Ensign Delphina Wren- Delphina's Terrible Horrible No Good Very Bad Day
Grace McDermott
((Inside The Lid, Moon Sigma in orbit of Gas Giant A, Ross 580 System))
Wren: I’m gonna go ahead and seal the door now.
T’Fearne tilted her head, straining her hearing. A few light scuffs.
T'Fearne: ::quiet, pressed to the wall:: Can anyone get a tricorder reading? Mine appears to have… deconstructed.
Shortrith: Response
O’Connor: Hold up, cause you’re going to seal it with us on the outside.. There are still additional lifesigns farther into the structure. ::pulls out a mini holographic projector and activates blueprint hologram:: Many sections are collapsed and I think this ::points:: is now some sort of chasm. Getting a few readings from near there. At least one reptilian and one Bajoran…maybe. Also, there are also some even crazier temporal fluctuations. We should probably go check it out. This place will be our fallback point.
Delphina paused at the monitor, before quickly canceling the command, turning to watch as O’Connor pulled up a map of the facility. oO You’re jumping the gun. Remember who’s in charge. Oo
T’Fearne: Agreed, we should keep on mission pulling as many people out as we can. ::stretching her neck up and going on tiptoe to appear taller:: I—remain capable of providing security for this team.
Wren: But what do we do about the babies that are already here? I suppose I could try and find a way to make a mobile forcefield….bowl shape? oO No, that won’t work. The quadrants are the only thing keeping them from biting each other… that Tellarite is still clearly out for blood. Oo
Shortrith: Response
O’Connor: Actually, I’ve been working on a temporary idea about that.
Ian grinned suddenly, placing a small emitter near the playpen.
O’Connor: Activate Emergency Holographic Beck-o-Nanny
A holographic figure flickered into existence.
Delphina watched with genuine interest as the holographic figure unfolded from the emitter. She didn’t recognize the person it had been modeled after, but the realism was incredible. Back at the academy they’d had a few symposiums on holographic programs, and new designs that could breathe. Though there had been quite a bit of debate as to why someone would make a breathing hologram. Personally, Delphina thought the simple fact that some could was fascinating, but this one didn’t seem to.
EBN: Response (Optional)
Wren: Hello!
T’Fearne: ::wincing:: I’m not sure of the quality of those programs—and they are disturbing! We should get the transport enhancers out and see if we can get these babies—-base personnel to the Ronin sickbay, out of harm's way.
Delphina blinked at that, suddenly unsure of herself. Were they disturbing? Personally, Delphina had always found beings like this comforting. The library at the academy had been a hologram, and she’d loved talking to him because he was quiet. Artificial beings always were. It was like huddling in a cave while a storm raged outside, finding shelter from the constant barrage of thought and emotion that always seemed to surround her.
Wren: oO….. Maybe I’m wrong? She’s known this program longer than me…. Oo ::Shaking her head to clear it:: We can definitely set up a staggered transport to the Ronin, and leave the Tholian in the hands of the hologram. It shouldn’t be able to hurt him
Shortrith/O’Connor/EBN(Optional): Response
Delphina was trying very hard not to look too hard at her commanding officers, though it was difficult considering the circumstances. If it hadn’t been for the radiation, she was sure she’d be hearing a lot of insecurity, and a lot of confusion that was absolutely none of her business. She couldn’t imagine what they were going through…. oO Although, the idea of being pre-telepathy isn’t unappealing…. Maybe go back even further to before I got that infection…. But if that happened I don’t think I could live with disappointing my parents all over again. Oo
T’Fearne: Shall we go find the rest before they or we turn into babies?
Shortrith/O’Connor/EBN(Optional): Response
((Back in Corridor inside The Lid, Moon Sigma in orbit of Gas Giant A, Ross 580 System))
Delphina walked back to the door, tapping in a few instructions to open it. As she stood back to let the others through, a horrible thought occurred to her. The time ripples had turned everyone in that room into babies, but the ripple outside had aged what it touched. What would have happened to anyone caught in one that aged them? Or, worse, what if someone somehow got caught in both? oO That’s exactly what this mission needs, you scaring yourself. Oo
T’Fearne: Clear… carefully. :: gesturing for Ian to go first::
They traveled through the corridors for a few moments in silence, when something prickled Delphina’s skin like a rash. Twitching slightly, and wishing that she didn’t have the suit on, she looked around for the source of it when she saw something that made her dizzy. In a rush, the radiation that had been blocking her mind vanished, and, in an instant, all she could see was color. It was like standing too close to an uncovered warp core. She couldn’t see shapes, she couldn’t see outlines, all she could see was light and color, followed by a flood of emotions. oO This reminds me a bit too much of that time I accidentally ate some of my mom’s Maraji crystals…Oo
T’Fearne: Hold on there is someone ahead. ::glancing toward Wren:: Ensign, are you sensing them too?
Wren:.... Actually I’m pretty sure that’s all I can see right now….. And feel. ::feeling her way to the wall:: Give me a second.
Shortrith/O’Connor: Response
((Reactor Room, The Lid, Moon Sigma in orbit of Gas Giant A, Ross 580 System))
As they wandered forward, Delphina was able to eventually blink her vision back, though the overwhelming feeling of emotions that didn’t belong to her remained, forcing her to shut down as much as she could. The room was still cast in various shades that prickled at her if she got too close, but she kept moving until they reached an open chamber near what must once have been the dome’s heart.
There was a pit in the center of the room, so deep that Delphina had to squint to see the bottom through the technicolor room. The floor was piled with cables and cords, like the abandoned innards of a giant, and her tricorder told her that the area was surrounded by a containment field that was forcing the radiation upwards and out of the ceiling.
Abandoned equipment littered the perimeter—sensor pallets, portable shielding generators, half-assembled consoles. Evidence of a desperate attempt to stabilise whatever catastrophe had occurred here. Delphina couldn’t help admiring the effort. Even if it wasn’t stable, the containment was at least something. She actually wanted to get a closer look, when she was distracted by a voice above them.
Rurat'dari: Who are you?
Delphina squinted, barely managing to make out a shape in the oversaturated palette of the room. For a moment, she stood in silence, before realizing what she was looking at. A Jem’Hadar. A female Jem’Hadar. Delphina was surprised to feel her stomach drop, and all of a sudden all those extra emotions she’d been feeling faded away, replaced by dread so alien to her that she was sure it had to be someone else’s. But, no… why did she feel this way? Yes, the Jem’Hadar and Cardassians had occupied Betazoid space, but it wasn’t as though she remembered that. She’d been a baby when the war was over, she’d never even met a Jem’Hadar. So, why were her hands shaking like this?
T’Fearne: Starfleet, Search and Rescue from the USS Ronin.
Wren: oO I have to say something. I can’t just lock up like this. Do your job, Delphina, find out what’s going on. Scan something… What is wrong with you? Oo
Shortrith/O’Connor: Response
Hostility rose from the Jem’Hadar like a shark rising from the deep, and Delphina instinctively stepped back, wishing she wasn’t in this stupid suit. It felt so closed-in, and hot, she felt like she couldn’t breathe. Furiously, she looked at the ground, trying to re-center herself. It wasn’t as bad if she didn’t look. It was the radiation. It had to be.
Rurat'dari: What are you doing here?
T’Fearne: ::simply:: People are still alive here.
Wren: ::still not looking:: We’re trying to evacuate any survivors we can find.
Shortrith/O’Connor: Response
There was a massive tremor, and Delphina stumbled for a moment, before walking over to some of the discarded equipment. It was in terrible shape, either reduced to their basic parts, or aged to a point where they crumbled to dust at the touch. She ran her tricorder over it, watching the geiger counter drop with a grim frown.
Rurat'dari: Why? What's the point?
T’Fearne: ::gently:: You don’t have to handle this alone.
Wren: ::still apart from the group:: This room is mostly clear from the radiation thanks to that containment field. It’s in good shape too. If I had to guess, they used all the remaining energy to form the field, but it won’t last forever. I’d say we have about two hours until it ruptures.
T’Fearne/Rurat'dari/Shortrith/O’Connor: Response
Wren: It’s a bit of a stretch, but that looks like the core at the bottom of the pit. If it’s stable, we might be able to warp it directly into a star. It’ll ignite, and burn up.
T’Fearne/Rurat'dari/Shortrith/O’Connor: Response
Delphina tapped her badge again, feeling a little desperate as she did so. She wanted so badly to get out of this room, to feel less cornered, but once again the comm came up empty. They’d gotten the babies out fine, but a radioactive core was something else entirely. They needed to be much more careful.
T’Fearne/Rurat'dari/Shortrith/O’Connor: Response
[Tags / TBC]