S1E10 Listening In

[Rayek trLhoell]

PO2 Rayek
[Betazed -Underground Security Compound- Secured Area]

While Rayek waited for the Commander to either answer his question or inform him why he'd been requested, the taunting voice was speaking in his ear again.  His right ear to be specific.   The ear in which Rayek recalled having the in-ear Universal Translator surgically fitted shortly after being accepted into Starfleet.

The harsh nasal tones spoke giddily, flaunting knowledge that Rayek had shared with no one.  Personal revelations that he only had ever shared once - to his personal log as an audio entry not that long ago, which he had then immediately deleted lest it fall into the wrong hands.  He should have known that the personal log system was being monitored... and it seemed to have been hacked for he doubted Starfleet would tip him off of their monitoring his logs to taunt him about his relationship interests. So that suggested at least two systems hacked - the logs and the translators... Or was it just the translators?.. the log had been audio.. they could have just hacked into the audio of the translators..   But who? And for what purpose was he being taunted?

Then Rayek noticed around him several other Challenger security members acting oddly - frowning, or holding their hand to their ear as if they were trying to stop an annoying sound.  Oh.. so it wasn't just him...

Rayek then studied the Admiralty in attendance to see if they were acting oddly.. hearing things as well.. was it just the Challenger that had been hacked or the entire Universal translator system?

"Commander, we have a serious problem." At which point he glanced about the room and spotted the projector terminal and motioned the Commander over towards it with him.  He leaned over the ranking Officer seated at the terminal and typed in on the console the words:
Universal Translators compromised. No one speak.

The words appeared overhead for all to see.  There were several gasps and rustlings as most of the room fell silent except for one blustering Officer - a Starfleet Admiral.  "Compromised.. what proof do you have of this?" He demanded to know angrily.

[Lizzie Vaughan]

[Quarters]

Her first mission with the Challenger had taken her all the way to Betazed. Growing up she had always found herself envious of Betazoid's. Where she had lost her sense of hearing, something she had lived with until recently, they had an additional sense. That was a feeling she had to shove down and suppress to make sure it wasn't going to interfere with her duties. The young woman looked at herself in a mirror for a moment, being shift with the crew she wanted to make sure everything was absolutely perfect. She sighed slightly and then looked at the clock on her wall to check the time. She needed to report to the bridge soon, she refused to be late on her first day.

[Bridge]

The doors opened to admit the officer, her eyes scanned over the officer on deck and noted that they all seemed distressed. A worried look appeared on Ashley's face as her mind raced over possible things that would create such notable distress among all of the officers. Without saying a word she rushed to her station at flight control and prepared to get to work. She shoved all of the "worst-case" thoughts to the back of her mind and attempted to only focus on her job.

Bridge

Lizzie was waiting for the update from Ops when a unfamiliar face entered and took at seat at the helm without even reporting in. Since they were actually not going anywhere, she went over to her.

"I'm sorry, we've not been introduced. I'm Lieutenant Commander Vaughan the CMO. And you are?" She enquired softly.

[Ashley Weir]

Bridge

Lizzie was waiting for the update from Ops when a unfamiliar face entered and took at seat at the helm without even reporting in. Since they were actually not going anywhere, she went over to her.

"I'm sorry, we've not been introduced. I'm Lieutenant Commander Vaughan the CMO. And you are?" She enquired softly.

[Bridge]

Ashley's face blushed slightly. She had never quite gotten use to using her voice to speak. She was still far more use to the American Sign Language she had used all her life. "Oh...um...I-I'm Lieutenant Junior Grade Ashley Weir. I'm the ships new flight officer." She replied. Though she was using her voice, her hands still signed along with it. It wasn't something she did consciously, it was second nature to her at this point actually. "Of course, you probably knew that last part since I'm at the helm I guess. It's my first shift with the crew, I'm sorry." Her accent was an odd American-like form of an Irish one.

[Lizzie Vaughan]

[Bridge]

Ashley's face blushed slightly. She had never quite gotten use to using her voice to speak. She was still far more use to the American Sign Language she had used all her life. "Oh...um...I-I'm Lieutenant Junior Grade Ashley Weir. I'm the ships new flight officer." She replied. Though she was using her voice, her hands still signed along with it. It wasn't something she did consciously, it was second nature to her at this point actually. "Of course, you probably knew that last part since I'm at the helm I guess. It's my first shift with the crew, I'm sorry." Her accent was an odd American-like form of an Irish one.

Bridge

Lizzie gave the other woman a smile.

"Ah yes. I remember being told of a transfer happening." She replied.

She looked at the younger woman's hands and realised she was doing sign language.

"I'm sorry, are you hard of hearing?" She asked, using sign language herself as well her voice. She was a bit rusty but she figured she could remember enough.

[Ashley Weir]

Bridge

Lizzie gave the other woman a smile.

"Ah yes. I remember being told of a transfer happening." She replied.

She looked at the younger woman's hands and realised she was doing sign language.

"I'm sorry, are you hard of hearing?" She asked, using sign language herself as well her voice. She was a bit rusty but she figured she could remember enough.

[Bridge]

A soft, but warm smile appeared on Ashley's face as Lizzie began to sign in reply. "Not anymore, no. I was in an accident when I was very young and was completely deaf for most of my life. Just over a year ago I received..." She went silent a moment as she tried to think of the word in English. After a few moments she quickly signed the word for 'surgery', hoping that Vaughn would understand what she meant. "It was something that was completely experimental until recently. But thankfully it worked and corrected my hearing." She replied quietly. It didn't really bother her when words tripped her up. It was more a mild annoyance than it was a problem for her.

[Lek]

[Engineering]

Lek, who never had to worry about it before, was livid at the intrusion into his mind and he was determined to do something about it.

"Going by the expressions on your faces, I am not the only one who heard a telepathic voice speaking in their heads?"

Lek asked the other engineers and a quiet voice of Ensign James spoke up.

"Sir, it wasn't in my head, it was in my ear, specifically my right ear. Telepathy isn't like that. I...I dated a Betazoid for a short time and the few times he did try telepathic communication, it was in my head, this was different."

Lek frowned as he thought over what he'd heard and nodded as he replied.

"You are right Ensign, it was in my right ear. Was it the same for all of you?"

Everyone in engineering nodded or growled "Yes."

Lek thought furiously as he tried to correlate the information he had into a useful course of action.

"Right ear. Right ear. Right ear. What is special about the right ear? Wait, do hyoomons have their universal translator in their right ears? It's standard practice on Ferenginar."

On seeing more nods, he had a plan.

"Some PetaQ had hacked the universal translator! We need to set up a dampening field! Lewis, Santar, and Fletcher, I need you to work on that. Ensign James, you are with me, we need to change the computer access and add a new security layer. Hop to it, we have to shut this nonsense, and stop it now."

There were a chorus of "Aye sirs" as the engineering staff jumped to their assigned tasks with an anger fueled passion that only the wronged could feel.

[Lizzie Vaughan]

[Bridge]

A soft, but warm smile appeared on Ashley's face as Lizzie began to sign in reply. "Not anymore, no. I was in an accident when I was very young and was completely deaf for most of my life. Just over a year ago I received..." She went silent a moment as she tried to think of the word in English. After a few moments she quickly signed the word for 'surgery', hoping that Vaughn would understand what she meant. "It was something that was completely experimental until recently. But thankfully it worked and corrected my hearing." She replied quietly. It didn't really bother her when words tripped her up. It was more a mild annoyance than it was a problem for her.

Bridge

Lizzie nodded and gave another smile in reply. She stopped signing as the woman in front of her could hear.

"Ah yes. I remember hearing about the procedure. From what you are saying it has been completely successful." She replied. "Well anyway, welcome aboard the Challenger."

She paused before lowering her voice.

"What I'm about to ask may seem odd. But I ask that you treat the question seriously. Do you understand?" She asked.

[Bonnie Moors]

The crowd of people speaking in his hear was too loud and too varied for him to focus on much else. He tried to hear what they were saying, but the people were speaking over one another. It was just dozens of conversations all going on around him. Crowded spaces were one of the things that Elijah hated more than anything else. That and bright, unpredictable lighting. Shipboard alert klaxons were awful, but he had developed his own ways of dealing with those. Crowds though, were not so easily managed. So he avoided them. Now though, it was as though he was in a crowd of people and he couldn't leave. As it progressed, he knew that it wasn't in the room around him. He saw the others react, but they were reacting to him. He put his hands up to cover his ears but that didn't help.

This was one of the reasons why he hadn't gone to Betazed. There were stories of telapaths speaking to people inside their heads, which he wasn't keen on. The conversations were also getting louder. But if it wasn't in the room, then it was just him hearing it. Which mean telepathy or something else.

Everything was breaking down, and Elijah felt himself losing control. He reached into the backpack on his chair to get the deactivated phaser that he used as a stim device. Bonnie was saying something to him, but he couldn't make it out over the noise in his ears. He got the phaser and started pressing the button but it didn't help. Elijah hadn't had a meltdown in ages, but this situation was headed that direction quickly. His breathing quickened and his heart beat faster as the voices just continued talking... and laughing, and some shouted. Some were whispering. But he couldn't make out any of them. Elijah flattened himself against the bulkhead and pressed his hands against it in an effort to keep them still. They wanted to flap, or to smack him in the head to counteract the noise that he couldn't turn off.

The phaser was not working, which meant he wasn't going to be able to stim himself out of a meltdown. His glasses wouldn't work either, because the noise was coming from inside his head... or..

Elijah knew that he wasn't going to be able to communicate with Bonnie or Wentworth or the others in short order. Meltdowns took that away from him and left him in a state where he couldn't think, couln't move, or communicate with words or body language. Sometimes he screamed, sometime he hit himself... although that was more prevalent when he was younger. He'd learned some alternate behaviors, which is what was was trying to do now with his hands to avoid smacking himself in the heard.

"T-Translator." he said. "Get it out!"

That was all he could manage before slinking to the floor. He wanted to say more, or think, or help himself but it wasn't going to happen in the near term. And if Bonnie and the others couldn't get rid of the offending stimuli from his UT, then it wasn't going to happen at all.

Primary Science Labs

Bonnie watched as the situation turned south quickly. She had never worked with someone who had ASD this severely when she was a GP. This was a first for her, she felt rather calm while it was going on, something she had learned from her adoptive father and partially from university.

Bonnie exhaled deeply as the situation accelerated from bad to even worse. She nodded in acknowledgement when he mentioned the translator. She lowered down to him and removed the ear piece from his ear. Bonnie had left her translator in her quarters, she had no need for it given that she knew the language but the ear piece seemed to be having some form of disturbance. She could look into it later, she needed to make sure Elijah was ok first.

Bonnie looked up at Wentworth. "Make sure our data is secure, and help wherever else we are needed. You are the lead while I make sure Elijah is ok." Bonnie said, lowering down to Elijah's side and reassuringly giving his arm a gentle squeeze. Bonnie tapped her commbadge. She evidently needed to get him out of here. =^=Emergency transport, two from primary science lab one to sickbay.=^= Bonnie and Elijah were beamed to the sickbay shortly after.

Sickbay

As the two arrived in sickbay, Bonnie grabbed hold of Elijah and raised him into one of the biobeds with the help of a nurse who quickly came over after they were transported.

"He had a panic attack, there seemed to be some sort of disturbance. He needs a relaxant and some rest." Bonnie paused for a moment. "It looks as though his translator has malfunctioned. I'll go and get it checked out by a member of the crew once I know Elijah is ok." She finished.

[Kyle Briggs]

[Compound - Secured Area]

Rayek arrived back at the meeting room still no nearer to having an answer.  He was met outside the door by yet more security and had to be screened in before he was allowed to pass this time.  He quickly located the Commander and reported in.  "Commander. The Captain is secured in the Brig.  He said nothing in regards to his arrest other than he wants me to find those responsible."  Quieter so to be just heard by the Commander, "May I ask, sir, how the Captain was implicated in the first place?"

Kyle looked up from the terminal he was using as Rayek spoke. "Sadly, it was his access code used to release the records that were transmitted. I was gonna work for him to resolve the issue but he chose to be secured in the Brig.

About that time, Kyle's mind visitor was back.

Oh come on koyo. You know we're not gonna be that easy, sasa ke? Where's the fun in that? You know it's true. You'll never win. The Captain will go down and you'll have failed yet another superior. Can't even keep them safe in the home of the Federation! Aie aie aie what a failure. Why bother any more, ke?

He quickly covered his ear and tried to block it out. But he was having a hard time as the words struck true. He had failed Dylan and now it was up to him to set things right. He turned to face Rayek once more as the voice vanished.

PO2 Rayek
[Betazed -Underground Security Compound- Secured Area]

While Rayek waited for the Commander to either answer his question or inform him why he'd been requested, the taunting voice was speaking in his ear again.  His right ear to be specific.   The ear in which Rayek recalled having the in-ear Universal Translator surgically fitted shortly after being accepted into Starfleet.

The harsh nasal tones spoke giddily, flaunting knowledge that Rayek had shared with no one.  Personal revelations that he only had ever shared once - to his personal log as an audio entry not that long ago, which he had then immediately deleted lest it fall into the wrong hands.  He should have known that the personal log system was being monitored... and it seemed to have been hacked for he doubted Starfleet would tip him off of their monitoring his logs to taunt him about his relationship interests. So that suggested at least two systems hacked - the logs and the translators... Or was it just the translators?.. the log had been audio.. they could have just hacked into the audio of the translators..   But who? And for what purpose was he being taunted?

Then Rayek noticed around him several other Challenger security members acting oddly - frowning, or holding their hand to their ear as if they were trying to stop an annoying sound.  Oh.. so it wasn't just him...

Rayek then studied the Admiralty in attendance to see if they were acting oddly.. hearing things as well.. was it just the Challenger that had been hacked or the entire Universal translator system?

"Commander, we have a serious problem." At which point he glanced about the room and spotted the projector terminal and motioned the Commander over towards it with him.  He leaned over the ranking Officer seated at the terminal and typed in on the console the words:
Universal Translators compromised. No one speak.

The words appeared overhead for all to see.  There were several gasps and rustlings as most of the room fell silent except for one blustering Officer - a Starfleet Admiral.  "Compromised.. what proof do you have of this?" He demanded to know angrily.

Kyle thought about it for a second before realizing that it was the area in which the UT was implanted. He shot a glance at the Admiral that had made the outburst. He angrily nodded toward the screen as he now typed his own message. It would display on all monitors in the room so everyone would see and react.

It's the only thing that makes since. Everyone in Star Fleet has them and we're all hearing voices from the implant area. It's the only thing making any since right now.

The console chimed a few seconds later. Kyle looked and cussed aloud. More sensitive records had been released. Then he grinned. The culprit had finally made a mistake. He turned to the Security Officer.

"Mister Rayek. Have the Captain brought back here right away if you will."

[Olivia Briggs]

[Lounge]

After abandoning both the picnic and their quarters, Liv had sought refuge in the Lounge, glad that she had least brought toys to keep Elijah occupied until it was safe to go back or if Kyle returned to the ship first. Depp down she knew it wasn't something in their quarters and that there had to be another reason for the horrible strange voices but until she knew what was going on it was best for them both to stay here.

She had spoken briefly with Javen & Shay the members of her team covering what was normally the busy lunchtime/afternoon rush and was now sat at one of the tables in the corner that gave enough room for Elijah to play and for mother and son to enjoy some lunch since she had left the picnic behind in the rush to leave. Deciding that she would deal with it when she got back and would make it up to her son once this was all over and everything returned to normal.

[Ashley Weir]

Bridge

Lizzie nodded and gave another smile in reply. She stopped signing as the woman in front of her could hear.

"Ah yes. I remember hearing about the procedure. From what you are saying it has been completely successful." She replied. "Well anyway, welcome aboard the Challenger."

She paused before lowering her voice.

"What I'm about to ask may seem odd. But I ask that you treat the question seriously. Do you understand?" She asked.

[Bridge]

Ashley shyly thought for a moment, formulating a response carefully. "Oh. Uhm. Sure." She responded, brushing her hair behind her right ear for a moment. "I'll try my hardest to treat it as seriously as possible. What's the question?" She inquire. She assumed it would be some kind of question about what it was like to be deaf. It was something she was entirely use to at this point and almost came to expect. It was always hard for her to explain, it was actually just as hard to explain her side as trying to explain sounds to her at a younger age.

[Lizzie Vaughan]

[Bridge]

Ashley shyly thought for a moment, formulating a response carefully. "Oh. Uhm. Sure." She responded, brushing her hair behind her right ear for a moment. "I'll try my hardest to treat it as seriously as possible. What's the question?" She inquire. She assumed it would be some kind of question about what it was like to be deaf. It was something she was entirely use to at this point and almost came to expect. It was always hard for her to explain, it was actually just as hard to explain her side as trying to explain sounds to her at a younger age.

Bridge

Lizzie nodded.

"Have you heard a voice that sounds like a transmission in you right ear? Only you would have been able to hear it and it would have said something personal to you?" She asked.

[Rayek trLhoell]

PO2 Rayek
[Betazed - Underground Security Compound - Secured Area]

[Compound - Secured Area]

Kyle looked up from the terminal he was using as Rayek spoke. "Sadly, it was his access code used to release the records that were transmitted. I was gonna work for him to resolve the issue but he chose to be secured in the Brig.

About that time, Kyle's mind visitor was back.

He quickly covered his ear and tried to block it out. But he was having a hard time as the words struck true. He had failed Dylan and now it was up to him to set things right. He turned to face Rayek once more as the voice vanished.

Kyle thought about it for a second before realizing that it was the area in which the UT was implanted. He shot a glance at the Admiral that had made the outburst. He angrily nodded toward the screen as he now typed his own message. It would display on all monitors in the room so everyone would see and react.

It's the only thing that makes since. Everyone in Star Fleet has them and we're all hearing voices from the implant area. It's the only thing making any since right now.

Rayek nodded, glad that the Commander was in agreement, that would make things easier.   Now he just needed to get into the system himself and trace the source of the hack.  He was about to do that when each computer console in the room chimed.  Rayek quickly read over the information on his screen and heard the Commander swear.  More records had been released - sensitive ones, like classified mission logs.

[Compound - Secured Area]
The console chimed a few seconds later. Kyle looked and cussed aloud. More sensitive records had been released. Then he grinned. The culprit had finally made a mistake. He turned to the Security Officer.

"Mister Rayek. Have the Captain brought back here right away if you will."

Rayek barely kept from grimacing at the order.  He would be of more use tracking down the hacker than escorting the Captain, but apparently the Commander either didn't know of his capabilities or didn't trust him in the system around sensitive information. Either way, he had his orders. "Yessir."

Rayek left the secured area and headed once more down towards the brig, once more double-timing it.  As he jogged through the corridors, the voice was at his ear once more taunting him.  It knew that he knew about the hacked implants, but suggested that they would never find him.  Rayek pointedly did not react to its commentary.

He arrived in the Brig and quickly relayed his orders to the security officer there and soon the Captain was once more under Rayek's supervision, still with his hands bound.  "This way sir."  Rayek started to guide the Captain back towards the secured meeting area.

Suddenly it was the Captain's voice he was hearing in his right ear, even though Rayek was holding onto the Captain, with the man on his left.  A transmission via his UT, Rayek quickly deduced but even mindful of that the recorded message caught Rayek off guard and he stopped mid-way to the secured area to turn towards the Captain with a suddenly cold expression and a murmured sneer "I should have known."

Rayek's grip on the Captain's arm tighten almost to the point of being painful as he started to move once again.   

[Lek]

[Engineering]

The crewmen tasked with setting up the dampening field struggled to match frequency of the universal translator without jamming half the systems on the ship.
Lek and James on the other hand only had to add a new level of security, which didn't require conflicting systems.

"I'm adding a thumbprint access lock out on my end." Lek all but purred as he knew, no matter how skilled the hacker, you could not evade a physical biometric security protocol remotely.

"I've changed the access codes to the computers and the communications systems sir." Kasey James added from the station next to Lek. "I'd like to see anyone get into our systems now!" The young ensign exclaimed caught up in the moment of a difficult engineering problem.

[Ashley Weir]

Bridge

Lizzie nodded.

"Have you heard a voice that sounds like a transmission in you right ear? Only you would have been able to hear it and it would have said something personal to you?" She asked.

[Bridge]

Ashley paused, a worried expression overcoming her. "Uhm..N-no. I haven't. S-Should I be hearing it? Maybe um...I still have issues sorting noise and processing them like most people can. Maybe that's why I can't hear it? Or..." She though carefully for a moment. She didn't want her paranoia that she was going to loose her hearing again to show to other people. Especially not people she'd just met. "Never mind actually." She added after a brief reflective silence.