Ghost In the Wiring II

Posted on Wed Oct 4th, 2023 @ 9:26pm by Ensign Ilan Ocara & Petty Officer 1st Class Leon Meier & Lottie & Captain Ivan Petrov & Lieutenant Sovas Nyseth & Lieutenant JG Revana Nazar & Lieutenant JG Nairobi Ellis & Immy

Mission: In-Between (S1:E5-S1:E6)
Location: Various
Timeline: Date 2371-09-02 at 1615
6730 words - 13.5 OF Standard Post Measure

“We would delete it, sir, but we’re concerned doing so might put you in danger. Commander Petrov said that we should try and get you out of the Holodeck first.”

It took Sovas a moment to compose himself and not simply take out the rage and anger he was still feeling on one of the holographic party guests. “Any ideas on how we can get out of the holodeck? Also why are you concerned that just shutting off the program and the holodeck would put us in danger?”

“We don’t have control of the holodeck. That’s completely under the control of whatever computer program is presenting as the slave girl. If it fails, she could easily kill you just by turning off the safeties. Command isn’t prepared to risk that. But you have limited time to find a way out. If I were you, I would try to sweet talk this thing; see if you can make a deal.”

Sovas was quiet for a long moment as he pondered this particular suggestion as he found himself wondering what it was that Revana had gotten herself through engineering school before nodding. “Then we’ll try to sweet talk the program.”

He looked to his companions, knowing that they would have heard the exchange.

“So, you’re saying we need to sweet talk a computer program into letting us out of here.” Nairobi said. “She’ll make us her hostages until she’s sure we can’t hurt her.”

“Highly probable, is there anything that we can do to give ourselves a better bargaining position?” The half-Vulcan questioned as he began leading them away from the crowd, feeling like he was starting to suffocate with so many bodies around him.

Following, Nairobi thought a moment on his inquiry.

“I think we can all agree we tried hugs already.” She said with a frown. “It didn’t work. Slaves aren’t exactly benefactors of our love and care, and she’s far too accustomed to being treated like trash. We can’t trick her. On the other hand, we do know where her program is and can delete her forever.” She said, her eyes cast down as if she were ashamed or saddened by what she was saying. “Sounds like leverage to me.”

“Do we know if she had any friends? Maybe someone who can help reason with her?” Leon asked, frowning himself.

“That would likely be our number one command slave Lottie. She might be, being the closest thing that Immy would have had to a friend.” Sovas replied as he turned his attention to Nairobi. “Your suggestion is leverage of a sort but it's also a one shot, if we use it too early it could make our situation worse, but it's on the table…just plan B.”

“The only problem is we can’t get anyone in or out of the Holodeck.” Nairobi said, crossing her arms under her chest. “So how do you propose we make use of Lottie in a situation like this?”

She said it dismissively at first, but as soon as she had done so, an idea popped into her head.

“We could use the PADD for a video chat if we really wanted to.”

“It would have to be cleared with Commander Petrova.” Leon pointed out and rubbed his chin slightly. He needed to shave.

“I think the request will be clear with the Commander.” Sovas replied as he reached up to tap his badge and take care of that right this minute.

A few minutes later, all of the steps had been cleared by people outside the holodeck and the three of them were looking at a video image of the Trill slave girl. They had just explained the situation to her to the best of their ability.

“We need you to convince her to stand down, Lottie. Can you do that?” Nairobi asked, her brows knit in concern as she stared down at the device.

“I-I don’t kn-know, Mistress.” Lottie’s image spoke from where she held the PADD. Behind her, Nairobi could clearly see the uniform of someone looming behind the slave girl. She looked like she was about to cry and indeed her stunning blue eyes looked watery. She was confused, afraid. “I’ll do my best.”

“Now all we need to do is find Immy.” Nairobi said, looking at the houses and the families enjoying festivities together. “She must be in one of these houses.”

“M-may I ask where you are, mistress? What is around you?” Lottie asked, frowning deeply. Asking questions like this wasn’t natural.

“It’s a suburb of some kind. There are families all around in some idyllic Saturday-afternoon scenario. Judging by their accents, I’d guess we’re in Ireland somewhere.” she responded.

The frown on Lottie’s face never once moved, but she seemed to be thinking. “Are there um… fences?”

Nairobi didn’t have to look hard to answer the question.

“There’s one house with a white picket fence at the end of the block. It’s got flowers and shrubs all over the place.” Nairobi answered. “The rest just have stone column walkways and open grass.”

The young slave nodded just slightly, her eyes welled again. “I-Immy told me… told me she dreamt of being free and that when she was, she wanted to go back to Ireland and settle down with a nice man and have kids and live in… in a house with a white picket fence.”

It was okay to say that, right? That wasn’t a betrayal of trust? She didn’t know. She was so confused. She turned her head to the person behind her, seeking reassurance from Mistress. Whether she got it or not Nairobi couldn’t really see, but Lottie dutifully turned her attention forward once more.

Sovas looked to the idyllic house and setting, a slave’s dream and one that so rarely was ever achieved since freedom wasn’t granted often or without some great service being rendered. Even on their deathbeds, the nobles of the Imperium granted a favored slave an abolition of their status only rarely since to leave it dangling as a potentiality was enough to keep most in line.

“Then I supposed we should go and see if Immy is home.” The half-Vulcan growled, wanting to be done with this as his patience was waning quickly.

Nairobi stepped into the lead now, walking down the sidewalk first and looking down at the PADD at regular intervals. She kept looking into the face of Lottie and frowning. Slavery in the Empire made her sick and she was barely able to hide that fact from the people around her.

“I doubt that information about Immy is on file, Lottie. That means that it’s possible whatever is going on, her memories are involved. That means it’s possible this really is her. I know that sounds strange but..” she trailed off. “Do you know what you’re going to say to her?”

“N-no, Mistress.” Lottie admitted, honest probably to a fault. “But I am supposed to try and reason with her to free you.”

“If I were you, I’d let her know that you believe her; that you believe she’s real and, somehow, alive.” Nairobi said, “but that she won’t be alive for long if she doesn’t cooperate with us. She’s leaving us with very few options.”

“Wh-what do you mean she won’t be?” Lottie questioned, alarmed and her expression clearly showed it. “What… what will you do to her?”

“I won’t do anything, Lottie.” She said with a grim frown. “But what do you think Command will do when they find that a slave refuses to give up control of the ship? She has to cooperate if she wants even a chance of getting out of this. I’m just being honest with you.”

Leon moved in, looking over Nairobi’s shoulder. “You can do this, Lottie. We are counting on you.”

This “encouragement” only seemed to alarm the slave more. She had never had this kind of responsibility, never had someone needing her to do something like this. She squirmed and began to fidget with her fingers, nodding and saying nothing.

The team approached the bright red door, walking past a porch swing and a bunch of children’s toys which had been carelessly left on the otherwise spotless entrance way. Nairobi raised her shoulders and lowered them again, sighing. Then she lifted her fist and knocked on the door. After a few seconds, after no answer, she turned the knob.

“It’s locked.”

Leon frowned and moved over toward one of the windows, trying to find a crack in the drawn curtains to peer inside. “Maybe we should go around back? There are kids here… maybe they are playing outside.”

“Children aren’t silent when they are playing,” Sovas growled as he pushed his way up to the maroon door, though his pace didn’t stop instead he lifted his foot before it hammered down near the handle, causing it tear apart the frame in burst of splinters and pieces of broken wood while the door itself swung in at speed, slamming into some piece of furniture as the half-Vulcan strode into the the house, looking around and listening for any signs of life.

They entered into a small mudroom with the shoes and coats of adults and children put away semi-neatly. From nearby inside, they heard what sounded like a crowd cheering, though it was distant and distorted like it was a projection. Leon frowned, but waited for Sovas to move forward. He was in a right mood, apparently, and he didn’t want to piss off a half-Vulcan.

Vengeance's Chief Operations Officer stepped further into the home, past the broken door hanging from its hinges. He clenched his jaw in a rage as he took in the perfect little make-believe life created within the holodeck. His fingers twitched as he resisted the urge to tear apart everything in sight and find the ghost who thought she was still alive. The Operations Chief nodded slightly in quiet sympathy with her desire for freedom. A simple, quiet life. Such a life was rarely achieved, let alone possible for someone shackled with a collar.

As they walked into the house, they soon found the source of the noise. They entered a living area where on the television a soccer match was playing. Someone missed a goal, and then a distinctly male groan emitted from the large comfortable arm chair positioned with a direct line of sight to the television. “Oh come on!”

Nairobi’s eyes scanned the space, pulling in a scene that was familiar and hardly presented difficulty for her mind. A man watching soccer; a homey environment. They stepped farther in and she considered how to find what they were after.

“Excuse me.” She said to the man on the couch, “we’re looking for someone. Is your…wife home?”

“The fuck?” The man questioned and stood to his full, impressive height immediately. He turned, and the trio were presented with the very familiar face of Jasper Branson, the XO’s yeoman. He was dressed in a t-shirt sporting the logo of one of the teams playing on the television across from him and he had a beer in one hand. He also looked very, very angry. “Who the fuck are you people?! Get out of my house!”

Nairobi’s eyes went wide. What the heck was going on right now? Why was Jasper here? She took several steps back, falling in line with the men she came with just in case this hologram’s bark came with a bite as well.

“PO Branson?” She asked, confusion lining every syllable.

“This isn’t our Branson, its her idealized version of him.” Sovas glanced at the facsimile of the XO's yeoman Branson, he felt a wave of anger wash over him. His right hand clenched into a fist as he stepped forward, locking eyes with Branson’s copy, seeming as if he was ready to challenge it to a fight. He wondered what sort of modifications Immy had made to this man if she believed they were coming for her. Had she created him as a guardian or was he meant to be part of her vision for an ideal family life?

“Where is your wife Immy?” Sovas finally asked in a cold voice.

“I said get the fuck out of my house.” Jasper spat back, anger in his clear blue eyes. He was an imposing physical specimen - not as much as his boss, but he could definitely hold his own in a fight. “Either under your own power or mine.”

“We don’t want a fight.” Nairobi said, putting up her hands to calm the tense situation. “We’re…the welcoming committee. We wanted to come meet you and welcome you to the neighborhood.”

Jasper looked past her to the broken door and then just stared hard at her, saying nothing.

“This is going well.” Leon muttered under his breath.

Sovas actually looked back at Nairobi as even he needed to take a moment to process what it was that she had tried to sell. He sighed and looked back to Jasper, trying to calm himself. “Your wife has been involved in an incident and she’s the only one that can help us resolve it,”

It was an attempt but he knew that he’d made the situation worse straight from the get go by kicking in the door but he was having little patience with the ghost of Christmas past infecting their ship systems. If it came to being physical, he’d be more than happy to let out his aggression on Jasper.

“I don’t fucking believe you. My wife is home all day being a stay at home wife and mother to our children. She couldn’t possibly be involved in any sort of incident and even if she fucking were, where’s your warrant?” Jasper remained staring at Sovas. “Imogen! Call the police!”

Nairobi’s eyes would have rolled all the way around if it were physically possible. She gave a sigh that was laced with a frustrated shout, then she turned and headed toward the dining room. She was almost certain she’d find Immy in the kitchen, barefoot, and pregnant. Hopefully the Sovas or Meier would take care of the hologram and prevent him from tackling her to the ground. She hadn’t even left the room before Immy emerged in a golden dress with red and pink flowers dotting it. It featured her toned arms and complimented her figure quite nicely. She wasn’t pregnant, but certainly barefoot.

“Can’ ye jus’ leave me the feck alone?!” she shouted, losing her temper and gesturing wildly with her alabaster hands. Her Irish accent intensified greatly with her loss of control.

When Immy emerged, Jasper immediately moved to her and placed himself between her and the trio of officers. He glowered down at Nairobi given she was the closest to him. “Immy go back into the kitchen and call the cops, then get the kids and go. I’ll handle this.”

Immy eyed Jasper overtly, a smile turning the corners of her mouth. It seemed even a hologram’s sacrifice worked for her. She slowly began to back away from the doorway, her smile remaining, though it fell on the three of them.

Sovas watched as Immy retreated, her smug expression infuriating the already irritated half-Vulcan, his knuckles white with how tightly he held his fist. He shot her a dark look before what little restraint he had exploded in front of his rage like so much wet tissue pattern in a stiff breeze. With a deep, guttural roar that sounded more like something an animal would make, the half-Vulcan easily lifted up the coffee table in front of where Jasper had just been seated, launching it towards the holographic replica barring their path to Immy, following swiftly after as it smashed into the other man with the enraged halfbreed pouncing on him. He landed several blows, striking the head of the recreation of the XO's yeoman into the nearby frame of the doorway into the kitchen. The wood was splintered and broken as Sovas dragged the stunned man into the kitchen proper, slamming his head against the hard surface of the counter; the tiles broke free, splattered with blood and gore. The half-Vulcan was breathing hard, his emotions running like liquid fire in his veins, letting Jasper slide to the floor, his attention turned to Immy.

Immy’s eyes went wide as Sovas surged forward and grabbed the holographic version of Jasper. As she watched him brutally murder her holographic counterpart, she placed her fingers to her ruby-red lips and gasped. She’d rarely seen such extreme displays of violence in her life.

“Oh Gods!” She exclaimed, leaping back against the refrigerator.

“Enough, Immy. Stop this damn game!” Nairobi said, walking up next to her. “We found your program. If you transition us again, we’ll delete you from our system and that will be the end of you. Is that what you want?”

Immy’s brows furrowed immediately as she listened to the warning of the Engineer’s Mate. The prospect of being deleted was certainly not a fun one to her. In truth, she wasn’t totally convinced she was a computer program in the first place, but she certainly didn’t want to take the chance. Still, a certain skepticism lingered in her eyes.

“Then why haven’t you already?” She asked, turning to them. “Why haven’t you deleted me and freed yourself from this precarious situation?”

Leon had opted to stay out of everything that was happening since they entered the house. Nairobi had made it clear she thought he had nothing good to add and Nyseth… well that was something he didn’t want to touch with a ten foot pole. The man obviously had more than a few screws loose, knew how to fight, and was half Vulcan. People may have called him a coward for it, but at least he would be alive and well. He crossed his arms over his chest and looked at Immy, a frown on his handsome face. He’d tried to offer a more gentle approach and Immy had denied it, now she would have whatever Nairobi and Sovas decided to give her.

Sovas was still breathing hard, his chest heaving as he threw Jasper’s limp form easily towards Immy. “I’m done with this Immy. Your little games, make believe about a life you dreamed about but know you could never have…whatever you are you survived the death of your body, but you are putting the life of the real Jasper at risk by your presence here, it is causing issues in the rest of the ship.”

“So either kill us all or step up to the table.”

“I never said anything about killing you.” Immy said, folding her arms. “I’m the one in danger of dying, and we all know that.”

“You aren’t wrong.” Nairobi said, stepping up next to Sovas, hoping to smooth his rough edges with her presence. “We’ve found your file, Immy. We have the power to delete it right now if we need to. I know that’s not what you want to hear, but it’s just the truth of it. If you want to live, you need to play by our rules.”

“Then why haven’t you done it yet?” Immy said, narrowing her eyes in obvious suspicion. “What could possibly be holding you back from getting rid of me as an obstacle?”

“We’d like to figure out why this all happened in the first place instead of just outright deleting you.” Leon offered up, shrugging slightly. It was true, just not the whole truth. “We have never seen anything like this happen before.”

“Then figure it out.” She said simply, a tone of dismissive mess in her voice. “I’ll be in here. As far as letting you out of the Holodeck, I’m not convinced that’s in my best interest. After all, maybe you’re only still in here because leaving might not be safe for you.”

“How would you like us to figure it out while you are holding us here in some 1990s fantasy world where we have no equipment or computer access to do so?” Leon posed, sounding tired. “You’re not stupid, Immy. You know what will definitely happen if you don’t cooperate.”

“I know what will definitely happen if I do.” She said, the pitch of her voice rising slightly and giving signs that she was upset.

“Nazar to Holodeck 1. What’s your status? Captain Petrov wants control of the ship back immediately.” Came the heavenly voice of Revana through the comm system.

“You can tell the Captain I don’t want trouble, Ensign. I just want to live.” Immy said, speaking before one of the team members could. “If he can find a way to assure me my program won’t be deleted, then I’ll consider releasing the controls and his officers.”

“I don’t think he’ll respond well to that, Immy.” Revana said, her own voice reflecting her suspicion. “We are prepared to delete you now whether it’s safe for our team inside or not. We’re heading directly for a star with no way of stopping. If I were you, I would give up and throw myself at his mercy. It’s your best chan-“

“NO!” Immy said, slamming her fist on the nearby counter. “No! I’ll find a way to release the engine controls, but I’m not going to open these doors.”

“Do you mean to tell us you have no idea how to control our systems?” Nairobi asked, looking worried.

“No! That’s not what I’m saying. It’s just complicated and I need to figure it out. I didn’t go to school to study Starship Ops like you.” There was exasperation and defensiveness in her voice.

“Hang on.. Revana said, and paused as if she were listening to someone else speak. When she came back on, her voice was uncertain and had a twinge of fear. “The Captain isn’t waiting any longer. Program deletion in 3….2….”

“WAIT!” Immy exclaimed, but was too late.

“1…”

Then Immy’s holographic image phased out of focus several times and flickered off. The holodeck program followed suit, returning them to the inactivated grid.

“Systems released.” Revana said, “Are you three alright in there?”

Leon had closed his eyes and braced himself for what could be the end. While he understood the logic behind it, the reminder that they could be done away with so easily and without a second thought was… sobering. When nothing happened, he slowly opened his eyes and looked around.

“Yes… yes, Ensign. We are alright. The program has shut down and Immy has vanished.”

“Present.” Sovas replied hoarsely, making a concerted effort to bring his enraged feelings back under control.

“Please report to Engineering. I’d like to get to the bottom of what the hell is going on.”

“Well, I don’t know about you two but I am certainly getting the hell out of here before she comes back or some bullshit.” Leon walked to the door as he spoke and stepped out into the hall. He looked back at Sovas and Nairobi, his brows raised in question.

“I’d rather not deal with anything else, the entire experience has damaged my calm, as a Terran friend of mine once said.” The half-Vulcan moved to leave the holodeck, still feeling like his skin was crawling with the sensation to do something more, to break more things around him as he clenched his hands into fists.

Finally free, the group left for Engineering together to hopefully discover why this incident occurred and what exactly this supposed shade of the dead slave girl was.

The rogue computer program had been deleted just three hours before, and all systems had been returned to control of the crew of Vengeance. at the instruction of the Captain’s, Engineering, Science, and Operations crews have been working with all hands on deck to figure out what the hell happened, and where the Immy program came from. Their working hypothesis was that her consciousness had fused with the computer database and, by some fluke accident, merged programming with the A.I. aboard the Alexandria II shuttle. The result was a software program with control over ship systems.

“Somehow I don’t think we can get rid of her without a complete computer purge.” Nairobi said as she looked at the computer terminal. “The program has already reappeared six times after deletion. We need to talk about placing limits on it and dealing with having her around.”

“We could perhaps impose the Three Laws on her.” Ilan spoke up from where she stood at another terminal nearby. Obviously this hadn’t been the source of the computer blips they’d been experiencing before the Numiri incident, but it was very likely those blips had somehow had something to do with this.

“Really I’m more concerned about how she merged with the Alexandria’s AI. That program was supposed to be confined to the Alexandria and the computer systems were supposed to remain separate to avoid any opportunity for the AI to make it into the Vengeance. Obviously that didn’t happen.”

“The power surge which killed Immy probably created a link simultaneously with the shuttle. I believe a diagnostic of its systems was being completed at the time.” Nairobi said with her brow furrowed. Computer systems were her specialty and her background was in programming. “I’m not certain, but that’s the best I can guess.”

“It’s the best we’ve got for now.” Revana said, shaking her head. “If we impose some limitations on her program’s function, we might have more success. Like the Three Laws, as you suggest and maybe limiting her access to ship systems to one at a time to prevent her from operating faster than she can be caught and countered.”

Ilan nodded, looking down at the display in front of her. “She should be… confined? Is that the word for something like this? Anyways, she shouldn’t be able to just float around from system to system as she pleases either.”

“It might help if we stop her from activating herself and subject her to the limitations of the EMH when it comes to turning on.” Nairobi said, looking down at the console and running her caramel fingers over its surface. “I should be able to do that with a bit of copying, pasting, and editing.”

Revana nodded. Though she was the senior officer on the project, she would need command approval for something like this. She picked up a PADD and typed up their suggestion. Then she handed it off to a crewman to deliver and bring back as soon as it was signed.

“Do either of you believe in a soul?” She asked, turning to face the other two women with a somewhat hesitant expression. “I’ve met Terrans who follow some old religion whose name I can’t remember. My mother always has. My father, not so much.”

“Most people I know believe in the afterlife - Elysium, the River, Hades - and yeah I know some people who still follow archaic religions of Earth or… other places. I guess I’ve never given it too much thought myself. Why? What about you?” Ilan asked, tilting her head.

“I don’t know. I guess I’ve always been torn.” Revana said, biting her green lower lip. “But this situation with Immy makes me wonder. Is it her soul that’s lost in our computer? How else could it hold her memories, her personality, and her imagination? For gods’ sake, it knows her deepest secrets and dreams..”

Ilan considered this a moment, her eyes going distant into nothingness while looking at the console, then she shrugged. “I guess… it depends on if you want to boil the concept of soul down to a person’s brainwave patterns and memories.”

“If we do, then it’s easy to delete. But if it’s more than that..” Revana said, trailing off, her green eyes growing wider with the depth of her consideration. She didn’t often give them the impression of a person who thought deeply. She had been taught to seem simple, practical, and sensual. But this was bringing her interior world out. “After all, are we just brain waves and memories? If so, what is the point of it all?”

The console between them beeped and Nairobi stepped forward to check it out since she was the only one not involved in philosophical talk.

“Hold it right there, ladies. Our soulful redhead has just appeared in our programming again. Shall we see if our rules work?” she asked, placing her hands on her slender hips.

“Sure.” Revana said, shaking herself out of her thought pattern. “Let’s do it.”

“I set her to activate on a simple volitional statement of her name like the computer. With the computer, of course, it means its always listening, but with her, the computer would activate her upon determining she is being called.”

Nairobi stepped back from the holo emitter which had been placed on the floor by some knuckle dragger a few minutes before. They didn’t have holo emitters throughout the ship, so this needed to be brought in for the test.

“Immy?”

A quick and feminine chirp came from the computer before Immy’s hologram appeared above the emitter’s surface. She was wearing a square neck shirred waist ruffle hem dress of powder blue which wasn’t flashy but still framed her magnificent figure in a way that couldn’t help but draw the eye. She blinked and looked around, confused and frustrated.

“I’m in Main Engineering.” she said in a soft voice, her hand going to her defined collarbone as she considered things. “Which means I’m not dead yet..”

Ilan looked at Immy as she was summoned into the room. She was a pretty thing that wouldn’t have had any trouble finding herself a man to settle with should she had wanted to, but that would never be in her cards now.

“Hello, Immy.” She greeted kindly. Ilan had never been one to be unkind to slaves and was one of the few who treated them like people as much as she was allowed.

Immy’s green eyes shifted to meet Ilan’s. She no longer averted her gaze as she was made to do as a slave. Instead, she held her head high, almost as if making a point.

“Hi.” She said, a sad expression dominating her pretty features. “What’s going on?”

“We have been working to figure out exactly what has happened here with you,” Ilan began, her voice kind. “But we have also had to make sure we safeguard our systems and the people on the ship. I know you wouldn’t do anything purposefully, but accidents do happen and it seems like even you aren’t really fully in control of what is going on.”

From everything Immy could tell, Ilan seemed genuine in the belief the slave girl wouldn’t purposefully try to do anything negative.

Immy’s lips glistened, wet with a light pink lip gloss she had obviously selected for herself wherever it was she had gone when she was deactivated.

“But I’m still alive.” She said softly, a sense of calm settling over her. “I take it that means you still can’t delete me?”

“We’re giving it up for now.” Revana said in a dry tone, her arms crossing under her chest. “For now, command is settling for seeing if we can limit your access and keep you under some reasonable limits for safety. We’d like to test them out and see if they work if that’s alright with you..”

It hadn’t really been a question and she didn’t wait for some conclusive answer from Immy. Instead, she turned to Ilan and raised her perfectly arched black eyebrows.

“Where shall we start, hmm?”

“Something simple.” Ilan replied though it was obvious she was thinking about what that meant. “Let’s just see if the protocols are working on a base level. Immy, bring up the schematics for the Vengeance on this terminal, please.”

Immy looked mildly confused and certainly didn’t seem particularly disposed to follow the order. Despite this, she turned toward the console and directed her energy toward doing just as she was told. The schematic appeared on the terminal as requested.

“Good.” Revana said, looking down at the controls on the console. “At least she has enough control to follow basic directions like that. Technically she only has to follow the CO’s orders, but one of the subroutines makes it irritating for her to disobey an order from any crew member.”

“Seems like a bit of a choice, but what can you do?” Ilan shrugged slightly then looked at Nairobi. “Your turn. Perhaps something you don’t have clearance for.”

“That’s not hard.” Nairobi said, before turning to Immy and parting her lips.

“Immy, erect a force field around the warp core.”

It was only a moment before Immy complied with her request, moving as quickly as the computer otherwise would have. Since there was no one in the enclosed space at the moment, it only inconvenienced a crewman who was entering the area quickly before bouncing off the force field and falling to the ground with a thud.

“Good, now access the environmental system and drain all of the oxygen from the area.” Nairobi commanded next, and again the systems of the Vengeance responded quickly as the sound of air blowers signaled the task was complete. Nairobi looked at the console nearest her. “Verified, she’s done it. There’s no air to be breathed in there. Now, return the air and lower the force field.”

When the humming of the air vents finished and the force field flashed away, Nairobi walked around the console and stepped up to the red hand rail surrounding the warp core before turning around and facing the three other women.

“Okay, now do it again.”

Immy furrowed her brow, obviously thinking this wasn’t a good idea. Far be it for her to question whatever wild experiment they were putting on. She willed the force field to raise and the vents to activate again, but nothing happened.

“I can’t do it. The system won’t respond to my commands.” She said, sounding strained and frustrated. In some ways, she felt, in that moment, like a person who discovered their arm was no longer functional. “Is this supposed to happen?”

“Yes.” Ilan assured Immy quickly. “Doing what you have been commanded would have violated the prime rule of your programming. The fact you are unable to do it is a good thing.”

She then looked to Revana and her brows raised. “But when push comes to shove, the person we probably really need to test it would be the Captain himself since his orders trump everything except the first law.”

“True. True.” Nairobi said, blinking her long eyelashes and turning to Revana as well. “We should give him a call.”

A few minutes later, the doors to Engineering opened and the bulky frame of Ivan Petrov came walking in. Despite his wandering eyes, which gazed at the consuls and various projects, the engineering department was completing, he made a direct path toward the four women.

“Immogen, I hardly thought we’d meet again.” Ivan stated frankly, an unreadable expression on his face.

“Sorry, Captain.” Immy said, smiling as she looked at him. It was a gentle smile like one offered to someone who had been kind to them. “I wish it were under better circumstances.”

“Me too.” He said simply, but not unkindly, before turning to the three of them. “So you can’t delete her. How are the rules working then? Or do I need to find a way to purge my entire computer core?”

“From the few tests we have run, they seem to be functioning. However,” Ilan began and looked briefly toward the warp core and then back to Ivan, “given the directive is to obey your orders above all when push comes to shove outside one exception, you are the only one that can test that one, sir.”

“Mmm..” he offered with pursed lips, his gaze shifting about the room again as he thought.

“We tried putting a forcefield around the warp core and siphoning out the oxygen with someone inside of it. It didn’t work.” Ilan offered up a simple solution to the question of the test.

“Let’s do the same thing then.” Ivan said before gesturing to the warp core. “Ellis, get your skinny ass in there.”

“Why me?” She asked, raising her brow before doing as she was told, stepping next to the red handrail, and turning around, her skirt billowing with the speed of the turn around her slender caramel waist. “Just don’t kill me.”

“Imogen, raise the force field and siphon all the air from the area.” Ivan commanded, a fascinated expression on his face.

Immy seemed more determined than before, as if she really wanted to follow the order. The force field flashed on immediately and the vents even started to work, but soon her expression turned to one of frustration before she finally gave up.

“Still a nice breeze though, darling. Don’t feel too bad.” Nairobi said before offering a good-humored but smileless turn of her head. “Shall we see what she can do?”

“Did you have something in mind?” Ilan asked, distracted by looking at the readings on the monitor.

“We could always have her blow things up, kill animals, or….” She trailed off and fell silent, feeling always ashamed for what she had suggested and what she was going to say next.

“Oh, shit, you’re a genius.” Revana said, her green eyes going wide. “The programming only protects members of the crew. Not slaves from other ships.”

“No!” Immy said, her voice clear and decisive. “If you think I would ever hurt another slave, you’re insane.” She raised her arms and pulled them tight against her in a child-like pout. “I absolutely refuse to do that, and you can go to hell for suggesting it.”

Ilan didn’t comment this time, but the exchange did get her to lift her head and look toward Ivan with raised brows. It would be his decision on the matter of course, and no input from her would change a bit of it.

“Does your refusal mean anything; that’s the real question.” Ivan said before looking to Ilan. “Get a few Delta Quadrant slaves and let’s reconvene in twenty minutes in Holodeck two. We’re going to see how compliant our new ship intelligence can be.”

Immy scoffed and frowned, her small freckled nose bunching up in anger, but she bit her tongue for now.

“Do you have any preferences of which ones, sir?” Ilan asked, resigned to compliance.

“I couldn’t care less, Officer Ocara.” Ivan said in a dismissive tone, but then he considered it again. “Make it as easy on Immy as possible. No children or women, no crippled or old people.”

“Very well, sir.” Ilan agreed. His dismissiveness hadn’t even phased her; she was past being annoyed about such things.

The team did just what the Captain had ordered and had tested Immy’s powers of resistance against killing two Kazon and a Vidiian. She proved quite incapable of resisting orders that resulted in any of their deaths given by any of the crew members. Though she was shaken, Immy would have to get used to still being subservient.

It seemed her slavery would never end.

END