Star Trek: Starbase 777 - residential-square

Lama bounced ahead of the group, he was security after all! He was going to keep everyone secure! With his mind sharp and his eyes focused, he looked back at the group and then back towards the residential square. So this is where people 'lived'? Interesting. Lama had grown up on planets his whole life so he was fully prepared.

Vara hummed as she walked beside Copia with a smile on her face. “Sooo! Who wants to be roomies here?”

1

The residential area had streets lined with trees and grass along the pavements. It looked like a nice area if not a little odd; the architecture of the houses was a strange blend of Klingon, Romulan, and Federation. There were a few people wandering around but it certainly wasn’t as busy as in the market. Someone who looked like a Denobulan headed past, walking a small targ. It had a harness and a lead on like it was an average dog. When walking past, the targ stopped and sniffed around Lama’s feet, then cocked its leg – only to be yanked backwards by its owner. “No, bad Not-Dog! What have I said – no peeing on people!”

5

Okay! So it seemed everyone else was going this way, so so would he! He walked in this sort of clunky armor with everyone else, looking at the Denobulan and rolling his eyes. "It's dog, you know," he said with a scoff. "It's... cute, though?"

Tevis desperately tried not to laugh as he watched the targ almost pee on Lama, and instead continued to walk on ahead, hoping that no more crazy shenanigans happened for a little bit.

Vara blinked at the implications of these two standing in front of her, before shaking her head. “Your uh….dog seems nice?”

“Oh, this is actually a targ!” The Denobulan woman explained (while wrangling said targ back from trying to make another go at peeing on Lama’s feet). “But his name is Not-Dog. I'm glad you like him! See you later!” She then added as the group kept walking on by.

She blinked and whispered. “You know, I don’t think I want to know if that’s also an Undine.” She said with a shake of her head.

4

"Oh. Right, that it is.." Allan blinked, looking at the targ and then shrugging back at the group. "I knew that. Not-Dog is just a stupid name. But also a good one. Names are complicated in general. Mine is easy, but still stupid."

"YIKES!" Lama jumped to the side when the targ lifted its leg and quickly back off to stand beside Allan and away from possibly becoming more yellow than he already was in his armour uniform. "Uh... okay bye," Lama thought it was weird, but whatever. "Not-Dog is definitely a stupid name, and that's coming from the guy literally named after a terran camelid. Yeah, uh, where should we be heading, Allan?"

4

"Oh, towards this," he pointed at the tricorder, and the way it seemed to be telling them to go. "That is what I've been told, at least. By, um, this."

Keeping beside Vara, Copia strolled down with the rest of the group, pausing slightly at the brief targ incident before continuing on. Discreetly addressing Allan, Copia wondered how much longer they had until they reached the generator. "What is our proximity to our destination?"

The tricorder indicated that the source of the generator console was coming from up the street and just around the corner. It appeared that the away team were almost there.

Copia peeked over Allan's shoulder to see the tricorder he was holding. Indeed they were in close proximity! "Ah! Well! I believe we will not have much travel left!"

He nodded, tapping the tricorder screen as if to confirm the information. "Yes! Not much travel left," he looked at Copia for a moment, "Lieutenant."

Copia realized she was slightly intruding before she returned back to Vara's side. "Ah, excuse my intrusion, Lieutenant. It won't happen again."

Vara blinked. “Ensign!”

"Huh what?" Lama was already making his way down the street, ahead of the group yet again. He was a fast walker, what could he say. He looked back at Copia and Vara, utterly confused. "Intrusion? What are you guys doing?"

Copia opened her mouth to respond to Lama but couldn't seem to find the correct words to describe it. See, brainfarts were the epitome of Copia's mental confusion when it came to details or other information that did not compute or did not compute properly. Ah, the curse of taking in information literally and at face value... Copia was notorious for being quite literal.

"What? No, you have not... intruded?" Allan squinted at Copia, quite confused on what she was apologizing for. "Intrusion was what the Lieutenant accused herself of doing. I didn't think that was the case." He explained to Lama.

"Uhhhhh," Lama was scratching his head trying to figure out what sort of missed signals occurred here. "Oh okay, well let's continue onwards," Lama assumed it was nothing to worry about. Just a momentary misunderstanding. As long as everyone was safe. Lama's mind was still open, but he wasn't sensing anything. Maybe he should think of exciting memories? He thought about Taev at the summer beach house party on Mol'Rihan the previous year. Although he was trying to think of something fun, it seemed only his cringe memories were at the forefront. He remembered playing a trap card instead of a monster card during his game with his brother and how badly he ended up losing. It was a rookie move and honestly, even to this day, it kept him up at night. Really, him, a skilled DS player, he played the Eisn trap card and ended up 'burning' all of his own monsters instead of playing his Seb-Cheneb monster card that would have wiped out only Taev's monsters on the field. So cringe for real!

Allan looked at Lama as he followed the security officer, trusting the man to take him where they needed to go. "Hi, umm.." he thought for a moment of what to say as he stepped closer to Lama, "so do you really like the gold version better? I am... somewhat undecided on whether I like mine or the red one better. The red one would match my," he looked upwards, "hair better."

Not too long of a walk later (and without further Targ incidents or running into anyone else), the tricorder beeped to indicate they were right outside of a building that appeared to house the console for one of the generators. The only thing was that it looked like a normal house... And was labelled '37 Kahless Street'.

4

Lama jumped a little when Allan stepped closer to him. He was almost too lost in the sauce of his own thoughts to realise he was being spoken to. "Oh, yeah I like the gold version," Lama replied honestly, pushing his cringe thoughts from his mind. Allan probably didn't remember his match against Taev and even if he did, Allan probably didn't see the event as cringe as Lama did. "Yeah, it would totally match your hair-- uhhh but I like your style now, you're handsome," Lama laughed lightheartedly and waved a hand. "Oh look, we're here-- uh Kahless Street, sounds Klingon," Lama said, clearly a guy who did not do well in xenoculture class.

"Handsome?" Allan asked, almost seeming confused but then smiling anyways. "Thank you! I do like the gold too... is Kahless Klingon? Maybe this thing is broken.." he tapped the tricorder against his hand as if that would get it to fix itself.

Lama's eyebrows raised and all of the alarms went off at Allan's words. Allan may not have been as full of himself as Lama was, but he certainly knew he was handsome and accepted compliments about his looks proudly. This person was... This was not typical Allan. "Dude, your boyfriend is--" Lama was just about to mention Eshen, but then he remembered-- right, Undine didn't know who they were and were actively searching for information about them so they could better impersonate them. Of course, maybe Allan was just confused, but Lama had a plan. "Isn't your boyfriend like some Klingon enthusiast? I remember chatting with him last year, can't believe that dude turned into the moon," Lama shook his head and laughed. "You good with the tricorder by the way? I can help ya out, I'm an engineer," Lama was certainly not an engineer, but he was going to see how much crazy shit he could throw out until Allan said something or ... if he didn't, then his hunch would be proven right.

1

2

"Yeah, my boyfriend is an... I guess 'enthusiast' could be used to describe it, I mean, he is Klingon. So." Allan squinted at Lama curiously. Why would Lama describe Eshen like that? And what the fuck did he mean by 'turned into the moon'? Was that some Romulan phrase he was unaware of that didn't go through the UT very well? "Um. I'm the engineer, thank you very much, but it appears to be working just fine. I am just wondering why it brought us here," he explained.

Add that to a list of one more cringe memory, Lama's suspicions were clearly proven wrong. "Yeah, maybe we gotta go ring the doorbell? You know, see what's going on?" They were looking for a generator which was probably here and of course it was a residential area so they should ring the bell. "Unless this is a Romulan house, then we should go in through the back door, eyy," Lama made a knocking gesture and wiggled his hips as if he were dancing.

Tevis was there this whole time, but he figured he'd let the junior officers take point for a bit in order to get experience, even though he'd jump in at a moment's notice if need be.

1

Allan still was confused at what Lama had said, but decided it would not be best to dwell on it. "Maybe, but ... we should check if anyone is inside first," he said, and then looked down the street. "Wait, I - did you guys hear that?" He asked, turning to Copia, "was it you? It was like - a noise of someone like... a noise.." Very elaborate.

Right away, Copia's head turned from side to side, as she silently scanned around herself for any source of a noise that could be present. "My audio sensor array is not detecting any unusual sounds. Is there something specific I am aiming to listen for?"

"Hmm, yes, it was like... a weird scratching? Very scary," Allan said, gesturing for Copia to follow him. "We should check it out, maybe? Might be good for all of us to. Just to stay safe? What do you think?" He asked to the others.

"Huh? a noise? I don't hear anything, let's just investigate this house, my dudes," Lama wasn't sure what significance a noise had, but he was also aware that shit could go down any minute and was.. Nervous, but he was trying not to show that he was. "I'm like... Romulan, and I hear nothing so.... Yeah."

Copia agreed, turning her head back towards Vara. "Come on, Vara," Copia said before returning back to Allan and Lama, and proceeding forward. Although, Copia did not reach for her phaser like she usually would in a scenario like this. For one, it would be a dead giveaway that she was not a Undine. But two, she needed to remain calm and not succumb to the emotional distress she was undergoing. She, surprisingly, was handling this better than she ever could have handled the New Dawn and the long term bring with Undwari.

4

"Does being Romulan mean you can hear everything? Really, I'm actually worried," he frowned at Lama, then turned around again after a few seconds as if he was startled yet again. "No, come on, that is literally something, um, I do not think.." he swallowed, "that house is really. Um. Bad vines. Vibes. Probably. Or the noise. Something. Am I crazy? Am I supposed to be crazy?"

1

Copia decided to step up instead of being silent. She had quickly realized that she would need to be active instead of passive if she were to prove herself worthy of redemption in the eyes of leadership, especially as Tevis was watching. Copia rolled her shoulders back before taking a breath, centering herself, and assuming a newfound confidence, approached the door while looking back at Allan and addressing him, although quietly and discreetly. "Lieutenant Allen - please, do not panic. Whatever happens, happens, and we will adapt accordingly. But we need to keep moving. Perhaps if Lieutenant tr'Ehweia can hear everything, that may yield an advantage for us as we can proactively avoid any hostiles in the vicinity."

Vara’s writer had certainly not been playing Persona 3 Reload (in stores now!) and forgotten to check their phone! That would be crazy. Vara stood lightly behind Copia. “I trust ya Copes, but this place is giving me the heebie jeebies.”

1

2

"See! You get me," he smiled when Vara confirmed what he was trying to get across. "I'm not panicking, I just think we should maybe try to figure out what is going on with our surroundings before we go knock at a house is all. For all we know, that noise could be somebody tracking us and then if we're inside a house, they can just surround us and we would have nowhere to go. Which ... not good, I think?"

Copia took that opportunity coincidentally to give Vara a little bit of a challenge. If Tevis could let the junior officers have the spotlight, why shouldn't Vara have a chance to shine as well? "Perhaps this is a perfect circumstance for analysis by our resident intelligence officer and former thief! Vara... do you notice anything out of the ordinary with this house other than what we have already established, and are there any signs leading to this house possibly being a trap?"

Vara smiled at her name, flipping over Copia with pizzazz and flare before taking a look around with a hum, basically casing the home as if she were trying to rob it, only in this case she was looking for anything….dangerous. “Lemme take a looky…”

2

Copia shot a glance at Tevis, with a smile and a shaking of her head that only spelt out 'Yeah, Vara's definitely done this before...'

Lama's suspicions eere heightened once again at Allan's slip up. He was sure something fishy was up in the Chillis tonight "Yeah being Romulan means I hear everyone. I didn't serve the Navy because of my pretty face-- although I am pretty sure I was the sexiest guy there," Lama winked and smiled to try and mask the immense unease he was feeling. He let Vara look around, although to be honest he wasn't sure they would find any answers looking around. More like they should be looking at each other like some game of amogus. "... uh, I still don't hear anything..."

Allan was starting to get more and more confused by the situation. So nobody else heard the noise. Huh. "Everyone. Really." He said with disbelief, watching as Vara scoped around the house. "The fuck you can."

Vara blinked as she continued her casing. “Yeah it’s like creepily normal in here. I haven’t really found any traps, I would’ve seen cameras instantly, but we shouldn’t discount the idea that the cameras simply take on a more regular appearance, I don’t think I heard anything either, and if the second sexiest person on this team couldn’t hear anything, I doubt I would.”

Copia's eyes twitched like mad, computing all of the possible outcomes of the situation in a statistical framework within her head before her eyes finally stopped twitching and she looked to the others. "The probability that there will be some method of camera, trap or other obstacle disguised as a mundane object within this house is approximately 58.21%. If the Undine can conceal themselves and shapeshift, they must also have methods of concealing their own security measures. Although, since the generator we are seeking seems to be inside this house, the logical solution is to enter. Was there a mention of a back door? Perhaps we may partake in reverse psychology by attempting that. Although there is a probability that the Undine had suspected as much thus making it so we would have to reverse-reverse psychology that and utilize the front door. Or the Undine knew we would suspect we'd already accounted for that, thus requiring us to use the back door in a reverse-reverse-reverse psychology phenomenon. Any way it may be analyzed, logic suggests we must enter the house in some way to access the generator."

"I am telling you! And I'm telepathic too, so like... I would definitely hear some shit," was Lama being gaslit? Were his teammates all actually Undine? Was this all a horrible dream? Lama wasn't really sure what to think, he really heard nothing. Vara confirming everything was 'normal' also seemed suspicious somehow. Copia was behaving equally odd, not as loud as she was in the past, although it could have been because she was taking this mission super serious.... But then again, what if Copia was the Undine? "Y-yeah, I think the back door," Lama did his little knock-knock dance again, still trying to mask his doubt. If his team were all Undine, then he would need to figure out some other way to expose them.

"Being telepathic does not make you hear noises from afar, but okay, tell yourself the fuck how it works," Allan was increasingly getting frustrated with the situation. The way the security officer insisted he could just hear everything was so odd, and the command officer listed off... that was a lot of information, to which Allan decided to ignore and look straight at Vara. "Second? The fuck you are?"

Vara grunted, “And I thought I was the vain one,” She said as she continued to check along the room, while some officers might bristle at the words of Allan. Vara had heard it all before, and didn’t much care about rudeness!

Lama was taken aback by Allan's attitude shift. He didn't say it, but Allan was hot when he wa angry, even if he was an Undine. Maybe after the mission was over he'd ask Allan if he'd yell at him sexily. "I mean like-- okay these are bad vibes, can we all just take a breath and calm down?"

4

Copia realized there was going to be a fight breaking out between the members of the away team! Subconsciously, Copia almost suppressed her emotions so that she could address the situation calmly and professionally. Now, Copia wasn't on anyone's side except Starfleet's. "At ease, Ensign, at ease, Lieutenant," Copia said to Vara and Allan, still keeping her voice down, and not coming off brashly or out of place, in fact, she sounded like a seasoned moderator. "I agree that I am sensing tensions rising. There is a solution that we have yet to find. I strongly suggest analyzing the situation from our own individual strengths, and retaining a level of openness to what is being observed, regardless of who is noticing it. We are a team, after all."

1

Lama looked at Allan and directed his telepathy towards him. Since Lama was only half telepathic, he could not initiate any telepathy with a non-telepath, but if Allan was Undine he would surely be able to reach him. Like ringing someone on their telephone, just to see if they were home.

"If you're the second, who's the third?" He asked Vara. Wasn't it Jem'Hadar who had seconds and thirds and stuff? "Bad vibes? These are not the fuck bad vibes, no, no, maybe you're-" he stepped a little closer to Lama, about to put a hand on his shoulder when Copia spoke up. "At ease to you too," he said as if that was a thing he could say. "Tensions rising. Yes. That. I know a solution," he said plainly, and then he looked away from Lama. Still stood close to him, though, and looked very observantly at some rocks below them. "Maybe. Maybe Lama here can admit he knows he was lying about hearing everyone or whatever."

“Holy shit dude it was a joke that me and Lama had been doing since the market. You are acting like a petulant child acting on his imagination.” She said with a growl. “There were kids in my Romulan orphanage with better emotional control then you’re showing right now!”

Copia stepped in between both Allan and Vara, although she was still calm and collected. "Perhaps... we ought to take a few minutes to recollect ourselves," Copia suggested. "Ensign, with me." Copia took about five paces away from Allan, Lama and Tevis, and motioned for Vara to join her.

2

Lama flinched when he saw Allan move closer to him and took a step back. He was quickly becoming overwhelmed with all of the emotions around him, but he wasn't going to falter! Lama remembered back to what he was taught during intelligence training, how to steel his mind from psonic attacks and keep his own emotions in check. He also remembered getting a few lectures from his Betazoid counsellors about how best to control the warring emotions that plagued so many Romulan minds in particular. "Y-Yeah maybe just splitting up and taking a breathe is a good idea. And I'm not lying, I'm Betazoid," As if Betazoids never lied. "But yeah, let's all take a breather. It isn't worth it if we're going to fight amongst each other, we're all professionals here," And in his case, Lama was a professional sexy detective.

4

Vara growled like a wet cat as she moved off with Copia, and tapped her foot against the ground, “……Sorry.”

Of course Copia knew she'd have to remind Vara of discipline and other formalities when it came to missions like this. But instead of outright reprimanding Vara, Copia was soft and respectful. She didn't want to break up the team further, so instead, Copia chose kindness. "As per protocol I do need to remind you of your expectations in behavior, but that will wait. First I must ask, are you alright?"

2

"Right. Okay." Allan said, choosing to not respond to pretty much any of that, especially not when Vara and Copia had moved away from the rest of the group. In fact, that just gave him and Lama more time to.. hm. He stepped closer again, seeing if the other would again step back as well. "Really, nobody told me that Betazoids have more exceptional hearing! I know about the telepathy, but actual hearing - so I could drop a pin a mile away and you could hear it? Wow, incredible. You should really get an award for that one, Lama."

“Yeah, yeah I’m fine Copes. He was just being a jerk and I couldn’t take it anymore. I work in the quiet, not with….blabbering.” *She said with a sigh * “It’s stupid.” (edited)

Lama did not like the idea of hanging around Allan more, especially not when the other's emotions were difficult to parse. Lama's own paranoia mixed with what was going on with the rest of the group made it hard to pinpoint specific individuals. He had gotten no telepathic response earlier, but he also was aware his telepathy was much weaker than a full telepath and there was a chance 'Undallen' simply chose to ignore his mental phone call. "Uh, I mean like, I'm half Betazoid, half Romulan, hey-- don't patronise me. Uh, please. I'm trying to focus," The energy quickly drained from Lama's face and he looked more serious. Quite a change in demeanour, something that an empath would also sense. "We all gotta be friends," Despite his words, he did in fact step back when Allan stepped closer.

3

Copia leaned in slightly towards Vara while still giving her enough space. This was going to be a bigger conversation than Copia could handle, this would likely involve other officers who were qualified to deal with these sorts of issues. But right now? Those officers weren't here. So Copia had to say something. "Vara, you must not label your fellow officers like that. While I do not condone his behavior, you must not react with that same aggression or label him as a jerk or any other demeaning name. You do not know what he is thinking or experiencing in that moment, you two grew up in very different environments and had very different life experiences. You must not assume he is acting this way with intent, and you must give him the benefit of the doubt." Copia had to tap back into her memories to get the point across to Vara. Difficult memories... but important. "I had to learn this the hard way. Was I justified in lashing out at the Undine simply because they did something questionable and calling me names for unjustifiable reasons? Negative. In fact I plan to tender a full apology to the Undine in the long term brig on 777. And I want to see that same respect and understanding from you. I expect a full and formal apology from you to Lieutenant Allen once we reconvene, even if he does not offer one back. That's not only an order... but it's something I wish to see from you as a friend." (edited)

"We can be friends when you tell me if you actually have better hearing than me or not. Hearing. Not telepathy. Hearing sounds and shit from far away. Are you better than me or not?" At this point, he was just dying to know if such a thing was true, quickly losing the anger and moreso just really, really wanting to know. "Also, should we... check out the back door?"

Vara took a light breath as she looked at Copia. “Fine, fine okay. I’ll offer him an apology and be nice and stuff.”

"Yeah let's be nice to each other- also yeah, I do have better hearing than you Allan. Scientifically speaking," Lama crossed his arms and frowned. "You are fully human and I am Romulan. This is a fact, not an objective opinion. I am not saying you hearing things wasn't real, but it could point to the sound being more than just a simple noise. It could be something that is targetted specifically at you. I know Undine are good at psonic attacks and the like," Lama was trying to be as diplomatic as possible about this, but he wasn't sure why Allan was so caught up on this one subject. He was definitely Undallan, but Lama had nothing but his own hunch to go off of.

Copia nodded at Vara, giving her a smile before gesturing to reconvene with the group. "With me." Copia walked back to the group alongside Vara and addressed Allan. "I believe Vara has something to say to you, Lieutenant Allen."

"Yes, but you understand that saying Romulans can hear everyone isn't an objective fact? It might be better than humans but it sure the fuck is not perfect.." he sighed and looked at Copia, and then sighed again looking at Lama. "If... that was a weird thing to get mad about, and if it is a ... phonic attack? It's best to stick together, sorry," he said and then looked at Copia. "Sure, go ahead?"

Vara took a breath, “I am sorry for snapping at you a minute ago. It was unprofessional and I’m sorry for getting upset with you,”

3

2

3

"I'm not gonna fight with you Allan," Lama shook his head, trying to not get into anymore arguments, especially not after Vara's words. He was happy to hear the apology from Vara and was hopeful that maybe they'd get through this without much more strife. "Thanks Vara, that was nice of you. We don't all have to be besties right now, but we have a mission to complete. What do you guys think our next move should be with this house? Go around the back? The front? There's no more weird noises happening, are there?"

Copia nodded in agreement with Lama and gave an approving smile to Vara. "Agreed, Lieutenant tr'Ehweia. Not only are we expected by our senior officers to act as a team to solve a problem, but as a team member I have the right to expect that from my fellow officers and the duty to maintain that. We must move forward as best we can, and support each other in this endeavor if we are to be successful. As for the next steps, I suggest we attempt to find a back entrance."

"I am too, yeah," he said to Vara, and tilted his head at Lama again, that was so confusing how he never answered the questions. Whatever. "Yes... a back entrance would be the fuck the right move." He started to look towards the back of the house.

Maybe he was a little cold for blatantly ignoring Allan's questions, but Lama knew that if he said anything else, they would have probably been there all day arguing and they had a mission to complete. He began to walk towards the back of the house, foolishly not looking back to see if anyone was following him, he was way too engrossed in his own thoughts. He wondered what Imin or Taev would say if they were here. Well, he knew what Imin would say-- nothing becuse Imin was mute. Taev would have some words, not very nice ones probably.

Copia nodded respectfully to Allan - and was relieved they were able to work as a team again! Copia all of a sudden felt so much more confident in herself... but that wasn't going to distract her for too long, as she motioned for Vara to follow her and Lama back behind the house to look for a back entrance.

Off in the distance now, there was a noise of some footsteps approaching near a corner on the street, and eventually a person came around that corner - Allan. Or someone who looked like Allan, at least! His perfectly gold armor was scratched up a little on the knees and his face was covered in a good amount of [cw minor blood/injury] red blood on his left hand, and more blood that seemed to be dripping down from his forehead, his eyebrow, and his nose and subsequently, onto the gold plating as well. "Hey! Um, that motherfucking asshole right there-" he said, looking quickly around the group and then spotting the Other Him, "is not me, umm - do whatever you need to do to prove it," he hoped he would be able to prove to the team at least that it was him! And was hoping he wouldn't have to show how good of a kisser he was as said proof. Not that he would mind, but his lips were not in peak condition right now having been punched in the face and all. "Like, I dunno, I am that bitch, been that bitch, still that bitch? Will forever be that bitch?"

1

“Oh! Okay! Apology rescinded motherfucker because I was motherfucking correct!” She said as she pulled her phaser on the first Allen. “Or….was I correct? Someone point the shooty stick at the other one!”

4

Lama made a high pitched squeaking noise akin to what a terran llama would make when he saw his friend approaching from the street corner. His suspicions were right and Lama sent a wave of psonic energy towards the person he had suspected of being Undine. As only a half telepath his ability was weak, but he hoped this mental slap would at least stun the fake Allan so he could go and check on real Allan. "Allan!!" Lama then bolted towards his friend, his real friend! (He was still gonna ask Allan to yell at him sexily once this mission was over though-- if Allan was down to do it that is).

4

"Hey! The fuck is going on? I'm that bitch," the Allan now with the phaser pointed at him said. "Someone make me prove it. I can tell you anything. Promise. Like, anything!"

Copia immediately saw the other Allan approaching but still kept tabs on Vara as Vara kept the first Allan at phaserpoint. "At ease, Ensign," Copia said, her commanding voice now present. While she noticed Lama approaching the other Allan, Copia held her phaser up to the first Allan. "All of our first and last names, and our divisions. Now."

Vara blinked. “Copia. Copia, darling I don’t know if he knows my last name. In general.” (edited)

1

The beat-up Allan nodded towards Vara. "Yeah, uhh, sorry, I - don't really... remember last names that easily unless people tell me they prefer that, but uhm.." he offered a weak smile towards Lama, as Lama approached him it would become quite obvious that there was a mix of tears on his face as well.

06:31

Seconds later, the other Allan winced and then glared at Lama, trying to laugh it off. "Guyyys, come on, yeah, I know you guys's last names! Vaguely, but still!"

"Allan!" Lama quickly bent his knees so that Allan could drape himself over his shoulders for support. One good thing about being half Vulcanoid was he had the Vulcanoid strength-- not so much height, but definitely strength. Being 6'2 he was hardly much taller than an average humanoid. Sadly, height was just one thing his Romulan family did not have going for them. "Nope, this is the real Allan! You don't need to prove anything, I know vibes when I feel them and yes, because I am Betazoid and I know! I didn't spend over ten years fighting to stay alive in some hell hole organisation to come out a dummy. I'm smart and confident," Lama pointed to whom he suspected was Undallan.

3

Vara hummed. “Yeah I’m not much of a fair trial gal, and I think the evidence is pretty overwhelming.” She said as she aimed at the non Lama approved Allan. “I can stun and we can like, hide the body?”

4

"Okay, yeah, you Starfleet guys suck. And this is not the fuck my vibe," the Undallan said. "Oh, but Allan?"

Copia kept her phaser pointed at Undallan, and turned it up to its highest setting. "Phasers on max, Ensign," Copia told Vara. "Lieutenant tr'Ehweia, rid the impostor of his weapon and tricorder, please, while we have him pinned." Copia now turned full command mode while keeping her emotions calm and collected. In doing so, however, she cut off Undallan. "Not another word. Now, since you know why we're here, we're going to give you two options. One, you're going to co-operate with no additional terms or conditions of your own stated. Two, we will use whatever nonlethal force necessary to restrain and neutralize you. Either way, we are fulfilling what we need to do."

1

"I can just leave," he said to Copia, as the injured Allan leaned his head a little on Lama's shoulder, "but Allan, you do need to know that everything you were told back there? Totally true. Unlike me. I'm just some guy. But you? You're kind of a crazy deal to them. So uh, watch out or whatever." He attempted to just Walk Away then.

1

Copia wouldn't allow that, however. Undallan knew too much, and he would be able to tell the other Undine that there were Starfleet officers aboard the terrasphere. Copia had to be a leader now. She kept her phaser pointed at Undallan. "One more step, and we will fire upon you. Please, do not make an irrational decision."

Vara blinked as she looked to the real Allan with a bit of “the fuck did he tell you?” look on her face. “Buddy, think about this.” She said with a tsk. “Surely we can come to a mutually beneficial agreement that doesn’t include you knocked out in a closet?”

Lama supported wounded Allan and looked at Undallen with a disgusted look. He felt horrible for not being able to better protect his friend, but at the same time there was no way he could have known. This was no time for Lama to beat himself up over something he had no power to have stopped. "We won't let you hurt Allan anymore," Lama's typically cute face with little white patches that dotted around his eyes and mouth suddenly turned into an angry grimace. "I don't know what you told him, but your game is over," Lama lookd at Vara and Copia, expecting them to shoot their shots now.

3

“Ah, never mind.” She said with a light smirk as she fired a max stun shot at the fella. Her wrist shaking after the shot.

Copia nodded to Lama before partaking in what Lama was communicating for them to do. Copia quickly looked to Vara before... "Fire at will." And Copia began firing at Undallan! (edited)

"In my opinion, it's just begun," Undallan said with a shrug and a hint of a confident smirk that was oddly enough the most Allan-like trait he'd given this entire time, before he passed the fuck out. Like a little domino. But a hot domino, because it still looked like Allan.

4

06:53

Allan definitely could not help but wince when he saw himself get shot and fall to the ground. Yikes. That could've been him? Very weird to think about, and he actually stepped over to look at his now-unconscious self. Kinda fucked up.

3

But Copia didn't stop firing. She let off another five, six, seven shots at Undallan to ensure he was down and out for the count. Finally, she twirled the phaser in her fingers before blowing a puff of air at the end of it like a smoking pistol barrel. "Ensign, restrain the impostor. It's time to continue with the mission." Copia turned to Lama and the real Allan. "Are you alright, Lieutenant?"

Vara blinked at Copia. “Jesus Copes.” She said as she moved forward and grabbed fake Allan by the leg and began to drag him towards the nearest closet in a very undignified manner.

"Fuck," Allan whispered as Copia shot like, seven shots at the dude. He stepped back from her and the impostor back to Lama, instinctively grabbing his arm and not saying another word until Copia addressed him, trying not to watch as Vara grabbed the imposter and dragged him off. "Um... no, but ... it's fine, where's the generator...?"

1

Copia snagged the impostor's tricorder and phaser as Vara dragged Undallan away. "Well, acocrding to his tricorder, the generator is here, although, since he was indeed a Undine, it may very well have been a red herring to bring us to the incorrect location. Does your tricorder yield a similar reading to this one?" Copia said, holding up Undallan's tricorder to Allan.

07:00

Oh, and by the way, Copia was still as chill and calm as ever. The seven-shot thing was just a quick little stress reliever. Still, doing much better than the New Dawn situation!

"Who's Jesus?" Lama asked Vara, a little confused as he was sure that Copia was just named Copia. He knew some cultures had a lot of names, Romulans were one of them, but Copia... Yeah, she went by a mononym. "Anyway, yea the generator is in the house we think, but uhh... Man, I think you need some first aid. Let's get you patched up real fast before we go bustin down doors and taking names like that Terran FBI open up meme," Lama gently lifted Allan off of him so he could grab the dermal regenerator from his pocket. A good security officer came prepared! "I wish we could clean you up but like, there's no washrooms here and I don't think whoever is in that house would let us use their sink."

3

Still holding onto Lama's arm with one hand, he looked at the tricorder with the other, it visibly shaking a little. "Yeah. Same thing - here. Yeah." he said, avoiding eye contact with the other officer as he took a deep breath and turned to Lama, trying to not look too directly at him either, but when he did, it was pretty obvious that the emotions in him were absolutely wrecked right now. Very strong, very negative, very upset - and yet, he did have to keep going, so he said none of that. "Yeah, the um, dermal regenerator, that'll be good, we can just - one of us has ought to have a rag, or something," he whispered, not wanting to talk too loudly right now.

1

Copia nodded at the mention of the tricorder, but when she was able to see Allan's wounds, and heard his voice, immediately her priorities shifted. "Lieutenant tr'Ehweia, Vara, tend to Lieutenant Allen's wounds. I will keep watch and cover you all in case of any other impostors." Copia kept her phaser out, and took a few steps out to ensure that the trio were protected. (edited)

He gave Copia a nod as turned his attention back to Allan. Lama could see the pain in his friend's eyes, which only made him feel worse about not being able to come to his aid sooner. He ran the regenerator over his forehead, feeling awfully strange seeing all the red blood. Red did not click as 'blood' to him, clearly Lama had not seen many injured iron-blood people in his days. "Yeah, Allan.... Is there anything you want to talk about? We have some time," Lama was curious what the Undine had said to Allan. It was clearly not good, but he wasn't sure what it could possibly be.

1

Allan was glad at least for there to be no new blood coming out of him, thanks to the technology of the dermal regenerator. "I.." he paused, and took a deep breath, "I think I could just really use - a hug? If that's okay?" And if Lama said yes, that's exactly what Allan did - hugged the security officer tightly, and luckily the combat armor was hard enough for Lama to not feel the tears coming down onto his shoulder. He'd also been shaking a little at first, but a few moments into the hug that seemed to stop, and after a few moments more he pulled back, giving them a small, grateful smile. "Thanks, um- it was.. a lot, really, but.. I probably should tell it later, it's best to forget it for now, I think? Um, right now also just trying to forget seeing myself get shot 8 times," he laughed, but it was pretty unnerving to watch, still.

2

"Of course," Lama consented to the hug, putting the regenerator back in his pocket for now so he could hug his friend. Lama was half Betazoid and they were friendly people so he had no issue with giving hugs, especially when it was a friend in need like Allan was now. Lama's embrace was firm, but still gentle as he didn't want to risk hurting Allan. Lama probably smelled sweaty, but he didn't think his friend who was still covered in red blood, would be bothered by it. "I understand, yeah totally," Allan's words only made him more curious, but he was going to respect his friend's wishes. He would still keep an eye on him, fearful that the Undine would soon return to finish whatever job they started with Allan... Or the rest of them. "Can you stand on your own? Oh I'll fix your hand, anywhere else got cuts?" Lama asked as he slowly pulled away from Allan so he could get his regenerator out again.

3

"Yeah! Yeah, all good there, my hand - yeah, a little messed up, thanks," he shook his head when Lama asked if he had any more cuts. "Not that I know of, the armor kinda saved my ass everywhere else - including my ass," he said with a laugh, although the laugh caused him to cough a little, his voice being slightly hoarse, so he went back to a small voice volume. "I.. really, thank you."

4

The earlier observation of the house had been correct: there didn't seem to be any odd traps or cameras. It genuinely did look like a nice house with a little front garden, albeit with a strange blend of decor and design from different factions. However, the commotion outside seemed to have alerted the house's occupant - there was a movement at the curtain, and someone peered outside.

"No problem Allan," Lama made a note to talk to Copia about shooting Undallen so many times. A single disabling shot would have done. Anyway, he slowly pulled away after he was sure that he had patched up all of Allan's wounds. He was still a little bloody, but as long as he wasn't bleeding it was fine. "Let's go knock on the door," Lama was completely oblivious to any movement of the curtain and just approached the door and knocked like a normal ass person.

Back outside of number 37, things had started to get a little strange. It appeared that some aspects of the terrasphere's programme were glitching: a couple of buildings seemed to flicker here and there, and a seagull seemed to get stuck in the same spot in the sky for a good five seconds before it started flapping its wings again.

"Thannnk you," Allan said as he was handed the wipe by Copia, wiping it across his face and really trying to get all the blood off, looking at Copia once he had, wiping off his hand then. "All good? Make sure the uh, head's good, tends to blend in with my hair a little." He said as he squinted out at the buildings. Damn, what the fuck was that? Was he seeing shit now?

Vara walked with the rest with a small hum. “Could be the effects of the generator going down?”

One of the houses glitched out and when it tried to reappear, for a moment it was low-poly and horrendously textured, like in an ancient video game. The Denobulan woman they had seen earlier walked by again, but this time, her Targ was walking clipped halfway through the pavement.

4

"Yooo, this is just like the original Skyrim!" Allan said, which he was pretty sure little people around him would understand. Probably no one. "Okay, but uh- probably a side effect of that, yeah, Vara, for sure. Where-" he plugged in the chippy to the tricorder to see what it said.

2

The chippy provided a list of all of the current prisoners aboard the terrasphere - far more than just the New Dawn's crew, and more than Intelligence had estimated. It was also notably named the Visitor List as though the prisoners had voluntarily come on a trip here. Maybe some had. Who knew!

Curiously, Copia strolled to Allan's side to look over and see what his tricorder was saying, although still giving him ample space. When she saw who was on those lists, Copia's eyes widened. Those names... those names were indeed the same 'names' as the impostors on the New Dawn. And sure enough, it showed exactly who they were looking for and more... some of them, especially the Federation, had been there the longest... over 9 months... "Oh no... they've been here a lot longer than I expected. Than any of us expected."

“This whole place is starting to look like if I tried to make a holodeck program.” Lisa commented, looking around at the half-clipped Targs and glitchy houses. The illusion was crumbling around them. She wondered what the place looked like without the generators keeping everything up. No matter. They were here to save the prisoners. “Visitor list, my ass”, Lisa thought. “Visitor list. Really rubs salt in the wound, calling your prisoners visitors. I know Captain Tewari and Commander Cronos… they’ve been trapped here for almost a year. Trust me, I’m going to make sure these kidnappers won’t slip out of our hands this time.”

1

And of course Tevis had been there the entire time, observing and looking out for any major threats, while letting the team work it out, as he was taking care of tactical matters, not hacking and such.

"So I'm good? No more blood?" He asked Copia to make double-sure with a smile, and then shrugged, figuring if he had a little bit of blood on his face it would be okay still as long as the majority of it was gone. "Yeah, the naming fucking sucks. Pisses you off, yeah? So now we have to find ... wait, where are we going next, actually?"

Copia examined Allan briefly, checking for any spots left untreated on his head. Nothing she could see. "Affirmative, Lieutenant. No more blood that I am able to notice. I hope you have recovered somewhat and are feeling better." With a polite smile to Allan, Copia tilted her head at the mention of the 'visitors' list... ergh. That was a real dick move calling it a 'visitors' list, Copia had to admit. "Lieutenant Sanders," Copia interjected. "If I may... I would strongly advise against taking the Undine on yourself. You have seen how vicious and dangerous they can get when faced with an entire team. We must stick together and handle things strategically and methodically if we are to gain the upper hand. I... learned that the hard way." Copia looked at Tevis, her face shifting to that of shame.

4

"I wholeheartedly agree with that Lieutenant...no one should take one of them on alone." He said with a soft smile and a nod to Copia, proud of her maturity and understanding of the situation in that moment. He turned to Lisa and offered her a tight-lipped nod. "I appreciate your enthusiasm Lieutenant, but Copia is right, we need to do this together, as much as we may want to do it ourselves."

1

“Don’t worry, Lieutenant Copia, I won’t be taking them on myself. That would be asking for death. No thank you, I have a skiing trip next week that I would very much like to go on. We’ll take them on together.” This time, they had the luxury of being able to use complicated tactics. Fighting them for real didn’t work last time. But of course Lisa wasn’t going to go alone.

Before Copia could make any suggestions about where everyone should be heading next, as Tevis was clearly encouraging not only Copia but the others to step up and practice difficult decision making skills in a practical scenario, Copia had a different idea. "If I may, sir, before we move on, I believe it justifiable to conduct a quick check-in with the team. Is everyone alright? Not only physically but mentally and emotionally as well?" (edited)

"Both as a Betazoid and tactician, I think that is a fantastic idea, especially as it seems we are no longer in any present danger. I believe going 'round robin' and touching on everyone may work the best in this situation. Please, feel free to facilitate that if you wish." He said, before gesturing for the team to assemble into something of a circle.

1

Copia nodded respectfully and promptly joined into the circle Tevis gestured for everyone to make. "Aye, sir," Copia responded politely before turning to the group. "I understand this may be emotionally taxing for everyone here. Although it may not seem like it, it has been just as much so for me. But if I may, I want to express how proud I am to be on such a competent and skilled team of officers for this mission. Not just for fulfilling duties, but for being here for each other. That I am endlessly grateful for and privileged to be a part of. I want to make sure everyone is alright and if they need anything from the rest of us. I will go last to accommodate everyone else first. Who would like to begin?"

The team might be fine, but their surroundings weren't. Trees were now rapidly changing colour to their autumnul oranges and reds, losing their leaves, and then growing them back again. From up the street there was a cry of "nooo, Not-Dog!" as the targ sunk through the pavement.

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6

Copia's eyes darted around between the leaves and the sinking pavement targ... and all of a sudden she realized that this cozy catch-up would have to wait. "Looks like we will have to postpone this," she told the team before turning to Tevis. "What are your orders, sir?"

"Right now, we need to shelter in place and wait for further orders, and make sure we don't get fucked up by these not-dog glitches. Take some time to just regroup, refocus and clear your minds for whatever is to come next...I'd suggest avoiding any tree climbing too..." He said, hoping to have calmed the spooked android.

2

"Yeah! All good, on the physical front," Allan somewhat forced a smile to Copia when she confirmed he was all clear of blood. He was about to probably respond to the whole group huddle session when Not-Dog tragically fell through the ground, and he gasped, putting his hand to his mouth. "Aw, fuck... Not-Dog..." he nodded at Tevis, going over to him and the rest of the group. "You know, one time I was part of this um, holodeck sim, where you had to become a glitch to defeat the glitches, hopefully... that isn't the case here? Like, it was cool in the holodeck, but this is sorta real. Kinda."

Copia noticed the output from her emotion chip was higher than usual, so she decided to take a breath and counter that so she didn't slip up again. "Understood, sir," Copia nodded to Tevis before turning towards the group. "You heard Lieutenant Commander Pog, everyone. No tree climbing, and regrouping time--" Then Copia heard Allan's remark about becoming glitches to defeat the glitches. "Correct me if I am wrong... but I believe that concept has been explored in the past. Has anyone seen the Matrix films? In order to defeat rogue programs, one must integrate themselves into the program. Is that analogous to what you are proposing, Lieutenant Allen? Or am I misunderstanding you?"

5

4

"Um... sorta, yeah! Like the Matrix pretty much, yeah... but like, I don't want to really insert myself into an Undine program unless it realllly comes to that, for uh. Obvious reasons, right? There's no guarantee you can get out once you get in, there's always the chance of just getting glitched out with the program," with that realization he shivered the next time he saw the trees start losing their leaves and glitching about. "Definitely need to do something other than that. Stay on stable ground... preferably."

In the background, the Denobulan dog-walker continued to cry about the sudden disappearance of Not-Dog. A passerby moved to console them but suddenly started t-posing; it would appear they were a hologram and not a real Undine... And slowly, the pavement below the away team's feet started sinking too.

7

4

"OK, so, to coin a Human phrase I enjoy let's 'get the fuckin fuck out of dodge'!" He said, with only slight panic in his voice, before snapping into action and moving further down the street, hopefully into the direction they would need to be going. "Let's get a move on team one!"

Copia didn't even need to think twice about Tevis's orders to go ahead and start running as well, staying close behind Tevis.

Despite very much wanting to console the Denobulan Not-Dog-walker, he definitely recognized that they needed to get out of here. Or out of 'dodge', whatever that meant. Probably a regional thing he wasn't familiar with, he thought as he stayed at the back of the group - not far behind, but enough to make sure that they were all following along behind Tevis.

It was difficult to know where to go when the world appeared to be falling apart in front of you. Things escalated quickly: leaves dropped off of trees all at once in a sudden shower. Birds fell from the sky. The ground kept opening up, trying to swallow the away team whole – and then just as suddenly as it had escalated, it stopped. Computerised lines appeared in a grid, enveloping the entirety of the terrasphere’s dome… And a new programme began to build from the ground up.

4

2