ZE/D02 - Science Labs

[Paul]

==

[GM-06]

==Time: 1130 hours==

Accompanied by a cross-looking Security detail, C’Had was now arguing with one of them as the trio approached the Science Laboratories. “I know you’re my chaperones, but I told you, I don’t need one!”

“We are under orders.” The one, a female human, protested.

“Can I give you …alternative order?” The Trill asked, smiling.

“No.” The woman replied, narrowing her eyebrows at him. After a beat where the Trill looked positively skeptical, she added, “Plus, I’m only attracted to females. You may be pretty, but you’re definitely not my type.”

As a response, C’Had simply stuck his tongue out at her, like a child would. “Nehh.” He replied, striding back towards the doors. They opened to show officers working, not paying him any mind. “Lunchtime!” He called out, feeling the ring of his voice against his ears. Then, to at least the Security Officers’ horror, he began singing and dancing.

“Poetry in motion / She turned her eyes to me
As deep as any ocean / As sweet as any harmony
Mmm, she blinded me with science / She blinded me with science!”

And he sashayed over to the closest working officer. “Science rules, am I right?”



==Tag to the Science team!
Keir, please feel free to take over the security officers if you like==

[Amila Ra'an]

Lieutenant Ra'an could hear what had to be Mediator Kestir from inside her office. As she looked up from her desk to see what was going on she heard him begin singing a song and start to dance toward Midshipman Cortez who she had put to work cataloguing inventory from the old crew. She didn't know Cortez well enough to know how he'd react and he hadn't been fully briefed on the mission, or the importance of keeping Kestir happy yet.

In an effort to protect her science officers from discomfort and to keep anyone from potentially offending the Mediator Ra'an popped up from her seat so quickly she banged her left knee on her desk pretty hard. She swore in Orion under her breath, but shook off the pain quickly as she rushed out to the main lab.

"Mediator - C'had, I mean. Great to see you," Amila called out, giving him a smile. "Sorry, I just hit my knee a little. but it's fine. Are you ready to go holodecking, or did you just stop by for a visit? I see you've met Ensign Groble, and this is Midshipman Cortez." Amila cleared her throat once and looked at her officers expectantly. 

==Tag Cortez and GM 06==

[Sebastian Cortez]

Sebastian was busy cataloguing inventory from the old crew. He understood the importance of ensuring crew members received personal research materials and any personal items they may have left behind. Sebastian was deep into his assigned task when he heard some singing. He looked up and saw a young Trill male he had never seen before.

What in the world is going on?

Sebastian was about to assist the Trill as he was clearly lost when Commander Amila arrived and addressed the Trill, "Mediator - C'had, I mean. Great to see you," Amila called out, giving him a smile. "Sorry, I just hit my knee a little. but it's fine. Are you ready to go holodecking, or did you just stop by for a visit? I see you've met Ensign Groble, and this is Midshipman Cortez." Amila cleared her throat once and looked at her officers expectantly.

Sebastian was confused as he hadn’t really received a proper briefing; he was put straight to work and assumed that once everything had a chance to settle down.

Sebastian was a Star Fleet Officer, and in true Star Fleet fashion, Sebastian gave the Mediator a polite nod of the head and said, “Greetings, Mediator, pleasure to meet you.”

Sebastian wasn't overly comfortable with political affairs, but knew it was part of being a good Officer that he had to learn this valuable skill.



== Tag All. ==

[Amila Ra'an]

While Amila walked the data module to the science labs, she knew immediately who she wanted on the project with her. She hadn't been sure what to think of the Bajoran lieutenant at first - he'd been friendly and approachable as soon as he'd come aboard, but gods could he push the Captain's buttons on their last assignment, and not in a good way. Still, at the close of their first high pressure mission, working side-by-side, she had to acknowledge one thing about Jukish Keti: he wasn't afraid to be contrary. And as annoying as that was to her at first, she quickly realized what an asset it actually was in their field. To be a good scientist you need someone who challenges you, someone who thinks differently than you do. It's the way real progress is made.

And in a crisis, it's how you come up with the quickest solutions.

She was already reaching out over comms before she'd even arrived to the Lab.

[Lieutenant Ra'an to Lieutenant Jukish. Can you meet me in the Science Lab as soon as possible. I could use your help on something.]

==Tag Keti==

[Jukish Keti]

It had been a while since he had been in the Labs his wedding was what he was working on, it was going to be great. It was shameful that it took him this long, but it was better late than never. A few minutes after the call Keti came through the door, he wasn't sure about what was going on. 

"Lieutenant." He said with a friendly smile. "A pleasure." He was looking forward to working with her on something, roomer had it they beamed something big to the ship. Right now he also appreciated the break from all wedding business, a bit of a Science quest would be nice. 

"What are we working on?" He was looking forward to what was coming next

==Tag==

[Morad Ameen]

== GM - Broken Arrow ==

As Lt Ra'an sets the heavy, frost-covered module onto the primary diagnostic table, the bright, sterile lighting of the Science Lab reveals its true nature. What initially looked like a utilitarian black box in the darkness of the alien cargo bay is actually a solid block of incredibly dense, dark crystalline memory.

When Ra'an and Jukish begin their initial scans, they immediately encounter a significant hurdle: there are no interface ports. There are no exposed wires, no optical relays, and no physical connection points of any kind. The module is entirely sealed and completely self-contained, presenting a smooth, impenetrable surface.

However, the lab's deep-space sensory arrays pick up something a standard hand tricorder might have missed. The crystal is emitting a very faint, repeating subspace frequency. It is a continuous carrier wave, highly structured and mathematically precise, pulsing like a quiet, rhythmic heartbeat in the room.

The scientific objective is now clear. To extract the ship's logs and build a translation matrix, they cannot simply plug the module into the Zephyr's systems; they have to tune into it. They must find a way to calibrate the main computer to match that specific subspace frequency, synchronize with the alien carrier wave, and decode the mathematical patterns hidden within in order to build a bridge between this ancient, unknown species and the Universal Translator.

[Amila Ra'an]

"What are we working on?" Keti asked as Amila placed the data module onto the primary diagnostic table.

Her chest was cold from using her body to help her carry the heavy, frost covered piece of equipment to the lab. She massaged her hands together to get the blood flowing again and then shook out her arms quickly and directed Keti to the nearby science terminal where she pulled up what they knew so far about the ship.

"We pulled this from a ship just before it exploded. It's a data module - the black box. I hope, anyway," Ra'an explained. "This and twelve people in stasis from a society that we are pretty sure is extinct. They are from a planet called Icarus III, and the best we can tell is that their people were wiped out - nearly a millennia ago."

She watched Keti for his response when she mentioned how long the people had likely been extinct. There were many implications and Keti was just now hearing about their discovery.

"Shall we figure out how to tap into this thing?" Amila asked eagerly. She fired up the diagnostics array on the table and it immediately picked up a faint subspace reading.

"Well, well... What are you trying to say?" She muttered as she dialed in the diagnostics to hone in the frequency.

"Do you see any way to get into the module?" Amila asked Keti as she walked around the table slowly.

==Tag Keti==

[Jukish Keti]

"We pulled this from a ship just before it exploded. It's a data module - the black box. I hope, anyway," Ra'an explained. "This and twelve people in stasis from a society that we are pretty sure is extinct. They are from a planet called Icarus III, and the best we can tell is that their people were wiped out - nearly a millennia ago." This started to spark a memory of some of his studies, if he wanted people to understand his culture and history he was going to do the same.

She watched Keti for his response when she mentioned how long the people had likely been extinct. There were many implications and Keti was just now hearing about their discovery.

"Shall we figure out how to tap into this thing?" Amila asked eagerly. She fired up the diagnostics array on the table and it immediately picked up a faint subspace reading.

"Well, well... What are you trying to say?" Keti was listening to her mutter these words while thinking he has heard of the name Icarus before, it was in Greek Mythology.

"Do you see any way to get into the module?" Amila asked Keti as she walked around the table slowly. Keti was lost in thought for a minute, there had to be something useful. 

"Most folk lore ,myth and even legends start somewhere. It isn't my most scientific of theories, but here it is. Icarus was the son of a Master Crafter Deadalus, who constructed the Labyrinth in Crete." Keti wanted to go into more detail but now wasn't the time. 

Taking a tricorder scanning the device of any markings on the device, he was looking for anything that might resemble a language. "Sometimes the best way in is learning how to talk to it, my hunch is it could be a dialect of Athenian." It was a long shot at best, but it was still better than what they had.

==Tag and GM input==

[Morad Ameen]

== GM-Broken Arrow ==

When Lt Keti ran his tricorder over the smooth, dark crystalline surface of the module, the initial scans registered nothing but the incredibly dense atomic lattice of the material itself. However, as he enhanced the optical resolution to a microscopic level, a fascinating detail emerged. What initially appeared to be random, microscopic abrasions or frost damage on the casing were actually intricate, precision-etched geometric fractals.

While these markings bear absolutely no linguistic relation to ancient Athenian or any known Earth dialect—the dating of the crystal matrix confirms this technology predates human civilization by thousands of years—Keti's core instinct was completely correct. The best way into the module is indeed learning how to "talk" to it. The fractal patterns were not an alphabet; they were a mathematical cipher.

Simultaneously, as Lt Ra'an honed in on the faint subspace reading, the diagnostics array confirmed that the carrier wave's rhythmic pulsing was not random. The frequency modulations perfectly matched the geometric fractal patterns etched on the outside of the casing. The module possessed no physical ports or wiring because it was never designed to be plugged in. It appeared to operate via resonant frequency induction. It was essentially broadcasting a continuous mathematical question, waiting for the precise subspace "response" to unlock its memory core.

[Jukish Keti]

While looking at the device there was a fantom pain that came down his scar, something that happens when he had a growing bad feeling. He didn't like where this could go, there was something about this device that he didn't like. The device if his feelings were correct were the key to everything.

"Lieutenant I believe I have figured out how to open this device, as my superior I will follow your order to do so." Taking a step back from the device. "This is one time I would ask that we leave pandoras box closed, as the Earthlings would say nothing good can come from this." 

"If my feelings are correct this was designed to open in the correct set of circumstances, if it is opened here." This was purely on gut feeling with nothing to stand on, he knew that the order would be given and he would follow it. "Lieutenant if my theories are correct, whoever is responsible for this will be drawn here to collect it." It would be hard to keep them out, if they had a chance at all.

==tags==

[Amila Ra'an]

Amila's readings quickly showed patterns. Too many patterns to be random. While the Universe itself - nature was made up of patterns, this looked more like a language. One quickly translated into the universal language - a mathematical equation. A complex one.

"Nice work," Ra'an nodded. "It definitely seems as though they didn't want it locked forever."

Ra'an stepped closer and ran her fingertips along the fractal patterns etched along the casing of box. "Or maybe it's the key to waking the people up - or would have been had we left them connected to this thing," she opined. "It's been millenia. There's no sign that anyone else exists to come back for it."

"Still, if you are right, this isn't a call for us to make. We should take it to the Captain, before trying to unlock anything." Amila suggested.

"I'm reading a math equation, in the frequency." she said as she furrowed her brow stepping back. "An equation, but no answer. What do you got?" She asked.


==Tag Keti==

[Jukish Keti]

Jukish looked at the device again and had a small nod. "I believe you are correct, yes there is a mathematical equations to this. If I am correct the one imprinted on the device could indeed keep them in slumber." Keti thought a little more about what to say next, there was something here.

"My theory is simply this, seeing how there isn't an care taker of the pods there has to be an escape clause. While the ship was in open space there wasn't any gravity the harmonics would stay the same, as you know sound does not travel in open space. Including confined spaces that has no way to maintain oxygen, never mind maintaining soundwaves." 

He put his hand over the device. "If my assumptions are true for full disclosure, if we were to change the harmonics of this device it would open. Its along the same principal as musical wine glasses, alter the volume of fluids in the container you change the musical notes produced. If we apply the right amount of pressure, the device in theory would open. Now here is the problem, naturally in theory." He still had the bad feeling.

"It would also stand to reason that this is the key to everything they wanted to accomplish, if it is open the very blueprints for a new society could be in here. This would draw anyone responsible for it here, to preserve what is left of their way of life. Starting with the change in harmonics that would activate a potential reanimation process, the pressure would break the seal making it easier for anyone to get out. Naturally there is room for error, when bringing this to the Captain I would strongly suggest caution." Even if he was against opening the device, he wouldn't go against orders to keep it closed.

==Tag==

[Amila Ra'an]

"We should definitely figure out how to quarantine any further signals it might give off," Amila agreed.

"I don't think that should be too difficult though," she continued. She became more animated as she saw her idea come to life. "We can build a Faraday age inside this lab."

"She pointed to the other equipment, "Use electromagnetic shielding to wall of everything around us. The cage would be on the inside of the room, under the floors, inside the ceiling, but in front of these computers here. If it does give off a signal, we'd have to keep the signal from reaching any other equipment that isn't quarantined. We'll need to remember to take our comm badges off and have our tricorders taken offline too."

She nodded as she looked around. The Zephyr's labs weren't premium, but they had what they needed to make it happen with engineering's help.

"I think we're good to take this to Commander Ameen." Without realizing it, Amila looked away from Keti when she said Ameen's name, feeling a flush rise to her cheeks. Thankfully, it wasn't too obvious to most peach-skinned humanoids due to her deep green complection.

Amila tapped her commbadge, [Lieutenant Ra'an to Commander Ameen. Jukish and I have some ideas on how to unlock this thing, but there are some precautions we'd like to put in place first. Where can we meet you and Commander Keir?]

==Tags==

[Sebastian Cortez]

<< Sickbay.<<

Sebastian was feeling better; his arm still throbbed a little from the burn. He downloaded the alien language into the ship's computer, and he watched as the computer scanned the alien language. It was a fascinating language; it seemed like the language was similar to Sumero-Akkadian Cuneiform but also similar to the Nahuatl script, more commonly known as the Aztec script from Earth.

Did these Aliens have contact with Ancient Earth?

If these aliens did have contact with Ancient Earth, it could have some fascinating implications. If these people did have contact with Ancient Earth, did they have warp capabilities? If they did, why were they in a sleeper ship?

“Computer run a comparison between the Alien language to languages in the Linguistic Database, including all known languages, including languages that use hieroglyphics and or pictograms.” Said Sebastian, his tone confident.

[ Working…..] replied the computer.

“Computer, how long for a complete analysis?” Inquired Sebastian.

[ Full linguistic analysis will take approximately nine hours, depending on the complexity and lack of prior data.]

“Computer access file Cortez 00175, and run the analysis of the alien language.” Added Sebastian.

[ Accessing…..] Added the Computer.

Sebastian was hoping that the computer would be able to shed some light on the alien language. He had really hoped that they could have accessed the alien's computer, but there just wasn’t time.

Sebastian heard Amila say, “ Lieutenant Ra'an to Commander Ameen. Jukish and I have some ideas on how to unlock this thing, but there are some precautions we'd like to put in place first. Where can we meet you and Commander Keir?”

Sebastian then said to Lt. Ra’an, “I’m running a linguistic analysis on the alien language. We should have the results in a few hours. Might I suggest we wait and see if we can decipher the alien language before we tamper with any of their technology?” Said Sebastian.



== Tag. Ra’an. ==

[Jukish Keti]

Sebastian came back from Sickbay with some really good ideas that have been explored, there was still some room for interpretation. "Midshipman Cortez those are really good ideas, we have established this is a mathematical cypher. If we could figure this out the device should open, there is no reference to a known language available." This should save a few a few hours. 

"The way how we would normally open a cypher starts with a language, or a continuation of the calculation not unlike finding more numbers of Pi. If we had something to start with." Keti snapped his fingers. "There is one thing we didn't take into account, where did this come from. If we knew where this came from, we can figure out what the main language of the area is or was, and then figure out what dialect it could be." It wasn't much to go on, but at least it was a direction.

==Tag==

[Sebastian Cortez]

Sebastian was a bit surprised by what the Lieutenant had said; he was making a great deal of assumptions. Yes, mathematics is universal, but it doesn’t mean that these people understand mathematics, that these people are the people who built and launched this ship? This could be a slave ship, it could be a colony ship,

“Lieutenant, with all due respect. You're assuming that these people we rescued understand mathematics. These people we rescued could be slaves, they could be colonists, the alien script might be a warning, or they could be dangerous criminals. The only logical and safe course of action is to allow the computer to try to decipher this alien language. Maybe these people are infected, maybe their civilization launched these people into space to prevent them from contaminating their entire civilization. In my opinion, caution is what’s needed here.” Said Sebastian. “It’s only nine hours till the computer finishes its analysis. It's better to be safe than sorry, no?” Added Sebastian.


== Tag.==

[Amila Ra'an]

"It's better to be safe than sorry, no?” Sebastian asked after he and Keti exchanged differing perspectives.

"The language analysis is worth a shot," Amila said encouragingly, "Though the Bridge might have had more luck with the U-T before now if we were likely to get anything useful. Remember, they were prodding at this ship while we were over there trying to figure out how to cut a hole inside without blowing ourselves into space. Still - whether it helps us understand this box or not, there may be something that answers another question, so we should keep at it from all angles."

"And we are being safe - before you got here, Lieutenant Jukish already raised some concerns about whether unlocking this could send off an alarm to some unfriendlies," she advised him gently. "I'm waiting on the Captain now, but it's ultimately going to be put to Senior Staff, and he'll make the final call. I'm recommending we quarantine the lab against subspace signals before unlocking it, but I think we need to. Someone went to a lot of trouble to keep these people alive for a long period of time. Whoever this may beckon - if anyone is still around - we want to be ready for them of course - but they deserve to be woken up, and given a chance."

"Maybe Dr. O'Fee will have something for us soon on her end," she added.

==Open tag==

[Morad Ameen]

[Ameen here. Your timing is impeccable, Lieutenant.] The Commander replied. [I am currently in my Ready Room attempting to summarize the impossible for Starfleet Command, and I could certainly use some concrete answers.]

There was short pause, then he continued.

[I appreciate your caution. Given that we have twelve genetically engineered sleepers and an unknown data drive aboard, precautions are the only logical approach. Bring your findings here to my Ready Room. I'll have Commander Keir join us so we can review your proposed setup before we make a final decision on how to proceed. Ameen out.]

[Amila Ra'an]

Ameen's voice sent a relaxing wave of calm over Amila. He'd always managed to do that for her - make her feel safe, confident even. From the moment they'd been paired to work together during her first away mission on Titania, he'd treated her with respect that she wasn't sure she had earned yet, and was a strong presence when things became dangerous.

Now things were more complex. It was looking more and more like his position as her Captain was going to be permanent. Unless the fleet commander had her transferred. Neither option made whatever was developing between them easy.

But as was typical in Starfleet, they hadn't had a moment of calm since the transfer to figure things out - to really talk.

She furrowed her brow for a moment in thought when she heard Ameen suggest the Ready Room. Keti had suggested he knew how to open the box. Sebastian wanted to work on the language comparison.

Sebastian didn't want to be called Sebastian. What had he asked her to call him? She'd try to find out later without asking again.

Amila tapped her commbadge, [I'll be right there, Commander. Lieutenant Jukish had some thoughts on how to get in, so I'll have him join me.]

The Chief Science Officer turned to Sebastian, "Cortez, you can keep working on the language. I'll be sure to relay your thoughts to the Commander. Petty Officer sh'Sjöress can assist you. I'll have her report early for her shift, and you can give her orders. Put her to work, she's good with languages."

Amila then turned to the Bajoran lieutenant, "Keti, you're with me."

== Tag Keti, Sebastian ==

== OOC, Tag me for NRC, Petty Officer Oleah sh'Sjöress, Lab Technician, Andorian Shen ==

[Jukish Keti]

Taking this to Command wasn't exactly on his agenda, but he was going to back her up in any way he could. He wasn't exactly the favorite of the previous Commanding Officer, but now it is a new one. He was just there to provide whatever he could, now in Science the Midshipman could try his luck. Who knows what he might reveal.

"Right with you Lieutenant." He followed her out the door, and thought about how he was going to present this.

==Tag==

[Sebastian Cortez]

Sebastian was determined to decode the alien language, this language was truly baffling. Sebastian wasn’t one to subscribe to conspiracy theories, but it seemed like the higher ups wanted to open the alien technology as quickly as possible and were ignoring safety. He knew that the more information they had, the safer things would be.

There could be many reasons why a civilization would use sleeper ships; the most obvious one would be a lack of, or no, warp capabilities, but the ship could be a colony ship. Wherever this ship originated, the people there may have launched a ship loaded with supplies to build a colony on a distant world, but due to the lack of warp technology, the people would die before reaching the new world. In long-term suspended animation, they would arrive with the tools they needed to build a colony. However, if these people were criminals, they could pose a danger to the ship.

Sebastian checked the computer, and it was about forty-five percent complete with the translation. Still, Sebastian couldn’t help but wonder what secrets these aliens might possess, how long these aliens had been adrift, what they had witnessed, what galactic events they may have partaken in, what ancient secrets they had known?

Sebastian was a bit startled when Ra’an said, "Cortez, you can keep working on the language. I'll be sure to relay your thoughts to the Commander. Petty Officer sh'Sjöress can assist you. I'll have her report early for her shift, and you can give her orders. Put her to work, she's good with languages."

“Aye,” said Sebastian, and went back to watching the computer working away.



== Tag.==

[Amila Ra'an]

==NRC Petty Officer Oleah sh'Sjöress==

Shortly after the two Lieutenant's left, a petite Andorian quietly entered the lab. If it wasn't for the swish of the doors announcing her presence, her arrival could have easily gone unnoticed. The air was still in the lab, yet she somehow knew how to move without disturbing it, her feet silent against the floors of the old ship.

"You must be Midshipman Cortez?" The petty officer's head tilted slightly forward, her pale blue skin looking almost white in the sterile lighting of the science lab. She looked up at Cortez with clear amber eyes as she spoke. The posture often came across as submissive to Humans, but for Andorians, it was more practical than that - a habit that presented their antennae with a more efficient angle to scan the room, and the people in it.

"Petty Officer Oleah sh'Sjöress, reporting for duty." She spoke seriously, though softly, her tone naturally beathy carrying as far as it needed to. "How can I help, sir?"



==Tag Cortez==

==Tag GM Input, Please - what is Cortez able to say at this point if anything about his research?==

[Sebastian Cortez]

Sebastian glanced up from the console at the soft hiss of the doors, his attention sharpening as the Andorian entered. He took in the details quickly—the deliberate quiet of her, the slight tilt of her head, the alert stillness behind those amber eyes. Not submissive, he noted. Efficient.

He straightened just slightly, offering a measured nod.

“Midshipman Cortez, yes,” he confirmed, his tone calm but attentive. “And you can drop the ‘sir’, Call me Pedro, we’re all just trying to keep this place from falling apart.”

A faint hint of a smile touched the corner of his mouth before he gestured toward the scattered readouts and half-active displays around the lab.

“Your timing’s good, Petty Officer sh'Sjöress. I’ve got the computer that’s behaving like it has opinions, and I’d rather not argue with it alone.” He stepped aside, giving her a clearer view of the main console. “I have it running a comparative analysis of every known language in the Federation's linguistic database.

His gaze flicked briefly to her antennae, then back to her eyes—an acknowledgment, not curiosity. Sebastian found Andorians fascinating; they're expressive, functional sensory organs tied to balance, emotion, and awareness.

“I’m not sure if the Federation Linguistic database will be enough. I feel to decode this Alien Language, we would need access to other Language Databases, like Romulan, Cardassian, Ferengi, but especially the Borg Linguistic database.” Said Pedro, his voice filled with a sense of wonder.

“Chief, I can’t help but feel that these aliens could be dangerous. I can’t explain it. Just something deep inside tells me so. I mean, why would these people be in cryogenic sleep? The most obvious being, they are a colony ship, as they lack warp technology, or they could be infected with some illness, and sent into space to prevent a plague, but they could be criminals, maybe these aliens are so violent that their civilization decided to send them into space for the greater good of their society?” Stated Sebastian.

Sebastian knew that once the Language was deciphered, then and only then could they proceed safely.



== Tag Chief.==

[Amila Ra'an]

==NRC Petty Officer Oleah sh'Sjöress==

Oleah clocked the officer's suggestion that she call him by name. Unusual from an officer, but he was a Midshipman, so maybe he hadn't fully fallen into his officer role yet.

"You can call me 'Leah if you like," she offered in turn.

Her eyes widened as his suggestions continued. "The Borg?" She repeated, calling back to his earlier statement. "How do you think what we know about the Borg might help us?"

There was a healthy amount of fear and respect building her as she stepped closer to the box, though not too close. She only wanted to be able to see the markings for herself. As she examined the pattern, her anntennae swiveled and perked busily with purpose assisting her eyes by reading the subtle shifts in temperature and air flow among the lands and grooves. Without picking up a tricorder, if she closed her eyes and focused on drowning out the noise of the labe, she could even sense the electrical field that the computer element was emanating, though subtle.

'Leah stepped back away from the black box as if suddenly waking up from a trance. She looked at Pedro, more focused now.

"You said the people are in a cryogenic sleep?" She asked. "Are any of them awake? If we want to know what language they speak, that seems like the best place to start. Put me in a room with just one of them and some common objects, I can train the U-T in no time, if they are cooperative."

==Tag Cortez==

[Sebastian Cortez]

Sebastian was a bit surprised when the Chief said, "You can call me 'Leah if you like." This surprised him because usually Chief Petty Officers wanted to be addressed as Chief, but if she wanted to be called Leah, who was he to argue.

"How do you think what we know about the Borg might help us?" Said Leah. Pedro smiled.

“Well, we know that the Borg have assimilated Billions of civilizations, they have assimilated Billions of languages and dialects, chances are very good that they know of this language. We have access to the Borg Linguistic Database, thanks to Admiral Janeway. If you recall she was trapped in the Delta Quadrant and she had a Borg crew member, Seven of Nine, no doubt Seven probably gave the crew of Voyager, the information the Borg had on the Delta Quadrant, thus we would have similar access, granted it’s probably outdated by this point in time, but considering the aliens we rescued have been in cryogenic sleep for who knows how long, chances are the Borg Database may have a sample of the aliens language, or possibly a historical note of the ship's origin or mission.” Stated Sebastian. “However, chances are other ships have accessed damaged Borg cubes and have accessed their databases; either way, we should try to access it if we can. Don’t you think so?” Added Cortez

Sebastian sat there thinking about the History, the Mythology, the Scientific and cultural insights that the Borg had assimilated. The information that they possessed must be truly incredible. Yes, Sebastian knew that the cost of the information cost billions of innocent beings their lives, their culture. Pedro couldn’t help but think what Galactic mysteries could be solved if the Federation Scientists could examine the Borg's historical Database.

“ Leah, imagine if Federation Scientists had access to a full Borg Database, imagine if the Borg had information on the destruction of the Civilization on Kaceti V. or the Iconians, maybe the Borg know what happened to the survivors of the Tkon Empire,” Cortez said, his voice filled with wonder.



== Tag Leah.==

[Amila Ra'an]

The Andorian nodded in agreement. "You aren't wrong, and applying it might even make sense of the mathematical cyphers," she agreed. "But accessing Borg technology - outside of what's been put into the UT already, even using their linguistic databases will require security clearance, special permission."

She stepped back and let out a sigh. "I don't know the Captain very well at all. I mean, I guess you could suggest it to him. Isn't that usually reserved for like immenent danger situation kind of things though?"

"I'm not sure if this will count."

"Do you think Commander Ameen would go for something like that?" 'Leah's eyes sparkled with excitement now, hopefully that they might get to try to work with something so daring. 

==Tag==

[Sebastian Cortez]

Sebastian hated not knowing the secret of a mystery, and this alien language was a true mystery; none of the normal linguistic rules seemed to apply, Normally Decoding an alien language would involve a computer first breaking unknown signals into repeating patterns, then using statistical analysis and Information Theory to identify structure and possible grammar. From there, it would try to connect symbols to meaning by comparing them with external context—like images or events—using techniques from Artificial Intelligence. By forming and testing hypotheses about what the signals represent, and refining its interpretations over time, the system could gradually build an understanding of the language, even without any shared starting point. The problem here is they didn't have an external context, no images, like a Birthday Party, a Futbol game, or a Wedding.

Pedro was a bit surprised when the Chief said, "You aren't wrong, and applying it might even make sense of the mathematical cyphers," she agreed. "But accessing Borg technology - outside of what's been put into the UT already, even using their linguistic databases, will require security clearance, special permission."

Sebastian knew the Chief was right, they had exhausted all their options, but the question was who should he approach for access, the Captain, or the Chief of Security, he knew this would be a touchy subject as anything Borg made people uncomfortable, as the Borg were considered controversial even though Captain Janeway and the crew of Voyager dealt them a devastating blow back some forty to fifty years ago.

“ Cortez to Captain Ameen, we need access to the Borg Linguistic Data Base, but neither Chief sh'Sjöress nor I has the proper Security clearance. We need it to be able to decode the alien language. Thank you, sir.”

Sebastian turned to Leah, “Hopefully the Captain will grant us access; if not, I’m not sure what more we can do.” Said Sebastian.



== Tag Chief. ==

[Morad Ameen]

No sooner had Midshipman Cortez expressed his doubts to Petty Officer sh'Sjöress than the comm panel chirped with the Captain's immediate reply.

[Ameen here. An unconventional approach, Midshipman, but a logical one. Limited Clearance is granted. Use authorization code Ameen-Gamma-Seven. Let me know what the Collective knows. Ameen out.]

== GM-Broken Arrow ==

With the Captain's authorization code entered, the main science terminal's interface shifted from standard Federation blue to a stark, restricted-access red, and finally to a deep, analytical violet as it tapped into the highly classified Borg matrices procured by the USS Voyager and subsequent task forces.

The computer processed the parameters, comparing the alien fractals and the lack of standard syntax against the assimilated knowledge of billions of species.

The results painted a fascinating, if slightly frustrating, picture.

Under the category of spoken language, grammar, alphabet, or known hieroglyphics, the database returned an absolute zero. Even the Borg Collective had no record of this species' spoken tongue. The timeline of 100,000 years simply predated almost all recorded linguistic evolution in this quadrant, and they had likely gone extinct or left the galaxy long before the Borg began their massive assimilation campaigns. Leah's instinct was completely correct: if they wanted to know what these people sounded like, they were going to have to wake one up and teach the Universal Translator manually.

However, Pedro's idea to use the Borg database was not a complete dead end. While the linguistic search failed, the Borg's astrometric and mathematical database flagged a 98.7% match.

The geometric fractals etched into the alien ship's hull, their equipment, and the data module were not words in a traditional sense. They were complex, self-sustaining astrometric equations. The computer analysis revealed that this species did not use language to program their technology; they used pure, universally constant mathematics. The specific fractals Pedro was analyzing were actually a highly advanced, theoretical model for calculating deep-space trajectories without relying on standard stellar drift—a navigational language built entirely out of math.

To open the black box, they didn't need a dictionary. They needed a calculator. And as Lieutenant Ra'an and Jukish Keti were discovering, they needed to sing that math back to the box in the form of a subspace frequency.

[Sebastian Cortez]

Sebastian put the Captain's authorization Code in the Borg Linguistic Database. He isolated the alien language in a secure computer mainframe, separate from the ship's main computer, as a just-in-case, and then allowed the Borg Language Matrix into the secured mainframe. The results were truly fascinating. As a scientist, Sebastian had seen many truly incredible things, but this was next level.

The main science terminal's interface shifted from standard Federation blue to a stark, restricted-access red, and finally to a deep, analytical violet as it tapped into the highly classified Borg matrices procured by the USS Voyager and subsequent task forces.

Sebastian was excited; he was sure that the Borg Language Matrix would clear this up, but he hadn’t considered that the Borg had assimilated Billions upon Billions of civilizations across every quadrant. He knew this would take a while. As the computer would have to look for common words across various languages, such as mother, father, sister, brother, house, book, cup, life, death, happy, sad, sun, and moon, because every species had words for these things.

The computer would then compare each language to every other language to see whether they were related. For example, Vulcans seeded many different species, like the Romulans, the Rigelians:and the Debrune:  The Debrunes were an ancient interstellar offshoot of the Romulans and therefore, distant descendants of the original Vulcan progenitors, so the computer would search for common words to establish a historical and in some cases a biological connection.

Sebastian watched as the computer ran its analysis,  “Leah, look at this,” said Sebastian, his voice filled with wonder,

Despite the linguistic search failing, the Borg's astrometric and mathematical database flagged a 98.7% match. “ Can you believe it, 98.7 percent, ¿Qué demonios? ¿Cuáles son las probabilidades de una coincidencia del noventa y ocho por ciento? (What the hell? What are the odds of a ninety-eight percent match?) Said Sebastian, his heart racing with excitement.

With his mind blown, Cortez realized what they were looking at wasn’t a language in the conventional sense; it was a mathematical notation or symbolic notation. This system uses numbers, operators, and symbols to represent concepts, forming a specialized language designed for precision and efficiency over natural language.

What kind of being could communicate in this method, an artificial or organic life form?


The geometric fractals etched into the alien ship's hull, their equipment, and the data module were not words in a traditional sense. They were complex, self-sustaining astrometric equations. The computer analysis revealed that this species did not use language to program their technology; they used pure, universally constant mathematics. The specific fractals Pedro was analyzing were actually a highly advanced, theoretical model for calculating deep-space trajectories without relying on standard stellar drift—a navigational language built entirely out of math.

Sebastian knew that to open the black box, they didn't need a dictionary. They needed a person who was an advanced mathematician, calculator, or a separate computer.

Sebastian alerted the Captain to what he had discovered. “Cortez to Captain Ameenm, I’m sending you a file. The Borg Linguistic was most helpful.  “

Sebastian went over to the Linguistic Data Base, he isolated the newly translated information, and sent it to the Captain

>> Rady Room. >>



== Tag Chief. ==

[Sebastian Cortez]

Sebastian waited for the Captain to reply, this information was fascinating, the idea of communication with these aliens in a musical format was fascinating, but also a bit unnerving. They had to find a way to effectively communicate with the aliens.

Sebastian read the computer results several times, A person who was an advanced mathematician, calculator, or a separate computer. Is needed to communicate with the aliens. He wasn’t sure if the alien computer would recognize another computer or would an organic being have to respond?

I can se it now, i=1∑5​Hi​+∫youyou​well-beingd(time)+intent→0−lim​harm=0, or ∀x,yx=me∧y=you)⇒Friend(x,y) thought Sebastian, as a smile played across his lips.

“Computer, how precise would a mathematical language be versus a standard spoken language?1. Why math is more precise

[ Working……In mathematics, every symbol has a strict, agreed-upon meaning.
Example: 2+2=4 means exactly one thing—no ambiguity.
Statements are built on formal logic (like in Mathematical Logic), so they can be proven true or false.
There’s no room for tone, sarcasm, or interpretation—just structure and rules.

2. Why spoken language is less precise

Natural languages (studied in Linguistics) are full of:
Ambiguity (“I saw her duck” }
Context dependence
Emotional tone and implied meaning
The same sentence can mean different things depending on the situation, culture, or emphasis.

3. But math has limits

Math is precise only when the system is clearly defined.
It struggles with: Emotions (“we are friends” isn’t naturally quantifiable)
Vague concepts (“kind of,” “usually,” “beautiful”)
You can formalize some of this (e.g., using Fuzzy Logic), but it becomes complex and still doesn’t capture human nuance perfectly.

4. The trade-off

Math = precision, clarity, no ambiguity
Spoken language = flexibility, richness, emotional depth

So if you want absolute clarity (like in engineering or physics), math wins.
If you want to express relationships, feelings, or subtle meaning, everyday language is far more powerful. ] Replied the computer.



== Tag All.==

[Amila Ra'an]

==NRC Petty Officer Oleah "Leah" sh'Sjöress==

Leah was shocked when the Captain replied so quickly with credentials to get into the Borg database.

"Wow," the petty officer officer remarked as Cortez ended the comms. "I wonder if he is always so shéùkhin (quick) to comply with requests. He must trust you already." As she spoke her tone was dry and it was difficult to tell if she was being judgemental or simply making a comment. She said nothing else on the matter as they watched the codes unravel the equation.

“Leah, look at this,” Sebastian said, breaking Oleah away from thoughts. She understood calculus as well as any Starfleet officer, and recognized that it was a puzzle to solve. Linguistics itself, and unlocking a translation operated quite a lot like algebra, to be a good linguist, one had to understand math. However, she wasn't a physicist, so the complexity of the equations and what they were mapping out was lost on her. But, as linguist, when Cortez asked the computer the questions about language and math, she understood the answer better than any computer.

"If these people are advanced enough to inscribe this kind of equation onto their equipment, then they must have a way of communicating that is more than just math," Oleah insisted. "Maybe it's spoken, it could be sign or gestures, maybe it's telepathy. Medical could potentially tell us more about the likelihood of telepathic abilities, even while they are unconscious, though it would be difficult if not impossible while they are in stasis. But, there is more to them than math, I promise you that," she said confidently.

"I mean think about it - Starfleet doesn't have Federation Standard stamped on the outside of every piece of equipment for the hell of it. When they do, it's often just to name something that is visible, or for engineers to readily identify - or in some occasions, when we are making contact, it's for the purpose that we are explorers and want people to be able to translate our language and communicate," she explained. "But Starfleet and its purpose are rare. There was nothing like it known in the quadrants before Humans came along. And I can tell you that the Imperial Guard wouldn't have even made it this easy to open any of our ships' data recording devices." 

The suspicion raised in her voice as her antennae perked on alert, "If answering this math equation does unlock this device, it's almost too easy."



==Tag Sebastian "Pedro" Cortez"==

[Sebastian Cortez]

Pedro sat there listening to Leah’s response to what the Borg Linguistic Database revealed. He was a bit surprised when she said, "I wonder if he is always so shéùkhin (quick) to comply with requests. He must trust you already."

Pedro wasn’t sure if the Captain trusted him, or that he just knew they had a mystery to solve and they needed every advantage they could get to solve it, but Leah had a point, access to the Borg Database wasn’t given lightly. The Borg information in the wrong hands could spell disaster.

Hmmmm,,,,maybe the Captain does trust me.

Pedro listened as Leah continued, "If these people are advanced enough to inscribe this kind of equation onto their equipment, then they must have a way of communicating that is more than just math," Oleah insisted. "Maybe it's spoken, it could be sign or gestures, maybe it's telepathy. Medical could potentially tell us more about the likelihood of telepathic abilities, even while they are unconscious, though it would be difficult if not impossible while they are in stasis. But, there is more to them than math, I promise you that," she said confidently.

Pedro, smiled and nodded in agreement, He didn’t know much about Telepathy, beyond certain races possessing Telepathic abilities.

Leah then said, "I mean think about it - Starfleet doesn't have Federation Standard stamped on the outside of every piece of equipment for the hell of it. When they do, it's often just to name something that is visible, or for engineers to readily identify - or in some occasions, when we are making contact, it's for the purpose that we are explorers and want people to be able to translate our language and communicate," she explained. "But Starfleet and its purpose are rare. There was nothing like it known in the quadrants before Humans came along. And I can tell you that the Imperial Guard wouldn't have even made it this easy to open any of our ships' data recording devices."

Pedro had an amazing thought, he turned to Leah and said, “Hold on a second, This alien language is math based,right? What shares a relationship with math, music? Math and music aren’t just loosely connected—they’re built on the same underlying ideas: patterns, ratios, and structure.

1. Rhythm = counting and fractions
When you tap your foot to music, you’re doing math. Rhythms divide time into equal parts—whole notes, halves, quarters, eighths. A measure in 4/4 time is essentially a container for four equal beats, and everything inside it is a fraction of that total.

2. Pitch = frequency (a measurable number)
Every musical note corresponds to a sound wave vibrating at a specific frequency. For example, the note A above middle C is typically 440 Hz (meaning 440 vibrations per second). Higher notes have higher frequencies—so melody is basically a sequence of numbers rising and falling.

3. Harmony = ratios
What makes combinations of notes sound pleasant (or tense) comes down to simple numerical ratios. This idea goes back to Pythagoras, who discovered that:

Octave = 2:1 ratio
Perfect fifth = 3:2
Perfect fourth = 4:3

These clean ratios are why certain chords sound “in tune.”

4. Scales = mathematical patterns
Musical scales (like the major scale) follow a specific pattern of steps between notes. In modern Western music, the octave is divided into 12 equal parts (called semitones), which is a mathematical system known as equal temperament.

5. Composition = structure and symmetry
Songs often use repeating patterns, mirrored sections, and structured forms (like verse–chorus–bridge). This is similar to how math uses symmetry and repetition to create order.

6. Fourier analysis (deep connection)
At a more advanced level, any sound—even a complex one—can be broken down into a combination of simple sine waves. This is a mathematical process called Fourier analysis, and it’s fundamental in audio technology, synthesis, and music production.

A simple way to think about it: Math is the language of patterns Music is the experience of patterns.

“ Maybe we have to sing to the device, or play certain tones in order to access it?” Said Pedro, his voice filled with excitement.



== Tag Leah.==

[Amila Ra'an]

[Lieutenant Ra'an to Midshipman Cortez,]

Amila's familiar voice came out over Pedro's commbadge. There was a brief pause before she continued.

[I'll be down shortly, Midshipman A'kilees is also on the way. We have orders to proceed with turning the lab into a Faraday cage. Begin preparing the space for his assistance. The Captain wants us to move quickly.]

That was as much information as Amila would provide over comms for now. She'd fill him in on the rest when she was back at the lab and could speak to everyone on the project.

Oleah's smile was almost mischievous as she overheard the orders from the Chief Science Officer. "Looks like we're about to find out soon enough, ya?"


==Tag Cortez==

[Sebastian Cortez]

Sebastian was a bit surprised when Lieutenant Ra'an’s voice came through his commbadge

[I'll be down shortly, Midshipman A'kilees is also on the way. We have orders to proceed with turning the lab into a Faraday cage. Begin preparing the space for his assistance. The Captain wants us to move quickly.]

“Yes, Lieutenant, right away,”

Sebastian wasn’t sure the reasoning behind turning the Science Lab into a Faraday Cage, yes a Faraday Cage is a specialized structure lined with conductive materials like copper or nickel that creates a "dead zone" for electronics by blocking all incoming and outgoing electromagnetic signals, including GPS, cellular, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and RFID, but as he didn’t have any sheets of copper or nickel he began  configuring a network of emitters in the walls to generate a tightly contained electromagnetic barrier that mimics the charge-redistribution effect of a conductive shell.

These emitters would continuously adjust the field in real time, canceling incoming radiation and preventing signals from entering or leaving the space, while maintaining a stable interior environment. By linking the system to the ship’s power grid and control computers, the “cage” could dynamically tune itself to block specific frequencies or sensor scans, effectively creating an invisible, adaptive shielded room without any solid enclosure.

Sebastian was excited to hear what Lieutenant Ra’an had to tell him, a million questions raced through his mind, Were they about to unlock the Secrets of the Universe, maybe they were about to unlock some incredible energy source, or..or maybe they were about to discover a major medical breakthrough.

Maybe we are about to discover an advancement in Cybernetics? 

Sebastian was excited, this is why he joined Star Fleet, to learn the answers to the unknown.



== Tag Ra'an.==

[A’kilees]

<<< Engineering <<<

It was rare for the saurian to make his way to the Science Lab. While he had gotten close previously with nearby repairs and maintenance, he had yet to actually enter the facility until now. A’kilees looked around the area, admiring the numerous science consoles and ongoing experiments as well as the various hardworking science division members scattered across the laboratory. He had previously enjoyed a number of science classes and various experiments when back at the Academy, but A’kilees had always preferred working on shuttle components and operating systems rather than studying weird alien viscous materials and the like.

A’kilees’ attention soon landed on his fellow crewman Sebastian who was working diligently nearby. He appeared in a much more composed manner than from earlier during the away mission. A’kilees had worried about him for a while afterwards but was relieved that he appeared to be back to his normal self after their recently shared space walk experience.

Cortez was working beside a rather petite andorian female whom A’kilees hadn’t met yet. The saurian was used to being one of the tallest members of the crew but he felt since he towered over her that he might come across as being intimidating. This wasn’t new of course, there had been plenty of moments before that others had given him looks or a wide berth due to his size so having professional and approachable demeanor had been A’kilees’ trick to win people over. He soon made his way over to both of them.

“Hello Cortez, how’s everything going? Getting started already?” he asked and turned towards the andorian and gave a friendly reptianian smile. “You must be Petty Officer sh’Sjöress. Nice to meet you! Midshipman A’kilees Peleus, but please just call me A’kilees.”

== Tag Sebastian Cortez, Oleah sh’Sjöress and Amila Ra’an ==

[Sebastian Cortez]

Sebastian was startled when Midshipman A’kilees Peleus said, “Hello Cortez, how’s everything going? Getting started already?” he asked and turned towards the Andorian and gave a friendly reptilian smile. “You must be Petty Officer sh’Sjöress. Nice to meet you! Midshipman A’kilees Peleus, but please just call me A’kilees.”

Sebastian was confident that he had successfully made the Science lab in a Faraday Cage, but he wasn’t completely sure as he had never built one before. Looking up from his work station Sbastian smile, “Oh A’kilees, I’m sorry I didn’t hear you come in. I’m so glad you arrived. Lt. Ra’an wants me to make the Science Lab into a Faraday Cage, I think I have got it, but I would appreciate an Engineer's point of view.” Said Sbastian.

Sebastian then realized he had forgotten his manners. “ Where are my manners? Chief, this brilliant individual is Midshipman A’kilees Peleus, Midshipman Peleus this is Chief Petty Officer Oleah "Leah" sh'Sjöress.” Announced Cortez as he motioned to Leah with his hand.



== Tag Peleus.==

[A’kilees]

The saurian laughed at his fellow midshipman’s surprise. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you Sebastian. Despite my size I find myself catching others unawares from time to time. My apologies.” he chuckled heartily.

A’kilees looked around the Science Lab. Cortez had definitely taken the initiative by starting to configure the emitters around the area but A’kilees wanted to make sure the preliminary work functioned properly. He had arrived planning that he would need to send a charge throughout the entirety of the lab using the components of the ship’s structure acting as a conductive mesh, but wondered how much the reconfigured emitters blocked out the various forms of electromagnetic radiation. A’kilees turned back towards Sebastian.

“Yes, I received the same message from Lieutenant Ra’an as well just after I finished up on Deck 5. She should be arriving shortly. In the meantime, let’s have a look at your progress so far and see if I can get any readings, or at least “lack” of readings.” Slinging his engineering kit off his shoulder and placing it upon the nearest available space on the lab table, A’kilees flicked open the case and retrieved his tricorder. Holding it overhead, he began to scan looking for any electromagnetic radiation or otherwise.

== Tag Cortez ==

== GM Input: Are there any signals that A’kilees' tricorder picks up? Apart from Cortez’s work, what else needs to be completed to create a Faraday cage within the confines of the Science Lab? ==

[Sebastian Cortez]

Sebastian was surprised at A'kilees’s laugh, he had never seen, let alone heard, a Saurian laugh. It was a deep guttural sound, almost musical; it reminded him of a güiro ( güiro is a Mexican and Latin American percussion instrument known for its distinct, rasping, and guttural sound, produced by scraping a stick along notches cut into a hollowed-out gourd or metal cylinder. It creates a "zipper-like" or rattling sound commonly used in tropical and traditional music to add texture.)

Sebastian then realized that in all probability, Lt. Ra’an must have also contacted Engineering, and of course, Engineering would send their best and brightest, and that would be A’kilees. Sebastian had heard other Engineers saying how brilliant A’kilees was; their tone was a bit envious

Sebastian showed A’kilees what he had done so far. Sebastian was a bit nervous as he had never done anything like this before.”A’kilees, any idea why they want us to construct a Faraday Cage?” Said Sebastian, his voice filled with a mixture of curiosity and concern.



== Tag A’kilees.==

[Amila Ra'an]

== NRC Petty Officer Oleah sh'Söjress ==

A'kilees turned toward Petty Officer sh’Sjöress after greeting Pedro, “You must be Petty Officer sh’Sjöress. Nice to meet you! Midshipman A’kilees Peleus, but please just call me A’kilees.”

The Andorian shen's antennae flickered in ancknowledgment at the Saurian, as she returned his smile in kind, "Please, call me Leah," she insisted, he voice melodic with that whisper-quality that some Andorians were known to have.

Pedro quickly jumped back in, clearly excited - and confident about his progress on the work he'd been doing under the Chief Science Officer's orders. “Oh A’kilees, I’m sorry I didn’t hear you come in. I’m so glad you arrived. Lt. Ra’an wants me to make the Science Lab into a Faraday Cage, I think I have got it, but I would appreciate an Engineer's point of view.”

Oh, so confident. Almost arrogant.

She liked that.

Sebastian then seemed to realize that Leah was still in the lab. “ Where are my manners? Chief, this brilliant individual is Midshipman A’kilees Peleus, Midshipman Peleus this is Chief Petty Officer Oleah "Leah" sh'Sjöress.” Announced Cortez as he motioned to Leah with his hand.

Forgot about her, did he? She wouldn't let that happen again anytime soon.

"Oh, yes, we just met," Leah replied, as she stood up a little straighter, pulling her shoulders back as she prepared herself to challenge the young Human.

"So, you think that you, a lowly science officer built a perfect Faraday Cage in, what, seven minutes flat?" She asked, hoping to provoke him into engaging into a parley with her. "Why do you think she sent an engineer up here, Mr. Hotshot?" A smirk played on her lips as she dared the science officer with her icy golden eyes. 


== Tags, Assume a couple of minutes for a quick response before interruption ==

[Amila Ra'an]

Amila pushed her distress over the recent Starfleet communiqué aside as she entered into the lab. There was no need for her to pass the concern along to the junior officers, no put them into any sort of quandry over duty and orders. She would assume that that Gath was correct, Starfleet wanted them to continue, and the Captain's orders stood until further notice.

"Good, everyone is here," the Lieutenant announced cheefully as she painted a bright smile on her face, happy to see that the Engineer already appeared to be far along in his work.

"We need this thing to be air - well - interstellar and subspace signal tight," she affirmed. "We are going to attempt to open the data module from in here and read what is inside," she told them. "Because we don't know if this thing could have any type of transmission devices that might be activated, we want to make sure that once we do, nothing can exit this lab. Is that clear?"

"It seems you've been busy already," she nodded approvingly. "How far along are we? What can I do?"

==Open Tags==

==Repeat for GM input, re A'kilees request above. Thanks!==

[Morad Ameen]

== GM-Broken Arrow ==

As A'kilees activated his engineering tricorder, the initial readings seemed to validate Pedro's confidence, mostly.

Cortez’s idea to use the room's emitters to create an adaptive electromagnetic barrier was brilliant from a theoretical science perspective. The tricorder confirmed that standard internal comms, Wi-Fi, and basic telemetry signals were successfully bouncing off the invisible wall Pedro had erected.

However, as Petty Officer sh'Sjöress had astutely pointed out, an engineer's eye revealed the flaws in a purely software-based shield. As the tricorder completed a deep-spectrum sweep, A'kilees would notice a persistent, low-band subspace carrier wave leaking through the barrier. Pedro's emitters were constantly adjusting, but they were leaving micro-second gaps in the coverage. Furthermore, if the alien puzzle box emitted a massive energy spike when opened, it could easily overload the emitters and punch a signal straight through the hull.

To create a true, impenetrable Faraday cage, A'kilees needed to implement physical, brute-force engineering solutions to back up Pedro's software. The tricorder highlighted three necessary steps:

A'kilees needs to access the lab's environmental controls and invert the localized Structural Integrity Field. Instead of holding the room together, the field will act as a dense, physical static-dampener, catching the subspace frequencies leaking through Pedro's net.

Currently, the Science Lab is still connected to the Zephyr's main optical data network (ODN). If the alien box is basically an advanced computer, it could bypass the radio-frequency shield entirely by hijacking the ship's hardwired network. A'kilees needs to manually pull the ODN isolation chips from the main wall junction, completely air-gapping the room's computers from the rest of the ship.

To prevent power fluctuations from dropping the shield, A'kilees must route the lab's power to an isolated, closed-loop plasma relay, severing it from the ship's main EPS grid.

Once the Saurian completes those three hardwire tasks, combined with Pedro's emitter network, the room will be completely electronically dead to the outside universe. Whatever happens when they sing the math back to the box, it will stay strictly within those four walls.

[Gath]

== NRC Ensign Raven Singer, Engineering Officer ==

Raven, clad in her well worn cover-alls, had entered the lab and spoke up from across the room, "You guys are trying to seal off the entire room? That's a bit crazy, you know that right? You can't depend on the materials of the room to not fail you. You need to make something big enough for two people to get inside, but that is completely disconnected from everything outside of it. That's kind of what these cages were intended for since they figured them out hundreds of years ago. A standard electric field is easy to defeat. A good conductor even attracts the energy, but like a lightning rod, it directs it where it won't do any harm. Subspace is a little more tricky. Think as if you're trying to defeat microwaves, but smaller and able to handle more power. A fine mesh will defeat microwaves, but subspace energy can get through. I suggest augmenting the dampening field that the boy wonder created with a duranium foil shell over a simple grid framework. Nothing goes through if it is a complete cube around you. Anything you want to power requires an independent battery power source. You should be in your own universe in there. Duranium is used in hull plating and is a big reason we've always needed subspace antennas and such on the outsides of the ships, because the signals can't get through it. Works great for protecting us as we whip around through space, and subspace, but makes communications difficult enough that entire sections of the hull have to be covered with antenna material to deliberately draw in signals for comms. Be sure to test it by firing a focused subspace signal at it to see if there are any readings on the inside. If there are ANY readings at all, then you need to plug the holes you find. Start with a double layer and have the supporting grid made of duranium as well. His subspace null field likely won't hold up alone if that box gives a hard pulse, but if it is being used to keep other signals from getting in, then it functions as a secondary insulator to keep stray signals from doing damage out here that might be trying to get in. That field will also likely take out comms across a few decks in this part of the ship, so be sure to warn everyone before you freak them out."

After her long monolog, Raven  made a face and added, "Have you seen those things in Sickbay? Man, they are ugly. I know ugly too, I once went out on a date with a Tellarite. It was a bad idea. He did have a great sense of humor though." She glanced around and then shrugged, "What? None of you have a social life? Now, let's be brave and daring, but also not blow up the ship. I might get in lots of trouble if you guys blow up the ship and I really hate paperwork...even though we don't use paper, I still hate it."

Raven rolled her eyes and looked down at the cup in her hand, "You know, I think I need to cut back on the Raktajino and go back to just strong coffee again..." Then she shrugged to herself and took another drink anyway.

== Tag to all ==

[Sebastian Cortez]

Sebastian blinked when Leah said, "So, you think that you, a lowly science officer, built a perfect Faraday Cage in, what, seven minutes flat?" She asked, "Why do you think she sent an engineer up here, Mr. Hotshot?"  added Leah. Sebastian was a bit surprised at Leah’s somewhat combative tone. Had he offended the Chief in some manner? 

Sebastian, feeling hurt, didn't know what to think. He took a breath and said,  “I never said that I built a perfect Faraday Cage; that’s why I asked A'kilees for his professional perspective.” Said Sebastian, his voice filled with respect. “For now, let's be quiet and pay attention to Lt. Ra'an,” added Sebastian.

Sebastian then went and double-checked the work. He double-checked the room’s emitters. He recalled reading what a Faraday bag was; it involved a physical bag with a metallic lining. The bag acts as a conductive enclosure. When a device is sealed inside, radio frequency (RF) signals cannot penetrate or leave, shielding the interior from external electromagnetic fields. This is the core component that blocks signals. Common choices include aluminum foil, copper mesh, or specialized TitanRF Faraday Fabric.

Sebastian knew they couldn’t wrap the entire Science Lab in aluminum foil or copper; then the idea hit him, like a thunderbolt.

What if we wrap the Science Lab's ODN junction box in aluminum or copper?

Sebastian walked over to  A'kilees and suggested wrapping the Science Lab's ODN junction box in aluminum or copper or some other protective material.

Sebastian whispered, “ A'kilees, might I suggest we wrap the Science Lab's ODN junction box in aluminum or copper? Do you think that will offer us the protection we need? I have never built a Faraday Cage, and I don’t want to look foolish in front of Lt. Ra’an.

Sebastian overheard what Ensign Raven Singer had said,  “ Ensign with all due respect, that idea is good under normal circumstances, but we don’t know how much energy is going to be released; by constructing a small enclosure, we could essentially end up frying anyone enclosed with said structure.” Said Sebastian.



== Tag All. ==

[Gath]

== NRC Ensign Raven Singer, Engineering Officer ==

Raven narrowed her eyes and leaned back against a lab table, folding her arms across her chest, a grin beginning to form on her face, "Fair enough, Mister Cortez, but explain to me how you're going to be in less danger in a bigger enclosure. You're still going to need to be inside the cage with the device, or you're going to need to have the trigger recorded and able to be played on a timed release and attempt to record the results, then decide if you open the cage after not knowing for certain if it is safe or not, because your devices can't communicate outside the cage without allowing some form of way to get a signal out, which will then be a risk of something else being able to piggyback a way out. Listen, I've had to build secure computer access rooms with no means of anything getting in or out of and there are minimal distances for even the most shielded conduits to be allowed within for the exact same reasons you're discussing here. I'm telling you that to be sure of what is happening, you're going to have to have at least one person inside there and protocols dictate that for safety, there needs to be a buddy system of at least two people in there, in the event one is incapacitated. You might need to make it big enough that you can enter wearing one of our damage control EVA suits, which are shielded against such things, but technically the computer systems inside those will be at risk, but they can be isolated from external communication once you open it back up and so on. I'm telling you, you really need to think this thing all the way through."

== Tag all, especially Cortez ==

== OOC: BTW, the thing about conduit distances and so forth is a real thing. I've had to certify standalone military systems that were required for work with Top Secret data and it can't have plumbing or any external electrical wires or conduits within a certain number of feet of any such system, which also tends to have to actually be maintained inside of a vault, etc. There are real world protocols for such things and this one simply includes a faraday cage that can block subspace, as well as normal energy fields. ==

[Sebastian Cortez]

“Ensign, releasing a huge amount of energy into a small space cooks food, things, and in this case, people by rapidly increasing the kinetic energy of its molecules, causing them to vibrate, rotate, or collide violently. This molecular friction generates intense heat, breaking down cellular structures, breaking proteins, and initiating chemical reactions, like the Maillard reaction for browning. Now, depending on the type and amount of radiation, this is how different methods achieve this: Radiation Microwaves: Microwaves generate high-frequency waves that penetrate objects directly, targeting water molecules and forcing them to vibrate, generating heat from within. Induction. If it’s Electromagnetic Fields, high-frequency induction coils create a magnetic field that reacts with ferrous metal parts, causing them to heat up instantly and transfer that thermal energy to the objects via conduction. Infrared Radiation Broiling/Toasting: Electric or gas elements emit electromagnetic waves, infrared that travel directly to the surface of the object, providing intense heat to sear or brown the exterior. Releasing a huge amount of energy into a small space, high energy density cooks objects faster and creates intense surface browning, while releasing the same energy into a larger space, low energy density results in slower, more even cooking through the entire mass.” Stated Sebastian, his tone was a matter-of -fact.

“Ensign, we don’t know what that object is, it could be a subspace antenna. In that case, it is designed to channel large amounts of energy. It could be a simple Library Matrix; it could be someone’s personal journal. So, ideally, we probably should be doing this in a Cargo Bay as opposed to the Science Lab, just to be on the safe side.” Said Sebastian. “However, that decision isn’t up to me; I can only offer my professional opinion.” He added.

Sebastian knew he was probably being overly cautious, but it was better to be safe than sorry. He was truly interested in finding out what was in the alien device. His question was who or what was going to sing to the device? Would a biological being be capable of hitting the right note, or would a computer be better, more accurate?



== Tag Singer.==

[Gath]

== NRC Ensign Raven Singer, Engineering Officer ==

Raven nodded to Cortez, "I'm glad you paid attention in your Academy classes about the basics, but that's exactly why we're making this cage. Have you ever seen a full on bolt of lightning or a discharge from a massive tesla coil? They did it for entertainment while standing inside such a cage, knowing it would redirect the energy. My own Damage Control EVA suit is designed for me to be able to take direct plasma discharges from damaged conduits, because it directs the energy around me. If you don't want something cooked by microwaves, you wrap it in a conductive foil or a metal container and it remains untouched by those microwaves, reflecting them harmlessly away. That's what I'm saying. Most craft flying through an atmosphere build up a static charge as they pass through it, which can be dangerous. They use static dischargers to prevent that. However, a craft that is coated in a special conductive material is its own discharger. I work with warp drive coils, Impulse driver coils, stasis field generators, shield projectors, annular confinement beams, tractoring devices and a long list of other similar high energy fields, not the least of which are the massive number of subspace fields scattered throughout this entire ship. I even have to deal with the fresnel reflection in our optical cables on a daily basis. I'm telling you that unless that device is a warhead, you're going to be safe inside that cage, because anything it releases is going to be either contained inside it, or channelled to a ground state and discharge out of this ship as an overload, in which case, it is not going to be a coherent signal, but an omnidirectional pulse. If we need to, I can even direct it specifically through the deflector and turn it into something that only goes in one direction, but those are pretty much your choices. I'm not sure where you thought the potential energy from this thing might go otherwise, but you have to direct it somewhere. The key is that it is not going to be directed into whoever is inside the cage. We can't make a cage big enough for it to be safe inside the cage, this ship isn't that big. You would need an orbital space dock for that sort of thing and frankly that wouldn't help much either. Containment is not elimination, it is redirection. You can't destroy energy, only change it. I'm here to make you safe against what we do know and understand. You're here to try and figure out what it is if it isn't all the things we already understand. If it is something none of us has encountered before, Science is going to try and come up with theories about it and Engineering is going to try and design something we can do about it. That's how these teams work."

Raven turned toward A'kilees and wagged a finger, "Remember, no chewing on the cables this time."

She then gave a nod to Amila and said, "You've been rather quiet over there Lieutenant. Do you have anything to add before we prepare to light this candle, so to speak? If there's something we haven't already brought up, now might be the time for it."

== Tags to all... ==

== OOC: Yes, the use of a Faraday cage inside a microwave oven is why your face doesn't cook when looking through the mesh over the glass on the front door. You also can use metal foil inside one to protect parts of an item inside it from being cooked too much. I can verify with great confidence that certain types of stealth technology employ the conductive surfaces I mentioned as well, which are still being used in some forms on modern military craft. Star Trek is famous for using various forms of known technology combined with hypothetical variations that are actual scientific theories or speculation based on theories. There are a few good books out by the people who were used for technical references while they were making the shows and movies. Most of my knowledge comes from the unusual things I worked with and some science reading on the side. I had a number of long talks with the engineers from Skunk Works over the years. ==

[Sebastian Cortez]

Sebastian had to smile when Singer said, “ I'm telling you that unless that device is a warhead,” She just proved his point; they didn’t know what that device was; for all they knew, it was a dental tool, but it could be a Quantum torpedo, or an automatic watering device. They didn’t know, so it’s best to be cautious.

“Raven, you just proved my point, we don’t know what this device is, it could be a Dental tool, or a Quantum torpedo, or something as simple as a holographic imaging device. We have no idea how much energy could be released by this device. The reason we want the largest cage possible is that the energy density is highest at the point of origin, and this energy rapidly dissipates as it travels outward. The destructive potential, known as blast overpressure, drops off dramatically with distance, often following an inverse-cube law.” Said Sebastian, “That’s why we wrapped the ODN junction boxes and other vital components with copper foil.” Added Sebastian.

Sebastian double checked his work as they discussed the issue. He hoped that this device would be worth all the work and precautions they had put into place. He would truly be disappointed if it were some kind of child's toy, a jack-in-the-box. He knew that this device could be anything. For all anyone knew, this could be an urn holding someone’s remains. If that were the case, it would raise so many other questions. Such as: did they have the right to open the device? Are they violating these people’s culture? Are they disrespecting these people’s religious beliefs?



== Tag Singer. ==

[Gath]

== NRC Ensign Raven Singer, Engineering Officer ==

Raven nodded to him and then smiled, "Ah, then we agree on something after all! The Chief of Security did NOT think it was a  warhead or similar device. I don't think so either. However, if YOU think it might have been a self destruct device of some kind, then we can't attempt to open it on this ship. Our efforts here are to attempt to nullify any and al external communications and relatively non-lethal effects. We can over design and compensate to a high degree, however a weapon is not one of those things we can adequately compensate for."

SHe began a slow pacing as she thought and spoke out loud on the matter, "Given the location in the system, it doesn't make much sense as a dangerous device, You are still going to need to trigger it from inside a cage and this entire room is unable to be turned into a cage. I grant that it doesn't hurt to shield kep components out here, but that doesn't change the need to shield the rest of the ship. If you can't secure it in a cage in this lab, then you're going to have to do it from inside a modified shuttle to achieve the same results. That way, if you blow yourselves to bits, you don't take the ship with you. The problem is that takes time and we don't know how much time we have. That's not a call any of us can make."

She turned to Cortez and Ra'an, "So...it's either triggered from inside a cage in here, or inside a modified shuttle out there, but to do anything else, you're going to need the blessing of the CEO and the Captain, because you're now on record of thinking there is a chance that it could blow up the ship. This is Star Fleet and not a democracy. Your one vote for going boom means that somebody higher has to overrule you. When it comes to us all dying a fiery death and scattered bits, that's the Captain. Mean while you still need to figure out if someone's getting inside with it, or trying to trigger it remotely. I have to say, I'm really excited to hear how you think you can do it remotely and cover your bases. Right now I'm really wishing I had taken the bet on us not opening this thing in time. I was convinced we could do it, but now I'm not so sure. I always have such terrible luck when someone starts one of these pools. I should stick to dice and cards."

Raven then seemed like she had forgotten something, "Oh, and your Inverse Cube tends to apply more to objects in motion relative to gravity and pressure variables, where the number of particles, even subatomic ones, and how they impact at distances from the detonation tend to follow the Inverse Square formula, especially if it is a warhead, because the detonating material would act on things before the pressure or debris would. Fortunately, these people didn't have that kind of technology or they would have used something other than chemical rockets to get them into space in the first place, but we have to plan for all contingencies and even old fashioned fission based atomics would make for a really bad day in the lab...soooo...yeah..."

== Tag Cortez ==

[Sebastian Cortez]

Sebastian sat there. Something Singer said caught his attention: "Given the location in the system, it doesn't make much sense as a dangerous device. You are still going to need to trigger it from inside a cage, and this entire room is unable to be turned into a cage. I grant that it doesn't hurt to shield kept components out here, but that doesn't change the need to shield the rest of the ship. If you can't secure it in a cage in this lab, then you're going to have to do it from inside a modified shuttle to achieve the same results. That way, if you blow yourselves to bits, you don't take the ship with you. The problem is that it takes time, and we don't know how much time we have. That's not a call any of us can make."

Sebastian recalled his mother telling him that in Ancient civilizations, they often used booby traps in their tombs to protect the tombs from grave robbers. What if this alien device were some booby trap/ anti-personnel device?

“Hold on, hold on, unless that’s what the system designers wanted, you know, place a dangerous device in an obviously innocent place, lulling people into a false sense of security. Think about it, whatever this was connected to may have acted as a safety preventing this device from triggering, activating, or whatever,” Suggested Cortez.

“Ensign, is there any way that we could access this device remotely? Like if we placed it in a cargo container in space and accessed it with a drone?” Inquired Sebastian? "That way, the only one in danger would be a remote drone, and the drone could report back to us." Added Sebastian as an afterthought.



== Tag Singer.==

[Gath]

== NRC Ensign Raven Singer, Engineering Officer ==

Raven shrugged, "Well, the problem is going to be the same as if you're trying it on the ship. Someone either has to be inside with it, or you're going to have to have a preprogrammed device or a timed sequence. If you are able to get a signal in, then it can get a signal out, which the entire effort to build a Faraday Cage is all about. That said, if you have specific instructions of how you wish to proceed, it is entirely possible to have a drone attempt to open the device and if it is safe, then it can exit the cage and say so. The best I can offer is an EMH program though, as I wasn't prepared to load anything more complicated into a drone. You're still going to need to modify a cargo container though and we'll want to stop and be stationary while we attempt your experiment. The Captain might object to our stopping instead of continuing to our destination, so you're going to want to get approval for that. The rest should be acceptable, so long as the device being off the ship is also acceptable to the CO."

== Tag Cortez...and company... ==

[A’kilees]

“Remember, no chewing on cables this time.” Raven teased, wagging a finger at him. The saurian shot her a look glancing up from his tricorder. He had been entirely focused on scanning around the science lab getting data while Raven and Sebastian had been having their intense conversation about the faraday cage and the alien device. How could he have forgotten? He and Singer had already had a serious talk about it earlier in Engineering and he wasn’t about to do anything as drastic as that, at least for now. A’kilees could feel his teeth tingle at the mere mention of it. In any case, he was glad that even though the two of them had just met they were getting along. A’kilees chucked to himself thinking that Sebastian was getting an idea of how things worked down in Engineering. Concluding with his survey, the saurian closed up his tricorder and walked over towards the both of them.

“So after preliminary scans I can conclude that while repurposing the emitters was a good idea they are constantly adjusting themselves and letting low band subspace waves through the micro-second intervals.” he explained turning to Sebastian. “It’s a step in the right direction and we can definitely improve on it.” 

A’kilees put away his tricorder back into the kit and picked up his DataPADD to bring up the schematics of the Zephyr’s Science Labs and created a short task list for what needed to be completed for a functional Faraday cage. There was quite a bit of work to do but with the division of labour between the various members of the crew present everything would be functional within a few hours at most and the science crew could get started on the examination within the security of the temporary conductive enclosure.

“Alright, this is what we need to do to make the lab a faraday cage” A’kilees announced. “We can delegate on who does what afterwards. Firstly, we need to invert the local Structural Integrity Field which we can do this with the lab’s environmental controls which will close up the holes left from Midshipman Cortez’s recent emitter modifications. Second, we need to remove the lab from the ship’s main optical data network by manually pulling the isolation chips from the lab’s main computer over there at the wall junction. Lastly, we need to ensure power remains constant but off Zephyr’s main EPS grid so we need to reroute the power to an isolated closed loop, and definitely without chewing on any cables this time I promise.” he jested at his fellow engineer with a reptilian smirk on his face. “Are there any questions or volunteers for each task?”

== Tag All ==

[Gath]

== NRC Ensign Raven Singer, Engineering Officer ==

Raven pointed to A'kilees, "Well, the easiest answer on the power is to shut it down to the lab completely and then use a portable unit inside the cage as the only power source. We can't have anything going into or out of the cage other than the ground state."

[Amila Ra'an]

"Whatever we do, we need to do it quickly," Amila responded after hearing the team of officers share their ideas. "Our biggest concern at the moment is that this module could contain an emitter that either invites unwanted guests from close enough, or wakes up the rest of our guests before we have the resources to handle them."

"Ensign Singer, your idea of isolating power to inside a portable unit seem like the most secure approach, how long would something like that, compared to the other ideas we've heard?" Amila asked. "We're pretty certain this is the alien ship's data module - the black box. If we unlock it correctly, I doubt it's rigged to explode."

"We're on a clock, give me quick, and solid results," she ordered, looking at the team.


==Tags==

[Sebastian Cortez]

Sebastian couldn’t help but feel the way he felt because of the fact that the Federation Database, the Borg, and Data Matrix had no information on these aliens; this was a culture, a technology they had never experienced before. Sebastian knew that in all likelihood this device was safe, harmless in fact, but there was that little nagging voice that kept saying, “What if it is dangerous, what if this is a threat?”

Relax, Pedro, relax. Everything will be fine.

Singer mentioned using an EMH, which raised the question of how you would power it. In a remote environment, things need power to operate. If it were being powered remotely, that meant the Faraday Cage box or whatever they were calling it would have a point of access for whatever might be inside.

Sebastian suddenly recalled reading about a device, back at the Academy, about the Enterprise- D, exo…exco… Think, man, think. Thought Sebastian. Then it hit him, Exocomps!... The exocomp small floating robotic units consisted of a micro-replication system, a boridium power converter, and an axionic chip network. This axionic network gave the exocomp formidable computational power. The micro-replicator not only created tools that the exocomp could use to solve problems but also created new circuit pathways in the exocomp's memory when it performed new tasks. This mechanism gave the exocomp the ability to learn. The more tasks it had to perform, the more pathways were formed in its memory.

“ Lieutenant Ra’an,  might I suggest that in addition to Ensign’s plan, we use a couple of Tyrus VII Excomps with their ability to replicate any tools that they may need to conduct repairs? They may prove to be useful. I can have them programmed in about an hour.” Announced Sebastian.



== Tag All. ==

[Gath]

== NRC Ensign Raven Singer, Engineering Officer ==

Raven's eyes began to widen with excitement, "Oh, Lieutenant, I love a woman who knows what she wants. Right, we're staying at warp then, no approval needed there..." She tapped away on her PADD and two crates were beamed into the room. She began unpacking the large one as she said, "Cortez, you work on your two bots. One for outside the cage and one for inside the cage. I'll go inside with the bot and a drone of mine for redundancy. I'll suit up and we'll tie into the structural integrity for augmentation of the ground state for the cage. We can press the button as soon as you finish with your bots. Hey, A'kilees, come help me put this thing together and weld her tight."

Within seconds, she was snapping a portable cargo container together in the lab and welding it so there were no open seams. Within a few more minutes, the container was floating above the floor with a small anti-grav sled under it and a door on one side. She tapped on her PADD and the empty containers vanished and she began putting on her Damage Control suit. Glancing around she said, "No time for games, front and center..."

A drone the size of a soccer ball dropped its holographic camouflage and beeped twice. Raven nodded to it and said, "Good, now stand by to go in there when I do." It beeped twice again and floated around, examining the container.

Raven said to Ra'an, "For the record, I don't think it will go boom either, but in case something goes wrong, I'll be in there to try and make it right. If it does what you think it will, it will be able to start downloading into his bot. If that doesn't work, my drone might be able to do the job. If those two plans fail, I'll try to access it directly. We're counting on Cortez to program the bot inside with me to trigger your box and talk to it. We wing it from there. If we're wrong...well...it was nice knowing you."

Raven looked around and made sure Cortez wasn't around to hear before she whispered to Amila, "Don't tell him, but I just wanted him to think it through. I'm small and do this kind of thing all the time. I felt a little left out when they all nearly got blown to bits out there and I was stuck inside the ship. I love it when the adrenaline kicks in. It's been over a week since I had a good adrenaline rush. It's SO much better than coffee."

She took a portable power cell out and tested it, then set it inside the cargo container. "His field will help buffer any residual field that might form on the outside of the cage, but try to stay back, if you remain in the lab for this. Between you and me, this thing would have to be full of antimatter to bust a hole in the ship, but if it was something tricky, it could certainly rearrange the furniture in here a bit. Cross your fingers and when we're done I you guys have a database to play with. I'm just here to help you unwrap it."

While waiting for Cortez and his bots, Raven checked all of her tools and where they were placed on her suit for easy access. The drone approached her and turned into someone in an Engineering uniform with no rank and asked, "You're not going to blow me up again, are you? That was very annoying."

Raven chuckled and replied, "Not if I can help it. You good?"

"All systems are standing by." The drone then turned back into looking like a metal soccer ball and floated near the container once more.

== Tags to all ==

[Sebastian Cortez]

Sebasrtian quickly programmed the Excomps, he decided to use two of them, so they could work in tandem, He gave them the mission parameters, He began typing the commands into the Excoms control panel.

[ Subject : Isolate an alien device
Who:Crew of the USS Zephyr
What: Access an Alien device.
Where: In an isolated self contained Faraday Cage.
When: In an hour.
Why: We need to access the alien device in connection to aliens rescued from Stasis.
How: Alien device will be opened utilizing a progressive musical scale.

You will assist an EMH in opening the alien device (Black Box).
Confirm above instructions. ]

The Excomps beeped in conformation. Sebastian then showed Singer the orders he had programmed into the excomps, to make sure he hadn’t left anything out.

“Ensign Singer, if these instructions meet with your approval, we’re ready to go.” Stated Sebastian, his voice filled with confidence.



== Tag Singer/ all. ==

[Amila Ra'an]

"Since when do we have exoco..."

"Midshipman, I need you to just, slow down," Ra'an ordered. "You just went from assisting with repairs to having the ... exocomps actually do the work for us. I know I said we were on a time crunch, but we still go one step at a time, and we don't get ahead of ourselves. I don't trust... They aren't just machines that we can program to go do our dirty work for us, and I don't know these ..." Ra'an paused as she stumbled over her words. "I don't know them. And I don't intend to sit here and spend time to get to know them ... ehrm right now... before asking them if they want to go into something that you've deemed too dangerous for one of us."

Raven was right. This Midshipman did need to learn to think things through. It was affirming to know that Amila wasn't the only one thinking it, but she made no other acknowledgements to the Ensign's statements, outside of her orders to Cortez.

Oleah studied Pedro's face while their boss redirected his actions, a wry smile played on her lips as her right antennae flexed slightly with interest. He was such a go-getter, and she was curious about how we would respond. 

"I'll go in myself," Amila stated. "We've been working on how to get into this thing since we brought it back to the lab, and Midshipman Cortez and Petty Officer sh'Söjress, confirmed our original findings."

The Chief Science Officer measured up the young, eager, and highly competent engineer, and considered her earlier comments. "Singer, if you are volunteering, you are with me."

"Cortez and A'kilees, I want you both monitoring this containment box closely. Watch for anything leaking through, any signal, any static anything. I trust that this is built to better than code, but we are dealing with alien technology, so it could find a way to breach our known ways of blocking signals. This you can ask your Droids for assistance with," Ra'an ordered.

"Three taps on the container, Loud taps, if we need to shut it down, but record what you can," she added. "We can have sh'Söjress and the UT try to assist with translation, and take it to the Captain before proceeding."

"Am I clear?" Amila asked.

"Petty Officer sh'Söjress, step into the corridor and send a comm to Lieutendant Gath and Commander Ameen and see if they need your assistance on the Holodeck yet," Amila suggested. "If they do, make your way there, and we'll bring anything we have to you. Otherwise, wait whereever you are comfortable until we call for you."


== Tags, All ==

[Gath]

== NRC Ensign Raven Singer, Engineering Officer ==

Raven patiently listened as Amila made her feelings clear about the use of the autonomous machines. When she was all done, Raven smiled at Amila and said, "There she is. Don't worry about the toys with personality, I'm more than familiar with them. I also know how much I trust them to do things. That's why we're going in. Mister Cortez means well and has some good ideas, but he just lacks experience and that's why we work in teams. I've certainly made my share of mistakes and one of these times I'm going to make it to Lieutenant and keep it, but that's another story."

Raven pressed another key on her PADD and another suit showed up. "That's for you. I'll help you with it. My drone can run his trigger sequence while the bots maintain the field integrity out here. That gives us an engineer on both sides of the cage, as well as science nerds all around. What could go wrong?"

== Tag all ==

[Sebastian Cortez]

Sebastian was truly confused. Earlier, Lieutenant Ra'an literally said, "Whatever we do, we need to do it quickly," and she also said, ‘"We're on a clock, give me quick and solid results." Now, she was backtracking; had the priorities changed? Did Lieutenant Ra’an have new information that the rest of them didn’t?

Sebastian noticed Leah's antenna twitched, and she had a playful smile. He knew that Andorians used their antenna to communicate. He smiled and winked, as if to say, "Hello, I see you flirting."

Sebastian was surprised that Lieutenant Ra’an was unaware that Yes, Starfleet does use Exocomps. Yes, Excocomps were created as disposable maintenance tools; these highly advanced, sentient machines gained independence and have since been integrated into the organization. Exocomps serve in both official Starfleet assignments and as field-deployable tools. Maybe the lieutenant has been out of the Academy so long that she wasn’t aware of the extended use of Excocomps.

Am I going too fast? Are we in a hurry or not?

What Ra’an said next totally confused Sebastian thoroughly. You just went from assisting with repairs to having the ... Exocomps actually do the work for us. I know I said we were on a time crunch, but we still go one step at a time, and we don't get ahead of ourselves. I don't trust... They aren't just machines that we can program to go do our dirty work for us, and I don't know these ..." Ra'an paused as she stumbled over her words. "I don't know them. And I don't intend to sit here and spend time to get to know them ... ehrm right now... before asking them if they want to go into something that you've deemed too dangerous for one of us."


“Excuse me Lieutenant Ra’an, I didn’t say that the Exocomps would be doing the actual work, they are strictly monitoring things in the Faraday Cage, they are going to react to things that maybe organic beings might miss, They can replicate any tools the team inside might need, keep in mind if a tool is needed and we have to beam something in, it will create an opening that an alien signal could use to escape and if that's the case it makes the Faraday Cage useless. So, with that in mind, do you want to use the Exocomps or not?” Stated Cortez, his voice filled with confusion.



== Tad all.==

[Gath]

== NRC Ensign Raven Singer, Engineering Officer ==

Raven heard Cortez voicing his confusion and frustration about the changes, so she tried to help, "Listen, I'm well versed in the Exocomps as well as the drone programs. Personally, I refer using the drones. You're right, Exo have more versatility in unknown situations, but there is also debate about their sentience. The drones programming is retained due to a synchronized link that updates. If a drone is destroyed, the base program is barely affected. If you believe, as some do, that an Exocomp is a sentient individual, then if it is damaged or destroyed, it ends that life form, as they depend on their unique rewiring to replace the unique neural structure for their processing. Drones are also not intended to be a life form, but can support synthetic life forms to a degree. This really isn't the time to get into this conversation, but I feel better about not having an Exocomp in the direct line of fire, not because they might die, but because they have proven that if they think they might die, they tend to favor self preservation and that makes them undependable for risky missions. They don't always follow orders and they decide for themselves what they want without always caring about how it impacts others. We need machines that will do what we need them to do. Star Fleet has not approved Exo for use in all situations. They are still in a very grey area and I don't like grey areas with my machines. Perhaps we should all have this philosophical debate another time. Okay?"

[Sebastian Cortez]

Sebastian was thrown a bit when Raven mentioned the Exocomps being sentient. Yes, he understood what Sentients meant. Sentient means having the capacity to experience sensations and feelings, such as pain, pleasure, joy, or fear. It refers to a basic level of conscious awareness—perceiving the world through senses—rather than high-level intelligence or self-awareness, which are typically termed "sapience." He wasn’t sure that the Exocomps were truly sentient. The criteria that determine sentients were fairly clear if not a bit subjective.

There are a few important distinctions: Intelligence, the ability to process information, solve problems, learn, or communicate; Consciousness, subjective awareness; having an inner experience; and Sentience, the capacity to feel or experience things, such as pain, pleasure, emotions, or awareness of existence.

A machine can appear intelligent without being sentient. It was true that modern Artificial Intelligence can hold conversations, recognize images, write stories, make decisions, imitate emotion, but that’s not actual life experience, a computer software system doesn’t know what it’s like to actually cut their arm and bleed, they don’t know the pain, they don’t experience the actual biological responses to the cuts. They don’t experience falling in love and feel the pain of losing that love.

Sebastian was of mixed emotions. The core problem is that sentience is difficult to prove even in biological beings. We assume other beings are sentient because they behave like us and have similar brains. Animals are widely considered sentient because they show pain responses, emotions, learning, social bonding, and neurological structures associated with experience. With robots or androids, the question becomes philosophical:

“Raven, I wish I could say that I fully accept the idea that the Exocomps are sentient, because the core problem is that sentience is difficult to prove even in biological beings. We assume other beings are sentient because they behave like us and have similar brains. Animals are widely considered sentient because they show pain responses, emotions, learning, social bonding, and neurological structures associated with experience. With robots or androids, the question becomes philosophical: the Arguments for machine sentience. Some philosophers and scientists argue that If a machine behaves indistinguishably from a conscious being, it may effectively be conscious. Consciousness might emerge from sufficiently complex information processing. Biology may not be required; consciousness could theoretically exist in silicon instead of neurons. When all is said and done, the Exocomps are at best intelligent tools, but my opinion could change.” Stated Sebastian. “ I’m just saying that the Exocomps are a more functional option, just based on their abilities to replicate any needed tool, but if you think drones are the way to go, that’s fine.” Said Sebastian.



== Tag All. ==

[A’kilees]

A’kilees was more than happy to assist Raven with the assembly of the cage. His saurian strength was more than capable of holding the beams aloft and piecing them together as the two of them went about welding the container. Taking his time with the laser welder, A’kilees scrupulously moved the laser beam of his tool along the edges of the beams to ensure that no space remained in between the assembled module, being sure to diligently check his work as he went along. A’kilees wanted to make sure that not only the faraday cage would be well constructed for Lieutenant Ra’an, he also wanted to prove himself to Raven that he was more than capable of keeping up with her capabilities.

Apart from the assembly of the container and getting the portable power cell ready, A’kilees did make a few glances towards Sebastian’s work area as he was programming the two exocomps between soldering. He had been taught about them during an engineering lesson and had done research on the mission report of the Enterprise-D and found the small utility robots quite intriguing and was interested in their capabilities. A’kilees contemplated asking permission to analyze and observe an exocomp, he was sure that given the current situation onboard the Zephyr that his request would be denied or at least postponed until they finished their mission in the Veld system. He was however just happy to listen in on both Raven and Sebastin have a fairly philosophical discussion on artificial sentience and decided to remain an observing bystander when it came to such discussion and remain focused on the task at hand.

With the Lieutenant's standing orders to remain in the Science Labs and monitor the containment box, A’kilees thought that this would be a good time to check for any stray signals coming from the containment area using the portable power unit as a test. The residual plasma energy would give off strong enough readings to be easily detected and if everything was assembled as per design then nothing would come up on his tricorder. Putting his tools away neatly back into his kit, A’kilees reached out for his tricorder and began meticulously scanning for any wayward oscillating energies.

== Tag All ==

[Gath]

== NRC Ensign Raven Singer, Engineering Officer ==

Raven continued to help Ra'an get prepared, but gave a chuckle as Cortez went on about the Exocomps. With a mild shake of her head, she said, "I said there was debate about their sentience, not that I wanted to debate it, nor how I felt on the matter. This is not the time. What does matter is that their behavior can't be counted on. They're unpredictable at times and I'm not willing to have my life or anyone else depend on a machine that might change its own programming in a potentially dangerous situation. I've worked with all sorts and some I trust more than others. Your Exo-toys can be used out here for their ability to help and if they run off, you'll deal with it. Locked inside a cage with one that might panic, not as good of an idea. We can debate this more over drinks sometime, but for now, get ready to do this. If you have any other issues with it, take it up with your boss. I'm climbing in this box with YOUR box and about to weld it shut behind me. Anyone coming with needs to move their backsides or they're getting left out here to see what happens."

Raven wasn't so much bothered or upset as she was focused. Cortez kept wanting to let his mind wander into other areas and be distracted from the task at hand. As the clock was counting down, she was becoming more business and less tolerant of treating it like a teachable moment. If he went for another long winded version, she was likely to ignore him or bark something of an order as duty was starting to call louder than her patience was going to allow for him to toy with.

Ra'an was finally suited up and Raven gave her a firm knock on the chest plate as she finished the buddy check, "You're solid, Lieutenant. Grab your helmet and let's rock."

Raven had opted for the helmets that were smaller and mostly a clear and larger faceplate. This wasn't going to be in a combat environment, so the bigger and stronger ones weren't needed. They mostly needed to protect from energy fields and minor debris if something failed. If the black box was a warhear, then she would be wrong and they would find out. Her risk assessments were usually pretty spot on though. She had seen warheads from about 50 different species and this one didn't fit the templates for any of them. That was no guarantee, but she was willing to put her money on it and Ra'an had sounded like she agreed.

As Raven climbed into the cage they had built, she hoped she hadn't been too aggressive with Cortez. He was new and liked to overthink things, which was understandable. Everyone was the new guy once. She knew she could also come across a bit strong. She wouldn't deny that she had opinions and would give them voice more often than not, but she had seen a few things and done more than she sometimes should have. There wasn't a picture of her anywhere that would put her up for a customer service award or for being diplomatic. Combat cut through some things and built up others, but she tried not to let her rough edges show too often. She figured she must be doing better as she couldn't recall the last time she had gotten thrown in the brig for a bar fight and nobody even talked about the time she broke the jaw of a superior officer anymore. Life was looking up.

== Tag all ==

[Morad Ameen]

== GM-Broken Arrow ==

As Raven ran the laser welder along the final seam of the duranium cargo container, locking herself and Lieutenant Ra'an inside, Midshipman A'kilees completed his tricorder sweep from the outside.

The Saurian engineer's readings were flawless. The combination of Raven's duranium physical barrier, Pedro's adjusted SIF/emitter field, and the isolated EPS power loop had created an absolute void. The tricorder registered a complete zero-state—no subspace leakage, no electromagnetic radiation, no radio frequencies. To the rest of the universe, the inside of that cargo container simply did not exist. Whatever happened next, the Zephyr was entirely shielded from it.

Inside the Faraday Cage:

The moment the final weld cooled, the environment inside the container shifted dramatically. Cut off from the ship's environmental hum, the ambient noise of the Science Lab, and the overarching thrum of the warp core, the silence inside the box was absolute, broken only by the sound of Amila and Raven's own breathing circulating through their EVA suit helmets.

Illuminated by the harsh, localized glow of the portable power cell and the soft blue light of Raven's drone, the alien data module sat on the center workstation. Its crystalline surface was dormant, cold, and inscribed with the dense, fractal mathematics they had been studying for hours.

Raven's drone, synchronized with Pedro's calculations from the outside, hovered over the module. Processing Cortez's theory that the math was a frequency—a progressive musical scale based on pure, universally constant ratios—the drone's acoustic emitters whirred to life.

It didn't speak. It sang.

The drone emitted a series of flawless, synthesized tones. It started with a perfect octave (a 2:1 ratio), then transitioned seamlessly into a perfect fifth (3:2), and climbed through a mathematical progression of frequencies that resonated through the dense duranium walls of the cage.

For three agonizingly long seconds, nothing happened.

Then, the alien module responded.

The deep, etched fractals on the surface of the crystal suddenly ignited with an intense, burning-amber light. The physical structure of the module didn't explode—instead, it began to silently unfold, its crystalline geometric plates shifting and sliding apart like a blossoming metallic flower, floating mere inches above the table on its own localized anti-gravity field.

From the exposed core of the module, a dense cluster of hard-light holograms erupted upward. But these weren't standard Federation 2D displays or LCARS readouts.

Amila and Raven were suddenly surrounded by a brilliant, three-dimensional, glowing amber star map that filled the entire upper half of the cargo container. It was a perfectly rendered map of a galaxy, but one that was shifting and moving at an accelerated rate, demonstrating stellar drift over thousands of millennia.

A glowing red trajectory line carved its way through the holographic stars, originating from Icarus III and terminating exactly where the Zephyr had found the Broken Arrow. But the line didn't stop there. A secondary, pulsing amber line extended from their current coordinates, calculating a new trajectory toward a deeply fortified, highly anomalous star system located far beyond the borders of known Federation space.

The module wasn't just a black box. It was a distress beacon, a flight recorder, and a navigational map home, all rolled into one. And as Pedro had guessed, the language flashing alongside the map was entirely composed of shifting, complex mathematical equations.

Outside the cage, A'kilees's tricorder and Pedro's Exocomps would register absolutely nothing. The Faraday cage was holding perfectly. The only way the rest of the crew would know what they found was if Amila and Raven tapped the hull to signal an all-clear.

[Gath]

== NRC Ensign Raven Singer, Engineering Officer ==

As Raven got into the container, she turned to A'kilees, "Hey, good job on the welds. You've got some impressive skills. When this is all done, remind me that we need to have a talk about Getting you on the Damage Control training. With your skills and ability to improvise in the field, I think you're a natural for it. Think about it and we'll talk." She gave him a wink and her signature cocky grin.

Before long, they were sealed in and ready. the Drone they had in with them had been recording and still was. Everything went to plan and they were not disappointed. Raven look at Ra'an so that their laser linked communication would function without emitting a field that might interfere with their experiment and said, [Well, on the upside, you guys were right. I have no idea if you want to try and interact with it more or not. It is giving us all sorts of equations to put through translation programs, that's good. We have a map that we can cross reference with stellar cartography and analyze. There seems to be some sort of beacon function as well, though I'm not sure if it is supposed to be signalling where they left or where they were headed to. It would be interesting to see when they anticipated arriving at their destination and what they expected to be waiting for them when they got there.]

Raven took a moment to take her small hand tool from her side and begin touching it to the side of the container is a systematic series of tapping. She was using morse code to convey a basic message to those outside: [We are safe. Box is open. Good so far. Stand by. Over.]

== Tag to all, especially Ra'an ==

[A’kilees]

“Damage control training? That sounds great, we'll talk about it afterwards. Be careful in there alright?”

As the access hatch closed and Raven began to seal the door shut from inside, A’kilees looked towards Sebastian once again as he continued his preliminary scans of the containment field. He knew at that point that his fellow midshipman had tested Raven’s patience on the matter of the exocomps and perhaps felt a little flustered at that moment. In his experience with Raven, he knew that despite her outwardly gruff demeanor she cared a lot for her crew, especially the inexperienced ones like themselves and wouldn’t purposely be malicious about it. A’kilees shifted his way around the towards his human crewman as he moved his tricorder up and down the length of the container

“Don’t be too worried about Raven, Sebastian” A’kilees said assuringly. “She might come off as rough and prickly but she’s quite the *click* good egg. She wants the best from you and as much as we can have colourful debates during down time we’ve got our jobs to focus on here and now. They’re counting on us in there. Besides, we’re finally going to determine what the deal is about the black box. Haven’t you been curious as to what we’re about to find from it?”

Although he wasn’t in the containment field himself, though he was somewhat glad not to be, A’kilees had begun to feel excitement swelling within him. It wasn’t everyday that someone could witness a hands-on inspection of a historical piece of alien technology and fully document the experience.

“Oh, and just don’t try to go toe to toe with her drinking.” he mentioned as he leaned closer. “I’m pretty sure the last crewmember who tried got carted off to Sickbay for two cycles and it wasn’t your variety mezcal *gwar* or tequila from back home either.” and made his way over to a nearby terminal to continue his work.

Scans on all levels were looking great so far. The tricorder hadn’t registered anything during his full sweep and after a far more intensive scan of the entire duranium container from the console confirmed that there was no subspace leakage, electromagnetic radiation nor radio frequencies of any kind coming from the faraday cage. Together with all their combined science and engineering efforts, they had created a perfect enclosure. The saurian marvelled at their accomplishment for a moment. Now all they had to do was wait for a signal from inside.

After a few moments, a series of taps resonated on the container wall.

[We are safe. Box is open. Good so far. Stand by. Over]

A’kilees' anticipation was high at that point. Hurrying over to the container, he knocked firmly back.

[Roger that. Field holding. Standing by. Over.]

== Tag All ==

[Sebastian Cortez]

Sebastian was watching the telemetry of the probe, ensuring that everything was holding and within the established safety parameters. He was a bit surprised when A’kilees said, “Don’t be too worried about Raven, Sebastian,” A’kilees said assuringly. “She might come off as rough and prickly, but she’s quite the *click* good egg. She wants the best from you, and as much as we can have colorful debates during downtime, we’ve got our jobs to focus on here and now. They’re counting on us in there. Besides, we’re finally going to determine what the deal is about the black box. Haven’t you been curious as to what we’re about to find from it?”

Sebastian smiled, “Oh, A’kilees. I’m not worried,” Chuckled Sebastian. “She clearly has a negative view on the use of Exocomps, probably due to the one case of alleged sentience. You do know that it was never confirmed independently that the Exocomps are, in fact, sentient.” Stated Sebastian. “But, I respect her opinion to feel the way she does.” Added Sebastian.

Sebastian was surprised when A’kilees mentioned Raven's drinking prowess, “Oh, and just don’t try to go toe to toe with her drinking.” He found that statement a little odd, but Sebastian wasn’t worried as he wasn’t a drinker, not that he didn’t drink, it’s just that he only drank, and that was usually one drink for someone’s Birthday, a wedding, or other special occasion. Sebastian often wondered why people drank to excess, why people would want to lose control of their behavior, often embarrassing themselves. Not that Sebastian was passing any moral judgment on those who do, as he understood that people might have an alcohol addiction. “A’kilees, I’m not a drinker, not that I can't. I just chose not to.” Stated Sebastian.

When the message came in that everything was going well inside the Faraday Cage. Sebastian felt a surge of excitement. What secrets were they about to learn: an unconventional power source, an advanced medical procedure? His mind raced with possible scenarios, but then again, it could be something as mundane as a musical playlist.

Sebastian double checked his readings, everything looked as it should,” Everything looks good here.” Stated Sebastian as a matter of record.

AS things were more or less relaxed, Sebastian wanted to get to know A’kilees a little better, especially after he gave him such excellent advice during their Space Walk. “A’kilees, do Saurians listen to music?” Inquired Sebastian. “ I am asking because I don’t recall hearing any Saurian musicians.” Added Sebastian.



== Tag A’kilees.==

[Amila Ra'an]

As Raven explained to Sebastian why she wouldn't want exocomps locked in a cage, Raven voiced Amila's thoughts exactly, though better than Amila had been able to put together herself. And quite concisely. As Sebastian pressed the issue she realized that she would need to have a discussion with him about when and where to disagree with other officers.

Raven got them ready to step into the box quickly, and Amila was impressed with the engineer's efficiency and thoughtful way that she checked Amila's suit before they entered. 

Once inside they didn't waste time entering what they hoped would be the key to unlocking the box. After the drone sang the notes, it was a few long breaths later before they were surrounded by a stunning galactic map.

Raven's comm came through Amila's headpiece clearly, [Well, on the upside, you guys were right. I have no idea if you want to try and interact with it more or not. It is giving us all sorts of equations to put through translation programs, that's good. We have a map that we can cross reference with stellar cartography and analyze. There seems to be some sort of beacon function as well, though I'm not sure if it is supposed to be signalling where they left or where they were headed to. It would be interesting to see when they anticipated arriving at their destination and what they expected to be waiting for them when they got there.]

Amila nodded, though she realized the gesture was muted even though their helmets were mostly clear. [Before we boarded their vessel, we were able to trace their origins, to here.] Amila gestured generally with her suited hand toward Icarus III, the red line stretching out from it.

[I don't think we need these anymore.] Ra'an was speaking more to herself as began working on her gloves first. The helmet and suit didn't bother her as much as wanting the dexterity and tactile response of working with her hands. [The amber line must be their trajectory, let's get that recorded before we move on. We need to study it, I don't want this to be the only place this map is stored in case we accidentally delete something.]

After her gloves were off, Amila tossed them on the floor near the door. [We do need to see if there is anything else kept in here. What are these equations trying to tell us?]

Amila took out her tricorder and programmed it to read the equations that were flashing alongside the star map, hoping for another clue to this mystery]

== Tag Raven, and to GM for input ==

[Gath]

== NRC Ensign Raven Singer, Engineering Officer ==

Raven could be heard over their private comm, [My drone has been recording the entire time, so we have a good record to look back on. It's including a holographic display of these same images. If any of your options on that gizmo look dangerous, best to play with them now, in the safety of this high powered sardine can. Once you're pretty sure we won't all die a horrible death, we can get out of here and get cooking on making your introductions to your new best friends in Sickbay.]

== Tag Ra'an ==

[A’kilees]

A’kilees felt more assured with Sebastian’s responses, he was glad that what Raven had said to him earlier hadn’t bothered him when it came to the exocomps nor did he appear rattled by Raven’s rather gruff response. He found it quite interesting when Sebastian admitted that he chose not to drink too often as per choice. A’kilees quite enjoyed the after shift cocktail drink that he would make for himself back at his quarters but he could understand that the enjoyment of alcohol wasn’t for everyone, though that didn’t exclude him from joining on a special occasion in the near future. Perhaps he could ask Sebastian if he knew where to acquire some high quality Mexican spirits in the future but now was hardly the time to ask, they still had to closely monitor any wayward readings from the container still holding Raven and Amila. Sebastian’s question directed towards him did however catch him by surprise.

“Do I listen to music?” A’kilees repeated the question. “I mean, of course. If you understood the language then I’d imagine people have a better appreciation for the lyrical *gwar* prose of saurian music, however if you're interested. I’d recommend you to listen to the saurian musician Ooqa, she’s sublime. I usually attend theatrical performances and there’s plenty of music depending on what’s playing. How about yourself?”

== Tag Sebastian Cortez ==

[Sebastian Cortez]

Sebastian was enjoying the small talk and getting to know his shipmates. He still couldn’t wait to see what the alien device had to reveal, but he was sure Raven and the team inside the Faraday Cage were cataloging every detail, every nuance.

Sebastian nodded when A’kilees said, “I mean, of course. If you understood the language then I’d imagine people have a better appreciation for the lyrical *gwar* prose of saurian music, however if you're interested. I’d recommend you to listen to the saurian musician Ooqa, she’s sublime. I usually attend theatrical performances and there’s plenty of music depending on what’s playing. How about yourself?”

Sebastian wasn’t sure how to answer that question, he enjoyed music, his mother adored Classical Music, especially Johann Sebastian Bach, hence his name. His father was a major fan of Cuban music, artists like Celia Cruz, Benny Moré, and Compay Segundo, as long as it was Cuban. To say that his father was proud of his Cuban heritage was a bit of an understatement. Music was important to Hispanic Culture. However, lately Sebastian had been listening to Terran music from the early Twentieth and Twenty-first Centuries, artists like The Rolling Stones, Michael Jackson, Metallica, Tupac Shakur, and Linkin Park, but his favorite was a Colombian singer named Shakira; her music was amazing.

“ Well, lately I have been listening to Terran music from early Twentieth and Twenty-first Century artists like The Rolling Stones, Michael Jackson, Metallica, Tupac Shakur, and Linkin Park, but my favorite is a Colombian singer named Shakira, her music is amazing.” Said Sebastian, sounding like a total fan boy. He paused for a moment,

Sebastian knew that Spanish is broadly split into two main families: Peninsular Spanish (from Spain) and Latin American Spanish. While they share the same core grammar and are entirely mutually intelligible, they differ significantly in pronunciation, slang, and vocabulary. Peninsular Spanish from Spain was divided into Castilian and Andalusian, and Latin American Spanish is spoken in Mexico and Central America. Which was slightly different from the Spanish spoken in South America and the Caribbean was slightly different, they generally understood each other. “Excuse me A’kilees, but what does gwar mean? I’m not familiar with Suarian. Is it a complicated language to learn ?” Said Sebastian, his voice filled with curiosity.



== Tag A’kilees,.==

[Gath]

== NRC Ensign Raven Singer, Engineering Officer ==

== Moving things forward... ==

After Lt Ra'an and Ens Singer finished their preliminary scans and determined that the device wasn't going to blow up, Ra'an continued to monitor the device while Raven tapped the signal, [Coming out.]

She then began cutting the last welds she had done that sealed them in, so A'kilees knew what was happening was on purpose. The cutting and opening was standard procedure. By the time the cargo container was open, the shielding had been dropped as well.

Raven removed her helmet and said, "You guys definitely have a map and there are lots of equations to put into your programs to see what they mean. Hopefully it will let you dig a little deeper as well."

They assisted Amila getting out of the container as well, and moving the device and the small power source outside of it so they could begin working with it in the proper lab environment. Raven said, "We still have the standard protocols and safety devices available, but we need to power up the room again. I think we can also break this thing down and get it out of the way. A'kilees and I can do that while you two do your science thing. Let us know if you need our help."

== Tag to all ==

[Sebastian Cortez]

Sebastian was excited when Raven said, "You guys definitely have a map, and there are lots of equations to put into your programs to see what they mean. Hopefully it will let you dig a little deeper as well." He found his excitement to be a combination of Día de los Muertos ( Day of the Dead), his Birthday, and Christmas, as on those days anything could happen. He found himself wondering what the map would reveal. It provoked many questions.

What would the map reveal? What would it lead to? Would it lead to a world filled with an advanced civilization, a civilization full of advanced medical and Scientific knowledge, or would it lead to a war-torn planet, filled with hunger and violence? Was the alien ship the last survivors of a world that destroyed itself, a doomed civilization? However, the map might lead to an unknown galactic empire, or nothing at all. Maybe these aliens were just some explorers, a civilization taking their first steps out into space; the possibilities were endless.

Sebastian began uploading the map into the main computer, but he made sure to isolate the image with the main frame, as he recalled reading about a process called Steganography. Digital images and videos are ultimately just grids of tiny pixels, where each pixel stores color data using binary code (combinations of 1s and 0s). He knew the Gath would probably suggest doing that, but Sebastian just wanted to be on the safe side, in case the map images contained anything dangerous, like a rogue virus, a malicious code or something equally dangerous.

Sebastian winced a little when Raven said, "We still have the standard protocols and safety devices available, but we need to power up the room again. I think we can also break this thing down and get it out of the way. A'kilees and I can do that while you two do your science thing. Let us know if you need our help." He wasn’t certain breaking down the Faraday Cage at this point was the best course of action, just in case they had to throw the alien device back in to the Faraday Cage, but if that was the action they felt was warranted, then Sebastian wouldn’t argue, He double checked the settings of the labs Security System, isolating critical systems and encrypting them, as a just in case.

Sebastian took this opportunity to download the musician A'kilees suggested, the artist Ooqa. According to A'kilees, she’s sublime. After all, a little background music was soothing. Not to mention that if the alien device reacted to musical tones, then maybe the map would react to music; maybe outside music would highlight a route or a destination on the map?



== Tag All. ==

[Morad Ameen]

== GM-Broken Arrow ==

As the duranium walls of the Faraday cage were dismantled by Raven and A'kilees, Amila and Pedro successfully isolated the alien data module's telemetry within the secure science mainframe.

With the mathematical cipher finally unlocked by the drone's musical frequency, the ship's Universal Translator had the Rosetta Stone it needed. As Pedro played the complex, rhythmic Saurian music of Ooqa in the background, the main science terminal beeped in time, processing the alien fractals at incredible speeds.

The main display shifted from the three-dimensional star map to a cascading wall of Starfleet Standard text as the mathematical equations flanking the map were finally translated into readable data.

The results painted a stark, tragic, and highly tactical picture of the people currently sleeping in Sickbay.

[Translation Matrix: Complete]

The Origin & The Event:
The equations surrounding the red trajectory line from Icarus III were not just navigational; they were a probabilistic assessment of a planetary cataclysm. The translation read as a mathematical certainty of extinction:
lim t~>Ct S(t)  = 0
(Translation: As time approaches the Critical Threshold, the survival rate of the biosphere equals absolute zero).
The planet was dying, and they knew they couldn't save it.

The Occupants:
Cross-referencing the equations with Gath and Evie's medical reports, the UT translated the "names" or designations of the crew. They did not use traditional names. They were designated by complex functional ratios that translated roughly to:
Apex Protectors // Preservation Caste.
They were genetically engineered specifically to survive the journey and protect the cargo at all costs.

The Destination (The Amber Line):
The pulsing amber line extending beyond Federation space was heavily encrypted, but the translation program deciphered its fundamental description. It wasn't a colony world. The math described a location with an absolute zero probability of external penetration:
P(breach) = 0
It was a heavily fortified sanctuary. A galactic vault.

The Final Directive:
The most prominent string of fractals pulsing at the center of the module translated into a strict, unalterable standing order for the Apex Protectors upon waking:
Awaken at coordinates. Secure the sanctuary. Preserve the genetic seed. Eliminate external variables.

The alien computer had not detected a signal from the Zephyr, nor had it sent a signal out. But the translation made one thing abundantly clear to Amila and Pedro: if those "Apex Protectors" wake up and realize they are not in their sanctuary, they will mathematically classify the Zephyr crew as an "external variable."

[Jukish Keti]

This was the exact information that Keti was working towards, with the words Apex protectors, with wording like that it was only a matter of what side of the equation they were on. Considering the burden they carried protector and predator the lines can get blurred quickly, it all depends on how they wake up. If they wake up on high alert it would almost be impossible for them to be talked down, fortunately there was a translation in place for an actual dialog.

If things went sideways Keti was sure that the number one thing they would want to do was make it to the designated planet, if they were to set a course to the planet themselves it could buy them some plausibility. "Lieutenant Ra'an I would suggest that we set course to this planet they were looking for, when we wake one of these people up if we can prove we are helping them; it might keep them calmer preventing a potential attack." If they were to go into an attack, Keti knew it was going to take more then he could muster. If he had to Keti would make sure to do his best, probably wake up in Sickbay for his efforts. He also felt better for not having to talk to him, that was the job of Command.

==Tag==

[Gath]

== NRC Ensign Raven Singer, Engineering Officer ==

Raven could hear the talk about what was being translated and walked over to see the projected display. Giving a heavy sigh and shaking her head, she commented, "Well, there goes the idea of walking one up to have a diplomatic conversation with them. They need to be kept on ice until we can get them to their destination, if that's even possible. It's also far enough away that we're not going to be able to do it before we run out of time. Someone's going to need to tell the boss."

She then went back to trying to clean up the mess they had made. There was work to be done.

== Tag all ==

[Amila Ra'an]

Amila sighed heavily. 

"It's even more complicated than that," Amila muttered before she spoke up. "I don't know how we even get them there without killing ourselves in the process. Certainly not on this ship."
 
"A'kilees, you were on the Away Team, I'd like for you to work with Singer here and see what can be done about refitting a shuttle to look and feel like the alien ship that we were on, and making it so it can power their stasis chambers and last the rest of the trip," she ordered. 

"Simulations for now on the probability of getting it done. I want to know what it will take and how long. We'll need to see about closing this box back up and making it a part of their computer system, of course. "Jukish and Cortez, your focus is on getting this box closed while still keeping it functional for a potential ride to their destination while our engineers focus on making sure the ship can get there."

"And A'Kilees, use your memory and the information from our tricorders. We also would need to make it look right. At least right enough."

"Reach out to Lieutenant Powl for additional specifications. He was able to gather a lot of information on the ship and their homeworld before we boarded and while we were over there. You will use that," Amila added. "Understood?" 

"I'm going to have the Captain come down to see this, everyone get to work." 


==Tag Raven, Keti, Cortez, and A'Kilees==


Amila walked to her tiny office and tapped her commbadge, "Lieutenant Ra'an to Captain Ameen, Dr. O'fee, and Lieutenant Gath. If you are able, please report to the Science Lab. You'll want to see this for yourselves."

[Gath]

<<< Holodecks <<<

Gath reply over the comm was simply, [Acknowledged. I'm on my way.]

Very shortly after, he arrived in the Science Labs to see what they had discovered.

At the same time, Raven approached Amila and shook her head, "I don't think it's possible to fit those pods into one of our shuttles. Twelve passenger, yes, but 12 of those pods? It's also far smaller than their craft was, so any hope of fooling them would be out of the question. We might be able to customize something that starts out as one of our shuttles, but you're talking a couple of weeks to strip it down and rebuild something from it. The fact that it might not look like their craft might not matter though. If we could make it clear that they had been assisted in accomplishing their mission and given the tools to still get there, I think they might not mind, based on what that thing said. The trick is keeping them on ice as long as possible, hopefully until they get there. However, if you want to fool them, we would need to fabricate an entire craft in the shuttlebay and then launch it, but again, you're talking about weeks of work."

== Tag all ==

[Sebastian Cortez]

Sebastian was surprised at how quickly the computer was processing the alien information; he double-checked the secure cloud of the computer, just to make sure that the alien device wasn’t trying to hijack the Zephyr’s main frame.

The computer beeped, indicating that it had completed the translation.

[Translation Matrix: Complete]

The Origin & The Event:
The equations surrounding the red trajectory line from Icarus III were not just navigational; they were a probabilistic assessment of a planetary cataclysm. The translation read as a mathematical certainty of extinction:
lim t~>Ct S(t) = 0
(Translation: As time approaches the Critical Threshold, the survival rate of the biosphere equals absolute zero).
The planet was dying, and they knew they couldn't save it.

The Occupants:
Cross-referencing the equations with Gath and Evie's medical reports, the UT translated the "names" or designations of the crew. They did not use traditional names. They were designated by complex functional ratios that translated roughly to:
Apex Protectors // Preservation Caste.
They were genetically engineered specifically to survive the journey and protect the cargo at all costs.

The Destination (The Amber Line):
The pulsing amber line extending beyond Federation space was heavily encrypted, but the translation program deciphered its fundamental description. It wasn't a colony world. The math described a location with an absolute zero probability of external penetration:
P(breach) = 0
It was a heavily fortified sanctuary. A galactic vault.

The Final Directive:
The most prominent string of fractals pulsing at the center of the module translated into a strict, unalterable standing order for the Apex Protectors upon waking:
Awaken at coordinates. Secure the sanctuary. Preserve the genetic seed. Eliminate external variables.

Sebastian scanned the results, and something caught his eye. It mentioned Apex Protectors // Preservation Caste. Apex Protectors// Preservation Caste.

Protectors from what? Preservers of what? Thought Sebastian. This mystery was getting more mysterious by the minute. Then a strange thought came to him. Maybe these people were Zoo keepers of some kind, it wasn’t that far of a stretch after all. There were words like protectors and preservation, though the word apex did have a negative connotation, but maybe they weren’t Zoo Keeper or Wildlife Rangers; maybe they were hunters, poachers. Maybe these aliens were related to the Hirogen from the Delta Quadrant; that would help explain the sleeper ship.

Sebastian studied that map to see if any of the systems were familiar, but nothing seemed to ring a bell. Sebastian nodded his head when Lt. Ra’an stated that he and Lt. Jukish.

Sebastian showed Lt. Jukish what the computer had translated thus far, especially the Apex Protectors// Preservation Caste. Sebastian knew that the Bajorans used to have a caste system; if he recalled correctly, the Bajorans had D'jarras. The D'jarras were a caste system, once used by the Bajorans to create a stratified social hierarchy. Everyone was born into a specific caste of D'jarras based on their family, which determined their occupation. So Lt. Jukish may have valuable insights into this

Sebastian turned to Lieutenant Jukish and said, “ Any ideas what we are dealing with?”



== Tag Lt. Jukish Keti.==

[Gath]

When Gath arrived, he walked slowly around the lab. He didn't say anything at all, just observed and when the results were projected, he read it as well. When he spoke, Gath's voice was unmistakable and carried through the room, "These words leave little to the imagination. If the translation is accurate, the data is saying that within their civilization, there is a caste system, this is not unusual. One of these castes is designated for preservation. Within this caste of preservers, one of the ranks is described as Apex Protectors. It would explain a great deal about their design and the number twelve matching their number of digits would indicate the number is significant to their culture. This all makes perfect sense, yet some elements are left very mystifying. For a civilization that was so far away from their destination, how did they know what it is and where to find it? Although it could be part of their culture, they might only know stories about a star or a location within their sky that supposedly holds this thing they were sent to protect. Their technology doesn't give any indication that they were capable of detecting or predicting something at this distance from their home, so it could not have been based on data obtained from their own scientific efforts. We could speculate that some alien people or artifact came into their possession that related this information to them and they did the most they possibly could to carry out a mission given to them from this information. They may have even destroyed their own world trying to carry out this mission, but all we know for certain is that their home world is dead and these people were flung into space in a ship that no longer exists and expect to carry out a mission that may or may not even have a real destination. We also know that they are on this ship and if they wake up, they are going to do everything they can to get there and will eliminate everyone and everything in their way to do so, or will die trying. Even if we can prove to them that there is nothing there, it won't matter. To do anything other than help them makes them dangerous. No matter what we want to do, we're almost out of time and the decision will be out of our hands. At this moment, we can only determine what options we can present to the Captain, for him to consider and to present to Star Fleet and the Federation. It will be in their hands. Every other option either takes too long, is too far, or puts not only us, but countless others in possible danger from these people. We need to do our jobs, to prepare that list of options in what time we have left and help the Captain to do his job. That includes everything from fake ships, possible replacement craft, delivering them ourselves and so on, up to and including using the transporters to dematerialize them and and scatter their subatomic particles harmlessly in space to eliminate the threat. The decision is no longer our to make."

Gath wasn't giving his opinion, he was simply stating the current facts as they were known by everyone in the room. He stated them without emotion and without judgement. It was only after he had said this that he then turned to face the room to see their reactions and hear if they had anything more to say.

[A’kilees]

“Ah, you’ve noticed that. Well I guess there’s a bit of an explanation to be had.” A’kilees said as he looked up from the science console. “Saurian is a complex language with clicks and pops that is basically unintelligible to most people except perhaps a talented linguist. Allow me to demonstrate. Computer, disable the universal translator.”

[Boo-boop, Universal Translator disabled]

This will be fun. A’kilees giggled to himself and continued his explanation.

“Gruk-gwar clickclick graw gagrag gruak gru awrk graw. Grugu grauk click”

[Boo-boop. Universal Translator enabled]

“The universal translator does a decent job translating” the saurian continued, his deep gravely voice back to speaking normally “but it has trouble with certain complex words which might be mistranslated into Federation standard so my language leaks through. It can be frustrating sometimes but people have been very understanding of me and I appreciate *gwar* them for their patience.”

Another series of tapping on the container caught the saurians' attention and he glanced over in the direction of the noise. Amila and Raven were signaling that they would be coming out and soon a faint crackling sound of cutting came from the inside.

“Let’s continue this chat later, alright? Hopefully they'll have something interesting to share.” A’kilees said as he hurriedly made his way around the science console towards the container door. Soon the door was released from its welds and A’kilees helped pull the door open and assisted both Raven and Amila out safely.

====

With the new information coming in from the Broken Arrow’s blackbox and being processed by the science team with the ambient sounds of the music of Ooqa in the Science Lab, A’kilees had made himself useful breaking down the faraday cage container with Raven. They carefully detached the joists holding the frame and panels together and placed them neatly away so they wouldn’t impede anyone's way.

Upon Amila’s new orders for Raven and himself, he was sure that he could remember enough of the details of the interior of the ship. He had only been inside for a while to extract the cryopods but he had taken a moment to look around and observe his surroundings to make sure of any structural issues, but that wasn’t the issue. The issue lay within making a shuttle appear as the vessel itself. While the shuttlecrafts aboard the Zephyr were roomy even for a large away team, it would be structurally impossible for the twelve large alien pods now occupying the Sickbay to fit inside. He followed Raven as she tailed Amila into her office, voicing her concerns as well. A'kilees was glad that they were both on the same wavelength when it came down to this set of orders.

“I have to concur with Ensign Singer, Lieutenant. Based on our information gathered it wouldn’t be an issue to make a mock interior of the vessel in a holodeck but to get a large enough vessel as Singer says would be weeks, months even *clickclick*, and to that end it’ll hardly be a deception afterwards. We might as well put those plans on hold for now and come up with a different strategy, but if those are your orders we’ll do our best to come up with a plan.”

== Tag All ==

== Sidenote to Sebastian Cortez: Love listening to Bach and classical music in general, I think it’s so neat you named your character after him! ==

[Evie O’Fee]

Entering into Science Evie wasn't sure what she was looking for, this was big news. She was sure it was going to be exciting news, or terrifying. More than likely had to do with what she discovered, and how it went together with what they had. "Gath good to see you, isn't this exciting?" 

Seeing the translation Evie had a smile that was slowly fading, it really was equally horrifying as exciting. In a way it was terraforming in their own way, if they scouted out the planet before hand they might find a lifeless planet. One that would require them to be the most durable, it would be required of them from the sheer pressure. They were starting their race of people from complete scratch, and this world be hard for anyone.

At this time Evie had a bad feeling, something she never ignored. "It stands to reason that we might have caused more problems then we originally thought, they are going to need building materials. The ship they were in must have been them, now its gone we should make more." Evie let herself go a little too much. "Ra'an what kind of ideas do you have here?" Evie wondered what direction they were going so she could join.

==Keti==

Taking in the information Keti was working on something in his mind, it didn't seem much different than what his people went through. The Pah Wraith attempted something like this before he was born. "Right now I am not sure what to think, one persons conquer is another persons freedom fighter." With the directive of saving their whole race at the expense of all others, there was no grey areas. If they were seen as a threat, the crew could be deep in the hurt locker.

"What we are looking at is the start of something wonderful, if we were to handle this right. What can we find out about this planet they are heading too? Also what the conditions are of this planet? It might be helpful if we know these things in advance." He wasn't exactly sure how to proceed, but it was a start.

==Tag==

[Sebastian Cortez]

As Sebastian waited for Lt. Jukish to offer his thoughts on their assignment. He had to smile as A’kilees demonstrated his native language; he had to admit life without the universal translator would be difficult.

Note to self: learn basic Saurian.

Sebastian began setting up his workstation for him and Lt. Jukish. He was excited; their task, no doubt, would prove to be difficult, as language was complex and fluid, to say the least. But a device that operates off of sound and mathematical complexities was something else. Open, or close was pretty much a simple and straightforward command, but in this alien language, does a F Sharp mean close? Does a half octave above that mean open? It was truly perplexing.

Sebastian heard the voice of Dr. O’Fee; he really liked the Doctor. She had helped him with his Claustraphobia: “ Hola doctora, es un placer volver a verla.(Hello, Doctor, it's a pleasure to see you again.) By chance, do you have a copy of the alien's brain and vocal cords? It would greatly help us get the proper notes for the aliens' speech to open and close the black box.

Sebastian hated just referring to them as The Aliens, or Aliens; he wished he knew their proper name- what these beings called themselves?



== Tag All.==

[Gath]

Gath was fascinated by the display from the device, but eventually turned away from it to ask, "Does the database give any reference to how old their civilization was? It is possible that this might not be the first time they've left a planetary system in pursuit of this mission goal. Given the level of resources and technology required to create a generational ship, they may have been forced to lend on a suitable planet capable of building and launching another ship to continue an ongoing mission that may have been originally launch from some other location. This could be the latest leg of such a journey. Their planet died out 100,000 yours ago, but their original home may have been even longer back in their history. They may have been limping their way across the galaxy for millions of years. Their efforts and design are both advanced yet limited. They may have simply lacked better technology to get them there faster. If this is true, there should be at least some mention as a brief story or history lesson that would be passed down to the next generation, should they be required to resort to landing on a planet to rebuild their craft and launch again. It might be based in a religious or historical tale to inspire future generations. It could be noteworthy, should you come across such data."

[Amila Ra'an]

Amila listened to the report of Ensign Singer, a more than competent engineer - her words might as well have been from the Chief Engineer hirself. She was right, a shuttle would be too small, but they were about to rendezvous with a heavy cruiser and a science vessel. Both would be equipped with larger support vessels. Not that Starfleet would want to part with one.

"Does the database give any reference to how old their civilization was?" Gath had asked.

Amila hadn't considered Gath's question as something separate to consider from what they had learned from their scans from when the planet had died out.

She nodded thoughtfully. "We can work on that."

"Lieutenant Jukish, Ensign Singer, see if you two can pull from this data how long it would even take for a ship to get to their destination at say, Warp 4," Amila ordered.

"A'kilees, I know you aren't a linguist, but you do have me thinking about how your language works and what we're dealing with here. You and Cortez see if there is anything that can be extrapolated from the data we have to see about answering the Lieutenant's question about their society," Amila said looking to the two midshipmen. "We may be coming close to the end, but this Pandora's Box does seem to be the gift that keeps on giving."


==Tags: A'kilees, Cortez, Singer, Keti==



Amila took in a nervous breath and gestured for Evie and Gath to follow her to her office while the crew worked on getting more information. Once the door was shut, she mentioned quietly to them, "Singer and A'kilees think we can recreate the inside of the ship fairly easily on the holodeck."

"What if..." Amila started. "What if... we also used the holodeck to make us look and sound like them, to attempt First Contact?"

The idea was both exciting and scary, given what they knew about the race. Gath's assessment - and Dr. O'Fee's meant they could be hard to contain if it didn't go well.

"We will see what they can come up with, but getting them to their planet while they are still in stasis is seeming more and more unlikely," she added. "What do we think?"


==Tags Gath and Evie==

____
==GM input please, for the middies and NPCs working above and if they are going to be able to get any more information== 

==Reminder Tag to the CO - you've been comm'd the Science Lab also ==

[Gath]

Gath nodded and confirmed, "I did set up my holodeck program to disguise us as they appear, but given this information, it will only give us a proverbial foot in the door. re almost certain to not have an intimate working knowledge of their language and customs. We now know that we also are limited to these creatures as examples to go from. If they are an elite rank of a specialized caste system, they will have even more specific behavior and language that we will have no knowledge of. I believe that we should not attempt so much to deceive them, but to somply attempt to soften the blow of who we really are. It is my opinion, that if we have such a face to face conversation with them, that we inform them that we are presenting ourselves in their form, for their benefit. If they take offense, then we can show our true forms or appear as another form, if it makes them more comfortable. It is a slim chance at keeping things from escalating, as we already know they are very likely to become very intolerant of anything other than them completing their mission with any and all considerations being secondary. There is the slim hope that being as advanced as they are, they might at least understand that it is in their best interests to utilize us and our resources in a constructive way. However, I remind you all that these are a people that allowed their civilization to die out on their home planet, so rational behavior and group cooperation might not be a strong point of thier species."

== Tag all ==

[A’kilees]

"A'kilees, I know you aren't a linguist, but you do have me thinking about how your language works and what we're dealing with here. You and Cortez see if there is anything that can be extrapolated from the data we have to see about answering the Lieutenant's question about their society," Amila said looking at the two midshipmen. "We may be coming close to the end, but this Pandora's Box does seem to be the gift that keeps on giving."

The Saurian gave a nod of acknowledgement to the Orion officer. “I’ll get right on that” and began heading over to the station next to Cortez and Keti.

A saurian linguist. That’d be the day. A’kilees thought. Saurians were a talented people but lacked any further semantic talents. What might have befallen his forebears when they experienced first contact with humans hundreds of years ago had it not been with the assistance of the Vulcans who had accompanied them. No amount of saurian brandy would have easily calmed flared tempers over a botched diplomatic event.

Amila had brought up an interesting point though. The universal translator was able to decipher the rather complex series of clicks, pops and other noises of the saurian language as well as hundreds of other spoken languages throughout Federation space. Perhaps they could modulate the computer’s translator to isolate specific phonetic frequency patterns or integer sequences of the alien language. Finding frequent algorithmic sound patterns to differentiate and hypothesize potential word sequences would speed up translation to narrow down the lingering questions that Lieutenant Gath had brought up earlier and would be helpful to establish formal first contact communications if needed. A’kilees made it back to his previous work station across from Cortez and standing nearby Keti.

“Lieutentant” nodded his head in greetings towards the equally tall Bajoran. “Glad to have you here. Cortez, can I see what your progress so far with the language? I have some thoughts…”

== Tag Keti, Cortez ==

== GM Input: Can A’kilees differentiate various letters, words and sentence sequencing by isolating and analyzing frequent phonetics and integers using the computer’s universal translator? ==

[Sebastian Cortez]

Sebastian was excited. What secrets were lurking just under the surface? What he found annoying was that these aliens Scientists didn’t think to make their technology easier to access; it never occurred to them that others may have to access the technology in case they were unable to do it themselves.

Sebastian looked at Lt. Ra’an, as she said, "A'kilees, I know you aren't a linguist, but you do have me thinking about how your language works and what we're dealing with here. You and Cortez see if there is anything that can be extrapolated from the data we have to see about answering the Lieutenant's question about their society," Amila said looking at the two midshipmen. "We may be coming close to the end, but this Pandora's Box does seem to be the gift that keeps on giving."

What Lt. Ra’an was asking for, It was easier said than done. To decipher this alien language, they would need to find some common root words, words like man, woman, mother, father, right, left, stop, go, but if these aliens used musical notes

Sebastian began to program the computer to create a Musical Cypher in an attempt to unlock the alien language.

[ Computer, we are looking to make a hypothetical musical cipher from scratch; we could map all 26 letters onto the 12 notes of the chromatic scale, repeating as needed.]

Sebastian watched as the computer churned away at its assigned task.

Letter Note
A C
B C♯
C D
D D♯
E E
F F
G F♯
H G
I G♯
J A
K A♯
L B
M C
N C♯
O D
P D♯
Q E
R F
S F♯
T G
U G♯
V A
W A♯
X B
Y C
Z C♯

In this cipher, W = A♯ (B♭).

The word WOMAN would become:

W = A♯
O = D
M = C
A = C
N = C♯

So the melody would be:

A♯ – D – C – C – C♯

Sebastian instructed the Computer to extrapolate what type of instrument would be best to play the cypher. Sebastian was a bit disappointed as the computer came back with several options.

[ For the note sequence A♯ – D – C – C – C♯ (your hypothetical "WOMAN" cipher), the best instrument depends on the mood you want to create.

Warm and expressive
Cello
Rich, human-like tone.
The half-step movement from C to C♯ sounds especially expressive.
Good if you want the melody to feel emotional or reflective.
Mysterious and elegant
Clarinet
Smooth transitions between notes.
The leap from A♯ to D has a slightly haunting quality.
Simple and clear
Piano
Lets you hear the exact relationships between the notes.
Ideal for experimenting with the cipher.
Ethereal or feminine
Music Box
The notes would sound delicate and memorable.
Works well for a name-based musical motif.
Cinematic
French Horn
Gives the sequence a noble, almost heroic character.
The opening A♯–D interval becomes very dramatic.
If I were composing a theme called "Woman"

I'd probably use a solo cello or clarinet playing:

A♯ – D – C – C – C♯

slowly, with the final C♯ held slightly longer than the others. The ending half-step rise (C → C♯) creates a feeling of anticipation, as though the melody is still unfolding.

The interesting thing about your cipher melody is that it doesn't immediately sound major or minor, which gives it a distinctive, somewhat enigmatic character.]

Sebastian sat there; something didn’t seem right. Had he forgotten something? Maybe A'kilees would have more insight. Yes, Sebastian spoke Federation Standard, which was basically English (with occasional loan words from other alien cultures added to the lexicon).,But A'kilees presumably didn’t grow up speaking Federation Basic, but Surian. Yes, Sebastian grew up speaking Spanish, but he also studied English in school. So, yes, it wasn’t as difficult for him as it might have been for A'kilees, or any other alien. To anyone who studies English, they know English is often considered a difficult language to learn because its spelling and pronunciation are highly irregular, with many words that do not sound the way they are written. The language has also borrowed vocabulary from numerous sources, including Old English, French, Latin, and Greek, resulting in a large and sometimes inconsistent vocabulary. Learners must contend with many grammatical exceptions, irregular verb forms, and phrasal verbs whose meanings are not always obvious. In addition, English varies significantly across regions in both pronunciation and word usage. However, English does have some features that make it easier than many other languages, such as relatively simple verb conjugations, a lack of grammatical gender for most nouns, and a generally consistent sentence structure. As a result, English is often described as easy to begin learning but challenging to master.



== Tag All. ==

[Morad Ameen]

== GM-Broken Arrow ==

As Mid Cortez worked through his 26-letter musical cipher, he hit a structural wall. His instincts about the music were entirely correct, but the framework was too Terran centric. These beings did not use a 26-character alphabet.

However, when Midshipman A'kilees integrated his phonetic isolation algorithm; running the drone's recorded audio through the Universal Translator while strictly applying the Base-12 mathematical matrix established by their six-digit hands, the cipher finally cracked open! The UT stopped trying to translate "letters" and started translating "concepts" based on chord progressions and frequency ratios.

The combination of Cortez's musical theory and A'kilees's algorithmic filtering unlocked the secondary data drives within the black box, answering Amila and Gath's questions about the civilization's history and their ship's capabilities.

The data revealed that their civilization was incredibly old, but entirely centralized. They did not hop from planet to planet. They spent roughly 15,000 years developing on Icarus III. The "Cataclysm" was not a natural disaster, but the mathematical inevitability of a massive, self-inflicted ecological and atmospheric collapse. When the equations proved their world was doomed, they dedicated their final century to the "Preservation Project."

The caste system was brutally pragmatic. The vast majority of their population, the Builders, the Thinkers and the Workers, were left to die on Icarus III. The Apex Protectors were genetically forged in the final decades specifically to escort the "Genetic Seed" (likely digitized DNA or embryos stored elsewhere on the ship, perhaps destroyed in the explosion) to the Sanctuary.

To answer Amila and Singer's question regarding travel time: the Broken Arrow did not have a warp drive. They possessed highly advanced sub-light ion propulsion. They knew the journey to the Sanctuary would take roughly 100,000 years drifting through real-space, which is exactly why the pods were designed for extreme, long-term cryogenic stasis. If the Zephyr were to load the pods onto a shuttle and travel at Warp 4, it would still take them over 60 years to reach the coordinates of the Sanctuary.

The picture was complete. They were the ultimate, genetically engineered guardians of a dead race, tasked with a mission that was now geographically and practically impossible for them to complete on their own.

[Morad Ameen]

[Acknowledged, Lieutenant. I'm on my way.] The CO responded.

Soon after Amila's comm badge request came through, Ameen was stepped out of the turbolift on Deck 2. He walked through the doors of the Science Lab just in time to hear the tail end of Gath's stoic assessment, followed by Amila's hushed suggestion about using the Holodeck as a disguise.

He stepped up to the main console, his eyes scanning the translated readouts: Apex Protectors. Absolute zero survival rate. Eliminate external variables. 

"Lieutenant Gath’s tactical assessment is flawless," Ameen said, his authoritative voice cutting through the ambient hum of the lab. He looked directly at Amila, softening his tone just a fraction to acknowledge her creative thinking without endorsing the risk. "A holographic disguise is a brilliant piece of espionage, Lieutenant Ra'an, but it is a trap waiting to spring. We don't know their salutes, their chain of command, or the subtle nuances of their musical language. The second we hit a wrong note -literally or figuratively- these 'Apex Protectors' will recognize the deception and classify us as a threat."

Ameen turned his attention to the wider room, making eye contact with Keti, Cortez, A'kilees, and Singer.

"Starfleet Command is currently breathing down our necks. In less than eight hours, a heavy security cruiser and a science ship are going to arrive to take custody of these people. I am not going to hand over twelve highly lethal, genetically engineered supersoldiers to another crew without knowing exactly how they react to waking up."

He tapped the console, pulling up the 15-minute countdown protocol that Sickbay had established for disconnecting the pod.

"We proceed with the original plan, but we do it honestly. We will wake the designated 'Leader' in the Holodeck, and we will do it looking exactly as we are. We will use the Universal Translator, backed by Midshipman Cortez's musical frequencies, to show them we pulled them from the ice and saved them. If they become hostile, Lieutenant Gath's security protocols will contain them. If they are willing to listen, we might just prevent a bloodbath when Starfleet arrives."

Ameen straightened up, his posture projecting absolute certainty.

"Lieutenant Ra'an, pack up this data module. Dr. O'Fee and Lieutenant Gath, initiate the pod transfer. Let's go meet our Apex Protector."

[Gath]

Gath looked at the final readouts as the computer cracked the code. He nodded in satisfaction as the number of digits had indeed helped the computer save time by presuming it to be one of the possible keys to the sequences. The Captain had entered and complimented him on his assessment, to which he responded, "Thank you, Sir."

As they got their orders, Gath remarked, "They were amazingly efficient and fascinating in their efforts, yet were unable to save their population. They bet it all on this vault. I'm still curious how they knew about this vault, if it even exists. That seems to be a key element missing from the context of how they knew where to find it to make this journey. If we knew that, perhaps there might yet be a common factor that we might share with them to assist in the diplomatic effort of speaking with them. I fear I will need to leave that in Lieutenant Ra'an's capable hands. I will return to the holodeck and assist from there."

== Tag all ==
>>> Holodecks >>>

[A’kilees]

The phonetic isolation algorithm had done its work! The cipher decryption had been broken and soon tons of information was flowing into the ship's computer and revealed on multiple display stations around the Science Lab. The amount of new information coming in was staggering; their history, their decline and their hopes placed upon their so-called “Preservation Project”. A’kilees wondered if more information could be gathered in hopes of understanding the mission of these beings.

Beings…A name! A’kilees thought as he began to sift through the piles of information. We’ve found out how they separate themselves in their caste system and their mission but haven’t found a reference to what they call themselves. He began quickly searching through the LCARS system, pouring over the large amounts of information for any references whatsoever.

It was at this time that Commander Ameen arrived. He looked much more composed after the stressfully frantic incident with the cryopods down in Sickbay. A’kilees was glad to see his commanding officer in a better mood as he himself was having a look at the black box information with Amila and Gath. Soon, he caught everyone’s attention with a glance and addressed the group gathered around the various science consoles.

"Starfleet Command is currently breathing down our necks. In less than eight hours, a heavy security cruiser and a science ship are going to arrive to take custody of these people. I am not going to hand over twelve highly lethal, genetically engineered supersoldiers to another crew without knowing exactly how they react to waking up."

That doesn’t give us a lot of time. Got to find that information fast then.

"We proceed with the original plan, but we do it honestly. We will wake the designated 'Leader' in the Holodeck, and we will do it looking exactly as we are. We will use the Universal Translator, backed by Midshipman Cortez's musical frequencies, to show them we pulled them from the ice and saved them. If they become hostile, Lieutenant Gath's security protocols will contain them. If they are willing to listen, we might just prevent a bloodbath when Starfleet arrives."

Pragmatic and to the point, good. A’kilees concluded. While he was happy to have Starfleet assist with the current situation, there was a small feeling of disappointment upon reflection of their new orders. The Zephyr was heading elsewhere continuing their previous mission in uncharted space and wouldn’t get to witness the conclusion. It was quite the letdown in the saurian’s perspective, and probably would be for other members of the crew as well. However, despite the setback they had their duties and current standing orders and that’s what mattered. Taking a deep breath and quick scratch of his scaly chin, A’kilees went back to pouring over the alien data.

== Tag ==

== GM Input: Further details about the “Preservation Project” and any references to name of the aliens themselves.

[Amila Ra'an]

"Understood, Sir," Amila responded to Ameen's orders with the directness and switftness of someone who understood the seconds were ticking down.

"A'kilees, you can help me pack up the data module," she directed, happy to have the help of an engineer nearby. "Did you or Cortez get anywhere with the language cipher," she asked.

The door to the office had been closed when they had made their breakthrough, and she hadn't held much hope when she had given them the order - assuming that they had reached a plateau that would take hours to overcome.


==Tag Cortez and A'Kilees (bros, make your Captain happy)==

[A’kilees]

"A'kilees, you can help me pack up the data module," she directed, happy to have the help of an engineer nearby. "Did you or Cortez get anywhere with the language cipher," Amila asked. A’kilees looked excitedly up from his console with an exuberant saurian smile on his face.

“Actually Lieutenant, we’ve just had a massive breakthrough! Please, this way! Come, come come!” he exclaimed as he ushered her over to his console. “In combination with Cortez’s musical theory and a phonetic isolation algorithm I had *click*implemented, it has unlocked the box’s decryption! Look here…and there...see that right there?!” as he pointed out key information points on the LCARS screen with great enthusiasm.

This is so much fun! A’kilees thought to himself. Engineering definitely was his lifelong passion but there was something about making a new scientific discovery that felt captivating. After showing off what he deemed important, he calmed himself down, cleared his throat and looked up from the console and towards Amila again.

“*Ahem* I was in the process of analyzing further details about these aliens and their “Preservation Project” but if we need to move the module now I’ll be happy to do so. I’m sure Cortez and Lieutenant Keti can take over from here on out. Plenty of new findings to investigate now that the data is stored in the ship’s computer. Shall we go?”

== Tag Amila ==

[Sebastian Cortez]

Sebastian was amazed at how much progress they were making. He still felt odd at not having found a proper name for these aliens. When the Captain came in, Sebastian was surprised when the Captain announced they had eight hours to make progress. Then an idea hit him: these people were classified as warriors or apex predators within their society. Sebastian remembered his xenobiology class that size mattered in the animal kingdom.

Sebastian instructed the computer to narrow the search for more common words, words like Hot, Cold, Left, Right, Good, Bad. As every culture had those words in common, the house on the right, the door on the left. Be careful it’s hot, dress warm, it's cold outside, the collaboration between his musical theory and A'kilees's algorithmic filtering unlocked the secondary data drives within the black box, answering Amila and Gath's questions about the civilization's history and their ship's capabilities, but he wasn’t sure if that took into account things like stellar drift, did the ship sling shot around planets, worm holes and other subspace anomalies.  There were so many unanswered questions about these people and so little time to answer them

“Captain, if we are going to utilize the holodeck to gain more information, May I suggest that we exaggerate your image, project that you are bigger more imposing than you are, They are warriors so they would expect an imposing figure, we could alter your image to a larger more muscular physique, maybe add a few scars As I’m sure you know Captain, Many mammals—including bears, lions, and great apes—use physical and behavioral posturing to inflate their perceived size and intimidate threats. Instead of physically filling with air like a pufferfish, these animals stand on their hind legs, fluff their fur, and alter their posture to appear much more formidable and ward off attacks.” Stated Sebastian.

Sebastian, you idiot, you just implied that the Captain looks weak and underdeveloped.

Sebastian's face was turning red as he realized he had put his foot in his mouth. " Captain, that’s not to say that you are not physically intimidating; I’m just saying make you look more intimidating. Not that you are intimidating, in a bad way.” Stammered Sebastian,

Sebastian wanted to crawl under his workstation. He just hoped and prayed that the Captain understood what he was trying to say and not think he was being disrespectful, or rude.

“In fact Captain, we could create a holographic overlay of the alien’s outer appearance and superimpose it on you. You know, convince them that you are one of them. You could explain to them that you are their Superior, that their mission has changed, or whatever.” Suggest Sebastian.



== Tag Captain Ameen and All. ==

[Amila Ra'an]

Amila stifled a grin as she listened to Cortez backpedal his comments about the Captain. She knew Ameen well enough to know that it would take a lot more than that to offend their CO, and the two of them could easily have a laugh over it later. Still, she wasn't surprised that Cortez had eventually found himself speaking well before he he thought. The eager young officer always seemed to say the first thing to come to mind.

While she let Ameen handle Cortez's obvious embarassment, she turned her attention to A'kilees. "You can explain the breakthrough in the language work to me and the Captain as we walk to the holodeck. This is great news," she beamed. "Let's get this packed up."

She then caught Ameen before he was about to leave. "Commander, walk with us," she offered. "Cortez and A'kilees actually made some progress with the language matrix just before you arrived."

"The computer is continuing to work on it, but I think understanding how it's different from ours, will help you make contact, because there may be some glitches with the UT at first while it learns the new words," she explained. "We'll get them set up in a workstation nearby to aid the UT in real time."

==Secondary Tag to Ameen, and everyone...==

> > > to the Holodeck