Star Trek: Starbase 777 - entertainment-promenade

Maggie would be skipping if they could, feeling absolutely on top of the world despite the headache buzzing in the back of their head. Right now, they were on the eager lookout for anyone they recognized — they wanted to see their friends, practically itching to do so!

Melody, meanwhile, was just sitting on the entertainment promenade, not really doing anything. In her mind, she didn't... What? What was... Her mind? Melody couldn't even form coherent thoughts. She had these urges that... Huh? Nothing made sense. Especially not the words she'd utter aloud, to herself mostly. "What loses its head in the morning but gets it back at night?" With the headache in her head pounding, she couldn't do anything else but stare out into space.

Saros was in full gear, gloves, and mask as he arrived at the entertainment promenade. He was here to help contain panic and support any civilians following protocol. He had a duffel bag with him full of gear for civilians who may be caught and a phaser in the other hand. Once on the promenade, he scanned the area ."Starfleet Security, please calm down!"He yelled out

Well, Starfleet was clearly going wrong. Sooo Vara was dressed in her civilian attire with a briefcase (would Timi notice if she ditched? Nah, he was probably high on whatever supply the rest were). That was when security appeared. “Shoot.” She muttered, there goes the escape from the plague plan.

Noticing the security officer and intelligence officer, Melody's head WHIPPED towards the voice, as she rose to her feet, as if like a provoked animal. And then what came out of her was the most evil, menacing, and unsettling cackling laugh. A laugh you almost thought would NEVER come from Melody. Melody slowly began the long trek towards Vara and Saros. "Behold! She is singing to bring down the chandelier!" (edited)

“Hey hey hey wait a second! Security guy, tackle her!” She said as she quickly leaped over a few tables with perfect grace. “I don’t wanna get plagued!”

Before she took on an entirely new behavior, bringing her arms up and swinging them around, almost clown like. "We all float down here, Georgie," Melody said. "We allllll float."

Maggie climbed up onto something to get a higher vantage point, watching everything hit the fan, watching the promenade start to go wild with chaos. "To freedom! To rebellion!" Maggie shouted, holding their wand up in the air. "TEAR THEM LIMB FROM LIMB!" With that, the promenade ERUPTED in a stampede of civilians running every which way EXCEPT where they were supposed to go.

5

Melody turned to Maggie, looking up at them with a satisfied smile, and saluted them. "Aye aye captain!" Before she turned back to Saros and Vara. "The guy who didn't like muuuuusicalllllss! Yo what the fuuck?!" She began singing.

Saros looked at Melody as he put a hand up as he said. *"I-"He saw the panic as he tried to grab the officer that was closest to him.* "We must regroup, and gather reinforcements. Follow me" He said trying to avoid the absolute chaos

Vara flipped and leaped towards Saros. “Hey! Any shuttles working? Can we just run please please?”

Farrah had been listening to Maggie, the Frenchness coursing through her artificial veins as she heard the call of REVOLUTION- and then she remembered she was also a Starfleet officer, and it was actually her job to keep the peace. "Ah, merde," she said, before using her superior height to look for officers that weren't infected and currently causing problems.

3

Revolution? Well, there was only one thing to do here... Melody ripped off her baker's hat and waved it in the air. "Do you hear the people sing?? Singing the songs of angry men!"

Saros raised his eyebrow as he said."The station is under lockdown, we have to work together and figure it out or else we're next. " With that, Saros called for reinforcements

Vara leaped towards the security officer, ending up on Farrah’s shoulders before rolling off to scamper away. “Can we can unlock it down, leave, and then lock it right back down?”

"I am not a springboard, putain, ask before flipping off of people." She wouldn't have minded, really! "It is our job to help, so let's get inside somewhere and check what the best course of action is." They couldn't leave this alone, people would get hurt.

2

Before all of a sudden, in her own corner of the promenade, Melody crawled around on all fours, and hollered out, "I'm a were-epohh I'm a were-epohh I'm a were-epohh I'm a were-epohhhhhh!" (edited)

“I’m sorry! Don’t wanna get plagued, Head of Intel told me to do it!” She said as she leaped up and crawled up to the top of a table. “Normally love revolutions, but this one isn’t cool!” (edited)

As Melody watched Vara climb up to the table, Melody called out to Vara. "You were the chosen one! It was said you would destroy the sith, not join them! Bring balance to the force, not leave it in darkness!" (edited)

Alright, this was getting too confusing for Farrah's suboptimally programmed brain. She pressed her commbadge, intent on getting as many reinforcements to the area, in hopes that this could maybe hopefully be controlled somehow.

With her daughter in tow, Erra raced into the entertainment promenade, looking around, seeing the chaos going on. "What the hell is going on in here?! They've gone mad, all of them!"

*Saros looked to Farrah and to the growing group * "We have too establish control. People are in a panic. We'll establish a line by the jeffrey tubes and start moving forward; don't get touched. Phasers set to stun"

Essen was not far behind. She and Erra both wore masks, gloves and other PPE. Essen kept her eyes sharp. "This whole place has turned into the fuckin' purge!"

Lorren: Oh dear. Extra security has been called down to the promenade, something big must be happening over there. The fresh ensign straight out of the Academy, Lorren Premek, was on his normal duties patrolling the halls of the Civilian Quarters, but with that call to action, he practically leapt to the nearest Turbolift. This is the moment he’s dreamed of all his life, the chance for him to finally make a difference. As the doors open, he stepped out into the fold, watching the absolute madness devolve in front of him. “Sir, Ensign Lorren Premek reporting for duty! Do we have any information on the situation here?” His voice is attempting to be calm and professional, but it’s impossible for miss the eager excitement in it at what’s happening.

She was happy to be standing on a table right about now. “Yeah yall have fun with that.” She said as she stood up, “Y’all got any spare masks and stuff?”

Erra was sure to come prepared, and tossed not only a mask but a pair of gloves to Vara. "Here, that should be enough for you, put those on, quick!"

Vara swiftly placed them onto her face and put the gloves on. “Would prefer a full hazmat thingy, but this works.”

“Oh shit. Oh shit this is a biohazard isn’t it? Oh god damn it, I should have brought something. Crap, are the replicators safe?” Lorren’s eyes darted around looking to see if there’s a replicator nearby, woefully underprepared for the situation at hand.

Saros moved his dufflebag filled with items as he said "Here, take some, these are safe"

"Ensign!" Erra said, tossing a mask and gloves to Lorren. "Take these, you'll need them. Don't let anyone get too close to you. That's an order."

"VIVA LA REVOLUTION, MOTHERFUCKERS!" Maggie shouted over the noise, waving their wand in the air like they were casting a spell over the group. "AWOOOOO!"

4

Hastily grabbing the items and masking up, he slid the gloves on and whipped out his phaser (set to stun of course). “No revolutions!” He shouted back. “No revolutions are allowed!” Turning to his commanding officer, Lorren asked, “How shall we proceed, Commander?”

Suddenly, stumbling into the promenade's vast corridor from behind a corner, was Syrax. The helmsman shook his head, his mullet getting even messier, before straightening out to his full 6'8'' stature. Dark eyes peeked at the group from behind the hair strands, his lips suddenly stretching out in a toothy grin, which, paired with the bloody nose he had, looked rather... unsettling. "The body remembers the thrill of brushing death," he uttered, licking the blood off of his lips and chin, and assuming a loose boxing stance, excitement feverish in his widened pupils. "It's so sweet! I need it more."

5

Erra didn't know if anyone could respond to what was happening around them if they'd already been infected. "Starfleet security! Stand down, I repeat, stand down!" Erra said to Syrax with authority. "We will stun you if you fail to comply! This is your warning! Stand down!"

A little “Eep!” let out of Lorren’s lips as the terrifying sight of Syrax’s entrance made it clear to the rather small Cardassian that he’s not exactly in an ideal position.

Meanwhile, Essen looked up to Maggie. "Maggie, please, don't do this! You don't know what you're doing! If you're still in there, say something! It's me, Essen! Come on, please, just comply, we need everyone safe and sound here!"

All at once, the lights flickered and died as the temperature began to rise.

Somewhere in the darkness, the Romulan cackled.

4

Erra tapped her communicator, sending a message. "Security to the bridge! The lights are out in the entertainment promenade! The temperature is rising! Repeat, the lights are out and temperature rising!" Before she looked to the rest of the team. "Weapons to the ready!" As she set her phaser to stun.

Saros tried to regain control, using his previous ASCO knowledge in crowd control. But then the lights turned off"Computer, emergency lights, security override, Commander.Saros" Hoping the emergency lights will turn on

Any signs of ease that the Cardassian would feel from the temperature reaching a more reasonable heat level would quickly be counteracted by the dimming of the lights. “Ready!” He called out, phaser in hand. “Order will be maintained!”

As the chaos erupted across the starbase, Elwyn had been trying to make their way towards their station when a call for help had been made from the entertainment promenade. Diverting, the android, unaffected by the pathogen, practically sprinted their way into the chaos, looking around with wide eyes and a concerned look on their face. Unholstering their phaser and setting it to stun, they really weren't sure what was going on at all aside from people acting crazy. "What's happening?" They asked anyone willing to answer.

Vara hummed as she looked around in the darkness. “Soooo, anyone still against unlocking down the station and leaving? I think we’d be fine, honestly. Do we really think they could fly shuttles like this?”

"Sweet dreams," whispered the magician, vanishing into the darkness as the lights went out.

“Nobody is leaving!” The young Cardassian’s voice ever so slightly cracked as he aimed his phaser at whatever sound was nearest. “Not until all of you stand down!”

Erra boomed at the top of her lungs, keeping her phaser pointed outwards at the civilians. "Starfleet security! I repeat, stand down! If you do not comply with our orders you WILL be put under arrest and brought to the brig! Step out calmly and quietly, NOW! This is your warning!"

Essen also kept her phaser out, drawn and ready, set to stun. She needed to protect her mother. After all this time, she wouldn't let her mother go. Not this time.

Oh, but he was gone from where he stood before. How did such a big body move so quietly?

Essen sensed that something was different, and right away she whipped around in the direction she thought Syrax was at, keeping her phaser pointed directly outwards. "Fucker."

“I just wanna point out I’m not infected, I just wanna leave.” She said from her spot on the table, she wished she could see and then run.

Brandishing her own phaser, Farrah felt useless. This was more difficult than it needed to be. Why couldn't suppressing a revolution be simple? "I should ask mom about getting darkvision," she said, before just closing her eyes and trying to hear what was going on. She'd just bowl over people in her way, she didn't care.

“Precisely what an infected person wanting to create a galactic pandemic would say!” The rather overzealous Ensign shouted at the Lieutenant

Erra sent a communication down to engineering. "Starfleet security to engineering. Whoever is down there messing with the lights and the temperature. We know what you're doing. Your little revolution is over. Return the controls to their correct parameters and turn yourselves in while it's wise to do so."

"Fucking pussy," he commented in response to Vara, somewhere on the left from the group.

3

4

3

Saros calmed down when the lights went out and the temperature went up. Just like on Vulcan, he looked around at the group and said. "We must establish a perimeter and branch from there. Maybe a wall to start out from" He said to the other commander

"EAT SHIT!" Maggie shouted from somewhere in the mess.

"What the FUCK did you just say to her?!" Essen said to Syrax. "How DARE you! And yet you hide in the shadows. Cowards."

The lights going out didn't affect Elwyn, having low light vision capabilities. "Everyone, please remain calm and follow our instructions! We don't want anyone to get hurt!" They called out, trying to remain calm but firm.

Farrah was not concerned with talking at this moment, if she were honest. She couldn't get infected anyway, so. Eh. She powerwalked in the direction of Syrax' voice, maybe she could restrain him long enough to get someone to stun him.

"LONG LIVE REBELLION! LONG LIVE THE KING!" Maggie was high as a kite, having climbed their way onto a few boxes stacked in front of their showroom, though was blanketed in darkness. "Cowards and fools, you die at my feet like the dogs you are!"

Erra was slowly but surely getting annoyed. "Officers, phasers on stun," Erra ordered. "Any one of them waves a finger at you, you stun them and you don't hesitate to do so. That's an order."

Hard to aim a phaser in total darkness, lol.

6

7

"Not that I can actually see any of them waving their fingers, Commander," Farrah said, grabbing around for a large vulcanoid.

Vara growled as she stood there. “Hey, let’s not name call Mr bloody nose.” She said as she stood on her table. “Heyyyyy, any tubes to go into near me?”

"Come here, come here," he called her sweetly, the usually warm and friendly voice laced with something other. The Romulan was still unseen, but his voice was getting closer. Was he hiding?.. "Can you imagine a color you've never seen before? I can show it to you!" (edited)

3

Essen whipped around again, keeping her phaser pointed in the direction of Syrax's voice. "Shut up if you know what's good for you. You have your orders. My mom's a badass."

“Oooh! Ooh! Is the colour like, teal? Or cyan? Those are pretty rare colours!” She said in a slightly mocking tone.

Unlike seemingly everyone else, Elwyn could see where people were, and right now they still had their phaser lowered, keeping an eye out for anyone trying anything silly. "Everyone please remain where you are!" Oh jeez, this day wasn't going so good anymore.

"Essen," Erra said, softly reprimanding her daughter. "They're still Starfleet officers and civilians. You have to treat them with respect. I know you want to protect and stick up for me. I'll be okay, I promise." Before she turned back out towards the promenade.

"Aww, little baby needs her mommy?" snarked a voice in the dark.

4

2

Essen whipped around to point her phaser in the direction of Maggie's voice. Erra was right. Professionalism. So, she kept her mouth shut, and wondered how soon all this was going to bite Maggie in the ass.

Melody was still here, but now she wanted to taunt the officers. She circled around them at a distance, but kept her focus towards their voices. "They're right. You're all weak. Pathetic. Pointless. You're obsolete. Our time is now."

“For the love of god I’m annoying on purpose, can I please slap baker bitch?” She asked. (edited)

Essen didn't have to be asked twice. "I'll do it," she said.

"Just ... You... Try." As Melody made a LUNGE for Essen!! Toppling Essen to the ground! "Join us... Join us... Join us..." As Melody grabbed Essen's shoulders, before she ripped off Essen's mask and gloves! "You won't be needing those anymore..."

"FUCK--NO!" Essen wailed out, before Melody made contact! "Shit! Everyone, get away from me! She stole my mask-- FUCK! I'm infected! She's got me! Save yourselves! Stun me if you have to..."

Saros heard the toppling as he moved to try to shoot Melody who was ontop of Essen

Ah---! He MISSED! Melody dragged Essen's weakened body towards the other civilians, bringing her to the collective...

"ESSEN!" Erra yelped. Before she tried to call to Melody. "You let go of my daughter right now! RIGHT NOW, do you hear?!"

The headache began to set in. As the space around her seemed to transform into one that... Just seemed so... Oppressive. That maybe Essen could do something about it. And just as she did, Essen found the strength to stand back up. "All's well that ends well..." Before she turned in the direction of the officers. And she let out a maniacal, evil, witchy-like cackle, which began to fill the whole promenade.

Lights back on? Lights back on. And temperature normal.

Farrah, who had slowly been advancing on Syrax this whole time because her writer had to dip to consume nutrients, grabbed around her again. "When the lights are on I can identify and catalogue over a million separate colours, so I don't think I can be introduced to one I haven't seen before," she stated matter of factly, lunging at Syrax as the lights came back on. Wow, she predicted that! Wizardry.

...ahh, a perfect villainess entrance. Essen stood facing the group of surrounded officers, an insane, twisted smile on her face, as she stared at the group. Another maniacal laugh from Essen, as she looked at the group. "Look at you all... Standing like ducklings together. Pathetic. It's hopeless... We've got you surrounded. The test never ends." Before she looked to Erra. "And what about you... 'mom?' Couldn't even protect me from being taken by my aunt... You just had to be scooped up and turned into a cyborg killer... If you think that's a good look for you." As she stared her mother down with a sinister smile.

Without giving it a second thought Elwyn turned and aimed their phaser at Melody, but seeing it was too late they turned their attention to Essen, aiming at her through the darkness. Only for the darkness to end, her eyes re-adjusting and noticing she was no longer armed. Well, at least that was something. Moving to secure her phaser, kicking it back towards the other still sane officers, she spoke once more. "If anyone else moves I will stun you. Please cooperate with us while we figure out what's going on."

Once the lights turned on, he moved and instantly tried to shoot Essen on stun

Essen stayed where she was, and simply looked at the group with an increasingly manic grin. She looked wicked. And not in the good way. She complied, staying where she was... But figured this was the best time she could torture her mother. "Let this sight remind you of what you could NEVER do for me. You're a disgrace. Maybe I should have just stayed with Aunt Inneth... And left you to rot in hell. " Before Saros managed to successfully stun Essen, and she collapsed to the ground, unconscious.

Erra the whole time was shivering, keeping her phaser pointed at her own daughter... No, this wasn't real, this wasn't real! Her daughter couldn't be telling her this! Not after such a good time so far with her! "No... No, that's not my daughter..." Before Saros stunned Essen. "AH--!" Erra yelped. "Oh... Thank you, Commander. I'll pray she's safe when she wakes up." This left Erra distracted, anxious, and not in the best headspace...

He met her with a sharp grin and a playful slide to the left - aiming a kick to the back of her leg. The usually gentle Romulan was not shying away from using his full strength. "Heat felt like home," he breathed out, sweat beading on his temples. "It burns and smothers, like fire, like smoke, and I dance with it, and we will dance in it too." He then chuckled, and made a cheeky little "come here" gesture with both of his hands: "Let's tango!" (edited)

What in the stars was going on right now... Elwyn honestly had no idea, but the Commander's actions contradicted her comments, but the other Commander's behaviour made some ounce of sense considering that Essen was her daughter. Still, though, what in the stars was going on.

Vara hummed. “I think the table was a good call.” She said, fanning herself lightly as she began to walk in the opposite direction from the fighting, “Let’s see let’s see let’s go a different way yay!”

Melody grew impatient. "Didn't we say something about a REVOLUTION happening??" Her giggle was now laced with absolute silliness, no more of the evil nature to her voice. Perhaps she had a fluke with Essen. Shit happens, man, fuck it.

Farrah wasn't hurt by the kick, mostly because she didn't have pain receptors and could only quantify "hurt" by how damaged she was, which, at the moment, was "not actually", but the unbalancing was uncomfortable and frankly, she wanted this all to be easier. "Please cooperate, I can't dance nor do I want to." She went pursuit predator mode, simply walking after Syrax. She was an android, eventually he'd get tired and she would simply grab him.

Aaaand Erra had enough with the baker bitch. Stun! She sent a shot Melody's way, hitting her right in the chest. "Eugh, now that the chipmunk's dealt with."

Stunned, Melody fell to the ground, unconscious.

A wizard teleported in! Just kidding, he was behind a 5'3 tall wall the entire time, which was about enough to obscure his 5'2 frame. "Hark! I've arrived! Why do words of revolution echo through these metal halls? From which strange seed does this new spite sprout? I offer my spells to fell this hierarchy!"

3

Glancing rapidly between Erra and Melody, looking more and more confused by the second, Elwyn decided to turn her attention towards Vara. "Are you infected? Wait, no, bad question. Don't go anywhere please! And don't touch anyone!"

"Seeerin!" Maggie made a beeline toward the sound of his voice, wrapping both arms around his. "They're got us surrounded, we're dying on the barricade at dawn."

He tutted, shaking his head and moving backwards away from Farrah, steps light and just as playful as the rest of his demeanor, "Oh, you're no fun. But that is fixable! Ever caught a bird with your bare hands? Careful, it might rip at your skin and peck your wrists!"

2

Vara whistled as she looked at Maggie touching Serin. “Hey, wait! Is the magic one not infected? Or are you infected now?” She said as she looked at Serin.

"I do not possess skin on account of being an artificial lifeform, and it is my job to not be fun when large-scale unrest is taking place. I can be fun again when it's calm." She was still following Syrax, though she was already getting bored. However, what is wise is sometimes not what is fun, so she persevered.

When Maggie called out to Serin and eventually wrapped their arms around Serin, alarm bells rung in Erra's mind. She pointed her phasers at both magicians now, while the others would handle the rest. "Maggie, do you know what you've just done? You've infected someone!"

He returned the hug, lifting Maggie and spinning them around a bit. "If we die, we die together, then! Magician's solidarity." He looked at Erra and Vara. "I'm immune to all manner of curses."

4

"This isn't a curse, lieutenant," Erra said. "It's a pathogen. Maggie is infected. And now you are too. So why don't you do us a favor and just stay a good distance away from us?" As she kept her phaser pointed towards both magicians.

"Shut up," Maggie sighed, squeezing tighter. "I missed him. It's been twenty whole minutes."

It was reasonable to assume he was probably infected by now, but it was impossible to concretely determine, since the way he was talking wasn't any different to how he usually talked anyway. "Eons and eons have passed since the last gathering of the mages. It shall not be disturbed by the distrusting."

4

"Shit," Erra said. "Dammit, Maggie, why did you have to go and infect someone else?!" Erra said mostly to herself. "Team, standby, the bridge called, they're going to--- er, I mean, operation claw machine is in action," she said, hoping not to give away what was going to happen to the infected, if they happened to hear about it.

“No but are they infected? Unless the LT is immune I guess!” She looked to Serin. “Are you infected?”

"Oh try and play along, will you?!" he groaned, cracking his knuckles - bruised and slightly bloody - and curling his palms - left slightly swollen and greenish in color - into fists. "Prowl all you want, you'll drown in the sea when we triumph, sooner or later, alone." And with that, upon luring her far enough away form others, he took a swing.

Then the communication from Medical came in. Parasitic?! Shit! "Fuck... Alright, everyone, you heard medical, no contact with the infected without proper safety equipment, that's an order." As she kept her phaser pointed.

Farrah wasn't capable of being infected, so as long as she didn't touch any uninfected people she'd be fine. "I am capable of surviving in water indefinitely," she promised, blocking the singular swing with ease.

"I'm hermetically sealed so I should be fine." Elwyn commented idly, not really thinking that someone wouldn't know she wasn't an android. Right now her focus was entirely on the growing crowd of infected people.

6

Erra had a chill running down her spine. Thankfully she wasn't infected, but still had the creeps about the whole infection. "If Essen were conscious she'd be creeped out at this. She hates zombie apocalypse. We have ourselves a crowd of infected silly not-undead zombies."

"Okay miss submarine or whatever, I get it," he sighed upon getting blocked, releasing his fist to grab at her hand instead. Syrax then tried to move behind Farrah's back, still holding onto that hand, doing his best to destabilize the tall android.

Farrah... had similar strength to a Vulcanoid, and the advantage of being about equally as sturdy as the average bulkhead. She ripped her hand out of Syrax' grasp with a swift movement, and turned around, once more advancing on the tall Romulan. Pursuit predation, and all that. "I am getting tired of this," she said honestly, though she kept up the pursuit. At least getting attacked periodically was good for keeping her engaged.

"Make it interesting, then," he laughed, letting her get closer, closer... until he could grab her by the neck and side of Farrah's uniform and throw all of her weight to the side, letting out a puff and grunt of exhaustion - the fever really getting to him by now.

Farrah was thoroughly unbalanced, landing on the ground with a deep, reverberating thud. If she were anyone else, surely she would have had the wind knocked out of her. But she was an android, and with minimal effort she was standing upright again. "Putain de merde," she swore, before taking a fighting stance. "Alright, interesting hein." And she dashed for Syrax, crashing into his torso and taking them both to the ground.

Vara had moved to sit at a nearby table, having grabbed a hot dog and was watching the fight. “Woo! Go security LT! I bet mine not being infected on you winning.”

He wheezed out something between a gasp and a cackle upon landing on the ground, hard; not deterred by this defeat, he brought both of his legs together and tried to kick Farrah off of himself, simultaneously searching for something to grab and pull at, "There you go!"

Farrah was very adept at leveraging her weight to gain the upper hand in situations, and she was a trained fighter on top of that. And she didn't even have pain receptors! So plan "lay on top of the victim until he calms down" was a go. "Please stop being annoying," she asked, trying to restrain Syrax' hands.

5

"I've heard that one a lot before, so it won't work!" he cheerfully informed her, still wiggling like a worm. Mulleted, almost seven feet long worm.

6

7

Farrah wouldn't let up, though her weight may have been too little like a weighted blanket and too much like a 6'7 bag of aluminium ball bearings being dropped on him to calm him down. "Wow, man, wanna talk about it?" she asked, hoping talking could keep him distracted.

Alright, Maria Carter. You’ve gotta deal with Patroclus Maxson now. The officer stepped out of the turbolift and took a look around. It’s strange to see the promenade so quiet…

Erra followed along with the rest of the security group, keeping Essen close. She'd been very quiet since the whole fiasco earlier, especially since she had been berated by her formerly infected insane daughter. Now Essen was with her, and fully recovered. "You alright, sweetheart?" She asked Essen quietly.

Hearing a call for Security to enter the entertainment promenade for the second time, Nairi had taken a second turbolift to the promenade. Stepping off of the lift, she nearly walked head first into the Lt. Cdr. by accident as she mentally shook off the nervous jitters remembering what occurred only hours before. "Oh! I'm sorry, sir!"

Essen herself was fully recovered, but that didn't mean that she was ashamed by the way she acted while infected. "Yeah, mom, I'm okay. I'm so, so sorry I insulted you like that. I couldn't control it, I tried to, I felt like something else had control of my body and mind. I didn't mean any of what I said to you. I hope you can forgive me."

Maxson stepped aside for Nairi as she stumbled out of the lift, a sparing glance to the ensign before he turned back to the situation at hand, “Not to worry, Ensign. We’re searching for Maria Carter. Human civilian. Stay close. If this is the person who unleashed the infection…well…who knows what we’re dealing with.”

Kya hummed as she entered with the rest of the team off of her turbo lift. “Maria Carter should be around here somewhere, and do not approach physically to them. We do not know if they have the same effect spreading the virus if they are patient zero.” She said with a hum. “Don’t be dumb, is what I’m saying.”

Farrah had still been on the promenade, helping clean up after the riot that had broken out. So when the call for backup went out, she quickly joined the group. "Nothing good ever happens from guesswork based on no concrete info. Worst case scenario, I am immune to the pathogen."

"You won't have to worry about me approaching Maria Carter, Commander," Essen said to Kya. "Infection sucks. Fuck that."

"Essen! Language!" Erra scolded Essen.

Her head would nod towards Lt. Cdr. Maxson as her expression steeled. "Understood, sir. I'll be right behind you."

Saros was also here, still helping after the riot as he joined the group, still in full ppe gear

Maxson nodded at Farrah, “Much obliged, Lieutenant. There are two other names on the cargo manifest as well, T’mas and Arriot. Carter will likely have information on the both of them. Eyes up, door to door. Keep your hands to yourselves. We don’t want this spreading again.”

“And if anything requires touch, Lieutenant Farrah should be involved.” She said with a hum. “Now then, shall we be off?”

"Aye, sir," Erra responded to Kya, keeping Essen close by.

The officer nodded his head down the corridor and started on his way, leading the security group alongside Kya leading the tactical group.

It wasn't exactly difficult to locate a massive pile of books, or the assistant beside them, who was frantically pushing buttons trying to make it stop.

"Come on, come on," she hissed, poking at the buttons in an attempt to make it stop.

She held her hand up to the rest of the team. “Maria Carter?”

“Having some trouble?” The officer said lowly, standing away from the pile of contaminated scripts.

Maria froze in her tracks. "I— no," she said, taking a few steps away. "Sorry, you have the wrong person, I think..."

She stepped softly towards the woman. “What are you trying to replicate?” She tried to make her body language as friendly as possible. She looked to Farrah and mouthed ‘go around her’ to the android.

“If you’re unaware, Ms. Carter, those scripts are contaminated…if you’d come with us, we can give you a checkup.” Maxson followed Kya’s lead.

"I'm not trying to replicate anything! I'm trying to turn it off. Don't touch me!" Maria seemed awfully coherent for somebody who was surrounded by a sea of parasites. "I don't need to go anywhere."

Farrah didn't particularly feel like making this clearly distressed woman feel like a cornered animal, actually, so she stayed where she was. If there were any issues, she knew she was fast enough to grab Maria.

“Let us help, then. We can contact engineering to shut the replicator down remotely. And we’ll talk here,” The officer held his hands up, “No one’s going anywhere.”

"Where is she?" Maria demanded, eyes darting from officer to officer. "Is she— is she alive?"

“There are no reported casualties, as far as we are aware, everyone is alive. Unless you have any further insight on that matter?” She said with a hum, slightly annoyed at Farrah (of course one of the wanderers would do that).

Nairi watched as the leaders of the security group stepped forward to address Maria and her suspicious behavior. But it was obvious she was not keen on cooperating with them. So, with slow and deliberate movement, she began to slowly reposition herself off-set from the Lieutenant Commanders and place herself in a position to form a bit of a blocking position in cooperation with the other officers.

Not wishing to scare Maria, Erra replied softly. "Who is she you speak of?"

Her eyes visibly widened. No casualties. No casualties? "So you—" she shook her head. "Forget it. I'm leaving. You've got no right to hold me, I've done nothing wrong." (edited)

"Incorrect, actually, you are the source of a highly infectious pathogen that caused chaos all over the station. As a result, you can be held for questioning," Farrah explained, not unkindly, but very directly.

“As the lieutenant so succinctly put it, we’d appreciate you answering some of our questions, Ms. Carter,” Maxson said with a nod toward Farrah.

“Finish your sentence please. So we what? We are not intending to put you in the brig, at all. The lieutenant is correct, however. But questioning can be done outside of a brig if the pathogen was released unintentionally, as I’m sure it was.” She said with a hum.

"No, no, no, I have nothing to say to you now. I've answered your questions, haven't I? Just let me go." Maria's eyes darted to the replicator as it shut down. At least that problem was dealt with.

“You have not, unfortunately answered our questions. You also have nowhere to go with the station lockdown. It will be better if you try to answer in good faith, it will be easier for you to leave afterwards.” She said, still trying to negotiate.

“We’d appreciate some information on these parasites. I’m sure your employer would, as well,” The officer raised his eyebrow, “She’s recovering is the med bay.”

Maria's expression fell before she could stop herself. "She... She is? She's recovering?" She blinked, then nodded. "Good. That's good. Yeah."

She nodded, Maxson seemed to find the winning formula. “And you helping would be invaluable in the recovery of the stations entire population. Can you please help us?”

"You don't seem thrilled," Farrah said in an emotionless deadpan, as Maria received the news of Vedette being in the medbay. (edited)

"What?" Everything was fading into the background, and Maria shook her head again to sharpen her focus. "No, no, of course I am. Miss Cadieux, she's.... she's a genius, the universe wouldn't be the same without her, and all."

Aha. Why, that’s interesting. Maxson looked to Farrah upon seeing Maria’s reaction, “Well, if you’d like to say hello, we can take you to the med bay to get yourself checked out as well.”

Ah, she was beginning to sound more malicious by the millisecond. “Hm, in that case. Where are your other two associates? T’Mas and Arriot. They aren’t currently accounted for.”

"They should be in their accommodations, they went when the yellow alert went off." Maria swallowed. She definitely wasn't thrilled at the idea of being face-to-face with Vedette again. "Sure, if you..if that's okay, I'd love to see her. Make sure she's fine."

In a bit of a calm tone, Erra piped up. "You say, Miss Carter, that she's a genius, the universe wouldn't be the same without her. Do you mind expounding upon that, please? What has your history been with Miss Cadieux?" Erra wanted to take a gentler approach. Perhaps Maria would be able to say more if she felt relaxed and comfortable. (edited)

"She's my boss, as of a few weeks ago. What else do you want? It's professional." Maria straightened her posture. "I'd like to go now."

Kya nodded. “We can escort you to the medbay. A few of our number should go check on those accommodations though.” She said aloud.

“Agreed. Lieutenant Beauchêve, Ensign Dellak, if you’d head down to the med bay and…inform Ms. Cadieux?” He turned to the two of them. Hopefully, if she hit the ground running, those two would handle it. (edited)

Erra turned to Maxson, keeping Essen close. "Essen and I can head elsewhere, perhaps to... Check in on the other two associates? Unless we're needed elsewhere?" She also hoped the subtext was evident enough... Maybe the other two associates had more information. (edited)

"Sure, right this way, Miss Carter. Ensign?" Farrah fully expected Maria to make a run for it as soon as she broke free of the group, so she'd already shifted to her toes to be able to run and tackle if necessary. However, if she was cooperative and they could get to the medbay unscathed, then the medical team would have a million questions for her and keep her forever anyway... probably. She wasn't picking up on any subtext, though, let it be known. And neither was her writer.

Noticing the inflection in Lt. Cdr. Maxson's voice, she nodded. "Aye, sir." She would turn towards Lt. Beauchêve and give her a small smile, turning away while also mentally preparing for the worst. Moving to step away, she would lead on heading away but her body remained relaxed, ready to spring at a moment's notice. (edited)

Maria followed them for a few minutes, at least until they were a good distance from the rest of the group. Then, as expected, she fucking booked it. Typical.

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“Lieutenant!” She said with a click of her fingers for dramatic effect. Go go Farrah Rangers! (edited)

As expected indeed... It didn't take more than a couple of milliseconds for Farrah to respond, also breaking into a sprint, waiting for an opportune moment with as few obstacles around as possible to fucking pounce. "We could have all rounded this afternoon out with a calm conversation and a glass of wine, you know. It didn't have to go like this, we could have been normal." Relatively normal, anyway. Did this count as an admission of guilt? Probably not. She'd try to land softly.

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Erra tapped her comm badge and sent a stationwide communication. "This is Starfleet security. Maria Carter is on the run, any available security officers, apprehend her immediately! Avoid physical contact!" (edited)

"Ouais, j'essaye-" Don't tell her what to do, she was the only one running right now!

Called it. The commander let out a huff, rolled his neck, and started sprinting after Maria and Farrah. It is…truly terrifying to watch that guy move that fast, “They always run.”

Maria rolled when she was tackled, glasses dropping to the ground in the struggle. If it could be called that; shoving against tons of metal didn't exactly do much, even with the added grip of her gloves. "Get OFF of me!" she spat, feebly attempting to kick.

Letting out a heavy groan, Nairi also broke into a full sprint after Maria as soon as she broke away from them. "Come on! Do you really have to make us run?! Nobody has to get hurt!" Following closely behind Lt. Beauchêve, she would leap after Maria as soon at the first opportunity she could. Provided they would be successful, she would not hesitate to grab her knowing the risk she posed to herself but they had to stop her somehow.

"I had training today with a Romulan, you will not succeed. Everyone stand down, we still don't know if she's infected." Please don't give her more trouble, actually; Do Not Fucking Pounce, Nairi. Heart emoji blush emoji thumbs up.

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Kya smiled as she saw Farrah had it handled, she slowly walked towards the struggling Maria. “No one else go touch Maria, she could tear any protective gear we have.” She advised.

The lieutenant commander skidded to a stop at the scene, taking in a few deep breaths as he did so. Ah, to play football again, “Much obliged, Lieutenant,” He slicked back his hair as he regulated himself.

"She'd be better off dead!" Maria hissed, still trying (and failing) to squirm away from Farrah. "There's plenty of artists out there who deserve twice her fame! She's selfish, and insufferable, and a fraud—"

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"Ah, I do believe there is an idiom or two about taking justice into one's own hands..." Not that Farrah understood any of this, she didn't care about anything enough to resort to murder, period. And certainly not over a fairly random actress she'd never heard of who may or may not have done something morally wrong. She wasn't any arbiter of morality either.

Nairi would only let go as soon as she knew that Lt. Beauchêve had a handle on the situation. She would glance down at her gloved hands as she found herself unbelievably conscious of them and took care not to touch anything else as she took a step back. A small flash of anger soon came over her face as Maria began spitting her venomous words. "So you decided to hurt the entire station?! Do you know how many people you could have killed?!"

“Ensign,” Maxson gave Nairi a glance and held out a hand gently toward her, “Let’s keep ourselves calm.”

"There wasn't supposed to be so many! But then she saw the fucking theatre, and she just had to." Maria groaned, dropping her head to the ground. Officially giving up the fight.

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“Ah, so your plan got out of control.” She said with a hum. “Has your employer done anything criminal to deserve this treatment?”

"Apologies, sir," Nairi said, her expression softening as she felt a bit of guilt rise up in her chest. She would move to step off of the side on the off-chance that Maria would attempt to resist again but it seemed pretty obvious that her resolve was broken now.

"What is the saying? Cool motive, still murder? Well, attempted murder. Now that everyone has heard the confession, you can receive medical care in the brig. Let's wait with questioning until I am no longer literally on top of her, hein?" Farrah would like to get her head to be at a more reasonable height if at all possible.

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"A-ha," Erra said. "So that's why you did this. Lieutenant Beauchêve is correct. Maria Carter, under the authority of Starfleet Security and the Federation, you are under arrest for the introduction of a parasitic pathogen into a communal space and endangering the lives of the tenants, officers and crew aboard Starbase 777." (edited)

"Ouais, merci, that is exactly what I said, mhmm." It really wasn't. "Please do not say anything else incriminating."

"We will be merciful for you and offer you options on how to get better, both from this parasitic pathogen and hopefully peace of mind when it comes to Miss Cadeiux," Erra said, before she tapped her comm badge. "Security to transporter room, two to beam directly into the brig, repeat, two to beam directly into the brig." (edited)

“I owe you a drink, Lieutenant,” Maxson nodded to Farrah, just the slightest hint of a smile on his stone-like face.

With the call to beam, Farrah started standing up, slinging Maria over her shoulder like a sack of potatoes. Like, scarily easily. It was effortless, almost. "I will make sure she is taken care of. And then I will get properly decontaminated, afterwards." She turned to Maxson. "I will hold you to that, m'sieur, you are to share a wine with me," she added quickly, before the lights started coming on and she disappeared into thin air.

Kya blushed lightly at the slinging over the shoulder, that was maybe a little attractive. “Now that’s that settled.” She said with a shake of her head. “We should inform the captain and whoever else.”

Erra turned to everyone else around in the group who was still here. "I also suppose now a station-wide decontamination effort is in order, what do you think, Commanders?" Erra asked Kya and Maxson.

The officer nodded once more as Farrah acknowledged him and beamed away. He didn’t have the heart to say he wasn’t that big of a fan of wine…anyway, to the matters at hand, “Inform the bridge, and we ought to do a sweep for any scripts we’ve missed. Good work, everyone.”

In a sigh of relief, Essen, who was indeed free of worms, hugged her mother, keeping her close. She buried her face into her mother's shoulder, relieved that this was finally over. "We did it, mom. We all did."

Erra was a bit surprised by the sudden movement from her daughter, but once she saw it was a hug, Erra pulled her daughter in, and smiled, looking at everyone else while she responded to Essen. "Yes we did, sweetie. I'm so proud of everyone here."

Letting out her tension with a heavy sigh, she would give a small smile towards Essen before nodding towards the other officers. "I'll stand guard on the scripts around the replicator and wait for assistance before cleaning it up." (edited)

Essen looked to Nairi. "Hey, uh... this isn't an order, but just a request. Tell Savva what happened? I can imagine she's incredibly anxious right now. A message might calm her nerves if she knows you and I are okay."

Pausing when Essen addressed her, she would give an empathetic smile. In all the craziness, neither of them had really a chance to check up on their friend. "I will. I'll talk to her as soon as I can, I promise."

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