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Posted on 14 May 2012 @ 3:06pm by Lieutenant Kiri Cho & Lieutenant Commander Chauncey Remington III (KIA)

1,981 words; about a 10 minute read

Mission: Episode 01 - Project Sienna
Location: USS Galileo- Deck 3/4 - Turbo Lift/ Deck 3-4 Computer Core
Timeline: M6 1630

[ON]

Kiri had cleared up her main duties for the day and once again she found herself drawn away from computer simulations and sensor readings. This time it was something that she personally found much more worrying. To her eye there was a significant problem with the ship's computer that while not crippling could be the first sign of something dire. So like always, dressed pristine in her science department uniform, she was heading from her quarters to the Operations office. The only thing that was less than normal for her was the small bags under her eyes from sleeping less than expected. The XO had been a welcome interruption to her normal sleep pattern. Standing in the lift with her hair tied back Kiri's eyes were on the pad in front of her. On it, it listed what she considered the irregularities from the last few days.

Firstly there was the ship dropping out of warp, with a little questioning of the computer she could find out that a host of safety systems had been rerouted. Then there were problems with the computer communication systems that affected the entire ship. Leaving messages and requests in the wrong location, rerouting command interfaces for all sorts of things from EPS relays to kitchen appliances. These alone would indicate that something was wrong with the computer, but they weren't alone. When she had tried to access the computer logs to see if they shed any light, they were restricted above her clearance. In fact, only department heads and above had access to level seven security, that struck her as odd. Was something being hidden? Then there was the unlikely but still possible chance of someone doing it on purpose, trying to sabotage the ship. It was a small but possible chance, giving her more drive to try and solve it. This was why she was on her way to see the man suddenly appeared right in front of her when the doors opened.

Will looked up and smiled at this woman he did not know. he remember seeing her on the bridge, however. "Good afternoon, Ensign," he said, waiting for her to come aboard.

Ramrod straight Kiri nodded in return, "Good afternoon Sir," This was the first time she had a face to face meeting with the Lieutenant Commander. It was a little hard to recognise his face, but he was the only officer of his rank and division on the ship. She was just about to speak further as the lift started moving again. Then with a juddering it stopped almost a second later, nearly throwing the occupants to the ground.

"Computer," Will asked, "why has the lift stopped?"

Kiri, being light, had lost her footing, bumping her hip against the side of the lift as she balanced herself. Pushing off from the wall, PADD still in her hand she turned to look at the other officer as the light flickered, then died. In the darkness the computer responded, "Turbolift is fully operation, please state destination." Chiming as it closed its reply. To the computer, the Turbolift was crossing systems with a series of hatches in one of the jefferies tube. Causing them to cycle very rapidly though opening and closing routines, while in turn it thought that the lift was a static door, opening and closed on proximity sensors. The vocal commands however, were unaffected.

In the darkness Kiri remained quiet, not really sure what to make of it. Maybe asking the computer for a diagnostic of the system would help. She wasn't the ranking officer here though, so she thought it best to see what he did first.

Will tapped his commbadge. "Remington to Bridge, the turbolifts are malfunctioning. Can you isolate the problem?"

=/\= "Sir? the computer reports that they are fully functional, I can run a complete system scan but it will take a moment. =/\=

It was now that Kiri decided to take action, mentally taking a step forward she spoke out into the darkness, "First run a check on the command interface on the turbolift, if they have been rerouted." That would match with what she thought was going on with other systems. She had wanted to explain this all to the commander before this but it had to do. It was more efficient if she helped

In the darkness, Will raised an eyebrow. She seemed to have some idea of what was going on. He waited in silence for a reply from his officer.

=/\= "There is a problem with the interface, I'm trying to bypass it now," There was a pause for a few seconds, "I have bypassed the system, it will have to be run manually. I can't seem to alter the rerouteing functions on the main computer." =/\=

The lights came back on and the lift started moving again a few seconds later opening the door on deck four. Turning to Commander Remington, Kiri bowed her head, speaking quietly, "Sorry sir, I wanted to talk to you about problems like these. If that is okay?" She wasn't sure if he even wanted her help, now his attention was already drawn to the issue.

"I think," Will replied, stepping off the lift quickly, as if he'd just escaped the very jaws of death, "that you had better tell me everything you know about this malfunction, ensign."

Following his lead, Kiri started to feel more anxious, that maybe she should have done this earlier. At the time though, she didn't think it was anything important, the young woman spoke very quickly, "Yesterday a request I made to engineering was sent by the computer to the shuttle bay, I investigated it. At the time it seemed minor but since then I have been able to confirm sixteen errors in minor systems throughout the ship. In these cases command interfaces and have been rerouted to different systems. Nothing important seemed to be affected, but it could have caused our warp problems, as well as causing the problems with the turbolift. The systems think they are something else, normally a similar and local system. When I tried to find out more, my security clearance wasn't high enough, I couldn't check to see if computer logs had been deleted." She thought that she would be able to view that, since it shouldn't matter very much. Kiri had level five clearance, that was normally enough for basic systems.

While not in the engineering department, Kiri did consider herself one of the foremost computer experts on the ship. This was something she felt she could fix, she wasn't on duty and was going to ask for permission to carry out full checks herself. Taking a deep breath to carry on she added that, "I wanted to ask you if I could carry out a thorough check of the computers systems, I would need higher clearance to do so though." That was everything, it was a lot to say to a man she hadn't really spoken to before.

"Let me take a look at those logs first," he said, "I should be able to access that." He'd been around long enough to recognize the potential for a larger problem then there seemed to be. "Follow me." He headed off down the corridor towards Transporter Room Two. "This could be the same problem that affected the EMH."

Giving a small, nervous smile Kiri nodded, "Yes sir." She follow two steps behind him, trying to think further about the situation. That again she might be working with a wider range of people than doing it alone. While her encounter with Assistant Chief Peers had made her more aware that she liked working with people. Even though it was harder, it was more fun.

Inside the transporter room, Will went up to the control panel along the wall and pulled up the ship's logs. He frowned when the computer requested security clearance but entered his into the system. A single entry flashed up on the screen, one action showed up. Date unknown, time unknown, user unknown, all information on deleted logs, purged.

Kiri could see this as well, she didn't need to say that it should be impossible. That the computer should track every use and every edit should something like this happen. To her it seemed very likely that someone was behind this rather than simple computer errors. There was a small chance that fragments that hadn't been cleaned out might remain in the computer core, it was unlikely though.

"I think I had better deal with this with the senior staff," Will said to himself, making a download onto his PADD. "Ensign, if you find out anything more regarding this, let me know."

Kiri wasn't sure it was that much of a problem yet but it wasn't her place to question senior officers. Instead she spoke up slightly, trying to gain clarity, "Does that mean you want me to actively investigate this, sir?" If that was the case she felt she would need higher security access as she had intended to ask for in the first place.

Will thought about it for a moment and then shook his head. "Well, not actively, per se, but if you have an opportunity to investigate it further, you may do so by all means. I may have Willis begin to investigate the log tampering, and if I do your help may be needed."

Kiri wasn't really sure that she followed, he didn't want her to investigate unless she was free? Well she was, her other duties were already more than in check. She also wasn't sure she trusted anyone else to do it. Removing the computer logs and bypassing major security protocols without alerting anyone required a skilled computer expert. So anyone else that knew how to deal with the situation was a suspect. Maybe she was being paranoid though, "I have time after my duty shifts sir. I could start right away if you would grant me level seven security clearance for the computer core." Kiri wanted to work on this, she would need an emphatic no to make her drop it. But she couldn't see a reason not to work on it.

"Under the circumstances, ensign, I don't think that is wise. Besides, it is probably nothing. However, if you find anything you need to investigate, I will instruct bridge ops to grant you access to those systems. A failsafe to ensure nothing goes wrong." And, though he didn't say it, a way to monitor her just in case she was somehow involved. Really, though, the commander did not seem as worried as he had been when he stepped off the turbolift.

Well that would work, still she wanted to be able to do it herself. The first thing she wanted to do though, would lead to her into investigating the programming around the log controls. To do that she would need the clearance, let alone trying to actually fix problems in the computer core. Looking ever so slightly unhappy with the situation she replied, "Yes sir, I will be requesting such once I have started, examine the log deletions further." Kiri waited for his reply looking a little smaller than she had done a minute ago.

"Very good. I'll inform Quinn that Willis may be needed. If you need help with the computer systems, get him. He's trustworthy."

Ready to get started as soon as possible Kiri nodded, offering the officer the PADD. If he was going to be talking to the senior staff, it had all the information she had put together so far. In a quieter voice now she had been given her orders she asked, "Would you like me to report to Operations or you personally?"

"Me, ensign, thank you."


[OFF]

Lt. Cmdr. Chauncey William Remington III
Chief Operations Officer
USS Galileo

Ensign Kiri Cho
Science Officer/Sensor Specialist
USS Galileo

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