JP: Lt Cmdr Ukinix and Captain Rahman: Fear Inoculum (Chapter 7, part 1)

[r.rahman]

(OOC: This occurs before the Veritas lands on Kidman I and Ukinix and Rahman get back to the ship)

(( Rixx Police Plaza ))

Wil was half listening to the conversation between Rahman and Detective Staxi.  He was poring over the maintenance logs for the building, while also trying to put together the last pieces of the jigsaw puzzle to work out how the weapon functioned.  How could a person’s personality be embedded inside of Rivi’s brain?

Staxi: Hey? Pretty boy, you paying attention?

Ukinix: Oi!  What’d you just call me?

Staxi: ::ignoring the comment:: We’re about to arrest all these Guardian weeds if can’t trouble you to join us?

Roshanara just crossed her arms and gave Wil a look like a disappointed schoolteacher.

Rahman: Wil, if it’s about your cousin… I’d understand if this is too awkward or difficult.

Wil, however, wasn’t fazed.

Ukinix: Yeah, about that.  I know I’m related to Keehani Ukinix, and trust me, if she’s involved in this, I’d love nothing more to see her arrested.  ::Tapping PADD with the maintenance and visitation logs of the Reconciliation Forums:: But there’s something more to this.

Staxi: Yes, her visits correspond exactly with the renovation work schedule.

He pursed his lips for a few moments, and sighed as he looked at his PADD.

Ukinix: She’s only gone to the Forum for the Ninth House petition.  Every time she went there, her movements were limited to the mediation rooms.  She’d have very little time to configure the distributed parts of the weapon, let alone not have anyone else sense that she was up to something.

Staxi: You’d be surprised what a determined mind of a radical can do once they’ve committed.

Wil pursed his lips again, and shook his head slightly.  Something bothered him about that idea.

Ukinix: I dunno. I’d be surprised if she even had the know how to do it.

(( University of Betazed, Medara Campus, Betazed ))

Keehani looked over the various bits of machinery and equipment that filled the research lab. 

“Project Welcoming” had been created in the immediate aftermath of the Dominion War. The occupation of Betazed by the Jem’Hadar was a turning point in Betazed history. The planet had never been subjugated before, and the Betazoid species known by most throughout the galaxy as masters of diplomacy and grace faced an existential crisis. Not a single family or Noble House was left unaffected by the occupation, including the Ukinix family who were all but wiped out save for Vaxa Ral, Keehani’s grandmother--ironically saved from death because of her exile.

While other houses like the Eleventh had spent the last two decades rebuilding, the planetary government itself embarked on security initiatives to ensure such a devastating chapter would never repeat itself. “Project Welcoming”, despite its congenial name, was the most extreme measure the government commissioned. The intent was to create a device that could cause a massive psionic projection field to incapacitate non-Betazoid occupiers. The ethics of such a weapon--or “security system” as it was described officially--was fiercely debated within internal circles, but with fresh memories of Jem’Hadar troops stalking through the streets, there was an overwhelming mandate by the public for the government to prioritize security over compassion.

The device worked by overwhelming the nervous systems of non-Betazoids, whose minds would struggle from the telepathic “interference” broadcasted and put them into a coma. Thus, an occupying army could be rendered inert within minutes--without a single shot.

However, during phase 2 of the project when active testing began (that process itself controversial and kept classified), the effects of the device were found not to be limited to just non-Betazoids. Betazoids working on the project reported hallucinations and other strange effects. As the years after the occupation grew in number, the fervor for drastic action waned, and the project was eventually shelved due to the ongoing technical difficulties coupled with the ethical controversies surrounding it. The exact details were quietly buried in the university archives.

In the subsequent decade, though, bits of Project Welcoming technology still continued to be worked on for other applications. Keehani Ukinix had chosen “Psionic 1” as an elective as part of her exo-politics degree. That subject included being involved in the research of a basic and much less powerful version of the “Project Welcoming” technology, but used only to “telepathically” project spheres and cubes in the field of vision of a Betazoid person.  It had limited range, and didn’t work on all Betazoids.

She was reading results on a console connected to the device, that contained data from tests performed earlier in the day.  She looked up from her PADD, to see Rware Troirox entering the lab.

Troirox: ~~ Keehani… what are you doing here? ~~

Keehani: ::Puzzled expression:: ~~ My practical for Psi 1.  What else? ~~

Troirox: ~~ I see. ::Walking closer and a bit colder in tone:: Has anyone ever told you you’re a bad liar? ~~

Keehani gave Rware an incredulous look.

Keehani: ~~ What are you talking about? ~~

Troirox: ~~ Oh? Your handsome cousin didn’t tell you? How he and the police have been shaking up the Guardians… threatening to disband us. I knew it was a mistake to bring you in. ~~

The only conversation she’d had with Wil was at the police plaza during her interrogation, and she didn’t want to tell Rware about that.

Keehani: ~~ I’ve hardly spoken to Wil. ~~

At this, Rware had enough. She broke the silent dialogue between them, her words terse.

Troirox: Stop lying to me, you Noble &#@$%.

Keehani: Alright, fine.  The police questioned me.  Which means ::pointing:: they questioned you, too.  Right?

Troirox: That’s right. And I pointed them right back at you.

Keehani: ::Pointing at self:: Me? I was the one that saw *you* at the Forums!

Troirox: And I wish I had never warned you to get away. It would have solved a lot of problems.

Keehani: ::Tilting head:: What?

Troirox: You were never a true believer. Even while you were with us at our meetings, pretending to join in our fight, you went behind all of our backs chasing after your precious Nobility.

TBC…

Keehani Ukinix
Exopolitics Student & Member, Guardians of Betazed
University of Betazed, Medara campus
V239511WU0

&

Rware Troirox

Law Student & Member, Guardians of Betazed
University of Betazed, Medara campus
V239511WU0