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CH. 3 S [Day 01 | 1315] Seeding Unknown Soil

[ PO1st Artimis Saugn | Diplomatic Council Offices | Deck 2 | Vector 1 | USS Theurgy ] @Ellen Fitz
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The choice of who to approach first to move forward with her assignment was not one Artimis took lightly, partially due to her limited information as to who was available given the ships current divided nature. She knew she would need to initiate contact with as much of the senior staff as possible and learn what they knew about her current objective. A quick check of the available logs showed her that the Chief Diplomatic Officer was in the same vector of the massive ship as she was and she decided that she would play her hand there first, see what she could learn.

Of course it was not as simple as walking up and knocking at her door. No, matters such as these it would be best if the target thought they initiated contact rather than the other way around. So it was a matter of setting the scene and playing a role to garner the best possible encounter possible. There were a number of ways to do this and Artimis picked one she felt stood a probably chance of success.

She arrived in the the corridor of the diplomatic offices carrying an armful of PADDS. She had scanned a number of low level security reports and personnel reports, as well as a number of diplomatic reports. It was enough reports to be burdensome and that was, of course, the point.

Near the door to the Chief Diplomatic Officer's Office, she rolled her heal and let her body tumble forward. She let out a cry as she fell, but made no effort to resist injury, and in fact slammed her wrist quite hard.

"Oh dear... Oh dear..." She moaned as she cradled her wrist and looked around the mess of PADDS surrounding her.

Re: CH. 3 S [Day 01 | 1315] Seeding Unknown Soil

Reply #1 –
[ Lt. Enyd Isolde Madsen | Diplomatic Council Offices | Deck 2 | Vector 1 | USS Theurgy ] ATTN: @AbsintheDeux

Enyd’s brows furrowed further as she read through the report she’d been unofficially given by one of her personal contacts on Qo’Nos. Considering the details noted by a man never given to Intelligence work, Enyd was fairly surprised her contact, who WAS in Klingon Intelligence, hadn’t already told her these things. Rik’evet was a Klingon doctor, and Colonel Hauq was an officer in Klingon Intelligence, so why was it Rik’evet was revealing these facts to her and not Hauq?

A noise from the common area of the offices drew Enyd’s attention and looking up, she spotted Crewman 3rd Class Jordan Wilde moving to get another cup of tea. The woman was probably as addicted to tea as Enyd was to coffee.

“Wilde,” Enyd called the aide as she clicked a few buttons, downloading and encrypting the pertinent details of the report onto a separate PADD. When she looked up again, Wilde stood with her steaming cup of tea cradled in both hands on the other side of Enyd’s desk. “Once you finish your tea, please take this to the Intelligence department. Technically, they should be handling what they find there and only call us in if things go wrong.”

Wilde took the PADD with a chuckle, “I don’t understand why they keep sending you intel like this. Don’t they know you ferry it along the channels?”

“I have a friendly face?” Enyd gave an exaggerated smile and batted her eyes at the aide, eliciting another chuckle from the younger woman. “This culture is heavily reliant on loyalty and personal connection. So while they know that’s what I do, they likely believe themselves more protected and listened to at the same time by tugging on a personal string than on an official one.”

Wilde nodded, giving the PADD a subtle wave, before leaving Enyd’s office. Glancing at the chronometer, Enyd’s eyebrows rose. Crewman Lourdes was supposed to be back from his lunch hour by now, relieving Ensign L’Nari for her to take her lunch. Enyd stood, curious if she’d find the man running down the corridor to the office or if she’d need to ping him on the COMM to remind him of the time.

[ Crewman 1st Class Kass Lourdes | Corridor Near Diplomatic Council Offices | D. 2 | V. 1 ]

He was late and had no legitimate excuse to make except that he’d gotten distracted by a shiny object. There’d been a speck of space junk outside the mess hall viewing port, and Kass had spent far too much time idly watching its trajectory and not nearly enough time eating. Once he’d pulled himself from his thoughts, Kass had needed to wolf down his remaining food in three bites, leaving the mess hall still chewing. Undoubtedly, he was going to get indigestion.

Kass was only a few sprints away from his destination when he spied a lithe woman with short purple hair, bent over a ludicrous amount of PADDs. He was already late, and helping her was a more legitimate excuse for delaying further anyway.

“Hey there,” only slightly out of breath, Kass drew to a stop a few steps away from the woman, picking up one of the PADDs that’d scattered further away from her, “let me help.”

Kass managed to grab two PADDs when the door to the council offices swished open, and the CDO stood in the doorway, observing the two of them with an amused smile. Kass opened his mouth to explain, but the CDO shook her head.

“Perfect excuse, Lourdes,” she flashed him a wink, quickly crouching down to assist, “I can take it from here. Please relieve Ensign L’Nari so she can go eat. Her stomach has been growling very loudly.”

Re: CH. 3 S [Day 01 | 1315] Seeding Unknown Soil

Reply #2 –
[ PO1st Artimis Saugn | Diplomatic Council Offices | Deck 2 | Vector 1 | USS Theurgy ] @Ellen Fitz
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Plans are meant to change, Artimis knew that and yet when the man she did not know approached and began helping her, she began do doubt the soundness of her plan. It was not so much a matter of getting help, after all, she had orchestrated the scene in an attempt to get the attention of someone more important, at least someone more vital to her assignment.

But luck appeared to be on her side when the door opened and the Chief Diplomatic Officer appeared. She restrained a smile and continued to pick up the assorted PADDS. The information on the PADDs was of course vital in some way to ship function, but not to her purposes, in truth if she walked away from them at that moment it would have changed very little, but she needed the PADDs to gain access to the contacts she knew she may need. One of the things about any good espionage was gaining access through unconventional means, problems had to be attacked sideways and never head on. And so she would play her part and ensure no one was aware of her true intentions.

"Thank you so much for both of you guy's help," Artimis intoned with a heavy sigh. "I don't know what I was thinking carrying so many PADDs, just so much information that you gotta deal with." She looked up and smiled sweetly. She did her best to stack the PADDs in an orderly fashion, but her small tower quickly fell over before she ever had a chance to pick it up. "Oh bother..."

Re: CH. 3 S [Day 01 | 1315] Seeding Unknown Soil

Reply #3 –
[ Lt. Enyd Isolde Madsen | Diplomatic Council Offices | Deck 2 | Vector 1 | USS Theurgy ] @AbsintheDeux

Feeling a presence just over her shoulder, Enyd made eye contact with the Caitian aide.

“Please take your full hour, Ensign,” Enyd instructed, speaking upward to the Caitian as she maneuvered around the pair of women seeking to catch all the wayward PADDs. “If anything comes up, Lourdes will contact you on your COMM badge.”

L’Nari gave a curt nod before turning away, disappearing down the corridor with no word in response. Enyd inwardly sighed, though she offered the purple-haired woman a smile of shared amusement when the new stack of PADDs fell over again. Now that their coming mission was solely ship-bound, or at least appeared so, the Caitian had appeared mostly mollified in her interactions with Enyd. There were still times when her fur would stand on end in response to something Enyd said, another disagreement on views or something. Still, Enyd was thankful the aide had taken to biting her tongue, in the proverbial sense, and getting the work done without so much attitude tossed around.

“Not to worry,” Enyd glanced at the woman’s collar, “Petty Officer. Wilde?” Enyd called over her shoulder, waiting until her other aide stepped into view sans tea cup. “Would you mind helping with these?”

Wilde quickly ducked down, taking over Enyd’s position to help. “You’re the new member of Intelligence aren’t you?” The aide questioned as she worked, adding a disarming smile. “We discuss all the newly revived crew members or transfers when they occur in our morning meetings.” She glanced up at Enyd. “Never know when you’ll need a hand outside the department.”

“Quite correct,” Enyd nodded to her aide, “This is Crewman Wilde. The woman who just left was Ensign L’Nari, and the man who helped you earlier was Crewman Lourdes. Lieutenant Foval is one of our diplomats currently away on a mission, and our other primary diplomat, Lieutenant zh’Eziarath, is also away on a mission.” Enyd grabbed Wilde’s elbow to help her up since her arms were full of PADDs. “I’m Lieutenant Madsen.” Looking again at the sheer number of PADDs the woman had, she added, “Crewman Wilde is heading towards the Intelligence department if you’d like some help carrying these.”

Re: CH. 3 S [Day 01 | 1315] Seeding Unknown Soil

Reply #4 –
[ PO1st Artimis Saugn | Diplomatic Council Offices | Deck 2 | Vector 1 | USS Theurgy ] @Ellen Fitz
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"Ah... Well, I'm Artimis Saugn, though a lot of people just call me Artie," Artimis said in a chipper tone as she carefully got to her feet, her arms loaded down with PADDs once more. "I just came aboard not to long ago. I've been going over so very many reports. It's amazing what all this ship has been through." She looked around and sighed. "So very much to catch up on!"

Her eyes darted to the one called Crewmen Wilde and he scanned over her quickly, an assessment that took less than a second, but told her enough. It was only the most basic of physical assessments as well as body language, she could tell a lot about a person in only a glance.

She could see no obvious threat in the crewmen and even if there was some hidden threat she estimated her chances of surviving a situation involving this crewmen as decently high. Not that she was going to push anything, no that would not do. She needed to be tactful and take her time. She had a foot in the door in the Diplomacy Department and she intended to keep the door open just in case she needed the contact later. A diplomat's aide could be just as useful as a diplomat should the need arise.

"I'd be grateful for any help I could get," Artimis said with an awkward little smile. Her cheeks blushed a faint bluish color as the thick sap moved to the surface emulating the blush response of a mammal.

Re: CH. 3 S [Day 01 | 1315] Seeding Unknown Soil

Reply #5 –
[ Crewman 3rd Class Jordan Wilde | Corridor outside Diplomatic Council Offices | Deck 2 | Vector 1 | USS Theurgy ] @AbsintheDeux

“Not a problem,” Jordan shifted to pat the back pocket of her uniform pants, “got the PADD here, LT. Anything else you’d like me to do while I’m out?”

Madsen shook her head, “I’ll let you know if we have a pressing need of you pronto; otherwise, please show Petty Officer Saugn around to some of your favorite places and maybe introduce her to some of your friends.” The CDO winked at Artie, “We can all use more connections, so isolated from home.”

The door swished shut, leaving Jordan standing askance to Artie. She gestured toward the corridor with a smile.

“I think we should stop by the Intelligence department first, and then, if you’re free to, I’d like to take you to one of my favorite places on the ship.” Jordan leaned forward to whisper conspiratorily. “Stellar cartography.” Jordan’s body gave a happy wiggle as they walked toward the turbolift. “It's just so magical seeing all the stars, and the interactive features are almost dizzying. They’re so vibrant and realistic. Thea, our ship’s AI, is really quite amazing. And her creators are equally so, perhaps more so in some fashion, since they’d had to put their finite brains together to make her and the other AI’s like her.” Jordan again shifted closer to whisper. “Though, I’m not about to insult Thea any time soon. Not since she could ‘space’ me if she really wanted to.”

[ Turbolift ]

Jordan waited until the lift doors closed before she prodded her new acquaintance, “On your prior assignment, where were some of your favorite places?”

Re: CH. 3 S [Day 01 | 1315] Seeding Unknown Soil

Reply #6 –
[ PO1st Artimis Saugn | Diplomatic Council Offices | Deck 2 | Vector 1 | USS Theurgy ] @Ellen Fitz
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With an armful of carefully balanced PADDs, Artimis followed after the other woman. She listened to her talk about the ship's AI and wondered for a moment how much the AI knew about her assignment and how useful it could be. She knew she could not simply probe the AI's memory without raising a heck of a lot of suspicion about her goals and she knew that would not serve her well.

Once in the turbolift she leaned against the wall and tucked her chin down to hold the stack of PADDs in place more stably.

"This is actually my first assignment," Artimis replied quite honestly. She was pleased she could speak a little more openly about certain things and would delight in the honesty of it. Her mask of naive innocence stood less of a chance of slipping or cracking when she could enjoy herself and be honest. "But before I was assigned here my favorite place was either the Botanical Gardens at the Octavian Headquarters, or maybe the T'Val Hanging Gardens of Vulcan."

"Really anywhere with plants and sunlight is my favorite place," she went on. She smiled brightly and tilted her head as a memory of the last time she walked barefoot on grass passed through her mind. She had spent the last several weeks in space, either training or traveling, and had not stepped foot on a planet, let alone soil and grass, in far too long. She wondered how much longer it would be before she again got to feel grass between her toes.

Re: CH. 3 S [Day 01 | 1315] Seeding Unknown Soil

Reply #7 –
[ Crewman 3rd Class Jordan Wilde | Corridor | Deck 5 | Vector 1 | USS Theurgy ] @AbsintheDeux

The turbolift journey was quick, and soon enough, they were back in a corridor closing in on the Intelligence suite. There was a certain girlish charm about this purple-haired beauty, an inner bubbly energy that seemed to shine out of her eyes and undulate along her vocal cords when she spoke. Jordan idly wondered if Artimis had a preference; if she didn’t, if she was open to casual encounters. Jordan was still trying to figure out the residual issues from her strict childhood, and as part of that process, she had made herself a promise not to get overly involved with anyone on board. At least not until she felt more comfortable in her own headspace. Casual encounters were fine, but anything more committed, and she felt panicked.

“It seems the fates had a sense of humor then,” Jordan commented as she walked alongside her new friend, “we both got assigned a renegade ship up against the galaxy for our first assignment.”

Artimis’ admission of the favorite place had Jordan smiling, somehow unsurprised. “If you like, we can go to the arboretum instead of stellar cartography. There’s a café that overlooks it, which I don’t have time for right now, but I can show you my second favorite place. When you’re in the middle of the jungle of plants we’ve got in there, you almost forget you’re on a starship.”

The Intelligence door opened, and a pair of support agents stepped out, quickly noting the women’s approach. It was Ensigns Bailee Gutierrez and Brad Bennett, two of the more friendly lower “pegged” members of the department, in Jordan’s opinion. She waved them down before they could turn to leave, quickly introducing them to Artimis. Even if it was odd that she, a member of the diplomat corps, was introducing their new teammate, Jordan felt it was more polite to do so than let her swim through introducing herself.

“After dropping off these PADDs,” Jordan nodded toward the pile in Artimis’ arms and the few she’d kept, “I was thinking of showing her the arboretum. If you’re free, want to come?”

Bennett’s lips were already up in a friendly smile of acceptance while Gutierrez frowned.

“I was on my way to meet Hildebrandt in the arboretum café, so I can come with you part of the way but will have to deviate.” The curvy, Latinate woman leaned forward and whispered. “The CO is out right now, so best to drop the PADDs and beat a hasty retreat if you want to see more of the ship before getting into the nitty gritty of duties.”

“I can stick with you all the while since we’ll need to return to the same place anyway.” Bennett drew a hand through his shaggy red hair. “Here, I’ll take those inside and be right back.”

He held his arms out for both Jordan and Artimis to hand over the PADDs, eager to be of service.

Re: CH. 3 S [Day 01 | 1315] Seeding Unknown Soil

Reply #8 –
[ PO1st Artimis Saugn | Diplomatic Council Offices | Deck 2 | Vector 1 | USS Theurgy ] @Ellen Fitz
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Passing off the PADDs, Artimis could not help but let out a sigh of relief, though it did seem like there was getting to be the group bound for the Arboretum was increasing in size. Still, it would be useful to make as many contacts as possible. So she smiled sweetly, "thank you so much. I don't know why we need to deal with so many of these darn things all the time."

With the PADDs at last tended to she turned to Jordan. "I recall reading that the ship has quite a large Arboretum, filled with a number of quite rare plants," she said rubbing her shoulder and sighing. She smiled again and her eyes gleamed with an odd intensity. She delighted in plants and the natural world, it was one of the few things that made her feel real. "Mind you, if I go, there will be one more rare plant in there too." She giggled at her small joke.

A thought struck her and she paused for a moment as if making a decision, then leaned in and said quietly, "as for this being my first assignment, it's not too odd. I was created as an asset specifically for this mission. I am one of the many purpose built members of my race." Though the nature of her assignment was regarded as confidential, her nature as a Teslyliac Duplicate was not considered a secret in anyway, nor her creation by the Octavian Cooperation, though the exact nature of her creation was considered a trade secret.

Re: CH. 3 S [Day 01 | 1315] Seeding Unknown Soil

Reply #9 –
[ Crewman 3rd Class Jordan Wilde | Corridor | Deck 5 | Vector 1 | USS Theurgy ] @AbsintheDeux

As Brad took the PADDs into the Intelligence suite, Jordan stood askance Bailee while Artimis spoke, both women nodded as they listened. At the last of her words, however, Jordan exchanged a look with Bailee before asking, “One more rare plant in the arboretum?”

“Okay,” Brad returned then, hands coming together in a light-hearted clap, “Let’s go!”

“What do you mean you were created as an asset for this mission?” Bailee pressed, picking up where Jordan left off while Brad subtly steered the group back towards the turbolift.

Brad raised his eyebrows at her question, “I seemed to have missed a lot in the brief time I was gone.” Bailee repeated to him word-for-word what Artimis had said, eliciting Brad's curious smile. “We’re all assets here, in a fashion, but I don’t think our parents genetically engineered us to be on this ship at this time.”

“I don’t think that’s what she meant, Brad.” Bailee reached out and flicked the bottom of his earlobe as they made it to the turbolift. “Right, Artimis?”

[ Turbolift ]

“Right, I don’t mean to sound rude with this question,” Jordan said, giving her left shoulder a reassuring self-massage before continuing. “What race are you? There’s something about you that seems special.”

“I bet you say that to all the beautiful ladies,” Brad waggled his eyebrows at Jordan and winked at Artimis. Bailee flicked his ear again. “Ow!”

Re: CH. 3 S [Day 01 | 1315] Seeding Unknown Soil

Reply #10 –
[ PO1st Artimis Saugn | Diplomatic Council Offices | Deck 2 | Vector 1 | USS Theurgy ] @Ellen Fitz
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Walking along with them, she could not help but smile as they spoke. She was not used to people not knowing about her species and her nature, she was still quite new to being around people, in her memories people just seemed to know who and what she was, so there was something novel about their banter.

She debated for a moment about keeping them in the dark and only giving vague answers, but she decided it better to cut to the chase and give a direct answer instead. She would only give so much though, lest to spoil the mystique.

"I am Teslyliac duplicate, I am a perfectly duplicated humanoid, though I am more flora than fauna," she explained with a polite smile. She wasn't certain how much she was allowed to discuss of her nature in the open, so she elected to keep it simple, just the basic facts. She tapped her chin as she spoke and gazed up at the ceiling. "My species develops in a melon-like pod after the Teslyliac plant comes into contact with foreign genetic material. I was created in a special lab specifically as an asset for this mission. I was designed for it." She looked down and to the others, giving them a cheery smile. "I'm purpose built to be here."

Re: CH. 3 S [Day 01 | 1315] Seeding Unknown Soil

Reply #11 –
[ Crewman 3rd Class Jordan Wilde | Turbolift | Deck 20 | Vector 3 | USS Theurgy ] @AbsintheDeux

As Artimis explained her origins, Jordan’s eyes widened, and a mirrored expression of surprise and awe was also featured on Brad and Bailee’s faces as well. Brad was the first to recover, though Jordan wasn’t quite sure his recovery was necessarily appropriate.

“So, if we go into the arboretum, will you like, send down roots or something?”

Bailee rolled her eyes. “Don’t worry, Artimis,” she slugged Brad on her way out the turbolift as the doors swished open. “I’ll slug him for you.” She gave a little wave to the trio still standing in the turbolift. “I’ll see you guys around. And nice to meet you Artimis.”

The doors closed, but not before Brad managed an infantile gesture of playful aggression toward his friend and colleague. Brad raised his eyebrows as he caught Jordan’s gaze, giving her a not-so-subtle nonverbal nudge to say something next. Jordan folded her arms over her chest as she studied the purple-haired woman.

“You’ve heard of the Niga virus, no?” She heard Brad murmur a slew of curses under his breath as he turned away and laid his forehead against the turbolift wall. “Is it possible that you could be ‘hacked’ in a way to spread the virus again? Because you tell me you’re a plant and, no offense intended, but it reminds me of the last plant the, excuse the language, rather fucked us up.”

The turbolift stopped, and Brad exaggerated his announcement of arrival before grabbing Jordan’s elbow and basically tossing her out the door.

[ Arboretum | Deck 21 | Vector 3 ]

Jordan glared at Brad, rubbing the sore spot his grip left behind. After a moment, she looked back to Artimis and sighed. “I really don’t mean to come across as overly judgmental or aggressive but it wasn’t that long ago and this ship was filled with all sort of shenanigans because of that damned virus.”

Re: CH. 3 S [Day 01 | 1315] Seeding Unknown Soil

Reply #12 –
[ PO1st Artimis Saugn | Diplomatic Council Offices | Deck 2 | Vector 1 | USS Theurgy ] @Ellen Fitz
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For a long moment Artimis said nothing, she simply observed the interactions of the others. Then came the question and her eyebrow raised. She was used to being under some degree of suspicion, so this was nothing new, but it did seem odd. Still she maintained a pleasant smile and calm posture.

"No more so than your biology could be hacked to spread an number of harmful viruses, though from my research into the incident, there was no indication the Teslyliac member of the crew at the time suffered any ill effects, though I have yet to see the medical files on the incident," Artimis replied smoothly.

She sighed and looked around the arboretum and smiled at all the green and life that surrounded them, but a shadow seemed to fall over her as she turned her attention back to Jordan. She studied her for a moment, the way a wine connoisseur studied a new wine. She did not allow herself to stare for long, but she did take a moment to look at her before she spoke again.

"I can understand that it was a troubling experience, but," she tilted her head slightly as she continued, "do I strike you as that much of a threat?" She almost seemed to pout as her eyes seemed to grow larger.
 

Re: CH. 3 S [Day 01 | 1315] Seeding Unknown Soil

Reply #13 –
[ Crewman 3rd Class Jordan Wilde | Arboretum| Deck 22 | Vector 3 | USS Theurgy ] @AbsintheDeux

Before Jordan could respond to Artimis’ query, she felt Brad’s firm grip on her elbow. When she looked up in silent question, she followed his gaze through the arboretum to see what had caused the sudden tension in her friend. Figuring it’d be best for Artimis to be made aware of the nature of the enigmatic man in sight, Jordan gestured for the woman to step closer and made a subtle gesture toward the Romulan.

“That’s Drauc T’Laus. He’s…complicated, to say the least. Most of what we know about him is rumor, but stories tell us that he’s telepathic and empathetic to the nth degree. And that his powers were used by the Tal’Shiar to really mess people up.” Jordan gave a breathy sigh while behind her, she heard Brad groan. “He’s got some gnarly scars, but there’s something about him that’s sexy.”

“Need I remind you of the last time you said, ‘there’s something about her, she’s just sexy,’ you nearly ended up gutted by a Nausicaan.” Brad leaned forward to verbally snipe between the women. “My suggestion, Artimis, just do your job and stay clear of the angsty crew members like Drauc. There’s too much drama associated with them to be dealt with in my lifetime, regardless of how long-lived you are.”

Jordan gave another breathy sigh before nodding her agreement. “You’re right. Not that it makes me happy to say so.” Turning back toward the purple-haired beauty, Jordan let out another sigh. “And back to your question, well, looks can be deceiving. Many of the folks onboard lived through not only the Niga virus but also some Ishtar cunt entity that really did a number on folks too, and she looked as ‘good’ as they come. But,” she swatted Brad before he could interrupt her, “I think you should be given the same courtesy as anyone else. You’re innocent until proven guilty and shouldn’t work under a cloud of misplaced scrutiny.”

“Now,” Brad put his hands on both women’s shoulders and gently pushed them towards the interior of the arboretum, “let’s walk around and see pretty things and stop trying to see conspiracies in each other’s eyes.”

“That’s rich coming from a member of Intelligence.” Jordan laughed, but followed his suggestion and walked alongside Artimis further into the greenery kept in the belly of Theurgy.
 
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