Ensign Imril - Dicey Evidence.
Chris Taylor
((Central Government Building, Starfleet Guest Suite – Kobyar Capital, Galaris IV))
Richards: If these crystals are being used as an energy source, they could potentially be unstable. That could be a potential danger.
Imril shook their head.
Imril: Not to worry. The crystals are present in the internal frame and computerized systems only. These drones are all powered by solid state batteries. Very efficient, very stable, and very-eco friendly. ::Double-checking scans:: However, there is a series of high-resistance power recoilers located alongside the battery casing. A component unique to this tactical drone out of the three.
Silveira: OK explain that more easily to me, Ensign. I can help repair weapons and shields, but more Engineering is a little out of my league.
Richards: And a lot out of my league.
Imril: Basically, it’s a self-destruct mechanism that works by radiating the battery’s energy back into itself. Causing a massive internal overheat. Which would slag the interior -- particularly the computers, the battery and the gun, rendering them all useless to the enemy -- without risk of causing an explosion which may compromise friendly troops or other drones. Which is all a long way around to saying that the crystals are perfectly safe.
Richards chuckled a little. Whether it was a reaction to their words or the ponderous look on Silveira’s face, or some private joke all her own, Imril couldn’t tell.
Silveira: Very well Ensign, then you have the lead on this. I support whatever course of action you choose and both me and Doctor Richards will assist you. The drone is yours.
Imril: Well, the Captain did say to tear the drones down bolt by bolt. So, unless you countermand that order or we find our smoking gun, I’m going to pull every individual system out for a full visual examination. And the wiring, too, in neat little piles.
So far, the ensign had gotten through the mission without earning another glare from MacKenzie. They were rather eager to maintain that streak. Preferably through the remainder of their career.
Grabbing a chair, Richards pulled it over near the tables and continued to check over things as Imril pulled them off.
Richards: ::To Sil:: Sorry to ‘sit on the job” but ::rubbing her belly again:: It feels like these two are trying to kick their way out.
Imril: ::Mostly joking:: You wouldn't happen to have brought more cheese snacks? I don't think the Major mentioned this place having a kitchen.
Snack or no snack, there was work to be done. In short order, they had the drone’s aerial rotors out, followed by some more armor and the weapon mechanism. The battery was next. Then the primary computer. The translucent crystals which made up much of the hard-drive, router and linkages to the other systems were the color of Earth champagne. A tone shared by the sleek, angular Kobyar icon set into the Central Government Building’s concourse floor.
At least it felt like a short time to Imril; time tended to lose all meaning when the engineer was absorbed by their work.
With a determined smile, Sam leaned forward towards the table, running her fingers across one of the pieces from the drone. Something strange caught her eye.
Richards: Hey Imril? Did you see this?
Vitor leaned forward at the small box she had discovered.
Silveira: What is it?
Richards: I have no idea what that is… I scanned it, but nothing is coming up…
Silveira: Nothing as in, nothing in particular?
Imril: ::Opening the box:: You mean this little wrench there? Or the casing it’s in? They scan as machined metal to me.
Silveira took a look at the piece that Sam mentioned.
Silveira: Curious… Maybe a tool for field repairs? ::he looked at them and shrugged:: I remember sometimes certain larger weapons had some tools enclosed in them.
Imril: In battle there’s no telling who’s going to be doing repairs on an item, if the team engineer goes down. So it makes these things come packed with their own tools. But the housing for the wrench is nowhere near the gun or rotors. You see these shiney docking clamps that I haven't taken out yet? That’s where it was.
Richards: Response
Silveira: You're the expert, as I told you whatever you find and think I will back you. ::He looked at Sam:: You as well Doctor.
Richards: Response
Silvera smiled.
Silveira: Good, now I don’t mean to rush any of you, but we have to find something to report to the Captain. I guess we won’t find any tags in the drone that might say “Made in Risa” but…
Imril: ::Feeling around the interior of the drone:: Wait, I might have something. There’s a crankshaft mechanism. A bolt just big enough for that-- Wait, what? Something else.
A slow, steady glow was reflecting against Imril’s finger from deep within the drone and between the clamps. So soft that the engineer hadn’t noticed the light at all until they saw it contrasted against their pale brown skin.
Richards: Response
Imril: ::Tilting their head to get a better look:: It’s… It’s… It’s green.
Nothing else inside the machine had been that color.
Silveira/Richards: Response
Imril: Wherever it is, I can tell you that it’s built to run on residual charge, because the drone’s battery is sitting over there half a meter away. ::Scanning:: There’s a very subtle ultrasonic pulse coming from it. A fast one. A repetition of prime numbers. Like it’s on standby. Waiting for a reply signal… Well, I’m putting a stop to that!
Imril grabbed their tricorder and isolated the sonic signature. Producing a counter-signal that would effectively muffle the transmission. Without letting the strange device know that it had been silenced at all
Silveira/Richards: Response
Imril: No, a self-destruct program would be counting down, not cycling primes. That doesn’t mean it won’t change what it’s broadcasting if it realizes the drone’s being tampered with. Oh, I think I can fool it with a signal of my own! The base-codes that Bergman retrieved are present in this drone, too. I can transmit them to the device, whatever it is. Hit it with a feedback loop of known data. Trick it into thinking it’s still connected to the drone, nice and safe and still on standby, while I pry it out.
Now their tricorder was pulling double duty, sending out two different sets of signals to fool both the drone and anyone who might have an interest in its operational status. Imril used the very wrench which Richards had taken an interest in to crank the clamps far enough apart to get at the glowing item. A pin-key at the back of the wrench’s handle proved the correct tool to remove it.
The device Imril extracted was essentially a miniature computer small enough o fit in their hand. It consisted of a small rectangular frame within which were held two deep green crystals, both dodecahedrons in shape. The source of the glow. The top of the box was open to allow the twelve-sided crystals to be manually moved. Small cavities along the bottom of the little sarcophagus -- into which the crystals were mounted -- suggested that they could be moved from one position to the next as could isolinear chips in a Starfleet computer. A small power cell, about the size of the one in Imril’s tricorder but more primitive, was attached to the bottom.
Their tricorder, which had been in constant communication with the device since the removal process began, was by then able to supply more information about it. What it revealed made the ensign put it down onto the table with extreme care.
Imril: This micro-computer was put in place to act as a dedicated firewall against unauthorized access to the main computer. It controls the firewalls, self-destruct device, emergency alarm system and so on but doesn't hold any tactically significant data. The function may be a Kobyar innovation. But the form it takes leads into old Ferengi design motifs. ::Points to the 12-siders:: On Ferenginar, these dice-shaped components are called isolinear gems. They’ve largely been phased out there in favor of adapting to Federation chip formats. This could be our smoking gun.
(OOC: I reduced these 'gems' from 20-siders to 12-siders to further the imagery that this device is smaller/less complicated than the one Tho’bi’s team found))
Silveira/Richards: Response
Tags/TBC
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Ensign Imril
Engineering Officer
USS Artemis-A
A240110I12