application for ataraxion WIP

[oftwoworlds]

P L A Y E R I N F O R M A T I O N
Your Name: Yami
OOC Journal: birdplane
Under 18? If yes, what is your age?: Nope.
Email + IM: yami.manuel@gmail.com + kaizokuyacchan
Characters Played at Ataraxion: Pavel Andreievich Chekov, who I’ll be dropping due to this application.

C H A R A C T E R I N F O R M A T I O N
Name: Spock
Canon: Star Trek (2009/reboot/etc)
Original or Alternate Universe: OU
Canon Point: Following the end of the movie.
Number: RNG is fine.

Setting:
The Earth of Star Trek in the 23rd Century isn’t actually significantly different from the Earth we all know and love. There are independent countries that operate similarly to how the individual states operate within the republic of the United States. There is advanced technology, little concern for poverty or disease, and crime is at an all-time low. Outside of that, the Earth itself operates within the greater intergalactic government of the United Federation of Planets.

Unlike Earth, Vulcan was a rocky, desert planet with very limited vegetation. The Vulcans themselves had evolved to be accustomed to the warmer weather, but to humans, the temperatures on the surface of Vulcan were quite extreme. Geological disparities aside, Vulcan culture also developed significantly differently from human culture.

Vulcans were originally incredibly violent and emotional, even by human standards. They spent generations at war with one another until their developing technology in connection to their natural telepathic abilities threatened to destroy the species in its entirety.

To avoid this fate, Surak, a Vulcan philosopher began preaching a theory of stoicism and total logic in order to contain the emotions which Vulcans actually feel quite deeply. This began the “Time of the Awakening”, a semi-golden age for Vulcan culture. Those who disagreed with Surak’s beliefs eventually left Vulcan society. The most notable group of dissenters left the planet entirely and instead colonized the planet Romulus, eventually becoming the dominant species on that world.

First Contact between Vulcans and Humans occurred in 2063, shortly following Earth’s Third World War. Zefram Cochrane, an amateur warp theorist (and raging alcoholic) retooled a nuclear warhead into a warp shuttle and it happened to catch the attention of a Vulcan convoy passing through the system. The rest, as they say, is history. Or at least history for the 23rd Century.

History:
Spock was born on Vulcan in the city of Shi’Kahr in 2230. The second child of the Vulcan ambassador to Earth, Sarek, and his human wife, Amanda, Spock immediately held an odd, yet distinguished position in Vulcan society. Not quite equal to his Vulcan classmates, he was still educated within and according to Vulcan society. As a young child, Spock excelled at computer sciences, eventually leading him to seriously study programming at the Vulcan Learning Center, and later at Starfleet Academy.

Growing up on Vulcan as a half-human, Spock was subject to quite a lot of bullying. In one particular instance, he attacked an older child who accused his father of being a “traitor” and referred to his mother as a “human whore”. The tenuous relationship Vulcan have with relationship precluded Serek from fully expression his feelings on the subject and created something of a rift between him and Spock. Conversely, Spock grew closer to and more protective of his mother. Her opinion of him mattered greatly, even when it came to completing his education in a fully Vulcan way and undertaking the Kolinahr ritual.

Seeking to “cultivate multiple options”, Spock applied to both the Vulcan Science Academy and Starfleet Academy for his tertiary education. He was admitted to the Science Academy, but eventually declined attendance after a member of the Academy Council referred to his human mother as a “disadvantage”. By attending Starfleet Academy instead he became the first Vulcan to turn down the Vulcan Science Academy as well as the first human to be admitted in the first place. He also became the first Vulcan to attend Starfleet Academy and enter Starfleet as a commissioned officer, rather than in a diplomatic capacity.

At the Academy, Spock’s focus quickly became computer programming, though he excelled at linguistics and (naturally) matters of ethics and logic. He was eventually named “Grandmaster” of the Federation’s Three-Dimensional Chess organization. By 2258, he had graduated with honors and attained the rank of Commander. Spock went on to teach Interspecies Ethics and Advanced Phonology at the Academy where he met (future Lieutenant) Nyota Uhura. Sometime during their acquaintance at the Academy, they began a romantic relationship. In the time between his graduation and Nero’s incursion, Spock also programmed the Kobayashi Maru test.

It was through the Kobayashi Maru test that Spock first became acquainted with Cadet James T. Kirk. The Kobayashi Maru was, at base, a hypothetical situation in which a Captain was required by Starfleet code to lead his ship into a doomed situation. It was “unwinnable” by conventional definition in that there was no way to complete the mission objectives and make it out with the crew in one piece. Kirk had taken the test multiple times and failed not only to get a satisfactory score, but also to understand the tests purpose (teaching command-tracking cadets a regard for death and an understanding that not all situations are “winnable”). Instead of packing it in, however, Kirk opted to cheat, and reprogrammed the test using a virus that changed key factors in the hypothetical encounter. As the programmer of the test, Spock had him investigated for academic misconduct. The investigation was never able to reach its completion, however, as it was interrupted by a distress call from Vulcan.

To understand the Vulcan distress signal, it is necessary to explain some other events in a somewhat disjointed manner.

In 2387 (or a 2387) the primary sun in Romulus’ system threatened to supernova and wipe out all life on the Romulan home world. A longtime supporter of Romulus and re-unification efforts with Vulcan and Earth, Federation Ambassador Spock used his unique political position to arrange for Federation intervention in order to save the planet. Commissioning a highly advanced vessel from the Vulcan Science Academy, Spock planned to create a blackhole at the center of Romulus’ dying sun, thus preventing the supernova. However, his timetable was significantly flawed. Just as Spock arrived in Romulan space, the supernova began and while he tried to start the blackhole process and save at least part of the system, his efforts were useless. To make matters worse, a mining vessel which had been circling Vulcan space spotted his ship, the Jellyfish, and her captain blamed Spock for Romulus’ destruction. The Narada attacked Spock, and in the ensuing chaos, both ships were pulled into the blackhole.

The Narada entered the singularity first, arriving in 2233 in what appeared to be a “lightning storm in space”. It was intercepted by the USS Kelvin. In a rage at the temporal displacement, Nero killed the Kelvin’s captain and destroyed the ship. 800 people survived, including Winona Kirk and her newborn son. George Kirk captained the Kelvin for the last twelve minutes of its existence. Twenty-Five years later, the Jellyfish would emerge from the blackhole and be intercepted by Nero. As revenge for Spock’s inability to save Romulus, Nero marooned him on Delta Vega and forced him to watch as the Narada used the technology Spock had commissioned to save Romulus to destroy Vulcan.

Back in 2258, the primary fleet had been deployed to the Larentian system to deal with a crisis, which prompted Starfleet Command to commission most able bodied cadets to attend to the Vulcan crisis in their place. As an already commissioned officer, Spock assigned the position of Science Officer (and First Officer) under Captain Pike aboard the newly completed flagship, the USS Enterprise. Spock also handled the rest of the crew assignments (at least for communications staff) and assigned Nyota Uhura to the USS Faragot before moving her to the Enterprise at her insistence. Having been placed on academic probation, Kirk was not cleared to leave the Academy and with the help of Leonard McCoy (his best friend and a doctor who had also been assigned to the Enterprise), he stowed away.

To smuggle his friend aboard the ship, McCoy gave Kirk a number of vaccines to simulate dramatic symptoms of a few different illnesses. After arriving in the Enterprise’s medical bay, Kirk fell asleep, awakening only when Pavel Chekov (the ship’s Navigator) announced that the phenomenon they were warping into had been described as a “lightning storm in space”; The same phenomenon that had lead to the destruction of the Kelvin. The previous evening, Nyota Uhura had intercepted a distress signal from a Klingon prison planet describing a large Romulan ship which also bore some resemblance to the ship from the Kelvin incident. Putting two and two together, Kirk rushed off to find Uhura and drag her to the bridge to explain his theory to Pike.

The Enterprise was delayed entering warp by helmsman Hikaru Sulu. While nerves and a lack of familiarity with the ship’s systems was immediately embarrassing for Sulu, the slip up proved fortuitous as it gave the Enterprise valuable time. After hearing Kirk and Uhura’s explanation of events, Pike and Spock (somewhat reluctantly) agreed that there was merit to their theory, and prepared for an ambush as they dropped out warp.

Instead of an immediate ambush, however, the Enterprise fell out of warp in Vulcan space to find the rest of the Federation Cadet fleet destroyed. The Narada had planned on destroying them as well until Nero spotted the registration number (NCC-1701) on the hull and made the connection to the historic Enterprise crew. Realizing that he had the chance to make Spock suffer through the destruction of his home world not once but twice, Nero hailed the Enterprise instructing Pike to hand himself over as a hostage until Vulcan had been taken care of.

Severely out gunned and with sensors, communications, and transporters jammed by the Narada, Pike quickly formulated a plan to destroy the Narada’s drill and limit their effect on the surface of Vulcan. Chief Engineer Olsen, Kirk, and Sulu would space jump from Pike’s shuttlecraft down below the planet’s atmosphere and destroy the drill from there. After full communications capabilities were restored, the Enterprise could beam everyone back and set about evacuating the rest of the planet.

Their mission was met with limited success, but not without losing Chief Engineer Olsen. The drill was also disabled and communications were restored, but only after it had already damaged the planet’s core enough to allow the Narada crew to use the black hole creating technology within the planet itself. Vulcan was doomed with no way to prevent its destruction.

After the crew of the Enterprise came to this realization, Spock took it upon himself to beam down to the planet’s surface near its Katric Arc at Mount Seleya where he knew that members of the High Council (including his parents) would be attempting to save katra’s of notable Vulcans (such as Surak) and pieces of Vulcan culture (like the Kir’Shara). Several of the members of the High Council were killed along the pathway to the planet’s surface. As the Enterprise beamed them up, even Spock’s mother was killed when her signal was lost by the transporter beam. The Narada took that opportunity to leave Vulcan space and continue on a path toward Earth. With Pike as a hostage, they could use him to disarm the planetary defenses of the Federation and effect the same fate.

Despite his great loss, Spock continued to serve as Captain of the Enterprise. As the ship set about making repairs from its altercation, the senior staff talked shop and strategy, attempting to find the best way to combat Nero when they were not only outmatched by his future technology, but also quite alone. Kirk and Spock argued over the best course of action, and it eventually led Spock to maroon Kirk on Delta Vega with instructions toward it’s lonely Starfleet outpost.

The weather conditions on Delta Vega were harsh, and it’s wildlife quite dangerous. Kirk was attacked as he made his way to the Starfleet outpost and, as fate would have it, rescued by an aging Vulcan who identified himself as none of the than Spock. (Who saw this coming?) Spock Prime (Ambassador Spock from 2387, before the timeline shift) explained their situation to Kirk, eventually mind melding with him to prove his sincerity. After convincing Kirk, the two set off again in search of that Starfleet outpost only to happen on Montgomery “Scotty” Scott, an engineer who had been banished to the boring and remote location in retribution for practicing transporter theory on an Admiral’s prized show dog.

In a spectacular show of disregard for the time stream, Ambassador Spock explained to Scotty his own theory for transporting onto a moving starship citing that at the very least, Scotty would have been the one to invent it eventually. Using this anachronistic theory, Kirk and Scotty beamed aboard the moving Enterprise, leaving Ambassador Spock behind after that Spock explained (falsely) that all kinds of calamitous space-time events would occur should he ever meet his double.

Back aboard the Enterprise, Spock had been experiencing discontent from the crew, particularly Doctor McCoy, who was at that point his Chief Medical Officer. After Kirk and Scotty beamed back aboard, they were quickly captured and brought to the bridge. Kirk then challenged Spock’s ability to command given the recent death of his mother and destruction of his planet. Under Ambassador Spock’s instructions, he was deliberately attempting to get a rise out of that universe’s Spock and assume command from him. After a crack about Spock’s emotional incapacity and his inability to have ever actually loved his mother, Kirk succeeded and Spock reacted by attacking him. He stopped only when ordered by Sarek, and left the bridge, relinquishing command to the next person in the line of succession (in this case, Kirk).

This breakdown prompted a turning point in Spock’s relationship with his father. During her lifetime, Sarek had maintained that he married Amanda strictly because taking a human wife was logical for him as Vulcan’s ambassador to Earth. In an attempt to help Spock make sense of his grief, Sarek revealed to his son that he married Amanda not strictly for logic, but rather because he was in love with her. The reconciliation of Vulcan logic with basic emotion seemed to bring Spock some peace and he rejoined the Enterprise crew, offering to help with Kirk’s efforts to stop Nero. His reasoning, outside of the obvious motivators of revenge, or simply the desire see Nero stopped being that as he is half-human, Earth was just as much his home as Vulcan had been.

Finally acting as a united front, the Enterprise crew beamed Kirk and Spock over to the Narada to rescue Captain Pike and steal back the Jellyfish, thus preventing Nero from creating another blackhole. Kirk rescued Pike while Spock piloted the Jellyfish away from Terran space, moving the conflict a safe distance from Earth and eventually planning to collide the smaller ship with the Narada. The landing party barely made it out safely, but in the end, they were successful on all fronts.

The Jellyfish’s collision with the Narada created a blackhole inside the ship itself. As the Narada broke apart in the formation of the singularity, Kirk offered to rescue anyone he could from Nero’s crew, but Nero refused. Accepting that answer with little debate, Kirk ordered the Enterprise back to Earth, but the gravitational pull of the blackhole had already set in and threatened to destroy the ship. In the end, they only made it out by dumping the warp core, and detonating it, riding the explosion past the singularity’s pull.

Back on Earth, as the Enterprise set about making repairs and Starfleet set about tending to its damaged fleet, Kirk was presented with honors and promoted to the full rank of Captain. Conversely, Spock planned to resign his commission altogether, and help the remaining Vulcan people set up a colony somewhere. As fate would have it, while looking for Sarek among the Vulcan convoy, he instead found Ambassador Spock who prompted him to continue in Starfleet and serve aboard the Enterprise. As the two of them were in the unique position of being two places at once, Spock agreed and went on to ask for a position as First Officer aboard the Enterprise under Kirk.

And there you have it.

Personality:
On first glance, Spock appears (like most Vulcans) to be an emotionless, personality-lacking, pseudo-machine, functioning only for the sake of science and logic. While those two things are very important to him (as they would be to anyone with a Vulcan upbringing), this is a broad generalization and, naturally, ignores the nuances of his character.

Spock’s very existence was a diplomatic rebellion, of sorts, against Vulcan standards. Hybrids, while not impossible (and certainly common to some degree when one considers the conflicts between the Vulcans and Romulans) had never been seen as something presentable in mainstream (let alone upper class) Vulcan society. Nevertheless, as the Ambassador to Earth, it was entirely logical for Sarek to father a child with his human wife, as that would be seen as the ultimate symbol of unity between the two cultures. With this role thrust upon him even before his first words, it might be unfair to characterize Spock as immediately rebellious. That being said, he certainly grew into that role.

Throughout his life, Spock maintained a veneer of pure Vulcan logic, but his emotions were always the driving force in his actions. The bullying from his classmates on the subject of his mother kept him at a distance from them due to his attachment toward her. If he were operating purely on Vulcan logic, he would probably agree with them that his human physiology (if nothing else) would make him less powerful than a full-blooded Vulcan. This emotional drive and attachment toward his mother is seen again in his asking her opinion on the Kolinahr ritual. Logically, undertaking Kolinahr would solidify his place in Vulcan society. As someone who ostensibly wanted to continue living in that society, it would be entirely logical to undergo it, despite his mother’s feelings on the subject. Regardless, Spock considers her opinion to be a deciding factor, not because it’s logical, but rather because of his emotional attachment toward her. Even at the Academy, this tendency to make decisions based on emotion and then justify them (or mask them) with logic continued. He didn’t enter into a relationship with Nyota Uhura because it was logical to become involved with one of his former students, but rather because he liked her. Likewise, a logical reaction to Kirk’s cheating on the Kobayashi-Maru test would have simply been to submit his evidence to the academic council. Calling a public hearing, rather, was an act of anger.


When Spock declines admittance to the Vulcan Science Academy, it academic council defines it as him expressing a human need to rebel. That’s a very surface level way of looking at it and perhaps discredits Spock’s struggles. On Vulcan, his existence had been seen as inferior, on Earth, his existence was simply an oddity. To rebel, to prove himself better at performing human tasks and living a Vulcan mindset had chosen either consciously or unconsciously to go about things from a human perspective, but in a Vulcan way. That is, to act emotionally, but under the pretense, or with the justification of logic.

Throughout the movie, Spock’s struggle is one of having a dubious and contested place in either society. Starfleet’s philosophy of acceptance for all species granted him a place professionally, but not necessarily socially, however, I would argue that until his conversation with Sarek after Amanda’s death, he didn’t really want social acceptance. Spock is young for a human, and younger for a Vulcan. At that point in time, he had lived most of his life in Vulcan society without being accepted, and only for a short time among humans whom he admittedly did not quite understand. As he undoubtedly perceived himself as different, he didn’t want outright homogenized acceptance from either party, but rather his own place among them. Acceptance, but without the compulsion to conform entirely and acceptance that it took the death of his mother for him to truly consider. In the Prime universe, Spock served several years in Starfleet and ultimately died and was brought back to life before achieving a functional relationship with his father and a comfort with himself and his role as both a Vulcan and a Human. Without the catalyst of his Amanda’s death, it’s entirely possible that this Spock of the Alternate Reality would’ve taken a similar path. Excelling in his career, and forging friendships, but never quite understanding what his role could or should be in the greater scheme of things.

So, when I say that Spock’s existence is one of rebellion, I don’t mean that in the traditional sense. Instead, I mean that his ultimate decision to accept his human heritage alongside his Vulcan heritage, and to form human friendships and serve in Starfleet and then ultimately aboard the Enterprise, to carve out his own place in a society; that is his rebellion.


Abilities, Weaknesses and Power Limitations:
Spock is half-Vulcan making his physiology quite unique. Vulcans as a species are naturally stronger than humans and able to withstand higher temperatures. Spock is not quite as strong as a typical Vulcan of his age who has cultivated their strength, however, he is significantly stronger than the average human. Growing up on Vulcan, it’s also very likely that he could comfortably work in environments that would otherwise impact the performance of his human shipmates. Conversely, he would be more likely to be effected by cold. The Vulcan respiratory system and its evolution to account for their home planet’s thin atmosphere could also give Spock an advantage in settings engineered specifically for humans as he would be receiving far more oxygen than both what he was accustomed to growing up, and what would be typical for half his ancestry.

The most notable “power” which Vulcans possess over humans is undoubtedly that of telepathy. Most Vulcans are touch-telepaths, able to meld consciousnesses with another living creature (in the Prime universe Spock performs a mindmeld on a humpback whale) by connecting their finger tips with certain pressure points near the other creature’s brain. Historically, some Vulcans were also capable of developing this ability further into things like telekinesis and long range telepathy. Despite his hybrid-Human brain, Spock is able to perform mindmelds. It’s unclear if they are any different from that of a full-Vulcan or if he would be capable of expanding upon these abilities (though personally, I would think not. The Vulcan brain had already been evolving away from such things since the Age of the Awakening, and I would think the physiological differences would preclude him).

Some other brief notes… Spock is unaffected by alcohol, but can achieve a similar state through other foods (like chocolate). He is also theoretically capable of going without sleep for longer periods of time than would be healthy for a human (upwards of one week), and he would be weak against Trellium-D, a mineral commonly used in air filtration aboard starships.

Inventory:
A fresh blue uniform shirt, standard issue phase, comm. badge and tricorder.

Appearance: Spock in 2258.

Age: 28

AU Clarification: n/a

S A M P L E S

Log Sample:
The corridors of the Tranquility were darker than that of the Enterprise. Her engines hummed similarly and, if he closed his eyes tightly enough, he could perhaps envision the sterile pearlescent white of the Federation’s flagship with her cyan display terminals and gently curving hallways. The instant he opened them again, however, the illusion would be ruined and he would be forcibly returned to the reality of the less inviting vessel. It’s displays still glowed cyan, but they somehow, entirely inexplicably, felt infinitely more ominous.

Intellectually, he supposed it was improbable to miss a ship he’d served on for less than a week collectively, and yet he did. There was a certain merit to the familiarity, however falsely and traumatically induced.

The technology was, of course, fascinating in it’s anachronisms. Interdimensional transport while cryogenics were still a necessity, terminals similar those of the Enterprise and yet a lack of sensors powerful enough to generate any real information as to their whereabouts. The star systems themselves were entirely foreign, he suspected, though without a computer capable of confirming that supposition it would be forced to remain such. Which, he supposed, would actually do little but confirm what they already seemed to know; that they were at the mercy of the mysterious crew which existed simultaneously with them, and yet in near total seclusion. It was curious, it was inexplicable, and above all, he returned to the feeling, however visceral, that it was ominous.

And that was truly what was most unsettling about their predicament. Despite the plans he could formulate, the scenarios he could create for their survival and ultimate return of his crewmates, and that of everyone else trapped here with them, Spock could not help the very real uncertainty, the foreboding that seemed to permeate the air aboard the inappropriately named vessel. It pervaded his thoughts and influenced his interactions and conversations and, if he were not careful, would doubtlessly lead him down a dark path, one which would be entirely unproductive and ultimately unhelpful to their situation.

He breathed heavily, but not without the distinctly paranoid thought that perhaps it was something in the oxygen itself (not merely the dark gunmetal of the walls) which was causing him to feel this way, to feel at all. He inhaled, the exhaled, he counted his breaths and purposefully slowed them, carefully, purposefully willing the thoughts away. He was at a disadvantage and had to maintain control, of himself, if not of their progression on this ominous journey.

Once calm, he felt around his belt for the unfamiliar, equally uninviting comm. device and typed out a simple message. This was the logical course of action, but he couldn’t help but question how much he would like the result.

Lt. Sulu, I would like to request any information you have on the history of the captives aboard the Tranquility. I am particularly interested at any attempts of escape, and the reactions of the Tranquility’s crew to such attempts. Additionally, for any failed attempts, the survival rate for the perpetrators. Your attention to detail is appreciated.

The texture of the brushed metal in his hands didn’t help. Again, a frustratingly tactile, visceral, inexplicable reaction.

Comms Sample:

[The comm. clicks on to show Spock with a typically flat expression. He seems fresh, perhaps slightly younger than he was prior to the last jump, and maybe, just maybe, if someone knows him well enough, they might note the perplexed nuance to his pursed lips.]

As I have been made aware of the version of myself previously aboard this ship, I will dispense with the pleasantries generally associated with these greetings and say simply that I am Spock of the Federation Starship Enterprise and however familiar I am to you, the Tranquility is entirely unfamiliar to me.

[His lips quirk slightly. It’s not a smile and not without some note of bitterness. This isn’t his favorite situation to be in.]

Given that, I would like to request information. If we were acquainted before, I would like to know how. More broadly, I would welcome any information on this vessel and its heading. Any assistance you can offer would be appreciated.

[Pausing for just a second, he gives the camera a quick nod before terminating the feed.]