Ghost In The Machine

Posted on Thu Mar 28th, 2019 @ 3:13pm by Petty Officer 2nd Class Ila Dedjoy & Commander Rita Paris & Lieutenant Commander Thex sh'Zoarhi & Lieutenant Commander Sonak

Mission: Primordial Mysteries
Location: USS Hera, Deck E, Intel Pod Lab 3
Timeline: 2396

Having quietly collected Lieutenant Sonak from the wake, Commander Rita Paris and Lieutenant Commander Thex sh'Zoarhi left the 10-Forward lounge to make their way to the specific turbolift entrance that would grant them access to the Intel Pod mounted atop the saucer section of the USS Hera. As they did so, Paris outlined the plan.

"I believe Yeoman Dedjoy might not have been killed in that quantum surge, but transformed, in a manner not unlike I have achieved on occasion via transporter," the ghost of the 23rd century explained. "There is an experimental transporter in the Intel pod that once locked onto me when I was a quantum ghost, and reconstituted me. I believe the yeoman is with us, and that she is trying to communicate with me."

As they exited the turbolift to approach the connecting one to the pod, the two Security officers stood at parade rest, waiting to be challenged. "Accessing Intel Pod, authorization Paris, R, LTCDR, 867-5309, plus two."

As the lift door slid open, she muttered under her breath, "And a half..."

"So, assuming I'm not insane, we're going to try to coordinate with Lucky, the AI in the pod who is familiar with the systems to try reintegrating her. As the preeminent authority on retrieving quantum displaced individuals, Mr. Sonak is here to lend his expertise. Miss sh'Zoarhi, you are here because we're bound to have to cross-wire something to make this work, and better safe than sorry. I'm here because I think we have a chance, and I will not give up until we have exhausted every possible avenue of rescue." There was determination in the curvaceous commander's voice, as this was incredibly important to her. She had lived through the living hell of being a warp ghost for nearly five years, and she refused to consign Dedjoy to such a fate if there was any chance to help her. "Questions?"

The andorian noded. She'd always wondered what was draining power from her girl up here, and it would be nice to get a chance to poke around- even if the first priority was to get Dedjoy back.

The pod was definitely from a different ship, as the walls were detailed not in the beige and gold of the rest of the ship, nor in the creams of the newer parts, but in silver, metallic white, and Federation blue. It was, to those of the past eras, downright dystopian sterile in many ways. On the flip side, the lounge they passed looked like it had been transplanted from an NX class, but with modern amenities like replicators and holographic displays that were currently set to display the forward view of the ship as seen from the pod sensor arrays on one side, and open space on the other. The top of the saucer and Primordius in the distance, all being passively scanned as evidenced by several readouts which were showing on subwindows within the flawless holographic display.

Tapping her antique Starfleet delta badge, the extradimensional explorer addressed the overhead. "Lucky? It's Rita. We need your help. We think Yeoman Dedjoy is still somewhat with us on a quantum level, and we need your help reconstituting her. We need access to the Section 31 transporter and, well, you. Are you with us?"

The male British voiced AI spoke up over the comms. "Hello Commander. It's good to see you again. I was beginning to wonder what happened to Ila when her sensor signatures up and vanished from within the ship. As for her current whereabouts..." Lucky processed some data for a moment before continuing. "There she is. I am currently tracking a brainwave signature inside of the network that matches hers. I have unsealed the transporter lab and it is ready for you at your leisure."

"Thanks, Lucky," Paris said to the overhead, then walked into the sterile white chamber of the s31 transporter, with the sealed system at the far side of the chamber. "So we have to figure out how to use the technology, and get a fix on Yeoman Dedjoy. So, if you two would be so kind, let's roll up our sleeves and figure out how to save our shipmate, shall we? Lucky and yes/no Dedjoy are here as well, to assist us as we figure this out."

The chief science officer of the Hera projected a graphical computer image of what he was explaining, the calculations scrolling beside it.

''Basically, quantum realms are identified by a specific energy signature called a resonance. Each realm has it's unique resonance, not unlike a radio frequency. The key part will be to first pinpoint the exact quantum resonance of our subject. When we have a material piece or energy wave originating from the target realm, it is easy to determine the exact resonance and reproduce it with a quantum generator, be it a simple one like a transporter pattern buffer. But here, our first difficulty is to find the exact resonance without any such source.''

"Oh I have that source," replied Lucky. "It's the resonance of the particles and the entire quantum network in which they travel. As I said, I'm tracking Ila's brainwaves within the network. Her body... She'll need a new one..." As Lucky spoke, he popped up a quantum matrix overlay of the room which showed several quantum filaments passing through and a rough outline of a person near Rita. "As you can see, because of unshielded quantum particle exposure, only about seventy percent of her biomass remains."

''Fascinating,'' said Sonak looking at the quantum display. ''Our second difficulty now will be to recuperate as much of it as possible; and ensure that it is at least and first and foremost the brain mass that we get back completely. As it is the seat of consciousness, it is paramount that not even one particle be missing... or else what we will get is an altered version, possibily to the point of unviability, even in a host body.''

He turned his grey eyes towards the others with a pensive expression.

''Our third problem will be just that; finding a host body.''

Thex was listening as she went about her work. This stuff was far more advanced than the rest of the ship. " We could store her brain waves in the holomatrix if needed. That should give us some time to find her a suitable host body. "


The British voiced AI once again piped up with a hopefully helpful recommendation. "If I may, Ila was working with me to begin development on a bio-netic android body in her personal lab. The core systems are essentially complete but it's little more than a skinless torso and head. Perhaps you could find a way to use it? Alternately, I could offer up my own AI matrix to house her."

"Well, let me take a look at it," Thex said as she headed for the lab. It didn't take long before she found the incomplete body. Hu… this could work. I'll need to do a few things to get it working. If i rewire the Dynamic Control Drive to take info from the Inertial Dissipation Injector and then rewire it all into Central Pulse Capacitor i could get it working. If the Multiphasic Deflector Transmitter holds it should be able to store her mind."

Without delay, the work began. Thex and Sonak pulled up all the files the AI, Lucky, could provide on the experimental android frame before them and buried themselves in their efforts.

Within the volumes of files provided by Luck was something unexpected. Schematics for the android known as Kodria, left there with a holographically recorded note, addressed to Thex. A message from their recent past with the key to unlocking the hope for Ila's future.

“I had a hunch you might need these sooner than later, so I left you a copy of my own schematics. Good luck with them!”

Renewed by this newfound hope, the brilliant minds dove into their herculean task. The work went long into the night, rewiring connections, replacing pieces as needed and pooling their skills and accumulated knowledge to do what others might think was impossible and convert a developing android brain to contain the quantum signature and mental patterns of a living being.

Standing by, all Rita Paris could do was watch and occasionally hand a tool in to the duo as they worked on levels that would stagger any five other engineers and scientists. For her part, the time displaced officer did the only thing she could do by attempting to offer comfort and friendship to Ila Dedjoy, whom she could feel standing near her. In fact, for the hours that Sonak and Thex worked, Rita never felt Dedjoy's quantum presence, invisible and undetectable to all but her, leave her side. She spoke and kept up a mostly one-sided conversation with the ghost of her friend, reassuring her that she was not alone and they were working to save her from a fate far worse than death. It was all she could do, but she would not fail the frightened young woman who had saved her own life twice now.

Nor would Sonak or Thex, as they pushed themselves past the point of exhaustion into the early hours of the morning before coming to a point where the only thing they could do was trust in their skills. The body had no limbs or coverings. It was bare and cosmetically basic, but its inner workings were among the most advanced imaginable. With neural pathways and positronic connections that only waited to be activated and inhabited.

With the body ready and everything hooked up inside the three person transport booth, the team stood back behind the control console and stared at the holographic interface while Lucky performed the final calculations. "This will only take a moment..." After the all nighter the team had pulled, even the british AI sounded exhausted.

Pathways were being calculated and recalculated from the tingling on Rita's shoulder into the partial android body. Still, Lucky was having trouble finding a 100% match.

After nearly ten minutes of searching, he finally got a solid lock and all patterns went green. "Commander Paris, if you would be so kind as to do the honors of popping that big red button a good one for us?"

Mouthing a silent prayer to the universe, the transporter-phobic first officer pressed the shiny red button on the experimental transporter and hoped for the best. “Come on Dedjoy, come back to us…”

As soon as she did so, the chamber sprayed the quantum particles in an unusual pattern around the android body and for a moment the form of Ila Dedjoy in an EV suit could be seen hovering over it filled with pock-holes and scars. After a moment the image faded and the particles swarmed faster, flowing into the android body, which lit up and cycled through bootup.

Lucky's voice echoed through the stark white S31 transporter room, which was altogether too silent now. "Particle decay complete. Chamber is clear and unsealed. Scanning... Brainwave pattern detected... Match found. Yeoman Ila Dedjoy."
“Miss Dedjoy, are you in there? Are you all right? Can you hear me?” the strain and tension of the night was evident in the voice of the lost navigator, who had once herself been salvaged from being a quantum ghost in this very room, by the very woman they now sought to save from just such a fate.

Karma was never dull.

The head of the android body looked up at Rita, the large blue eyes cycling slowly as they focused. "Commander?" The voice was a bit digitized since there were no fleshy bits to vocalize with, but it was clearly Ila's. "That was the worst away mission... It made those giant spiders... Seem like... A soda run..."

“Hello, Miss Dedjoy,” the relief evident in the curvaceous commander’s voice was clearly evident, as tears filled her eyes. “I knew better than to count you out. That was an incredibly brave thing you did… I’m here today able to thank you for it because you did, as is everyone onboard. This may not be the most ideal solution for now- I assume you were here for all of this and you know why we chose the course of action that we did. But for now at least you’re safe, and we can working on retrieving your biological form now that your mind is at least safe.”

"Lucky, how much of my biological form is left?" asked the quantum tossed adventurer.

Lucky cleared his digital throat and pronounced the results of his scans of the network. "Approximately fifty seven percent. I had to reconstitute some of your mental pathways from different points in the timeline... In another twenty four hours, the network will have completely consumed your physical form. Ninety six hours after that, the residual brain patterns will be gone from the network."

Ila nodded, the sounds of her neck servos not yet muffled. "I can still feel myself in the network. I think... The genesis warheads... I think I can guide their development from within the network like this. Tell Enalia I've got it."

“Yeoman Dedjoy, you never cease to amaze me. I will let her know, and at current I’m planning to fire all four, so please be aware of that. I will definitely pass the message to the captain and… welcome back, Ila.” The smile on the first officer’s face was a sad but hopeful one. “Bless you for being just as determined and stubborn a ghost that has ever haunted the Hera.”

Ila smiled up at Rita as best she could. "I prefer to do my haunting with the living. By the way... Someone has to water my plants until I get some arms and legs. Do you mind?"

“I think that may be the very least I can do, Yeoman…”