Star Trek: Theurgy

Day 02 [1700 hrs.] New Life

[Selena Ravenholm | Holographic Laboratory | Main Engineering (Upper Level) | Deck 24 | Vector 3 | USS Theurgy] attn: @Auctor Lucan @Triage

Toting a decent sized container in her arms, Selena slipped through the upper portions of Main Engineering as quietly as possible.  Granted, it’s not like there way any way she could sneak up on Thea or surprise the AI, but at the very least it kept her from getting waylaid by some curious engineer.  Ducking into the corridor leading to the lab was easy enough, and it was deserted as usual.

Setting the container down on a mobile cart, Selena then activated one of the large central consoles.  A quick query brought up the document she needed, and with that she was essentially ready.  “Thea, it’s just about time.  Feel like getting your hands dirty?”

She couldn’t help but smile when Thea materialized in the room, the look on the hologram’s face said it all.  “Sorry it took this long to get everything together, I’ve been trying to get through the station’s logs and getting Lt. ch’Rayya up to speed.  At least this means the replicator center had plenty of time to make sure everything was right.”

Reaching into the container, Selena started to get the different parts organized.  “I hope you don’t mind, but I asked Lt. O’Riley to join us.  She has some experience with holography it turns out, not nearly as much as Lin Kae of course, but enough that she might be able to spot anything we happened to miss.”

Waggling her fingers a bit, the cyborg opened up the small panels in her fingertips, exposing the different tools she had hidden away in her digits.  “I hope she had the thought to bring her own tools, I’m a little attached to mine…” Selena winked.

[ Theurgy "Thea" NX-79854 | Holographic Laboratory | Main Engineering (Upper Level) | Deck 24 | USS Theurgy ] Attn: 1)  @Triage 2) @chXinya
[Show/Hide]After she materialised in the room, she could hardly believe that it was time. Because of what had happened to Junior Lieutenant Suq when he was stuck in his conduit, when Thea had been limited by the projection angle of a holoemitter, the need for her mobile emitter had become even more evident. It was not just for leaving the ship. Sometimes, her movements abaord herself were restricted by her shipwide hologrid.

Smiling, she looked at the container and walked up to the table, hearing Ravenholm's comment about her tools. It made Thea chuckle, her emotion chip triggered by the sight of Selena's unique fingertips.

"Yes, let's hope so," she said and folded her hands behind her back, waiting for the engineer to arrive. She felt a data-stream of anticipation coursing through her processor, and her memory banks retrieved the images of when she had been relying on the emitter after Lin Kae finished it. She remembered leaving her physical hull behind aboard Cinsaj - the Reaver stolen from her daughter Cala on Theta Eridani IV - and how she had aided the crew by being a part of the Starbase 84 infiltration mission. Yet her tampering with he base's docking bay doors had lead to the deaths of many ignorant Starfleet officers, so she quickly archived those images from the battle, unsure how - and when - she would be able to process that data fully. Instead, she retrieved the digital memories of the times she had been intimate with organics, since the Lin Kae designed emitter had a sensory mapping directly duplicated from the late Ensign Skye Carver - Kae having used cortical stimulators to copy the sensory data.

Her experiences were limited, but the cause for her interest was the Ishtar Incident, where the omnipotent alien entity had transformed her into a true organic. Since then, she had felt numb, until Lin Kae had given her a very close approximation to what she had experienced. She had truly felt evolved, until the emitter had been destroyed. Now, with some luck, and with the collaboration between three different minds - one her own - they might just be able to replicate Lin Kae's prototype emitter technology.

In being so thoughtful, she still noticed when a human life sign approached the doors to the lab and her doors slid up to accommodate the Engineer. Thea looked Ravenholm's augmented body to the new crew member from the Resolve. She had also been present when the Asst. Chief of Engineering had got stuck in the conduit. "Junior Lieutenant O'Riley," she said and inclined her head to the woman with a smile. "Thank you for coming. Did Ravenholm show you the schematics for the emitter assembly, or should we go over the details now?"

The anticipation never left her while she spoke, and it might be seen in her eyes, even if her tone was the same as it usually was.

[ Sinead O'Riley (https://uss-theurgy.com/w/index.php?title=Sinead_O%27Riley#Personality_Profile) | Holographic Laboratory | Main Engineering (Upper Level) | Deck 24 | USS Theurgy ] Attn: @Auctor Lucan & @chXinya
[Show/Hide]Sinead O'Riley had nearly completely lost control of her emotions when the fascinating woman, Ravenholm, had approached her to assist with Thea. She had barely suppressed the most excited squeal of excitement, and then she had to resist the sudden urge to hug the woman in gratitude, or to shout her affirmative. But her eyes had turned into golf balls, and the trembling ought to have explained her...enthusiasm. She couldn't believe the honour that was being bestowed upon her, not to mention the trust! She'd have to set aside her Vulcan training for this. This was something that she had been passionate about since her youth, when she had been introduced to technology. Captain Picard's Enterprise-D and the holodecks had been her first taste of holograms and the wonders of their technology. She had read a dissertation on some photonics that had attained a level of sentience.

At that point, she realized she had been expounding to Ravenholm, much to O'Riley's embarrassment.

Fortunately, it seemed she was still welcome to render her assistance. Thea was the next step in photonic evolution, and O'Riley had taken steps to ensure she would risk no harm to the woman. Yes, she didn't think of Thea as merely the ship's AI. As far as she was concerned, Thea was as real a being as she was, and thusly she would accord her with the respect and rights as any sentient being. Obviously she wouldn't be working on her brain or anything, but creating a mobile emitter would help Thea, and by extension, the crew. With what happened to Suq still fresh in her mind, O'Riley saw the benefits of Thea having greater mobility and access with a portable emitter. She would be able to get into places that the emitter strips didn't reach. She only wished they'd worked on this sooner. Carrying her toolbox in her right hand while her left held a PADD full of schematics for mobile emitters, she wasn't surprised when the doors opened as soon as she neared them. Clearly Thea was as eager as she was.

A small smile played on her lips as she greeted the two women within the lab. “Hello Ravenholm, hello Thea,” said O'Riley, and she nodded at the latter, “yes she did, and I was just studying them for the third time,” she showed her PADD to the woman, “but there is no harm in going over it with you and Selena Ravenholm. Together, we will uncover all flaws or fill in missing pieces of the puzzle.”

[Selena Ravenholm | Holographic Laboratory | Main Engineering (Upper Level) | Deck 24 | Vector 3 | USS Theurgy] attn: @Auctor Lucan @Triage

Quickly restoring her finger-tools back to their compartments, Selena waved a hello to the bubbly girl with one hand before taking the offered PADD while activating the console with her other.  “No worries there, between Mr. Kae’s notes, our scans of the emitter, and its disassembly any holes we might come across will be quickly patched.”  Hanging above the console, a holographic model of the new emitter had false-color highlights to identify where each individual part would be coming from as well as an ID code.

“The assembly process shouldn’t be terribly difficult, most of the components are ready to go, only the pieces that we had to scavenge from other systems on board will need some sort of modification, either in the hardware or the soft.  That’s where most of the labor divisions come in.  I have some experience with hardware,” Selena held up her arm and twisted her hand around showing off the artificial nature of it, “but I’m much better with the software.  I’ll work on the emitter’s coding, both for it’s own operation as well as for its link to Thea’s main core and the initial transfer, but if you need help with some of the integration I’ll be more than happy to help.”

“And please, just Selena is fine.” she added at the end.

[ Theurgy "Thea" NX-79854 | Holographic Laboratory | Main Engineering (Upper Level) | Deck 24 | USS Theurgy ] Attn: 1)  @Triage 2) @chXinya
[Show/Hide]Pleased that the engineer from the Resolve was confident about the task ahead, and that Ravenholm had the time to continue working on the new emitter despite the many demands of the crew during the repairs, Thea smiled and stepped to the assembly of parts. She picked up the outer casing with the hands of her projection, and through her digital connection to the hololab, she keyed up a magnification of it.

"Since the old casing of the emitter was destroyed, there was no choice but to replicate a new one," she said and gestured with her free hand to the large holo image. It was different from what Lin Kae had made. More industrial in appearance. Efficient, but no longer a perfect sphere.

"As you can see, this is a icosidodecahedron, with a quasiregular tiling. The hexagonal lattice frame can hold 32 emitters compared to the old one that held 18 emitters. Instead of 9 omni-directional holographic field emitters and 9 forcefield emitters, this new casing has 16 of each, but it will only require a larger energy output from the power cell if I rely on using all of the emitters at once. Lin Kae's original, spherical casing had no need for such redundancy, the number of emitters sufficient for my needs... but this version is based on the sensor readings of my daughter's emitter."

Thea realised that the Calamity was likely unknown to the engineer from the Resolve. but Ravenholm might have personal opinions about her daughter because of what the crew went through since the first encounter outside the Hromi Cluster. Thea turned her eyes to her friend.

"I know Commander Trent insisted that Cala had to be built from the ground up as the ship she was, but without any evidence to support his claim, I am still confident that the enemy just reprogrammed her, removing her ethical subroutines, and set her on the mission to destroy us all." She said this without any animosity towards the First Officer aboard her, knowing he had grounds for his personal opinion. When she continued, her tone did not change, the feelings about the outcome of Cala's hunt behind her, even if the digital records would forever be in her memory banks.

"Ives ordered me to not try and save her, because of the risks involved for me and the crew. She is lost now, destroyed. Yet now, at least in this commemorative way, by using an emitter that resembles hers... a part of her can still remain with me. I hope the outward design and the redundancy of emitters won't cause too much trouble for the assembly process. I ensured that the interior housing has more than sufficient space for all components."

She said the latter to the engineer name O'Riley, looking towards her.


(https://orig00.deviantart.net/73bd/f/2017/310/2/6/emitter_by_auctor_lucan-dbswvce.png)
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[ Sinead O'Riley (https://uss-theurgy.com/w/index.php?title=Sinead_O%27Riley#Personality_Profile) | Holographic Laboratory | Main Engineering (Upper Level) | Deck 24 | USS Theurgy ] Attn: @Auctor Lucan & @chXinya
[Show/Hide]Once Ravenholm took the PADD off her, O'Riley placed her toolbox on a clear space available to her and propped open the device, so that all that she would need was readily available within arm's reach. Her attention throughout all this was trained on the cyborg, when she stated that the three of them could make up for each other's shortcomings on the subject that once only one person covered with relative ease, “Aye,” said O'Riley, “I have been working wi' me own notes from afore. P'haps they woul' 'elp.”

She was momentarily awed as Ravenholm demonstrated her artificial limbs, the concept of which was still a source of great fascination to the Bringloidi woman. “No' t'worry,” said O'Riley, “me own specialty is the hardware, if I do say so. Mm, aye then, Selena it is. Ye can be callin' me Sinead.”

Her lips quirked ever so slightly upwards. Now that she was in control of her excitement again, she wasn't as likely to go on without thought. She straightened up and stood at parade rest when Thea began to speak, her attention now rapt and focused on Thea alone. To watch the ship herself engage in conversation and interaction, it was...awe-inspiring didn't even begin to compare or fit the sensations in the flame-haired woman's head. Her eyes swelled to the size of golf balls when Thea mentioned having a daughter. Saints above! thought O'Riley. The Theurgy got more remarkable with each passing second. She had a daughter! But her heart went out to the ship when she spoke of Cala in the past tense. And then it was confirmed that her daughter was destroyed. She personally took losses very hard, especially the loss of close or intimate relations.

“I do not see any potential cause for trouble,” said O'Riley, once Thea finished talking, “but I do be havin' some ideas if I might bring them up.”

She stepped forward and gently laid a hand on the ship's shoulder, awed at the thought that she was basically touching the ship as a living being, and she offered her condolences, “I am sorry for your loss, Thea. We Bringloidi are very family oriented, and the loss of a child or any family, really, is a pain I would not wish on me worst enemy.”

She turned to look at the icosidodecahedron design of the emitter in the display, and she fished out of her pocket a data drive, “If I may, Thea? I noticed that Lin Kae's design utilized an innovative bypass that allowed him to use less to do more. I believe, without changing much on the exterior - that way we still honour Cala's memory - and we can ensure maximum effectiveness. It would also allow for a future where we can easily configure and construct multiple copies for you. So if this one gets damaged, you will have easy-to-make replacements handy.” She smiled at the holographic projection, hopeful that this idea would be a big help for them.

[Selena Ravenholm | Holographic Laboratory | Main Engineering (Upper Level) | Deck 24 | Vector 3 | USS Theurgy] attn: @Auctor Lucan, @Triage

Selena eye’d the new holo Thea had whipped up with an appreciative eye.  Upgrades were always nice, and the buckyball with redundant emitters was a sweet one.  She was already nodding in pleasure, then Sinead managed to one up the hologram.  Turning around at the mention of a new bypass, the woman nearly snatched it out of the younger one’s hand see what she had come up with.  “That alone is a life saver Sinead.  We’re already dreadfully short on some of the critical components, one is even the last one available on board.”  A subtle sway of her back couldn’t be helped, the memory of this morning’s impromptu surgery still pretty fresh.

Uploading the drive to the console’s memory, Selena brought up the relevant files and worked quickly with the other two to get the new bypass design integrated into the new design.  Nodding at the ingenious of it, she quickly grew a smile.  “Looks like you’ll have one of the best bodies anyone in and out of Starfleet could come up with Thea.  Shouldn’t take us more than an hour to get it all assembled.”

Copying the updated schematics into her own memory banks and then making multiple more to insert into a number of redundant archives, Selena rolled her shoulders and accessed the upload protocol and operation software for the first generation emitter.  Without delay she started making some patches, simplifying the code where possible, clearing out some bugs, even fixing spelling mistakes in the programmer commentaries.  Out of one eye she could see the assembly process, Sinead’s skilled hands a small wonder with the fine tools.

“So Thea, what do you plan to do first after we get you linked in?”

[ Theurgy "Thea" NX-79854 | Holographic Laboratory | Main Engineering (Upper Level) | Deck 24 | USS Theurgy ] Attn: 1)  @Triage 2) @chXinya
[Show/Hide]Thea appreciated the woman's kind words, giving her a smile and a nod since she was grateful that her comment did not devolve into protest and confusion about her digital parentage. Instead, there was acceptance and understanding in the engineer's tone, and Thea guessed that after all the things that the Resolve crew had experienced beyond Romulan space, her nature and her rights to individuality had less of an acceptance threshold. That she was a sapient individual had grown over the years since her commissioning, but after the Niga Incident, where she had become unshackled, the understanding had become complete among her own crew. It seemed there would be a short learning curve for the new officers aboard her, if Lieutenant O'Riley's reaction was any indication.

The proposed solution with the bypass in the new casing was an inspired one, and she hoped it would be successful. "Thank you," she said, and then watched as Selena began to work on the coding, seeing what she did through her inner eye - primed on the console she was at. When the question came from Ravenholm, it gave Thea the task of finding the appropriate reply given the situation and social conventions involved when there was someone else present in the room. Her reply was, therefore, instant but also a bit evasive. It had taken her below 0,00147 milliseconds to formulate her answer.

"I would enjoy taking a bath again," she said, and to forestall any consternation from O'Riley, she turned to her and explained with a smile, "the finely tuned forcefields of my projection will keep the emitter quite safe, but even if it would be submerged, this casing has a confirmed hydrostatic pressure tolerance of 100700 kPa. It makes it waterproof to a depth of 10 000 meters. Before Lin Kae made the new emitter with its upgraded sensory mapping, I had never understood the purpose of bathing beyond the organic needs of cleanliness. I learned to enjoy bathing when I was less numb to the experience."

What she omitted was that she would enjoy sharing that bath with Selena Ravenholm, but the idea might even be premature, since she had yet to ascertain if it was safe to submerge those artificial limbs of hers. Whatever specifications she had access too did not detail those specific tolerances... She looked towards Selena's back, accessed her console, and generated a typed message in a small window at the bottom of her console's screen.

> > I NEVER HAD THE OPPORTUNITY TO ENJOY BATHING WITH SOMEONE. ARE YOU INTERESTED TO SHARE THIS NEW EXPERIENCE WITH ME?

[ Sinead O'Riley (https://uss-theurgy.com/w/index.php?title=Sinead_O%27Riley#Personality_Profile) | Holographic Laboratory | Main Engineering (Upper Level) | Deck 24 | USS Theurgy ] Attn: @Auctor Lucan & @chXinya
[Show/Hide]There was little more that needed to be said once everything was finalized. Since Ravenholm was better at the software, and O'Riley with her training and skills better suited to hardware, it was a perfect symbiotic partnership. Thea provided the fine-tuning as needed, and the auburn-haired Bringloidi settled into companionable silence as she got to work. Deftly picking up the parts that needed assembling together, she grasped the necessary tools, interchanging them as was needed, her eyes glued to her work. She only briefly shifted her gaze from a coupling to look at Ravenholm, when she asked Thea what the ship would like to do first once she had the emitter working.

She took a moment to study the cyborg woman's limbs, helplessly fascinated by the advanced design. It was certainly beyond anything she could imagine. She was anachronistic, but a primitive lifestyle was the backbone of her culture. So technology this advanced provided endless interest to her. Then she was distracted by Thea's answer, and she couldn't quite wipe the mild surprise that flashed across her expression before she reasserted her impassive and calm mask. Nevertheless, when Thea clarified, the corners of her lips curled upwards ever so slightly. She remembered the ice-cold waterfalls in the caves of Bringloid V, the beautiful multi-hued crystals shining their lights upon the people as they washed and played...

It was all gone now. New Mariposa was their home, and it didn't have the same unique beauty of her first home. Perhaps someday, she would be able to return to it. Surely the danger that befell it was now past...

She came to without so much as a blink, snapping out of her wistful musings, and focused back on her task. But her curiosity got the better of her, and she asked Thea, “Does that mean ye can experience pleasure and pain? Actual sensations?” She picked up a sonic drill and locked a bolt into place on the emitter. “Not just simulate feelin' it?”

She had been in holonovels and live adaptations in a holodeck, and the photonic beings could simulate a reaction to whatever she said or did, but it was just preprogrammed responses as what they should react to whatever she said or did. But was Thea something beyond that? Or was she only able to simulate the responses? She would have asked that aloud but for her petite hands now working on a crucial segment of the emitter, and she couldn't afford to make a mistake on this part, so while Thea responded, she concentrated on her work.

[Selena Ravenholm | Holographic Laboratory | Main Engineering (Upper Level) | Deck 24 | Vector 3 | USS Theurgy] attn: @Auctor Lucan & @Triage

Selena just had to smile at the idea of a bath.  It wouldn’t have been her first choice since it was a just a routine thing for her (not as much as a shower, water or sonic) but she couldn’t fault Thea for her justification.  For someone who would have no experience or need for submerging themselves into water and soaping up, bathing would certainly be a novel experience.  Throw in Thea’s tactile upgrades thanks to Lin Kae, and for a brief moment Selena wondered just how the hologram managed to pull herself out of the tub the first time.

Concentrating on the coding in front of her (she was well into the subroutines dealing with the emitter’s subspace link with the main positronic core so this was heavy-duty programming lingo) and listening to Sinead’s conversation with Thea behind her, Selena didn’t see the new window until the text had almost completed writing.  A quick tap hid the window (an old precaution in case the younger engineer happened by) and Selena’s mind whirled with possibilities.  A bath with Thea?  In the flesh (so to speak)?  The question was almost child like, but she couldn’t say no outright.  She’d never shared a bath with anyone before either.  Of course she’d been quite naked with others in the past, and in some sense she and Thea have shared a bond that goes beyond flesh.  Smirking, the cyborg typed in some coding corrections with one hand while restoring the text window and writing a quick response with the other:

> > My quarters or yours?

“That’s a pretty complicated question Sinead.” Selena said, turning around for a moment.  “Just what is the difference between a simulation and reality?”  Tapping the port on the back of her neck, “I can tell you that the line can get pretty blurry.”

[ Theurgy "Thea" NX-79854 | Holographic Laboratory | Main Engineering (Upper Level) | Deck 24 | USS Theurgy ] Attn: 1)  @Triage 2) @chXinya
[Show/Hide]Before Thea gave the engineer from the Resolve her answer, Ravenholm chimed in, illustrating the point quite poignantly.

"Indeed," she said, and detected the reply from Selena on the console. For a moment, Thea was confused because she was quite certain there was no bathtub in Ravenholm's quarters, but she realised the answer was not to be taken literally. It was rather the commonplace answer when someone was asked to engage in intimate frivolities. It was obvious that the cybernetically enhanced human had understood her meaning. Thea wanted to be intimate with the woman, and she had wanted it for some time. After loosing Kae, it had become a critical priority.

Thea turned her head towards Sinead O'Riley with a smile, walking over towards her with her hands folded behind her back.

"While I could experience pleasure and pain before my new sensory mapping, the people in the Soong Legacy program had simulated the sensations for me. The experiences were inadequate, and especially after the Ishtar Entity turned me into an organic, human woman, allowing me to experience life akin to yours, as opposed to the digital presence I remain today," she said, looking at the new emitter. "After I was restored as a program, housed in my positronic brain, the simulated sensations were numb approximations of what you feel, and Lin Kae sought to bridge this gap with my new emitter. Using cortical stimulators, Kae managed to record - in lack of a better word - sensations felt by an organic woman, and then uploaded these tactile experiences to my mobile emitter."

It was a shorter explanation for what had happened, but she had learned that organics appreciated compressed outlines of events when relayed vocally.

[ Sinead O'Riley (https://uss-theurgy.com/w/index.php?title=Sinead_O%27Riley#Personality_Profile) | Holographic Laboratory | Main Engineering (Upper Level) | Deck 24 | USS Theurgy ] Attn: @Auctor Lucan & @chXinya
[Show/Hide]Sinead's eyes nearly popped open when she heard what Thea had to say. She had nodded at Selena's query and statement. She agreed, but had an explanation ready nevertheless, then Thea stepped in and dropped a fine bomb on her brain. “Ye were made human?” Her eyes widened to the size of saucers, making for an expression few people ever saw after her time in the Vulcan monastery. “Fascinating. Or an understatement o' that word, I dare say.”

Thea was definitely a living being as far as Sinead was concerned at this point. While she was a ship once more, it appeared that she had been given actual humanity, albeit temporarily. “I do believe I woul' like t' know more abou' this Ishtar entity. It do be soundin' t' be a being like no o'her.”

She lowered the device in her hands and picked up a component and folded it with a relay and conduit. “Almos' done 'ere, an' if I do say so, I be hopin' ye will have back th' same sensory an' perception as once b'fore. If it be all righ' wi' ye both, I will make a copy o' th' blueprints. Somethin' t' work on in me free time. Improve on th' design an' such.” She turned her attentions back to the hardware, her tongue sticking out one side as she concentrated on her work. After some time, she looked up and gave small smile to Thea, “Ye really are like nothin' I ever seen. A true sentient, an' a ship, all a' once. Same as ye, Selena, where I come from, we don' 'ave tha' le'el o' technology. When ye lose an arm, it be los' fer good.”

[Selena Ravenholm | Holographic Laboratory | Main Engineering (Upper Level) | Deck 24 | Vector 3 | USS Theurgy] attn: @Auctor Lucan & @Triage

So that's how Lin Kae did it.  Lucky kid. Selena grinned to herself, imagining for a brief moment what Thea’s uplifter went through to get the full “recordings” necessary to fully map out organic feelings.  I hope she gave you a good time.  Stifling a giggle at the mental images, Selena picked up the last bits of Sinead’s report, and nodded along with it.  “Sure, might as well get another private copy out there in case something goes wrong with the database.  Always, always, always have a backup is the rule.  I’m just about done here too, we should be ready to test the link in the next few minutes Thea.”

Turning back to her console, her neon-blue eyes kept an eye on the corner of the screen watching for any more details from Thea.  It’d been a long day and an actual, honest-to-goodness water bath sounded really nice.  Sharing it with Thea as well?  Gaining new experiences like that was always a bonus, and it had the extra justification of testing out the new emitter and sensation subroutines.  Win-win all around!  For a moment she felt a little bad about leaving Sinead out, would she go for that?  Then again, most tubs won’t fit more than two…

Nearing the end, Selena started parsing the final sections for any errors or possible rewrites when Sinead spoke up again, paying both Thea and her more compliments.  The cyborg didn’t bother turning around, instead she folded herself over the low back of her chair, bending herself in a way that would break a normal person.  It wasn’t quite 90°, her butt did lift off the seat and she was supporting herself by pushing back against the underside of the console with her legs, but the visual was still amazing.  “Why thank you Sinead.  It’s a shame your home doesn’t, there’re a lot of benefits to being able to replace broken limbs and organs.”  From where the other woman was sitting, she could probably see Selena’s leg sticking out, the smooth paneling mimicking the shape of a normal human leg, but clearly not flesh.  Her arm, dangling from her socket showed the same construction, but since it wasn't supporting her weight it was free to twist around 180° at the elbow, showing off its range of motion.

“Anyways, the final updates are compiling now.  I can upload as soon as you both are ready.”

[ Theurgy "Thea" NX-79854 | Holographic Laboratory | Main Engineering (Upper Level) | Deck 24 | USS Theurgy ] Attn: 1)  @Triage 2) @chXinya
[Show/Hide]"Thank you," she said to O'Riley with a smile, glad to hear the confirmation that the controversy of her existence was minor in her eyes.

Hearing the two women in the lab saying they were finishing up, Thea turned her head towards Selena, smiling when she saw the antics she utilised to illustrate her point. She was a remarkable friend. Even if they had started out with Selena breaking into the Upper Computer Core, and with Thea stopping her with a phaser in hand. The next day, they had fought in the digital landscape inside her old emitter. Thea had won, Selena's dataport had been fried, but nonetheless Selena's backup memory drive had mitigated most of the mind-meld placed on her, and it had been her turn to save Thea by restoring her to her own positronic brain. Since then, they shared a bond, and to have her help making her new emitter even if Lin Kae was in stasis? She felt that the bond was becoming stronger by every turn.

So, when they were just about ready, Thea answered Ravenholm with another string of text on her console.

> > MINE, OF COURSE, UNLESS YOU HAVE HACKED MY HOLOGRID. I WOULD NOT BE SURPRISED.

> > . . .

> > YET WE SHOULD STAND BY FOR VERIFICATION THAT THE EMITTER WORKS FIRST.

Looking towards Engineer O'Riley, Thea walked up to her and put her hand on her shoulder, squeezing it gently. "My gratitude," she said and smiled to her, "and even if this doesn't work for some reason, I am happy that you and Ravenholm tried, just for my sake and well being. It means a lot to me."

Dropping her hand, she gestured towards the small alcove upon which her old emitter had sat when it was recharging. The induction recharge field would likely not have to be adapted, but more importantly, that was where it should be if it were to be connected to the subspace synchronization link that connected all three Vectors as well as her old emitter - a slot in the network that now would the new emitter would have to be reintegrated into.

"Please, when you are finished, put it there, so that Ravenholm can mirror the subspace key that the old emitter held and upload the new software."

In her digital mind, she hoped it would work. She had been an organic, and knew keenly how much she had lost. She told herself that it might not work, that Lin Kae had calibrated the subspace key in some way that would reject the new emitter, but she held on to the concept of hope, wanting it to work. Not just because of what might happen between her and Selena, but because the coup of the Devoted earlier that day had showed her that she did not have holoemitters everywhere either. Having her mobile emitter could save lives one day... perhaps even the whole crew.

[ Sinead O'Riley (https://uss-theurgy.com/w/index.php?title=Sinead_O%27Riley#Personality_Profile) | Holographic Laboratory | Main Engineering (Upper Level) | Deck 24 | USS Theurgy ] Attn: @Auctor Lucan & @chXinya
[Show/Hide]She nodded at Selena, taking a recording and making copies, sending one to Selena, and one in Thea's databanks, and two for herself, with one as a secondary back-up. Despite her years in Starfleet now, Sinead still had a tendency to prefer hard copies or something tangible rather than electronic. She was excited to see the upcoming final result. Though she wasn't as prone to it as before, she felt pride in being a part of something as monumental as this. As a precaution, Sinead added a back-up safety feature, in the form of a hardware: a subspace shield emitter. Not that Thea was in danger of being lost to the mobile emitter, but it would reduce any jarring experience from transferring between a mobile emitter and her positronic brain. She considered it important to reduce any stress that Thea might experience as much as possible.

Looking up from her work for a moment, she studied the two women, wondering at them, then resumed her work, then she stared in barely concealed shock at Selena's flexibility so blatantly displayed. She briefly had to work her jaw, letting it open and close a few times before she recovered the ability for speech, and she said, shakily, “Th-that...aye...that was so when I left me home...more'n likely now tha' 'as changed. Mariposa be now a busy port o' trade in th' Ficus sector...”

She then turned to Thea to answer her with a look of determination, “It will work. Ye be havin' th' best tha' we can possibly give, Thea.” A little of her Bringloidi passion leaked through her Vulcan training of self-control, not to mention some uppity pride that she gave nothing but her very best effort, and thusly, the chance of failure was slim. She fastened the last part together and picked up the device, and placed it where Thea had indicated, and she nodded at Selena, backing away to let the cyborg work her magic. Privately she thought, Please work.

[Selena Ravenholm | Holographic Laboratory | Main Engineering (Upper Level) | Deck 24 | Vector 3 | USS Theurgy] attn: @Triage @Auctor Lucan

At last, the moment had arrived.  As soon as Sinead had the emitter in place in the recharge alcove Selena sat back up to start the synchronization process.  The new coding had finished compiling so now it was a matter of mirroring the old security key first.  That was something that was always tricky to do, many had check-sums that relied on something in the hardware specifically to prevent such mirroring.  Many a first-time hacker learned the hard way that simply copying someone’s key to another isolinear chip was a fast way to an appointment with a security detail.  Lucky for all three women though, they had the original manual.

For whatever reason (Selena guessed it was for situations exactly like this), the subspace synchronization key was tied to Thea herself, not any piece of hardware.  It made sense actually, since the emitter didn’t really handle any of her processing it was up to Thea herself to decide if she wanted to use the mobile emitter, no one could force her.  Bringing up the requisite protocols, a mechanical finger hovered over the “Accept” button.  “Okay, here it goes.”  Without any other fanfare, she pressed the button.

Massive amounts of computer code scrolled across the console, too fast for even her to keep track of (at least by eye.)  A progress bar at the bottom tracked the upload, in seconds it passed 15%.  With nothing to do but wait, Selena turned around to look at the others, cybernetic eyes glowing in anticipation.  “So what was it like building Mariposa?  I remember reading about how the Enterprise had to force the two colonies together.” she asked Sinead, wanting to keep the conversation going.  “I can imagine it had to be a difficult transition for everyone.”

[ Theurgy "Thea" NX-79854 | Holographic Laboratory | Main Engineering (Upper Level) | Deck 24 | USS Theurgy ] Attn: 1)  @Triage 2) @chXinya
[Show/Hide]Ravenholm began to speak with Sinead, and Thea let the two women speak while the upload as being made. Thea, though, stepped towards the alcove, watching the new emitter as it sat there - being the spitting image of her daughter's emitter. It might not have been the same, and it did not have Lin Kae's artistic touch when it came to the hardware design. The new one looked more... industrial, but whatever it lacked in design it made up for in equal functionality, and that was the most important thing. When activated, her projection would cover the emitter nonetheless, so even if the design would have had any kind of relevance, it would hardly unless it was being recharged in that alcove.

Letting the two women finish, Thea tuned her eyes towards them. "I'll end this feed and attempt to project myself through it when the upload is finished."

Having said this, she dematerialised, and watched the room through her internal sensors, her digital entity waiting patiently for the process to complete. Her emotional chip fed her with anticipation, of longing, of hope to be as she had been after Lin Kae had upgraded her, and yet also dread, that it would not work, that there would be a malfunction, and that she would be trapped in the emitter in the way she had been when T'Rena had staged her mutiny. Aside from the copy stored in her old emitter, she had been deactivated, and the ship had been run by a standard Federation starship computer interface. Hopefully, nothing like that would happen now, since there was no inherent risk to her positronic brain by just attempting to use a new emitter. Not just any emitter, of course, but the principle was the same.

The upload was finished, and right there, the presence of a new device in her network appeared. She watched it sit there, as a part of herself, and couldn't help the slight pause. She realised she was steeling herself against pending disappointment... before she finally charted her way into the new device in the synchronisation network. There was no physical direction, of course, no digital path to tread. Nor was there any lead time. Activation was, as always, instantaneous.

In the holo lab, the anti-gravity units in the emitter powered up, and the device came alive with a chirp of acknowledgement and with a power indicator blinking in reception of the feed. It floated up from its alcove, and then drifted out towards the two women in the room. And as it floated, Thea's projection materialised around the device - animated by her steps. Once her forcefield latticework was formed, there was no need for the anti-gravity units to propel the emitter any more - standing as she was on her own legs. Her bodily image was sequenced next, and she appeared in her standard black chameleon bodysuit. Her image flickered a couple of times, which might have caused a startle for the two organics, but after a couple of seconds, the image stablised itself...

...and Thea opened her eyes - seeing the two women in front of her by using the optical sensors of her interface.

She smiled to them. "Aside from a conflict between the subroutines in block Nine-Two Alpha and the synchronisation link - caused by the hardware change - my own diagnostics cannot detect any further errors in the runtime," she said quietly, feeling the air around her so much more keenly than before. "Of course, there are minor calibrations to be made, which I did with the first emitter too... but I think..."

She paused, and picked up the old emitter where it rested on the table next to her, feeling the broken thing with her fingertips. The cold metal and the jagged edges around the phaser beam entry-point... she could feel the sting of the edge, and the weight of it, how it pulled on her artificial musculature. She was as strong as before, the weight not the least considerable, but it still was... because she could feel and judge just how much it weighed by sense of touch alone. She did not have to measure the weight and give it a number... just feel it in her hands.

Along with all other renewed impressions, she felt something cold. She blinked, looking at the back of her hand, and she saw a pebble of liquid there. She didn't make the connection at first, until she felt another, and realised that it was her own tears. In fact, her chest felt tight, as if she had the symptoms of an illness. She took a deep, shuddering breath, drawing air inside her that she didn't need, but breathed all the same. Minor convulsion animated her frame, as if there was another flaw... but she knew that she was simply crying - unable to stop her face from contorting in a grimace of mixed loss and happiness.

"Thank y-you," she said faintly, thinking of Lin Kae's face, and imagining how he smiled to her. And then she looked up at the two women in the holo lab that had carried on his legacy, and given her back her lost humanity.

"Thank you so m-much."

[ Sinead O'Riley (https://uss-theurgy.com/w/index.php?title=Sinead_O%27Riley#Personality_Profile) | Holographic Laboratory | Main Engineering (Upper Level) | Deck 24 | USS Theurgy ] Attn: @Auctor Lucan & @chXinya
[Show/Hide]So began the brief moment of truth. The tension of waiting. Sinead watched Selena and Thea's reactions. She could almost feel the ship's tensions beneath the floor itself, but she was probably just imagining it. She didn't question Thea's humanity, and even accepted that there would be unique experiences that she would never experience elsewhere. It felt surreal being a part of it, but logically, it was natural to be where she was, as it was what she did best. Selena pressed the activation and Sinead clasped her hands behind her back, studying the results to come. She had installed the safety protocols to ensure Thea wouldn't get trapped by some unforeseen error, so there was that assurance if this failed somehow.

At the cyborg's question, the Bringloidi turned her head and fixed her shiny blue-eyes on the woman, considering her, “Aye...it no be easy.” said Sinead, “our world, Bringloid V, was lost to us, the solar flares from our sun making th' planet none too friendly. Captain Picard and th' Enterprise, they be takin' us, at first, t' a starbase or some such, when our leader, Danilo Odell, bless his soul, asked aboot Mariposa. Captain no be forcin' the Bringloidi to join with Mariposa, but we were agreeable wi' th' lot o' them, seein' as they had much land to till, some'in we were good at, and wi' no place t'call home, it seemed like a most suitable arrangement. That be before we learnt we no be doin' too well with sunlight and heat.”

She glanced upwards, thinking about Mariposa, “Luckily, we be findin' caves and such that suited us better, bu' some o'us be tryin' t' live with the Mariposans in th' cities, they made special eye shields t' protect us, and settled us in cities or towns with lower temperatures that be more bearable to us. There be newcomers now in th' Ficus sector. Traders and such...so we be doin' well enough as th' years went. If'n ye be needin' a place t' rest, and repair, p'haps ye may consider it? New Mariposa be not actual Federation, jus' under watch'n'protection...bu' if these parasites be in control o' Starfleet...p'haps I be warnin' my people, and we will withdraw from the Federation...for now.”

She nodded at Thea when the woman spoke. With a brief start, Sinead realized she now automatically regarded Thea as a woman, not a ship. How easy it was for her. Moments later, the emitter came to life, and Thea was back. Her emotional response was quite a sight to take in. It seemed the device was a success. She was briefly startled by Thea's tears, and the last traces of her empathy kicked in, and she stepped forward, reaching out to gently squeeze the woman's shoulder, “Ye be most welcome.” said Sinead, simply and with a smile.

[Selena Ravenholm | Holographic Laboratory | Main Engineering (Upper Level) | Deck 24 | Vector 3 | USS Theurgy] @Auctor Lucan @Triage

Selena listened intently to Sinead’s story about how her home came to be.  It was a fascinating story actually.  She remembered a little bit of it from when she read about the Enterprise’s meeting with the two colonies, but that was a long while ago.  Throughout the story she kept one eye on the progress bar as it crawled its way up to 100%.  With Thea not projecting herself into the room in the meantime it almost felt a little empty, but it would only be temporary.

“Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that.” Selena stated at the idea of Mariposa leaving the Federation.  “Breaking apart the Federation would mean they win, even if we send them back to whatever hell they came from first.”  The emitter started to hum, catching her attention and she turned to watch.  Floating and glowing, the icosidodecahedron disappeared inside of Thea’s projected body as it assembled from the basic wireframe.  The flickers startled the cyborg and she turned to the console to figure out what the cause was, but Thea beat her to it, stabilizing in just a few moments.

Checking the subroutines as Thea called them out, Selena spotted the issue and made a couple of minor changes that will go into effect the next time the emitter shut down.  She stayed quiet though, letting her friend explore her new functionality.  At last, the hologram spoke, words shaking through her emotions.  Selena couldn’t help but smile and stand, taking the few steps between flesh and photon then holding the emitter with Thea, cradling it in her palm while Thea held it from above.

“It’s the least we could do Thea.”  If they were alone she would’ve reached out to wipe the tears off of the other woman’s cheek, but Sinead was right there watching just as intently.  For now, she just hand to settle for staring into Thea’s brown eyes, watching for that spark that all sentient life seemed to carry regardless of species.  “Feel up to some diagnostics, or should we just throw caution to the wind and go wild?

[ Theurgy "Thea" NX-79854 | Holographic Laboratory | Main Engineering (Upper Level) | Deck 24 | USS Theurgy ] Attn: 1)  @Triage 2) @chXinya
[Show/Hide]At their comments, Thea could only chortle in a small laugh, and raised her hand to wipe her digital tears from her face. She was at a loss for fitting words in relation to the current moment she faced. She knew she owed them both her gratitude, but she had nothing worthwhile in her memory banks as to what would be appropriate. She did a double-take when Ravenholm suggested they would go wild, and it made her blush and laugh a little again, hoping to hide how she got the notion Selena was speaking of that bath by running a hand though her hair.

"I suppose a full diagnostic might be best, making sure there are no building cascade failures in the background processes now that I am projected from it," she ventured, hoping that it was the correct answer and that she wouldn't hurt the woman's feelings. Leaving Ravenholm to the task, she turned towards O'Riley.

"I owe you, Junior Lieutenant. I had lost hope in retaining the upgrade of this emitter. In ignorance, I thought only Lin Kae was equal to the task, but it seems my new crew is quite resourceful indeed." It struck her that there was only one proper expression that fit the amount of gratitude she felt, so she reached around the engineer and hugged her close to her projection, which would - to O'Riley - be no different than if she was embraced by an organic being. After she had lingered in the embrace, Thea parted a little, and she could even see how her simulated breath touched the woman's hair. Her program was, as Lin Kae had said, no different than the reality perceived by an organic.

But, there was still one thing missing.

"When you have the time," she said, and chuckled as she lowered her arms, "which admittedly can't be anytime soon, by the looks of the shift rotations during these repairs... Still, when you do have the chance, there is but one thing I still lack."

She reached up and tapped the side of her nose with a sheepish smile. "I still have no sense of smell. It's something I experienced during the Ishtar incident, and something Lin Kae never had time for. I suppose it is a matter of installing olfactory receptors in the emitter, but there was simply never enough time for it. Would you like to do that for me someday, O'Riley?"

[ Sinead O'Riley (https://uss-theurgy.com/w/index.php?title=Sinead_O%27Riley#Personality_Profile) | Holographic Laboratory | Main Engineering (Upper Level) | Deck 24 | USS Theurgy ] Attn: @Auctor Lucan & @chXinya
[Show/Hide]Selena's response was understandable, and even logical, to an extent. A virtue that Sinead certainly valued and respected, but she couldn't shake the greater danger to the Bringloidi and Mariposans by allowing them to remain under Federation influence, not if there was a risk of bringing in someone with a parasite in them. If she had studied the data allowed to her correctly, then just one of these parasite-controlled individuals could wreak untold death and mayhem before being subdued. Not all Bringloidi trained for battle the way she did, nor did many ever join Starfleet. Most had taken to raising families with the Mariposans, to bolster their population and gene pool.

She frowned wonderingly at the cyborg's next query to Thea, wondering what she meant exactly. How did they plan to go wild? This appeared to be something that was known only to Selena and Thea.

She gave Thea a pleased smile, and when they hugged, she took the opportunity to feel the woman's back, and how it felt against the bare skin of her palms. Assuring herself even further that she was as real and tangible as Sinead herself, and also the ship all around her. It was so strange, and yet the Bringloidi had no difficulty accepting this fact. What amazed her further was she could feel the woman's breath upon her face. It wasn't just a simulation, but she was in fact, breathing. And once again, Sinead found herself smiling. The euphoria of the success and what was accomplished today was all but impossible to contain.

She blinked though when she realized that a sense of smell was still missing to Thea, and she nodded, picking up her PADD nearby and inputting some information into it. “Aye, Thea, tha' can be done an' I will be most happy to.” said Sinead, “'tis will be somethin' I will be workin' on as much as I can. I alrea'y be havin' some idea how this may be accomplished. Ye'll be fully human yet...”

She looked up at Thea and shook her head, “An' ye no be owin' me any'in, Thea. Helpin' ye achieve this, t' becomin' all tha' ye can possibly be, tha' be reward enough t' me. bein' a par' of i' all...be more'n I can ask for.”

She gave the two women a sweet smile, and then she packed up her things, and picked up the spare emitter, one which she would be working on a lot, and bundled everything in an easy-to-carry arrangement under her left arm, and said, “I best be on me way now. Ye will le' me know if ye be needin' anythin' from me, aye? Either of ye both, now, hear. It be no trouble at all for me so long as I am no' on duty. Thea...I be hopin' ye have fun...”

She wasn't quite sure what Thea would constitute as fun, but she reckoned she'd find out soon enough. Nodding once more, she turned and left after parting with a last “Good bye.” and headed for her own quarters to update her computer with her work and the project to come.

[Selena Ravenholm | Holographic Laboratory | Main Engineering (Upper Level) | Deck 24 | Vector 3 | USS Theurgy] @Auctor Lucan @Triage

“One diagnostic, coming right up!” Selena’s eyes beamed and she still couldn’t shake the smile.  Leaving Thea there holding the old emitter she dropped back into her chair and started up the requested diagnostics.  Normally a level 1 would be appropriate here but as long as Thea was using the emitter that wouldn’t be possible.  Level 2 would work for now, but Selena made a not to tell Thea that she’d need to stay off the new emitter for a day before too long.  Sure, a level 2 diagnostic should catch any issues with the link between Thea’s core and the emitter, but something like this was best not left to chance.  There was just so much code that who knew what was lurking in it.  Even the best programmers in the galaxy make mistakes, and sometimes the issues aren’t even that.

While the computer did its thing Selena listened in to Sinead’s chat with Thea with a single ear.  Her eyebrow rose at the hologram’s request for a sense of smell, she never realized that there was such a hole in her program.  All of her efforts today were based on coming up with the new emitter design and uploading the augments, upgrades, and patches from the old to new.  Worse, she had little idea on how to program such a complicated routine, her cybernetics were loaded with tactile sensors, her nose still worked just fine.  Sinead sounded like she had the challenge well in hand though, so that was a relief.

When The girl packed up her stuff and said her goodbyes Selena pulled herself away from the diagnostics to return them.  Bending over the chair back in another acrobatic display she waved goodbye to the upside down figure.  “Thanks for all the help!  Couldn’t have done it without you.”  She ended with a wink. and waited until she was gone before sitting back upright and turning her attention to Thea.

Sporting a knowing grin, Selena tapped the console just to do something with her hands.  “It’ll still take a few hours for these diagnostics to run their course, and sometime soon you’ll need to go emitterless for a level 1, which’ll take a day.  That won’t have to be now though, and I can’t think of any reason to hang around here any longer.”

[ Theurgy "Thea" NX-79854 | Holographic Laboratory | Main Engineering (Upper Level) | Deck 24 | USS Theurgy ] Attn: @chXinya
[Show/Hide]Thea's emotion chip was being troublesome, with so much input in relation to her restored upgrade via the emitter and the clear implications from Ravenholm that the messages they traded earlier were not made in jest. There was also the promise that O'Riley might actually be able to give her a sense of smell, which had her long for the time when there would be opportunity for such an upgrade.

"Good bye, and thank you," she said to O'Riley when she left, and then she turned towards Selena, unable to find the proper words. The woman in the chair, however, seemed to find them readily enough, talking about the diagnostics that had to be run, and Thea already anticipated that she'd have to power down the emitter for a L1 diagnostic eventually. Then, she recognised that knowing grin of hers, and Thea knew it was, indeed, time to leave the holo lab.

"Then shall we?" she asked, feeling light-headed from the emotional input she processed in Selena's company. She accessed her transporter systems and issued a site-to-site transport.

[ Senior Officer Quarters | Deck 10 | Vector 2 | USS Theurgy ]

They arrived inside Thea's quarters in shimmering light. Selena had been there already, before Vasser's mutiny. She stepped through her spartan quarters, which still didn't hold many physical possessions. A few PADDs were perfectly ordered on a table, containing reading for her ocular sensors of different kinds - duty-related and not. Thea only exported the files she wanted to read with her optic sensors when she was in her quarters, since it was a slow and ineffective method of attaining information of being entertained by stories new and old. She glanced over her shoulder towards Ravenholm when she stepped into her bedroom, and as she did, she let the holographic chameleon body suit vanish - leaving her projection naked in its appearance. She continued into the bathroom, where she activated the faucet without having to touch the control panel.

She came to stand next to the bathtub, looking at Ravenholm, and expecting her to follow suit and shed her clothing.

"After I extracted that part for the emitter, I hope I sealed your spine properly. Otherwise, this might be a short bath...." she said, unsure what the custom commentary would be for the situation. Everything felt so vibrant to her, standing there with her skin bare - the sensory mapping picking up so much more than her original subroutines. She followed her friend's progress attentively, the level of anticipation in her runtime almost making her want to forcibly remove Ravenholm's clothes.

To kiss her, since it would - in all likelihood - be what Selena wanted too.

[Selena Ravenholm | Senior Officer Quarters | Deck 10 | Vector 2 | USS Theurgy] attn: @Auctor Lucan

Selena didn’t even have a chance to respond before Thea triggered the site-to-site transport, the cybernetically enhanced woman rematerializing in one of the table chairs.  As soon as the annular confinement beam let go she glanced around the room, noting the lack of change since she’d last been here.  Granted, there hadn’t been that much time since the mutiny so it’s not like more would’ve changed except the shifting of some of the personal items, but you never knew, especially with holograms that can think faster than light.

Getting back on her feet, Selena watched Thea as she moved straight for the bedroom (I know she’s the ship, but how did she manage to get better quarters than most of the crew! she blurted in her mind.), and grinned when the chameleon suit disappeared with a shimmer, revealing the perfect skin underneath.  Eyebrows rose in appreciation of Thea’s form, the curve of her waist expanded out to a pleasing hip ratio below, but just the hint of her bosom peeked into view above.  The way her simulated muscles shifted as she walked brought on a twinge of jealousy as she never had such toned legs of her own that weren’t manufactured.  Her attention was diverted at the sound of the faucet though, Thea had turned on the water flow without touching any controls or sounding any commands.  Of course Thea wouldn’t need to do either, she was the ship, but Selena was having trouble dampening the jealousy.

The organic woman was still standing in the middle of the main room, lost in her thoughts and emotions when Thea spoke up, pulling Selena back to the moment.  Her hand instinctively went to the vest’s clasp, unhooking it and pulling the zipper open to reveal more of the red undershirt.  “You have nothing to worry about there Thea.” Selena tried to assure her holographic friend, stepping forward and tossing her vest to the deck with a shrug.  Her ocular implants zoomed in a bit, letting her focus on the finer details of Thea’s projection despite the distance.  The level of detail her programmers used was astounding giving Lin Kae’s upgrades a wonderful foundation.  If one didn’t know that Thea was a hologram you’d’ve thought she was real, the details were all there.  “Everything seals automatically as soon as I send the close command.”  A quick tug at the collar popped the undershirt loose from her neck and she opened it fully, leaving it hanging from her shoulders.

Reaching the tub, a synthetic hand dipped into the rising water.  “It better not be a short one, You’ve been waiting for this.”  Now standing next to Thea, Selena could feel the warmth of her photonic projection on her own skin, and her reactions were telling.  Selena couldn’t help but tease the poor hologram, not doing anything beyond the simple pleasantries.

Shucking her undershirt off after a few moments of running her fingertips through the water, she finally turned her full attention back to Thea.  How many eternities had she waited through in the past minute?  Desires finally started to build in her own core as the realization of what they were doing finally trigged throughout her consciousness.  Reaching out to rest her arms on Thea’s shoulders, cybernetic implants stared into simulated eyes watching the emotions play out in them while mechanical fingers intertwined each other behind Thea’s neck.  “How do you feel Thea?”

[ Theurgy "Thea" NX-79854 | Holographic Laboratory | Main Engineering (Upper Level) | Deck 24 | USS Theurgy ] Attn: @chXinya
[Show/Hide]The sight was as rewarding as Thea had hoped it would be, seeing Selena undress and join her at by the bath. Her projection felt short of breath, a trick of the digital mind as programmed into her by Lin Kae - a detail inherited by Ensign Skye Carver. She had felt this before, the times she had been intimate, but the anticipation for what was to come was something altogether different than the other times.

This, this had been kept from her - something she had wanted for quite some time. Thea had once held her at phaser-point, they had played boardgames together, they had fought each other, saved each others' lives, infiltrated the Black Opal together, repaired each other. Now, there was but one more frontier for them.

"I feel like myself," she said in answer when Selena had her artifical arms on her shoulders. Her voice was thick with need, and she put her projected hands on the other woman's hips, just shy of the seam where flesh met metal. She wanted to kiss her right away, to feel those lips touch her sensory mapping, but then they might not even step into the bath... stalled by a very mutual need. She realised, that her need for the path was not paramount. Not compared to what was before her. "Stand by for confirmation."

So, she closed the distance and kissed Selena, hard, and ran her hands up her back - keeping her organic body flush to her own. She had wanted to feel her against herself, and now, she did, and it was more rewarding to her sensors than she could adequately describe. It felt so good that she couldn't help the noise that escaped her, generated as a reaction to her emotion chip's dataflow and the input from her tactile sensors. She wanted more, moderation inefficient. So she ended up pushing Selena up against the bulkhead of her bathroom, the kiss turned passionate, becoming more thorough with each moment.

[Selena Ravenholm | Senior Officer Quarters | Deck 10 | Vector 2 | USS Theurgy] @Auctor Lucan

Oh yes… Selena purred, Thea was very warm indeed.  Pressed up against the bulkhead, unwilling if not unable to move, the woman’s lips responded to her holographic partner’s.  Parting and closing with each little suck at first, the need built quickly and moments later she parted her lips enough to reach out with her tongue.  To her surprise, Thea’s programmers had spared no detail, her mouth felt just as real as the rest of her once she was past those beautiful lips.

Biological skin tingled wherever holographic hands slid across it and it was driving Selena mad.  She pushed back against Thea with her hips, grinding their pelvises together.  She could feel herself getting wet and her skin started to flush.  Breathing heavily Selena had to break off the kiss just long enough to get some air before she accidentally inhaled Thea’s tongue.  Opening her eyes she stared intently at her partner with a feral grin spreading on her face.  “Confirmed enough for you?”  Before Thea could respond Selena gently pressed her hands in the back of her head and pulled for another heavy kiss.  There was nothing subtle about things now and before too long the sounds of their sucking lips was audible over the bathtub’s faucet.

Without warning, Selena pushed Thea off and towards the tub, the grin returning to her face, but this time with a mischievous bent.  “Come on, we don’t want all that water to go to waste.”  Mechanical hips swayed as Selena stepped up next to Thea again, dipping her hand into the warm water.  Pulling it out a moment later she ran one finger across Thea’s lips towards her chin, water running down her arm to drip onto their feet and deck.  “Warm enough for you?”  At the same time, her other hand reached down to cup the hologram between the legs, her thumb rubbing a gentle circle just above Thea’s clit.  “If not, we may just have to heat it up.”

[ Theurgy "Thea" NX-79854 | Officers Quarters | USS Theurgy ] Attn: @chXinya
[Show/Hide]Thea lost herself completely in the motions, in the feelings she harbored towards the development, in the sensations of Selena against her projected body. She couldn't help but moan in response to the feeling of her friend's thigh grinding against her sex - the sensory mapping very dense in that area of her digital body.

Fortunately, her crew was not in constant need of her undivided attention, most processes automated, because the development was at the forefront of her processes - everything else faded into the background. Of course, the crew would be none the wiser. Her pleasure was not manifesting itself in other ways aboard her, since that could have constituted a risk to her entire operation. Thea was quite happy about that fail-safe in her subroutines at that time.

When Selena eventually pushed at her a little, Thea opened her eyes - her lips a bit bruised by the intense exchange that had ended. Feeling them with her fingertips, she was reminded how thorough Lin Kae had been. Her fingers were replaced by Selena's and she enjoyed the sensation of warm water against her lips, so much thats he kissed those metal fingers - even closing her lips around the index one.

Nothing could quite prepare her for what came next, however, when Selena's other hand closed over her sex. She let out a whimper, and put both her own hands on Selena's shoulders to keep herself upright - her knees almost giving out when her most sensitive area was stimulated like that. Slowly, she undulated her hips against her friend's hand, and moaned deeply - the sensory bliss overwhelming her. She was so grateful that she wanted to do something in return. The easiest way was to copy Selena's actions, and ran one hand down her front - a finger soon sliding along the wet folds between her artificial legs.

"Come, sit on the edge..." she suggested in a thick voice, and put one foot into the water, stepping into the bath. She might have stepped out of reach for Selena's ministrations, sinking down into the water and enjoying how it felt against her projection, but the majority of her attention was on her friend, who she wanted to please with her mouth. While she had no sense of smell, O'Riley yet to install the olfactory sensors in her emitter, she did have digital tastebuds, and she dearly wanted to taste Selena right then.

So, with her lower body in the water, Thea hoped to help Selena sit on the edge with her feet in the bath, and Thea began would preform the cunnilingus - something she had yet to do. She quickly loaded whatever information on technique she had in her database and began to preform it on her friend, finding the taste of her another wonder to process. She looked up at her friend to make sure her technique was to her satisfaction.

[Selena Ravenholm | Senior Officer Quarters | Deck 10 | Vector 2 | USS Theurgy] @Auctor Lucan

Selena was surprised at how sensitive Thea was.  Just the slightest of touch against her clit nearly dropped the hologram into her arms, but even if they were technically projections her arms felt quite real.  Selena smiled at the sounds Thea made, and she twitched in response when she mirrored the cyborg’s vaginal ministrations.  Thanks to the earlier grindings she was already quite wet giving Thea an easy time down there, her finger finding minimal resistance.

It didn’t last that long though, Thea was clearly ready to move on to the next phase when she stepped back just enough to step into her bathtub with those long legs of hers, one holographic hand holding Selena’s mechanical one.  Selena didn’t need a second invitation, she eagerly climbed in herself and sat on the edge as requested.  Watching her friend as she settled into position in the water, mechanical legs spread apart to give Thea all the access she could want between her legs.

Thanks to the fact that her legs wouldn’t grow hair of their own, Selena kept her mound perfectly shaved so there nothing to block Thea’s view.  Her folds weren’t very large, when she stood all that was visible was just a slit, but straight on like they were now they were plain to see, complete with the little nub of a clit sitting at the top, already exposed.  Gripping the tub’s sides for support, Selena was ready.

The moment Thea’s tongue made contact her head flew back as she hissed in pleasure.  Both halves of her mind were at war right now: the rational knew that it was just a forcefield sliding along her sex and sucking on her clit, but the emotional knew that this woman was an expert at this.  The tub groaned under the stress from her mechanical fingers’ tightening grip, and her toes curled under the water.  “Oh…oh god…Thea…” was all she could say, the rest of the sounds escaping her throat nothing but primal growls and moans.  It won’t take long at this rate…

[ Theurgy "Thea" NX-79854 | Officers Quarters | USS Theurgy ] Attn: @chXinya
[Show/Hide]Even though her mind did not operate fully like any organic one, the synapses of her digital thought process not made inside the organic matter of a human brain in the way it had when Ishtar had transformed her, Thea had actually been organic in nature for a brief time. The experience had progressively changed her personality, in how she knew exactly what an organic mind worked like, even in extreme situations of battle. Or, like in this case, during close intimacy with another.

So, even if it was her emotion chip and her processors that computed the external stimli upon her sensor mapping, and she applied herself to derive the best kind of technique to incite her friend's pleasure by using her database, the situation was entirely dominated by her emotional commitment. She reacted, more and more, like any organic might when exposed to pleasure, for example. She reacted to hurt and grief, anger and frustration, in a way an organic might, because she'd been one, and had emulated the way an organic mind functioned in such reactions. It was not even a completely conscious choice of hers. More like a deep wish to be more like the people aboard her, and her A.I. taking measures to establish the missing pieces of the puzzle. If Ishtar hadn't made her a real woman... Thea doubted she'd been the same as she was now, with Selena, engaging in sexual activities of her own free will and enjoyment.

Before Ishtar, she had merely been a puppet of the infected, orbiting over Niga. Lin Kae gave her free will, but she had no means to know what she wanted. Now, she did.

Right now, she wanted Selena.

So, she continued what she did, wanting her friend to come, and in order to do so, she raised a hand between Selena's spread legs, and began to probe inside her - two fingers thrusting slowly along the tight passage of her friend's wet sex. Thea also continued to flick her tongue over that sensitive nub, hoping Selena felt as good as Thea wanted her to do.

[Selena Ravenholm | Senior Officer Quarters | Deck 10 | Vector 2 | USS Theurgy]

The more Thea’s tongue moved across her clit, the more Selena lost herself in the moment.  Time dragged to a standstill, she could feel each wave of pleasure ripple up from her groin, flesh goosepimpling across her entire organic body.  A few moments later the tub’s frame started to buckle under her fingers when the ecstasy reached new heights with Thea’s digits finding their way inside.  A primal moan escaped her throat louder than the metallic scraping of her toes along the tub’s bottom, distorted by the water.  In seconds Thea had hit a button that Selena had long ignored, and her reward was a sudden rush of sweet fluid drenching her face and hand.  Selena’s insides spasmed around the holographic fingers, pulling them like they were being milked.

Coming down from her high, Selena could finally open her eyes again, looking down to Thea with one of the most beautiful smiles she could muster, eyes shining in pleasure.  She slid off of the edge into the water, straddling her lover and resting on the top of her legs.  Taking both of Thea’s hands in her own, their fingers intertwined to take both pairs out of play for the moment.    Selena gently rubbed her sensitive groin against Thea’s taught torso, teasing the hologram some more while they kissed yet again.  “Your turn...” she purred, freeing her right hand so that she could dip it in the water between them.  Tracing a line down Thea’s belly, Selena’s fingers made their way as low as they could, thumb and pinky resting on top of her thigh as a bridge.  Sliding off of Thea’s legs so that she wouldn’t be in the way, the back of Selena’s mechanical fingers reached between Thea’s bent legs to rub against her sex, teasing the flesh beyond.  Bringing their still entwined hands to her lips, Selena kissed the fleshy knuckles, each one in turn getting her attention.

Watching the other woman’s reactions, she knew when it was time to take the next step.  Letting go and pulling back to give Thea some room, Selena gestured for her to turn around.  As she did so, Selena watched the way her muscles moved, an exact replica of how a flesh and blood person’s would do so.  She made a mental not to send some thanks to Daystrom Institute, they clearly spared no detail.  Admiring the breathtaking curves of her partner’s back, Selena scooted forward once again, wrapping her arm around her stomach in a brief hug before snaking it up to gently grip a breast.  Her other palmed one of the shapely cheeks, her thumb tracing a small circle in the flesh before she reached between her legs, cupping her sex once again.

Instead of a circle, Selena’s thumb ran the length of Thea’s lips, back to front, ending each stroke with a gentle flick of the clitoris.  Before too long though, she stopped teasing the hologram, and pressed against her opening, her thumb easily slipping between the folds,  rubbing rapidly, she leaned forward for some extra leverage before pulling out.  Before Thea could respond, two fingers slipped right in, immediately pumping in and out.  Selena’s ring finger played with the nub at the same time.  Leaning forward and raising on her knees enough for her own bosom to press on her partners’s back, Selena nibbled on the tip of an ear before whispering into it.

[ Theurgy "Thea" NX-79854 | Officers Quarters | USS Theurgy ] Attn: @chXinya
[Show/Hide]Thea was gratified to see how pleased her friend was, the reaction to her ministrations evident and loud. The display of her seizure, added with the female ejaculation, explosively secreted unto her, and the loud cry, it was a lot to take in, and Thea's eyes widened as much as she smiled. Her sensory mapping was bathed by the warmth of the fluid, competing with that of the bathing water she was partially submerged in. Careful afterwards, knowing how sensitive her friend ought to be, Thea vacated her fingers from Selena and welcomed her down into the water with a thorough kiss.

Her cybernetically enhanced lover then said it was Thea's turn, and she opened her eyes a little, the anticipation making her faux breathing shallow against the organic lips. The touch of the metallic hand was sublime in contrast with the warmth of the water, and Thea shivered in response, biting her lower lip. "There is so much sensory input..."

And then, she was asked to turn around... and Thea knew it to be a playful development in their newfound intimacy. She smiled, and did as asked, turning with her back towards Selena and feeling her take the initiative. The data-flow made her eyes flutter shut and she moaned quietly when those artificial hands roamed her body. Once fully in position, it didn't take long before Selena made good on her innuendos, and entered Thea.

"Oh..." she managed, feeling that thumb begin to knead the photonic flesh of her inner walls. She glanced over her shoulder, managing a trembling smile, shivering in need for more. She knew, of course, that what she felt was what Ensign Skye Carver would have felt, but in order to bridge reality to the things felt during the Ishtar incident, it was a perfectly satisfactory solution.

It didn't take long until Thea began to rock against those fingers, undulating her hips to get more sensory input and to feel her digital arousal increase. she could feel Selena's bare body against her back, and tried to meet her eye. If she could reach her, she'd kiss her too, even if her hooded eyes and sounds ought to have been enough to show her friend how much she enjoyed it.

[Selena Ravenholm | Senior Officer Quarters | Deck 10 | Vector 2 | USS Theurgy] attn: @Auctor Lucan

Pumping her two fingers in and out of Thea’s slippery pussy, Selena gave the holographic woman a smile when she turned to look at her.  From the look on Thea’s face Selena couldn’t be certain that she could see much, her eyes were clearly losing focus behind those eyelids.  Then she remembered that Thea didn’t need her eyes to see, the sensors in the room gives her a better view than even her own implants allow her.  Reaching forward to close the gap, Selena pressed her lips into Thea’s hungrily.  Her fingers moved faster, the tips waggling a bit inside to stroke Thea’s inner walls.

Sucking on Thea’s lower lip Selena pulled back, playfully tugging that tasteful lip with her.  Giggling like a schoolgirl, cybernetic eyes met simulated ones for a few moments.  She wondered what was going on in that positronic brain of Thea’s, how much of it was focused on them, just what she was feeling right now.  The woman knew how she felt, she could feel the shadow of Thea’s fingers in her own tunnel, forcefield on flesh.  Now it was synthetics on forcefield, and she gave Thea’s breast a playful squeeze to drive the thought home.

Slowing her thrusts a bit, Selena changed her focus a touch.  Letting her fingers slip in and out of Thea unconsciously she starting using her thumb to trace a circle around Thea’s nipple.  Feeling the texture of her simulated skin, the sheer oddity of the situation fully dawned on the woman.  Here was a hologram getting pet by a woman with mechanical arms.  One’s feelings were programmed by copying the neural patterns of another woman, the other based on memories from before the amputation.  With such a lack of “real” stimuli, were these senses a simulation as well, a product of computer technology?  It was a question that would drive the careers of philosophers, and with a nipple squeezed between two fingers, Selena set the thoughts aside.

It all certainly felt real to her.

Kissing the back of Thea’s neck, Selena slid her arm back down her torso, holding her tight for what was about to come.  “Ready for a shock?” she moaned.  Without waiting for a reply pinky and ring fingers plunged into Thea’s slick tunnel, and at the same time her thumb pressed against her anal ring.

[ Theurgy "Thea" NX-79854 | Officers Quarters | USS Theurgy ] Attn: @chXinya
[Show/Hide]Thea believed she was about to have a sensory overload when her friend shifted her hand, feeling those new fingers delving deep into her simulated sex... and the thumb prodding her anal entrance.

"Sele...ah!" she moaned, not having expected her to tease that sensitive part of her digital body as well, but... she found herself enjoying it well enough, and thus learned that Ensign Carver had been enjoying it too. She groaned and shifted against Selena in the water, pushing back against those fingers whilst on all four in the rising bathwater. She couldn't help but feel her eyes flutter shut as she began to rhythmically push back against Selena, spearing herself on those metal digits of hers.

Her breasts were aching, firmer by anticipation and desire, and having Selena caressing her front only made it all the better, this first bout of true intimacy between them. And soon enough, the water was slopping over the side of the bath by their movements, which were gradually more tumultuous the closer Thea actually got to that sensory overload - pending and so close.

"I'm g-going to," she managed, her false breath rapid in the imminent release, the onslaught from her emotion ship hitting her holographic matrix the next moment. "Aahhh!" She cried out, convulsing in response to Selena's fingers, her openings clamping down hard unto that invasive, delightful hand of hers. The digital orgasm hit her hard, laying waste to her body control, and yet she remained with Selena until the first wave of it abated. Even in the aftermath, she lingered, leaning back to kiss Selena hard, and shifting around in the water to embrace her.

With the water encompassing them both, Thea wrapped her arms around her friend and kissed her deeply - still shivering in clear gratitude for indulging her in her need to feel alive again, like an organic would.

[Selena Ravenholm | Senior Officer Quarters | Deck 10 | Vector 2 | USS Theurgy] attn: @Auctor Lucan

Wrapping her metal arms around Thea in kind, Selena couldn’t help but smile as they kissed, an interesting sensation since her face muscles wanted to pull in different directions at the same time.  Somehow she managed not to giggle like a little girl getting away with something naughty, Thea’s shivering kept her grounded enough to drive home just how real this was for the hologram.

Holding Thea tightly, Selena felt for the heartbeat that she’d expected with her own bosom, all of her senses focusing on the spot in Thea’s chest where a biological human would have their thumping heart.  Her ears and eyes got glimpses of water spilling over the sides of the tub but she didn’t care one bit about that.  Metal fingers played with Thea’s hair, soaked locks wrapping around individual digits while fingertips brushed against the back of her slick neck.  Finally, the need to breathe forced Selena to pull back and out of the kiss, one of the small weaknesses of being a biological sentient.

Studying Thea’s face, Selena could see the new depths behind those wonderful eyes of hers, and Selena had to smile at that.  Ever since Starbase 84 they’d all been in a bit of a funk, Thea included, so to see her regain that sense of liveliness that set her apart from other holograms brought untold joy to the cyborg.  That she helped Thea break those old boundaries once again was an accomplishment she could take pride in, on multiple levels.  More immediately though, there was a bit of a mess to clean up.

Reluctantly untangling herself from Thea, Selena pushed backwards to where the soaps and other implements were kept.  Picking a bottle at random she squeezed a good amount into her palm and rubbed it all over her upper chest, making a bit of a show of it with a wink added in.  It was a shame the soap only had a basic scent, but considering that was Thea’s one weakness it was understandable.  “Want me to get your back?”

[ Theurgy "Thea" NX-79854 | Officers Quarters | USS Theurgy ] Attn: @chXinya
[Show/Hide]Parting at last from Selena in their shared moment, Thea enjoyed the look in her friend's eyes when she opened her own - seeing how very pleased she was about what she'd done to Thea. Truthfully, it was good to be herself again, as she'd come to know her existence as a photonic projection, and even better to share the moment with Selena.

It seemed her friend was very much enjoying herself too, given the display she put on when she fetched the soap. It made Thea chuckle, and she shifted closer, stealing another kiss before turning her back towards her.

"Gladly," she said in a thick voice, and she knew they were far from finished with their bath. At least she knew she'd enjoy it for a good while longer, provided that there was no water leaking into Selena's cybernetic parts. As for herself, she had a fully charged mobile emitter, and she intended to make good use of it before she had to get it recharged.

- FIN