LT Tamio K'Wara - The Pictionary Network

[LT Tamio K'Wara]

(( Faraday Room - Garden Cave, Inside the Cliffs, Callis I ))

After spending a week in survival mode - focusing only on how to extend your limited resources for as long as possible - today was a day for change. Not only had they found a sustainable source of nutrients in the garden, but now they also had this room. A room where electronics worked. A room where they weren’t just survivors living in spite of the planet around them; they were Starfleet officers, and they could work with this.

The accident recorder wasn’t able to tell anything about the 

K’Wara: What about the Karnack? Maybe it crashed somewhere?

Bancroft: I don’t remember seeing debris trails. If she’d broken apart in orbit, we would have seen something, right?

Jovenan: Don’t know. It would be large enough to survive the atmospheric entry, but it was also breaking apart when we left it… and well, it was already breaking apart when we boarded it.

That was a very good point... The Karnack was on her way to the scrapheap already. Would it even have the hull integrity to survive a crash?

Bergmen: Karnack did not fail because it was breaking apart beneath us as we left the dock; it failed because of the Maelstrom.

K’Wara: Maybe... But, there was an explosion, so the Karnack must have taken actual damage before losing electricity. And if it’d gone completely dead immediately, then we wouldn’t have been able to launch the escape pods in the first place. ::scratches their scalp thoughtfully:: Darn it, I really hope it crashed and isn’t just drifting in orbit somewhere.

Bancroft: Is there some way we can find out?

Jovenan: I don’t know. Not with what we have, I reckon. Our time is best used by investigating what options we have. If you can come up with something we can do with combadges, the accident data recorder and, well, sticks, stones and backpack full of fruits, please share it with us. Otherwise, let’s see if the people here had something else useful tucked away.

Tamio may have considered themself a uniquely creative individual, but even they couldn’t perform miracles, so instead, they refocused on what they would be able to do. And the accident recorder would, apparently, not be much help.

Bergmen: The ADR can help, Roy, as it holds copies of some Karnack systems. But this… ::points to ADR:: …wasn’t built to be analyzed without proper instruments we don’t and will not have - like computing power of a starship computer. ::glance to Jovenan and K’Wara:: Even with a tricorder, we will need to sift through the data and make connections ourselves, and that takes time. A lot of it. And still we will end with a lot of maybes and probabilities. And all that only if we are lucky, and the data we will need to guess what happened to Karnack after we left it has not been overwritten by its final moments.

Tamio couldn’t fault Ollie for wanting to bring along a little bit of the escape pod - retain some sort of connection to the life they had left behind when crashing on Callis I - but by all that was good, how they wished he’d opted for a tricorder instead. But alas, wishing would do them no good, and instead, they refocused on the search of the room. They continued their inspection of the walls, when they heard a strange popping sound and Roy coughing slightly.

Bancroft: Woof. ::clears throat, voice rasping slightly:: That’s… distilled. ::studying the bottle:: Alcohol, high proof. ::spreading grin:: I can sterilize things now.

Jovenan: That’s great! But let’s all still continue to avoid getting cuts.

Well, if they couldn’t find a way to turn this room into something escape-assisting, at least now they knew they could try and find the answer at the bottom of a bottle. Tamio shook their head slightly, refocusing again. Things might get dire, but not that dire - Tamio wouldn’t let them.

Bergmen: Good find, doctor. Keep looking for more!

Bancroft: And when we get off this godforsaken rock? ::glances between the other three and the bottles:: Our homecoming party’s bar is going to be exceptionally well stocked.

When... Tamio liked the sound of that.

Jovenan: Nothing beats feasting with historical artifacts of an extinct civilisation. When we have access to the sickbay, it doesn’t even matter if it’s spoiled. ::to Bergmen, K’Wara:: Do you have anything yet?

Bergmen: Give me a tricorder, a whiteboard, a physicist, and a day, and I will find you your ship.

Ollie said this from the accident recorder that he was stubbornly still holding onto, desperate to make the data make some sort of sense. Meanwhile, Tamio looked back towards Jo with a frustrated sigh.

K’Wara: I’m trying to figure out how to work this thing... This look like a screen to anyone else?

They asked this while jabbing a thumb in the direction of the smooth black square on the wall, and then, a whooshing sound sent dust and sound cascading into the air as Roy unveiled something with great flourish.

Bancroft: Hey… Jo– uh, Commander? Lieutenants? Wanna take a look at this?

The group gathered around the Doctor in quick order - the room wasn’t that big - and Tamio felt excitement in their gut.

A console.

Jovenan: Any idea what this is and how to turn it on?

Bergmen: Oh, that could help, so, do you see some on-off button to press, doctor?

The Doctor didn’t seem to like that question.

Bancroft: I… don’t have a great track record with buttons. ::a beat:: So let’s all just remember that if this cave collapses, I love you and this wasn't my fault. ::leaning in:: Er... computer?

Tamio chuckled under their breath, as they watched Roy make an earnest attempt.

Bancroft: Hello, computer?

Nothing yet. Tamio held their chin with interest.

Bancroft: Don’t do this. I know you can hear me.

K’Wara: Well, I doubt this thing has UT functionality. Even if it does respond to voice commands, it wouldn’t be in Federation Standard ::to Jovenan:: Think it went inert with the rest of the planet? Maybe its powerbank is outside the room?

Jovenan: I doubt something that was built in a place like this would require much outside infrastructure to turn on. Can you see anything that could be a power source, or anything where we could attach one of our own?

Bergmen: Any chance there is a port the size of a shining, glowy crystal?

The question seemed odd, until Tamio recalled the strange red jewel that Roy had seemed particularly interested in when they first entered the room. They recalled Ollie’s words. ‘A power source’.

Bancroft: The jewelry? ::considering:: Well, if the last few missions have been any indication, it’s never just a crystal…

Tamio looked to Jovenan, the senior Artemis crewmember amongst them, with a concerned eyebrow raised.

K’Wara: ... ::looks to Jovenan:: Is this a thing that is said aboard the Artemis?

Her defeated attitude spoke multitudes as Tamio grabbed the jewel and bent down by the console. They reached around the device, trying to locate somewhere that seemed to be missing a piece - which had been something they’d been doing an awful lot of this week - and did eventually, on the back by the wall, find a hole that fit with the crystal’s general shape.

Upon reattaching the red gem, the room came alive, as numerous screens powered back on, and not just the console itself.

Jovenan: I don’t know what I expected. ::pause:: At least it works. Good job. Now, anyone see familiar symbols?

Tamio got back onto their feet as everyone congregated around the console first.

Bergmen: I recognize this one.

Bancroft: ::musing:: Network map, yeah? Like… the public transit boards on Ferenginar. Except, you know. This isn’t screaming at us for money. Yet.

Tamio laughed at that.

K’Wara: ::smiles:: Doubt we have their currency anyways.

It might have been silly, but hearing the low background hum of screens and electronics all around them made them feel all fuzzy inside. If they closed their eyes, they could almost imagine themself on a drifting shuttle.

Soon. And once they got back to space, they’d never set a foot planetside again. Unless it was for a damn good party, of course.

Bergmen: So, we have a map of something, if this is the map of… something.

Bancroft: Infrastructure… communications... power? ::tilting head side to side:: Or the universe’s most aggressive recipe index.

Tamio shook their head.

K’Wara: Don’t think it’s power. If our theory is correct, power can’t exist outside this room, after all.

Jovenan: Response

Unless whatever alien species this was had constructed Maelstrom-proof wiring going out from this room, but if they had, surely they would’ve seen some sort of evidence of that in the tunnels in the past week.

Bergmen: Any other pictograms someone recognizes or wanna try?

Bancroft: The icon that looks like two beings with arrows between them. One pointing each way. Either it’s transportation… or communication… or maybe we’ll get a recorded PSA about respecting boundaries.

K’Wara: Communication to where?

And more importantly - would there even be anyone on the other end to answer them?

Jovenan/Bergmen: Response

When they touched the screen, the console whirred in response to the input, and the screen shifted. Numerous tiles took the place of the pictogram menu, rows of them lining up across the map they’d seen before and each marked with symbols. Some with city symbols, some with waves, and yet more they’d never seen before. Most of the tiles were muted gold. Two of them, however, stood out in a cerulean blue.

Bancroft: Look – almost all of the tiles are yellow except those two. The blue ones. One of ‘em has that city symbol again, and the other has… well, actually, I have no idea what that symbol means.

K’Wara: To be entirely honest, we have no idea what any of them mean, beyond guesswork. ::grins.: Luckily, we’re becoming somewhat experts at Pictionary.

Jovenan/Bergmen: Response

It was true they wouldn’t know what the tiles did without trying, but it did remotely feel like throwing caution into the center of a hurricane and saying ‘goodbye, see you next year’.

Bancroft: I say we give it a shot. ::grinning:: What’s the worst that could happen?

Urged by the growing sense of hopefulness, Tamio couldn’t resist.

K’Wara: Oh, so many things. Electrocution, the walls could start moving, the door could open and a Thing could jump in, static electricity could ruin my hair... There’s no end to the list, really.

Jovenan/Bergmen: Response

They opted to touch the blue city tale - as that was the one they felt reasonably certain what meant - and the screen that Tamio had been investigating before suddenly shifted. No longer was it emitting just dark blue light, waiting for instructions. Instead, a scenery showed itself.

K’Wara: What is- ::widens eyes:: Oooh. It’s another room. Empty though.

Jovenan/Bergmen/Bancroft: Response

They refocused on the console, looking at the vast net of tiles.

K’Wara: So, all of those tiles? Are they these, uhh, ::looks to Jovenan:: ‘power cage’ rooms?

Jovenan/Bergmen/Bancroft: Response

K’Wara: Faraday. Right. ::looks around:: But the gold ones- ::tries tapping:: They don’t work. So they must’ve been left open, for some reason, or maybe ruptured?

Jovenan/Bergmen/Bancroft: Response

TAG/TBC

LT Tamio K’Wara

Chief of Operations

USS Artemis-A

A240006GS1