S12 - M12: When the Bough Breaks

[Kali Reyes]

[Turbolift]

" Hey, Good morning to you too, Miss Kali," Don replied happily.

The PADD in Chief of Ops hands was something common. So, he was not curious about it. However, the mark on his jaw was small talk. Ironic. He held his eyes to the door. She was pretty but his focus was getting to the bridge.

He had turn to look at her as he talked. Speaking without looking would just be rude in his book. "Yeah, Holodeck four," the corner of his right lip curled. A lie, but he decided improvise.

"So where you heading?" He asked. "Figures first in first serve," he told her. Bike, pink flamingo popped in his head. A small blush came to his cheeks as he was remember those incidents. Wonder what she can pull out now?

[Turbolift]

"I suppose my final destination is the bridge. It's just easier to catch officers left and right in one place." She gestured to the turbolift with her stylus. "Which means, surprise. You're getting a mandatory evaluation starting now."

"Question one: On a scale to 1 to 10, where 10 means fantastic and 1 means being shot out the airlock, how well do you believe you are faring well in your department? And question two: Do you have any important questions or comments regarding the ship?"

[Don Damien Addams]

[Turbolift]

"I suppose my final destination is the bridge. It's just easier to catch officers left and right in one place." She gestured to the turbolift with her stylus. "Which means, surprise. You're getting a mandatory evaluation starting now."

Mandatory. What is this nonesense. He thought. "Would the Mess Hall be the best place?" He asked.

"Question one: On a scale to 1 to 10, where 10 means fantastic and 1 means being shot out the airlock, how well do you believe you are faring well in your department? And question two: Do you have any important questions or comments regarding the ship?"

"I give a eight for my department," he answered. Truth was to be told he enjoyed his service so far. The last mission he done something stupid to a cow.  "Head cheese Flight Officer was fair," he tossed in.

The last question had threw him off. That was when his brown eyes turned to the side of his head. If there was smoke to be seen coming out of his ear, Kali would see it.

Then he shrugged his shoulders. "We need more those cool bikes," he said. Then a beat, he smiled once again. "Honest, no complaints to report. Happy with everything."

[Kali Reyes]

Mandatory. What is this nonesense. He thought. "Would the Mess Hall be the best place?" He asked.

"I give a eight for my department," he answered. Truth was to be told he enjoyed his service so far. The last mission he done something stupid to a cow.  "Head cheese Flight Officer was fair," he tossed in.

The last question had threw him off. That was when his brown eyes turned to the side of his head. If there was smoke to be seen coming out of his ear, Kali would see it.

Then he shrugged his shoulders. "We need more those cool bikes," he said. Then a beat, he smiled once again. "Honest, no complaints to report. Happy with everything."

[Turbolift]

Kali mechanically filled in the survey, letting her cheat program do the rest of the sixty questions. "Cool... bikes..." she read out loud. "Simple. Effective."

The turbolift doors opened for the bridge. She gestured outwards. "You're free to go."

[Bridge]

This time, she stayed a little bit longer on the bridge if not to drill the girl sitting at the Ops station. She saluted Galloway with her PADD when she found him chilling on the captain's chair, then handed it to him. "Present for the acting captain. Please fill out this questionnaire to its utmost completion."

It was only two questions, but if he wanted to, he could collapse the tab and see the other sixty questions. That would actually be entertaining to watch.

[Inzjana]

BRIDGE - SCIENCE STATION ONE

For the past week, Inzjana had been doing her duty as Chief Science Officer and mapping this part of the delta quadrant they were currently surveying. With the survey being largely automatic, with the only the need for one scientist to push the 'go' and 'stop' button and to monitor the telemetry stream for any anomalies that might be worth a more detailed 'active' scan, Inzjana had let her staff take the time off to delve in to their own projects and above all, relax.
They deserved it, after all they had worked hard during the Zacrim V incident and as Inzjana needed no real rest, Inzjana took on the responsibility alone, as there was no need for all of them anyway, it was the most logical choice; at least that's what she kept telling herself anyway.

Due to the fact that it was Inzjana that rearranged the navigational deflector array to fire nucleonic particles, Inzjana also assisted the engineering team assigned to repair the large dish and its corresponding mechanisms; much to the chagrin of the personnel involved, who were none to happy with her being there. But Inzjana was not the type to shirk responsibility, regardless of whether or not her idea was successful and even when she was little, Inzjana lived by the philosophy that there 'was a place for everything, and everything in its place'.

Inzjana had also not slept for the entire time they were conducting the survey. Now the medical staff may be worried about that - except for the Chief Medical Officer, Commander Jones, but Vulcans can actually go without sleep for two weeks at least and only sleep for two hours a rotation anyway. There was no martyrdom in what she was doing, it was just simply a logical choice to let her staff have a much needed break and the requirement to maintain a vigil of the data the dedicated sensors were acquiring. The only time she stopped monitoring the telemetry and allocating her time between Science Lab Two, Stellar Cartography and the Bridge station was when she required sustenance; Looking after her rabbit, Kara; and going to her quarters to shower and change uniform.

Currently Inzjana was on the bridge in her strict regiment as she was actually on duty, but despite the orders from Starfleet, this sector of the delta quadrant was largely unremarkable...thus far...and had the usual stars, comets, a plethora of subatomic particles, asteroids and planets etcetera. Just like most areas of space.

There was one point a couple of days ago, where Inzjana thought that perhaps they may have come across an interspace manifold, but before she embarrassed herself with command, it turned out that the quantum sensors responsible for the information had blown a 24th Century version of a fuse and needed to be replaced.........

[Tekin Nevir]

[Turbolift]

Ariste almost fainted at Kali's words. An essay? What kind of monsters were the brass? Did they thing Starfleet officers had all day? Then again, in that event she would generally have Serif auto-write it for her. He'd been at her side so long you couldn't tell the difference in their writing. The higher ups would be none the wiser.

"Thanks for the vote of confidence. I'll put in a good word." Bravely stepping off the turbolift, she hesitated for a moment, before slinking up to Tekin's ready room. Bravery wavering, she looked more like a caught Ferengi than a bloodlusting Klingon.
When those two damning doors slid open to reveal her doom, she stepped into the threshhold, but no further.
"You wanted to talk to me, Captain?"

[Ready Room - Deck 1]

"Come!" he called out, as the door parted to reveal Stark.  Well.. one down, one to go.  "Of course, come in, Ms Stark." he said, gesturing to the other side of the table.  He kept his face as neutral as possible, glancing behind the engineer to see if Jaeger was out there, waiting.

"I don't want to repeat myself, so we'll wait for Ardyn." he said, though the frown giveaway on his face said he was not happy that Ardyn wasn't there yet.

"Jaeger, report to my Ready Room."  he said, pushing a button.

"In the meantime... I want a progress report."

[Don Damien Addams]

[Turbolift]

Kali mechanically filled in the survey, letting her cheat program do the rest of the sixty questions. "Cool... bikes..." she read out loud. "Simple. Effective."

The turbolift doors opened for the bridge. She gestured outwards. "You're free to go."

[Bridge]

This time, she stayed a little bit longer on the bridge if not to drill the girl sitting at the Ops station. She saluted Galloway with her PADD when she found him chilling on the captain's chair, then handed it to him. "Present for the acting captain. Please fill out this questionnaire to its utmost completion."

It was only two questions, but if he wanted to, he could collapse the tab and see the other sixty questions. That would actually be entertaining to watch.

[bridge]

Don stepped onto the bridge to see Galway sitting in the command chair. Don had missed that power feeling in that awesome seat. He once was that level of rank.

Then he saw Inzjana the half Romulan. The prejudice was still floating on the surface of his bitter soul. The Romulans had destroyed his mother's command ship which she died.

Yes.

Sweet bitter.

"Sir," Don gave a brief nod to Galloway as he went to take over flight station. "Hey, heard you did a good landing on your first try," he told the Lieutenant who got up from seat.

"Beginners luck," the lieutenant replied. "Looking forward flying with you and the Commander," both flight officers said to Galloway. Then the Lieutenant exit the bridge.

[Ardyn Jaeger]

[Ready Room - Deck 1]

"Come!" he called out, as the door parted to reveal Stark.  Well.. one down, one to go.  "Of course, come in, Ms Stark." he said, gesturing to the other side of the table.  He kept his face as neutral as possible, glancing behind the engineer to see if Jaeger was out there, waiting.

"I don't want to repeat myself, so we'll wait for Ardyn." he said, though the frown giveaway on his face said he was not happy that Ardyn wasn't there yet.

"Jaeger, report to my Ready Room."  he said, pushing a button.

"In the meantime... I want a progress report."

[Ready Room]
Ardy got the call almost as she got up to the bridge, reaching the Ready room just a few minutes later. Slightly out of breath, she rang the buzzer, opening the doors with the characteristic fwoosh. "So sorry I'm late, sir. Took me a bit longer to get up here than I planned." She motioned to the baby, hoping he'd understand her tardiness. Straightening herself up, she looked him squarely in the eye, "This is about the HAPPY incident, I suppose?" she asked, cutting straight to the chase. She really wanted to get the punishment out of the way before having to face the next unpleasant thing on her to-do list; yet another one of those prenatal checks.  She knew the reckoning would come sometime, why not get it over and done with?

[Ariste Stark]

[Ready Room - Deck 1]

"Come!" he called out, as the door parted to reveal Stark.  Well.. one down, one to go.  "Of course, come in, Ms Stark." he said, gesturing to the other side of the table.  He kept his face as neutral as possible, glancing behind the engineer to see if Jaeger was out there, waiting.

"I don't want to repeat myself, so we'll wait for Ardyn." he said, though the frown giveaway on his face said he was not happy that Ardyn wasn't there yet.

"Jaeger, report to my Ready Room."  he said, pushing a button.

"In the meantime... I want a progress report."

[Capain's Ready Room]

Ariste nodded, stammering to gather her thoughts into some sort of cohesion. "97% of systems damage has been reversed. The rest will be corrected in the due system update. There have been no more reports of computer issues, it's running better than it did before the incident."

She hesitated before continuing with her next thought. Was it too soon to mention this? Would it cause more issues for her in the future? It was apart of the Captain's agreement...

"Happy's... Accommodations could almost be considered complete. They have motion, vision and audio functionality at the moment. The last thing I need is to bring her out of hibernation and integrate her program with the systems. With your go-ahead of course." Eyes flicking toward, the door, she wet her lips, before returning to the Captain.

"As Jaeger has been helping me personally, she is of course in on these developments as well."

Speak of the devil and she shall appear. The tone of the door turned her attention to a harrid Ardyn. Blinking, she gave a weak smile at her forwardness. She must not have had the all-consuming anxiety Stark had these past few.. what? Weeks? It felt like yesterday.
Ardy's boldness inspired her... slightly. Her posture improved, at least. Pinching her jumpsuit between two fingers, she awaited the Captain's response, hoping her best friend hadn't just made things worse.

[Ian Galloway]

[Turbolift]

Kali mechanically filled in the survey, letting her cheat program do the rest of the sixty questions. "Cool... bikes..." she read out loud. "Simple. Effective."

The turbolift doors opened for the bridge. She gestured outwards. "You're free to go."

[Bridge]

This time, she stayed a little bit longer on the bridge if not to drill the girl sitting at the Ops station. She saluted Galloway with her PADD when she found him chilling on the captain's chair, then handed it to him. "Present for the acting captain. Please fill out this questionnaire to its utmost completion."

It was only two questions, but if he wanted to, he could collapse the tab and see the other sixty questions. That would actually be entertaining to watch.

[Bridge]

Ian took the PADD and wondered what new age pinhead came up with nonsense like a job satisfaction survey for a Starfleet officer.

"What's next, askin' what kind of bloody tree I want ta be?"

Ian tapped '10' for his opinion of his division and 'none' for comments and then tapped 'submit'. He rolled his eyes as he placed the PADD on the arm of the chair and dismissed the survey from his conscious memory.

[bridge]

"Sir," Don gave a brief nod to Galloway as he went to take over flight station. "Hey, heard you did a good landing on your first try," he told the Lieutenant who got up from seat.

"Beginners luck," the lieutenant replied. "Looking forward flying with you and the Commander," both flight officers said to Galloway. Then the Lieutenant exit the bridge.

Ian smiled at the ensign as it seemed he was highly motivated, even if a bit rough around the edges, but then again, what ensign wasn't?

"Mornin' ensign. Today is nae goin' ta be exactly the most interestin' day of flyin' ever. Whole lot of a straight line at low speed while the boffins try ta find summat worth knowin' about, which so far, has been a whole bloody lot of nothing."

[Kali Reyes]

[Bridge]

Ian took the PADD and wondered what new age pinhead came up with nonsense like a job satisfaction survey for a Starfleet officer.

"What's next, askin' what kind of bloody tree I want ta be?"

Ian tapped '10' for his opinion of his division and 'none' for comments and then tapped 'submit'. He rolled his eyes as he placed the PADD on the arm of the chair and dismissed the survey from his conscious memory.

[Bridge]

Sure, Kali hated paperwork, but she did them. It wasn't a surprise that Galloway dismissed it all as pointless, but she raised an eyebrow when he just set the PADD aside instead of handing it back to her. A bit annoyed by how easy he brushed the survey off, she took the PADD back. Apparently she was going to be treated like a yeoman today. Now she really needed coffee.

Spying Ryder at his station, she stepped down and cautiously placed the PADD over the aft weapons panel. "Evaluation time, Mr. Ryder," she greeted, then teased. "What kind of tree do you want to be?"

[Nathan Ryder]

[Bridge]

Sure, Kali hated paperwork, but she did them. It wasn't a surprise that Galloway dismissed it all as pointless, but she raised an eyebrow when he just set the PADD aside instead of handing it back to her. A bit annoyed by how easy he brushed the survey off, she took the PADD back. Apparently she was going to be treated like a yeoman today. Now she really needed coffee.

Spying Ryder at his station, she stepped down and cautiously placed the PADD over the aft weapons panel. "Evaluation time, Mr. Ryder," she greeted, then teased. "What kind of tree do you want to be?"

[Bridge]

As he kept most of his attention on his consoles, Nathan noted Kali's presence as she moved throughout the bridge. Not that he was distracted, but more a case of there not being anything for him to be distracted from. However, when the Chief of the Boat greeted him, he looked over at her with a smile.

"A willow tree," he answered without even a moments thought. Nathan went on to say, "They're tall, but elegant; strong, but flexible. Not to mention if you're not paying attention their roots will take out whatever is in their path."

"What about you, Chief?"

[Tekin Nevir]

[Capain's Ready Room]

Ariste nodded, stammering to gather her thoughts into some sort of cohesion. "97% of systems damage has been reversed. The rest will be corrected in the due system update. There have been no more reports of computer issues, it's running better than it did before the incident."

She hesitated before continuing with her next thought. Was it too soon to mention this? Would it cause more issues for her in the future? It was apart of the Captain's agreement...

"Happy's... Accommodations could almost be considered complete. They have motion, vision and audio functionality at the moment. The last thing I need is to bring her out of hibernation and integrate her program with the systems. With your go-ahead of course." Eyes flicking toward, the door, she wet her lips, before returning to the Captain.

"As Jaeger has been helping me personally, she is of course in on these developments as well."

Speak of the devil and she shall appear. The tone of the door turned her attention to a harrid Ardyn. Blinking, she gave a weak smile at her forwardness. She must not have had the all-consuming anxiety Stark had these past few.. what? Weeks? It felt like yesterday.
Ardy's boldness inspired her... slightly. Her posture improved, at least. Pinching her jumpsuit between two fingers, she awaited the Captain's response, hoping her best friend hadn't just made things worse.

[Ready Room]
Ardy got the call almost as she got up to the bridge, reaching the Ready room just a few minutes later. Slightly out of breath, she rang the buzzer, opening the doors with the characteristic fwoosh. "So sorry I'm late, sir. Took me a bit longer to get up here than I planned." She motioned to the baby, hoping he'd understand her tardiness. Straightening herself up, she looked him squarely in the eye, "This is about the HAPPY incident, I suppose?" she asked, cutting straight to the chase. She really wanted to get the punishment out of the way before having to face the next unpleasant thing on her to-do list; yet another one of those prenatal checks.  She knew the reckoning would come sometime, why not get it over and done with?

[Ready Room - Deck 1]

Nevir kept a stern look on his face as Jaeger walked in, after listening to Stark's report.  He let the silence fill the room, before finally standing up as the two stood before him.

"Yes.  When you both came to me with this project, I didn't expect much.  There have been precious few successes recreating Soong-type androids.  But I let you two do it anyways, because if anyone could, it would be you two.  Jaeger, your expertise with AI functionality was the push I needed.  BUT.  When I approved it, I gave you two rules.  Two simple rules.  Do you remember what those were?" he asked, expecting an answer.  Expecting a correct answer.

"And in one day, both of those rules were broken.  You two are very lucky.  By the grace of the Prophets we were able to do the impossible and save a population.  Believe me, if any lives were lost down there, this would be a much different conversation.  That said, I want you both to tell me what happened down there.  Exactly.  And I want the full truth."

[Kali Reyes]

[Bridge]

As he kept most of his attention on his consoles, Nathan noted Kali's presence as she moved throughout the bridge. Not that he was distracted, but more a case of there not being anything for him to be distracted from. However, when the Chief of the Boat greeted him, he looked over at her with a smile.

"A willow tree," he answered without even a moments thought. Nathan went on to say, "They're tall, but elegant; strong, but flexible. Not to mention if you're not paying attention their roots will take out whatever is in their path."

"What about you, Chief?"

[Bridge]

Kali was mildly perplexed finding her answer. "I don't know. Arbor Day isn't really my favorite holiday. Maybe a palm tree? The ones that make coconuts! Those are on beaches, right?" Coconut trees were like a splash of green in an endless sea and coconuts are so refreshing after a long day gargling salt water.

She took a seat at the Ops panel nearby as her crewman worked and gazed dreamily at the viewscreen. "Great, now I'm craving coconut milk. Or a pina colada - uh, non-alcoholic of course," she added, grinning at him.

[Ardyn Jaeger]

[Ready Room - Deck 1]

Nevir kept a stern look on his face as Jaeger walked in, after listening to Stark's report.  He let the silence fill the room, before finally standing up as the two stood before him.

"Yes.  When you both came to me with this project, I didn't expect much.  There have been precious few successes recreating Soong-type androids.  But I let you two do it anyways because if anyone could, it would be you two.  Jaeger, your expertise with AI functionality was the push I needed.  BUT.  When I approved it, I gave you two rules.  Two simple rules.  Do you remember what those were?" he asked, expecting an answer.  Expecting a correct answer.

"And in one day, both of those rules were broken.  You two are very lucky.  By the grace of the Prophets we were able to do the impossible and save a population.  Believe me, if any lives were lost down there, this would be a much different conversation.  That said, I want you both to tell me what happened down there.  Exactly.  And I want the full truth."

[Ready room]
Ardy nodded. 'Yeah. Don't let this side project get in the way of our jobs, and be careful how much autonomy you give this project." She said, remembering the instructions he had given them. She could have sworn she had followed those instructions to the best of her ability, but instead, the perfect storm blew up in their faces. She grimaced. Well, that ended well.

She straightened herself. "We're not fully sure what happened, but earlier, I did set up a framework program for sentience, the same backbone as the STEVE program uses. We figured if the HAPPY System worked, the framework would already be in place to implement at a later date. I didn't add the sentience components yet, " She added, emphasizing the fact. Looking at Ari to back her up, she resumed. "We didn't quite compensate that this was an AI and not a hologram, so we're assuming that somewhere between the time Ari left and the first symptoms of the AI's sentience appeared, if not before, the AI figured out the sequences by itself, without any help from us. That's what happened, to the best of my knowledge" She said, finishing her report. Hopefully, her best friend could back her up, because she sure as %^#@ didn't want to be wrong.

[Don Damien Addams]

[Bridge]

Ian took the PADD and wondered what new age pinhead came up with nonsense like a job satisfaction survey for a Starfleet officer.

"What's next, askin' what kind of bloody tree I want ta be?"

"A willow tree," he answered without even a moments thought. Nathan went on to say, "They're tall, but elegant; strong, but flexible. Not to mention if you're not paying attention their roots will take out whatever is in their path."

"What about you, Chief?"

Ian tapped '10' for his opinion of his division and 'none' for comments and then tapped 'submit'. He rolled his eyes as he placed the PADD on the arm of the chair and dismissed the survey from his conscious memory.

Ian smiled at the ensign as it seemed he was highly motivated, even if a bit rough around the edges, but then again, what ensign wasn't?

"Mornin' ensign. Today is nae goin' ta be exactly the most interestin' day of flyin' ever. Whole lot of a straight line at low speed while the boffins try ta find summat worth knowin' about, which so far, has been a whole bloody lot of nothing."

Oh. Kali can be soft. Interesting.

Kali was mildly perplexed finding her answer. "I don't know. Arbor Day isn't really my favorite holiday. Maybe a palm tree? The ones that make coconuts! Those are on beaches, right?" Coconut trees were like a splash of green in an endless sea and coconuts are so refreshing after a long day gargling salt water.

She took a seat at the Ops panel nearby as her crewman worked and gazed dreamily at the viewscreen. "Great, now I'm craving coconut milk. Or a pina colada - uh, non-alcoholic of course," she added, grinning at him.

[bridge]

Don saw a door for humor. Time to take it run. "Oh I like Oak tree," he replied. He try to sound like Kali. "oh maybe that Tree of Life were Cerub protected. The tree of love,"

"What about you, Sir?" It was to funny so he giggled at his own joke.