Deception: The lesser part of Valour – Analysis of Faith
by Lieutenant JG Jayfe Devero
Post Details
Varis Hale furrowed her brow as she dropped a fern frond back into a transparent sample bag, complete with a Starfleet emblem and tracking numbers. The inhabitants of the planet she had collected this sample from claimed it had healing properties, but all her investigations had yielded no indication the plant did any such thing. If anything, its smell offended her nose. She sealed the sample bag tight and returned it to a larger container with other samples.
"Computer, display results of molecular decomposition analysis of sample Zulu-958," she instructed.
The console in front of Varis begun charting raw data, the results of her scan of the frond. She could see nothing new to corroborate the myth around the fern - the locals were adamant about its abilities, although there was a strict ritual to be followed if the healing was to be successful. Apparently it had to be dried for several days after cutting, then ground into a fine dust and sprinkled in the patients food. It could cure a variety of diseases, and even a broken heart one woman had told her.
"You've gotta have faith for it to work, Varis." The lab assistant assigned to Varis was more trouble than she was worth. No respect for protocol. Varis preferred to work alone, but Jayfe had assigned this civilian to her just to irritate her, she was sure.
"Doctor, what progress have you made on cataloguing the findings from the Katari expedition?" Varis diverted the encounter.
The lab assistant, recently awarded her PhD in botany blinked several times. "I'm getting there. But about this frond..." She rifled through Varis' sample box. Varis hated rifling. Everything would now be out of order. "It's about faith, you know."
Varis took a deep breath, calming her facial expressions. *Why won't this woman leave me alone?*
"I see. You're implying a placebo effect." Varis had already noted that suspicion in her log attached to the sample.
"Well, maybe. But maybe it really does work!" The lab assistant found the frond sample and yanked it out of the box, holding it up to the light and studying it closely. "Like, heals things that can't otherwise be fixed." She looked at Varis. "Diseases and stuff. These ferns only grow around certain ponds on Katari, ponds that the locals believed were formed by the tears of their gods during a great war. The tears of the gods cause the ferns to grow, giving the mortals of Katari the ability to heal their wounds."
"There's nothing to indicate the fern has any healing properties." Varis didn't even both to correct the flat tone of her response. *Who gave this woman PhD in botany?* She thought to herself.
"Yeah, but that's because you don't BELIEVE it will work. You have to have faith, you know?"
Varis gently took the sample from the lab assistant and returned it to the sample box. She sealed the box and replaced it on the shelf. Varis Hale was a Trill. He spots seemed darker when she was irritated. She was often irritated. Varis Hale was a scientist, perhaps Starfleet's leading botanist and easily most well published.
"This is a science laboratory, not a temple. Please return to your work so I can do the same."
Dejected, the lab assistant sulked off to the other side of the lab. Varis noted the silence and made a mental note to remember that trick for the next time her assistant got too chatty.
OFF:
Lt. Varis Hale, NPC by Brady (Jayfe)
by Lieutenant JG Jayfe Devero
Post Details
| Title | Analysis of Faith | |
| Mission | Deception: The lesser part of Valour | |
| Author(s) | Lieutenant JG Jayfe Devero | |
| Posted | Fri Dec 19, 2008 @ 5:58am | |
| Location | Deck 145, Science Lab 19 | |
| Timeline | SD6 08:30 |
"Computer, display results of molecular decomposition analysis of sample Zulu-958," she instructed.
The console in front of Varis begun charting raw data, the results of her scan of the frond. She could see nothing new to corroborate the myth around the fern - the locals were adamant about its abilities, although there was a strict ritual to be followed if the healing was to be successful. Apparently it had to be dried for several days after cutting, then ground into a fine dust and sprinkled in the patients food. It could cure a variety of diseases, and even a broken heart one woman had told her.
"You've gotta have faith for it to work, Varis." The lab assistant assigned to Varis was more trouble than she was worth. No respect for protocol. Varis preferred to work alone, but Jayfe had assigned this civilian to her just to irritate her, she was sure.
"Doctor, what progress have you made on cataloguing the findings from the Katari expedition?" Varis diverted the encounter.
The lab assistant, recently awarded her PhD in botany blinked several times. "I'm getting there. But about this frond..." She rifled through Varis' sample box. Varis hated rifling. Everything would now be out of order. "It's about faith, you know."
Varis took a deep breath, calming her facial expressions. *Why won't this woman leave me alone?*
"I see. You're implying a placebo effect." Varis had already noted that suspicion in her log attached to the sample.
"Well, maybe. But maybe it really does work!" The lab assistant found the frond sample and yanked it out of the box, holding it up to the light and studying it closely. "Like, heals things that can't otherwise be fixed." She looked at Varis. "Diseases and stuff. These ferns only grow around certain ponds on Katari, ponds that the locals believed were formed by the tears of their gods during a great war. The tears of the gods cause the ferns to grow, giving the mortals of Katari the ability to heal their wounds."
"There's nothing to indicate the fern has any healing properties." Varis didn't even both to correct the flat tone of her response. *Who gave this woman PhD in botany?* She thought to herself.
"Yeah, but that's because you don't BELIEVE it will work. You have to have faith, you know?"
Varis gently took the sample from the lab assistant and returned it to the sample box. She sealed the box and replaced it on the shelf. Varis Hale was a Trill. He spots seemed darker when she was irritated. She was often irritated. Varis Hale was a scientist, perhaps Starfleet's leading botanist and easily most well published.
"This is a science laboratory, not a temple. Please return to your work so I can do the same."
Dejected, the lab assistant sulked off to the other side of the lab. Varis noted the silence and made a mental note to remember that trick for the next time her assistant got too chatty.
OFF:
Lt. Varis Hale, NPC by Brady (Jayfe)