The Pentaptych pt.1

Posted on Tue 30th Aug, 2022 @ 4:05am by Lieutenant JG Bikram Auden
Edited on on Thu 15th Sep, 2022 @ 2:30am

2,157 words; about a 11 minute read

Mission: The Hunted
Location: Earth
Timeline: Three months prior to Mission

-Start-

{Stardock Emergency Ward- Starbase 1}

The tour had seen many of the labs reduced to chaos in anticipation of the brass visit. Medical was a hive of efficiency, however; stress was second nature to the work. There was no need for demonstration, but when the Starbase Commander visited, it was nice to show off a little if career meant anything at all. Bikram fiddled with the consoles to ensure the presets were configured. He technically needed five panels to operate the five independent bots but only had one hand free to hold a padd. Retinal commands and subaural microphones allowed him to control the padd with great precision and administrate the pentad of bots in front of him. He could communicate with a gesture so long as the bots had the program with social heuristics running.

They stood in the ancillary ward of the Stardock emergency services wing. Inbound trauma cases needed to be stabilized sometimes, but the necessity of a surgical wing in the shuttlebay was not ideal for Engineering. Today, the triage center and revised Exo-Comps protocols would work together along with the Omnitool, a high functional multiple purpose wand with B’aku Solar Ray technology. Bikram had made it his pet project since joining Starfleet and believed it would replace many of the tools used for medical treatments.

After confirming the staging was in place he spoke to his teacher as he finalized the actuator circuits for the retractable berths in the wall holding a robot in each of them. “You know, of all the projects I’ve seen here, the EMH mounting inside the Servomotor casing is the Engineering marvel of the decade. I’ve already adapted it for my triage center. I think I can get another two whole Matrices pre-installed."

Slight variations occurred, but in general the bots were slightly larger than an adult Human's head, with a metallic chrome exterior and external apparatus. Bikram had finished the others, and their seamless antigrav units had effortlessly slid them into the docking berth for their offline periods. His final motions on Ambrosia would put them into a ready state for inspection. He waited for AlliKo-li a Romulan of considerable notoriety; she had chosen the Federation as a home when the Hobus event made her a refugee. Her mentorship had given Bikram much-needed training for life in the fleet, shipboard necessities and practical Engineering. As a Romulan with a past in the service of the Imperators, she was not allowed to serve in formal military settings. R&D was a second home and here she sat, a tiger assigned to kittens.

Her face was impassive and rigid as she looked to what Bikram fiddled with. It had been a marriage of true talent to genuine purpose, seeing this young man take on projects in her department. The triage center tentpoles had already ensured the boy would have a career, but his continued commitment to improving even the tiniest aspects of his design had been what caused this formidable person to take Bikram on. She had been told to get him ready for a role on the frontier, which would need the exact talents she was admiring.

“Bikram, I approve heartily of the mentality that compels you to fiddle endlessly to improve your designs, but there comes a time when we finalize the final mold. Changes past that become the next model. Is it ready, or do we need to make one last revision?”

“No, they are good as they are, I wouldn’t dream of tinkering with anything in the bots past simple mechanical, anyway; it’s truly art. My wand is on the charge pad, and… Tentpoles are clamped to the wall next to Aid station.”

Ko-Li agreed this was all clever, but she had seen Borg technology in person as well. The sheer mechanical brilliance of their nigh incomprehensible math was the art she craved. Still, brilliance was to be encouraged at whatever level it is found, Bikram would certainly improve on the designs; it was the boy's nature.

Outwardly she managed a small smile in reward for his preparations, “Okay then, set up the room, we are expecting them in the next hour.”

Bikram nodded, flipping through each console. The small room they were in was a service pit for the mechanics of the small office adjacent to their portion of the stardock. A larger central area just out the door had no roof, only a half-wall demarcating the boundaries that were the emergency ward for the shuttles potentially bringing injured. It contained a quartet of bio beds, able to accommodate four patients with full surgical precision. Designated zones on the floor demarcated the containment fields and sterile field boundaries, and besides Bikram and his teacher, nobody else was there. The open space of the stardock with traveling workbees and faraway misty blue haze obscuring ships at a distance caused the stomach to churn. In times of war, there could be dozens injured on the floor, whose final view would be exactly this.

The sound of boots and whispers preceded the tour. Allie cleared her throat to get Bikram to pay attention, he heard them too once he listened. They both moved to the Master console, the only real pedestal in the ward room, and what would soon be a broadcasted simulacrum of a triage ward. Bikram readied the simulation, keying it to his command.

“…We can skip the Stardock, nothing here we won’t cover on the Master system tour later. Overwatch Gamma, Emergency Ward, TL motor access, EPS corridor 4 access. On up the Turbolift to Deck 21 now….”

Of course Allie now realized, the Romulan nobody trusted fully was going to get skipped. She knew how to play at this game and responded very swiftly telling Bikram, “Send Eudora to TL 13 have it sing… “Karush-Konga” by Jazzerbee.

Bikram looked at her quizzically, and she used her hands to signal him to hurry, making a face as well. Bikram programmed it in swiftly, Eudora didn't have that song pre-programmed but found the music in moments, translating it to their needs. Meanwhile, the smooth exocomp emerged from its wall alcove. It was given a command to sing a nursery rhyme well known to the Acamarians, a task it could easily perform.

<{[EUDORA]-[BIKRAM]:Query:("Nursery Rhymes"; perform/St.Action=calm, pacify, de-escalate)(Children<8Y/Effect granted.)(Presence* [CHILDREN] not detected)}{[BIKRAM]=(Designated recipient)*(Confirm intent?)}>

Allie understood the bot without even waiting for the interpretation. "The visiting Commodore Linnell, is Acamarian."

<{[EUDORA](Acknowledgement of additional criteria added to Core Protocols:(CORE:ADULTS ARE CHILDREN IN PRESENCE OF CHILDHOOD ARTIFACTS-X "Nostalgia"):("Nostalgia" to "Nursery Rhyme.")}{Task:([Commodore Linnell]POS/assoc("Nostalgia")Intention)}>

The bot learned fast, it was a good sign and Allie hoped her gambit would work.

Eudora flew down the hall towards the Turbolift juncture, encountering several Organics waiting for the Turbolift. Eudora was "humming”, a function for soothing infants, now modified to induce emotional states from adults. Eudora knew hovering above the organics made them uneasy and so opted to hover at average chest height as everyone went into the Turbolift. The gentle Hum was low volume but had a pleasant vibration and timbre. The presence was noticed as they all clambered in. One of the leaders of the tour spoke up.

Commander Tomas was not happy about it. “What is this? I don’t recall SB1 having Drones that play music as a function, what the hell is this machine?”

Linnell, however, shushed the man, “It’s playing an Acamarian folk song. I think someone is trying to get my attention and did a very good job of it.”

Tomas was now definitely upset, “Computer identify drone device in TL 13.”

The computer chimed, =^= Device query response: Registered Crewmate- "Eudora” Assigned as Exo-Comp Pentaptych Medical development program.

Tomas added, “It's a medical drone of some kind, sir." he spoke to the computer again. "Where is its’ berth and controller?

=^=Device was last berthed from the Emergency Medical Ward in Stardock. Controlled out of Doctor Henry Yellowfeather R&D"

Tomas furrowed his brow, aware of the game but unsure how to play. Dr. Yellowfeather was a monolith of the Starbase, involved in countless projects. it was a dead end. Linnell further complicated matters talking to Eudora, “Hello. Are you AI, should I introduce myself, I am Jordan Linnell, this is my lieutenant attache Cecilia Reynolds, Station Commander Silvio Tomas... did you want to speak to us?”

Eudora seemed to turn and look without eyes at Linnell, a pleasant voice came from behind the music it hummed, “Greetings Commodore Linnell, I am Eudora. Is there anything you need from me?”

Jordan Linnell lost the air of superior rank. He seemed delighted and spoke back to Eudora, “Yes, show me who sent you, and where you came from. I want to see!”

Tomas glanced to his "attache", a dark-skinned Bajoran security grunt who shook his head in disbelief. It clicked in his brain just then, the Emergency ward was down here, and they were experimenting wih a holographic field hospital. It was Allie, he was sure of it right then. The gall of the Romulan to do this, after pulling such strings to get posted here at Earth she still made trouble. Allie would inevitably ask about the Romulan colony efforts, derailing this whole tour with politics. Eudora exited the Turbolift back on their exit floor, into the anteroom leading to the massive Stardock gantry.

The Stardock above them could house a dozen Galaxy class starships with room left over, to describe it as big was simply insufficient. With such expanse above, the crew kept their eyes on the horizon as they followed Eudora to the Emergency ward, where Bikram was standing waiting. Allie was nowhere to be seen, much to Tomas’ dismay. He at least liked to know where she was.

The four of them walked behind the bot as it entered the last door, and closest to the actual airlock entrance. This was the first stop inside the station where a doctor could really work on a wounded crewmate if time was so critical they couldn't wait for the full infirmary. Of course, the mobile suite tentpoles could be deployed almost anywhere furthering the necessity of their widespread dissemination. Shuttles would land and use fields to create an umbilicus of air and gravity to offload people quickly and return if this were war or evacuations. Out in the stardock it was one step away from total vacuum.

Inside the small medical ward the simple spartan room had little inside of it. Four beds a tool room, and a master wall display showing the vitals of simulated patients. Linnell spotted the rank on the young man's neck, surprised to see the cloth stripe on the shoulder denoting a provisional ensign. If he could get a posting it would be official, but until then it was out of place. He asked in a gentle commanding tone, “Cadet? On SB1 we only have officers in posts… Did you send this bot?"

Bikram opened his mouth to say no, but realized despite the fact he was ordered to, it was his command that sent the bot so he instead said, "Sir, nnn...I did send it, sir."

Tomas was furious at the embarrassing scene, "Where is your instructor, or are you here by yourself?”

Bikram looked embarrassed, but followed orders nonetheless, “Cadet Bikram Auden, Sir. Allie Ko-Li is my teacher, I am provisionally assigned to SB1 pending acceptance on my first ship, sir.”

Commodore Linnell blanched at Allie’s name; the Romulan had made her way to Earth by chopping heads and stepping on shoulders. She had left him alone to give him a chance at face time without her presence dragging him down. She was astute and played the game well, one more reason to keep a close eye.

“Well cadet, Allie is a fine teacher. Did she want us to see anything? Is she still here?”

“I am.” Allie entered from the opposite side, the four sides of the square each with an entrance. A tense moment was broken when Bikram pushed ahead, again as Allie had told him to do. Her playbook was on point so far, and Bikram didn’t argue.

He put on a smile and began the speech he had practiced in the mirror. “Yes, the R&D department let me set up the projects we are working on for a demonstration if you care to see. It won't take more than a moment but could be something you see fit to install fleetwide or on forward bases and scouts. Automated medical care where one doctor can oversee dozens successfully. Is that something you are interested in sirs? If so, I have demonstrations ready.”

Silvio Tomas was at his patience's end, "We will be on our way. Allie, this is not acceptable and you know why."

TBC

 

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