Re: Star Trek: Pandora , Ep 2.1 "Augmented Reality"
((Two updates in two days!? CRAZY, I TELL YOU! Actually, just putting some of the free time I've had lately to good use. By the way, if you've ever wanted to see the in-game versions of the Pandora's crew, check out the 'Show us your crew' thread in Ten Forward.))
The large glass exterior of the Cyronics buildings reflected the lights of the setting sun as Cassie and the Pandora away team approached. With a pass of an ID card over a nearby reader, one of the lobby’s main doors unlocked. Now that normal business hours had long since ended, the advertisement monitors above the lobby were dark and the only person there was a lone security guard at the reception desk. Cassie walked the group over and gave the guard a smile.
“Hi. I’m escorting these three visitors up to the 22nd floor offices. They were meeting with Dr. Park today and accidentally left their bags in his receptionist’s office.”
The guard looked past Cassie and eyed Maggie, War’en, and Red in turn. After a moment, he shrugged and motioned to a mounted white tablet computer on the desk.
“Sign ‘em in and make sure they sign out before they leave.”
The away team looked at the device and exchanged glances when they realized it was an interface completely different from the ubiquitous LCARS that was standard throughout Starfleet and many worlds in the Federation. Thankfully, apparently this was Cassie’s duty as an employee of the company and she began making various swipes and presses, even entering data on a digital representation of an archaic input device.
“So inefficient,” muttered War’en. “That device seems to favor looks over functionality to an extent that most actions seem needlessly complicated.”
Maggie shrugged. “All part of progress, I guess.”
When she was finished, Cassie turned to them and motioned for them to follow. “Come on. The elevators are right over here.”
War’en followed, but Maggie briefly held Red back.
“Talk to her,” she whispered. “See if you can find out what this place does.”
“Won’t that look suspicious? She thinks we were here earlier. And why me? You’re the one from Starfleet Intelligence!” he whispered back, though his voice still carried a level of incredulity.
“Yeah, but you’re better at getting people to talk to you. Trust me.”
With that, Maggie quickly caught up to War’en and Cassie, leaving Red to once again bring up the rear while attempting to suppress his increasingly sour mood.
“By the way,” Cassie said to War’en as she called the elevator, “didn’t you have a fourth person with you. Pretty nondescript guy, brown hair...”
War’en stumbled as he spoke, completely caught off guard by this latest revelation.
“Oh... he had to leave early. He had another meeting to attend. We’re meeting back up with him later.”
“Ah,” Cassie said as the elevator doors opened. The group piled in and Cassie pressed the button for the 22nd floor.
Halfway through an awkward elevator ride, Red finally broke the silence.
“So, Cassie. Sorry if we spoke about this, but it’s been a really long day. What do you do for Cryonics, again?”
Cassie’s expression brightened as the break in the tension she had been perceiving between her guests.
“Don’t worry, we didn’t. Alan whisked you into his office shortly after we met. I’m a research scientist here. I work in our Reanimation Protocols division.”
Red looked at Cassie for a moment as he realized what type of ‘cryo’ that Cryonics was involved in.
“And are you primarily concerned with laboratory uses or is this for a more medical application?”
“Medical and space flight. After all, the whole reason we’re freezing people is to either send them out on long voyages or to store them until cures for certain terminal illnesses can be found.”
The elevator doors opened and the group stepped out into the sterile corridor that linked the floor’s laboratories. Cassie turned right and led the group while continuing to talk to Red. War’en took advantage of the distraction and began whispering to Maggie.
“Do you have a plan? She’s going to suspect something when we get to this man’s office and our ‘bags’ aren’t there.”
Maggie smiled. “Just act surprised. She believes us, so I imagine she’ll rationalize it for us. Meanwhile, I’m going to plant my commbadge so that we can use its signal to transport in later tonight and investigate the office of this ‘Dr. Park’.”
War’en’s eyebrows raised in approval. “That might actually work.”
“Your confidence is truly inspiring,” she quipped as the group turned a corner. They now found that the hallway was lined with offices on either side. Maggie continued as they walked.
“I have to admit, I’m very interested to see why duplicates of us from an alternate universe wanted to go back in time just to take our technology and meet with someone working for a cryogeni--”
Maggie stopped mid-sentence and the color drained from her face. Just ahead, having just turned into the hallway, were the mirror universe duplicates of Maggie, War’en, Red, and Will, standing in front of a taller man.
Cassie looked at the group in front of them, then at Red, then back to the other Red down the hall.
“What the hell...? How...? Alan, what is going on!?”
The two Maggies reached into their respective purses nearly simultaneously and drew out phaser weapons. The other Maggie’s comrades drew weapons out of their suits. The War’en and Red standing next to Cassie were slower on the draw.
“You’re coming with us. Surrender your weapons peacefully,” War’en ordered.
The other Maggie smirked. “Not likely. Boys? Kill them.”
“What!? NO!” shouted Dr. Park as he shoved through between alternate War’en and Will to grab his Maggie’s firing arm.
The delay was all Cassie needed to suddenly turn and shove Red into an open break room that was on his right. War’en and Maggie took the opportunity and fired stun shots at the group of mirror duplicates as they followed behind Cassie. War’en’s shot missed, but Cassie struck Mirror War’en square in the chest, sending him onto his back.
Maggie, War’en, and Red were now crouched along two walls of the room, with Cassie farther behind near Red. War’en and Red were taking up firing positions due to their proximity to the door. Soon, lines of amber light were streaking through the corridor, scoring doors and walls with blast marks.
“What the hell is going on? Why do those people look exactly like you?” Cassie yelled over the phaser fire at Maggie. “And while we’re on the subject, what kind of weapons are those!?”
Maggie ignored Cassie and spoke to War’en and Red. “Well, we found them. Now what?”
“Contact Will and have him beam them behind a forcefield on the shuttle,” answered War’en as he traded fire.
Maggie reached into her purse and tapped her commbadge. Since she didn’t actually pull it out, Cassie was quite surprised when Maggie started speaking to no one in particular.
“Matoya to Lacera. We found our duplicates, but we’re pinned down in a firefight with them. We need you to beam them into a containment area on the shuttle.”
In the shuttle, Will’s hands were flying over the console controls. His efforts only earned him a negative beep.
“No good. I can’t get a lock on the signals near you. From the interference, I’d say they have a transporter jamming device.”
Maggie rolled her eyes. “Of course. They have me on their team. They would think to do that.”
“Hey, it may have been my idea,” countered Red as he poked out from his spot and fired. He was pulling back when a phaser shot struck him right in his left shoulder. The force threw him to the ground, causing him to gasp in pain.
“RED!” Maggie shouted. She quickly reached forward and tried to pull him out of the enemy’s line of sight. Cassie glanced at Maggie then back to Red before assisting her. Maggie glanced back at Cassie in surprise, then looked over at War’en.
“We need to beam out of here. We’re outgunned.”
War’en spoke as he fired. “Not possible. We can’t risk contamination to the timeline.”
Maggie’s eyes widened. “War’en! Red just got hit by a phaser blast in a firefight with our mirror duplicates. The timeline is already FUCKED,” she shouted.
War paused and looked back over at Cassie, then Red. Finally, he nodded.
“Will, four to beam up!”
“Four!?”
“Just do it!”
“Yes, sir. Energizing!”
Four columns of blue light washed over the group. Cassie’s look of surprise was frozen in place as she disappeared from view with the rest of the away team.
On the shuttle, Will turned around in his chair to see the group rematerialize. When he Red on the ground with his shoulder completely blackened, his eyebrows rose over his VISOR. He turned back to the console and began piloting the ship.
“Plotting a course for the Pandora. I’ll beam you to Sickbay as soon as we’re in range.”
“Good. Alert the captain that we’re en route,” said War’en as he looked down at Red. He could tell Red was trying his best to mentally block out the pain. He placed his hand on the man’s head, then looked up at Cassie. She was staring out at the view that lay before the shuttle... and watching the moon rapidly grow closer.
“Oh... oh my... how... how is this possible? No ship can move this quickly in space.”
Will suddenly spun back around in his chair and looked at Cassie, noticing her for the first time. His jaw dropped and he looked over at War’en.
“Sir...”
“I’ll take care of her, Mr. Lacera. Just get us back to the Pandora.”
“... yes, sir.”
A beeping alert pulled Will’s attention back to the console. “We’re in range. Energizing.”
Will entered a command and the group once again disappeared in a shimmer of blue light and reappeared in Sickbay. Cassie looked around wide-eyed at everything around her. War’en noticed and looked at Maggie.
“Keep an eye on her. Do not let her touch or read anything.”
Maggie nodded. War’en looked at Red, who had been beamed onto a bed, then spoke to the ship’s computer.
“Computer, activate EMH!”
Much to War’en’s surprise, another duplicate of himself suddenly materialized. Cassie turned around just in time to see it appear and jumped back in shock.
“Another clone!?”
Maggie quickly put her hands on Cassie’s shoulders and shook her head. “No, not a clone. That’s different. It’s... well... a hologram. He’s filling in for the ship’s doctor.”
“Where is the ship’s doctor?”
“... on the floor with a serious injury...”
War’en looked at the holographic version of himself and pointed to Red. “He was hit with a phaser that was likely set to kill.”
The EMH looked at Red and nodded. “Acknowledged. I may require some assistance, so stand by.”
War’en nodded and looked down at Red while the EMH began scanning him with a medical tricorder. Cassie watched the entire scene in disbelief. Finally, she closed her eyes and spoke slowly to Maggie.
“That ship... this place. Are you an alien?”
Maggie shook her head. “No. I’m not an alien.”
Then, her eyes widened and she looked over at War’en. “War! The captain!”
War’en gave her a quizzical look before realizing what she meant. His hand was halfway to his commbadge when the Sickbay doors slid open. At the sound, Cassie opened her eyes and found herself looking at the Pandora’s Enhasan captain. Her jaw dropped and she began breathing heavily.
“What... what is that!?”
Oren-De looked at Cassie in surprise. He walked closer to her, then stopped, keeping his distance. After a few very tense moments, he looked at Maggie.
“Lieutenant Matoya, why is this person aboard?”
“It was an emergency, sir. We didn’t have time and we couldn’t leave her there.”
Oren-De looked from her to the bed that Red was lying on... at which point he saw two War’ens. Oren-De let out a slow breath as he walked over and spoke to the one that was operating on Red.
“Is he going to be alright?”
The EMH War’en nodded as he worked. “My scans don’t show anything that will result in permanent damage. However, he was very lucky. A few more centimeters closer to his heart and he’d be in cardiac arrest.”
Oren-De nodded and looked at his first officer. “When you’re finished assisting the EMH, Mr. Sadda, meet me in my ready room.”
He then looked at Maggie. “Ms. Matoya, take her to one of the guest quarters and lock her out of accessing anything. You will stay with her until I contact you.”
Maggie nodded. “Yes, sir,” she said, keeping her voice uncharacteristically quiet.
Oren-De looked at Cassie again. Cassie reflexively pulled back from his intense gaze. Finally, and much to her relief, Oren-De turned and left Sickbay.
The large glass exterior of the Cyronics buildings reflected the lights of the setting sun as Cassie and the Pandora away team approached. With a pass of an ID card over a nearby reader, one of the lobby’s main doors unlocked. Now that normal business hours had long since ended, the advertisement monitors above the lobby were dark and the only person there was a lone security guard at the reception desk. Cassie walked the group over and gave the guard a smile.
“Hi. I’m escorting these three visitors up to the 22nd floor offices. They were meeting with Dr. Park today and accidentally left their bags in his receptionist’s office.”
The guard looked past Cassie and eyed Maggie, War’en, and Red in turn. After a moment, he shrugged and motioned to a mounted white tablet computer on the desk.
“Sign ‘em in and make sure they sign out before they leave.”
The away team looked at the device and exchanged glances when they realized it was an interface completely different from the ubiquitous LCARS that was standard throughout Starfleet and many worlds in the Federation. Thankfully, apparently this was Cassie’s duty as an employee of the company and she began making various swipes and presses, even entering data on a digital representation of an archaic input device.
“So inefficient,” muttered War’en. “That device seems to favor looks over functionality to an extent that most actions seem needlessly complicated.”
Maggie shrugged. “All part of progress, I guess.”
When she was finished, Cassie turned to them and motioned for them to follow. “Come on. The elevators are right over here.”
War’en followed, but Maggie briefly held Red back.
“Talk to her,” she whispered. “See if you can find out what this place does.”
“Won’t that look suspicious? She thinks we were here earlier. And why me? You’re the one from Starfleet Intelligence!” he whispered back, though his voice still carried a level of incredulity.
“Yeah, but you’re better at getting people to talk to you. Trust me.”
With that, Maggie quickly caught up to War’en and Cassie, leaving Red to once again bring up the rear while attempting to suppress his increasingly sour mood.
“By the way,” Cassie said to War’en as she called the elevator, “didn’t you have a fourth person with you. Pretty nondescript guy, brown hair...”
War’en stumbled as he spoke, completely caught off guard by this latest revelation.
“Oh... he had to leave early. He had another meeting to attend. We’re meeting back up with him later.”
“Ah,” Cassie said as the elevator doors opened. The group piled in and Cassie pressed the button for the 22nd floor.
Halfway through an awkward elevator ride, Red finally broke the silence.
“So, Cassie. Sorry if we spoke about this, but it’s been a really long day. What do you do for Cryonics, again?”
Cassie’s expression brightened as the break in the tension she had been perceiving between her guests.
“Don’t worry, we didn’t. Alan whisked you into his office shortly after we met. I’m a research scientist here. I work in our Reanimation Protocols division.”
Red looked at Cassie for a moment as he realized what type of ‘cryo’ that Cryonics was involved in.
“And are you primarily concerned with laboratory uses or is this for a more medical application?”
“Medical and space flight. After all, the whole reason we’re freezing people is to either send them out on long voyages or to store them until cures for certain terminal illnesses can be found.”
The elevator doors opened and the group stepped out into the sterile corridor that linked the floor’s laboratories. Cassie turned right and led the group while continuing to talk to Red. War’en took advantage of the distraction and began whispering to Maggie.
“Do you have a plan? She’s going to suspect something when we get to this man’s office and our ‘bags’ aren’t there.”
Maggie smiled. “Just act surprised. She believes us, so I imagine she’ll rationalize it for us. Meanwhile, I’m going to plant my commbadge so that we can use its signal to transport in later tonight and investigate the office of this ‘Dr. Park’.”
War’en’s eyebrows raised in approval. “That might actually work.”
“Your confidence is truly inspiring,” she quipped as the group turned a corner. They now found that the hallway was lined with offices on either side. Maggie continued as they walked.
“I have to admit, I’m very interested to see why duplicates of us from an alternate universe wanted to go back in time just to take our technology and meet with someone working for a cryogeni--”
Maggie stopped mid-sentence and the color drained from her face. Just ahead, having just turned into the hallway, were the mirror universe duplicates of Maggie, War’en, Red, and Will, standing in front of a taller man.
Cassie looked at the group in front of them, then at Red, then back to the other Red down the hall.
“What the hell...? How...? Alan, what is going on!?”
The two Maggies reached into their respective purses nearly simultaneously and drew out phaser weapons. The other Maggie’s comrades drew weapons out of their suits. The War’en and Red standing next to Cassie were slower on the draw.
“You’re coming with us. Surrender your weapons peacefully,” War’en ordered.
The other Maggie smirked. “Not likely. Boys? Kill them.”
“What!? NO!” shouted Dr. Park as he shoved through between alternate War’en and Will to grab his Maggie’s firing arm.
The delay was all Cassie needed to suddenly turn and shove Red into an open break room that was on his right. War’en and Maggie took the opportunity and fired stun shots at the group of mirror duplicates as they followed behind Cassie. War’en’s shot missed, but Cassie struck Mirror War’en square in the chest, sending him onto his back.
Maggie, War’en, and Red were now crouched along two walls of the room, with Cassie farther behind near Red. War’en and Red were taking up firing positions due to their proximity to the door. Soon, lines of amber light were streaking through the corridor, scoring doors and walls with blast marks.
“What the hell is going on? Why do those people look exactly like you?” Cassie yelled over the phaser fire at Maggie. “And while we’re on the subject, what kind of weapons are those!?”
Maggie ignored Cassie and spoke to War’en and Red. “Well, we found them. Now what?”
“Contact Will and have him beam them behind a forcefield on the shuttle,” answered War’en as he traded fire.
Maggie reached into her purse and tapped her commbadge. Since she didn’t actually pull it out, Cassie was quite surprised when Maggie started speaking to no one in particular.
“Matoya to Lacera. We found our duplicates, but we’re pinned down in a firefight with them. We need you to beam them into a containment area on the shuttle.”
In the shuttle, Will’s hands were flying over the console controls. His efforts only earned him a negative beep.
“No good. I can’t get a lock on the signals near you. From the interference, I’d say they have a transporter jamming device.”
Maggie rolled her eyes. “Of course. They have me on their team. They would think to do that.”
“Hey, it may have been my idea,” countered Red as he poked out from his spot and fired. He was pulling back when a phaser shot struck him right in his left shoulder. The force threw him to the ground, causing him to gasp in pain.
“RED!” Maggie shouted. She quickly reached forward and tried to pull him out of the enemy’s line of sight. Cassie glanced at Maggie then back to Red before assisting her. Maggie glanced back at Cassie in surprise, then looked over at War’en.
“We need to beam out of here. We’re outgunned.”
War’en spoke as he fired. “Not possible. We can’t risk contamination to the timeline.”
Maggie’s eyes widened. “War’en! Red just got hit by a phaser blast in a firefight with our mirror duplicates. The timeline is already FUCKED,” she shouted.
War paused and looked back over at Cassie, then Red. Finally, he nodded.
“Will, four to beam up!”
“Four!?”
“Just do it!”
“Yes, sir. Energizing!”
Four columns of blue light washed over the group. Cassie’s look of surprise was frozen in place as she disappeared from view with the rest of the away team.
On the shuttle, Will turned around in his chair to see the group rematerialize. When he Red on the ground with his shoulder completely blackened, his eyebrows rose over his VISOR. He turned back to the console and began piloting the ship.
“Plotting a course for the Pandora. I’ll beam you to Sickbay as soon as we’re in range.”
“Good. Alert the captain that we’re en route,” said War’en as he looked down at Red. He could tell Red was trying his best to mentally block out the pain. He placed his hand on the man’s head, then looked up at Cassie. She was staring out at the view that lay before the shuttle... and watching the moon rapidly grow closer.
“Oh... oh my... how... how is this possible? No ship can move this quickly in space.”
Will suddenly spun back around in his chair and looked at Cassie, noticing her for the first time. His jaw dropped and he looked over at War’en.
“Sir...”
“I’ll take care of her, Mr. Lacera. Just get us back to the Pandora.”
“... yes, sir.”
A beeping alert pulled Will’s attention back to the console. “We’re in range. Energizing.”
Will entered a command and the group once again disappeared in a shimmer of blue light and reappeared in Sickbay. Cassie looked around wide-eyed at everything around her. War’en noticed and looked at Maggie.
“Keep an eye on her. Do not let her touch or read anything.”
Maggie nodded. War’en looked at Red, who had been beamed onto a bed, then spoke to the ship’s computer.
“Computer, activate EMH!”
Much to War’en’s surprise, another duplicate of himself suddenly materialized. Cassie turned around just in time to see it appear and jumped back in shock.
“Another clone!?”
Maggie quickly put her hands on Cassie’s shoulders and shook her head. “No, not a clone. That’s different. It’s... well... a hologram. He’s filling in for the ship’s doctor.”
“Where is the ship’s doctor?”
“... on the floor with a serious injury...”
War’en looked at the holographic version of himself and pointed to Red. “He was hit with a phaser that was likely set to kill.”
The EMH looked at Red and nodded. “Acknowledged. I may require some assistance, so stand by.”
War’en nodded and looked down at Red while the EMH began scanning him with a medical tricorder. Cassie watched the entire scene in disbelief. Finally, she closed her eyes and spoke slowly to Maggie.
“That ship... this place. Are you an alien?”
Maggie shook her head. “No. I’m not an alien.”
Then, her eyes widened and she looked over at War’en. “War! The captain!”
War’en gave her a quizzical look before realizing what she meant. His hand was halfway to his commbadge when the Sickbay doors slid open. At the sound, Cassie opened her eyes and found herself looking at the Pandora’s Enhasan captain. Her jaw dropped and she began breathing heavily.
“What... what is that!?”
Oren-De looked at Cassie in surprise. He walked closer to her, then stopped, keeping his distance. After a few very tense moments, he looked at Maggie.
“Lieutenant Matoya, why is this person aboard?”
“It was an emergency, sir. We didn’t have time and we couldn’t leave her there.”
Oren-De looked from her to the bed that Red was lying on... at which point he saw two War’ens. Oren-De let out a slow breath as he walked over and spoke to the one that was operating on Red.
“Is he going to be alright?”
The EMH War’en nodded as he worked. “My scans don’t show anything that will result in permanent damage. However, he was very lucky. A few more centimeters closer to his heart and he’d be in cardiac arrest.”
Oren-De nodded and looked at his first officer. “When you’re finished assisting the EMH, Mr. Sadda, meet me in my ready room.”
He then looked at Maggie. “Ms. Matoya, take her to one of the guest quarters and lock her out of accessing anything. You will stay with her until I contact you.”
Maggie nodded. “Yes, sir,” she said, keeping her voice uncharacteristically quiet.
Oren-De looked at Cassie again. Cassie reflexively pulled back from his intense gaze. Finally, and much to her relief, Oren-De turned and left Sickbay.
