Ciel

Early Life

Ciel (pronounced Shee-el) was born on July 1st, 2434 (translated into earth time) to Cirel (pronounced “Sheer-el”) and Meridis in the Telma region of Atoll, the Klimasz home world. He was an only child at the time, and Cirel and Meridis’ firstborn. They lived near Chrysicnia, one of the largest cities on Atoll. Ciel could see the city lights from his bedroom window on nights when the fog cleared up.

Meridis worked at the hospital in the nearby suburb of Chrysicnia. She was a pediatrician who worked with children who were in residency at the hospital. This often meant very long, erratic shifts. When Ciel was born, she took a few years off from work to raise him. She went back to work when he was old enough to attend school. As a result, Ciel did not have a particularly close relationship with his mother growing up, though he loved her dearly. Cirel was a microbiologist. He consulted with a small Federation research team studying the unique evolution of fungi on Aoll. Ciel was exposed to his father’s work from a young age. Cirel kept some of his own research in a modified shed at the bottom of the yard. He often allowed Ciel to watch as he performed experiments, and he would let Ciel help him clean and care for his specimens. He also usually let Ciel tag along on wild specimen  collection trips.

Because he was a consultant in their studies, Cirel and his family were invited to attend the biology symposiums organized by the Federation. Cirel took Ciel three times, once when he was 17 years old, once when he was 20, and the third time when Ciel was 31. Although much of the research presented at the events went over his head when he was younger, Ciel enjoyed the symposiums nonetheless.

Ciel’s childhood home was built right at the edge of a small swamp. This was because Cirel had originally been doing his research on the Amanite fungi which grew there in abundance. It proved a wonderful place for a then young Ciel play. He had the entire swamp memorized by the time he was fifteen. Naturally, as a curious child, he often brought home the things he found in the swamp. He collected slime molds, pondscum and anything else that his parents would let him, in jars. He cared for them as if they were pets, and was particularly attached to the glassplant he had discovered while climbing a tree. The carnivorous fungus had been growing on a dead branch that Ciel broke off and carried home. He was terribly upset when the fungus died a few years later from an unknown cause. Ciel kept field journals about the things he couldn’t bring home, like the enormous sponge trees that surrounded the swamp on all sides, and poisonous Amanite fungi he had once tried to pick. He had, after suffering a burning, itching rash that lasted for weeks, learned to avoid those particular fungi.

Despite being smart, Ciel’s grades were very average throughout childhood. He was simply uninterested in the things which were taught in school. He only did the bare minimum necessary work to pass his classes, and spent as much time as his parents would allow sitting in his father’s backyard  lab, reading, and playing outside. This did worry his parents. They did their best to encourage him to take interest in his studies by signing him up for academic clubs like the math and science olympiads and the debate club. Ciel did not do well, and dropped out of each after a month or so. He did, however, decide to join a book club in high school. He enjoyed that very much, and carried his love for reading over into his adult life.

At the beginning of high school, Ciel realized that if he wanted to attend a university and truly follow his father’s path, he would need better grades. So he focused on his schoolwork, and his grades improved a great deal. He was in the upper percentage in his class for most of high school. Things began to quickly change for Ciel during this time. He was able to intern at the Federation lab where his father worked. This experience was what solidified his goal of becoming a microbiologist. He became good friends with Ensign T’sath, the vulcan botanist who he worked for. She recognized something in Ciel that he didn’t quite understand about himself: he wanted to explore. He had a great passion for microbiology, but he also had a thirst for understanding about the world in general. T’sath encouraged Ciel to attend Starfleet academy, as she knew they wanted people with that want to explore. Ciel soon realized what she had recognized in him. After speaking with her and with his parents at length about it, Ciel decided that he did want to join the Starfleet. T’saith advised him to study medicine. She knew that Ciel would not have many opportunities for real exploration if he graduated with a degree in microbiology. Exploratory vessels rarely needed more than one microbiologist on their staff. However, going into medicine at Starfleet Academy was extremely difficult. It was an accelerated four-year program that aimed to turn out only the very best. Ciel decided to take a number of the courses taught at the Academy preliminarily at the community college in Chrysicnia. This way he would not be going into the program blindly, and he would be far better prepared for the challenge. He learned to speak, read and write common fluently during this time. He also attempted to learn english. He thought it would be a good idea, since he would be living in an english-speaking region. He never quite became fluent, and can really only speak broken english without proper syntax.

While attending college, Ciel continued to intern at the Federation lab. He felt that he was prepared to apply to Starfleet Academy when he was 38 earth years old. He asked the head of the research team, Dr. Semmelweis, to sponsor his application, was accepted. Then he packed his things, said his goodbyes, and moved to San Francisco, Earth.

Academy Years

Ciel studied medicine at Academy and specialized in parasites and infectious diseases. This married his love of microbiology and his career path, and because of his previous experience in the courses, he had very good grades throughout his Academy years. Ciel also studied microbiology, both as an elective, and for his degree. He enjoyed his labs the most out of all his classes, and volunteered as a TA so that he could spend more time doing lab work.

Living on earth was very difficult for Ciel at first. He missed his parents terribly, and that never went away. His younger sister Fengia was born during his junior year. He has never met her in person because the journey out to Atoll is a month and a half long one way. He has gotten to know her through video transmissions, and loves her very dearly. He looks forward to the day he has stored up enough leave time to visit home. But it wasn’t just homesickness that plagues Ciel while he lived on earth. The difference in environment was a serious shock to his system. He spent a good deal of his first semester feeling under the weather for one reason or another. He also had to be very careful about how much time he spent outside in sunlight. Atoll is a moon, and has erratically long nights and short days, and their thick atmosphere blocks out a lot of their sun’s radiation. Ciel’s skin was not prepared in any way to handle the amount of radiation earth’s sun produces. He often got very badly sunburned. Luckily, sunblock was readily available. He had to wear copious amounts all over his body, and he had to reapply by the hour. Even still, his skin changed from a milky white color to a pinkish tint from all the damage it was taking until he figured out how to deal with it. The cuisine was another thing that took some getting used to. Klimasz are an insectivorous race with long, ballistic tongues for catching live insects. While there were plenty of insects for him to catch, Ciel found that people looked down upon him for eating the butterflies off the flowers on his way to class. There were several insect proteins which he could get from replicators, but they weren’t quite to his taste. He explored many other options before finding that he rather liked Klingon food. He only rarely used his ballistic tongue while at Academy, so it has become somewhat atrophic.

It was only by chance that Ciel met Asil at the Academy drama club’s presentation of King Lear. Asil was a Vulcan who was studying Anthropology and Philosophy, and they soon became good friends. Both cadets joined the drama club, and there met Rachel Kottler and Claire and Justin Wilmes. Justin was a senior, and he graduated that year. His sister was sophomore, so they kept in touch through her. Rachel was a freshman like Ciel and Asil, but she dropped out after her second year. That first year they became fast friends. The drama club performed every semester, and Ciel had a role in almost every one. He was a very good actor, and often played villains and creepy characters because of his tall stature and pale complexion. His very favourite role he ever performed was the ghost of Hamlet’s murdered father, though he also enjoyed playing Edward Hyde and Merlin.

Asil, Rachel, Clair, Justin and Ciel spent most of their free time together, going out for drinks, playing games, hiking, and just hanging out in general. They often went with Asil to “the Philosopher’s Cup”, seminar nights on lighthearted subjects which could last well into the AM if everyone was drunk enough by the end of it. Ciel was usually the designated driver, as he did not care for the alcohol served at the venue. Rachel’s parents ran a small dance hall called in the bay area of San Francisco. They taught lessons and held weekly dances, and the group went down every weekend they could spare. Ciel learned several styles of dance there, including square, waltz, sals, and his favourite, swing. Even after Rachel dropped out, she continued to invite them to come. However, in their junior year, Asil and Ciel fought over the ethics of studying the Borg. The argument was very one sided, with Ciel being absolutely inflexible in his opposition. The group drifted apart after that. Though Ciel continues to keep in touch with Claire and Justin, he is too ashamed to face Asil. he wants very much to apologize to his former friend, but he is too afraid to do so.

Starfleet Career

When Ciel graduated, he requested a position aboard the USS Cygnus. This was a deviation from his original goal of getting a post aboard an exploratory vessel. The Cygnus is a science vessel. Ciel has lost a great deal of his confidence due to the spat with Asil, and he made the request out of instinct. The Cygnus is surveying the Quraille Nebula and has discovered an extremely rare, ferrophagic bacteria. Ciel was instead assigned to the USS Phoenix. He is nervous about the assignment, but is determined to do well anyway, even if he is disappointed about not getting his requested assignment.

Personal Interests

Growing up, Ciel’s main role model was his father, who was a microbiologist. Ciel took great interest in his father’s work, and his parents encouraged it. Microbiology has been a passion of Ciel’s since he was very young. He has collected a small library of specimens of bacteria. They are mainly for his own curiosity, and he does not perform experiments on them. He regards them almost like pets.

At the academy, Ciel participated in the drama club during all four years. This is where he made his closest friends and he dedicated a good deal of his leisure time to it. He had a casted role in five of the eight plays presented by the club during his four years. These plays were Hamlet, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, The Man Who Would Be King, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and The Caucasian Chalk Circle. He was given mainly villainous and ghostly roles due to his tall stature and pale appearance. He played King Hamlet, Merlin, Oberon, and Georgi Abashwili, but the role he is most proud of was Edward Hyde. It was a challenge for him. Hyde is a homicidal, purely evil madman, and that is difficult to act out convincingly. He was, however, disturbed by the character, and hopes he is never cast in a similar role. His favourite role was the murdered King Hamlet, due to its simplicity and creepy nature. He found the role very fun.

When Ciel realized how much he enjoyed theatre, he began to read plays recreationally. He fell in even deeper love with the medium, and began collecting hard copies of his favourite manuscripts. He owns twenty books in all from many places around Earth. He hopes to continue collecting the books, though he suspects they will be difficult to find on a starship.

Rachel Kottler, one of the friends he met in the drama club, is proficient in several styles of dance, including ballet and swing. This is partially due to the fact that her parents have owned and run a dance hall since she was about six or seven years old. Her parents welcomed her academy friends to the dances at their hall for free. Ciel learned swing, square, and ballroom dance from her and her parents, as he and his friends attended the dances nearly weekly. He enjoys dance greatly, and practices three days a week using the holodeck.

Personality

Ciel is very intelligent. He enjoys people watching, and can often be found in the background of a public room. In a conversation, he is demure. He asks questions and generally keeps his thoughts to himself unless he has something important to say. He hasn’t always been this way, however. He used to state his opinions very openly, often without thinking. This led to some unfortunate arguments, and he has since learned to be more reserved.

The art of theatre, specifically musical performances, fascinate Ciel. Klimasz culture has something very similar that they call a ballet. Ciel is an alright actor, and prefers background roles, but he is an excellent singer. This means that he was often cast in the chorus of the musicals the Academy drama club performed. He thoroughly enjoyed drama club, and is sad to have to leave it. Though he has heard that some ships have a sort of community theatre put together by the crew.

Ciel was a very open person when he was younger. He had no problem talking to people and expressing himself. He did, however, always have trouble taking criticism well. This overly-sensitive nature has made him somewhat cautious of people after a fight with someone he was very close to. He now struggles to step outside his comfort zone and grow close with anyone new. This guarded attitude has made him very lonely since the fight with his friend.