One of these things is not like the other - part 1

Posted on Wed Nov 30th, 2022 @ 6:45am by Lieutenant Myne Redal & Captain Gary Taylor

Mission: MISSION 0 - History Speaks
Location: Deck 14 - Holodeck 4
Timeline: Prior to current mission
2436 words - 4.9 OF Standard Post Measure

//ON//

Myne entered Holodeck 4 in an obvious state of confusion. She had started some time ago to go through the programs saved in the holodecks that consumed more energy than was necessary. At least through the worse offenders. People really needed to learn to prepare their holo fantasies and programs in a way that lead to less bloat.

The young Trill's obsession with efficiency and drain on the ship's power supplies had lead her through a rabbit hole she really didn't expect. Enough that at some point Myne decided that maybe she should have relegated the task to some of her toys.

So in a spark of inspiration she took one of the programs, small AI like things, and repurposed it to do her job and keep optimizing the holodecks and user programs for her. It had been doing a smashing job really, Myne getting regular updates and seeing noticeable improvements. Sure, only Myne maybe could get hyped over a 0.5% increase in efficiency, but hey, everyone needs a hobby.

That was until today when she was starting to get some really strange updates. They did not make sense, especially since her program began sending them in code. Not that Myne couldn't read it, but it should not have been doing that. And the damn thing wasn't replying to her pings either.

So here was Myne, on Holodeck 4, where her program was currently active. Her trusty PADD in hand, ready to debug the darn thing. And all was supposed to go according to plan, until she stepped through what had felt like a empty holodeck, only to wake up on a island in the middle of an ocean the second the doors closed.

"Oh frak me." With a sigh she called out a series of codes, trying to shut the holodeck down, but nothing happened. Well she heard weird, sad, upset mechanical noises, and that was worrying. "I really need to stop giving my toys personalities."

Tapping on her PADD she activated a emergency program that she knew would reach outside of the holodeck. Though it was a one time thing, the damn bugged program in control of the holodeck would adapt and block that signal too.

The message was directed straight to Captain Gary Taylor's computer. "Boss, this is Myne. I erm, kinda screwed up. Can you come collect and fetch me from Holodeck 4? Bring some of that fancy Human luck with you?"

Gary luckily was at his desk when his computer beeped and Myne's message popped up on the screen. As he read it, he chuckled. Myne was a talented and creative ops officer. He had seen that creativity up close with her dealings with former Captain Garrett Lovejoy and his 'alter ego' the hero Super Garrett. She had created a Super Garrett fan club that as far as he knew was still active.

He rose from his chair and headed out of his office. "Have no fear Myne, help is on the way." he muttered heading to holodeck 4. Moments later, reaching the holodeck he found a program running. Entering, he found himself standing on a yellow brick road with tall grass on both sides. "Oh Myne, what have you done and where are you? " He exclaimed softly and was greeted by soft giggling coming from the grass. He looked around but saw no one. "Now how do I find you?" He wondered as the yellow brick went off in all directions. "Follow the yellow brick road, Follow the yellow brick road." Came the chant from a hundred unseen voices. "Good idea, I'll follow the yellow brick road." He announced and started on his journey to find Myne.

Myne had spent her time wisely. Gathering rocks she found around the beach where she ended up in she made, well, rock people. Well, really she stacked small rocks on bigger rocks on larger rocks, on even bigger rocks on sand. And made a sort of circle of rock 'people'. She even found some chalk and drew faces on the rocks on top.

The she plumped down on the sand in the center of her rock people council. Myne holding her knees up to her chest, arms wrapped around her knees and looking furiously at the seven rock people. Each of them sporting a name written on their chest rocks: Doc, Grumpy, Happy, Sleepy, Bashful, Sneezy, Dopey. Then another rock person outside the circle tied with hastily made rope to the nearest tree to the circle. The name on that one being Sand Yellow.

Her expression was furious as she was clearly talking to the stone piles representing people. "Oh yeah, brilliant idea. If you're so smart why don't you do it Sneezy? Ha? No, it is clearly a bug. Not a bug no, wait. A error, there were no bugs when I finished the program. It was working flawlessly. Why did I give it a personality? Because I am apparently dumb, aren't I Grumpy? I heard you calling me that when you were talking to Dopey! Well shut up! I don't any of you, alright?! You should all be thankful I even made you!! Stupid Humans, how is talking to rocks supposed to help again?"

Meanwhile Gary had been walking on the yellow brick road for what seemed like hours, and he was no closer to finding Myne than when he started his search. "Myne, where in world can you be?" Gary said in exasperation. "It's a holodeck for goodness's sake." His question however sadly went unanswered, and his search continued for the missing ops officer. He walked and walked on the yellow brick road. He had been walking so long his feet began to hurt. Finally, he stopped and sat down, right there in the middle of the yellow brick road. "Christ, how can you go missing in a holodeck?" He wondered in a mixture of frustration and amazement at such a feat. But if anyone could manage it, it was Myne.

After a short rest, Gary rose and started walking when inspiration hit. He stopped and sucked in a big breath and yelled "MYNE!" Nothing no reply. he tried again. "MYNE!" Same result nothing. Now he grew worried. Maybe Myne was injured and couldn't reply? The thought made him pick up his pace and hurry his search.

Well, things took a turn for the worse. Myne blacked out several times and she had no recollection of what happened. One moment it was morning-ish, and she was in the middle of the rock people she built. Well, the piles of stones she, well, piled on top of each other.

The next moment one of them was tied to a tree, Sand Yellow, and she was having furious discussions with the other stone pile people. The next one they were split into two camps and Myne was on one side for some reason and Sand Yellow was free. And it only got weirder from there, somehow after that the stone piles were facing each other in pairs, with long, sharp sticks resting against each stone figure she made.

And then, of course it got even weirder. Myne had completely even forgot that she called Gary for help. She had even lost her PADD. And that was not the weird part. No, the weird part was that Myne herself was somehow tied to the tree now, Doc and Sleepy broken into pieces and the others with Sand Yellow forming a semi circle in front of her. With the sharp sticks planted in the sand and aiming at her. Well, Doc and Sleepy were just, well their rocks were scattered on the floor. It was...

"MYNE!" She heard it! Someone was calling out her name. None of the stone people did, they were just stones piled upon other stones. They couldn't talk, could they? They did in her head, or so she thought so, imagined it. But no, there it was again. Someone was looking for her? "I AM HERE!!" She screamed. "HELP ME!! THINGS ARE SOO WEIRD!!"

Gary continued his so far futile search for Myne which was just unexplainable. As he walked and looked and wondered again where in the world she could be for the hundredth time he saw something in the distance, lying on the road. As he picked up his pace, running towards it. He could see as he got closer it was a PaDD undoubtedly Myne's. Now where was she?" He called to her again "MYNE!" Nothing, no wait, had he heard something? It floated on the wind. "MYNE!" He called and this time he was sure he heard it. "I AM HERE!!" a pause and then again. "HELP ME!! THINGS ARE SOO WEIRD!!"

Gary followed Myne's panic filled voice and after a trek through the tall grass, found himself at a beach? Further examination revealed it to be a beach with rocks scattered on it, rocks that strangely looked like people. Following the path of littered rock people. Gary stopped and stared at the sight before him. There was Myne, tied securely to a tree and said tree was surrounded by rock people all pointing sharp sticks at Myne. Like they were going to offer her up for a sacrifice. "What in the hell?" He muttered as he crept closer (which was hard considering he was on a beach) Until he was right behind the rock people at looking at Myne. "Myne? What in the name of heaven is going on?"

"Oh thank the gods below, Captain Gary!" Myne squeaked as the Executive Officer of the ship made his appearance in front of her. "You got my message!!" She squeaked again and tensed up against the vines binding her to the tree. "I have no idea boss. Well, I do have an idea! Some idea. I blacked out a few times."

Time did indeed pass as it seemed quite a few hours had passed and evening was starting to creep in. "Erm, I might have made an algorithm to deal with faulty user programs that seemed to leech too much energy from the ship. And, I think it went wrong. I swear boss it was working fine for such a long time. And now the rock people are out to get me. I saw this in a Human documentary called Castaways, that when you are lost you have to talk to things to escape. So I made, erm, darwins out of stone!"

And by darwins, Myne most likely was referring to Dwarves, the beings from some ancient Human legends. "I tried to make evlees, but the leaves and branches didn't stick together well." And those must be Elves. "But the darwins rebelled against me somehow, Sand Yellow convinced them to! And now I don't know what to doooo..." Myne's tone went through a series of emotions, finishing into almost a sob as she looked terribly embarrassed.

Gary listened as Myne rambled in telling her story and finally ending with what could have passed a sob as well as an embarrassed look. "It's okay Myne." He said reassuringly to the ops officer. "Let me get you untied from this tree, and we can figure this out." He told her as he moved to untie the ropes at her wrists and ankles. However, the untying was not as easy or as quick as Gary hoped. The ropes were tight and the knots stubbornly tight. The minutes passed and Myne remained lashed to the tree. Finally, after a long, hard fight, the ropes yielded enough for Gary to free Myne from the tree but not her ropes.

As soon as Gary moved Myne away from the tree, her ropes quickly refastened and rebound her wrists behind her back, tying them securely behind her back, The same was done with her ankles being pulled together and bound tightly together. "What the hell?" Gary asked at this latest development. He looked at Myne standing there bound more securely than before. He quickly launched another attempt to free her, but it soon became obvious the ropes and knots would not yield, leaving Myne a captive. "I don't know Myne. Nothing I do loosens these knots."

He was about to say more when her PaDD beeped. Picking it from the ground Gary looked at it and showed it to Myne as a message appeared on its screen. TO FREE MYNE, YOU MUST FIND THE WIZARD. "Find the wizard?" Gary repeated looking at Myne to see if she had an idea.

Myne was feeling like she was about to die of embarrassment more and more with each passing minute. Until finally she was free from the tree. "Yay I am... craaaaap!!" She yelped in frustration as the ropes refastened and she found herself with her wrists bound behind her back and her ankles tied together. Frustration was building inside of her as she struggled but almost made herself fall.

She did not pay attention to what Gary was saying until he addressed her directly. "What do you want Human?!" Her voice came out wrong, her expression too. Whatever was going on, the quick passage of time, the blackouts, the stone people apparently moving and doing things. Something had been going on here and Myne seemed to have been pushed a bit too far. Something or someone had been pressing against certain spots and something gave.

Whatever happened, she was suddenly a lot calmer after that initial outburst. "Hmm, soo apparently I cannot be freed, no matter how much you try. And..." Pausing she looked at the screen of her PADD and nodded. "We have at least a lead. Curious, in any case you are the Executive Officer of this ship, right? Naril Tezehl, fifth host of Redal. I would shake your hand, but I am literally tied up at the moment."

"Easy Myne, easy." Gary told her as she struggled in a sorry way to free herself, almost falling in the process. She struggled so hard he had to put a hand on her shoulder to hold her upright and steady. Her binds remaining tight. "We'll figure a way out he told her. There was silence and then when she spoke, she was much calmer and a voice that was hers but not quite spoke and identified itself as Naril Tezehl.

"Yes, I'm the executive officer and you are right no matter how hard I try I can't free Myne er you and yes you are quite literally tied up. Please don't think me rude but where is Myne?"

~~ To be continued ~~


//OFF//

Captain Gary Taylor
Executive Officer
USS Elysium

&

Lieutenant Myne Redal
Assistant Chief Operations Officer
USS Elysium