Questions for Ranul

Posted on Sun Aug 31st, 2025 @ 8:59am by Consul Andrinn Orin

Mission: Season 6 - 5.5 - Day to Day
Location: Holodeck One
Timeline: MD6, 1530hrs
1608 words - 3.2 OF Standard Post Measure

[ON:]

Andrinn had some downtime from all the reports and was taking a bit of a stroll through the ship as he was reminiscing about several things within his past. Andrinn had been thinking about his past, including his former host, Ranul Orin. He had been killed in a shuttle accident before the Orin symbiant was transferred into Andrinn. Not only was Ranul his former host, but the person that trained Andrinn through Symbiosis Commission.

Andrinn thought back to when Orin was joined with Ranul and how he was forced to do all of those stupid recordings for future trainers and hosts. For whatever reason, the Commission thought that it would be a good idea for the trainers to talk about their experiences with new hosts and what they thought about the whole process. Ranul hated being on screen, but he did the recordings anyways.

Something about the whole mission with the Zynari had made Andrinn miss Ranul a little bit. He couldn't quite place his finger on it, but Andrinn had felt like he needed to see Ranul again. So, Andrinn headed down to Holodeck One and asked the computer to pull up all the historical records. In particular, the ones relating back to Ranul Orin from the Symbiosis Commission.

The computer quickly found the recordings of Ranul and Andrinn asked, "Computer, would there be a way to use the recordings of Ranul Orin to create an interactive Ranul Orin character? Someone that I could talk to and have a conversation with?"

It didn't take long for the computer to think about it and come back with an answer. The computer chirped and replied, "Affirmative. There is enough material to create a likeness of Ranul Orin, and create an interactive version to his likeness to within 98.67%"

That made Andrinn smile a sly little bit before replying back to the computer, "Computer, create that interactive copy of Ranul Orin and make it back at the Symbiosis Commission Headquarters back on the Trill homeworld."

It took a little bit for the computer to create it, but once it was done, the computer said, "Program ready. Enter when ready."

Andrinn walked over to the doors leading into the holodeck and they parted ways, allowing him to go inside. Walking inside and letting the doors shut behind him, they instantly disappeared. This allowed Andrinn the time to be in awe about how accurately the computer recreated the Trill Symbiosis Commission Headquarters back on his homeworld. But, nothing prepared him for the voice that came cracking across the lobby that he was now standing in.

It was the voice of Ranul Orin. It sounded just like him, down to the way that he used to berate Andrinn. Andrinn turned around to face the holographic version of Ranul and took him all in. Ranul was closing the gap between the two men and it took him only a few moments to be in Andrinn's face.

Both men didn't speak for what felt like an eternity. It was Ranul that was the first to finally speak. He started to walk around Andrinn and said, "So, I guess that you finally took Orin over from me when I passed away, now didn't you?"

Andrinn looked at the holographic Ranul a bit confused at first, before asking, "So, you know that you're not the real Ranul? You know that you're just a holographic recreation?" Ranul just nodded as he continued to look over Andrinn, as though he was inspecting him once more.

It was something that the real Ranul did back in the day when Andrinn was being mentored by him. He would look Andrinn over, as though he was some prized horse or something going into a competition. However, something about this version of Ranul was a bit different too. Maybe, it was that percent or two that wasn't exactly the same as the real Ranul. But, he didn't make any sort of snide remarks about Andrinn's mixed heritage or try to downplay his potential ability to join with any symbiant, let alone Orin.

Ranul finally spoke up and said, "Yeah, I know that I'm just a holographic version of him. Your ship's computer made me self aware of who I was, as apart of the interactive part of my programming. What made you want to come back and talk to me anyways?"

Andrinn shrug his shoulders and replied, "I don't know. There was just something kind of nagging at me. Felt like I needed to talk to someone who would know what it was like with Orin, maybe?"

Ranul finally stopped circling Andrinn and finally did something that Andrinn never got to see a lot of with Ranul. He let his guard down a little bit and smiled. A genuine smile. Not one forced because the brass are in or because it was a nicety. It was the authentic thing.

"You know something? We share something that only a few people in the entire History of Trill and her people got to experience. Especially with us. We're one of three people that got to join with the Orin symbiant. I was only number two on the list of people who got to experience Orin and the memories within. I am...sorry and regretful for the things that I put you through while I was your mentor," Ranul said, looking away for a brief moment as he said that he had some regrets.

Again, Andrinn wasn't sure if this was apart of that percent or two that made him not truly Ranul. But, it sure felt nice to hear any version of Ranul say that they were sorry about the experiences that they put Andrinn through. Andrinn let it all sink in before he even thought about a response for the holographic Ranul. He wanted to make sure that he processed everything and gave a thoughtful response to him.

"That actually means a lot, especially coming from you. I think that with this whole mission and the craziness of this part of space, I'm just glad that I got to know you before you passed away in that shuttle accident. While you might've been a bit mean to me, I think that looking back, you just wanted to make sure that whoever was going to take Orin on knew that they had quite the bit shoes to fill," Andrinn replied, thinking about the memories that he had of Ranul, both before and after the joining.

Ranul let out a soft sigh before sitting down on one of the nearby benches. He waved for Andrinn to come over and sit with him. Part of Andrinn knew that this was the way for Ranul to take a moment to pause and think before he said anything more about any given topic. So, as he was walking over, Andrinn said with a small chuckle, "Uh, oh. What is Ranul thinking about now?"

Playfully, Ranul slapped Andrinn on his arm and said, "I wish that Orin wouldn't have passed that onto you. It's like you've got way too many state secrets in that head...or should I say slug of yours."

"Yeah, I'm glad that it doesn't work both ways or this would have been an interesting conversation," Andrinn said as he sat on the empty spot next to Ranul.

Ranul took Andrinn's hand in his and said, "I truly am sorry for what the real life version of me said and did to you. It was uncalled for, even though I was just trying to protect Orin. The first host did the same thing to me when I was a young recruit and he made me promise to make sure that whoever came after me would be truly worthy of Orin or any symbiant that they might have taken on in their lifetimes."

Andrinn had known this because of the memories that Orin had passed along when it was transferred to Andrinn. Maybe, this was the part of Andrinn that was nagging at him. Orin might have been wanting the two men to meet, even if it was just on the holoddeck, to maybe work through some of their unresolved traumas.

The two men looked at one another and Andrinn said, "I'm just sorry that I didn't stop you from getting on that stupid shuttle that one day. Something about it just felt off. But, you said you just had to be somewhere and I knew how strong willed you were. I'm sorry that I didn't try to do more to stop or help you more."

"That wasn't your fault. That was mine. I'm just sorry that I didn't listen to you more because you seem like a pretty cool kind of guy. Heck, maybe you can even save this program and maybe we can have more talks. Get through anything that might be unresolved for the both of us," Ranul replied, letting that smile come through on his face again.

Andrinn simply nodded, a smile forming on his face. "Yeah, I'd like that. Computer, save this program and keep it in my personal database." The computer chirped and replied, "Confirmed. Program saved under A Orin's personal files."

"Well, I have to get back to it. But, I will catch you later. Okay?" Andrinn said. Ranul nodded and said, "Yeah, I'd like that."

Andrinn got up and looked at Ranul once more before saying, "Computer, save progress up to this point and end." The holodeck shimmered and the program ended. Andrinn smiled once more before exiting the holodeck and making his way back to get some more work done.

[OFF:]

Consul Andrinn Orin
Chief Diplomatic Officer
USS Elysium