Eh, they are still on a mission of exploration. And not to put too fine a point on it, weird shit is the only way they'll get home in any kind of timely fashion. If it seemed dangerous that might be different, but poking ancient technology they just so happen to seem to have unusual access to isn't an awful idea. Imagine if the people from Stargate just avoided Ancient tech.
The Voyage Without
- Thread starter Hiver
- Start date
- Location
- England
If it isn't a deliberate trap, they're about to accidentally trigger some alien technology in the museum and get sent to a different planet / dimension / time.
And now to read the rest of the chapter...
[EDIT] Well, technically correct. Which as we all know is the best kind of correct.
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- Location
- Orbit
*cough* kid in a candy shop *cough*. I hope there are things he can prod and poke, everybody likes those sorts of exhibits!
*snrk* it had to happen eventually!
yup, total kid. Though to be honest, I did just spend a day at an aviation/war museum!
Hah, cute!
...and another flight nerd. I forsee doodles of flying saddles from this one, too.
Zephyr has seen the ring-nacelle of the Vulcans, but I guess he's never seen the idea of a third warp nacelle in a configuration closer to Starfleet norms.
From canon we know that there were some ships that eventually used that, but it'd be quite a lot of work given their status to retrofit such a thing into Voyager.
Maybe they'll try something else, maybe like some sort of... I don't know, faster experimental warp field? On a shuttle first, I expect...
What the heck is it? Dragon detector? I wonder if it's benign or even advantageous?
- Location
- Germany
- Pronouns
- It/Them
something something psychic I would guess.
- Location
- usa
"Egg! Egg! Egg! Egg!"
I'm going to go with the boreboy answer and say that it is probably simply psionic in nature.
Still, the existence of magitech is interesting when most psions in the present day of Star Trek are relatively weak.
Still, the existence of magitech is interesting when most psions in the present day of Star Trek are relatively weak.
If he discovered some examples of psionic computer interfaces, that might go a long way towards developing some improved tool use for him.
Ginny McAllister
On the Internet, nobody knows you're a dog
- Location
- Pacific NorthWet
Damn. Like usual, I intended to save the new installment for tomorrow morning, so I could wake up to a guaranteed-delightful read. And, like usual, I failed my temptation check and started it right away, tonight.
Still, worth it.
Still, worth it.
Crazael
Rehydrated Demon King
- Location
- Lost to the vagaries of time.
I'm definitely thinking it's something related to the Voth...
39
"Are you getting anything, Lieutenant?" Chakotay asked Dinah as she held her tricorder out towards the glowing orb.
Dinah shook her head, "No and I don't get it, I really should be seeing something," she admitted and looked at me, "This is more your field."
"I'm not sure mysterious glowing orbs is anyone's field," I admitted but eyed the readings in my visor, "It's... odd. There is no energy detected other than visible light. No infrared, no ultraviolet. No radiation of any sort other than photons. I can't even detect what generates it, no energy readings at all other than visible lights."
Chakotay looked at the orb for several long moments before he turned to me, "Psionics? Maybe it's reacting to your psionics, you're the only psionic species here."
Ruli turned to look at me in what I assumed was surprise, "You're a telepath!?"
I shook my head, "No. That would be really useful, but no. My species uses psionics to generate additional lift when we fly," I said and then snorted, "Dinah, could you help me take off my harness? We best make sure it actually reacts to me and not something I'm wearing."
"Sure," she said and put her tricorder away before coming to help me with the fasteners.
Most of my stuff was standard enough, just a different formfactor. But best make sure.
I handed my visor over at the end and backed away as she moved closer to the orb. It faded down to nothing as I moved away.
"It seems to be you," Chakotay mused, "That's interesting."
"Especially as it's close to seventy million years old," I agreed.
"Is your species from this area of space?" Ruli asked and then checked his communicator, "The conservator will be here soon."
I nodded to him, "Good. And I don't know," I admitted, "My appearance in Federation space was a bit of a surprise to everyone and I'm afraid I don't know what species I am or where I'm called."
Ruli regarded me for a minute, "You look a bit like a Kriit."
I blinked, "What's a Kriit?"
"A mythological creature, they don't exist," he explained and motioned with his hands to the side, "And I mean no disrespect."
"Why would I take disrespect?"
He shifted slightly, "While they are described as large flying reptiles, they are also described as greedy, hungry and evil. Able to wipe out entire villages with their breath of fire and blot out the very stars."
Now everyone was staring at me.
I had done some research into dragons of course. Many species had dragon-like myths. Almost all, actually. I'm not sure how, but figured the same as most researchers, that it was just natural to think up the biggest threat and most scary monster you can think of for your ancient stories and myths.
But we're clear across the galaxy and that was a... hurtfully accurate description.
"Well, I can vouch for the hungry," Dinah said with a smirk, "The rest, not so much."
"Thanks," I grumbled.
"What's going on here!?" a voice asked loudly and another Veelu in a blue and orange robe asked as they quickly walked towards us.
Ruli hurried over to them to explain in a quiet voice.
I turned my head to look at the orb. It was pretty, actually. It looked like it was made from... white marble without any discolorations or maybe polished bone. Just smooth white, broken only by the flowing lines of symmetrical gold. It didn't look like a script, more like decoration.
My visor had reported that it was a perfect sphere, down to as small a degree that it could measure.
Which even with tricorder sensors was impressive. That meant that if you expanded it to the size of a planet, it would still be smooth to the touch.
And if it had been buried for dozens of millions of years in the dirt, that means that it was not gold and stone, no matter what the tricorder was telling us.
I turned towards Ruli and the conservator, "Excuse me?" I asked.
They both looked at me and the conservator stepped forward, "I'm Ollia, conservator at this collection."
"I am Lieutenant Zephyr, Voyager's chief engineer," I said and motioned towards the rest, "Chakotay, Captain of the Val Jean. Lieutenant Navari, Voyager chief of security. Seska, of the Val Jean."
She bowed slightly before straightening again, "An object in our collection is reacting to your presence?"
"Yes," I agreed, "We were wondering what you can tell us about it."
She looked towards the orb, "Not a lot," she admitted, "It was found in a layer of rock during a mining operation. The layer of rock was approximately sixty eight million years old. The orb has resisted any sort of examination. Despite seeming made of some sort of white stone and gold, we have been unable to take samples. As far as our best instruments can determine, it's a perfect sphere."
"So you put it on display?" Chakotay asked with a frown.
She motioned with her hands, "As far as we knew, it was completely inert," she said, "Move closer to it, please?"
I did as she asked and it started to glow again.
"Fascinating," she said and walked up, studying the now glowing orb, "You have taken readings, yes?"
"We have," Chakotay said, "We'll share them with you, but they don't show much. We detect light in the visual spectrum, but nothing else."
The conservator looked at him, "Yours or his visual spectrum?" she asked.
"Mine," I answered for him, "My visual band is only slightly wider, but it matches mine better."
My day vision was almost identical to a human and I could see the same colours, but my visible spectrum was a couple of percent higher at the high end. Not enough to be useful as seeing UV, it wasn't even noticeable in day to day life.
She regarded me for several moments before seeming to make a decision and walked over to a control. She touched something and then the glass covering the display retracted and she motioned to it, "Try touching it."
I considered it for several long moments, eyeing the glowing orb.
If this was a movie and I touched it, it would turn me into some sort of monster or mind control me or teleport me or…
But this is not a movie. And it may be a clue of how I ended up here, of what I was. Who I really was. Maybe it will open or something.
If there was more of my kind. If it was glowing when I got close, maybe it would unlock or something if I touched it. Or send out a signal to others of my kind.
"Uhm, Zeph?" Dinah said, "Are you sure this is a good idea?"
"No," I admitted and moved closer, "But sensors aren't telling us anything. And... maybe it will have some answers for me."
Besides, exploration and knowledge was why I was in Starfleet in the first place.
Fuck it.
Lifting my right paw, I extended to touch a claw tip to the surface of the or-
In a split second, the orb stopped being an orb and flowed into my claw like a mist, the glow disappearing with it.
I blinked, staring at my paw, "Well, that can't be g-"
Dinah shook her head, "No and I don't get it, I really should be seeing something," she admitted and looked at me, "This is more your field."
"I'm not sure mysterious glowing orbs is anyone's field," I admitted but eyed the readings in my visor, "It's... odd. There is no energy detected other than visible light. No infrared, no ultraviolet. No radiation of any sort other than photons. I can't even detect what generates it, no energy readings at all other than visible lights."
Chakotay looked at the orb for several long moments before he turned to me, "Psionics? Maybe it's reacting to your psionics, you're the only psionic species here."
Ruli turned to look at me in what I assumed was surprise, "You're a telepath!?"
I shook my head, "No. That would be really useful, but no. My species uses psionics to generate additional lift when we fly," I said and then snorted, "Dinah, could you help me take off my harness? We best make sure it actually reacts to me and not something I'm wearing."
"Sure," she said and put her tricorder away before coming to help me with the fasteners.
Most of my stuff was standard enough, just a different formfactor. But best make sure.
I handed my visor over at the end and backed away as she moved closer to the orb. It faded down to nothing as I moved away.
"It seems to be you," Chakotay mused, "That's interesting."
"Especially as it's close to seventy million years old," I agreed.
"Is your species from this area of space?" Ruli asked and then checked his communicator, "The conservator will be here soon."
I nodded to him, "Good. And I don't know," I admitted, "My appearance in Federation space was a bit of a surprise to everyone and I'm afraid I don't know what species I am or where I'm called."
Ruli regarded me for a minute, "You look a bit like a Kriit."
I blinked, "What's a Kriit?"
"A mythological creature, they don't exist," he explained and motioned with his hands to the side, "And I mean no disrespect."
"Why would I take disrespect?"
He shifted slightly, "While they are described as large flying reptiles, they are also described as greedy, hungry and evil. Able to wipe out entire villages with their breath of fire and blot out the very stars."
Now everyone was staring at me.
I had done some research into dragons of course. Many species had dragon-like myths. Almost all, actually. I'm not sure how, but figured the same as most researchers, that it was just natural to think up the biggest threat and most scary monster you can think of for your ancient stories and myths.
But we're clear across the galaxy and that was a... hurtfully accurate description.
"Well, I can vouch for the hungry," Dinah said with a smirk, "The rest, not so much."
"Thanks," I grumbled.
"What's going on here!?" a voice asked loudly and another Veelu in a blue and orange robe asked as they quickly walked towards us.
Ruli hurried over to them to explain in a quiet voice.
I turned my head to look at the orb. It was pretty, actually. It looked like it was made from... white marble without any discolorations or maybe polished bone. Just smooth white, broken only by the flowing lines of symmetrical gold. It didn't look like a script, more like decoration.
My visor had reported that it was a perfect sphere, down to as small a degree that it could measure.
Which even with tricorder sensors was impressive. That meant that if you expanded it to the size of a planet, it would still be smooth to the touch.
And if it had been buried for dozens of millions of years in the dirt, that means that it was not gold and stone, no matter what the tricorder was telling us.
I turned towards Ruli and the conservator, "Excuse me?" I asked.
They both looked at me and the conservator stepped forward, "I'm Ollia, conservator at this collection."
"I am Lieutenant Zephyr, Voyager's chief engineer," I said and motioned towards the rest, "Chakotay, Captain of the Val Jean. Lieutenant Navari, Voyager chief of security. Seska, of the Val Jean."
She bowed slightly before straightening again, "An object in our collection is reacting to your presence?"
"Yes," I agreed, "We were wondering what you can tell us about it."
She looked towards the orb, "Not a lot," she admitted, "It was found in a layer of rock during a mining operation. The layer of rock was approximately sixty eight million years old. The orb has resisted any sort of examination. Despite seeming made of some sort of white stone and gold, we have been unable to take samples. As far as our best instruments can determine, it's a perfect sphere."
"So you put it on display?" Chakotay asked with a frown.
She motioned with her hands, "As far as we knew, it was completely inert," she said, "Move closer to it, please?"
I did as she asked and it started to glow again.
"Fascinating," she said and walked up, studying the now glowing orb, "You have taken readings, yes?"
"We have," Chakotay said, "We'll share them with you, but they don't show much. We detect light in the visual spectrum, but nothing else."
The conservator looked at him, "Yours or his visual spectrum?" she asked.
"Mine," I answered for him, "My visual band is only slightly wider, but it matches mine better."
My day vision was almost identical to a human and I could see the same colours, but my visible spectrum was a couple of percent higher at the high end. Not enough to be useful as seeing UV, it wasn't even noticeable in day to day life.
She regarded me for several moments before seeming to make a decision and walked over to a control. She touched something and then the glass covering the display retracted and she motioned to it, "Try touching it."
I considered it for several long moments, eyeing the glowing orb.
If this was a movie and I touched it, it would turn me into some sort of monster or mind control me or teleport me or…
But this is not a movie. And it may be a clue of how I ended up here, of what I was. Who I really was. Maybe it will open or something.
If there was more of my kind. If it was glowing when I got close, maybe it would unlock or something if I touched it. Or send out a signal to others of my kind.
"Uhm, Zeph?" Dinah said, "Are you sure this is a good idea?"
"No," I admitted and moved closer, "But sensors aren't telling us anything. And... maybe it will have some answers for me."
Besides, exploration and knowledge was why I was in Starfleet in the first place.
Fuck it.
Lifting my right paw, I extended to touch a claw tip to the surface of the or-
In a split second, the orb stopped being an orb and flowed into my claw like a mist, the glow disappearing with it.
I blinked, staring at my paw, "Well, that can't be g-"
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So it likely isn't that old but was dimensionally phased or extruded into the matrix. An excellent data point.
- Location
- france
Hum... Hypothesis: nanites with a psionic matrix designed for Zephyr's species.
Let's hope it's simply a tool of sorts... It could even have a helpful AI.
- Location
- Pacific Rim
Ziphyr: I want it on record in case I die, I blame Neelix for this.
- Location
- Omniverse #1345
Definitely designed for Zephyr, or at least a member of his species. Probably not a weapon designed against them, because the behavior doesn't match a mine or something.
So, probably a tool of some kind that's been without an owner for a very long time, or was precisely made by the entity that dropped him in this universe for him, but if so it probably reflects something that existed at some point.
I imagine Zephyr is going to get knocked on his ass as it syncs with his neurons. I suspect it's basically a hypertech version of the assistance tools he's made for himself, and hence vastly more advanced and capable. An intelligent species without easy fine tool manipulation is likely to make something that makes that possible for themselves, and some kind of living-metal tool system controlled by their psionics seems ideal. May be capable of acting as additional armor, a spacesuit, etc as well.
So, probably a tool of some kind that's been without an owner for a very long time, or was precisely made by the entity that dropped him in this universe for him, but if so it probably reflects something that existed at some point.
I imagine Zephyr is going to get knocked on his ass as it syncs with his neurons. I suspect it's basically a hypertech version of the assistance tools he's made for himself, and hence vastly more advanced and capable. An intelligent species without easy fine tool manipulation is likely to make something that makes that possible for themselves, and some kind of living-metal tool system controlled by their psionics seems ideal. May be capable of acting as additional armor, a spacesuit, etc as well.
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They probably mean Photons as in it's giving off light but they cannot measure why or how it's giving off said light.
KillerFish
Grumpy Owl, Bird Lawyer
"Your name is Kal-El. You are the only survivor of the planet Krypton. Even though you've been raised as a human, you are not one of them. You have great powers, only some of which you have as yet discovered."
"… I think you might have me confused for someone humanoid."
"… I think you might have me confused for someone humanoid."
- Location
- Orbit
Yup, otherwise the conversation would go a bit like this:
Zephyr: "I can't detect any other radiation than protons."
Dinah: "You mean photons, right?"
Zephyr: ...
Dinah: ...
Everyone: ...
Dinah: "Do you smell burning toast? Also why are you asdjsdfhasgnngnffff...."
Probably photons? Proton radiation would be a bit more dramatic.
I do appreciate considering that question immediately...
...Not that dramatic, though.