Once again, Kirk shared a look with Spock, the two of them seeming to communicate without words for a beat before Kirk nodded gently to his companion.

"Planet Vulcan was destroyed, as of Stardate 2257," Spock said with Vulcan coolness. It was several years removed, though Kirk knew the incident still pained his friend, and the loss of his mother. New Vulcan was thriving, thanks to the leadership of Elder Spock (another great loss in recent years), but it did little to soothe the massive loss to the Vulcan people, and to the Federation as a whole. "Vulcans remain a part of the Federation, but we now reside on New Vulcan - with roughly ten percent of the surviving population."

Kirk let that sit between them all. Planet Vulcan had been destroyed early in the year of 2257. That it was still alive, still well - it could possibly be it simply hadn't happened yet, and Kirk hoped to go it was only an aberration of their own time stream. But he took it as proof enough that his theory was more and more correct. This ship, these people, were from another reality.

"I apologize for breaking it so bluntly," Kirk spoke softly. "But from what we can tell, based on interactions with Spock from another alternate universe, it is the major difference between us and other Federation realities."