New Science officer

Posted on Sun May 12th, 2024 @ 12:22am by Chief Petty Officer Anja Teach & Commander Dominic Aldrich & Lieutenant Commander T'Par & Lieutenant Orin Sempton

Mission: A New Beginning
Location: Science area
1412 words - 2.8 OF Standard Post Measure

She had gotten her 14 year old siblings all settled in, having given them instructions to get their part of the quarters set up how they wanted. She wished to go explore their new home, especially the science facilities. Her name, Anja Teach, a chief petty officer, of Science. She made her way to the level where the Sciences were housed, and stepped inside her eyes widening with delight. It was beautiful! The labs were larger than what was on the former ship she was on, smaller than the labs she had been in on that station. Anja shuddered, and drove that thought out of her mind. This was a brand new start for her, her siblings and her husband. She was a newlywed. Pulling out her padd, Anja looked to see who was the Chief Science officer, the Assistant Chief Science Officer and anyone else she'd be working with.

"Chief Petty Officer," T'Par said, looking up at the woman. T'Par had, of course, committed most of Anja's information to memory as soon as they'd been notified she was joining the department. "Welcome aboard."

"Thank you, Lieutenant T'Par. Out of curiosity, what is being worked on as of late? Any findings of interest?" Anja asked, walking up towards the Assistant chief of science and pausing at a respectfuil distance.

"There are always a number of projects," T'Par informed her. "Department personnel gather enormous quantities of data from every system we visit. What areas of science are you most interested in?"

"Actually that is very difficult for me to decide as I love every aspect in the field of science. I had at one time been more interested in the archeological parts of science, then the more I looked at what there was to experience, and I embrace it all." she answered with a bright smile.

"Archeology, you say?" Dominic's voice came from around the corner of a large containment chamber. "That's a fine place to start as it is our past and history that lay the foundation for what is and will come."

"Indeed it is, I do enjoy it very much. Just finding things about a different culture, digging in and piecing together what was there, what the people were like." Anja's eyes lighting up as she thought of the wonderful digs she had been a part of.

"In archeology, service on a starship offers great breadth, but not the depth one might experience on a long term excavation," T'Par noted.

"This is true, however my husband has been assigned to the ship in engineering, and I wanted a change, so here I am, I am feeling that this will actually add to my knowlege and experience. " Anja replied. "Which is important to me"

"In this case, your feeling is supported by logic," T'Par assured her. "There are many opportunities here for intellectual growth and professional development."

The doors opened and Orin stepped through, his face in a PaDD. "Ah, Lieutenant T'Par, excellent. The Captain asked me to..." He looked up and stopped dead in his tracks, his face contorting into a mix of fear with a flush of embarrassment. "I... My apologies, I did not mean to interrupt your conversation. That was... Rude, of me."

Anja turned when she heard the new voice, "Greetings, I'm Petty Officer Anja Teach, nice to meet you, Lieutenant um..." she looked at her padd. "Ah yes Lieutenant Sempton?"

"Correct, Lieutenant Ju-. No, My apologies, Just Lieutenant Orin Sempton. Ship's Xenoarchaeologist. And well met Petty Officer." He replied with a nod. "But please, I interrupted your conversation."

"I am just meeting those here in Science, best way to get to know the team I will be a part of, and it seems that you had something important on your mind? Lieutenant Sempton?" Anja giving a bit of a smile. Her eyes went back towards T'par then over to Dominic, "Is there something I can do to help out on anything?"

"It's quite all right, Lieutenant Sempton," T'Par said. "Especially if it is from the captain. What do you need?"

"W-W-We've, uh. We've been asked by the Captain to compile the data we have on and about the Guardian so far." Orin fumbled with the PaDD he'd been reading on his way in. "As we have a number of people working on the problem, a single, collated dataset may help further our investigations."

Dominic nodded, "Yes, the Captain and I have been discussing the issue of the Guardian and exactly what to do with the entire issue. Why don't you put together a working group for the problem, Lieutenant."

Anja's eyes went wide, what had she just come into! It is very intriguing. "this is sounding like I've come onto the ship during some intriguing discoveries."

"Indeed," T'Par agreed. "The Guardian is an artificial intelligence which served as a benign presence on a space station filled with sapiant holograms. We have all been working on determining its ultimate origins."

Orin nodded. "Thankfully, after some discussions Guardian was able to give us coordinates and a map to it's home system. According to Guardian, it's not on any recorded star chart, as the planet is hidden. Cloaked in some way." He shifted uncomfortably, glancing between T'par and Dominic. "Speaking of, I must apologize about my... Outburst, when we were with The Guardian last. I encountered a planet that was able to cloak itself previously when I was assigned to the USS Renegade. The mission did not go well, and it left... Scars would be the best term to use."

T'Par looked to Dominic before responding. She trusted his judgment when it came to human emotions.

This intrigued Anja," A planet that is hidden from sight? That.. that seems amazing. " She looked at the others. "Well, the part though what er.. Lieutenant Sempton said.. that is very sad."

A moment or two elapsed, Anja feeling sort of uncomfortable then spoke up to break the momentary silence. "Okay so... This hidden planet, and this Guardian, is it okay if I ask someone to bring me up to speed? Uh, Lieutenant Sempton or Commander T'Par?"

Shaking himself out of his minor memory, Orin came back to the present. "Of course, my apologies." He pushed his glasses up and rubbed his eyes, attempting to clear his mind. "It's a rather... Strange would likely be the best word, story involving a somewhat homicidal AI running a holographic based space station where we met a number of sentient holo-based AI's, leading to a crystalline cryogenic sleep container and a sentient metal construct in the shape of a dragon called 'Guardian'. After a number of conversations, we've been attempting to help Guardian and the rest find their creator, which has lead us to finding coordinates for their home planet, which apparently hides itself with some sort of advanced cloaking ability, hiding the planet and projecting a lifeless image in its stead."

"Oh my gosh. This is intriguing and I am amazed. And a homicidal AI." her tone sobering up, her own cheeks going slightly pale. "I had experience with an insane AI, and also had seen signs of some creatures which had metamorphic ability, sharp teeth and claws. We managed to escape but that place we went to, it has now been put into a do not land there. And it had archeological findings of an ancient race." Anja shuddered. "The creatures had been an experiment."

"I am both intrigued and disturbed by the number of homicidal AI entities we have recorded throughout history. It would seem to be somewhat of a coinflip if they turn or not. I'd assume that the ability to process and rationalize at the speed in which they can leads to a high chance of mania," Dominic said as he thought out loud. Realizing he had done this, he smiled and said, "Sorry. Sometimes I say the quiet part out loud. Perhaps you would be interested in helping Mr. Sempton here compile all that we have on the situation in the hopes of furthering our endeavors as far as the Guardian goes."

"On the other hand, the organic mind has again and again proved itself perfectly capable of homicide," T'Par noted. "Perhaps sentient beings are merely too good at creating artificial intelligence in their own image?"

"You'll get no argument from me," Dominic replied with a head shake.

"I would love to assist anyway I can" Anja feeling rather ecstatic at this. "Thank you for this opportunity." she stated solemnly.



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