Several hours later, the sky overhead begins to flicker then snaps on with an early morning dawn light. Several runabouts converge on the area, transmitting an overhead view and a message, "Captain Samson to USS Thames. We have received a missive from the Sphere computer indicating the night-cycle disruption has been alleviated. Cdr M'Rel is inbound with the Lena to pick up Lt Leiliri and LCdr Gaius Glaucus is coming to supervise the First Contact situation, while LCdr Adonidas is also inbound with a full medical complement. Cdr Talbot will be overseeing the Romulan crash." site.


The Chirpers are quite exited by the onset of the day cycle and the arrival of more flying buildings. The runabouts land in a vegetated area about a kilometre from the crash site. Chiree indicates this is part of the flock's hunting preserve. Chiree allows as how the Federation personnel have saved many lives and are apparently responsible for the return of daylight, he will take them to the Humans' "wounded brother". This turns out to be a Kapecki who has suffered grave wounds including the traumatic loss of one arm and apparent memory loss. He is huddled in a dark recess in one of the flock's buildings wearing dark homespun robes with a grizzled beard and a grey scar beneath his right eye.


"Hello," he chirps in the language of the diminutive green aliens. "I am afraid I cannot introduce myself, as I have lost my name." He gestures with his arm, which has been severed mid-humerus and is coated with a thick layer of what appears to be clotted cottage cheese. There is a slight sickly smell to the layer of white curds. "The younger brothers have saved my existence. I perceive that you are different in nature from my life form, however we may resemble each other superficially." He speaks a much more polished—one might even say adult—version of the Chirpers' tongue. Those who have interacted with the Finorii will recognise is as being closer to their language.
This message was last edited by the GM at 19:02, Sun 28 July 2019.

In reply to Relic GM (msg # 1):

Jon was naively expecting the "wounded brother" to be human, and is surprised to see a Kapecki. "Do you know how you got here, and how long you have been here?" he asks.

The wounded Kapecki replies in the Chirpers' speech, "My first memory engram is some 65.935 cycles ago. It was at this point I self-diagnosed a major injury to my right arm, mid-humerus. I reduced pain signals to that area but was unable to initiate self-repair procedures. The non-caste Droyne made me comfortable and have concealed my from the mature Droyne Sports since then, supplying me with nutrients. I have been unable to retrieve my memory engrams. My right ocular receptor is also disabled, as are my locomotor limbs."

He pulls himself up into a sitting position and pulls a bound volume from his robes. It turns out to be a case of golden medallions encased behind what appears to be  transparent aluminum.


"The non-caste ones supplied me with these coyns and begged me to transform them—I got the impression they meant to transform the creatures rather than the coyns—but I was unable to decipher how this was to be done."

Talja takes Jon by the arm and murmurs, "Perhaps we should ask Capt Samson to summon Cdr R. Olivaw (she pronounces the name Arr Oh-lee-vow), the Kapecki commander? Perhaps he'd know how to recover this one's memories. After all, he did indicate that the Finorii began their attack by compromising the programming of the Kapecki stationed here."
This message was last edited by the player at 20:49, Sat 06 July 2019.

In reply to Wounded Kapecki (msg # 3):

"Good idea! Is Captain Samson around?" Jon decides to go through proper channels and finds Zed. "Sir, Talja suggests that we summon our resident Kapecki, Cdr Olivaw."

"Look at this Talja, Tony!" Jon exclaims, looking at the medallions. "Some of these seem to indicate a progression. Like from 1 line to 6 lines, or from a humanoid to this ummmm ... centaur looking thingy!" Jon checks the databases accessible via his tricorder to find out if there are any records using similar symbology.

LCdr Gaius Glaucus arrives from the landing site. He overhears the question Jon has just asked and replies, "No, Capt Samson is overseeing the search for more Romulan infiltrators. She's detailed me to oversee First Contact operations. I agree that the Kapecki should be involved, though."

He is a tall man with curly blond hair and piercing blue eyes. He gestures to his companion, "This is Lt Arapet. I've had a frank conversation with her regarding First Contact procedures and parametres. I've done a little looking into the Finorii species with Krrsh and the prisoner Farl. They confirm that these Chirpers are an offshoot of their species. The Droyne, as the overall species is known, are from the alternate timeline known as the Third Imperium, where they are one of many sapient species. The Chirpers are a juvenile form which have mostly lost the ability to caste, a process which involves psychological and physical transformation into the mature form. It's a vastly complex subject I'm afraid I don't fully comprehend, but the FC Department is processing all information we can gather."

He taps his commbadge. "Glaucus to Samson. Request you contact the Kapecki liaison regarding a wounded Kapecki unit. He's lost an arm, loss of his legs and is amnesiac." Turning to Nathan and Aquaal, he says, "Lt Pierce, I understand you've garnered considerable medical information of the Chirpers. Good job, and we've transferred information on Finorii—Droyne, I should say—physiology to the Thames's data banks to enable more precise treatment. Lt Leiliri, your assistance has been astounding and we're arranging to expedite your return to Starfleet Medical Academy to complete your xenomedical studies. Finally, Lt Xelox, I understand you're been dealing with the juvenile Chirpers. Your name will go down as First Contactee for this subspecies... No insult, ladies and gentlemen, but you all look like you've been ridden hard and put up wet. I recommend a full meal and a few hours of sleep."
This message was last edited by the player at 19:50, Mon 12 Aug 2019.

Lt Nathan being very tired has said little.
He does extend his mind to see what basic information he can pick up on the Kapecki.
However he decides not to push things very far as he wants to talk to another Kapecki before trying find more about the man.

Lt Nathan nods LCdr Gaius Glaucus.
I have done my best to help the Chirpers.  They are funny but good race to be with.
It would be good to study up more on them.  However I would like it to be put on record that we need to think long and hard before interfering with there current development and environment.  They understand there are other species around them and that these species have devices and abilities they do not.  The Chirpers are not jealous or angry about this.  They do not have an over powerful desire to gain the knowledge of others.  They are more fascinated by technology but clearly do not have the ability to understand a lot of it.
We need to study their history in this timeline and also the history from the other timeline if we can.
Their may be a very good biological or social reason why they have stopped the process of caste, Casting?

LT Nathan looks very series.
We must not assume that giving the Chiprers the ability to Caste in this time line is a good idea.
They are.  To all intense and purpose a non warp species here and we need to treat them as such.
If we do give them the ability to Caste, it could have very big implications.  The results may not be good for this timeline.  They are in fact an invading species in this timeline and containing them may be our best policy.  I am not saying what we should do Sir, as I do not know all the facts myself.  All I am saying is care must be taken.

Lt Natham then looks across to Lt Leiliri.
Lt Leiliri has been most helpful.  I am not sure how she feels about the Chirper's but with respect Sir.  Maybe you should give her the chance to develop her biological skills in field of first contact with new complicated timelinked species.  I am very happy to work along side her any time.
Then again she may wish to return to Starfleet Medical Academy right away and be back with her friends there.
I would suggest you ask her Sir. 

It seems Lt Nathan has a bad habit of speaking his mind in a respectful way.
One that may help him not get a promotion any time soon.
This message was last edited by the player at 20:24, Thu 11 July 2019.

The Kapecki does not register on either your telepathic or empathic senses. Since they are androids of an unknown technology, this is unsurprising. LCdr Data of the Enterprise is similarly dead to psionic senses.

LCdr Glaucus says in reply to Nathan's observation regarding the Chirpers and casteing, "Quite correct, Dr. Pierce. If they are indeed an undeveloped juvenile form of the Finorii or Droyne or whatever they are properly called, there is obviously some unknown mechanism at play here, whether physiological, psychological or cultural; and it is not our place to subject them to this process. They are undoubtedly sapient, and their right to self-determination must be addressed, but we must be cautious. This must be decided at the highest levels of the First Contact Division in consultation with the United Federation of Planets Sapient Rights Commission, the Federation High Courts and all relevant authorities including the Kapecki, the Finorii, this Möbius person and—if possible—the so-called Grandfather before any determination can be reached. Frankly, it makes the situation between the Klingon Empire and the BortaS'ngan look like child's play."

Dr. Adonidas breaks in, "As for Lt(jg) Leiliri, your comments will of course be taken into account but ultimately the decision rests with her and her careers counsellor on Starbase 21. And, of course LCdr M'Rel, as both her immediate superior and the Commander: Flight Group will have input as well. However, I'm pleased to note your concern as regards her career wishes."

Following LCdr Glaucus's orders, the Thames's crew crawl into their bunks for the next six hours. When they awaken, they hear a low keening noise coming from outside. Curious, they pull on their uniforms and step out into the daylight.

In a large grassy area, the assembled Chirpers are performing funerary rites for their dead. There seem to be more Chirpers than before. LCdr Claucus informs the officers from the Thames that Chirpers have been arriving for several hours, comprising at least a half-dozen individual flocks. Hunting parties have brought game and many have been preparing a funerary feast. Families are mourning their deceased relatives while extended clans care for the wounded.

At the crash site, the remains of the Romulan runabout are being lifted from the city by the tractor beams from a pair of Federation Danube class runabouts. Near the Thames sits a second Atlantic class mission module in medical markings. As the crew looks around, Dr. Adonidas steps out of the module and approaches them.

"G'Day, eh?" she greets them, "How's it goin'?" She holds a steaming mug in her hands and the smell of coffee wafts through the air. Several young Chirpers tag along behind her playing with the consoles Billy had replicated for them a chorus of musical tones coming from the toys. "Cdr R. Olivaw arrived a couple hours ago and he's seeing to the damaged Kapecki unit, now identified as R. Baley. He says that within the week they'll have R. Baley all repaired and will be able to restore his base programming." She sips her coffee and continues, "You'll be happy to know we've captured one Romulan ship and destroyed three more. We're not certain that's all of them, but we're not detecting any more of them. We've determined which portal they've been using and R. Olivaw has had the Sphere computer restrict access to its controls and we've installed monitor satellites both inside and outside all twenty portals."

[OOC: Just a recap of the last few days...

SD 53108.12, 0800 hours, February 08, 2376 - Briefing for BortaS mission begins.
SD 53128.13, 0800 hours, February 11, 2376 - Crew leaves for BortaS mission.
                       0900 hours, February 11, 2376 - Crew meets Cdr K'Pok and Cdr Vaughn. Final briefing.
                       2000 hours, February 11, 2376 - Klingon meeting/ceremony. Introduction to the komerex the'Durgath Aron.
                       2300 hours, February 11, 2375 - End of ceremony. K'Pok and crew invited to A'Ron's quarters.
                       2345 hours, February 11, 2376 - Riot begins. K'Pok wounded, Vaughn shot.
                       0030 hours, February 12, 2376 - Crew pursues Klingon intruders.
                       0130 hours, February 12, 2376 - Crew catches up with Klingons.
                       0145 hours, February 12, 2376 - Crew infiltrates Klingon building. Fight ensues, Jon wounded.
                       0200 hours, February 12, 2376 - Klingons captured, Jon taken to Dyson Station.
                       0245 hours, February 12, 2376 - While Jon is being treated, crew introduced to Fast Billy Xelox.
                       0600 hours, February 12, 2376 - Debriefing at Dyson Station. Nathan Pierce introduced to crew.
                       0700 hours, February 12, 2376 - Romulan attack on Dyson Station. Klingon prisoners attempt to escape.
                       0900 hours, February 12, 2376 - USS Thames downs Charon class runabout. Romulans captured.
                       0930 hours, February 12, 2376 - Crew makes First Contact with Chirpers. Nathan and Leiliri begin triage.
                       13:00 hours, February 12, 2376 - Plasma fire is extinguished.
                       16:30 hours, February 12, 2376 - Surgery on Chirrip successful. Chiree introduces crew to wounded Kapecki.
                                                                            - Day cycle reset.
                       17:00 hours, February 12, 2376 - Glaucus & Adonidas arrive, crew ordered to sleep.
SD 52131.44, 23:00 hours, February 12, 2376 - Crew awakens. It is noon-ish at the portal.]

Fast Billy, Nathan and Aquaal are mostly rested after their six-hour nap. Zed, Jon, Fast Tony and Talja are still quite tired, having been up and quite active for most of the prior twenty-four hours. Dr. Adonidas administers a mild stimilant with their breakfast (or is it lunch?). Cdr R. Olivaw arrives with the wounded Kapecki in a hover-chair. The severed arm has been cleaned up and an IV unit is feeding a milky substance into the stump. A bandage has been applied to the wounded eye, and the wounded android seems at ease, no longer in pain.

Olivaw begins, "My thanks for rescuing my comrade. We have been unable to identify him, so we have designated him with a Human name. Meet R. David. We will be providing him with a new set of memory engrams and will be assigning him as our liaison to the Dyson Sphere Exploration Mission. Our colleague R. Daneel, formerly Chief Researcher for this megastructure, will be assigned to your Starbase 21 as our ambassador to your United Federation of Planets with R. Thera as his security advisor.

"It is my understanding that these... Romulans are a competing stellar nation to your UFP and have infiltrated the Sphere computer and invaded the Sphere itself. We are upgrading the Computer's AI and it will be working with R. David and your Starfleet Security to deny them further access to the Computer's systems."
This message was last edited by the GM at 06:43, Mon 22 July 2019.

In reply to Relic GM (msg # 1):

> The Chirpers

> Several hour later, the shy overhead begins to
> flicker then snaps on with an early morning dawn
>  light.

OOC I didn't know there was a day/night cycle disruption.  I am not clear on how shooting down a Romulan Runabout has addressed that.

> The Chirpers are quite exited by the onset of the
> day cycle and the arrival of more flying buildings.

OOC: They hang in the sky in the precise way that bricks don't.


>  This turns out
> to be a Kapecki who has suffered grave wounds
> including the traumatic loss of one arm and
> apparent memory loss.

OOC: Who are the Kapecki again?


> "Hello," he chirps in the language of the
> diminutive green aliens.

OOC: May I have a link to the Finorii?


> Lt (jg) Jonathan Clare
> In reply to Relic GM (msg # 1):

> "Do you know how you got here, and how long you
> have been here?" he asks.

> Wounded Kapecki
 NPC, 1 post

> The wounded Kapecki replies in the Chirpers'
> speech, "My first memory engram is some 65.935
> cycles ago.

OOC: How long is that, roughly in Earth time?

> It was at this point I self-diagnosed a major
> injury to my right arm, mid-humerus. I reduced
> pain signals to that area but was unable to
> initiate self-repair procedures. The non-caste
> Droyne made me comfortable and have concealed
> my from the mature Droyne Sports since then,
> supplying me with nutrients.

OOC: Why was hiding the Kapecki from the Droyne Sports necessary? Does my character know about the different flavors of Droyne?

> I have been unable to retrieve my memory engrams.
> My right ocular receptor is also disabled, as
> are my locomotor limbs."

> He pulls himself up into a sitting position and
> pulls a bound volume from his robes. It turns out
> to be a case of golden medallions encased behind
> what appears to be  transparent aluminum.

> "The non-caste ones supplied me with these coyns
> and begged me to transform them—I got the
> impression they meant to transform the creatures
> rather than the coyns—but I was unable to decipher
> how this was to be done."

OOC: Okay, so there is a conflict between the Finorii and the Kapecki?  How much does Billy know of this conflict and how much does it involve Starfleet?

OOC: Sorry for the long reposts, I just wanted to be sure I am reading the whole thing.


> LCdr. Gaius Glaucus

> The Chirpers

> LCdr Gaius Glaucus arrives from the landing site.

> The
> Droyne, as the overall species is known, are from
> the alternate timeline known as the Third Imperium,
> where they are one of many sapient species.

Billy: "How long have deese people been here, Sir?"


> The
> Chirpers are a juvenile form which have mostly lost
> the ability to caste, a process which involves
> psychological and physical transformation into the
> mature form.

(snip)

> I recommend a full meal
> and a few hours of sleep."

Billy: "Sir.  Yes, Sir."


> Lt. Nathan Pierce MD
>  All I am saying is care must be taken.

Billy: "I agree, Sir.  We're a long, long way from dat sorta decision.  We don't know a fraction of what we'd need to know to know if we were helping these people or not. Fer instance, why have they lost this ability to 'caste'? Dere may be somet'in in da envrionment which make 'casteing' a bad idea.

We're gonna need to have teams wit' dese people for a quite some time before we can even talk intelligently about what casteing or not-casteing even means, really."



> Following LCdr Glaucus's orders, the Thames's crew
>  crawl into their bunks for the next six hours.
> When they awaken, they hear a low keening noise
> coming from outside. Curious, they pull on their
> uniforms and step out into the daylight.

billy grabs coffee on the way

> In a large grassy area, the assembled Chirpers
> are performing funerary rites for their dead.

Coffee forgotten, Billy grabs a tricorder and sets out to record this ceremony, from a distance

> Dr. Adonidas steps out of the module and
> approaches them.

> "G'Day, eh?" she greets them, "How's it goin'?"
> She holds a steaming mug in her hands and the
>  smell of coffee wafts through the air. Several
> young Chirpers tag along behind her playing with
> the consoles Billy had replicated for them a chorus
> of musical tones coming from the toys.

That's a good idea.  Also get an idea of their hearing accuity and how they experience music.


> The Chirpers

[OOC: Just a recap of the last few days...

OOC: That was a busy day!

> Fast Billy, Nathan and Aquaal are mostly rested
> after their six-hour nap. Zed, Jon, Fast Tony
> and Talja are still quite tired, having been
> up and quite active for most of the prior
> twenty-four hours. Dr. Adonidas administers
> a mild stimilant with their breakfast (or is it
> lunch?). Cdr R. Olivaw arrives with the wounded
> Kapecki in a hover-chair. The severed arm has
> been cleaned up and an IV unit is feeding a
> milky substance into the stump. A bandage has
> been applied to the wounded eye, and the wounded
> android seems at ease, no longer in pain.

How are the Kapecki built?

> "It is my understanding that these... Romulans
> are a competing stellar nation to your UFP and
> have infiltrated the Sphere computer and invaded
> the Sphere itself. We are upgrading the Computer's
> AI and it will be working with R. David and your
> Starfleet Security to deny them further access
> to the Computer's systems."

Billy: "How will we know if you're sucessful, Sir?  How would we know if Ya wasn't?"

[OOC: Way back when you shot the Charon down, in message 72 of The BortaS Part 2, the day/night cycle was disrupted. There was a lot going on, so obviously Billy's memory simply filed it under "irrelevant - deal with it if it becomes important", but here's the relevant passage:

Relic GM:

[OOC: Since Billy was waiting for the order to fire, to keep the flow going I'm going to assume he does so. Not to step on your toes, Billy, but everyone's waiting...]
Billy immediately presses the fire icon on the tactical console and the Thames's full complement of phasers cut loose. The Atlantic class carries two standard type VI phasers and two type V pulse phasers in retractable mounts. The beams and pulses slash through the Romulan runabout's shields, causing the shield generators to overload and the cloak to fail. Tracers of green lightning flicker over the ship's hull and it begins a dive for the Sphere's surface, trailing drive plasma. As it passes through the upper reaches of the internal atmosphere it reacts with the fields retaining the atmosphere, causing them to polarise and cast the area below into night mode. The blazing drive plasma shows up as a fiery green comet plunging down towards the heavily built up city section below.

]

The Kapecki? Much of this happened before Billy arrived in the Sphere, So I'll give a quick précis. The Sphere was originally created by an alien being known as Yaskoydray, the Grandfather, from the classic Traveller RPG. He's a mutated Droyne with immense mental powers—what we used to refer to as a YAGLA (Yet Another God-Like Alien) in the old TREK Echo on FiDOnet—who was known for creating a series of bubble universes. Originally, the Grandfather used a faction of cloned Droyne as his henchmen, but they rebelled and he resorted to using a series of androids. That much is given in the Traveller books.

The Sphere was one of his experiments, this one in an alternate timeline (ie: the Trek universe) rather than a custom bubble universe, for reasons not fully understood. The Droyne faction Sons of the Grandfather (known in-game as the Finorii) attempted to wrest control of the Sphere from the Grandfather after his disappearance as detailed in the Traveller universe by reprogramming the Kapecki androids within the Sphere and using them to eliminate the Federation presence in the Sphere. The Finorii regarded the Federation as an obstacle to their seizing power in the Sphere. The reprogrammed Kapecki attacked Dyson Base on SD 52850 November 1 2375, killing 6 Starfleet personnel and destroying two Danube class runabouts, the original USS Thames and the USS Tiber. The Kapecki were defeated when, for reasons unknown they all suddenly deactivated. One severed Kapecki head was recovered and subjected to forensic examination.

The origins of the Kapecki remained a mystery until just over a month ago when the USS Cuyahoga and USS Kitchissippi were investigating one of the alien installations in the Sphere dubbed the Gamma Stations and encountered Commander Olivaw, who advised them of the situation. Starfleet had previously encountered mention of the Grandfather from a mysterious entity known as Möbius, who claimed to be his protégé. Zed, Jon and crew subsequently met Möbius and confirmed some of Olivaw's information).

It now appears that the Chirpers are an offshoot of the Droyne species, though unaligned.

[Whew! That was a bit of a data dump!]

Suffice it to say that Billy does not personally have much, of this information, but can readily access it through the LCARS system or in the stack of PADDs he's been given as deep background hand has not had time to peruse.

The Kapecki seem to be biological androids [OOC: actually, they're patterned after the synthetics Ashe, Bishop, Call and David in the Alien movies] rather than an electromechanical androids like the Exo III androids, the Planet Mudd androids or the Soong-type androids Data and Lore. They have gelatinous internal mechanisms filled with a viscous milk-like fluid over a ceramic/polymer skeleton with fibre-optic "nerves". They ingest carbon-cycle organics to power a chemical fusion reactor. It is known that they come in two genders but it is unknown whether they reproduce sexually or if the apparent genders are merely cosmetic. All the males seen so far have the same appearance, differing only in hair and eye colouring and complexion. (Actually, male Kapecki all look like Michael Fassbender and females look like Charlize Theron.)

The wounded Kapecki's memories begin just prior to the Kapecki attack on Dyson Base. It would appear that his new programming did not "take", possibly due to his physical damage.

With regard to the Computer security measures, Olivaw says, "The Computer Avatar is a self-aware AI subroutine which was largely able to resist the Finorii hacking attempts. We do not as yet have an understanding of how the Romulans gained access to its systems, but Thera is our foremost computer security expert and we'll also be working with Starfleet experts with knowledge of Romulan information technology."