[End act II] LtCmdr Jovenan – For legal purposes, we all agree she’s always been insane, right?
Jovenan
((Faraday room, Garden cave, Callis I))
It was one thing finding a room that was shielded from the Maelstrom’s nullifying effect to their electric devices. Forming hypotheses to explain it was not all that difficult: something, be it the minerals, liquids or metal in or around the thick walls of the facility built into a cavern, acted in the similar way as a Faraday cage and protected the equipment inhabiting the interior. However, when the consoles in that closed off world could interact with those in other parts of the planet inhospitable for all the typical means of communication, Jovenan struggled to guess how it worked. Any reasonable option she could think of seemed too fragile to survive for long in a post-apocalyptic world or was beyond the capabilities of a pre-warp civilisation.
Jovenan: I doubt physical lines would remain shielded long enough, but folded-space communication through the Maelstrom’s fields would be prone to data corruption.
Bergmen: Back in times when I was an enlisted LCARS programmer, I would say you - we need at least project documentation before we can do anything about that idea of yours, Commander.
Bancroft: I suspect we’re going to have to make our own documentation – which means experimentation. ::nudging K’Wara:: Place your bets – when we tap the next button, do we get catastrophic decompression… or something theatrical? I’m leaning toward a spring-loaded countermeasure designed by someone with a sense of humor, personally.
K’Wara: Response
Jovenan withheld a sigh. After spending days on the planet without any process towards being rescued or finding the other survivors, today she had felt like they had been dashing through their problems, closing in on the solution every minute. She had to accept that they might not be able to figure out everything after all; they had nothing but their own wits for instruments, and a lot to lose if the intolerable risks materialised. Still, what other option did they have but to keep trying?
Jovenan: Right. ::pause:: What was the other icon? Maybe we’ll find more answers with more information.
Following her implied order, Bergmen selected the other icon on the console. The ancient machine made the similar clicking sound as before, but unlike the previous time, the screen only turned black. Jovenan expected the other view to appear, but as seconds crawled by, she was growing nervous. Had they misinterpreted the symbols? Had the long-abandoned system finally failed?
Bergmen: Ehm… ::grins sheepishly:: Did we break it?
Bancroft: Don’t think so… it’s still making noise. Maybe the console’s screen burned out?
K’Wara: Response
It would have been awful if they had just discovered a method of communication and it immediately broke. Still, it was better to know and lose than to never have known at all. Maybe they could even salvage and back-engineer the system. Jovenan wasn’t yet giving up, but there was a chance they needed to come up with a plan B… or was it C… who knows how far they were in the alphabet any more.
Jovenan: Let’s give it some time…
And look at that, the worse was avoided, as the screen turned back on and displayed an image of another room. Except, startling Jovenan at first seeing it, the room had people in it. It took her more than a few seconds to recognise the blonde hair that mirrored her every move – they were watching at themselves. While she steadied her surprised heart, more pictograms and text appeared on the screen.
Bergmen: Is it what I think it is?
Bancroft: ::squinting at the screen:: It appears to be… us. ::flatly:: A live feed from this room.
Jovenan turned around, searching around the room for where the sensor was. The angle of the image on the screen was somewhat confusing, but she didn’t see any kind of camera or other device where she thought they were observed. It could have been something hidden in the structures of the room, or really small, or maybe she was confused.
Jovenan: At least now we know for certain we’re not watching old recordings.
K’Wara: Response
Bergmen tried doing something on the console, but nothing seemed to happen on the screen. At least, not anything that would have been caused by him. The writing on the screen alongside them concerned Jovenan. Although she was hoping the machine was an innocent – and quite useful – communication system, there was no guarantee it wasn’t a weapon. A very limited weapon, if it only could be used against people in specific rooms, but it wouldn’t have been the strangest method of warfare, punishment or competition out there.
Bergmen: I think I can quite surely read this as “that’s us”, and that ::points to the upward crossed-out triangle:: as pictogram for “alive”.
Bancroft: ::low, dry:: Well. That’s reassuring. According to the ancient alien computer… we’re still among the living. ::beat:: Nice to have it confirmed.
Jovenan: So, it monitors the lifesigns of the people in here? ::pause:: Maybe it’s a medical device.
It was just guessing at this point. There was no way of knowing when these rooms were built or abandoned, before or after the wave that crushed the city, people escaped to these tunnels or the predators appeared. Considering how many cave carvings there were, in the stark juxtaposition with the advanced technology of the room, Jovenan wanted to guess the spaces had been there for a while before that, but for all she knew, they could have been repurposed after the events.
K’Wara: Response
Bancroft: If those symbols really do mean ‘that’s us’ and ‘alive,’ there must be some sort of rudimentary sensor suite built into this room. And if there are sensors in here…
Jovenan pursed her lips together. Regardless of the message he was intending, the implication appeared two-fold to her: there could be sensors in the other rooms… and there could be others watching them. Both of those facts could work to benefit them, and although she didn’t think there would be anyone sufficiently sentient to take advantage of them appearing in the sensors to harm them, she was somewhat unnerved by the possibility.
Jovenan: Right. Um. Let’s assume the operator of this machine is able to tell that the people in this room and in the other rooms are alive. Why?
K’Wara/Bergmen: Response
Bancroft: Is there some way we can leverage this? Use it to find out if there are… others?
Scratching her head, Jovenan shrugged. The triangles on the screen remained mysterious to her. The arrow icons on the console had signified movement, as in returning to the index, and in a way, triangles were half of arrows. But if they referenced their status as “alive”, then they could stand for… uh. The interpretation was just impossible without knowing anything about the species that lived here. Maybe their hearts were shaped like triangles. Or they buried people in triangle graves.
Jovenan: If they happen to step into one of these rooms and close the door. I don’t think we can scan outside the Faraday cages. ::pause:: Now that the machine has determined we’re alive, can we get back to the menu?
K’Wara/Bergmen: Response
Bancroft: I suppose randomly pushing buttons was only ever going to get us so far. I’d trade a month’s worth of brown mush for a translation matrix right now…
Jovenan chuckled a little. She was admittedly growing tired by the minute. Her and K’Wara’s bedtime had probably passed a long time ago by now, and unlike the previous days, they had done quite a bit of physically and mentally exhaustive activities during the last hours. Maybe it was better to call it off for now. They could rest in the Garden and look into the machines again tomorrow. They’d still be there then… hopefully.
Jovenan: We don’t have that much brown mush, so the trade is off. Well, I’m not sure if we can accomplish anything else by playing the guessing game. I’d say we get back outside and rest, I’m not going to be sleeping with these loud… ::pause, look on the console:: Was that icon always blue?
One of the tiles, the one with a circle surrounding a wavy line, had been muted gold like the most of them, she was quite sure about it. There had only been two of the blue ones, the empty city one and the one they had been in. Something had changed while they were investigating the console, and if they were correct about the tiles representing functional and non-functional Faraday rooms, someone – or something – must have closed the door to yet another one of them.
K’Wara/Bergmen/Bancroft: Response
The image on the screen changed. Another room, much like the one they were in, with people in Starfleet uniforms. For a moment Jovenan thought they were seeing their own reflection again, but the grainy image revealed a different number of people, wearing different colours, with different features. One more set of semicircles and triangles appeared besides them, Jovenan could barely contain herself recognising the people on the other side of the screen.
Jovenan: It’s them! Can we talk to them? Do we have…
Munro: =/\= Jovenan! Is that you?! =/\=
Hearing the voice – Commander Munro’s voice – through the console’s speakers both startled her and animated her. They were alive! Her eyes darted between the grainy images of the other survivors on the screens, the faces of her own team and the pictograms on the screen. She stepped closer to the console, leaning against its edges, as if hoping that getting closer to it helped the hidden microphone catch her voice better.
Jovenan: =/\= Yes! Yes, Commander, I am! It’s so good to see you! Can you hear me? =/\=
Munro: =/\= :: elated :: We can hear you?! I think we're in some kind of … =/\=
Jovenan: =/\= We can see you. The room you’re in is quite similar to the one we have here. ::pause, looks to the console:: We also have several symbols on the screen. We’ve figured the triangles reference to your health status, but there are also some prominent semicircles. No idea what they mean. =/\=
She saw the image of the other blonde Starfleet officer move on the screen, looking for something. Jovenan squinted. The people in the other room seemed agitated somehow, like they were nervous or anxious. Was everything alright in there?
Munro: =/\= I think I know what they mean… if I'm right this is some kind of crude transportation network. =/\=
… Transportation network? Jovenan turned to her fellow teammates, not even hiding her confusion.
Jovenan: Do you have any idea what she is talking about?
K’Wara/Bergmen/Bancroft: Response
A deep breath. What they were suggesting was incredibly dangerous due to the myriad of factors and variables surrounding the ancient technology and their lack of understanding of it. They didn’t know for certain if they were correct, they didn’t know how to do it safely, they didn’t know if it could be safe to begin with. After all, as Jovenan had pointed out earlier, the fact that the communication line went through the Maelstrom-affected space across who-knows-for-how-long using unstable methods, it was bound to be prone to data corruption. It was one thing to transmit voice and images over it; transporting people was out of the question.
Jovenan: =/\= You might be right, Commander. But we can’t take the risk using it on people, the probability of incomplete or corrupted transportation is too great. We could try it out with objects, first… is everything alright in there? =/\=
The First Officer spoke to her own team. Things were definitely not alright in there.
Munro: =/\= Commander, we're ready. Do what you need to do. =/\=
What. WHAT. Did she not hear what Jovenan just said!? If they were going to try to transport the people over from the other room, they needed to accept the possibility that they were going to kill their friends! Although it had been her superior officer’s direct order, Jovenan felt the urge to rebel. There was probably some Starfleet rule that would get her out of the obligation, something about taking unnecessary risks or her superior having lost their mental faculties. But at the same time, the urgency in Commander Munro’s voice made her concerned. It wasn’t just any order – it was an order out of desperation.
She turned to her team.
Jovenan: Okay. Let’s push some buttons and hope something happens.
K’Wara/Bergmen/Bancroft: Response
Jovenan felt her heart race as she kept her attention to the screen. After so many days of thinking everyone else might have died, she had finally found her friends and loved ones, and now there was a high probability of them dying before her eyes. Because of her actions. She was going to be a murderer. If they got out of here, the Starfleet court-martial might be lenient on her due to the circumstances, but the Edo code of justice… heck with the Edo and Starfleet and the laws! She was going to lose the people she loved the most.
The transportation cycle started. On the screen, the people disappeared, while a loud noise engulfed the room she and her team were in. Soon, humanoid figures emerged, steadily gaining shape and features. Despite her anxiety and fear, she couldn’t help herself from crying and smiling at the same time as she recognised the individuals now with them.
oO Vitor! Oo
oO … Vitor? Oo
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Lieutenant Commander Jovenan
Chief Science Officer
USS Artemis-A
E239911J11