Temet Nosce
Posted on Tue Jun 4th, 2019 @ 8:19am by Captain Mrazak & Gunnery Sergeant Roderik Kos
1,075 words; about a 5 minute read
Mission:
Mission 0: Everybody Has A Story
Location: V'tosh Ka'tur colony, Trilan
Timeline: 2368
By contemporary Earth standards, Trilan was a shithole. For all their Logic, most conventional Vulcan settlements held the veneer of anachronistic decor that hearkened back to their ancient history rich with lore and tradition. Even sacred monasteries such as the famous one on P'Jem did not truly lack for technological conveniences, for they eschewed them by choice. For the V'tosh Ka'tur, the Vulcans Without Logic, their poverty was less of a choice and more of a judicial sentence.
Cast out from mainstream Vulcan society, the radical extremists were required to make due on their own with whatever scarce resources they could scavenge. It was not an easy life, but the greatest rewards never came easily. It was in such a culture that Mrazak Tow'Lasha was born and raised. There were no coming of age rituals to mark his adulthood, whether kolinahr or any other. Life was all about survival in the largely agrarian colony. Those who didn't work the fields to ensure sufficient food in the winter kept to the colony's main abbey and its outlying shrines, and it was such places that drew young Mrazak with his insatiable curiosity for knowledge and the unknown.
"Abbot!" called out a young and smooth-faced Mrazak, merely thirty years of age which was barely out of adolescence in Vulcan reckoning. "Abbot, are you here?"
Old K'zal stepped out of his small cell. He was the epitome of the old Vulcan, a bent back, a large staff, and steel-coloured hair. He blinked against the light for a moment, and by some younger K'zal habit tried to straighten his back. All this did was making him grunt in discomfort. Then he turned his eyes on the man, barely, that called for him. "I am here." He half croaked, half spoke.
Mrazak slowed his sprint into a trot as he approached the old man. There were few minds that he respected more than Abbot K'zal, and he was certain to show it. "I was accepted into the Academy," Mrazak said once he had neared the other. "My parents applied on my behalf. I told them I didn't want to even try... I never thought I stood a chance. But they accepted me!" He blushed at his own eagerness. "Well, I'm advanced to the interview stages, but that's sure to be a breeze. They wouldn't interview someone not worth considering, would they?"
K'zal gestured to the small bench in the open gallery hallway before stepping to it. He slowly lowered himself onto it, staring at the few rugged plants in the small abbey garden. After a long pause, K'zal answered "Temper your excitement with patience, Mrazak. Many do not advance to the interviews, and many more shall not continue past the interviews either." His eyes turn to the young man, still a boy to K'zal, and the corners of K'zal's mouth turned up. "But if any of ours would pass, it would be you."
"Do you really think so?" Young Mrazak looked away at the flagstone floor of the monastery. "Our people are excluded from the homeworld's IDIC principle because Logic has practically become the Federation's state religion. Do I really stand a chance?"
"I think so. But my opinion is not what matters Mrazak. Yours does." The old man reached and placed his hand on Mrazak's shoulder. "Have faith my son. The Academy is a great challenge, one that I know you will rise to." And with what little strength K'zal had, he squeezed Mrazak's shoulder.
Mrazak sighed away his doubts. "I hope so. I'm just afraid that even if I do pass through these challenges, there won't be anything waiting for me on the other side but stagnant work details. I want to do something big and important. There's a life of manual labor for me right here. I want to see the stars!" A light ignited in young Mrazak's eyes. "I want to know things no one else has known before. I want to make a difference in this universe." His excitement faded back into droll reality. "If Starfleet can't give me that, then I might as well live out my days here."
The gentle hand on Mrazak's shoulder swiftly turned into a light smack to the back of Mrazak's head. "There is more between the stars than just service in Starfleet. Look at Brother Hannok or Telum who has attended the University of Bolia. There are many roads to greatness. You may not be destined to dig ditches after all."
"Mrazak!" The agricultural supervisor, Orin, called out from outside the small abbey. "Mrazak, where are you!?"
Mrazak groaned at the sound. "Orin..." He looked at K'Zal. "Can you tell him I'm not here?"
K'zal laughed, his old skin wrinkling. "Boy, if you are heading to Starfleet Academy, you will need to speak to many like Brother Orin."
"I'll try to remember that," Mrazak said. Reluctantly standing up, he called out. "I'm in here, Orin! With Prior K'zal!
A towering Vulcan appeared in sight. He was close to seven feet, and had an enormously muscular build. The lower half of his face were covered in a thick, curly beard. "Mrazak, why is the northern field not turned yet? I told you to start that this morning?"
"I did..." Mrazak protested weakly. "Start, that is. But I had good news!" He looked to K'zal for moral support, grinning at his enthusiasm. "I've been accepted to the Academy!"
"Congratulations." Orin said flatly. "Now go back to the job at hand. Your future will be there when you've completed your tasks."
Mrazak frowned. He did not like being scolded. "...yes, Taskmaster Orin."
K'zal raised his hand. "Orin, the boy will complete his task, I will make sure of it. But let him revel in his enthusiasm for a while longer."
The younger Vulcan was quiet for a moment, weighing his options before asceding to K'zal. "Very well abbot, but see to it it gets done."
Once Orin had left, Mrazak sighed. "One day I'll be in charge of men like him. Then I'll do things properly. Kindly, with regard to life and what's right, and not just living for the next job." His eyes gleamed with hopeful idealism.
"I am sure you will, my boy. Now help an old man up, and you can tell m what you want to study for at the Academy as we stroll." K'zal said.
Prior K'zal and Taskmaster Orin played by Roderik Kos.
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