Asking for a friend, Part 3?

Posted on Sun Oct 26th, 2025 @ 7:21am by Consul Andrinn Orin & Nicholas Mathias

Mission: MISSION 0 - History Speaks
Location: Science Lab 3
Timeline: Between MD5 and MD1, 1800hrs
1201 words - 2.4 OF Standard Post Measure

[ON:]

Nick took Andrinn's arm and started leading him in the quiet corridors of the ship. The ship was starting to get more into the evening period, meaning a lot of the crew and their families were either eating or currently on duty. Andrinn was starting to protest about where they were going before they finally stopped at Science Lab 3 and made their way into it. Before Andrinn could ask what they were doing in there, Nick let go of Andrinn's arm and said, "I know that you've got a million questions. Before I can even give you one, I need your help into looking at something."

Andrinn sighed before slowly walking over to the other side of the console where Nick was standing. "I knew that nobody was going to on duty down here tonight, since a lot of the experiments we've been running are doing so in the background. I thought that this should give us better access to the system logs," Nick said, looking back down at the console and bringing up the interface. He put in his command codes and the screen lit up like a Christmas tree on Christmas morning. "If the holodeck character was tampered with or said something it shouldn't have, it had to come from somewhere," Nick said after the console came online.

Andrinn folded his arms in front of him as he watched Nick's fingers glide over the console before he finally said, "You really think that this wasn't just some random glitch? Especially with how much stuff that the Elysium has been through over the last few weeks and months?"

Nick shot Andrinn one of his famous grins over his shoulder before giving Andrinn his reply. "In my experience, Andrinn, there is no such thing as random when it comes to the past or this ship. Something...or someone always leaves a trace somewhere," Nick said as he brought up the log to the holodeck.

Andrinn couldn't help but let out a little huff as he watched the logs for the holodecks come flooding in on the screen. Half of it was amusement because Andrinn knew that when Nick was up to something, it was hard for anyone to stop. Half worried because of the same exact reason. He knew that Nick wouldn't stop until he got his answer. Andrinn smirked as he said, "You sound like you're lecturing your students back on Earth again."

Nick didn’t deny it. “Maybe. But sometimes the past talks back," he replied.

As the two were talking, the console chimed and alerted the men to something. Nick pulled up the information and pointed at the screen before saying, "There! Found something in the holodeck's session cache. There's a data signature embedded into the Ranul simulation file. Nonstandard encryption and nothing formatted to Starfleet or Federation standard."

Andrinn thought about it hard for a moment as he asked, "Could it have been something left behind in the original archival records? It would have been made even before Earth achieved warp flight, so it would have been way before Starfleet or the Federation even existed."

Nick looked through the information and quickly found the answer. He looked at Andrinn, shaking his head as he said, "No, it looks like this was written after you requested the program."

"You're telling me that somehow, this wrote itself and implanted it into the holographic version of Ranul?" Andrinn asked as his stomach started twisting into a few knots.

Nick didn't immediately answer, as he was working on figuring everything out. His expression changed as he went through some more decryption routines and was watching them finish up. A small window flickered to life on the screen. Andrinn asked, "What is that?"

Nick started to look through it and replied, "It looks like an audio file. It was timestamped for just a few hours before your simulation. It hasn't been accessed and it hasn't been modified."

The two men stood there as they starred down at the screen for what felt like an eternity. Before too long though, maybe 30 seconds or so, Andrinn finally whispered, "Play it."

Nick reached down and hit the button to begin playback of the audio file. A faint crackle filled the air before a voice finally came on. It was unmistakable. It was Ranul's voice...low and strained. But, unmistakably alive or what they thought to be alive.

"If you're hearing this, it means that I failed to lock it away. You were right to see the truth, Andrinn. What I began was never finished. There are memories that the Symbiosis Commission didn't want you to see and tried to lock away within Orin itself. They're not mine alone, so you deserve the truth," Ranul said on the audio file. While it was playing, it was crackling quite loudly at moments, as though he was recording it in a rush. The interference was eating away at the edges of Ranul's words, making it a bit harder to understand what he was saying sometimes.

But, the message wasn't finished. The last little bit of the message came through as Ranul said, "It's still here...buried beneath...the link between us never truly..."

The audio cut out with a sharp hiss.

Nick blinked at the console before looking back up at Andrinn. "That wasn't any achieved log. That was generated from the Holodeck runtime," Nick said as he double and triple checked the information about the audio from Ranul.

"Generated...how?" Andrinn asked as he felt his heart start pounding in his throat.

Nick hesistated for a moment as he thought about all the possibilities and even some that were far fetched. "Unless someone uploaded Ranul's neural engrams into the Starfleet system..." Nick said before stoping himself. Nick shook his head before continuing, "Which I highly doubt. Then, whatever you interacted with wasn't just code. I think it might be someone or something trying to reach you through that Holodeck program."

Andrinn stared down at the console, his own reflection staring back at him. He could still hear the echo of Ranul's voice as he stood there and thought. The urgency within his voice. For the first time in a long time, he didn't know whether to feel haunted or grateful.

Nick finally broke the silence by saying, “You realize what this means, right?”

“That maybe… he’s not as gone as I thought?" Andrinn asked, already know the answer.

Nick didn't say a word as they stood in that lab, watching the audio file sit there on the screen. Wanting to played, but they were too nervous about the implications of what it meant. They knew that somewhere deep inside the ship's computer, a line of corrupted code was coming through before vanishing into the subroutines. Almost like a heartbeat fading away.

Andrinn reached toward the terminal, fingers hovering over the controls.

He could delete the file.
He could lock it down.
He could walk away.

But, instead, Andrinn whispered to himself, "What are you trying to tell me Ranul?"

And for a moment, he thought he heard the faintest reply in the static.

To be continued...

[OFF:]

Consul Andrinn Orin
Chief Diplomatic Officer
USS Elysium