Capt. Lia Rouiancet: Reinstallation

[Tony Colella]

(( Dyson Sphere, Computer Core Chamber ))

Rouiancet: I'd like to get back to Fledgling, but (beat) the Continuance may know when we return. Perhaps it's better to remain on the Sphere for now, or even to meet up with the other teams. (looking around) Thoughts? Speak freely.

She'd meant it only for the officers present, of course, and yet no sooner had she spoken than did another voice answer her. Or, actually, it wasn't an answer, but it was certainly meant for her. It also fairly definitively addressed what the group should do next, or at least provided the context in which they needed to make their decision.

Stella: =/\=Captain, the Station is set to self destruct in three minutes and twenty eight seconds. Unless the core is replaced, there is no way to deactivate the sequence. =/\= 

Lia frowned. She understood why Stella would contact them immediately, but -- by all the stars in the galaxy, couldn't anything ever be easy? They had the core, and with it their first solid diplomatic inroad for negotiation, but that was clearly not to be.

Dekas: (clicking his beak) Oh, well, pluck me, then. It looks like I should have waited a few extra minutes to do this.

Ragh: So are we putting the core back?

JoNz: Are we exploding again?!

Rouiancet: (grim) Not if we can help it.

If that meant that they had to put the core back, then so be it. Three minutes and some change was absolutely not enough time to evacuate all the crew the Kevara Continuance had assigned to the Sphere, nor was Lia willing (even if it was) to lose the Sphere, which was an archaeological-technological-historical wonder no one had dreamed was waiting within the Tlugani Nebula. It was a no-brainer, unfortunately.

Dekas: Honestly, I can always use the Engineering practice to keep my skills up to date. It’ll be close, I think, but it shouldn’t take me long to replace the core where it was.

Ragh: No pressure.

Rouiancet: Let us know if you need any assistance.

She doubted he would, though. He'd managed to remove the core after Lieutenant JoNz had provided the cover in which to do so, and she even suspected that the replacement would go more quickly, since he'd so recently removed it.

Dekas: Core replaced!

Lia felt simultaneously relieved and disappointed, and she sagged into a sigh. Not that easy, then. Even so, she gave herself only a couple of moments to live in the feelings, and then she pulled herself together. 

Ragh: What now? And better question, who is Stella?

/// Computer core replaced ///
/// Error: Communication failed ///
/// STATION recognizes: STELLA ///

JoNz: Is Stella a member of the crew?

Not surprising, either that Ragh and JoNz weren't familiar with Stella, and that STATION was now. Though likely in a very different way, Lia reflected.

Rouiancet: Stella is a machine intelligence. Our machine intelligence, actually, derived from the semi-sentient computer systems on the Butler. She's manifested with holographic avatars before, and she accompanied Colonel Greaves' team to the Sphere. Stella? Can you hear me now?

It was strange, Lia reflected, that she had been so pleased to move beyond the omnipresent monitoring of the Continuance (as far as they knew, that was), while now she was hoping for, and indeed counting on, Stella keeping tabs on them. 

Dekas/Stella: Responses 

Ragh: Another AI..? 

JoNz: (ear flipped back) It's getting so we can't spit without hitting an AI around here. 

Rouiancet: (small smile) Just so. But as I said, Stella is ours. 

Or was it more accurate to say that they were Stella's? No, neither sense of ownership was correct -- there was a mutually beneficial, collaborative relationship between Stella and the Butler's crew, which was a neat microcosm of Starfleet, all things considered.

Ragh/Dekas/Stella: Responses

JoNz: What's our next move?

That was, unfortunately, a good question. That was, not unfortunate that JoNz had asked -- of course she wanted to know, Lia wanted to know -- but with the computer core returned, they had reached an impasse.

Rouiancet: I suppose -- is it possible that we could deactivate the autodestruct system and then remove the core again? 

A tall order, even if it was possible. She'd directed the question partially at Dekas, again as their engineering officer du jour, but equally to Stella, if she was still monitoring. 

Ragh/Dekas/Stella: Responses

In the meantime, JoNz was checking her rifle. Lia didn't think she was nervous, exactly, but the whole team was noticeably antsier than they had been even a few minutes before. Not difficult to figure out why, since this recent development had stopped them in their tracks.

Rouiancet: Let's do that. Ragh, see if you can assist Dekas by liaising with STATION. JoNz, keep an eye out, since I expect STATION may be less accommodating now that we've already taken its core once.

Again, assuming it had been able to parse their actions, and hadn't simply blacked out. Assuming again that STATION was aware enough to have recognized what happened.

Ragh/Dekas/JoNz: Responses

Rouiancet: I'm going to contact the Continuance. This was all done by its order, so maybe it knows something we don't.

Almost certainly it did, and Lia was loathe to invite it to look over their collective shoulders again, but -- they were running out of options.

Ragh/Dekas/JoNz: Responses

Rouiancet: =/\= This is Captain Rouiancet routing through the Fledgling's comm systems, hailing the Kevara Continuance on the USS Octavia E. Butler. We have failed to retrieve the Dyson Sphere's computer core, and cannot do so without triggering the Sphere's autodestruct sequence. Please advise.

There. The Continuance thought it was so superior to the little bags of meat it was ordering around? Then let it find the solution to the problem it had set them.

Kevara Continuance: =/\= Response =/\=

Ragh/Dekas/JoNz: Responses

Tags! and TBC!

--

Captain Lia Rouiancet

Commanding Officer 

USS Octavia E. Butler

V238208LV0
she/her/hers (this character)