Under the sea.

Posted on 28 Jul 2025 @ 9:19pm by Lieutenant Thex sh'Zoarhi & 1st Lieutenant Cassandra Matthews

2,289 words; about a 11 minute read

Mission: S04 Episode 02 The Hackers Backdoor (Incidentals)
Location: Holodeck

[ON]

Thex let out a whistle as she walked down the ship's corridor. She was enjoying her time with Cassandra, whom the Andorian was fast considering one of her dearest friends.

Now it was the andorians turn to decide what the two of them would do on one of their hangouts. Dressed in a one-piece swimsuit that matched her blue skin and some grey shorts, she waited patiently outside her friend's quarters. She hoped she'd enjoy what she was planning.

Cassandra stepped out a few moments later in her baggy beach shirt and basketball shorts covering her standard issue black swimming suit. A pair of basic flip flops. Her black hair was pulled up in a high ponytail. And a pair of large sun glasses covered her blue eyes. Smiling at Thex she patted the beach bag at her side, "Hey hey! I brought some snacks." She said in greeting.

" I knew you would my friend." Thex said with a smile as she offered her a hug.

Cassandra accepted the hug. Her body still ached but was healing. So far there had not been any more attacks on her. Not since the day of the briefing. Though Cassandra was determined to relax she couldn't completely drop her guard. "Thank you for inviting me. I have really been needing this." She stated her own smile big as she embraced her friend a second time savoring the fact that she was still alive to do so. Part of her wondered if if would have been Thex or Hawksley or even Candice who might have found her body shoved into an air shaft or worse. She pushed the idea from her head as she finally released Thex from her arms. "Lead the way." She said with an almost playful tone.

Leading the way, the two of them talked as they made their way to the holo deck. " I was hoping i could test out some of the upgrades I've made to my mermaid suit while we're at the beach. I hope that's okay with you?" Thex asked her friend.

Cassandra nodded, "I have no objections to that. I haven't been diving for a while. Sounds fun." She stated pulling out one of the puffy cheese sticks from it's bag within her bag. She popped it in her mouth savoring the artificial flavor and it's crunchy texture. "You like Cheetos?" She asked Thex, opening the big beach bag to reveal the colorful crinkly bag within holding it's cheesy offerings. "Haden gave me some the other day they sent exactly food... But they are still pretty good."

Thex took the offered cheese stick. Like all terran foods, it taste hit her taste buds but in an excellent way. " Very nice. Humans sure know how to make good grub." She added as they reached the holodeck. " Sanfransico Academy beach okay with you? " Thex asked as she typed in the code into the computer.

Cassandra nodded. "No objections here. It's funny because that's where I first learned to dive." She mused. "We should tour angel island one of theses days. They have some very lovely walking trails there if I recall correctly."

" Add it to the list of things for us to do." Thex grinned as she stepped inside. The familiar heat of a present day at the beach that had brought the blue girl so much happiness. " Ah, feel the breeze and air." She closes her eyes and letting it flow over her.

Cassandra followed, the smell of the salty air was fresh and filled her up with something more than just oxygen it seemed. The heat caressed her skin bringing a smile to her own lips. "I often forget how beautiful Earth is." It wasn't Cait though. Still it held a special place in her heart. She watched Thex basking. Her friend only added to the beauty of the beach setting. More refreshing than even the air in her own way. Cassandra admired the view of the blue woman, eyes closed, face calm and happy, the breeze playing through soft white hair. Thex was always beautiful. Even in the drab engineering uniforms she shined. For this moment though she looked exquisite. Especially in her swimming suit. Cassandra had to force her eyes away to the waterfront, to the lapping waves calling to them in the distance. It wasn't right to stare at her friend. She didn't want to make Thex uncomfortable. They rarely got time together and it would be far less if Cassandra made things awkward. "So is the gear already down on the beach or will we need to go retrieve it?" She asked.

"I can beam it...." Thex said, turning back to look at her friend just as the marine seemed to be looking away. Giving a warm smile at her friend, she spoke, " Cass you don't need to be ashamed for looking at me. I know i look amazing. i work hard to maintain this physique," She said reassuringly. " Now would you like me to replicate a MER suit for you? I'm going to beam mine down from my quaters. "

Cassandra was glad she'd looked away as her face began to burn for reasons that had nothing to do with the sun. "Yeah, definitely. Buddy system is a must when diving." She said casually whilst still digging in her bag for..... What was she looking for? Ah yes! an excuse she didn't have, that's right. So she grabbed a water bottle instead. Cracking it open she took a swallow even though she wasn't thirsty in the least.

Thex just grinned as she saw her friend's reaction. The girl could do with something to boost her confidence.=/\= Computer beam my mer suit from my quarters and replicate a standard issue one to fit Cassandra. =/\=

Two boxes materialised into resistance. One a standard grey and the other being a mix of blue and green akin to Thex personality. " You ever used one of these before?" Thex asked her friend.

Cassandra went to the box. Glad for a distraction. She looked the suit over. "Not like this, no. The one I was trained on was more bulky." Cassandra confessed.

" Well, I'm sure you find movement in these far easier. " Thex grinned as she opened her box, taking her helmet out and placing it down on the sand. Picking her own suit out of the box, she ran her fingers over the outer cover, making sure there were no rips or tears.

Finding none, she began pulling her black and white suit onto her blue skin. The exoskeleton began gripping her legs as they slipped into the legs as it did the same for her arms. Flexing her fingers activated its computer systems. Everything was green across the board.

Cassandra followed Thex's led. Though she had to remove the baggy shirt and shorts to fit into it. The minuet of exposure was slightly uncomfortable, but she was proud of herself for being able to do it. It was a big step forward since her assault by Tevern to be able to be so exposed physically. Then there was also the fact that Thex was here. It made her feel a bit braver to know that nobody was going to hurt her with her friend here at her side. She slithered into the glove like suit and found it was indeed far more preferable to than the old chunky suits shed used five years ago. "These are amazing." She marveled aloud as she adjusted the helmet to fit properly.

"The latest model of the Greater Titan Ocean's league. Designed for a month of deep-sea survival at pressures you won't believe. " Thex explained as she did one last check of her gear. " Okay now we need to check each other's gear. Would you like to go first?" She asked her friend.

Cassandra chuckled "You better go first just to give me a refresher." She suggested. She wasn't familiar with the equipment and wanted to have Thex walk her through it for safety.

" Let me check your suit for tears, and let me check your jets and the rest of your electronics. " Thex explained as she began the checks. She gently ran her hands along her friend's suit, checking for tears before moving on to the electronics. With a slight purr the jet's fire and all of her systems were glowing green. " Okay, now you check me." The blue girl finished with a smile.

Cassandra happily obliged. Carefully going over There suit with sharp eyes. "No tears or signs of wear." She said then checking the electronics just as she'd observed and firing up the jets. "All systems are a go." Cassandra finally said upon finishing.

Giving her friend a thumbs up Thex strode towards the waters. As soon as she was deep enough, she leaned forward and kicked her leg out, propelling herself forward into the clear waters. As soon as she was deep enough, she dived beneath the waves. Her suit began to change, the legs of the suit merging into one solid tail as a pink-like membrane and fins rose up to steady her. Turning, she looked for her friend to make sure he a okay.

Cassandra had waddled into the water right after Thex. Fully embracing the faith she had in her friends equipment and design. Her eyes widened as she watched the amazing transformation of Thex's suit. She looked down the length of her own body and found that she too was sporting a tail and fins. She gave the tail a few flips setting herself forward, then twisted her body in a fun little corkscrew before adjusting the fins to steady herself again. She loved swimming. This was on a whole other level though. It was like gliding through water. Simply amazing. She caught Thex's gaze and gave a thumbs up.

Thex smiled as she kicked away into the depths. Her helmet began to activate its visions as they got further and further away from the light and into the darkness. She felt nothing as the suit adjusted to handle the pressure just as it was designed to. " Thex to Cass how's your suit holding up?" She called into the suits coms.

Cassandra took a moment to evaluate then returned with, "So far so good. I'm not feeling any of the pressure changes."

" Okay, let's try heading deeper." Thex nooded in reply as she kicked away, firing up her own jets as she did so. She was off like a bullet.

Cassandra fiddled with the controls a bit. Not familiar with the technology the way her friend was. She took a few minutes to figure out what was what before she could follow. There was no guideline to follow and she worried about losing visual of Thex in the water. Though there was no risk of getting lost as the safety protocol would likely beam them to the safety of the surface with a few words. It was just natural to worry. So once the jets fired up she did her best to try and catch up. She'd forgot to ask Thex about decompression, if they would require stops back up from the depths, how long they could remain at the maximum depth. So forth. So many important safety questions. All pushed out of her mind because of the sight of Thex in a swimsuit. Lord help her. "Hey thex, what depth are we aiming for? And for how long?" She asked, better late then never.

Thex slowed and steadied herself, waiting for her friend to catch up. " As deep as you're comfortable with my friend. If you want, we can start heading back to the surface. Don't worry, the suits have in-built self-contained pressure bubbles, we won't need to decompress."

"I'm in no hurry." Cassandra returned. "Just was curious. I had forgotten to ask before we dipped." Cassandra let her eyes roam over the landscape. Or lack thereof. The lights on her suit had clicked on as they entered into that place where sunlight did not touch anymore. Leaving only their artificial lamps to guide them. It was beautiful, comfortable. The dark embrace. Most of the monsters she knew walked openly in the light that the dark was something of a haven now.

" It's beautiful down here isn't it?" Thex said, seeing her friend relaxing down in the depths.

"It is that." Cassandra agreed. She felt herself smile. As her eyes took in what few others would ever dare to see. It reminded her of the Space walking shed done with Hawksley so long ago. Just as liberating just as perfect. The setting, the people she was with. That calmness that came with relaxing, with taking a breath if just for a moment. The fish as they dove deeper became flatter or more aerodynamic. Some of them even glowed softly almost like fireflies in the darkness around them. It was like nothing she had experienced ever before in her life. Beautiful seemed too little a word to describe it. Nor did magnificent seem to capture the true nature of the wonders that surrounded them.

Thex smiled as she gently tapped her friend on the shoulder. " Come on, just a little deeper than I can get some good readings for my next upgrades. "

"I'm right behind you then. " Cassandra responded turning to follow Thex even further into the deep.

ooc: M.E.R.M.A.I.D. – Modular Enhanced Reconnaissance Marine Anthropomorphic Immersion Device. Think of a deep-sea space suit.

OFF:

 

RSS Feed