95: Narcisa

by Ensign Warren Dalca
80117.23
One Week Ago

--=The Daystrom Institute=--

Warren's mother was waiting for him when he arrived. She was seated in the chair facing the door, a fragile statue leaning a little to the side, with her hands on her lap and her bangs dangling over her eyes.

They had prepared the room as they always did, furniture in precise locations and small plants and paintings all meant to relax the mind and create an environment more suited to the needs of the people under the doctors' care. Not too bare, but nothing too outstanding, giving little for her to focus on except her son.

As she always did, she stared at him with a stranger's eyes, mind far away and in a place that had hardly been seen by anyone in the quarter century she'd been here. "Hello, mami," he said warmly, forcing a smile on his face when all he wanted to do was steel himself against the experience. These entrances were always difficult.

But she didn't leap up out of the seat, or run and hide in a corner, or attack him savagely as if her entire being depended on it. This time she just sat there.

"I brought you flowers." He held up a small pot filled with violets, her favorite. They weren't a traditional gift flower because of their small size, and it had been a problem finding them. It always was, but the Mockingbird's resident botanist knew some people on Earth and had made the arrangements for him. She was a sweet girl, and he found himself regretting not getting to know her better now that he was so close to leaving.

Narcisa Dalca eagerly held out her arms, almost like a small girl, and held the pot. Sniffing them, she set it next to her and plucked off a petal. She placed it on her tongue, and her eyes turned to Warren and she was his mother again. "Real. Not replicated."

"That's right," he said softly.

"I hate replicators. They place restrictions on them. I can't get what
I want."

"I'll have them update the menu," he promised, then leaned forward. "How are you feeling?"

"Cold. I'm not wearing socks. I took them off."

"Do you want me to put them back on for you?"

She shook her head, then turned her body away and stared down at the flower pot. "I like violets," she whispered, distantly.

"They're your favorite."

"I know that," she said defensively. "Don't talk to me like, like, like I don't know things about... everything."

"I have news, mami. Can you... can you look over here? It's very important news."

"Th-they're letting me go?"

He shook his head.

"Tell them to let me go."

"They can't. You're not well."

"They make me not well. I can be well just fine, right now even." She put her legs down and sat up, and placed her hands on her knees. "See?"

"What's my name, mami?"

She frowned at him and wiped her nose viciously with her forefinger. "Which... which... Warren, mi fiu. Now let's go... we don't want you to be late for school."

"I'm too old for..." he sighed. She was looking at him now, engaging him. He needed to tell her the news while she was somewhat lucid. "I've been offered a position on a new ship. The USS Serendipity. It's a very big opportunity, and even I haven't been told what it's all about, but I know it's going to be good for me."

"I don't like the name."

"Serendipity?"

"No. Warren. It's a bad name. I think we should change it to something else. How about Gregory?"

"Mami," he urged, more firmly. "This means I won't be able to visit you
for a while. Maybe a very long while. I'll be going pretty far away."

"I made a list."

"...of what?"

"Of the things they won't let me replicate." She pushed a piece of paper over to him. In cluttered words, he saw a list of things that had no place being replicated, and in some cases, no possible way. "Especially the last one. I circled it," she pointed to the page.

"You... you can't replicate tri-lithium, mami. Not only is it dangerous, it's not possible."

"Maybe next year?"

"Probably not."

She started rocking, her hands on her knees, and just stared at him.

He offered out his own hand to steady her, but she shied away. "You look
like him."

"My fath...?"

"DON'T SAY IT! Him. Cel care a mie rani..." She spun around, looking at the walls and the furniture and everything else. "Stars aren't s'posed to hurt! Marca pe eli, se termina! Stop with their lies!"

"Calm down, mami. It's just me." He stood up and moved towards her, and she backed around the seat, her hands shaking.

"Drac," she called him. "Monstru." She screamed, then lifted the pot and tossed it at him. It flew by and hit the wall and the ceramic shattered. "Mi floare..." She ran past him, shoving, and dove to the floor, picking up the pieces of flowers and pushing them into the soil in a clump on the ground. Her hands flattened to the floor, and her face was covered with her long dark hair as she peered down at the pieces and started weeping, quietly, as if she was afraid of waking the world.

Warren walked over to her and eased himself onto the floor, until he was sitting next to her, and watched her cry. He wanted to cradle her and comfort her, but it was just as likely to make her lash out again.

What twisted his stomach the most was that he was starting to get used to
seeing her like this.

"I wished on all of th-them. And they all lied, they all just... a-hunh." Her shoulders shook with impotent force. "I wanted to... a-hunh... be a good mother," she whispered. "I wanted to-to take you to school."

"You were, mami, because I knew you were there with me."

"I was locked up. You're not very smart."

"I carried a piece of you with me every day," he whispered softly. She looked up, studied his face, and smiled a little. "You have my hair," she said proudly. "*He* didn't have hair. Don't shave it, don't lose it. It keeps you safe."

"I love you, mami." He held up her dirt-stained hand and cupped it in both of his. "Before I leave, a new doctor is going to be taking care of you. She's a very nice, and she's Vulcan."

"Weird."

"I know. Do you think you can be brave for me?"

She nodded. "Will you carry a piece of me?"

"Every day."

---------------------------------
Ens. Warren Dalca
Security Officer
USS Serendipity NCC-2012