Tetris Protocol

Posted on Thu Apr 17th, 2025 @ 6:49am by Lieutenant JG Vanya Karolyi

Mission: A Day In The Life
Location: Vanya's Crypt
629 words - 1.3 OF Standard Post Measure

ON

Vanya wanted to tweak her security program because she wasn't content with it. Every time she was assigned to a new position or location, she went over it again to make sure it was updated and could stand up to the latest Starfleet computers. Now, she wanted to add more elements to it than just the game. She wanted to test what she had so far before she moved on to her next project.

"Computer, activate Emma Peel Protocol Gamma Alpha 34729." She watched as all the lights on her screen turned green. "Begin."

A 3-dimensional game of Tetris began to play in the center of her office. For several minutes, she watched the pieces fall. The point of the game was to see if the ship's computer could win ten games in a row against her Tetris program and thus gain access to the door into her computer. A virtual door that was also locked and coded. But she didn't want anything to get that far, and so, Tetris.

She took out one of her violins and adjusted the strings so it was in tune, then began to play an old Russian song while she continued to watch.

After three games—the computer won one—her program switched tactics. Now, once the shapes filled the lower quarter of the playing area, the bottom layers rotated every three seconds. The computer did better the second game and actually won the third. Good for the computer. Not so much her program.

Then the game changed again, as did Vanya's playing. Now she played one of her favorite classical pieces from 19th century Earth. The shapes fell faster, but this time, small rubber-like balls bounced around the room. If one hit the falling shape, it would disappear. Or get knocked off course. It added a level of unpredictability. If a real person tried to enter her crypt, they would also be a target of the balls. She was quite pleased with this one and made a mental note to keep it. She and her boss were the only two humanoids the balls would ignore—although she was half tempted to see how Hadir reacted to the game if he did become a target. But she wasn't interested in dealing with an angry Cardassian.

To go along with the increased speed, she began to play faster, just for fun. The main computer was doing better, but it wasn't winning every game. After ten games, the lights changed and the program leveled up. So far, so good. But she needed more random elements, along with increased speed. She might have to add an element of kal toh to the game.

Then she heard her name. "Karolyi!"

"Computer, end program." With a sigh, she put away her violin. She needed to do more work on those layers. She still wasn't happy with the changes--except for the one with the balls. That one she'd keep. It wasn't exactly Starfleet, but then, neither was she. There would be more time to play with it later, or go back to her former game and just add the rubber balls.

For now, her master summoned her. It was something he didn't do often, which made her curious. He either wanted to know how her search for his father was going or thought she'd been wasting too much time on her Tetris program (which she was, but only because she had time to spend on it right now. Either way, there was only one way to find out.

She stretched, then ran her hands down the sides of her uniform jumpsuit, then strode out the door to see what the chief wanted. And then maybe have lunch.

OFF

Lieutenant JG Vanya Karolyi
Data Analyst and Archivist
Cryptkeeper
USS Majestic