Star Trek: Theurgy

Day 30 [1625 hrs.] Technical Difficulties

May 10, 2020, 03:53:52 AM

TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES
STARDATE 57632.21
APRIL 9, 2381
1625 HRS.

[ Avi | Holodeck 8 | Deck 21 | Vector 03 | USS Theurgy] Attn: @Jmjs7125

So. Holodeck training. Hm.

Had been avoidin' it, truth be told. Not 'cause he didn't like a gunfight -- what, him? Give 'im a phaser an' let's have some fun, mate -- but more 'cause... Was like, what's the point? Ain't real phaser fire, weren't really gonna die if he fucked it up, so like, why bother? Might as well just let 'em shoot him an' get it over with.

Plus. Weren't like he ain't seen plenty'a folks get in too deep with that shit. Holo shit. Addiction an' that. An' afore you know it, don't know up from down, real from dreamin'. Seen it often enough, 's easily done. No thanks.

But whatever. 'Pparently holo trainin' was how all the cool kids were doin' it these days, 'specially on the Theurgy, an' alright, fair enough. Give it a go, at least. See what all the damn fuss was about.

Took a decent while t'even find a proper program. Way too many of 'em in there, ten different ones just for aim drills, like, you havin' a laugh? Eventually managed t'find somethin' vaguely fun-lookin', plugged it in, had a looksee.

Found hisself in some simulated jungle, standin' with a couple'a other Starfleeters, gettin' talked at by some important bloke givin' exposition. Hardly listened. Blah blah, do a bunch of shit, reach the extraction point, who cares? All fake anyways. Just let him shoot somethin' already.

Got his wish soon enough. Talkin' over, they get let loose, handed a phaser rifle each an' told t'go sneak up on some encampment just up ahead, rescue some folks or somethin'. Avi creepin' up through the undergrowth, gettin' bits of tree an' all sorts all in his hair, down his trousers, fuckin' brilliant. Gets to a rise, lookin' down into a sorta valley-ish bit, an'-- they're all fuckin' Klingons, aren't they? Christmas. Course it's gotta be Klingons.

Count about five of 'em, millin' about some military tent things. Folks needin' rescuin' gotta be in one of them? Sure. Who cares. Fake people, fake enemies, fake jungle. Whatever.

Might as well start shootin'.

Got decent aim from this range, at least. Manage t'pop two of them Klingons afore any'a their mates even twigged somethin' was goin' on. An' then it starts gettin' messy.

Other Starfleeters, the fake ones, start runnin' in like they're bloody insane, got a death wish. Avi's fine watchin' 'em get mowed down, frankly -- not real people, their fault for bein' programmed t'be stupid -- but after the third one gets shot to death in front'a him the program gives him a bloody fail state, restarts the whole fuckin' mission. Christmas. Alright. Fine. Gotta keep the idiots alive. Whatever.

So there he was, second time lucky or whatever, runnin' into a camp full'a Klingons just 'cause some stupid program wanted him t'save the lives of some dumb idiot fake stupid people. Fucksake.

Only managed t'down one of the bad guys this time -- had tried t'shoot the other one, 'cept his phaser ain't done nothin' until a full five seconds after he pulled the trigger, so no clue what fuckin' went on there. Whatever, meant there was four of 'em still up. Got some shots off at one of 'em, afore divin' into cover behind some tree thing, leanin' round now an' again t'do some more shootin'. Bloody brilliant. Hated mid-range fightin'. Absolute worst.

Time to relocate. Spotted another bit of cover further off, better angle, give him more space. Legged it halfway there when somethin' fuckin' weird happened. Whole world jittered, flickered, kinda stuttered, an' then spat him back to the tree he'd been behind, like his whole fuckin' run was for nothin'. What? He havin' a stroke?

Re: Day 30 [1625 hrs] Technical Difficulties

Reply #1 – May 10, 2020, 04:47:31 AM

[ Morgan Song | Holodeck 8 | Deck 21 | Vector 03 | USS Theurgy] Attn: @fiendfall

Morgan hummed quietly to himself as he rode the turbolift to Deck 21 alone. It was technically his off-hours, but he had been receiving complaints all day about glitches on Holodeck 8 and decided to get it fixed today. There was no point in waiting till tomorrow if he had the free time now. Besides, knowing his luck, if he put it off it would come back to bite him in the ass. They would probably get slammed or something and then he would really be drowning in complaints from the crew.

He checked the P.A.D.D. he had been given and read over the reported issues again. Malfunctioning holo-emitters, programs freezing and unfreezing randomly, even a few cases of programs running on their own with no one there. The last one seemed a bit odd. It almost reminded him of all the old stories he heard about holo-characters coming alive and trying to take over ships or attack the people inside. He shuddered at the thought, but quickly shook his head and tried to think of something else. There was no point in getting worked up over something that was probably just some misaligned relays or someone forgetting to do monthly maintenance.

He arrived at deck 21 and quickly made his way to the holodeck. Despite his decision to work over-time, he was in a bit of a hurry. He was almost finished with a new novel. If he hurried he might be able to finish it tonight. As he reached the holodeck he started to check the diagnostic logs. Several malfunctions had been registered so far today, but from what he could tell it would only take some simple tune-ups to fix. He checked a few key systems while he was there before preparing to go inside, and noticed that a program was already in progress. Surely it was another malfunction. He would just have to go inside and shut it down manually.

As soon as he entered the holodeck he saw a beam of light headed straight for him. He jumped out of the way just in time to see a flash of phaser fire pass the spot his face had previously occupied, before hitting a holodeck character and killing them on the spot.

Re: Day 30 [1625 hrs] Technical Difficulties

Reply #2 – May 16, 2020, 07:03:13 PM

[ Avi | Holodeck 8 | Deck 21 | Vector 03 | USS Theurgy] Attn: @Jmjs7125

Reached the tree eventually, peekin' round t'see what was goin' on -- had t'keep them three Fleeters alive or start over again. Some bloke t'his left, cowerin' behind a Klingon vehicle; some lass on the other side, takin' pot shots from behind a bunch of crates or somethin'. Where was the third? Shit.

Cast around lookin', found the fella a few feet away behind him, steppin' up to get some shots off. No, idiot, leave that shit t'Avi, don't go failin' him just 'cause you wanna be stupid.

An' then a whole bunch of weird shit went down. One second one of them Klingons was firin' at this dumbass hero wannabe over here, next second there were two of 'em. No wait, that was someone different, but also still what the fuck? Who the fuck? Where'd he come from?

This program was glitchy as anythin', Christmas.

New bloke narrowly avoided gettin' turned into livin' toast; old bloke behind him weren't so lucky. Did... Did that count as a death? Technically still had three folks to protect...

'Oi!' he yelled over at the newcomer. 'Get behind somethin' afore you get shot t'death, dipshit!'

Was only then he realised the newcomer was, like, different. Not wearin' combat gear, for starters. Not armed neither by the looks of him. What, holodeck spittin' characters from other programs in now? Or had he just wandered in off the street?

Oh. Yeah. That could be it.

Whichever it was, kid clearly not in the right fuckin' place, an' if Avi'd gotta keep him alive too or fail again... Fucksake.

Waited for a gap in the fire, then made a move. Started dashin' across t'join the kid at his cover, only the whole thing jerked again, spittin' him across the distance in short bursts afore makin' him run on the spot for no bloody reason. Somehow he made it across, no worse for wear except maybe more pissed off.

'Hey, Tallboy,' he called as he arrived, slammin' into cover beside the kid an' pushin' a hand phaser at him. 'Take this. Know how to use it?' Squinted at him all confused-like. Enlisted. Goldshirt. Sec? He a holo or nah? Right good-lookin' an' all. Nice 'f he was real.

'You sure you got the right room, kid?'

Re: Day 30 [1625 hrs] Technical Difficulties

Reply #3 – May 17, 2020, 06:58:09 AM

[ Morgan Song | Holodeck 8 | Deck 21 | Vector 03 | USS Theurgy] Attn: @fiendfall

Morgan just stood there frozen, staring at the dead holo-character before him. He probably would have stayed there if the sound of someone yelling hadn't snapped him out of it. He quickly followed the voice's instructions and ducked behind the nearest tree. Holy Shit, that was close. Dipshit was a fairly accurate description of him just then, standing there like a moron waiting to be shot. He was in a battle zone, holographic or not.

Now that he was temporarily out of harm's way, he was able to take in more of his surroundings. He was in a forest of some kind, a jungle, if the heat was any indication. His best guess to the type of program was some kind of training. That, or someone had a very fucked up idea of fun. He could hear shouting in the background from what he presumed was simulated Starfleet officers and... Klingons. He felt every hair on his body prick up as if someone had walked over his grave. Of course it was Klingons. He couldn't just get off duty and go back to his quarters to read. No, he had to sign up for some random repair work and wander into an actively malfunctioning program full of angry Klingons.

He caught a glimpse of the holo-character again, this time seeing the large phaser wound that covered their entire neck. He shuddered at how real it looked. He supposed a training program would aim for as much realism as possible, but christ, they didn't have to make it so gross. The photonic corpse beside him was not helping the situation and was starting to give him the creeps.  "Computer, delete the character closest to my position." The character disappeared like a cloud of mist followed by the familiar beep of recognition from the computer.

He kind of wondered what the program would do if he actually had been hit by the phaser blast. Would it project a realistic wound and use some concentrated photons to give him a little zap, or would it simply end the program and restart? If he could get it to pause and restart, just for a moment, it might give him more time to get over to the maintenance panel on the other side of the holodeck. Wait, what would happen if he was hit? If his theory about the cause of the malfunction was right, safety protocols were one of the systems that could be affected by the malfunctions.

He didn't even have time to panic before he heard the same voice from before shout "Tall Boy", this time closer. Someone slid down beside him and thrust a hand phaser into his lap. "Know how to use it?" Morgan gave a small nod as he clutched the phaser closer to him. This wouldn't hurt to have, just in case. The man beside him was clearly a participant in the battle, with his Starfleet-issued tactical gear and type 2 phaser.  At least he was a helpful hologram.

"Computer, pause program." The same beep as before rang throughout the holodeck, but this time nothing happened, and phaser fire could still be heard in the background. "Computer, please pause program!" he yelled, as if sounding more anxious would somehow make it work. Nearly everything around him froze for just a fraction of a second before it fizzled and continued as before. Great! This was just perfect. He was stuck in the holo-program from hell with the maintenance panel over 10 meters away on the other side of an infinite battle zone packed with Klingons. Why couldn't he just have waited till tomorrow?

Re: Day 30 [1625 hrs] Technical Difficulties

Reply #4 – May 17, 2020, 06:00:27 PM

[ Avi | Holodeck 8 | Deck 21 | Vector 03 | USS Theurgy] Attn: @Jmjs7125

Tallboy Stickman weren't stupid enough t'just stand in the open an' get shot, thankfully. Bloke had dived into cover when Avi yelled, stopped hisself from gettin' offed half a second after joinin' the damn fight. Had seemed out of it, though.

Now they was both on the ground, cowerin' beind some tree thing. Kid'd taken the phaser at least; that was somethin'. Even nodded at Avi's question -- alright, nice, could maybe shoot straight an' all. Good enough.

Still weren't sure whether the kid was just the program glitchin' to fuck or what, until Tallboy went an' spoke t'the computer. 'Cause no, holos shouldn't be able to do that. So this bloke real then?

Computer ignored him an' all.

Kid didn't take it well. Looked peaky, t'be honest, looked like he was one close call away from losin' his shit. Not used t'bein' under fire, or maybe too used to it, either way he weren't happy.

Disruptor fire streakin' overhead sure weren't helpin' neither.

'Whole thing's glitched to buggery,' Avi said, tryna calm the fella down. Was getting awful worked up over it, clearly didn't wanna be in here. Then why the fuck was he in here? Wrong turn? Weren't like it was easy t'just end up in a holodeck like 'oopsie, thought this was the shitter.' Nah.

Ah. Goldshirt. 'Course.

'You here to fix whatever's goin' on with this program?' he asked. Bloody impressive response time. He'd not even known there was somethin' fucky goin' on until about a minute ago. Unless it'd been doin' this all day, a'course, an' Avi just ain't known 'cause he's a fuckin' idiot dickhead.

Somethin' exploded to their left, close enough t'feel the heatwave, sendin' Avi duckin' an' tryna cover Tallboy best he could. Lookin' back over, could see the burnt-out remains of that Klingon vehicle one of them holos had been hidin' behind. No sign of the bloke. He make it out?

Shit. Couldn't go protectin' them holos and this kid too, only so many damn places he could be. Program wouldn't pause, neither, couldn't get the kid out, end it an' come back again later, whichever.

Worryin' thought came t'him. 'Just how messed up is this thing?' Lookin' at the kid all sideways. 'We in any trouble?'

'Cause yeah, usually gettin' hit in a holo ain't nothin', shake that off easy. But he weren't exactly an expert or nothin'. Could it hurt you, if it got fucked up enough? An' him with a real person t'look after now an' all. Christmas.

Leant out from behind the tree, lookin' t'check if anyone was comin' into 'em. Some Klingon bloke too close for comfort, went t'get some shots off; weapon took a full three fuckin' seconds t'register he'd asked it to fire dammit, but got there eventually. Ducked back into cover t'hide from the returning fire.

Fuck. Had all gone sideways real bloody fast.

'Okay, kid,' he said, tryna be all calm an' rational or whatever. Kid had come here t'fix it, right? So let him fix it. 'What do you need?' Had been a bodyguard for over a year, in the day. Might as well put that t'use now.

Re: Day 30 [1625 hrs] Technical Difficulties

Reply #5 – May 19, 2020, 05:40:41 AM

[ Morgan Song | Holodeck 8 | Deck 21 | Vector 03 | USS Theurgy] Attn: @fiendfall

‘Glitched to Buggery’ was an understatement. There were dozens of different reported issues, and twice as many potential ones. It was only a matter of time before the entire holodeck would fail to recognize commands and become pure chaos. Morgan couldn't help but imagine all the horrible ways that that could go wrong. He barely registered that the man beside him was talking to him.

He clearly wasn’t a hologram if he was aware of the malfunctions. He must have entered the Holodeck before engineering had asked security to section it off for repairs. They would have seen the same thing Morgan did, a program that seemed to be running by itself, all of them unaware that someone really was inside.

He was a bit more aware when the man spoke to him again. “Yeah, I’m here to try and figure out what's causing the systems failures.” He reached for his repair kit, but his hand only found leaves and dirt. He sat up a bit and quickly scanned the area around him. He was certain it had come into the Holodeck with him, so I had to be here somewhere.

He had just begun to try and crawl around to look for it when something a few meters to the left of them exploded. Morgan scrunched close to the ground, and was a bit surprised that the man beside him did his best to provide him additional cover. Whoever he was, this clearly wasn’t his first time under fire. This is good. If he's going to be stuck in here, at least he’s with someone with combat experience.

“There is a chance that the safety protocols could go offline, but there's no evidence that it’s happened yet. Either way, better safe than dead.” Morgan responded as he slowly sat up.

“First, we have to find my repair kit. It looks kind of like a med kit, but it's a little bigger. It was with me when I came in but I must have dropped it when I ducked for cover.” They would really be in trouble if they couldn't find his tools.

Re: Day 30 [1625 hrs] Technical Difficulties

Reply #6 – May 28, 2020, 09:52:55 PM

[ Avi | Holodeck 8 | Deck 21 | Vector 03 | USS Theurgy] Attn: @Jmjs7125

Okay, good, kid was here t'fix whatever was goin' wild with this here system. Hopefully weren't gonna leave 'em stuck like this for ever or nothin'. An' 'pparently it weren't even dangerous or nothin', so that's a bonus too.

Or at least, prob'ly weren't dangerous. Had t'agree with the kid: no point puttin' that to the test.

Goldshirt was movin' around the undergrowth, lookin' for somethin'. Froze up when that there explosion went off. Poor lad didn't seem comfortable with all the combat shit, even though it weren't real. Was like a rabbit in the headlights, 'cept a rabbit what was taller'n most people what weren't Klingons.

'Pparently was lookin' for some kinda repair kit. Okay. Could work with that.

Phaser fire streaked overhead. Shouts behind him, someone gettin' in a fight. Peeked out t'see one of them folks he was meant t'be protecting cowerin' behind some crate, pinned down by fire, two Klingons startin' t'come in onto him. Ah mate, you're a fuckin' dead man.

'Cept-- shit. 'F he failed an' this whole thing reset, it'd be a bugger of a dickpain to try an' find that repair kit again. Christmas. Shit was never easy, huh?

'Okay,' he said. 'You popped in kinda over there, right?' Waved towards the spot the kid had materialised in. 'Can't be far. I'll cover you.'

Raised the rifle t'his shoulder, aimin' at one of them lads startin' to head off that other bloke. Be a distraction, if nothin' else. For once the holo didn't even fight him, let him actually fuckin' shoot when he asked it to an' all. Got some rounds off, gettin' one of them Klingons square in the chest -- not all that impressive considerin' his chest was wide as Avi twice over, but y'know, he'd take it.

Enough t'take the heat off that other lad at least.

Ducked back into cover, lookin' for Tallboy Goldshirt, tryna make his way over without takin' phaser fire to the gob.

'How's it lookin' mate?'

Re: Day 30 [1625 hrs] Technical Difficulties

Reply #7 – June 03, 2020, 05:36:56 PM

[ Morgan Song | Holodeck 8 | Deck 21 | Vector 03 | USS Theurgy] Attn: @fiendfall

As the man beside him fired at the Klingons, Morgan began crawling back towards the area he came in. Without being able to call the arch, it was anybody’s guess to where the kit could be. He looked like a mad man scrambling around on the ground running his hands through every bush and pile of leaves in sight.

“So far no luck!” he called back in between phaser fire.

He tried to recall the last time he had the case. He remembers entering the holodeck, and immediately having to avoid phaser-fire. The shot hit a holodeck character and then he took cover behind the tree. He must have dropped it when he took cover, but where? He tried to concentrate harder. It wasn’t beside the tree he hid behind, and it wasn't where he thought he had been standing. This would be so much easier if there were some kind of landmark he could remember… wait! The corpse. He looked around for a moment before he realized that he had removed it.

He knew it would be a risk to try and re-enter something into the program, but finding the repair kit was the only option of getting out of here. “Computer, return deceased holodeck character”. There was a flicker and a vaguely human-shaped silhouette appeared on the forest floor. Just beside the shape was his kit. Perfect! Morgan quickly grabbed it and did his best to crawl back towards the other man.

Just as he reached the tree he heard a Klingon battle cry, and then another. Two Klingons materialized alongside the others. He felt the color drain from his face as the familiar voice of the computer spoke “All recently deceased holodeck characters have been restored.”

Shit.

Re: Day 30 [1625 hrs] Technical Difficulties

Reply #8 – June 17, 2020, 03:57:38 PM

[ Avi | Holodeck 8 | Deck 21 | Vector 03 | USS Theurgy ] Attn: @Jmjs7125

Kid headed off, hands an' knees; Avi tryna cover the bloke best he could, stop them other folks from gettin' blown up or nothin' too. Altogether too many fuckin' people to keep track of, Christmas. Barely even knew whether he was comin' or goin', let alone no one else.

Holo froze again halfway through him unloadin' into some Klingon, fucksake, jitterin' all over. One second he was defendin' that last Fleeter, next second that Fleeter was glitching through the fuckin' floor, dead as. That was it, mission failed, all Fleeters dead. 'Cept they didn't reset. One more friendly left t'keep alive: Tallboy.

Doin' his best t'fuck them Klingons off, keep 'em at bay, but they weren't havin' none of it. Was gonna be on 'em in a bit, an' it weren't gonna be a long bit neither.

'We about to have company mate,' called to Tallboy. Warnin' more than anythin' else, even though the bloke still had Avi's hand phaser, didn't seem like the kid was gonna be no help in fightin' or nothin'.

An' then they had a lot more fuckin' company than he'd expected. Where the fuck-- Tallboy caught with his fuckin' pants down, out in the middle'a nowhere, bloody--

Fuck it. Made a fuckin' dash over, duckin' phaser fire. Couldn't get hit an' go resetting, that's be a bloody nightmare. Throwin' hisself down behind some fallen log, pullin' Tallboy in with him. Managed t'whack his elbow against some tree bit as he went, real inconvenient, fucksake.

Right. Safe for now. Ish.

Peeked over t'see where them other Klingons were. Okay, fuck that's close, not that safe then.

'Gonna need a hand with this one, mate,' said to the kid. 'You still got that phaser? Good t'use it?' Gave the kid a quick primer: 'That's the settin', yeah, put your fingers round like-- no not like that, like-- yeah, you got it. Happy? Point an' shoot, ain't nothin' to it.'

Either of 'em gettin' shot wouldn't kill 'em, but it would reset the whole damn thing, an' who knew what a glitchy holo resettin' over an' over would look like. Prob'ly a bad trip.

Klingons advancin'. Three of 'em, not the worst, 'cept they was fuckin' Klingons, an' Avi got no clue 'f Tallboy could shoot straight. Could very well be fucked here.

'Alright kid. We get through this an' we can go fix whatever it is you need, yeah? Just don't get shot or nothin' first.'

---

With many apologies for the delay!

Re: Day 30 [1625 hrs] Technical Difficulties

Reply #9 – June 17, 2020, 11:57:01 PM

[ Morgan Song | Holodeck 8 | Deck 21 | Vector 03 | USS Theurgy] Attn: @fiendfall

Damnit Morgan, He mentally berated himself.You should have specified. Now they had even more Klingons to try and deal with, and he still had no clue where the control panel was. He tried to remember the schematics of Holodeck 8, but he couldn't tell if the image in his brain was 8 or any of the others. They all had slightly different layouts based on their size and where they were on the ship.

He watched as the other man did his best to keep the Klingons at bay, but it was clear this situation was meant for more than one person to handle. The man ducked and made his way to the tree he was taking cover behind. He followed his gaze as he looked to make sure they were safe, and shuddered when he realized how close the Klingons were getting.

The man explained that Morgan would have to pitch in if they were going to get out of here. He felt his shoulders tense. It had been a while since he had fired a phaser, especially accurately. Luckily he got a quick refresher lesson, a lesson that made it painfully clear he was out of his depth. But he knew the man was right, they would both have to keep the Klingons at bay in order to be able to make the repairs.

He psyched himself up a bit as they prepared to move. He could do this. All he had to do was get to the panel. Easy enough. At least he hoped so. “I'm ready as I’ll ever be.” He said.

Re: Day 30 [1625 hrs] Technical Difficulties

Reply #10 – July 01, 2020, 09:49:37 PM

[ Avi ] Attn: @Jmjs7125

Weren't gonna pretend it was an ideal situation, clearly fuckin' weren't, was gettin' mighty hairy actually, but y'know, whatever, might as well get fighty about it. Old Tallboy over here didn't exactly fill him with confidence or nothin', clearly a fish outta water, an' a nervy one t'boot. Kid took the phaser though, weren't an active danger with it, so. Good enough. Would have t'be.

An' besides, weren't no time t'go tryin' for better.

One of 'em back-to-life buggers spotted Avi, announcin' his intentions with a roar, comin' over full tilt, bat'leth in hand. Bloody inconvenient weapon; nightmare t'fight up close, an' weren't like they got much room 'cept 'up close'. Shit.

Scramblin' to his feet, givin' Tallboy a shout t'let him know they got incomin', hopin' the bloke gets out the way afore he's turned into a fuckin' kebab. An' then Mr Knifey Klingonface got all Avi's attention from there on out.

Managed t'hit the bloke once on the way in, 'cept he just shook it off with another roar, armour doin' work for him there. Went for another shot but the fuckin' program froze again didn't it, fuckin' yeeted Avi twenty feet in the bloody air afore warpin' him back down t'the ground, just in time t'narrowly avoid gettin' fuckin' shanked. Bloody brilliant.

Danced out the way quick as you like, tryna put ground between him an' Fuckoff Big Knifeman. Only had his sodding rifle, didn't he? Fucked for close quarters. Weren't much ground t'be had, truth be. Castin' around t'try an' see how Goldshirt was doin' whenever he had a breather -- which was like, once, but y'know -- checkin' the kid weren't about t'be murdered or nothin'. Better not. Would be a right old dickpain.

Caught off guard, got punched in the back'a the head. Fuckin' really?

'Give us a bloody second mate,' said t'Knifeface. Bloke responded with a sweep of his bat'leth, Avi only just blockin' it with his shitty useless rifle. 'You good?' callin' out over his shoulder to Tallboy.

Re: Day 30 [1625 hrs] Technical Difficulties

Reply #11 – July 09, 2020, 04:09:12 PM

[ Morgan Song | Holodeck 8 | Deck 21 | Vector 03 | USS Theurgy] Attn: @fiendfall

As soon as Morgan realized that they had been spotted, his instinct was to freeze. It seemed his fight or flight response seemed to be just as broken as the holodeck. Luckily the other man shouted at him, otherwise, he would have stayed that way. He ducked and quickly crawled off to the side so he was out of harm's way long enough to get to his feet.

He seemed to be fine for the time being, until the program glitched. When it stopped he was face to face with one of the Klingons, who looked just as shocked and surprised as Morgan did. Before he could even think he fired the phaser wildly. The blasts went every which way, and he kept firing until he hit a branch and sent it crashing to the ground. He managed to hit the Klingon at least once out of the several shots, and probably some poor holodeck animal too.

He had hit him square in the side of the neck. The warrior stood there for a moment and began glitching in and out of the program, a new version of the wound Morgan had inflicted appearing somewhere else each time. This went on for several seconds until the Klingon dropped dead, his body flickering on the ground.

At least he seemed to have an equal chance of being helped or screwed over by the glitches. He heard the other man —he really should be asking his name, it feels strange not knowing who he was with— call out to check on him. “Uhmm, yeah, I think so.” He shouted back.

- FIN