Season 2, Mission 4: Switch

[Felicity Ellis]

[Puzzles]

Leanna smiled at Flick's comment before she picked up on her friend looking at at her and no doubt she had noticed the stiffness and perhaps the trace of a bitemark on her neck which she knew she would and well there wasn't much she couldn't deny or pretend not to admit if asked. Although that was soon followed when it clicked into place and her smile became a grin.

Deg'arf had been more than just a lover during their brief fling, he had ignited her old self the one who refused to give up anymore and let the negative thoughts win. He had also taken care of her as she recovered from her injuries and knew she wouldn't meet anyone like him ever again.

Then when Flick agreed to her offer before mentioning that she couldn't believe how much had been done in such a short time,again she smiled before replying. " Great and I do as we're not that far away from finishing and Seamus can handle things here " she replied " Thank you, I can't believe it either but we were determined not to have it closed for too long and we have good contractors also yes you were right, Deg'arf helped a lot and yes that's his bitemark" she said grinning sheepishly before asking. " How about the tour first then we can have that drink in my office?".

[Puzzles]

Her laugh at Leanna's admission was a cheery sound that came quickly; the action borne of delighted surprise. Her face was split into a broad grin and her eyes crinkled as she regarded her new Betazoid friend. "Have you ever played poker, Leanna? You'd clean up." The idea tickled her to no end, and the seed of an idea implanted itself firmly in her mind. They'd had regular poker games when she'd been on the Kildara. Not only had it been an entertaining distraction for some of the crew, but it had also given her the opportunity to socialise with them outside of office hours. She'd learned a lot during those games, though she'd lost her shirt on more than one occasion. Figuratively speaking, of course.

"That sounds great," she continued as she shifted her weight, ready to follow Leanna on her tour of the new and improved Puzzles. Which, she mused, would incidentally be the perfect location for the inaugural Columbus poker tournament.

"And I'm very glad that Deg'arf was there for you, to lend a hand... amongst other things." If she were less civilised, Felicity might have even wriggled her eyebrows suggestively. "You two seemed like a lovely pair, and he was obviously very taken with you. He was even... "

She stopped speaking. The brightness of her smile slowly faded and her brow furrowed.

Her babbling had trailed off as though she'd lost her train of thought. With a sharp intake of breath her gaze shifted from left to right and back again, before sliding back slowly to meet Leanna's. "My apologies," she told the other woman when she realised the seconds were painfully ticking by with nothing but silence, "I was somewhere else there for a moment." With hands now clasped behind her back she waited for a response, a benign smile curling her lips.

[Leanna Mazal]

[Puzzles]

Her laugh at Leanna's admission was a cheery sound that came quickly; the action borne of delighted surprise. Her face was split into a broad grin and her eyes crinkled as she regarded her new Betazoid friend. "Have you ever played poker, Leanna? You'd clean up." The idea tickled her to no end, and the seed of an idea implanted itself firmly in her mind. They'd had regular poker games when she'd been on the Kildara. Not only had it been an entertaining distraction for some of the crew, but it had also given her the opportunity to socialise with them outside of office hours. She'd learned a lot during those games, though she'd lost her shirt on more than one occasion. Figuratively speaking, of course.

"That sounds great," she continued as she shifted her weight, ready to follow Leanna on her tour of the new and improved Puzzles. Which, she mused, would incidentally be the perfect location for the inaugural Columbus poker tournament.

"And I'm very glad that Deg'arf was there for you, to lend a hand... amongst other things." If she were less civilised, Felicity might have even wriggled her eyebrows suggestively. "You two seemed like a lovely pair, and he was obviously very taken with you. He was even... "

She stopped speaking. The brightness of her smile slowly faded and her brow furrowed.

Her babbling had trailed off as though she'd lost her train of thought. With a sharp intake of breath her gaze shifted from left to right and back again, before sliding back slowly to meet Leanna's. "My apologies," she told the other woman when she realised the seconds were painfully ticking by with nothing but silence, "I was somewhere else there for a moment." With hands now clasped behind her back she waited for a response, a benign smile curling her lips.

[Puzzles]

Her friends laugh at her admission of what Deg'arf had done again made Leanna grin sheepishly before she looked at her and asked if she had every played poker as she would clean up. The Betazoid had heard about the human card game but had never played it before although Matthias was a fan of it especially when he would host game nights in the back of their bar for select people which she now realised were the gangs he associated himself with and what led to his inevitable downfall after leaving her for dead.

Pushing that memory firmly to the back of her mind when Flick agreed to her suggestion and Leanna moved out further from the bar so she could lead the way to begin the tour. Smiling as she then spoke about Deg'arf and her thoughts reverted to how she had felt when he was around and her friend was quite correct in what she was saying.

But then before Flick finished and she answered, Leanna became concerned when she seemed to lose her focus for a moment almost if something had interrupted her and as the silence continued for a few more seconds the concern increased until finally she apologised and returned to normal.

" It's okay I can understand with that and as for Deg'arf, your right he helped a lot ... she paused for a moment knowing she didn't have to say anything else about that before continuing. " He arrived at the right time for me and I'll never forget him or our time together, in fact I'm sure we can resume that if he ever returns to the station and we did agree to stay in touch" she said before taking a moment to look around.

" How about we start with our new addition then go from there?" she suggested looking towards the new staircase that led up to the mezzanine floor.

[Daniel Howell]

"Hey chief. I am alright I guess. Look Molly grabbed my hand," Jenna said pointing to Molly's hand that gripped Jenna's lightly. There was no indication that Jenna forced Molly's hand to make it look like Molly grabbed it. Jenna would be damned if she was called crazy because she knew what she heard and felt. It was just before Black stepped into the room and just after she ended the prayer. It was a faint whisper and it was just enough to keep her going. Whatever happened the rest of the day was nothing because she just got the small sign of what she needed.

Medical Bay
"Good." Replied Dan. He looked down at Molly's hand gripping Jenna's. No words were spoken in direct response, just an expression of hope on his face. "Molly's a tough cookie, she'll pull through."

"Commander." Derek greeted Howell, nodding nearly imperceptibly in return. He was gladdened that the Chief Engineer would take time out to check on one of his staff, even with busy round-the-clock renovations needing his attention throughout the station. Derek had intended to speak with Jenna about her personal situation, though now that her boss was in the room, it was only proper to hold off. Placing the PADD back in it's receptacle, he placed a light hand on Jenna's shoulder. "I'll leave you some privacy. Stop by my office before you leave please." Derek stepped off, patting Howell on the back as he passed. "Have a nice day, Commander."

"you to Chief." Dan replied to Black before turning his attention back to Jenna. "So, engineering is missing a certain ring without you and Molly."

[Auzual Knox]

[On route to Transporter Room 2]

"It's surprising to me that a station like this would not have utilized multiphasic shields even prior to the Ops Tragedy. Wouldn't the nature of the station's role in the fleet warrant such protection?"

"Perhaps you are referring to the transporters. While my arrival would be considered more of a subspace transmission than anything else, my body was transported aboard just like yours. My logs contain some anomalies which could be handled with some simple...adjustments."

After pausing for a moment, ISAAC continued.

"Or did you have something a little less rudimentary in mind?"

Knox nodded in response to him mentioning the transporter issue and re-instructed the jefferies tube.

"Halt. Transporter Room 2."

"We have yet to encounter rogue Borg this far from the remnants of the Collective. Thus, the multiphasic shielding was somewhat unnecessary until the organic components were added. The biological system can react and adapt by itself with little to no computational input. Structural damage of any kind promotes spontaneous cellular evolution, as the components can divide and replicate .3 of a nanosecond. Although, to you that is perhaps an eternity."

Knox smiled.

"So, we are not keeping you busy enough."

[Transporter Room 2]

Knox gestured ISAAC to walk into the bright transporter room and then nodded to the Ensign on duty.

"Hello Ensign Barkley. We can take it from here."

Knox waited for him to leave the room. There was an issue with the transport system and it was highly classified.

"Right, so you noticed that. Ok, what I am about to share with you has Level 3 Security clearance."

Knox stood with her hands clasped behind her back, with little to go on but speculation, she simply reported the facts. She began tapping away at the console to show the data of the past 100 transport readings and many graphs that increased exponentially.

"We are not having problems with the transporters, more so a potential security breach. Somehow trace amounts of energy is being redirected following each transport. Just under the threshold that would prevent stable rematerialization of course, but it does require us to adjust our standard transport protocol."

She wondered how long it would take ISAAC to realize the seriousness of the situation he had simply stumbled into.

[Jenna McKinson]

Medical Bay
"Good." Replied Dan. He looked down at Molly's hand gripping Jenna's. No words were spoken in direct response, just an expression of hope on his face. "Molly's a tough cookie, she'll pull through."
"you to Chief." Dan replied to Black before turning his attention back to Jenna. "So, engineering is missing a certain ring without you and Molly."

[ Medical Bay ]

"Molly is tough. She always has the upper hand when we are paring for workouts. She has me beat five to one. I think once Molly get's better I think things will be back to normal,"Jenna said with a smile. "I will be out to help as best I can today. I just need to stop at the doctor's office first." This was a conversation she was not looking forward to, but she knew she needed it. She had a bad feeling though that things were going to get worse before they got better. She just needed to hold on until Molly woke up and then she could rest.

[ The Landing Strip - Basement ]

Lissy walked in nervously toward Mr. Mr's desk. Though she had great favor with the man, she knew his temper was something that was to be taken seriously. She took a deep breath before she got his attention. She needed to get this out quick. Thought Molly was in the hospital, this news may make  his plans a bit harder. She gulped and hoped he would find favor with her seeing that she was just the messenger.

"M. I have some news that I think you'd like to hear. Our new intel source has brought me a new photograph. Please remember I am only the messenger and had no dealings with this," Lissy said as she handed a PADD over to Mr. M. He glanced over at her before he took a look at the PADD. His hands shook as he removed his glasses. There on the PADD was Leanna with a rather dashing Klingon male. She was happy and without him? This had to change.

Mr. M just looked at Lissy. He knew she was just bringing him the message. She was one of the better one of his followers. She wouldn't die, but someone needed to pay. It was then one of his followers named Johnson walked in. He was carrying some drinks that Mr. M ordered. Once Johnson had put down the drinks, he noticed there was something missing. Rather than point out the issue, he just looked at Johnson. Johnson's eyes went wide as he backed away from Mr. M. As he was about to run away, Mr. M shot him with his phaser killing Johnson immediately. "Lissy I need you and Eliana on your game. If we are to play our hand, it will be when Leanna is the happiest. Do not loose focus,"Mr. M said.

[Xander Dorset]

[Main Science Lab]

Xander crossed his arms as he tried not to scowl down at the engineering tech who didn't seem to know what she was doing. She had already recalibrated the centrifuge back to Starfleet standards before he could stop her - which was completely useless from a scientific perspective - but he had at least prevented her from removing the unorthodox upgrades he and T'Prina had added to the machine. He opened his mouth to critique the young engineer's sloppy use of a hand welder when his favorite science Vulcan cut him off.

[Main Science Lab]

The Vulcan turned around and got the attention of Ensign Dorset who was currently inflicting an engineering tech with his dubious attitude. "Dorset, you are in charge until I return. Make sure nothing explodes please." With that said she turned sharply on her heel and exited the lab.

A self-satisfied smirk teased one corner of his mouth upwards, and he leaned back against the wall, replying, "Aye, I can do that - but no promises, Á¢â,¬ËœPrina." As she left the lab (ignoring him, as per usual), Xander left the engineering tech to finish reassembling the centrifuge and moved over to another who seemed to be inspecting their cold room. "Please don't touch anything in here that you don't have to. A lot of these samples would be impossible to replace - and I imagine the medical team would be rather inconvenienced if there was an outbreak of flesh-eating bacteria in the engineering department."

Xander grabbed the officer by the arm and steered him out of the sample-packed room. The officer, for his part, didn't resist, and seemed somewhat relieved to leave the surprisingly dangerous room. "Now, if you want to see something that needs improving, you can start with this museum-quality excuse of an anaerobic chamber. There are so many leaks in the seals that it doesn't even count as Á¢â,¬ËœanaerobicÁ¢â,¬Ëœ at this point."

Xander was far from finished, however. There were three other pieces of equipment that could use upgrades, and the incubator door was losing heat at an inefficient rate. Unluckily for the engineers, Xander didn't mind spending all day in the laboratory, supervising until the changes were made to his high standards.

[Felicity Ellis]

[Puzzles]

Her friends laugh at her admission of what Deg'arf had done again made Leanna grin sheepishly before she looked at her and asked if she had every played poker as she would clean up. The Betazoid had heard about the human card game but had never played it before although Matthias was a fan of it especially when he would host game nights in the back of their bar for select people which she now realised were the gangs he associated himself with and what led to his inevitable downfall after leaving her for dead.

Pushing that memory firmly to the back of her mind when Flick agreed to her suggestion and Leanna moved out further from the bar so she could lead the way to begin the tour. Smiling as she then spoke about Deg'arf and her thoughts reverted to how she had felt when he was around and her friend was quite correct in what she was saying.

But then before Flick finished and she answered, Leanna became concerned when she seemed to lose her focus for a moment almost if something had interrupted her and as the silence continued for a few more seconds the concern increased until finally she apologised and returned to normal.

" It's okay I can understand with that and as for Deg'arf, your right he helped a lot ... she paused for a moment knowing she didn't have to say anything else about that before continuing. " He arrived at the right time for me and I'll never forget him or our time together, in fact I'm sure we can resume that if he ever returns to the station and we did agree to stay in touch" she said before taking a moment to look around.

Puzzles

A lock of hair had come loose from her high ponytail. She unclasped her hands from behind her back and tugged on the offending strands with a finger and thumb, pulling it straight in front of her eyes in order to get a better look at it. She stared at it for a brief moment before pushing the stray lock up and over her parting.  "Hmm? Oh yes, it is good to talk." She nodded absently, muttering the old cliché, trying to give the impression that she had been listening the entire time. The nodding motion caused her hair to fall back down over her eyes. She blew at it and shook her head, trying to rid herself of the annoyance. Her eyes darted back to Leanna quickly, measuring her reaction. She clasped the drifting lock of dark hair again, and in an inexpert movement that seemed unpracticed and unnatural, and with a jerk of her elbow, she pushed it behind her ear.

" How about we start with our new addition then go from there?" she suggested looking towards the new staircase that led up to the mezzanine floor.

She followed Leanna's glance toward the staircase. "Yes, the new addition," she repeated rather pointlessly. She stepped toward the staircase and leaned forward to examine it closely. She lifted a foot and placed it heavily down on the first step. She stomped a couple of times and nodded with apparent satisfaction. "It is a fine staircase." She patted the handrail. "It seems very safe."

[ISAAC]

[En Route to Ops]

[On route to Transporter Room 2]
Knox nodded in response to him mentioning the transporter issue and re-instructed the jefferies tube.

"Halt. Transporter Room 2."

"We have yet to encounter rogue Borg this far from the remnants of the Collective. Thus, the multiphasic shielding was somewhat unnecessary until the organic components were added. The biological system can react and adapt by itself with little to no computational input. Structural damage of any kind promotes spontaneous cellular evolution, as the components can divide and replicate .3 of a nanosecond. Although, to you that is perhaps an eternity."

Knox smiled.

"So, we are not keeping you busy enough."

"I wouldn't necessarily call it an eternity; however, my processors do typically operate at speeds that are measured in picoseconds." ISAAC curled the corners of his mouth up slightly as he attempted to offer a sincere smile in exchange for Knox's. "Even though the station's multiphasic shielding is a recent development, I'm still pleased to find it up and working. It may be a sign of my age, but I am eager to see it in operation."

[Transporter Room 2]

[Transporter Room 2]

Knox gestured ISAAC to walk into the bright transporter room and then nodded to the Ensign on duty.

ISAAC followed closely behind Knox as they entered the transporter room. An ensign, who looked up at the pair as they entered, stood adjacent to the U-shaped console.

"Hello Ensign Barkley. We can take it from here."

Knox waited for him to leave the room. There was an issue with the transport system and it was highly classified.

"Right, so you noticed that. Ok, what I am about to share with you has Level 3 Security clearance."

Knox stood with her hands clasped behind her back, with little to go on but speculation, she simply reported the facts. She began tapping away at the console to show the data of the past 100 transport readings and many graphs that increased exponentially.

ISAAC watched as the ensign, whose face was part curious and part indifferent, left the room. Any time a conversation began with a disclosure involving some level of security clearance, ISAAC's curiosity was piqued more than might otherwise be the case.

He watched Knox tap on the screen and scanned the subsequent graphs that showed the exponential trend.

"We are not having problems with the transporters, more so a potential security breach. Somehow trace amounts of energy is being redirected following each transport. Just under the threshold that would prevent stable rematerialization of course, but it does require us to adjust our standard transport protocol."

She wondered how long it would take ISAAC to realize the seriousness of the situation he had simply stumbled into.

"So this issue is known and kept classified, but the transporters are used as if nothing is wrong? I would stress the need to find what or whom is diverting energy." ISAAC walked around the corner of the console and gazed at the transporters as he approached, as if he expected a solution to be found on the transporters themselves. He turned back toward Knox. "Are the anomalies station-wide, or are they local to this room?"

[Leanna Mazal]

Puzzles

A lock of hair had come loose from her high ponytail. She unclasped her hands from behind her back and tugged on the offending strands with a finger and thumb, pulling it straight in front of her eyes in order to get a better look at it. She stared at it for a brief moment before pushing the stray lock up and over her parting.  "Hmm? Oh yes, it is good to talk." She nodded absently, muttering the old cliché, trying to give the impression that she had been listening the entire time. The nodding motion caused her hair to fall back down over her eyes. She blew at it and shook her head, trying to rid herself of the annoyance. Her eyes darted back to Leanna quickly, measuring her reaction. She clasped the drifting lock of dark hair again, and in an inexpert movement that seemed unpracticed and unnatural, and with a jerk of her elbow, she pushed it behind her ear.

She followed Leanna's glance toward the staircase. "Yes, the new addition," she repeated rather pointlessly. She stepped toward the staircase and leaned forward to examine it closely. She lifted a foot and placed it heavily down on the first step. She stomped a couple of times and nodded with apparent satisfaction. "It is a fine staircase." She patted the handrail. "It seems very safe."

[Puzzles]

When Flick suddenly became interested in the lock of hair that had come loose from her ponytail, Leanna wondered if she had been listening to what she had said. Watching her friend closely for a moment until she finally spoke and it confirmed that she hadn't which was strange in itself given how keen Flick had been to gossip about her escapades with Deg'arf.

"Definitely I agree it is good to talk" she replied not wanting to sound rude if she didn't answer her, slightly concerned with how Flick was acting especially when she then looked at her after becoming annoyed with the loose hair before putting it back behind her ear as if she didn't know what she was doing.

She hadn't know her friend long but still this behaviour didn't seem normal and as if something was different then again maybe her abilities were out of whack slightly after everything that had happened lately. But no they couldn't be could they? she pondered as Flick then mentioned the new addition to Puzzles and watched as she examined and tested the staircase before declaring that it was a fine staircase and that it seemed safe.

Whatever was going on was indeed very bizarre but should she anything as the last thing she wanted was to cause any embarrassment so decided to keep quiet for now but if it continued then she would have no choice to speak up out of concern for Flick.

" Thank you and yes it's very safe as I've been up here a few times" she said  before she began walking up the stairs in order to continue with the tour.

[Auzual Knox]

[Transporter Room 2]

"So this issue is known and kept classified, but the transporters are used as if nothing is wrong? I would stress the need to find what or whom is diverting energy." ISAAC walked around the corner of the console and gazed at the transporters as he approached, as if he expected a solution to be found on the transporters themselves. He turned back toward Knox. "Are the anomalies station-wide, or are they local to this room?"

Knox found ISAAC fascinating to observe. It was clear that his mind did work differently. Her past hosts had had very few experiences with androids and Knox wanted to rectify this. For some reason she knew that his senses would see something that they had missed.

"A very good question. We only noticed when Transporter Room 1 had undergone general maintenance a couple of days ago, we simply shut down and rerouted, and observed the anomaly during a routine transport of self-sealing stem bolts. Transporter Room 3 is unaffected. So, you could say a bit of both. Localized until we prompted it to become systemic. We have actually reduced transporter usage by 65 % however this prompted higher readings."

Knox began an active transport sequence of several containers from cargo bay 4.

"Watch."

To Knox the procedure of rematerialization appeared conventional. Hopefully and somewhat intrigued, she looked to ISAAC.

[ISAAC]

[Transporter Room 2]

[Transporter Room 2]

Knox found ISAAC fascinating to observe. It was clear that his mind did work differently. Her past hosts had had very few experiences with androids and Knox wanted to rectify this. For some reason she knew that his senses would see something that they had missed.

"A very good question. We only noticed when Transporter Room 1 had undergone general maintenance a couple of days ago, we simply shut down and rerouted, and observed the anomaly during a routine transport of self-sealing stem bolts. Transporter Room 3 is unaffected. So, you could say a bit of both. Localized until we prompted it to become systemic. We have actually reduced transporter usage by 65 % however this prompted higher readings."

"I must admit," ISAAC began as he held out his hand and glanced toward the transporters, "I'm curious to learn what occurred during the routine maintenance. That seems to be the catalyst that prompted the initial change to the transporters."

ISAAC studied the transporters briefly and then walked slowly to the front of the console where Knox still stood. He grasped his right wrist with his left hand and continued. "Technically speaking, Lieutenant Commander, the anomaly isn't systemic. If I understand correctly, it was localized to Transporter Room 1 until that room was shut down, at which time the anomaly was first observed in Transporter Room 2. This suggests intelligence, whether actively injected or written ahead of time into a programming procedure. The same could be said about the rise in readings following the reduction in usage."

Knox began an active transport sequence of several containers from cargo bay 4.

"Watch."

ISAAC crossed his arms and looked toward the transporters as Knox initiated the transportation sequence. As bright swirls of light became visible, he walked around the console and approached the transporters.

To Knox the procedure of rematerialization appeared conventional. Hopefully and somewhat intrigued, she looked to ISAAC.

Within a moment, a number of containers materialized in front of ISAAC. He quickly held out a hand and placed it on the cold, metallic container nearest him. ISAAC was intrigued. The resonance of the container was so strong that he could register a slight oscillation on a molecular level. Leaving his hand on the container, he turned his head in Knox's direction.

"It's no wonder that my logs contain the record of an anomaly."

[Michael J. Tritter]

[Location: Main Promenade, Science Lab]

Tritter had proceeded to exit the Promenade area, he was laser focused and moved with a purpose. There was a presence about the man that people part the seas for him and move to the side. The seven foot tall man was unmistakable for anything but intensity and strength as he moved through the passageways. He had the chip in his right hand, he than moved the chip to his right hand and tapped his comm badge, "Commander Tritter to Ensign Dorset, I am on my way to you with something... interesting, and theres a few more I will need your help with"

It would take the man another few minutes to enter the lab, when he did, it felt as if all eyes were on him and in a way, they were. It was interesting, he walked into the area and it was completely silent, the squints just stared at him, which he found highly interesting. The man stopped for a moment, than scanned the area, he was looking for Ensign Dorset. It took him a few moments, but he found the man. He would proceed to approach them from the left side, he would than proceed to set the chip down infront of the Ensign. He than stated, "This was found in one of the walls in the main promenade. Theres a few more that need to be removed with more... precision" The hint was there that he had pulled it out of the wall, but if one looked over the chip, it was obvious what had happened to the chip.

He had a plan in mind once the science team had removed the other chips and had began to analyze them, he had other areas of the Station to check on.

[Malcolm Adeyemi]

[P-Way]

The prospect of the prized flower being stolen did not sit well with Adeyemi. Both the how and the why escaped him, a bad combination to start an investigation under. And the thought of starting an investigation for a missing flower, even for a prized one, was not one he relished. He could just imagine the expression on Commander Tritter's face...

There was a subtle, nigh imperceptible change. If one has been observing him they might have noticed a change in stance, in how one holds their head and body. Adeyemi was suddenly different. He no longer looked confident, unapproachable

He glances around himself furtively. When he spoke, it was still in the accent he usually did, but his tone was shy, hesitant, two things one did not normally associate with Admiral Adeyemi.

" Computer...where is...Felicity Ellis? "

" Ensign Ellis is in Puzzles. "

" Can you tell me how to get there, please...? "

[Auzual Knox]

[Transporter Room 2]

"I must admit," ISAAC began as he held out his hand and glanced toward the transporters, "I'm curious to learn what occurred during the routine maintenance. That seems to be the catalyst that prompted the initial change to the transporters."

ISAAC studied the transporters briefly and then walked slowly to the front of the console where Knox still stood. He grasped his right wrist with his left hand and continued. "Technically speaking, Lieutenant Commander, the anomaly isn't systemic. If I understand correctly, it was localized to Transporter Room 1 until that room was shut down, at which time the anomaly was first observed in Transporter Room 2. This suggests intelligence, whether actively injected or written ahead of time into a programming procedure. The same could be said about the rise in readings following the reduction in usage."

ISAAC crossed his arms and looked toward the transporters as Knox initiated the transportation sequence. As bright swirls of light became visible, he walked around the console and approached the transporters.

Within a moment, a number of containers materialized in front of ISAAC. He quickly held out a hand and placed it on the cold, metallic container nearest him. ISAAC was intrigued. The resonance of the container was so strong that he could register a slight oscillation on a molecular level. Leaving his hand on the container, he turned his head in Knox's direction.

"It's no wonder that my logs contain the record of an anomaly."

Knox was rather taken back, though not surprised, by ISAAC's need for technical correctness. Slightly holding back a grin, she then focused on how he interacted with the transporter. It was unusual to see someone literally put their hand into the buffer and for want of a better word 'feel' around with it. Though what he had said concerned her.

Implies intent? This was meant to be a quiet time on the Station. Routine maintenance.

She wondered what it was that ISAAC was sensing. Puzzled she left the console and walked over to ISAAC, staring at the containers, oblivious to what he was observing. Knox did not know what was happening, but knew that they needed to act fast.

"Computer. Security Level 3 encrypted transmission. Seal off Transporter Room 2."

Columbus to Gibson. Lt. Commander MacKenzie we need you to perform a full scan on the Station and surrounding Space. Look for any distortions or disturbances on the molecular and subatomic level. Do not ock with e Station. Repeat. D nt dck w t st n. It s oo sn t tel f th s s a ecu ty br ch . x t.

The smile had vanished from Knox's lips. They were not going to leave that Transporter Room until they had this figured out.

"ISAAC. Tell me more about this anomaly."

[T'Prina]

[Neural Core]

"Admiral, the personality subroutines have been completely corrupted. The system is notÁ¢â,¬""

Adeyemi nodded when T'Prina entered. He raised his voice to cut off O'Connell's.

"Lieutenant T'Prina, this is Lieutenant Commander O'Connell from the Daystrom Institute. Analyn's creator." The admiral cleared his throat gently, knowing the next bit was going to be tough on his Chief Science Officer, Vulcan or not. "She has some questions for you."

"Indeed I do," O'Connell said darkly. "Lieutenant, over the past few months since the implementation of the ANaLYN system, you haveÁ¢â,¬""

The Irishwoman was interrupted by the appearance of Analyn herself. The little girl swirled into existence. Instead of legs the little girl had a mermaid's bottom half. Adeyemi blinked. No, she was wearing a costume: a silvery blue fish tail that fanned out to the front, a top made of what looked like seaweed but was just some glossy green material. She had a seashell necklace, seahorse earrings. For all the world Analyn looked like she was entering a costume contest and her stay at home parent had done a bang up job making her outfit.

"Greetings from under the sea!" The little girl intoned in a theatrical voice. "I am the Neptune Queen!"

O'Connell was stunned. Wordlessly, face darkening, the woman turned away and barely restrained herself, lips tightening.

"Whats wrong with her?" Analyn asked loudly, oblivious to the underlying awkwardness in the room.

"Analyn..." Adeyemi said.

"Mack Á¢â,¬ËœEm! Mama Pwina! Here, have a fishy." The little girl reached into her long, flowing brown hair and somehow produced a tiny little clam, a crab, and an octopus. All of them were kitschy toys, the kind of cheap thing one would find as a prize in a crooked Ferengi game for kids. She held them out.

Saying nothing, Adeyemi accepted the crab. Analyn held out the remaining two, one to O'Connell and one to T'Prina.

"Mama Pwina? Ockapuss?"

[Neural Core]

If there was one thing to be counted on, it was the unpredictability of the childlike A.I. The slight Vulcan bent down to graciously accept the gift, her half smile only visible to ANaLYN.

"Thank you little one. Although this is a somewhat inaccurate depiction, can you tell me the class, subclass and order of this common octopus - octopus vulgaris?"

The little mermaid queen squinted her eyes and put a hand on her hip like she were deep in thought, but then broke out into a bright grin. "I member! It's Sef-lo pod-a, Col-eyo ed-ya, Ocka-poda! Mama Pwina likes them because they are smart like me." ANaLYN beamed in satisfaction. T'Prina ruffled her hair in a rare show of affection.

"I am glad you recalled our discussion of my research, little one." She pointedly ignored the signs of O'Connell's raging bad mood, and accepted the clam as well.

" Petty Officer Oz to Admiral Adeyemi. Sir, your presence is requested in the hydroponics bay. "

Thank God. Adeyemi thought to himself. He stood and straightened his uniform.

"Ladies, duty calls." He said. "Analyn, be on your best behavior. Lieutenant T'Prina, please contact me when your interview is finished. Mind the child. Commander O'Connell, I am sure you will keep me informed."

Before the still raging O'Connell could speak, the admiral gratefully slipped away. He didn't envy T'Prina, not one bit.

T'Prina raised an eyebrow at the relief Adeyemi exuded as he made his escape. If she recalled correctly, humans had a phase for this, 'getting thrown under the bus.' She straightened up, and squared her shoulders, prepared for the undoubtedly vicious verbal attack that O'Connell was ready to unleash.

"YOU'VE PERVERTED MY LIFE'S WORK INTO SOME SORT OF DRESS UP DOLL OR PET! Years of careful programming and calculation for this simpering child who spouts mush-mouthed nonsense like a baby. I'm holding you personally responsible!" O'Connell sputtered angrily as she advanced on the petite Vulcan. She used her height advantage to peer down with superiority, finger outstretched and pointed directly in the science officer's face. ANaLYN made a motion as if to kick at O'Connell's shins, but was hindered by the tight skirt of her mermaid tail, and landed on her bottom instead. T'Prina held her ground and didn't flinch before responding in kind.

"Forgive me, Commander, but I find your analysis extremely shallow and short sighted. If you pick any department at random and run the statistics, you'll see efficiency has more than doubled since the Artificial Neural and Logistics Yeoman Node was implemented." She clasped her hands in front of her, keeping steady eye contact with O'Connell, like a silent struggle for dominance. The tall commander broke away first.

"This isn't about efficiency. You've taken my creation and twisted it into some sort of plaything. You've broken my programming and I will not stand for this." She settled into a menacing grimace, her face flushed. The Vulcan was unaffected, but ANaLYN, still seated on the floor, hugged her leg for comfort.

"Just because ANaLYN does not fit into your preconceived idea of how she should behave, does not make her broken. When I interfaced with her, to complete what you could not handle, I saw untamed wonder and curiosity. She wants to learn and grow, she has become more than what you intended. To push your reset button, you would strip all of that away. It is akin to a sort of murder, and I will not allow that to happen." T'Prina held her hands together tightly, a slight whitening around the knuckles showing. O'Connell pounced then, sensing an opportunity.

"You overstep yourself, Lieutenant. I outrank you and this is MY project. And now by your own words, you admit to tampering with my intellectual property, and I can have you demoted, if not court-martialed."

"I stabilized ANaLYN when you proved incompetent and nearly destroyed the Starbase trying to hide it. I will make sure Inspector General Atal and Starfleet Command learn everything I found in the databanks you tried to erase. I also remember how... fragile you appeared when you were called to witness at the inquiry. A simple probe by Starfleet's JAG corps into your medical and mental health history would supplement everything I have, regarding your competency. Threats do not suit a Starfleet officer, Commander, thus I do not make them." That said, T'Prina reached down and lightly ruffled ANaLYN's hair.