What are these? (Part Three)

Posted on Wed Jan 21st, 2026 @ 10:12am by Consul Andrinn Orin

Mission: MISSION 0 - History Speaks
Location: Andrinn's Office
Timeline: Between missions
1066 words - 2.1 OF Standard Post Measure

[ON:]

Over the last few hours and days, Andrinn had been working on gathering information about the various cultural idioms from the species from around the Milky Way Galaxy. Thus far, he has found out about some of the legends within three known around the galaxy. The Bajorans, the El-Aurians, and the Trill. Two of which has or had once attempted to gain Federation membership.

The third one, the El-Aurians, came from a planet within the Delta Quadrant. Their homeworld was destroyed by the Borg in the middle of the 23rd century, but their myths and legends lived on within the people that were scattered around the galaxy.

However, one species within the Federation that fascinated Andrinn was the Betazoids. Instead of always using words, they used their special ability of telepathy to help people understand the meaning of a word or a phrase. So, as Andrinn was sitting in his office, he thought about the ways that the Betazoids might have created or used idioms within their culture.

Pulling up the terminal in front of him, Andrinn asked the computer to bring up his personal database about the cultural idioms. He asked the computer to create a new sub directory for the Betazoid people and asked the computer to start looking into their idioms. It took a few moments before the screen in front of Andrinn started to populate some of them.

Some of the idioms literally sounded like good dating advice or just good life advice. One of the first ones that caught Andrinn's attention was “Your smile says yes, but your mind says ‘run.’” Basically, according to the database, it meant that someone's body language wasn't matching their emotions or their thoughts. According to the computer, the Betazoids would use it when someone is being polite, but uncomfortable.

Another one was “Don’t speak so loudly with your thoughts.” For this one, the computer gave it as something totally different than what Andrinn was thinking about. The computer explained it as your emotions are showing or that you were being obvious about them, even when you might have been silent about them.

"The Betazoids have some pretty interesting idioms, even if some of them are totally on point, while others make me scratch my head," Andrinn said to himself. He walked over to the replicator and asked it to give him something good tasting from Betazed. It came out with something from a coastal region on Betazed that was called 'Spring Bloom Tea.' As it came out, it gave Andrinn some interesting ideas about the potential flavor and texture. But, he tried it anyways and didn't regret it a bit.

As Andrinn grabbed the tea off of the replicator, he went back over to his desk and started to look through some more of the idioms from Betazed. The computer had gathered some more and they were similar to the other ones. “Some thoughts are only meant to pass through," was another one of those idioms and it made Andrinn do a second look over it. The meaning behind it was that you shouldn't let intrusive thoughts become your identity. While you may have them, they don't make you who you are.

Sometimes, Andrinn thought about the intrusive thought that all of us have had at one point or another. Did they suck when they finally happened? Absolutely! But, they should not become the core of who we are or we would truly lose ourselves.

Heck, even the next idiom that Andrinn came across helped to make sense of the previous one. “The stars don’t judge the mind. Only the choices.” According to the text and background for the idiom, it said that thoughts were natural. But, actions basically spoke louder than words...or even thoughts. "The Betazoids definitely do have some good sayings. Even if some of them are a bit kooky," Andrinn said to himself again. He just started to look through everything and read over several more.

“A bond is not a chain," which basically meant that you shouldn't be trapped by love. But, the computer went on to say that this could be any type of relationship, whether platonic or love.

"That feeling has a name," which meant that you should acknowledge those feelings and pushing them down or away wasn't healthy for body or mind.

After thinking about it for a little bit, Andrinn had another thing for the computer. "Computer, deep dive into the Betazoid idioms. How do these idioms relate back to how the Betazoids use their telepathy?" Andrinn asked to the computer, as he was thinking back to how those two things might cross one another.

The computer thought about it for a few seconds before replying, "There are several ways that the idioms from Betazed can be cross referenced to their telepathic and empathic abilities. One example can include boundary reinforcement. Betazoid telepathy increases the need for consent-based etiquette. Several idioms include 'Consent is a door, not a window,' 'You don’t owe everyone your whole self,' and 'A mind may be open without being unguarded.'"

The computer continued, "There is also the need for the Betazoids to make sure that they aren't and nobody around them is carrying something too heavy for one person to carry. A burden. Idioms can include stuff like, 'Mind your volume,' and 'If the mind is heavy, someone is carrying stones.' Again, these can describe emotional states and how one or many shouldn't carry something by themselves and should work through their emotions."

Andrinn chuckled to himself and thought about all of the times that his therapists have told him to work through his emotions and make sure that they don't rule him. "Yeah, after reading some of those and knowing where they came from, that actually helps me too," Andrinn whispered to himself as he continued to think about the idioms. However, he got a few incoming messages about several issues within the diplomatic corp onboard.

So, Andrinn asked the computer to store the idioms away within the database within the section for Betazoids. He couldn't remember if he had created the section yet, so he asked the computer to do so if he hadn't yet. Then, Andrinn got up and headed out of his office, towards the issues at hand.

[OFF:]

Consul Andrinn Orin
Chief Diplomatic Officer
USS Elysium