The Ethics of Life and Death

Posted on Mon Feb 8th, 2016 @ 6:07am by Commander Sinek & Petty Officer 2nd Class Amelia Takethen

Mission: Where Angels Fear to Tread
Location: CSO's Office
Timeline: After Together Again

Lieutenant Commander Sinek had taken more time than usual perusing the report that Yeoman Takethen turn in to Commander Fairchild. Yes, it was puzzling how an enlisted personnel would have this advanced knowledge. However, the question Sinek held in his mind far and above all others dealt primarily with the ethics of the incident. The dead should remain dead. It didn't seem logical to Sinek. A man who had been dead for the length of time that Venn had been, should not be brought back. The blood should have long been dried up. The electrical synaps silent.

He had decided to hear the Andorian's side things. It wasn't Sinek's concern to get caught up in a huge debate. His main priority was his department. Did someone from Science assist the Yeoman? Is this how she had gained her knowledge? If Amelia Takethen is truly this brilliant, perhaps she should be in the Science Department.

Sinek sent a message to the yeoman to see him in his office. He kept himself busy reviewing reports from the Astrophysics and Biology labs until she arrived.

Amelia had a pretty good idea why the ship's Second Officer and Science Chief wanted to see her. He'd been handed the task of unravelling her 'necromancy' as the Captain and XO had put it. She had combined holo-emitter, transporter, replicator, mythology, and so many other things to the mix to do what she had done, mostly out of desperation. Hence why she now had several PaDDs in a small case as she pressed the chime to Commander Sinek's office. They contained every note and every crazy rant she had actually recorded. She'd kept them on her personal terminals and only copied them to these PaDDs so that even if someone knew what they were looking for, they'd be very hard to find.

Sinek paused from his reports at the sound of the chime. He gave the order, "Enter."

Amelia entered attentively and stood in front of the commander's desk. "You requested to see me, Commander." It was more of a statement, her antenna waving in a slightly submissive manner.

"Yes," the CSO stated matter-of-factly, "I did."

Sinek put down the PADD he had been reviewing. Motioning to the seat before his work station, Sinek requested, "Please have a seat, Yeoman."

He waited for the Andorian to be seated before continuing. "I surmise you have an idea as to why I requested you presence." It was a statement, not a question.

Amelia nodded, having taken the proffered seat, the case sitting heavily in her lap. Silently, she waited for him to set the stage upon which this conversation would traverse.

The Vulcan leaned back in his seat, crossed his legs, and moved his hand to his chin, his fingers forming the familiar triangle pattern. If he showed a relaxed nature, perhaps Amelia would respond in a like manner.

"I have read your report, Yeoman. It is indeed fascinating. It appears that you have brought to combined several different theories and practices. Please review for me where you received your information and how you pieced this information together."

Amelia took a deep breath and tried to relax, pausing just a moment to collect her thoughts on the matter. "Well, I found a residual transporter buffer pattern in the transporter systems of the pod and identified it as Ven's. As soon as I saw that it was in a stable phase lock loop with less than a thousandth of a percent of degradation, I started with human mythology about the soul, then moved to the Vulcan Katra. I referenced several known incidents where a quantum duplicate of a person had been created on accident. All of this information was readily available in the computer's database. However, I ran into a few issues with reports of some of the transporter created quantum duplicates having been of a completely different personality from the original so to counter that, i tapped into my own knowledge of engineering and used the holo-emitters in the transporter systems to create as perfect of a duplicate from the scans of the corpse from the autopsy, which are also freely available in the medical databases in the tertiary computer core."

Pausing a moment, she took another deep breath before continuing. "Without the original biomatter or energy, I couldn't really do anything with the pattern I had so I started looking into fabricating it. I tied biomatter generators from storage into the transporter, used the holomatrix scans that Medical had taken to form the constituent bio-particulate needed, fed that into the transporter resolution sensors and holo-emitters, and used the residual pattern to turn that into a perfect quantum duplicate of Ven right before he died over the course of about twelve hours. The only place I got information from was the computer cores and the only person that helped me was a crewman that helped me carry the bio equipment from cargo bay three."

The Katra was the Vulcan ability to transfer their mind (or living spirit) to an object or another living being. If this had been done, it was possible to transfer it back to the body. This however would only be done with the family's approval.

Ven was an engineer. Could he have arranged to have his residual pattern stored in the transporter system in the event of his death? Much like the Vulcan Katra? Would Amelia be classified as family since the two had bonded? Sinek was trying his best to logically substantiate the Yeoman's decision.

"And what of the ethical implications of your actions?" Sinek asked. "Is it not as if you are making yourself as one of the deities?"

"No, oh no..." Amelia said, shaking her head almost veemently, her antenna taking a moment to straighten back out. "That wasn't my intent at all. I just knew I had to do all I could to get him back. No, I'm far from a deity of any sort. As for the ethics... Isn't it our responsibility to exhaust all avenues in the pursuit of the preservation of life."

"Preservation of life is a lofty goal," Sinek flatly agreed. "Yet, in nature we also see that there are times where death is necessary for the preservation of life."

"Preservation of life also implies the same life. What you have generated is a copy of Ven. It may not even be an exact copy. For instance, if someone where to replicate me, they would most likely eliminate emotions. This would be a mistake. Vulcans have emotions as much as everyone else. We have learned to suppress those emotions. Have you considered there may be something about Ben of which you have no knowledge. Some memories that have made Ven who he is. If these memories are not a part of the copy, then it is logical that the copy is not Ven. If this is so, you have not preserved, but rather have created a new life."

"The same can be said of anyone that goes through a transporter buffer." Amelia countered with, knowing full well how those mysterious boxes actually worked.

Sinek had tried his best to break down the petty officer's logic. However Amelia Takethen seemed to have a certain conviction about her.

The CSO uncrossed his legs and sat up as straight as he could. He looked Petty Officer Takethen eye-to-eye, pausing for effect.

"You are satisfied, Petty Officer, that you took the logical action." It was an even statement, not a question.

"Logical? Yes. Fiercely, passionately logical." Amelia's antenna were upright now, a hint of defiance in her features. "I did what I deemed I had to do for Ven's sake, the ship's sake, and for my sake."

When Petty Officer Takethen used the words "passionately logical," Sinek opened his mouth to interject that the two words do not work together. However, his words never came out. Instead, his mind raced to the one of whom he was passionate. If things were reversed, and Angel had died, what course of action would he had taken? Angel is the only one Sinek had ever loved. Would he not seek a way to be able to continue loving her? If he knew there was a way to bring her back, would he not do it? Is this not what the petty officer meant by passionately logical?

When Petty Officer Takethen finished, Sinek flatly expressed, "I see. Thank you for clarifying your side of things. If I have any more questions, I will bring them to your attention. You are dismissed."

"Thank you, Commander." Standing, Amelia exited the office professionally, glad to be done with that.