Brain Teaser
Posted on 04 Mar 2016 @ 9:21pm by Lieutenant Benice Gyce Ph.D. & Chief Warrant Officer 3 Greg Mitchell & Chief Petty Officer Torgeir Naes & Petty Officer 1st Class Taliesin Cynwrig
Edited on on 14 Mar 2016 @ 3:09am
2,794 words; about a 14 minute read
Mission:
Episode 10 - Symposium
Location: USS Galileo - Holodeck 1
Timeline: MD22- 1045 Hours
[ON]
Since Gyce had opted to stay behind on the ship a few days (secretly to wait for Lirha to get come back from her HQ debrief), and she knew the crew would soon be going on shore leave, she decided this was the best time to pull her department in for a small exercise.
This one, brought much delight to herself, as she stood outside of the closed holodeck door. And though her leg was feeling great now, she did not want to overdo it by getting her guys into a hardcore paintball match. So this brain teaser she constructed would be a fun exercise for her sleuths.
Taliesin was one of those who wouldn't be gone from the ship for long, if at all, during the shore leave, and he was the first to come around the corner of the corridor to join his chief. "Alright, boss?" he greeted her, coming to stand nearby with arms folded over his chest. "What's this all about then?"
"Group puzzle solving," Gyce answered cryptically as she leaned casually against the door without any assistance to steady herself.
Due to being new to the vessel, Greg had no shore leave plans. We was going to be working for the near future on the ship. He had just been reading up on his expected duties for his first shift tonight when the call for the Holodeck came in. Greg left his things in his quarters and made his to the Holodeck door, where he found the Lieutenant and Petty Officer Cynwrig (both of whom he had already met) waiting.
"Ma'am, Warrent Officer Mitchell reporting as ordered." He saw how she was leaning, "Is everything ok, ma'am?"
"Yup, just waiting for everyone to arrive. We are going to have a bit of a play date," she assured her new warrant. Then she addressed the group with, "I've a fair amount of investigators and staff wanting to become investigators, so I thought we might try a fun activity in analyzing fake crime scene, based on a case I worked in SCIS."
Terje arrived shortly after, having sorted out his berthing assignment with the Quartermaster. He took in the small gathering and breathed an inner sigh of relief that he wasn't horribly late. "Chief Petty Officer Naess," he offered, then waited to catch the gist of their assignment.
Greg had to admit, he sucked when it came to crime scene investigation. The closest he would ever get was securing said crime scene. But he had taken a forensics class in college and had seen enough shows about forensics he figured he had it down. "Well this will be...." He thought of the right word, "...interesting."
"I guess I'll start then," Gyce smiled brightly. "Crimes happen every day without notice and often times, terror groups will claim responsibility to spark fear in the hearts of the people they oppose. That being said, some crimes are not terror-related, even when the responsibility has been claimed, and the actual people that partook in the crime, dead."
Gyce looked around, curious to see if those in her group were paying attention or were interested.
"Just because you stand guard all day, does not mean you're a brainless brute or whatever it is the squints wish to believe," the Bajoran encouraged. "Investigators are ever much like scientists. And this exercise, you will have to make educated guesses based on a process not unlike a scientific method. For your assignment is to look into a replica of a dead bombers bedroom. Determine if he is indeed a terrorist, or a lone wolf with a personal grudge... Any questions so far?"
This was exactly what Taliesin had been hoping for ever since coming on board the Galileo, and Gyce certainly had his full attention. Though he had experience in running investigations, it had never been with any sort of formal education, and certainly not with access to the kinds of resources and technologies that Starfleet had to offer. There was a world of difference between pressuring smugglers for information and what they were about to try; this was a whole new ball game, one that the former security chief looked forward to.
"I have one, Lieutenant," Taliesin spoke up. "Ska-ra-det, I will probably have a hundred questions as we go along, but one to start with. Should I get a kit together, or will we have tools in the simulation?"
"They'll be a kit for each of you," Gyce explained, "Though this exercise is mostly about observation and deduction from observing."
Greg tried to think of a good question, but this area was outside his normal field. Of the many times you were asked if you wanted to be a detective, why didn't you say yes? He slowly raised his hand, thinking of the first relevant thing. "Has the crime scene already been secured? I could take care of that."
"It has. We are only looking at one room. The bedroom - which of all rooms, tells the most about a person of interest," Gyce explained. "You can choose to work alone, as a group, work alone with your own findings, or work alone and then discuss as a group for a group's decision."
Gyce opened the door and smiled, "In you go guys."
Greg stepped in and observed his surroundings, taking in what he saw. Well, this is pretty much what I expected from a bomber. He thought, looking at the layout.
The room was tiny - which presented something of a challenge. Terje held back a bit to ensure the lead officers had room, then ducked his head to ease in as well. It looked ... oddly like his twin's would look - had she sought a career in space and not remained on Earth. He was familiar with the propaganda, as it was the focal point of much sibling banter over the comm-lines. The one main difference he could make out, though, was the personality. Had this been Tori's room, it would be precise and neatly appointed - posters aligned and all loose material secured and in place. A much more effective plotter than this slob, he ruefully admitted.
The walls of the room were littered in Green Space posters, preaching about a better tomorrow with cleaner warp/impulse engine emissions and designs. Beyond that, the texture was a slick grey metal. And with a single window that lit the room with stars passing by? It had to be a room assigned to a ship or station.
The bed was messy and paralleled under the window. A cramped room, for the desk and chair were on the wall to the left of the door, and directly across the bed.
Pamphlets for Green Space were all over the desk, as well as a screensaver on the person of interest's personal computer. And while the room was messy, there were no signs of explosives being made or used in this room.
A few holopictures were scattered on the dressers and and desk. Mostly a young human male and a Betazoid female in one picture or another hugging. Neither appeared to be Starfleet, given their lack of uniforms in the pictures, but their clothes were expensive possibly earth-friendly.
"So... Is this person we're studying male? Or female?" Gyce asked to get the ball rolling.
Taliesin had followed in after his superiors, wearing a curious expression on his face as he started to look around. He'd immediately sought out any signs of any bomb making equipment, and not seeing any of that was at a loss for a moment. He paused for a moment, half-closed his eyes, and brought to mind some of the detective novels he was so fascinated by. Try to put yourself into your suspect's shoes, is what they told him.
"Well Lieutenant," Taliesin said and moved over to the dresser. He opened a couple of drawers and unceremoniously rummaged through the clothing. The occupant of this room didn't care much for organization, that much was plain. "Judging by the cut of these shirts, I'd say male." Taliesin held out a pair of pants in front of him, a bit too long for himself, "Maybe four or five centimeters taller than me?"
Greg looked at a bottle of some form of alcohol on the counter. He didn't drink, but he read off the label that it was something strong. "He's also a drinker of some kind. I wouldn't be surprised. You'd need to calm your nerves to even work around bombs." He looked at the Lieutenant. "That's why I never joined bomb squad." He moved on to check other places around the room.
"Very good. Just because statistically, males strongly dominate the suspect pool with crimes like this, does not mean we should automatically assume we chase a male," Gyce explained. "Anything in this room not worthy of our notice?"
Feeling less sure of himself than he'd been with the clothes, Taliesin spoke again, "Well, sir...I'd say we should look at everything. Even if something here doesn't have anything to do with the bombing, it does have something to do with the suspect. The more we can understand him, maybe the closer we can get to understanding the crime he may have committed." Taliesin had moved to the bed and looked through the messy sheets, found nothing, and dumped them unceremoniously back down. By the time he'd finished his statement, one that had just a slight edge of a question to it, he'd gotten down on hands and knees to check underneath the bed itself.
"Correct. When the suspect is dead, it is up to us to piece together his life," Gyce explained as if she were teaching a class in the academy. "In order to give the victims a voice, we have to tell the most accurate story we can. So what in this room will help us tell the bulk of the story?"
Greg made around the walls, looking at the posters, and taking the surroundings in. He spent a lot of time dealing with insane individuals and someone who would bomb civilians definitely fit that bill. While Greg didn't spend to much time with politics, he didn't have that high of an opinion of Green Space to begin with. While the issues they fought for were admirable, the ways that most of them went about it could border on extremes sometimes.
It was then he noticed an advertisement on the bed. "Yep..." he mumbled, picking up the ad. "Looks like Daystrom Institute was rolling out a prototype of some sort of...." he looked at the specs, "I don't know what this is. But it has something to do with improving engine efficiency. I'm guessing he got wind of something possibly non environmentally friendly regarding it. I'm no scientist, but anything that puts out energy has to be dumped somewhere or else it would build up."
"That gives us a possible motive, so a great observation," Gyce agreed, but quickly shook her head as she pointed to the personal computer on the desk. "That is our most important piece of evidence though. Since the dawn of Terran social media, a digital footprint is hard to lose. What a person buys, sells, and who a person talks to. And often, manifestos are found as a last testament of dead martyrs and terrorists on their personal computers. The reliance of technology has become an investigator's favorite Gratitude Festival gift."
"Forgive me, Lieutenant," Taliesin said, as always diffident towards his superiors and obviously not hoping to cause offence. "But doesn't that seem almost too easy? I mean, if I were a terrorist planning on blowing something up, I would make sure I didn't leave anything out in the open like that." Nevertheless, he took Gyce's direction and activated the computer terminal after he'd gotten up from the floor. The screen came to life, revealing a schedule of sorts, with appointments filled in on various Stardates. He leaned down to start to read through the scrolling information.
"Does it seem easy? Yes," Gyce agreed. "But computers only tell us his activity. And sometimes they leave notes behind, because suicide bombers generally want their names to live in infamy. To them, what we send to press outlets, feeds their status beyond any grave. And bombers only ever seek to strike fear and devastation. So you can see why their computers are most likely to have all their plans and messages - To leave a lasting fearful impression on the general public."
"I guess it does take a certain kind of ego to become a criminal," Taliesin agreed. He paused the display of information and pulled up an odd looking block of data. "Hmm. It looks like some of the logs were erased." For the first time, Taliesin retrieved one of the forensic equipment cases and sorted through it to find the right kind of scanner. It took a moment to connect it to the computer terminal. "I'm no computer specialist, but this doesn't look too badly damaged. I think one of the standard retrieval algorithms could be of use."
Greg was also not as well versed in computers, but he inspected the terminal as well. He took out his tricorder and scanned the machine. "Hard-drive appears to be intact. You may be able to connect directly to get the data."
"This is not a graded exercise," Gyce told the group. "The purpose here is to give you useful information... On how best to observe and deduce. Detective or beat cop, we all must use those tools to keep us better vigilant about the world around us."
Flipping through the discarded advertisement, Terje's brow furrowed. "I don't think the engine itself is at issue," flipping to the point of interest. "I mean ... well, look here - the material they're using. That's a natural food source for animals on Rutia IV. What if they're not looking at what comes out, but what goes into making the engine in the first place?"
"What makes you say that Chief?" Gyce asked Terje with an inquisitive stare.
Terje groaned. "My sister's an environmentalist - I get to listen to this all the time."
Gyce laughed before she sighed. "So here is where you get to decide... Terrorist? Or lone wolf?"
Greg examined the pictures on the dresser again, as well as the poster. "Well....one doesn't exactly go about getting these materials AND planning something this big on there own. There are too many variables, too many things to go wrong. You need more people to help check things you may have missed. My guess is that there are other suspects as well. I'd say he's part of a terrorist group."
"Anyone have a different theory? Or is this a class agreement?" Gyce asked the those assembled.
Taliesin was quiet as he put his thoughts together, thinking about what they had found and, perhaps just as importantly, what they hadn't. This was supposed to be an investigation into a suspected bomber's quarters, and while it was entirely possible that the person could have constructed the device elsewhere it seemed just as likely that they should have found materials for such a project here too. "I'm going to guess there's enough here to say he's likely involved to some degree," Taliesin said carefully, "but not enough yet to build a case for being a part of the bombing itself."
"If think, for a first lesson in being a detective, all of you did an excellent job," Gyce surmised. "Our biggest key to solving cases of this caliber is collaboration. Your fellow security officers may spot something you haven't... That being said, I hope all of you enjoyed this exercise and we may do more of this sort if enough of you want it."
"Definitely, Lieutenant," Taliesin said quickly. Though the exercise hadn't lasted very long really, nowhere near as long as a real investigation would, it had whet his appetite for more. The more practise he could get, the better a security man he could be, he figured. "Thank you for this."
"It was definitely a change of pace for me, ma'am. I'm used to patrolling instead of investigating. It was really good training." Greg agreed.
They may yet turn into brilliant detectives, Gyce thought to herself with a massive grin.
Pleased, the Bajoran left her department to play with the program.
[OFF]
Lieutenant JG Benice Gyce
Chief of Security
USS Galileo
PO1 Taliesin Cynwrig
Master-At-Arms
USS Galileo
PNPC by Xanth
CWO2 Greg Mitchell
Security Officer
USS Galileo
CPO Torgier Naess
Security Officer
USS Galileo
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