Well This Was Not What I thought Was Going On Part 1

Posted on Sun Jan 16th, 2022 @ 9:53pm by Jeassaho Kea (*) & Curtis Vaan

Mission: Mission 14: Holoworld
Location: SS Holoworld
Timeline: MD 05 20:00
1560 words - 3.1 OF Standard Post Measure

Jeassaho was pretty sure that the two men following behind her were regretting their agreement to come along with her as she wanted to check out some areas that they had not been before. Reuben would not let her go without some type of Security and she had not wanted to explore without taking Curtis along with her as the expert on holographic equipment and computer systems. She could claim to be a lot of things but that was just not in her skill set.

“Anyone regretting my bright idea to try and see if we could find the central holo processor?” Jeassaho asked as they doubled back again as they hit an area of the ship that was damaged not allowing them all access through. She would have been able to squeeze through but the other two it would have been impossible.

Micheal chuckled softly as he replied. "Naw, it's all good. I'll just consider this my cardio for the day and stay out of the gym tonight." He winked playfully at Jeassaho as he finished speaking.

Jeassaho just levelled the armoury chief with an amused look at and glanced back at Curtis offering a smile to the younger man. He had been invaluable in this mess that had been created especially as no one had responded from civilian or Starfleet authorities yet. They had not worked closely before and it was nice to be learning something other than how dirty she could get in Engineering and how many times her husband could get annoyed at losing a doctor.

Curtis just smiled back. Being a lot younger, he was always a little intimidated by the women on Rosie. The Captain's wife probably chief among them (not counting the terrifying force that was their resident Romulan). The fact that Jeassaho was also Betazoid was also foremost in his mind. Don't think about her naked. Don't think about her naked.

"So...this is pretty cool, right? They must have a pretty incredible database to be able to cater for all different kinds of tastes," he said brightly.

Micheal nodded, having already tried a holoprogram earlier. "Yeah, the quality of the programming is almost better than what is available on Starfleet ships for the crew's recreation. The safeties are a bit different, though. During the western shootout I was in, I could actually hear and feel the bullets flying past me."

“I have always felt like that with the safeties,” Jeassaho commented thinking of the top of the ranger ships she had been on. “Most likely the age of the vessels. Unless Curtis knows different?” She defaulted to him as the person with the most amount of knowledge around hologram technology.

"Technology changes hands a lot. Starfleet has the good tech, but not always top-of-the-line commercial. And I've lost count of the number of holosuites some Ferengi has gotten their dirty little mitts on and fiddled with." Curtis glanced around. "It's so totally rare to find the top-end stuff like this. Probably why these cruises are so popular."

"I would give my right leg to spend a week or more on one of these with it fully working and crewed up. Not that Reu would ever go along with it but a girl can dream." She said with a look of longing. The Captain would likely find something similar but on a planet, if he could he would hate the idea of a cruise but the luxury was something he could handle for a little bit. "Very interesting to see what there is outside of the commbadge." She mused as she saw smashed panels but the way forward looked clear.

"Eh. It's cool and all, but not much beats the real thing." Coming from a world like Risa, it was easier for Curtis to say that. A planet of pleasure and infinite holidays probably did trump a holodeck. "With the right technology you can make pretty much anything, though."

Micheal looked over the damage. "Looks like it may have happened on the crash." He then looked around the corridor. "I don't know. Maybe it's the Texan in me. I grew up on a cattle ranch. The real world has so many wonders to see. Not sure how infested I would get with a holodeck, aside from training, or maybe a Western scene."

“Each to there own.” Jeassaho had grown up in some of the most beautiful places in the universe and still longed to see more. The only way it would be possible on the scale she wanted was with a holodeck.

"All righty right." Curtis motioned through an archway into another side-room separate from the rest. The door looked to be missing, which was useful from their perspective. "Central holo-processor should be in here."

The inside of the section was barely lit, though not cramped for three people to work in at once. "I'll plug my stuff in here...and now you get to see the magician at work." He chuckled to himself as he connected his personal PADD into the data port and started scrolling through the information that came up.

"Huh." Curtis wasn't listening. "So weird. I don't know who programmed this system but it's a real mess. Access rights are totally scrambled. I think there's corrosion of a part of the kernel, but that doesn't really explain a lot; nor why we can still play around with the holosystems. By rights nothing should actually be working."

"So," Micheal began, trying to understand. "Does that means that someone, or something, is controlling the system from somewhere else?"

"It..." Curtis mumbled under his breath as he read through the data that was coming up. "It's weirdly selective. Like if this was someone taking a torch to the computer core, the damage would be random. This looks a little directed, but...not directed by someone being tactical or strategic. It's as though...I guess if someone's kid started drawing all over it. Random code sequences here, random ones there. It's chaotic. The only thing I could compare it to is like something was growing through the systems."

“Selective is not random. Selective means something less simple and growing means it's alive.” The woman stated as they all set to work privately on the things they needed too. Jeassaho froze as she heard a noise just outside the door and grabbed Curtis pushing him around the corner of the core knowing that Michael could take care of himself. She indicated for him to be quiet as something came into the room.

He clamped his own hand over his mouth to stop the 'eep' from escaping as Jeassaho grabbed him, curling up as much as he could in the space.

The room was silent as a shot sounded off from somewhere further into the central holo-processor, there were moments of yelling and then a sickening sound of something snapping. Jeassaho did not move, she was too scared to breath as footsteps came towards them but stopped where the equipment was. She glanced around and paled as she saw the holo host from the first time she had come onboard. The hologram looked around but said nothing. "It looks like he is the only one. Take him with the others." The host ordered.

Jeassaho watched from her hiding place as the body of the armoury chief was carried past them. She was sure she would never be able to get the sound that must have been his neck cracking out of her mind nor the fact he was being carried away with the only weapons available for her and Curtis.

Curtis was shaking. Physically, he couldn't stop himself. Far from being used to the kind of brutality they had just witnessed, his normally jovial self had shrunk back into a self-preservation mode.

"W-what...t-they killed him..." he stammered. "Oh hell, we're going to die! They're...going to kill us!" he exclaimed.

Jeassaho’s officer training kicked in and she put her hand over his mouth and shook her head as the hologram stopped in the doorway.

“She does not want any of the organics onboard. We have to eliminate them.” The host said aloud not sure who to but it did one more look around the space before they carried on leaving the pair alone.

Curtis was still shaking even after the silence lingered.

Jeassaho took in several deep breaths and pulled her hand back. “We are going to be fine. We need… we need to get into the Jeffries tubes.” She said pointing to where the equipment had been abandoned. “Let us find somewhere without holo emitters.” She said thinking that it might be safer.

"Good luck! They're basically everywhere. The closest section without them is...three decks up and a whole compartment across." Curtis began jabbing at his PADD, looking for alternatives or new ideas. There weren't any forthcoming, so he let out a resigned sigh. "Please don't get me killed..."

Jeassaho stayed quiet she could not promise that at all as she climbed into the Jeffrey tubes and started along the tight quarters. She could not promise to keep him alive when she could not even be sure she was going to keep herself alive. Whatever they had done in the Central holo-processor had started a chain of events that she had no idea how to fix.