{Sunny Days} {open}

[ace3]

It was rather nice weather in San Francisco today, Ace observed. Of course, he couldn't tell the temperature outside due to his lack of a body, but from all of the rolled up sleeves and mini-fans he assumed that it was rather warm. Ace looked at his hands, and rolled up his sleeves, revealing an image of normal human skin. He was sitting on the grass (not really sitting, but floating above it slightly), looking at all the people around him and trying to tell which emotion was which. Due to his "disability", as some of his colleges called his program, he was required to take psychology, and he even got some extra assignments from the teacher. It was annoying, at least to the hologram. But, if the lessons would help him make some friends, it would be worth it.

"Anger, sadness, disappointment..." Ace rattled out, his voice hushed.

In his data bank inside of his dorm room, he was also processing notes from Robotics class, and Transporter theory. He'd been studying hard for the test next, and longer, since he didn't need to sleep (although turning off his program was something that he needed to do soon) or eat. Ace, as far as he could tell, was the top of his class in both of those classes. A big surge of wind swept across the lawn, accidentally messing with a few embarrassed girls' skirts and the tree above his head. It didn't affect him, but it was amusing seeing people freak out about it slightly. Ace wished that he didn't get such amusement out of seeing humans freak out, but it was a fault in him- something that he couldn't fix. At least, that's what his father had told him. His fingers intertwined as he put his balled up hands to his face to keep the laughter away. As soon as the wind ceased it's minor fun and the women walked away, Ace moved his fingers away from his face and continued staring at the people who walked by. A random thought entered his head, and he didn't bother batting it away. It would be a useless fight, he reasoned, because the thought would probably come back again later. His computer bank had a habit of doing that to him.

"Why do girls have such short skirts?" he pondered to himself nearly silently.

Ace closed his "eyes" and went over the mass amounts of data for the Transporter Theory test. Understanding it was easy, and it had helped that he'd tutored a girl in it yesterday. Ace got up off of the grass and stepped onto the concrete, making sure that his feet were level with the ground. To Ace's delight, his feet were neither sinking nor floating. If he didn't fizz or partly disappear, he felt confident that he'd look fully human. Ace was pretty sure he had a few hours at least until he had the test, and so he started to walk towards his dorm to have something to do.

[vodka]

It had been a good day so far. The commendation and medal ceremony (and subsequent reception) for the newly-captained Kirk had been thankfully short and smooth, leaving the crew members present with a good chunk of the day left to wander about the Academy and San Francisco freely. A fair few of the members present had taken the chance to visit their friends... the ones who hadn't been murdered by Nero when he blew up their ships, that is. A lot of cadets had been lost, and Chekov couldn't help but notice that the population of the grounds was considerably thinner then when he had been present.

It was saddening, but he didn't let that dampen his mood for long. He was off visiting his old professors today! The thought of returning back aboard the ship wasn't terribly appealing to him, not when it was such a nice day out. Warmer than what he liked, but after his tenure in space he wasn't going to complain.

Most of his old instructors he had reunited with during the smallish reception after the ceremony, as they had been present for the awards. That hadn't been at all like he was expecting; Chekov had been somewhat pleasantly surprised that HE of all people had been approached by various people to congratulate him for what part he had done in the fight against Nero. What he had done! Word had gotten out of his transporter heroics, it seemed. Proud as it made Chekov, he had found the praise more than a little embarrassing. Thus he had managed to slip out early, to pay visits to those he hadn't seen.

So far the visits had gone well, but there was but one more instructor on his list- Professor Merriweather, an enthusiastic old Englishman who had always been one of Chekov's favorites at the academy. He hadn't been at the reception, which surprised Chekov slightly. More surprisingly was the fact that his old office was now occupied by someone else. Had he finally retired, then? Or had he simply moved his office? That happened on occasion. Nonetheless, Chekov was bound to get to the bottom of this mystery!

Thus his current location of outside- he was heading off to the main building to go see if someone in the head office knew of Prof. Merriweather's whereabouts. As he bounced through the gaggles of students, the thought came to him to ask if one of them knew. It could save him a bit of a trip, at least. Not to mention the hassle of the administration office. With this brilliant new idea upon him, Chekov started paying more attention to the cadets he was passing. He was dead-set on avoiding groups because, though more people meant a bigger chance of answering his query, the thought of interrupting a whole GROUP of people was a bit much for the little Russian. So he was seeking out- Ah!

Directly ahead of him was a lone cadet, walking towards him- heading to the dorms, no doubt. He didn't look threatening enough to veer Chekov away, so the young ensign happily flagged the male cadet down.

"Excuse me!" he chirped. "I am looking for the professor Merriweather. Are you knowing where I may find him? An office, maybe?"

[ace3]

Ace was lost in his own processing while he was walking towards the dorms. In fact, he didn't notice Chekov so the hologram walked right through him. Of course, he stopped when he heard a voice, and turned around. His hologram fizzed a bit and turned transparent for a second, a sign that Ace had been caught off guard. As soon as Ace realized what was happening, he pretty much forced his holographic simulators back into their proper placement.

With a small fizzling snap his form once again looked corporal, and he smiled a warm smile as the previous question now registered in his mind. Ace remembered hearing about a few office changes. They had been brought about due to a few complaints by the professor who had his room later changed, if Ace remembered correctly. He opened his mouth and spoke, his voice a bit of a British accent mixed with American. His voice was hollow though, like a computer.

"Ah, I do remember hearing about some office changes- I do believe the professor moved his office in the building due north of here. I can show you the way, if you want."

The wind picked up a bit, blowing a cool breeze, that Ace couldn't feel, onto the hot lawn area. As his processors in the dorm registered the knowledge he had on Professor Merriweather, including location, and what classes he taught, he awaited the Russian's answer. Ace was kind of surprised by how young the yellow-clad male in front of him looked. He looked to young to be in Starfleet, but people could look younger or older than they actually were. The hologram was a prime example of that- he looked early 30s, but he was actually seventeen, computer-age wise.

Ace calculated how much time it would take for him to show the other male where the Professor's room was, and concluded that it was all right. He'd still have time to study, among other things. Ace saw people and objects being affected by the cool breeze, his body fizzing a bit for a few seconds before returning to normal. He'd have to see what was going on in his computer, because his holographic lapses were becoming worse.

[vodka]

To say Chekov was startled when the holographic student walked right through him would merely be stating the obvious. The young ensign jumped, then spun around to face the hologram with wide eyes. There was a brief flash of confused surprise on the ensign's face, but the look was not long to last as curiosity set in. A hologram? Out? Walking around? This was far beyond anything Chekov had ever studied or even read about. Already he was forming a few dozen questions to ask and mull over.

It took him a moment to register that the hologram had replied (with no speakers? How was that done?), and another moment to remember to answer in English. "Oh! You... you are hologram?"

Of course it... he... whatever was. Stupid question. It was too humanoid in appearance for an incorporeal species, and the fizzing and brief flash of transparency indicated some mechanical source. Question was- Where?

"Sorry, sorry," he hastily added almost instantly after the question had blurted itself out, waving the question off. "He is in the North building?" Ah, good! Never thought to look there.

Chekov could have easily made it there on his own, but his head bobbed in a thankful nod as the hologram offered to escort him to the building. "Yes, that would be good, thank you."

He turned and started to make his way to the aforementioned building, grateful as a cool breeze began to pick up. It was a nice brush against the hot weather. He waited for the hologram to catch up, and Chekov peered at him with an unabashed curiosity. "You are student here?"

[ace3]

"Yes, although a few of my classmates would disagree."

Ace said, catching up with the guy rather easily. His voice had a laugh in it when he talked about his classmates. The laugh, in his opinion, made his voice sound a bit more human, a bit more...warm. His footsteps made no noise, not surprisingly, on the concrete below his virtual feet. The lawns seemed to stretch on forever, but the computer knew that was impossible. Ace looked at the young man's face, and noticed curiosity instantly. The curiosity detection had been pre-programmed into his circuits by Vestari, thankfully, and so he was keen on catching it. He ignored it for the first few minutes, but in the lack of having anything else to say, he openly said.

"You're curious. Feel free to ask anything you like," he replied to the look with a voice typical of someone who is asked a lot of questions. There was a slight ringing in his voice, almost a small echo. Ace didn't notice the fault.

Cadets passed on the other side of the sidewalk, probably heading to one of the buildings south of them or the dormitories. They were also speaking to themselves, which would have provoked some curiosity in a normal human. Ace wasn't curious. He wasn't curious one bit over some giggling girl's conversation. The man walking next to him and his motives were far more curiosity-inspiring than a girl. They started to arrive at the north building right at the second that Ace had calculated in his computer. Well, at least his calculations and the bare bones of his circuits were working fine. It just seemed to be the cosmetic circuits that were malfunctioning.

He turned his head to the guy and very friendly asked, "Are you a previous student of the Professor? Oh yea, I'm Ace, by the way, what's your name?"

Ace hoped he wasn't being too forthcoming, but his psychology professor had told him that being assertive was a good trait. So, the hologram didn't apologize for his comment, and went silent again so that the man could respond in any way that he saw fit.

[vodka]

Chekov loped along easily beside the hologram, unable to help but half-stare as he attempted to figure out the other's mechanics on his own. The other half of his attentions were focused on keeping an eye out on where he was going. He didn't want to run into anyone or anything, after all.

He smiled sheepishly when the cadet pointed out his obvious curiosity. Chekov was good at a lot of things, but keeping a poker face was certainly not one of them. "Sorry," he replied. "It's just..." He broke off at the invitation for questions, perking up like a kid at Christmas. "Really?"

This gave him a moment of quiet as he turned over the questions in his head He had non shortage of them- schematics, operation, but best start with the basics, no? "How are you-" he broke off with a vague wave of the hand as he sought the appropriate word. "-Function?" Function, right? It applied in this case, right? Linguistics was another one of his weaker suits, admittedly. "I see no cameras, no speakers..." Not to mention that holographic sciences were supposed to be in their relative infancy.

They arrived at the North building, though Chekov paused before entering to nod at the inquiry of the professor. "Yes. I graduate from his class last year. I am just here to visit and say hello before my ship leaves again." As the hologram introduced itself (himself) as Ace, Chekov grinned and nodded. "It is pleasure to meet you, Ace. My name is Chekov, Pavel Andreievich."

[ace3]

Ace nodded at Chekov's "really?", and awaited answers. He knew a bit about himself, and the way he was made, thanks to Vestari, but he did not know the full story. Ace knew from the first time he was turned on that asking too many questions to his father provoked violence. He had a small smile when Chekov started to prod around how he functioned, especially due to the lack of cameras as such. He closed his eyes and thought about it for a second, before opening them again and stating.

"Well- I don't know the whole story. My creator, Dr. Richeloff Vestari, was very strict in keeping my own design away from my memory banks. However, I think it has something to do with separating white light and mixing the different wavelengths through a certain "carrier wave". The sound of my voice is also carried along that wave. The reason why my body reacts to light and shadow is a bit of a reaction of a few waves that are programmed to react when certain light factors are present in an outside environment."

Dr. Richeloff Vestari had been a loon before he was a hermit. His colleagues in Star fleet had at first praised the middle aged man on his development on certain holographic prototypes. He had been given grants to develop this technology. Unfortunately, Vestari had a mental disorder that hard work and no sleep accentuated. He went insane and stabbed one of his assistants in the shoulder for messing up on of his designs. Vestari had then disappeared to most people, only to be known later for his holographic son, Ace, who is in the academy. By some of the people that remember him, he was the precise definition of a genius mad scientist. These memories came back to Ace, and he turned his eyes away from Chekov after the explanation.

"Ah! I see, well, I'm sure he'll be glad to see you, Mr. Chekov." Ace said, the momentary confusion and oddness that was in his features being replaced by excitement again.

Ace started to walk towards the north building, giving a "come on" gesture with his left hand as he walked right through the door. The floors and walls were unusually clean, the hologram noticed. He muttered to himself that the professor's office was at the top of a flight of stairs at the end of the hallway that was in front of him. Ace waited for Chekov, not wanting to leave him behind.

[vodka]

Chekov couldn't help but furrow his brow at the mention of Dr. Vestari. That... that would explain a lot. He'd heard about the mad doctor, certainly. Considering all the scientific journals Chekov read in his spare time, one couldn't help but at least be familiar with the name. That, and the rumors surrounding the man. A carrier wave, though... that made sense.

"But do you have any, err, transceiver? Something to catch the wave at all?" How the hologram could operate on its own was nothing short of fascinating, and even more so the unassisted factor of it all. And with the human-like personality and (assumed) intelligence that Ace was showing off, that just spawned MORE questions. Pity the Doctor had kept the information away from his creation, though. Already Chekov could think of numerous applications for such technology.

He would leave the questions for later, though. Ace had just reminded Chekov why he was here. As the holographic student passed easily through the doors, Chekov heaved his shoulder against the old thing, pushing the heavy object aside with his body weight. Oof. Heavy as it always had been.

It took half a moment for his eyes to adjust tot he relative dimness compared to the bright sunshine outside, but Chekov was quick to blink that away. He looked almost expectantly at Ace, who muttered something that he couldn't quite catch about stairs. Upstairs, probably. So he went along after Ace, the cheerful spring never leaving his step. And why should it? He'd made a most fascinating discovery (wait until he wrote home about THIS), and he was going to meet Professor Merriweather! He hoped the old man was well.

"So what courses are you taking?" he asked, glancing up at Ace again. Judging by the hologram's cadet ensemble, he WAS taking courses here, right?

[ace3]

"The wave is circulatory, it starts out at my hard drive and ends at my hard drive. One extra program on my computer calculates the exact coordinates where the carrier wave should focus into the form that you see here before thinning out and going back to the hard drive."

Ace explained after Chekov came through the doorway, and after he muttered about the office. He would have helped the lad with the door, but he couldn't touch the door- as seen when he walked through it. Allowing a few seconds for the alumna to situate himself, Ace started to walk up the stairs. Besides his foot and leg slipping partway into the stair at his first step the walking was pretty easy. Unlike corporal beings, the hologram had to actually concentrate on keeping his feet on the surface of things. His distaste for his mistake came from a small fizz and blur on his appearance. It was soon fixed, though and Ace looked back at Chekov as he registered the question.

"Oh- Robotics, Transporter Theory, Temporal Mechanics, Basic Warp Design, and Forensic Psychology," he responded, listing out his courses.

He was passionate about those courses, robotics in particular. It was fascinating, seeing how beings like himself were constructed. It was the same love that was seen in people who took anatomy to become doctors. It was two flight of stairs before Ace stopped his footwork. The hallway was pretty dim, but clean- just like the base floor. He walked into the hallway, looking for the exact office number that Professor Merriweather had. With the sound of an older man's thinly veiled curse in front of a door labeled "Lab 91#", Ace knew he had found the right place. He walked right through the door and gave a greeting to the Professor on the other side.

Ace liked this professor's room, although it was a bit more cluttered than last time. He waited for Chekov to come in before he said anything more than a greeting. It was the other man's visit, not his, after all. Ace knew it would be more polite to keep his mouth shut until after the visit. Be as silent as a tricorder, which he practically was life-wise.

[vodka]

Oooh, so that's how it was done. Made sense, Chekov mused over the ideas a bit. Robotics were a subject he hadn't gone too far in-depth on, but he certainly had a strong enough grasp on the materials to know and understand what Ace was talking about. Interesting.

He was surprised at the class load Ace ticked off after hos own question. Wow. That was a pretty heavy load of courses. "So... you plan on being something like machine doctor?" A good fit, he guessed. What better way to talk to a machine than with another one?

At last the pair mounted the steps and moved down the hall to their destination. A curse could be heard from behind the poorly-soundproofed door, making Chekov smile on reflex. That sounded like the old man, all right. Loud as ever.

Ace had no compunctions about walking straight through the door, but Chekov paused just long enough to offer the formality of a knock before creaking it open. "Professor?" He pushed the door open before entering, all full of nervous excitement. "Hello!"

"Chekov!" Professor Merriweather was a large man with more than a passing resemblance to the old British prime minister Winston Churchill, though old Mr Churchill never had the whiskers that Professor Merriweather sported. The old man beamed, rising from his chair to clap the youngster on the shoulder. "Glad to see you're doing well, boy! Congratulations on making the Enterprise; I never expected less!"

"Thank you sir," Chekov replied, smiling as he rubbed at the shoulder. Old as he was, the professor had quite a bit of strength to him. "Oh! Sir, this is Ace." He motioned to the hologram. "He helped me to find your office. I hadn't known you moved..."

[ace3]

"I plan on fixing machines, and just being a general engineer, probably. If that's a mechanical doctor- then yes." Ace answered before going through the door.

He waited for a few seconds while Chekov knocked and let himself in. Using those few seconds to mutter out a near silent greeting to the Professor.

Ace watched as the Professor and Chekov were reunited, smiling from his place on the wall next to the door. He specifically coordinated his coordinates to make himself not sink into the wall he was "leaning against". He raised both of his eyebrows when he found out that the alumna that he had been leading to the room was a member of the Enterprise. Of course the guy had seemed smart, but to be on the Enterprise required a whole other set of intelligence. Ace was quite impressed.

The Professor smiled, and said, "Ah yes, the AIH-119. The hologram lightyears ahead of it's time."

Ace couldn't help but blush a little bit. He was a rather modest computer, and he wasn't a bit fan of attention like other programs in his position could have been. Ace suspected Vestari had purposefully programmed him to hate attention. If Ace hated attention, then he wouldn't bring any. At least, that was his father's idea. He raised his voice to point out:

"It's Ace, sir, only my father called me by my serial number."

"As you've told me before many times," The Professor ringed out with a laugh.

The Professor turned again too talk to Chekov, and Ace felt himself pull away emotionally. He really couldn't help it- he could only simulate being human for so long. He walked over to a window on the right side of the office and stared out at the people below. Ace didn't hear the conversation, and just allowed himself to get lost in his notes for the test next. His mind were his notes, and he had databanks to store his knowledge so he felt kind of guilty. Ace didn't need to study, really, due to the notes-and-mind as same thing, so he was top of the class in most of his subjects.

[vodka]

"Oh, you know one another?" Chekov was surprised, though reflecting on this he shouldn't have been. Professor Merriweather was one of the more involved professors in the Academy, both in the volume of courses he taught and in his involvement with the student body.

He let the two converse for a moment, noting the professor's use of Ace's serial number. Huh. Odd. Yet the thought was not one to stick in his head long, as Merriweather soon turned back to Chekov, and the two began conversing.

It wasn't much of a conversation, really: the old professor was mostly asking questions- how was the ship, was he enjoying the other crew members, that Kirk sure was an interesting fellow... and so on. Aside from outlining what he was typically supposed to do, the older man all but made Chekov regale the tale against Nero. By now Chekov was getting rather tired of reciting the thing, to be honest. Once or twice was one thing, but he must have recited the thing a dozen times already.

Once the professor was satisfied with the tale the two made their final pleasantries and Chekov knew it was time to go. Where next he didn't know. Back tot he ship, maybe? He'd figure that out in a bit. Ace was staring almost moodily out the window as the two spoke, causing Chekov's brow to furrow in an almost worried expression. Wonder what he was thinking about...

"Ace?" He called out, instinctively reaching out to uselessly attempt to tap the hologram on the shoulder. "Thank you for showing the way and being patient. I am not holing you up on anything?"

[ace3]

As the conditions outside changed from slight wind to no wind, the computer was entranced. However, he soon got snapped out of it. Ace was snapped out of his thoughts by Chekov, who had called out to him in thanks. The hologram hadn't noticed Chekov's attempt to tap him, not being able to feel it as the flesh passed through him like a finger through air. His blank, more robot-like expression was replaced by his happy programming. Ace didn't mind showing Chekov around- he had hours before his test, anyway. In fact- rather enjoyed the company, to admit something to himself. Ace opened his "mouth" and replied:

"Oh no- nothing at all, I was just about to check on the only physical part of me, and no problem, I'm glad to help."

He mulled over something in his head, because his face turned into one of pure thought for a second, but he soon returned to reality. Since his father was dead, Ace could show anyone his programming. It wasn't like he was going to wake up to see the doctor reprogramming him again. A fizz passed from his feet to his head as the thought of rebooting returned. Dr. Vestari had probably programmed that fear, too.

"Ah- you're interested in my programming aren't you? If you want, I could show you my actual interface. It's in my dorm "room", which is not far from here. I'm afraid it's no too impressive-"

"-and maybe the genius could do something about that image fizzing of yours. I swear, a robot who doesn't know how to fix himself," the professor piped in, making Ace laugh for a second.

"Maybe, so, interested?" Ace raised both eyebrows as his face turned into a bit of a smirk. It was a newer thing that he had learned in psychology. A "cunning grin", which the teacher said suited him. An intellectual devil- a devil hologram that is. Ace moved his eyes back to the window behind him for a second, observing outside one last time before turning back to the two- supposed- humans.

[vodka]

From the look on Chekov's face at the offer, he couldn't have been more excited than if he was told it were Christmas and he got to sit next to Santa and help him give out the presents. To see such an advanced piece of technology was a rare treat indeed!

"Я могу?" The Russian came out before Chekov could catch himself, though he was quick to blink it off. "Err, sorry. I can?"

Professor Merriweather was quick to laugh and usher the pair out of the office. Chekov bounded along after Ace, looking like nothing less than an eager puppy about to get its favorite treat. He was going to see it! He was going to see it!

Then, a thought.

"Wait... It won't be being rude, will it?"

After all, physical part of a holographic computer. Would that be like seeing someone naked? The mere idea made Chekov's cheeks tinge slightly pink. He hoped he wasn't intruding on the machine inappropriately. After all, he had been taught his manners well as a child! Why shouldn't it extend to Ace?

(Я могу? - I can? (roughly))

[ace3]

"Sure."

Ace wasn't really that surprised about the Russian that came out of the man's mouth. He did look quite Russian after all, but he was suprised by how much the guy wanted to see a collection of old, rusty bolts and computer parts that made up the faltering program. They were both ushered out by the Professor, who complained that he had work to do that couldn't be too long disturbed by a hologram and a genius. Before he walked through the door, the Professsor encouraged Ace again to get his software fixed.

Ace started to walk down the hallway, and looked back to see the guy following him as if he was Santa. He didn't really want to dissapoint Chekov by revealing that his "super advanced systems" were characteristic of an old toaster in shinyness. Ace wondered if he really should get his database cleaned sometime. It'd make it look more presentable for sure, but he was cautious. He had his entire persona in that thing, and if it was broken or lost he'd probably "die". Ace didn't really have a fear of so called death, but he still wanted to keep on living.

He descended the staircase rather well, his feet not really sinking into the floor past a few inches on the first few steps. Ace smiled, thinking that he was getting better at controlling the coordinates every day. He was suddenly brought to the attention that Chekov was trying to ask something. He was asking if he was being rude. A question brought on by the multi-species idea called politeness. The idea was intended on bringing harmony to groups that are in small distance of each oth- wait! wait! Ace had to answer, not keep on naming the definition of politeness.

"Oh no, you're fine. I'm just...worried...that you are getting too hyped up over a simple machination from a loony doctor."

Those were Ace's thoughts on the matter, laid out in a computerized, and faultily ringing voice.