Star Trek: Starbase 777

After making a quick comms call to the Eventide, Sadhbh walked into the New Dawns brig unsure what she would find.

Senang followed after the Commander, hand on his phaser. He didn't know what they were walking into, but he didn't want to be caught by surprise by anything.

The brig was laid out in a similar way to what you might find in a Starfleet ship. A central area housed a workstation for a guard or two, and surround it were a multitude of holding cells. Only one of them had a holofield up, given that it was occupied. A lone figure stood in front of the screen, posture taut with tension – and the person inside was cowered back, appearing afraid.

Said lone figure wore a displeased grimace on her face, lips pulled back slightly to show just a sliver of needle-sharp Reman teeth - a sure sign of the COS being in a very, very bad mood. "...Let's try this again," she uttered out, voice nasally. "Because I've got a feeling you either don't understand me, or refuse to do so. Alright? Now, why did you send out that signal? What made you think that it was a good, frickin', idea, to--" Her ramble, one that was slowly but surely rising in both volume and intensity, was cut short when Sioturik heard the telltale swoosh of the brig doors opening behind her back. The Reman turned around, movement sharp and ready, only to see... fellow Starfleet officers? "...Can I help you?" Sioturik eventually said, tone of voice polite, but not enough to hide just the tinge of annoyance that she felt at being interrupted like this. Damn it, what now? (edited)

"And you are?" Sadhbh asked, questionngly. She have the Reman a look up and down trying to decide if she was a threat or not. She stood tall with her back straight standing in an authoritative pose, with her rank clear to see to the COS.

Senang, too, squared his shoulders, but didn't otherwise respond. He'd take lead from the Commander here, and protect her to the best of his abilities.

What was this, intimidation tactics? Oh, two can play that game! Sioturik also stood tall and proud... for as much as her not that impressive height could allow. Damn. "Arrain Sioturik, Chief Security Officer of AFS New Dawn, at your service. Although currently, my service is needed with much more pressing matters, if you don't mind?" she jerked her bald head towards the shrunken figure behind the holofield, darks lips pursing, "And I would really like if, with all due respect to you, Commander, you weren't here to divide my attention from this, for the sake of this ship's security." Then, suddenly, her glance turned into a suspicious glare, shoulders squaring up. "Although I am not even sure why you lot are here in the first place..."

"In fact I do mind Arrain, I'm here to have a chat with the person you seem to have scared into a daze." Sadhbh stated plainly. Her eyes boring into the Arrain's soul as she judged just why a fellow officer would be in the brig for a minor infraction. "See, I thought this communications officer would be in their quarters or at their post. Locking them in the brig is a bit of an overaction don't you think." Sadhbh stated rethoricly.

On the other side of the holofield was the comms officer – not that they could confirm who they were at present, but the golden patch on their uniform made it likely. They remained shrunk back in their cell as much as possible, but there was a glimmer of hope in their eyes now… Reinforced by this Starfleet Commander with the nice blonde hair standing up to the COS.

"In fact, Arrain," Senang added, her voice calm and confident as they spoke, "we must speak with you as well, as part of the protocols surrounding wellness checks after a distress signal." Was that even the case? Senang wasn't entirely sure, he hadn't run a check like this before. Most distress signals he'd historically been sent to respond to were sent for far clearer reasons. It seemed to be what everyone was doing at the moment though, so it probably wasn't too far off the mark.

Upon not receiving any of their names, Sioturik shook her head. Nevertheless, she continued standing her ground, face impassive upon the mention of the ensign and the signal. "So you're here to investigate that? Funny, because that is my job that I was in the middle of doing, before, you know... you came in," she retorted. "I have no idea why you've decided that this officer would be in their posting, but, whatever. I do not consider a potential saboteur in a brig all that extraordinary." Her face then adapted a more thoughtful expression, as if the COS was really considering the information she was willing to tell these people, and the Reman crosed her arms: "I will not go into much detail because I doubt you are allowed to be nosy about going-on's of a ship that you do not belong to, and I doubt that our Captain would be happy about you messing up my investigation, one that was supposed to be carried out in private. I'm already being awfully homely by letting you stay here for that long, you know?" The Reman then looked upon them with determination in her dark eyes, arms unfurling to hold onto her belt: "I am doing what is right here, capric-- capris-- capisce? As a Chief Security, I strongly recommend you to leave my brig now."

"My job is to investigate why a fully functional starship sent out a distress call when they obviously weren't in distress. 'Allied fleet regulation 27.19 section 5 paragraph 3. In the event of an anomalous distress call the responding starship or base shall have full authority to investigate the situation as they deem necessary'. As the Executive Officer of the responding starbase I Commander Sadhbh Ní Dhúill have the full legal authority to investigate what's going on here as long as I deem it necessary, and I deem interviewing you both separately absolutely necessary to my investigation." Sadhbh had made up the regulation off the top of her head, however she stood tall and projected her voice just as she would if she was citing a real regulation. Hopefully her bluff was enough to get the COS to back down. "Now you can either listen to me and I can be out of everyone's hair as soon as possible or I can wave a lot more red tape and get us stuck here for the next two weeks going blind on paperwork." Sadhbh hoped that Lieutenant Senang and the Comms officer would pick up on her bluff and back what she was saying so it was more believable.

Senang absolutely knew fuck-all about Allied Fleet regulations, and was absolutely going to take the Commander's word for it. They hoped the Arrain would back down soon, because she wasn't keen on staying here for another two weeks. Instead, they stepped forward a little, past Sadhbh but not in front of her, rather to the side, to look at the officer behind the holofield. He wanted to assess their state, if they seemed beaten and bruised or only frightened by the Reman's (rather unprofessional) conduct.

It didn't seem as though any physical harm had come to the officer. Frightened was certainly the correct term, however. Iso themself wasn't sure if anyone could go a shouting match with the Chief Security Officer and not be terrified. She was an imposing woman, quick to anger... And this was by far the angriest that they had ever seen her.

Unlike maths, Eshen knew a whole lot about Starfleet regulations, which is how he knew what Sadhbh was saying was either a bluff or something he'd missed; either way, best to completely go along with what she was saying. "Yep - we're legally allowed to be nosy!"

Her reaction, while not explosive, was still a rather passionate one - and begun with a sound of her sharp teeth clicking and then gritting, sound not unlike two rocks would make while grinding against each other; the short Reman's stance switched to a more offensive one, as if she was fully prepared to duke it out 1v3, her palm visibly curling around a weapon on her belt: "Yeah? And how do I know you're not here to fuck up the ship, too!?" she snarled at an impressive volume for such a relatively small body. "I don't want to call security on you, people! Last warning! Get off my lawn!"

"Ma'am, you heard our Commander. The quicker you work with us, let us ask our questions, the sooner we'll be out of your hair." Poor phrasing. Honestly, he should have known better. "And that includes questions to the Ensign in your cell, preferably in an empty room where they cannot be further influenced by outside forces." Senang tried his best to be placating, and nice. He knew he could take the Reman if it came to it, but he didn't want to have to. (edited)

Eeeeuurgh. His sensitive Vulcan ears did Not like that teeth clicking-grinding sound. Aside from a slight ear-twitch, he kept his cool, though. "You won't get much further with the prisoner, anyway. Confessions made in custody are inadmissible if they're not informed of their miranda rights, which they may well be - but in that case, the prisoner will also know that they have the full right to stay silent, and if the prisoner should choose to verbally affirm that right -" He looked over to the prisoner and waved to catch their attention - "Questioning must cease immediately until they have an attorney. In other words, we have the right to be nosy, but if the prisoner should choose to invoke their rights, which in their best interest they probably will in the next five seconds, you don't."

"As you can see you don't have any legal authority here." Sadhbh said seemingly unphased by her screaming, in actuality Sadhbh was a bit deaf from her time on Cestus III so loud noises didn't do much to phase her. "Best to step aside, or you know. Two to three weeks of paperwork." Sadhbh decided to double down on the threat of paperwork, because who wanted do deal with that. (edited)

Clearly there was a moment where she genuinely considered the throwdown, but... a few tense seconds passed, and the Reman's stance deflated, a weary, frustrated sigh leaving her. Sioturik gave the group, specifically Sadhbh, a tense glare, before stepping aside: "Hope you know what you're doing," she uttered. "Don't try anything stupid, yeah? I am still watching you..." She briefly paused, only to turn towards Senang and point an accusatory finger at him, "Also? Rude. Bald is beautiful."

Iso wasn't sure who Miranda was or how they had anything to do with everything that was going on today, but they'd take it given that it had convinced Arrain Sioturik to step aside. It took a lot of convincing to get her to do anything: from what they had observed, she was always very set in her ways. Iso had been convinced that they were going to be locked up here forever - or perhaps worse - until these newcomers had arrived. They were thankful that their distress call had worked and that the ship responding hadn't left... And equally, they were feeling thankful for the sight of Starfleet uniforms. They missed those.

Eshen approached the brig. "Sorry, I don't think we can get you out of here, but maybe we can still help - what was that she said about a signal?" He hoped they'd be more forthcoming to someone obviously on their side. "Oh, and - what's your name? I'm Eshen K'Tann."

Unlike how they had cowered while Sioturik was in front of the holofield, this time they eagerly stepped forwards to speak to this person. In the back of their head they considered that it could be a ploy – maybe these were members of the crew they hadn’t met before, dressed up in Starfleet uniforms to try to trick them into a false sense of security – but it was worth the risk. With any luck these people were real and had responded to the signal. “I'm Ensign Isoabbih Gaal,” they stated, voice a quick whisper. Hopefully the COS wouldn’t be able to overhear. I'm the officer who sent the distress call. You answered it, right? You’re – you’re real Starfleet officers, not some sort of trick?"

"Hi, Isoabbih." He spoke in a low, quiet voice - very ASMR. "One hundred percent real." He didn't really have any way to prove that, but... Well, maybe explaining the sequence of events a little would help? "We were on Starbase 777 when we got it, and we came here, but the Captain was strangely averse to any sort of assistance. It seems many people on this ship are behaving oddly. Was that what your distress call was about?"

Black Betazoid eyes brightened up. It wasn’t as though there had been any proof that these officers were real, but the mention of a real Starfleet station was good enough. They had been there once, years ago, so they were well aware that Starbase 777 was a real place… And as they recalled, it had been in the sector that the New Dawn was currently travelling through. That could be proof enough. “The distress call was about that, Mister K’Tann, sir. That people are acting oddly. It’s some of the senior staff who are on the bridge a lot. They’re… All different. Their personalities aren’t right. And it’s not just them being strange, it’s... Hard to explain. I’m Betazoid. I know there’s something different. Something bad.”

Eshen nodded and affirmed, "I believe you. We believe you." He hoped that was validating to hear. It seemed like some members of the crew were probably getting a little gaslit - told what they'd noticed wasn't real and they should stop stirring up trouble. "The real question is what exactly we should do about it. Do you have any information you think might help us? We need concrete proof."

The comms officer perked up even more at the reassurance that their claims were being believed. The last traces of fear flickered away from their face and was replaced with a look of hopefulness… Only for it to vanish again mere seconds later. “Proof? I… Uh… I… Uh… I…” It was pretty easy to interpret that as ‘nope.’ “N – Not anything concrete, Sir, but… I’m telling you, something is wrong. The sense of deceit is so strong on the bridge that you can basically cut through it! It’s not right, I swear, I promise.”

"Is there anyone in particular you feel is unsafe?" Senang asked quietly, turning halfway to face Isoabbih while keeping an eye on Sioturik still. He wanted to be involved with the questioning, but he also didn't want to let the Reman out of his line of sight, in case she tried something.

Hmmm... They had a Betazoid of their own who'd felt sick immediately upon entering the ship. Maybe he got the same wave of bad vibes. He was about to ask if there were any people they thought were acting particularly off, but Senang beat him to the punch. There was an obvious pattern forming of who exactly the people acting oddly were based on what the group had found out by speaking to other people, but it would be good to narrow it down further. What they would do after that, he was unsure. Corner each person one by one and demand they explain everything? That would almost definitely lead to a confrontation.

“The Captain, First Officer, Chief Tactical Officer, Chief Operations Officer, and…” Their gaze wandered past Eshen’s head to where Sioturik was still lingering in the background. The last person was obviously her. Suddenly, they became acutely aware that the COS could potentially overhear. If Sioturik was in league with the others who had all been giving off the same sense of deceit, then that may have been some sort of tip-off if she had heard. Hopefully Iso’s whispering would have been quiet enough. They hushed their voice even further, now barely audible. “The Captain and Commander have always been like that, right from the start. The others? They were fine, but at random, their personality would change. I noticed it after the second person, and I figured out it was after we had done things like gone to certain trade posts or picked up resources and things. I don’t really know much else, though… I didn’t know how to investigate, and I didn’t want to tell anyone else other than my friend from Engineering in case word got back to the bridge crew. That’s why I had to go to someone outside of the ship – to you.”

He followed their gaze and surmised that #BaldIsBeautiful was one of the suspects, too. Yeah, that matched up with the information they had. Senior staff acting oddly, influencing others, refusing to attend their physicals... He suspected the whole group had worked out what might be going on by now, but he wished he had something like physical evidence or some kind of log confirming it. Maybe he could ask Allan to hack into one of the terminals? He wasn't sure if that was allowed without reasonable cause, though. "I see... Well, thank you, that's helpful. Do me a favour and invoke your right to an attorney and then remain silent, yeah? You don't have to answer any of her questions." He also would've liked to ask who their friend in Engineering was, but then if Sioturik heard that, they might end up in a cell, too.

Out loud, Senang agreed with Eshen. He would also not undertake any rash actions until he had no other options left, and so went to flank Sadhbh. Privately however, he found that the shortest way from A to B was a straight line, and taking care of this Reman right here to be able to question them would probably be quicker than whatever course of action proper protocol prescribed. However, such was the pain of being an officer. Occasionally, and especially in delicate situations like this, you had to do things by the book. At least mostly.

Silently they said a prayer to the Great Bird of the Galaxy that these Starfleet officers would do something with all this information, whatever that something may be. They swore they weren't simply paranoid, swore they weren't stirring things or being stupid. Betazoids knew how to trust their instincts when it came to the emotions that other people gave off, and their instinct had been telling them that there was something bad about the bridge crew for months, steadily getting worse. "I'll do that when the Arrain comes back over... But there's no guarantee that she won't just stand there and shout at me while I sit in silence." They probably shouldn't have said something like that about a senior officer regardless of whether they were suspicious or not, but she really had been shouting before. "Thank you for your help, sirs... I hope you manage to use the information I've given you." Really, really hoped. (edited)

"Alright. Stay safe, Isoabbih."

Then he and everyone else departed the brig back to meet up in the corridors.