літаратурныя Карупцыя

Posted on Mar 06, 2017 @ 12:00pm by Lieutenant Cantor Von
Edited on on Mar 06, 2017 @ 12:00pm

Mission: Holodeck Havoc

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"літаратурныя Карупцыя"
(cont'd from "The Game is Afoot" written by the eternally wonderful SusieQ)

- Translation from Belarusian: "Literary Corruption"

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LOCATION: Holodeck Unknown, USS PHOENIX
SD: [2.17]0306.0711
SCENE: Lush forest, on the road to the Castle

The day had gotten brighter in a far more literal manner than the Starfleet officers anticipated as they followed a makeshift trail through the lush, humid forest that blanketed the wide valley floor. A second sun, this one a more bluish color than the Sol-like main star, had risen from the snow-capped mountains in the East as the motley group had begun their journey toward their Castle destination. The new sun gave everything just enough of a tint to cast it as slightly artificial, despite the recreation being a complete reproduction of what their senses would have experienced if this had been an actual planet. A scent akin to pine mixed with subtle overtones of citrus filled the air and the melodious songs of bird-like creatures seem to come from everywhere.

As they walked, dark golden cobblestones began to show up here and there underfoot. The stones began to fill the path as they walked, at first uneven and sporadic, then more fit together and level. The Starfleet officers continued to walk quietly, in contemplation of their journey and their predicament. Von sensed thoughts of home, relatives, duty, potential threats and encounters that they may face ahead. A sudden jolt of realization from Lynette Ryan felt like a slap to the face, and the Betazoid whirled around blade ready before taking another breath.

"Lyn, what?" he asked.

Ryan looked up, blinking. "This has got to be a joke."

Crichton stop, looking about in curiosity. "What is it, Ryan?"

She gestured toward the fully set cobblestone path they were walking on. "A yellow-brick road."

Jasmine Wu nodded. "Yes, though I'm not sure if it's a brick-like material-"

"Guys, it's a yellow-brick road."

Von's eyebrows raised. "And...?"

Ryan tried again. "As in, 'follow the yellow-brick road'?"

The ExO looked about again. "Ensign, we've been following this road for quite some time. I don't-"

"None of you have read - or seen - the Wizard of Oz??" asked Ryan, exasperated.

"Wait, this is a literary reference?" asked Von.

Wu looked about again, this time with a newfound wariness. "What sort of dangers are in this Oz? What powers does its wizard have?"

"Seriously?" asked Ryan again.

"Ensign Ryan," began Commander Crichton. "We apologize for our lack of literary knowledge, but can you fill us in on-"

"Commander, it's just that this is a classic. I didn't mean-"

Von looked up. "Someone's coming. From the way we came," he gestured behind them.

"That's not possible," whispered Wu. "Before the last bend we were clear for at least one hundred meters."

"Are you sure it's not above, Cantor?" asked Ryan, glancing up at the strip of bluish sky above them. "The witch uses flying monkeys-"

Wu frowned. "Flying monkeys? You've got to be kidding."

The officers crouched to the side of the road, waiting for the newcomers to make their way around the bend. Crichton's eyes narrowed as he hefted his Bat'leh until....four somewhat familiar faces came into view, with Marine Captain Thytos in the lead, wielding some sort of sword. The ExO stepped out of the side brush and raised the Bat'leh over his head. "Kassandra, friendlies here!"

The two groups, despite being newly assigned to the PHOENIX, mingled gladly, relief that there were now more friends to share the stress and danger that this strange amalgam of a world presented. In the middle of the greetings, Von recognized a face more familiar than the rest.

"Stavik!" the Betazoid smiled. "It's great to see you again. I didn't know you had been assigned to the PHOENIX!"

The Vulcan nodded. "It is agreeable to see you again, Cantor Von. I was assigned at the 'last minute,' to use the Terran idiom."

Crichton noticed the interchange with raised eyebrows. "You two know each other?"

Von nodded. "Stav and I went through the Academy together as roommates and classmates."

The Vulcan tilted his head, eyes blinking. "While I appreciate the familiar greeting, once again I would request you use my full name, Lieutenant Von."

The Betazoid seemed to take the Vulcan chastisement in stride. "No need to use Lieutenant, Stav." He turned back to the ExO, grinning. "Mr. Stavik is an incredible pilot, Commander. The PHOENIX is lucky to have him."

"With respect, Lieutenant Von, you outrank me. Though our past may lead toward informal nomenclature - and I, too, appreciate your presence aboard the PHOENIX - I believe we should-"

"Yes, I get it Stav. We need to maintain a formal rank structure," nodded Von.

"Thank you, Lieutenant Von," replied Stavik.

"Okay, listen up," Crichton said. "Before Ensign Ryan briefs us on the latest literary entry into this holodeck soup - the Oz and its Wizard - are there any more thoughts as to cutting this expedition short?" When no response came, the ExO clarified. "I'm talking to anyone with engineering know-how," he prodded.

Ryan looked contemplative. "So, we know some sort of corruption has taken place. We don't know if Engineering has realized this."

From the center of the group of officers, Eve Dalziel spoke up. "This corruption is what is causing the Holodecks to weird out so spectacularly?"

Crichton nodded. "That's the running theory."

"If we were all in separate Holodecks, how are we together? I mean, physically?" asked Arak Schad.

"I don't think we are," interjected Von.

Thytos frowned, then reached up and grabbed Arak who gave her a quizzical look. "Feels real enough."

"Sure," answered Ryan. "So do the countless adversaries and denizens we meet. The Holodecks are sufficiently powerful enough to project each of us in real time with each other.

"If you really want to bake your noodle," commented Von, "consider that the holodeck computer doesn't have to portray any of us as we are. In fact," he took a breath, coming to the realization himself. "Many of us could be solely a simulation to only a few 'real' people."

"Wow," commented Wu, looking at everyone. "I hate Holodecks."

"Okay," Crichton waved off the comment. "Let's proceed on the assumption most, if not all of us, are real. Engineering either has or hasn't detected the corruption."

Stavik nodded. "If Engineering has detected the corruption, it follows that they have attempted a non-graceful shutdown of the Holodecks. That would fail. They would then begin to power down the warp core in order to shutdown main power."

"Shutdown main power?" asked Eve.

Von nodded as Stavik continued. "If Engineering hasn't detected the corruption, they would still be trying to shutdown the holodecks gracefully. Knowing that the main story threads have intermingled, they would begin removing components of the story until it concluded. Most likely any difficult threats we may encounter, per the inter-meshed storyline."

"Like flying monkeys," commented Wu.

"Flying what?" asked Thytos.

"They would do that by modifying the Holodeck metafiles-" began Ryan.

"Metafile," corrected Von. "Singular. There's no way they would be separate at this point."

Ryan nodded. "Okay, so they would begin purging elements of that single metafile."

"Out of a sense of caution, there is a high probability that they would seal the safeties sub-routine to prevent them from being accidentally affected," interjected Stavik.

"Um, that's a problem," stated Von. "We've already identified that the safeties are possibly corrupted. When you strip off and seal the safeties you move it out of the holodeck core programming edifice."

Stavik tilted his head. "That outcome would be most unwelcome."

"What would that do?" Arak asked.

Ensign Ryan thought herself through her next words. "Once outside the core Holodeck programming - again depending on how bad the corruption is - the corruption would spread to other ship systems."

Crichton's eyes narrowed on the engineer. "What would be the affect of that?"

Ryan shrugged. "Considering the corruption, I can't say. There are just too many variables at that point."

"Ensign Ryan is correct; this hypothesis becomes highly theoretical," stated Stavik. "If the corruption originated from the simulations, it may begin to attempt the simulation aboard the ship proper."

"How?" asked Eve.

Von shook his head, searching. "Any number of ways. False sensor readings, main viewer being co-opted-"

"Utilizing the EMH projectors," added Stavik.

"Those are throughout the ship," said Arak.

Raising an eyebrow, the Vulcan nodded. "Indeed."

The ExO took a deep breath. "Okay, we need to double-time it to the castle and see if we can conclude this storyline before it starts leaching into the real world."

Ryan looked up. "If it hasn't already."

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NRPG: Aha! So I've upped the ante in order to mess with Captain Kane. I will pass the joy on for someone to write a figure from the holodeck greeting the Captain in Engineering and the Captain absolutely losing his temper.

On a side note, I'm absolutely terrified to write for Thytos - I don't want to get her wrong!!!! Any help would be greatly appreciated.

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Marko J. Sertic
aka
Lt. Cantor Von
Chief Operations Officer
USS PHOENIX