#of a false 'preservation' which is really just keeping things in stasis for their own pleasure. divorced from their cultural context | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

thecandywrites · 6 years ago

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Babylon The Great

OK, once again I had this AMAZING AND EPIC DREAM and it’s inspired this and it’s also been inspired by @momolady‘s gods and goddesses pieces. Yes I feel completely sacreligious for writing this. But at the same time, this story is going to be REALLY FUN and I really hope ya’ll enjoy it. I’ve never written anything like this before so I’m also really nervous and I hope once I release this into the world I’ll be able to go back to writing my usual stuff in peace.

Babylon the Great

Your name is Sephira, you were born with a midnight blue, almost black sapphire in the middle of your chest the size of a grapefruit that acted like your heart, you were first born of the black diamond queen Mercii, daughter of the black diamond queen before her, your grandmother, Shahlah, all daughters were born with that color of sapphires that transformed into black diamonds once they took their mother’s place.

Your mother however, Mercii- the only one she ever had mercy for was you. Your mother was otherwise a merciless woman who’s “castle” was a great magic Baobab tree, rooted in a cesspool that was like a moat around it- in a desert and lived off of death from the outside world but provided life for you and your mother and all those who served you. But your Baobab tree was different, on the outside it looked like a large normal Baobab tree, the thick menacing branches covering and concealing the inside, which was lush, green and soft, provided every fruit on earth and underneath the cesspool, which was only so deep, deep enough to drown anything that caught in it, the bottom magically held up on air, was a garden and lush paradise like place where your mother’s servants lived, the sunshine filtering through the cesspool, keeping the temperature perfectly comfortable, the garden also providing you all with every spice, vegetable and grain on earth so that you wanted for nothing except meat and the garden was watered by a whirl pool at the true base of the tree- the water itself the prettiest aquamarine blue and crystal clear and ever fresh and even had a second pool that had all kinds of fish and seafood in it that replenished itself so that you got to enjoy any and all delicacies of the oceans, lakes and rivers too. Your mother’s servants- all of which were women, made eternally youthful in their service to your mother and by extension, you- who prepared all your food and clothes and served your mother and yourself with absolute loyalty and were completely devoted to your mother and yourself and cared for you and in return for their service, they were protected against the otherwise cruel world and it’s ravages, including time.

But you were not an only child. Your “brothers” were in a state of stasis within the branches of a tree. Your mother however was a mysterious legend, a goddess- and suitors- usually kings, emperors, czars, shahs, sultans, Caesars and other kinds of rulers, the rulers from all over the world came to mate with her and to get the sons they sought after, each son himself was born with gems in his chest just like you but much smaller, usually the size of quarter or perhaps large grapes, occasionally a daughter was brought into existence and even she was put into stasis or given to the kings who wanted them to keep you from having rivals for your mother’s affection but they were not normal children. They were born already five years old and in a sleeping state, and fully dressed in the traditional garb of the ruler, their potential appearing on a placard at their feet in their “beds/cribs” that were embedded into the very center of the tree. For every mating session, your mother produced about a dozen sons. The process by which your mother mated and produced children was a mystery to even you. The traveling rulers would pick a few or up to ten sons of their choice and those would be awoken and greeted lovingly by the rulers and their memories were always as if they had been born and raised by women in the ruler’s own household and the rest your mother would put into the branches of the tree for future use, the tree itself growing every time she had children, the tree therefore was, in reality, very, very large so that it was a forest in of itself- to the point you lost count of how many “brothers” you had and how many “sisters” you had.

Anyone unlucky enough to come to the tree when they weren’t “invited” to the tree by your mother often got lost exploring the tree and died and on those your mother, yourself and those who served you- feasted, their bodies magically transforming into the most prized meat of all desired kinds. The kind of meat that never went bad or rotted, ever fresh, magnificently marbled and tender and delectably delicious and even those were fed to the rulers when they came. Many unwitting travelers or adventurers, drawn by the promises of treasure and fabled jewels.

Your mother actively used you as bait in your ‘pre-training’ since you were just as devastatingly beautiful as she was, she purposefully kept you naive and innocent so that you were even more tempting to them and you did not age physically or mentally past the age of 17/18. In fact you did not know how old you were or how old your mother was, time passed in a strange way here and you did not celebrate birthdays so there was no way to keep track of time.

Your job was to sit in the tree, in your ‘section’ of tree that had a ‘window’ in the branches of the ground and sing, your own voice like a siren- the most beautiful ever heard- magically carrying far and wide all over the world and drawing in more victims for your mother to feed off of. The songs you sang spoke of adventure and excitement and treasure beyond imagination and of course you, an innocent virgin looking for someone to “save you” from this “castle” and take ownership of you and all that you possessed since you were sole heiress to all that your mother possessed, your beauty, your own potential for heirs added as extra enticement. Rulers came following your mother’s call, your mother’s voice only being heard by them, her call- her own siren’s song tempting them with handsome, dynamic and perfect sons that had any and all characteristics each king wanted and those kings brought all the gold and treasure to you- that was stored in the magical trunk of the tree along with “food” in the form of prisoners of war to also feed her. Your mother was insatiable and wouldn’t be satisfied until every ruler came and she milked each one dry. When she would have every ruler in the world, only then would she be satisfied, her hunger sated and retire and in her retirement would she train you to be her replacement for you to carry on the tradition, since it was ‘your fate’.

But the thought of luring your potential “brothers” when you would take your mother’s place didn’t sit well with you. This whole situation didn’t sit well with you at all but it was the only way to survive with your mother and you knew of nothing else. But the few scant moments with the adventures, themselves promising you lives free from the prison of the tree sounded enticing too. And you wondered if they spoke truth or only spoke of what they thought would lure you out of it. Your mother was quick to stamp out any thoughts of anything being better than life in the tree which was portrayed as a safe haven for you but a death trap to others ‘who only meant you harm’. Part of you strived for your mother’s approval, for her affection, for her wisdom. You knew how to read and write in every language there was, some of the gifts from the rulers being books and your library rivaled all others on earth and beyond, the books themselves able to be magically preserved but there were certain books your mother hid away to keep you from getting any ‘bad ideas’ or ‘confusing, stupid philosophy of man’ or simply ‘nonsense’ otherwise they were to teach you the languages of man and ‘the classics’ to make sure your siren’s calls appealed to everyone. You knew mathematics, learning to count all the treasure your mother possessed, which was to be your inheritance, which measured in the billions even though that was never enough for your mother and she tried to teach you her insatiable-ness which you did your best to mimic but never truly felt, ever.

A cruel trick your mother played was to let only one prisoner of war go back to his home, letting them spend time, only an hour or so with you to fall hopelessly in love with you and you would “help” them escape the death trap tree and profess that only if your mother was killed that you could be free to leave the tree, otherwise you were bound to the tree, by a magical chain around your waist, like a body chain made of pure magical black gold and black diamonds, unbreakable that besides the midnight blue sapphire in your chest, you wore always and was your only piece of jewelry. The chain itself something of comfort to you, like an ever present hug from your mother, it protected you from getting stolen. However when you helped these ones escape, the chain itself got tighter the closer you came to the outside world, to the point that once you were outside the cesspool moat, it dug into your flesh painfully and made you cry, telling these ones that surely the chain would kill you if you took even one more step away from the tree and they believed you. All the prisoners promised the same thing, to come back with armies to kill your mother and free you. But while they fell helplessly in love with you, your heart was untouched and you felt nothing for them, not even attraction to them and had been groomed to be an excellent actress and to fake your own feelings for them. You got praised for how well you were able to deceive them and give them false hope and sadly in this, you strived for perfection and your mother’s approval and once you crossed the moat back to the tree, the looser the chain became until it was comfortably loose yet again by the time you returned to your room, steps forming in the trunk of the tree so that you could climb the tree with ease. Your mother often ‘at the door’ of the tree, unseen by the one that was set free to offer you congratulations and praise and love and affection for a job well done.

Most lived up to their promises and brought back armies of hundreds of thousands, often kings accompanying them and those your mother would lure and use like the others, the rest, your mother and yourself would put on a ‘play’ for them, your mother being ‘the evil one’ and taunting the “hero” and you yourself would call out to them by name, ‘crying in relief that you were about to be saved’ your mother and yourself secretly giggling and cackling to each other in the tree at the spectacle before you which to both of you and those who served you- was very entertaining, the tree which was a living entity itself became alive and killed them by the most evil way, but again, you would act as bait, beckoning the hero to your ‘window’ and that you would ‘help’ them by raising a forest to feed the men who came as ‘thanks’ to them for coming so far to see you again. The tree itself would grow a lush forest, around the cesspool moat filled with all the foods available to you and your mother, but the fruits were all poisoned, poisoned because they were watered by the cesspool that contained every virus, every disease, every ailment and sickness, all of which you and your mother were immune to and that your kisses cured. You could bathe and drink from the cesspool if you wanted to and to you it would magically transform to the cleanest and purest water that was addictively sweet and flavored with the fruits. And without fail, the rulers themselves would get sons and those would be allowed to return home but their armies would fall and their bodies like the most nutritious manure to the tree itself and when the forest would recede, the army would vanish with it. The kings, needing to save face, spun tales that your mother had transformed into a dragon and had razed their armies to the ground and only they and their attendants escaped with their lives and how they were able to ‘save’ these little princes from her and her captivity but that you yourself remained prisoner still. Your mother would hear about such tales when the next rulers came to meet with her and it always provided her with amusement and entertainment.

The tree itself had a pool in the middle of the top of it, where the trunk flattened out to provide your ‘palace’ to you, heavenly fragrant blooms, ever perfect and ever fresh floated in the water at all times and the water was pure, clean and perfumed and you bathed and got massages and beauty treatments daily. Or the tree even had fountains in the branches themselves that also had the refreshingly cool and flavored water that flowed freely to quench your thirst when you got tired of drinking the juices of the fruits or the countless varieties of teas and coffees invented and perfected by your mother’s servants. Even bees had hives in the branches, fed by the flowers and the fruits and never stung you, actually you suspected that they didn’t have stingers at all. In fact you could talk to the bees and politely ask to eat from their honey, which they offered freely, letting you eat as much as you desired since there was always an over abundance. The wax of the comb providing candles and therefore light to your mother and you and those who served you at night. The birds and even fruit bats and lemurs, were your only friends and “pets” and while they knew the fear of man, they did not fear you at all and you could approach anything that lived in the tree and befriend it and you looked forward to the young of all the birds and lemurs and fruit bats that would be born in the forest of the tree that knew no predator. Even the birds, which seemed to come from all over the world and were exquisitely beautiful and colorful from humming birds to birds of paradise to parrots were free to nest in the branches, free to eat the fruits or the seeds and nuts of the fruits or even the bees themselves since that was the only insect allowed in the tree. Flies and mosquitoes however swarmed the cesspool but stayed away from you and your mother and your “invited” guests. Otherwise the only people you knew were your mother, her servants which doubled as your own and the victims. The rulers themselves you were never allowed to meet and the only time you knew they were there was because your mother would keep to her own rooms with them for the duration of their stay and you ate your meals alone or with her other servants. The tree itself would shield you from their sight, you could pass them in ‘the halls’ of the tree and never know it because of the foliage of the tree.

Your hair grew down to your bottom, thick and luxurious and had shades of every color of hair, from blacks to browns to reds to blondes, the tips of your hair more blonde than the black roots, your mother said that the sunshine itself made your hair that way and didn’t question it since her hair was the same way, shiny and conditioned and softer than any silk. And the waters of the pools either in the top of the tree or the pools with the fish or the pool around the true base of the tree also beautifying you, your face and body so that it was perfect without blemish. You had never had acne, ever. Your skin was baby soft at all times, never to form a callus or mole. You had never even had a paper cut and you knew no physical pain other than when your chain tightened around you in your ‘act’ of trying to leave the tree. Even yet you were surprisingly fit and strong because every night that your mother wasn’t hosting rulers, you danced with your mother in the tree, the servants being professional musicians and playing a variety of music so that your mother and yourself danced all the dances of the world with ease and proficiency, your mother having taught you to dance since you could walk and dancing brought you both joy and merriment and even she danced for the rulers, you knew from the sound of the music on the other side of the tree that that’s what was happening and you often danced, alone, by yourself, inventing new moves yourself, practicing in a mirror and even that your mother praised and encouraged. You were treasured by your mother and therefore protected against everything. And your body shape was that of universal perfection and perfect in proportion and the perfect balance between soft and fit. Your eyes were a work of art, deep intense purple but with splashes of turquoise and Kashmir sapphire blue and deep emerald green. They were the most beautiful eyes in the world.

However one day- there was a shift, there was one Sultan that refused to come to the tree but he had something that your mother seemed to crave and feel like she would surely die if she did not come into possession of it, her hunger consuming her. And so this was your first test as her future replacement. If you could go to this kingdom and take possession of this object and return it to your mother, you would be rewarded by her unconditional love, which before now, she only bestowed her affection when you obeyed her and proved yourself to her- and so she would officially retire and would train you to be her replacement. You were given rules to live by while away from her watchful gaze. Then you were armed with the greatest of treasures. The satchel of assured success.

Each little sack in the satchel had magical items including a few loose items like a cup that would fill with the waters of the tree or any other liquid you desired to drink, a bowl that would fill with the foods you grew up on or any other food you desired to eat. A sack that would contain any and all treasures in the tree itself, that would have any and all monies you would ever want or need for your journey. Also a magic book with maps and instructions to get you through where you would be traveling through and a pen so that you could write back to your mother to tell her what you were doing and what you were encountering so that she could advise you if you didn’t know how to proceed. You were dressed in gorgeous clothes that would keep you comfortable, a cloak that would keep you perfectly warm in cold weather or perfectly cool in hot weather and softer than fur or silk and would protect you from the harsh sun as well, clothes that were softer than silk and never be uncomfortable or cause sores. Shoes that would protect your legs and feet and never cause blisters or calluses. And under garments that would protect you from ‘the violence of men’ that if any man touched you without your consent, they would die instantly. You were given a tent that would set itself up and be your home away from home and a bed roll that once rolled out was just as comfortable as the one in your ‘room’ in tree.

You also came into possession of an alicorn, that was both unicorn and Pegasus who would look after you and protect you and to trust it because it would also take you home too. You were also gifted with a set of wings- painted on your back that if anything ever happened to your steed, would become your own set of wings to get you out of any danger, also to give you freedom of flight if you ever wanted it which your mother encouraged you to use and explore the beauty of the outside world while you were in it but not to ignore the ugliness of the world either because the beauty of the world was fleeting but the ugliness was everlasting.

The painting of your wings onto your back and your butt and the back of your legs and sides felt so good, like another spa treatment where your body was brushed with various muds and lotions and oils. But it would forever stay on your skin like a tattoo without the pain of an actual tattoo. You noticed that your mother had the same mark on her body and she told you that that was what her mother had done for her when her own mother had a similar situation before your mother took her mother’s place just like you would take hers when you returned.

Then came the instructions, this was a mission of good will, you would pass through many towns and villages and kingdoms, you were to heal the sick, feed the hungry, bless the children, help mothers give birth and educate the women so that they could protect themselves and better themselves. If you found young girls or especially orphaned girls, even babies that your heart went out to, you could take possession of them, offer them the protection and care your mother’s servants had and all that you needed to do was wrap them in your cloak and they would be magically transported back to your mother and the tree for your mother’s servants to care for and raise so that they would serve you and your own daughter with absolute loyalty and devotion since all of your mother’s slaves would be laid to rest when she would be laid to rest since their loyalty to her demanded that of them so that they could serve her in the afterlife too and that her servants and slaves would instruct these ones and raise them with the same loving care that you were raised with. You even had a sack full of candies- that were actually medicines that would protect any and all that would eat them- specifically children- from all diseases and ailments and would keep them healthy until they would die of old age.

But she warned you that any and all ‘stories’ and ‘legends’ about you and your mother and your grandmother and her mother before her, were often propaganda and to not believe them all, that if it was good, to confirm it, if it was bad to deny it and prove it wrong with your good deeds and to not believe it if it was bad. That you, your mother and grandmother and her mother before her and so on were simply known as ‘Babylon the Great’ by some since your linage came from the original fabled city of Babel and Babylon beyond that and even before that, the first great city to be built in human history and that it was also something to do with the Baobab tree you lived in. That you were descended from the first queen on earth and that you were a queen in the making. A goddess worthy of worship and that all men would do anything and everything for you but only to possess you because their greed knew no bounds. You were also warned that men in general were treacherous, dangerous, deceitful and to be despised and you had to be very careful and wary of them. That while they could offer you a sexual release and their seed could give you children, that they were as a whole- selfish, violent and horrible. But, if you found a man, who was not like that, who was kind, generous, gentle and loving, that if you so wished, you could lie with him and let him love you and he in turn could teach you how to love and that he could be allowed to come back to the tree and live out the rest of his days in peace with you but he would eventually die of old age while you stayed forever young and that in your heartache of loosing him, only then would be ready to be the next Babylon the Great and you would live the life your mother led and that the insatiable hunger you only had a hint of would come full force. But that was only allowed after you met with this king and got possession of whatever it was that he had that he either could not or would not come and give to her himself.

The day and night before you left, your mother finally taught you the art and craft of sex, using a dummy made out of gold but was hollow and light and how to be alluring and irresistible and charming and pleasing and she did something to your womb that would insure you would not get pregnant until you returned to the tree and it was only then that a desire for sex and men in general was awakened in yourself, like it had been dormant before. She painted a symbol onto the skin over your womb that protected it and that was universally understood to guard and protect you and your womb or so she told you. She also warned you about rape and abuse, all forms of it and tricks that would be tried on you and how to recognize them and evade them.

But she told you that if you chose to live in the rest of the world rather than return to her, that she would replace you with one of your sisters and forget any and all memory of you and that all love she had for you would die out and that any and all protections would be lifted from off of you that all memory of how to get back to the tree would be lost and forgotten and that you would age, grow ugly, so ugly that no one would ever think of you as beautiful or love you and you would die alone, bitter and full of resentment towards whatever you chose and put above your mother. That nothing in the world, not even the chance to be queen of any nation or empress or whatever station would ever equal to the life you could live in the tree because outside of the tree you would be subjected to the very men you were born above, because you yourself were the daughter of a goddess and therefore a goddess yourself. And that the jewel in your chest would fall out, shatter and turn to worthless rock and dust because it was really that that the men of the world wanted. And a real human and very mortal heart would grow in it’s place and then you would know the ravages of time and that you yourself would be despised and resented and would be seen as a curse by the whole world, your skin would become rough and stiff with callus because you would have to really work very hard doing painful labor just to eat nasty bread and only nasty bread and tough and tasteless vegetation before your perfect white teeth would yellow then blacken and rot and fall out of our mouth and your perfect skin that before now was without blemish would transform into nothing but blemishes and that your hair would break and fall of and become dull and the ugliest color before it turned gray then white with age so that it would never touch your shoulders and it would be so thin everyone could see your scalp and that your eyes would turn the color of excrement before they would go milky with blindness and you would be at the mercy of a world that had no mercy and that you would be raped and beaten and never know kindness ever again and you would be slave to everyone. It was enough to scare you into obedience.

In the morning you bid your mother goodbye, giving her a long tight hug along with your mother’s servants and slaves who had each made something special for you, charms to protect you made out of gold and jewels and precious stones and wood that they hung them all onto your body chain and a locket containing a picture of your mother and blessings for you and your alicorn who you got to name- you named her Kaisa. She was amazing because she had the ability to be any color you wished her to be while also if she was around other horses, she would blend in, her wings disappearing into her body and her horn disguised as a patch on her face so that you looked like any other person on the back of any other horse, or if you were flying, you would appear like a cloud from below and would blend in with the others so that you were untraceable when you wanted to be. Kaisa had spunk and a wonderful personality and riding her was the greatest joy you had yet to experience.

She flew you high into the sky, until your forest of your tree could be seen and appreciated, your dessert gave way to dense rainforest and untouched wilderness that was beautiful. You flew towards your destination and then noticed the intense greenness of your home soon gave way to a duller green. Kaisa then flew you to the city of women, filled with amazons, warrior women. This was the one place your mother instructed you where you would be safe and that they would further instruct you on how to survive the rest of the world. When you arrived, they greeted you excitedly as you noticed, they too had gems in their chests as you realized they were the descendants of your mother’s sisters since at the time of your grandmother’s death and your mother became Babylon, they were released from the tree and set free and they had built a city for themselves since they were super human themselves but had not gotten the gift of goddess and that all the young women were officially your cousins and that when you would take your mother’s place, your own sisters would be released from the tree and be taken here to be cared for by their aunts as their own. They were all beautiful and fun and amazing and you spent days feasting and partying with them, them teaching you all the different kinds of dances throughout the world, each one you perfected only after trying it once. They themselves were very picky about the men they allowed to live with them and from these men you were introduced to and they themselves began to explain more in detail about what other men outside the city were like and what to be careful of as well as what to look for if you chose a husband yourself and their insights were invaluable and you spent as much time with them as you could since they gave you a sense that they were like your fathers, brothers, uncles and cousins. When it was time to leave, they too gifted you with much, a lot of technology that they had acquired that you sent back to the tree for your mother’s servants to implement.

Your first stop after that was a small village where you did as your mother instructed you, fed the hungry, healed the sick, educated the young and especially the women and got to help birth your first baby. You were shocked that you seemed to instantly know exactly how to do it, how to bring comfort to the mother, how to progress the birth and how to make sure both baby and mother survived safely and were in good health, teaching all the other women and young girls in the village this wisdom.

The next stop was a city, a very large one, you were so saddened to see so many orphans. All the young girls and baby girls you immediately ‘adopted’ and magicked back to the tree and the young boys too, you felt such deep pity for them and your heart went out to them. You got them adopted to good families and paid the families very well to take care of them so that these boys wouldn’t grow up to be ‘evil men’ but ‘good men’.

You repeated this process all along the way to your destination.

When you were outside the kingdom, you sat on Kaisa and looked at the very impressive city. It was the largest city you had ever seen. But you felt dread, like something was wrong, like this was a trap and you wrote to your mother and she told you to take courage and be bold. That it was a trap but that you had been trained for this and that they could never hurt you unless you let them and to not give them that power over you, that you were better and greater than the whole city itself. Kaisa transformed into a Akhal Teke, that looked like she was spun from shiny gold thread. Your own clothes changed again so that you were wearing the latest fashions from this part of the world and you felt like you were wearing about 20 pounds of gold jewelry and that your face now had makeup on it and that you were now sporting a nose ring and actual rings. It was showtime. You walked Kaisa in through the gates and held your head up high as you noticed every man seemed to stop and stare at you as you made your way to the palace. Kaisa seeming to know the way all on her own. You smiled and waived at the little kids and greeted them, the language of your tongue changing to their own.

When you arrived at the palace, you got off Kaisa and approached the door.

“I am Sephira- daughter of Mercii- Babylon the Great, I am here to speak to Sultan Roshan, he has something for my mother.” You announced to the man at the door and waited patiently for him to deliver that message to the sultan and the smallest of smirks formed on your face when men seemed to crowd around you at a respectful distance, staring at you and your beauty and splendor in awed wonder as Kaisa stood behind you and refused to be led away by anyone.

When he came back and informed you that the Sultan would see you, you dismissed Kaisa and she finally was led to the stables and you came into the palace. You looked at the palace appreciatively, yourself in awe of it’s splendor and decoration as you were led through it’s laberyinth of passages. When you were shown to the throne room you found an aging man sitting on the throne, flanked by many sons, some of which were handsome, some not. There was one son however that caught your eye. He was almost as handsome as you were beautiful. And for the first time in your life, you desired a man, you desired him. Another still caught your eye, for very different reasons and you too desired him but not as much as the first or perhaps you desired him in a different way. The thoughts and feelings were confusing and so you simply pushed them out of your mind and refocused on the sultan, you were here for him. Not his sons.

“Ah, the daughter of the famed Babylon the Great has come to bless me with her presence!” The Sultan cheered as he extended his hand out to you as you simply bowed your head respectfully but not nearly as low as any other was expected to.

“And to be bowed to by the daughter of a goddess, a double blessing.” He beamed happily as he stood up and came off his throne and approached you as you held his gaze.

“Thank you for coming all this way. Alas, my health does not permit me to come to your mother directly and her calls have haunted me since I first heard them and I am honored to be counted worthy enough to host you, her most prized possession. The rumors of your famed beauty have not done you justice, surely you are the most beautiful woman to ever grace this palace.” He praised as his words pleased you well enough.

“Thank you,” you said graciously as you smiled appreciatively at his praise. “Please, give to me the gift you have promised my mother, and I will bless your realm and be on my way back to her.” You requested as you lifted your hands, palm up so as to take whatever it was.

You blinked in surprise however when he outright laughed in your face, a deep hearty laugh that was mimicked by all in the throne room as you frowned slightly in confusion.

“Forgive me, what it is that I am to give you is not tangible.” He said with a twinkling in his eyes as you dropped your hands to simply clasp them in front of you as your frown deepened and you said no more as a small firey rage started to bloom in your chest. You did not come all this way to be mocked or made fun of as your sapphire in your chest soon began to bloom and glow red as did your eyes which stopped his laughter dead.

“Forgive me, please, I do not wish to insight your anger. What I mean is- it is simply knowledge that I possess that your mother has yet to attain, it will take time to pass it onto you. And once you learn it, then you will have what your mother desires and you may indeed bless me and my realm and be on your way.” He explained as the fire in your eyes and heart waned and left you, leaving your eyes and the sapphire on your chest to return to normal as you were appeased by this. Great, this was not a simple, quick journey. This was going to take time. Your mother would not be pleased to learn this but if her hunger and desire for this knowledge was as great and as all consuming as it was, perhaps she would have to wait just like you would have to wait and learn to be patient.

“Come, a feast will be prepared in your honor and your coming will be celebrated in a festival for years to come. Come, sit and eat and drink with me and my sons.” He invited as he gestured to a grand sitting area, where a lessor throne was set up for you to sit on. The cushions were soft and comfortable as you took a seat as did the sultan and his sons on throne like seats, equal to your own but lesser than the sultan’s before a feast was brought forth as the sultan introduced all of his sons, from the first born to the youngest who was only a boy of five. The youngest was your favorite. He was so darling and still innocent.

“So please, bestow upon me this knowledge.” You requested as you took a piece of Turkish delight and took a bite and got a cup of tea after eating the delicious feast.

“Well it is as such that it is so great that I can give you a piece of it at a time, otherwise it would be too much even for you, many have gone mad trying to take it all in too fast and I mean you no harm so I must go slow for your own sake.” He placated and you nodded in understanding.

Lesson number one was nothing more than a simple riddle but he said that the answer was the key, the answer- was the sun and to celebrate you figuring out the answer another celebration seemed to bloom in the throne room as dancers and entertainers along with a host of specialty liquor and wine, of which you only had a little so as not to lose your senses or inhibitions or not loosen your tongue as you kept an eye on the sultan and all his sons before the youngest came up to you, offering you a small bouquet of flowers from the gardens, this pleased you greatly, more than anything else had before this.

“Thank you Taliba,” you thanked him happily as you smiled at him adoringly.

“Do you wish to sit with me?” You invited as you pat the space next to you as he eagerly came and sat down next to you.

“What makes you a daughter of Babylon?” He asked curiously.

“This,” you said as you lifted your necklace to show him the sapphire in your chest as his eyes got wide.

“Can I touch it?” He asked respectfully.

“You sure can.” You allowed as he carefully reached out to touch it, It was faceted and glassy smooth.

“It’s so smooth and warm.” He noted in awe.

“It is, I don’t have a heart, this gemstone is my heart.” You explained.

“Wow.” He breathed before he pulled his hand away and you lowered your necklace back down over it.

“So I hear you live in a tree? Like a tree house?” He asked curiously.

“I do, my home is in a tree, a Baobab tree, only it’s magic.” You whispered to him excitedly as he gasped softly in excitement.

“Really? What’s that like?” He asked.

“It’s amazing, the tree itself provides all we need, it is like every fruiting and flowering tree all in one and in the branches there is all fruits that I wait until they’re ripe before picking them and eating them, there are bee hives in the trees and the bees themselves share their honey with me and don’t sting me, and all the birds of heaven rest in the branches and they don’t hide their nests from me and I get to watch baby birds hatch and get fledged and watch them learn how to fly and I can pet and hold them all and even name them if I wish. Lemurs and fruit bats are my pets because they too eat the fruits and nuts of the tree.” You told him, seeing no harm in him telling him that much. He was only a young boy, no need to burden him with the more unsavory elements of the tree.

“How big is it?” He asked.

“Well on the outside it just looks like a normal large one, but once you’re in it, it is much, much larger, the size of this palace.” You mused.

“That sounds amazing.” He sighed wistfully.

“It is.” You nodded in confirmation before you talked with him about his schooling and what he was learning from his tutors as you gave him some lessons using your book to help him practice his letters as you let him sit in your lap and had the book laid out as you helped him fine tune his letters and numbers and helped him understand some of his mathmatics.

“Do you have any sisters?” You asked him.

“Yes, lots,” he confirmed.

“Where are they?” You asked him curiously.

“Right there.” He pointed to room, divided by a stone wall that was intricately caved with spaces just big enough to peek through the wall where you could discern had many women in it, themselves only shadows in the room.

“How come they are not out here with us?” You asked.

“It is forbidden for them to appear in the throne room, for they are lesser than men and therefore unworthy to be in the greatness of the throne room, except you, you’re a goddess, so you’re good enough to be in here.” He answered matter of factly.

“Why are they unworthy?” You asked- to which he just shrugged before you looked from him to the Sultan and narrowed your eyes as your eyes burned red for a moment before you asked for your pen back and you wrote this into the book to your mother in your mother tongue to which she advised you.

When the celebration was proclaimed over since it was now the middle of the night and an attendant came to get Prince Taliba from you to put him to bed did you make your move.

“Thank you for your generosity Sultan Roshan, but I must return home now, my mother will simply have to live without the knowledge you possess.” You informed him as you bowed again as he looked quite alarmed at that.

“What? Why? Have I displeased you?” He asked worriedly.

“Yes, the women of your household were kept behind a wall. Are you so ashamed of them or is your culture so hateful and distasteful towards women that they are not permitted to be in your presence or mine? What makes them so unworthy that they are kept seperate from a room which you and your culture have deemed more worthy and better than them?” You returned as you nodded towards the wall and stared back at him pointedly as once again the fire returned to your eyes and your heart and your chest glowed red once more only this time heat rolled off of you as if you were a great fire yourself as fear soon bloomed on his face when the very carpet you stood on soon burst into flames around your feet but did not singe or harm you in any way.

“Uh, no, no of course not, there has been a misunderstanding, but of course, I am in the wrong and have erred by not having them in here with us, please forgive my error.” he stuttered and pleaded for your forgiveness.

“Then if you truly wish for my forgiveness and to me stay and for peace in your realm and for me to not burn your palace down to the ground with you and your obviously oh so precious sons in it and only save the women of your family- you will apologize to them, right now for not including them and not counting them just as worthy, important or precious as your sons and even more so because without them you would not be in existance or I will never see your face or the faces of anyone from your line ever again after I save the women in your family and hand them over to my cousins of Amazon and you will know the wrath of Babylon from this day until your dying breath.” You threatened as smoke and soot soon began to collect in the ceiling before he went over to the wall and bowed down to it and apologized profusely to all of his wives and daughters for excluding them and begged for their forgiveness and proclaimed them all worthy all honor and glory which appeased you. Most of his sons however were doing their best to hide their own outrage that you made their father, the sultan do such a thing, the second of his sons that caught your eye looking at you as if he would love nothing more than to kill you where you stood while the other simply smiled at you proudly.

“All of you apologize too.” You demanded as your face twisted into an angry snarl before the sultan ordered for his sons to join him in apologizing to the rest of the family as they reluctantly obeyed their father and followed his example and you could tell that their apologies were for your benefit and were not heartfelt at all except for the youngest and the one who had first caught your eye, they were genuine at least. But they were apologies. So you simply took it with grace and let your anger cool and cast a spell to fix the carpet that you burned and allowed yourself to be taken to your room for the night. Your bed for the night was not nearly as comfortable as your own and you simply took out the bed from your satchel and put it over the bed and only then were you lulled into sleep because now the bed was to your liking.

In the morning, you requested to meet only with the women of the Sultan’s family to make your time in the house fair to everyone and his many wives, concubines and daughters to bless them. You were shown to the royal house of women where the harem resided. You did not wear makeup or jewelry other than your body chain, you dressed simply to make yourself as approachable as possible.

All the women were eager to meet you, the most powerful woman they would ever meet who had the power to order the sultan himself around and to bend him to your will. You spent the day hanging out with them holding their babies and little ones and all their pets, blessing all of them, solving conflicts between the women to bring about peace and harmony within the harem and educating them and making sure they were all in good health, again healing all those with ailments and imparting as much wisdom and advice as you could as you really impressed upon them that they were as precious as sisters to you and you told them that you were going to champion for them to make sure they and all their daughters and their granddaughters would be treated better and that if the Sultan would not agree to this, you would personally take them to the city of women, the city of your cousins so that they would be treated like the precious beings they were and that they deserved men who adored them, dignified them, treasured them and revered and respected them the way you were. To this, they seemed very honored and thanked you many many times before they brought a book to you, they themselves could not read the language written in the book since it was foreign to them but to you, it was written in your mother tongue, a language that you learned was in fact quite ancient to them. A language only a handful of people could speak much less read.

It was a book of prophecy, one that their father had consulted before answering your mother’s call. In it, you were depicted as a half demon, that your soul could be saved if only you were persuaded to lead an army back to your mother’s tree and wage war against your own mother and defeat her and then the gem in your own chest would turn into that of white diamond with hues of every color and you yourself would become a new person- ‘the chosen bride’ that you would rule over the world from a throne of the first city which would rise from the ground and become established and brought back to memory since that too had been lost to time and you would break the cycle that you were born into, you would free all the sons in the tree of your mother and her line and they themselves would be true brothers to you and would help establish your own rule, the badness and evil in the tree itself defeated and the true forest of the tree being able to seen by the whole world instead of being hoarded by your mother and yourself and your servents, the fountain of youth under the cesspool would be able to be made available to the whole world and the cesspool itself would dry up and cease to exist and would never come back into existence ever again and that you yourself would cure every disease and every plight and plague. And instead of dying ugly and alone, you would be forever even more beautiful than you already were and adored the world over and would bring world peace and bring balance to the world because the love of your life, who was the son of a god- the one called Alpha and Omega who the wives and concubines of the very rulers who your own mother gave sons to, gave them sons and daughters too and it was your mother’s sons and the sons of the Alpha and Omega who were in conflict over all the kingdoms and empires of the world- the chosen son was named Yeshua but also could be understood as Yehoshua, himself from the other side of the world, who had a gemstone in his own chest, the size equal to the one in your chest that of an alexandrite, the color of your eyes but who’s eyes were the color of the gemstone in your own chest, a midnight blue sapphire. And together you would break the cursed cycle you were both born into of serving the ruling classes of the earth and would bring an end to it all and no longer feed off of death, but instead be satisfied with life and never grow hungry and the world itself would not know hunger either for food and what satisfied all would be in overabundance.

You were both thrilled and terrified to read it. You wondered if your mother knew of this prophecy. You also knew that if she was, she would hide this from you because this would threaten her and her fate for you. You took your blessing to copy any book you found that piqued your interest and got a copy of it, by smacking the face of it and another copy fell from the bottom of the book and compared the two to make sure they matched up perfectly before you told them to put the original back to where the sultan kept it and to keep the fact that you had seen the book and had made a copy- a secret they had to take to their graves to which they all agreed and vowed.

You didn’t know what to do with the book though, not trusting that if you put it in your satchel that you would be able to retrieve it ever again before you were given a second satchel to keep the book in which you accepted gratefully. That evening all the women in the house were invited for the evening meal which was also another feast and this time there were more dignitaries that came from far and wide to see you, the one true daughter of Babylon and that this was a once in a lifetime opportunity to see you with their own eyes instead having to go half way around the world to see you or your mother and thankfully the Sultan had warned them that you insisted on meeting the women of their family too so you took keen delight in meeting them all, especially with the other women and daughters of such ones, again, bestowing blessings on them all and at the feast, you insisted that you eat it with the women, the sultanas and queens and empresses and the like sitting at your table. As you asked them in hushed words about this ‘Alpha and Omega’ and they all excitedly confirmed that such a man existed and that all their sons by him also had gems in their chests just like the gems your mother’s sons had so now you didn’t know if you saw another man with a gem in his chest if he was your brother or if he was the son of this Alpha and Omega. This complicated things because the son himself would not know if he was the son of your mother or not because he could not remember her and the women always gave birth to their sons back in their ruler’s house so that the ruler felt he was the father and the gemstones would not be visible to him just like the gemstones of the sons of your mother went unseen by all other women but to you, you could see the gemstones as clear as day but you didn’t know how to be able to distinguish them and gave you worrisome fears. Part of you longed to meet this Yeshua and part of you hoped he was perhaps meant to be your daughter’s mate, maybe this prophecy wasn’t for you and your mother, maybe it was for your daughter? You hoped so.

Once again, you looked out over the all of the party that had gathered as you realized, there were over a dozen Yeshua’s here. The Sultan’s eldest son was even named Yeshua, the one who had caught your eye while the second one was named Yehoshua who had also caught your eye. But they were all clothed, you couldn’t tell if they had gems in their chests or not. But because of the candle light, you knew alexandrite looked like ruby in candlelight. So even if you could see their chests, you wouldn’t be able to see who had a ruby or alexandrite. This was become a battle of gems. A battle between the Alpha and Omega and Babylon the Great for who would ultimately rule the world.

#Lord please don't let me catch shit for this #this is just a little bit of fun #I do not want to piss God off #I do not mean any offense in any way #but this will count as a #monster boyfriend #demon boyfriend #angel boyfriend #kind of thing #and hopefully it'll be fun #please no hateful anons #or hateful messages period

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sshbpodcast · 4 years ago

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Tales from the Holodeck: DS9 Fanfic: Ames’s Teleplay

In celebration of A Star to Steer Her By’s fourth anniversary, we did what pretty much all theaters are doing right now and put together a little Zoom reading. This time around, our latest fanfics in our “Tales from the Holodeck” series are all Deep Space Nine teleplays that you can listen to us cold read here (this one starts at 14:30), complete with really dodgy attempts at accents! Follow along with Ames’s teleplay below or read with your friends with your own dodgy accents!

[images © Paramount/CBS]

“Jurassic Quark”

By Ames

Random pick: Quark

TEASER:

QUARK: I'm not saying there aren't pros to the argument, Rom. I'm saying it'd be too much work and not enough profit.

ROM: But brother, I'm saying I could put in that work on my own time.

QUARK: The answer is no, and that's final.

ROM: You don't even have to pay me.

QUARK: We're not getting a pet for the bar!

SFX: Someone entering.

ROM: I just think the customers would like it if we got a dog... or a wompat… or… or...

VASH: I could hook you up with a tamed sehlat if you're interested.

QUARK: I'm sorry, miss, we're closed!

VASH: Pity. I thought you said you'd always be interested in doing business with me.

ROM: Is that…?

QUARK: Vash? No! No of course we are – I mean, I am – I mean, what can I do for you?

VASH: You don't know how difficult it is finding good help in this quadrant.

QUARK: Tell me about it.

ROM: Or a targ? I think the customers would like seeing a targ in the bar.

QUARK: Rom! The bar is not a petting zoo!

ROM: Sorry.

QUARK: (Sighs.) See what I mean?

SFX: Fade to intro theme to DS9. Or maybe Jurassic Park.

COMPUTER: Deep Space Nine. Episode: "Jurassic Quark"

CHAPTER ONE:

QUARK: Now, you said you had a business venture to pursue, Vash my dear?

VASH: I'm afraid it might be a little on the high-risk end.

QUARK: Well, you know what goes hand-in-hand with high risk?

ROM: A visit from the Ferengi Commerce Authority?

QUARK: Ignore him; he's an idiot who should be taking inventory right now...

ROM: Of course! Will get right to it, brother!

SFX: Rom exiting.

QUARK: Better to talk just the two of us.

VASH: Agreed. This is an item that the fewer people know about, the better.

QUARK: My favorite kind. Can I get you something? On the house, which I assure you, you won't hear me offer very frequently.

VASH: Thanks; I'm all set.

QUARK: So.

VASH: So. (Beat.) How much do you know about the Slaver Empire?

QUARK: I know anything concerning them can be very profitable and that's enough for me.

VASH: Yes, very profitable, but also very difficult. Of course, most things are.

QUARK: Of course.

VASH: I'm looking for someone who has access to a... stasis field nullifier… You see, it's –

QUARK: Hold on. Are you telling me you have a stasis box?

VASH: Oh good, you've heard of them.

QUARK: Heard of them! They're only some of the rarest artifacts in the quadrant! But I thought they'd all been tracked down...

VASH: In the Alpha Quadrant perhaps, but they're still plentiful in the Gamma Quadrant, and Starfleet doesn't have the monopoly on them there that they do here.

QUARK: Ah. You'd like to keep Starfleet out of this, I take it.

VASH: They'd only confiscate it in case it's got a grenade in it with the pin pulled or something.

QUARK: Is that a possibility?

VASH: I told you it was high-risk.

QUARK: And your bigshot boyfriend couldn't help you with this?

VASH: I haven't actually told Jean-Luc I'm back yet...

QUARK: (Sighs audibly.) I meant that omnipotent fellow you were palling around with.

VASH: Oh Q! Goodness no. I'd really prefer not to get him involved with this. Or anything. Ever again. So where are we on that stasis field nullifier? Can you get me one?

QUARK: I believe I can. For a price.

VASH: We don't know what's inside the box yet.

QUARK: Every transaction is a gamble.

VASH: 20%?

QUARK: 30.

VASH: 25.

QUARK: 25, and then 10% of every stasis box you find using the homing device that I hear these things have built in.

VASH: Oh you're good.

QUARK: I know.

VASH: Deal.

QUARK: (Calling off.) Rom! Go into the store room and bring me the device in the box labeled "self-sealing stem bolts"!

ROM: (Off.) Should I finish taking inventory first?

QUARK: Not on your life! (Muttering.) Oh to be an only child...

SFX: Rom entering.

ROM: You wanted a… a... a stasis field nullifier?

VASH: We did, thank you.

SFX: Vash using a communicator, non-Starfleet brand.

VASH: Computer, transport the container on my ship to Quark's Bar.

SFX: Transporter sound.

VASH: May I see that?

ROM: Okay.

QUARK: You're going to open that in here?

VASH: Why not?

ROM: The bar's insured. What's the worst that could happen?

QUARK: Oh you know, something about a grenade with its pin pulled maybe?

VASH: Every transaction is a gamble.

QUARK: Mm. So I've heard.

VASH: Listen. Whatever the Slavers put in this box is practically priceless. A purely preserved relic from a race that ruled the entire galaxy over a billion years ago! It's worth the risk!

QUARK: Alright alright, what are you waiting for? Open it!

SFX: Sound of the stasis field nullifier, and the box opening.

QUARK: (Bracing himself.) Well?

ROM: (Bracing himself.) Is it a bomb?

VASH: It's some kind of data storage device. Let me scan it. (Pause.) It's – it's life signatures! Encrypted life signatures! Do you know what this means?

ROM: Yes! (Beat.) But maybe you should tell us what you think it means first.

QUARK: It means we're due for some great profit!

VASH: It means that there could be patterns of individuals from the actual Slaver Empire in this storage device. They're waiting in there like an insect trapped in amber.

ROM: Or like a pattern waiting in the transporter buffer!

VASH: Exactly!

QUARK: Can you tell how many people we're talking about here?

VASH: Their technology is pretty different from ours. There'd be no way to tell unless we found a way to let them out.

ROM: It'd be very dangerous to let them out though, wouldn't it?

VASH: Very. We don't know what these people had in mind for preserving themselves like this. To free them on the station could be catastrophe.

QUARK: But to let them out in a safe, contained environment could be incredibly lucrative...

ROM: What do you mean?

QUARK: Look at it this way: it would be the opportunity of a century to have access to specimens – actual specimens – from a long-dead, ancient super race. And who controls that access? We do.

VASH: We're talking about what may be actual people, Quark. Sentient beings. This changes everything.

QUARK: On the contrary! It changes nothing.

ROM: What are you saying?

VASH: He's saying we would own these people.

ROM: But that's slavery, brother! And Ferengi don't enslave other races!

VASH: We'd be no better than the Slaver Empire.

QUARK: Would you let me finish? I'm not talking about the people in this buffer. What if we could feed this data into a holoprogram and create an artificial image of the people in the Slaver Empire that we can ensure will be safe for everyone... and fruitful for our bank accounts?

VASH: It would be an enticing way to learn about their culture without having a negative effect on their encrypted life signatures.

ROM: Or them having a negative effect on our actual life signatures!

QUARK: I can see it now: Meet the strongest ruling society in the galaxy! Back from a billion-year respite!

VASH: A stasis box might only contain a trinket to study, but this would be like a glimpse into their real lives. The archaeological community would be beside themselves!

QUARK: The Slaver Empire: Only at Quark's Bar!

SFX: Theme up; fade to commercial.

CHAPTER TWO:

ROM: We should be able to get a good approximation of the life signatures in the buffer if the holoscanners can read this data. Do you think the computer will have enough memory?

QUARK: If we dump some less popular programs from the system, I'm sure we'll be fine. Chief O'Brien and Doctor Bashir will have to go without the Battle of Britain for a while.

VASH: And the holoprograms will be able to keep us safe if the entities are less than friendly?

QUARK: Of course. 100% guaranteed.

ROM: The holosuites have safety protocols required. May I see that storage device? (Beat.) The holoscanner seems to be reading the data. If it's big enough to hold the life signatures and neural information of a number of people, it may take some ti–

COMPUTER: Program complete.

ROM: Uh. Never mind!

VASH: We'll be the first people to lay eyes on the Slavers in eons.

QUARK: Epochs even! Lead the way.

SFX: Holosuite door opening. The three enter.

SLAVER1: Who goes there?!

QUARK: (Aside.) Well they're no lookers, that's for sure.

VASH: (Aside.) I've seen worse.

SLAVER2: Identify yourselves or we'll fire.

VASH: Sorry, we're new at this. I'm Vash; this is Quark and Rom. We'd like to perform a cultural exchange with your people.

QUARK: You're going to be the biggest things in the quadrant – the galaxy, you see!

SLAVER1: We already are the biggest things in the galaxy.

SLAVER2: Now you've brought us to this place and our people will not be pleased about it.

SLAVER1: And when our people are not pleased…

SLAVER2: No one is pleased.

VASH: We're not being clear. You're – how do I put this – you're –

ROM: You're in the future!

QUARK: Rom!

ROM: The present – Our present – Your future! Oh. This is complicated.

QUARK: You're not helping!

SLAVER1: The stasis box.

SLAVER2: Yes... I remember. So they've brought us back.

SLAVER1: So where are we?

VASH: About one billion –

SLAVER1: I wasn't talking to you!

SLAVER2: It appears to be the homeworld, but something is false.

SLAVER1: Like it's a duplication.

VASH: (Aside.) This is fascinating. They're piecing together the context of their surroundings after a billion year's sleep.

QUARK: (Aside.) Someone allowed their holoprojections to be programmed too intelligent!

ROM: (Aside.) It's just however they were mapped in their data storage! And the holo-emitters – I didn't – I don't –

VASH: (Aside.) The holo-emitters have nothing to do with it. These people are just naturally this advanced. Look at how they solve a problem.

SLAVER1: They've created this place to look just like the Capitol District. But why?

VASH: Perhaps I can explain?

SLAVER2: Shoot them!

SFX: Phaser fire.

QUARK and ROM: Aah!

SLAVER2: Our weapons. They've immobilized them.

VASH: (Aside.) Good thing your safety protocols are working.

SFX: More phaser fire.

SLAVER2: Very suspicious. The beams created are fabricated.

SLAVER1: Everything is fabricated. Everything here. It is an environment simulation, but with far inferior technology. (To Quark and the others, furious.) You! Why have you brought us here?

QUARK: Oh? Are you going to let us talk now? For such an advanced race, you'd think you'd start with maybe listening to the people who have all the answers. No wonder your race went extinct.

VASH: Everyone take a breath. What you may not realize is that over a billion years – oh... how do I quantify a year for you…

ROM: On Ferenginar, a year is equal to –

SLAVER2: Inferior scum! (Grunts, throwing a punch.) Wha – We aren't –

QUARK: (Feigning a yawn.) Ho hum. You can't touch us here. You're going to have to listen to the – what did they call us?

ROM: Inferior scum.

QUARK: Yes. That.

VASH: This isn't going as I was hoping. If I'd thought they'd be this uncooperative...

QUARK: Just something we'll have to adjust in the next version. (Sighs.) Computer, end program. (Beat.) Computer? End program? Why isn't it working?

ROM: The memory! There's too much memory for it to save, so it has to keep running!

QUARK: So delete the saved file! We don't want it anyway!

SLAVER1: I see now. Computer! Show me a control panel.

QUARK: Wait...

VASH: Can they do that?

SFX: The magicky sound effect of the control panel appearing in the holosuite.

QUARK: Rom! I told you we need locking mechanisms on the holosuite arches!

ROM: They shouldn't be able to do that!

SLAVER1: Oh this is intriguing.

SLAVER2: Let me see.

SLAVER1: It's merely a holoprojection program in a recreational area aboard a space station.

QUARK: You shouldn't be reading that!

SLAVER1: I should be able to override it.

QUARK: COMPUTER! END PROGRAM!

SFX: Typing on the console.

SLAVER1: What a sad excuse for a program. A toddler could create a better facsimile than this.

SLAVER2: And have better security measures in place.

SLAVER1: Speaking of which. Those safety protocols? They're down now.

SLAVER2: I've been waiting a billion years to hear you say that.

QUARK: Now let's all just calm down for a minute…

ROM: Brother, we may not have planned this accordingly.

SLAVER2: You will rue the day you thought to enslave the Slaver Empire.

VASH: No one's enslaving anyone here.

QUARK: Take him, it's almost certainly his fault!

ROM: But brother, you're the one who –

SFX: Phaser fire.

QUARK and ROM: Aah!

QUARK: Protect me!

VASH: Protect you?! Shouldn't you be protecting me?!

SFX: Phaser fire.

QUARK and ROM: Aah!

VASH: This isn't usually how anthropology works! We just wanted to learn about your people!

SLAVER1: You will learn to bow before the mighty Empire!

SFX: Phaser fire.

SFX: Three bodies hitting the floor.

SFX: Theme up; fade to commercial.

SCENE THREE:

QUARK: (Waking up, hazy.) Ugh. My… my head…

ODO: Don't worry, Quark, it's still intact.

QUARK: Odo? Did the – (Beat.) How much do you know already?

ODO: Just that you've let a pair of aliens from an age-old civilization loose on the ship and they've locked everyone out of Ops. Why? Was there more?

QUARK: No, that about covers it. Are Rom and Vash –

ROM: We're here.

VASH: They've locked us all here in the bar.

QUARK: Well, can't complain about having a captive audience.

ODO: "Captive" being the operative word. There's no telling what they're up to now.

ROM: At least they've left us alive!

VASH: Their governance system ran almost entirely on the institution of slavery. We're better to them alive than dead.

QUARK: So? What are we doing about it?

ODO: Doing about it? What can we do about it? We're trapped in here. Sisko and the others are locked in the brig. The rest of the station's populace is locked in their quarters, and we're down to nothing but basic life support. There's nothing to be done about it.

QUARK: That's not the stubborn old pool of goo I know. Can't you… turn into something that'll get us out of here and save the day?

ODO: Oh yes. What would you like? Would you prefer a razorcat or a giant eel-bird of Regulus V? I'm taking requests.

ROM: It all happened so fast. The two Slavers just took over the whole station!

VASH: You mean two holoimages of Slavers took over the whole station.

QUARK: How did they manage that?

ODO: They were able to rewrite their characters to bypass the controls on the holoemitters. They've reprogrammed the entire station in just a couple of hours to allow them access wherever they want.

ROM: But at least I still have the data storage device that contains their real life signatures!

QUARK: You do!

ROM: They must not have searched us for it.

ODO: I'll be confiscating that, thank you.

ROM: Sorry.

VASH: So that means that they're still holoimages contained to the station.

ODO: For now. Until they reconfigure a runabout into a mobile holosuite. Or worse…

QUARK: The Defiant… They can't possibly be that smart… can they?

VASH: They were a society that had taken over the entire galaxy and held it for eons. I'd say they're pretty smart. And powerful.

ODO: Or did you not know that?

QUARK: There's only two of them. How much damage could they do in the quadrant?

ODO: Mmmmm…

QUARK: It was such a good idea… a profitable idea...

SFX: Alarm klaxon blares.

VOICE OF DUKAT: Bajoran workers, your attention please. Your attempt to seize control of this facility is going to fail. You are valuable workers and we wish you no harm. However, if you do not return control of this unit to your Cardassian supervisors, we will be forced to take action. You have eight minutes to make your decision.

VASH: What is that?

ROM: The Slavers must've tripped one of the Terok Nor counterinsurgency programs while they were searching the station's files.

ODO: Oh good, now if we're not enslaved first, we have the option of getting killed by the Cardassians' streak of paranoia yet again. At least the company this time has improved.

VASH: I'm sure the Slavers will bypass it like they have everything else so far.

VOICE OF DUKAT: Ah ah ah, Bajoran workers, you didn't say the magic word. Your rebellion will not succeed. Surrender immediately or I will be forced to kill every Bajoran on the station.

VASH: Or not.

QUARK: (Announcing to the bar.) It was a pleasure to serve you all, and in the shadow of our demise, I'd like to announce that drinks will be half-price! Get 'em while you're breathing!

ODO: I always knew that the destruction of the station would somehow be your doing, Quark. But I wouldn't have guessed it would be in this manner.

VASH: What can I say? We got greedy. I should never have opened Pandora's box and let those horrors come out.

ROM: We did try to keep the circumstances safe!

QUARK: That's right. We couldn't have known what was going to happen.

VASH: But we could! It was in their nature to usurp power. I don't know how we didn't see that. We were blinded by the promise of forbidden knowledge and…

QUARK: And piles of latinum.

VASH: The Slavers died out ages and ages ago and we should have left them there. They had their time in the sun already, but we just had to try to exploit them for more!

QUARK: I never said it was a fool-proof idea. It could have worked, but...

VASH: But we were so preoccupied with whether or not we could that we didn't stop to think if we should.

ODO: It's too late for that now. All we can do now is wait.

VASH: And see if the station self destructs.

QUARK: My money's on O'Brien somehow foiling their plans.

ROM: I'll take that bet, brother!

QUARK: Fine. If we're all dead, I can't pay up anyway.

VOICE OF DUKAT: Attention Bajoran workers, it pains me to see you have not surrendered to your Cardassian supervisors. I am very sorry to say that everyone in the command center will be beamed into space in five seconds if you do not comply immediately. 5… 4...

VASH: Wait! The Slavers' holoimages won't remain intact off the station!

VOICE OF DUKAT: 3… 2…

QUARK: That means –

ODO: Clever gul.

VOICE OF DUKAT: 1. This rebellion is over. Bye bye.

SFX: Alarm klaxon stops.

QUARK: The doors!

VASH: They're unlocked!

ROM: And power has returned to the systems!

ODO: I need to report to the brig to let Captain Sisko out. Don't do anything that you'd usually do while I'm gone.

QUARK: Wouldn't dream of it.

SFX: Odo exiting.

VASH: The universe wasn't ready to meet the Slavers again. In any form.

ROM: I don't know about the universe, but we sure weren't.

VASH: They're better where they are. In the history books where they belong.

QUARK: (Scoffs.) And you think the bar can handle a pet.

ROM: Maybe we can start with a couple of plants?

QUARK: Oh, no. I'm not taking time out of my busy day to tend to a bunch of freeloading flowers.

VASH: I have access to a crop of Phylosian retlaw plants I could get you pretty cheap.

ROM: Aren't those things poisonous?

VASH: Not if you keep them fed.

QUARK: I'm putting an end to this conversation. No pets! No plants! No ancient races trying to conquer the galaxy! None of it!

SFX: Quark exiting.

VASH: Maybe a couple of snakeleaf plants?

ROM: Those can be pretty profitable actually.

QUARK: (Off.) None of it!

SFX: Ending theme.

—

Check out Caitlin, Jake, and Chris’s stories for more Tales from the Holodeck! Also, be sure to keep listening on SoundCloud, follow us on Facebook and Twitter, and relinquish all stasis boxes to Starfleet Command immediately.

#star trek #Star Trek Deep Space 9 #ds9 #fanfic #star trek fanfiction #teleplay #ds9 fanfiction #Quark #Ferengi #Vash #profit #jurassic park

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