Season 16: Episode 2: A Night at the Opera

[Tanner Lachlyn]

[Erewhon - Library]

It took everything in her not to step in when that horrible woman was misbehaving. Deep, calming breaths reminded Tanner that this was not her ship. Not her circus. Not her monkeys.

Blank books, however, got her attention. With a curious lifted brow, her eyes flicked over and she moved closer, "Is it possible that you are seeing something our eyes cannot?" She asked, "For us, those pages are empty."

After a beat, she added, "If you cannot provide us with the terms, then we are stuck in a stalemate regarding this situation."

Heeding Rayek's instructions, she politely bowed and distanced herself from the others. Taking out her flip phone she called Broadshire, informing him of the request. He could pass it along to the others.

[Buck McNair]

[USS Discovery | 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.

"Shows that they're holding steady, Vila." He replied, his gaze flickering between the data sets that were coming through, trying to process it as the situation seemed to minutely improve with them moving to a new location. The degradating shields were slower than previously, but they were still a problem.

"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.

Buck listened as the captain gave out orders, stating that Lorut had the bridge. He raised a brow but remained silent on the matter as he went about reading his own probe data, to make sure that things were holding steady. Maybe the crew structure of the ship was about to change temporarily; with most of the team away on Erewhon and the crew dealing with the radiation. There was also confirmation from engineering that they had made it out safely at the very least - so he had not needed to update the records bar press a button or two to log that no one had been lost.

"Aye cap'n."

He would ping the science department, those who were still on shift the message that they were to keep him appraised of any changes in the system anomalies that they could detect and for the results to be sent to both himself and the captain for analysis of their next steps.

The probe seemed to be transmitting perfectly well, its own shields were holding for the time being but Buck knew he could never be too caeful as he watched the images come in from the probe. "Huh-" The word escaped his mouth before his brain had time to capture it. There was a blip, or something that he couldn't explain with the probe. Something he would keep monitoring as he looked at the probe's statistics which read that it was operational and at 100 percent.

[Lek]

[Erewhon - Library]

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.

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."

[Erewhon]

Lek snorted at the woman and pointedly ignored Rayek. He'd made his assessment, this planet was unsuitable as a place for recreation. He was ready to go now and simply stopped paying attention. There was no contract, thus no action could be taken beyond asking him to leave, which he was more than ready to do.

"Note to self, next time they need an engineer for an away team, send the most junior dunsel in the department."

[James Ramort]

[USS Discovery | Bridge]
[...]

He would ping the science department, those who were still on shift the message that they were to keep him appraised of any changes in the system anomalies that they could detect and for the results to be sent to both himself and the captain for analysis of their next steps.

The probe seemed to be transmitting perfectly well, its own shields were holding for the time being but Buck knew he could never be too ca[r]eful as he watched the images come in from the probe. "Huh-" The word escaped his mouth before his brain had time to capture it. There was a blip, or something that he couldn't explain with the probe. Something he would keep monitoring as he looked at the probe's statistics which read that it was operational and at 100 percent.

[Ensign Kedan]
[USS Discovery | Deck 10 | Outside Science Lab 1]
"Ensign Kedan speaking. The radiation is messing somewhat with out sensors, we suggest the forwards sensor array to be disaligned, I am currently on my way to the sensor subspace to overwrite the misaligned modules. With emergency forcefields deployed in Section 17 it might take me some more moments to get there. From what I can read with current sensor out though it seems the solar winds are increasing in frequency and intensity."

The Ensign running thorugh the Corridords, a PADD in one hand and the other primed to open any doors closed in his path, his eyes set on sensor subspace Gamma-3.

[Erewhon - Library]

It took everything in her not to step in when that horrible woman was misbehaving. Deep, calming breaths reminded Tanner that this was not her ship. Not her circus. Not her monkeys.

Blank books, however, got her attention. With a curious lifted brow, her eyes flicked over and she moved closer, "Is it possible that you are seeing something our eyes cannot?" She asked, "For us, those pages are empty."

After a beat, she added, "If you cannot provide us with the terms, then we are stuck in a stalemate regarding this situation."
[...]

(Ramort, Lek, Tanner & Rayek)
[Erewhon - Library]

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.

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."

[James Ramort]
[Erewhon | In front of the Library]

The shocked looks on the aliens and holograms faces were curious. They seemed to not even have considered them to not be able to see the script they used. Obviously it made sense that some aliens were able to and used different wavelengths or esoteric phenomena to communicate but they should at least have some form of concept of how most species perceived the world.

The same applied to the Holograms. If this station was designed to process the recreational endeavours of alien species, it should be able to adapt the simulation in a way that accommodated them. This whole situation became extra confusing by them obviously having extensive knowledge of earth to be able to mimic so many details of its past, yet such an obvious detail to elude them.... something didn't add up here.

Without too much info to go on, he had to pursue the only remaining avenue. This being the alien and the holograms as he began to feel the suspicion growing in him that the libraries books would be plagued by a problem similar to the Terms of Service.

"Sadly, we are not able to see anything. I can only ask if you could provide us with another copy, one that is transcribed to fit the visual spectrum so we can take notice of it, this would be most delighting for us. Also, if I may so bold to inquire, in which frequency of the electromagnetic spectrum is the information on these pages recorded?"

[Malik Grippen]

EREWHON

(Malik, Hansen and Broadshire)
[Market Place]

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.
.
.
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."
.
.
.

[Erewhon, Market Place]

"I see."

Malik went over the waitress, waiting until she had finished serving the drinks. "Hello. It would please me to have a drink with you and talk about this place."

He gestured for Candy to take a seat next to him to, she could listen in.

[Buck McNair]

[Ensign Kedan]
[USS Discovery | Deck 10 | Outside Science Lab 1]
"Ensign Kedan speaking. The radiation is messing somewhat with out sensors, we suggest the forwards sensor array to be disaligned, I am currently on my way to the sensor subspace to overwrite the misaligned modules. With emergency forcefields deployed in Section 17 it might take me some more moments to get there. From what I can read with current sensor out though it seems the solar winds are increasing in frequency and intensity."
The Ensign running thorugh the Corridords, a PADD in one hand and the other primed to open any doors closed in his path, his eyes set on sensor subspace Gamma-3.

[USS Discovery | Bridge]

Buck could hear the chime as the ensign responded. He took a moment to consider what had been said, and whilst he had been in charge of setting the probe out to space, he knew his expertise was not science. Solar winds were going to affect them even more, and it could have explained the blip earlier that he had witnessed from the probe. "You have my thanks, Ensign Kedan. Keep me updated and informed of any changes."

[Lorut Vila]

[USS Discovery|Bridge]

Shows that they're holding steady, Vila.

She narrowed her eyes but decided to spare him this once. Perhaps he was unaware of Bajoran naming customs. "Please, Lorut," she said. "Vila is my first name, and in Bajoran culture, it's...uh...rude  for you to use it unless we're close friends," she said. "But thank you. Continue to monitor those, but make sure that systems stay online," she said. "Ensign Forcher, please coordinate with Beta Bridge. If they need an extra hand, please give it," she said. She was TRYING here.

She tapped her foot nervously against the console. This wasn't a comfortable situation. She didn't even have that damned Romulan to rely on to tell what she was doing wrong...

[Rayek trLhoell]

EREWHON

(Malik, Hansen and Broadshire)
[Market Place]

[Erewhon, Market Place]

"I see."

Malik went over the waitress, waiting until she had finished serving the drinks. "Hello. It would please me to have a drink with you and talk about this place."

He gestured for Candy to take a seat next to him to, she could listen in.

The waitress smiled pleasantly towards Malik.  "Oh?" She seemed surprised looking towards the hologram a bit uncertainly, but when Candy sat down smiling when Malik had gestured for her to take a seat, the waitress down. "Of course, sir.  First, what would you like to drink? ?"

After he gave her his order,  she slipped away to the back of the restaurant for a moment before returning with the drinks.

She had a glass of water with a lemon wedge. "I'm not too sure how I can be of help. Your guide should be able to answer any of your questions better than I."
.
.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
(Ramort, Lek, Tanner & Rayek)
[Erewhon - Library]

[Erewhon - Library]

It took everything in her not to step in when that horrible woman was misbehaving. Deep, calming breaths reminded Tanner that this was not her ship. Not her circus. Not her monkeys.

Blank books, however, got her attention. With a curious lifted brow, her eyes flicked over and she moved closer, "Is it possible that you are seeing something our eyes cannot?" She asked, "For us, those pages are empty."

After a beat, she added, "If you cannot provide us with the terms, then we are stuck in a stalemate regarding this situation."

Heeding Rayek's instructions, she politely bowed and distanced herself from the others. Taking out her flip phone she called Broadshire, informing him of the request. He could pass it along to the others.

[Erewhon]

Lek snorted at the woman and pointedly ignored Rayek. He'd made his assessment, this planet was unsuitable as a place for recreation. He was ready to go now and simply stopped paying attention. There was no contract, thus no action could be taken beyond asking him to leave, which he was more than ready to do.

"Note to self, next time they need an engineer for an away team, send the most junior dunsel in the department."

[James Ramort]
[Erewhon | In front of the Library]

The shocked looks on the aliens and holograms faces were curious. They seemed to not even have considered them to not be able to see the script they used. Obviously it made sense that some aliens were able to and used different wavelengths or esoteric phenomena to communicate but they should at least have some form of concept of how most species perceived the world.

The same applied to the Holograms. If this station was designed to process the recreational endeavours of alien species, it should be able to adapt the simulation in a way that accommodated them. This whole situation became extra confusing by them obviously having extensive knowledge of earth to be able to mimic so many details of its past, yet such an obvious detail to elude them.... something didn't add up here.

Without too much info to go on, he had to pursue the only remaining avenue. This being the alien and the holograms as he began to feel the suspicion growing in him that the libraries books would be plagued by a problem similar to the Terms of Service.

"Sadly, we are not able to see anything. I can only ask if you could provide us with another copy, one that is transcribed to fit the visual spectrum so we can take notice of it, this would be most delighting for us. Also, if I may so bold to inquire, in which frequency of the electromagnetic spectrum is the information on these pages recorded?"

T'Sana and the other hologram seemed to be paused a moment while they processed this information.

"This is situation is most unfortunate. We have requested that our facility coordinator look into your claims of being unable to read the Terms of Service.  Until such time as they have a fix for this, they feel that it would be best to have you return to the transport site so that there are no more misunderstandings with our currents guests."

She then turned to the still irate woman and apologized sincerely for the situation.  "The newcomers are unfamiliar with our ways and apparently unable to read our Terms of Service.  A refund for today's fees has been applied to your account for having to experience such unpleasantness.  Please continue to enjoy the facilities.  We are here to make your fantasies a reality." she said placatingly.

The woman seemed somewhat mollified after hearing that she'd been reimbursed and after one last sour look towards Lek in his human persona, she headed on towards the Library.

Rayek, in the meantime looked back towards where the groundskeeper was continuing to work, seemingly obviously to the disturbance caused on his behalf.

Glancing back towards their guide Rayek spoke up. "T'Sana, does the woman not owe the groundskeeper an apology for her rudeness to him?"

T'Sana smiling bemused.  "No, of course not.  He's only a cloned human.  His purpose is to maintain the grounds - that's all.  He is not a guest."

[Lilly Hansen]

EREWHON

(Malik, Hansen and Broadshire)
[Market Place]

The waitress smiled pleasantly towards Malik.  "Oh?" She seemed surprised looking towards the hologram a bit uncertainly, but when Candy sat down smiling when Malik had gestured for her to take a seat, the waitress down. "Of course, sir.  First, what would you like to drink? ?"

After he gave her his order,  she slipped away to the back of the restaurant for a moment before returning with the drinks.

She had a glass of water with a lemon wedge. "I'm not too sure how I can be of help. Your guide should be able to answer any of your questions better than I."
.
.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
(Ramort, Lek, Tanner & Rayek)
[Erewhon - Library]

T'Sana and the other hologram seemed to be paused a moment while they processed this information.

"This is situation is most unfortunate. We have requested that our facility coordinator look into your claims of being unable to read the Terms of Service.  Until such time as they have a fix for this, they feel that it would be best to have you return to the transport site so that there are no more misunderstandings with our currents guests."

She then turned to the still irate woman and apologized sincerely for the situation.  "The newcomers are unfamiliar with our ways and apparently unable to read our Terms of Service.  A refund for today's fees has been applied to your account for having to experience such unpleasantness.  Please continue to enjoy the facilities.  We are here to make your fantasies a reality." she said placatingly.

The woman seemed somewhat mollified after hearing that she'd been reimbursed and after one last sour look towards Lek in his human persona, she headed on towards the Library.

Rayek, in the meantime looked back towards where the groundskeeper was continuing to work, seemingly obviously to the disturbance caused on his behalf.

Glancing back towards their guidance Rayek spoke up. "T'Sana, does the woman not owe the groundskeeper an apology for her rudeness to him?"

T'Sana smiling bemused.  "No, of course not.  He's only a cloned human.  His purpose is to maintain the grounds - that's all.  He is not a guest."

[Ensign Lilly Hansen | Sec/Tac]

Lilly stayed close to Malik, her gaze alert as she scanned the surroundings. Once Malik sat down with the one named Candy, Lilly positioned herself in a seat nearby, close enough to catch every word of their conversation and intervene if necessary. She didn't trust this situation and was ready to act if things went south. Meanwhile, Dem had wandered off, leaving Lilly to be Malik's silent but watchful shadow.

[Lek]

(Ramort, Lek, Tanner & Rayek)
[Erewhon - Library]

T'Sana and the other hologram seemed to be paused a moment while they processed this information.

"This is situation is most unfortunate. We have requested that our facility coordinator look into your claims of being unable to read the Terms of Service.  Until such time as they have a fix for this, they feel that it would be best to have you return to the transport site so that there are no more misunderstandings with our currents guests."

She then turned to the still irate woman and apologized sincerely for the situation.  "The newcomers are unfamiliar with our ways and apparently unable to read our Terms of Service.  A refund for today's fees has been applied to your account for having to experience such unpleasantness.  Please continue to enjoy the facilities.  We are here to make your fantasies a reality." she said placatingly.

The woman seemed somewhat mollified after hearing that she'd been reimbursed and after one last sour look towards Lek in his human persona, she headed on towards the Library.

Rayek, in the meantime looked back towards where the groundskeeper was continuing to work, seemingly obviously to the disturbance caused on his behalf.

Glancing back towards their guidance Rayek spoke up. "T'Sana, does the woman not owe the groundskeeper an apology for her rudeness to him?"

T'Sana smiling bemused.  "No, of course not.  He's only a cloned human.  His purpose is to maintain the grounds - that's all.  He is not a guest."

Lek remained silent during this exchange and when the woman gave him her sour look, even though he knew she wouldn't understand the gesture. Lek used his body to block Rayek from seeing him giving the woman the 'finger' as he had learned while at the Academy.

"Hack off ya Old Rag"

He thought as he gifted her with his toothy smile.

[James Ramort]

(Ramort, Lek, Tanner & Rayek)
[Erewhon - Library]

T'Sana and the other hologram seemed to be paused a moment while they processed this information.

"This is situation is most unfortunate. We have requested that our facility coordinator look into your claims of being unable to read the Terms of Service.  Until such time as they have a fix for this, they feel that it would be best to have you return to the transport site so that there are no more misunderstandings with our currents guests."

She then turned to the still irate woman and apologized sincerely for the situation.  "The newcomers are unfamiliar with our ways and apparently unable to read our Terms of Service.  A refund for today's fees has been applied to your account for having to experience such unpleasantness.  Please continue to enjoy the facilities.  We are here to make your fantasies a reality." she said placatingly.

The woman seemed somewhat mollified after hearing that she'd been reimbursed and after one last sour look towards Lek in his human persona, she headed on towards the Library.

Rayek, in the meantime looked back towards where the groundskeeper was continuing to work, seemingly obviously to the disturbance caused on his behalf.

Glancing back towards their guide Rayek spoke up. "T'Sana, does the woman not owe the groundskeeper an apology for her rudeness to him?"

T'Sana smiling bemused.  "No, of course not.  He's only a cloned human.  His purpose is to maintain the grounds - that's all.  He is not a guest."

[Erewhon | In front of the Library]

Yet another shocking revelation. A cloned human?

This violated about two dozen interstellar treaties. Creating an intelligent being and enslaving it to work menial labour. And it seems they didn't start yesterday with this. Ramort was no expert on cloning but this human seemed to lack many of the typical signs present in fully cloned humans. He also lacked any sign of resistance, indicating he was raised and indoctrinated his entire life to accept his station. Otherwise he should have reacted to their presence here, or at least to the way he was treated by another guest.

Besides the sociological and medical implications there were legal too though. He wasn't sure about the current orders Star Fleet had issued regarding sentient cloning but if this was a human, turning to the away team he asked:

"If he is really a human being, how can we leave him here?"

[Lek]

[Erewhon | In front of the Library]

Yet another shocking revelation. A cloned human?

This violated about two dozen interstellar treaties. Creating an intelligent being and enslaving it to work menial labour. And it seems they didn't start yesterday with this. Ramort was no expert on cloning but this human seemed to lack many of the typical signs present in fully cloned humans. He also lacked any sign of resistance, indicating he was raised and indoctrinated his entire life to accept his station. Otherwise he should have reacted to their presence here, or at least to the way he was treated by another guest.

Besides the sociological and medical implications there were legal too though. He wasn't sure about the current orders Star Fleet had issued regarding sentient cloning but if this was a human, turning to the away team he asked:

"If he is really a human being, how can we leave him here?"

[Erewhon | In front of the Library]

Lek's jaw dropped open at the revelation that the gardener was essentially a slave. There were many that disparaged Ferengi for their profit based society, but treating other sentients as property was not a feature of Ferengi history. Lek really didn't have words for the level of contempt he now had for Erewhon.

"This isn't right Lieutenant, but the Prime Directive will not let us stop this. All we can do is tag this planet as restricted to prevent business with the Federation. As someone with an understanding of business, the loss of revenue from being excluded from the worlds of the Federation is a powerful motivator to any organization that is profit based."

[James Ramort]

[Erewhon | In front of the Library]

Lek's jaw dropped open at the revelation that the gardener was essentially a slave. There were many that disparaged Ferengi for their profit based society, but treating other sentients as property was not a feature of Ferengi history. Lek really didn't have words for the level of contempt he now had for Erewhon.

"This isn't right Lieutenant, but the Prime Directive will not let us stop this. All we can do is tag this planet as restricted to prevent business with the Federation. As someone with an understanding of business, the loss of revenue from being excluded from the worlds of the Federation is a powerful motivator to any organization that is profit based."

[Erewhon | In front of the Library]

A yes, the prime directive. He remembered that course at the academy well. Under no circumstances should it be bend, its importance for Star Fleet; Paramount!

They even had an entire seminar on how to act if stranded in a pre-warp planet and multiple classes for the modified temporal prime directive.

Non of them touched upon how to act if coming across a civilisation that enslaved your own species. Cloned and enslaved even.

Ramort wasn't happy with accepting the Commander being right but he was, and he knew that, it just felt so horribly wrong. Every morale fibre in his being screaming to him to do something, to act, to do his best to save his fellow human being.

But his orders were clear. The chain of command had to be respected. Commander Lek didn't leave much room for negotiation on this poor lawn keepers fade.

Silently to make sure only his team could hear him he replied: "This feels just to terribly wrong. If he is cloned and was raised here, he does not even have a concept of freedom!"

A quiet, horrible voice in his head replying as he spoke.. Maybe this could be a mercy, if he does not know what he is missing, he can not long for it.

[Lek]

[Erewhon | In front of the Library]

A yes, the prime directive. He remembered that course at the academy well. Under no circumstances should it be bend, its importance for Star Fleet; Paramount!

They even had an entire seminar on how to act if stranded in a pre-warp planet and multiple classes for the modified temporal prime directive.

Non of them touched upon how to act if coming across a civilisation that enslaved your own species. Cloned and enslaved even.

Ramort wasn't happy with accepting the Commander being right but he was, and he knew that, it just felt so horribly wrong. Every morale fibre in his being screaming to him to do something, to act, to do his best to save his fellow human being.

But his orders were clear. The chain of command had to be respected. Commander Lek didn't leave much room for negotiation on this poor lawn keepers fade.

Silently to make sure only his team could hear him he replied: "This feels just to terribly wrong. If he is cloned and was raised here, he does not even have a concept of freedom!"

A quiet, horrible voice in his head replying as he spoke.. Maybe this could be a mercy, if he does not know what he is missing, he can not long for it.

[Erewhon | In front of the Library]

Lek fully sympathized with the hyoomon, this planet was an embarrassment to sentience.

"You aren't wrong Lieutenant, I'm going to need a shower get the stench of this planet off me when we get back to the ship."

Lek turned to face Rayek with a pointed expression.

"Please tell me we're done here and can go."

[Buck McNair]

[USS Discovery|Bridge]

She narrowed her eyes but decided to spare him this once. Perhaps he was unaware of Bajoran naming customs. "Please, Lorut," she said. "Vila is my first name, and in Bajoran culture, it's...uh...rude  for you to use it unless we're close friends," she said. "But thank you. Continue to monitor those, but make sure that systems stay online," she said. "Ensign Forcher, please coordinate with Beta Bridge. If they need an extra hand, please give it," she said. She was TRYING here.

[USS Discovery | Bridge]

Buck nodded, realising that he had made a mistake. "'Pologies, Lorut. I'll try not make that mistake again."

He went back to check on the status of the probe that he had sent out, his brow furrowing more as it glitched and crackled. "McNair to Ensign Kedan, confirm if the probe readings playing up for yourselves as well?"