3AM Blues
Posted on Fri Oct 30th, 2026 @ 2:25pm by Lieutenant Amu Hinamori M.D. & Lieutenant Soyo Hamada
1,490 words; about a 7 minute read
Mission:
Kintsugi
Location: USS Fleming (NCC-55025)- Crew Lounge
Timeline: Thursday, 3rd April 2397, 03:15 - Stardate 74252.4
Amu ran a single finger around the rim of her cup of hot cocoa. The crew lounge of the Fleming was more like a hospital staff room than a lounge. At least it felt that way. She stared out of the large windows into the depths of space. The humming of the ship's warp engines created an almost relaxing rhythm to the room. Streaks of light passed at incredible speed as the medical vessel continued onward to its next assignment, no doubt passing numerous inhabited systems and worlds as it cut through the inky blackness of space. Amu couldn't help but wonder just how many people this ship was passing. How many lives were amongst those streaks of light? Not just the physical aspect of living, but people's homes, families, aspirations, fears, ideas and dreams. How many of them was she passing at incredible speed without a second thought, completely invisible to them. But the thought that troubled her most was not that, it was how many of those lives would soon be extinguished from the ongoing war. How many would soon be engulfed in nothing but eternal darkness, sorrow, pain, suffering and the end.
She shuddered even thinking about it. There were trillions, perhaps even more people within the Federation and its neighbours. Each person, no matter their race or whom they belonged to was an individual, and yet, each one of them was now at the mercy of the Iconians. She let out a sigh as she slumped in her chair. Luckily she was alone in the lounge, and her cocoa had gone cold a long time ago. She rested her head down on the table and continued to stare out of the windows. Truthfully, she felt selfish. All she wanted was to be back with Ikuto and her son Tadase. But she had to be out here, her morals told her that her expertise was needed. She was a doctor, and she could save lives out here on the Fleming. Even if that meant sacrificing her own.
"Fancy running into you here," came a familiar voice from just behind her.
Amu didn't even have to look up to know who it was. "Oh hey Reo," she said simply letting out a long sigh of exasperation.
"Something on your mind, Doc?" The younger Hamada remarked as he took a sip of his own, likewise-unremarkable hot cocoa.
Amu let out another sigh and then lifted her head up off the table. "I'll be honest with you, yes. There's a lot on my mind," she explained softly. She began to run her finger around the rim of her cup again. She had been there when his brother was killed when the Kanna had been destroyed by the Heralds. Her eyes softened as she looked at him, he was still full of youth. Although he wasn't many years younger than her, she could still see the fresh optimism and enthusiasm in his every day actions. "I never got to say this, but I am sorry about your brother."
There was a a slight pause.
"...If I'm being honest, I'm not really sure there's anything you could've done all that differently," Reo lamented. "I mean, don’t get me wrong, I miss Shigeru- my coworkers will be the first to attest, I went two whole days without eating when I found out he had died- but all things considered, how do even anticipate something like that? And even if you do, what are you supposed to do about it?"
Amu looked down at her cocoa. Her eyes glistened with sadness. "We can't anticipate anything when it comes to war." A few brief seconds of silence fell upon the room. "It makes me wonder. How many people will we lose to the Heralds? They seem adamant on simply exterminating us. Like we're some sort of plague thats spread across the galaxy." She let out another sigh. "Its bad enough that they're taking out ships left, right and centre. However, they're wiping out entire civilian populations as well." She continued to run her finger around the rim of her mug. "Am I a bad person to want to simply go home? Be with my partner and my baby boy?"
"No, not at all!" Reo replied without a moment's hesitation. "You think you're the first person to have this dilemma? Heck, my mother was in this exact same predicament back when we were fighting the Dominion. And sure, she might've had her regrets about walking away when she was needed the most, but she always used to tell me that when push came to shove, her boys took precedent over any sense of obligation, and as far as she was concerned, she didn't need any reason other than that."
Amu let out another sigh. She turned her gaze back to the windows. "You see all those streaks of light out there. Many of them are inhabited systems. Which means we're flying past millions of people every second," she explained to him. "On each of those planets, there is someone who dreams, someone who cries when they hurt, someone who is missing their parents, someone who is hoping to marry and someone who is looking at the skies and wondering about the galaxy." She paused for a brief moment. "Life is so complex, yet it is so beautiful." she returned to look at Reo. "In the big scale of things, are we actually important? Or are we so small compared to the scale of everything in this universe?"
"Well, look at it this way," Reo explained, moving around to look Amu in the eye. "Are there people who care about you? Parents, your boyfriend, your son, all the people you've helped to save in your time working in the Medical Corps?"
"I guess so," Amu said in response. "I know that Yoshika considers me her friend, and I do feel the same way."
"Then as far as I'm concerned, you're important to someone," Reo stated. "Surely, your son smiles at you when he sees your face or hears your voice?"
Amu just looked at him. "Yeah..."
"That's because he associates what he's seeing and hearing with nourishment and warmth," Reo replied. "He may be too young to realize it yet, but you are important to his very being."
"I did carry him inside me for nine months, so he knows who I am," Amu replied. She took a long deep breath in before exhaling slowly. "It's not that I don't know all this Reo. What I am struggling with is more than that." She looked down at her cocoa. "Our lives seem so small and short compared to the wonders of the universe. If the Iconians do succeed and wipe us all out, then what is left? What do we leave behind?" She paused for a moment as she continued to run a finger around the rim of her cold cocoa. "Sorry, I'm getting far too philosophical for three in the morning."
"You and me both," Reo quipped in an effort to lighten the mood.
"So. I don't suppose you know what we're flying into do you?" Amu asked. Truthfully, she could only imagine the horrors that awaited them. War was more than just violence, it came with loss, sadness and suffering, all of which Amu and other doctors had to find methods to heal. However truthfully Amu knew that some wounds could never heal.
"I've only got the third-hand reports to go off of," Reo sighed as he took another sip of his hot cocoa. "Casualties in the millions, over 85% of local infrastructure completely decimated... at this point, Pythos is practically uninhabitable."
Amu let out another sigh, her head once again coming to rest on the table. The sheer aura of despair emanating from her was enough to dampen any high spirits in the room. "How are we supposed to keep up with this sort of devastation?" She asked outl oud. She tilted her head to look up at Reo. "Is this the beginning of the end? How long can we endure this before morale breaks and people start accepting the inevitable?"
She lifted her head off the table and pushed herself up from her seat. "I guess those are questions for anothet day. Perhaps Counsellor Trellis might take a good stab at them," she said. "I think I'm going to try and get some sleep again." She took another look out of the lounge's windows. "We're all going to need as much sleep as possible. I believe we'll be short of the time once we reach our destination," she added grimly. She picked up the cup and lifted it to her lips, the cocoa was cold. However she gulped it down anyways. "Thanks for the chat Reo."
"Always a pleasure, Doc," Reo smiled.
Posting by:
Lieutenant Amu Hinamori M.D.
Flight Deck Chief Medic
USS Tokyo
Lieutenant Reo Hamada
EMT
USS Fleming
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