Ties that Bind (closed)

[Marco Benitez]

Marco could easily be described as a man passionate about his work and a hard worker at it.  He could have easily gone the route of officer but all that training and schooling seemed like a waste of time to a man that had been doing his job since he was 14.  Half of his life had been given to security, law enforcement and the general catching of bad guys.  That being said it wasn't unusual for some criminals and suspects to slip through the cracks, like the Ferengi that ordered the deaths of Ms Reyes' former colleagues.

It wasn't that he cared about their deaths but he hated that they had put his base in danger as well as his fellow crewmen.  They were released on practicalities and politics and that pissed Marco off greatly.  He had tried everything he could to cool it down but it was like fighting a raging volcano which was spewing from the heart of a planet.  Marco had exercised, sparred and worked but it was after his shift and he wasn't allowed anymore time the chief had ordered him to rest.

This left Marco raging with no outlet which led him to a little used room which served as an auxiliary outlet to engineering and operations crew alike.  He was currently dressed in a body hugging exertion suit, black and without any adornment.  In his right hand he gripped a long Kama with a wicked serrated blade which made him look like the Harbinger of Death.  The rage still clung to him like his sweat was clinging to his richly dark hair.  His dark eyes were nearly black with fury as they flickered over the room and its consoles.

Without any thought, only rage, Marco began to dash the console with the Kama and his own fist and kicks.  The damage became apparent soon under the strength of his rage until he was breathing heavily with exertion.  He emptied himself into damaging the equipment until he became too tired to fury anymore and instead allowed himself to sit down on one of the chairs and sink into his despair...

[ISAAC]

[ISAAC's Quarters]

In an instant, his synthetic body jerked to a stop, almost as if in suspended animation. The wireless transfer from his body to his backup computer had become smoother in recent days thanks to a number of changes to his code. He was making himself more efficient; reworking cumbersome code and removing what wasn't necessary.

As he initiated a backup of himself--something that he had begun doing at every convenience--he considered the task at hand. It wasn't often that he engaged with a computer through the hands of his Android body; it was incredibly inefficient. Whenever possible, it made more sense to engage from within a computer system.

Once his backup was complete, he navigated his way to a console that seemed to be at the root of some problems that were occurring throughout the base.

[Engineering Utility Closet]

He wasted no time and began immediately scanning root folders stored locally on the console. Most of the system was not stored locally, but connected through a network with the base's main hard drive. In his previous scans, however, he had determined that the problem concerned this console, and this console alone.

During his search, he became aware that the door had opened and someone had entered. Curious as to who might have entered the room, he momentarily paused his search and gained access to a live feed from a camera that sat perched high up in the corner of the room.

ISAAC considered who this might be, as the individual wore nothing that would indicate rank or assignment.

[...]

Without any thought, only rage, Marco began to dash the console with the Kama and his own fist and kicks.  The damage became apparent soon under the strength of his rage until he was breathing heavily with exertion.  He emptied himself into damaging the equipment until he became too tired to fury anymore and instead allowed himself to sit down on one of the chairs and sink into his despair...

The individual's outburst caught ISAAC off-guard. He quickly transferred himself to a portion of the console that was receiving the least of the rage. He watched through the video feed with a perplexed curiosity as part of the console was thoroughly destroyed, essentially negating the work that ISAAC had set out to do. He knew that most of the console, if not all of it, would have to be replaced. He wondered what would cause someone to do something like that.

Once the man slumped down in a chair, ISAAC was certain that the spontaneous deed was done. He closed his access to the camera feed and began searching for access to the console's speaker; the damage was apparent. Numerous directories were destroyed, with many links and shortcuts leading to now non-existent files. ISAAC felt almost as if he was located in a maze with many pathways having been severed.

Success! He found and gained access to the console's speaker. Using a synthesized voice that he had decided to add to his programming after being assigned to the Columbus, he adjusted the volume of the console's speaker and spoke.

"I can't imagine what might have set you off. Was it something I said?"

[Marco Benitez]

The voice surprised Marco, causing him to drop his hand from his saturated hair and stand to his feet.  His only weapon, the Kama, was held firmly in his strong hand as he accessed the threat.  The tall man looked around angrily as he searched for the owner of the voice.  "Show yourself?"  Marco's voice came out as a growl, "Where are you?"

Dark eyes cast themselves on the console giving Marco a moment to realize what he had done.  The incident report was not going to be an agreeable one.  If this had been any other place but Starfleet the repair would have come from his pay.  As it was, his record was going to suffer this, but it was all record and promotion and discipline when it came to Starfleet.

Fortunately for Marco, his good points far outweighed his bad points.  He'd never get on a starship, not that he wanted that assignment, but he was at home on the base and he was already well known.  His temper, as it was, was well known but so was his uncanny ability to ferret out trouble makers and stop terrible plans.

He raised his Kama and placed the tip of it on whatever was left of the console then began to scrape it down causing it to screech horribly.  "ISAAC?"  Marco suddenly realized he had disturbed the station's latest new life form.  "Is that you?" 

[ISAAC]

[Engineering Utility Closet]

The voice surprised Marco, causing him to drop his hand from his saturated hair and stand to his feet.  His only weapon, the Kama, was held firmly in his strong hand as he accessed the threat.  The tall man looked around angrily as he searched for the owner of the voice.  "Show yourself?"  Marco's voice came out as a growl, "Where are you?"

The response from Benitez was slightly amusing, if ISAAC admitted it. He took as a compliment Benitez's inability to distinguish ISAAC's synthesized voice through a speaker as such. He considered, though, that Benitez might just be worked up. Hearing a voice in a small, thought-to-be-private setting would probably startle anyone.

In anticipation of responding, ISAAC turned down slightly the volume of the speaker before registering the input of an intense screeching noise.

[...]

He raised his Kama and placed the tip of it on whatever was left of the console then began to scrape it down causing it to screech horribly.  "ISAAC?"  Marco suddenly realized he had disturbed the station's latest new life form.  "Is that you?"

"How'd you guess," asked ISAAC with an intentionally ignorant-sounding tone. "Had I known you were going to destroy this console, I wouldn't have bothered spending time troubleshooting its issues."