None of your business

Posted on Thu Sep 30th, 2021 @ 10:09am by Lieutenant Myne Redal & Avalon [ADMIN NPC]
Edited on on Thu Dec 23rd, 2021 @ 7:40pm

Mission: Season 5: Episode 2: Operation Save Humanity
Location: DECK 8 - Cabin 40 G-O
Timeline: MD 06 - 2100 hours
1837 words - 3.7 OF Standard Post Measure

//ON//

Her arm felt better after the nice doctor in sickbay looked over it. She could already feel her fingers get their proper dexterity back, despite the dull pain still there. "Damn it Redal, you picked a crappy moment to make me feel bad." She muttered to herself, looking down at her stomach.

Cleaning up the mess of burnt components from the table took a little bit, the replicator in her cabin being really busy reassimilating them. Before of course having to replicate a new set of various wires, components, bits and bobs. Getting the replicator in her cabin to listen to her and replicate items outside the normally allowed spectrum had been a fun challenge. But Myne was experienced enough in bypassing the restrictions.

Sighing, she got back to work at her table, much more focused right now, despite the obvious anxiety and stress. Her feet did not stay still, shaking nervously and tapping against the floor with quite a flurry and intensity. Despite having been on board for almost two days, her cabin already looked more like a workshop with a bed, rather than a living space.

Her duffle bag was somewhere in a corner, emptied out. Its contents, three uniforms, various keepsakes from various species such as Romulan, Ferengi, Klingon, and others already placed around the room. The rest had been small pieces of hardware that she had custom-made and brought with her from the USS Pegasus.

Now those pieces were on the table, waiting to be carefully integrated with her aging PADD. This PADD had been with her for several centuries. Well, more accurately had been with Redal, through various hosts. But Myne already had became attached to it, after all, it was her PADD, she could remember making it so very long ago, upgrading it every few years or decades, and so on. She had all the memories and all the emotions that every host before her had for this small piece of technology.

It was a treasure in itself since it carried all the achievements of all the hosts since its creation. Programs, notes, logs, drawings, art, recordings, family photos, and even more grim, dark, unsavory things that should never see the light of day. Not all hosts had been on the right side of the law, some bad enough that Myne hated with a burning passion. When Redal's time will come and he will no longer be able to take a host, this PADD would be the legacy of all of his hosts. Good or bad, all of the hosts left something behind, saved and stored inside of this PADD. It was a piece of history that for all intents and purposes was the most important thing in her life right now.

Finally, spending enough time down memory lane, Myne had finished reassembling the PADD, without getting shocked this time around. Upgraded with the latest pieces of technology, while it looked a bit worn out on the outside and Federation tech, the inside was a mix of Federation and Ferengi components, with a few bits she had gathered from other places.

Myne really needed to get herself under control. Looking down at her seared arm, now nicely bandaged she sighed. Her mind had wondered and it went to dark places, memories she has been struggling with ever since the Joining. One cannot escape the past, not fully, and the actions of some of the hosts before her weighed heavily on her. This was the main cause of her moments of disassociation between herself and Redal. She knew she was herself, she and Redal were one, they had lived for centuries now. But when those memories came to the forefront of her mind, she knew that was not her, that was someone else, and in those moments Myne and Redal separated, in those moments being one was difficult and panic, anxiety, and fear gripped her heart till she could not breathe.

Why was nothing ever easy? Humorous, 'Life is not easy because the universe hates me.' That was the saying she lived by over a century and a half ago. Humorous indeed, it still applied at times now as well. Maybe this time, however, things would be different. With enough time and patience, all she had to do is keep going, keep pushing forward. Starfleet would keep her safe, safe from herself, safe with its honorable and stalwart men and women serving in it. Starfleet would provide her the structure she needs to learn to assert control over her own being and mind.

"Now, let's see if this works." She mused with a smile not exactly hers, an old smile, yep rather recent in order of hosts. Plugging her PADD in the Replicator, she tapped on it for a bit to bring a new interface. This little critter was old, but he had his uses, hopefully, the ship's computer wouldn't notice something that was so specific and small. Something meant to just, hide a few, innocent things. Maybe Myne should have paid more attention though, as she was lost inside of herself once more since she had not noticed her small tampering more or less tagging the ship's AI in the process. Kind of like an invitation to enter her cabin more or less.

"Excuse me" A voice said from behind her. A slim redhaired female stood there tapping her foot. "But are you quite done poking into my systems?"

"Gaaaaah!!" Myne panicked and jumped to the side almost dropping her PADD. "Whaaaaaat are you doing in my rooom?!" She asked the strange woman looking rather worried. "How are these... oooooh... crap. You're Avalon, the ship's AI? Erm... hi... how did you enter this room?" Myne certainly was not stopping her program from running as she held her PADD now close to her chest.

"There are holo emitters throughout the ship, Admiral Sharr insisted. I came to investigate why there was a foreign program running through my system" The AI crossed her arms.

"Oh, erm, hello there. My name is Myne Redal! There, not it is not foreign anymore, right? Though, holo emitters in cabins, is that recommended? What if I was in here with someone and we were doing naughty things..." Alright, as hard as Myne tried to be serious, that last part got her bursting out in laughter. "Ok ok, maybe not the last part, that is too much even for me to believe. Soo, Avalon, would you believe if I told you it is a diagnostic program?!"

"No" Came the reply from the AI. She crossed her arms. "Altering my program is against Federation Law. And reportable to the Captain." She added. "Last person to do so, was sent to prison." The AI didn't like it when foreign programs were placed in the system.

"Prison?! I am no altering your program in any... way?!" The Trill said panicking quite a bit. "Honestly, it is just a little bypass program that lets me get information quicker. Really comes in handy in a pinch when you need to do something fast and you already have the bypass in place. Surely that little, itsy, bitsy program of mine is not worth the trouble. Right?"

"Why?" Came the reply from the AI. "Why do you require it?"

Biting her lower lip, Myne looked at Avalon for a long moment and then turned to stare away, eyes downcast. "Because, I don't want... you to know I am here. My little program also serves to mask my presence from the ship's sensors. Listen, Avalon I have done a lot of bad things for the past several hundred years. And no matter how many times I, erm, change bodies that past keeps coming to bite me in the butt. So I made a little program that simply hides me from the ship's sensors really and your database. Replacing me with a normal Human. It is kind of like a mask." The Trill figured she had been already caught, so if she was going to jail, again, might as well go for a hail mary?!.

"Have you considered the ramifications of this?" Avalon asked "That in an emergency we may need to beam you out of some place and without your biosigns...You would be at risk? The Crew of this vessel is a family Lieutenant. We do not allow people to just vanish, nor will you be targeted here."

"You don't understand!" The Trill replied, well more likely squaked at Avalon. Despite her symbiont Redal being very old, Myne herself was still very young. "You don't get it, that is what the captain of my last ship said. People don't understand, I don't understand it properly. Please Avalon, just let my program finish installing, it is best for everyone. If we ever get into an emergency I will find a way out. You're not biological, so you can't understand this, I don't think you can even process fear, can you?! You function on a set base of rules that govern your processors, so everything must be simple and clear for you. Avalon, you are lucky, unlike everyone else, unlike me."

"If captain Lalor was here, I would suggest you speak with her. She has a hefty price on her own head. I suggest the following. You speak with Commander Gary Taylor before you finish this program Lieutenant."

Her eyes went wide and looked up at Avalon. "Wait, you are going to let me finish install it? Really? Thank you Avalon, you are the best!!" Myne launched forward and hugged Avalon tightly. "Thank you. Yes, I will approach Commander Taylor or maybe Lieutenant Whavi after this. Honestly, my chief seems like she would be more understanding, Commander Taylor already gave me homework on studying Human culture. Which is so boring..."

"You will find the Commander very understanding. And You can only finish installing it if either one of them gives permission." The AI replied.

"Erm, any chance I can get you to believe if in the old saying: 'It is easier to ask for forgiveness rather than permission?'" The Trill smiled and shrugged.

"Not on this ship" Came Avalon's reply. "The AI before me went rogue and killed someone, hence our concern around additional programs."

"Really? Wow, that sounds like a huge oversight. Talk about not having a control subroutine. Do you want me to look over your matrix? Maybe I can help you develop failsafe subroutines that monitor you so you don't go killing people? Especially cute little Trills?"

"Talk to Commander Taylor Lieutenant and then we will see" The AI smiled and vanished.

"Stock market dump, I am in so much trouble now." Myne sighed and shook her head, tapping a few more things on her PADD and going to just simply crash in her bed and scream in her pillow. This had not gone the way she thought it would, damn ship AI!!

//OFF//

Avalon
Ship's AI
USS Elysium

Lieutenant JG Myne Redal
Assistant Chief Operations Officer
USS Elysium