Lieutenant Commander Riley Delar: Heads On A Swivel
Zeph
They had found another statue, but unlike the first one, which nearly killed them, this statue seemed safe at least until both Commander Arlill and Ensign JoNz unexpectedly experienced vivid visions after approaching it. The exact nature of these visions was initially unclear to the team.
Forsyth: Take a deep breath, like this. :: Taking a deep breath, then let it out :: and start from the beginning, sir.
Enak: And don’t leave anything out.
Alex walked over to the XO and began scanning him. Riley supposed it was due to the man having some sort of telepathic experience, but seeing as how they lacked a medical professional on the team, it made sense someone would be concerned.
Arlill: Response
JoNz: It was as if I was right there in a field of flowers, yet I was taking in the smell and not so much being in the field if that makes any sense?
Riley: I might have a theory. Are we welcome to advance them?
Enak: I’m all ears.
Once the scan of the XO had finished, Alex moved her scanning efforts toward the statue. Riley also was scanning the thing.
Arlill: Response
Forsyth: I’m getting that same interference with the walls of the place, something in the rock makes getting a clear reading difficult…
JoNz: I’d be interested in that theory.
Riley: Out of body experience caused by something within the statue?
Due to the nature of not wanting to be caught unprepared again, Riley quickly did a head count of all the archaeologists in the vicinity with them in addition to the Starfleet officers. He didn’t want to let the mercs get an upper hand for round two, if they decided to put in an appearance.
Enak: Well, that certainly sounds like a good idea.
Arlill: Response
Forsyth: Maybe it's a way to learn what happened to the planet. I think something similar happened on one of the older Enterprises.
JoNz: What if it’s some sort of transporter…but that makes no sense as I didn’t go anywhere, and neither did the Commander. Or did we?
Enak: As far as I’m aware, you both were here.
Riley didn’t see them go anywhere either. However, deciding how best to state they were like statues and very tuned out of the conversation seemed to be the tricky part. Still, he had to confirm.
Riley: I didn’t see either of you go anywhere. You did, however, look like you were staring off into the distance at something. I believe it’s called the “Thousand yard stare” in some circles. Scans indicate you weren’t transported anywhere.
Arlill: Response
JoNz: Unless we’re both having an existential crisis? I know what I smelled though.
Enak: I don’t doubt that.
Arlill: Response
Forsyth: Yeah, you are not the first person of this crew to have a weird vision. We all have something similar happen to us; it probably isn’t even Commander Arlill's first time with this as well.
Enak: I think we need to consider that there was something that happened, but not necessarily physically.
Arlill: Response
Forsyth: Agree, but we need to learn what exactly happened.
Riley: I suppose it could be some kind of first contact type situation.
Arlill: Response
JoNz: First contact? What if they’re right and we did just experience first contact with the I-Kiyo through…through this statue?
Enak: Well, that would be interesting if the statue caused time travel.
The mission specialist nodded in thought and considered the possibilities, though unfortunately there were so many that this could be and several of them which it wasn’t so that made the list kind of small in any case.
Enak: Because, correct me if I’m wrong, but the I-Kiyo are already known to the Federation, now?
Arlill: Response
JoNz: That's my bad, I jumped the gun as the Humans say and got excited; you're right ::to Enak:: that the ‘Kiyo are already known to the Federation.
Forsyth: Yeah, Chief Engineer Lahl talked about them a few times.
Enak: Is it possible that you were looking at some memories of some of the people that were here first?
He’d never actually gotten the chance to experience such a vision, but he thought it was worth mentioning.
Riley: It’s not unheard of. Several of the Bajoran Orbs of prophecy and the like have granted visions to people who use them.
Arlill: Response
JoNz: …and I likely picked up the smell ::points to nose:: as this can be overly sensitive.
Forsyth: Yeah, a glimpse into the past.
Enak: Well, just thinking, as it’s possible that you did see something, and that something was the past and the memories of those here. That would be really cool to have data on. Almost tempted to touch the statue myself.
The tactical officer shook her head at the lead archaeologist, as they did not know how it worked and could not risk any of them damaging their minds or the data.
Arlill: Response
JoNz: ::looks up from conversation:: Oh, that's not a good idea.
Forsyth: Yeah, we don’t know a lot about this tech.
Riley: I have also heard of something called a “memory stone” wherein much like a tape recorder, the stone when interacted with in a certain way can grant memories of someone whose life interacted with the stone previously.
Arlill / Enak: Response
JoNz: ::flips an ear back:: Could this statue function as a transmitter node of a Holodeck set-up?
Forsyth: Good question, maybe.
Arlill / Enak: Response
JoNz: If this thing does transmit memories as well, are we seeing recordings or live moments in these people's history?
Forsyth: Not sure, but I assume it's some kind of advanced virtual reality device.
Riley: Could be both?
Arlill / JoNz / Enak: Response
Forsyth: Which begs the question, is Marohu III their original homeworld?
Riley: Well, it doesn’t look like the inside of a Dyson Sphere, so I suppose it is possible they became warp-capable and landed in a Dyson Sphere.
Arlill / JoNz / Enak: Response
Forsyth: They were advanced once, so it's not out of the realm of possibility.
Arlill / JoNz / Enak: Response
Riley: True enough. Though the question then becomes, what form of interactions do we take with this thing to study it safely?
Arlill / JoNz / Enak / Forsyth: Response
Riley: I also did a passive scan of the perimeter just to see that we didn’t have any more uninvited guests. Haven’t found any yet, but heads on a swivel, as they say.
He was referring, of course, to the mercenaries who had surprised them last time they were here. So far, no sign. But that wasn’t a guarantee it’d stay that way.
Arlill / JoNz / Enak / Forsyth: Response