Mission 8: Survival of the Fittest

Corman Stark wrote:

[Starbase Athena - Observation Room]
But not likely.  Still, as crazy as it sounded, the Romulan Empire was fractured and bickering.  Who knew what rogue elements could do, even without the consent of the Praetor?

"We're not paying for damages incurred through this incident," he quietly said, with a wry twist of the mouth.  "I think it falls under Act of Klingon."

[Commander S'Tal N'Vek]
[Starbase Athena - Observation Room]

The Romulan commander raised one eyebrow at the Admiral, apparently not amused by the joke, if indeed that was what it had been.

"My engineers will have to conduct repairs here before we can return to the Empire," he remarked, taking another sip of his water. "However, our more pressing question would be whether or not we continue the exercise or abort to attempt it at another date, preferably after warning the Klingon Empire of our actions?"

Julia Rellek wrote:

Gavin, assess the damage from that Graviton burst and get a report ready for the Romulans. They won't be happy about the condition of their vessel."

[Bridge]

Gavin flinched as the turbolift (or whatever the hell these people called it) opened, half-expecting to see Jiseth return with a cadre of Romulans at her side. It was only Commander Arthur, though...thankfully. He turned back to the console, interpreting the systems readings. "I think they'll understand the extenuating circumstances," he muttered. "Emitters read nominal. The only thing we might have screwed up was the engines, which I guess we'll see once they get operating properly again."

Jiseth wrote:

Turning toward Zero, Jiseth looked to her with a concluded and quite tired face. The look of someone who had been fighting and now had to surrender to the inevitable. A fisherman wrangling his catch only to be flanked by a rogue wave and consumed by nature.

"There's evidence here... It won't be enough. Still, I need you to undo what they did. Not here of course and not now, but if we ever want to have me outside of a prison... I need your help."

[Procedure Room]

Trying to ignore her space sickness and the sensation that the room was spinning around her, Zero took a step closer to Jiseth, a deep frown marring her statuesque features.

"Jiseth... E'lev... That is not within the realms of the possible. You were given extensive psychological evaluations that would have flagged such an egregious problem."

Persephone M'Rai wrote:

[Warbird - Bridge]

Persephone had had no idea what to do during the scenes happening on the bridge.  As it was, she had decided that her best course of action would be to try to maintain the ship where it was despite the fact that the Klingon vessel that they were tethered to was trying to pull away.  

She looked up at Julia as she started to dish out the orders, her ears flicking back again in concern.  "Sir, I'm not happy about taking this ship anywherrrrre until an engineerrrr's had a chance to look at the warrrrp systems," she stated, hoping that she wasn't about to catch hell for speaking back to a superior officer.

[Bridge]

Julia was glad that the officer felt comfortable conveying her concern and expressing herself. Flight operations was not Julia's forte. She counted on the officers for their expertise. "Acknowledged ensign, please hold position."

Archangel T'Koris wrote:

Standing off to the side of the bridge so that she wouldn't be visible on the viewscreen, Archangel had been intently observing how Julia handled being in a command situation. Throughout, a slight smile had tugged at the corners of her mouth. It was a well known fact among the senior staff at least that the Chief Science Officer intensely disliked combat or conflict situations, but she was handling herself well.

Even better was that fact that she maintained that command even after the channel had been closed, stepping up to the role of First Officer she had been given for the mission and doling out the orders to the rest of the bridge crew.

Taking back her place at the centre of the bridge, the young Romulan surveyed the other officers briefly to make sure that they had taken Julia's orders to heart before looking back to the science officers herself. "As am I, but that decision is up to the commanding officers back on Athena," she pointed out. Then, in a voice for Julia's ears only, she added: "Well done, Lieutenant."

Julia was thrilled to see a rare smile creep onto the Captains face. With her kind words Julia nodded. "Thank you ma'am. You may have your bridge back now... I think I've played Captain enough for one day."

Gabriel Arthur wrote:

[Engineering]

Gabriel Arthur was ready to pull his hair out.  

It was a good thing that he kept it short, or else the temptation might have been very real.  His Rhian was passable, so he didn't have to wait for the UT to parse all the phrasing and terminology as it spat out on his readout screens.  "What in the actual hell are they doing up there?"  Something had thrown the engine calibrations completely out of whack.  As far as he knew, none of his people down here had done it.  Sighing, he turned to Nelkar.  "Epath, you've got the engine room.  Leela, grab a kitbag and follow me.  I guess we're going to the bridge."

[Bridge]

God, what an ugly ship, Gabriel thought, for the umpteenth time today, as they stepped out onto the bridge.  The whole scene seemed to be in a state of controlled panic.  He quirked an eyebrow at the looming visage of a Klingon ship on the viewer, but quickly turned his attention to the problem at hand.  "Captain," he said, flashing her a lopsided grin despite the situation.  "Boards are lighting up down there like Christmas about unauthorized access to the engine calibrators."

[Engineering]

Leela was right with Gabe on this one. "God only know, Gabe, god only knows what the hell their doing. They have this habit of doing things without telling us and then expecting us to clean their messes." She scoffed o's she grabbed her tool kit. "I'm right behind you.

[Bridge]

It was a rare thing for an engineer to make their way t the bridge. Most engineers were either afraid of the command center and annoyed by it. For Leela, however, it was reminiscent of Juval's days in command. She stood directly behind Gabe as he spoke with the captain. She wanted to hide behind him. Leela never felt like herself in the presence of T'Koris but she didn't know why.

Zero Alpha wrote:

"Jiseth... E'lev... That is not within the realms of the possible.  You were given extensive psychological evaluations that would have flagged such an egregious problem."

"Yes I was... but how were they to know to look for this specifically? The scans showed no implants and not all influences can be picked up by psychotricorder. Take that Ferengi thought maker device for example. Besides, they were more concerned with debriefing me on strategic information I gave up."

She motioned Zero to look at one of the screens that flanked the left armrest. Scrolling through the labels of days in which the sessions took place, Jiseth stopped at the 11th. From there she continued through the subcategory to a briefing that was being held between a Tal Shiar Major and Commander N'Vek. With a tap of the finger, the still image began to move as the recording played.

Subject 7478 (Day 11 - 14:37) wrote:

"I can assure you that this specific method was perfected years ago."

"The subjects cannot be controlled directly or at all and you praise it as perfected?"

"The lack of a signal interface means there is nothing to be detected. Time is the price paid for plausible deniability and it will take another couple of weeks to enhance the fight response to stress. The same behavior therapies that go into recruit training are being administered here, only more intensely."

"How do you know how she will react?"

"The information gathered thus far from the mental probes has given us a clear portrait of how she perceives hazards to survival. Early simulations proved that she is capable of violent acts if there is a potential threat to her attachments or subordinates. What happens next is we condition through various means of suggestion to enhance this and make her more prone to violence."

"And how does this relate to the target?"

"Simple. Subject 7478 was trained to act independently in high risk situations such as evading capture after crash landing. During periods of prolonged stress, this attempt to control said situation to achieve a desired outcome can alter the perception of a threat's source. Conflict in the decision-making process becomes an existential crisis and the desire to resolve the matter in the quickest, most permanent way possible leads to irrational and volatile behavior."

"Like vermin snared in a trap... How long till she reacts in a manner that is useful to us?"

"Hard to know. Months? Two factors are distinctly variable: the amount of perceived danger encountered during her assignments and how frequently she conflicts with others regarding course of action. There is the possibility for her to attack another officer or crew member, but given that the target is at the top of the ship's command structure and is mostly frequently the one the subject takes direct orders from, we predict an 87% probability of success."

Tapping the screen, Jiseth paused the video. Part of her was grateful for the subtlety of the whole thing. No termination device implanted into her though it would have been hardly necessary. A life in prison would have done just as well as death in terms of removing her as a danger to others.

"I can tell you having read what occurred over a decade ago to La Forge compared to being on both sides of the chair, they've come a long way. Rumors in the Romulan Navy persisted that it was a means to passively remove undesirable persons by making it appear someone close to them went mad or had some feud. Some psychological break down rather than act under the influence of someone else's control."

The Romulan stopped as she probably sounded like she as rambling. She was a pilot, not a brain surgeon or neuroscientist. Barely was a comforting counselor for her own friends. Then the screens suddenly began to display scrambled images and went dark. The computer's voice echoed loudly in the room.

"Unauthorized access detected. File histories purged."

"...No. No no no! You son of a bitch, you wanted me to see it! Damn it!"

Leela Kaz wrote:

It was a rare thing for an engineer to make their way to the bridge. Most engineers were either afraid of the command center and annoyed by it. For Leela, however, it was reminiscent of Juval's days in command. She stood directly behind Gabe as he spoke with the captain. She wanted to hide behind him. Leela never felt like herself in the presence of T'Koris but she didn't know why.

[Bridge]

For whatever reason, it seemed like Leela's step got a hesitant catch in it when they entered the bridge. The young Trill girl was usually as forward as a Savannah lion, but Gabriel didn't have time to ponder all of that. The greater mystery was what in the bleeding hell Jiseth had been doing screwing with the engine access. Apparently, Romulan departmental cross-training was stronger than Starfleet's. Either that, or she'd been doing what she normally did and just bulled on through it.

"Damage isn't too bad," he muttered, peering into the access point. "Just basically need to re-arrange what's been switched and pulled out." Gabriel quickly went to work, with the assistance of Kaz.

Jiseth wrote:

"Yes I was... but how were they to know to look for this specifically? The scans showed no implants and not all influences can be picked up by psychotricorder. Take that Ferengi thought maker device for example. Besides, they were more concerned with debriefing me on strategic information I gave up."

"I can tell you having read what occurred over a decade ago to La Forge compared to being on both sides of the chair, they've come a long way. Rumors in the Romulan Navy persisted that it was a means to passively remove undesirable persons by making it appear someone close to them went mad or had some feud. Some psychological break down rather than act under the influence of someone else's control."

The Romulan stopped as she probably sounded like she as rambling. She was a pilot, not a brain surgeon or neuroscientist. Barely was a comforting counselor for her own friends. Then the screens suddenly began to display scrambled images and went dark. The computer's voice echoed loudly in the room.

"Unauthorized access detected. File histories purged."

"...No. No no no! You son of a bitch, you wanted me to see it! Damn it!"

[Procedure Room]

Zero was starting to become very concerned by Jiseth's erratic actions. She knew that the Romulan intelligence services had done a number on her lover, but she hadn't been aware that it had been to this extent. Perhaps it had been triggered by the fact that they were back on a Romulan warbird again, she mused. An environment so similar to the one where the trauma had taken place could easily have brought on a relapse...

Psychology nor counselling were particular skills of hers, but the young Augment liked to believe that she could tell when Jiseth needed comfort rather than medical jargon. Stepping forward, she laid a hand on the Romulan's arm, her brow still furrowed in concern.

"E'lev, please calm yourself. If you wish, we could return to sickbay so that I could perform additional tests in order to detect any kind of manipulation. Perhaps it would put your mind more at ease..."

Zero Alpha wrote:

"E'lev, please calm yourself.  If you wish, we could return to sickbay so that I could perform additional tests in order to detect any kind of manipulation.  Perhaps it would put your mind more at ease..."

"That would be nice, but unfortunately..."

A quick swipe across Zero's chest removed her commbadge with one hand. Reaching around the back of the chair, Jiseth's other flipped open a small access panel and took hold of a hypospray. In her mind she finally felt clarity. This was where she was supposed to be and this was what she was supposed to be doing.

"...it's not me this is all about. It's you. It's always been you. And now you're here..."

Pushing off the chair with her feet, the Romulan lunged toward the Augment and thrust the hypo to the center of her chest. The sedative would not likely keep her subdued for long, but the restraints device would be more than adequate.

Jiseth wrote:

"That would be nice, but unfortunately..."

A quick swipe across Zero's chest removed her commbadge with one hand. Reaching around the back of the chair, Jiseth's other flipped open a small access panel and took hold of a hypospray. In her mind she finally felt clarity. This was where she was supposed to be and this was what she was supposed to be doing.

"...it's not me this is all about. It's you. It's always been you. And now you're here..."

Pushing off the chair with her feet, the Romulan lunged toward the Augment and thrust the hypo to the center of her chest. The sedative would not likely keep her subdued for long, but the restraints device would be more than adequate.

[Procedure Room]

There are some things, some events, that an individual doesn't expect simply because they don't believe that the other party is capable of such feats. An attack by Jiseth was one of those things.

Although Zero had good reflexes, they were stunned by the fact that Jiseth had grabbed her commbadge. She heard it clatter to the deck plates, the sound far louder than it should have been. Her limbs felt heavy, weighed down by shock. Her eyes widened at the sight of the hypospray. She started to move, to try to dodge the device, but couldn't manage more than a step back before it hit her chest. The hiss of whatever medication it contained was loud to the Augment's ears.

She coughed, a reaction to the impact, but she could already feel everything slowing. One by one, her articulations began to fail her. She started to fold up, landing first on her knees, then on her hands, then on her side. A faint whimper escaped her throat as she tried to ask Jiseth why, but the words simply couldn't be formulated before her eyelids slid shut and she passed out.

[IRW Gannius-Sickbay]

Kintiss had left the bridge the moment he'd fixed the lieutenant's arm. He didn't want to be around when the officers had the inevitable argument. He had more pressing matters to attend to back in Sickbay, like the officer with space sickness...

...or he would, at least, if they were still there. Why, oh why, did they pick now to go walkabout? On an unfamiliar ship, no less? He didn't know whether he could locate specific crewmen like he could on the Phoenix. If he asked the computer to "look for Starfleet officers", he'd get a really vague answer. Best to go looking for them.

With his medkit slung over his shoulder, he left sickbay again and tried his hardest to navigate the corridors. They couldn't have gone far.

Zero Alpha wrote:

She coughed, a reaction to the impact, but she could already feel everything slowing.  One by one, her articulations began to fail her.  She started to fold up, landing first on her knees, then on her hands, then on her side.  A faint whimper escaped her throat as she tried to ask Jiseth why, but the words simply couldn't be formulated before her eyelids slid shut and she passed out.

[Procedure Room]

"...Well that went rather swimmingly."

Squatting down, Jiseth grabbed Zero from her underarms and hefted her up to a somewhat standing level. She had to take wide steps around Zero's legs as her feet dragged along the floor. It was somewhat disconcerting how light the girl felt in her hands, but there was still a soft thud when she was plopped into the chair. The torso, leg, and arm restraints came soon after though Jiseth left the one for her head hanging above the top of the headrest.

Taking off her own commbadge, she went and collected Zero's. It was a quiet stride to row of cabinets near the entry way though there was an unusual bounce to her step. Even a humming from her closed lips as she rummaged through to find the particular instrument she was looking for. A puck-like device with a dull silver plate was grabbed and the commbadges placed on it. Jiseth poked in some coordinates on the tiny touche screen before she quickly tapped a button to the side of it and the items dematerialized. Their destination the upper atmosphere of the gas giant they were in orbit of.

Placing it back into the cabinet, the Romulan began to walk back with an unnaturally wide smile on her face.

"Computer! Frère Jacques, frère Jacques, dormez-vous ? Dormez-vous ? Sonnez les matines! Sonnez les matines!"

A high pitched ringing sound echoed throughout the room and the smile on Jiseth's face turned to a knotted and pained expression as she grabbed her ears and fell to her knees. After several seconds it was gone and she remained curled up panting heavily. Slowly she looked up and around in a state of confusion as the room went dark save for a light just above the chair.

"...What? Hello? Where am I? ...Zero? Zero! Wake up!"

[Warbird - Bridge]

Taking the centre seat once again, Archangel kept and eye on Gabriel and Leela, waiting for the all clear to get things moving again. She tapped her fingernails on the arm of the chair, also wondering if she should put in a communication to the starbase to find out what she was supposed to do now. This was hardly what had been planned out in the briefing.

Her unanswered question found its solution as a communication came through from the station rather than the other way around. Flipping up the screen on the arm of the chair, she listened to the message and acknowledged it before getting to her feet and straightening her uniform.

"Captain to all decks: report to the transporter rooms for a crew switch. The plug's been pulled on this exercise until a later date. Well done everyone."