Season 1 Mission 10 - Lights Out

[E'Veece Septimus]

Engineering
As busy as it had been in Engineering, he had a feeling things were starting to slow down, or at least they were until the voice of Septimus came over comms. Dan tapped his badge in reply Go ahead...

USS Gibson

"Go ahead," came a response from engineering, though not the engineering she intended. She may not have known she may've just contacted the Columbus' engineering, rather than the Gibson's, by mistake.

"Engineering, is there any sign of contamination in the Gibson's systems? Are we safe to launch?

Realizing she would probably be best qualified to fly the Gibson out, E'Veece got up from the Captain's chair and hopped over to the helm, awaiting for an OK or a warning not to depart.

[Jenna McKinson]

[ Passageway between the Orbital Stabilizers and the Neural Core]

Some time had passed from the time that T'Prina and Jenna had met in the Orbital Stabilizers room. She sighed for a moment, but it was not situation. It was the day starting to wear on her as she walked. "You know you'd think that walking through a long dark corridor with just your flashlight to guide you would be kinda of creepy or unsettling. It's not for me sadly," Jenna began with a tone of disappointment. "I've been through worse and honestly I've been through about a hundred of these hallways today. I hope we find light soon or I swear I'm going to become nocturnal."

"The evolutionary process takes a much longer time. But this panel here," she paused to pry away part of the wall revealing a fairly well lit tube downwards. "Should lead us down to the next deck where the Neural Core is located." A chime like an 8-bit fanfare played. She heard an audible groan behind her coming from Jenna. The chime then transitioned into a song that sounded like a victory song, but at the same time a fight song from a video role playing game.

"Two new challengers apwear. Will Ye Twake the challenge or die a coward?" The analyn said said in a pirate sounding voice.

"Oh God not again!" Jenna thought. She looked at the panel and the tube.Her eyes followed until she found the rather large ventilation cover. If her calculations were correct, this would get them to their destination faster. "T'Prina, the Analyn wishes to play a game with us. I have been a part of her games and we need to vamoose asap if we are to get to our destination quickly. I noticed there is a ventilation shaft nearby. I have my hoverbelt charged so if we use that, we should be able to lower ourselves to the lower deck and knock the grate out. We can try that or the long way and see what is up the Analyn's sleeve. Trust me what I say right now I'd rather take the ventilation shaft," Jenna said whispering to T'Prina. She had hoped that the Analyn didn't hear.

"Can you be certain that the vent is not what she considers 'the coward's way?' In any case, I believe our combined weight may overload the motor on your hoverbelt. You may take the vent, and I will take the long way. By splitting up, we ensure at least one of us will continue on." T'Prina was in no way concerned by the childish AI's attempts at intimidation. "I am Lieutenant T'Prina and I accept your challenge, Analyn."

Jenna bit her tongue. As tired as she was and with the onset headache, she hated being called a coward. This steamed her up enough to respond as well. She was going to show up that Vulcan that called her a coward. "Ah what the hell," She said to herself before turning the same way as T'Prina. "Eh.. why not. Player two Ensign Jenna McKinson accepts the challenge as well." She added a bit of fake enthusiasm.

"Do you believe that to be the wisest course of action?" T'Prina hissed to the side, quietly. "Already you are fatigued, to push yourself now may lead to a needless injury, Ensign." The Vulcan was about to add more, but Analyn interrupted.

"Auntie Pwina? I Á¢â,¬Ëœmember you. When Analyn was born, you were there with Mamaconnell. You Á¢â,¬Ëœmember her, wight? Mamaconnell wouldn't pway with me. She said I was a mistwake. She was a meany face so I put her in Time Out. But Auntie Pwina and her fwiend can come play now. I'll bwing you now."

Jenna listened along. Though she knew T'Prina had a plan up her sleeve, she was right about Jenna being tired. However, she wasn't going to let that Vulcan know about it. She then thought about the Analyn's comments. "Friend eh? Well I mean I wouldn't be against it, but it'd be hard to try for though. Ehh... what am I doing listening to an AI?! Well it's just as valid as listening to Cal in my head" Jenna thought.

T'Prina's mind was racing. Somehow Analyn had done something to Commander O'Connell and was now running amok completely unchecked. It was a much more dangerous situation than a few unintended lines of code causing errors. "Ensign, I suggest we proceed with extreme caution. I think it may be too late to go back and request assistance."

"I agree one thousand percent," Jenna began. "It's intriguing to me to say the least. Analyn do you think you can beam us down to you? I have a wicked story I'd love to tell you and it involves my locket. It's about two princesses and two princes who were best friends." As Jenna said this, she motioned toward her neck which had the necklace hidden under her suit.

"I love stories especialwlly involing pwrincesses. Hold on tight!"The Analyn stated with a giddy tone.

Jenna smirked for a moment. It seemed that her quick thinking would get them to their destination quickler. "I just wanted to say that no one calls me a coward 100 k," Jenna said. She then pulled out her PADD and showed T'Prina a photo of a scar on her arm. "See that? I got that from a python who bit me after I wrestled him off a man. I was helping my doctor friend Caleb out."

"I never said you were one. The bravada is entirely unnecessary." T'Prina raised one swooped eyebrow, at the outburst. "Just what do you mean by, 100 k?"

"It's short for 100 degrees Kelvin," Jenna said. "I'm surprised it didn't click. It's just a nickname don't sweat it" This made Jenna chuckle. She rarely gave out nicknames, but this one seemed special. Maybe she could use it every so often as a tease toward T'Prina.

"Awight! Two to bweam down!" Analyn announced in an excited voice and began the transport, directly to the Neural Core.

[Malcolm Adeyemi]

[Operations]

"=/\=Gibson, this is Captain Adeyemi. You are cleared to depart." He said after tapping his commbadge. They needed all the ships they could get right now.

"Analyn...are you wtih me? Adeyemi asked.

"Cap'n! I can appear simultan...simultane...I AM EVERYWHERE!" The little girl cried out dramatically.

"Send out a standard distress call."

"Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeek!" Analyn trilled out, like an enraged guinea pig.

[Sector Space - USS Blackfoot]

"Sir...signal coming in from the Columbus." The operations officer said quizzically, a tone that confused her commanding officer.

"Put it through, lieutenant."

"WHEEEEEEEEEEK!"

The entire bridge plugged their ears or sensory organs and the captain made a vicious gesture. The sound ceased.

"Sounded like my cousin's ferret about to war dance," The security officer said.

"Can the editorials," The captain said. "Try to raise the Starbase Columbus."

"Already have, sir, but the same signal is coming through. That's all." The comm officer told the bridge.

"Plot a course."

[Auzual Knox]

[Neural Core]

Ch'pok stood tall and proud, in a pink tutu and a diamond tiara.

No no no no noooooooooooo! Captain is being naughty. Naughty boys need to be told off and sit in the naughty corner. Lady Twill, I am scared. Do you think the Captain is a big big meany? He is, he is! It's not fair I just want to play! Klig-on we can play, you do not have to go to bed! Yay! But, the Captain needs to be told off for being a big grumpy grumps grumps."

Knox and Ch'pok just stared at Analyn and then each other.

[Michael J. Tritter]

[Location: Aquaponics bay]

Tritter stuck to doing something that he was actually good at and could be useful. The large man was helping the not so strong Science Officer get the large pods ready to be put back into the Aquaponics system so that food could be grown once again. Tritter was ducking the fairly large bubbles that their AI was having all too much scattering throughout the area, occasionally one would hear a child's giggle.

Tritter although had no interest in planting seeds, he was no good at it and the Science Officer seemed plenty comfortable with it, whistling and flicking their wrist in a... curious way. Tritter just kept his comments to himself. He would watch the man seed each of the fairly large 20 pods that would go back into the bay. He noticed that they were planting things like potatoes, beans, tomatoes, corn, various staples that the Station relied on for survival, and without it, they would have a complete and utter riot on their hands.

[T'Prina]

[Neural Core]

T'Prina and Jenna shimmered into existence dressed much differently from when they had beamed out of the corridor. Jenna was dressed head to toe in a hot pink and black pirate costume, referencing Analyn's earlier pirate challenge. On her finger was a shining silver snake ring, maybe a commentary of the AI's opinion of the Ensign. By contrast, T'Prina was clad in a shining pink and lavender suit of armor, complete with shield.

The Vulcan looked around the room, and took the costume change in stride. She recognized the Trill, but the Klingon was a surprise. Obviously his clothing was chosen by Analyn. The Neural Core appeared to have been converted into a sort of holosuite. A small child stood at the center of the room and hummed Á¢â,¬ËœPop Goes the Weasel.' A worried look spread across her cherubic face.

"Auntie Pwina, you're here!" Analyn shouted with relief.

The girl scampered across the room, her long brown hair streamed out behind her. She attacked T'Prina's waist with a hug, as T'Prina jerked the shield out of the way. Technically, it wouldn't hurt a hologram, but the girl seemed so lifelike, a protective instinct had taken over. The Vulcan awkwardly patted her on the head with her free hand.

"All I wanna do is play with evewybody but Captain Grumpypants wants to make me go Á¢â,¬Ëœway. But I'm inside all the Starbase. The Mamaconnell said I'm fully inter graded and I can't be removed wit'out evewything goin' bad. All the stuff will go Á¢â,¬Ëœsplodey." The girl sighed and hugged tighter. T'Prina was uncomfortable but didn't want to agitate the AI even further.

"The Mamaconnell was trying to undo parts of me and that's when stuff went kablooey. So I put her in Time Out and tried to help all by myself. She was bad and hurt the Starbase and now there's no fishsticks and no one told me fruit punch was bad for making fires wet." Analyn seemed to be crying, little body heaving with sobs. It seemed she truly wanted to help, even with her misguided mischievous efforts. T'Prina stroked her hair, at a loss for how to deal with a computer's emotional outburst. She looked around the room, to see if the others were taking in this information, before formulating her response.

"As I see it, Captain Adeyemi should be informed immediately of how dangerous his plan is. He is reasonably intelligent and competent. I am sure he will understand the gravity of the situation. Please open a direct line to the Captain, little one."

"Captain Adeyemi, this Lt. T'Prina. I must ask that you desist attempts to disconnect Analyn from all systems. Doing so will result in cascading systems failures as the AI is fully integrated. The first outages occurred when Commander O'Connell attempted the same procedure. It is my understanding that her mind was linked to the systems download to help boot the personality AI. I feel perhaps she was not disciplined enough. I would like to volunteer myself, to be linked to Analyn in a soft reboot of the program. If it behaves according to my calculations, the errors should self correct. There is a risk that the reverberations from the mass data influx could be damaging to myself, but I am certain this may be the best solution for everyone."=/\=

T'Prina took a breath, and awaited a response. It was unsettling to have come to such an impulsive decision so quickly, but the more she thought about it, the clearer it seemed. A small, entirely illogical part of her, wished that Jett had been around to witness her statement to the Captain. It was entirely the sort of self sacrificing thing he would do. It wasn't about heroics though, it was simply solving a problem.

[Malcolm Adeyemi]

[Neural Core]

"As I see it, Captain Adeyemi should be informed immediately of how dangerous his plan is. He is reasonably intelligent and competent. I am sure he will understand the gravity of the situation. Please open a direct line to the Captain, little one."

"Captain Adeyemi, this Lt. T'Prina. I must ask that you desist attempts to disconnect Analyn from all systems. Doing so will result in cascading systems failures as the AI is fully integrated. The first outages occurred when Commander O'Connell attempted the same procedure. It is my understanding that her mind was linked to the systems download to help boot the personality AI. I feel perhaps she was not disciplined enough. I would like to volunteer myself, to be linked to Analyn in a soft reboot of the program. If it behaves according to my calculations, the errors should self correct. There is a risk that the reverberations from the mass data influx could be damaging to myself, but I am certain this may be the best solution for everyone."=/\=

[Ops]

"=/\=Standby." Adeyemi ordered. His voice was hard and firm, hardly affected by the chaos around them. When it came time to listen and make command decisions, the captain was your man.

"Options." Was all he said, in a tone that sounded as if he was surprised that no one had started speaking.

"Sir, I..." The Operations officer, Daorn, started.

"What is it, commander? Speak your mind."

"We have to take her offline." The Tellarite said. "She's wrecked half of the systems on the Station. Pulling the plug may be painful, but it's what has to be done."

"Excuse me, sirs, but that's damned cold blooded." Petty Officer Toni Proscia was a buxom, gorgeous human female with a reputation for an acid tongue. "She's just a little girl. She doesn't know what she's doing. Perhaps an all or nothing approach isn't called for here."

"'She' is nothing but an artificial intelligence construct, circuits and wires." Daorn shot back testily. "Human sentimentality is not going to help us here. Uh, no offense, captain. Yank the system, now."

"Captain Adeyemi," Proscia turned to face him more squarely, dark green eyes flashing. "I am a security expert. One of the first things you learn in security is that you keep the peace whenever possible. Analyn is communicating with Lieutenants Knox and T'Prina. Let them keep communicating. When a child acts out, you don't just send her to timeout. You tell her what she did wrong, right?"

"This 'child' is capable of killing us all on a whim," Daorn said. "The system needs to be shut down, forever."

The captain held up a hand, turned away from them. His face was a grim mask, narrowed eyes, and a fiercer expression than any of them. He tapped his commbadge.

"=/\=Adeyemi to McKinson, Knox, and T'Prina. Continue talking with...her. T'Prina, link yourself to her. All of you do whatever you can. And God help us if you're wrong."

[E'Veece Septimus]

USS Gibson, Bridge

Everything seemed to be checked out on the Gibson. Having already hopped into the helm chair, E'Veece was in the perfect position to fly the Rhode Island-Class ship out.

"Everyone brace yourself! I've done this a million times! But only one actual.... Including this one...."

The pace was slow at first, owing to E'Veece getting the hang of the ship, that is until she was comfortable enough and she gracefully took the small vessel out at full impulse. Should anyone aboard the Gibson or the Columbus be looking out their observation window, they might faint due to how fast and close she cut it.

"Prepare to activate tractor beam on my mark..... Mark!"

The pulling beam deployed from the Gibson without incident, locking on to the Columbus. She got a message over comms about how it wasn't having exactly the desired effect, until she announced she was going back to full impulse. The Gibson shuddered a bit. Moments passed until she got confirmation that the combined starships had managed to undoom the doomed Starbase, that they had managed to not only halt its decaying orbit, but now were pulling it away and back into place.

"Gibson to Columbus! Mission accomplished!"=/\=

[Leanna Mazal]

[Puzzles]

After making sure Rixxy was okay and that Eliana was behaving herself with the male clientele, Leanna decided to head to her office to start cleaning up in there before doing her usual rounds of tables and booths as she always liked to chat to her customers, deal with any issues and listen to their stories. Plus it gave her the chance to get to know them especially those who were likely to become regulars besides it allowed them to see how approachable and friendly she was.

Once the door closed behind her, she walked over to her desk and knelt down to pick up the photographs and other paraphernalia that had fallen when the station started to list to one side then after she had reorganised them onto her desk. She then took a moment to sit down in the large comfortable chair behind it and close her eyes briefly to shut everything out. It wasn't often that she did this but from time to time it did help even more so after leaving Matthias and dealing with the fallout from it.

Eyes open and she looked around the modest yet stylish room before allowing her gaze to wander onto a particular photo smiling at the image knowing deep down that she was now safe and that the person she was looking at would soon be with her on the station. However her thoughts were then interrupted by a knock on the door smiling again when she realised who it was. " Alex don't just stand there come in " she called happily as he opened the door.

The tall dark haired lead singer of the house band grinned when he saw her " Hey Boss I just thought to come and let you know that we're almost finished with our set" he said making Leanna wonder if that was the real reason for his visit as normally one of the others would tell her.

" Thanks for letting me know Alex, but are you that's all that you wanted to tell me ?" She asked trying not to grin or let him win his little game.

" Ah erm .... he paused realising he had been caught out making Leanna look at him more playfully." Well I did think that you might want to y'know hang out later" he admitted as he ran his hand through his hair.

" I might consider it depending on what else happens today but Alex I will need you and the band to perhaps play again as we agreed when I hired you" she said not moving from her desk.

His mood however returned to its normal happy self, giving her a mock salute before quickly turning to leave knowing he had said enough.

Shaking her head slightly as she watched him it felt good to know that she hadn't lost her knack when it came to the opposite sex and maybe she would take him up on his offer but for now she decided to deal with the jobs she needed to do before heading out on her welcoming rounds.

[Auzual Knox]

[Neural Core]

Knox felt a deep shudder rumbling through the Station as they came to a full stop. She could feel that they were no longer losing orbit.

Whoever you are out there, thank you. Once this is all over, I owe you a drink at Puzzles.

Ch'pok kept Analyn 'entertained' by playing afternoon tea together. Sipping imaginary tea from dainty cups and eating imaginary crustless cucumber sandwiches, scones with clotted cream and raspberry jam and an assortment of macaroons. Knox was too distracted to really enjoy watching him sit on the tiny chair beside Analyn.

"Auntie Pwina, you're here!" Analyn shouted with relief.

The girl scampered across the room, her long brown hair streamed out behind her. She attacked T'Prina's waist with a hug, as T'Prina jerked the shield out of the way. Technically, it wouldn't hurt a hologram, but the girl seemed so lifelike, a protective instinct had taken over. The Vulcan awkwardly patted her on the head with her free hand.

Ch'pok sighed with relief as Analyn left him to see her 'Aunt'. He stood up, knocking the table and its imaginary afternoon tea flying and readjusted his uniform. Knox restrained herself from staring too much at the Lieutenant and Ensign and simply nodded. She hoped it conveyed how relieved she was to see them.

"Captain Adeyemi, this Lt. T'Prina. I must ask that you desist attempts to disconnect Analyn from all systems. Doing so will result in cascading systems failures as the AI is fully integrated. The first outages occurred when Commander O'Connell attempted the same procedure. It is my understanding that her mind was linked to the systems download to help boot the personality AI. I feel perhaps she was not disciplined enough. I would like to volunteer myself, to be linked to Analyn in a soft reboot of the program. If it behaves according to my calculations, the errors should self correct. There is a risk that the reverberations from the mass data influx could be damaging to myself, but I am certain this may be the best solution for everyone."=/\=

"A mind meld? With an AI? Are you sure, Lieutenant? Though it would appear that Analyn trusts you, this is unprecedented in all the history of Vulcan!"

Looking over to the Ensign in yellow.

"Are you able to monitor the power in here? If the voltage gets too high it could ..."

Knox knew how much discipline it required for Vulcans, never mind mind melding with another species. Sirzi had visited Vulcan as Ambassador for Trill on many occasions and witnessed a few, though experienced only one, once very briefly. She could not imagine the influx of information. Surely it would be too much for T'Prina's neural network? Knox also knew what was at stake and thus, there was no other option but to support her decision. Though, it was obvious they would need all the help they could get.

Knox to Jett. Where are you Flyboy? We need you in the Neural Core. NOW.

Knox to Sick... Knox to Dr. Naira. If you are able, please can you make your way as fast as possible to the Neural Core with a neurocortical monitor, cortical stimulater and as many neural stabilizers as possible!

Knox to Howell. Engineering needs to standby for energy fluctuations throughout the entire Station. And, if needed, to cut power to the Neural Core, on Ensign McKinson's mark.

Knox to Captain. Sir, we are going to do everything we can to support Lt. T'Prina. Though, if things do get a little out of hand, you shall need to end it, Sir.

Ch'pok walked over to T'Prina and placed his hand on her shoulder. He was at least two feet taller than her, but at that moment, she was taller than he.

"You have a Warrior's heart. Your actions today shall be sung for many generations to come."

"Analyn, are you ready to play a game with Aunt T'Prina?"

"Today is a good day to die."

[Jenna McKinson]

[ Neural Core ]

Jenna shook off the post beaming tingling she always got. Though she knew it was needed to get around, some part of her always got the chills after. It felt colder in the room, but she shook it off. She then looked down to see her wardrobe changed. She was clad in a hot pink and black pirate costume. She still had her bag and her knife was holstered to her side like a cutlass. She then saw the snake ring on her right ring finger.It looked like a silver snake was coiled around her finger.

She quietly listened along what Knox had suggested as well as T'Prina. Her mind was going a million miles per hour, but she knew that if the plan was to work, they'd need time. It was then her mind got a brilliant idea. She then gave T'Prina a hug. "I wish you luck on this. Until we get the supplies, I am going to stall for time. Once you are fully in, I will monitor with Knox. Once we make it outta here I can buy you that drink I promised... Between friends of course,"Jenna whispered.

Jenna then bent down and smiled. "Hey there kiddo,"She began. "Thank you little one for the ring. I really love it. Say before we play that game, how about we do what I used to do back home before we played games."

"What's that?"The Anayln said."Tell a story of course. This one is very personal to me. I will even let you look at my locket when I tell it,"Jenna said. She then gave everyone around her a look. Her tone was that of a storyteller, but her look was that of stalling for time. She smiled when the Analyn turned toward her.

She then pulled out the locket from under the bodice of the pirate costume. She placed her thumb on the back of the locket. When it opened a song played. Inside the locket was that same photo of four people. "This is the story of princess Alice and the good prince Caleb,"She said pointing out Alice and Caleb in the photo. She let the Analyn hold the locket while it was on her neck, but she had to promise to be careful with it. "I met princess Alice a very long time ago. Long before I joined Star Fleet. She and I are best friends. She and I used to do fun princess like things. That changed when Alice met my friend Caleb. He was the prince of another land and was friends with Alice's brother Mitchel. Those two met and fell in love instantly," Jenna began. She also pointed out Mitchel in the photo. "However, there was a metal dragon that kidnapped the princess after he heard that she fell in love. A sorceress didn't want the princess to fall in love and she was jellouse that the princess found love before her."

"Did the pwrince save the prwincess?"The Ananlyn asked."Of course he did. However, when he found Alice, the sorceress had changed her face. Though he almost didn't recognize her, but it was this very locket that helped him. I let him borrow it before he went,"Jenna replied. "What about the sworceress?"The Analyn asked."Being a compassionate man, he allowed her once more chance. He sent her to a far off land in order to help her find love. As for Alice, she changed her name to Katheryn. Caleb and her now work in the fleet with me, but on another ship. Would you like to meet him? You see he and I share a special connection that allows him to see me and me to see him if I want," Jenna replied.

The Analyn's eyes lit up when Jenna suggested this.  Jenna then closed her eyes. She knew calling to Cal was risky, but she wanted to test their connection. Seeing as Catrin could see her, she had no doubt that he could be seen by everyone. She knew he was close then and heard the story. It was then Caleb appeared ethereal, but with a smile. "Why hello there little one. I am prince Caleb. Jenna was telling me about the games you and her were playing earlier. I wish I could be there myself, but I am on a very important mission. Now you be good for everyone and play with the rules ok? If you listen to your Aunt T'Prina, I promise I will come and say hello for real and not like this ok,"Caleb said. It was at this point the air in the room shifted. Eyes went wide and Jenna just smiled. She knew the ramifications, but if she stalled just long enough, it would help. Caleb then bowed and disappeared 

[Michael J. Tritter]

[Location: Aquaponic's Bay]

Tritter had focused on the science officer as they were planting the seeds. The Officer than finished and turned to Tritter, the Vulcan spoke in an even keeled tone, the man stated the following, "Sir, the seeds are planted, once they are placed into the Bay, they will begin to grow and they will fully grow within seventy two hours" Tritter pondered for a moment, he than nodded slightly, he didn't know much about plants, but he found it curious about how fast the plants would grow. Tritter than replied with "Thank you Lieutenant"

Tritter knew he could take it from there, but he had to keep a close eye as he started to see some of the large bubbles headed their way... He thought of a quick way to push the large bubble headed his way out of the way, as it would easily ruin what they had just done. He had creatively used his trusty phaser pistol to pop the bubble, which was kind of fun to him anyways. He than heard some giggling coming over the comms, he sighed to himself... Analyn... Oyi.

The large man than proceeded to pick up each of the trays for the bay, the trays were about five feet long and four feet wide, there was 12 of them, each weighed about 200 pounds when fully loaded with soil and so on. Tritter made it look easy when he put the trays into the bay. It would take him about half an hour to put all of the trays into the system. The rest of it was fairly simple, the system started getting itself back going, it was a fairly simple hydroponic system, and since he had busted many a weed head in his time, he had seen plenty of these system and dismantled them for evidence purposes. He wasn't the big bull headed idiot most thought he was.

He than proceeded to keep an eye on it as it got back started, he wasn't a squint or anything of that sort, but he was pretty good at knowing roughly how it worked. He knew that it was important to have it working, and he was the man for the job. Tritter seemingly enjoyed the bit of quiet as he surveyed what he had just finished, but inside he felt conflicted and more than a bit lost... Something he will have to figure out on his own he wagered. Which, as he would learn, would not be an easy thing.

[Naira]

[Operations]

"=/\=Gibson, this is Captain Adeyemi. You are cleared to depart." He said after tapping his commbadge. They needed all the ships they could get right now.

"Analyn...are you wtih me? Adeyemi asked.

"Cap'n! I can appear simultan...simultane...I AM EVERYWHERE!" The little girl cried out dramatically.

"Send out a standard distress call."

"Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeek!" Analyn trilled out, like an enraged guinea pig.

[Sector Space - USS Blackfoot]

"Sir...signal coming in from the Columbus." The operations officer said quizzically, a tone that confused her commanding officer.

"Put it through, lieutenant."

"WHEEEEEEEEEEK!"

The entire bridge plugged their ears or sensory organs and the captain made a vicious gesture. The sound ceased.

"Sounded like my cousin's ferret about to war dance," The security officer said.

"Can the editorials," The captain said. "Try to raise the Starbase Columbus."

"Already have, sir, but the same signal is coming through. That's all." The comm officer told the bridge.

"Plot a course."

[K'tomoc]

"QI'yaH," one of the Klingon warriors yelled as an obnoxiously loud squeal came over the comms system.

"What was that?" Another shouted as he firmly clasp his hands over his ears to block out the sound.

"The general said to continually monitor the station for signs of distress, does this count?" A third one spoke up.

"Maybe you should inform him?" The first responded.

"I'm not disturbing him right now! You do it."

"I'm not going in there!" The first firmly stated.

The two of them turned to look at their younger companion who had remained quiet during their argument. He let out a sigh, cursed under his breath and headed towards the back of the ship where the general's quarters were located.

[K'tomoc - General's Quarters]

[Neural Core]

Knox to Sick... Knox to Dr. Naira. If you are able, please can you make your way as fast as possible to the Neural Core with a neurocortical monitor, cortical stimulater and as many neural stabilizers as possible!

Naira felt as if she had only just laid her head down on the bed and closed her eyes, when her comm badge started going off again. She sat upright, brushed her hair out of her face and rubbed her eyes before answering.

Dr. Naira to Knox, I'm on my way.

"Do they not have someone else that can help?" The general asked as he rubbed her back and pulled her hair away  from her neck.

"In the event of an emergency, I am the most qualified to help. I should go."

She stood up from the bed and readied herself to leave. However, she was going to need those supplies and doubted the general would have them on stock.

Dr. Naira to Dr. Lunn, I'm going to need you to prepare the following items for me right away. I need a neurocortical monitor, cortical stimulater and as many neural stabilizers as you can spare. I'm going to need them packed and ready to go.

Understood

The general got up and followed her to the door where they found one of the warriors awkwardly standing outside.

"Can I help you?" The general barked at the man.

"General Yoduk, there is a strange signal coming from the station. We thought you'd want to know."

Yoduk let his hand fall down Naira's back. "See to your people and we will keep your children safe while you are gone."

Naira was hesitant to leave them. She had promised Lurels that she would stay, but she also knew that she was needed back on the station. Lives depended on her. Under any other circumstance she wouldn't be so quick to consider leaving them with someone she hardly knew, but given what little choice she had, it was better to leave them here than to bring them back aboard the station.

She called her girls to her and kissed each one upon the forehead. She apologized to Lurels for having to break her promise and instructed Naniid that if anything were to happen that they should contact her mother on Starbase 297. From there, another warrior helped her transport over to secondary sickbay.

[Starbase Columbus - Secondary Sickbay]

Dr. Lunn already had the requested materials gathered by the time Naira appeared. She didn't have time to inspect his work or to inquire as to his patients, but she trusted that he was preforming to the best of his abilities at the moment. It was all any of them could do right now.

From there she made her way down to the Neural Core as quickly as she could. She didn't know what she was getting herself into or what to expect, but she was trying to think positively and hope for the best.

[Outside the Neural Core]

"Ms. Naira will you come play too?" Analyn's voice asked.

"I was asked to come help, Analyn. Is someone injured or in need of help?"

"No, but you can come play wid us! We're playing dress up."

Before Naira had a chance to respond, she found herself wearing what looked to be a massive bright pink princess style ball gown covered in lace and tulle and sporting a pair of iridescent butterfly wings and a matching tiara. Naira felt ridiculous in such an outfit and found it difficult to walk in. Then again, when she stepped into the room and saw what everyone else was wearing, she realized that she could have had it so much worse.

"What's going on in here?"

[Daniel Howell]

Knox to Howell. Engineering needs to standby for energy fluctuations throughout the entire Station. And, if needed, to cut power to the Neural Core, on Ensign McKinson's mark.

Main Engineering
Howell was frantically trying to figure out a way to safely take analyn offline, but at every point he hit  a wall that could cause serious damage to the analyn programe and other ship systems. Damn, it's an AI, not a bloody EPS transfer relay he thought to himself. He was about to try another avenue when he heard the voice to Knox raise him on comms. He tapped his badge replying Acknowledged, we'll be ready... Closing the channel he spoke to everyone left in engineering Ok, listen up. We need to be on the standby for energy fluctuations throughout the entire station. I want every vital system watched like a hawk ready to make corrections and diversions to the power grid on the double. Be aware power may need to be cut to the Neural Core, which I shall be taking care off. Carry on! he finished. Someone's missing... he thought to himself. Snapping his fingers he opened a channel Howell to McKinson, please report back to main engineering immediately.

He then got ready to cut power to the Neural Core if required "Computer, prepare to initiate an emergency power cutoff to the Neural Core with pre-inputted authorisation as per commanded from the terminal that I am currently logged into, authorisation Howell 17 Sierra Alpha" Acknowledged the computer responded. He walked back over to his terminal and accessed the power grid and then went into the sub systems of the Neural Core's power supply ready to cut if off.

[Leanna Mazal]

[Puzzles]

Before Leanna could finish the last of the jobs that needed her attention she was interrupted by a subspace call however wasn't irritated in the slightest at the interruption in fact she was glad that they had called when they did as it allowed her to speak to someone who was very important to her.

After the call was finished and plans were confirmed for them to visit the Station, Leanna shut down her personal computer and was about to get up when the door opened again and had to admit that he was certainly persistent.

http://imgur.com/a/YemjK

" Before you say anything Boss, I know you said you might consider what I asked earlier but I had it on good authority from Seamus that you hadn't eaten yet and well... again he paused and Leanna realised that he was being genuine.

" Seamus is right I haven't then again its been a bit difficult with what's been going on around here" she admitted. " So what do you propose we do about it ?" she said looking at him more intently this time intrigued by what he was going to do.

Alex grinned at her before speaking" Well I've already thought about that"he said disappearing leaving Leanna confused until he returned seconds later with a serving cart complete with two meals, glasses and a bottle of her favourite wine.

" I must say that you've definitely done your homework with the meal choice and the wine so okay Alex you've got me so lets enjoy this meal together before I have to return to work" she said making it clear that she would have too although as she walked over to the small table and sofa decided that she was going to make the most of this time with him before she had too.

He soon followed behind her and set the plates and wine down on the table before sitting next to her.