Multiplicity

Posted on Sun Mar 21st, 2021 @ 10:16pm by Administrator LordeEmp

Mission: Heroes of the Hov'hurgh
Location: IKS Hov'Hurgh (old bird)
Timeline: early 2380s

Chief Science Officer Daj’Ral arrived on the bridge bearing a datapad, a couple of miniature copies of himself marching in smartly behind him, each carrying a datapad of their own size. He blinked and looked back at the pair, then leaned over and snarled at them. They dropped their miniature pads devices and scattered back into the turbolift, the door closing behind them.

"Captain," he said, turning back to the command chair and the red-braided Klingon woman, "I have determined the origin of these… homunculi," as the scientist handed his device to HoD Vaq'taj, "Play recording 5J."

"On screen," the Colonel commanded, and the computer obliged by accessing the device, then activating the main display. The star field disappeared and was replaced by a view of the interior of Daj’Ral's science lab.

The crewmembers turned to face the display as Daj’Ral narrated calmly. "This is a security tape of my lab, some time before Nahlet and I began developing our modifications to the ship."

Nothing moved in view of the camera, and the only indication that it was not a still frame image, was the timestamp ticking away in the lower right corner. When it reached Stardate 10305.29, a soft beep announced the opening of the door as SoS entered the room. With a delighted smile she began exploring the lab, first staring at what looked like a glowing blue bauble suspended over a small pedestal.

The older Klingon woman reached out and touched it, watching as the force field rippled amusingly. She moved on to another experiment, watching the cryptic results on the readout and nodding her head, as though she knew exactly what the raw data signified. Who knew, perhaps she did.

Continuing with his narration in his soft spoken manner, Daj’Ral said, "We are all familiar, I think, with the unfortunate incident on stardate 10305."

On the screen, as she examined some experimental weaponry on a table, the door slid open to reveal Ruv'hoj and Daj Ral as they burst into the room. Startled, she jumped back and raised the weapon. Ruv’hoj ducked as he saw SoS raise her weapon arm, but before the crewmembers could see the blast that gave Daj’Ral an unwanted and rather unflattering haircut, the Klingon scientist said, "Freeze image!" and it paused just before she pulled the trigger.

"Enhance upper right quadrant," he ordered the computer, and that corner of the display enlarged to fill the screen before the sharp minded Klingon man continued, "Enhance lower right quadrant," and once again the magnification continued, pinpointing according to his instructions.

The image showed a small vial tucked inside a black ring-like device behind SoS's free hand getting knocked off of its perch as she moved quickly to defend herself, "This vial contained several experimental nanotech drones, or nanites, if you will, suspended magnetically. They have the ability to manufacture duplicates of themselves from raw materials, communicate with each other at short range to coordinate their actions, and to simulate molecular compounds by forming artificial bonds in the correct configuration. This gives them the ability to synthesize or replicate just about any material or object.”

Turning slightly to look at VaQ’taj, Daj’Ral explained, “I had been working on making a rudimentary hive mind AI so that they could be fed instructions. When the container was breached, they escaped and began duplicating themselves freely."

Glancing away from the frozen image on the viewscreen, Vaq'taj stared at her Science Chief for a moment before asking, "So why did they make miniature duplicates instead of full-sized… and why only you and Nahlet?"

"The sizes of the homunculi are consistent with the maximum efficient range of the nanite's group communication,” he answered, looking back to the screen, “They could set up relays, but the delay would reduce their cohesion and coordination," Daj’Ral continued on his explanation.

"As for your second question…" he paused and addressed the computer again, "Advance four days, ship's time fourteen hundred hours, ten minutes."

The High Priestess and the other crew members on the screen vanished only to be replaced by Daj’Ral demonstrating his calculations to Nahlet for their shipboard modifications. Again the science officer ordered the magnification to a specific spot, but did not have it remain frozen. The display, set to extreme magnification, showed what looked like small specks floating off of a nearby panel, landing on the science officer and engineer, then returning to the panel.

The slender Klingon scientist narrated further, "I believe they replicated themselves in large number, causing the hive mind to achieve greater complexity, and focused on myself and Nahlet for reasons unknown. As for their intentions… we must consider them unknown as well, though they seem to be improving the ship. The individual units may merely be acting in accord with their registered personalities in the computer banks. I show unauthorized access from my quarters at the appropriate time, though it was well covered. The hive mind is probably still present, but its constructions may have grown past its own ability to control and become fragmented."

Meanwhile, tiny copies of the Chief Engineer and the Chief Science Officer began spreading the word amongst themselves. Of the giants inhabiting their ship and of those behemoths frequently speaking of terrible plans to destroy or enslave them.