Engineering and Bridge posts go here for clarity.
This message was last edited by the GM at 04:00, Wed 12 Feb 2020.

In reply to Your Loving GM (msg # 1):

Waiting for reports during a crisis was the worst.  It seemed like days since he had last heard from engineering. Feeling he could have read the Klingon war histories by now, he looked at the time stamp, 1.5 minutes was the last time he spoke with soemone in engineering..  "Bridge to Engineering, Chief Laurent, are there any failsafes we can safely trigger to shut the engines down and get us to impusle?"

He had several ideas, but depth of his engineering skills consisted of tidbit like dilithium crystals did something with the engines, he knew his idea would probably blow the ship up. As with most departments, he was taught, let the experts do their jobs.
This message was last edited by the player at 05:55, Wed 12 Feb 2020.

Just as she was stepping into the warp core room, taking in and assessing the situation, she got the message from bridge.

Not yet having fully taken in what had been done, she could already see Blatt had taken control of the warp core room and a small smile formed ever so briefly.

Tapping her ComBadge to reply "we can take manual control of the warp cores controlling hardware to shut it off, switching to auxiliary power. We would need to avoid any significant activity and use of phasers as well since phasers are powered by the warp core."

Taking another, brief, glance around it seemed most the staff were trying to push the sluggish consoles and terminals to do what they wanted it to do. "We should also shut down all none essentially systems and isolate everything essential, this will also likely cause alarms and alerts as cross talk is turned off and the most systems may get a little sluggish"

Her words said she was advising, suggesting, and saying what could be done but her tones and syntax said this is what was going to be done.

As it was the priority issue, as if already expecting bridge to agree with its management, Jessica moved towards the warp core itself. As she moved past Blatt, "excellent work" would be directed his way. Her mind was starting to clear, almost as if soothed and calmed by the whirling sounds and whooshing hums of the machines around her. The tap-taps and bleeps of consoles quickly washing out the flooding sounds of frustrated and panicked flurry of the staff. Her mind almost synchronizing with the technology around her.
This message was last edited by the player at 04:47, Thu 13 Feb 2020.

Vanna frowns as she tries to adjust settings back to what they should be "Cmdr Geary, I'm experiencing difficulty with long-range sensors and comms are going haywire.  According to these readings we are in a complete void, although that doesn't make much sense."  She glances at Istala for confirmation that her station is also getting these readings.

In reply to Vanna Marie Keyes (msg # 4):

Istala didn't immediately answer as she frowned at her own panel then looked out the view-screen.  "We're drifting off course.  The helm says we're fine, but I can tell..."

Listening carefully to the engineer, he made mental notes, "Chief Laurent, understood.  Start taking what ever systems you need to in order to get the ship back under control."

Though she couldn't see him, he turned to  look at the Ardanan's head, "Lt. Keyes, that is... a bit disturbing.  Take all the information you can and send it to Science for analsys."

The turning his attention to the Trill, "Lt. Res, I'll trust your instincts.  Please track our course and send that to Science for analsys as well.  Also, to the best of your ability, try to map where you beleive we are. But in the meantime can you explain how you know we are not where the ship tells us we are?"

Then addressing the ship, "This is Lt. Commander Geary, we will need to take all non-essential systems off-line and secure all essential systems at this time.  Geary out."

He was about to goto something else and paused, the with curiosity he asked, "Lt. Keyes how are the Long range Sensors being affected?"
This message was last edited by the player at 08:10, Thu 13 Feb 2020.

"Short-range are still giving us readings, but anything drawing data in from the long-range sensors are reporting nothing.  At least that's how I'm interpreting the void that my display is showing." Vanna reports as she begins to forward her findings to science as instructed.

With Bridges confirmation, she took to trusting they would do what they needed to in order to brace for no phasers and having whatever limitations were about to come. "LT. Blatt, grab whatever resources you need to safely, manually, shut down the warp core and get it done. Lt Commander Thani, please get an engineering tricorder and assist Lt Blatt with readings." Then, Switching her coms to all engineering "This is acting Chief Engineer Laurent to all engineering, begin shutting down all non-essential systems and isolating everything else in firewall blocks, I even want barriers between redundancy systems, lock it all down and dedicate a person each to making sure life support and navigations is as functional as possible. Everything else try to touch and go as best as possible." Jessica's eyes never stopped watching the warp core as she spoke, her gaze moving with whatever visible shifts or variable colors occurred from it while she spoke.

Once her instructions went out, she would turn towards Lt Blatt to begin assisting him with shutting down the warp core.

In reply to Decker Geary (msg # 6):

"Could be the faint red-blue shift in the starlight, or the way they curve when they pass by.  Sir," Istala said to Geary as she entered a new adjustment to keep them on course when the panels now insisted she was off.  She glanced back at Geary with a hint of the smirk he had found on her face after the Istala Special they had enjoyed earlier. "Or it could just be instinct.  Sir."

In reply to Decker Geary (msg # 6):

"Yes, sir," acknowledged the young science officer on duty at the bridge, Taylor MacKenzie.  "Forwarding data and notifying Lt. Cmdr sh'Elliaph."

In reply to Jessica Laurent (msg # 8)

OOC: Posting Thani's reply by proxy.

Thani felt another tinge of disappointment as the engineer had again ignored her and run off to do her own thing. Thani shook her head and resigned herself to not bother with someone so self-absorbed. She had found an open terminal next to one of the other engineers while asking, "What do you need a hand with?"

After sitting down, the science officer Lt. Taylor MacKenzie on the bridge hailed her, "Lt. Cmdr. sh'Elliaph, we have some off readings, can you assess these?"

Thani responded quickly, "Yes, I'm in engineering send them to the terminal Lt."

Thankful for something to do and not feeling left out. There would be much to report on this after action report and Thani hated paperwork...

Then Jessica asks for her help barking out orders to everyone. She wasn't sure what to make of the young engineer.
This message was last edited by the player at 05:36, Fri 14 Feb 2020.

In reply to Thani sh'Elliaph (msg # 11):

Neither did Bart.  His mind had to fight a moment of cognitive dissonance to reconcile the Lt. Cmdr Laurent he had first met on the deck and later at dinner with the one giving orders now.  It didn't help that he'd didn't know why she was instead of Matheson, but orders were orders and to give them further legitimacy, he added, "You heard the LTC.  Get the systems isolated and localized."

Approaching he asked, "What's the plan, ma'am, and do you have any idea what the hell happened and how?"
This message was last edited by the player at 02:23, Fri 14 Feb 2020.

In reply to Vanna Marie Keyes (msg # 4):

Now that the immediate crisis is being handled, he could give a few moments thought on the next crisis, that being where the fuck were they?

"Lt. Keyes you said that the long range sensors and the comm were going haywire. So I'm assuming that there is no sub-space communication, correct? Is there some sort of interference affecting them?  Or are they being absorbed somehow?"

With that thought, "Ms. MacKenzie scan for ambient radiation, radio waves, cosmic radiation or what ever you expect to find in deep space."

His mind switched to being off course, "Lt. Res, if I remember my earth history, one of the ways to cause a ship to drift off course was to put a loadstone near the ships compass.  Run a basic diagnostics on the navigation systems for any anomalies"
This message was last edited by the GM at 17:10, Fri 14 Feb 2020.

"It appears to have cleared up, but my gut tells me this isn't over.  For the moment I'm getting readings that are roughly accurate at maximum range sir." Vanna says looking confused and frustrated with the instruments at this time. "That being said, the instruments say we're on course and nothing is in our way, for whatever that is worth, given the situtation sir."
This message was last edited by the player at 17:06, Fri 14 Feb 2020.

Jessica quickly located an available Engineers tricorder, immediately then moving in to assist Lt. Blatt in shutting down the warp core "There is a rampant, and particularly potent, security system that got loose in the system starting from the neural interfacing. It attacked Lt Comannder Catrina's neural interface and started making havoc in the rest of the ship. We need to lock everything down and scrub it out but we also need to be safe about it." she couldn't look at him while saying all this, and there was a small pause before she continued "Lt Commander Catrina has been stabilized."

"I came to scan the scene of the colapse and see if securiy was needed.  It seems I'm needed in another capacity.  I'll get right on it.  This is within my certificaitons." 

Stepping up beside Decker, he touched the man on the shoulder.  "I have the con Mr. Geary.  Assist Ms. Laurent."

He stepped up to the center of the bridge and asked the computer for ship wide address.

"Everyone, time for a leap of faith.  If you have no higher power, have faith in your teammates and in the vast space between the stars.

Shut down all computer systems not being used by the computer restoration team.  All systems, no matter how essential.  We're flying blind.  Attempting to do otherwise plays into the viruses digital illusions and slows down the restoration process."

He took a deep breath.  "Ms. Laurent, our fate is in your hands.  Make it so."
This message was last edited by the GM at 00:23, Sat 15 Feb 2020.

In reply to Nynev Idrani (msg # 16):

Bart looked at Nynev, confused.  "Chief Matheson wasn't here.  She said something about having dinner with the Sewards in their quarters after her shift.  Maybe they can help."  He saw Jessica arrive and begin issuing orders.  "I think we have enough hands here and I'd sure like to know how this happened."
This message was last edited by the player at 00:24, Sat 15 Feb 2020.

"Sir your talking to yourself, Sir." Vanna comments to Cmdr Malko as she remains at her station.

The Comms system on PA and all badges begins playing a Vulcan funeral dirge, preventing anyone from using it.
This message was last edited by the GM at 00:37, Sat 15 Feb 2020.

Before stepping up to take the con and make his speech, Malko had flashed Vanna a warm smile.  "A much maligned but perfectly effective technique for organizing one's thoughts, Lieutenant." 

Vanna smiles at Aurin and then leans over to whisper in his ear. She then stepped away from her position at Ops and smiled. "Where would you have me stationed Commander?" allowing him to relieve her of ops.
This message was last edited by the GM at 00:57, Sat 15 Feb 2020.

Nynev nodded to the chief engineer, handing over the station to a crewman.

She glanced at Jason, who had just finished walking escort.  "Mr. Walker, with me.  Do you have a tricroder?"

She started walking at a brisk pace.  At least nine inches shorter than Jason, brisk was a bit of an understatement, given that Jason had to walk a little faster than normal to match pace.



A little before the funeral dirge began, she touched her com.  "Mr. Tekar.  Meet us at the Sewards' quarters.  Is your tricorder on a digitally isolated system?"

"I can set it to that ma'am, it was recharging." Tekar grabs his tricorder and phaser and makes his way toward the Diplomatic Suite.  Setting the tricorder to be an isolated system for the time being as he moves. "Has their been an incident in the Diplomatic Suite ma'am?" He replies on his comm badge.

In reply to Aurin Malko (msg # 17):

"Aye, Comander." He said as he stood up.  Without hesitation, he walked to the turbolift. "Engineering."

It took him a few seconds to realize this was the worst elevator music ever, then another second to notice it was coming from his com. "Damnit."

Arriving at engineering, Walking up, "Cheif Laurent, I'm here to assist in taking the computer off line and getting them started back up.  Where are we in the process and what do you need from me?"

The travel from Medbay to her quarters had been mercifully brief for Cat as Jason had seemed to determine to snicker at her painted toes as much as he could.  What struck her as odd was how it felt as though she had gone too long without them being touched.  And she suddenly had the strangest urge to run barefoot through grass.  She kept that to herself, however.  Grabbing a pair of regulation boots, she pulled them on and continued to Engineering.

Along the way, Naoko had explained what had happened - at least, what she thought had happened - and by the time she had arrived, Cat had a fairly good idea what to do, only to see it more or less being done.  Jessica was giving orders.  Geary was standing there as well.  Every instinct Cat had wanted her to leap in and take charge, but between Dupont's words in her still fuzzy head and needing to trust her team, she held back.  If things went to hell, she could always step in. For now, she turned to Naoko and said, "Get to the core room and save off everything about your honeypot to an archival backup before they bring everything down.  You know as well as I that a system restore will wipe out everything."
This message was last edited by the player at 06:10, Sun 16 Feb 2020.

He had just followed Cat back to her quarters. "Didn't figure you fer red there Kitty," he teased her. "Maybe gold... or blue. Even silver," he added, not even trying to hide the huge grin on his face. Poor Naoko had to listen to Jason tease Catrina, then again he had done much the same to her earlier on in the officers mess. Of course his comments were peppered between Naoko's explanations but when they arrived at Engineering and Idrani was coming out.

He shut his mouth when he saw Lt Idrani, and he looked slightly disappointed before turning to his commanding officer. "No ma'am. I was in medbay," he said. "Didn't need one there. Would you like me to procure one?" Gone was the teasing young man and turned more serious. As for her walking, Jason actually kept up easily, much taller and with a longer stride than the Andorian woman.

"Ma'am?" Jason was concerned a moment. "We won't find anything there," he informed his commander as he kept pace. He thought he had informed Lt. Idrani of the cause when he was in the medbay and the information he had learned. Maybe she wanted something else?
This message was last edited by the player at 03:21, Sat 15 Feb 2020.

The moment her comms cut off from bridge and started transmitting the foreign music she quickly double tapped and turned it off before spinning away from the warp core, quickly identifying some kind of terminal that didn't need a person and shouting out while pointing at the person nearest the terminal she identified. "I NEED SOMEONE, YOU, ONE PERSON TO RUN TO ENGINEERING AND MAKE SURE THEY ARE DISABLING ALL TRANSMITTING SYSTEMS! THE PROGRAM COULD BE TRYING TO GET OUT OF OUR SYSTEM AND WE CAN'T LET THAT HAPPEN! USE THE JEFFRY TUBES IN CASE ITS SMART ENOUGH TO TRY STOPPING YOU!" if the room stopped, she would continue while looking across the room "WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING AT!?! MOVE!" Her hand would shift from a point to a wave, almost like a chop through the air, to emphasize her command for them to keep working.

as she turned to go back to working on the warp core, almost as if she hadn't just taken that moment to shout out to the room, she made a point to glance towards Blatt to gauge his own reaction to what she just did.
This message was last edited by the player at 05:18, Sat 15 Feb 2020.

In reply to Jessica Laurent (msg # 28):

Being pointed at and commanded shocked Deckar, but the intensity in the Chief Engineer's voice gave urgency to the demand.  All Deckar could do was reply, "On it!"

He quickly ran to the terminal he was instructed to man.  "Ensign! Get me an isolinear module, now, and follow me!"  Pointing to two others he blurted out, "You two, disable the main transmitters."  And then to another group, "You guys, start disabling all redundant transmitters, NOW!"  Pointing to another ensign, "You! YOu are needed to run commands between here ahd Chief Laurant since the coms are down."

Heading to the main computer terminal on Deck 4, Deckar sits at the main terminal and starts the shutdown process of the computer core as Commander Malko ordered, but first he started to download all the system logs possible, placing them on the module provided by the ensign.
This message was last edited by the player at 07:09, Sun 16 Feb 2020.

Thani did a quick glance at the information. But by the time she had formulated a response, the comm badge played that annoying dirge. Whatever this bugger was, she'd help as best she could. Grabbing an engineering tricorder, she went to the engineering area where she could be the most helpful in assisting.

Thani does a double take, and then again, swallows hard, sweat beads on her forehead. Then looks at the nearest commanding officer still present,
This message was last edited by the GM at 05:37, Mon 17 Feb 2020.

In reply to Thani sh'Elliaph (msg # 31):

Jerking his head up from his task to comprehend what was just said, speaking in Romulan he exclaims "Fuck!"  Getting up from his station not sure if the computer will allow for the turbo lift to work, he heads for the ladders and slides down it.

"Chief Laurant, kill the core now!  We're heading towards a black hole and have about 40 seconds until the event horizon!"
This message was last edited by the player at 05:54, Mon 17 Feb 2020.

No sooner had they said that, the ship lurched almost unnaturally... indicating they had dropped out of warp.

Then power cycled from warpcore to auxilary power, causing a flux  in power as it quickly regulated the shift in level and managed the adjust surge of power.

In reply to Jessica Laurent (msg # 33):

The adrenalin was still flowing though his veins when he realized that he hadn’t taken a breath in the last few seconds.  There was no smoke, no debris, nothing to suggest there was a crisis less a minute ago.  Not even a tool had fallen to the floor. Slowly the realization that they were not going to added to the cosmic particles in the universe.  Regaining his composure as he looked around for any visible damage.  Turing to the betazoid he stated, “Well done, Chief Laurent.  That was… a bit anti-climactic.”  Looking back at the access ladder, “I need to get back to shutting down the computer core.  Take care of what you need to down here.  If you have spare personnel, send them to help take the computer core down. Also send a messenger up to the bridge and let commander Malko know our status.”

He turned to head back up the ladder.  Stopping at the first rung, he turned back to the engineer, “By the way, I’m Lt. Commander Deckar Geary. Nice to meet you”  He gave her a little wave and headed up to deck 4.

In reply to Decker Geary (msg # 34):

Istala could feel the warp bubble begin to collapse and steadied herself for the lurch that would follow, despite the inertial dampeners working in overdrive to keep them from feeling the deceleration more than they did.  She checked the helm.  "We're out of warp, sir," she reported to Malko, feeling a bit odd for him to be sitting in the chair behind her as they had arranged different shifts to avoid just this situation.  "At half impulse, though, and still headed in whatever direction we're in."

She glanced to Vanna at Ops.  "Get sensors back yet?  Can you tell where we are?"

Vanna pales as she stares at the console and then looks up at Malko and Istala. "We're.....We're on a descending orbit around a stellar-mass black hole.  ETA to the event horizon is seven hours, we're at half impulse.  And of course the console just erased all that information, what is going on with these systems today?" She stammers out her mind panicking as she realizes with the ship resisting them they might very well fall into the black hole.
This message was last edited by the player at 01:44, Wed 19 Feb 2020.

Thani is happy they're not dead. She does some quick calculations, and then leaps up to rush to the hatch Geary had dropped down. Poking her head over and seeing him, "Commander, immediate crisis averted, but we only have 7 hours to regain control before we enter the event horizon. We need to get the Impulse engines and navigation working correctly to escape the gravitational pull."

For some reason, it miffed Jessica to have LT Commander Deckar give orders to her while he was in engineering... Feeling this also felt foreign to the young engineer, almost even shocking herself at realizing it. Likely, her mouth was even slightly agap and her gaze would drift down as it subconsciously showed she was thinking.

The convolution of emotions quickly flashed on her face as she turned towards the exiting officer. However, her sense of duty quickly drew her back to the situation at hand and she snapped herself back into a neutral expression.

Just as she seemed to be about to speak, Thani gave an estimate of the situation, "I appreciate the praise, the situation is now stable here and both my command and presence is needed in main engineering at this time. As our science officer has said, it's not over yet." Drawing a smile, she nodded to the two while stepping closer to them. "I think we are all headed to the same location now," then turning to address the warp core room in a more stern voice "Since Communications are strained, I am putting Lieutenant Blatt in charge of this room, unless I or someone of higher rank comes in here and gives you an order then you are to look to him with the same authority of chief engineer."

Then, turning to Officer Blatt and quickly switching to a more respecting tone "please send whoever you don't need to main engineering, so that we can distribute them across the ship for a system reset. Also, manage the reset of the warp cores systems."

If Thani and Decker were still at the Jeffries tube leading to main engineering, she would step up behind them to follow while maintaining a respectful smile to regard them with. As the situation calmed, she was starting to feel her sense of social concern and anxiety slowly start to creep in, no longer overpowered by stress and adrenaline... she could already tell she was mentally fussing and fidgeting over the right thing to say and this likely was starting to show a little in her demeanor as concern crept into her face as well. Not an 'omg we are going to die' concern, but a distinct 'did i say the right thing' concern.

OOC: fixed some syntax, ignore the edit.
This message was last edited by the player at 05:49, Wed 19 Feb 2020.

As he was climbing the ladder he looked up at the Andorian, "Understood commander.  Do you have any idea how long it will take us to bring the computer core down and back up and in working order again, making sure this virus or whatever has been cleaned from the system?"

Hearing a noise beneath him, he spots the engineer following him up.  Continuing up the tube, "Chief, if need be, how quick can we get auxiliary control back up and isolated from the rest of the computer system?" He reached the top of the ladder and stepped aside to allow her access to Deck 4, offering his hand as she emerged.
This message was last edited by the player at 05:52, Wed 19 Feb 2020.

Before Malko's speech: 

Receiving a revelation from Vana's whispers, Malko blinked, then blinked again.  He shook his head and responded in similar fashion.

  Despite the announcement about the Black Hole, Malko gave a fierce nod. "Excellent. I will co mend engineering when the funeral ends."

  He made a gesture upwards to vaguely indicate the Vulcan dirge.

  He turned to Ops.  "Ms. Keyes.  The comms systems aren't of any use right now and need to go off line before they can be restored.  Let's have that ready for the engineering team when they get to it.  Get ship communications shut down."

  Then he stepped up to his fellow trill--the petite and lovely pilot.  At a glance, the touch on the shoulder wasn't different from the sincere gestured he'd offered many others today, but there was deep tenderness in his eyes when they met hers.  "Istala," it was also telling that he - without quite thinking about it -used the pilot's persona name.  "There should be a manual control for the maneuver thrusters down in the shuttle bay I believe.  See if you can get automated control for those disconnected, then use manual control to fire the port maneuvering thrusters.  Keep it going in any way you can.  We should have computer control back long before we reach the event horizon, but let's see if we can adjust course to pass around it."
This message was last edited by the GM at 16:10, Thu 20 Feb 2020.

Cut loose from visiting the Sewards, Jason turned and made his way back to Engineering. Paying little mind to the rest he made a beeline to Naoko.

"What is the situation," he asked but let the woman work. Glancing around, he noticed the frantic activity going on and he frowned, leaning closer. "Hey, what's going on? Why tha' rushin' 'bout? He had the sinking feeling that something was off just from the hurried pace going on around him.

Jess glanced up to better hear the question but when his butt immediately came into view, she glanced back down at the bars. "generally, it shouldn't take more than a half an hour, definitely no more than an hour, to shut everything down and make sure its all down. Another half an hour for the extra running around, it's not hard to flip some switches but we have a smaller crew and the lifts are a risk right now. Maybe another hour to scrub the code, and half an hour to get it all back on. We can probably focus on sensors and navigations to get those fully cleaned, up, and running without an hour and a half to two hours from now and then do the rest of the ship's systems after. Just rough estimates, it only took me most of a shift to do a thorough check of most of the ship by myself and we do have a competent crew."

Walking back to his terminal, he made sure the logs had finished downloading, he sat down and started to download more files.

"Commander Laurent, since you are more familiar with the ship, would you kindly direct us as to which computers to bring up first?"

Then looking at the Andorian, "And commander sh'Elliaph, please keep tabs of the event horizon to the best of your capabilities with the instruments at hand."

He went back to work on the computer systems and looked back up.

"Alos, Commander sh'Elliaph, start thinking about sending a couple of probes out while we have this chance.  If the torpedo bays are not functioning, we may need to use a shuttle to launch them."  Turning back to his screen he added a little jest, "Or we could just have Roscoe and Jenner from maintenance just give them the ol' heave-oh out the shuttle bay door."

Thani could only think of the adage, garbage in, garbage out. The virus was feeding them garbage, she wasn't sure if there would be more she could glean till they cut the virus out of the systems.

Responding to Geary, "Commander, do we have anyone to run or relay messages to the XO? The bridge might not be aware of the situation with the comms down. I'll prep the probes for launch but I'll need those systems clean otherwise we'll be be getting false data from the virus."

She works to get probes set up.

Jessica's eyes furrowed in thought as she moved into engineering, listening to her fellow Lt Commanders "its a computer code, perhaps we can decrypt what its feeding us to get whats real?"

Turning to the room and speaking sternly, "I am acting chief Engineer Laurant, taking command of the room. Who has been in charge? I need a status report." trying to make it seem like an afterthought, "Also who has good endurance."

In reply to Jessica Laurent (msg # 46):

Working on the terminal, he didn't even bother to look up as he responded, "I guess that would be me.  Was in the process of saving the logs before shutting down the core when Commander sh'Elliaph discovered the black hole." Then he tured to face the betazoid, "Unless someone else has anything to add, thats where we are."

Thani shakes her head and answers Jessica, "It's not encrypting the data, it's factually altering the data. There is a big difference. Lord help us if it begins encrypting data, decryption would be a nightmare. No, how I'm getting any information is seeing an aberrant spike or change in data before it compensates and alters the information stream. Think of it as a Man-In-The-Middle attack." Feeling useful in at least explaining computers and science felt good.

Looking at the command officer, "If I may recommend sir, how about personnel unable to assist with the essential functions of isolate, systems wipe and reboot handle the communications relay to the bridge. Have them in shouting range of the tubes so we have fast information flow instead of winded command officers." Thani was all about efficient use of resources. Men wanted to run, but that would take precious time to relay vital information that frankly they needed.

In reply to Jason Walker (msg # 42):

"Where've you been?" Naoko asked Jason, both literally and rhetorically, as she stood up from her terminal.  "We had to initiate an emergency shutdown of the core because we were less than a minute away from a black hole.  We're on impulse now, but we're still headed towards it.  So now we've got to shut down every single computer system, wipe them and get them back up before we get too close.  Oh, did I mention comms are down too?"

Jason froze up, his mouth open and he couldn't even spit out one joke about it. Furrowing his brows up. "Was in the medbay, Cat dragged me along and then Lt. Idrani caught me at the door here and started dragging me off to the Sewards. I think I've been dun pulled every which way but right," he added.
"Was that why the ship lurched a bit ago?" He started to ask then shook his head. "Never y'mind. I'm not techy n'all thumbs here." He looked around in thought. "Comms are down huh? So I can take a big guess that the one hand doesnt know what the other is doing."
He gave a nod, now having a game plan. "Well, do what ever y'be doing, guessin' i'm gonna go see that the Bridge knows we ya'll are going to shut down and wipe. Or at least make sure they know. But if'n you happen to find who's hand started this mess, let me know, ya?"
The lifts were out of the question so he started towards the other voices he could hear(Thani, Decker, Jess ect.). Since the loudest voices seemed in one area he moved over. "Sir, ma'ams? Specialist Walker. I can organize Security t'help. What'cha need done?"

In reply to Decker Geary (msg # 44):

Shoes.  Farah should've have stopped by her quarters to get shoes on before making the descent down the ladder to Deck 4.  Then her feet wouldn't be quite so sore as she stepped into Main Engineering.  She would have gone to the bridge had a crewman not informed her of Malko taking the bridge instead of the person she needed to talk to.  The announcement of her presence there would be made by a simple request that couldn't be interpreted as anything but a command.  "Mr. Geary.  If I may have a moment of your time?"

In reply to Decker Geary (msg # 47):

"No, sir," Tzerak replied, more or less speaking for the e, engineers.  Jessica hadn't designated anyone in charge of the deck when she had taken Bart with her and Geary wasn't an engineer, though he did outrank him.  Thankfully, Chief Matheson had given the team an order of succession and one glance at her in the chaos had been enough to move him forward on it.

Jessica almost felt a lump form in her throat, almost audibly croaking, as she saw Catrina in engineering and realized she just declared herself in command over her peer. It was technically true, but still felt wrong and overstepping to the young engineer. She made a hard glance over to LT Commander Matheson in an almost questioning expression... ready to bow to the side if socially addressed to. And then again, yet more readily so, when Farah came into the room, Jess almost had the afterthought about how upper command seemed to be wherever she was.

As her questions got addressed by an engineer already in the room, and as Jason offered to meet her demand for personal of criteria, she felt a small sense of relief that perhaps she hadn't overstepped herself. Though, the solid no could also have been to tell her no she wasn't taking command as well.

Now taking to err on the side of caution, her voice now one a bit more meek, "Room, the Warp Core is being handled and managed by Lieutenant Blatt," she looked in Catrina's direction to address her more than the room despite saying she was speaking to the room. "All runners should be sent to look for him until comms are back up." Now recovering a little composure, catching her own sense of cadence and turning to Jason "We need to have some kind of communication with the bridge, a technically competent runner that won't injure themselves or tire out too much."

Turning to Catrina and moving closer so as to more clearly be speaking to her, Jessica spoke this almost in a whisper to try and not draw it around the room "I've done enough, are you ready to fix your ship?"

In reply to Farah Greene (msg # 51):

Looking up from the screen he was a bit shocked to see the captain standing there. "Aye Captain, of course." A few more buttons pushed, he stood up facing her, standing at attention.

In reply to Decker Geary (msg # 54):

"With me," Farah told Geary and moved to an area where they could speak in private.
This message was last edited by the player at 17:55, Sat 22 Feb 2020.

In reply to Farah Greene (msg # 55):

He fidgeted a bit as the captain talked to him, nodding in agreement.


We walked back to the terminal and handed the captain the one of the memory modules. "We will need to find an isolated system to open those and make sure they are not infected with the virus."
This message was last edited by the player at 20:57, Sat 22 Feb 2020.

Jason didn't know what to do at this point and just got out of the way.
This message was last edited by the player at 12:43, Mon 24 Feb 2020.

In reply to Decker Geary (msg # 56):

Farah nodded at Geary and a slight smirk appeared on her face.
This message had punctuation tweaked by the player at 03:58, Sun 23 Feb 2020.

In reply to Farah Greene (msg # 58):

Not too worried since he have a few hours to complete the task, but he knew it was urgent. "Captain, I'm quite glad to see that you are up and around.  I was given no updates as to your situation."  Looking down he notices her bare feet. "You could grab some safety boots, that is if you are uncomfortable." He said pointing to the safety equipment lockers.

Before Farah left, jess would try as polite but direct an addressing as she could "um, Captain Greene, As soon as there is a chance I would like to have a talk with you about the current situation. Preferably with once Teala recovers but really as soon as possible... Privately...."

In reply to Jessica Laurent (msg # 53):

Cat was about to reply to Jessica when the younger engineer moved away to speak to the Captain.  She was about to call out that Doctor Dupont had put her on limited duty, but eyes were already falling on her and, dammit, this was her ship.  Thankfully, she had Naoko had already worked out a plan while they were focused on forcing the ship out of warp.  Cat just had to give the order and trust her team to execute.

She turned to face her team and others around her.  "Listen up, people," she started, making sure she had their attention.  "For those of you who don't know, a prototype countermeasure system got out of its sandbox and attacked the ship thinking it a hostile entity.  We'll tackle the how and why later, but our first priority is getting the ship under control.  Standard procedure for a corrupted core won't apply because this thing is adaptive and we have to assume it's already taken measures to prevent its removal.  That means top-down disconnect and wipe and bottom-up restoration of everything, from main-core to tricorder to comm badge.  This will be a royal pain in the ass, but if we don't do it right, we'll be right back where we started.  Naoko will be following up with subsystem assignments.  Work with department heads to make sure it's all done right.  Got me?"

Seeing Thani among the crowd, she asked.  "Restoring the science lab will have to wait behind higher priorities. but we can use every hand available."  With a quick glance to Jason, she added, "You too, Jason."

In reply to Jessica Laurent (msg # 60):

Farah hadn't quite finished her conversation with Geary when Jessica approached, but it was clear the young engineer had something on her mind.  "Go see what Chief Matheson needs to get my ship back under control."

Though she didn't show it, Jessica's request did take Farah by some surprise, especially when she mentioned Teala.  "We don't know when Teala will recover," she told Jessica with an edge to her voice reflecting just how unhappy she was.  Given what Alex had told her, no one would blame her.  "When" may very well be "if".  "So if you have something to say, especially if it'll help me understand why my attache is in stasis, say it now.  Or shall I order you to?"

"Maneuvering thrusters are controlled through the helm, which is down..." Istala thought aloud, "And I can't talk over..."

An idea struck her, but she had no idea if it were possible.  "Can we fashion some sort of radio that doesn't need the comms systems?  Or maybe reconfigure badges to work point to point?"
This message was last edited by the player at 05:37, Mon 24 Feb 2020.

In reply to Catrina Matheson (msg # 61):

Thani nods, "Understood Ma'am, Science lab is the least of my concern. Getting navigation and sensors up before cross the event horizon or collide into another object are top priority to me as well!" As she grabs the engineering tricorder given to her to assist in the assignments where she can help.

In reply to Catrina Matheson (msg # 61):

Nodding to Captain Greene, "Aye Captain." Since eh was dismissed, he walked over to the engineer.

"Comander Matheson, I am Lt. Comander Geary.  I am at your disposal for the duration fo this situation."  Handing her a memory module, "I have already taken the liberty to download all the system logs in hopes of finding out more information on the cause of thise intrusion." Pausing a bit while taking in the situation at hand, "I would like to entertain an idea to you.  If the virus is able to move from system to system for its own survival, might I suggest that we set up a stand alone system with a physical connection only so we can herd the virus into it?  This way we can study this unique program.  But we need to make sure that the only access to the system is a physical connection.  It must be isolated."

seeing the seriousness in what Farah said, Jessica's frown deepened. "Captain," she took a more formal posture "its important but neither that important nor will it help the current situation, or Lt Commander Teala, I just wanted to ask you for some time when there was time." Jessica's face held a bit of a frown at the reaction she got but otherwise remained stoic, "permission to return to assisting Lt Commander Matheson?"

In reply to Catrina Matheson (msg # 61):

Jason looked up at Cat and frowned. "Yes'sum ma'am." He didn't know how he could help since he was an idiot with tech.

Malko pursed his lips thoughtfully.  “All right.  Com badges transmit and receive.  They normally do it to the com system, but isolating that so that they communicate directly with each other shouldn't be difficult—even with just Academy basics qualifications.  How m any stations do you need to synchronize?”

Getting Istala's answer—five—Malko called up a random crewman.  Being Malko, he did it by name.  “We need two small variable flow arc welders, six size AA magnetic clamps, and a hydrospanner, stat.”

Then he snagged Istalla's com badge and pulled off  his own, “We need five more com badges here.   If you've got nothing else to do and scored high in Academy Basic Qualifications for engineering, step foreword.  If you've got more than basic qualifications, you should probably be helping the computer team.”

In reply to Aurin Malko (msg # 68):

As Aurin was commanding like a commander in the command bridge, a low ranked engineer runs in and reports that Catrina is likely taking over command of engineering and the warp core is under command of Lt Blatt. They would then ask the bridge, or Aurin, if there are any changes, any new commands for engineering, or otherwise if there was anything they needed to know or that they needed engineering to know.

In reply to Jessica Laurent (msg # 66):

It was not the answer Farah wanted from Jessica and maybe it was the lingering buzzing in her head, but she could feel something was off.  Or missing.  She wasn't sure.  Yet the needs of her ship had to come first, especially with Cat still dealing with her own difficulties.  "Very well, Ms. Laurent," she said cooly, but hinting she was not pleased with Jessica's response.  "Return to your duties and we'll speak of this later."

In reply to Decker Geary (msg # 65):

"It's my code, sir," Naoko said to Geary.  "It's doing exactly what I programmed it do, incomplete as it was and I've already archived it for..."  She shrugged.  "Well, that's the Captain's call, though I wouldn't be surprised if she wanted it erased."

Muttering to herself, she added, "And me..."

Cat put a reassuring hand on Naoko's shoulder before completing the thought.  "The point being with your log downloads and the archives, we have enough for later study. For now we need to be thorough in removing all traces."

With Jessica approaching, she looked over the group.  "Jessica, I want you to work on the warp core systems.  Bart, you and Lt. Cmdr Geary work on the subspace systems, comms and sensors.  Naoko, take point on the bridge to restore operations.  Jackie, go with Tekar and Jason to make sure anything that was connected to the system is scrubbed.  Tricorders, comm badges, replicators.  All of it.  Thani, prepare your systems for scrubbing.  I'll be sending someone to assist once we get the critical systems done."

"If I may make a request, Cat?" Farah interjected. "I want you to do the Medical Systems given the special situation we're in.  I'm sure Dr. Dupont would appreciate the effort.  Since I'm not yet officially cleared for duty, I'll help in Science."

"Yes, Captain," Cat said with a nod, then looked to the others.  "Let's get to it."

Tekar enters holding the data archive of computer access for the duration of their mission and approaches Lt Naoko Kusaragi.  Giving a polite nod he offers the archive to her. "I believe that Commander Idrani, would want you to review these records, to determine what if any influence the crew's interactions with the ship may have had upon your program.  Perhaps its nothing, or perhaps we'll find the cause of the issue in them Lt Kusaragi." he gave a polite nod his eyes wandering as he did before turning to leave.

In reply to Your Loving GM (msg # 71):

Listening intently to the Engineer, "Aye, commander, we'll take care of it."

Turning to Lt Blatt, "OK Lt. lets work from the inside out, first the comm system, then the sensors, and lastly the subspace system." pulling up the schematic for the comm system, "We need to make sure this virus isn't hiding in any comm, so we will need to collect all the comms first prior to turning the comm system on and give everybody a new comm."

Turning to some random ensign, "Ensign, I need to you to task eight to ten crewmen to collect every comm on board this ship and bring them here for destruction."

Then turning back to the Lieutenent, "Lets start replicating all the comms..." The task shouldn't take long, it was just tedious.
This message was last edited by the player at 09:28, Wed 26 Feb 2020.

Thani nods in acknowledgement, "Yes Captain." And would head to the science lab to prepare the systems for a wipe. Saving the critical data theories she had brainstormed with Dr. Dupont before wiping those systems.

Jason gave a nod and started with the room they were in, gathering up every com badge he could find and any with Jackie's help any other device that was portable. "Sir," he said to Tekar. "Should we bring these things to the Armory perhaps and wipe them there? It would get us out of the way of them here."
This message was last edited by the player at 13:05, Wed 26 Feb 2020.

In reply to Jason Walker (msg # 75):

Looking up at the specialist, "That will be fine.  Just let me know as soon as everyone has been wiped and secured. Then we can distribute the new comms to everyone."

"Understood Sir, we'll get on that at once.  With any luck, our quick rework of the comms will even leave the comm badges being able to still act as universal translators." He said the last bit more as a joke, but it'd really depend upon how bad the systems were damaged or infiltrated by the anti-virus.

Before everyone shot off to go do as ordered by Catrina, Jessica quickly spoke out a sharp "real quick" to catch all their attention, "It may have been less than a day but I am sure many of us took things on board with us... I know I did. Many will want to rush off to save their precious data before it gets wiped... I want to. We need to prioritize the ship, our lives and the lives of many others of many other ships may depend on it." she took a breath, "If you insist on saving anything then don't hide it. Before replugging it back in, bring it to Lieutenant Kusaragi, myself, or Lieutenant Commander Matheson to get it scanned, isolated, firewalled, or otherwise safeguarded before allowing it any sort of connection to the ship. It may even be best to manually copy whatever info it has so as to avoid risk of any embedded code. Please, don't try to protect your data thinking it's going to be blindly deleted... we will work with you."

She gave a very brief pause.
Now lets get to it."

unless some follow up from someone else was said, Jessica would look towards Catrina, solute, and then move off to the warp core room for her own assignment.
This message was last edited by the player at 04:06, Thu 27 Feb 2020.

In reply to Tekar Visroy Davis (msg # 77):

"We should gather up all comm badges and make sure they're reflashed with the proper coding.  Tricorders and any other portable equipment that might be infected too," Jackie said to Tekar before remembering she was speaking to an officer.  "Forgive me, sir.  Crewman Jackie Rosebrooke.  I'm on the damage control team, but..."  She looked around.  "Thankfully there's not any real damage."

Glancing back at Jason, whom she had gotten to know over his visits to bug Cat, she gave him a faint, shy smile. "Hello, sir."
This message was last edited by the GM at 00:24, Thu 27 Feb 2020.

"Good idea Crewmen, it'll save us a lot of time if we just flash the storage with new protocol instead of making entirely new badges." He says with a smile.

Jason already had all the badges from the people around and he offered them to Jackie with a smile back. "Hi, here's the ones from this level." He was use to Jackie calling him 'sir' but he had teased her just as much as he had anyone he had gotten to know. Turning to Tekar, "Sir would you like me to get the rest of the team to go around the ship and get the tricorders, badges and other portables and bring them to a centralized location like the Armory or the office? Donno 'bout you, but seems its 'bout to get a mite bit busy here inna few."

"Make it so Specialist Walker." Tekar says with a nod as he goes to help in collecting any tricorders or wireless devices on this level to get to work on. "The armory will work for storing items until we get to them."
This message was last edited by the player at 00:50, Thu 27 Feb 2020.

In reply to Tekar Visroy Davis (msg # 82):

"Actually," Cat called to Jason and the others as she passed on her way to MedBay to meet Alex, "it'll be simpler to just replicate new equipment once the system is back up.  Still we can't risk infected items reinfecting us, so gather it up regardless.  If something is needed before we have the replicators working, we can manually re-image."

She couldn't help but give Jackie a look of disapproval, "You should know that, Crewman."

Jackie hung her head, "Yes, ma'am."

Location: Deck whatever, Engineering. Exiting to Armory, eventually.

He glanced to the side at Jackie then back at Tekar before shrugging slightly. "We'll be-," he cut off as Cat spoke and glanced back and forth a moment between her and Jackie. "Yes sir. Ma'am," he said to Tekar and Catrina.

"I'll meet you in the Armory after I get the guys and gals to hit the decks," he said to Jackie, bit sympathetic to the rebuke. Then he headed out to find the few security personnel still on whatever deck he's on.
This message was last edited by the player at 04:56, Thu 27 Feb 2020.

In reply to Thani sh'Elliaph (msg # 74):

Though not cleared to resume command, Farah still wanted to be of help.  She trusted her team to handle the critical systems, but Cat had put a lower priority on Science and that seemed a good place.  "Lt. Cmdr sh'Elliaph," she called to catch up with Thani.  "Mind if I lend a hand?"
This message was last edited by the player at 04:47, Thu 27 Feb 2020.

Naoko hurried to the bridge, eager, if not desperate, to put things right.  Cat had shown her a sign of report, but she knew once this was over she had to face the Captain.  Perhaps it would not have been so bad had no one been hurt, but someone had and Naoko had to face the consequences.  But that had to come later.  For now, she had a job to do and honor demanded she completed her task to the best of her ability.

"Commander Malko?" she called to the Trill sitting in the chair. "I'm Lt. Kusaragi.  Chief Matheson sent me here to get the operations systems restored."

Glancing at the badges in his hand, she continued. "If I may ask, sir, what are you doing with those?"
This message was last edited by the player at 02:09, Fri 28 Feb 2020.

In reply to Tekar Visroy Davis (msg # 82):

"Should I help in gathering items, sir?" Jackie asked Tekar, unsure what her next move should be, but wanting to be useful, especially in light of her screw up.

Once arriving in the warp core room, for some reason being one of the few assigned to handle the room seemed a bit daunting at first. She stepped in and so few people were there... for once, for some reason, she felt the void and emptiness of people. It was a strange feeling that she quickly decided she didnt like.
Thankfully, it was more an edging, a peripheral sense, then an overwhelming one.

as if the machines called out to her, the void and silence of their operations spoke to her, telling her to make them work. She quickly moved over to a console to interface with it. Her fingers sliding across its interface panel with almost an intimate sense of mastery to it. Her face slowly brightening as she worked, her eyes rapidly scanning the screen's feedback as she worked to clear and reset its system.

In reply to Farah Greene (msg # 85):

Location: Deck 3?, Science


Thani looked to the Captain, a faint smile given. Seeing the captain and the others down in the medbay had been surreal to her. She was genuinely relieved to see both Catrina and Farah up and about. Giving a nod, "Glad to see you up and about captain. Can you prep for the wipe of the system?"

As she pulls out a backup device to back up data, "While I back up the theory data for the photon torpedo testing."

She was surprised nobody had commented on her night apparel while working though. Duty came first, and that meant being in her PJs, then so be it. At least it was the correct color for her department.

In reply to Thani sh'Elliaph (msg # 89):


Nodding to the lt., “Lt. Blatt, it looks as though the comm replacement is being taken care of, please start getting subsystems prepared to be brought online when the time comes.”

He slid down the ladder to the warp core, noticing it was empty except for the betazoid.  “Commander, Im here to assist as best I can.  I may not know engineering, but I can handle a computer fairly good and I can monitor the systems with the best of them.  How can I help?”
This message was last edited by the player at 21:55, Thu 27 Feb 2020.

Tekar smiled at Jackie before replying, "So long as it doesn't interfere with your other responsibilities it'd be a great help if you could Crewmen."

In reply to Thani sh'Elliaph (msg # 89):

Location: Deck 3, Science Lab


"I was going to ask tomorrow, but how are your test plans progressing for the new quantum torpedo?" Farah asked Thani as she began the systems for the wipe and restore.  "If you're still doing analysis, I understand."
This message was last edited by the player at 02:32, Fri 28 Feb 2020.

In reply to Tekar Visroy Davis (msg # 91):

Deck 3, Security Complex

Though she no real authority, Jackie conscripted two others to help her locate and gather any portable devices that might have interfaced with the main computer.  It was unglamorous work to be sure and it would be simpler to replicate new ones, but they couldn't take the chance of something that the virus had infected reconnecting to the main computer.  Along the way, she made sure to power down smaller systems that couldn't be carried.

"I think that's everything, sirs," she said to both Tekar and Jason.

In reply to Jackie Rosebrooke (msg # 93):

Deck 3, Security Complex

Jason had done what he could with a few of the other security personnel standing around not sure what to do. Them having something to do got a reaction and when they brought back all they had collected to Security. He was doing what he could to deactivate things he really didn't pay much attention to, a serious frown of concentration on his face, when Jackie entered.

"Thanks, Rosebrooke," he said, still distracted by the tricorder. Even calling him 'sir' didn't really catch his attention at that moment as he turned the tricorder over and over before opening it and pressing a button.

Instead of powering down, it made a loud noise that had him almost throw it in surprise and he started juggling it till he caught it and set it down firmly. Gaze flickered around the room and he then looked down and snatched up one of the badges, disabling it. Such a fascinating thing, the badge.

"Specialist Walker, is there a problem with the equipment?" Tekar asks as he enters nodding to Jackie as he delivers his own fair share to gear to the armoury for reprocessing.

Jess almost didn't hear decker enter, she gave him a quick glance as he did before going back to her screen "I don't mind the assistance, its a big room." In truth she did, her teeth gritted a little at the loss of solitude with her work but she pressed herself into a more positive demeanor. She wasn't some low ranking officer anymore, she literally just led all of engineering... the gravity of her position was cycling through her. While she hadn't yet settled on how she felt about it Jessica at least knew there was a strong sense of seriousness expected of her now.

"The process is simple really, just run a reformatting of the local systems and later, when we get the main computer reset, it will make sure everything initiated and set to the appropriate defaults. We need to clear caches, driver's, registries, everything... basically, if you can do something on it then it needs to be formated again."

In reply to Farah Greene (msg # 92):


Thani looked up.  Processing a couple of thoughts, smiled at the captain, "I made great progress. Dr. Dupont and I worked together and he had some thoughts on how to reduce the variables and noise. I'm actually excited to see the results of these tests. I always love a good explosion.

Not wanting to keep all focus on herself, she quickly changes the subject. "How are you finding the ship and the crew?"

In reply to Thani sh'Elliaph (msg # 97):


"It's still early to tell how well the crew will work together," Farah admitted.  Plans and reality had a way of disagreeing.  She had already dismissed one from the team after her behavior at the dinner party and wasn't afraid to do it again.  The mission came first.  Always.  "But the ship..." She sighed.  "Cat and I worked together to make her how I want..."

A distinct tone of displeasure filled her voice. "Didn't know I'd have a Jonah aboard."
This message was last edited by the player at 01:35, Sat 29 Feb 2020.

In reply to Farah Greene (msg # 98):


That last catches her off-guard, "I'm sorry, a what?" Clearly confused at what must an Earth-based slang term as she doesn't recall any crew member with a name of Jonah.

In reply to Thani sh'Elliaph (msg # 99):

"A Jonah is an old Earth sailing term for someone who's bad luck aboard a ship," Farah said as she completed her part of the work. "Then again, women and redhead's are considered bad luck too, but I just hope not making it a day out of dock before something goes sideways isn't an ill omen."
This message was last updated by the player at 02:26, Sat 29 Feb 2020.

Thani finished her backups and turned back to Farah, a concerned and puzzled frown on her face, "I see. And what does one do when a Jonah is found?"


Verifying all the data was backed up, she then looked back to Farah, "I'm good for shut down and wipe."

Vanna glances at Naoko from her position at Operations. "Apparently we're wiping them, although I don't know all the details on exactly, whats going on.  We're supposed to begin wiping this console, all i know is security took all our comm badges and tricorders."
This message was last edited by the player at 22:17, Sat 29 Feb 2020.

In reply to Tekar Visroy Davis (msg # 95):

"No sir," he said, ear tips getting red.

In reply to Thani sh'Elliaph (msg # 101):


With a final command, Farah nodded.  "Initiating wipe process.  It'll take a bit, but while you have my undivided attention, is there anything you need?"

In reply to Jason Walker (msg # 103):

Watching Jason, Jackie had burst into laughter.  He had claimed to be technically incompetent, but she had no idea it was that bad.  "Awww..." she cooed, not at Jason, but the tricorder now on the floor.  She bent down and picked it up.   "Did the bad man scare you?"

Then Tekar spoke and like a door slamming shut, the smile and demeanor disappeared from Jackie.  "N-No sir.  A tricorder just fell."
This message was last edited by the GM at 22:50, Sat 29 Feb 2020.

In reply to Vanna Marie Keyes (msg # 102):

"Except for those?" Naoko said, noticing the ones Malko still had.

"Cmdr Malko wanted to make them point-to-point and by pass the comms system so we can manually activate thrusters in coordination to keep us from getting closer to the black hole." Istala said.

"Oh!" Naoko brightened at the idea.  "That's easy.  If I may sir?"  Taking the comms Naoko pulled out a small tool and began to work on each as easily as one adjusting a watch.  "There.  That ought to do it."  She handed one back to Malko and the others to one of the "messengers" Geary had set around the ship.  "Distribute these to the operations teams.  Oh, and..."  She pulled off her own badge and made the same adjustment.  "That one to Captain Greene."

Turning to Vanna, she tilted her head to the panels to the ops stations control systems.  "Come on, I'll show you how its done."
This message was last edited by the player at 22:49, Sat 29 Feb 2020.

In reply to Farah Greene (msg # 104):


Shaking her head, "The lab is top notch captain, I cannot complain. The crew seems competent but have not had a chance to socialize with them all. I just wish I had more time to get used to it before we had to go an reset the systems."

In reply to Jackie Rosebrooke (msg # 105):

Well that was very embarrassing to be caught like that. He felt his ears burning and he left them like that because that would only draw even more attention to him. With Tekar's presence, he just did his job which was about as simple as it could get, deactivating the devices they had gathered instead of responding to Jackie like he wanted to.

To Jackie, he asked, "We are disposing of these in the replicator...?" He would be right glad when the problem was over with, then maybe he could go hide or something of the sort.
This message was last edited by the player at 00:33, Sun 01 Mar 2020.

Vanna smiles and asks. "When will we be free of the danger zone for this black hole?  I don't know if I can trust any of these systems or not right now."
This message was last edited by the player at 02:19, Sun 01 Mar 2020.

In reply to Jessica Laurent (msg # 96):

"Sounds easy enough."  He said as he sat at terminal near the woman, his fingers bringing up the system commands.

"Do you know what caused all of this?  I was on the bridge when I received this cryptic message about the Captain and the others, then the ship just started increasing in speed.  That's when I called for the red alert."  He turned to the betazoid, "Then things got worse."
This message was last edited by the player at 01:56, Sun 01 Mar 2020.

In reply to Decker Geary (msg # 110):

Already a bit uncomfortable because of the chaffed pre concieved expectation of working in solitude but now for him to start asking her about the origin of the crisis. the androgynous blond's voice came out a little cracked and breathy at first "unfff-" hearing it, she cleared her throat before trying again "yes" if he looked her way, he would see her eyes down and a bit away from him, "I do know what caused all this. there was a security alert for a wayward security program."

she once more glanced back to her terminal, "the situation is still a bit fresh and all the details haven't been uncovered yet. I dont want to give any misinformation but at least that much is facts."

Her eyebrows momentarily furrowed in contemplation "Most people like to talk while they work, I'm not one of them but I recognize this puts me in the minority, perhaps you would care to give a few theories of what happened?"
This message was last edited by the player at 02:19, Sun 01 Mar 2020.

In reply to Vanna Marie Keyes (msg # 109):

"Once the comm badges are given, I can keep us from drifting much closer," Istala said.  "Even without the nav computers, we can use astrogation mapping to get a sense of where were going."

In reply to Jason Walker (msg # 108):

"Yes, sir," Jackie told Jason.  "They're all configured in a standard pattern, so it's just easier to recycle them through the engineering replicator, rather than try to fix them all."

She looked at Tekar. "None of the phasers connect to the system network, so they should be fine."

In reply to Thani sh'Elliaph (msg # 107):

"I"m glad everything's to your standard," Farah said.
This message was last edited by the player at 20:32, Sun 01 Mar 2020.

In reply to Jackie Rosebrooke (msg # 113):

"Yes'sum ma'am, imma gonna need a stiff drink of daddy's finest after this," he muttered, loud enough for Jackie to hear even through he was talking to himself.
He rubbed one hand over his face and looked around. "I guess we are done here sir," he turned to speak to Tekar.

In reply to Jessica Laurent (msg # 111):

"I understand the need for useless chatter for most people, helps them not think about the stressful situation they are in."  His hands moves the GUI's about with disciplined ease, "To be honest, I've been called paranoid by some.  I like to think of it as being proactive of posibilites.' He gave a slight chuckle, "If I was paranoid, I'd never leave my cabin."

He continued to work on the screens before him, "I really couldn't guess as to the cause. Been trying to put a timeline in my head together so when I write my report I can have the proper sequences of events."   
This message was last edited by the player at 06:48, Sun 01 Mar 2020.

In reply to Decker Geary (msg # 116):

Her eyes shifted to look at Deckar, only for a moment before returning to her console, trying to read his body language. The betazoid's expression deepened slightly, "You are a skilled pilot, if I recall correctly, and managing a ship can often times means directing or managing people. There is no doubt you understand a great deal about them, and how management of a crew works, perhaps it's even for that reason you were selected to be on this ship. Can you tell i'm trying to express understanding and empathy? To my understanding, this is one of the better ways to interact with someone."

glancing up, a common indication of someone trying to remember something, she continues "Are you feeling stressed? Why would someone call you paranoid?"

In reply to Jessica Laurent (msg # 117):

"First we noticed the ship was speeding up.  Then we got word about Captain Greene being affected.  Then there were issues with the sensors and subspace communications.  Next thing I know, COmmander Teala and Matheson were in the med bay." He never took his eyes off teh screen as he worked. "For example with this recent issue.  My first thought was some sort of attack from outside the ship.  I had the Science department plot each of the affected personel, along iwth the warp systems to see if some sort of beamed energy device came from outside the ship.  I also had the helmsman check for subspace disterbances in case we were being targeted by a cloaked vessel. some would call wild theories paranoid."
This message was last edited by the player at 06:46, Sun 01 Mar 2020.

A small smile made its way onto the young engineers face, "That sounds like effective intelligence to me, you were blind and had to cast a net out to see what was going on." the smile turned into a small smirk and a smell 'heh' escaped her lips, "I have it on good authority that engineering wasn't on top of things either," but then it quickly moved from a smirk to a frown as her attempt to be humorous quickly backfired on herself. "whether it was in containing the issue, tracking the issue, or alerting the rest of the ship about the issue. I think there is no doubt now, not only am I talented but I'm also young and inexperienced... pretty equally so on both sides of the spectrum."

Her adroitness with the monitor, the cadence of her work, did not falter. The moment her screen flickered off she already had another hand on the next screen over to work on it as well. The room was compact and so while spacing increased between the two, it only did so by a little. Perhaps even to reflect the growing space in their social dynamic?
This message was last edited by the player at 07:04, Sun 01 Mar 2020.

In reply to Jessica Laurent (msg # 119):

"One of my mentors, Captain Graveston, encouraged me to think outside of the box.  She had me study unique solutions to different problems." Keeping track to the betazoind he sqitched screens as well. "Regardless of how wild the solution might be. Shit, I was even entertaining the idea that someone consciousness might have been transferred into the computer system."

Now with some distance between the two, J turned her head just slightly away and bit her lip in thought... hiding it... just the edge. After a moment of pause, if he didn't say anything before she did... and if he did she would abruptly stop. "With the way the program acted, I wouldn't blame you. We are veered off course and now are heading towards a black hole, almost like someone is trying to kill us." Again, she would pause for a moment, "Teala is the biggest reason I'm here, and Teala is the only one still on a table. I need to be better..." Finishing the one at the end of the side they were on, she moves over to the other side, and the other side of Decker, intentionally leaving an unhandled terminal next to her.

Her teeth clenched slightly, "Do you have a method?"

In reply to Jessica Laurent (msg # 121):

Moving towards the emptied terminal, checking the readouts, pointing ot one, "Does this seem unblanaced to you?"

Without missing a beat he continued, "To use a 19th centry term, I use the shotgun method. for the most part."

In reply to Jason Walker (msg # 115):

Jackie wanted to suggest things to Jason to drink, things with real kick, but not with Tekar there.  Not with an officer.  Jason had a higher rank than she too, she was rather certain she was the lowest on board, but it wasn't the same.  Jason was... Jason.  All she could manage was, "Maybe later?"

Looking at Tekar, she added, "Yes, sir.  I think we've done all we can here until the ship is online.  With your permission, I'd like to go back to Engineering?"

In reply to Jackie Rosebrooke (msg # 123):

He leaned against the counter and frowned a little at the devices then glanced up at Jackie when she spoke. "I'll have to introduce you to daddy's finest later then," he said with a faint grin. "To celebrate not getting sucked into some sinkhole out in the middle of space." If they were able to get things up and running before that happened. His frown came back though, he wanted to know how this all happened. Naoko was not that careless.

Alex had sent Cat almost running from MedBay with his concern.  She hadn't heard of a Typhoid Mary, but in the context of the virus, it made all too much sense.  To think they could fix this only to have it start all over again!  The MedBay restoration had finished and if her estimates were correct, the main core wouldn't be that far behind.  Thankfully, she had been the one to assign the job and knew exactly where to go.

"Jessica," she said as she entered.  "I need you to come to MedBay with me."
This message was last edited by the player at 18:12, Mon 02 Mar 2020.

As predicted, the last of the systems in the room had been finished when Cat came bursting in. Almost immediately, jessica made an "UHH" face as if punched in the gut.

Quickly right after, a nervous chuckle and scratched the back of her hair "Lieutenant commander Matheson, I think you are a little confused, lets both go back to Medbay together."
This message was last edited by the player at 04:41, Mon 02 Mar 2020.

In reply to Jessica Laurent (msg # 126):

"Confused?" Cat asked, unsure if Jessica was kidding or not.  That she couldn't recognize the woman's face much less read it didn't help.  "What are you..." She shook her head.  "Never mind.

"Bart!" she called up to Main Engineering, expecting him to either hear or have the message relayed.

"What do you need, Chief?" Bart said as he climbed down.

"Finish up here," Cat said as she motioned for Jess to follow her.
This message was last edited by the player at 18:11, Mon 02 Mar 2020.

Jessica let out a sigh, "Please, Lead the way."

*exit from engineering to medbay
This message was last edited by the player at 05:21, Mon 02 Mar 2020.

In reply to Jessica Laurent (msg # 128):

Looking up, he was a bit shocked at Commander's entrance.  He just sat in his chair watching the interaction between the two women. As they left, he was conflicted, follow the captain's orders or get the core back on line?  He made his descision, his primary duty was to the ship.
"Lt. Blatt, I shall defer to your expertese.  Where we are so far is we have formatted..." he continued to get the young engineer update.  After the update he moves to a different part of the room, looking for some tools.


The crash was loud as he sreamed out in pain as the tools scattered all over the floor. "Sonofafuckingbitch!"   Holding his hand close to his chest, speaking through the pain, "Lt. Blatt, I may have broken my hand, I'm heading to the Med bay."
This message was last edited by the player at 09:53, Mon 02 Mar 2020.

In reply to Decker Geary (msg # 129):

"Yes Commander!"  Blatt waited for the commander to leave before relaxing.  A realization struck him, he was the only one in the room. Nervously looking around he noticed the room was quiet except for the humming of some of the systems.  Fuck, he was alone.  He checked all the systems and made sure they were ready for when the computers came back on line. So he just stood there not really knowing what to do next.