Wakey, Wakey

Posted on Sat Feb 13th, 2021 @ 12:26am by Lieutenant JG Ryan Kade III

Mission: MISSION 0 - History Speaks
Location: Kandiss' Apartment
Timeline: Shortly after "The Relic"
630 words - 1.3 OF Standard Post Measure

The door opened slowly, the bottom of its’ alloy frame scraping along the threshold to the sound of the partly-failing mechanical workings in the wall. Kandiss rolled her eyes at it, but couldn’t be bothered to stop and call the landlord.

That Ferengi darkhole will just claim that it still works. She thought.

She crossed through the door after waiting for it to fully open, then slapped the closing button. All of it’s slowness from before disappeared as it went into reverse, slamming the door shut with a loud clang. She winced at the sound of the door’s inner workings clanging around after the fact, like an overgrown windchime with all its pieces broken.

Whatever. She knelt down, untying the laces on her boots, pulling them both off and setting them aside. They were more than comfortable enough to wear, but she’d been in them for almost two days straight and could feel the sudden relief as they came off. It was very tempting to just stop right there, lay down, and fall asleep, but she knew she wasn’t done, quite yet. With an effort, she pushed herself up off the floor and began removing the rest of her clothes as she walked.

By the time Kandiss had made it to the sonic shower, she was barely walking, more like shuffling. Her hand tapped the activation control, then reached for the red-colored modifier. A low humming could be heard as the sonic shower started up, and the modifier she’d added sent hot steaming mists into the clear chamber.

The moment her foot stepped inside, she could feel the shallow layer of steaming hot water building along the bottom. The sauna setting was doing its job, alright, and it did said job a little too well as it almost sent her straight into unconsiousness. With a slight wobble of indecision, she finally chose to resist falling asleep for the moment and stepped fully inside. With each step, the combination of hot mist and sonic vibration stripped more and more of the sweat and grime away, leaving a raw but good feeling along the skin.

An intense heat built up in her head and neck, and with each pulse of the sonic wave, that feeling moved further down her back and through her spine until it reached her tail bone, sending a shiver through her nervous system. She collapsed onto the smooth tile floor, her eyes fluttering as she fought to stay awake.

Stay awake. Stay…

“Wugh!?” Kandiss sputtered some water out of her mouth, jerking her head up and away from the small puddle that had formed beneath her. “Huh?” She looked about her and realized she was still in the sonic. “How long was I out?” With her wits no longer about her, she’d said that out loud instead of in her head. The shower was still running, so she pulled herself up and turned it off.

Slowly, the world and all it’s low-register background noises came back to her, no longer drowned out by the sauna. Another noise began registering, too. It was much louder and more present than the noises outside.

Beep beep. Beep beep.

It was her computer. The usual notice for unread messages was still subtly chirping every few seconds. “Frell. What, now?” She uttered as she began putting on her more casual attire. A white tee and some shorts later, Kandiss was moving to the computer, sitting down in the chair and swiveling towards the screen.

‘Several unread messages…’

“Hmph…” She tapped the screen to open up the interface and began reading.

-From: Lucas Winefield

-Kandiss! Are you home, yet?

-KANDISS KADE! Wake up, you idiot!

-… we need to talk.