not mind us not knowing the lyrics."

“As you wish.” John nodded and moved through the crowds and picked a song that seemed easy. “We are next.” He said nervously. “I picked a song called the final countdown.”

"Ominous." Avira wondered if this was a song that was written during the age that the humans referred to as the third world war. "It sounds like you're not familiar with it, why didn't you pick a song you knew?" There was some sort of itch in the back of her brain that told her there was something off about Smith, but she could never focus on the itch, the moment it appeared a pressure on her thoughts seemed to divert her attention away.

"I do not know many songs. I grew up in a..." He started but the song came on cutting off any chance of communicating the pair could have now. The beat was good and John found himself singing along without a worry as the microphone was thrust towards him from Lexi who had been singing before him.

As the beat progressed there was something nagging in the back of Avira's mind that told her that John had no clue as to what the words were, and at times she even wondered if he could read the text on the screen. The sounds he made were very discordant with what she was trying to do in keeping up with the words on the screen. But everyone around them seemed to enjoy it anyway, clapping and singing along as if John wasn't just uttering random sounds. When she stopped singing to focus on John's words vertigo started to take over, it made it impossible to focus on her duet partner's singing. She got nudged by the Morale officer to continue singing and snapped back out of her ruminations looking at the lyrics scrolling by, "IT'S THE FINAL COUNT DOWN!"