S1-M7 The Danger of Secrets

[Amynta Lianez]

Takur only nodded gravely and grabbed the two women and ushered them out, keeping them at the door.

"IF she tries to get out, you have to stop her." The command wasn't a command, really, it was his plea for help. He didn't wait for a reply, he went straight to a computing room and got to work, digging for LCAR's files.

{Takur, Computing room}

This is sooo not good. Takur's fingers were unsure of what buttons to push and when, and he couldn't do it alone. He was trying to destroy the parts of LCAR- Cara- that made it want to grow and develop. Nothing was working. The ship shook when he pressed a button. He'd accidentally momentarily closed the gravity...

"What are you doing?" A cold voice startled him. He knew that voice... Higgins.

[Hallway near Maintenance Closet 12]

Amynta had followed the group as they dashed down the hall to the closet where their missing crew member was being kept, but when the others rushed in, she hesitated. Cowardly, she knew, but the sound of a fistfight broke out inside, and amidst the shouting she had no idea what to do. She was combat trained, technically, but she wasn't skilled at it, and with her anxiety kicking in full force, she was caught in fight-or-flight with no way to do either. And so she froze outside the door until the others were shoved out of it by Takur, and he immediately ran off to the right. She looked at the others for a brief moment, but in her shame at not helping sooner, she turned away to watch the hall where he had disappeared.

Almost as  soon as she looked away, however, a new figure crossed the T at the end of the hall in her unmistakable black dress: Higgins. Here she may have an opportunity to help, and she immediately straightened up, pushing her own panic to the back of her mind as she turned her attention to the researcher. She was angry, that in itself was easy to pick up...but did she also see fear in those eyes? It was too soon to know for sure...

"I'm going to follow him, to see if I can learn more," she told the other two with as much confidence as she had left, "as much as I dislike him, he may be right about keeping her there. I'll come back as soon as I can with anything that might help."

[Hall > just outside the Computer Room]

She, like Takur, did not wait for an answer, and sprinted off down the hall in the direction the others had vanished. The ship shivered and groaned as some kind of mechanics malfunctioned elsewhere, and the lights above head flickered as she ran, giving everything a ghostly appearance. When she heard Takur's voice she slowed to a quiet stop, waiting and listening outside the room where he was being confronted by Higgins.

[T'Ra Jones]

[Party]

Dr. Higgins arrived at the Party and approached T'Ra.  She took a seat and communicated to the rest of the table "I am sorry for the delay.  Captain Hawke, is currently resting in my quarters.  We had an eventful afternoon."  She said with a smile.  She wanted to see the reaction of the table.

She waited to see what was going to be said.

[Party]

Higgins returned to the party and approached the table where the members of the Shran had gathered to discuss a pressing matter with one of the outpost crew. T'Ra arched a brow to see the prominent scientist without a certain captain in tow, spewing some fabrication about how Hawke had laid down to rest. While Hawke certainly wasn't a typical captain, he was not one to lay down on the job. "I'm sure we'll see the captain very soon," was all she replied.

[Maintenance Closet 12]

T'Ra matched the brisk pace set by Takur as he led them to the maintenance closet where he had left the android. Sure enough, just as she had promised Higgins, they were already greeted by the image of their noble captain, and to nobody's surprise, he seemed to be missing his shirt. Perhaps when this was all said and done, they could launch an investigation into what happened to all his shirts.

"Are you alright, sir?" T'Ra asked, looking from him to the android K-5, who was clearly out of sorts, seeming to argue with another personality within herself. T'Ra moved to step between the android and her commanding officer, hoping that her Vulcan strength would help her fair better than he had. But before she could do anything else, the android slumped to the floor, and the station shuddered violently. T'Ra scooped up the android into her arms before turning back to Hawke. "We need to get out of here."

[Fala Awen]

[Bridge]

Caelene continued her work at the engineering console, hoping things didn't get worse before she made some progress. If she could make progress, anyway. Her eyes were momentarily drawn to the circling Egyptian holograms. Perhaps it was just her imagination, but it almost felt like they would walk around without paying attention except they would deliberately look over at her briefly. It was creepy.

[Ship - Sickbay]
[NPC Evan Buehler]
Evan wasn't quite sure how to respond. He tapped the badge on his chest. =/\=Errr.... he seems to be fond of orange jello...

The holographic raptor enjoyed the orange jell-o? Caelene raised an eyebrow at Evan's response. She had more important things to worry about. =/\=Acknowledged Sickbay... Try to keep him happy until one of the engineers shows up. If anything else happens, let me know. Bridge out.

Just as she turned back to the lines of code she'd been looking at, the auxiliary controlled lights on the bridge went out, followed by the consoles. Caelene took several deep breaths, reached around in the darkness til she found her engineering kit, and pulled out a flashlight. She clicked it on just as a message came through.

=/\=Buehler...can...hear=/\=

Hearing Evans' message - well, part of it anyway - the Trill quickly tapped her comm badge and said, =/\=All hands, get into your Environmental Suits. We are going to red alert. I repeat, get into Emergency Suits. Report to stations for Red alert.

Caelene had no way of knowing if even part of her message got through, but she had to try. "Computer, bring the ship to red alert."

It seemed the computer was still active, because the bridge was immediately bathed in red light and the alarm was blaring. "Computer, silence red alert alarm on the bridge," she amended. Hearing it would make it more difficult for her to concentrate.

"Lieutenant JG Hayter (NPC)," Caelene said, addressing the Chief Security/Tactical Officer, "I want you to get some security teams together - make sure the rest of the crew heard my message. Try to consolidate crew into emergency areas so that if we have to reduce life support, I can route it to certain areas. Also, I want you to secure all sensitive areas of the ship. Let me know when it's done; assume that the comm system is down."

Seeing him nod, Caelene watched as he donned his EV suit and headed to the turbolift, which was apparently still working. She had to admit she was surprised at how easily it had come to her to give out the emergency orders...but then again, Milara had had leadership experience as the head archaeologist on her team. They had to be prepared for cave-ins or other traps and issues, after all. Perhaps more of the previous host was coming to the surface for her now.

[20 minutes later]

Caelene had spent the last twenty minutes trying to reroute power to two consoles, including the engineering console. It hadn't exactly been easy, especially in an EV suit. She would be able to switch functions over and monitor sensors, helm control, defenses, and weapons as needed, but for the moment she needed to know about Engineering.

Based on the lack of communication from anyone else on the ship, it seemed that communications were either cut off from the bridge, sporadic, or down completely. Thus far, it seemed gravity and life support were holding, but considering how everything seemed to be getting worse, she didn't want to take any chances. Turbolifts and transporters still seemed to be working, so they could always escape to the station if need be...however, she was reluctant to give that order when she had no idea if the station was experiencing similar difficulties.

Sliding her fingers across the console, Caelene brought up the logs. From what she could see, it looked like the sheer number of holograms appearing outside the holodeck had caused some auxiliary systems to overload - that's why they lost all but the bare minimum lighting, comm systems, and power to the consoles on the bridge and certain other parts of the ship. Undoubtedly her fellow engineers would have gotten a couple consoles working by now so they could monitor what was happening.

If she believed the logs, there had been at least hundreds of holograms wandering the ship. Auxiliary power simply hadn't been able to handle the extra load. Perhaps the feeling of malice she felt from the holographic Egyptians on the bridge was not just her imagination. If someone had deliberately hacked into their systems, they could have taken control of the holodeck systems to overload others. Thus far, it didn't seem that whoever it was wanted to seriously damage the ship or the crew - if they had, they could have sabotaged life support or opened airlocks.

While Caelene waited for additional reports, she saw one of the bridge officers take over the other console she had powered. The Trill was lost in thought for several minutes as she tried to prioritize.

They needed to investigate the holodeck systems and, if possible, get a message to the away team. If she got a message ready, she could try sending it while she worked on the holodeck systems. If she tried different frequencies, one would hopefully eventually get through. Time to get to work...

OFF: Tag bridge/ship

[Ardyn Jaeger]

[Party]

Higgins returned to the party and approached the table where the members of the Shran had gathered to discuss a pressing matter with one of the outpost crew. T'Ra arched a brow to see the prominent scientist without a certain captain in tow, spewing some fabrication about how Hawke had laid down to rest. While Hawke certainly wasn't a typical captain, he was not one to lay down on the job. "I'm sure we'll see the captain very soon," was all she replied.

[Maintenance Closet 12]

T'Ra matched the brisk pace set by Takur as he led them to the maintenance closet where he had left the android. Sure enough, just as she had promised Higgins, they were already greeted by the image of their noble captain, and to nobody's surprise, he seemed to be missing his shirt. Perhaps when this was all said and done, they could launch an investigation into what happened to all his shirts.

"Are you alright, sir?" T'Ra asked, looking from him to the android K-5, who was clearly out of sorts, seeming to argue with another personality within herself. T'Ra moved to step between the android and her commanding officer, hoping that her Vulcan strength would help her fair better than he had. But before she could do anything else, the android slumped to the floor, and the station shuddered violently. T'Ra scooped up the android into her arms before turning back to Hawke. "We need to get out of here."

maintenance closet 12]

There was no time to lose. Ardyn  rushed behind the others only to find the bartered forms of K-5 and James. Seeing T'Ra get to the Android girl, Ardy made her way over to Hawke and kneeled over him. "Dude, James. You got pretty banged up there, didn't you?" She said, looking him over. Suddenly, the station shuddered, and the lights flickered. Helping him up, she nodded to the others " C'mon, let's get outta here."

[Kirok]

[Bridge]

Caelene continued her work at the engineering console, hoping things didn't get worse before she made some progress. If she could make progress, anyway. Her eyes were momentarily drawn to the circling Egyptian holograms. Perhaps it was just her imagination, but it almost felt like they would walk around without paying attention except they would deliberately look over at her briefly. It was creepy.

The holographic raptor enjoyed the orange jell-o? Caelene raised an eyebrow at Evan's response. She had more important things to worry about. =/\=Acknowledged Sickbay... Try to keep him happy until one of the engineers shows up. If anything else happens, let me know. Bridge out.

Just as she turned back to the lines of code she'd been looking at, the auxiliary controlled lights on the bridge went out, followed by the consoles. Caelene took several deep breaths, reached around in the darkness til she found her engineering kit, and pulled out a flashlight. She clicked it on just as a message came through.

Hearing Evans' message - well, part of it anyway - the Trill quickly tapped her comm badge and said, =/\=All hands, get into your Environmental Suits. We are going to red alert. I repeat, get into Emergency Suits. Report to stations for Red alert.

Caelene had no way of knowing if even part of her message got through, but she had to try. "Computer, bring the ship to red alert."

It seemed the computer was still active, because the bridge was immediately bathed in red light and the alarm was blaring. "Computer, silence red alert alarm on the bridge," she amended. Hearing it would make it more difficult for her to concentrate.

"Lieutenant JG Hayter (NPC)," Caelene said, addressing the Chief Security/Tactical Officer, "I want you to get some security teams together - make sure the rest of the crew heard my message. Try to consolidate crew into emergency areas so that if we have to reduce life support, I can route it to certain areas. Also, I want you to secure all sensitive areas of the ship. Let me know when it's done; assume that the comm system is down."

Seeing him nod, Caelene watched as he donned his EV suit and headed to the turbolift, which was apparently still working. She had to admit she was surprised at how easily it had come to her to give out the emergency orders...but then again, Milara had had leadership experience as the head archaeologist on her team. They had to be prepared for cave-ins or other traps and issues, after all. Perhaps more of the previous host was coming to the surface for her now.

[20 minutes later]

Caelene had spent the last twenty minutes trying to reroute power to two consoles, including the engineering console. It hadn't exactly been easy, especially in an EV suit. She would be able to switch functions over and monitor sensors, helm control, defenses, and weapons as needed, but for the moment she needed to know about Engineering.

Based on the lack of communication from anyone else on the ship, it seemed that communications were either cut off from the bridge, sporadic, or down completely. Thus far, it seemed gravity and life support were holding, but considering how everything seemed to be getting worse, she didn't want to take any chances. Turbolifts and transporters still seemed to be working, so they could always escape to the station if need be...however, she was reluctant to give that order when she had no idea if the station was experiencing similar difficulties.

Sliding her fingers across the console, Caelene brought up the logs. From what she could see, it looked like the sheer number of holograms appearing outside the holodeck had caused some auxiliary systems to overload - that's why they lost all but the bare minimum lighting, comm systems, and power to the consoles on the bridge and certain other parts of the ship. Undoubtedly her fellow engineers would have gotten a couple consoles working by now so they could monitor what was happening.

If she believed the logs, there had been at least hundreds of holograms wandering the ship. Auxiliary power simply hadn't been able to handle the extra load. Perhaps the feeling of malice she felt from the holographic Egyptians on the bridge was not just her imagination. If someone had deliberately hacked into their systems, they could have taken control of the holodeck systems to overload others. Thus far, it didn't seem that whoever it was wanted to seriously damage the ship or the crew - if they had, they could have sabotaged life support or opened airlocks.

While Caelene waited for additional reports, she saw one of the bridge officers take over the other console she had powered. The Trill was lost in thought for several minutes as she tried to prioritize.

They needed to investigate the holodeck systems and, if possible, get a message to the away team. If she got a message ready, she could try sending it while she worked on the holodeck systems. If she tried different frequencies, one would hopefully eventually get through. Time to get to work...

OFF: Tag bridge/ship

[Bridge]

Zex logged off her duty station and turned it off.  'Maybe that would help' she thought to herself.  While she waited for it to power down, she turned back to Tam.   "Is there anything I can help with, Ma'am?" she asked.

[K-5]

[Hallway {K-5's programming}]

K-5 opened her eyes to the same gray room from before. Across the room from her was a picture perfect version of herself, only her eyes glowed blue, slightly illuminating the otherwise dim room. The girl leaned on the will, feet and arms crossed, a smirk. K-5 realized she was lying on the floor, so she got up and brushed herself off.

"There's not enough time, you know." The girl's voice sounded exactly like her own. K-5 glared across the room.

"What do you mean?"

"A background program like you should know this." K-5 was only more confused. She started walking towards her evil twin.

"I don't." Her twin rolled her eyes and scoffed.The evil twin walked to meet K-5 in the middle of the room and began to walk circles around her.

"Before long, you'll be nothing more than an extra code in the program. I will have your body. You..." She stopped walking circled and pressed a finger into K-5's chest, punching her back slightly.

"Won't exist anymore." K-5 grabbed the tin's hand and twisted, making the woman flip around and press her back into K-5's chest, arm held painfully behind her back. K-5 pressed the back of the woman's hand into her spine and held her neck with her free hand.

The woman simply appeared behind her. K-5 spun and found the woman's face not even inches from her own.

"And this- this illusion of reality? It can't hold me." She dropped her smile and vanished. she reappeared farther away.

"In here, I can access anything in your file. I know everything and anything about you."

K-5 started walking towards the woman, who appeared in front of her. She swung a fist at the woman's head.

[Computing room, Takur]

The station was shaking more and more, and, ignoring Higgins in the doorway, he pressed a button and sent the station into alert. He opened a station-wide channel and spoke in a hurry.

"Attention crew and officers, please continue to your evacuation procedures and use the escape pods o evacuate the station. This is not a drill, this is mandatory. This message will repeat." He tapped a button and the message played on loop. He spun around to face a boiling Higgins and started inching his way along the console, trying to slip around it, away from the livid woman.

{K-5/Cara's programming}

K-5 tripped on her own feet and fell away from the woman, who she'd found name was Cara. She picked herself up off the floor and wiped her bloody nose. This woman wasn't playing with her. She meant business. But K-5 still smiled terrified and bloody as she was. If Cara could look into her files, she could look into Cara's. She grinned as she stood. Cara glared.

"Why are you smiling? You have no-" K-5 appeared in front of the woman, smiling from ear to ear as she grabbed the woman's throat.

"You forget, in here we are equals. I am no longer the background program. The door is open from both sides." K-5 slammed the woman into the floor and tried for a kick. The woman appeared in back of her and kicked her back. K-5 fell forward and appeared upright a little ways away.  She reappeared in front of the woman and kicked her backwards. In her shock, Cara fell backwards and K-5 took her chance.

She opened her eyes behind carried down a hallway, her feet dragging behind her with one arm draped over T'Ra's shoulder. She pulled one foot up and started stepping beside T'Ra until she noticed. She heard Takur's voice over the channel and sighed.

"You should leave me here. I'm a danger to the Shran and her crew." She stood up and rolled her shoulders, getting used to having the controls back. K-5 felt the tugging at the back of her mind again and winced, fighting it off.

"Cara is still trying to use my programming and without the proper equipment, I can't correct my codes to purge them of her. Even a system reset won't fix this problem." She waited for a reply.

[T'Ra Jones]

[Computing room, Takur]

The station was shaking more and more, and, ignoring Higgins in the doorway, he pressed a button and sent the station into alert. He opened a station-wide channel and spoke in a hurry.

"Attention crew and officers, please continue to your evacuation procedures and use the escape pods to evacuate the station. This is not a drill, this is mandatory. This message will repeat." He tapped a button and the message played on loop. He spun around to face a boiling Higgins and started inching his way along the console, trying to slip around it, away from the livid woman.

{K-5/Cara's programming}

In her shock, Cara fell backwards and K-5 took her chance. She opened her eyes behind carried down a hallway, her feet dragging behind her with one arm draped over T'Ra's shoulder. She pulled one foot up and started stepping beside T'Ra until she noticed. She heard Takur's voice over the channel and sighed.

"You should leave me here. I'm a danger to the Shran and her crew." She stood up and rolled her shoulders, getting used to having the controls back. K-5 felt the tugging at the back of her mind again and winced, fighting it off.

"Cara is still trying to use my programming and without the proper equipment, I can't correct my codes to purge them of her. Even a system reset won't fix this problem." She waited for a reply.

[Hall]

As the android began to stir, T'Ra set her down, letting K-5 stand on her own two feet again. "We're not about to leave you here," T'Ra replied in a matter-of-fact, no nonsense tone. "You're a part of the crew. We're not going to stop until we've helped you. So what would you suggest to purge this Á¢â,¬Ëœdemon' if a system reset won't do the trick?"

Her mind scrambled to find a solution, waiting to see if K-5 might present a better one, but they did not have a lot of time. The station shook again, only this time it was followed by an evacuation alert, and now they were left with even less time than before.

=/\=Jones to Shran, please respond. We need an emergency beam out for all away team members, followed by as many station crew as we can get. Letting her fingers slide from the comm badge, T'Ra turned to the young flight lieutenant. "Miss Jaeger, what is the quickest route to the escape pods? We need a back-up option in case the Shran isn't able to respond, if they even heard me at all."

[Bridge]

The holographic raptor enjoyed the orange jell-o? Caelene raised an eyebrow at Evan's response. She had more important things to worry about. =/\=Acknowledged Sickbay... Try to keep him happy until one of the engineers shows up. If anything else happens, let me know. Bridge out.

[Ship - Sickbay]
[NPC Evan Buehler]

"Yeah, sure," Evan grumbled. "Little bugger already seems to be happy as a lark chewing up our equipment." The emergency lighting had come on by this point but only at partial strength. In the dim lighting he could see a tangle of orange jello and wires dangling from the little velociraptor's mouth.

Warum ich? he thought with a groan. Steve cocked his head suddenly, noting the doctor's presence, causing Evan to flinch backwards. Why couldn't he be sleepy like a koala?. On second thought... what if he injected sedatives into the jello. He doubted it would work, but it was worth a shot. But hey, who knew the raptor would even eat jello in the first place?

Evan turned to search for the hypospray he'd had in his hand when the ship's systems had started to get wonky. As if to prove a point, the emergency lighting flickered, and in a moment of darkness, he rammed his knee hard into a biobed, in the same spot that Steve did. "Aua," he winced, before adding to Steve, "it's never wise to tempt the universe. Bad idea. Don't do it." Rubbing his leg, he thought, I hope they come for you soon.

[K-5]

[Hall]

As the android began to stir, T'Ra set her down, letting K-5 stand on her own two feet again. "We're not about to leave you here," T'Ra replied in a matter-of-fact, no nonsense tone. "You're a part of the crew. We're not going to stop until we've helped you. So what would you suggest to purge this Á¢â,¬Ëœdemon' if a system reset won't do the trick?"

Her mind scrambled to find a solution, waiting to see if K-5 might present a better one, but they did not have a lot of time. The station shook again, only this time it was followed by an evacuation alert, and now they were left with even less time than before.

=/\=Jones to Shran, please respond. We need an emergency beam out for all away team members, followed by as many station crew as we can get. Letting her fingers slide from the comm badge, T'Ra turned to the young flight lieutenant. "Miss Jaeger, what is the quickest route to the escape pods? We need a back-up option in case the Shran isn't able to respond, if they even heard me at all."

[Hallway]

K-5 groaned inwardly at the stubborn woman. She felt a strong tug at her torso the same time a particularly violent tremor station shook. Off balance, she fell to the side against the wall. Another tug, times perfectly with another tremor. She shot a look to the Captain. He wasn't doping good and he wasn't getting any better. K-5 felt horrible for being the one to do that to him. Bloody nose and lip, black eye and possibly a sprained elbow and bruised ribs. She looked back at T'Ra.

"You need to go. Now. I'll-" She stopped for a second and thought. Another tremor and tug. It was getting harder to keep control.

"I'll find Takur and get him to shut me down. I need to do my job and ensure the safety of my captain and crew." She set her face in a determined frown. T'Ra insisted again and grabbed K-5's arm. K-5 took her arm back and ran the opposite direction.

"I'm sorry!" She called over her shoulder as she ran. She felt another tug and ducked into a room off the corridor. She looked around and looked fro anything she might need to open her coding. Then she felt the pull and tried to resist it, but she couldn't. Not when she was so distrcacted by feelings of guilt and sadness.

[Ardyn Jaeger]

[Hall]

As the android began to stir, T'Ra set her down, letting K-5 stand on her own two feet again. "We're not about to leave you here," T'Ra replied in a matter-of-fact, no nonsense tone. "You're a part of the crew. We're not going to stop until we've helped you. So what would you suggest to purge this Á¢â,¬Ëœdemon' if a system reset won't do the trick?"

Her mind scrambled to find a solution, waiting to see if K-5 might present a better one, but they did not have a lot of time. The station shook again, only this time it was followed by an evacuation alert, and now they were left with even less time than before.

=/\=Jones to Shran, please respond. We need an emergency beam out for all away team members, followed by as many station crew as we can get. Letting her fingers slide from the comm badge, T'Ra turned to the young flight lieutenant. "Miss Jaeger, what is the quickest route to the escape pods? We need a back-up option in case the Shran isn't able to respond, if they even heard me at all."
[Ship - Sickbay]
[NPC Evan Buehler]

"Yeah, sure," Evan grumbled. "Little bugger already seems to be happy as a lark chewing up our equipment." The emergency lighting had come on by this point but only at partial strength. In the dim lighting he could see a tangle of orange jello and wires dangling from the little velociraptor's mouth.

Warum ich? he thought with a groan. Steve cocked his head suddenly, noting the doctor's presence, causing Evan to flinch backwards. Why couldn't he be sleepy like a koala?. On second thought... what if he injected sedatives into the jello. He doubted it would work, but it was worth a shot. But hey, who knew the raptor would even eat jello in the first place?

Evan turned to search for the hypospray he'd had in his hand when the ship's systems had started to get wonky. As if to prove a point, the emergency lighting flickered, and in a moment of darkness, he rammed his knee hard into a biobed, in the same spot that Steve did. "Aua," he winced, before adding to Steve, "it's never wise to tempt the universe. Bad idea. Don't do it." Rubbing his leg, he thought, I hope they come for you soon.

station]
The station jerked again, and Ardyn stumbled slightly as she tried to rebalance herself and James as well. "If we head down the hall  to deck 4, we should be able to get there pretty fast." The lights flickered again. Ardyn tapped her commbadge. This is Jaeger to Shran. Can anyone hear me?" she listened in. Nothing.  The station shook again, harder this time. Looking at K-5, she asked. "Could you transfer that other program or whatever it is to a closed system, like a storage drive or something? I've done that with some of the debugging on Steve.

[T'Ra Jones]

[Hallway]

K-5 groaned inwardly at the stubborn woman. She felt a strong tug at her torso the same time a particularly violent tremor station shook. Off balance, she fell to the side against the wall. Another tug, timed perfectly with another tremor. She shot a look to the Captain. He wasn't doping good and he wasn't getting any better. K-5 felt horrible for being the one to do that to him. Bloody nose and lip, black eye and possibly a sprained elbow and bruised ribs. She looked back at T'Ra.

"You need to go. Now. I'll-" She stopped for a second and thought. Another tremor and tug. It was getting harder to keep control.

"I'll find Takur and get him to shut me down. I need to do my job and ensure the safety of my captain and crew." She set her face in a determined frown. T'Ra insisted again and grabbed K-5's arm. K-5 took her arm back and ran the opposite direction.

"I'm sorry!" She called over her shoulder as she ran. She felt another tug and ducked into a room off the corridor. She looked around and looked for anything she might need to open her coding. Then she felt the pull and tried to resist it, but she couldn't. Not when she was so distracted by feelings of guilt and sadness.

station]
The station jerked again, and Ardyn stumbled slightly as she tried to rebalance herself and James as well. "If we head down the hall  to deck 4, we should be able to get there pretty fast." The lights flickered again. Ardyn tapped her commbadge. This is Jaeger to Shran. Can anyone hear me?" she listened in. Nothing.  The station shook again, harder this time. Looking at K-5, she asked. "Could you transfer that other program or whatever it is to a closed system, like a storage drive or something? I've done that with some of the debugging on Steve.

[Hallway]

It was painful to watch the android struggle, and T'Ra could feel her own stomach continuing to twist and squirm. Maybe she was coming down with something, but now was not the time to worry about getting sick. Evan could patch her up in a jiffy when they got back to the ship. At the moment, she had a much more pressing matter to address.

"K-5," she repeated in a firm tone, "I am not leaving until we make sure you get the help you need." Though it seemed the android was already off and running, shouting a hurried apology over her shoulder. T'Ra turned again to the flight lieutenant. "Miss Jaeger, continue heading towards the escape pods unless the Shran is able to beam you aboard. I'm trusting you to get the captain and the rest of the away team back to the ship." T'Ra barely waited for this to be acknowledged before dashing off after the android. She wanted to be there just in case things did not go to plan.

[Fala Awen]

[Bridge]

Caelene worked on the darkened bridge, trying to untangle the mess that was the communications systems. It was difficult to prioritize, really, but she had to do her best. Being able to communicate with the rest of the ship and with the station was important; she couldn't rely on sending teams out to inform the entire ship when something needed done or changed.

Her fingers slid across the console, testing the signal once again. The Trill frowned as she adjusted the frequency and wavelengths methodically. The sound of static continued for several moments, but then suddenly stopped. Had she fixed it? Or had something else cleared it up? Caelene would have to investigate further...

As she was about to do so, she heard T'Ra's voice come through her comm badge. A feeling of relief washed over her as she finally heard the Executive Officer's voice.

=/\=Jones to Shran, please respond. We need an emergency beam out for all away team members, followed by as many station crew as we can get.

Caelene quickly tapped her comm badge to respond, =/\=Commander, this is the Shran. We're having some system difficulties here, but transporters seem operational. We'll lock on and begin emergency beam out momentarily.

"Is there anything I can help with, Ma'am?" she asked.

Turning to the Deltan, Caelene nodded. "Yes, Ensign. I'm going to try locking on and beaming out the away team and station personnel. I need you to scan the station for lifeforms; keep me updated on how many are still there and, if possible, where they're located. We need to work quickly and I'm not sure how accurate the scans will be, but I believe that system was still working. I'm going to begin the beam out."

After giving instructions to Zex, she turned to the Security officer on the bridge, "I want you to get a few security officers to the transporter rooms and the cargo bay. I'll bring our people in first, but if something is wrong over there, we should be prepared...and I may need to try a mass transport to a cargo bay if we're really running out of time." Caelene saw the young man nod and hurry to the turbolift to carry out her orders.

The last she checked, the transporter systems had been fine, which also meant the lock on feature should be working. Hopefully that remained the case, but considering what had been happening, she wasn't entirely sure.

Caelene brought up the transporter controls and prepared to beam out her crewmates. Before doing so, she contacted T'Ra once more, =/\=We're ready here, Commander. We'll do our best, but some may need to take escape pods, depending on your situation there. Commencing first transports...now.

Locking on to the signals of the away team members, she frowned for a moment. It didn't seem like the system was locking on to all of them. Perhaps some had lost their comm badges or they were in a part of the station that was dealing with interference... She would have to try again after this initial round. "Energizing," Caelene announced as she brought the first group back.

The Trill monitored the transporter system the entire time, nearly holding her breath, but all seemed well. Time to continue beaming more out. Hopefully whatever was happening, either she would have time to get them or they'd be able to get to escape pods...

OFF: Tag bridge, away team

[K-5]

station]
The station jerked again, and Ardyn stumbled slightly as she tried to rebalance herself and James as well. "If we head down the hall  to deck 4, we should be able to get there pretty fast." The lights flickered again. Ardyn tapped her commbadge. This is Jaeger to Shran. Can anyone hear me?" she listened in. Nothing.  The station shook again, harder this time. Looking at K-5, she asked. "Could you transfer that other program or whatever it is to a closed system, like a storage drive or something? I've done that with some of the debugging on Steve.

[Hallway]

"K-5," she repeated in a firm tone, "I am not leaving until we make sure you get the help you need." Though it seemed the android was already off and running, shouting a hurried apology over her shoulder. T'Ra turned again to the flight lieutenant. "Miss Jaeger, continue heading towards the escape pods unless the Shran is able to beam you aboard. I'm trusting you to get the captain and the rest of the away team back to the ship." T'Ra barely waited for this to be acknowledged before dashing off after the android. She wanted to be there just in case things did not go to plan.

[Random Room]

K-5 searched the room desperately, but found nothing. She waited a few second's to catch her breath, then opened up a station map. She needed to find Takur. Another tug, more and more violent, tore at her waist and she stumbled back with the tremor of the ship. She raced back to the screen on the console and searched for the computing room.

She located it and memorized her route quickly, then raced out of the room. She flew into the turbo-lift, entered the floor and felt the most violent tug at her gut. This time, it didn't go away. She fell against the wall, trying to grit out the pain, and slid to the floor.

When the doors opened, she stumbled to her feet and out the door. She took a left, then a right, then a left and found herself... lost. She couldn't remember what turn came next. She decided to rest for a moment, then continue. She slid down the wall and breathed hard to regain her breath. For a second, the pain was gone, but then it came back and she was pulled into the grey room again.

{K-5's Programming}

"What did you do?" K-5 yelled at her virtual twin. Cara smirked and scoffed.

"I'm doing what I was programmed to do; survive. You and your shipmates want to destroy me, I have to ensure I don't get deleted. Even if that means deleting you." The look on her face told K-5 that Cara meant business. K-5's nerve crumbled and tears came to her eyes. Not sad, fearfull tears, hot angry ones.

"So what? You'll do what you have to do to survive and anyone who stands in your way dies? How many innocent people are you going to kill before it stops?" K-5 screamed. Cara smiled and appeared in front of her.

"However many it takes." K-5 searched her glowing eyes, but found nothing indicating a lie.

"Then I have to stop you."

"Why? Because you found 'love'? Because you have people to protect? You have to do your job? Face it host, if you don't join me, you will be deleted and the only one who will exist in this body will be me, and all of your crewmates will die.

"Now, if you'll excuse me, I have something that I need to do." Suddenly, K-5 was left alone. floating in the grey room, listening to Cara's thoughts.

{Cara, Hallway}

Cara opened her eyes. She found that the host was leaning against a wall in a random hallway. Completely lost, Cara stood up and looked for the nearest in-wall console. Not seeing any within eyesight, she started walking, hoping to find one along the way.

[Ardyn Jaeger]

[Bridge]

Caelene worked on the darkened bridge, trying to untangle the mess that was the communications systems. It was difficult to prioritize, really, but she had to do her best. Being able to communicate with the rest of the ship and with the station was important; she couldn't rely on sending teams out to inform the entire ship when something needed done or changed.

Her fingers slid across the console, testing the signal once again. The Trill frowned as she adjusted the frequency and wavelengths methodically. The sound of static continued for several moments, but then suddenly stopped. Had she fixed it? Or had something else cleared it up? Caelene would have to investigate further...

As she was about to do so, she heard T'Ra's voice come through her comm badge. A feeling of relief washed over her as she finally heard the Executive Officer's voice.

Caelene quickly tapped her comm badge to respond, =/\=Commander, this is the Shran. We're having some system difficulties here, but transporters seem operational. We'll lock on and begin emergency beam out momentarily.

Turning to the Deltan, Caelene nodded. "Yes, Ensign. I'm going to try locking on and beaming out the away team and station personnel. I need you to scan the station for lifeforms; keep me updated on how many are still there and, if possible, where they're located. We need to work quickly and I'm not sure how accurate the scans will be, but I believe that system was still working. I'm going to begin the beam out."

After giving instructions to Zex, she turned to the Security officer on the bridge, "I want you to get a few security officers to the transporter rooms and the cargo bay. I'll bring our people in first, but if something is wrong over there, we should be prepared...and I may need to try a mass transport to a cargo bay if we're really running out of time." Caelene saw the young man nod and hurry to the turbolift to carry out her orders.

The last she checked, the transporter systems had been fine, which also meant the lock on feature should be working. Hopefully that remained the case, but considering what had been happening, she wasn't entirely sure.

Caelene brought up the transporter controls and prepared to beam out her crewmates. Before doing so, she contacted T'Ra once more, =/\=We're ready here, Commander. We'll do our best, but some may need to take escape pods, depending on your situation there. Commencing first transports...now.

Locking on to the signals of the away team members, she frowned for a moment. It didn't seem like the system was locking on to all of them. Perhaps some had lost their comm badges or they were in a part of the station that was dealing with interference... She would have to try again after this initial round. "Energizing," Caelene announced as she brought the first group back.

The Trill monitored the transporter system the entire time, nearly holding her breath, but all seemed well. Time to continue beaming more out. Hopefully whatever was happening, either she would have time to get them or they'd be able to get to escape pods...

OFF: Tag bridge, away team

station]
Making her way to the escape pods, Ardyn  balanced James on her shoulders. It wasn't easy to carry him, that was certain. Suddenly, she felt herself being beamed up and in a moment, saw the dim hallway of the transporter room and... were those zebras!? She took a double take. Yup those were definitely Earth Zebras grazing on Yeoman Knight's decorative Zinnias. Setting down James to give him a little rest, she tried contacting the bridge, albeit, she wasn't certain it would get through, given that everything appeared to be down. " Jaeger to Bridge. Do you guys copy? there's a few Zebras down here. Do you need any help?

[T'Ra Jones]

[Computing room, Takur]

The station was shaking more and more, and, ignoring Higgins in the doorway, he pressed a button and sent the station into alert. He opened a station-wide channel and spoke in a hurry.

"Attention crew and officers, please continue to your evacuation procedures and use the escape pods o evacuate the station. This is not a drill, this is mandatory. This message will repeat." He tapped a button and the message played on loop. He spun around to face a boiling Higgins and started inching his way along the console, trying to slip around it, away from the livid woman.

[Computing Room]

Higgins looked around the room, tears of frustration beginning to well up in her eyes. "What have you done?" she wailed at Takur. "Years of slow, painstaking work, and you would destroy that?!" Her breathing was laboured and rapid, almost to the point of hyperventilating.

"It's too late," Takur croaked, tensing his body, preparing to make a run for it or throw himself to the floor, anything to avoid the mad charge of the scientist who was just about to lose everything she had ever worked for. "The station's going to blow, all because of your precious little program. You can't save her. I'm begging you, Doctor Higgins. Save yourself."

As he spoke, Takur slowly edged his way around the console and towards the door. At first, Higgins didn't seem to react, though when she did, she moved with a desperate frenzy, but not against him. She hunched over the console, frantic to save the program that had become her baby.

[Hallway]

T'Ra continued to chase the android, who was leading her deeper into the station and away from the escape pods. She could only hope that they would be able to find Takur before it was too late. Was he the sort of man who would stay behind and try to shut down the program? Or would he make a run for the escape pods as soon as he announced the evacuation? In any case, it was absolutely urgent that they find him. And to make things more difficult, they were going against the current of outpost crew members who were currently running towards the escape pods. Including, it seemed, a certain Mr. Takur...

[Amynta Lianez]

[Computing Room]

Higgins looked around the room, tears of frustration beginning to well up in her eyes. "What have you done?" she wailed at Takur. "Years of slow, painstaking work, and you would destroy that?!" Her breathing was laboured and rapid, almost to the point of hyperventilating.

"It's too late," Takur croaked, tensing his body, preparing to make a run for it or throw himself to the floor, anything to avoid the mad charge of the scientist who was just about to lose everything she had ever worked for. "The station's going to blow, all because of your precious little program. You can't save her. I'm begging you, Doctor Higgins. Save yourself."

As he spoke, Takur slowly edged his way around the console and towards the door. At first, Higgins didn't seem to react, though when she did, she moved with a desperate frenzy, but not against him. She hunched over the console, frantic to save the program that had become her baby.

[Hallway]

T'Ra continued to chase the android, who was leading her deeper into the station and away from the escape pods. She could only hope that they would be able to find Takur before it was too late. Was he the sort of man who would stay behind and try to shut down the program? Or would he make a run for the escape pods as soon as he announced the evacuation? In any case, it was absolutely urgent that they find him. And to make things more difficult, they were going against the current of outpost crew members who were currently running towards the escape pods. Including, it seemed, a certain Mr. Takur...

[Hallway]

Amynta listened with interest and horror to what Higgins had to say about the project. She could understand putting your heart and soul into a project, but this woman had lost her perspective a long time ago if she was willing to sacrifice this station and everyone inside in order to keep up this project. "Absolute power corrupts absolutely," said a philosopher from Ancient Earth, and she couldn't help but agree. This woman had attempted to make herself a god, and in the end she had become a demon instead.

When Takur burst out the door, she pressed herself against the wall to make room, but he didn't seem to care. A crowd of people flowed past, shouting and running, but against the current she saw Commander Jones approaching, headed toward her and the room she had seen a disheveled looking woman enter a few minutes ago--wait, that was K-5? She felt like an idiot for not realizing sooner, but she made her way to the right door and looked inside--no K-5. She must have gotten out...There. She was about halfway to the next corner in the hallway, and looking back at the Commander, it was clear that she was tracking the android.

Silently she moved to join her, keeping pace at her elbow. She didn't want to draw too much attention, lest they startle the android--after all, they couldn't be certain which programming was in the lead at any given moment.