The Needs of The Few

IX

"T'Ve!" T'Gren said, rushing over to the infirmary.

"What can I do for you, T'Gren?" She asked as she lifted a child off of an infirmary table, "You're free to go, little one."

T'Gren handed her a neatly folded letter, faint concern hiding on her stoic face, "I can't read the calligraphy... but I recognize Mac'hla's name."

She gently took the letter from Mac'hla's mother.

T'Ve sat on the examination table and unfolded the letter. Her eyes widened as she read aloud, her heart beginning to pound in her ears.

Control yourself.

As T'Ve finished, T'Gren stared at the opened letter in silent fear.

"You know why they cannot complete this, don't you?" she asked.

T'Ve bit their lip, hurting. Why would Mac'hla do this without telling her? She was their wife!

"Their human ancestry?" T'Ve asked, hoping the matter was as simple as simple incapability from human-like emotions.

T'Gren shook her head solemnly and sat on the table next to T'Ve.

"Mac'hla has faced so much hurt in their life, and during kolinahr these memories will be brought up in exact detail. Mac'hla's migraines...they aren't from head injuries. When Vulcans experience severe trauma, their brains try to kill the emotions by..." T'Gren's voice broke and she took a deep breath to regain control, "Atrophying. The brain will essentially lobotomize itself. Since she was little, her brain, which is still somewhat human, has tried to protect itself by doing so. You know how she can get when she is hurting... she shuts off. Stop talking, stop moving, borderlining vegetative. These emotions are literally eating her brain. When she undergoes the procedure of purging her mind, her brain will freeze up. Her entire limbic system will fail, and the rest of her brain will follow."

"Will their brain not have time to heal?" T'Ve asked, a frantic edge appearing in her voice, "Mac'hla's brain is mostly Vulcan."

"The atrophy is fast. I have seen it happen before, after the plague. We had 3 additional deaths from the unconscious lobotomies– and that was in full blooded Vulcans. It is just a matter of days before the brain will completely die."

T'Ve stared out across the canyon. The sands blew, the sun shone in the red sky. It was a beautiful day... How could it be with such pain?

"I don't know what to do." T'Gren admitted, holding onto her daughter-in-law's hand, "I can think of no possible way to stop them."

T'Ve squeezed her hand and looked to the sky, "I can think of one thing."