Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Jesse Faden sits at her desk, half-asleep.  It’s been a slow day for her at the Bureau.  She and Emily met up earlier for a romantic lunch at the cafeteria, but it’s been hours since then.  There’s not been much to do since the Hiss was flushed out.  Even the search for Darling has slowed.  It’s gone nowhere, and most have given up hope.  Not many even want to find him now, given all the records that were announced with Dylan’s permission.  

Dylan comes and goes as he pleases.  The Bureau worked its magic and re-did all his legal documents and red tape.  He lives in the apartment across from Jesse and Emily and is by all accounts coping decently.  If he does enter the House, he often haunts the Investigations Sector, helping in its restoration.  

The others are still coping with the lingering scars of the Hiss.  So many are gone that every surviving Bureau employee knows someone who died.  Whole science teams razed, Ranger squads decimated, and, in Parapsychology, only one small team of Researchers was left standing.  The House grieves with its occupants while they try to function.

Jesse drums her fingers on the desk, longing for something to alleviate the mind-numbing boredom.  Emily is still in Dimensional Research, not giving up on trying to locate Darling and all of his information.  At her side is Dr. Underhill, coaxed up from her Threshold to try to do anything to get the ex-Head of Research back.  

She racks her brain to figure out where her other friends might be.  Arish would almost certainly be in Maintenance, as he still loves that Sector and its employees with all his heart.  Ahti could be anywhere.  Langston would be in the Panopticon Entrance like he always is.  She wonders if those two Rangers still heckle him.  

There is a frantic knock on her door, startling Jesse from her thoughts.  She wonders who it could be.  She hopes it’s Emily, bringing good news.

“Come in.” she says.

Arish rockets in, followed by a few Rangers and one visibly shaken Researcher.  Their clothes are burnt in some parts, torn in others, and all of them are in general disarray.  The sight of them takes her aback.

“A massive spacecraft just crashed into the Quarry!  My partner has her arm crushed and there’s a serious risk of fire!  Come quick, Director!” the Researcher cries, before barreling out of the room, presumably to go back to the Sector Elevator.

“She’s right.  It’s really big, and it’s got this weird energy.  Its power source seems to be like the NSC in some way.  Which means it’s off-the-rails crazy dangerous and we need to get it stabilized.  I think the craft is trying to contact us, but our systems aren’t good enough to make out what they’re saying.” Arish confirms, just as eager to get back down there.

Jesse leaps out of her seat, and the group runs to Central Executive.

“Take the elevator.  Meet you there, Arish.” Jesse orders.

“Yes, ma’am— uh, Jesse.  Sorry.”  Arish stumbles, before catching up with the Rangers in the elevator.

Jesse taps into the Control Points as usual, picking one that leads to the Black Rock Quarry.  The familiar feeling of Polaris enveloping her takes her mind from the chaos for a moment.  She opens her eyes to see absolute carnage.

A massive spaceship, marked with the words “U.S.S Enterprise” is crashed nose-first into the Quarry floor.  Researchers are gathered around it, some daring to run and touch it, others studying, sketching, and generally looking at it.  Many are gathered at the back end of it, watching the propulsion system as it sputters.

A woman is pinned by debris right next to the nose of the ship, the Researcher from earlier at her side.  The Rangers try to lift it off, but it’s far too heavy.  Jesse rushes over and manages to lift it enough for them to slide her out and rush her off to the Medical Wing.  Speaking of the Medical Wing, medics are starting to pour into the Quarry and descending on the wreck.  Not finding any discernible way inside, they wait anxiously outside.  Rupert Wells, the medic from the Sealed Threshold, is right there among them.

The ship, however, doesn’t appear to be damaged too badly.  She runs up next to it, waiting for something to happen.  Just as she starts to panic, the doors of the ship slide open.  A man wearing a yellow uniform walks out, flanked by a woman in a red miniskirt with dark skin and black hair, and a man in a blue uniform with strangely pointed ears and slanted eyebrows.  All of them have the same pin attached to their outfits. 

“Hello.  I am Captain James Kirk, and we are the crew of the USS Enterprise.  Our mission is not hostile nor did we intend to come at all.  Our ship is in dire need of repair and we hope that you will support us for as long as we need to fix it.  Who’s in charge here?” the gold shirt man says.

The loosely organized band of Researchers points to Jesse.  She doesn’t look like much of a leader in her leather jacket, but the woman in the red miniskirt approaches her anyway.

“I’m Lieutenant Uhura.  We were trying to contact you, but it seems as if your radios are not advanced enough to pick up the signal.  Your planet, from our scans, seems to be in the year 2019, but the technology in this area seems to be from several decades prior.  Why is that?” the woman asks.

“Uh- I’m Director Faden.  Jesse will be fine, I have a feeling we’ll be getting to know each other.  You’ve crashed into the Federal Bureau of Control, and our building really doesn’t like modern technology.  It tends to make such tech explode when we bring it in.  Not fun.” Jesse replies.

In the distance, she can see the gold-shirted and blue-shirted men talking to Arish.  A man in a red shirt comes to join them, who starts to point to the engine of their ship.  

“Our engines have been damaged in a fight, and we were sent careening into an alternate universe.  But, I think Lieutenant Scott can fix them given enough time.”  Uhura states, gesturing to the red-shirted man.

Other people in various colors start to trickle out of the ship and mingle with the gaggle of Researchers, Rangers, and Security staff.  A group of Maintenance employees start talking to Scott, before grabbing some tools and boarding the Enterprise with him.  

Jesse turns, and sees Emily running up to her.  

“I came as fast as I could!  I heard about the crash, and I brought my teams.” Emily says, breathless from the running.  

Behind her is a small army of white-coated Researchers, a gang of other employees in the mix.  It seems like everyone in the Bureau is descending upon this wrecked ship.  

“Dr. Underhill went back down.  She says that she doesn’t have any interest in current Bureau problems.  She has Mold to work on.” Emily adds. 

“Welcome to the FBC.” Emily says to Uhura before the three enter the crowd of FBC employees and newcomers.  

Jesse floats into the air, and most of the crowd stops to look.

“Calm down!  I want all my employees to form some orderly groups.  No more of this chaos, especially this close to the wreck.  We can greet the newcomers later.  For now, leave the maintenance crews to work, and go back to what you were doing.  If you just crashed into our Quarry on a spaceship, and you are not doing repair work, please follow me.” Jesse shouts.

The crowd of FBC employees quickly disperses, Researchers grabbing their clipboards full of notes and turning them in to Emily for orderly processing.  The strange crew follows Jesse in an orderly line.  She’s secretly jealous that her employees don’t always behave as neatly as these people.  Case in point:  the group of five Quarry Researchers she had found drinking on the job in an abandoned mobile lab in a far-flung corner of the Quarry.  She ended up forgiving them, though.  It’s not as if she was always sober while working here either. 

She stops them at the cafeteria, where most of them sit down.  A few grab some coffee or snacks, but most seem content to just breathe a sigh of relief.

Jesse has to fight back her fear while standing in front of them.  There are hundreds here, crammed into the cafeteria, and crunched into the surrounding halls.  All are listening intently to what she says.  This is what the Directorship entails, though, and so she stands in front of them anyway.

“I am Jesse Faden, Director of the Federal Bureau of Control.  This is not your Earth.  We, the FBC, protect the Earth from supernatural threats, but humanity hasn’t yet stepped foot on another planet.  You may stay as long as you need, and use the knowledge and manpower of our employees as needed.  But do not leave the building.  This Bureau is secret to even the US Government and we cannot be found at all costs.  Keep us secret and we’ll keep you alive.  Welcome to the FBC.”  Jesse announces.

The group responds with a resounding “Yes.”

Jesse sees the yellow-shirt man— Captain Kirk.  He seems bewildered by her statement, and is just staring at the small group of FBC employees who are still questioning his crew.  Jesse walks over to him.

“Your crew is safe with us.  And your engines won’t be the first delicate power plants I’ve kept from exploding.  May we show you to the NSC?  I think you’ll find that it is even more precarious than your situation.” Jesse says, touching his arm.

He looks at Jesse, and then at Arish.  

“Sure.” he says.

With that, the three walk off towards the NSC, Uhura shepherding the crew back to the Enterprise.  Jesse hopes that things will be stable soon.  For her sake, the crew’s sake, and the Bureau’s sake.  

Chapter Text

Kirk walks down the halls of the Oldest House, unsure of what he’s supposed to think about this situation.  His ship is flatlining back in the Quarry, and here he is, taking a tour.  These two women guiding him managed to calm an entire group of panicking crew members and somehow found room in their Bureau for hundreds of new residents.  Now what is he doing for them ?

“How do you have room for us?” Kirk asks the redheaded woman, Jesse.  

“We weren’t always this understaffed.  About a month ago, we lost almost 75 percent of our employees, especially our Security staff and Rangers. If we had room for them, we have room for you.”

“And we don’t mean to say that your crew has to fill in for any of it!” Emily interrupts.

 “You have your own problems.  We just mean that there’s definitely room for you to stay until you can leave.”

“I’m sure the Oldest House will realize that we need something else and give us a place for you.  Or you can claim Dimensional Research, that’s not being used.  Or the Investigations Sector, but you’d have to deal with the restoration crews, and random power outages.” Jesse adds.

“Thank you, ma’am.  And, sorry for your loss.” Kirk replies.

“Call me Jesse, please.” Jesse says, pressing a button to call an elevator.

“So, what’s this place like?” Kirk asks.

“Well, our building’s alive, we find new ways to break science every week, and sometimes your office disappears and ends up in the Quarry.  Yep, that happened to me.  Not fun.” Jesse replies.

“Your building is what now?” Kirk says, suddenly becoming very uncomfortable with the floor he’s standing on.  

“It shifts around a lot.  We call them Building Shifts.  Sometimes, it’ll also notice something we need, and make a new space for it.” Emily responds.

The elevator stops, the door opening.  The three of them walk down a hallway, before stopping at a set of doors.  

“In here, that’s where the NSC is.  Here’s to hoping it isn’t broken, Emily.” Jesse jokes.

Emily smiles and opens the doors.  Inside a massive room, a huge, rumbling machine is taking up the entire center.  Pipes and cables run off of it, and computers are blinking all around it.  Emblazoned on the side is NSC-02 .

Kirk gasps, taking in the massive size of it.

“This makes all your power?” he asks.

“Yep, and it’s really finicky too.  It throws a fit just about every week.  They’ve gotten stronger, though.  Hence why we’re worried about it.” Jesse replies.

Some Maintenance crews are coming back, including the man he had met earlier, Simon Arish.  He doesn’t like the rumbling around him.  It doesn’t sound like normal engine sounds.  But, he understands that not every engine is like the ones currently throwing a collective shit fit onboard the Enterprise, so he relaxes a bit.

Arish walks over to him with a few members of his team, smiling and waving.  Jesse and Emily turn back, and go up the elevator together.  

“Hello, Captain Kirk!  Welcome to the Maintenance Sector proper!  This is the NSC, and it’s currently throwing its temper tantrum of the week.” Arish says.

“I don’t think it’s normal for an engine to malfunction once a week.  What’s wrong with it?” Kirk asks.

“Either the Clog messes with the coolant pumps, or Northmoor in there decides to be a bitch and overload the systems.  Or he underloads it and causes power outages.  Usually it’ll be Research or Investigations that gets blackouts.  And then the lab coats get bitchy because their centrifuges or whatever broke, and then everyone down here’s jobs get harder.” Arish explains.

“Oh.” he replies, not understanding it at all.

The power plant groans, and the team turns to look at it.  A few nuts and bolts fly off one of the coolant pipes, and a segments of it crashes to the floor.

“Shit!”, Arish shouts, and his team springs to life.  

Water pours out of the pipe, and alarms start screaming.  The rumbling and groaning gets louder, and he steps back.  Kirk starts to follow Arish, where his team is running into a storage room.

He walks over to a computer, where he sees what the alarm is screaming about.  The coolant system is malfunctioning, it says, and the temperature of the core is above safe limits.  

This isn’t the first time he’s had to deal with engine malfunctions, but this engine seems different.  There’s a Northmoor in there, and apparently he likes to act up.  He takes another look at the alien structure.  It’s so much bigger than anything on the Enterprise, and its groaning is far from the soothing rumble that emanates from the bowels of his ship.  It’s unsettling, a resonance incompatible with him.  He’d have to ask Uhura about it later.  

“If this makes all the power for the Bureau, then what would happen if it broke?” he thinks.

Arish and the others come running back, carrying a massive pipe.  He turns his attention to the broken coolant line currently gushing water onto the floor.  It’s flowing into the gaps in the floor that seem to lead nowhere, and the rest is pooling at his feet.  The computers say that the core is overheating, and fast.  

“Captain Kirk!  We need a hand over here, quick!” Arish yells, currently trying to bolt the pipe in place.

Kirk runs as fast as he can over to Arish, helping to hold the pipe up so the others can bolt it in.  Arish wipes sweat off his forehead and goes to check the computers.  It’s slowly starting to cool, which Kirk assumes is good.  

“That was close.  I have to find out what’s going on with this, or else we’re gonna have a problem.” Arish mutters. 

“But first, coffee.  Come on, I have to introduce you to someone.” he says to Kirk.  

Kirk nods, following him.  He’s glad to be slightly further away from the NSC, although the maintenance crews seem unbothered by it.  They enter the elevator, Arish pressing the button that he says will go to Ventilation.

“Does this happen often?” Kirk asks.

“It didn’t used to.  Ever since the Hiss, the NSC can’t seem to keep quiet.” Arish replies.

“What’s the Hiss?” Kirk questions the already tired Head of Security.

“You’d better ask Jesse for that.  She knows more than me.  But it was really bad.  Killed three quarters of the staff and the rest of us aren’t the same.” Arish responds.

“I- I’m sorry.  Also, you can call me Jim.  If we’re ever out in public, I think that calling me Captain would raise suspicion.”  Kirk says.

“That’s… actually a good idea.  If we call everyone by their titles all the time, we’re bound to slip up in public.  Thank you, I’ll have to break my habit of calling Jesse “Director” before we go out for dinner and drinks on Friday.”  Arish replies.

“Uhh.. thanks.” Kirk says.  

The elevator door opens, and they walk into a small room.  It’s cluttered.  Kirk wonders if the rest of the Bureau is like this, machinery and clutter and rumbling.  

They walk up to a door.  Arish knocks on it, and both hear stirring inside.  The door opens, revealing an old man holding a mop.  

“Ah, you brought the star boy.” the old man says.

“I’m Captain Kirk.  Pleased to meet you.” Kirk says to him.

“Ahti, the janitor here.  You met my assistant Jesse?” he replies.

“Jesse is a janitor’s assistant?  Isn’t she Director?” Kirk thinks.

“Director, janitor’s assistant.  Two words, same meaning.  She helps to clean up the mess.” Ahti replies.

“Did you just read my thoughts?” Kirk questions him, slightly bewildered.

Ahti doesn’t reply.  Instead, he invites the two of them into his office.  Arish takes a seat and bids him to take a seat as well.  He’s starting to wonder just how sane this janitor is.

“Power plant wants to go kaput.  Mister Director inside is angry, worse than the beginning.  He was touched by darkness and now he wants to make us dark too.” Ahti says, filling three coffee mugs with coffee.

He offers the coffee to Arish and Kirk, both of them taking it.  Kirk’s forgotten exactly how good fresh coffee really is.  Maybe he should stockpile coffee beans instead of alcohol when he gets back to the Enterprise.  

“Your ship.  I heard it crash, from pipework.  Beating back the Clog.”  Ahti says, before taking a sip of his own coffee.

“Yes, it crashed this morning.  Well, that was what the clock said.  The engines blew, and Scotty’s glad that they didn’t fail entirely.” Kirk replies.

“Scotty, engineer.  Maybe he can fix the power plant.” Ahti mutters.  

The three of them chat for a while, taking turns throwing darts at Ahti’s dartboard and Arish explaining some of the House to Kirk.  He wonders if this is really what life here is like.  Intermittent chaos with time in between for laughter and games.  

“Maybe my ship and this Bureau aren’t so different after all.” he thinks. 

Chapter Text

After dropping Kirk off at the NSC, Emily decides to head back to the Quarry.  Jesse had left a minute ago, headed to finish the report she had been doing before the crash.  But Emily wants to make sure that everything is okay, before heading back to her office.  

She enters the Quarry, to hear noises of work being done.  Maintenance is helping the ship’s crew to restore the hull, and others are sitting on the Black Rock outcroppings trying to collect themselves.  

The blue-shirted man from before is sitting quietly on a ledge, calmly watching the work being done.  The sight of him reminds her of the days she spent writing memos in the cafeteria, watching the Research Sector bustle with activity before the Hiss took over. 

She walks over to him, waving.  

“Hi, I’m Emily Pope.  Who are you?” she asks him.

“I am First Officer Spock.  I am in charge of scientific operations aboard the Enterprise.” he replies.

“What a coincidence. I’m Head of Research.  I’m in charge of scientific operations here.  Nice to meet you.” Emily replies.

“Nice to meet you as well.  What is this area used for?”  Spock asks her.

“This is the Black Rock Quarry.  We mine this rock and use it to contain paranatural material.  It’s like lead but instead of radiation it blocks supernatural energy.

“Fascinating.” he replies.  

“The actual Research Sector is where most of the research happens.  Sure we go into the field— just ask Dr. Underhill, she basically lives in the Mold Threshold, but we analyze data and do experiments in our own Sector.  I can show it to you if you like.  It seems that Captain Kirk left too.”  Emily adds.

“If I could quickly ask Lieutenant Uhura to command repair operations, I will meet you by the exit.” Spock replies, before getting up and walking to the ship.

Emily stands near the exit, waiting for him.

“Clearly he isn’t quite human.  The ears give it away.  Unless it’s a defect, then I’m probably being really rude.” she thinks.

Then, a thought creeps into her mind.

“Didn’t I see a few episodes of a TV show with a guy by the same name?  I did .  This is Spock from fucking Star Trek.  How the fuck am I going to tell him he’s a fictional character?” 

“Maybe that’s why my staff were swarming the ship.  What person wouldn’t want to actually meet their favorite characters.” she wonders.

She resolves to not divulge this new information unless it’s necessary.  She’s just glad that Jesse probably hasn’t seen Star Trek.  That, or she hasn’t told them either.  And since the reference she made a few years ago flew straight over Arish’s head, at least the Head of Security doesn’t know either.  

After just a few minutes, she sees Spock exit the ship and calmly walk over to her.  She’s jealous of just how collected he is.  Though, if this Spock is anything like the one she would watch on TV years ago, she knows that is just a ruse.  She would be visibly panicking in his situation.  

“Well, let’s get going.” Emily says, calling an elevator to go back to the NSC area.  

They both get into the elevator, and mostly just stare in opposite directions.  Emily isn’t sure about how long she can go without letting slip that she knows the man in front of her from a 60s TV show.  

“What is paranatural?  From the name, I believe I have an idea of what it means, but I want to clarify.” Spock asks her.

“Paranatural is just Bureau jargon for anything that doesn’t belong in our universe.  Ghosts, werewolves, a traffic light that makes you play Red Light Green Light, telekinesis, if it does something a normal thing doesn’t do, it’s paranatural.” Emily replies.

“We have a lot of jargon around here.  You’ll see in a moment, but the NSC is just our power plant.  I could talk for hours about how paranatural energies interact with the mundane world, but the elevator is gonna stop in about ten seconds.”  she adds.

Spock nods, and both of them wait until the elevator grinds to a halt.  The door opens, and the NSC comes into view.  People below are checking computers, adjusting pipes, and generally doing maintenance.  She can almost see the gears turning in Spock’s head, trying to find out how the plant works.

“It’s pretty much an open secret that we make our power by using our old Director Northmoor as a reactor core.  He got too powerful, now he’s locked in there.  But hey, at least we don’t have to rely on the NYC power grid anymore.” Emily says.

“This building is located in New York City?  How does it stay hidden?” Spock asks.

“Oh, the Oldest House doesn’t like to be found.  You won’t see it unless you’re looking for it.  And nobody is looking for it.  It also just looks like any other skyscraper.  It’s just bigger on the inside.”  Emily answers.

She supposes that using a human being as a power source doesn’t sit right with Spock.  

“Wait until he finds out about Dylan, that’ll really knock his socks off.” Emily thinks.

They call another elevator, this one to take them to ground level so they can get to the Sector Elevator.  The ride in this one is shorter, and silent.  At ground level, they see all the people rushing around, making repairs and generally hoping that the NSC won’t just blow up.

The walk to the Sector Elevator is just as silent, but she notices him taking in all of the rooms and signage.

“How large is this Sector?” he asks.

“Nobody knows.  It’s definitely big, but the Oldest House is infinite.  We just picked a bit of it to settle in, and hope that it won’t just eat us.  The House likes to shift around, and it doesn’t care whether it shifts you too.” she replies. 

The doors open, revealing Central Research.  The light floods in, and trees stretch up into the ceiling.  A familiar sight for Emily.  The two of them start walking up the stairs to her office.

“It is quite beautiful.  This Sector is used for research, correct?” Spock says.

“Yep.  All the new guys say how pretty this place is.  I love all the plants.  And hearing Jesse sing to them is just the cherry on top.” Emily replies.

“I wonder if Darling still has any stashes of alcohol.” she mutters.

“I don’t drink.” Spock replies.

“Perfect.  I always feel a bit obligated to have something for whoever visits my office.  I don’t drink much either.  But I guess that’ll change on Friday.” Emily says.

“What is happening on Friday that your statement would change?” he asks.

“Oh, Jesse and Arish and I are going out for dinner.  Then we’re hitting a bar, I think.  What, you want to come?” Emily responds.

“No.  But I suppose Captain Kirk would take up the offer.  Actually, I can think of multiple people who would enjoy a night out.” he replies.

Emily sits down at her desk.  It’s been only a few days since she cleaned all the mess in this office.  She didn’t really have the heart to touch anything until Darling came back, but now she knows she has to move on.  

“What do you think of this place?” Emily asks.

“It’s very interesting.  I heard from one of your staff about something called ‘The Hiss’.  What was it?” he replies.

“The Hiss… it was a resonance.  A viral, invasive resonance.  It took over the Bureau, and killed a lot of us.  Now, we’re just trying to rebuild.”  she says.

Both of them fall silent.  The silence is broken, however, by muffled speaking coming from a closet.  Emily opens it, to find that the speaking is coming from one of the projectors she stowed away.  Turning it on, she waits for it to start talking again.

It starts projecting, and Casper Darling comes onto the screen.  He seems more sane than before, wearing his signature sweater and bow tie from before.  

“Emily!  It’s great to see another human again.  I see that the Hiss is over.” he says.

He turns to Spock, and Emily can see the look of surprise on his face.

“I must be hallucinating.  That cannot be Spock from Star Trek.  Emily, which poor research assistant did you dress up in cosplay to mess with me?”  he says, clearly shocked.

“What?” Spock replies.

“Well. I guess we shouldn’t hide this from you.  Uhm, you’re a fictional character in this universe. From a show called Star Trek.  I was a fan of it, Dr. Darling even more so.  Take that how you will.”  Emily clarifies.

She can hear him whisper “fascinating”, before turning his attention to the projection.

“How does this work?” he asks.

“I wish I knew.  These projectors are my windows into the Bureau, but I haven’t been able to talk to anyone through them until now.  I’m not in this dimension at the moment.” Darling answers.

Darling takes a seat.  He seems to be in some cabin, complete with a fireplace and armchair.  In the back is a box of notes with an HRA resting on top.  

Emily glares at Darling, in an effort to stop him from bombarding Spock with questions.  But, for now, he seems happy to finally see her again.

“This place is so beautiful.  The universes I’ve seen.  I wish you could see it too, Emily.  And I want to say I’m sorry.  For everything.” Darling says.

Emily doesn’t talk for a while.

“This seems to be a private matter.  I am going to return to the Quarry.  It will be better to break the news to Jim myself.”  Spock says, breaking the silence.

“Good luck.. with the whole telling your friends that they’re fictional thing.”  Emily replies.

“Luck is an illogical concept.” he counters.

“Not in this universe.  It’s very much real.  We have a whole department for it.” she retorts.

“I stand corrected.” he says, before walking out of her office.

Darling clears his throat, before looking around Emily’s office.

“I like what you’ve done with the place.” he says.

“Thanks.  I put in a new couch and took out the old desk.  Plus, I got some new music to play.” she replies.

“I suppose that I always knew you’d be the new Head of Research.  I planned for it ever since I met you.  It’s… why I didn’t bring you into Dimensional Research.  I wanted to, but it was dangerous.  And if you died, then there wouldn’t be anyone to be the next Head of Research.”  he says, quieter than before.

“I don’t want excuses.  But I guess the idea is sound.” she comments.

“I know you’re mad at me.  I would be too, if I was in your place.  But I came back to apologize, to everyone.  Still working on how to send a note or something to Dylan.  This dimension is a little weird.” he replies, laughing nervously.

“But, I do miss the old days.  Coffee breaks and bringing in old shows that I had on tape from way back when.”

“I miss them too.” she says.  

She can see a tear glistening in the corner of his eye.  She can feel them starting to form in her own eyes, too.  Why does it have to be so hard?  Why can’t she just hate him and be over with it, turn the projector off and run back to the Quarry to chat with Spock again.  But, she knows it isn’t that simple.  

There were good days, when they’d endlessly chat about their projects and listen to the (admittedly bad) disco music that he seemed to have an infinite supply of.  When they would finish work early and watch Star Trek together— he was the reason she started to love it.  Now, she can’t watch a single episode without being reminded of all the horrible things he’d done, to her, to Jesse, and to Dylan.  

Their friendship was a good one before it had turned into a dumpster fire.  But, maybe, with enough work, they could possibly put it out.  It’s not like she could sweep everything under the rug and start over.  Ignoring what had happened would be as bad as simply slapping Jesse and Dylan in the face.  Emily hopes that she could forgive him, and start to work past their issues, for the benefit of the Bureau, and for science.  

The projection flickers and dies, and Emily carries the projector to her desk.  She wonders if she’ll be seeing him again soon.  But, now, there is a whole new problem to deal with, and new friends to make.  She’ll head back down to the Enterprise, maybe to chat with Lieutenant Uhura or with Spock.  Maybe Darling will slip from her mind and she can devote her time to helping the new arrivals.  

She hopes that will be the case.  

Chapter Text

Hikaru Sulu is walking down the halls of the Enterprise, not sure how to feel.  Not many are brave enough to stay aboard.  The engines are still doing their best to work even after an attempt to switch them off, despite the ship being firmly wedged into the alien rock.  If they managed to fire up, it all might explode, and they would be well and truly stranded.

But, at least it wouldn’t be the worst place to be stranded.  The people have been kind and welcoming, if very strange.  They let them camp in the Quarry, suspending their mining operations and gifting them tents and cots and sleeping bags.  

“It’s almost as if we’re back to where we were.  I missed seeing the House so busy.  I wonder what the House makes of it, so many new people.” a Researcher had said to him before.

He’s not quite sure what she meant by that.  Although, he had heard of the incident before this, the hundreds that died.  Maybe this House is just back up to its capacity rather than being overcrowded.  He’s not sure whether he likes being a replacement for the staff here to look at to feel whole again.  

He spots Uhura down the hall, and walks toward her.  It’s good to see a familiar face, after all of the strange people he’s met.  

“Nice to catch up, yeah?  I can’t believe this place.  Mr. Spock left earlier with Jesse’s girlfriend, that Emily Pope woman.  I don’t know when he’ll be back.” Uhura says.

“Whoa.  I was just thinking, maybe I should take a walk around.  I want to see this place.  Maybe they aren’t as nice as they say.  What if they’re hiding something?”  

“I don’t think they are, but it’s something we can’t rule out.  We’re completely at their mercy, though.  Subtlety is key.  But Captain Kirk and Mr. Spock seem to trust them well enough.  No need to make a scene.” 

“True.  I think I’ll head inside the building, see if I can’t find Captain Kirk on my way.  Have you seen anything strange?” Sulu asks her.

“I saw a group of people with clipboards sneaking around.  Although, they could just be curious, since Director Faden told them to leave the ship alone.  They’re like our own scientists, poking their heads where they don’t belong.  They’re gone now.”  

“That’s weird.  I think a team of our own scientists snuck into the building, so I guess we’re even now.” 

“I’ll inform Mr. Spock about that when he gets back, no need to piss off the people keeping us alive.  They care about their secrecy a hell of a lot.  Safe trip.”  Uhura says, waving to him as she walks back to the bridge.

Sulu walks out of the ship, trying not to catch anyone’s attention.  Maybe he could sneak a sample of this House to analyze… is it as sentient as some of the staff told him it is?  Surely the House wouldn’t miss it, right?

He calls the same elevator that Kirk used, a Researcher joining him.  Her arm is in a sling, but she seems calm.

“Exploring?” she asks.

“I guess so.” 

“I remember when I first was in the House.  Always felt shifty, but you warm up to it.  Maybe it warms up to you, too.  Anyway, I’m off to the NSC.  Overheating, again, can you believe it?  Just wait, I’m going to get there and it’s all gonna be sorted out and I’ll have to walk all the way back here.”

The door opens, and he waits for her to jog away before he turns a corner.  He waits, making sure that he’s alone, before taking out his chisel.  Carefully, he chips a piece of the House’s concrete away from the wall and stows it in a bag.  

Without warning, the wall opens up, and he is swept inside.  He is weightless, stuck in midair as the House swirls around him.  He screams, but the sound just echoes through the shifting chamber.  

He finds solid ground, and his stomach lurches as he watches the House contort.  He guesses that that House isn’t exactly warming up to him.  

“Maybe I shouldn’t have done that.  This place can’t be trusted.” he thinks.

There’s a door a few levels below him, and he tries to find a way to get to it.  He spots some ledges on the wall, and decides to use them to reach it.

He takes a running leap, just barely making it to the first ledge.  He hears a sickening crack in the concrete, and the ledge dumps him straight down onto the next one.  Knowing that there’s only a thin layer of concrete separating him from total oblivion isn’t exactly comforting.  

He isn’t sure whether screaming would help him or just make the House angrier.  He screams anyway.  With another crack, his ledge breaks and he falls yet again to the floor.  The door is right next to him, a beacon in the swirling darkness.

He opens the door, to see a janitor holding a mop.  He steps back, allowing Sulu to enter the room he was just cleaning.

“I saw you.  The House hates the meddlers.  You are in the House’s mouth.  Don’t forget it can bite.” the janitor says.

“Who are you?”  Sulu asks.

“I’m Ahti, the janitor.  I go everywhere in the House.” 

“Can you get me out?”  Sulu pleads, not wanting to spend another second in this sickening pit. 

“Ah, but there is work to do.  I need my glass cleaner.  It is down the hall, through the small corridor.  Not the big one.  That one goes to the Gallery.  You’ll know it when you see it.”  he replies.

Nodding his head and putting on his headphones once again, Ahti walks past him, into the darkness.  Sulu decides that he should do what the Janitor asks him to do.  Maybe he can study the House as he goes.  

He walks down the hallway, noting that it gets narrower and lower as he goes.  Soon, he’s stooping, trying to squeeze through this uncomfortable corridor.  He can see light at the end of it.  He can’t shake the feeling that he’s crawling down the throat of some massive beast.  

Soon, he’s on hands and knees, crawling as the passageway tightens.  He wonders how Ahti got through here.  The aging Janitor doesn’t exactly seem flexible.  But, from what he’s heard, the janitor is odd even by Bureau standards.  

After squeezing through the corridor, Sulu is left in a large room, with a few doors.  He spots the glass cleaner, left on a ledge near the window of a security booth.  He goes over to it, but out of the corner of his eye, he spots a person.

It’s a man in a flannel jacket.  Not an FBC uniform, he thinks.  A stark contrast to the prim and proper office attire he’s been seeing.  But, there’s a Level 6 keycard around his neck all the same.  Highest clearance level in the Bureau, he’s been told.  He must be important.

The man is throwing things around, seemingly unaware of his presence.  He lifts up a desk and throws it into the wall, using the same powers as Director Faden.  Sulu just watches as the man continues to wreck the place, before he spots him.

“Who are you?” he says, out of breath from the destruction.

“I’m Lieutenant Hikaru Sulu.  From the Enterprise.  Surely you’ve heard of me, our ship crashed in the Quarry yesterday.”  

“No.” the man says flatly.

“Well what is this place?”

“I’m Dylan.  Just Dylan.”  the man finally replies.

Sulu starts to think that he’ll never get a straight answer from Dylan.  He looks up at the sign above them.  It reads “Prime Candidate Program” . 

Dylan points at the sign.  “There’s your answer.”

“What happened here?”

“You know what my teacher said once before they took me?  Show, not tell.”  Dylan replies, grabbing him by the arm and gesturing for him to follow as he walks into the next room. 

Dylan takes another look at him.  A look of recognition, a piercing stare.

“I know you.  From… somewhere.  I remember you from TV.  Same name.  You’re from an old show.  Way before me.  I don’t know the name.  But I remember you.”

“You know, I used to imagine your ship, as a kid.  It would beam me up and I wouldn’t be alone in the Bureau anymore.  We would find my sister and then go on missions and I would never have to go back.  But then I stopped doing that.” 

Sulu stares in shock.

“I’m fictional?  I am in a Bureau that knows us as fiction.  They’re fans of us but not in the way I like.” 

“They took me.  The Bureau took me.  I was ten.  And I trusted them, because I was young, and scared, and stupid .  They wanted me to be Director and they wanted my sister too.  But she got away, and she left me here to rot .  But I got better.  I’m not stupid anymore.  And now I’m here and I’ll be watching.  It won’t ever happen again.” 

Dylan pulls him into another room, full of boards with pictures taped to them.

He points to one, depicting a redheaded woman being mugged in the street.  

“That’s my sister.  Jesse.  You see?  She was being mugged and all they did was take pictures.  Or this file, here.  They let her be dragged off to some ward because everyone thought she was crazy .  But it was real , I was alive and all I wanted was to see her again.”

“But you weren’t stupid.  They were cruel.” Sulu reassures, taking a photo into his hands

He stares at it.  It’s old and torn.  It’s of a young Dylan and young Director Faden— Jesse, so different from the stoic Director.  Dylan looks… happy, in the photo.  Different from this shell of a broken man before him.

“No.  I was stupid.  Thinking I could trust Darling and the others.  That they could be nice, that they were my friends.”

Sulu hesitates for a moment.

“Well… do you want me to break things with you?”  Sulu asks.

“Maybe.” Dylan replies.

Sulu picks up an abandoned coffee mug.  He stares at it, wondering what sick and twisted person drank from it, transcribing their notes from their disgusting experiments.  He turns it in his hands, trying to imagine a world so far removed from his own.  And then he hurls the mug against the wall.  It shatters.  Dylan looks at it and smiles.

He picks up another mug and throws it.  In each throw, he fumes about the fact that the Enterprise is completely at the Bureau’s mercy.  Just as Dylan was.  Jesse could order for their ship to be taken apart and tested on.  And it would be allowed, because she is the Director and nobody here seems to want to question the Director.

After a while, Sulu and Dylan are standing in a sea of broken ceramic.  Sulu waves goodbye before crawling back through the corridor, glass cleaner in tow.  He spots Ahti, back at the doorway that he came from.

“Ah, you met my other assistant.  He’s a fine man.  He keeps an eye on things so they cannot happen again” the Janitor says, taking the glass cleaner and putting it in his cart.

“He likes breaking things.”  Sulu observes.

“Ah, sometimes the House likes its rooms messed up.  Chaos is its blood and who are we to drain its blood?”  Ahti replies.

The two walk down the bigger hallway, the one that went to what Ahti called the “Gallery”.  From the sign on the wall, it appears they’re going to something called the Panopticon instead.

The hallway opens up into a massive room, blue lights illuminating each level.

“And that is where they keep all the Items.  If it does not fit, this is where it goes.” Ahti says, pointing to all the different levels.

A door opens, and Sulu steps into a small room.  Ahti walks away, leaving him.  A man is sitting at a control panel, humming.  There’s a book in his hands, but the cover has been taken off leaving the plain binding.  “The Sudden Stop”, it says.

The man notices him, and puts down his book.  He seems to recognize Sulu, despite the two never meeting before.  

“Oh!  Welcome to the Panopticon.  I’m Frederick Langston, and I heard about your ship.  My condolences, but I heard it is absolutely beautiful.  I was just about to check it out myself.”  the man says.  

“Maybe he knows I’m fictional too.” Sulu thinks.

“Oh, I know I come from a TV show in this universe.  Dylan told me.” 

Langston seems relieved to hear it.  

“Of course he did.  Well, anyway, I’m a huge fan.  What’s it like out there in space?”

“Not too bad.  Just, you know, the engines threatening to explode.”  

“Uh, well, I hope you’re doing good.  If you need any help getting back to the Quarry, just let me know.”

With a wave, Sulu exits the Control Room and hastily makes his way to the Sector Elevator.  A helpful Security Guard guides him through the twisting labyrinth of the Maintenance Sector and back to the Quarry.

The smell of the Black Rock dust is familiar if unsettling.  The same gang of Researchers is sneaking around, but considering what he just did, he lets it slide.  Let them research.  After all, he just did the exact same thing to them.

He takes his little slice of House and puts it under a microscope, back in his lab.  He kicks back, and relaxes just a bit.  He hopes he’ll see Dylan again.  Or Ahti.  They seemed like a good bunch.

On an impulse, he pokes his head out of a door, to see Kirk coming out of the elevator.  He seems to be in good spirits, rounding up Spock and Uhura and Scotty, and most of his friends.

“Sulu!  Come over here!” he calls.

He puts away his tools and strolls over, pretending that the House didn’t just eat him.

“Arish invited us out drinking with the Director and her girlfriend on Friday!” Kirk blurts out, before Sulu even finishes walking.

Arish waves to them, Emily and Jesse right behind him.

“I will be what they call a ‘Designated Driver’.  I don’t drink anyway.”  Spock states.

“You know what?  We all could loosen up a little.  Panicking and stressing isn’t going to help anyone.”  Bones observes.

The group seems to be in agreement.  On Friday, they’ll be going out to a diner and then a bar.  Maybe this place wouldn’t be so bad after all.