Down But Not Out

Posted on 11 May 2022 @ 12:35am by Commander Calliope Zahn

Mission: M3 - Into the Deep
Location: Quinn & Zahn Quarters
Timeline: MD 02 1115
644 words - 1.3 OF Standard Post Measure

It had been a full morning. Ever since the invitation from Doctor Llwyd to participate in a triathlon, Calliope had been motivated to do more than wait to recover. At first it had started with the stationary bike, and then some hydro therapy that had transitioned into swimming herself to exhaustion twice a day. The water activity was far easier than walking or running as it took all of the pressure off her joints. While the yoga practices had been a good start, the water seemed to break her plateau in her recovery, improving circulation and control and strengthening muscles that she hadn’t remembered having until they were all screaming with the micro-tear and rebuilding process. The spike in caloric burn seemed to trigger her appetite which felt nearly insatiable; she had gone from nibbling at corners to chasing one meal with another. Although she wasn't quite ready to go twelve rounds wrestling Bear, within the first few days of her aggressive regimen she had retired her hover chair and her cane, returning them to sickbay, and had also convinced the medical staff to sign off on her release from the overnight check ins. She was completely moved in with Lance.

Much of her research efforts into the shadowy money and influence behind the attack on the station had shifted to the back burner in favor of her focus on recovery. She’d felt a little guilty for the sacrifice, especially as trails could cool and suspects could dig deeper into hiding… but there were actual intelligence officers doing investigation work. Besides, thanks to the disapproval from Corvus, she was keenly aware that if she wanted to make a bid for her job again she had to do better than intentionally victimizing herself to call for help. As last ditch efforts went, she’d done her level best and would stand by the decision. But that she needed to get out of said ditch was clear.

Having confronted death and come to some kind of terms with a spiritual life, having stood up to her own demons and told the truth, having reconciled with Lance… somehow her head was clearer with each stroke of her arms in the pool. Somehow she could pedal with more resistance. The weight of the worlds felt like it had risen from her chest. All of the physical strongholds oppressing her now felt like steel bars she was ready to bend with sheer will.

At first, pushing herself physically had cost enough to require her to sleep half the time away— a very deep sleep at night with the assistance of a neural inhibitor, as well as a respectable mid day nap. But Calliope harnessed the sleep even, expanding n her collection of alternative healing devices. The master bath of their apartment had been transformed into a sauna of various heating and cooling and steam machines, and the bedroom, as lush and modern as it was in decor, was strangely out fitted with harmonizing emitters and colored lights.

Calliope lay in the center of the bed, half sunken into a medical foam mattress, every fiber satisfyingly exhausted from a full morning of training, basking under a shimmering containment field enveloping her in an oxygen rich atmosphere with a fog-like mist meant to soothe and heal lung tissue.

She smirked to herself even as she relaxed, listening to the meditation soundscape Jeestroyet had recommended to her. She imagined she looked like some sort of theatrical special effects cross over of Snow White and the bride of Frankenstein's monster shrouded in all of her fog and lights and encased in medical fields.

Setting the timer on the neural inhibitor, Calliope closed her eyes and folded her fingers together over her belly, determined to get as much hyper-healing rest as possible from the nap before rising again for the next bout.