"It's a strange sensation, dying. No matter how many times it happens to you, you never get used to it."

-Ezri Dax, "Afterimage"

"And what about now? Are your eyes open? Do you know what the risks are?"

-Jadzia Dax

Horzan Milad rummaged through the pile of supplies stacked near the bathroom door. After several minutes of searching, he threw his hands up in the air. "Have you seen that packet of power couplings anywhere?"

Yorin Dax pulled himself out from under the malfunctioning shower control panel he'd been repairing. He gave his brother a curious look. "I put them back in that white bag over there. Why do you need them?"

"Two of the couplings in the comm system are close to burning out. I thought I'd try to replace them while I had an engineer handy in case I broke something."

"Don’t expect this engineer to clean up after you," Yorin told him. "I'm fixing your shower because I owe you. Fixing a comm system is going to cost you." He ducked back under the controls. "Now get over here and test these controls."

"Yes, sir, Admiral Dax, sir!"

"Shut up." Yorin hated it when Horzan called him that. Ever since his brother had learned that one of Dax's previous hosts had been an admiral in Starfleet, Yorin hadn't heard an end to it. Before he was joined, Yorin had been very vocal against any military of any sort. He agreed with the idea of some sort of military force in place for defense, but he felt that Starfleet shouldn't be that military force. In his opinion, they had started too many devastating wars in the past that could have been avoided easily. Joining with Dax had done little to change his dislike, although the symbiont's memories had given him a more in-depth look at the good things Starfleet had accomplished. He still thought that Starfleet, and the entire Federation, could benefit from some changes, but he no longer believed that, during those times of war, he could have done it all differently.

Horzan tested the controls and declared that yes, the shower's water did come out hot when he requested hot water, as opposed to the ice-cold temperature it usual produced.

Yorin stood. "Well then, I believe my job is done here." He began to pick up his tools. "Good luck on that comm system, although I'd advise hiring a mechanic to do it for you. And no, I’m not interested."

Horzan just shrugged the rejection away. "Not staying for lunch?" he asked, surprised. "I’m sure Jillian would love to see you."

"Can't. I promised Eraz that I'd check the monitors at the symbiont caves. They've been malfunctioning and they're causing the brine levels in the pools to fluctuate. The symbionts are getting cranky."

Horzan followed him to the door. "Say hello to the parents for me."

"I would, but Dax's parents live several miles into the Caves of Mak'ala. Assuming, of course, that they aren't currently Joined to hosts."

Horzan rolled his eyes. "Whatever. Just get out of here already. Your scruffiness is making everything in the house look dull."

Yorin sighed as the door close behind him. Horzan and Eraz had long since accused Yorin of not having a sense of humor. While it was true that Yorin was serious a most of the time, he could appreciate a good laugh - he just didn't think his brother's jokes were as funny as Horzan thought they were. Frankly, he was of the opinion that Horzan should try to be a bit more serious sometimes. Unfortunately, as a comedy writer, Yorin's brother didn't have much opportunity to do so.

Yorin, Eraz, and Horzan were a study in contrasts. The only similarities the three brothers shared were in their looks. Each brother had blonde hair and green eyes, but that was where the similarities ended. Eraz's eyes were so dark that they were almost black. Yorin's eyes were a medium green, while Horzan's eyes were only a shade darker. Yorin and Horzan were both at average height while Eraz was a giant.

Horzan was the joker - he always had a pun handy for any occasion. Eraz was the spiritual one as well as an excellent tenor. While he grew up, he was considered a ladies man; he'd always serenade the Trill women with his voice, which worked more often than his brothers' attempts. Since becoming a Guardian, he hadn't given up those habits - for the most part, anyway. As for his singing, he had to restrict himself to humming or singing a random song while performing his duties in the Symbiont caves.

Yorin was the handyman. He'd always loved to fix things. He had studied to be an engineer before he underwent training at the Symbiosis Commission and was Joined with Dax. Only a couple of months had passed since Yorin had left the Initiate program. Ever since then, he'd gotten freelance work at the Caves of Mak'ala and more work from associates at the Commission. He was still looking for a more permanent job.

Yorin walked to the nearest transporter pad. Once there, he paid for a transport to the Guardian housing outside of the symbiont pools.

When he materialized, he was standing on a transporter pad set up in a small room. Sunlight poured in from a window. Glancing out, he saw the large vegetable and flower garden the Guardians grew on their property. The buildings sat at the top of a hill, near the entrance to the first Cave of Mak'ala of many that housed liquid-filled pools where the symbionts lived. The garden sloped down the hill. In the distance, Yorin could see a stream next to a forest, with mountains looming up behind them. Somewhere among those mountains was the city where Horzan Milad and Jillian Rard lived.

"Yorin!" Dax turned to see his younger brother Eraz enter the room, smiling. He wore the typical red robe with the sleeves that faded into black that Guardians wore. The robe contrasted greatly with his blonde hair and brought out his blackish-green eyes.

Yorin smiled back. "Hello, Eraz. It's good to see you. You called about a malfunctioning control unit?"

Eraz nodded. "Yes, I did. I also wanted to see you. It's been, what - two whole months since I last saw you during the implantation. So how have you been adjusting to your new host, Dax?"

"Just fine," Dax answered.

Eraz led the way out of the transporter building and across the grounds. They took a shortcut through the Guardians' dormitory to escape the heat. They emerged on the other side of the grounds and started up the path to the symbiont caves. The caves opened up in the rock face ten meters uphill.

All along the dirt path to the cave were galvis fruit bushes, blossoming with purple flowers. The plant was rare on Trill. Something about the symbiont pool's water and the region's climate caused the bushes only to be grown only at this end of the cave system.

Yorin stopped to sniff a bush's flowers. He inhaled the pleasing scent, remembering a time only two months ago when Dax had been living in these very caves. He could remember smelling the bushes' strong scent whenever the Dax symbiont broke the surface of the pools. He was pleased to discover that it was just as refreshing as he remembered.

"The fruit should sprout next season," Eraz told him. "I've discovered that galvis fruit tastes delicious. If you like, I could bring some to your apartment after the harvest."

"I'd love that," Yorin told him.

A smile crossed his lips as he remembered something.

"What?" Eraz asked.

"Remember that time when we were spying on Jazrin Jinan next door?" Yorin was surprised that he even remembered her name. He did remember that she'd worn a unique galvis-scented perfume, which was why he was thinking of her in the first place.

Eraz smirked. "How could I forget? She was a sight to see."

"You were smitten with her."

"I was not!"

Yorin just raised an eyebrow. Eraz gave him a look. "Stop looking at me like that. You aren't the only brother to have un-returned crushes; not anymore."

Yorin made a face. "Having a brother who knows everything about me after I Joined with Dax is not what I thought would happen when you became a Guardian."

Eraz smiled smugly before turning away and continuing up the slope. "We'd better not keep the symbionts waiting any longer…Admiral."

Yorin glared at his back.

They entered the mouth of the cave. The passage immediately veered off to the left. After only a few feet, the cave opened into a large cavern. As the two brothers entered it, Yorin could feel the heat of the late spring day disappear. The temperature was now much cooler, and the air was thick with the smell of mildew. The only source of light, besides the sunlight streaming in from behind them, were torches with independent power packs placed at even intervals along the cavern walls. An open area stretched out before them, abruptly ended at the edge of the symbiont pool. Yorin knew, from memory, that this particular pool was the largest of this group; the others were located even farther back in the rock face. Back there, the temperature was near freezing.

Yorin watched as small tremors on the water's surface telegraphed a symbiont breaking the surface, probably curious to know why Yorin and Eraz were visiting. A blue line of energy flashed across the water's surface from the symbiont to its hidden neighbor, which told Yorin that the two symbionts were communicating telepathically to each other.

Near the entrance were the machines that monitored and helped the Guardians to maintain the symbiont pools. Yorin could see one of the touch screens flicker; clearly, this was the malfunctioning part of the computer.

Yorin set his bag on the ground and knelt down next to the machine. He began to pry open the access panel directly under the malfunctioning screen. "So what exactly is the problem?" he asked.

"The computer's sensors are malfunctioning," Eraz replied. "We're supposed to get all sorts of readings concerning the pools' temperature, brine content, mineral and vitamin content, how many times a minute the symbionts communicate with each other, among others. However, something happened to the computer and now we have no way of knowing what the sensors are reading." He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "Usually we can guess what the symbionts want just by observing their behavior, as I'm sure you know. We can tell that the symbionts are edgy, but we've ever seen them like this before. We've tried everything we can think of to please them, but none of it has done any good. With the help of the computer's sensors, we might have a better idea of what's going on."

Yorin glanced over at the nearest pool and gazed within. He couldn't see the symbionts within all that well from his position. He hoped it wasn't as bad as Eraz claimed it was. He turned back to the circuitry inside the machine. Removing several gadgets from his bag, from power screwdrivers to self-sealing stick'em bolts to transmogrifying phase emitters, he began to work.

Several hours of repair work later and he was done. He set his tools aside and turned around to inform his brother, but he couldn't spot the Guardian anywhere. Yorin glanced at the chronometer on his wrist and was surprised to learn exactly how much time had passed.

He glanced at the sunlight streaming in at the entrance. He was reluctant to go searching for Eraz. Although he knew the caves and pools like the backs of all of Dax's hosts' hands, he didn’t know anything about the grounds of the Guardian dwellings. He'd get lost if he went out there on his own. Yorin stood up and glanced at the repaired monitor. Maybe his brother would come back while Yorin tested the computer's sensors. He could only hope.

He hit the power button and the rest of the touch screen lit up. He powered up the sensors and started performing sensors sweeps. Temperature in pools - average. Brine levels - normal. Number of telepathic energy pulses per second - irregular. Symbiont activity inside pools - irregular.

The last two didn't come as a surprise; Eraz had mentioned that the symbionts were jumpy. As far as he could tell, the sensors were working perfectly. Eraz would have to run a few more detailed scans to know for certain.

Suddenly, the screen went blank. Yorin stared, dismayed. "By the Creator-" he muttered. Before he could really get frustrated, however, flashing text appeared on the screen: Unidentified Substance Detected. Possible Danger to Symbionts.

Yorin stared, confused and alarmed, at the sensor reading. What sort of danger?

Footsteps behind him announced Eraz's return. "How are things going?" the guardian asked.

"What do you make of these readings?"

Yorin moved aside and Eraz stepped up to the controls. His face grew puzzled. "That can't be," he muttered. He initiated more detailed scans, but each one ended with the same conclusion: Unidentified Substance Detected. Possible Danger to Symbionts.

Yorin and Eraz exchanged worried glances. "Something is wrong," Eraz said. "I must tell the other guardians. Perhaps we can discover what this substance is. If we can't, we'll need to call in the scientists at the Symbiosis Commission. Never has the computer come across something it couldn't identify."

Eraz hurried out of the cave entrance, muttering prayers to the Creator. Yorin glanced from him to the symbiont pool. He saw a flash of blue lightning fly across its surface. Those were his friends in there; it was Dax's home. If something happened to it…

Dax turned and ran to catch up with his brother.

It didn't take long to alert the other guardians. They all rushed into the caves. The Guardians at the other parts of the intricate cave system were alerted as well and were advised to check for abnormalities. So far, reports from those guardians indicated that only the southern most pools seemed to be affected.

The Guardians, the only unjoined Trill who knew all there was to know about the Symbionts, didn't know what to make of it. Yorin listened to their comments as they ran more scans through the machines. Others brought handheld instruments along and took samples from the water for further analysis. From what he was hearing, none of it was good.

"I've never seen the symbionts act like this."

"There's something wrong. I hope there is something we can do."

"The water is too off-white. Why didn’t we notice it before?"

Yorin glanced at the water, also. He couldn't detect any change in the water's coloring, but he wasn't as used to the dim lighting as the Guardians.

Eraz was the one who finally admitted defeat. "My friends," he told the others, "there is nothing we can do. We must call the scientists at the Symbiosis Commission."

"I already have," a red-haired woman answered him, "They're sending someone over as we speak."

There were many sighs of relief around the cave. Yorin wasn't as reassured. Dax's experience with the Commission had made him wary of it, almost as wary as he was of the Federation.

He wanted to stay and keep an eye on the Commission's representative, but Eraz prevented that. "You should go," he told Yorin. "Rard and Horzan will be worried; no doubt this has already gotten out on the news. I'll let you know what happens."

Yorin reluctantly agreed. He knew that there was nothing he could there; the cave was crowded enough without him. Eraz was telling him to get out of the way in the nicest way he could think of.

So Yorin packed up his tools and headed for the transporter. On the slope leading down from the cave mouth, he had to stand aside to allow the team of Commission representatives, both dressed in the Commission robes of the trainers, and their Guardian escort to hurry past. Yorin watched them disappear into the cave mouth and fought the desire to follow them. He'd get in touch with Eraz very soon.