Close Encounters... (Part 1)

Posted on Fri Aug 19th, 2022 @ 9:12pm by Ship's A.I. Lyta & Commanding Officer Maralen Seitha & Engineering Consultant Nevarre of Kryll & Chief Security/Tactical Officer Sarah Dominie & Science Specialist Eos Tolján & Assistant Chief Medical Officer Leonardo 'Leo' Giordano M.D. & A.I. Specialist Jaime Treva

Mission: What Lies In The Darkness
Location: Sector Post XR-46, Level 29
Timeline: 248001.01 15:00

Last Time On FarVoyager...

The team headed out, moving around the bend and to the Lift as cautiously as they had moved up to that point. Once there, Maralen touched the call pad. From somewhere far below them, a grinding sound could be heard, followed by the odd whispers once more. Then silence reigned once more, broken only by the shorting circuitry and the team's breathing.

"Sshrral..." Maralen muttered to himself. "Apparently, we are climbing down," he told the team. Motioning to a pair of the security officers to guard, he and another pried the doors open far enough for the man to poke his head in and look around. The man retreated and nodded.

"Okay, folks, same routine," Maralen told them as he stepped aside to allow the security personnel to precede him into the shaft.

The frown on Eos's face deepened as the security team filed into the shaft. She struggled to control her breathing, to maintain her usual unreadable facade. The longer she was on the station the worse she felt. It was as if she had become tuned to the disharmony of the energy around her. The song, the vibrations were off, tuneless and thrummed through her being painfully.

The team entered the shaft and began the long trek down three levels...

And Now The Contnuation...

As they climbed down the shaft, Maralen was channeling all of his training into the Cool Efficiency. Soon, this shaft would become too much for him unless he shifted to the Cold Precision, but he did not really want to go to that. Every time he did, it was harder to pull himself out of it. But it was better if he did not focus on that now.

Lyta did not really have to literally climb down the ladder, but she was doing so. She looked up at the security team before her then down to those beneath her on the ladder. Her eyes caught Maralen's, and she saw something in their depths. She said nothing, though, leaving the captain with his dignity, at least for now.

Jaime climbed down the shaft as if it was second nature. Being closed in didn't bother her in the least. But she was feeling impatient, her mind on the damage she had seen so far, and after coming across the damaged A.I., she hoped even more that the station wouldn't have to be destroyed; it wasn't looking good.

Eos wasn't technically claustrophobic but in this moment with the feeling of wrongness she had been picking up since they had arrived in this sector, it was hard not to feel closed in. Suffocated. Like oxygen was sucked out of a room.

She started to giggle and then stopped and cleared her throat. Ignoring any looks she received and climbed into the shaft, it was no more suffocating than anywhere else. She just wanted to get this done.

Leo watched the unusual woman with a more profound concern. A moment ago, she seemed like she was struggling, and now this. Wasting no more time, he climbed in after her, carefully keeping pace as he followed her down.

Maralen was starting to think that these three decks would never end. His calm was starting to fray at the edges. But then he saw the doors they needed. Ahead of him, the Security team saw them too and were forcing them open even as the others closed on them. He saw the team exit the shaft into the corridor, and he had to resist the urge to rush out behind them. Instead, he forced himself to remain where he was until one of them poked their head back in and motioned that it was clear.

Still exercising restraint, he slowly exited into the corridor and cast his gaze about. Nothing immediately threatening presented itself, so he motioned for the others to come out as well. Lyta exited behind him, and both moved off to either side of the doors to the shaft so that the rest could join them in the corridor. Once they had, he turned to Jaime. "Which way now?" She had the map.

Around them, this corridor was less thrashed than the one they'd been in three decks above, but there was still damage. Panels sparked; light fixtures flickered; and there was a smell of burning circuitry that he thought he might never get out of his nose.

Sarah stood in front with two of her personnel. She checked her wrist mounted scanner, "both ways clear as far as I can tell from anything new. Standard caution." Before going silent to let Jamie answer the main question.

Jaime had taken a quick moment to take in their surroundings before looking at the map, and while she wasn't a damage specialist, she knew enough to make an assessment. Looking forward to when she could be more hands-on and focus on it, she pointed the way, "This way, Sir."

The team started off in the direction Jaime had indicated, and Maralen found himself watching every corner of the place. Vigilance always, he could hear the mantra in his head in the voice of the Executive as he walked. The First Lesson.

LOCATION: Sector Post XR-46, Command Center, Level 29
TIME: Concurrent

"They're almost here!"

She was starting to panic again, and Nevarre reminded himself that she was not well. Turning the hoverchair that had become his constant companion since the first attack on the station, he hovered it toward her, gently touching her arm to get her attention turned on him rather than on what was currently frightening her. When she looked at him, he spoke softly, gently. "We went over this, Siyrena," he told her gently, calmly. "These are not the enemy."

"How can you be sure, Nevarre?" she asked, her tone less panicked but still unsettled.

The truth was that he couldn't, not completely. But he had to keep her calm, so he smiled. "Because we already spoke to them. Remember?"

She paused, and her eyes glazed over for a moment. As she calmed, she did remember speaking to them in the corridor. They had said they wanted to help. She had decided to believe them then, so she looked back at Nevarre. "Yes... but... do you think they can help?"

This time, the fear was for a different reason, and Nevarre sympathized. In these lucid moments, she knew that she wasn't right, and she feared what might happen if she couldn't be repaired. He couldn't blame her. In her place, he might feel the same. "I don't know, but we must let them try."

After a moment's pause, she nodded.

LOCATION: Sector Post XR-46, Coorridor, Level 29
TIME: Concurrent

They were nearing the destination. The instrument Jaime had began to chirp to alert them to the presence of life forms nearby. Maralen moved forward to stand beside his Security Chief. "I don't want to look like an invading army," he whispered quietly to her. "You, myself, Lyta, Jaime, and one of your guards will enter. The rest will remain out here. Agreed?" He didn't need her approval, but she was his chief of security, so he wanted her opinion on the situation and his plan.

Sarah looked thoughtful for a moment then nodded, turning to the other guards. "Monitor from here." What the senior man, who had worked with Sarah enough to know, heard was the rest of the unspoken order. 'If we get into trouble, invade'. nodded and took up a defensive position. The others following suit. Sarah took point with their littler group and the other guard moved to one side in support. "Ready when you are Sir." She said to the Captain.

Maralen looked at the rest of the team he had named. When he was sure they were ready, he nodded to Sarah, a silent order to proceed. As they entered the room, it was clear that this part of the station had not fared any better than any other. Above their heads, a screeching sound broke the silence, and Maralen stepped aside as a small piece of the ceiling broke away and fell to the deck. In that moment, he was grateful for the Realm's lesson of Vigilance always.

Across the room, the AI they had met earlier stood. Her expression was somewhere between panic and clarity. Behind her, seated in a hover chair, a man spoke softly to her. Thanks to the files the Builders had provided, Lyta was able to translate the hybrid language used on these stations for the team. Quietly, she spoke to her team. "He is telling her that it's all right, and she can tend to other matters. He will handle us."

The AI spoke, and Lyta continued. "She is asking if he is certain."

The man spoke again, and Lyta translated. "He's assuring her that he is."

The hologram looked at them once more. This time, her expression was a mixture of fear and protectiveness. Then she looked at the man once more and vanished. He moved the chair forward to stop just in front of the group. When he spoke this time, it was in pure Builder. "I'm sorry for Siyrena's state. As you can see, the station has taken much damage, and she is part of the station." He glanced over the group. "I am Nevarre of Kryll. You said you were here to help?"

Maralen stepped forward. Having studied the same files as Lyta had, he had learned the language as he had many before it. "Yes, I am Maralen Seitha of the FarVoyager. This," he indicated Lyta, "is the AI of my ship, Lyta. This," he indicated Sarah and her guard, "is Sarah Dominie, our Chief of Security and one of her men. And this," he indicated Jaime, "is Jaime Treva, our Chief Operations Officer and AI Specialist. We will assist you in any way we can, though I'm not sure there is much we can do for the station itself."

Nevarre looked at each of the people as they were identified. It made sense that this mn-er-feline would bring security. It also stood to reason that he had more than those who were in the room. He nodded, then his expression saddened at Maralen's last words. "Yes, the station itself is damaged beyond even my ability to repair it," he lamented.

Sarah nodded when introduced and as they talked moved to the side as her partner took the other. They remained alert but not aggressive. The ones out in the hall running scans and ensuring up to date information was making it to Sarah's and the others mini comps, as they stayed alert keeping the exit clear.

Maralen frowned thoughtfully. "You were the engineer here, then?"

Nevarre barked out a short laugh. "I wasn't supposed to stay here. I was assigned here to get the station online. But right after that, we received word that a plague had been ravaging some of our stations. Our commander quarantined this station so that it wouldn't get on board. Then the ships came, black as the void and unmarked. They tore the station apart." He shivered as he remembered it. "The commander ordered the abandon, trying to save the crew. I... stayed behind because I had built some surprises into the station that I intended to activate. As you can see by the state of the station, that didn't happen."

Maralen's frown deepened, but that vanished in the next second, replaced by his ever-present Calm Efficiency. Whatever he might feel about this situation would have to wait until his next meditation. Right now, he needed to focus on what could be done for this man and, hopefully, the AI. He nodded silently as he pondered.

Listening to Nevarre, Jaime frowned. Although she hadn't been able to examine anything hands-on, her readings had so far confirmed what he'd stated about the station. But still. "Sir, I understand you know this station well, but you've also been here on your own. Surrounded by all the damage, and while dealing with hostiles too, is a lot on one person. Maybe, with some help, there is still a chance. So, I'd like to see your damage reports and AI Systems. Would that be alright?"

Nevarre studied the young woman for a moment. He had done all that he could, but maybe with a pair of eyes that had not been staring at the same problems for Cycles, she might see something he missed. He could hope, right? "Of course. Sometimes those from outside see something we on the inside miss." He chuckled, but the sound had no real humor. He was so abysmally tired. "Come with me." He then hovered past them and toward the door.

Jaime had felt sympathy for the man as he spoke. She could only imagine being in the situation he had been in and hoped she never would. Having Nodded back to him, she followed.

Nevarre exited the room, sensing the others following behind him. As he did, he had to stop his chair suddenly. He had turned to the right just after exiting and had nearly run into someone. Fortunately for them, his chair did stop on a dime, figuratively. Looking up, he offered the person an apologetic expression. "Apologies. I didn't realize you were there." He had not hit the person, but he still felt the need to apologize.

Eos inhaled sharply when Nevarre looked up and she could fully see his face. She didn't recognize him. Not in the typical sense a person recognizes another. But his presence seemed familiar but she had no memories to draw on and with the way she was already feeling. She simply gave a shake of her head and stepped away.

When their eyes met, Nevarre froze for a moment. He knew her! But how could she be here? Maybe it wasn't her but someone who looked like her. No, his mind reasoned in response to that thought. The sense of her is the same. Well, not the same, he realized. Something was wrong, but he couldn't tell what just now. His mind was working on several problems at once, and he couldn't focus properly on her. So he decided to leave this for later and focus on the task at hand.

Hovering his chair around the lady who reminded him so much of someone he had known long ago, he continued down the corridor, dodging effortlessly around obstacles. Coming to a console that looked patched and repatched together, he keyed in a sequence. "Please, all of you, stand close." When they did, he translocated them to another room in the station.

Normally, such a process was smooth and barely felt by those being translocated, but he had cannibalized other, less important systems to get that translocator terminal functioning just to get him back to the Control Room. So it had come with a buzzy tingling sensation. "I'm sorry for the 'bumpy' ride," he apologized as he hovered toward one of the nearby consoles. "That sensation will pass."

Bringing up the damage reports and schematics of the station, he motioned for Jaime to come up beside him. "Miss Treva, from here, you can view both the schematics of the station and the damage reports. I have translated them into Excelsian for you." Being an older race, the Excelsians had had contact with the Tri-Alliance long ago when the Tri-Alliance had built the Sector Post for Sector XR-14. Thus, the language was in this Sector Post's database of languages.

Jaime smiled, pleased at that. "I appreciate it, thank you," she said, her eyes already going over the information. "Lyta, please join me," she said back to the FarVoyager's AI, who was also her friend.

Lyta moved from where she had been standing silently beside Maralen, coming to stand beside Jaime as requested. "Yes, Jaime?" she asked softly. She really did like Jaime and appreciated the woman's way of treating her like a person rather than a piece of the ship.

"Please look these over with me," Jaime answered. Although Jaime was good in operations, an A.I. Specialist, she wasn't a full engineer and certainly not one as skilled as she figured Nevarre to be. "If there's a way we can save this station, we need to find it... At the least, we need to save Siyrena." In Jaime's eyes, the A.I. was far more irreplaceable.

Lyta nodded. She, too, wanted to save Siyrena if they could. She began to look through the schematics carefully with Jaime, focusing mostly on the A.I. systems. "It looks as though she is integrated with every system on the station," Lyta pointed out. "No wonder she's in the state she's in. But unless we can disconnect her from all of those systems, I'm not sure how we can move her. Some of those systems have been all but destroyed." Her tone showed sadness. "Unless you see something I missed?"

Sarah, like all good security, fell into the background. Still in the lead, scanning et al but so quiet it could be easy to take their presence for granted. Security fanned out and monitored the area. Then she skimmed the readouts now being shown. She didn't get everything, it wasn't her specialty, but she was not sure how they were going to fix this. She bent her head to her wrist-mounted computer to make sure their way out was still secure, focusing on what she did know.

Of course, not thrilled about the lingering buzzy tingling sensation from the translocator, Leo had run a scanner over himself and a few others quickly to ensure they were all okay. Wanting to know why Nevarre was in a hoverchair, Leo also continued to keep his eyes on Eos, concerned that there was just something wrong and that she shouldn't be there.

Maralen did not miss the scan, and his whiskers twitched. His ears perked forward as he whispered to the medical officer. "Is there something wrong, Doctor?"

Leo shook his head. "As far as the translocation, no, Sir," he replied, just as quietly. "But I am concerned about our science officer. She seems..." he paused, "off as if she's disturbed about something. When I asked her about it, she wouldn't answer."

Maralen nodded; his expression had returned to its normal Calm. "Understood. Keep an eye on her for now."

Over at the console, Jaime slowly nodded before she replied to Lyta, "We don't have any choice." She was sad about the situation and had to look over at her. "I agree with Nevarre that the damage to the station is too extensive. There's nothing we can do to save it. So, Siyrena's only chance is to be completely disconnected from it."

Lyta froze for a second, then stood facing Jaime. She knew this woman, knew that she was kind and valued Lyta's kind as much as any other. And yet, the idea that she had just voiced had made Lyta cringe and then become defensive of the poor AI. "You're suggesting that we can only save her core program," she clarified. Her tone was harder than she intended, though not any louder than it had been before. "That's like cutting your brain out of your body and putting it in a jar," she protested with a small shiver.

Lyta's reaction left Jaime speechless for a moment. She hadn't been expecting it, but this situation was a first. At least for them, it was. "I'm sorry, Lyta. I wish there were some other way to save her, a better way. Because if there were, I would take it without hesitation."

Lyta knew this woman, knew that what she said was true. She knew that she had overreacted just a bit, but she had felt so strongly about it. Now she only felt shame at having snapped at her friend when she hadn't needed to. "I know," she answered in a softer tone that carried both apology and sadness in it. "I'm sorry, Jaime. I just can't help but to feel compassion for her," she admitted. "We should inform Nevarre."

"Yeah," Jaime answered sadly, and she searched Lyta's face, once again reminded of how remarkable she was. "And me too."

Throughout it all Sarah watched alertly. Her team, in their locations inside and outside the room were continuously reporting on the status of their way back, on the status of any AOC's (Areas of Concern) that could become threats. It was a low, background king of noise not meant to disturb the other important work going on.

Nevarre, meanwhile, had moved away from where the AI specialist and the AI these people had brought with them were conversing and trying to find a way to save Siyrena. Honestly, he hoped that they could. He had tried, but he was exhausted and overworked. So it was entirely possible that they could find something that had not occurred to him. So for now, he was leaving them to it and taking the moment to close his eyes and just... be.

"Nevarre..." Leo had approached him. "My name is Leo Giordano, and I'm a medical doctor. I have a couple of questions for you if you don't mind."

Nevarre glanced at the man as he approached and introduced himself. A medical officer, what he wouldn't have given for one of those all those Cycles ago when he'd been forced into this chair. But there had not been one then, and he had long since gone beyond the anger, bitterness, and self-disgust that had, at first, battered at his mind. Now he had come to an acceptance, a sort of peace with his situation. "Pleased to meet you, though I do wish it was under better circumstances," he returned the man's greeting. "Ask anything you like. I am an open book," he added with a smile.

Leo returned his smile. "Well, that's good to know. It makes my job easier," he said with a good-natured look. Then his tone became more concerned. "I'm wondering what circumstances placed you in a hoverchair?"

Nevarre considered the man before him, a Healer by trade. The man's eyes told Nevarre that it was more than just a vocation, though. This man had the heart of a Silver. He likely thought that he could help Nevarre, but the damage was just too old. "Well, it has to begin with the War. A species called the Genessa started a war with us. Now that's only relevant in that it explains one part of the story. As I said earlier, I wasn't supposed to be stationed here permanently. I was just here to make some tactical system adjustments to the station. But while I was here, we got word that the Genessa had loosed a plague upon us. It was only designed to kill Kryll, my species. There were many here as there were on the other Sector and Area Posts, so the commander quarantines the station. No one came and no one left."

Nevarre paused for a moment before continuing. "Sometime later, the station was attacked, but not by the Genessa. The ships that attacked us were unknown even to the databases of the Tri-Alliance. The commander ordered the Abandon, but I stayed behind. My plan was to activate a couple of surprises I had installed in the station's offensive systems. The problem was that the damage already done had made it impossible to activate them from the Command Deck, so I had gone down to manually activate them."

His expression shifted to a deep frown infused with loss and sadness. His voice, when he spoke again, carried the same. "What I did not know until later was that the enemy ships had destroyed all that left the station." He paused to try and clear his mind of the emotions and partially succeeded. "I was about to activate my hidden weapons when their next attack caused damage that brought a structural beam down on top of me. When I became conscious again, the unknown ships had gone, and I was the last man..." here, his expression became a mix of amusement and a look that said he knew the irony of the next thing to come out of his mouth "standing." It was a saying that, while not literally applying to him, did in the metaphorical sense. "I think I only survived because they must have thought we were all dead."

He paused again, running a hand over the arm of his chair almost affectionately. "Siyrena accessed some maintenance systems to remove the beam and remotely commanded a hover sled to my location. I used that to get to the Medical Deck and then transferred to one of the standard hoverchairs. I then used that until I could complete this one." Now his expression registered pride. "This one is unique, a Nevarre special. It has lots of surprises in it." Again, he paused, but this time to study the Healer again. "I hope I sufficiently answered your question?"

Leo nodded, saddened by the story while also relieved that the man didn't need immediate treatment, not at this point. "You did," he said. "I'd like to treat you when we return to FarVoyager. Will you allow that?"

Nevarre studied the man for a moment, shrugging slightly. "I will allow you to take scans and see if you can treat me," he answered. "For the record, though, I'm not bitter about the chair. It does have advantages." He gave Leo a small smile.

Leo returned it. "I can see that," he replied. "I don't know how it feels, but I can understand it."

Then Jaime walked up to them. "Nevarre, I'm afraid I have to agree with you. There is nothing we can do for the station. The good news is that we can save Siyrena. We'll need to disconnect her, of course, and she'll lose all but her core programming, but at least she'll be able to continue." Jaime's expression then saddened, "I'm sorry I couldn't give you better news."

The response did not come from Nevarre. Across the room, Siyrena appeared, looking panicked. "Dis-disconnect me?! You can't!" The room's weapons systems became active. "I won't let you kill me!" That last sentence was spoken in a harder, determined tone, and the weapons were aimed.

Jaime's head snapped up to stare at her in stunned surprise. Carp... She shook her head in response, knowing she should have considered the AI would overhear and should have been more careful in her wording.

Maralen moved up alongside Jaime. What she had said to Nevarre made a rudimentary sense to him, and he could see this situation getting out of hand really quickly. The station's AI was obviously not stable, and she was also obviously frightened by what Jaime had suggested. He hoped to calm her down if even just a little bit.

"Siyrena," he said very calmly, his tones warm, "no one wants to kill you. We want to save you."

Siyrena's gaze shifted to the cat. "But she said she'd cut me off!" The weapons remained aimed.

Maralen shook his head. "She said they would need to disconnect you. These are different."

Siyrena looked from the tall felinoid to Nevarre. Her expression became a plea. "I... I'm confused..."

Nevarre nodded, hovering closer. "I know, Siyrena. It's all right. These people are here to help us."

Siyrena still looked uncertain, but the weapons lowered... a little. She was accepting that for the moment. But she was ready in case Nevarre was wrong.

Sarah had shifted defensively but was careful not to set off the AI as they did their stand-off. She hoped they sorted this soon as the AI once again calmed down. The situation was getting more and more precarious as time went on. Speaking sub audibly on her security mike that was part of her helmet, "Be alert, keep scanners on weapons if they go hot..." aka immediately before being fired, "we may have to move fast."

Nevarre turned to Jaime. "I'm sorry, Jaime. If I understand you correctly, you want to disconnect her from the station and move her Core Program. Is that correct?"

Her attention focused solely on Siyrena; Jaime only nodded to him in response and then took a step towards the AI, compassion in her eyes. "Siyrena, I want to help you, take care of you, and ensure you have a future. I have no plans of harming you, I promise."

The very confused AI stared at Jaime for a long moment before those confused eyes turned to Nevarre. She was losing hold again, and she could feel it. She needed him to make it all make sense for her.

Nevarre smiled and hovered up beside Jaime as if to say without saying it that he trusted her and was in agreement with her. "It's all right, Siyrena. She won't harm you," he assured gently.

The weapons did not retract into their places in the walls, but neither did they raise. For now, she nodded.

Nevarre looked at Jaime. "She's calmer for now, but I can't guarantee she'll stay that way. I'm sorry. It's not you; it's... she's not stable right now, and she's confused and scared. But it isn't anything you have done per see." He looked back at Siyrena. "Siyrena, please run a diagnostic on your core systems?" That would keep her occupied while they finished discussing what needed to be done.

Siyrena nodded, and her hologram avatar vanished.

Nevarre sighed sadly. "That won't keep her occupied for long, but it should give us time to plan. Now, show me what you had in mind."

Jaime glanced back quickly to the others in the room, taking a much-needed breath before nodding to him, understanding they shouldn't waste any time, "Alright." She led him back to the needed console and set to work, going over the steps they would need to take.

As he listened, Nevarre found himself impressed. Tri-Alliance systems were extremely advanced, and she had picked it up so quickly. He reflected that his wife would have loved working with this lady. Lynessa had always enjoyed conversing with others in her field, especially those like Jaime who could think outside of the box.

Sarah silently urged the brains to hurry she calculated her ability to take out a turret before it opened fire. Her team had long moved into positions to protect the others if the unstable AI lost it.

When Jaime finished, Nevarre nodded. "There is only one problem. We will need to disconnect her from both the external grid and the internal grid simultaneously. That means we need to split the team."

Jaime nodded, understanding while taking a deep breath. "Whatever it takes," she replied thoughtfully and then wondered if Maralen would agree.

Maralen had been listening to all of it. Not that he understood all the Engineer-speak, but he did his best to keep up with what needed to be done. And that was clear enough. They needed to split his team. He frowned slightly, not entirely liking the idea. But necessity demanded it.

The frown disappeared, replaced by his normal calm facade. "It is absolutely necessary?"

Nevarre nodded. "Yes."

Maralen nodded. "Then that's what we do."