1.9 - Kobayashi Maru 2: Electric Boogaloo

~~*~~

Bones, Jim, and Cali were hanging out in the former two's dorm room. Bones was sat at the desk doing work while Cali and Jim were laying on Jim's bed, snuggling. They were talking about making plans for the next day when Jim suddenly remembered something.

"I have something tomorrow!" Jim suddenly bursting out making Cali jump slightly at the raised voice in his ear. He noticed his pillow's movement and quickly looked at him apologetically, "Sorry Cal."

Looking down at his partner in amusement, Cali shook his head, "It's fine love, what do you have tomorrow?"

Deciding to sit up, he moved himself slightly, allowing Cali to get the hint and move his arm so that he could do so, following suit after as Bones looked at the two in amusement. "I'm doing the Kobayashi Maru test." He explained after both having settled back down.

Bones' brows immediately furrowed, "You've already done the test." He commented in confusion making Cali mirror his expression as he looked back at his partner. "Why are you going back for seconds?"

"I wanna beat it." Jim said simply, looking to Bones as if it was obvious.

Looking at his partner for a moment, Cali spoke carefully, "Love, the test is unbeatable, you can't." For a moment, Jim frowned as he looked over at his boyfriend next to him. He couldn't stop the slight disappointment that rose in his stomach at the fact that Cali didn't believe in him but he shook it off as Cali spotted his expression and continued, "It's programmed that way. It's meant to test how you do under no-win scenarios. You don't beat it by saving the day, you just complete it keeping your cool and commanding despite your fear."

Before Jim could defend himself, Bones spoke up. "You seem to know quite a bit about it, Cali."

Looking over, he smiled. "Yeah, I wanna be primarily stationed on the bridge of a starship. You never know who the captain is gonna leave on Con when they aren't there so I figured it would be best if I take it just in case I ever get put in that situation." He explained casually. Though it had been before he met Jim, it hadn't been that long ago since Cali had taken the test and he could remember it quite well. "A lot of people take it even though they don't want to command."

"How'd you do?" Jim asked expectantly.

"Well, I didn't manage to save anyone, but I was told after that I performed very respectfully." Cali had been told so by Commander Spock, the programmer of the test. The Commander had gone on to say that he had confidence Cali would perform well as a commanding officer if ever put in that position. This was what had caused Spock to pay more attention to Cali in his lessons and their professional respect to form. "I got a good score. How did you do the first time around?"

Before Jim could, Bones answered with an amused tone, "He failed, got too frustrated and focused on beating it rather than keeping his cool."

"Thank you Bones!" Jim shouted back, giving Bones an unimpressed look while both he and Cali had amused looks, though Cali's was a lot more respectful.

"It's okay love, maybe this time you'll focus more and do better." Cali smiled politely.

Jim looked at Cali for a moment, "How'd you do it?"

"What do you mean love?"

"How'd you pass?"

Cali looked down for a moment before sighing. "Cause of my training on Donum, looking after the children, I was able to control my fear and keep a clear head to make quick and direct decisions. I didn't act like it was a test to beat, I acted like it was a real-life situation that I had to get as many of my crew and that of the Kobayashi Maru out of safely. That's the point." He replied strongly, trying to get the point across to Jim in hopes he would actually listen, though he knew his stubborn partner wouldn't.

Jim nodded slowly, looking at the wall for a moment, thinking. He looked over to Cali again, who was watching his partner carefully for his thoughts, "You'll be there, right?"

Smiling, Cali nodded, "Course love, I'll be there when you go in and be there when you get out, no matter the result."

That made Jim feel better, knowing his boyfriend was gonna watch him. He really didn't like the idea of the test being unbeatable. He didn't believe in no-win scenarios even if everyone else did. It had to be beatable. He was gonna prove it.

~~*~~

So here they were, standing outside of the Kobayashi Maru test room together, Cali and Jim. It was five minutes until the test begun, the room being set up while the others got into their positions. Cali placed a gentle hand onto Jim's shoulder, hoping to comfort him before he entered. "You got this love, just remember what I said yesterday, please?" he asked with a worried smile making Jim's heart clench.

"Yeah, I will." He nodded, looking back to the door to the room.

Nodding gently in thanks, Cali spotted as Commander Spock entered the observation deck. Deciding it best that he go that way too, he gave Jim a quick but meaningful kiss on the cheek and wished him luck before heading in as well.

As he entered the room, Cali noticed Spock and two of the four invigilators standing against the two large windows that looked over the testing room, while the others manned different screens to monitor the actual program. The commander was standing straight with his hands held respectfully behind his back as was normal for the Vulcan. "Commander Spock." Cali greeted as he walked over, giving a nod to the invigilators who he didn't know the name of as some of them turned their heads to see the new observer.

While three of the unknown invigorators gave a respectful nod in greeting and turned their heads back to the window, Spock kept his eyes on Cali for a moment, looking him over. While it wasn't unheard of for other cadets to be present in the observation room, nor was it banned, it didn't happen very often as usually friends of the taker opted to volunteer to take part as the fake crew to help their friends. "Cadet Caliaire." He acknowledged after a moment, his tone curious, "Are you familiar with the person taking the test?"

"Yes sir," Cali nodded, "he's my partner."

For some reason, Spock felt emotive over the response. He squashed it quickly. "I see," he acknowledged as Cali came and stood next to him, a respectful distance away, facing the window, "he is aware that there is no need for him to take the test for a second time?"

"He is, sir."

"Then, may I ask, why he is taking the test for a second time?" he looked down at the slightly shorter man with his pointed eyebrows furrowed slightly.

"He wants to beat it, sir." Cali stated matter-of-factly, though a sense that he didn't fully approve of the sentiment hidden behind his respectful tone.

"The test is unbeatable; does he not understand the point of the test?"

"I don't know commander." Cali admitted truthfully. Though he hoped that Jim did, he feared that his partner was too stubborn accept it, "I know that he is aware of it being unbeatable, but I also know that he does not believe it. He doesn't agree in the idea of no-win scenarios and he wants to prove it, sir."

"You would think that he would especially understand that no-win scenarios exist." Spock commented, looking back to the screen to see Jim enter, his eyes following the cadet as he confidently took the captain's seat.

Cali smiled at Jim's entrance but couldn't help but frown as he looked over at Spock, confused as to what he meant. "Sir?"

"You are aware of his father?" Spock asked, looking back at the cadet next to him.

"Yes sir," Cali answered, his frown going from one of confusion to a disapproving one, "I wouldn't tell him that though sir, it's a sensitive topic and the insinuation is rather rude sir." Though his words stayed professional, the Vulcan could hear the scolding in his tone, as if the man was trying to subtly tell off a child for saying something they were not meant to.

Nodding, he turned from the cadet to look at the testing room as it began, "I see, thank you Cadet."

"No worries Commander." Cali answered with a slight nod in approval, turning his head so he too was watching Jim complete the test.

As the test started, Jim took control of the situation quickly, shouting out orders to the people playing the crew. He managed too keep his cool for most of it but, as the test progressed, his frustration quickly began to show, and Cali became worried. He had taken the strategy of getting attention off of the stranded ship and onto his own by constantly shooting and getting in the way of the Klingon Birds of Prey despite the fact that the enemy ships shields were practically unaffected while his were starting to fail. Focusing so much on attacking the Klingons, it was no surprise when the ship Jim was captaining started sustaining damage.

Out of the corner of his eye, Spock could see Cali getting more and more worried for his partner. He thought about commenting on it but was interrupted when shouts started from the fake crew about the ship's hull integrity. The ship was near destroyed but Jim was still trying to beat the test instead of running away, saving those he could and accepting the destruction of the marooned ship. It was very little time before the ship exploded and the test ended. Everyone was looking around in disappointment, but Jim was sat in his chair still facing the viewscreen in frustration.

Cali could see Jim's anger rising and quickly started moving towards the door just as Jim stood up wordlessly from the seat and began storming out of the room.

"See you in lesson Commander." Cali hastily said as he disappeared out the door, not giving the watching Vulcan a chance to reciprocate the farewell. "Jim!" He called once he spotted the man storming off and quickly jogged to keep up with his fast pace. Once they were walking side by side, Cali could see the fuming expression on Jim's face and carefully asked if he was alright.

"I'm fine. No! I'm not fine. I'm cheated. That test is a fucking cheat!" Jim raged as he sped up, trying to blow off his anger with his quickened pace so he didn't turn it on his boyfriend.

Cali sped up to stay with him, trying to calm him down, not wanting Jim to be angry and alone. "It's okay love. It's just a test. I'm sure you'd do better if you actually were put in that situation. Some people just perform better in the real thing than in simulations." Cali said in a soft voice, hoping a calming presence would help Jim, but his words just made him worse.

"Yeah, but I likely won't get a chance cause commanding officers actually take that fraud into account. The system is being ridiculous if they actually think that a test programmed to make the participant fail is valid." Jim continued, his tone still as angry as his face.

Deciding against reminding the man how the test wasn't meant to be beaten and was, in fact, only there to test how you dealt under pressure, which Jim hadn't done very well on since he'd not gone at it from that perspective, Cali stayed quiet and slowed slightly so that Jim could keep blowing off steam by himself while he followed behind to be there when he was actually wanted.

They continued on like this for a few minutes, Jim just storming all over campus with no particular destination in mind while Cali trailed behind patiently. Unfortunately, no matter how much he thought on it, Jim wasn't getting calmer. In fact, he was likely getting more frustrated. He had been beaten very badly and he did not like to be beaten. But Cali hadn't. How had he, a man who didn't even want to be a captain and had basically just taken the test for fun, beat it when he couldn't.

As suddenly as he had started, Jim stopped in place, throwing off Cali who barely stopped before walking right passed him. He quickly turned around to face his following boyfriend who looked at him calmly. "Why are you following me?" he asked suddenly with an annoyed and malicious tone. The voice threw Cali off and he didn't answer, causing Jim to get more frustrated. "Just fuck off. Don't you have a class to get to or something?"

Cali's eyes widened for a moment, completely at a loss as to what to do. He didn't want to leave Jim, but it was extremely obvious his presence wasn't helping like he had hoped and may, in fact, have been making it worse. Jim could have sworn for a moment he saw Cali's eyes water before the blue eyes blinked and it was gone like it hadn't happened. Taking a deep breath, Cali smiled, trying to flash Jim his usual warm one that he had admitted to loving, but it came across slightly unwanted on his face. "Yeah, okay. I'm gonna go, but I'll be back when you've calmed down." With final look at his partner, Cali walked off in the direction they had come from.

Jim watched him go, a bubble of remorse trying to break through his frustration before it was burst by his spiked anger. He turned around on the spot and started his march again.

~~*~~

This was originally a much longer chapter but then I realised it was far too long and split it in half to make this one and the next one. So, I apologise for accidentally leaving it on their argument.