Circumstances of Fright
Posted on Oct 30, 2017 @ 9:18pm by Lieutenant Cantor Von
Edited on on Oct 30, 2017 @ 9:18pm
Mission: Fear Itself
"Circumstàncies de L'espant"
(cont'd from "Phobophage" written by Shawn)
- Translation from Catalan: "Circumstances of Fright"
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LOCATION: USS PHOENIX
SD: [2.17]1030.0716
SCENE: Conference Room
"Commander, Captain, may I have a word?"
As the command staff of the USS PHOENIX filed out of the conference room, Cantor Von remained standing at the head of the glass table, while at the other end the CO and the ExO of the Federation's flagship waited expectantly. Once they were alone, the Chief Operations Officer carefully set a closed tricorder on the conference table.
"Sirs, this is the tricorder I was holding at the time of the incident in Engineering. If you recall, the quantum fluctuation and subspace field only lasted for 2.3 minutes."
Crichton nodded. "And? What does the tricorder show?"
Von looked levelly at the two officers. "Nothing." His expression darkened. "2.3 hours of nothing."
"Hours?" repeated the CO.
"Why didn't you bring this up during the briefing?" asked the ExO.
Von tilted his head. "I didn't want to worry the crew."
"That's not how I run my ship," chastised Kane. "If we don't share information, than we'll be fighting ourselves more than solving problem."
Cantor nodded. "Apologies, Captain. Two many years on a Romulan ship can do that to you."
Kane sighed. "What does this mean?"
Von looked at the tricorder. "It doesn't invalidate Commander Crichton's Phobophage theory. I just don't think that the GATEWAY truly experienced the complexity of this entity."
"You think it's transdimensional," stated the ExO. "That it has the capability to traverse quantum states."
The Betazoid nodded. "Yes. Remember most sentient brains have parts that exist in higher quantum states, first proposed pre-WWIII by Penrose's Orchestrated Objective Reduction model on Earth, then proven 90 years later by Sovel at the Vulcan Science Academy. Chaucer and I have been looking into the details of this model. Though proven, the specifics have been hard to quantify. The chemical fingerprints of neurochemicals related to fear may not be the actual food this entity is eating. It may be the quantum energy generated by fear at the higher levels of sentient neurology."
Kane appeared to be thinking. "Will the anti-fear serum work?"
Crichton shrugged. "If what Cantor is proposing is true it may work but-"
"I think the danger is more than hallucinations," interrupted Von. "The GATEWAY experienced the Dominion fleet. We have that vector of 'feeding' from this entity as well. But we have an additional effect: the subspace field and the physical effects we are seeing on each victim. We haven't seen that before."
Kane gazed back at the Betazoid. "So why the difference?"
Von blinked. "Captain, I don't know. In fact, we have a lot of unknowns. Is the box being used as some sort of dimensional anchor, like a probe? What is the significance of the melody? If the entity is not just feeding for sustenance, then what is it accumulating that energy for?"
"And why did it react differently to you?" finished Crichton. "Why didn't YOU die?"
Von nodded. "Yes. By all rights, I should be dead. Why did I survive and why did I trigger that subspace field?"
Crichton titled his head. "There might be a more concrete avenue to take that might answer a lot of these questions."
Kane turned toward his ExO. "Jake?"
"Captain, I think this entity is more complex than just a 'fear eater'," he said, nodding toward Von. "But there's one part of Penrose's model and Sovel's work that our Chief Operations Officer missed." The ExO caught an inquisitive expression from the Betazoid as he continued. "One race has experimented with higher quantum state consciousness and even entanglement of such states."
"And that would be...?"
Crichton glanced at Von, then back at the Captain.
"The Borg."
---
SCENE: Turbolift
[[Their response?]]
Von racked his brain for information on what the ExO had just suggested. The Borg. Of course...why hadn't he thought of that? Chaucer stood next to him, pushing interrogatives across the mental bridge with greater intensity.
"The Borg, C," Cantor replied, distracted. "Commander Crichton thinks that the Borg could be a way to gather information on this entity."
[[My name is Chaucer.]]
Von inadvertently pushed annoyance. "No, your name is unpronounceable by humanoid speech." The Betazoid immediately felt sorry for snapping at the Gorn and pushed apologies at the engineer. "Sorry. I also was told to start sharing my information."
[[Told you.]]
"Yeah, yeah. I know. It's hard to shake certain habits."
[[And now?]]
"And now we need to find the only Borg on our vessel."
The Gorn simulated a human nod, pleased he had practiced as much. [[Lt. Vukovic.]]
Von turned to his taller shipmate. "You know him?"
[[No.]]
"Computer," Von began speaking to the air. "Locate Lt. Vukovic."
[[Lt Vukovic is currently in Lt. Dakziel's office.]]
"Take me there, priority direct."
---
SCENE: Outside of Main Counseling Office
Von pressed the ring button again to the office and waited with barely contained impatience.
[[Counseling.]] Von felt Chaucer's warning tone, that this may not be a good idea.
"Computer, override door lock. Authorization, Von, Beta Epsilon 2." The Betazoid felt what only could be described as exclamation points from the Gorn as the door hissed open, revealing a sullen Tomas' Vukovic and a shocked Eve Dalziel.
"Lt. Von, have you absolutely lost your mind?" asked the Counselor in shock. "I am in the middle of a session-"
"Apologies, Counselor," Von flashed a feeble smile as he felt her astonishment wash over him. "But we need Lt. Vukovic immediately."
Dalziel's grey eyes flashed with anger as she stood. Von felt, more than saw, Chaucer take a step back, and pushed what could only be described as question marks at the Gorn. "Do you realize how many protocols and directives you are violating, Lt. Von, by breaking into an ongoing session with a crewmember?"
Von blinked. "A lot?"
Dalziel stepped very close to Von. "That, Cantor Von, would be the understatement of the year."
"Counselor..." began Vukovic.
Von raised both hands. "The Captain sent me," he blurted out. "We need Lt. Vukovic urgently. It has to do with the deaths."
[[Threat to the ship,]] added Chaucer, sending fear of the Counselor across the bridge to Von. The Betazoid pushed back disbelief and incredulity. You're afraid of her? Seriously?
"Seriously," intoned Von, looking into Dalziel's unflinching countenance.
The Counselor let the silence hang for a moment more, then turned toward the Borg crewman seated next to them. "Tomas', we can reschedule this session another time? I'm sorry it had to be interrupted."
"It's no problem, Counselor. Really."
Dalziel smiled. "No, it's a problem, but for Lt. Von. I think we've made great progress, so I'd like to meet again, if that's possible."
"Sure, Counselor."
Von stepped back into the hallway as Tomas' Vukovic joined them. Unexpectantly, Eve Dalziel joined them as well.
"Counselor?"
"Oh, I'm joining you. I'm just concerned about this urgency and want to be as much help as possible."
"I've earned this, haven't I?" whispered Von.
"You have no idea," replied Dalziel, as Chaucer's emotions washed over Von which could only be described as: SEE?
---
SCENE: Engineering Lab
"So you think that Tomas' Borg implants will assist you in some way in understanding this entity that is killing the crew."
Conselor Dalziel stood as Vukovic sat with a helmeted device placed over his bald head. Chaucer worked on another device across the room, while Von was punching in commands on a touchscreen display just behind the Borg officer.
It was Vukovic that answered. "The Borg hive mind is based around the higher quantum levels of neural activity that make up what we know as consciousness." He glanced at Von, who nodded. "I'm assuming you're using that technological integration to...."
Von looked up from his console. "Chaucer came up with the theory that the creature reacted to me because of my psionic ability." He pointed at his own head. "The Betazoid paracortex - and the Vulcan equivalent - are thought to have greater 'depths' of quantum states than other neural constructs, hence telepathy or the Vulcan Katra."
Vukovic tried to nod, but couldn't. "The Borg hive mind is essentially an artificial version of this, and it has a technological component that is able to reach into those quantum states to setup the collective network." The Borg paused, looking up at Von with only his eyes. "You're thinking of tapping into my Borg Neural Transciever."
"For what reason," asked Dalziel.
[[This is Von's idea,]] intoned Chaucer's vox as he continued to work.
"Gee, thanks for the support, C."
[[My name is Chaucer.]]
Von looked back at the Counselor. "I'm hoping we might be able to channel visual data from Borg transciever directly from the higher ends of his consciousness into Tomas' visual cortex."
"Is that safe?"
The Betazoid paused for a moment, then nodded. "It should be."
"Should be?"
"Counselor, tapping into the transciever isn't the dangerous part," said Vukovic. "Nor is relaying the information to my visual cortex."
Von paused again, looking up at the Counselor. "It's what we find after doing so that may be dangerous. Like picking up a rock and seeing what is crawling around beneath it."
Dalziel felt a chill go down her spine. "We should get security down here," she stated, looking from Chaucer to Von, then to Tomas'.
Chaucer looked up from his workbench.
[[Agreed.]]
Von nodded, thoughtfully. "It's probably a good idea."
Dalziel tapped her comm badge. "Dalziel to Lt. Yu."
[[Yu here.]]
"Can you come down to Engineering Lab 5."
[[Sure. Is there problem?]]
Dalziel looked at Vukovic. "There might be."
---
TIME INDEX: Minutes Later
Lt. Jasmine Yu entered to what looked like an operation in progress. Lt. Vukovic was standing while Cantor Von continuously scanned him with a tricorder. Chaucer was gently placing a halo of lights on the Borg officer's head while Counselor Dalziel stood to the side, arms crossed. Yu looked to the Ship's Counselor
"Counselor?"
Dalziel filled the Chief of Security in on the plan they had put together as quick as she could. Yu drew her own tricorder. "You're using him as a tracker. A blood hound."
Von looked up. "What's a 'blood hound'?"
"A pet that was historically used for tracking prey," replied Dalziel, then, in response to surprised looks she smiled. "My father had a blood hound when he was a child."
[[I like blood hounds,]] Chaucer interjected through his vox. Von picked up a kindred hunting of prey with the fierce Terran blood hound. The visual that Chaucer imagined of a 'blood hound' would haunt Von's nightmares for some time.
"Okay, I think I'm all set," said Von, depressing a final sequence of commands into his tricorder. "I've networked your tricorder in as well, Lt. Yu."
"Jasmine."
Cantor looked up to see the Chief of Security gazing at him with brown eyes as she drew her phaser. "Jasmine, then."
[[Doubtful phasers will work,]] intoned Chaucer's vox.
Dalziel looked from Chaucer to Yu. "Better than nothing."
Chaucer gave a very human shrug in return, which caused Von to chuckle. He had DEFINITELY practiced that and his chuckle had earned a very lizard-like glare from the Gorn.
"Should we be doing this around engineering?" asked Yu, looking around them.
This caused everyone to pause, until the Chief Operations Officer finally spoke. "At best this will only detect what portion of the entity exists within our dimensional space. Here would be as good a place as any to start that tracking. Where it's existing might be anywhere aboard this ship."
"And when we find it?" asked Dalziel. "What do we do?"
[[Kill it.]]
Yu looked at the Gorn officer. "How?"
[[Good question.]]
The Chief of Security gave a nervous laugh. "That helps, Chaucer."
[[I am Chaucer.]]
"Look," started Von. "This might not even work. I say we see if it works, possibly locate where this entity is existing in our reality, and then work to come up with a way to...resolve the issue."
"By scanning it directly, we'll be able to gather much more data," agreed Vukovic. He looked over at Von. "Let's do this, Lt. Von."
The Betazoid smiled, placing a hand on Tomas' shoulder. "It's Cantor." Then, looking at everyone in the engineering lab, "Is everyone ready?" Nods were returned all around, even from Chaucer.
"Activating the interface........now."
---
NRPG: That sound you're hearing is Jerome's head exploding as I post for the third time in - not a month - but a WEEK.
Oh, and to site my references, the Orchestrated Objective Reduction theory is a real thing: https://www.livescience.com/37807-brain-is-not-quantum-computer.html
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Marko J. Sertic
aka
Lt. Cantor Von
Chief Operations Officer
