Elle-vated (joint post between staff)

Posted on Thu Jul 18th, 2024 @ 10:48am by Captain Aisling Banerjee & Commander Maxwell Fitzroy & Lieutenant Commander Subak Ren & Lieutenant Damian Leath & Lieutenant Lirien & Lieutenant T’Ux & Lieutenant JG Dorian Duranik & Lieutenant JG Shijo Yara
Edited on on Mon Aug 5th, 2024 @ 12:16am

6,736 words; about a 34 minute read

Mission: Crew Shakedown
Location: Computer Core
Timeline: 79457.61

Aisling sat on one of the folding chairs, legs crossed as she waited for the others to show. The support personnel regarded her curiously but she did not pay them any attention. Today was either going to go well or things were going to go straight to hell. The staff here looked at the huge data transfer with open skepticism but once Aisling explained it had to do with their upcoming mission they were mollified. Or at least acted as if they were. She noted the display panel on the wall: ninety three percent.

She had put out a call for the staff meeting to take place in a half hour twenty five minutes ago, the folding chairs were stacked against the entrance. She had considered going one chair short but that seemed, well, childish.

"Can I do anything for you, Captain?" a crewman inquired nervously.

"I will be repurposing all of those display panels," Aisling murmured, nodding at the wall. Once the meeting starts I need everyone to leave. The meeting will not be overly long, I think."

"Yessir. Ah, there are no repilcators here..."

Aisling grinned, "Then the lack of refreshment might expedite the meeting."

The crewman smiled in return and nodded, then returned to his duties, Aisling heard him murmur to another that they might want to hold off on any diagnostics.

Aisling frowned; judging by her upset stomach she thought she could us a diagnostic. Ninety four percent...

T’Ux would show up at the door and realised once again… he probably was one of the earliest. Though this time he didn’t wait for others to come before stepping in.

“Captain,” he greeted politely as he stepped in, moving to find a suitable seat. Perhaps she’d stop him if she didn’t feel it appropriate.

"Doctor," Aisling noted, "Just grab a chair," she nodded to the folding chairs leaning against the wall. She added with a smile, "Sit anywhere where my poor human ears can hear you, all right?"

Damian arrived shortly afterward looking miffed. "Hello Captain, I assume you would like an update on our progress with the device. We are five or so hours behind. Before you comment on the delay I want to inform you that me and several of my senior engineering staff had to go and redesign it upon futher inspection of the schematics." He pulls out a datapad and hands it to Aisling. "I don't know who designed this but they did a terrible job, it uses far more power than it should require and was on a swinging mechanism which we replaced with a telescoping beam."

"Hmmm," Aisling murmured as she accepted the padd, "Well, I am quite certain the designer will be very disappointed. I look forward to that particular conversation," she handed the padd back after briefly studying it, "Personally I think you acted properly, even if you did miss your self imposed deadline. Next time double it in the manner of 'miracle workers' of old."

Her eyes twinkled, "didn't the ancient engineers double their estimates to make themselves look like miracle workers?"

Commander Fitzroy walked in a moment after Damian “Chief, you know the best magicians only reveal their tricks at the opportune moment.”

He nods to the Captain and anyone else in the room before taking the seat nearest to the Captain and has his data pad out. The Data Pad is written in Klingon.

"I heard they quadrupled, Captain," said Lt. Commander Ren, as the half-Vulcan walked into the room. He hoped he wasn't late, but it appeared he was far from the first to arrive to the meeting. "I've put the SCM duty rotation into effect as of two hours ago, by the way."

"Thank you for being understanding" says Damian monotone before sitting down across from T'Ux "Caitian, you are the new doctor. Yes?"

T’Ux would eye Damien and say with a straight face and monotonous manner, “No, I am the ship’s cat for luck.”

Aisling glanced at the engineer and doctor a moment before turning back to Ren, "SCM duty rotation? I am afraid I am not familiar with that..."

Ren grinned broadly. "That is, Ship's Cat Maintenance, Captain," he replied. "For Pawsitive Charge. The actual ship's cat." He also noted how Leith addressed Lt. T'Ux in similar manner to himself. It was only the captain's presence that stopped him from saying 'Good to see you again, Human.' to the lieutenant from Engineering.

Aisling brightened at that, "Ah, excellent! I do not mind the cat's presence in my quarters but she does demand quite a bit of attention...at inopportune hours..."

The door opened yet again, revealing a young yellow-collared woman with pointed ears and black hair longer than traditionally worn by Vulcan officers, though she held herself with the measured control typical of one. She peered around the Computer Core, then crossed the threshold and joined the others. Much of the senior staff she was meeting for the first time. She nodded curtly to the Captain and the Doctor before turning to take in the others present. "Lieutenant Lirien, Tactical," she introduced herself, noted the seating, and picked one that allowed her a view of the way they'd come in.

Dorian AKA "Duke" glided in, nodding respectfully to the Captain as the others chittered. He took position in the back with no one behind him and a good view of the room. Not the most tactical the most defensive. This is the part of Star Fleet that killed Duke, yack yack. more flying less yacking.

EDIT Yara entered and then turned to get a chair,taking it to sit next to Lirien, nodding and smiling at her choice of position.

She returned the gesture, recognizing that among those who'd served in security, it was a shibboleth of sorts to always be on guard. For her, the habit went back to a dangerous childhood, and she suspected it was the same for the Bajoran, considering his people's shared history. And possibly for the Orion flight officer, who also seemed to prefer his back securely up against the proverbial wall.

Commander Fitzroy gives Duke a nod for a moment. He Greets him in the language of Orion, Kolari.

~" We need to talk later."~

Duke nodded in a subtle manner as to not give anything thing away. Duke spent years with his life in the balance in social interactions... Duke thought to himself, former spook... or handler.... in command... manipulator and motivator... use native language to make bonds...private meeting to make you feel special and bonded....

How this meeting is going to go is going to be interesting. Its the classic Intelligence meeting....and Fitzroy has the grin of being the only one who has experienced that before.

The entrance of the Security team caught Lt. Commander Ren's attention. A half-Romulan and a half-Vulcan walk into a room, he thought, reminded of a Human joke format of which one of his former colleagues had been fond. And a Bajoran. Good; someone who might also enjoy the Commander's hasperat. When Fitzroy speaks in what Ren takes to be the Orion language, Subak leans over to him and whispers, "You do realize we're all still wearing universal translators, correct?"

Fitzroy seems to study duke for a moment and give a subtle nod, before turning his focus to Ren "Of course. But sometimes the translation doesn't say what you want to say with words."

Ninety six percent.

Aisling stood and called out to the technicians to kindly vacant the premises. One in particular seemed reluctant to go, she frowned at the readouts on the holographic screen before her. Then her compatriot gently tugged at her arm and she left, still staring over her shoulder at the readout.

"Thank you for coming," Aisling stated, knowing full well everyone on hand had little choice. But it was the polite thing to say, "I have met all of you but you perhaps have not met one another. In no particular order we have Doctor T'ux," she nodded to the Caitian, "Lieutenant, Dorian, our Chief Helmsman. Lieutenant Lirien, our Chief Tactical Officer and lieutenant Shijo, Chief of Security. Commander Subak is our Chief of Operations, and lieutenant Leath is our Chief Engineer."

Yara nods. He can feel some tension in the Captain.

Ninety seven percent. Was that a flicker? Most definitely a flicker. Was that normal? Did she dare call the Muse?

Aisling pressed on, "Commander Fitzroy is our Executive Officer. I have no doubt that everyone is curious as to the nature of our mission. And I am certain some of you have wondered what lieutenant Leath has been working on. His project directly impacts the impending mission..."

Ninety eight percent. Strings of what looked like code in amber, crimson and cyan flowed across the screen.

"...And I am certain that you might be wondering why we are meeting here in computer control," she paused and glanced at Leath, smiled slightly, "I confess I was tempted to hold our first meeting on the hull just to tweak the nose of a certain someone, but our purpose here was to ensure critical data was downloaded free of, ah, well-meaning interference. This data is critical to the success of our mission. As to the nature of this data, and the, ah, special mission advisor we will be taking on-"

Ninety n-

The status screen went blank, the lights actually flickered for a brief moment. Aisling glanced up and frowned. That, she thought, seemed...not right...

Damian grimaces as he walks over to computer terminal. "What are you running on here captain" he says while attempting a diagnostic. "Did the person who made that device code this?"

Lt. Commander Ren would ordinarily have interjected that Subak was his first name, not his family name, but two things kept him from it. Firstly, the Captain was on a roll, and it would have been bad form to interrupt. Secondly, before there was enough of a pause to allow the correction, the power flickered and the holo terminal which the Captain had been watching went blank. Ren got up alongside Leith and peered down at the display, or lack thereof. "Was transmission interrupted?" he wondered aloud, concernedly. "Intercepted?" His security instincts had just been engaged.

Commander Fitzroy also waits for the Captain's response. "Do you have a com for someone on the other end of the stream?"

Given what his instincts suggested to him.

Aisling nodded at Fitzroy and tapped her comm, "Bridge, Banerjee. Open a comm for me to Muse of Fire, pl-"

"Bridge, Captain," Ferrari replied, "Muse of Fire hailed us."

Aisling stepped off to the side, only T'Ux could hear what she was saying:

"Not sure what I was expecting," the Captain noted, "But things have gotten a little...weird here."

A man replied, "Could it be the Borg subsystems? She might be having trouble-"

"Don't say it," a woman on the other end warned.

"-assimilating them."

"Well, now at least I know whom is responsible for her sense of humor..."

Leath, Ren, and Fitzroy saw that the computer was running a level one diagnostic on, well, everything. Level one was the fastest, simplest mode of diagnostic and the person seemed to be checking systems almost randomly.

Shijo's comm chirped, a woman's voice murmured, "Lieutenant, Porsche here. A woman has come out of the conference room, she is wearing a variation of the Starfleet uniform and she seems a bit...agitated." he heard another voice in the background, presumably the woman, who said, "-erfectly good conference room? I'm having trouble seeing everything. Where's my cat-There!"

Yara an answers "Lieutenant do noth...."

"And...she's gone," Porsche said, "Please don't tell me that was a Q. I'm not ready for that yet..."

"...ing. Stand by"

Fitzroy glances at the Captain. Not knowing what he can say yet. "Where might the Cat be at Ma'am?"

"Presuming you mean Pawsitive Charge," Ren replied, "the ship's cat is currently in the care of Ensign Khley'bar from Engineering, per the rotation schedule." The mention of a Q also put Ren on alert; he'd heard stories of the kind of havoc they could wreak.

"This looks bad. I'm going to reboot the computers, it'll temporarily shut down all non-essential systems. Do I have your go ahead Captain?" says Damian looking thoroughly annoyed.

Lirien's eyebrow perked up but she kept her face stone cold, even if her hands were digging into her knees. It seemed improper to bring a sidearm with her for a meeting like this, and logically she understood it would be of little use in the moment, but not knowing what precisely was going on, not having a phaser at her side... she remained coiled and ready to spring.

"Are you sure that a full reboot is necessary, Lieutenant?" Ren asked Leith, glancing over to the Romulan tactical chief for a moment.

‘Uh,’ Duke thought to himself, ‘another SF meeting that that could have been a file to all data pads. Welcome, crew bios, ship cat, important data from Muse will update when transferred and operational.’

T’Ux seemed calm but anyone who could read a Caitian’s body language would realise he had shifted to full alert the minutes the light flickered… along with the whole length of transmissions. His ears caught hold of the captain’s conversation though he deigned to comment or question further about it on this point. There were far too many unknowns and he doubted the captain could give an answer.

Now he was not used to engineering readouts. Or perhaps he could have gleaned information from it. He would however key in commands for the computer to run a scan on all ship’s personal and account for them. Or if they had additional life forms. No doubt this was for the security team to handle. And he’s also inquire about the location of the actual ship’s cat.

Whatever result he got, he’d send it over to the rest.

Although his eyes landed on the display… wondering what sort of sapient being could be behind this. It didn’t seem like a Q… it was far too controlled… but he wouldn’t rule it out. But assuming the Captain’s conversation… could it be remnants of Borg technology trying to work with the ship’s computer? An artificial intelligence perhaps? But that would not explain the disappearing woman. Could it? Unless the holoprojectors worked.

Then he turned to look at the others quietly watching them.

“Lieutenant Leath, who was conducting the diagnostics and did they find anything?” the feline asked curiously.

"A full reboot would be the easiest solution as the program won't stop running. It also has full admin privileges which is not safe." Damian turns his head to face captain Aisling "Care to explain what this is" he says sardonically.

At Damian's words, T'Ux had an ahha expression. Well nothing he could do as the ship's doctor for it. "Captain, should I head back to med bay lest we have a rogue AI running loose and injuries occur?"

"Don't worry about that, I'll shut down the EMH with the rest of the non critical systems." replies Damian.

Aisling turned and regarded the staff, noting their expressions. She took a breath.

"This...was not how things were supposed to go," she finally said, "It is a not a rogue AI, as in...it is supposed to be here, and-"

Shijo's comm chirped again, "Lieutenant, Khley'bar here. A strange woman has appeared from nowhere and is staring at the sleeping cat-"

Yara replied "Ensign, do nothing!"

A lovely auburn haired woman appeared in the middle of the group, her auburn hair was in a disheveled bun and she was wearing a variation of a Starfleet uniform, the color on her shoulders being white.

"-and she just disappeared," Khley'bar murmured. There was a pause, "The cat just woke up."

"Stand by, Ensign."

"Why are you meeting down here?" the woman asked as she looked about at the assembled staff, her expression mildly bewildered, "There's a very nice conference room upstairs. That table is magnificent," she made an attempt to fix her bun, "I am so, so sorry, I was having a difficult time assimilating the Borg systems."

She paused, then burst out laughing...

Damian initiates the reboot. "This AI is malfunctioning and I'm putting an end to it." He turns on his comlink "This is lieutenant Leath. All staff in holodecks, leave now, the safety protocols are about to disable."

"Okay," Elle said as she turned to Aisling, "I see now why we're here. I am sorry I doubted you."

"Apology accepted," Aisling replied diplomatically, eyeing Leath, "Lieutenant, I do not think that is going to work..."

T’Ux eyed the woman curiously before he got up and extended a paw to her. “Kepler I presume?” He asked.

Whatever the others decided… it was possible he could distract her sufficiently. He doubted though. The woman didn’t seem hostile, but he wasn’t sure if Leath’s decision might endanger them all.

But the Caitian had deduced something from the woman’s words. The AI wasn’t omniscient on all aspects of the ship… and perhaps given he could do nothing for the time being, it was to just hold conversation then.

"Elle Kepler?" the AI replied as she accepted the doctor's hand, "That makes me sound like a Spanish swordfighter," she hesitated and reluctantly added, "So it's only funny if you know what Spain is. Humor is quite difficult to master. But you know what is funny..."

She let go of T'Ux's hand and turned to the Chief Engineer, who found the holo screen had gone blank and the control panel was dead.

"...is trying to switch me off. Don't you know to defeat a sentient computer you have to either talk it to death or..."

Elle paused, her eyes widened.

"You scrapped my design?" she breathed, shocked, "Why? What was wrong with it? I thought it was fine! Why-" she paused, cocked her head.

"...All right," Elle conceded, "A telescoping array is both more robust and more elegant...darn it...

Shijo Yara taps his comms "Lieutenant, Ensign, Security team, it's all good, stand down. Carry on with whatever your other tasks were."

Amidst the somewhat controlled commotion, Lirien had come to her feet, but while her training about rogue AI in the Academy practically screamed the solution the Chief Engineer had been engaged in, she noted that the Captain's reaction had been calm, almost expectant of the circumstances. While she was new to Tactical, she nearly fell in behind Yara's orders out of pure habit. What alarm might have been on her face eventually settled into a practiced calm as per her adopted parents' teaching, and she clasped her wrist with her hand behind her back in the closest thing Vulcans had to standing 'at ease'.

Learning that the AI had at least in part designed some of the ship was... alarming, but she filed that piece of information away. Presuming that the Captain intended "Elle" to be an advisor, knowing the how and why of the ship's weapons and defensive systems designs went right to the top of her priorities. She opened her mouth to address the new being, but thought better of it, and simply turned her head to wait for the Captain and First Officer to provide the context to this briefing.

Meanwhile, Lt. Commander Ren was just watching this all go on and wishing he'd had a bit more time to settle in before the turmoil started. Just once in his life he'd like something to go the easy route. He stood behind Leath, also watching the terminal. He typed a few messages to his staff, mostly telling them to watch for anything unexpected over the next and give him full summaries later.

His eyes darted up toward the Captain, when she seemingly confirmed that there was an AI running about, but that it was not technically 'rogue.' And then it appeared out of thin air. His Vulcan brows knit together as he put a few bits together in his head. The woman's ire at her designs being superseded did put a smile on his face. He glanced over toward Lirien, wondering what the Security chief thinks of the whole situation. Frankly, he wasn't sure just yet entirely what he thought of it. "Fascinating," he mused aloud, under his breath.

Elle brightened and turned to the COO, she said, "Oh, Commander Ren! Thank you for the alcove you prepared for my cat. The bed, the automated food and water bowls, the 'cat tower', it is all very nice. And the little recess for the litter box to afford her privacy was very kind. In fact, you did such a good job, perhaps..." she glanced over at Aisling hopefully.

The Lt. Commander smiled in very un-Vulcan-like fashion. "The parameters of my assignment were made quite clear to me," he replied.

"This is a working starship, Elle," the Captain noted gently, "I do not think we can afford to host more than one cat at this time."

Elle seemed ready for a well prepared response for that, when-

"Nice seeing you Elle. You ready to introduce yourself to everyone?" Fitzroy speaks up. Pleased with how everything came out. The crew responded well.

Elle frowned, "I...well, I don't know? I had a wonderful speech prepared, and I had this wonderful entrance all worked out where I would slowly fade in. I had the music chosen-"

"Music?" Aisling murmured, eyebrow cocked.

"-and those darn Borg components..." she sighed, "I am still coming to grips with how...fast everything is. The Muse of Fire had no bio-neural gel packs, it now feels like I was a sprinter with their legs chained together, and now I'm re-learning how to run..."

Damian speaks up "You better not adjust the Borg components. They are finicky enough as is and that device didn't inspire confidence in your engineer skill. I spent weeks making them function properly when I joined the Kepler and I don't want to do that again."

T’Ux definitely had several thoughts about things, some complimentary others not, but he held them in. It didn’t seem to serve any benefit to speaking them in front of everyone. Although he had decided who he probably had trouble getting along with.

“Well no harm giving the speech as well as you can Elle Kepler. We are after all in your hands and in your computer core,” the Caitian said to the woman.

Then he turned to look at Damien.

“I sincerely hope you’re not suggesting that your capabilities as an engineer are not sufficient enough to sort it out should it happen… because that statement of yours Lieutenant, doesn’t exactly inspire confidence in your engineering skills,” T’Ux said calmly as he used the other’s words. And the captain and the XO could probably figure out why T’Ux still pretty much was a lieutenant.

"All right," Aisling said, gently but firmly, "We are not having any of that."

Ren mentally added a tally in his favorable column for Lt. T'Ux at the Caitian's outburst. He wouldn't add to it, given that the Captain's justified reprimand, but it was certainly noted for the future.

She looked about the room at the staff, her expression set, "Only Commander Fitzroy was expecting this and I am quite certain Elle's existence, her presence, has come as a surprise – likely an unpleasant one – to the rest of you. And Elle's...demeanor has likely called her...competency into question..."

Elle visibly winced at that.

"...as well as my own," Aisling reluctantly smiled, "It is likely not our finest hour. All I can say is over the past two weeks I have interacted extensively with Elle and I can assure you that she is a capable, intelligent and personable being...who has just left her home of some seventeen years to live amongst a crew trained to believe artificial intelligences must be killed on site. Bear in mind, the Admiralty is aware of Elle's existence, and think on the fact that this mission we will be tasked with is so important that now only do the likes of Admiral Janeway feel it critical Elle be a part of it but Elle has agreed to help us despite the very real risk to her existence."

Fitzroy turns to the Captain "There wasn't anything wrong with your plan. Things happened and it caused a problem. A problem the crew came together and solved like a good star fleet crew. If we want to bring people together and get them working as a unit....well...I'd have preferred a different means. But the crisis served a purpose." He turns to the chief engineer "And, I think Elle working hand in glove with your talents will make this ship and its systems excel."

Turning back to the Captain "I do think you need to tell the Crew what our mission is and why Star Fleet command was willing to make so radical of a decision."

Yara muses, quietly, "not to try, is to fail. Not trying diminishes us."

Ren glanced over between Fitzroy and Banerjee. "It would certainly help us adjust," he said, "if we knew more. Should the Operations team see AI unexpectedly running programs on the ops console while we're using it, it could cause undue alarm."

Fitzroy nods to Ren " And extreme choices by Command always means there is a serious purpose to the mission....We should orient to that first perhaps? Then we can introduce the crew to Elle's role in helping us all accomplish our mission."

"That does bring up another point," Aisling noted, "How is the crew going to respond to the ship being inhabited by an artificial intelligence? How do we break the news to them? How many are going to request an immediate transfer?" she pointed her thumb over her shoulder at the door, "Some of the technicians might have already been suspicious based on the amount of data that transferred over from Muse."

The Captain frowned thoughtfully, "The past twenty years have seen remarkable advances in holo technology, with emergency holograms designed for almost every ship function. And of course, there is The Doctor..."

"Photons Be Free is a masterpiece," Elle murmured, "It inspired me to write my first book," she brightened, "Oh, Captain, about the pacing in chapter three, I-" she caught the Captain's expression, visibly dialed back, "Right. Later."

"The point I am trying to make," Aisling continued, "is the question of how well or badly is the crew going to take the news? Is keeping Elle's presence a secret an option? Would keeping her presence a secret make things worse or allow people to gradually acclimate to the fact she exists?"

T’Ux’s tail flicked slightly when the captain told him to rein it in… but she hadn’t said he was wrong. He did however hold his tongue as he listened.

“I’m inclined to agree with Lieutenant Commander Ren that knowing would help the crew adjust better… but given the covert nature of her presence… we might do better coming with a cover story that sounds plausible enough to explain her existence without giving too much information. Perhaps inspired by EMHs, engineering has decided to try something akin to it for their needs and she is a prototype of sorts?” The Caitian suggested.

Yara nods, "Perhaps, but maybe that should only be a short term ruse. Once we are 'out there' it might be important to fully brief the crew. Resentment might occur if this secret is kept overlong, and especially if revealed 'of a sudden' rather than in a controlled fashion. I am still processing security implications, of potential for ESH and this AI".

"The Caitian's idea would work in theory" says Damian. "The issue is an EMH equivalent for Engineering has to actually be good at Engineering. I don't want to immediately dismiss a good idea though, so does anyone have suggestions on a way to rework this? It's an AI so I assume it could handle operations work well enough."

"'It can handle Operations just fine," Elle replied tartly at the Chief Engineer. She hesitated, then said, "About the rest, though; there is theory and there is practice. I have access to the data, but implementing it..."

Aisling cocked her head, "Well, there are the Emergency programs. Are you able to use them somehow?"

Elle paused and cocked her head thoughtfully for a full four seconds before straightening, "Yes, I could essentially 'skin' and wear them. I hope no one was fond of those programs because I am need to purge their personalities. This is going to take me a little while so I don't inadvertently erase something necessary: I'd hate to not know how to cure Rigellian fever or not know how to align the dilithium crysal matrix when I needed to."

Fitzroy would probably notice T’Ux’s tail flicking a lot more at Damien’s words, though he seemed to remain calm and controlled to the rest who didn’t know how to read Caitians that well.

"Fine, Elle, thank you," Aisling said.

"But this is temporary, right?" Elle asked, a bit anxiously.

"Yes." Aisling replied.

"You promise?" Elle added quickly before the Captain could reply, "It is just on the Muse I had to lie. All the time. I had to pretend I was a human with an incurable autoimmune disease stuck in a room. I hated lying to my crew. I hate to lie, period."

Aisling regarded the holographic representation soberly, "I promise it is only temporary, Elle."

Elle hesitated, her expression pensive. Then she nodded and a moment later the hologram winked out. The Captain regarded the others.

"Unless we want to conduct meetings in the toilet we are going to have to assume Elle knows everything you say. So if anyone has concerns about that then we are going to have to reserve a conference room on the station and hash things out there. But sooner or later Elle will know your thoughts and concerns and I would rather not lie to the ship. Right here and now I need to know; does anyone have any reservations so deep that they feel they cannot serve on this vessel? If so I need to know now. I will say, however, that I would not be here if I did not think Elle was critical to this mission or that I had any doubt in her competency."

T'Ux looked thoughtful about things as the captain spoke. "Captain, based on Elle's words, can we conclude that she is not omniscient? Or is it only because she is programmed that way not to be, or is there a timed delay? She has demonstrated, on two accounts, that she was not aware of the presence and location of people within the ship. The first being the location of Pawsitive, the second being us. Given those incidents and when you called us together it would not be wrong to assume that she is not listening in at every moment?

That being said, I would not have any issues with Elle at present... but I do have concerns about her with the crew and privacy." Although he already knew who on the ship he'd have issues with, and it wasn't the AI.

"Elle." Fitzroy asks Elle "You understand the boundary concerns of other sentient and know how to respect that?" He smiles " That might help mend some fences."

Elle re-appeared after a moment, standing behind what appeared to be a crew person in a blue Starfleet uniform. Anyone who had used an Emergency Medical Hologram recently recognized it as the latest model.

"Hm?" Elle murmured absently as she reached her hand into the back of the hologram's skull. The hologram's eyes widened and its mouth formed into a silent scream, "You guys are asking about privacy? Well, I barely notice what people are doing, But I am constantly registering what is going on in regards to the ship's functions."

The Emergency Medical Hologram went limp, dangling from Elle's hand. Then it slowly faded away.

T'Ux's tail floofed up when Elle just... killed an EMH. "Elle, I'd appreciate if you refrained from doing that," he said though his voice was somewhat strained. "I actually know the person it is based off."

"...Oh," Elle replied, looking a bit abashed, "Ah...sorry...Um, anyway, as for people, I do check on everyone periodically, just to be sure no one has gone missing, or has suddenly collapsed, or is about to do something crazy like walk out an airlock. But if you mean am I spying on them, monitoring what they're doing then no, I don't," she cocked her head, "I miss Bones, my old EMH. Bones was delightfully cranky. I prefer to interact with people, not peer over their shoulders."

Ren glanced directly at the AI, when it mentioned being able to handle Operations. "Captain," he said, after others put in their two credits, "it would be helpful to know at least exactly what this AI is expected to do. How exactly it is programmed, and in which department it is expected to be assigned." He stroked his beard. "I never got the chance to meet the Enterprise's Lt. Commander Data, but no one who's worked in Operations hasn't heard stories. So I think I should have no difficulty remaining open-minded. All the same, I think I agree with most everyone here that there is going to be some...awkwardness. Having some clear information about expectations and roles, at the very least among department heads, would go a long way towards alleviating any concerns."

"Elle?" Aisling inquired.

"I was never 'programmed'," Elle explained absently as the white on her uniform slowly turned blue and her hair flowed back into a pony tail, "I was taught. My origin is not a tale for the faint of heart, but if you would like to know it I think Devin might be finished with the music for the musical in a few months. The opening number, 'Welcome To The Lion's Heart', acts as this great prologue, setting the stage for a tale of wonders and horrors, of sweeping tale of tragedy and hope."

She examined her hands and flexed the fingers. Nodding, she said, "I am the real star of the story, of course, even though I don't show up until the second act. Oh, I was Muse of Fire's first mate, so anything I do on this ship is going to be a demotion, I suppose. Plan was for me to act as 'mission advisor'. I-whoops."

Elle disappeared as the doors opened. Several of the computer technicians peered cautiously in.

Duke was quite befuddled to the intelligence of Star Fleet. * Borg Tech Borg take over... Fleet control of all starships that was not wise. No AI they are evil now AI give it a ship.....*

"Ah, sirs?" the lead technician said hesitantly, "We were wondering, well, is everything all right? We heard reports of a 'ghost' appearing on a couple decks, diagnostics running at random, that sort of thing. We figured the 'ghost' was a malfunctioning hologram, but-"

Aisling nodded and held up a forestalling hand. To the staff she murmured, "I think we need to move this to the conference room. Meet there in, say, an hour? It would give everyone time to grab refreshment, pass along the story to your respective departments."

"Captain, may I request on delaying informing my medical team until I have more information... or perhaps a ship wide message might be more suitable to belay any further rumours for the time being," the Caitian suggested.

"A shipwide message might be best," Aisling agreed after a moment, "All right, I will prepare one," she turned to the technicians and gently motioned for them to leave. Reluctantly they did so.

"Captain A question," Duke asked keeping his face flat, "Is she... it? Her. Ellie is she, on her one server and fire walled from the ships computer with access like a crew person? Or is She the ships computer?"

"Oh, she is in every component of the ship's computer," Aisling assured Duke, "And apparently she grew very adept at hiding her presence as well. After all, a technician can only go by the data provided to them by the control panels and displays.

Fitzroy glances at the Captain but kept himself silent. He seemed to be pondering something. "Yes.....conference room seems best."

Yara waits for the senior staff to head out, keeping his face passive. Thinking how this complicates his job.

After taking the information in as best she could, Lirien finally raised her own voice, "I know I'm not alone in experiencing what it's like for ships to be commandeered by a superior intellect with the capability of an army, after Frontier Day." She maintained a steady timbre, though her nerves crawled as she recalled the terror. The Tactical Chief took a steadying breath, knowing she was risking offending the AI's sensibilities, "Captain, I am happy to extend faith to Elle as I would any fellow officer, but should her systems be compromised, do we have a sure method of severing her control over ship's functions?"

"A good question," Aisling acknowledged. She was silent a few moments, then said, "There were instances where lieutenant Commmander Data was mentally compromised and proved a threat to both the Enterprise and his fellow crew, but it was never once suggested he be deactivated or lose his commission. Voyager's Emergency Medical Hologram, The Doctor, was likewise compromised upon several occasions and the crew did not seem to hold it against him, and when that ship returned home he was allowed to continue to exist.

"We live in a universe where at one point or another we might be suborned by an alien entity or captured and mentally adjusted by a foreign power, or in some cases some our unique biologies might in some circumstances compel us to act in manners that might prove a danger to themselves and their fellow crew members. Some of you here in this room were compromised by the Borg and acted against your fellow friends and crew members.

"Now I recognize the very real concern that in Elle's case perhaps it is a matter of scale: should Elle go rogue she could kill us all in a vast number of ways, from transporting us into deep space or shutting down life support. She could disable the intertial dampeners during high impulse and that would be a very messy way to go. She could poison our food, employ sonics to shatter our skulls...there is quite a list anyone with a fertile imagination could come up with. And in most of these cases a compromised crew member could do the same with enough skill and patience. Given time any fail safe can be circumvented.

"I suppose what it comes down to is a matter of trust. In the twenty three years of her life Elle has not been compromised. And Janeway herself seems to trust Elle to the extent that the Admiral agreed to Elle transferring her consciousness onto this ship. I know trust needs to be earned. I am asking that you give Elle and yourselves enough time to trust her."

Damian turns to face the captain. "Unless proven otherwise I will assume Elle is trustworthy but nevertheless she is as you said a threat to the entire crew if compromised. We need a way to deal with that if it occurs. Are your command codes able to shut her down or should I find another solution?"

"Not precisely what I said," Aisling murmured as she idly rubbed her right ear lobe. She smiled enigmatically, "But by all means, if you think you can come up with a way to 'neutralize' the artificial intelligence that has access to internal sensors and just heard your intentions, feel free. See all of you in the conference room in an hour. Don't forget to replace your chair."

And with that Aisling grabbed her own folding chair and leaned it against the wall on her way out...

 

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