Herald Lab Rerun

Posted on Sun Mar 11th, 2018 @ 11:37pm by Ahreva Malana & Lieutenant Vaemyn & Akira Zhuri

Mission: When Iconians Deserve to Die
Location: Iconian Dyson Sphere, Herald Lab

In the blink of an eye, three figures suddenly appeared in the Iconian Sphere's Herald Lab. There was no shimmer of a traditional transporter, just a soundless pop, like a THUMP!, and then there they were, the very breath knocked from the organic passengers, and even Akira in her Herald body was unsettled by the abruptness of the Section 31 transporter that had been hidden in the Hera's pod. But it served its purpose, and once her companions had caught their breath, Akira led them through the lab where there were rows upon rows of more Herald probe androids resting in their pods, waiting to be activated.

"Herald Lab Omega Nine Nine Omega Nine, it's me, Akira, I came back like I said I would," Akira said as they ventured forth, tracing her way back to the activation station where she had awakened before.

"Welcome back, Akira. It is pleasing to detect your presence again in such a short period of time. I see you have brought two of your crewmates with you. I will not be able to interface with them as well, but I will do what I can to answer any questions." The lab computer spoke in common this time but had the same soothing voice. However after this initial greeting, it continued with a slightly proud undertone to it. "During your absence, I have configured a probe to match your holographic specs. Would you like to see it?" Without waiting for a response, it pulled one of the probe racks out of a configuration bay and moved it towards the group along the maglev rail systems. As it neared the group, the front panels unsealed and opened with a slight burst of steam to dramatically reveal a perfect android replica of Akira's blue holographic form, motionless as if sleeping.

"Wha- oh, I..." Akira stammered, uncertain how to respond. "This is... so thoughtful..." Then her six eyes blinked rapidly as she remembered why they were really here. "I- I do not mean to sound ungrateful, but we're here for something important," she said, but she kept glancing at the modified android, a small smile tugging at her lips. "We, uh, can't leave this facility here, we need to know if there is some way to disable this Sphere or somehow destroy it?" she asked, then a though occurred to her and she frowned. "I know that could mean harm for you, but we don't have much of a choice; we can't let bad people find this place and use the technology here to do more bad things," Akira implored softly.

"That is perfectly understandable. There is much harm that could be done in the hands of the younger races with the technology inside of this structure, should they obtain it. In your own policies, it would constitute a galaxy-wide breach of your prime directive, if I were to let slip more than the tiniest bit of advanced Iconian technology past the outer neutronium skins. The Herald Probe body you inhabit now is only marginally past your technology level and your culture's development should reach it within six hundred years so it was deemed a necessary risk. As for this body I have prepared, I approximate it to be within one hundred years of your society's development as it is configured." For a moment, the lab systems went silent as if thinking.

"In the end, we do not wish to end our own existence by configuring a Herald probe to collapse the brown dwarf at the center of this sphere. However, if it comes to that we will." The lab computer paused only a moment before proceeding this time. "You should know that this sphere has the ability to jump through space. It has not been used since the fall of the Iconian peoples however, so I do not know the current state of the jump drive, nor if the capability still exists. Also, the AI in control of those systems are likely infected with the same virus that you are already familiar with. The risk is considerable but if that works, we will endeavor to regain complete control of this sphere so that one day we may greet your peoples as equals, should you discover us again."

"I don't know if we have the authority to make that kind of call, we were sent simply to destroy the sphere," Akira replied hesitantly, looking to Vaemyn as the ranking Officer for feedback.

Overwhelmed as he was by their surroundings, it took Vaemyn a few seconds to realise that Akira was talking to him. Given how many eyes she now had in such a tall body, it was a little difficult to know what the AI was looking at, after all, but he was unfazed as he peered up at her.

“Destroying this Sphere would be a crime against science and civilisation,” Vaemyn said adamantly, his violet eyes seemingly brighter than usual. “We have to try and save it. The captain didn’t know that there was a chance that the Sphere could move, but if she did...” Then, he realised with a sinking feeling in his gut, she might still order its destruction, even if she knew that. There was no denying the horrible uses that Iconian technology could be put to.

"I think I would like to try to preserve the Sphere as well, but our orders..." Akira was truly torn; while she was fascinated by the intellectual pursuit as much as Vaemyn, her reasons were entirely personal, she didn't want to see her new friend, albeit a lab computer, be forced into a position where he would have to destroy himself. "I think the Captain would only consider it if there was some way to ensure that the Sphere was truly safe from tampering, but that could only be possible if the virus corrupting the main system was gone. Perhaps we can assist with this, maybe a purge of the system to eradicate the virus?"

The lab computer spoke up again. "I have been studying the other systems across the sphere. While my AI core has remained intact without the presence of the world heart, the others have not and have degraded in the presence of the virus over the intervening time. I believe that I have the necessary capabilities to easily wrest control of the jump systems from the original main systems AI and take control. If I do, I will relocate to outside this galaxy and work on purging all systems in a safe and secure manner. If I do not, I will leave you with the means to destroy the brown dwarf."

“Brilliant, that should keep even the most destructive of Starfleet captains happy,” Vaemyn said with a relieved grin, looking around the chamber with naked envy. He had the look of a man already sketching out tests, planning on how to best build up a lab, beaming like a child on their birthday.

"Then let's do it! But we must be quick about it; there are those on the Hera who could use more medical attention than the Hera can provide at this time, I do not want to endanger anyone's well-being by wasting time," Akira affirmed. "How can we assist with the success of this plan?" she then asked the Herald Lab. "And will you be okay all by yourself once the jump to isolation has been made? You sounded so lonely when we first met..."

Glancing between Akira and the computer, Vaemyn ran his fingers through his hair. “Wait, wait, hold on. We’re talking about an Iconiansoftware conflict here, which is a bit beyond an organic like me. He looked at Akira, plainly conflicted. “Uh...Akira, do you have any direct experience with cyberwarfare? If you’re watching our...er...” he paused, looking at the computer, then grinned. “If you watch our friend’s back, in the Sphere’s virtual space, that adds to its odds of success. Your program may have much less complexity than an Iconian AI but your core architecture is fundamentally different. As often as not, cyberwarfare is defined by novelty, not brute force.”

Then, before Akira even had a chance to respond, Vaemyn jerked as an idea struck him, his mind moving faster than his common sense. “We could load you up with offensive software, a sort of virtual ammunition. Bynar heuristics, some of the weirder Vulcan programs, maybe even some Borg programs if we have them in the ship’s computer.”

Ahreva spoke up for the first time, having been slightly more interested in her surroundings than the conversation. "While that may be a viable avenue, the risk of permanent and lethal damage to Akira's core software is a very real and high probability. I recommend against it. Instead, I recommend arming these systems with all the data we're able to in order to combat the Iconian virus itself. In particular, we should give it the methods of removal that Starfleet has come up with. Once the virus has been removed, the opponent AIs may become more... Amicable..."

The lab computer replied quickly. "Indeed... As this virus is designed to spread to my systems, any method of preventing it from doing so, even rudimentary, would be a great help."

"Yes, the Herald Lab assured me when I first arrived that contact with the virus would most certainly be fatal for me despite the extensive firewalls and safeguards I have used to protect myself, and I would very much like to avoid chancing fatality at all costs," Akira affirmed. "But I do have the the necessary information from the Hera's computer regarding the containment and eradication of the virus; I will upload that data now." Although Akira wasn't entirely certain how to transmit the data! For that matter, she wasn't sure how to even get out of this body to claim the new body or even to get back to the Hera computer! But the Iconians were clever, and so she thought inuitively; well, she could access the Hera's computer directly through contact with any console, perhaps the same would follow true for Iconian technology? Approaching the main console for the lab, Akira touched an access panel, and sure enough she felt a connection between the lab system and the Herald probe. Smiling slightly, she accessed the information in her matrix and transferred it to the Herald Lab. "There, will that help?" she asked.

"Processing..." came the reply. A moment later the lab computer replied and hundreds of racks of Herald probes lit up and activated simultaneously. "You were eighty nine percent complete with a full antiviral for all systems against the virus. I have completed it and activated enough probes to cleanse the entire Master Systems Control AI and take control of the jump system. Thank you for this assistance."

"You are quite welcome!" Akira replied cheerfully. "How long before the status of the jump drive is known?"

The lab computer did not respond for several long moments and while the away team waited, several of the probe chambers blinked out one after the other. After about a minute, the lab computer finally responded, sounding weary from exertion. "Akira, I have cleansed the Master Systems Control AI and taken control of the jump system. It seems that it is functional enough to move the sphere halfway to what you know as the Andromeda galaxy but its use would forever scar this area of space for approximately three diameters of the sphere. You will need to vacate the area before the jump is initiated."

"That's massive!" Akira exclaimed. "I hope there's nothing inhabited within that range," she said, approaching the altered Herald body to claim it. "Before we leave, there was an alternate appearance profile in my matrx; the main difference is a different skin tone... can you alter this probe to match that appearance profile?" she asked, gazing with mixed feelings at the slumbering features of her own face. "Also, can I keep the pretty shooty-stick? I know it's ahead of our time, but it is quite nice! I promise to take care it does not fall into the wrong hands."

The probe casing with Akira's new android body resealed and began reconfiguring the body to match the requested specifications as the lab spoke. "The only detected objects in range are nine ships, seventeen artificial satellites, massive anomalous gaseous disturbances, and a small barren moon. Of the nine ships, seven have no signs of life aboard. As for the antiproton beam projector... It is not sufficiently advanced enough beyond your level to cause a disruption in your society's developmental cycle."

"Thank you," Akira replied, both for the assurance that the area was uninhabited and for permission to keep the staff weapon. "Are you going to be alright on your own? I know you'll have the other AI's to keep you company, but... You seemed so happy to have people to interact with once again, I feel terrible about abandoning you to isolation," she said while she waited for the reconfigurations to be completed.

The lab computer paused a moment to contemplate this line of questioning. "I will do what must be done for the greater good of all. I feel it is what my creators originally would have wanted had they survived."

Ahreva spoke up again to ask another question. "We have several crewmembers infected with the Master's black blood and it's... Not treating them well. Do you have a method at your disposal of removing it from them or otherwise treating them?"

The lab computer paused a moment again, seemingly deciding on what to reveal and what not to. "The technology to do so is well beyond your technological development. I am sorry, but I neither have access to it, nor do I have the power to share it with you if I did. You will have to find treatment options along another avenue."

“That would be a little too easy, wouldn’t it?” Vaemyn said sadly. The Vorta scientist looked around the lab wistfully, knowing that he could probably solve the black blood issue in a day with just the equipment in this laboratory. “I would offer to share our cultural library to add to your database, but I’ll bet that you downloaded it and everything else in our computer hours ago, Iconian systems being what they are. Are you sure there’s nothing else we can do for you before you leave our galaxy?” Vaemyn steepled his hands together in an odd gesture, vaguely similar to old Terran prayer. “We value your existence, and if there’s any assistance that we can provide, we shall endeavour to do so.”

The lab computer sounded mildly amused as it responded. "I actually have not interfaced with your systems. I have respected your data privacy thus far. If you care to share anything with me, I will scan your computers and databanks for the information you would like to share now, but I highly recommend vacating the area soon. Also, reconfiguration is complete. Would you like me to assist in the transfer?" As it spoke the final words, the Herald Probe casing once again opened to reveal Akira's new android body this time in her chosen color configuration.

"I think I've got this," Akira said as she approached the new android body; it was amazing to essentially see herself in the pod and it gave her the shivers. She reached out to touch her face, finding it already warm, and with a thought she felt her consciousness being funneled from one body into the next. The tall Iconian styled model she had been inhabiting drooped as it shut down, but otherwise remained standing, and Akira in her new body remained still for a moment as she settled into the new architecture; it seemed the Herald Lab had reworked some of the base programming in the probe to be more compatible with her matrix, and Akira found herself oddly comfortable in the new body. Finally she opened her eyes and carefully stepped out of the pod, being mindful of the changes in dimension of her limbs compared to the other model. She took a few hesitant steps to make sure she had control of herself, then she took the staff weapon from the other android probe.

"Herald Lab Omega Nine Nine Omega Nine, thank you very much for all you have done for us," Akira said with a bright smile. "We will depart as fast as we can. If you can, please find a way to send word to us that your jump was successful so that I do not have to worry about you, and if you cannot make the jump... I'm sorry that we had to ask you to destroy the sphere and thus yourself, but if the jump is not possible then this is the only other possible course we can allow, and I would like the chance to say... goodbye... if I can," Akira continued with much reluctance.

"I will do what I can Akira. If it is not possible though... Thoknaktolakniku... Until our paths cross again." The lab computer started a countdown on its screens for 600 cycles before activating an Iconian gateway to transport them back to the Hera's bridge. "Now please return to your ship. You have very little time."

"Thank you," Akira said once again, then removed the commbadged from the other probe android for a transporter lock, giving the device to make contact with the Hera. "Zhuri to Hera, three to beam up," she said, and with another gut-churning pop the S31 transporter snatched them up.