[sb118-ops] Ensign A'Mayri- They’re just little guys!
A'Mayri Y. Stark
((Temurian Settlement - Kiro's Lab))
A’Maryi watched as Ross made an expression she could partially describe as a mix of relief and bashful guilt as he excused himself to take a call from the unmarked and older model communicator.
Ross: ::step aside:: I have complete trust in you both to figure this out. I'll be back in a second.
Ross disappeared behind the door after Kiro while Voss seemed to need a moment for herself while brushing her hair back to recollect herself.
Voss: I’m so sorry. I’m so… We knew the cores could mess with telepaths, but they didn’t do anything like this back on the station. Right after the explosion, it was like… like I could see myself out of your eyes. I’ve never… I think… hope… the connection is starting to fade, but first thing after we leave here, I think we better go to medical.
She observed Voss now, not particularly worried about her own current fluffed hair as she offered a small and understanding nod.
A'Mayri: ::carefully holding the scanner:: Variation is to be expected; and I hold no ill will towards you or sir. I offer an apology in return for my lack of fortitude in regards to my own telepathic abilities. I was not…expecting for such an incident to occur. A medical visit would be most recommended.
Voss: And I’m sorry I… ::looking back towards the door Evan had gone through:: That’s a whole… ::shaking her head:: For now, let’s just take a look at the readings from the spectrum scanner, all right? It was great thinking to set one up - and this one has a solid-state detector?
A’Mayri had been able to catch small glimpses of Voss’s own emotional turmoil, not quite understanding its implications fully—but enough to know why they were emotionally important and vulnerable for Voss and her established opinion of the officer currently not in the room with them. She would not comment on it for her science officer’s sake, and somewhat on her own.
A’Mayri: Yes ma’am. Two inserted capturing chambers of both Silicon and germanium crystals. The field pulse should have given us adequate reading as well as significantly higher energy resolutions.
They walked over to one of the terminals together to plug in the scanner and download the readings it had taken during the explosion. While Voss had struck her observational pose, A’Maryi watched just to the side of her, her eyes quickly scanning over the same information as the other officer pointed towards a piece of data.
Voss: Okay, so - this is confirming the rapid release of Hawking radiation - that’s consistent with black holes collapsing. And we know the cores are mostly ferroniobium. But look at this. This must be from our mystery material. But I can’t tell what the hell it’s made of…
A’Mayri: The sample particulates we gathered from the partially disintegrated cores were unusual but would not have put out such readings. Ferroniobium even broken down to its most basic forms does not simply…present itself in such a way. Further proof that the electron beam furnace was necessary, and our replication of the power override would not have reached sufficient temperatures to reach that indicated state.
Voss: Yeah, I think there might – ::her terminal beeps:: Oh, we’re getting a data transfer. One of the other teams must have found out more about the cores, or… ::bringing up the data:: Wait, this… these are schematics for the casing materials. Can you use this to filter out anything in the core that isn’t part of the casing?
A’Mayri stood closer to the terminal now, her fingers quick and efficient as they sorted through the newly uploaded data and core schematics. Her eyes noted Munshi’s digital signature, appreciating the neatly filed and categorized information before she used key indicators to filter out non-current data.
She transferred part of the data to an intake chamber nearby, slid the sample tube out of her work belt and into one of the empty slots.
The first strings of the newly calculated scans and component breakdown started.
A’Mayri: I- ::she paused, recalling the moment her and Voss had originally debated the source of the cores power on the MTF:: oO Living organisms produce their own energy through metabolic digestion or the converted consumption of outside resources–Oo ::she remembered her original train of thought::
A’Mayri: The material ma’am—
Voss: Wait, this… yes! Look at this! Our mystery material is *organic.*
A’Mayri: Organic and reproducing at a rate fast enough to sustain the artificial black hole through rapid energy consumption. The organic material houses itself within the inner lining of the cores Ferroniobium chamber, that explains why the cores disintegrated the way they did. One could compare the breakdown to a microscopic smelt and cremation. ::small thoughtful pause:: Fascinating.
Voss: Exactly! ::running back over to the disintegrated cores again:: It’s feeding the black hole! It has to be! It’s a layer of some kind of rapidly reproducing unicellular organism that grows and grows and grows and the black hole eats and eats and eats and the cores harness the rotational energy! I don’t know if it’s something native to Drakos Prime or genetically engineered or what, but the core works perfectly when the growth of the organism balances what the black hole can absorb, but at some point, the organism can’t keep up with the black hole and the whole thing spirals out of control as the black hole disintegrates and takes the core with it!
Perhaps it was the still freshly tied telepathic bond that allowed A’Mayri the ghost of an excited smile that twitched at the corner of her lips which echoed Voss’ own excitement.
A’Mayri: The chances of natural adaption to Drakos Prime is not unlikely, but with what we know of so far, I would not factor out genetic manipulation. The protozoa—if they are single celled organisms, most likely adapted to the materials that the Temurians had been utilizing. The rate of reproduction is unnatural, perhaps they self-sustain through cannibalization through a predator type drive to override population preservation instincts. Your observation would be correct, a disruption in the chain would lead to the degradation of the core’s stability.
She pressed the tips of her fingers to her lips in a contemplative look, her own head now tilted much like the Betazoid had done earlier.
Voss: It means the cores are *alive.* I mean, part of them, anyway. Does that mean we could find them with lifesign scans? Measure a healthy population of these protozoa versus a declining one?
A’Mayri: The rate of rapid consumption overshadowing reproduction would make it difficult for a normal life scan to read. The hawking radiation and matter field surrounding the cores black hole would diminish any notable signs from most lifesign scans—but I believe you are still correct. We would just have to adjust the life scan specifically to their signature. Would you be able to compute the necessary equation with the equipment we have now? I will repair whatever is needed.
Voss: ?
A’Mayri nodded, locking the new data before she stepped away with her scanner to try and remote connect the damaged chambers to the terminal once more.
A’Maryi: If we consider that the extensive power draw we pulled from the cores was what disrupted the balance of the core’s self-sufficient fueling method due to forcing the black holes to overconsume their fuel source, adjusting the scans to a fresh core should give us enough information to build the programing needed to identify and diagnose what stage of life the core may be in. It would also give us the rate in which the protozoa can reasonably repopulate, which would in turn give us a better estimate on how long a healthy core can truly sustain itself for. If we know the limit—
Voss: ?
The half Vulcan pointed to Voss, her eyes almost sparkling with satisfaction.
A’Mayri: Yes! Quite brilliant of a solution ma’am. If we cannot correct this failure once initiated, we can at the very least understand them well enough to keep those involved safe. The method we develop now could be disseminated fleet wide and warn the sector.
Her movement was quick, pulling her visor mask off her belt as she secured the eyepro to her face before she kneeled back down to crawl back into the lower compartments of the chambers.
Voss: ?
With her work gloves now properly placed on, A’Maryi steadied her gaze onto the damaged harware and power equipment.
They spent some time with quiet chatter and working on their tasks. Voss worked on the new solution while small trails of smoke and sparks flittered about as A’Mayri repaired the chambers and surrounding equipment. She may have had lost track of herself, her mind easily gone quiet with the muscle memory of twisting wires, replacing computer chips and resetting hardware.
A small call to attention has brought A’Mayri out of said head space.
Voss:?
—
Ensign A’Mayri Ych’a Stark
Engineering Officer
StarBase 118 Ops
O240303A11