Season 2, Mission 4: Switch

[Leanna Mazal]

[Puzzles]

If anyone looked at Leanna right at that moment you would of thought she was distracted by the swirling purple and blue liquid the end result of mixing her famous Moon Rise cocktail but in fact to those who knew her realised that something was bugging her. However to Seamus he knew better than try to find out what it was especially with Leanna back to her normal self and wouldn't want to disrupt her not when they were so close to opening.

Instead he went over to her and pulled her away from the counter just as Divine Temptation began to play a rather energetic fun song that they both loved, earning him a what do you think your doing look from the boss until she realised and grinned.

The Bliss

Leanna knew Seamus meant well and until she could speak to someone she could trust especially Rixxy wherever she was hiding and plan her next move, it had to be business as usual and hoped that Seamus would put her distraction down to missing Deg'arf.

Allowing herself to move with him to the music and the band never failed to improve her mood becoming lost in the song despite what had happened earlier but at least she no longer thought she was losing it. Her and Seamus continued dancing to the end of the song before he leaned in and whispered.

"Time for you to shine again Leanna, I'll go open the main doors whilst you go get ready".

" Okay your right as usual and I'll be out soon" she replied giving him a brief hug before quickly going over to her office. Emerging minutes later dressed as she always used to with her hair and makeup perfect and still covering the bitemarks.

[Derek Black]

"Sickbay, this Ops, a medical emergency's been declared in Transporter Room 2. We're reading one lifesign and two commbadge signals inside, Ensign Issac and Commander Knox."=/\=

[CMO's Office]

Merde. Derek abruptly shot to his feet, disrupting a column of neatly stacked PADDs and sending them clattering to the deck. Knox is in there. One lifesign. Tabernac! Ignoring the mess, he grabbed a medkit stowed behind his desk and ran out into the central bay, jabbing his finger out at the first medic he saw. "You, grab your kit, you're with me. You!" His attention swept across to the next living soul wearing a blue collar. "Prep a biobed and standby a trauma team, we'll be coming back with a resus."

Tapping his commbadge, Derek called the control hub. "Ops, this is Chief Black, emergency site to site, Medical Bay to outside Transporter room 2. Lock onto myself and PO Styles, energize when ready."=/\= He rapped the cover of his medkit impatiently as long seconds ticked by. Tabernac, what's taking them so long? There was no justifiable reason behind it, but Derek felt fiercely protective of Knox. She was a lifelong friend of his parents and contrary to all reason, despite personally still not knowing her well, she felt like family. Now, there was a 50% chance of her feeling dead.

His commbadge chirped with unwelcome news. "This is Ops, we're unable to accommodate the site to site. All transporters on the station are down. They've been locked out with Commander Knox's security codes."=/\=

"Goddamnsonavafuc-!" Derek swore, furious with Knox's surprisingly bad timing. All the fuzzy tingles vanished as rapidly as they had appeared. Already on his way out the door, he called back for Styles to grab a gurney and to bring a friend. "Make a hole!" Derek called out, running towards the nearest turbolift. It was a long three hundred metres, the Columbus being a starbase after all. I'm going to kill her if she's not already black and blue, he thought to himself, cursing the trill with every step. Making me run! The nerve of her!

[Outside Transporter Room 2]

The last few steps from the turbolift exit to transporter room 2 resembled more of a hurried stumble than a dashing rescue. Derek reached forward, keying the access panel as he bent over, trying to catch his breath. "Oh for...crying...out...loud..." He muttered as it refused to activate. "Computer, open this door!"

=/\=Unable to comply, Transporter Room 2 has been security locked by authorization of Lieutenant Commander Katharoz Knox=/\=

"Medical override, Black-One-Five-Tango." He retorted, forcing himself upright as the door slid open. Inside, his worst fear was confirmed. It was Knox who lay motionless on the ground.

[Transporter Room 2]

Kneeling by Knox's side, Derek cracked open his medkit, pulling out a tricorder. "What happened?" He asked the ensign who had been with her while rapidly examining the injuries. Though her collar was singed, it seemed almost all the damage was limited to her neck up. What Derek saw concerned him. Visually, the burns didn't appear that severe, but sensors weren't often wrong when it came to lifesigns. That most likely meant some sort of neurogenic shock. Neural stimulator, pulmozine, cortolin, and-

His train of thought crashed to a halt as the tricorder came to life with a cacophony of readings. She was alive. Not only alive, but she was even relatively well, considering the barbeque appearance of her face. "This makes no sense. Ops said there was only one lifesign." Derek frowned, turning to the ensign and scanning him. A steady tone warbled from the tricorder, confirming an absence of pulse or respiration. That's impossible. "What the hell are you?" Derek challenged the uniformed figure while raising a hand to his commbadge, following with a threat. "And give me a good reason why I shouldn't call security."

[Jenna McKinson]

[ Medical Bay ]

Jenna felt enough time had been spent with Molly before she had to head off to get work done. It was just the thing she needed to pass time. Dan had already left by that point. She told him that she would be down in a few moments. Once the room was just her and Molly she stood up. He legs were aching and luckily she still had on her glasses or else there would be a headache added to the mix. She leaned in and gave a small kiss to Molly. She put both hands around Molly's before she kissed it too. "I am sorry my love. I need to get to work. Be sure not to cause too much trouble ok?" Jenna stated as she began to head out. "I owe you one quickie when were both back safe at home."

She began to move out, but then she got a buzz on her wrist PADD. It seemed that there were issues with a transporter and she was the closest engineer. She noticed how there were multiple going down. She began to sneak her way out of Medical Bay. Once she was safely out she thought "Sorry Doc... there's an emergency!" She made her way to the nearest turbolift. Luckily she was able to get to an engineer station to grab some supplies before she headed down the turbolift.

She then noticed it was locked down it seemed by Knox. She must have had good reason so she decided to head down the nearest Jefferies tube to get down to the level she needed to. She continued to her destination and seemed to ignore those around her. She then tried to get to one of the locked down transporter rooms in order for her to interface and diagnose what was going on.

She knew there was no way even with her access to getting inside the transporter room. She noticed a nearby duct and shrugged as she peeled off the nearby grate and began to climb. She would drop in as she knew this transport room had a duct in the corner. It took her only a few moments to squeeze her way in and drop via the ceiling. There was an alarm present, but she knew she could bypass it once she interfaces.

[ Transporter 5 ]

Jenna made her way quickly to the room's station. She ignored the two bodies of the technicians that laid nearby. This was mainly due to her putting her music in, but also that she zoned out and really focused when she was working on projects. As Man in The Box was playing in her earbuds, she began to run diagnostics. She interfaced with the system and began to enter the proper commands so she could access subsystems only available to engineers who could run diagnostics. She wanted to work quickly, not only because there were multiple systems down, but she wanted to work quickly to get thing going. Knox must have had a good reason to lock things down and curiosity was going to get the better of her.

"Be like a good roadie, get in and fix the problem and out before you are even noticed. That and you may piss off Knox if she knew you were snooping," Jenna thought to herself.  It was a hard life to live sometimes, but the satisfaction was well worth it. She had a loving girlfriend, a good boss, and wonderful friends to make up for it. Even Eliana seemed to turn a new leaf. She didn't need to know who her ex was dating, only that she was happy. Except for the incident, things seemed to be going her way. She knew this was devious, but she didn't have Molly there to stop her and maybe it was the lack of sleep that was causing her to be a bit more reckless.

[Leanna Mazal]

[Puzzles]

The music was playing, the drinks were flowing and the kitchen reported an increase in orders from people keen to try out the new improved menu which had been been completely overhauled just like the rest of the bar and restaurant. Leanna always believed that if you were going to do something you did right and not leave out a single detail and from the reaction she was getting from not only regulars but from new customers too which did a lot for her and her staff's confidence.

Morale was just as high as the atmosphere and that's what made it all worthwhile even if she had to turn down a few of the regulars gently when they asked her out, knowing who her heart now belonged to but did accept their compliments knowing she was back to how she was supposed to be.

She could be found behind the main bar busy mixing batches of her Vortex and Bomb Cyclone Cocktails, talking with her new hire Ben who was affectionately known by his nickname of Kippy. Dark haired, handsome and fun to be around so he fit in well with the rest of her staff and who also had a bit of a crush on Eliana which she thought was sweet despite knowing Eliana wouldn't be interested.

As the band launched into their next song....

Life is a Highway

Maggie approached the bar struggling slightly as she carried an enormous bouquet of Flowers and placed them onto the counter in front of Leanna. " These are for you Boss "she said " Not sure who they're off but there is a card".

Leanna was certainly intrigued as to who would be sending her flowers and for one thing knew it couldn't be Deg'arf as well she would think something was very wrong if he did. After thanking Maggie, Leanna inspected the flowers more closely realising that the bouquet contained some of her favourites which she reasoned might just be a coincidence before picking up the note and reading it.

From A Secret AdMirer

For some reason the way it was set out freaked her out for some reason and decided that they had to be moved immediately. " Maggie, feel free to take them home with you but for now take them out of my sight" she said hoping she wouldn't ask why.

Thankfully she didn't and once they were gone, she poured herself a glass of Bomb Cylone and took a long draught of it, still slightly shaken from the note.

[T'Prina]

[Neural Core]

T'Prina bit back a sigh. Of course, this upstart Ensign would have to have his say in the matter. Personally she found his tone offensive, and idly wondered what Adeyemi had done to earn his ire. O'Connell, for her part, was also annoyed at both the snooty Vulcan and the ensign.

"Your concerns have been noted, Ensign Kentrat. The ANaLYN program has built in security protocols. It's possible your security level just isn't high enough to access them." She shrugged a shoulder, in a nonchalant manner, but inwardly she was seething.

"In any case, it seems to be a matter that should be discussed with the senior command staff. Which includes Admiral Adeyemi, despite your transparent feelings about him." T'Prina had picked up on his entirely unsubtle signal. It wouldn't hurt to alert the Admiral that he had enemies on his door step.

[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.

T'Prina nodded and held out her hand to ANaLYN. The childlike AI latched onto her hand with enthusiasm. A lesser person would have been dragged down to the ground. O'Connell frowned, and crossed her arms.

"I haven't finished speaking with you, Lt. T'Prina. I don't care if that leaves, but you are not dismissed."

"But I have finished talking with you. The Admiral has requested assistance and I am qualified to render emergency medical aid." With that said, she turned and walked out of the Neural Core, hand in hand with the tiny rescue ranger.

[ISAAC]

[Transporter Room 2]

[...]

[Turbolift]

[...]

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

[...]

ISAAC heard the admiral's response and anticipated the arrival of someone from Medical. He looked at Knox's face as he continued to hold her head off the floor with one hand and monitor the beat of her heart with his other hand. Although he couldn't determine--after a brief search in his data banks--what Knox's heart rate should be, he knew that her heart was beating steadily and strong.

[After Several Minutes]

[...]

[Outside Transporter Room 2]

The last few steps from the turbolift exit to transporter room 2 resembled more of a hurried stumble than a dashing rescue. Derek reached forward, keying the access panel as he bent over, trying to catch his breath. "Oh for...crying...out...loud..." He muttered as it refused to activate. "Computer, open this door!"

Noise from outside the transporter room door caused ISAAC to turn his head and look, but only for a moment. After returning his gaze to her completely still face, he carefully ran his fingers underneath some hair that lay over her face; as he swept the hair aside, a few strands of hair briefly became taut before they were pulled free of the thin layer of clear liquid that had formed on a burned area on her cheek.

=/\=Unable to comply, Transporter Room 2 has been security locked by authorization of Lieutenant Commander Katharoz Knox=/\=

"Medical override, Black-One-Five-Tango." He retorted, forcing himself upright as the door slid open. Inside, his worst fear was confirmed. It was Knox who lay motionless on the ground.

Just then, ISAAC spun his head around to watch the door open. He appreciated the response by a Senior Chief Petty Officer, and he wanted to assure Knox in that moment that she was going to be very well taken care of.

[Transporter Room 2]

Kneeling by Knox's side, Derek cracked open his medkit, pulling out a tricorder. "What happened?" He asked the ensign who had been with her while rapidly examining the injuries. Though her collar was singed, it seemed almost all the damage was limited to her neck up. What Derek saw concerned him. Visually, the burns didn't appear that severe, but sensors weren't often wrong when it came to lifesigns. That most likely meant some sort of neurogenic shock. Neural stimulator, pulmozine, cortolin, and-

ISAAC quickly removed his right hand from Knox's wrist and pointed toward the console, where a thin column of dense, white smoke still escaped from a charred crack along the upper edge of the console. "We were working to find a cause for some anomalies that have, on the surface, been causing an intelligently inefficient operation of the station's transporters. Below the surface, however, I suspect something nefarious to be the cause."

With that, and while continuing to cup Knox's head with his left hand, ISAAC shuffled his legs beneath him as rotated clockwise around Knox's head in an effort to give Black more room.

His train of thought crashed to a halt as the tricorder came to life with a cacophony of readings. She was alive. Not only alive, but she was even relatively well, considering the barbeque appearance of her face. "This makes no sense. Ops said there was only one lifesign." Derek frowned, turning to the ensign and scanning him. A steady tone warbled from the tricorder, confirming an absence of pulse or respiration. That's impossible. "What the hell are you?" Derek challenged the uniformed figure while raising a hand to his commbadge, following with a threat. "And give me a good reason why I shouldn't call security."

ISAAC watched as Black's efforts to render aid slowly became pushed aside by the latter's concern over the apparent discrepancy between reality and the scan readings that he received before responding. ISAAC glanced momentarily at Black's hand, which was still in contact with the combadge.

"Well, to be blunt, Senior Chief Petty Officer, I'm an Ensign assigned to this station." He looked down at Knox's face and smoothed some stray strands of hair away from her face. He looked back up at Black in an attempt to make eye contact and continued. "I support you calling Security. We need to move the Lieutenant Commander to a place where she might be better treated, and who better to ensure that she is moved safely and quickly than Security?"

[T'Prina]

[Joint post with Malcolm Adeyemi, who expertly NPC's ANaLYN]

[Turbolift]

As T'Prina rode the lift to the transporter rooms with ANaLYN, something was niggling at the back of her mind, like a loose tooth that didn't fit. She looked down at her and posed an inquiry to the small AI.

"ANaLYN, did Admiral Adeyemi sound... normal to you? I have been contacted by him numerous times, but I cannot recall an instance where he referred to himself as only Admiral. It sounded... wrong."

"Emmmmm..." The little girl pondered, looking far more serious than the situation called for. "Mack Á¢â,¬ËœEm always sounds funny, but he's from...England. And Africa. He told me that they eat blood in pudding there. You don't eat blood, do ya Mama Pwina!?"

The Vulcan merely cocked her head to the side. Getting a reasonable response was difficult with her childlike demeanor. "I believe human dietary habits evolved from their diverse cultures and different climate zones. I do not Á¢â,¬Ëœeat blood.' Like most Vulcans, I am a vegetarian. However, I am concerned about Adeyemi... Malcolm. Can you locate him?" T'Prina halted the lift. By her reckoning, both medical and engineering teams would have had ample time to reach the transporter rooms and their presence would be superfluous.

No one exactly knew how Analyn worked or when. But she always was. Right now, the hologram that represented the Artificial Intelligence was trying to lick her own elbow. She looked like any other toddler who was fixated on whatever weird impulse popped into her head, but the machinery was whirring away.

"Mack Á¢â,¬ËœEm is in another turbolift, on his way to the cargo hold with Flick Ellis. Her name is funny." In the act of trying to lick her own elbow the little girl's fire fighter hat had tipped forward and covered her hazel eyes. She pushed it back on her head. "But she's pretty. I like her long brown hair. But no one is as pwetty as you, Mama Pwina."

T'Prina lightly patted ANaLYN's helmeted head. "He is with the counselor and they are going to the cargo hold? That does not seem usual for either of them. I suggest we arrive there first and surprise them. I am sure Malcolm will enjoy that better than the time you filled his desk with streamers and glitter." If something was wrong, T'Prina needed to observe the situation and the little girl was a valuable distraction. She restarted the lift and set the new destination, heading to the cargo hold.

[Leanna Mazal]

[Puzzles]

Two Bomb Cyclone's later and Leanna had calmed down considerably after receiving her favourite flowers and seemingly innocent note but it had freaked her out just as much as the strange behaviour exhibited by Flick and the Admiral. However as usual despite how she was feeling on the outside she hid it not wanting to to let them win especially when she had made such good progress to get back to how she was supposed to be.

Her mind was clear and she knew what she had to do in relation to her friend and Adeyemi but it was too soon to act on it until she could speak to the one she trusted the most. As for the flowers and note either someone was playing a prank on her which had backfired spectacularly or well she didn't really want to think about the other option as he simply couldn't be here not unless he had a death wish.

Seamus noticing that Leanna had been drinking which wasn't unusual for her and knew she could handle her liquor walked over carrying a tray which contained one of the new sampling platter's consisting of shrimp tacos, chicken wings and mini chicken and waffles and set it down in front of Leanna.

" You need to eat"He insisted and wasn't going to back down. Leanna knew there was no point in arguing as she rarely won when he was right. So looking as though she had been told off by a parent before grinning grabbed a shrimp taco and began to eat.

"Better, I'll leave this here and I'll be back later as I'm needed up at the second bar"He said giving Leanna a look that she was unable to answer owing to the fact she was still eating so instead saluted him instead.

She had to admit that the food was excellent as always and soon devoured some more of it not realising just how hungry she had been and finally felt as though she could enjoy herself a little. Or so she thought as the band moved onto a slightly slower song.

Amazed

The first few bars of the song made her blood run cold before a fury began to build inside her as she realised that they were playing her wedding song. Taking the platter and drink so she didn't raise any concern as that was the last thing she wanted, Leanna then made a rather quick exit telling Kippy that she needed to take care of some business in her office and that she would be back out soon.

Luckily he acknowledged her without any questions and a few moments later she was back in her sanctuary, shaking slightly as she placed everything on top of her desk then sat down. Closing her eyes wiling herself to calm down again then she would have words with Alex as to why he had played that particular song.

[Derek Black]

[Transporter Room 2]

Just then, ISAAC spun his head around to watch the door open. He appreciated the response by a Senior Chief Petty Officer, and he wanted to assure Knox in that moment that she was going to be very well taken care of.

ISAAC quickly removed his right hand from Knox's wrist and pointed toward the console, where a thin column of dense, white smoke still escaped from a charred crack along the upper edge of the console. "We were working to find a cause for some anomalies that have, on the surface, been causing an intelligently inefficient operation of the station's transporters. Below the surface, however, I suspect something nefarious to be the cause."

With that, and while continuing to cup Knox's head with his left hand, ISAAC shuffled his legs beneath him as rotated clockwise around Knox's head in an effort to give Black more room.

ISAAC watched as Black's efforts to render aid slowly became pushed aside by the latter's concern over the apparent discrepancy between reality and the scan readings that he received before responding. ISAAC glanced momentarily at Black's hand, which was still in contact with the combadge.

"Well, to be blunt, Senior Chief Petty Officer, I'm an Ensign assigned to this station." He looked down at Knox's face and smoothed some stray strands of hair away from her face. He looked back up at Black in an attempt to make eye contact and continued. "I support you calling Security. We need to move the Lieutenant Commander to a place where she might be better treated, and who better to ensure that she is moved safely and quickly than Security?"

[Transporter Room 2]

"How about medical?" Derek replied sarcastically, flipping the tricorder closed with a quick flick of his wrist. "Or would you rather Security tend to her wounds as well?" He was still fuming, partially about having been forced to run for apparently a not-so-critically dead Knox. Derek even more disliked being left in the dark. Tapping his commbadge, he accessed the computer core. "Computer, identify Ensign Isaac."=/\=

=/\=Subject identified, Intelligent Synthetic Animated Android Computer, Affiliation, Starfleet, activated Stardate 68960.4, Assigned to Starbase Columbus. All other information is classified=/\=

Still frowning, Derek narrowed his gaze. "Well then, Ensign, how about you make yourself useful and find a way to either reactivate the transporters, or contact one of the docked ships and ask nicely to please use theirs?" He kept the android in sight as he dug into his kit again.

Kelotane for the burn, terakine for pain, synaptizine for neuroleptic shock. Derek ended up injecting multiple vials into Knox's arms, and was choosing an antibiotic to ward off infection by the time the gurney arrived. "Let's get her loaded up, and get some dermaline gel on that burn." He instructed, stepping back for his two medics to transfer Knox from the ground onto a anti-grav stretcher. "First thing when we get her into a biobed, I want a full body scan, I want to keep an eye on her symbiont and neurotransmitter levels. Mr.Android, how're we doing on that transporter?"

[Felicity Ellis]

[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. "

[Turbolift]

The turbolift stopped smoothly at the Admiral's command. She crossed her arms over her chest and immediately readjusted their position to compensate for shape. She listened intently to the orders her companion imparted, the beginnings of a self-satisfied smirk pulling at the corners of her mouth.

This was indeed a serendipitous turn of events. Crews and personnel would be occupied with investigating the incident in the transporter room, while she and the Admiral could get to implementing the next phase of the plan. Thus far they had evaded suspicion, and she was confident that their brief foray into the cargo bay would be mostly unhindered.

"We are ahead of schedule," she said as the turbolift wooshed back to life. Their planning and simulations had incorporated all manner of eventualities; and as yet they had encountered very little to delay them. While it was true that the most integral phase of their mission had not yet been attempted, and that it was far too early to celebrate, their trio could take a measure of confidence in their early success.

[Passageway]

She motioned for the Admiral to step outside the turbolift ahead of her, before striding purposefully down the passageway toward Cargo Hold Two.

[Auzual Knox]

[Knox's Unconscious Mind]

Gettttt Dowwwwwwn!!!!

......

Where am I? What happened? This did not go to plan. No, not at all. It was meant to be the other. Stay still. Blue. My favorite color is blue. Dark is night. The day is light. The dreamer dreams and the awake awoken. I am here. Complete.

"Well, to be blunt, Senior Chief Petty Officer, I'm an Ensign assigned to this station." He looked down at Knox's face and smoothed some stray strands of hair away from her face. He looked back up at Black in an attempt to make eye contact and continued. "I support you calling Security. We need to move the Lieutenant Commander to a place where she might be better treated, and who better to ensure that she is moved safely and quickly than Security?"

Interesting behavior. I did not see that one coming. Drinks from empty cups and eats from an empty plate. Certain level of familiarity - perhaps a lover?

Ok, stay calm, no movement. Why do I always get myself into these situations? Learn.

Kelotane for the burn, terakine for pain, synaptizine for neuroleptic shock. Derek ended up injecting multiple vials into Knox's arms, and was choosing an antibiotic to ward off infection by the time the gurney arrived. "Let's get her loaded up, and get some dermaline gel on that burn." He instructed, stepping back for his two medics to transfer Knox from the ground onto a anti-grav stretcher. "First thing when we get her into a biobed, I want a full body scan, I want to keep an eye on her symbiont and neurotransmitter levels. Mr.Android, how're we doing on that transporter?"

Child paddling naked in the sea, running towards and laughing. Medical degree ceremony, wedding party. Enjoyed flirtation during medical procedures.

Just move - move right now. Yes, you shall feel sick and dizzy. But that is temporary. You have heard everything you need.

[Transporter Room 2]

Knox sat up on the biobed rather quickly and vomited. A little splashed on ISAAC.

"Security or no security, if you would not mind gentlemen, we should be leaving. Sorry, sweetie."

She knew she could not go to medical and that all of this was wasting time. She could trust ISAAC, or at least utilize the failsafe imprinted on all synthetics following transport if it did not work out.

[Outside Transporter Room 2]

"No full body scan. As much as you would probably enjoy it, Doctor, do what you can right here right now."

She took a couple of rehydration packs from one of the medics and began drinking as they continued to work on her.

"ISAAC. What is the quickest route to Cargo Bay 2?"

Adeyemi. On our way.

[Tanner Lachlyn]

:: SBC | Briefing Room ::

Kyan peered out from behind the lecturn - and from atop the stepstool upon which he stood - to address the group of mostly cadets seated before him. Peppered in too were some enlisted folk and a few officers, but they were few and far between. Behind him, what looked like a photon torpedo hung in the air, rotating slowly.

"Merry Met all of you. Fer those folk who don't know me, Oi'm Lieutenant Commander Kyan Mackenzie. I'm in charge of security here on the station, an Oi'll be commandin these battle drills on the Gibson. It's a tree day trip so it is. We'll be doin some battle simulations against several different opponents." Kyan indicated the holographic image behind him. "This what you see here is the Enhanced Combat Holo-Opponent, or as the Science folk loik ta say... the E.C.H.O. It'll project a holographic image of an enemy ship, and mimic tactics known to be used by them."

Kyan keyed in a command on the padd in front of him, and the torpedo morphed into several vessels in sequence. included were Romulans, Klingons, Dominion, Orion Raiders, and Cardassian Warships.

"This thing is new so it is, but it's been tested by the egg heads what built it and they say it's the best way to simulate a good foight. Also, it's s'posed ta be synched up with the holo projectors on the ship and so it can simulate battle damage, boarders, dead bodies, an all sorts of other things that you'll see in real combat."

Murmered conversations sprang up among those seated, growing in volume. Kyan narrowed his eyes as he waited for it to die down. When it had gone on for a few seconds longer he spoke up.

"Shut yer mouths and listen. Yer here to be learnin the now, not flappin yer grup gums about Starfleet's new toy. Show of hands, how many of you baby grups have ever been in actual ship to ship foighting?"

A few hands went up.

"Ok, an how many of you ever fired a phaser at something ya meant tae kill, or had someone loikwise fire at yerself?"

No hands went up.

Kyan nodded. "So safe tae be saying then, that yer all still in possession of yer vitue so far as killin goes. Well guess what? I ain't. An Oi'm not standin up 'ere on this stool givin this briefin so that you can have a few days of fun an games with this toy, what won't kill you. Oi'm here on account of because Starfleet needs you tae be ready for a foight with real people who WILL kill you. An it's not talking about it that'll get you ready. It's training that will, and no mistake. So pay attention!

The room went silent.

"Good. Now, let's be talkin over a few scenarios that might happen....

~ 20 minutes later ~

"...and that was it soit was, the sadness of it. The grup lay there, bleedin out and t'wernt nothin done on account of the other folks didnae know what tae be doin. He's dead now, like some of you will probably be because they was too busy trying tae get some girl tae get naked instead of focusin on 'ih duties. Oh well. So sad... but Ensign Silly grup probably got to dip his wand in Ensign Big Hooters so... all's well roight?" He paused. "Twas rhetorical! All IS well. Yer all alive...for now. But what the lot of ye need to be pondering is what YOUR job is, and WHY your job is, and HOW to do it, because chances are better for you to be random dead grup and lucky sex grup." Kyan shrugged. "We'll be seein though. Gibson is leaving in two hours. Don't be late. Security folk stay here. Everyone else can go."

As the murmuring conversations picked back up - at a much lower volume - the assembled cadets and officers piled out, some of whom were looking pretty startled. Soon they were gone, and only the handful of security personnel were left.

"Ahh good! Oi've a special mission for you lot." he said happily as a predatory grin made it's way across his otherwise cherubic features.

Tanner looked at the rest of the Security present and felt a tiny tingling sensation at the words, 'special mission'. It wasn't the good kind of tingly either. Anytime she'd been pulled away, whether for an away mission or a special assignment on this station - chaos had ensued.

Was ducking out of this an option? Tanner swept the area and just knew there was no way she'd be able to pull off a 'oops I forgot something to do ..' and having to pee wouldn't get her anywhere near out of this.

She leaned over and whispered to the security ensign beside her, "Is he even old enough to be doing this? My kid brother likes to play soldier and I watched him happily launch fleets off cliffs"

There was a shrug and a smirk that followed, "I guess we'll just find out. But I've heard multiple things about him. Whatever you do, don't get caught talking about his size."

Tanner nodded, "Men and sizes...."

[Daniel Howell]

Main Engineering
Dan had since left Sickbay and returned to main engineering. He was assisting in refitting an injector coil into the main power system. He removed the old injector and held it in front of him. It was severely damaged from service use, and should of been replaced quite some time ago. "What is that?... Just what is that?" He asked in general holding it up in disgrace. There was a few faces of concern, no-one admitting responsibility of course. Before he could continue, a voice broke through; Commander! the voice called from across the room at a panel near the master control display, the tone was urgent." Taking a deep breath, Dan replied "Yes..." "You need to see this, there is a major power surge indicated from transporter room 2. It's blown out safety switches along the entire deck." Dan walked over to the lieutenant, "cause?" "Unknown sir."

Just then, the terminal beeped again. Dan took over, the lieutenant side stepping to the right. A power surge was indicated in the power distribution grid. "It looks like the short out in Transporter room two has sent a surge through the entire power grid. If we can't short it, it'll blow out power across the entire station." He tapped away at the terminal, re-routing the surge through various conduits and relays he knew could handle it. He turned to the lieutenant standing next to him, "I'm gonna have to short it out in engineering. Safest place to do it." His plan was to short out a terminal to the point it would of got rid of the surge. "COVER YOUR EARS!" He shouted it out before directing it to the terminal nearby. There was an almighty explosion as the terminal exploded. However, the surge then spread through the rest of the grid into engineering, sparks flew everywhere as the main lighting failed, switching to emergency mode. Sparks flew, filling the room with smoke. Then the terminal Dan was standing at also exploded, knocking Dan flying back to the ground.

There was a few moments of silence. Moments later, everyone started to pick themselves up. Thankfully, no-one seriously hurt, or really hurt at all for that matter. Dan picked himself up, his uniform smoldering from the blast. He had however dislocated his left shoulder. He looked around "Is anyone hurt?" The silence confirmed no-one was hurt. Howell headed over to one of the terminals that actually survived the surge. No other electrical faults were reported across the station and only a few circuits actually needed replacing in engineering. Sir, go to sickbay, we'll sort it out here. With respect your no use here unless you've got working arms sir. Howell didn't argue with his crew, even though he wanted to stay, he knew they were right and he trusted them enough to report to sickbay.

Sickbay
He walked into sickbay, his uniform jacket still smoldering. Holding his arm, he called out "nurse?"

[ISAAC]

[Transporter Room 2]

[Transporter Room 2]

"How about medical?" Derek replied sarcastically, flipping the tricorder closed with a quick flick of his wrist. "Or would you rather Security tend to her wounds as well?" He was still fuming, partially about having been forced to run for apparently a not-so-critically dead Knox. Derek even more disliked being left in the dark. Tapping his commbadge, he accessed the computer core. "Computer, identify Ensign Isaac."=/\=

=/\=Subject identified, Intelligent Synthetic Animated Android Computer, Affiliation, Starfleet, activated Stardate 68960.4, Assigned to Starbase Columbus. All other information is classified=/\=

ISAAC watched Black's abrupt movements and analyzed the tone of his voice. It didn't take extrasensory perception to understand Black's feelings concerning the situation. ISAAC decided to trying to explain his motivations, hoping that it would give Black an understanding.

"I apologize, Senior Chief Petty Officer, for suggesting Security rather than Medical; however, it seemed reasonable to me to conclude that your abilities would more than suffice in treating Lieutenant Commander Knox's medical needs for the time being. I was willing to encourage you to follow through with your threat to call Security if doing so increased the odds that she would remain safe."

Still frowning, Derek narrowed his gaze. "Well then, Ensign, how about you make yourself useful and find a way to either reactivate the transporters, or contact one of the docked ships and ask nicely to please use theirs?" He kept the android in sight as he dug into his kit again.

"Certainly, Senior Chief Petty Officer," ISAAC responded before realizing that his left hand was still the only thing keeping Knox's head off of the floor. "Lieutenant Commander Knox has disabled the transporters using her personal security override code. Although I would like to verbalize my objection to re-enabling the transporters, I will see if I can gain access to a "back door" by way of the console, which might allow me to get the transporters working again."

ISAAC reached over to Black's medical kit, removed a wide roll of gauze, and placed it gently beneath Knox's head. He then stood up and walked around to the front of the console to assess the damage.

Kelotane for the burn, terakine for pain, synaptizine for neuroleptic shock. Derek ended up injecting multiple vials into Knox's arms, and was choosing an antibiotic to ward off infection by the time the gurney arrived. "Let's get her loaded up, and get some dermaline gel on that burn." He instructed, stepping back for his two medics to transfer Knox from the ground onto a anti-grav stretcher. "First thing when we get her into a biobed, I want a full body scan, I want to keep an eye on her symbiont and neurotransmitter levels. Mr.Android, how're we doing on that transporter?"

ISAAC walked around the console and then the gurney as he approached Black. "Well, the console is inoperable; however, there still may be another way to get--"

[...]

[Transporter Room 2]

Knox sat up on the biobed rather quickly and vomited. A little splashed on ISAAC.

ISAAC was surprised to see Knox so quickly regain consciousness, as he looked down at the heterogeneous puddle that was splattered on the floor in front of him. After catching a glance of his right arm, he brought his hand closer to his eyes. The back of his hand and his sleeve were speckled with drops of liquid and small pieces of fibrous organic matter.

"Security or no security, if you would not mind gentlemen, we should be leaving. Sorry, sweetie."

She knew she could not go to medical and that all of this was wasting time. She could trust ISAAC, or at least utilize the failsafe imprinted on all synthetics following transport if it did not work out.

[Outside Transporter Room 2]

"No full body scan. As much as you would probably enjoy it, Doctor, do what you can right here right now."

She took a couple of rehydration packs from one of the medics and began drinking as they continued to work on her.

"ISAAC. What is the quickest route to Cargo Bay 2?"

Adeyemi. On our way.

[Outside Transporter Room 2]

ISAAC stepped out just as Knox inquired about getting to Cargo Bay 2. "I advise against using the quickest route to Cargo Bay 2, which involves using the transporters. We can use a nearby turbolift, and we will still make good time...but we must leave now."

[Xander Dorset]

[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.

[Main Science Laboratory]

Xander followed the man without another snark-filled word, too busy thinking about how he'd go about removing the chip to come up with witty quips about anything. Just as he was leaving the lab, he paused just long enough to shove a tricorder into his belt before following the Commander out and into the passageway. Xander had to take slightly larger than normal steps to keep up with the giant man, but he'd rather take awkwardly long steps than do that embarrassing half jog he'd seen other young officers do when shadowing him. Luckily, he was able to keep up without too much effort - even if the man seemed to intentionally slow down every now and then.

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.

[Promenade]

Before long, the turbolift stopped, and Xander got out, followed by the Commander. He allowed himself to be directed towards the chips, then immediately began scanning one as he was filled in on some background information on the significance of this location.

"Oddly enough, you seem to be right about cable placement being important." Xander murmured as he leaned closer to one of the chips, squinting at it accusingly. "It seems to be interacting with the magnetic fields being produced by the nearby cables somehow." At the blank look from the security officer that had been there when they arrived, Xander sighed, rolling his eyes. "All currents passing through wires will generate magnetic fields. This chip is designed to read those fields, and the changes in them over time - possibly translating that into some sort of data. Don't ask me how. I'm a scientist, not an engineer."

"Besides," he said, kneeling down and opening his kit. "That's probably not the only thing going on with this nefarious little... contraption. The only way to really understand it is to remove and dissect it. Somewhat carefully," he added with a pointed look at the German brute who liked to rip things out of walls with his bare hands.

Xander started removing a couple bottles and a thin piece of tubing from the kit and plopped down on the floor like a kid settling down on a mission to build something epic out of old Earth Legos. He looked up at the Commander (who seemed even taller from down here) and asked, "You wanna help or not?"