Lt. Robin Hopper: Out Of Sync
Robin Hopper
((Stellar Cartography, S.R.C. – Amity Outpost))
Robin Hopper had always enjoyed a good puzzle… a yarn to unwind… a mystery to solve. In fact, she figured that such a desire to unravel the universe’s apparent contradictions was fundamental to a successful career in the sciences – the desire to not only explore strange and unfamiliar phenomena, but also to understand them in all their unusual complexities; To leave no stone unturned in one’s quest to put answers to all the questions.
Hopper: Alright, Sunita, let’s run another quantum field variance analysis… Let’s try to filter out the QSD and warp field ‘noise’, see if we can actually paint some kind of picture here.
Premkumar: ::Tapping at console:: I’ll do what I can. The variances we’re looking for are practically microscopic.
Hopper: Yeah, like trying to find individual grains of sand in a mud puddle. ::Smiling:: Or something like that.
Premkumar: ::Chuckling:: That’s one way to put it.
The current riddle occupying Robin’s mind was the unusual activity within the benamite fields surrounding Amity Outpost. While benamite, in its raw form, was inherently somewhat unstable, the unique properties of the Barossa proto-stellar nebula made the benamite formations within it naturally regenerative. By all accounts, this should mean far greater molecular stability as the energetic particles emitted by the benamite crystal’s decaying nuclei were, in essence, replaced through other catalytic processes from the surrounding gasses and mineral formations.
Yet, for some reason, over the last few weeks, more and more small-scale subspace fissures were being discovered throughout the field… Most were too small to be self-sustaining and would quickly collapse before they’d even show up on the station’s sensors – but the first one to catch their attention had nearly swallowed up their shuttle; And, while she hadn’t arrived on Amity yet, Robin was fairly certain the larger anomaly that temporarily absorbed the Independence-B was of similar origins.
Hopper: Why the sudden change in the behaviour of the benamite…?
Premkumar: Could it be something to do with the mining process? Could they be over-harvesting, or triggering some sort of destabilization?
Hopper: ::Shaking her head:: I don’t think so. I’ve independently reviewed the mining practices being employed in the field here… and besides, the fissures don’t appear to be following any sort of pattern that links them to mining activity.
Her discussion with the junior Stellar Cartographer was interrupted by the chirping of her combadge.
Ukinix: =/\= Ukinix to Hopper. How’s it going, Lieutenant? =/\=
Hopper: =/\= Hopper here. Hiya, Wil! ::Glance to Premkumar:: Just banging our heads against the proverbial wall down here in Stellar Cartography. What can I do for you? =/\=
She stepped away from the central terminal of the SC lab, moving along the platform towards the doors, sensing that she might be called away.
Ukinix: =/\= Scotty and I are looking into some anomalous transport readings in Transporter Center 1, he could do with your assistance, I’ve got something else I need to take care of. I’m wondering if those deep space anomalies that were detected the other day might have had a small effect on our systems after all. =/\=
Hopper: =/\= ::Pursing her lips:: Mmm… ::Tapping her chin:: Well, I wouldn’t put it past the point of possibility. We’re still trying to figure out what’s causing them at this point, let alone what effects they might be having on normal functions within the nebula… One sec. =/\=
She turned to Sunita, offering her a little wave.
Hopper: Keep at it, Ensign. Follow your instincts and let me know if you find anything.
Premkumar: ::Nodding:: I’ll keep you apprised.
Robin gave a quick affirmative nod and turned away, walking through the doors and into the turbolift that would take her down to the train terminal on Level 9.
Hopper: Level 9. ::Tapping her badge:: =/\= On my way. You boys have any theories yet? =/\=
Reade: =/\= Indeed, I have some ideas, but I would like to get your thoughts on this first Robin. =/\=
Ukinix: =/\= No worries. Scotty will see you soon, I’ll catch up with you later. Ukinix out. =/\=
((30 mins later… Transporter Center 1, Terminal A))
The door to small diagnostics room slid open and Hopper stepped in, carrying two cups from the Brew Continuum in hand. She looked around the room with interest. Seeing the ‘back end’ of things was always fascinating. Not working in Operations or Engineering, she’d never had cause to step foot in the room before.
Reade: Hey Robin! How are things?
Hopper: ::Smiling:: Hey Scotty – it’s been an interesting day so far.
For a moment, she forgot the drinks she’d been carrying with her since the Mezzanine, following his waved invitation to join him at the terminal. Standing beside him and looking down at the display, she tried to work out what she was being shown.
Hopper: Found something weird?
Reade: So these are the logs Wil and I found that looked off.
He stepped to the side slightly, and Robin set the cups down on top of the terminal, taking a closer look.
Hopper: Huh. That is odd. ::Tilting her head:: There are incongruent markers in the pattern buffer log, but the output looks fine. ::Looking to Scotty:: I take it you’ve already done your diagnostics and didn’t find any issues with the file storage system?
Reade: Indeed, could that subspace anomaly affect these?
Robin’s eyebrows raised. oO Right… Wil did say something about the subspace fissures. Oo She thought it over for a moment, then turned to Scotty, crossing her arms.
Hopper: Well, to be honest, I couldn’t rule it out at this point. We’ve been noticing quite a few smaller anomalies in the region lately. A couple big ones here and there. They’ve all got one thing in common – quantum variance. ::Smirking:: Ripping holes in subspace tends to do that.
As she elaborated, she turned away from the terminal and walked in a little circle, clasping her hands in front of her. If they did uncover quantum variance in the transporter logs it could help her isolate the correlated micro-variances in the benamite field.
Hopper: But it’s been hard for us to measure. It’s not impossible that, given the right conditions, something like that could throw off a transport buffer. Not something that would show up on typical diagnostics either.
Reade: I see, let me dig more into the logs. Give me a second.
As Scotty got back to work, Robin remembered the cups of coffee sitting atop the terminal.
Hopper: Oh! Right – I picked you up a coffee on my way here! ::Grinning:: I looked in the cultural database on my way over. ::Passing him his cup:: Apparently there’s a traditional Canadian coffee drink called a “double double” – I thought you might like a taste of home.
Reade: Response
She passed him the cup and took her own in hand, taking a sip of her chai latte as she watched him bring up the logs and begin rolling through the diagnostics they’d already run.
Hopper: So, there are three ‘corrupted’ logs, but the diagnostics all come back inconclusive. Let’s look at this one ::pointing:: Rivi Vataix’s. I’d heard she came back early.
Reade: Response
Hopper: Computer, run the quantum variance analysis sequence Ensign Premkumar and I were just utilizing in the Stellar Cartography lab.
Computer: Analysis in progress.
Hopper: ::Explaining:: If it detects quantum variance matching the ones we’re seeing popping up all over the benamite fields, that would give us a pretty strong clue that they’re to blame – or, at least, involved somehow.
Reade: Response
Computer: Analysis complete.
Hopper: Alright, let’s see. ::Looking over Scotty’s shoulder at the results:: Yes, look here. It’s not detecting anything unusual in Rivi’s biological makeup, no unusual particles, but the quantum signature of her cells is out of sync…
Reade: Response
Hopper: They may have passed by a subspace anomaly that was emitting low-level chronometric distortion waves, or tachyon radiation – though their shuttle’s scanners should have caught them. ::Shrugging:: We’re going to need to do some further research into the anomaly.
She stepped aside for a moment, tapping her combadge.
Hopper: =/\= Hopper to Ensign Premkumar. Can you isolate the larger anomaly we recorded yesterday, shortly after the Targhee departed? See if it’s still present and, if so, check for tachyon particle emissions or chronometric distortion patterns. =/\=
She took a sip of her chai while she waited for a response.
Hopper: ::To Scotty:: How’s your double double?
Reade: Response
Premkumar: =/\= Running that analysis for you now, Lieutenant. Give me a few minutes. =/\=
Hopper: =/\= Acknowledged. Take all the time you need. =/\= ::Back to Scotty:: Alright, Rivi was transported to Sickbay and treated, so I might need to get clearance to examine her records from Ikaia. ::To Scotty:: Who were the other two that transported aboard?
Reade: Response
Hopper: Tri’lea Polgonz and… “Wil”? Our Wil?
Reade: Response
Hopper: Another Betazoid named Wil? ::Shaking her head:: Why do they have to make it so hard to keep track of them all? ::Sighing:: Well, whatever, let’s look at their records, see if they have the same desynchronized quantum signatures. If so, we’ll have something solid to work with.
Reade: Response
TBC
