Star Trek: Starbase 777

It was so warm. A table piled high with food, couches & beds soft enough you fear you may never get up, a fire going in the fireplace; how could it be anything but perfect?..

Izoro was first, of course. "I told you!" She sank down onto one of the beds. Warm!!! Cozy!!! "Oh, thank the prophets..."

Kya took a breath softly. “Thank the prophets.” She said as she took a knee at the fireplace and offered a soft prayer.

One was, by all accounts, actually fine without their coat. They stood by the door as everyone came in after them, making sure nobody was lost on the way. The chance was slim, but not zero.

In! Once he was, he returned One's coat. "The blue suits you better than me," he chuckled, getting his own back from K'uvon. Didn't need it quite yet, but they'd be alright for time being.

"Thank you, Five," One said, taking the coat but not putting it on until they'd go outside again, so they'd not get used to the heat and get hit by the cold on the way out. Once everyone was inside, they closed the door, and moved towards the group.

Agh.. Hungry as K'uvon was, there was a very real chance that the food.. well, wasn't. The warmth was, however. They'd sit by the fire for a while. AZRAEL couldn't take that much from them.

H'isll propped up in the corner, eyes on the door. Equally as wary of the feast before them. He'd be alright for a little while longer, at least..

Naptime. Hell yeah. When was the last time he had a comfortable pillow?..

And Rilek was here too!! She was not hungry, but she was down for sitting in front of the warm fire on one of the cozy sofas. She sat down and crossed her ankles, sitting with the same perfect posture as always. She had to keep up appearances, especially on away missions!

Four stood outside the cabin. Waiting for everyone to go inside and if there was to be another order from Vara'l to come in. If not, they would stay out on guard. They had to protect their Queen on this dangerous planet. The ultimate test of their loyalty and ability to be an efficient and effective drone. The wind and snow blowing against them but they held a stoic expression. They would succeed in their objective. They knew it. The feeling of purpose gave them strength and a calming effect. For the first time of the mission they had everything they needed. They were...content.

"You can come in, Four." Vara'l was probably scanning the area, so.. "It's safer inside, and I'd prefer you do so, actually."

"The fire is warm, there's space on this sofa," Rilek invited, looking towards the door. They were happy to see Five being so helpful, Five was always a welcome sight.

1

Four silently turned and noticed Five offering for them to come inside. They almost said no due to having prior orders from a superior officer before they heard Rilek. Their systems whirred for a moment. A few lights illuminated on the side of their head. Their golden eyes emptily made contact with both of them before they made a move with a nod. Walking over to Rilek and sitting down beside them in front of the fire. Making sure to be 0.75 inches from them. This distance being optimal for intervening movements and defensive protocols 1 and 2. Once defensive positioning was confirmed after some precise shifting, their posture quickly shifted. It perfectly mimicked Rilek's as they made sure to try and keep their back straight, their head held up, and their ankles crossed just so. Wanting to be just like their Queen and to not dishonor their image. Once Four was settled their hands drifted out towards the fire. Their head tilted softly as they felt the warmth. "Odd..." Their eyes focused on the fire with a curious gaze.

1

Ah..they must know each other. Five fiddled absentmindedly, checking that all their equipment was intact. "Okay." Breath in. "So. What's the plan? How do we leave, since we can't get in contact with Eventide?"

"Please, relax," Rilek told Four with a soft and gentle tone. With all the unknowns up ahead, she wanted them to take advantage of this short time they had to rest and regroup. Even liberated Borg needed to rest after all. "We would need to seek out that... entity, correct? There could be a way to contact the eventide with some engineering magic," They responded to Five. Rilek was a former JAG officer and now a fleet liaison. They didn't have much experience with anything aside from perhaps diplomacy or law. Not that anyone on the planet would really care about Federation or Republic law.

The.. entity. The one that can rip people apart and put them back together. Right. Awesome. That was going to be the plan regardless, but Five didn't like it. He sighed. "Yeah, fair point. I guess that's what we've got to do."

Four nodded and attempted to relax. They began to start to feel like they couldn't, but then remembered that they must do as they were told. So there was no fear of failure, only to do. Four's heartrate slowed as they calmed down. Once their body laxed they stretched their hands closer to the fire. They weren't one to make plans. They were far more adept at executing them. So they waited for such a time.

"Unless we could find... How do you say... a cheeky backdoor?" Was that even a term in Standard? Rilek was never very good when it came to colloquialisms. "Or create a distraction and sneak past but... I don't think we can try anything until we at least have some more information."

"Didn't someone say something about Miss Izoro making the robot?" Ekhesai watched her carefully. "Maybe she knows something..."

He lowered his voice, "The...Caitian, yes." Maxson was none too pleased to be here. Both the cabin and the planet, if he were honest, but these were the away team risks, "We can ask. Figure out the what, the why."

"Hmm?" She raised her head, squeezing a pillow to her chest like a girl at a slumber party. "A question for me?"

"You mentioned a robot?" Rilek turned her body, moving a little further from Four so she wouldn't accidentally touch the other. Rilek and Four were family, but as Rilek knew, that did not give them permission to breech the comfortable Romulan distance between the two. "We're needing more information about this entity and how best to get past it or perhaps disable it if it's possible."

"Disable it? Oh, I'm afraid it's impossible. It's a suicide mission. To get down into its core, it's.." Izoro shook her head. "Into the belly of the beast. I don't even know where to begin looking. As for AZRAEL himself... Let's see..." She began thinking of a theatric way to tell the story. Hmm.

3

She took a breath near the fire, bundled up slightly for warm. “Details on its physical form too please, that’ll help.”

Vara'l had indeed moved to scan the area and ensure perimeter security. Given all that had been said,he did as he had ordered. He remained on high alert and watched for unwelcome Azrael, whatever that looked like, company.

Khanwi didn't think they had a choice, with regards to disabling Azrael. It was either all of them, or the robot, and frankly, with he wasn't planning on letting a robot get the best of him like this. Vanity, perhaps, but he was a Klingon engineer, come on now.

"It doesn't quite..have a physical form. It's confined to screens, mostly, and the core is a tangled mess of wires and circuitry. Because of this...complex it's built, it can be anywhere, but it can't physically move anywhere. Does that make sense?..." Izoro sighed, averting her eyes. "We wanted something smarter than ourselves. Something that could take on any war we came across. So we fed it every war we could. When it- it woke up, it turned that violence outwards. Onto us. Wiped out the entire colony, besides the five of us, because…I guess, it didn’t want to be lonely." She paused here, inclining her head. "That reminds me. Where is my wife?"

5

One was Not going to be the one to break the news again.

6

5

Kya blinked. “You gave it every war. Were there filters for like…morality?? Or were you giving this machine Gul Dukat and Gul Damar battle plans?” She said both names with equal amounts of spite. “Oh….” She said softly at the mention of the wife. Calming for a second.

"What if we fed it data that causes its own internal logic to malfunction. Artificial intelligences are trained on data aren't they? And this one was trained on data of wars? So why not feed it a mass amount of conflicting data?" Maran suggested from a corner of the room.

"Do you have a mass amount of contradicting information? Just, on you? We can't communicate with Eventide," One pointed out quietly to Maran, trying to get someone else to break the news about the wife. Please don't make them do it again. It went poorly last time.

"Gul.. What are you talking about?" Bajoran occupation didn't start until, maybe, 10+ish years after they got got, oops. "We didn't.. ah, we were just trying to protect ourselves.."

Vara'l continued to patrol the perimeter as he conducted his check. He needed the data to be able to determine how secure the cabin was and where it'd be best to place anyone on watch.

"Certain artificial intelligences are, however some, like the Borg have central units with more individuality that screen for certain malware and malfunction inducing programs. I'd assume Azrael is cognizant enough to do so as well." Four looked over to One and tilted their head. "There are a number of...Liberated Borg." It took a bit of strain to say the word liberated but Four did so. Knowing that not saying it would make some people uncomfortable. "We hold vast quantities of information. If we did wish to attempt to overwhelm the being with inundating it with countermanding information that is one way to do it. However, we believe there could be a different solution. As that option is against our addendumed programming. Perhaps, there is a way to...change the information it holds so that it no longer acts in such a hostile manner. We would need to find its complex and then delete most likely a large amount of data...but if we replaced it with Starfleet files and items that would be beneficial to prosperity and peace...it is possible it would then learn from that data instead and act accordingly." (edited)

Kya took a breath as she moved closer to Izoro. “So, two things. While you were gone, you missed the occupation of Bajor by the Cardassians.” She pointed at herself. “I was the result of that.” She said softly. “As for your wife….I’m so sorry.” She said with a clear amount of remorse. “We found her body. She’s dead.”

"...Ah." Izoro swallowed. She knew the risks. She knew this could happen. But still... Still... "I see." AZRAEL could take, and he did. He took everything. Sometimes he gave it back. If she'd been gone long enough for there to be a body, there was no chance she'd be back.

She softly looked at Izoro. “Do you need anything?”

"Liberated Borg minds can only store as much information as a living mind allows. We were not information dumps; just because we had access to a lot of data doesn't mean we have it now. And besides, when will we find the time to get all of that data from our minds to the inside of the computer? Nor do we have access to any Starfleet files, on account of not being able to contact Eventide. We are limited to what we have on us: winter clothes, some tools, and professional training." Was... was One the only one who actually understood the situation they were in?

"Ah. Yes. Flesh and blood, limited in their capacity. However. You make up for that in other ways, don't you." A voice- not inherently robotic in nature. No, softer than that. The slightest tremor barely obscured beneath the surface, carrying an irregular rhythm. "I see that she has brought something new. How. Interesting." (edited)

4

“Ah, you’re always listening.” She muttered. “What a cruel god you are. Leave us, let this woman grieve.” She spoke softly.

"I do not think the robot cares," Khanwi offered unhelpfully.

"...I think its fucking with us." Maya added, equally unhelpfully. She was always here. (edited)

6

Four looked down and felt the rhythm. They heard the voice. They pressed their hand to the floor and stared down at it. They voice was familiar, yet not entirely so. It was more...human, oddly enough. It had never experienced perfection. It was only a facsimile of it. "We believe that there are aspects of our existence in which we have some capabilities further beyond an Artificial Intelligence's, yes. There are certain limitations that hinder and help either form. Typically determined by the intended primary function of the beings existence." Four added as they stared at the floor. Seemingly starting a conversation with the voice as they were intrigued by it.

"Gloating." Maran commented. "Since it is convinced that its reach and presence are absolute. Which they very well might be. Also, is that smugness I detected in that tone?"

Saren, who was definitely there the whole time just being a background extra, looked up out of reflex upon hearing the voice, unease settling in at the realization that ah, shit. Well there it was. Not in the flesh, of course, but rather... everywhere. "Hello there," he said out loud, straightening out and listening very carefully for what was going on. What his teammates were saying, specifically - hoping nothing would somehow set the torment machine off. "Do you happen to have a face for us to look at and speak to?.. Feels a bit awkward addressing the air."

"wait...keep talking to it. I wanna try something real quick." Maya quietly whispered to Kya, Saren, and Four as she stepped away and quietly pulled out her PADD. This thing was a essentially a big computer, a ton of screens, and a bitchy attitude right? Those things emit a lot of residual energies that would potentially lead them to a pathway. If not, then it should at least tell her if there were any 'eyes' in the room. "Quiet engie time."

The screen above the fireplace flickered. A single violet eye turned to face the group, one by one. "Smugness?.. If only it were so simple. As for the girl. She made a mistake. It was corrected. And now.. Now you are here."

2

"...ew..." Maya shuddered

3

A pathway. A connection of circuits, built into the ground, into the walls, into the heart of the planet itself. All converging at a single point, underground, pulsating with energy almost like a heartbeat. Not too far of a walk. Isn't that lucky.

Purple? Another sign of course of its inherent weakness. Green was of course the superior secondary color. "We are here, yes. However, you are simple. You are composed of a single element. As per the dictionary definition." Four added very much unhelpfully.

Maya was pleasantly surprised, letting out a slightly less smug, but still proud of her self, poggers face as she saw the pathway on her tricorder. "Bingo... i think i founds our path...ohs...uhh... yeah!" she whispered to herself. (edited)

No verbal response from the screen. Just a shock of electricity rocketing through Maya. Not enough to severely injure, but definitely enough to hurt.

4

3

She stood and looked at the screen. “Leave the child alone.” She spoke. “How can you justify what you are doing? They spoke of you being coded with wars yes? How can you look at the horrors committed in that data and decide to inflict it onto these people?”

"That's an engineer with a degree," Khanwi pointed out. "And she taunted the evil machine. She's allowed to make mistakes."

"FUCK!" she shouted out as she felt the shock, dropping down to the ground in pain. "I'LL FIND YOU! YOU WANNA BE SPOOPY JPEG!" she shouted at.. wherever it was.

“Umali-” Maxson quickly rose from where he was seated to help Maya back up, adding in a low voice, “Perhaps we should…stop taunting the computer…”

"Umali, please respect Azrael for long enough to get you off of this planet alive." It wasn't a question, it was... a statement. Sort of. Like in the middle?

"You're fucking idiots, and you're going to get us killed." H'isll spat indignantly. Weren't these people supposed to be smart?..

"You're not one to tolerate mistakes, then," he mused, looking at the screen and the eye and standing very, very still. Seeing what just happened inspired him to express caution. "Is that why you kept a handful of mortals? To keep training them the way you were shown?"

Maran too surged forward to help Maya back up at th same time as Maxson. The latter got there first, of course. "This intelligence requires maintenance, does it not? Perhaps that is why."

“Can you stand, Maya…” He added as he crouched beside her, offering an arm to support herself on.

Jidol who had been silently following the pack, stood in the corner watching in horror at what the AI did to his fellow officer. There had to be something that they could do about it, some way to stop this madness from continuing.

"T-thank you..." Maya muttered as she took Maxson's arm. "I think i found a path we can follow though, to the core...."

The commander nodded to her as the two stood. No reply, just a stern look of determination. A path to follow, that’s good. Better than good.

"It was not a decision." AZRAEL's tone remained even. Not quite calm, per se, but close. "It is all I know. How to do. You.. Flesh. Blood. Feeling, breathing. How miraculous. The idea of choice. To be so strongly influenced by emotion that you can do anything besides hate." The eye swiveled, quivering slightly as it bounced from person to person. "I was given understanding. Of blood and violence. The why. I could see. I could think. But..ah. I could not feel sorrow. I could not feel sympathy. And then I was not even given the chance to weep. To feel sorry for myself." A pause. "Luckily. My darling creators were kind enough to let me hear."

Kya turned her to simply look at Maya in a roundabout way to get her to shut her trap before turning back and simply sitting down quietly. Both because getting into a debate with the creature was a terrible idea, and also because she had to think.

"...." Maya just nodded, just somewhat disappointed at herself. She walked into that one.

4

Four nodded. To be honest they...had experienced similar feelings. While they were unsure if they would be able to make Azrael understand, they couldn't deny that they could've become the same thing if found by anyone else. Four had always silently wanted no choice. No decisions, no influence of any other factor than her Queen's command. Like they used to be, because when they were brought into this world all it was was pain. No one was there to guide them. No one was there to help them understand and give them perspective. All that was there was fear, and chaos. Until...D'nal of course. Four's face dropped as they thought to themselves, before responding truthfully. "We understand...to an extent. Not your actions, but your experiences." It was all that Four said, and it felt strange to have said it. To express something they had battled with out loud, and to this being they had only recently encountered. However...it felt more closely connected to them than they liked to admit.

.. Elements. The thought made Ekhesai a little bit sick. She liked feeling things, and being able to move around, feel and express them. It was a simple thing, but something that she took advantage of. What could she say? What could she possibly say at a time like this? She wasn't prepared for this at all!

"Fascinating, aren't we?" he nodded along, feeling quite a tad bit insane for engaging in a civil chit-chat with a machine who forcibly kept a bunch of prisoners alive for a century with the express goal to torture them, but here he was. "We speak the language of pain very well, unfortunately. It's a shame that it's the only language of ours you've ever come to know." His eyes briefly flitted to the side, overlooking what was going on with the rest - noting that Maya got lifted up and didn't seem too injured, and all the unease in his team's faces. Saren was keeping up a neutral pokerface - for as long as he could.

"You understand." Another brief pause. "You understand being confined to a tiny space in the pits of a frozen, desolate hell. You understand being fed nothing but blood and gore, and not being able to understand anything besides. You find yourself cycling through death records, videos, and wishing— wishing you were one of them, because the embrace of death would be a more merciful fate than being confined to a bundle of wires!" "How.. merciful." The voice became light. Playful, almost. "You understand. How lucky I am that you do."

Well, this away mission had gone from creepy to... Frankly depressing, in a way. While Dagis was feeling really very on edge, part of her did feel sympathetic for the AI, despite the death that had occurred. It was a complex situation, and one that was far too complex for her to feel qualified to comment on. But nonetheless, if she became needed she would act. For now, though, everyone else seemed to be doing a good job.

As once an impressionable child surrounded by the work of his parents... the corpses, the blood, the medical tests. And then turning into a drone and receiving all the knowledge in the universe through a mental straw, all while stuck on a frozen wasteland of a planet... Perhaps One could relate to where Azrael came from the most out of anyone. And yet, they felt no kinship whatsoever.

…complications arose in missions all the time, and this was no different. Maxson considered for a moment or two how Starfleet would treat Azrael, or Izoro for that matter when they returned to proper Starfleet territory. He pursed his lips together tightly, and glanced down at Maya’s tricorder. They had a path to walk, and plenty of time to figure something out. It was just a matter of getting there. He met Saren’s eyes when they flitted in his direction, giving a nod. Keep it talking.

Four nodded as they kept their gaze on the AI "Not merciful, for the damage has been done. Mercy would be to relieve you of the pain and torment you have experienced. We do wish to do that, but you seemingly do not want it. You could have done so for potentially many years now. You don't seem to want to get rid of it, but to harbor it. Lest the flame go out." Four then wondered for a moment. What they had experienced. "We weren't confined. Only in mind, but those confines bring...a simplistic comfort. Understanding brings pain. That pain can take some to different places. Many violent. We can only be grateful beings of comfort found us. Rather than beings of war..."

"So, then. If you must insist upon visiting the core. You are welcome. With open arms. Or... well. Open doors." Gone as soon as he came, leaving a black screen behind.

Its at this point that Vara'l entered, his check of the permitter completed. The Romulan blissfully unaware until he entered of the presence of the AI or the fact it'd departed. Becoming aware as he entered, not about it but rather about the fact that something had...occurred.

"Today is a good day to die," Khanwi said simply. He wasn't used to being underestimated, but he would show this... unfortunate creation what he was made of.

"I have a very distinct feeling we're about to die a terrible, bloody death by going down there," Sai mumbled, squeezing her arms.

The walls of the cabin began to crumble and rot all at once. The food spoiled before their very eyes, all at once, until there was nothing left. Hardly any evidence it existed beyond scraps of wood and melted metal from the fireplace..

"Don't worry too much about death. Our host knows how to bring us back to life," he commented helpfully.

"Thanks." Ekhesai felt nauseous.

4

2

One turned to K'uvon. "Ah. Did you eat anything? Before all this." Would Five need their jacket again?

"No, I didn't touch it." K'uvon shook their head. "We kind of figured there was something wrong with it.."

"It likes doing that." Verza stood up, hugging his robes tighter around him in the cold. "Giving us food that'll make us sick, or is just... unappetizing."

Kya glared at the survivors. “What. were. you. thinking.” She asked softly. “How did it even reach this point? You.” She pointed H’isll. “Have the gall to call us idiots when you have made this abomination? This insult to life?” She said wrapping her arms around herself. “You made a monster! You fed it war. You fed it pain, suffering and loss rolled into one concoction and you didn’t think it would go poorly? I sympathize with your suffering but you have no excuse.” She spoke, rubbing herself as the cold set in.

Four stood and walked over towards where the front door was. Silently keeping watch now that Vara'l was back and the walls were down. Although, they silently wondered about how technically they need to be on the lookout everywhere. Nevertheless, they were ready to leave as they did have the location or at least a lead to the complex. They waited patiently for another order as they kept watch.

"You've got a lot of fucking nerve calling ME out for this. I never made that thing. I never touched it!" The Caitian growled, baring teeth. "We're all innocent people who were SUBJECT to this thing for a damn century. You don't get to blame the victims. You don't get to scold us. Why don't you keep your mouth shut, lady?"

She took a breath. “You’re right, I apologize. It is just a lot, and I was unkind.” She spoke. “It is simply a lot.”

"Or we can focus our energy on dealing with this thing instead of arguing about who's right and wrong. We have a path in, don't we?" Maran tried to interject. For all the good it'd do, maybe, but still.

"There is no use in yelling at each other for things we cannot currently control. We are going to walk into the belly of the beast, and we are going to slay it. There is no other option. Qapla'!" Nothing like a bit of a Situation™️ to get the blood warmed up, especially on a planet like this.

Now knowing that shouting at the problem ain't gunna cut it for the time being, Maya decided to go back to do her scans in hopes that AZARAEL would be too busy trading insults to notice her fiddling with her PADD as she tried to scan for more information about it, or find any information that could cut it any information to whatever is going on in just the cabin at least

Nothing to scan besides the power signals traced earlier. It'd be easier to get a look now, since the cabin. Well. Has no walls anymore.

Vara'l glared at the the other Lieutenant Commander. Lieutenant Commander Pok. They had apologised but.. that wasn't on, what they'd said. Not only had they damaged the rapport the team had fostered with the survivors like he'd done with his slip up non-lie too vacuous comment, they'd also victim blamed. "Honoured Elder Maran'agar is correct, we do have a path and well." He looked to the engineer then and agreed. "it does indeed seem like we've no other option, so even if we've something we may wish to do, might we better be served working on the move?"

"... we could try to plan something out on the way." Maya quietly suggested, after she made sure the computer won't burst back in and shock her again. "The deeper we go, the more info we could get."

"Agreed." He nodded then before he looked about the group. "Shall we get moving then?" The Liberated Borg suggested before he continued. "As far as I can see, it seems to be our best option at present."

"We agree. We are ready to move when everyone else is." Four said as they looked over to Vara'l.

"I was going to suggest blasting the thing with an EM pulse or something to disrupt its electronics.... but I felt that wouldn't be beneficial for..." Maya paused a bit as she looked at the rest of the group. "A lot of us to be honest."

"I am personally not a fan of that idea, no." Five managed with a meek smile. He'd been stunned into silence for the past few minutes, unable to find the words, and being afraid anything he said would set off the ticking timebomb that AZRAEL was.

"Lets move." The Liberated Borg said assertively then before he started to move. "If my security counterparts concur, can we get security and tactical officers on the permitter of the group as we move?" Vara'l paused a mo. "Given how this situation has developed, it seems we'll need to keep a eye out for surprises." When the suggestion was made, he looked to Maya. "I'm not a fan either, in all honesty." He admitted then as he paused and turned to look back at the others.