Professor: Adventures
The Exodus of alfI
I walk the streets of a place called Ithaca that is far away from the diner. I pass a young woman wearing a coat and no shoes. I pass a young woman who looks at me with disdain. Perhaps to her I appear quite different. That’s when I feel it: the darkness of alfI. I turn around and see the darkness emanating from the last young woman. She is alfI. I see that alfI is trickier than I’d first thought and is able to take any form or none at all. I also see that it takes only a thought to dismantle the illusion that is AlfI in form or formless. I think of ChrX and feel the light that is the light of all—including alfI. Suddenly, and without commotion, alfI disappears. The young woman has turned away. I also turn away and finish my walk down the street on this day called Christmas.
Star Trek: Variations of Family
Star Trek: Discovery continues to build on themes of Other, Self, home, connection, individuality, community, and dedication to Federation ideology. Star Trek: Discovery, Season 3, Episode 8 further explores family. Book’s family includes the cat Grudge and his non-biological brother Kyheem. Book identifies his home as the planet Kwejian even as Commander Burnham also feels like home to him and he to her. Book’s ideological home is the Federation, and he intends to join the Discovery crew. Meanwhile, Kyheem does all he can to protect the crops on Kwejian to prevent starvation not only for his son but also for all of the people on the planet. Osyraa, on the other hand, killed her brother and later kills his son for being ineffective. It is Osyraa who loses the skirmish with Discovery as Captain Saru finds a way to combat her without violating Federation policy, and it is Discovery that enables Kyheem to save the crops without remaining indebted to Osyraa.
Back on Discovery, Adira embraces the pronoun “they” rather than “she”. Lt. Commander Stamets receives this information as if he were a proud father, and his partner Dr. Culber fusses over them, who “technically” is a child and needs sleep at their age. Adira, Lt. Commander Staments, and Dr. Culber seem to compose a loving and warm family unit.
Clearly, IDIC includes the composition of family and family dynamics with an emphasis on the functional within the Federation. The love and support provided by family helps to create a fluid whole, enabling successful missions that enact Federation ethics.
Indigo Fall 