Inky Bloaters, Part 2

Posted on Fri 13th Jul, 2018 @ 12:36am by

1,050 words; about a 5 minute read

Mission: Oblivion
Location: Casino Hotel Pool, deck 1553
Timeline: MD10

Previously, on SB-109:

"This individual is not Human," Chlamydia answered, initiating a deeper genetic scan. "Which, in and of itself, is not particularly surprising. What is surprising is that their entire genome is written in synthetic base pairs." She paused, looked at Perry. "How much do you know about genetics?"

Isabella walked to where Addams was standing and began looking at her scanner. "I know enough that you are going to have to explain this to me," she said with a pained smile on her face. "Just break it down as best you can for me," Isabella said.

And now... the conclusion!

"Deoxyribonucleic Acid, or DNA, is the encoding medium for all Forerunner-descended peoples of the Milky Way galaxy," Doctor Addams explained. "There are eight known naturally occurring nucleotides, or letters. The four used by Humans, for instance, are G, A, C, and T. Vulcanoids substitute U for T and X for A, and so on for other species. However, there are also known synthetic nucleotides. J and L were patented by Doctor Holly Ng of the Institute of Advanced Scientific Studies, who is now a Class One war criminal following the Battle of Clarvis, during which she used biological weapons based upon her synthetic codons indiscriminately against Federation and Jem'Hadar troops."

"So that means this fellow ... what? He was created by this doctor? Or at least her research was used?" Perry asked.

"Indeed," the Doctor responded. "But you cannot create an entire genome with two base pairs. You need a minimum of four. Which was why, ten years ago, also at the Institute for Advanced Scientific Studies, the pairs Я and P were created. They were patented by Doctor Addams. Perverto Addams, Ph.D."

"Any relation to that Addams?" Isabella asked immediately. "Not that I'd think you would be doing what sounds like highly questionable research." At least ... no, it didn't fit with what she knew of this Doctor Addams.

"Not relevant," Addams answered. "What is important here is that Doctor Ng developed her base pairs twenty years ago. Doctor Addams filed his patent ten years ago. Which means that an individual whose genome is entirely constructed of those synthetic base pairs could have been no more than ten years old -- twelve, if Doctor Addams built the genome before filing the patent."

"Okaaaay," Perry drew out the word, "but this isn't a twelve year old body, so ... I'm missing the conclusion. Addams was doing something illegal before he filed? This is a highly illegal product, not just a body? What's the obvious thing I am not observing?"

"It means that this person was in every way a fraud," Addams said. "Reviewing transporter logs, I find that this person was, or was impersonating, Jonny King, the former owner of this casino. There are several interesting aspects about this impersonation. First, that the transporter had been reprogrammed to report this person as a Betazoid. Secondly, that they were able to function as a member of that race without arousing suspicion. Third, that despite my explicit filter in the transporter mechanism, this individual was not reported to me as having synthetic chromosomes when they arrived. And finally, of course, how they came to be floating in a pool which had been disconnected from the station's water reclamation loop."

Isabella thought about each point. "All your points bear investigation, but I'm particularly interested in the fact that you have a filter in the transporter, and this person slipped past it. I'm convinced it would be harder to do that than to mess with the transporter itself. You are quite meticulous," she smiled to show that was not a negative quality in her book. "Now my question is, was your filter actually unable to detect the synthetic chromosomes? Or was the fault in the reporting system?"

She thought about the doctor's conclusions again. Michaels was more than capable of pursuing the murder angle, and was already hot on that trail. "You're telling me that at this moment, we don't know whether this body represents the actual person of Jonny King, a true Betazoid of the galaxy ... but no, that couldn't be, because we now know he had synthetic genes. He could never have been the real Betazoid personality ... unless this person was created here on 109, and took the place of the real one. You know what? This is making my head spin!"

Addams chuckled. "Welcome to my world." She took a deep breath, then let it out in a sigh. "I am reasonably sure that the facilities for making a synthetic individual do not exist here, except within Starfleet laboratories. Was there ever a Jonny King other than this body? I don't know. I presume that the only one who was here on the station is the one before us."

Addams stood, stretching. "I believe I have accomplished all I can with the body in situ. I'll let you know if the autopsy turns up anything new and exciting."

Perry nodded, "I have enough to work with, I think. I'll let Michaels cover the murder itself ... is it still murder if he was synthetic? I think so. The intent of the perp was to end the existence of another human being, so I'll go with murder on that. I still want to see your report, however.

"Meanwhile, I'm going to investigate the other avenues you've opened up, check on those who have the skills to reprogram a Starfleet transporter, for example. Coulda done it quickly and moved on long ago, I suppose, but I'm going with the idea that the person is still here. Else why kill this one?"

"Mmmm," Addams temporized, touching her PADD to give her remote drones the command to return to their case. "In terms of effort, time required, materials required, this individual was quite an investment. I would be at least somewhat surprised if they were discarded by their own backers. It is speculation, of course, but I do wonder if he ran afoul of some other malicious actor."

"I'll spin the wheel, head a direction. I'll let you know if I learn anything that would answer that question," Isabella promised. "I hope you'll do the same."

 

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