A Meeting of the...Roommates

Posted on Fri Jun 16th, 2023 @ 10:20am by Warrant Officer Samual Johnson & Lieutenant JG Fisher Mencowicz

2,387 words; about a 12 minute read

Mission: Mission 4 - Like a Thunderbolt
Location: Crew Quarters
Timeline: Md 05

Rook found the door easily enough, following common station markings. He adjusted the bag on his shoulder and took a breath. Aside from formally meeting with the Security Chief, he was finally 'officially' aboard his assignment. The room beyond this, in junior officer quarters, was his room assignment. He'd been informed that he would be assigned with a lieutenant junior grade due to space availability. It was somewhat unusual but where could Rook protest it? The room assignment was determined to be only slightly better in that he would have his own bedroom and they would share their own bathroom. Actually, Rook found very little to complain about. The only information he was given for his roommate was the man's name and that he was in Operations.

He entered the door code given him then went through the process to insert his own code. The door slid open and Rook entered. The common area was set up for socializing, with four chairs around a low table. He spied the holoviewer on the wall, two small desks in opposite corners, a replicator on the wall next to a Murphy style kitchen and laundry facility. Two doors were opposite each other with a third in the middle. Rook assumed that led to the bathroom, which would have the toilet, sink and sonic shower. No matter how lucky he got with quarters upgraded for his rank, he knew he wouldn't have real water showers for a very long time. If ever. That didn't matter much to him though.

He stepped in and a figure sitting in one of the chairs, his fingers strapped to some device. A holographic screen lit up before him, split into three sections. As the man stared at the screen, Rook watched the segmented squares lighting on each side and then the number of squares increasing. The pace of this was already quickening in the time it took Rook to cross from the door to the center of the room. So far the man hadn't even twitched his head in his direction.

"Hello, Lieutenant," Rook said, his duffel digging into the flesh of his shoulder. "I'm Warrant Officer Samual Johnson."

The man continued to stare at the screen. The boxes flashing lights and increasing in number. Rook frowned. It seemed he should know what was going on but didn't.

"Uh, most people refer to me as "Rook" now," Rook said to the silence broken by the staccato rhthym of the fingers twitching against the probes on the end of them. The man, if he was the lieutenant to whom Rook was assigned as a roommate sat still except for the twitching and movement of his hands and fingers. His eyes remained glued to the holographic display. Rook noticed the half full mug of cafe au lait and the unmistakeable pitcher of coffee sitting on a tray with a creamer and sugar dish. "It's short for 'rookie' not the bird," he continued, wanting to break the unnatural silence. The stillness of the man's body along with the clacking of the probe covered fingers was unnerving. "I've been assigned to these quarters."

Still nothing from the other man. Almost as if he were nothing more than an automaton and nothing could move but its fingers.

"Which room would be mine?"

Suddenly the screens flashed, a chime sounded then the screen flickered and disappeared. "That was unfortunate, the defense was not valid against the Methelier Gambit. I should have known." Rook watched as the man deliberately removed the probe from his fingers, taking them one by one and placing them back into their proper position in a container before moving to the next one. The silence in the room became encompassing. Rook found himself entranced, watching the precision and deliberation of the movements. Then one hand grabbed the mug and the man stood in a fluid movement that did little to waste energy or motion.

"The room on the right is mine, right is even where left is odd, I don't like odd, it is unbalanced," the man spoke quickly and with very little inflection to his voice.

"Okay," Rook said, taking a step back without realizing it. "I'm okay with the one on the left."

"I am Lieutenant Junior Grade Fisher Mencowicz, Logistics Specialist for Faltan Station. I didn't hear your name but that's okay because you will not be here long enough for me to remember it in any case. The coffee on the table is mine, programmed to my specifications. You need to replicate your own coffee if you want coffee."

"Uh, no thanks, I prefer kav to coffee and, why won't I be here long enough for you to remember my name?" Rook asked, shifting the bag.

Mencowicz looked at him only briefly, before his eyes slid back down toward his coffee mug. "Others have stayed no longer than four days before they were reassigned quarters. To date I have had eleven different roommates assigned with an average stay of two point four seven eight hours. You are not an officer and should not have been assigned to officer quarters."

"No, usually that's the-" Rook started.

"This is the kitchen area. It has a stove and a sink and a food preparation area," Mencowicz said as he walked to the area and pointed to where each item should be, "you can't see them now because they are deactivated. But the controls for them are here," he said, once again indicating the item he said. "This workstation is mine, it is set up for me and only me. It's on the right to make it easier to remember which workstation is mine."

"Because right is even," Rook said, not sure if this was a conversation. Not sure if the man actually had conversations. So far everything seemed to be a monologue as an aside to an audience of one.

"Do not use my workstation." Oddly, there wasn't a change in the flat inflection to indicate anger or a threat. It was just a flat statement. After saying it he moved to the otherside of the room. "This is the bathroom. I have posted my schedule of usage for convenience. Do not interrupt my schedule. You are a Warrant, your start time is not the same as mine, that should not be a problem."

Rook set his duffel in one of the chairs. This was...odd. But in a way, and here was something he never thought he'd hear himself think, it was also fascinating.

"Okay, I'll take a look and, what? Let you know if there's a conflict?"

"That would mean negotiating a new schedule to resolve the conflict," Mencowicz said. He moved away from the bathroom, coming to stand nearly next to Rook. "This is the common area. I use it for reading, eating and playing Strategema." Finally, on the last bit, Rook heard something approaching a humanoid emotion. "Do you play Strategema?" Mencowicz asked, his eyes on the game system.

That was why Rook felt he should have known what Mencowicz was doing when he entered. But he had never seen it like that and it was rare to see anyone playing it at all. "No, I've never-" Rook started.

"I find it fun and relaxing. It is not a game for everyone because it requires logical and rational thought as well as seeing the patterns of attack and defense. It is an old game with the newest change, Data's Gambit, opening new avenues and creating a stalemate pathway to victory, but that is barely used anymore because most people are not capable of playing a stalemate game to the proficiency of an android."

"Seems...reasonable."

"I leave the game on the table because I play it most often in the common area. I am told it's important for me to be in areas of socialization. I do not find sufficient opponents for a real challenge but the computer is challenging so I play the computer most often. Your bag is in the chair. You should put your things away in your room. Please keep the door closed so I do not have to see the random messes you will make in your room." He turned to point at the door on the left side of the room. "I do not leave my door open because I do not want to seem to invite others to come into my room. It is my room, others should not be in my room."

"I'm not usually a messy-"

"That is the tour of the quarters. Your bag is still on the chair and is not situated in an organized pattern. It's placement is very chaotic. Structered and organized placement is preferred. Do you often create random chaos for the sake of random chaos?"

"I'm not sure I understand-"

Mencowicz sighed loudly. "I have tolerated random chaos from assigned roommates for up to four days. It is personal growth for me."

"That's...good?" Rook said. Was that actually the first time he finished a sentence since Mencowicz started talking?

"I prefer not to have to experience random chaos in objects that do not matter. Please put away your belongings in your room and close the door."

"Four days?" Rook asked, trying to keep his own tone flat and neutral. But he picked up the bag.

"An average of two point four seven," Mencowicz said. "Data suggests that they found me..." he bent and poured more coffee, making it with milk and sugar. Then, straightening once more, he spoke again, his voice lower, "...intolerable as a roommate."

Rook watched the lieutenant for a moment, waiting to hear more but the man stood still, nothing moving more than his arms and mouth as he drank coffee. Finally, after several long moments, he turned and went to the room on the left. Really, which side he was on and it seemed to matter a great deal to the other man. He entered his code into the door, allowing it to recognize him to open and close at his approach. He checked his chrono because he still had to meet with his Chief. He dropped the duffel on the bed and took a moment too look around the sanitized, average and boring decor. The bedding was the same Starfleet Gray as other places, the walls devoid of art and, except for a small viewport across from the bed, there wasn't much to see. A small closet and dresser were along the wall with the viewport and a mirror next to the door.

Mencowicz was sitting again, replacing the probes on his hands, the game's starting screen waiting for Mencowicz to start the game. He stood as Rook came back into the common area. "I am going to play Strategema again. I want to attempt to break the Methelier Gambit." He stopped talking and his gaze flicked to Rook for just a moment before it slid back to his hand with three of the probes attached. "Would you like to play Strategema?"

Rook cocked his head. Was that a note of..."I don't know how to play that game."

"It is easy to learn the rules," Mencowicz said. "I will teach you. You must learn how to best strategize for your own particular play style however. I cannot teach you strategy, only tell you when you failed to play proficiently. First you must attach the terminals to your hands so that you may control the game. You will be player two. You are not sufficient against multiple opponents or even the computer."

Without regard to any protestion Rook might make, Mencowicz began removing a second set of...what had he called them? Terminals? Rook glanced at his chrono again. He guessed he had some time. While explaining the game was the most animated and...human...Rook had seen of the man. If they were going to be assigned to the same quarters, then Rook had to make some concessions to the other man's...quirks. He was sure that Mencowicz will find things he did intolerable as well. If there was something they held in common, it might make things less unbearable.

Mencowicz instructed him on how to apply the terminals then walked him through how to use them to control the game. When Mencowicz stated that Rook learned as much as he was going to, he said they would start the game.

Rook lasted fifteen seconds.

"You ware terrible at this game," Mencowicz said. "Very awful. You need to play more to present any kind of challenge. I am a Strategema master." Mencowicz poured more coffee. "I am not yet a Grand Master." He sounded disappointed.

"Thank you for teaching me how to start playing the game," Rook said, removing the terminals and replacing them in their container. "But I have duties to perform and shouldn't ignore them any longer."

"No," Mencowicz said. "Regulations state that shirking duties is a punishable offense and playing Strategema would constitute a defacto confirmation of guilt for not performing one's duties. I do not wish to share quarters with a criminal."

Rook almost laughed. "No, I'm sure you wouldn't. You do know what I do, don't you?"

"I have not looked up your service record but will do so." Mencowicz finished replacing his terminals, grabbed his tray and moved to the right side workstation. His workstation. "We can play more Strategema when you are not in violation of regulations regarding performance of duties. This is our quarters, you do not require my permission to enter or leave even though I outrank you."

"Sure," Rook said, closing the container and moving to the door. He took a last glance at the man before walking out the door. He stood in the corridor, reassured by the solid bulkheads all around him. "An average of two point four seven days, four at the longest." He sighed, sure he understood why others would be fleeing. But, perversely, as a lifetime enlisted he wanted to last at least five days, a week more like, in order to prove the point of the resilience and durability of enlisted over officers. Plus, if he could put up with Jim all these years, Mencowicz shouldn't be that difficult.

"Sure, keep telling yourself that," Rook said, heading toward the nearest turbolift.

 

RSS Feed