Smitten Kittens
Jacqueline A. Lott
Ensigns Anne Blackwell and John Jemison have known each other most of their lives, but are they prepared for the changes that lie ahead after they're stationed together aboard the USS Enterprise?
%
He's not coming, you tell yourself. What the hell were
you thinking? The one familiar piece of your life that you have on this ship, and you've screwed it up, Anne. Whether or not he walks through that door (which he won't!), you've screwed it up.

You let out a long (possibly audible) sigh, searching for the answer in your drink. You know what you were thinking, You were thinking
that it felt right, that it was a logical next step. You were thinking that things generally go your way, and that this would too.

Action:
You check what you're carrying
You're not presently carrying anything, but you are slowly nursing a drink.

Action:
About yourself
You glance down at your gold operations uniform, but see nothing particularly out of the ordinary.

Action:
Sing
I didn't understand that.

Action:
You wait
C'mon, Anne, he'll be here. He's... just taking awhile to finish
up in Sickbay.

Action:
You think
Oh, now you want to think things through? Possibly you should have done that last night.

Action:
Drink
(the drink)
You take your first effervescent sip.

Action:
Xyzzy
Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic, but now really isn't the time.

Guinan appears at your table, startling you a bit. "How's the Moscow mule?" she asks.

1 "Moscow mule?"
2 "It's... good. Thanks."

Action or Reply:
You leave
It's been a long day on your feet, you'd prefer to sit.

Action or Reply:
Reply
I didn't understand that.

Action or Reply:
1
"Moscow mule?" you say, looking down at the glass in front of you as if seeing it for the first time. "Oh, my drink. Right..."

"You told me to mix up something distracting," Guinan smiles. "But it looks like you were already pretty distracted to begin with."

"Yeah, I guess I've got a lot on my mind."

"You want to talk about it?" she asks.

1 "Not really. It's kind of personal."
2 "Maybe? It's... kind of complicated."
3 "Is listening to my issues really part of your job
description?"

Action or Reply:
2
"Maybe? It's... kind of complicated."

Guinan helps herself to the seat across from you. "May I?" She's already seated, so you just shrug and smile. "Thanks. You're Anne Blackwell, right?"

"Yeah," you respond, surprised. You haven't been on this ship long, and didn't think you'd spoken to Guinan enough for her to be able to recall your name. You're not sure you've even ever introduced yourself.

Not for the first time, you wonder why Starfleet uniforms don't come with name tags.

1 "How do you know my name?"
2 Just let her keep talking.

Action or Reply:
2
Curious as you are, you decide to just let her keep talking.

"Good to meet you, Anne. My name is Guinan. I tend bar... and I listen." she smiles at you. You already knew who she was, though this is the first time you've really spoken to her at any length. "I've heard people saying you're smart. That they're expecting a lot from you, but that you're up to the task."

1 That's good to hear. [Confident]
2 That's good to hear. [Happy]
3 That's good to hear. [Relieved]
4 That's good to hear. [Pressured]

Action or Reply:
3
"That's good to hear," you reply. "But that's not why I'm preoccupied."

"Must be pretty complicated indeed to throw off a well-educated engineer like yourself," muses Guinan. You're not at all convinced that she's being sincere.

1 "Yeah? Well, I must have missed the class on how not to ruin friendships at the Academy."
2 "If friends came with engineering schematics I'd probably be
more on top of this.
3 "I'm kind of worried I've broken something I'll never be able
to repair."

Action or Reply:
2
"I guess if friends came with engineering schematics I'd probably be more on top of this." You meant for that to be a joke, but instead it comes across as sort of defeated and sad. Guinan smiles, aware of your intent.

"Something tells me you'll be able to think your way through this one." As she says this, she nods toward the entrance to Ten Forward. Following her gaze, you see John.

You turn around quickly, suddenly not so sure you want to go through with this conversation. But it's too late to get Guinan's advice — she's quickly moved on to helping other customers.

A fan fiction created for the Star Trek Game Jam (2016). Alpha 3.0 by Jacqueline A. Lott

Readers are encouraged to peruse the CREDITS and ABOUT text.

After a moment of hesitation, you decide to wave John over to your table. This conversation has to happen sooner or later, Anne,
you think to yourself. Might as well get it out of the way.

John acknowledges you with a gentle smile and makes his way over to your table.

1 "Thanks for coming."
2 "Long shift in sick bay?"
3 Say nothing—let him start things off.

Action or Reply:
1
"Thanks for coming." He gives you a quick hug and sits down across from you.

"Sure thing. I was actually really glad you asked me to meet you here."

1 "You were?" [Worried]
2 "You were?" [Optimistic]
3 "Oh yeah? Why's that?" [Casual]

Action or Reply:
2
"You were?" you ask, trying to keep the relief out of your voice.

John smiles, clearly trying his best to be reassuring, but you can tell he's angsting. "Yeah. I don't know how to say this, so I'm just going to say it: last night got weird for me. I want to apologize. I'm really sorry I walked out on you."

1 "It's okay. It's not like you didn't have a reason."
2 "I sat there for a long time after you left."
3 Don't speak. Let him keep talking.

Action or Reply:
3
HERE ENDS THE PLAYABLE INTRO. THANKS FOR PLAYING!

Action or Reply:
Action
I didn't understand that.

Action or Reply:
Drink
(the drink)
You take another sip. The ginger beer in it has a very intense taste.

Action or Reply:
Smell drink
Unlike other public areas of the ship, where the air is filtered through the environmental controls, Ten Forward is filled with all sorts of scents this evening, from goulash to gagh.

[John is expecting you to reply.]
Action or Reply:
Kiss john
John might not like that.

Action or Reply:
You eat key
You can't see any such thing.

Action or Reply:
You eat john
He's plainly inedible.

Action or Reply:
You eat yourself
You're plainly inedible.

[John is expecting you to reply.]
Action or Reply:
You check your inventory
You're not presently carrying anything, but you are slowly nursing a drink.

Action or Reply:
You examine the drink
It's some twentieth century concoction — fizzy, not at all
unpleasant.

Unlike the original, though, this one's made with synthehol. For a second you wonder if you should ask Guinan for the good stuff, but think better of it.

Things aren't quite that bad. At least, I hope they're not.

Action or Reply:
You throw the drink at John
(first taking the drink)
Another swallow. You notice the hints of lime.

Action or Reply:
You drink the drink
You notice the coolness of the copper mug in your hand as you take another sip.

[John is expecting you to reply.]
Action or Reply:
You continue
You take another pull on the drink.

Action or Reply:
You drink the drink
Another sip. These really are pretty good.

Action or Reply:
You examine john
You take another sip and note that the drink is starting to get a bit watery.

Action or Reply:
Action or Reply:

John evidently hasn't had a chance to drop by his quarters yet; he's still wearing his blue medical uniform.

You and John have been friends for as long as you can remember—after
You look at your surroundings
all, you grew up together. You've always appreciated his kindness, his empathy for others, the way he can make you smile. Lately, though, things have changed, and you're not sure why. You can't deny an attraction to him.

[John is expecting you to reply.]
Action or Reply:
Action or Reply:

This is the gathering place, the best place to people-watch on the ship.

Action or Reply:
Drink
(the drink)
You drink a bit more. Seems that the ice is mostly melted now.

Action or Reply:
You keep going
(the drink)
You drink a bit more. It's nearly gone.

Action or Reply:
Keep going
(the drink)
One last sip. Quite watery. This is a drink that starts off amazing but ends rather blah. Maybe you should get another one.

[John is expecting you to reply.]
Action or Reply:
You order the drink
These are actually pretty delicious, so you decide to order another one. Guinan brings it to your table.

Action or Reply:
You examine the people
People come and go. Some faces you recognize, but only vaguely. You're pretty new to the ship and don't know too many people yet.

Action or Reply:
You examine the ice
You can't see any such thing.

Action or Reply:
You order the the hard stuff
No, things are quite that dire.

Action or Reply:
You examine Guinan
You've come to love Guinan's sense of style, and today's outfit is no exception. The gown is floor-length, comprised of countless folds of intricately-woven fabric, and long sleeved, each arm ending in fingerless gloves. A signature Guinan hat — large and flat — rounds out the ensemble.

[John is expecting you to reply.]
Action or Reply:
You look at the hat
As usual, Guinan stands out among the sea of Starfleet uniforms: she is resplendent in a bright red gown and matching hat.

Action or Reply:
You wear the hat
(first taking the gown)
That seems to belong to Guinan.

Action or Reply:
You talk to the people
You can only do that to something animate.

Action or Reply:
You remove the uniform
You take off the gold operations uniform.

[John is expecting you to reply.]
Action or Reply:
About yourself
You glance down at your gold operations uniform, but see nothing particularly out of the ordinary.

Action or Reply:
You check your inventory
You're not presently carrying anything, but you are slowly nursing a drink.

Action or Reply:
You give the uniform to John
John doesn't seem interested.

[John is expecting you to reply.]
Action or Reply:
You give the uniform to Guinan
Guinan doesn't seem interested.

Action or Reply:
Wave uniform
You wave the gold operations uniform.

Action or Reply:
You drop the uniform
Dropped.

[John is expecting you to reply.]
Action or Reply:
Look around
This is the gathering place, the best place to people-watch on the ship.

You can see a gold operations uniform here.

Action or Reply:
You examine table
Your table is just like all the other tables in Ten Forward: generally utilitarian, but glowy.

Action or Reply:
You look under the table
You find nothing of interest.

Action or Reply:
You take the table
All the tables in Ten Forward are affixed to the floor.

[John is expecting you to reply.]
Action or Reply:
You get table
All the tables in Ten Forward are affixed to the floor.

Action or Reply:
You sit on table
That would probably be frowned upon.

Action or Reply:
You put the drink on table
There's already a drink on the table, and that's enough.

[John is expecting you to reply.]
Action or Reply:
You put the uniform on the table
There's already a drink on the table, and that's enough.

Action or Reply:
You hit John
Violence isn't the answer to this one.

Action or Reply:
You turn drink
Nothing obvious happens.

[John is expecting you to reply.]
Action or Reply:
You give the drink to John
(first taking the drink)
You take your first effervescent sip.

Action or Reply:
You talk to John
You have nothing to say right now.

Action or Reply:
Search uniform
You find nothing of interest.

Action or Reply:
You ask John about the hat
You have nothing to say right now.

[John is expecting you to reply.]
Action or Reply:
You stand
It's been a long day on your feet, you'd prefer to sit.

Action or Reply:
You examine the window
You look toward the window and gaze into space. The
Enterprise is at warp, the stars glide past. For a moment you
drown out the conversations and focus on the whitenoise of the ship. It has a calming effect.

Action or Reply:
You examine the john's uniform
John evidently has not had a chance to drop by his quarters yet; he's still wearing his blue medical uniform.

Action or Reply:
You remove the blue uniform
John has better things to do.

[John is expecting you to reply.]
Action or Reply:
You get the john's uniform
That seems to belong to John.

Action or Reply:
You move
(the gold operations uniform)
Nothing obvious happens.

Action or Reply:
You take the uniform
You pick up the gold operations uniform. You glance down at your gold operations uniform, but see nothing particularly out of the ordinary.

Action or Reply:
You wear it
You put on the gold operations uniform.

[John is expecting you to reply.]
Action or Reply:
You give your uniform to John
(first taking the gold operations uniform off)
John doesn't seem interested.

Action or Reply:
5
HERE ENDS THE PLAYABLE INTRO. THANKS FOR PLAYING!

Action or Reply:
0
[That is not an option right now.]

Action or Reply:
You open the window
It isn't something you can open.

[John is expecting you to reply.]
Action or Reply:
You drop all
(the gold operations uniform)
Dropped.

Action or Reply:
You kick the uniform
Violence isn't the answer to this one.

Action or Reply:
You hug John
John might not like that.

[John is expecting you to reply.]
Action or Reply:
Aft
You asked John to meet you here, and he's here. Be brave, stay put, have the conversation.

Action or Reply:
You leave
It's been a long day on your feet, you'd prefer to sit.

Action:
Shake drink
That doesn't seem like the most appropriate course of action.

Action:
You wear the drink
(first taking the drink)
You take your first effervescent sip.

Action:
You wear the heart on the sleeve
You can't see any such thing.

Action:
Wait
He's probably just wrapping up an experiment or something.

Action:
You wait
Maybe he's briefing the next shift in Sickbay.

Guinan appears at your table, startling you a bit. "How's the Moscow mule?" she asks.

1 "Moscow mule?"
2 "It's... good. Thanks."

Action or Reply:
2
"It's... good. Thanks."

"You don't sound so sure. I was hoping the bubbles would cheer you up."

"I guess maybe I need more than bubbles for that," you frown.

"You want to talk about it?" she asks.

1 "Not really. It's kind of personal."
2 "Maybe? It's... kind of complicated."
3 "Is listening to my issues really part of your job
description?"

Action or Reply:
1
"Not really. It's kind of personal." you reply.

"Good. I get so tired of people coming in with their problems. They come in, they want a shoulder to cry on, and generally it turns out to be mine."

You're not sure how to take her response. You begin to wonder if you should apologize when a faint smile comes to her face and she says, "Besides, you'll probably work through this more quickly if you talk to him."

Following her gaze, you see John, standing in the doorway of Ten Forward. You turn around quickly, suddenly not so sure you want to go through with this conversation.

Guinan wasted no time at all — she's off helping other customers.

A fan fiction created for the Star Trek Game Jam (2016). Alpha 3.0 by Jacqueline A. Lott

Readers are encouraged to peruse the CREDITS and ABOUT text.

After a moment of hesitation, you decide to wave John over to your table. This conversation has to happen sooner or later, Anne,
you think to yourself. Might as well get it out of the way.

John acknowledges you with a gentle smile and makes his way over to your table.

1 "Thanks for coming."
2 "Long shift in sick bay?"
3 Say nothing—let him start things off.

Action or Reply:
3
You decide to let him get the conversation started.

"You're uncharacteristically quiet this evening," he says.

"Am I? Possibly I'm all talked out from hanging with Guinan," you reply.

"Guinan, huh? I haven't spoken to her much yet. What did you two talk about?"

1 "Nothing much on my end. She was just super pushy."
2 "Sorry. Forget I mentioned it."
3 "I don't know. Stuff."

Action or Reply:
1
HERE ENDS THE PLAYABLE INTRO. THANKS FOR PLAYING!

Action or Reply:
1
HERE ENDS THE PLAYABLE INTRO. THANKS FOR PLAYING!

[John is expecting you to reply.]
Action or Reply:
You look
This is the gathering place, the best place to people-watch on the ship.

Action or Reply:
Y.
He's not coming, you tell yourself. What the hell were
you thinking? The one familiar piece of your life that you have on this ship, and you've screwed it up, Anne. Whether or not he walks through that door (which he won't!), you've screwed it up.

You let out a long (possibly audible) sigh, searching for the answer in your drink. You know what you were thinking, You were thinking
that it felt right, that it was a logical next step. You were thinking that things generally go your way, and that this would too.

Action:
1
"Moscow mule?" you say, looking down at the glass in front of you as if seeing it for the first time. "Oh, my drink. Right..."

"You told me to mix up something distracting," Guinan smiles. "But it looks like you were already pretty distracted to begin with."

"Yeah, I guess I've got a lot on my mind."

"You want to talk about it?" she asks.

1 "Not really. It's kind of personal."
2 "Maybe? It's... kind of complicated."
3 "Is listening to my issues really part of your job
description?"

Action or Reply:
3
"Is listening to my issues really part of your job description? I thought that sort of thing fell to the ship's counselor."

As soon as the words leave your lips, you realize how snarky you sound. Fortunately, Guinan either doesn't notice or chooses to ignore it. "Well, you can schedule an appointment with her if you'd like, but yes, listening is part of my job," she says calmly. "So I can listen, or not. Up to you."

1 "Not really. It's kind of personal."
2 "Maybe? It's... kind of complicated."

Action or Reply:
2
"Maybe? It's... kind of complicated."

Guinan helps herself to the seat across from you. "May I?" She's already seated, so you just shrug and smile. "Thanks. You're Anne Blackwell, right?"

"Yeah," you respond, surprised. You haven't been on this ship long, and didn't think you'd spoken to Guinan enough for her to be able to recall your name. You're not sure you've even ever introduced yourself.

Not for the first time, you wonder why Starfleet uniforms don't come with name tags.

1 "How do you know my name?"
2 Just let her keep talking.

Action or Reply:
1
"How do you know my name? I don't think I ever introduced myself," you say.

"Well, you're a bit of a celebrity around here." Guinan notices your surprise at this comment. So much for having a good poker
face, you think to yourself. "I figured you would have been
expecting that," she replies.

You've got a couple of ideas as to why that might be, neither of them particularly comforting. You had hoped you could keep a low
profile — how delightfully naïve, you think to yourself. Then
again, maybe she's thinking of something completely different.

1 "Because of the Vice Admiral?" [Annoyed]
2 "Because of how I finished at the Academy?"
[Confident]
3 "Why would you think that?" [Nonchalant]

Action or Reply:
1
You sigh. "On account of my mother being a Vice Admiral, you mean?" You are unsuccessful in keeping the Exasperation out of your voice.

"That's part of it. It's not lost on the crew that Vice Admiral Blackwell's daughter's on board." You frown. "You want my advice? Don't worry too much about it. You can't help who your mother is, and people know that you've been stationed here because you finished at the top of your class."

1 "Do they?" [Worried]
2 "They do?" [Relieved]
3 "Sure they do." [Sarcastic]
4 "Perhaps. I'll still have to prove myself.

Action or Reply:
4
"Perhaps. I'll still have to prove myself, but I'm used to that." You sit in silence for a moment, thinking.

Guinan sits patiently, waiting for you to speak.

1 Share your anxiety about being in your mother's shadow.
2 Share your anxiety about being new.
3 Share your anxiety about John.
4 Share all of those things.
5 Keep it all to yourself.

Action or Reply:
3
"Truth be told, the reason I'm here has nothing to do with work." You're feeling a little brave, so you look Guinan in the eye and ask, "Have you ever had someone who means everything to you?"

"Yes. A few times."

"Really? More than once or twice?"

"Way more than once or twice. But then, I'm a little bit older than you are." She pauses, and looks toward the entrance of Ten Forward. "Any chance your everything just walked in? He seems to be looking for someone."

You turn to look, and sure enough — there's John. You turn back
around
quickly, suddenly not so sure you want to go through with this conversation. If you were ready for Guinan's advice it's too late — she's quickly moved on to helping other customers.

A fan fiction created for the Star Trek Game Jam (2016). Alpha 3.0 by Jacqueline A. Lott

Readers are encouraged to peruse the CREDITS and ABOUT text.

After a moment of hesitation, you decide to wave John over to your table. This conversation has to happen sooner or later, Anne,
you think to yourself. Might as well get it out of the way.

John acknowledges you with a gentle smile and makes his way over to your table.

1 "Thanks for coming."
2 "Long shift in sick bay?"
3 Say nothing—let him start things off.

Action or Reply:
2
"Long shift in sick bay?" you ask, easing into the conversation.

"Kinda, yeah. Nothing difficult, just... tedious. I don't know how things are for you in engineering, but I feel like they're tossing me all the menial tasks that no one else wants to do."

1 "You too, huh? I haven't had a single interesting issue to troubleshoot yet."
2 "Don't worry, John Jemison, they'll discover your brilliance
soon enough."
3 "Oh, y'know. It's hard being new here."

Action or Reply:
You lie down
(on the gold operations uniform)
That's not something you can lie down on.

Action or Reply:
You lie down on John
He's not something you can lie down on.

Action or Reply:
Sleep
You aren't feeling especially drowsy.

[John is expecting you to reply.]
Action or Reply:
You wake
The dreadful truth is, this is not a dream.

Action or Reply: