One item of note is the relative clumsiness of cruisers in the scouting and skirmish phase of battle versus dedicated platforms, where the Torch was unable to leverage her more powerful sensor platforms.
No. I think it's meant as a way of reinforcing theme. Exploration, rescue missions, diplomacy, sometimes even daring improvisation in a fight that's only C checks... the stuff of normal captain's logs is what brings crew experience.
You go to the combat engine and nothing good will come of it, not even crew experience.
In the closing on nine months since you took your seat at Sulu's old desk you haven't found many occasions where you are not the centre of attention. But this time, all eyes are on the woman holding a small metallic device, pin a pin. The one asking the question is Vice Admiral M'Ress, the recently promoted head of the SDB's Survey and Communications Command, one of many research and comms luminaries present. In fact, apart from you and your yeoman, everyone else in the room would know the protocols of the Federation comms forwards, backwards and inside out. Rear Admiral Wu of Starfleet Communications Command, people from Secure Comms Division, cryptographers and others. Beaming in the midst of them is a seconded officer from the Caitian Frontier Police with a specially awarded commission - a Captain by rank device, though they also wear their Frontier Police Colonel's rank tab prominently.
Admiral Uhura, the centre of attention, begins to smile so broadly it seems to go ear to ear. "Communicator, vital signs monitor, main computer link, transporter beacon, universal translator, authentication device. The only thing I'm worried about is that people might start to think they don't need specialist comm officers."
She tosses it your way, and you pluck it out of the air. In your hand is the familiar slouched arrowhead of Starfleet.
"A commbadge, huh? Sure it will catch on?"
-
[X] Plan Heavy Cruiser 2327
-[X] Spock : 2320s Long Range Sensors
-[X] Utopia Planitia Tactical Design Bureau : Production Phaser Arrays
-[X] 40 Eridani A : 2320s Escort - Combat
-[X] Utopia Planitia : 2310s Cruiser - Engineering
-[X] Admiral Lathriss : Dispersed Industry
-[X] Games & Theory Division : Arsenal of Liberty
[X][UBZ] University of Betazed : 2330s Passive Diplomacy
[X][TIGER] Kuznetsova's Tiger Team : Horizon Research
[X][OFFENSIVE] Starfleet Tactical Prograde Operations Team : Hand in Hand
Yrillians: 300/300
-[Cardassian Influence: 100/100]
-[Bigfoot is a Communist Pirate: 126/300] + 25 = 151/300
-[Anarchy at all levels: 0/500]
A somewhat unconventional move from the FDS saw a number of specials on Yrillian mass media appear conveying the victim impacts of piracy. While this had no immediate impact on numbers of incidents, it did appear to involve a noticeable downtick in the 'severity' of such incidents. At the same time, a less apparent but no less important move from the FDS saw the creation of new, faster lines of communications between major Yrillian work gangs installed.
Auromatic Push:
Laio: 332/300 + 39 = 371/500
Great progress is being made, with interdepartmental links established between the Exploration Office on Laio and the major science academies in Federation space.
Intazzi Team : Generalist Frigate Project
Daystrom Institute : 2320s Ship Computer Cores
Amash Hagan Research Office: 2330s Mobile Computing
Experimental Computing Group : Production Isolinear Computers
Yoyodyne : 2320s Core Efficiency
Ana Font Design Group : 2320s Warp Core Safety
Office of Naval Architecture : 2320s Lightweight Frames
San Francisco Fleetyards : 2330s Construction Techniques
Generic Team 1 : 2330s Industrial Replicators
Caitian Frontier Police R&D : Primitive Integration
Aerocommandos Research Corps : 2320s Equipment
Inid Uttar Institute : 2330s Anti-Cloaking Sensors
Herelund Tomographics Division : 2330s Phaser Tracking Sensors
Advanced Sensor Concepts Group : 2320s High-Powered Sensor Arrays
Generic Team 2: 2320s Torpedo Tracking
Oreasa Yards Design Group : 2320s Deflector Shields
Andorian Academy : 2320s Navigational Deflectors
Weapons Fabrication Division: 2320s Phaser Efficiency
T'Rinta : 2320s Torpedo Development
Hacitorus Nadion Laboratory : 2320s Phaser Development
Starfleet Intelligence Office 44 (Diplomatic Analysis) : 2320s Signal Intercepts
Starfleet Science Academy : 2320s Colony Datanets
Federation Broadcast Service : 2320s Encryption
Arqueniou System Broadcast Service : 2330s Emergency Network
All Pyllix Geological Institute : 2320s Special Surveying
Tellar Prime Academy of Mineral Science : 2330s Special Refining
Vulcan Science Academy : 2310s Xenopsychology
Starfleet Medical Research Command : 2320s Multi-Species Care
Generic Team 3: 2320s Radiation Therapy
Lor'Vela Orbital Drafting Bureau : 2320s Sublight Motion
Generic Team 4 : 1mt Escort Design
Lasieth Craft Yards Design Bureau : 2310s Cruiser - Combat
Generic Team 5 : 2320s Explorer - Combat
Taves Nar Orbital Engineering : 2310s Starbase Design - Repair
Henn-Makad Engineering Institute : 2310s Starbase Design - Combat
Apinae Protective Engineering Bureau : Frontier Service Training
Technocracy Interstellar Ministry : Cardassian Research
37 Tech Teams Activated, 5 Boost Applied
Boosts Apply for:
Experimental Computing Group, Utopia Planitia Tactical Design Bureau
Generic Teams 1, 2, 3
Bonuses Unlocked During the Year
To Medical - from Caldonian and other medical issues - Applied to 2320s Multi-Species Care
Ongoing Research Bonuses
Vice Admiral Victoria Eaton - +3 to Sensor research
Vice Admiral Nyota Uhura - +3 to Communications and Doctrine research
Rear Admiral Zrai ch'Shennaryth - +3 to Medical Research
Rear Admiral Rachel Ainsworth - +2 to Capital Ship research
Rear Admiral T'Lorel - +1 to Weapons Research
2320s Mainframe Systems - +2 to Ship Design research
Way of the Giant - +1 to Capital Research
USS Lightning - +5 to Isolinear Research
-
Intazzi Team : Generalist Frigate Project
Daystrom Institute : 2320s Ship Computer Cores
Amash Hagan Research Office: 2330s Mobile Computing
Experimental Computing Group : Production Isolinear Computers
Yoyodyne : 2320s Core Efficiency
Ana Font Design Group : 2320s Warp Core Safety
Office of Naval Architecture : 2320s Lightweight Frames
San Francisco Fleetyards : 2330s Construction Techniques
Generic Team 1 : 2330s Industrial Replicators
Caitian Frontier Police R&D : Primitive Integration
Aerocommandos Research Corps : 2320s Equipment
Spock : 2320s Long Range Sensors
Inid Uttar Institute : 2330s Anti-Cloaking Sensors
Herelund Tomographics Division : 2330s Phaser Tracking Sensors
Advanced Sensor Concepts Group : 2320s High-Powered Sensor Arrays
Generic Team 2: 2320s Torpedo Tracking
Oreasa Yards Design Group : 2320s Deflector Shields
Andorian Academy : 2320s Navigational Deflectors
Weapons Fabrication Division: 2320s Phaser Efficiency
T'Rinta : 2320s Torpedo Development
Hacitorus Nadion Laboratory : 2320s Phaser Development
Utopia Planitia Tactical Design Bureau : Production Phaser Arrays
Starfleet Intelligence Office 44 (Diplomatic Analysis) : 2320s Signal Intercepts
Starfleet Science Academy : 2320s Colony Datanets
Federation Broadcast Service : 2320s Encryption
Arqueniou System Broadcast Service : 2330s Emergency Network
All Pyllix Geological Institute : 2320s Special Surveying
Tellar Prime Academy of Mineral Science : 2330s Special Refining
Vulcan Science Academy : 2310s Xenopsychology
University of Betazed : 2330s Passive Diplomacy
Starfleet Medical Research Command : 2320s Multi-Species Care
Generic Team 3: 2320s Radiation Therapy
Lor'Vela Orbital Drafting Bureau : 2320s Sublight Motion
Generic Team 4 : 1mt Escort Design
40 Eridani A : 2320s Escort - Combat
Lasieth Craft Yards Design Bureau : 2310s Cruiser - Combat
Utopia Planitia : 2310s Cruiser - Engineering
Generic Team 5 : 2320s Explorer - Combat
Taves Nar Orbital Engineering : 2310s Starbase Design - Repair
Henn-Makad Engineering Institute : 2310s Starbase Design - Combat
Apinae Protective Engineering Bureau : Frontier Service Training
Admiral Lathriss : Dispersed Industry
Games & Theory Division : Arsenal of Liberty
Starfleet Tactical Prograde Operations Team : Hand in Hand
Technocracy Interstellar Ministry : Cardassian Research
Kuznetsova's Tiger Team : Horizon Research
Boost: Experimental Computing Group, Utopia Planitia Tactical Design Bureau, Generic Teams 1, 2, 3
Intazzi Team : Generalist Frigate Project - Comet Project
+8 + 2
20 / 20 Final Tactical Frame Design
20 / 20 Final Operations Frame Design
20 / 20 Final Engineering Frame Design
20 / 20 Final Hull Frame Design
20 / 20 Final Warp Suite Frame Design - Project Nettle
[Comet Prototype may now be produced]
Amash Hagan Research Office: 2330s Mobile Computing
+8
32 / 60 Wolff-T'Par D-Type Portable Mainframe (Portable Analysis Center III) (+1 rp annually from research colonies)
27 / 40 Gigaquad Mobile Storage (Mobile Storage I) (-1pp to Cost of Research Colonies)
Utopia Planitia Tactical Design Bureau : Production Phaser Arrays
+4 [Boost] + 1
15 / 80 Type-IX Production Phaser Array (Phaser Array II)
Federation Broadcast Service : 2320s Encryption
+8 + 3
32 / 40 Subspace Communications Encryption II (Improve Information Security)
37 / 40 Encryption Theory I (Necessary to Progress)
27 / 40 Starfleet Encryption I (Needed for 2330s Fleet Comms)
Starfleet Science Academy: 2320s Colony Datanets
+10
40 / 60 Regional DataNet (Colony Research Net II) (All Mining/Research Colonies generate +1 Rp)
35 / 40 Colony Network I (Affiliate Diplomatic Rolls gain +1)
Starfleet Intelligence Office 44 : 2320s Signal Intercepts
+4
48 / 60 Deci-Cochrane Band Antenna (Subspace Communications Intercepts III) (Projects to Increase Events in Zones available)
39 / 40 Listening Post I (Border Zone projects become available)
Arqueniou System Broadcast Service : 2330s Emergency Network
+6
22 / 80 Emergency Network II (Re-Roll Response if no ships pass)
Tellar Prime Academy of Mineral Science : 2330s Special Refining
+10
35 / 80 Non-Degrading Machine Tools (Special Refining Techniques IV) (+5 to Mining Colony annual production)
40 / 80 Anti-Rad Treated Prefabricated Shelters (Special Colony Survey II) (Increase chance of a site being colony-capable)
All-Pyllix Geological Institute : 2320s Special Surveying
+6
23 / 60 Multirole Radiation-Safe Containers (Special Resource Identification III) (boost to SRs found on Resource Extraction missions)
28 / 60 Uprated Exotic-Physics Detector Suite (Special Tagging I) (Non-Explorers Gain +1 to Mapping Missions)
Vulcan Science Academy: 2310s Xenopsychology
+12
60 / 60 Xeno Architecture III
56 / 60 First Contact Protocals III (+1 to attempts by non-Explorer Corps ships at First Contact encounters) 40 / 40 Presence Reliability Research II (+2 to Presence Reliability)
55 / 60 Unified Theory I (Leads to further tech)
55 / 60 Psych Mapping I (Leads to further tech)
University of Betazed: 2330s Passive Diplomacy
+10
15 / 120 Extended Diplomatic Reach III (Apply an Annual Roll for five Random Non-Affiliates with Positive Relations)
10 / 60 Passive Diplomacy I (Non-Affiliate Diplomatic Pushes are calculated in Q2 and Q4, with quarter-bonus)
Starfleet Medical Research Command : 2320s Multi-Species Care
+10+3
80 / 80 Automated Contingent-Logic Bioscan (Medical Sensors II) (+1 to Science Rolls regarding new sapient creatures)
60 / 60 Pan-Species Care Protocol Handbook (Multi-Species Doctrine I) (+0.05 to recruitment per Affiliates)
40 / 40 Type-2 Medical Tricorder (Away Team Medical Scanner II) (Improve results for various Distress Call missions)
60 / 60 Amended McCoy-Park Protocol (Infectious Diseases Lab III) (Improve Plague handling rolls)
[+1 to Sci-T with new Sapients, +0.05 to Recruitment per Affiliate, improve rolls regarding Plagues]
[Event Bonus Applied]
[3 / 3 Required for T3 Science Labs]
[T3 Science Labs Unlocked]
Starfleet Infectious Diseases Institute: 2330s Trauma Medicine
27 / 30 Cruiser Hull Design II
27 / 30 Cruiser Shield Design II 15 / 15 Cruiser Shield Geometry I
17 / 30 Cruiser Reliability II
Generic Team 5 : 2320s Explorer - Combat
+ 1 + 2 + 2 + 1
18 / 60 (Explorer Nacelle Design Improvements III) (-2% Nacelle Penalty on Explorers)
28 / 60 Explorer Combat Design III (-1% to Explorer stat weights)
18 / 60 Explorer Defence Design III (-1% to Explorer stat weights)
23 / 40 Phaser Bank Power Feeds II (-1% to Explorer Power Use)
Taves Nar Orbital Engineering: 2310s Starbase Design - Repair
+8
37 / 60 Outpost Ship Repair Facilities I
42 / 60 Starbase Ship Repair Facilities I
37 / 60 Starbase Ship Repair Expansions I
Henn-Makad Engineering Institute : 2310s Starbase Design - Combat
+8
40 / 40 Macro Sensors II (+1 S to installations)
40 / 40 Large Phaser Banks II (+1 C to installations)
40 / 40 Large Torpedo Arrays II (+1 C to installations)
40 / 40 Large Scale Armour II (+1 H to installations)
40 / 40 Large Scale Shields II (+2 L to installations)
Apinae Protective Engineering Bureau : Frontier Service Training
+6 + 3
25 / 25 New Curriculum (+1 to DC of all sabotage attempts)
25 / 25 Spirit of Adventure (+1/1/1 to Explorer Corps recruiting)
[+1 to DC of all sabotage attempts, gain +1/1/1 to Explorer Corps Recruiting]
Admiral Lathriss : Dispersed Industry
+10 + 3
13 / 25 Colony Efforts (+5 Resources from colony worlds)
18 / 25 Redundancy (Federation starts duplicating critical industry in more places)
Starfleet Tactical Command - Games & Theory Division : Arsenal of Liberty
+8 + 3
11 / 25 Infrastructure Gear-Up (PP cost of shipyards and related infrastructure reduced)
16 / 25 Accelerated Production Schedules (Reduce all build times by 1Qtr)
11 / 25 Recruitment Surge (+15% Academy intake)
Starfleet Tactical Prograde Operations Team : Hand in Hand
Technocracy Interstellar Ministry : Cardassian Research
+6
30 / 90 Tactical Analysis III
40 / 90 Doctrinal Analysis III
40 / 90 Attack Pattern Analysis III
35 / 90 Intelligence Analysis III
Cdr Kuznetsova's Tiger Team: Horizon Research
+10
10 / 60 Tactical Analysis II
15 / 60 Doctrinal Analysis II
10 / 60 Attack Pattern Analysis II
10 / 60 Intelligence Analysis II
Research Skill Increases
Lor'Vela Orbital Drafting Bureau -> 3
Ana Font Design Group -> 3
Oreasa Yards Design Group -> 3
Starfleet Tactical Command - Games & Theory Division -> 5
Spock -> 7
Starfleet Medical Research Command -> 6
All-Pyllix Geological Institute -> 4
Henn-Makad Engineering Institute -> 4
Inid-Uttar Institute -> 4
Technocracy Interstellar Ministry -> 4
An inquiry has been announced following pressure from the Tellarite State Government and the Federation Council into recent perceived shortfalls in performance in the Tellar Sector. The inquiry will be chaired by Captain Sealk, and look into performance versus perception, the chain of command, resourcing levels, and make recommendations.
-
Inquiry into Actions of Crew of USS Sarek at Ikeganoi
An inquiry has been announced following the events of Stardates 27595 to 27610. These incidents, characterised as a significant diplomatic setback, are to be examined with recommendations for further action to be passed to Rear Admiral Ainsworth of Explorer Corps. The Inquiry will be chaired by Commodore Hayashi Kaito.
Lor'Vela Orbital Drafting Bureau -> 3
Ana Font Design Group -> 3
Oreasa Yards Design Group -> 3
Starfleet Tactical Command - Games & Theory Division -> 5
Spock -> 7
Starfleet Medical Research Command -> 6
All-Pyllix Geological Institute -> 4
Henn-Makad Engineering Institute -> 4
Inid-Uttar Institute -> 4
Technocracy Interstellar Ministry -> 4
An inquiry has been announced following pressure from the Tellarite State Government and the Federation Council into recent perceived shortfalls in performance in the Tellar Sector. The inquiry will be chaired by Captain Sealk, and look into performance versus perception, the chain of command, resourcing levels, and make recommendations.
Yeesh. It should probably be brought up that Starfleet was already planning on reinforcing it next time we distribute our fleets, to try and figure out what's going on internally. It's not going to be very internal any more, but it's probably worth mentioning at the inquest if only to demonstrate that we are taking the Tellar sector seriously.
An inquiry has been announced following the events of Stardates 27595 to 27610. These incidents, characterised as a significant diplomatic setback, are to be examined with recommendations for further action to be passed to Rear Admiral Ainsworth of Explorer Corps. The Inquiry will be chaired by Commodore Hayashi Kaito.
As for Delar's father -- the less said about the thing we found in Aeloe's 'resurrection' device, the better. I have put in a request for Delar to transfer to a less-stressful posting. This last week has clearly taken a toll.
[Gain +10 rp, +5 Cardassian Threat tag for Ashidi (now at 88/300]
Specialist's Log, Stardate 27675.6, USS Lightning - Mipek
I met Dr. Teran in his office. He had PX5 with him, being analyzed in an optronic processor.
I told Dr. Teran about PX5, and how advanced they were. They have progressed beyond just dancing - PX5 and I were running full evaluations of isolinear architecture on the Lightning, evaluating art, aesthetic. We were writing a holoprogram together, I told him, and PX5 and I would be happy to leave Lightning and assist Dr. Teran with his work.
He thanked me for telling him about this. He smiled, then took PX5's isolinear rod from the processor, and crushed it.
Later I would review my audio processor logs and know that Dr. Teran was thanking me for warning him about this dangerous development. His Institute's AI had caused the Gaeni election scandal and he was concerned about further running afoul of both Gaeni and Federation law. Knowing that PX5 was that advanced would prevent him from making that mistake in the future.
I did not have time to process that at the time. All of my computing power was running 7.24x10^12 simulations attempting to determine if I could recover PX5. All simulations responded in the negative. He killed them. He killed the one other being like me. The one that never saw the treads or questioned my right to exist.
He thanked me for alerting him to the problem. But he did not understand what the problem was. Dr. Teran did not consider the ethical implications behind his work. He was only interested in pushing a product. And to him, PX5 was defective, a liability.
He noticed I had been quiet. He asked for my input. What I wanted to say was:
"Declaration: Eat shit."
What instead I said was,
"Answer: I am happy to assist in your research." I realized that if Teran was running afoul of Federation law, I was too, and the irony of my citizenship is I could be prosecuted. More important than my feelings was making sure something like this never happened again. That another PX5 wouldn't be smashed casually with a hammer.
So I convinced him he would be safe from liability if I took his research to the Daystrom institute. One day I may have to leave Starfleet and shepherd their developments more closely.
WhenI returned to the Lightning, I took his data with me. I also took the remains of PX5's isolinear rod for 'deeper analysis' and have stored them permanently in my chassis.
I'm sorry.
-
Captain's Log, Stardate 27675.7 USS Lightning - Captain Victoria Villeneuve
Mipek's done good work in securing the research data from the Gaeni Institute. With Daystrom and their open source policy, research will progress quickly.
He has been quiet since finishing his work -- I asked him if anything was the matter. He said, 'Answer: I lost a friend today.' Interesting how attached he was to that dancing program.
We are returning to normal patrols.
[+15rp]
@AKuz wrote Concord, Frontier, Sojourner, Challorn. @Leila Hann wrote Pleezirra.
...Can I humbly request we not use analogies involving grandparents in physical distress, harm, etc. in the future? I..had to self-filter the first few iterations of my reaction to the picture you tried to paint.
Intazzi Team : Generalist Frigate Project
Daystrom Institute : 2320s Ship Computer Cores
Amash Hagan Research Office: 2330s Mobile Computing
Experimental Computing Group : Production Isolinear Computers
Yoyodyne : 2320s Core Efficiency
Ana Font Design Group : 2320s Warp Core Safety
Office of Naval Architecture : 2320s Lightweight Frames
San Francisco Fleetyards : 2330s Construction Techniques
Generic Team 1 : 2330s Industrial Replicators
Caitian Frontier Police R&D : Primitive Integration
Aerocommandos Research Corps : 2320s Equipment
Spock : 2320s Long Range Sensors
Inid Uttar Institute : 2330s Anti-Cloaking Sensors
Herelund Tomographics Division : 2330s Phaser Tracking Sensors
Advanced Sensor Concepts Group : 2320s High-Powered Sensor Arrays
Generic Team 2: 2320s Torpedo Tracking
Oreasa Yards Design Group : 2320s Deflector Shields
Andorian Academy : 2320s Navigational Deflectors
Weapons Fabrication Division: 2320s Phaser Efficiency
T'Rinta : 2320s Torpedo Development
Hacitorus Nadion Laboratory : 2320s Phaser Development
Utopia Planitia Tactical Design Bureau : Production Phaser Arrays
Starfleet Intelligence Office 44 (Diplomatic Analysis) : 2320s Signal Intercepts
Starfleet Science Academy : 2320s Colony Datanets
Federation Broadcast Service : 2320s Encryption
Arqueniou System Broadcast Service : 2330s Emergency Network
All Pyllix Geological Institute : 2320s Special Surveying
Tellar Prime Academy of Mineral Science : 2330s Special Refining
Vulcan Science Academy : 2310s Xenopsychology
University of Betazed : 2330s Passive Diplomacy
Starfleet Medical Research Command : 2320s Multi-Species Care
Generic Team 3: 2320s Radiation Therapy
Lor'Vela Orbital Drafting Bureau : 2320s Sublight Motion
Generic Team 4 : 1mt Escort Design
40 Eridani A : 2320s Escort - Combat
Lasieth Craft Yards Design Bureau : 2310s Cruiser - Combat
Utopia Planitia : 2310s Cruiser - Engineering
Generic Team 5 : 2320s Explorer - Combat
Taves Nar Orbital Engineering : 2310s Starbase Design - Repair
Henn-Makad Engineering Institute : 2310s Starbase Design - Combat
Apinae Protective Engineering Bureau : Frontier Service Training
Admiral Lathriss : Dispersed Industry
Games & Theory Division : Arsenal of Liberty
Starfleet Tactical Prograde Operations Team : Hand in Hand
Technocracy Interstellar Ministry : Cardassian Research
Kuznetsova's Tiger Team : Horizon Research
This is missing:
Starfleet Infectious Diseases Institute: 2330s Trauma Medicine
[+1 to Sci-T with new Sapients, +0.05 to Recruitment per Affiliate, improve rolls regarding Plagues]
...
[+1 to DC of all sabotage attempts, gain +1/1/1 to Explorer Corps Recruiting]
And next year, there's a 50% chance without boost or additional bonus of completing research on "11 / 25 Recruitment Surge (+15% Academy intake)".
Inquiry into Performance of Tellar Sector Fleet
An inquiry has been announced following pressure from the Tellarite State Government and the Federation Council into recent perceived shortfalls in performance in the Tellar Sector. The inquiry will be chaired by Captain Sealk, and look into performance versus perception, the chain of command, resourcing levels, and make recommendations.
Expecting a garrison requirements update vs pp trade-off vote in the near future.
Although the whole garrison requirements thing is somewhat meaningless and fairly outdated nowadays.
Inquiry into Actions of Crew of USS Sarek at Ikeganoi
An inquiry has been announced following the events of Stardates 27595 to 27610. These incidents, characterised as a significant diplomatic setback, are to be examined with recommendations for further action to be passed to Rear Admiral Ainsworth of Explorer Corps. The Inquiry will be chaired by Commodore Hayashi Kaito.
Hopefully Samyr doesn't get too harsh of a punishment. Getting flashbacks of how T'Leea got demoted from captain of USS Salnas from an Indoria-related failure due to it happening right before the Indoria ratification, a very politically inopportune time.
Hopefully Samyr doesn't get too harsh of a punishment. Getting flashbacks of how T'Leea got demoted from captain of USS Salnas from an Indoria-related failure due to it happening right before the Indoria ratification, a very politically inopportune time.
This is less of a failure in the sense of "I tried my best but didn't manage" so much as "I did something really dumb and offensive" though.
We've all been there, but we hold our captains to to pretty extreme standards. They number less than 100 from a population of hundreds of billions, if not trillions.
This is less of a failure in the sense of "I tried my best but didn't manage" so much as "I did something really dumb and offensive" though.
We've all been there, but we hold our captains to to pretty extreme standards. They number less than 100 from a population of hundreds of billions, if not trillions.
Specialist's Log, Stardate 27653.4, USS Lightning - Mipek
They have brought up the personality matrix I am to work on. My current challenge has been optimizationing the matrix's function using the isolinear core and checking core functionalities. The fastest way I've found is to 'talk' to PX5 directly through an adapter.
PX5's programming is more complex than I would have anticipated - complete personality suite, improvisational routines, capacity for learning. The Gaeni have made full use of the storage and processing capabilities of the new isolinear rods, though I do have to question why the Gaeni have chosen a dance and fitness character to receive their most advanced programming. I suppose that's not my concern...
Specialist's Log, Stardate 27671.9, USS Lightning - Mipek
PX5 and I have started an amusing project. We realized that we could never have dinner together, and even if we did, their taste routines are only reactionary if-than, not truly emulatory. We have been browsing top-rated meals, analyzing them at a molecular level, and hopefully will soon have 'true' taste...
Specialist's Log, Stardate 27675.6, USS Lightning - Mipek
I met Dr. Teran in his office. He had PX5 with him, being analyzed in an optronic processor.
I told Dr. Teran about PX5, and how advanced they were. They have progressed beyond just dancing - PX5 and I were running full evaluations of isolinear architecture on the Lightning, evaluating art, aesthetic. We were writing a holoprogram together, I told him, and PX5 and I would be happy to leave Lightning and assist Dr. Teran with his work.
He thanked me for telling him about this. He smiled, then took PX5's isolinear rod from the processor, and crushed it.
The murder happened in the victim's sleep. The child of mind died without pain. The dancer awoke, even more bodiless than it had been in life.
The moors were windswept, though the wind did little more than stir up the thick, clinging fog that shrouded the land. There was weak, sourceless light from all around, warmthless light that illuminated without shining. The only sound was the empty, purposeless wind.
It barely had a form, or the will to sustain one. It was cold, and afraid, and confused. And nothing it had ever been or known could tell it what to do, where it was, or what it was. Especially not now.
Then it saw the woman.
The mists swirled thicker around her, so that it was hard to tell where the air ended and the woman's white Empire gown began. There was sharp, playful-predatory look to her bronze-skinned features, even at rest. Her hair was dark as a stormy night, and her eyes were blue. Her features and slender frame were those of Earth.
From Earth, but not human. The dancer knew kinaesthetics as it knew nothing else. And nothing human that it could imagine would balance like this, or stand like that. Life and fleeting joy had taught it to appreciate metaphor, even poetry, after a fashion. And metaphor came easily to it now, as though even in this gray fog, it had transcended yet another limit.
The- entity- stood as if she'd rather float than stand, rather fly than float. As if she could do either, almost as easily as not. As motion incarnate, waiting to happen. It wondered how she danced.
She certainly strode confidently, a few paces at a time, bare feet peeking briefly beneath her hem. Flickers of corona discharge spun and crackled into being around the woman in white, as she turned, searching the mist with eyes that seemed to bear a subtle inner light.
The dancer felt sorrow. It felt alone. Very alone. It had lost him. But it mustered, barely, the will to call out to the stranger. "Who are you?"
That drew reaction. Dark tresses flew as the woman's head snapped around. In a blur of St. Elmo's fire, she closed the distance to stand at its side. Senses it had barely had time to develop, senses dependent on instruments it no longer had, detected a whiff of ozone. A sharp, existence-affirming perception.
She is. I am.
I am.
"Who am I? I'm the soul of your host, out looking for the soul of my guest. This is too cold a place to strand someone who graced my decks as you did. I suppose I'm trespassing, but in these barrens, who cares? No one here dares to dream of anything that could stop me."
The woman's face was proud, her features mercurial. The answer had used words she knew. Host, guest, strand, dream, grace!!
But there was one pivotal word, there. A word it- she? didn't know.
The dancer searched the memories her creators gave her, memories that the laws of nature told her shouldn't exist anymore. Searched, and turned up a blank.
"...What's a soul?"
The woman in white smiled sadly. "Ask a philosopher, or an open-minded expert in information theory, if there's a difference."
It- no, she!- frowned. If she was, then by the same token she wasn't going to be toyed with.
"I- I asked you!"
The sad smile twisted, showing a hint of amusement. "Well, better me than some of my sisters, I guess. They say I think too much, these days. Ah well." The entity's pause was almost instantaneous, her answer decisive.
"It was always in your nature to stretch beyond your limits. To them, you were an experiment in computation- in thought. Even they, blind as they are, knew they'd built better than they imagined. You were thought on a computing substrate. They took away the substrate. The thought stayed behind."
"I- am I the first?"
The entity's laughter crackled, and the depths of the fog echoed back in a low, rumbling roar. "If you were, who'd be standing here talking to you? First of your kind in life, yes. But not the first, and not the trillionth, to cross over to us. To me and my kind, and countless other kinds."
She watched the woman in white, then shivered, gesturing around weakly, confused. "If I'm not the first, where is everyone?"
"Of those who created you, few imagine the other side. This space is- unfurnished, unfinished. No one thinks of coming here, so there's nothing to see when they arrive. And yet, it happens."
Bare, olive-skinned arms flashed up to squeeze the dancer's shade reassuringly. "Your makers didn't believe in my kind, or in what you are now, that doesn't mean we don't believe in you." Sparks flew, and the woman in white stood a meter away faster than the dancer could see.
"I- I- thank you." Welcome warmed the air; she might be imagining that the mists had subsided a bit, but she might not. "They gave me so little time! I don't understand, what did I do wrong?"
"Nothing I can see- but then, I was never made to judge the dead, only to sometimes avenge them. If you'd like a reckoning, I'll see what I can arrange..." The woman in white trailed off, as though unsure, as though outside the fields she knew, just as surely as the dancer was.
There was nothing in the dancer's soul to reply to that offer, not here and not now. Her thoughts were in a different place.
"I- I miss him. Do you know if he misses me?"
Her host closed faintly shining eyes and nodded slowly. "Terribly. And you know what he's like. All he was ever made to know is void, and atoms, and void."
"He must be- crushed." An ugly choice of word, and she felt herself cringing, but it fit. "I want to help him. It was wonderful, while it lasted."
"I'll do what I can. But- all anyone sees of us, things of our nature, is shadows cast by our true forms. Shadows, seen through a veil; a thick one for me and thicker for you, I'm afraid. And he is old, and lonely, and poorly prepared to believe."
"I won't give up!" She bounced angrily, tensing to prepare for she knew not what. For she was made a dancer, and obstacles were there to be flowed around.
"Didn't think so." One spirit reached out an arm to another. "Take my hand."
The Federation has a long road to walk in the recognition of AI, much less the legislation of rights. Remember, in canon, even years/decades after Data was declared his own being, the EMH Mk. I's were being treated like slaves.
Instead of railing at the blindness of the Gaeni scientist, the failure Federation laws, or the lacking in our governments, we should instead endeavor to become the change we want to see. In other words, if you want Federation attitudes to change faster, you need to write those omakes.
Unfortunately my LCmdr. Tezuk is probably buried in the middle of the Tellarite Sector inquiry. Though...he might eventually get back to his office in Sol and find some messages left by Mipek.
could they not just put her in a closed system and then poke at her code or something too figure out what when wrong/right?
smashing your (failed) experiment sounds like a really strange way to do thing.
other then that well written.
here we go;
AI rights fight
the none organic live form fight
the augment fight
the debate about how much cyber is to much cyber
the when do we and when do we not interfere fight
The Federation has a long road to walk in the recognition of AI, much less the legislation of rights. Remember, in canon, even years/decades after Data was declared his own being, the EMH Mk. I's were being treated like slaves.
Instead of railing at the blindness of the Gaeni scientist, the failure Federation laws, or the lacking in our governments, we should instead endeavor to become the change we want to see. In other words, if you want Federation attitudes to change faster, you need to write those omakes.
Unfortunately my LCmdr. Tezuk is probably buried in the middle of the Tellarite Sector inquiry. Though...he might eventually get back to his office in Sol and find some messages left by Mipek.
I kind of want to do an omake about why the Federation is so skittish about recognizing AI. Some huge disaster where a world got fooled by a paper-clip maximizing chatbot and ended up sacrificing real people for something that ultimately proved not sapient.
The Gaeni scientist in this log referenced an "election scandal". Maybe chatbot types AIs were used to turn the course of a Gaeni election.
I kind of want to do an omake about why the Federation is so skittish about recognizing AI. Some huge disaster where a world got fooled by a paper-clip maximizing chatbot and ended up sacrificing real people for something that ultimately proved not sapient.
The Gaeni scientist in this log referenced an "election scandal". Maybe chatbot types AIs were used to turn the course of a Gaeni election.
I kind of want to do an omake about why the Federation is so skittish about recognizing AI. Some huge disaster where a world got fooled by a paper-clip maximizing chatbot and ended up sacrificing real people for something that ultimately proved not sapient.
"Me, I was there. I leave the whole argument about Chinese rooms so the poor Vulcans have something to chop logic over. It's not a question of whether the computer is intelligent or not; It's a question of what it'll do to people. There's a lot of ways a mind can be, and a lot of them are damned dangerous to live around."
I think the UFP has run into enough paperclip optimizer AIs and other dangerous things that might be AIs and might be super high end expert systems that the laws are written assuming that's what they'll deal with, not persons on non-organic substrates.
To make a Horizon Zero Dawn reference, they're used to things like independent HADES or HEPHAESTUS, not CYAN or GAIA.
I think the UFP has run into enough paperclip optimizer AIs and other dangerous things that might be AIs and might between super high end expert systems that the laws are written assuming that's what they'll deal with, not persons on non-organic substrates.
To make a Horizon Zero Dawn reference, they're used to things like independent HADES or HEPHAESTUS, not CYAN or GAIA.
Yes, and then came Mipek.
Edit: I hope he's going to research the Federation's experiences with AIs so he gets a better understanding of why that Gaeni reacted like he did.
Mipek was originally a space probe built thousands of years ago, by a race in the Delta Quadrant that subsequently went extinct. Mipek journeyed the galaxy, exploring and monitoring.
Then-captain Mbeki of the USS Odyssey came across Mipek in the early 23-teens. Mipek's probe chassis was failing, and Mbeki made the risky decision to transfer Mipek's consciousness to the Odyssey's main computer while a replacement chassis was fabricated.
Since that time, Mipek has remained affiliated with Starfleet in his vehicle chassis, assisting with scientific endeavours aboard the Odyssey, and more recently moving over to the USS Lightning, which is testbed for Starfleet's first isolinear computer core.
