Frustration, Compromise and Finality

Posted on Fri Sep 27th, 2019 @ 8:57am by Kodria Mizu & Riov (Captain) Dalia Rendal & Arrain (Lieutenant) Pajom tr’Sahe & erei'Riov (Commander) Arrenhe t'Suil & Deihu (Senator) Verelan t'Rul
Edited on on Mon Sep 30th, 2019 @ 12:48pm

Mission: Family Detention
Location: Neural Extraction Converter Chamber
Timeline: 2396

Riov Dalia Rendal was still staring at the monitors of her console in the chamber of the Romulan Warbird that contained the massive, Neural Extraction Converter machine known as the Ju'rot device. The machine that had successfully reprogrammed the minds and loyalty of thousands of Rihannsu people to ensure the strength and unity of the Star Empire had just done what it had never done before: it failed.

Somehow... inexplicably... the young Starfleet Lieutenant, Mnhei'sahe Dox had been subjected to the Converter's full power and resisted its effects. On her way back to the brig, her mind was still her own. There were mystery factors that had revealed themselves throughout the procedure, of course. The presence of the second set of neural pathways belonging to the young redheads bond-mate, Mona Gonadie, surfaced at the end of the procedure to buttress Dox's strength. But for the length of the procedure, the young woman exhibited a level of resistance that they had only seen in the most disciplined of Vulcans. 

But at the end, something else happened. Something was awoken in the young Rihannsu woman that nobody was prepared for. An otherworldly voice sprang from her lips hinting at some sort of map to its secrets and the system computers began collecting massive stores of still incomprehensible data. But those systems had been overloaded trying to break Dox and Rendal had no idea how much of the mystery data had been retained. 

From the far side of the room, Rendal's subcommander, Arrenhe t'Suil, had a computer console disassembled and was rifling through the wiring. "Riov... the overload seems to have burnt out some... fifteen percent of the Ju'rot's data leads. But so far, the data storage itself appears intact. We may still have... whatever it is that was transmitted to our computers. But the initial diagnostic says we collected somewhere in the neighborhood of forty-seven billion terraquads of data. It's actually causing secondary systems on the ship to fail for lack of processing power."

The Royal Romulan looked up from the scanner she was tapping at incredulously, her jaw once more agape. "That's... what the... It's going to take us months to even begin to analyze that much data. Whatever that was inside of her, once we get back to Romulus, we need to repeat this with a more robust system to see if we get the same results. In the meantime, I believe our little chickadee may have earned a reprieve from ill-treatment. If this proves to be what I believe it is, that is."

"I agree. We will be arriving within the week, so it is sensible that we forestall any further attempts to extract more data from her mind until we have returned to headquarters. Still, there is something else of interest in all of this, Riov." T'Suil commented, replacing the console cover as she spoke.

"The Dox girl... before the Miradonian patterns emerged to buttress her own, all of the system data indicates a Vulcan level of mental defense. If this is true, she could represent a breakthrough our people have been trying to achieve since the Levaeri V experiments of the 2260's. Since the sundering, we have been unable to reattain any level of the mental abilities our people lost over those centuries in the search for our true home. Genetic experimentation came close, but ultimately failed to bear fruit. Physiologically, there's no reason we have been unable to regain those abilities, but this girl..."

Pausing for a moment, t'Suil looked thoughtful as she walked back over to her Riov. "Mistress, even if this level of mental defense is all she is capable of, it is a leap for a Rihannsu that we have sought as a people for generations. There have been rumors and reports of Rihannsu developing Vulcan abilities over the years, but we now have verifiable data. The High Command will absolutely want her subjected to every test possible to determine how this was possible."

"One more reason to afford her a few more... courtesies..." Rendal tapped her lips a few times, deep in thought. "Perhaps the Deihu's methods were not as far fetched as I had originally thought. The girl has obviously been mentally reconditioned in such a way to meet the requirements of that of a Kolinahr master in order to even come close to defeating the Ju'Rot and to do so outright..."

"Have her place in VIP quarters restored and her tutelage under the Deihu continued for now. I would like to do further sessions for the Deihu here, however, that no longer seems possible... Gaining her favor... and telling her that after this little scare we've changed our minds, may make her more amenable to at least listening to our side of things a little more." A hint of a wicked grin slowly slid into place on Rendal's face. "After all, she's still a Starfleet officer. They love nothing more than to compromise, don't they? And that's what we'll be offering. Compromise."

"Were it not for the mother getting into the girls head and derailing her progress, the Deihu may have succeeded. And it seems that the more direct pressure we add, the more resistance she offers. And the more effective that resistance becomes." T'Suil thought out loud, replying to her Riov. "And it is clear that the Deihu affected her loyalties. The girl has exhibited considerable compassion and even attachment for her Grandmother. That is something we can leverage."

"However, while the Deihu is under our control, it is a tenuous one at best and the girl can see through it. We will have to convince the Deihu of this of her own free will, perhaps with the promise of restoring it if she cooperates." t'Suil added.

"Yes... We will have to plan around that, but I believe we will be able to acquiesce to that concession. In a matter of speaking." Rendal tapped at her scanner a bit more, deep in thought. "Show them that we have seen the error of our ways while keeping the Deihu compliant to our wishes? You have a way with words, t'Suil. I feel those negotiations should be at least monitored by you, but to feel sincere, they should come from me."

"Ie, Riov. We can arrange a transfer immed..." But before the Erei'Riov could finish her sentence, an alarm came blaring over the comm system and a panicked voice came across, =^="Riov! There has been an incident in the brig... an escape attempt!"=^=

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As the centurions escorted Lieutenant Mnhei’sahe Dox back to her cell in the brig, something had gone wrong.

Flanked by two centurions and her Grandmother walking behind them, the Romulan Warbird’s alarm claxon went off suddenly. They were halfway down the corridor when the guards shoved her up against the wall and told her not to move. She had seen a flash of green light and the sounds of a struggle at the other end of the cellblock. And now, she could only see a single Centurion standing right outside of the cell where her mother had been kept. The empty cell.

Her grandmother, Verelan t’Rul, could do nothing but stand by and watch. She had had her conscious ability to function co-opted by the mental reprogramming of Riov Dalia Rendal, and while her mind was still her own, her actions and words were dictated by what Rendal told her to do making her something of a puppet at the moment. But both women looked down the corridor with expressions of concern.

From behind Dox, Verelan, and the Centurions, the doors to the brig corridor flew open and Rendal and t'Suil marched in and rushed past them towards the cell, not even slowing to register them. The Subcommander shouted to the centurion standing at the cell Dox could see was now empty. " “What’s happened? Centurion… there was a report of weapons fire! Where is the prisoner?"

Immediately, Dox’s face went white and her heart tied into a knot in her side. Glancing over, she noticed that while Verelan’s face remained neutral, her eyes were wide. But with a disruptor pointed at her and her arms shackled all she could do was listen to the commotion down the corridor. But past the guards holding her in place she could see Rendal and t'Suil now talking to the Centurion. It was the one that had guarded her while she was in her cell. Arrain Pajom tr'Sahe... who fed her and showed her compassion. The one Dox believed might have been faithful to her Grandmother. The one she hoped would watch over her mother while she was away getting her treatment. The one she trusted.

After some back and forth between the injured Arrain tr'Sahe and Riov Rendal, he was eventually escorted out for medical care and a somewhat stressed looking Rendal and t'Suil left the brig, pausing next to Dox and her escorts. When she spoke, her voice was low and she refused to make eye contact. "It seems your mother realized that once you went under the Ju'rot, she was expendable and attempted an escape. She overwhelmed her guard at feeding time and he was forced to fire upon her. Disintegrations are not normal procedure. He will be reprimanded for his lack of discipline."

Dox simply stared blankly at Rendal in shock and disbelief. This was the single fate she had fought so hard to avoid. The prophecy from Death herself, Masato Rei, who had predicted that Jaeih’s time was short. The android Kodria reinforced this message from the future. But she had also been told by both Kodria and the entity called the White Rabbit that nothing was set in stone and that fate could be averted. But in this moment, Dox’s worst fears had seemed to come true.

Rendal paused a moment before continuing. "For what it's worth... You have my condolences. And... due to other events today, we have decided to... return you to your VIP quarters. If Deihu t'Rul is willing, she will continue your education on our people. That way we may find a way to... compromise... on a way to defend the Imperium. Al'thindor willing."

"Though our destination has not changed and your movements are still restricted... Please at least consider yourself a guest of the Imperium rather than a prisoner." With that declaration, the Royal Riov motioned for Dox's binders to be removed and for her instructions to be carried out. "Please have a protein synthesizer installed in her quarters."

Without hesitation, the Centurions holding Dox reached behind her and disengaged the heavy metal shackle that had bound her and her bruised arms flumped forward. Some part of her wanted to reach forward and try and kill Rendal right there, but she instead just stared forward blankly, her eyes dry but hollow looking. She looked first at Rendal, then down to the empty cell, then to her Grandmother, whose face betrayed nothing in the moment. And without saying a word, she simply turned away, letting the Centurions and Verelan lead her out, offering no resistance.

As soon as they had left, Rendal's emotions tried to boil to the top as she pulled out her scanner and marched back into Jaeih's former cell, scanning for what she knew would be there. If it was truly a disintegration, there would be Romulan molecules all over, but there weren't. What there was, was a residual transporter trace made to look like a partial disintegration. "I knew it. That traitorous bitch did escape! And she was beamed to..."

Rendal stepped out of the cell to one of the control consoles to trace the transport but immediately hit a dead end, her jaw hitting the deck once more today. "Into the food delivery system? During lunch? Are you kidding me? She could be anywhere on either ship!"

Immediately, the Subcommander's eyebrows raised in surprise before anger began to fill her as well. "Shall I begin an investigation, Riov? Interrogate the Centurion?"

"No. I believe discrete surveillance is more in order. We don't want to tip our hand that we know anything is amiss. For now, we must play the fools and pretend we are sorry and that we have seen the error of our ways." The Royal Riov comported herself and tucked her scanner away. "And for now we wait. We have all the chips, so now we wait for the other side to make their move before we strike again."

-----------------

Many decks up, the turbolift opened on the familiar corridor of the guest quarters of the People's Will. After their credentials were cleared by the Centurions at the lift doors, Verelan led her granddaughter and her two guards out.

The walk was slow as Dox all but shuffled down the quarter, no longer being pushed ahead by the Centurions now ordered to treat her well. And after a long walk, they arrived at the door to the room she had already spent over two weeks locked inside. The Centurion to Dox's left pressed his palm to the security pad on the wall outside and with a buzz, the door slid open.

Slowly, her head hung low as she stared blankly forward and stepped back into her gilded cage. The guards turned to stand at attention on either side of the door as the elder Senator stepped inside her granddaughter's room she knew well was monitored.

The elder Senator stood, somewhat at odds. While Rendal had suggested she might continue to educate her granddaughter, in an unexpected twist, the mental conditioning, and obedience she had so hastily slapped into place on the Senator meant that without orders she lacked the capacity to actually make a great number of decisions on her own. Brainwashing was, after all, seldom about making someone do something, but more often preventing them from exercising free will. Thus, she stood awkwardly before shaking her head and crossing the room to sit down on the edge of the bed. This had been exhausting for her, and she was allowed to sit when she required rest. Directive 42.

Turning, still numb, Mnhei’sahe looked at the woman sitting on the edge of the bed and her face twisted with a flurry of different emotions. She could see the woman inside, unable to function without the orders of her masters. She could see the pain in her eyes. She could see how hard she was trying to do anything to resist.

Stepping over, Mnhei’sahe looked down, confused. Rendal took her father from her. Took her mother from her. And even through everything Verelan herself had done, she was still Mnhei’sahe’s grandmother. Perhaps the only blood she had left in the universe. And in the moment of pain and confusion, the young Rihannsu woman did the only thing she could think to do, and stopped thinking and decided to let herself feel.

Slowly, she sat on the edge of the bed next to Verelan, rested her head against the taller woman’s shoulder and put her hand over her grandmothers.

There was no directive to stop her from placing her arm around her granddaughter, and comforting her without words. That much Veleran t'Rul could still do, so that she did.