Season 16: Episode 2: A Night at the Opera

[Malik Grippen]

(Malik, Hansen and Broadshire)
[Market Place]

Sean Connery lowered his threatening hand and took the crafted item as payment for being disrespected by the stall worker.  The balding vacationer, then turned back to Dem smiling apologetically.  "Sorry about that but history has shown you can't give these types even an inch."  The guides on either side of Sean, nodded their agreement before crowding close to him again, fawning over him.

When Malik asked where he was from, Sean chortled.  "Ha.. yeah I suppose you can't tell my real form with these holographic disguises. I'm Lyssarian." he answered expecting that to explain it all.

His attention then followed as Malik asked the most odd question to Candy.  "She's a hologram program, of course."  The man shook his head in bewilderment and laughed.  "As if they would be sentient."

Candy during this smiled up at Malik and placed her hand upon his chest lightly.  "What answer would please you more?"

Meanwhile the store worker returned to his task, calling out to other prospective customers to check out his wares.

[Erewhon, Market Place]

"Of course. Well, pleasure to meet you and enjoy the rest of your stay, Mr Connery."

Malik then turned his attention back to their holographic slave, Candy. "So Candy, do you agree with that man's assessment. Do you consider yourself just a holographic servant programmed only to please us?"

The Risan perused the market place seeing what curiosities he might find. He wondered if there was anything from Risa for sale.

[Lorut Vila]

{Ops|Main Bridge}

Divert auxiliary power to the deflectors and flood the inside of the shields with ionized metals. That should help block radiation from the star. I need sensors to tell me what is being emitted from the sun and why its degrading our shields so quickly... WARNING.  Elevated levels of warp radiation detected.  Radiation levels will become hazardous in Engineering in 2 minutes.  Levels in the rest of the ship will become hazardous in 35 minutes.
Bridge to Engineering, you have one minute to shut down the core and get out of that section. Transfer controls to the Alpha Engineering section and evacuate as soon as possible.

Vila immediately shut off power to the deflectors and flooded the shields. She winced; explaining it to the Ferengi wasn't going to go well. They already didn't like each other-she wasn't sure why he didn't like HER but she didn't like him simply because he was Ferengi.

The away team is okay, so let's handle ourselves. Helm, let's work under the assumption that it's an unknown radiation from the star.  Bring us to a stationary orbit on the far side of the planet.  Miss Lorut, begin assessing our power transfer and EPS conduit systems.  Mr. McNair, prepare and launch a level 4 solar probe.  Make sure Engineering doesn't try any last-minute heroics and inform Sickbay to prepare for radiation injuries and inoculations.

Vila's deft fingers and sharp mind were flying over the keys and the commands as she worked.

"Sir, I've rerouted unnecessary power away from the affected hulls and ship parts," she paused a moment, issuing the computer another command, "And turned those areas to only necessary life support. More signs are flickering down in Science; rerouting power. EPS seems...odd. What is going ON?" The final uttering was more or less rhetorical. No one would know yet.

[James Ramort]

[Erewhon - Outside Library]

The ensuing confrontation took Ramort quite by surprise. Libraries were usually places of quit learning. Oasis of rest to take in new information, curated by generations of forbearers.

If this was to be proven true in this particular library was to be tested.

This particular situation seemed to prove otherwise. It offered some insights into the unknown culture, though. All of this installed scene was subject to a defined legal framework. A framework they hadn't been granted access to so far. Something that could prove the most dangerous if they were to continue their journey through this culture.

Usually, First Contact protocols called for either the careful legal study of a culture from afar to avoid all faux-pas or legal texts would be exchanged between the initial contact parties with other warp capable civilisations. No such information had been provided to them so far and there was no opportunity for them to study it from afar in any possible way.

Seeking to rectify the situation, Ramort turned to their holographic guide:

"Would it be possible for us to receive a copy of these Terms of Service for future reference so we might avoid any future missteps?"

[Rayek trLhoell]

NPC PO2 Elena Forscher
[USS Discovery-B - Deck One - Bridge]

[USS Discovery | Bridge - Ops station]

Buck had been growing worried about the lack of communications from the away team, was it usual for them not to have checked in-?

It seemed his questions and concerns had been answered as the captain confirmed the team were okay and that their current working theory for the radiation came from the star. "Aye, captain." His hands danced over the panel, bringing up the schematic of the Disco's solar probe, checking it for any cracks, faults that had been raised or anything that would hinder their deployment of the probe launch.

Ops to Engineering, sit rep once you all are safe and well 

He waited a beat, held his breathe and cracked on with the probe. "Class 4 probe is all ready and without issue, launching in five...four...three...two...one. Probe launched." Buck tracked it's launch path on his monitor. They would be getting a clearer picture soon enough once the probe found its natural resting location. "Deflector shields holding, readings should be coming through to you, patching it now, Captain."

{Ops|Main Bridge}

Vila immediately shut off power to the deflectors and flooded the shields. She winced; explaining it to the Ferengi wasn't going to go well. They already didn't like each other-she wasn't sure why he didn't like HER but she didn't like him simply because he was Ferengi.

Vila's deft fingers and sharp mind were flying over the keys and the commands as she worked.

"Sir, I've rerouted unnecessary power away from the affected hulls and ship parts," she paused a moment, issuing the computer another command, "And turned those areas to only necessary life support. More signs are flickering down in Science; rerouting power. EPS seems...odd. What is going ON?" The final uttering was more or less rhetorical. No one would know yet.

Elena seated in the 2nd Ops seat, was backing up both Buck and Lorut.  When Lorut mistakenly shut off power to the deflectors, instead of diverting auxiliary power to it as asked, it was Elena that quickly corrected the error and did the diversion.  "Auxiliary power diverted to the deflectors, sir - as ordered."
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~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

NPC Cadet M'Lenda-ii
[USS Discovery -  Deck 10 - Main Engineering]

"No we don't! M'nia to bridge, acknowledged! Everyone out and report to alpha section engineering." she initiated shut down of the core. "That means you too cadet. Hopefully we get out of this with our tails intact!" She would eject the core if need be but hopefully it would not be! However she needed to make sure everyone got out ok.

M'Lenda-ii was surprised to learn that the Prometheus designed vessel didn't have the option of multi-phasic shielding.  The academic in her wanted to argue that it was likely possible to adapt their current shielding to a multi-phasic... but there just wasn't the time.  She was ordered to abandon Main Engineering and seeing the others in the room leaving, she had little choice but to acknowledge the order.  "Yes, ma'am"

She paused at the exit; a last glance behind showed M'Nia at the 'pool table' working alone to shut down the core.  She paused wondering if leaving really was the best way to deal with the situation.  She wanted to help... but had been ordered to evacuate - staying would only delay Lieutenant M'Nia's own evacuation, putting the other Caitian at risk.  With tail twitching unhappily, M'Lenda-ii left the room and hurried to meet up with the others in the Alpha section Engineering.
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~~~~~~~~~~~
(Malik, Hansen and Broadshire)
[Market Place]

[Erewhon, Market Place]

"Of course. Well, pleasure to meet you and enjoy the rest of your stay, Mr Connery."

Malik then turned his attention back to their holographic slave, Candy. "So Candy, do you agree with that man's assessment. Do you consider yourself just a holographic servant programmed only to please us?"

The Risan perused the market place seeing what curiosities he might find. He wondered if there was anything from Risa for sale.

The vacationing Mr. Connery nodded and smiled a bit too widely as he moved on through the market stalls with his two guides.

Candy also smiled and nodded.  "Yes, of course. I'm here to help make your fantasies a reality."

The market stalls were all very theme oriented.  Some displayed a variety of Earth fruits and vegetables.  Others displayed clothing styled from Earth's 21st century.  Nothing at all seemed to be from any other species.
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~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
(Ramort, Lek, Tanner & Rayek)
[Erewhon - Library]

[Erewhon - Library]

Lek smiled at the threat and replied.

"I'm going to go out on a limb and guess you've never heard of the 17th Rule of Acquisition. 'A contract, is a contract, is a contract.' However, for a contract to be valid, it requires both parties agree to said contract. This requires  a signature, a thumbscan, or a retinal scan. As none of us provided such confirmation, you don't have a contract. In addition, you beamed us here without asking if we wished to participate in your simulation. Thus, you assumed all risk not us. Therefore you may stick your 'section 9; sub-section 14' so far up your anal orifice that you choke on it."

Lek had no idea who these people are, but clearly they'd never done business with Ferengi before.

Rayek had lowered his blocking arm when T'Sana intervened claiming it was them, Lek in particular, who was in the wrong.  The Romulan's V-ridge furrowed in frown; yet when he looked to the Ferengi, who was presently disguised as a human, Lek was smiling.  Which was surprising, since Rayek hadn't seen his friend smile once since Frontier Day. Mind you, the smile now didn't come across as pleasant but rather like a shark's.

The quoting of the 17th Rule of Acquisition, suggested to Rayek that he would be best to let Lek lead this part of the conversation, which he did... until Lek at the end had to sum up his statement with a rather crude remark.  Rayek felt like facepalming, but resisted.

"Lek, the vulgarity wasn't necessary." he commented as an aside to the Ferengi, before he met gaze with their holographic guide.

"Rudeness aside, our Chief Engineer makes a valid point." Rayek stated.

The hologram however shook her head.  "Not according to Lyssarian law.  Since the Terms of Service have been made available to all Erewhon users  -  it is written clearly on the transporter room wall for all to read - the responsibility is on the user to abide or not use the service."

Rayek expression took on a look of surprise.  On the transporter room wall?  He didn't recall seeing anything on it as they made their way to the transport pad.  Was she lying?  Possibly - but to what purpose? "I saw no writing anywhere on the station." he stated.

[Erewhon - Outside Library]

Seeking to rectify the situation, Ramort turned to their holographic guide:

"Would it be possible for us to receive a copy of these Terms of Service for future reference so we might avoid any future missteps?"

No soon had he asked than Ramort's original greeter appeared exiting from the Library with a coil-bound sheaf of papers, which she held out towards him.  "Here is the Terms of Service, as you requested."

[Lorut Vila]

{USS Discovery|Ops}

Vila was waiting for the Captain while they worked. "McNair, how are life support systems doing?" She asked. Of course, she knew the answer, but she was TRYING to include other people instead of just doing it herself.

Auxiliary power diverted to the deflectors, sir - as ordered.

Vila shot the woman a cold look. She had turned them off on PURPOSE, instead of diverting them-diverting them would suck up too much power in this old ship. Though the retrofitting had helped, it was still an older model, and sometimes-the machines just quit when they were overworked. Still. She didn't undo it. Let them learn. It was sometimes necessary to override certain things-something so minor was certainly one. Besides, even a small amount of power was a fire danger. But let HER explain it to medical and engineering.

She just nodded. "I hope a fire doesn't start," she remarked, but kept her tone even. It was true enough. 

[Lilly Hansen]

NPC PO2 Elena Forscher
[USS Discovery-B - Deck One - Bridge]

Elena seated in the 2nd Ops seat, was backing up both Buck and Lorut.  When Lorut mistakenly shut off power to the deflectors, instead of diverting auxiliary power to it as asked, it was Elena that quickly corrected the error and did the diversion.  "Auxiliary power diverted to the deflectors, sir - as ordered."
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~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

NPC Cadet M'Lenda-ii
[USS Discovery -  Deck 10 - Main Engineering]

M'Lenda-ii was surprised to learn that the Prometheus designed vessel didn't have the option of multi-phasic shielding.  The academic in her wanted to argue that it was likely possible to adapt their current shielding to a multi-phasic... but there just wasn't the time.  She was ordered to abandon Main Engineering and seeing the others in the room leaving, she had little choice but to acknowledge the order.  "Yes, ma'am"

She paused at the exit; a last glance behind showed M'Nia at the 'pool table' working alone to shut down the core.  She paused wondering if leaving really was the best way to deal with the situation.  She wanted to help... but had been ordered to evacuate - staying would only delay Lieutenant M'Nia's own evacuation, putting the other Caitian at risk.  With tail twitching unhappily, M'Lenda-ii left the room and hurried to meet up with the others in the Alpha section Engineering.
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~~~~~~~~~~~
(Malik, Hansen and Broadshire)
[Market Place]

The vacationing Mr. Connery nodded and smiled a bit too widely as he moved on through the market stalls with his two guides.

Candy also smiled and nodded.  "Yes, of course. I'm here to help make your fantasies a reality."

The market stalls were all very theme oriented.  Some displayed a variety of Earth fruits and vegetables.  Others displayed clothing styled from Earth's 21st century.  Nothing at all seemed to be from any other species.
.
.
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~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
(Ramort, Lek, Tanner & Rayek)
[Erewhon - Library]
Rayek had lowered his blocking arm when T'Sana intervened claiming it was them, Lek in particular, who was in the wrong.  The Romulan's V-ridge furrowed in frown; yet when he looked to the Ferengi, who was presently disguised as a human, Lek was smiling.  Which was surprising, since Rayek hadn't seen his friend smile once since Frontier Day. Mind you, the smile now didn't come across as pleasant but rather like a shark's.

The quoting of the 17th Rule of Acquisition, suggested to Rayek that he would be best to let Lek lead this part of the conversation, which he did... until Lek at the end had to sum up his statement with a rather crude remark.  Rayek felt like facepalming, but resisted.

"Lek, the vulgarity wasn't necessary." he commented as an aside to the Ferengi, before he met gaze with their holographic guide.

"Rudeness aside, our Chief Engineer makes a valid point." Rayek stated.

The hologram however shook her head.  "Not according to Lyssarian law.  Since the Terms of Service have been made available to all Erewhon users  -  it is written clearly on the transporter room wall for all to read - the responsibility is on the user to abide or not use the service."

Rayek expression took on a look of surprise.  On the transporter room wall?  He didn't recall seeing anything on it as they made their way to the transport pad.  Was she lying?  Possibly - but to what purpose? "I saw no writing anywhere on the station." he stated.

No soon had he asked than Ramort's original greeter appeared exiting from the Library with a coil-bound sheaf of papers, which she held out towards him.  "Here is the Terms of Service, as you requested."

[Ensign Lilly Hansen | Security/Tactical Medic/Officer | Erewhon, Market Place]

Candy also smiled and nodded.  "Yes, of course. I'm here to help make your fantasies a reality."

Lilly tensed up. This could get out of hand, One wrong fantasy, and it could go wrong, What if someone led the Discovery here to trap them, and attack them through these holograms. Lilly moved closer to Dem to talk.

"Dem, Can we talk in private..." She looked at Candy and Connery. "Away from them" Lilly was not liking this away mission, Be damn if Commander trLhoell said this was purely a First Contact, there's something missing, and its not a good one either, This puzzle might blow into pieces before She could figure it out.

[Lek]

(Ramort, Lek, Tanner & Rayek)
[Erewhon - Library]
Rayek had lowered his blocking arm when T'Sana intervened claiming it was them, Lek in particular, who was in the wrong.  The Romulan's V-ridge furrowed in frown; yet when he looked to the Ferengi, who was presently disguised as a human, Lek was smiling.  Which was surprising, since Rayek hadn't seen his friend smile once since Frontier Day. Mind you, the smile now didn't come across as pleasant but rather like a shark's.

The quoting of the 17th Rule of Acquisition, suggested to Rayek that he would be best to let Lek lead this part of the conversation, which he did... until Lek at the end had to sum up his statement with a rather crude remark.  Rayek felt like facepalming, but resisted.

"Lek, the vulgarity wasn't necessary." he commented as an aside to the Ferengi, before he met gaze with their holographic guide.

"Rudeness aside, our Chief Engineer makes a valid point." Rayek stated.

The hologram however shook her head.  "Not according to Lyssarian law.  Since the Terms of Service have been made available to all Erewhon users  -  it is written clearly on the transporter room wall for all to read - the responsibility is on the user to abide or not use the service."

Rayek expression took on a look of surprise.  On the transporter room wall?  He didn't recall seeing anything on it as they made their way to the transport pad.  Was she lying?  Possibly - but to what purpose? "I saw no writing anywhere on the station." he stated.

No soon had he asked than Ramort's original greeter appeared exiting from the Library with a coil-bound sheaf of papers, which she held out towards him.  "Here is the Terms of Service, as you requested."

[Erewhon - Library]

At this point Lek burst into laughter. He'd seen poor negotiations before, but this hologram was the worst.

"Nothing was on the wall and if there was, we had no time to read it, let alone agree to it, thus voiding any pretense of a contract and your own law. Since the concept of how a contract works seems to elude you, I believe we should return to our ship and cease to partake of your 'amenities'. And in fact, we will issue a warning to all Federation ships to avoid this planet. I do not know what medium you use to exchange wealth, but you just lost access to the largest market in the Alpha Quadrant, so at a guess, I'm going to say you have missed out on billions."

[Malik Grippen]

~~~~~~~~~~~
(Malik, Hansen and Broadshire)
[Market Place]

The vacationing Mr. Connery nodded and smiled a bit too widely as he moved on through the market stalls with his two guides.

Candy also smiled and nodded.  "Yes, of course. I'm here to help make your fantasies a reality."

The market stalls were all very theme oriented.  Some displayed a variety of Earth fruits and vegetables.  Others displayed clothing styled from Earth's 21st century.  Nothing at all seemed to be from any other species.

[Market Place]

Malik nodded politely to Candy, she was getting a bit repetitive. He wasn't about to get involved in the contract kerfuffle, Rayek could deal with that mess. Instead he asked Candy, "Can I meet some of the regular citizens of Erewhon? Not tourists, or holograms."

He was keen to hear from them what they thought about all this.

[James Ramort]

[...]

The hologram however shook her head.  "Not according to Lyssarian law.  Since the Terms of Service have been made available to all Erewhon users  -  it is written clearly on the transporter room wall for all to read - the responsibility is on the user to abide or not use the service."

Rayek expression took on a look of surprise.  On the transporter room wall?  He didn't recall seeing anything on it as they made their way to the transport pad.  Was she lying?  Possibly - but to what purpose? "I saw no writing anywhere on the station." he stated.

No soon had he asked than Ramort's original greeter appeared exiting from the Library with a coil-bound sheaf of papers, which she held out towards him.  "Here is the Terms of Service, as you requested."

[Erewhon | In front of the Library]

The holographic character proceeded to pull out a stack of pristine papers, carefully bound by a spiralling metal spine. Taking it from her hands he quickly flipped it open.
The pages were crafted from a heavy paper, giving it a premium feel. There also were quite a lot of them.

All of them completely empty.

Not a single one holding even a single word.

This might prove a problem.

Ramort took out his Tricorder and started a Scan. This quickly revealed the apparent Document to indeed have been composed of cellulose fibres, the spine being made from a iron based alloy. All in all quite in line with what would be expected from the time period.
Except for the missing contents.

"Excuse me, I think you handed me the wrong stack of papers, these are completely empty."

[Erewhon - Library]

At this point Lek burst into laughter. He'd seen poor negotiations before, but this hologram was the worst.

"Nothing was on the wall and if there was, we had no time to read it, let alone agree to it, thus voiding any pretense of a contract and your own law. Since the concept of how a contract works seems to elude you, I believe we should return to our ship and cease to partake of your 'amenities'. And in fact, we will issue a warning to all Federation ships to avoid this planet. I do not know what medium you use to exchange wealth, but you just lost access to the largest market in the Alpha Quadrant, so at a guess, I'm going to say you have missed out on billions."

Listening to Commanders words, Ramort tried to remember the walls of the Transporter room. He also couldn't seem to remember any writing there. This opened several possibilities. Chief among them a difference in the ability to perceive some form of information.

"Excuse me please, I think there is a error in this simulation. All information in this time periode of earth were expressed through printed glyphes using carbon based pigments that are capable of absorbing the visible spectrum of the electromagnetic spectrum. These sheets of paper seem to be lacking these glyphic representations. Our visual receptors have adapted to these forms of representation. For a failure in this representation has to be acknowledged in the papers you just gave me, is it possible that the same error persist throughout the rest of this station?"

[Tekin Nevir]

"No we don't! M'nia to bridge, acknowledged! Everyone out and report to alpha section engineering." she initiated shut down of the core. "That means you too cadet. Hopefully we get out of this with our tails intact!" She would eject the core if need be but hopefully it would not be! However she needed to make sure everyone got out ok.

[USS Discovery | Bridge - Ops station]

Buck had been growing worried about the lack of communications from the away team, was it usual for them not to have checked in-?

It seemed his questions and concerns had been answered as the captain confirmed the team were okay and that their current working theory for the radiation came from the star. "Aye, captain." His hands danced over the panel, bringing up the schematic of the Disco's solar probe, checking it for any cracks, faults that had been raised or anything that would hinder their deployment of the probe launch.

Ops to Engineering, sit rep once you all are safe and well 

He waited a beat, held his breathe and cracked on with the probe. "Class 4 probe is all ready and without issue, launching in five...four...three...two...one. Probe launched." Buck tracked it's launch path on his monitor. They would be getting a clearer picture soon enough once the probe found its natural resting location. "Deflector shields holding, readings should be coming through to you, patching it now, Captain."

{USS Discovery|Ops}

Vila was waiting for the Captain while they worked. "McNair, how are life support systems doing?" She asked. Of course, she knew the answer, but she was TRYING to include other people instead of just doing it herself.

Vila shot the woman a cold look. She had turned them off on PURPOSE, instead of diverting them-diverting them would suck up too much power in this old ship. Though the retrofitting had helped, it was still an older model, and sometimes-the machines just quit when they were overworked. Still. She didn't undo it. Let them learn. It was sometimes necessary to override certain things-something so minor was certainly one. Besides, even a small amount of power was a fire danger. But let HER explain it to medical and engineering.

She just nodded. "I hope a fire doesn't start," she remarked, but kept her tone even. It was true enough.

[USS Discovery - Deck 1 - Main Bridge]

"Helm, switch to impulse engines and take us in at Full Impulse" the Captain ordered, as he watched the radiation levels reach critical in Main Engineering.

With the work of the few remaining personnel with warp core control, the shutdown sequence was initiated. Another announcement in Engineering stated that radiation levels were now at hazardous levels and gave a command to evacuate the section.

On the Bridge, the consoles flickered and the main lights went out, leaving only the glow of the red alert.  It took a few minutes before systems came back online as emergency power from the fusion reactors took over the power relay systems.  It did cost a few power relays as the emergency power was not able to compensate for the ships's defensive systems. But luckily, the sun's light was blocked as the ship passed into the umbra of the planet and took a position.

"Hold position here, and power down all non-essential issues. Get teams to assess damage and erect a containment shield on Decks 10 and 11, sections 15 to 20.  Are our shields still degrading?" he asked, hoping against hope.

The bad news was they still were.  The good news was that they had exponentially more time to determine what was happening. At the very least, Nevir could breathe a sigh of relief. The science officer Captain stood up, and turned towards his ready room.

"Miss Lorut, you have the Bridge, I'm going to do my own assessment of the probe data.  Mr. McNair, get science teams to analyze the solar winds and any system anomalies.  And keep that probe transmitting as long as possible; I'm not confident it will last with an unknown energy in the system." he stated, before entering his room and bringing up the science readings.

There was already one interesting thing to note, the ambient energy that was impacting their shields seemed to have decreased after they took cover.  It was still there, but very much diminished.  The second interesting thing was that the star seemed to have particles the computer could only classify as 'exotic particles'.  The general term for something unknown to the Federation or unobservable.  This was already an interesting star.

[M'Nia]

[USS Discovery - Deck 1 - Main Bridge]

"Helm, switch to impulse engines and take us in at Full Impulse" the Captain ordered, as he watched the radiation levels reach critical in Main Engineering.

With the work of the few remaining personnel with warp core control, the shutdown sequence was initiated. Another announcement in Engineering stated that radiation levels were now at hazardous levels and gave a command to evacuate the section.

"Once the shutdown was acknowledge she M'nia ran out of engineering like her tail was on fire. She took a quick look around on the way out to make sure everyone was out then sealed off engineering. "M'nia to bridge. Core shut down! Headed to alpha engineering.Main engineering quarantined for now!"

She headed to alpha engineering. Her thoughts returned to the lovely cadet M'lenda-ii! Smart girl! She knows her stuff! Definitely has a future in engineering. Once in alpha engineering she surveyed the assembled crew to make sure all were accounted for! "everyone check to make sure everybody is here."

[Lorut Vila]

[USS Discovery|Bridge]

Vila was now furiously turning off the power again. "I turned power off to all non-essential support systems TO AVOID THIS HAPPENING," she explained to McNair and Elena, her tone exasperated but her face still straight. This wasn't the time for a melt-down, though she was overdue for one.

She stopped, mouth agape as the Captain stood up.

Miss Lorut, you have the Bridge, I'm going to do my own assessment of the probe data.  Mr. McNair, get science teams to analyze the solar winds and any system anomalies.  And keep that probe transmitting as long as possible; I'm not confident it will last with an unknown energy in the system.

She was...WHAT?! She simply raised an eyebrow but nodded.

"Yes, sir." She glanced around to the rest of the Bridge.

"Steady as she goes," she called out. It sounded good...right?! What the hell? This wasn't what she'd signed on for!! Oh no. She turned.

"Forcher, please loop that probe," she said. "And kill the damned systems already."

[Rayek trLhoell]

ON THE SHIP

NPC PO2 Elena Forscher
[USS Discovery-B - Deck One - Bridge]

{USS Discovery|Ops}

Vila was waiting for the Captain while they worked. "McNair, how are life support systems doing?" She asked. Of course, she knew the answer, but she was TRYING to include other people instead of just doing it herself.

Vila shot the woman a cold look. She had turned them off on PURPOSE, instead of diverting them-diverting them would suck up too much power in this old ship. Though the retrofitting had helped, it was still an older model, and sometimes-the machines just quit when they were overworked. Still. She didn't undo it. Let them learn. It was sometimes necessary to override certain things-something so minor was certainly one. Besides, even a small amount of power was a fire danger. But let HER explain it to medical and engineering.

She just nodded. "I hope a fire doesn't start," she remarked, but kept her tone even. It was true enough.

Elena shrank back a bit when she saw the cold look the Bajoran gave her.  She was just following the Captain's orders.  At the remark,  Elena bit back her own retort.  She was certain the Captain knew better than even Vila what the ship was capable of withstanding, he'd been the Discovery's Captain for longer than Vila had been in the Starfleet, but Elena couldn't say that without overstepping, so the woman looked away from the glare and focused on her task.  When she thought the woman wasn't looking she peeked over towards McNair hoping to get some indication of support.

~ ~

Despite the additional power to the deflectors, which according to Buck were holding steady, and despite having the ship moved to into the shadow of the planet, it wasn't making enough of a difference, the radiation shields were still degrading, though at a slower rate.
.

[USS Discovery - Deck 1 - Main Bridge]

"Miss Lorut, you have the Bridge, I'm going to do my own assessment of the probe data.  Mr. McNair, get science teams to analyze the solar winds and any system anomalies.  And keep that probe transmitting as long as possible; I'm not confident it will last with an unknown energy in the system." he stated, before entering his room and bringing up the science readings.

Elena had never thought she would miss the Romulan or even the Risian  being available to stand in for the Captain, but apparently she was wrong.

[USS Discovery|Bridge]

Vila was now furiously turning off the power again. "I turned power off to all non-essential support systems TO AVOID THIS HAPPENING," she explained to McNair and Elena, her tone exasperated but her face still straight. This wasn't the time for a melt-down, though she was overdue for one.

She stopped, mouth agape as the Captain stood up.

She was...WHAT?! She simply raised an eyebrow but nodded.

"Yes, sir." She glanced around to the rest of the Bridge.

"Steady as she goes," she called out. It sounded good...right?! What the hell? This wasn't what she'd signed on for!! Oh no. She turned.

"Forscher, please loop that probe," she said. "And kill the damned systems already."

Elena had no choice now.  "Yes, ma'am."  She instructed the probe to loop around the star at a safe distance,  then continued on with Lorut's powering down of all non-essential support systems.  With the reroutes that the Captain had initially asked for now voided - the deflector shields were 5% weaker than before.

Elena began the process of flooding the inside of the shields with ionized gas, like the Captain had ordered prior, but which had taken a 'back seat' because of the disagreement between her and Lorut.  Hopefully that would make a difference.  "Ionized gas has been released into the space between the ship and the shield - as the Captain ordered." Elena stated.
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~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

NPC Cadet M'Lenda-ii
[USS Discovery -  Deck 5 - Auxiliary Engineering (Alpha Hull)]

Once the shutdown was acknowledged, M'nia ran out of engineering like her tail was on fire. She took a quick look around on the way out to make sure everyone was out then sealed off engineering. "M'nia to bridge. Core shut down! Headed to alpha engineering. Main engineering quarantined for now!"

She headed to alpha engineering. Her thoughts returned to the lovely cadet M'lenda-ii! Smart girl! She knows her stuff! Definitely has a future in engineering. Once in alpha engineering she surveyed the assembled crew to make sure all were accounted for! "everyone check to make sure everybody is here."

M'Lenda-ii was part of the assembled crew, given she had been ordered to remain with the Engineering team.
Since the Caitian didn't know the staff in this area well, she called up the roster, allowed with the personnel files with photos and began checking for herself who was or was not present.

After a minute, long after all the others had already confirmed that everyone was there and had already settled into their tasks of ensure the impulse engines were running smoothly,  M'lenda-ii check marked the last name.  Quietly she reported out,  "I've checked the roster to the log files and personnel files - all engineering personnel on shift are accounted for."

Only once that was complete did she check on the ship's latest status.  It didn't look good.

It was at this point that Doctor Sluchaynyy from Sickbay arrived in Alpha Engineering with a hypospray and a medical scanner.

"I have medikation to help vith rrradiation poisoning.  I vill administer while yourrr people vorrrk."

M'lenda-ii's tail flicked in apprehension as the doctor began his work starting with the person stationed beside her.  Her ears scan back as she hear the hiss of the medication being injected.  She hated hyposprays.

[M'Nia]

"Thanks Doc!" M'nia replied. "Nice work M'lenda-ii! thanks for checking. OK so while doc's giving the hypo to everyone, let's check the status of everything and see what we can do and can't do. That includes you M'lenda-ii." She instructed her team. "M'nia to bridge. All personnel are safe and doc is making with the hypo spray.Checking status now to see what's what. I'll keep you informed!"

[Rayek trLhoell]

EREWHON

(Malik, Hansen and Broadshire)
[Market Place]

[Ensign Lilly Hansen | Security/Tactical Medic/Officer | Erewhon, Market Place]

Lilly tensed up. This could get out of hand, One wrong fantasy, and it could go wrong, What if someone led the Discovery here to trap them, and attack them through these holograms. Lilly moved closer to Dem to talk.

"Dem, Can we talk in private...?" She looked at Candy and Connery. "Away from them" Lilly was not liking this away mission, Be damn if Commander trLhoell said this was purely a First Contact, there's something missing, and its not a good one either, This puzzle might blow into pieces before She could figure it out.

Sean Connery had already moved on and Candy seemed to be trying her best to please Malik, so finding a spot away from the either seemed an easy enough task,  though there were plenty of other people around, but none paying attention to either of you at the moment.
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[Market Place]

Malik nodded politely to Candy, she was getting a bit repetitive. He wasn't about to get involved in the contract kerfuffle, Rayek could deal with that mess. Instead he asked Candy, "Can I meet some of the regular citizens of Erewhon? Not tourists, or holograms."

He was keen to hear from them what they thought about all this.

Candy seemed puzzled by the request at first, it was only when he specified not tourists or holograms that Candy understood.  "Oh, yes certainly, they are all around us."

She pointed toward the market stall worker, then to a passing postal worker, then towards a restaurant patio where a waitress was serving drinks to what a couple wearing matching wristbands.  "Erewhon prides itself with authenticity.  The laborers you see are not holograms.  They are human. They play the role of the Erewhon citizens for our guests."
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~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
(Ramort, Lek, Tanner & Rayek)
[Erewhon - Library]

[Erewhon - Library]

At this point Lek burst into laughter. He'd seen poor negotiations before, but this hologram was the worst.

"Nothing was on the wall and if there was, we had no time to read it, let alone agree to it, thus voiding any pretense of a contract and your own law. Since the concept of how a contract works seems to elude you, I believe we should return to our ship and cease to partake of your 'amenities'. And in fact, we will issue a warning to all Federation ships to avoid this planet. I do not know what medium you use to exchange wealth, but you just lost access to the largest market in the Alpha Quadrant, so at a guess, I'm going to say you have missed out on billions."

T'Sana maintained her pleasant smile throughout Lek's laughter and response.  Rayek was reserving comment until Lek spoke out of line about what 'they' would be doing afterwards.  Rather than openly correct the Ferengi's statement, Rayek cleared his throat and gave his friend a bit of a jab to encourage him to stop talking.

"This is likely a misunderstanding, that can be easily corrected.  But before we do go further, its probably best we read through the Terms of Service, your colleague has provided our science officer."

Rayek looked to Ramort.

[Erewhon | In front of the Library]

The holographic character proceeded to pull out a stack of pristine papers, carefully bound by a spiralling metal spine. Taking it from her hands he quickly flipped it open.
The pages were crafted from a heavy paper, giving it a premium feel. There also were quite a lot of them.

All of them completely empty.

Not a single one holding even a single word.

This might prove a problem.

Ramort took out his Tricorder and started a Scan. This quickly revealed the apparent Document to indeed have been composed of cellulose fibres, the spine being made from a iron based alloy. All in all quite in line with what would be expected from the time period.
Except for the missing contents.

"Excuse me, I think you handed me the wrong stack of papers, these are completely empty."

Listening to Commanders words, Ramort tried to remember the walls of the Transporter room. He also couldn't seem to remember any writing there. This opened several possibilities. Chief among them a difference in the ability to perceive some form of information.

"Excuse me please, I think there is a error in this simulation. All information in this time periode of earth were expressed through printed glyphes using carbon based pigments that are capable of absorbing the visible spectrum of the electromagnetic spectrum. These sheets of paper seem to be lacking these glyphic representations. Our visual receptors have adapted to these forms of representation. For a failure in this representation has to be acknowledged in the papers you just gave me, is it possible that the same error persist throughout the rest of this station?"

Both T'Sana and Ramort's greeter looked towards Ramort in surprise when he claimed the pages were empty  "But the glyphs are right there" they spoke in unison, while pointing towards the sheaf of papers.  They looked to one another momentarily as if communicating silently with one another.

Meanwhile the woman who had demanded arbitration and recompense was not at all satisfied with how things were getting off topic.  "Don't lie.  The writing is clear and legible, besides, it doesn't matter.  The short one intruded on my vacation and was extremely rude to me without just cause.  I should be compensated."

To which the guides nodded in acquiescence.

Rayek frowned and looked to Tanner, and in an aside spoke quietly to her.  "Message the others to be wary of interacting with other guests, and have them attempt to get a legible copy of the Terms of Service.  I have a suspicion this will not be dismissed lightly."