The Borg in the Cupbord (for MysticTiger and MMRS)

Joined
Jun 16, 2017
Some might call it a cupboard. Others might call it a curio cabinet. It wasn't that big, really. Perhaps thirty centimeters wide, sixty centimeters high, and just deep enough to accommodate a handful of figurines. The cupboard itself was of more than adequate workmanship. Nothing fancy, mind you. No detail work or scrolling on it. But it had the look of being crafted by someone who, if not artistic, was a more than capable craftsman.

He place it in the shipping box first.

After that, he added a bottle of talcum powder, the sort that could be bought at any small store. He added along five candles, still sealed in the wrappers they were bought in. Each of the candles was of a different color: black, yellow, red, white and green.

Beside the candles, he added a little hand written note that read

罗盘

He then added a miniature set of billows that, unlike the cupboard, had intricate carvings on the handle of little cupids in various poses.

Then he added five action figures, each approximately six inches tall, still in their original package, and all five marked "Mint." All five figures were of characters from different Star Trek genres.

One was of T'Pol, though it was as her character was portrayed in the two part Mirror Mirror episode

Another was of the female android Andrea, from the episode "What are little girls made of?", from the original series

A third was the transporter chief portrayed by a young Teri Hatcher, from the Next Generation Episode "The Outrageous Okana"

A fourth was Seven of Nine, though some might consider both the hairstyle and the uniform of the figure as 'noncanonical,' whatever they might mean

And then there was the fifth figure. Like the other four, it was marked "Mint", but underneath that word was marked "Priceless," with the additional PostItNote attached to the package.

This run was meant to be the character Leeta from the last seasons of DS9. However, during this single run, the customary hair of that character, as well as the distinctive Bajoran nose ridges, were not included in the production of this figure. To the best of my knowledge, this is the only surviving figure from that run.---J

He carefully packed everything in the box, made sure there were enough Styrofoam peanuts to keep everything secure, then added one last note before he sealed the box:

Magic is a tricky thing, and it takes a clever mind to understand it all and unfold it all. And remember, magic is also a delicate thing. If you act less than gently, it will disappear. --- J

And with that last note, he sealed the package and sent it on its way
 
It was Harry's birthday, and he'd been hoping for an XBox, not the kind of random crap that uncle J kept on sending. Last year it'd been a board-game of some kind. He'd dumped that into a cupboard and instead gone to play a video game.

Why'd uncle J sent ... a cupboard. And some lame toys. The candles looked interesting though, so he bundled it all up back into the box and took it back to his room. The shipping box was annoying - and he knew his parents would yell at him for not cleaning up if he didn't - so he dumped that first. Then he came back up to his room to look through everything. Lots of dust and powder. Great. Time to vacuum.

He'd not seen much of this TV show. Why'd J think he liked Star Trek? Or, for that matter, why did he send toys? Especially lame ones like this. He examined each in turn - noting the wrapping, the makeup, everything. Still no clue. And then the note again. Magic? Pfeh. Magic is the imagination or something like that.

Well. Five figures and five candles. He had no idea which way they went. He held them up against each of the toys for a moment, trying to work out if there was some pattern or puzzle. J liked to be cryptic. More fiddling. And then it was time for something he wanted to watch on TV. And everything was jumbled back into the box, and it ended up on a shelf by his bedside.
 
That night, he couldn't sleep. No matter how he tried, he just couldn't settle. He checked his watch - maybe 2am. Great.

He lay in his bed and stared at the ceiling. And then at the wall. And then at the other wa...

Cabinet. Ah yes, that strange hand-carved thing. He sat up in bed and rummaged around for the light. And it promptly blew. He wasn't going to mess around int he dark looking for a spare. So he reached out carefully for the box. There'd been candles in it.

There. He could feel it through the wrapper. And ... yes, groping with his other hand, he found matches. Darkness flared into light as he struck a match and lit the candle.
 
By chance Harry had grabbed a black candle and...

Nothing happened.

Well, something did happened. The candle gave off enough of a glow to illuminate the immediate vicinity around Harry, but it do so exactly as any other candle would have. No more, no less.
 
Back
Top Bottom