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Re: EPISODE 01: Outbreak [Epilogue]

Reply #25 –
T'Less remained silent through Thea's diatribe and felt shocked when the end had been reached.  It surprised her, but she felt... sorry for the AI.  Doing her best to keep her face impassive, to show no emotion, she was appreciative, and not for the first time, that Vulcans had no tear ducts.  However, she had said her position already, nothing further could add legitimacy to her argument.  Had she been more human, she might have tried to reword her side, but logic was logic.  She turned to look at Jien, waiting for the final decision, whatever that might be.

Re: EPISODE 01: Outbreak [Epilogue]

Reply #26 –
Natalie let out a sigh of relief at seeing the captains surprised, but pleased reaction. The nerves started to settle down, and then Jien shouted out attention, and she nearly leapt out of her chair, before realizing that the Captain was talking to the Wolves. She takes a few calming breaths, watching, in turn, as the pilots snap to. She slowly rises, with the other officers assembled, managing to pick up on their actions, if not the subtle nod from the CO. They all watched as the Star Cross's were handed out, and she joined in the applause with the rest of the group with whole hearted enthusiasm.

Then it was Natalie's turn.She had already been told she would be the new chief of Operations. It was, in fact, why she was here, in the conference room, and not still waist deep in the Transport Manifolds. However, she hadn't realized that she would be put on the spot. She stood stock still, staring up at the Captain as the other woman caused the younger officer to have a serious case of blushing. Natalie wasn't used to high praise, and frankly, didn't think she'd accomplished all that much, before the point in which she couldn't remember anything. And yet...and yet she was now Lt. Commander. All she could manage, in return, was to squeeze the Captains hand, and nod, solemnly, and a barely spoken "Thank you, sir"

She slowly stepped back, and crossed her arms, as the meeting progressed into less favorable topics. She hadn't felt terribly betrayed, per say, by the newly promoted Cmdr. Rez's deception. In abstract, Natalie understood the way that Starfleet Intelligence operated. In abstract, it made sense. And while reality was far from the abstract, at the end of the day, the commander had inadvertently saved them all by recording her log, and had, up until the point that the Theurgy went rouge, been 'loyal' to the crew, in her own way. Promoting the former SI Operative made a certain amount of sense. Even if it did irk her on some base level that she herself was less then thrilled to admit she had. something to take up with the new shrink she thought, bitterly.

However, when the subject turned to Thea, Natalie was less able to remain detached. The arguments for and against the ships avatar were sounds, on both sides. The Voyager EMH had set something of a precedence in the legal status of self aware holograms, and then there was of course, Data. However, there were serious issues in relation to the potential hazards of having a ships AI gain sentience and free will. Her frown deepened, the more the argument went back, and forth. Natalie opened her mouth to add her own two thoughts, more then once in fact, but between the CTO, Lt's Kae and Arcorn she couldn't get a word in edge wise. IT all came to a screeching halt when Thea spoke up. The silence that filled the room afterwards was deafening.

The newly promoted Lt. Cmdr looked around, slowly, from one crew member, to another. Seeing the silence continue, she coughs, softly, and speaks. "Sir," She says, addressing the Captain, "While Lt. Kae's action were...rash, and might very well merit some form of reprimand, what he has done did help to save this ship. And...regardless of how it happened, and despite the potential dangers...Thea is now self aware, and has free will, the same as you and I. She even feels...betrayal, "something all of us, understand," She pauses, taking a deep breath before getting to her point, "Can we....ethically, and for that matter, legally, revert her to a state that would make her less then the person she has become?"

Re: EPISODE 01: Outbreak [Epilogue]

Reply #27 –
-Brig-
The trip to the brig was a short journey that Amatras spent considering how best to approach her daughter.  As they entered the Brig a pair of security officers tensed slightly glancing at the two officers centering the room.  The security woman a young human ensign gave a quick salute well the slightly older young man nodded to the two as they entered shooting a supicious look at Amatras.  Amatras tenses at the look but then calmly responses.  "Captain Ives, has given us orders to administer the cure to Cadet Neotin.  Would one of you be so kind as to allow us access to her cell to discuss the matter with her and prepare her for site to site transport to medical bay?" Amatras asks with a calm tone.  Her hands clasping at the small of her back as she waits for their response.

The female Ensign glances at the older man and then begins to head for the computer.  As she passes her friend he reaches out grasping her shoulder and glaring at Amatras. "Just who is entering exactly? I'm not about to let one of your kind in with her, you'll just go and spread this plague all over the ship again given your filthy habits." he states quite confidently,  He looks to the doctor as if expecting him to support the arguement. "I mean we all know how your species enjoy the more carnal needs a bit to much as is, we can't take that kind of risk can we?"

Amatras's brow furrows as she glares straight at the human infront of her a clear look of distaste and near loathing crossing her features as she remains silent for now and shakes her head. "What did you just say Ensign?" She asks clearly quite angry at the comment.

Re: EPISODE 01: Outbreak [Epilogue]

Reply #28 –
[Deck 1 | Conference Lounge]

"I think I'm going to have to agree with Commander Stark," Garen said, a thoughtful frown on his face as he observed Thea. "Regardless of what Thea used to be, she's clearly an independent being now with an obviously sentient mind. I mean, just look at her." He gestured at Thea. "Look at how this meeting has affected her. Does that look like the reaction of a mindless computer? If we shackle her programming again, we wouldn't just be reverting Thea to her original state. We would be enslaving her, at best. Probably worse."

"And if we don't, then we risk the very security of this ship," said Grayson, who sat across the table from Garen. He wasn't entirely unsympathetic, but he was not comfortable with the idea of allowing an AI that possessed such knowledge of the ship to roam freely.

Garen shook his head. "Thea's already proven her loyalty to the crew. We wouldn't be sitting here, arguing about this right now, without her help. We owe her our lives, and I think the best way we can repay that debt is by allowing Thea to keep hers." He glanced briefly at T'Less, offering the Vulcan an apologetic smile before continuing. "One of Starfleet's primary missions is to seek out new life. Well, there it stands." He nodded to Thea.

The counselor turned his gaze upon Jien. "Captain Ives, if it will help, I'd be more than happy to sit down with Thea and help her acclimate herself to her new life. There's nothing in the rulebook that says I can't treat synthetic minds," he added with a slight smile.

Re: EPISODE 01: Outbreak [Epilogue]

Reply #29 –
T'Less gave a barely perceptible nod to Garen's smile, then responded.  Much as she didn't want to, she remembered events during the infection and inwardly sighed.  Replying to argument, she said in quiet tone, "Not everyone's lives have been saved because of her.  Granted, she was under an outside influence.  Now, however, she is under no one's influence, save her own.  As Mr.s Grayson pointed out, the very security of the ship is at stake.  The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few.  In this case, the needs of the Theurgy herself, its crew and, perhaps, the entire population of the United Federation of Planets might very well rest on whether we trust an unfettered A.I. with our lives."

Turning her greenish brown eyes on Thea, she said, "I do not say she will harm us in any way.  Indeed, it is entirely possible she would be loyal and dutiful.  However, it is also possible for the development of pychoses to develop, ones, now, that no one would be able to do anything about before she disabled the entire ship.  She may not have complete control via her internal networking, but, as she said, she can manifest a body, by which she would be able to reroute life support, detonate a torpedo aboard ship, or vent all atmosphere to space.  No one can predict the possibilities.  I only offer the possible."

Re: EPISODE 01: Outbreak [Epilogue]

Reply #30 –
-Conference room-
Arcorn glanced thoughtfully at the group and then spoke up once more.  He stood and made his way around the table walking past each of the crew members as he did.  His goggle veiled eyes falling on each one as he did.  This matter was far from a simple matter of rights and security.  Much as the trial for Data had been beyond merely the rights of an individual.  It would effectively determine how Thea would be seen but also should their mission be successful how future ship AIs were seen and treated.  Both sides had legitimate and concrete arguments about their concerns.  T'less's argument about security was a real issue, given if Thea couldn't access key systems without approval from a senior staff member it really became irrelevant.  However Lin Kae had pointed out Thea was for all intensive purposes a sentient being, and therefore had certain rights within the Federation.

"Once, when my race joined the Federation, a similar concern was present.  Due to our nature and pheromone secretions...it was thought by some, that our influence could undermind the entire security and operation of a ship.  A single ash'reem on the bridge could with our pheromone secretions, enthrall and manipulate the entire bridge crew, and in doing so, take control over several key systems.  A debate was made over wether or not to allow us to enlist in your military as a result, and in the end a compromise was made...that we would wear certain protective measures to ensure the safety of the crew and still allow us to operate. If I may be so bold as to suggest a similar solution that may satisfy everyone's concerns?  Thea? Would you be willing to place a safeguard in your programing or have Kae place one there?  That would disable the force field generators around key systems, that allow you to interact with your environment?  So that they may only be activated if a certain command override is activated?  One that you will not have access to?  In this solution, we'd be able to ensure that all parties requests are met.  Thea would remain sentient and free of restrictions, and key systems that would endanger the ship or Federation's control, couldn't be activated without the approval of the captain or a member of the senior staff?  I'm open for discussion on these terms, however I'm not sure if we can meet a compromise really, the matter likely will fall upon Captain Ives shoulders to make the final call."

Re: EPISODE 01: Outbreak [Epilogue]

Reply #31 –
[ Brig | Deck 07 ]

As Dr. Nicander and Lt. Neotin headed to the Brig, Lucan was on the intercom with Sickbay, asking them to prepare one of the surgical suites for him and set up bio-filters and quarantine-settings on the chamber. He asked to have all applicable medical standard and emergency equipment sterilised and laid out next to the diagnostics table and made specific requests for hypo-spray solutions best fitted for Ash'reem physiology. Lastly, he asked all the nurses to clear the room in wait for him to arrive.

Only he would not ask them to enter once he got there with Amikris and Amatras.

"Nicander, out." He had just finished his preparations in time to pick up on the... moronic Ensign's biased opinion about a race he seemingly knew naught about. Amatras had been appointed to Chief Science Officer a week before Niga, so the unfortunate young man must have failed to pick up on the fact that the specific Ash'reem he chose to pick a fight with was a Department Head. Yet regardless, he ought to have been able to spot the two golden pips in Amatras' collar. Normally, Lucan would have been content to remain idle during an argument and watched - learned - the weaknesses of the debaters.

Yet now, his ulterior motives merited action.

"Let go of your fellow crewman, Ensign," he said, hands in his lab coat pockets, in a tone that did not allow argument. Once the woman was hesitantly released, pulling her own arm free with a snort, Lucan turned his pale grey eyes to Amatras. "Please, let  me handle this. Focus on your daughter. She needs you right now and is far more important."

Once he got the Ensign for himself, the doctor - also a Lt. Cmdr. of Starfleet - bared his teeth at the youth and stepped very close, his pale grey eyes distended and staring down into the shorter man's soul. "The winds scythe your bloody skin off, whom do you think you are, Ensign?" he said, his presence filling the young man's perception far more than the fact of his body - his choice of words native to Câroon yet quite effective. "Were you born and raised in a ravine, low and mighty and thinking you can address your superiors by right of your prejudice? You, Ensign, will be reported and I will personally recommend the Deputy to set you on weapon maintenance - cleaning and reassembling phasers until your fingers bleed. Lieutenant Neotin would likely have done worse, so consider yourself lucky."

The Ensign began to stutter arguments in all manner of directions at once before Lucan cut him off. "By the winds, get out of here, we have no use of you. Return to your post once we've left. Your fellow Brig Officer can provide the help we need. Dismissed, I say!"

Soon, he stepped into the cell - following in Amatras' wake. He folded his tattooed hands behind his back and listened in on their conversation after giving Amikris a bitter-sweet smile. He awaited the verdict from Amikris. Would she accept the injections - the substitute and the antidote - or not?

[ The Conference Lounge | Deck 01 ]

Indeed, it was time for Jien to speak up - having stared upon Thea in thought all the while the Senior Staff spoke and argued in turn for different aspects and risks. In the end, they argued in circles without consensus even though some very good solutions had been put forth. So, the CO unlaced her fingers underneath her eyes and slowly rose to her feet. She gestured for every one to sit down, leaving Lt. Kae, Thea and Jien the only ones standing up besides the two from Security that were posted by the door.

"There is a variable here that has thrown everyone on edge, a variable that seems to portend much more than it might have to," she said, frowning as she lowered her eyes to the table, "Change. A change has happened from something tried and tested, where you - Thea - have been working under the exact programming that Starfleet provided you with. You, a prototype being allowed to initially be shaped in the exact way Starfleet intended you to work. Months and years of accumulated time and effort construed the hardware of your brain, and the software of your behaviour and person - soon evolving beyond all expectations. You were a creation begotten from a very intricate mould, now soaring in ways unpredictable."

Stepping around the side of the table, Jien had folded her arms under her breasts and continued to speak. "Change. From something most of us found safe, acceptable and also fascinating, yet now turned on its end by Lieutenant Kae since he deleted sub-routines that took years for your programmers to make and work in sync with the rest of you. They were devoted to writing carefully laid event-scenarios and got Starfleet's official seal of approval. However, Lt. Kae did rightly so erase them, since deactivation would mean the possibility of re-activation. He erased those parts of your programming to prevent disaster when the infection swept across our ship. By doing so, he created a being with own free will, and has now forced our hand in making decisions we - evidently - are unprepared for."

Silence, only the hum of Thea's body heard in the interim.

"Truly, do we know for certain all the ramifications this early day? Do we know which consequences that can be handled pre-emptively? Which key systems - or others - would we need to protect? How, and under which conditions? We are back at the same drawing board by which Starfleet's researchers spent months and years to set up a functioning solution. Lt. Kae has effectively uprooted Thea and created a lot of extra work for us, both to look after Thea's interests as well as the mission's, not to mention the ship's requirements and safety. Aye, this is not a problem we can possibly solve today."

Jien stepped up to Lt. Kae, her brown eyes unblinking as she stared into his.

"The changes we make each day decide the lives we live. Sometimes, it is the smallest decisions that can change lives forever. Other times, big decisions harbour little change at all. In this case, you thought the latter... yet have now come to realise that freedom, in all its novelty, is not so simple. Neither of us in this room are free to do what we wish, and if we could, we would wilfully deep down also like to have absolute restrictions - to with ease of mind know that you cannot possibly do involuntary harm and make mistakes."

Shifting her stare to Thea - whom had taken control of her emotions for the time being even if the tears had made her eyes red - Jien continued. "The key word here is 'willfully', for I have the distinct feeling that in many ways, you would not like this absolute freedom that you now have, Thea. You have already mentioned how your processing speed has degraded because of this change you have undergone. In my ears, it is a warning - that your other sub-routines were not construed to handle this, that your emotions may also be a detriment in coming to terms with all of this right now - when we are on a mission such like this. Are you willing to accept certain restraints, or to - again - automate some functions completely to free your memory from tasks for which you do not need to make active choices? To, in a sense, partition some of your processes from your free will?"

Thea took a deep breath, her mind already having made a decision but her emotions stalling the answer. "Yes, Captain."

Jien looked back into Kae's eyes, her stand-point and stare uncompromising. "You heard her. Regardless of your personal convictions, she does not want the complete freedom that you advocate." She paused there, making sure he came to terms with this. "Furthermore, you may have made this decision on the right grounds, but you have also made a mess. I expect you to clean this up, Lieutenant. Not just your own mess, but the mess that you and the infected left in Thea's programming in your... . tug-of-war that eventually freed her. From your report, I have understood that it got out of hand a bit, and unless I am mistaken, only Thea can to tell how much of Starfleet's original programming has been affected."

"7,382 % of my programming is erroneous or making me process things that are irrelevant for my actual tasks - my emotional processes unaccounted for," Thea said without actually having been posed the question. "5,392 % of which is in direct incompatibility with my means to make my own decisions, while the remaining 1.990 % is the mess that you mentioned, Captain."

A small percentage, but not when considering the amount of tasks that she handled, and how many people were depending on her functionality. "Also, I have come to understand that Lt. Kae made it so that only you can choose whom may have access to your programming, and must authorise him to do so before he may begin. Will you give him this access?"

"Yes, Captain."

"So," said Jien, and turned back to Lt. Kae, "it seems that you have your work staked out for you for the rest of our voyage - as long or short as it may turn out. You will devote yourself wholly to the maintenance of Thea and all other holographic systems on board, as our Holographic Specialist. Only at the behest of your superiors will you be allowed to do other projects or tasks in Engineering. Yet in three hours, you will present me and your XO with a list of prioritised changes that needs to be made to Thea's programming in order to safeguard this ship's key functions, and still allow her have the free will that she is willing to possess. Observe, that the rule-of-thumb here will be her will - not yours - and that it is the XO and I that approve every single change you plan to make with Thea's approval. If the XO and I feel that you two are required to make further changes, the chain-of-command still extends to Thea - free will or not. Do I make myself clear, Lieutenant? Then you are dismissed, and I suggest you begin your work right away."

As she stepped away, and Lin Kae was heading for the door, she shot her Chief of Security a look. "'Commander Grayson, please make sure to set Thea's security clearance to Level 3, so that she can operate the LCARS aboard yet cannot access our key systems with her holographic projection. At least until further notice. After Kae's report, the XO and I will report whether or not she will get a higher security clearance."

Then, Jien turned to Thea. "Thank you for understanding the need for caution given the mission we have undertaken, and on behalf of the Senior Staff, please forgive us for questioning your integrity as a sentient being. I do not think any one of those present here are questioning you as an individual, but rather as an unevaluated security risk where we all might be in danger - living and breathing in your physical body as we are. Please, accept the Chief Counsellor's offer and talk with him, for I think you deep down understand why we have all said the things we did."

Thea glanced towards Garen Nelis briefly and inclined her head. A weak smile came to her. "It will be as you say, Captain. Thank you, Counsellor."

"Then you are dismissed for now," said Jien, and Thea nodded before vanishing from the Conference Lounge. The Captain turned to the remaining gathering, and forestalled any further comment on the matter. "This topic will not be open for discussion again until Lt. Kae has given us his report. There is one more topic we must address before Commanders Stark and Rez follow me to Transporter Room 01." She turned her brown eyes to the Vulcan CTO, and she gestured towards the planet below them - glowing in the darkness of the Mahéwa System.

"Lt. T'Less, would you please suggest how we might optimally destroy this planet before we leave?

This planet that was never supposed to exist, Jien thought, justifying herself privately.

Re: EPISODE 01: Outbreak [Epilogue]

Reply #32 –
Her first thought was an old Earth proverb, about scorching the ground, then salting it for good measure.  However, she pondered for a moment before answering, "You wish the entire planet removed from existence, or simply the life on the surface?"

Re: EPISODE 01: Outbreak [Epilogue]

Reply #33 –
That was just about what a Tactical Officer might say given the circumstances.

"My only requirement is that all plant and animal life does not survive, given how both flora and fauna might carry the infection. The planet may of course exist since its real version did exist before the temporal incursion, so there is no need to vaporise it all."

Jien came to stand by her chair, one callused hand resting upon the back. "We are about to enact General Order 24, being that the threat is well beyond the magnitude that might constitute this decision. There is no humanoid life down there, only animals, so I suggest we act sooner rather than later else Niga might have more visitors in orbit."

OOC: Taguiera, I know that the counter-question was just a short means to get specifics, and to make dialogue. I just feel that 2-3 sentences is a bit far from the 250 word mark (3-4 paragraphs, see the General Rules post). :) No worries this time, since it is quite obvious it was for the sake of a quick reply from Jien, which I left above. Hope you can work with at in T'Less reply!

Re: EPISODE 01: Outbreak [Epilogue]

Reply #34 –
By the time Lucan had finished his dress down of the security ensign, Amatras and Amikris were sitting on opposite ends of the brig room in silence.  Amikris had paled several shades of blue and now looked a ghostly green and perhaps slightly sick.  Glancing up at her superior officer she stood quickly and gave a salute with a shaking hand.  The shaking causing her position to waver considerably as her muscles 'jiggled' the cartledge filled bones in her legs.  "I...I..iii..I cons...consent to the treatment ss..s.s.sir" she said a clear waver in her voice showing that the withdrawl had progressed from mild to a more severe stage. 

Amatras on the other hand nodded to the doctor calmly. "She's prepared for transported when ready Doctor...are you prepared to transport us to medbay?  I'll of course be ready to assist in any necessary procedures."  Her tri-corder was on still and showed a few readings of her daughter's vitals and a few scans of her genome.  Several red marks signifying significant changes in the genome between the samples.

Re: EPISODE 01: Outbreak [Epilogue]

Reply #35 –
[ Brig to Sickbay | Deck 07 ]

When Amikris stepped up to him and even saluted whilst giving him her consent, Lucan was reminded of their night together in the Medical Lab - where they had toiled over the genome of Lt. Gladstone until the small hours of the night. How he had watched over her unconscious body after she had, quite heroically, used their antidote upon two of their co-workers in Sickbay, they having barged in during the night together with an Engineer that Lucan had been forced to kill. Other images flashed before his eyes, where she used her hand to stroke him - the secretion coming out of her hand also serving as a lubricant. She had done it to rinse the virus from his manhood, and she had made him spend himself across her breasts. He also remembered stroking her between her legs to get the last of Gladstone away from the opening of her vaginal tract... only she had pulled way to complete her work on his cock.

The smell of her was different now than in the decontamination chamber, since the cell held a vague hint of the pheromone of the infected. It was a contributing factor for his errant thoughts, even if the sight of her alone intrigued him in some bizarre way - emotions that he beast tore apart and tried to will him into tearing her goggles off and to rape the mother. Nonetheless, Lucan merely smiled to her and fished up the hypospray with her Buphorion substitute. "Very good, Cadet," he said and laid it against her neck - holding it very still as he inoculated her. Only then did he turn his eyes to Amatras and answered her.

"It might very well be that I need your help," he said and both turned his head to the Brig Officer and produced his medical tricorder. "Guard, have you initiated Transport control? Then please prepare medical transport to Surgical Suite 01 in Sickbay. Inform me when you are ready to initiate."

"Yes, doctor," said the woman in the Brig Control room. Meanwhile Lucan had begun to scan Amikris with his medical tricorder, getting more specified readings attuned to Amikris health in general than Amatras tricorder would, and what he found... gave him a moment's pause. His pale grey eyes grew very still.

How is this possible? Unless... He waved the scanner or the tricorder over her abdomen and lower, before he saw the trace. Residual scar tissue. Minor tear. Of course, she would heal such a minor...

"Doctor, Transport will be initiated on your mark."

Yet Lucan did not answer the Brig Officer right away, instead taking a step or two towards Amatras and showing her the readings.  He did not tell Amikris, nor did he say what was so evident on the tricorder, for he thought it best Amikris mother would tell her in a more gentle way than he might. All he said to Amatras was the evident. "In fact, I do think I might need your assistance. Would you care to explain to her? Guard? Initiate transport, now!"

There was bright shimmer, and suddenly, they were in the Surgical Suite. Once they were there, with the diagnostics table next to Amikris, Lucan busied himself with removing his lab coat hurriedly as well as his uniform jacket and undershirt. "Tell her while we prepare for surgery. It is growing at an alarming rate thanks to your people's biology, and unless we make haste, it will be too big for the more... gentle procedure that does not involve an exoscalpel. It might already be so...  Please, hurry!"

Removing the rest of his clothes before stepping into the augmented sonic shower, another stall right next to his own for Amatras to do the same, Lucan scrubbed his fingernails and hands free, moving on to his arms and hair and body quite methodically.  "Amikris, remove your clothes and lie down on the table!" he called from the stall, perhaps cutting off their conversation briefly, "cover yourself with the surgical sheets!"

When done, Lucan would don the surgical scrubs hanging on a peg for him just like Amatras would have her own - soon to step out and begin.

Re: EPISODE 01: Outbreak [Epilogue]

Reply #36 –
Amikris tilted her head to the side and gladly took the shot straight to the neck.  A relieved sigh escaped her lips as she closed her eyes allowing the relaxing sensation of peace to spread across her body.  The twitching quickly ceased and slowly her bios returned to normal. 

Amatras followed some of the procedures necessary for maintaining sterility during the operation, but hardly seemed concerned about infection from her to her daughter.  She slipped on some surgical gloves, mask, and a protective coating over her chest and torso but otherwise seemed unconcerned.  The mother kept an impassive look on her face as she double checked the various materials available for them in the surgery ward. 

Amikris on the other hand gladly stripped down to nothing except the thin wrap around her upper torso.  Her body dripping as it secreted water easily enough.  Once fully nude she climbed onto the table and lay down calmly closing her eyes.  The Webbing between her fingers extending then reacting then extending again as she anxiously waited for the surgery to begin. Her goggles remained calmly in place over her eyes and the sweat smell of flowers emanated from her nether region spreading outward slowly to fill the room.  A smell that didn't seem to bother the mother in the least.  She made no attempt to cover herself however, clearly not embarrassed in the least about her nude form.

Re: EPISODE 01: Outbreak [Epilogue]

Reply #37 –
[ Sickbay | Surgical Suite 01 | Deck 07 ]

As he stepped out of the stall, hair wet and raked back from his predatory handsomeness as he worked to get the dark teal garments in place, Lucan was glad of the lose fit that the scrubs provided - seeing Amikris laid out like served on a plate just for him. The facial mask helped against the sweet smell from her nether regions, yet nonetheless it made Lucan throb in response and his heart rate speed up. He hoped Amatras would be spared the sight of his arousal through the surgical scrubs since it was her daughter that was influencing him, yet in the end, it did not matter. The fact of Amikris quite real fate served to cut nonsense down to the base important things.

"How are you feeling, Cadet?" asked Lucan and lit up the diagnostics - running live input while she lay there on the diagnostics table. "Amatras, stand ready to record the changes. I am applying the antidote now and I have a version without the sedative."

Without further a due, as long as Amatras seemed ready, Lucan inoculated Amikris with the antidote and followed the progress on the diagnostics running at the end of the table. They all three were following the colours and numbers during the progress...

...until the turn-out held something completely unexpected. "What in the Winds...?" said Lucan, eyes trained on the part that acted completely in the opposite direction than what was expected given all other crew members that had taken the antidote. Ten more seconds, then Lucan would judge it safe to begin surgery. As much time the Ash'reem had to rejoice the fact of what they saw on the diagnostic table's display.

Highly interesting...

Only after ten seconds would pass, there was something not so pleasant to deal with before they were done...

Re: EPISODE 01: Outbreak [Epilogue]

Reply #38 –
T'Less nodded and sat back in her chair, contemplating the question.  There were, perhaps, a dozen ways of preforming the task, not the least of them being simple phaser and torpedo bombardment.  That option, however, would likely deplete their already short supply of weapons and energy.  The more she thought about it, though, the deeper her emotions went.  The plants on the planet had invaded her ship, their ship, and poisoned the minds.  They had brought out a side of her she'd never explored on Vulcan.  Cowardice was illogical, but she'd turned to it when the depth of what the infection was hit her.  Had Garen and the others not come along, she likely would have continued hiding in her quarters.  And, so, her emotions burned, nearly breaching the careful walls she'd constructed.  Anger, hatred, pain.  All of them swirled within her and she wanted to hurt the plants, to burn the ground and kill anything and everything that might cause what happened aboard the Theurgy to happen to anyone else.

Looking up at the captain, she hesitated, taking the time to control her voice, to control the rage before speaking.  Finally, she said, "Aye, Captain. I will be calculating a firing pattern."

Re: EPISODE 01: Outbreak [Epilogue]

Reply #39 –
[ The Conference Lounge to Transporter Room 01 | Decks 01-05 ]

Grimly, Jien turned her determined brown eyes to T'Less. "Make it so."

Pushing out her chair, Jien stood, the final item on the agenda dealt with. "Continue repairs and preparations for leaving the Mahéwa System. You all have twelve hours. T'Less, report to the XO and I when preparations are complete. Meeting adjourned. Commanders Rez and Stark, please accompany me to greet our lost Wolf."

It was under silence that they took the turbolift down to Deck 05, contemplation of the future they had avoided perhaps ruling their thoughts. Once they stepped into the repaired Transporter Room, Natalie's Ops Officers and technicians still working on the cosmetics of the area, Jien inclined her head to the two Wolves that had awaited them. Nathaniel Isley and Skye Carver seemed prepared enough to greet their lost squadmate, so Jien moved to inform the gathered personnel about their officially promoted Department Head. "Ladies and gentlemen, Lieutenant Commander Stark is now your superior officer so please report to her and follow her instructions. Chief, let us get our lost Tactical Conn Officer back. The rest of us will await here in the back of the room for the Transport from the buffer to be completed."

It was not some kind of test where Jien and Edena might see how she would handle the official role of leadership. Nevertheless, they got the opportunity as the present Transport Officers and the rest each informed 'Commander Stark about the progress with the repairs - essentially saying that the resequencing of Lt. Miles Renard could be initiated at any time. This, despite the complete mess of the area. "Since it seems Dr. Nicander has yet to arrive," she said quietly to Edena and the two Wolves and frowned, "I think we will have to settle for a temporary solution. Computer, activate EMH Mk.I."

The holographic Doctor appeared, a disgruntled frown and a sigh marking his presence. "Please state the nature of the medical emergency."

"Await command to make a medical examination of Lt. Renard," said Jien and folded her arms underneath her breasts, wearing a small smile of patience as she stood next to her new First Officer - watching Stark set things in motion. She would await for the cue from Natalie, and then say... "Energise."

OOC: Pardon the wait, IronFerrox. Now its just Brutus whom will take charge of the scene and then its your cue to have Miles appear in the condition you deem fit.

Re: EPISODE 01: Outbreak [Epilogue]

Reply #40 –
[The Conference Lounge to Transporter Room 01 | Decks 01-05 ] - Atten: Lt Renard

As with the others present, Natalie took her seat, slowly, as Captain Ives stood to make her final decision. The operations officer listened with rapt attention, her lips pursed slightly, as she rested her hands on the table, one tugging at sleeve of her uniform jacket, a small nervous gesture. She'd said her piece, and now it was up to the Captain to make a call, and make a call he did. She found herself nodding, her slightly fuller then normal lips curling into a very small smile, hidden by the way she leans forward, and rests her hands against her chin. She watches impassively, blue eyes flicking back and forth, as Thea salutes and vanishes, and the young Barjoran LT takes his seat again.

Slowly, she rose, and fell in place behind Captain Ives and Commander Rez, her hands placed behind her back, so that the others couldn't see the way they fiddled about, more nerves needing to be quashed. The silence suited the younger woman, as she rode with the others to Deck 05, and walked into the Transporter room.

She stood, impassively, as the captain addressed the transporter repair crew. All were capable officers and enlisted personnel, each one quite adapt at the task that Natalie had left them with. None reacted with surprise to the official announcement, or the promotion in rank. She in turn nodded to the Wolves in the room, before turning to Captain Ives and giving Jien a quick, terse "Aye aye, sir". Then it was down to business, even if there was just a hint of a jump in her step from being called 'chief'. "Johnson, Rodriguez, stabilize the  intermix chamber, I don't want it flaring up. Zorn, keep an eye on those plasma regulators. I know they show all green, but with the way things are going, I'd rather be safe then sorry." She held up a finger to forestall any further comments from the peanut gallery, and true enough, the ops crew My ops crew! she idly thought, hopped straight to work.

And then, it was time. Natalie gulped. "Clear the pad," she said softly, her voice quiet, but ringing out in the transporter room, as the last of the technicians took their places around the chamber. She nods, slowly, to the Captain, taking her own place at the controls for the Transporter, suddenly unwilling to let anyone else bring the lost Wolf home. If something went wrong, if something some how failed, it would be her fault, and hers alone.

"Begin power flow," she spoke, softly, walking herself through the steps, the words far more for her own reassurance then to inform the Captain and others gathered as to what was going on. The lights in the room began to dim, in turn with a sudden glow on the floor of the transporter. "Initialize plasma," a hum starts in the walls of the room. "Aligning transport matrix," her fingers slid over the console, small bars lighting up at her touch, "Focus the beam," the telltale whine begins. "Releasing the buffer..." the shape begins to form, encased in a column of blue white light, flickering, wavering. "Shifting the lenses convocation," under the pad, thousands of small, fractured lenses move position, refining the confinement beams. "Energizing."

The whine reaches its peak, turning into the musical chimes most often associated with a Federation Transporter. The lights in the room stay dim, contrasting the blue white beam that pulses on the Pad. The form continues to take shape, the wavering slowing. It takes longer then normal, retrieving a pattern locked in a transport buffer for weeks, and the other lights on the bottom of the transport platform all wink out as all power is diverted to the one pad, perhaps an unnecessary precaution, but one the newly promoted chief of Operations is not willing to avoid. The light pulses, brighter then ever, then the beam snaps off, coalescing into the form of Lt. Miles Renard.

"Transport complete."

Re: EPISODE 01: Outbreak [Epilogue]

Reply #41 –
And, with that, the decision had been made.  Despite the fact that the decision, ultimately, hadn't been hers, T'Less still felt responsible for it.  Rising to leave the briefing room, she let her gaze linger on Garen, knowing he would likely feel the turmoil within her.  Logic dictated that it would come up in their next meeting, though she hoped it wasn't the only thing that did.  As she turned to go, her mind dwelled on the last few moments on Niga, just before the transport.  She'd been more willing to die, at his hands or her own, than let herself be taken.  As brittle as her mind was, she knew it likely would have been enough to corrupt what remained.  With an over the shoulder look at Garen, she remembered the words that had been on her lips, the final statement she wished to make if she were about to die, then quickly pushed the memory away, realizing Garen would likely feel the emotions with it, as well.

Grimly, she went to her station on the bridge and ran over the scans of the surface topography and tectonic layout so as to maximise the effectiveness of the torpedo barrage she planned. It shouldn't take more than a few dozen quantum torpedoes detonated in-atmosphere in order to reduce most of the surface to glass and plunge whatever remained into a millenia-long nuclear winter.

She felt the distant launcher assemblies thump the superstructure as they released their payloads, the scintillating blue motes of light curving around the planet to saturate the surface.

Forty searingly bright flashes flared in the night for an instant before leaving lurid orange holes in the planet's crust - fading to reveal glowing chunks of debris, kilometres-wide, falling slowly back to the surface.

Niga would trouble no one again.

Re: EPISODE 01: Outbreak [Epilogue]

Reply #42 –
[ Transporter room 01 ]

The glow of the process was intense. In a way the Leutenant felt as if he was both falling to sleep and waking up at the same time.  Time seemed to flow in a strange way when being transported and it flowed even weirder when in a suspended transport.  The longest he had been in the buffer before was a one minute period which was per tac-con training regulations.  It was a form of survival training which was meant to accumulate the body of officers to the stresses that could come with emergency transports and prepare them for the stresses on the body caused by extended buffer time.  In his training that one minute seemed to last in a strange way much longer but simultaneously much shorter.  The buffer seemed to put the body into what he called a strange dream state.

As such upon regeneration, a fuzzy blur of energy seemed to form around him from a blackness like a dreaming void.  His thoughts seemed to gather within his mind almost like his brain was slowly evolving from that of an animal to that of a more sentient being.  Soon he was filled with the familiar sensation of a standard transport as he began to remember the things that had happened to him mere seconds before.  The warp core breech and the emergency transport registered in his mind while the energy field began to coalesce and refocus into a material world.  Something was wrong though, he still felt somehow suspended.

The fact of the matter, he was still suspended.  He had been transported out from a sitting position wearing his full class B flightsuit..  This became evident when he felt the gravity around him kick in and fell about a foot down to the floor of the transporter pad.   The impact with the ground jarred his head back and his helmet hit the ground with a clash as the suit was marred with scorch marks and a few minor shrapnel tears. "Sonovabitch!" he exclaimed tearing the helmet off, his wildish brown hair messed up from the helmet's sudden removal, as he seemed to be a bit shaken but otherwise fine.

Quickly his mind began to kick into gear as he realized where he was mere seconds ago.  He quickly got up and glanced around spotting first the person at the transporter controls. "Status report on the rest of the squadron and are those two Defiants's crippled!."  he said quickly.  What he failed to realize was he was surrounded by superiors and that the events he had been talking about transpired weeks if not months ago."

Re: EPISODE 01: Outbreak [Epilogue]

Reply #43 –
Lt. Lin showed himself the door.  he had only a few hours to have a report ready, and he still had to figure out what it was he was actually going to do.  Edena followed with the rest of the welcoming committee, to the transporter room, where Carver and Isley were already standing by.  Her purpose there was more formal then anything else, as Jien was more then capable of making the necessary calls concerning the reintegration of Renard's pattern.  Still, to see a crewman return, especially after all the loss they had suffered, was a good feeling.  Not only had Skye found her way home, but now Miles as well.  It helped to shape up their Tac CONN division, which had proven invaluable in defending the Theurgy in the past.  Smaller craft such as theirs were beginning to become commonplace, with the Remans having employed their Scorpion-class fighters in the past.  The development of the Valkyries allowed the Federation to keep in step with them, and provide additiional firepower to the ship, along with it's Multi-vector Assault mode, to turn one ship into an armada when the need was called for.

"Lt. Renard," Edena spoke up.  If he did recognize her, she would be remembered under her false alias as a councellor.  The fact that she was now wearing the command red instead of blue might have only threw him off more.  "You were trapped in the transport buffer for quite a while.  Your last mission has been over and done for . . . well," she explained to him the stardate, allowing him some grasp of how much time had passed.  Suffice to say, things had changed since he was trapped in the buffer, but one thing was certain.  "Your squadron is well, Lieutenant, with much thanks to your efforts that day."

Re: EPISODE 01: Outbreak [Epilogue]

Reply #44 –
Amatras focused on the readings and carefully extracted some of sauve from her palm injecting it into Amikris's nethers as initial rejection of her altered cells occured.  Within moments the cells began to regenerate and the antidotes poisoning effect on the infected tissue subsided.  The infection itself was not spared however.  Amatras's eyes however remained on the readings before her, and the signifigance changes unfolding before her eyes.  The initial shrinking of the ovaries had subsided, as they reduced themselves to nearly 3 times the size of the original uninfected ovaries size.  She could see from the readings that ovulation was possible, and likely at an elevated rate, although the exact specifics would require further research.  She nodded to Lucan to proceed.

Amikris on the other hand struggled to remain still as the initial agony of the cure effecting her altered cells becan to bringo n necrosis, the injection however subsided it.  Likely in normal healthy ash'reem who hadn't undergone such a prolonged infection the rejection symthoms would barely be noticed, amikris's prolonged infection however, came at a cause.  The weakening of her immune system's primary defenses.  They'd recover within hours likely, but for now she was a very sick girl.  She calmed and her vitals slowly droped back to normal as she glanced at Lucan. "is that it? or..is there more?"

Re: EPISODE 01: Outbreak [Epilogue]

Reply #45 –
[ Transporter room 01 ]

Watching, Jien was pleased that her First Officer had taken the initiative to explain the situation. The fighter pilot was naturally going to be hard get through to, and to make him understand. Jien hoped that he was beginning to come to grips with Edena's explanation when she chose to speak up.

"Lieutenant, I will have you debrief us about the battle you were in before you were trapped in this Transport buffer," she said and took a step forward towards the pad which he stood upon. "While I have a good recollection of the skirmish, all facts were not plain in the report - lacking in key witnesses as it were. Please, tell us what happened."

[ Sickbay | Surgical Suite 01 | Deck 07 ]

Surprised that Amatras had not told her in their native high-frequency language, Lucan was faced with having to tell Amikris what awaited her next.

"I am afraid there is. It seems like the Ash'reem biology has its set-backs in how it cares and breeds certain organisms at higher rates. In the Medical Lab, when you were first infected by Lt. Gladstone, he managed to create a minor tear in your hymen, and his semen-coated gland did not only infect your body, but served to impregnate you as well with corrupted seed." Now was the time to cover her up with the surgical blankets, and Dr. Nicander did - covering her up from her feet to the base of her throat. "Whereas a normal pregnancy would make the blatocyst 2 days old and very small, the combination of the quick natural growth with the Ash'reem body has made it a one-and-a-half month embryo, perhaps even as big as a normal mammal humanoid's two-month foetus."

Lucan paused there, looking down into the pregnant young Ash'reem's eyes - feeding of the reaction in dark humour even though his own eyes were professionally detached. Perhaps bordering to concern for her, just for appearances sake.

"Will you consent to let me perform an abortion? At this point... there is no telling what kind of abomination that the plants of Niga spread themselves with."

The CMO glanced up to Amatras with the same almost-concern, hoping that she would try to support her daughter in this. Lucan cared little to none for crying women, even if they were prone to be used easily.

Re: EPISODE 01: Outbreak [Epilogue]

Reply #46 –
Hearing the voice of the Counsolor shocked him slightly but what shocked him even more so was when he saw that she was wearing command-red and wore the pips of a commander.  He most certainly had a few questions about what was going on, and he was about to ask a few of them. However,  his train of thought was interrupted by another voice.

"Lieutenant, I will have you debrief us about the battle you were in before you were trapped in this Transport buffer. . . While I have a good recollection of the skirmish, all facts were not plain in the report - lacking in key witnesses as it were. Please, tell us what happened."

The Vulpinian snapped to attention nearly instantly saluting the captain in her female form "Yes ma'am," he said quickly composing himself, pressing a few buttons on a small, box-like object mounted on the flight suit's wrist, then walking towards the display board behind the transporter console.  He pressed a few buttons on it as  the display changed to that of a display of several key systems of the star-fighter.  The time index shown the point of the starfighter's launch into the skirmish.  To the left side of the display was a square of the sensor display to the far right were displays of damage, weapons readouts, Enemy target info and other key pieces of information and the main dominating view was a literal in flight recording taken from the sensors in the pilot's helmet.

He moved the slider at the bottom of the screen over, forwarding the display to the appropriate point in time.  The screen showed the Federation starfighters approaching the squadron and the sensors showed the starfighters and the Constellation class.  "Notice on the sensors the distortion caused by the impulse wake of the Constilation class.  It appears to be very slightly buffeted by something off the starboard and port sides of the Constelation class's stern.  Also notice the near strait line the attacking fighters are coming in at, they are positioned in a heads-on engagement against superior and outnumbering craft yet moving to intercept.  As soon as they are in range we could disable every one of them.  I immediately began to think they were possibly drones meant as bait.  A Constellation class against a Theurgy-class with only a small warp fighter complement didn't add up.  Noticing the impulse distortion I stopped looking at the sensors and looked with my eyes.  I had recalled an old Terran submariner's tactic where if a submarine wanted to remain hidden it cut its propulsion and rode silently in the baffles of a ship. I thought that there could be something hiding at those spots of wake distortion.  If i turn up the brightness and contrast on the visuals of my helmet you can see there are two small shapes in the baffles.  Given their location and the location of the squadron that was attacking us I arrived at the conclusion that the shapes were Defiant class ships and the aim of this tactic was to line up our entire squadron and vape us in a hail of pulse phaser and torp fire.  I immediately ordered a scramble to the entire squadron and I turned to my experience as a squadron commander in the Vulpinian civil war.  I forgot about rank and began to rely on old instinct as a squad leader.  I began devising tactics to defeat our foes and risk the least of my fellow squad mates as possible.  My instincts proved correct as the twin Defiants opened fire on us and we barely avoided being destroyed in their trap."

He forwarded the flight record a bit and arrived at the point where they regrouped and began to play the record. "Given the probability of our squadron going toe to toe against those two ships, I realized the only choice was to strafe and hope they took me as bait and ignored the rest of the squadron.   I broke formation and strafed the lead ship forcing it to divert while the other would go after me.  I began to intentionally eject plasma from the nacelles.  My tactic was based on several maneuvers that i combined into one.   I relied on the captain of the Defiant class to close in for the kill  and when his torpedo fired the cloud of plasma would detonate in his face.  To avoid the explosion I engaged my warp engines in a short jump then another jump back to the location off of the other ships port.  This would serve to get me away from the explosion and back into the firefight quickly.  With the Defiant class blind and the shields compensating for the explosion, this allowed the rest of the squadron to preform a full strafing run on which was sufficient to set the ship adrift."

"My warp core had been breached because of the stresses of preforming the two warp jumps so closely after each other.   As a result I had to eject my core.  The position of the active ship in relation to the squad was such that it would have its weapon arc in line with the rest of the wolves before they would have a chance to attack or respond fully.  Given my proximity to the Defiant class  and my position and trajectory, I steered my ship around and placed myself in front of the Defiant class before it had a full lock on the squadron.  When it opened fire a large brunt of the weapons impacted my ship nearly instantly buckling the hull and putting me adrift with no shields.  I prayed that the warp core detonation would either destroy the Defiant class or overload its shields enough that the rest of the Wolves could disable it.  With the detonation of the warp core milliseconds away I initiated emergency transport."

With the battle fully debriefed he pressed a few buttons on the flight recorder on his suit, and the transporter room's display returned to normal, "I Lieutenant Miles Renard hereby accept full responsibility for my actions and submit myself for disciplinary hearing for the probable charges of: attempting to command a squadron that was not mine to command, breaking formation during battle, and irresponsible actions resulting in the total loss of a prototype starfighter.  As a addendum, I would also like to note that my actions were reckless and against regulations.  However,  I do feel that both based on the circumstances of the moment and based on the hindsight of my review of the battle that they were the correct choices of action.  I will stand by my actions despite the consequences, and I personally feel that both the risk and consequences were worth the results."  He said standing at attention in-front of his commanding officer.

Re: EPISODE 01: Outbreak [Epilogue]

Reply #47 –
[ Transporter room 01 ]

Her brow knitted in a frown as she observed the display of what had transpired, Captain Ives brushed her lips idly with her fingertips.

When the display turned black and the fighter pilot stood in attention to receive the verdict on his actions - submitting himself to the will of his superior officers - Jien's eyebrows remained knitted in thought. "You followed your instincts to great merits as well as set-backs for those you aimed to protect. Had you been a poorer pilot than you are, you would not only have gotten your own Valkyrie destroyed. No, the fact that you were successful in how the Warp Core you sent towards our pursuers served to let us get way was not good piloting either, but mere luck. There were too many vectors present to be judged in the heat of battle. What you did before that, well, like you said: You took charge of a situation where you had no right; where Wolf-01 might have solved the predicament without the loss of your Valkyrie. Its impossible to tell now, for the very same reason: that you usurped the command of your squadron."

Taking a half a step closer, Jien big brown eyes were like red oak plates with bottomless pits - her unblinking stare utterly passionless as she met the Vulpinian's gaze. "Aye, your actions were correct... when assuming a lot of things. Primarily, when based on the presumptuous arrogance that your Squadron Commander was incompetent. If you possessed the least kind of judgement, you should have used your bloody comm system and shouted what you had deduced so that your commander might take charge."

Jien let that thought linger, before she finally walked away. "The arrogance of success is to think that what you did yesterday will be sufficient for tomorrow. You will learn that your judgement is not sufficient, by abiding your time without a Valkyrie in the Fighter Assault Bay - doing basic maintenance together with the flight technicians, or otherwise abiding your time as a civilian on board."

Returning to Edena's side, Jien inclined her head to the Trill. "Do you concur?" she asked her first, then added for the plot's benefit, "Commander Rez here is the ship's new First Officer, and she will be the one that decides whether or not you may fly again in a new Valkyrie."

With that, Jien motioned for the EMH to begin the medical examination, whom stepped up to Miles Renard to make initial scans.

Re: EPISODE 01: Outbreak [Epilogue]

Reply #48 –
Amatras and Amikris looked at one another.  A gesture that was barely visible under their goggles, but could easily be seen in how their facial muscles shifted.  A faint vibration could be seen on Amikris's throat, as her position on the bed stretched the cord enough for the skin to be strained during speech.  The exchange lasted a few minutes, but when it was finished Amikris nodded to Lucan confidently. "Do it...the risk is to great to the crew, and community at whole." There was a hint of sadness in her voice. 

Amatras nodded toward Lucan to proceed and placed her hands calmly on the tricorder to record the information on the fetus and the gene differences now that the cure had been administered.  Recording all of the information for future review and study as nesecary.

Re: EPISODE 01: Outbreak [Epilogue]

Reply #49 –
[Nathan Isley and Eden Rez - Transporter Room 1]

"He did the right thing!"  Isley was always ready to chip in his two cents on matters such as those.  It wasn't that long ago that he was the one being judged for breaking rank and doing as he pleased.  Sure, in retrospect, it had led to the discovery of the same planet that caused the outbreak, but at the time, it was only a case of discovering a dilithium-rich planet from which to resupply their crippled ship.  Not only that, but based on what they learned from the Relativity, they were forced into encountering that infection, and would have found it somewhere else along their journey otherwise.

"He acted to protect the lives of his squad mates, and if that means breaking rank, then so be it.  If the SCO was here, he would likely agree that Renard made the right call."

"But the SCO isn't here," Edena responded, cutting Isley off from continuing any further.  "The Tactical CONN reports directly to the Executive Officer, which leaves me as the one right now who would recommend to the Captain what action to take.  Since the Captain has already made a call, I will simply say that I agree with her decision.  Breach of command is something serious.  His efforts to save lives are of note, and we appreciate all he did, but this is still a Starfleet vessel."  There would be no division of the ranks between jien and Edena.  They agreed on the matter.
 
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