Simulatque

B’Zinga groaned as she heard the loud chirping of her alarm clock. She began to regret choosing an 10:00am exam time. It didn’t seem that early when she signed up for the time slot - especially since she had been taken many 8:30am classes many times at the Academy.

In addition, B’Zinga scheduled her exam early because she truly wanted to get over it. She knew she had to take the Kobayashi Maru, and she had heard it was purposely made to be impossible. Being tested to her limits truly scared her. Sure, her family life was not ideal, but it wasn’t as if she had to deal with a real scenario in which her life was actually on the line.

She knew it was just a simulation. But she knew it would feel real. Starfleet Academy had a talent for making realistic simulations.

As she got dressed and prepared herself for the next day, she couldn’t help but look at a picture of her husband, Jocelyn Decatur. To her, Jocelyn was Prince Charming - gentlemanly, attractive, gallant, and seductively romantic. Of course her parents didn’t like the idea of her marrying a young Starfleet officer, but hey, it wasn’t like they approved of her going to school at the first place.

Jocelyn could protect her from many things. But he couldn’t protect him from this exam.

With a sigh, B’Zinga dragged her feet out of the door. She seemed to block out everyone and everything around her except for her thoughts. Questions and anticipations raced through her mind as she managed to make her way, seemingly on autopilot, to the holodeck.

Captain Vincent entered the holodeck at exactly 1000 hours to find his next cadet waiting for her exam to begin. He paused for a moment, briefly shocked to find a Klingon standing in the room, before he walked to the cadet, checked his PADD, then addressed her.

"Cadet B'Zinga Decatur, welcome to the Kobayashi Maru Examination," he said. "As you are aware, this exam will test your behavior in a no-win scenario. You will face death, as all Starfleet officers must during their careers, and you will face the extra challenge of leading others to face death as well. Today, you will be commanding the Defiant-Class starship, USS Maelstrom, while patrolling the Federation-Ferengi border. Do you have any questions before we begin?"

(OOC: I changed my first post to show that B’Zinga was already married to Jocelyn. Originally, she was supposed to just be her fiancee, but of course she wouldn’t have his name if they weren’t married yet.)

“Yes, sir,” replied B’Zinga when Captain Vincent asked if she was ready. As much as B’Zinga wanted to run back into her covers and hide, she knew she wasn’t going anywhere. One way or another, she had to get through this exam if she wanted to graduate from the Academy.

“No, sir,” she replied as firmly as her shaking body would allow her. Even if she did have questions, she was way too nervous right now to come up with any. There was a tinge of nervousness in her voice - the proverbial butterflies in her stomach shortened her breath, and therefore her anxiety came through her words.

She waited patiently for Captain Vincent to begin her examination. Ready or not, here it came.