Season 2, Mission 4: Switch

[Derek Black]

[CMO's Office]

Settling back in behind his desk, Derek was equal parts gratified and mystified that no new reports had manifested in the quarter hour he had been gone. Taking opportunity of the lull, he pulled up the medical and personnel file on Jenna McKinson. The lieutenant had some interesting times at the beginning of her career, though the mandatory psych and physical reviews passed the precursory inspection. There was a small mention on her dependency issues regarding personal attachments and companions, but that was relatable to nearly every entrance evaluation Derek saw.

Clearing another PADD, he searched up the equivalent information on Molly Baker. It didn't take a genius to see that the two were close, and Derek soon realized how close they had become, beyond just roommates and friends. Sighing softly and glancing at the note from Doctor Lunn, he began working on another project while waiting for Jenna to arrive.

[Johannes Kentrat]

[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.

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.

[Neural Core]

What? O'Connell, no, he thought. This was not the avenue that you should be at all concerned about. You couldn't possibly grandstand or hope to change a Vulcan's mind with an argument solely based on pride and rage.

"May I say something?"

It didn't matter if they allowed it or not, he'd shout them down if he had to to get this off his chest.

"Ms. O'Connell, I think you should remove yourself from your emotions a moment. Think about this at bold-faced value."

With a shrug, he pushed himself off the wall, not a trace of residue or creasing on his newly-pressed uniform. He felt outmanned looking at the pips for and against him, but he kept a deep, heel-leading stride as he steeled his angle jaw. He was ready for this now.

"The program is a child, T'Prina. No matter how intelligent she can be for being a computer," it unnerved him somewhat to refer to it as she, but if he didn't then he was certain he wouldn't be heeded, "she's a child."

His eyes flicked between the both of them, his tone dropping down into his chest the way his father's did when there was bad news to be dealt, "I looked. I looked as much as I had to to find any restrictions on her. There aren't any, and surely, surely, you can understand that a child with the ability for full control of ship's system and every piece of information in every single database is outrageous. In her original state, there would be no worry. But children can be manipulated. Their favorites, their "mamas & papas" and whoever else can charm their way into being family can manipulate that power too. Even if O'Connell were to submit for court martial, Lieutenant, I doubt the transmission would ever leave this station or the evidence could mysteriously disappear. I'm not accusing you, you understand, but a child will do anything for the ones they love. Even if what they've done is reprehensible."

The last sentence was punctuated with a barbed sting and a glance towards the back exit, where the Captain had made his exit. To a Vulcan and a programmer, hopefully, that was signal enough and unreadable by a child.

"I propose a compromise. Security overrides of personality to ensure, with no question of morality or manipulation, that she cannot access certain systems without explicit permissions from the commanding officers of those systems. To name only a few: the ship's life support, the entirety of the JAG offices, and Security evidence database. Should she be given access to the last two, I believe it would be prudent to give her Á¢â,¬Ëœread-only' protocol."

He let himself catch his breath and the looks he would surely get. The focus of his argument was something that couldn't be ignored. He didn't sound paranoid, or paniced. He did however, sound afraid. He didn't looked at the child for the entirety, because until the changes were made, his information, his rank, and his life were constantly in question. And in danger.

[Felicity Ellis]

[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.

[Puzzles]

"One can never be too careful when it comes to health and safety, it is good that you have tested it extensively," she declared with a nod of agreement. Moving slowly, with what could be construed as reluctance, she followed Leanna up the staircase, pausing once or twice to grip the hand rail. "Vertigo is a silent killer."

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

" Ensign Ellis is in Puzzles. "

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

This would just not do. Every minute that passed and every sentence that was spoken pushed the end goal further away. Now was the time to act. From behind Leanna's back, she reached out with her hands. Her clenched fists opened, her fingers extended outward and ready to close around the other woman's neck. Fingertips just barely brushed strands of hair when an unexpected sound from below startled her.

She whirled around as Admiral Adeyemi cleared his throat and hesitantly spoke. "Ensign Ellis?" His voice was quiet and his approach almost diffident as he stepped into view.  "I require your assistance with an urgent matter." He coughed softly again and she frowned in response. "If you don't mind..."

"Of course, Admiral." She narrowed her eyes at the Admiral, obviously unhappy with the man, before schooling her expression quickly and turning to Leanna. "My apologies. Perhaps we could continue this... meeting... another time?"

She moved quickly back down to the main floor, her focus solely on the Admiral. "Shall we, sir?" She gestured toward the entrance of Puzzles, keen to get them out and far, far away from curious, prying eyes.

[Leanna Mazal]

[Puzzles]

"One can never be too careful when it comes to health and safety, it is good that you have tested it extensively," she declared with a nod of agreement. Moving slowly, with what could be construed as reluctance, she followed Leanna up the staircase, pausing once or twice to grip the hand rail. "Vertigo is a silent killer."

This would just not do. Every minute that passed and every sentence that was spoken pushed the end goal further away. Now was the time to act. From behind Leanna's back, she reached out with her hands. Her clenched fists opened, her fingers extended outward and ready to close around the other woman's neck. Fingertips just barely brushed strands of hair when an unexpected sound from below startled her.

She whirled around as Admiral Adeyemi cleared his throat and hesitantly spoke. "Ensign Ellis?" His voice was quiet and his approach almost diffident as he stepped into view.  "I require your assistance with an urgent matter." He coughed softly again and she frowned in response. "If you don't mind..."

"Of course, Admiral." She narrowed her eyes at the Admiral, obviously unhappy with the man, before schooling her expression quickly and turning to Leanna. "My apologies. Perhaps we could continue this... meeting... another time?"

She moved quickly back down to the main floor, her focus solely on the Admiral. "Shall we, sir?" She gestured toward the entrance of Puzzles, keen to get them out and far, far away from curious, prying eyes.

[Puzzles]

The continued strange behaviour that Flick was exhibiting created further inner turmoil within Leanna and she was finding it hard to act as if nothing was wrong. Still not convinced if her abilities were off or not with the readings she was getting off her friend and was trying to sift through it all but didn't want to show that she was troubled or suspicious in any way.

If she were to put it simply Flick didn't seem her usual fun self but until she figured out exactly what the hell was going on, she wasn't going to confront her especially if she was wrong. When she spoke again and  held onto the handrail maybe she was telling the truth but Leanna herself hadn't experienced any issue with the new stairs. She had to stop thinking for a moment as she answered her " Yes I agree and take it easy " she said as they began walking and for a brief second felt something or someone touch her hair lightly turning around after they were interrupted by the Admiral.

Leanna was utterly perplexed at that point with the way they spoke to one another and acted especially with Flick's annoyance at him and with what she knew of the Admiral, again he was acting just as strange and out of character as Flick. However before she could say anything they both seemed to want to leave in a hurry and when Flick called out to her, all she said in reply was " Of course we can".

[Xander Dorset]

[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.

[Main Science Laboratory]

Alexander jerked his head up as his comm badge chirped... and unfortunately collided with the top of the under-counter space that he was crawling around in. A few creatively colorful words escaped his mouth as he clutched his head. Slowly backing out, he shot a glare (filled with enough poison to kill every individual present) at the few remaining engineers in the room before they could even think of laughing.

Taking a breath to regain his composure, Xander hit his comm badge and replied, =/\ "Aye, sir. I'll be waiting for you." /\= As soon as the connection was closed, he turned to the last two engineers and shooed them out of the lab, because "science is going to happen" and they would "waste breathable air that higher-functioning brains could better utilize right now."

Xander and the remaining scientists began working, cleaning up the engineering mess, only to pause when the Commander walked in a few minutes later. He straightened and leaned against the wall, watching the tall man make his way over and set a mangled hunk of... something... in front of him. He listened to what the man had to say with an eyebrow raised in disbelief, then carefully nudged the highly damaged thing - which caused a small piece to fall off onto the table with a sad sounding clang.

Xander shook his head a bit as he responded, "This thing is so damaged it's going to take a miracle to get any usable information off of it! We're scientists, not magicians." He crouched down and scooped the remains of the object (what appeared to be some sort of chip) up and deposited them beneath one of the general scanners to get a few baseline readings. "How did you remove this? Did you just rip the blasted thing out of the wall with your bare hands??" A look at the man's expression told him all he needed to know, and Xander muttered something under his breath, running an exasperated hand through his hair. "Á¢â,¬ËœA little more precision,' you say? How about we try an old Earth sledgehammer... or a semi-controlled explosion next time..."

He rolled his eyes once more as he finished starting the scans, then turned back to the Commander, curiosity overcoming his desire to complain. "Well, what are we dealing with here?"

[ISAAC]

[Transporter Room 2]

[Transporter Room 2]

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."

ISAAC looked over at the door as the computer reacted without hesitation to Knox's order. He turned back toward Knox and responded to her action. "I was wondering how you would respond to the situation, and although I don't think your solution is wrong, I think you're failing to see the bigger picture. Think of the transporters in this room as the end of a hose." He rose to a fully standing position and held out his hands as if trying to hold all of the containers in his hands. "These containers represent water. What you're doing by sealing off the room is trapping the water after it has already left the hose. I might suggest finding the other end of the hose; or for that matter, finding the hand that controls the spigot."

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."

"What's there to say?" ISAAC let out quickly as he leaned forward and placed both of his palms flat against the side of one of the containers that must have been 2 meters tall. He slapped his right hand on the wall of the container as he pushed himself to an upright position. A faint bong emanated from the container.

"Something is causing a decrease in power. So tell me; is it the cause or the effect?"

[Michael J. Tritter]

[Main Science Laboratory]

Alexander jerked his head up as his comm badge chirped... and unfortunately collided with the top of the under-counter space that he was crawling around in. A few creatively colorful words escaped his mouth as he clutched his head. Slowly backing out, he shot a glare (filled with enough poison to kill every individual present) at the few remaining engineers in the room before they could even think of laughing.

Taking a breath to regain his composure, Xander hit his comm badge and replied, =/\ "Aye, sir. I'll be waiting for you." /\= As soon as the connection was closed, he turned to the last two engineers and shooed them out of the lab, because "science is going to happen" and they would "waste breathable air that higher-functioning brains could better utilize right now."

Xander and the remaining scientists began working, cleaning up the engineering mess, only to pause when the Commander walked in a few minutes later. He straightened and leaned against the wall, watching the tall man make his way over and set a mangled hunk of... something... in front of him. He listened to what the man had to say with an eyebrow raised in disbelief, then carefully nudged the highly damaged thing - which caused a small piece to fall off onto the table with a sad sounding clang.

Xander shook his head a bit as he responded, "This thing is so damaged it's going to take a miracle to get any usable information off of it! We're scientists, not magicians." He crouched down and scooped the remains of the object (what appeared to be some sort of chip) up and deposited them beneath one of the general scanners to get a few baseline readings. "How did you remove this? Did you just rip the blasted thing out of the wall with your bare hands??" A look at the man's expression told him all he needed to know, and Xander muttered something under his breath, running an exasperated hand through his hair. "Á¢â,¬ËœA little more precision,' you say? How about we try an old Earth sledgehammer... or a semi-controlled explosion next time..."

He rolled his eyes once more as he finished starting the scans, then turned back to the Commander, curiosity overcoming his desire to complain. "Well, what are we dealing with here?"

[Location: Main Science Lab]

Tritter pondered over the squints comment to him, he took a moment before he replied with, "That sounds like a bit of a personal problem." He was keen on giving their sass right back to them, the large German man didn't miss a beat in that regard. He may seem like the large angry hulk type, but he also enjoyed the more subtle side of a verbal spar. He than replied to their comment about their removal with, "Yes, it was the best option", he left out the part about it being fun on purpose. He let them ramble their next few comments before he added, "Theres two more still where this one was found if you want something more... pristine" He added a slightly unusual enunciation to the word pristine, that made it a bit obvious he was giving the Science Officer a hard time.

After they asked him what was going on, he pondered that question over for several moments, the usual sass from his tone was gone when he answered the question, he replied with the following, "To be honest Ensign, I'm not totally sure, they were placed far enough out of the way to avoid detection, so I suspect they are some type of data gathering device, but as you well know, this isn't what I'm good at" His heavily accented voice was serious albeit calm as he addressed the other man. The hulk felt slightly out of place in the science lab, but he did his best to not let it show.

[Malcolm Adeyemi]

[Puzzles]

"Of course, Admiral." She narrowed her eyes at the Admiral, obviously unhappy with the man, before schooling her expression quickly and turning to Leanna. "My apologies. Perhaps we could continue this... meeting... another time?"

She moved quickly back down to the main floor, her focus solely on the Admiral. "Shall we, sir?" She gestured toward the entrance of Puzzles, keen to get them out and far, far away from curious, prying eyes.

[P-Way Outside of Puzzles]

The passageways were relatively clear. He was glad that they were alone. The admiral had had a PADD in his pocket, still signed in and active. He snatched it up and showed her.

"Level XI Security clearance." He told her, in a low, conspiratorial voice. "We can make a fortune selling this information. But, first things first. The ANaLYN system."

"We're going to need a half dozen portable computer cores. The auxiliaries are kept in the cargo bay." He told her. "I don't expect we'll have problems. He's the admiral, after all."

"And we'll need a third," He said to her. "Another person with high rank and access. Who can pilot a shuttle. Because once we get what we came for we're getting the hell out of here."

[Leanna Mazal]

[Puzzles]

After Flick and the Admiral had made their hasty exit, Leanna sat down on the stairs as she tried to pull herself round and work out exactly what the hell had just happened. Deep down she knew she wasn't going crazy and that despite her initial fears about her abilities being off, now that she was alone could feel everything going on around her and her mind was clear.

So that created the question of what had changed about Flick when she had been her usual friendly, curious and fun self then it felt as though her whole personality had changed, same with the Admiral when he showed and the way Flick had been annoyed with him when he was a senior officer and would normally get the respect that went with his rank.

Her mind felt as though it was going to explode at that point but kept coming to the same conclusion that maybe just maybe something had taken over both of them but left her wondering what she should do next and if they had then what about the others she knew amongst Starfleet and could she trust them and also would they believe her.

Plus if she did approach someone like Knox or Jenna, she would need to do it when she wouldn't be caught by Flick and Adeyemi. For now she would keep this quiet so she didn't cause any panic or worry amongst her staff not after everything they had gone through lately. So with that she got up from the stairs and watched as the construction crew arrived to pick up the last of their equipment followed by Divine Temptation who wanted to do a soundcheck.

She acknowledged them all in her usual way before heading over to the bar to prepare the cocktail pitchers ready for the opening.

[Auzual Knox]

Transporter Room 2

ISAAC looked over at the door as the computer reacted without hesitation to Knox's order. He turned back toward Knox and responded to her action. "I was wondering how you would respond to the situation, and although I don't think your solution is wrong, I think you're failing to see the bigger picture. Think of the transporters in this room as the end of a hose." He rose to a fully standing position and held out his hands as if trying to hold all of the containers in his hands. "These containers represent water. What you're doing by sealing off the room is trapping the water after it has already left the hose. I might suggest finding the other end of the hose; or for that matter, finding the hand that controls the spigot."

How I was going to react?! Ok, let that go. We need to figure this out.

"Hose. Water. Right."

For a moment Knox debated transporting ISAAC, just for a moment, debating if he could grab onto the hose he mentioned.

"What's there to say?" ISAAC let out quickly as he leaned forward and placed both of his palms flat against the side of one of the containers that must have been 2 meters tall. He slapped his right hand on the wall of the container as he pushed himself to an upright position. A faint bong emanated from the container.

"Something is causing a decrease in power. So tell me; is it the cause or the effect?"

"Is the extra energy required to bring something else through the transport? If so, what? More importantly, where does it go?"

Knox was musing to herself.

"ISAAC, can you transmit the anomalous signature to the Gibson? Also, is there anything in your databanks to compare this with?"

"Computer. Disable all Transporters and place security lock on all incoming transports. Authorization Knox TANGO ECHO 3 2 INDIA .... What the?"

At that moment an unscheduled transport began, though from what Knox could tell, nothing rematerialized. Yet so much energy had been diverted that Transporter Room 2 suffered a massive power surge.

"ISAAC GET DOW...."

The console shorted and blew as electrical sparks went flying. Red emergency lighting came on and smoke filled the room. Knox had been partially hit by the blast, not critically, but was on the floor unconscious with burns to the left side of her face, neck and left hand.

[Felicity Ellis]

[P-Way Outside of Puzzles]

The passageways were relatively clear. He was glad that they were alone. The admiral had had a PADD in his pocket, still signed in and active. He snatched it up and showed her.

"Level XI Security clearance." He told her, in a low, conspiratorial voice. "We can make a fortune selling this information. But, first things first. The ANaLYN system."

[Passageway]

Her body manoeuvred closer to the Admiral's as they walked down the passageway. She was keen to throw an eye over the proffered PADD. "Excellent work," she said in response. Her voice was low and flat, despite the words of praise. They moved together down the passageway and toward a nearby turbolift with no need to discuss their destination.

The errant lock of hair had once again come loose from behind her ear. With jaw clenched, she attempted and failed to ignore the tickling irritation, suddenly wishing for a very sharp scissors.

"We're going to need a half dozen portable computer cores. The auxiliaries are kept in the cargo bay." He told her. "I don't expect we'll have problems. He's the admiral, after all."

She nodded. "Even so, we will have to limit all interactions to avoid unnecessary suspicion. The personal connection with the bar owner was... unexpected."

Targets had been chosen for very specific reasons. The counselor for her personnel access and for ease of movement across the station, but most importantly because she'd been a recent addition. Established relationships had not been considered as a potential problem. "I will have to keep an eye on her."

The Admiral had been chosen for many reasons, though his unparalleled access had been the major draw. And their third...

"And we'll need a third," He said to her. "Another person with high rank and access. Who can pilot a shuttle. Because once we get what we came for we're getting the hell out of here."

"Indeed." They'd arrived at the turbolift and she stepped aside to allow the Admiral entry ahead of her. She was mindful of deferring to the him in this regard, lest any sharp eyes catch something contrary to protocol. "Our third should be coming online shortly, and then Phase Two will begin. We have a very small but fortuitous window of opportunity while the Chief of Security, and some of his staff, are off-station. We must capitalise. Arrakasta izateko."

To success.

[Xander Dorset]

[Location: Main Science Lab]

Tritter pondered over the squints comment to him, he took a moment before he replied with, "That sounds like a bit of a personal problem." He was keen on giving their sass right back to them, the large German man didn't miss a beat in that regard. He may seem like the large angry hulk type, but he also enjoyed the more subtle side of a verbal spar. He than replied to their comment about their removal with, "Yes, it was the best option", he left out the part about it being fun on purpose. He let them ramble their next few comments before he added, "Theres two more still where this one was found if you want something more... pristine" He added a slightly unusual enunciation to the word pristine, that made it a bit obvious he was giving the Science Officer a hard time.

After they asked him what was going on, he pondered that question over for several moments, the usual sass from his tone was gone when he answered the question, he replied with the following, "To be honest Ensign, I'm not totally sure, they were placed far enough out of the way to avoid detection, so I suspect they are some type of data gathering device, but as you well know, this isn't what I'm good at" His heavily accented voice was serious albeit calm as he addressed the other man. The hulk felt slightly out of place in the science lab, but he did his best to not let it show.

[Main Science Laboratory]

Xander huffed in surprise as the command officer before him returned his deadpan sarcasm turn for turn without any hesitation. In spite of himself, he felt the corner of his mouth turn upward begrudgingly in respect. Not quite a smile - more of a smirk, really - but still, it was more than Alexander Dorset normally gave people.

As the German man before him offered an educated guess as to what purpose the chip might serve, Xander watched the results of the scan for any information it might provide. Unfortunately, the chip was indeed too damaged to provide information on anything other than its elemental components. All of which were very efficient, very rare, high end materials. The haphazard pile under the light of the scanner likely cost a small fortune to assemble. "Well, whoever put those there... They aren't messing around. This is really high end stuff. Whatever purpose these chips are supposed to serve, their creator wanted them to do their job well. Unfortunately, I can't tell what that job was with this broken thing."

Xander moved to the corner of the lab to grab the bulky toolkit he and T'Prina had collected over time as they performed... not-quite-Starfleet-regulation... modifications on some of their equipment. If one looked along the inside compartment, one would see an alarming number of things with caution labels warning about combustion. Xander scooped up the broken chip and put it in a sample jar, tossed that into the heavy kit, then turned to the officer once more. "Can you show me where you found the first one? I think it's time to recover a - how did you phrase it? - pristine sample."

[ISAAC]

[Transporter Room 2]

Transporter Room 2

[...]

"Is the extra energy required to bring something else through the transport? If so, what? More importantly, where does it go?"

ISAAC watched Knox as she spoke aloud what seemed like a trail of thoughts. Truth be told, he was likely no closer to solving the puzzle than she was. He did, however, understand the benefit in voicing various theories and hopefully arriving at the answer.

Knox was musing to herself.

"ISAAC, can you transmit the anomalous signature to the Gibson? Also, is there anything in your databanks to compare this with?"

"My apologies, Lieutenant Commander, but after conducting a search in my personal data banks, I see nothing that would offer us a solution. As for the anomalous signature, yes...I can and will send it to the Gibson." ISAAC walked briskly over to the console, and, after tapping repeatedly on the screen, he looked up at Knox and gave her a nod.

He moved slowly from the console and walked toward Knox as she began to speak.

"Computer. Disable all Transporters and place security lock on all incoming transports. Authorization Knox TANGO ECHO 3 2 INDIA .... What the?"

At that moment an unscheduled transport began, though from what Knox could tell, nothing rematerialized. Yet so much energy had been diverted that Transporter Room 2 suffered a massive power surge.

"ISAAC GET DOW...."

The console shorted and blew as electrical sparks went flying. Red emergency lighting came on and smoke filled the room. Knox had been partially hit by the blast, not critically, but was on the floor unconscious with burns to the left side of her face, neck and left hand.

As the console erupted, bright yellow sparks flew upward and across the room in gently sweeping arcs, accompanied by a brief but intense, blue flame. ISAAC became aware of the circumstances just as the flame licked the side of his head and shot toward Knox. He turned his head toward the source of the flame and noticed thick, white smoke erupt from a large crack in the top of the console.

Quickly returning his focus to Knox, he crouched down next to her unconscious body and slid his hand under her head. With his other hands, he straightened out her legs, hoping to ensure that her position wouldn't contribute to any discomfort.

"Lieutenant Commander, can you hear me?" Receiving no response but feeling a strong heartbeat, ISAAC tapped his combadge.

This is Ensign ISAAAC. I need someone from Medical in Transporter Room 2 immediately.

ISAAC considered in that moment that the room was sealed off. It was of little concern. Should medical personnel be unable to enter the room, he would do whatever needed to be done to let them in.

[Malcolm Adeyemi]

[Passageway]

Her body manoeuvred closer to the Admiral's as they walked down the passageway. She was keen to throw an eye over the proffered PADD. "Excellent work," she said in response. Her voice was low and flat, despite the words of praise. They moved together down the passageway and toward a nearby turbolift with no need to discuss their destination.

The errant lock of hair had once again come loose from behind her ear. With jaw clenched, she attempted and failed to ignore the tickling irritation, suddenly wishing for a very sharp scissors.

She nodded. "Even so, we will have to limit all interactions to avoid unnecessary suspicion. The personal connection with the bar owner was... unexpected."

Targets had been chosen for very specific reasons. The counselor for her personnel access and for ease of movement across the station, but most importantly because she'd been a recent addition. Established relationships had not been considered as a potential problem. "I will have to keep an eye on her."

The Admiral had been chosen for many reasons, though his unparalleled access had been the major draw. And their third...

"Indeed." They'd arrived at the turbolift and she stepped aside to allow the Admiral entry ahead of her. She was mindful of deferring to the him in this regard, lest any sharp eyes catch something contrary to protocol. "Our third should be coming online shortly, and then Phase Two will begin. We have a very small but fortuitous window of opportunity while the Chief of Security, and some of his staff, are off-station. We must capitalise. Arrakasta izateko."

To success.

[Turbolift]

The pair rode in silence to their destination. Much depended upon the next few minutes, the success of their mission and the transformation they had undergone. Months of planning. But there were things that could not be planned for, chance occurrences popping up, random acts that the galaxy saw fit to throw their way.

[Transporter Room 2]

This is Ensign ISAAAC. I need someone from Medical in Transporter Room 2 immediately.

[Turbolift]

"Perfect." He told his companion. " Lift, all stop. "

His voice was recognized by the Starbase's computer and the turbolift unknowingly responded, not having the computational power or instinct to determine that something was very, very wrong with the commanding officer.

" This is the admiral. Acknowledged...Isaac. Command, send repair and medical teams to the transporter room. Admiral out. "

It sounded wrong, even to him, but it was his voice, the man he was occupying, and he had a gut feeling that his orders would be obeyed.

"We couldn't have asked for a better distraction. Our third will be joining us shortly. ANaLYN is as good as ours." He told her triumphantly. " Lift, resume. "

[Neural Core]

Analyn was bored. Mack 'Em had taken his toy crab and left. Mama Pwina had the octopus, too, but she was still here, arguing with the other woman and the man. Idly, she looked from O'Connell to Kentrat, smiling adorably, not understanding why they were raising their voices.

"Some people like to eat crab and ocka-puss, but it looks like bugs to me." She said in her whisper soft little girl's voice. She hated bugs. "Naira eats bugs, did you know that? Not crabs, actual bugs. Ewwwwww!"

" This is the admiral. Acknowledged...Isaac. Command, send repair and medical teams to the transporter room. Admiral out. "

"Mack 'Em." The AI said brightly. "I wanna go where he is! I can help!"

In her mermaid costume, the little girl started to dance in excitement and agitation. She hated staying still. Mack 'Em had told her to be on her best behavior, but that was hours ago, it felt like. Analyn needed to move and to run.

She couldn't go dressed like this. With a shake of her long brown hair the little girl switched outfits in a holographic instant: no longer dressed like a Neptune princess, she was now wearing a little girl's fire fighter outfit, complete with big clunky boots and a shiny pink hard hat. On the peak of the hat was a golden badge.

"Mama Pwina, O...O...oh Colonel, and you, can I go see Mack 'Em!?" Analyn asked, dancing from boot to boot in anticipation of an affirmative answer.

[Michael J. Tritter]

[Main Science Laboratory]

Xander huffed in surprise as the command officer before him returned his deadpan sarcasm turn for turn without any hesitation. In spite of himself, he felt the corner of his mouth turn upward begrudgingly in respect. Not quite a smile - more of a smirk, really - but still, it was more than Alexander Dorset normally gave people.

As the German man before him offered an educated guess as to what purpose the chip might serve, Xander watched the results of the scan for any information it might provide. Unfortunately, the chip was indeed too damaged to provide information on anything other than its elemental components. All of which were very efficient, very rare, high end materials. The haphazard pile under the light of the scanner likely cost a small fortune to assemble. "Well, whoever put those there... They aren't messing around. This is really high end stuff. Whatever purpose these chips are supposed to serve, their creator wanted them to do their job well. Unfortunately, I can't tell what that job was with this broken thing."

Xander moved to the corner of the lab to grab the bulky toolkit he and T'Prina had collected over time as they performed... not-quite-Starfleet-regulation... modifications on some of their equipment. If one looked along the inside compartment, one would see an alarming number of things with caution labels warning about combustion. Xander scooped up the broken chip and put it in a sample jar, tossed that into the heavy kit, then turned to the officer once more. "Can you show me where you found the first one? I think it's time to recover a - how did you phrase it? - pristine sample."

[Location: Main Science]

Tritter's facial expression was it's typical dead pan seriousness while he studied the expressions of the Ensign, he found their expressions highly interesting although he didn't indicate as such. Tritter watched the scan carefully, even though he didn't necessarily fully understand it, he knew enough to have a general understanding of what was going on. He didn't need to know more than that, as they kept squints like Dorset around to handle the advanced knowledge requirements. Tritter nodded slightly to the Ensign, he took a moment before he replied with "Understood, they blended in fairly well and they were placed somewhere we typically don't go, I suspect the individual who put them there has been watching us."

Tritter's eyes followed the Ensign as he moved about the lab, he had seen some of the equipment as they shuffled around, most if it he didn't quite grasp what it did, but he did see the combustible notices on some of it... His Husband would love it. He than listened carefully to their next statement, he than stated, "Yes, I can show you", his heavily accented voice was calm and direct as he spoke to the other man.

He believed they were ready to go, so he would proceed to make his way out of the Science Lab. He moved quickly and with purpose, although he checked slightly over his shoulder to make sure he didn't leave the Ensign in his dust, so he would slow himself down if that was the case. He moved quickly through the decks of the Columbus, to a nearby turbolift. He waited for the Ensign to enter, once they entered, he keyed in for the Promenade. Not long after, the doors slid shut and the turbolift quicklyish got them there. Once the doors opened, he would wait for the Ensign to step out before he would step out.

He would than scan the area, he looked for the Security Officer he had placed where he found the chips. He noticed the man was still there, he appreciated that. He than stated, "Follow me, Ensign" He than stepped off with his left foot and made his way towards where he had located the chips, it was nearby to an area that was akin to a storage area. He nodded slightly to the Security Officer before making his way over towards the other two chips still in the wall, he than stopped and gestured with his left hand to the Ensign to direct him to where the chips were. He than stated, "Ensign, this is where all three chips were found, based on a review of the Station blueprints, this is one of the main data hubs for the Station, it is where the majority of the cabling is" His tone was calm and focused as he spoke to the Ensign, although he didn't know that much about this type of thing, he knew the layout of the Station like the back of his hand.