Ensign Lyra Voss: The Sun Will Come Out (Tomorrow)
Sarah Terry
((San Francisco District – StarBase 118 Ops))
She swiped uselessly at her face as if she could keep the water out of her eyes for more than a moment.
Voss: Wait, if we can’t track the wavelength of the emission, could we start looking for ferroniobium? Or at least... I mean, iron is probably everywhere, but niobium is rarer, right? Could we scan for that and narrow down the search radius?
Drex: Niobium is rarer, yes... but not rare enough on a starbase to make this simple. It’s used in structural alloys, superconductors, and shield components. If we start scanning blindly, we’ll light up half the station. ::He frowned slightly.:: Ferroniobium, though... that’s more specific. The ratio of iron to niobium would matter. If we tune the sensors to look for an anomalous concentration pattern, something inconsistent with standard construction materials, we might narrow the radius.
Oh, that made sense. If their scanners were precise enough to search for materials in the correct proportions, they could search for ferroniobium more specifically. Or well… they could have. If their scanners could function properly when they were practically underwater.
Wethern: Let's do it anything that can give us a lead.
Drex: We need to get out of here! This is a base, right? ::He stomped his boot against the deck, water splashing up around it.:: Aren’t there any maintenance corridors down here?
Wethern: There should be an access conduit a bit further up which will get us closer to the other team
Voss: ::nodding:: I’m all for getting out of this rain please.
Drex: It’s very simple. If we don’t have to fight the water, we can cover the area much faster. ::He glanced down at his soaked boots:: Or maybe the tricorders can’t read through the floor? If they can’t, then they won’t get past the building walls either.
Drex shook his head, which only served to send a shower of sideways droplets toward the rest of them.
Wethern: if we could get to a terminal we could use the internal sensors to boost the scan.
Lyra would have been content just to get out of the rain - anything else was a bonus.
Voss: ::waving her hand at the sky:: You had me at Respite from Ongoing Torrential Deluge. I’m good to go.
Drex’s hand clenched briefly, water dripping from the edges of his sleeves onto the street, and she could feel his frustration rising. Yeah, nobody was having a good time out here. Every person running past them was another slap in the face of confusion and fear. She twisted the hypospray in her pocket, unsure whether a moment would come when she’d have to use it.
Drex: Why don’t you give a call to whoever can reach the weather control room and ask if they can make the sun shine?
Wethern: Until we get somewhere quieter no one can hear the comm links in this weather.
Voss: I imagine there’s a very good chance that the people in the control room have forgotten how to make the sun shine anyway.
Drex: ?
They continued their wet, sloshing trudge toward the access conduit when a small river of red crossed their path. It seemed to come from around the corner up ahead.
Wethern: I hope that isn't what I think that is.
Lyra’s mind hadn’t even gone there, but once she heard Dr. Wethern say it, she groaned.
Voss: If that’s blood, I swear to all the Four Deities, I’m gonna barf or freak out or both…
Drex: ?
They hurried around the corner to find the source of the crimson trail - two giggling cadets and a replicator disgorging a truly monumental amount of red slushie. Cherry. She could smell the sticky, sugary mess of it now that they were closer. Dr. Wethern summoned his best impression of a put-upon parent.
Wethern: Hey, replicators aren't toys beat it!
Well, who knew if it was an impression or not. Maybe he was a father? Regardless, the pair of cadets were scared off into the rain. Lyra walked up to the replicator, sidestepping the icy river, and turned the machine off.
Voss: ::with a shrug:: Cola slushies are better anyway.
Drex: ?
Wethern: Looks like ages isn't a factor.
Voss: That’s a scary thought. What’s happening to like… *kid* kids then? Babies? They don’t have that many years to lose.
Drex: ?
They finally made it to the access conduit and stepped into the dry alcove like a bunch of drowned rats fished out of a river. Dr. Wethern shook his hair out like a dog. Lyra was tempted to do the same right back to him, and with a lot more hair. But she didn’t want to splatter the first bit of dry real estate they’d found since leaving the turbolift, so she contented herself with taking her hair down so she could ring it out a bit and then try to pull it all back into a tighter bun.
Wethern: We should be able to access a terminal here and also dry off a bit.
Drex: ?
Voss: All right! So we need the right ratio of iron and niobium for –
She was cut off when another figure stumbled into their tiny corridor sanctuary.
Anethra: Excuse me?
She was shivering and looked confused, but all that meant was she could join the club. Lyra wasn’t far off shivering herself.
Voss: Uh, hi there?
Wethern/Drex: ?
The woman looked at all three of them with furrowed brows.
Anethra: Could you perhaps tell me where I am? I believe I am quite lost... this planet doesnt look familiar to me.
Yeah. That tracked. Now, what was the quick-yet-non-terrifying explanation of this situation? Hard to say…
Voss: Right, so, we’re not in immediate danger, but… something has been causing people on the station to lose their memories. Or, well, not *lose* actually, because they’re still there, but we can’t access them, so it’s kinda one and the same. Oh and also, this is a station. Not a planet. A space station.
Okay, not her most graceful delivery, but the basics were there.
Wethern/Drex: Response?
Anethra: Ive been walking for quite a while... nothing seems familiar.
Voss: ::nodding toward Drex:: Yeah, we don’t remember any of this place either. It seems like everyone is losing a different amount of time. I thought I was back on Betazed in 2399, but turns out I’m four years off. It’s 2403.
Wethern/Drex: Response?
Voss: We suspect the memory loss could be linked to some kind of artifact that’s putting out a signal that disrupts brain waves. Where were you when you noticed something was wrong?
Anethra: ?
Voss: ::to Wethern and Drex:: We should run the ferroniobium scan while we have access to the terminal, but after that, maybe we should try to track down where… ::to the Rekarian:: sorry, what’s your name?
Anethra: ?
Voss: Right, hi. I’m Lyra. ::back to Wethern and Drex:: Maybe we can track down where Anethra was when this started? It’ll be useful information for the heat map, at the very least.
Wethern/Drex/Anethra: ?