Mission 96.0715: Ehlu u'Tae: Lost and Found

[Deleted]

“So, any ideas?” Mirok asked of the bronze-colored flying lizard creature that was now following around the vents, the former having given up on trying to open the vent in front of him. He had tried pushing it as well as shaking it, both to no avail, and the grating of the vent was too small to get his fingers to anything on the other side that might be holding the vent in place. He wasn’t sure why he was trying to open that particular vent in the first place; the Romulan occupants of the room beyond were dead as well. Was the entire crew of the S’Harien inside this facility, doomed to die in one way or another?

Backing up into the main artery of the duct again, he couldn’t help but notice that he was getting warmer. Whether it was the actual temperature of the air or merely the effect of his own exertion in a confined space, he didn’t know. But as an intense wave of heat washed over him, he got his answer. The duct itself was heating up.

Mirok felt like such a fool. He was an engineer, after all. Why hadn’t he stopped to consider before climbing in what the purpose of the vent might be? With the relatively small dimensions, coupled with the dramatic increase in temperature, its purpose was now clear; he was in a heating duct. And someone had just cranked up the heat. And with the walls of the duct being metal, it wouldn’t take long before they became just as hot as the air passing through the space.

“Get out of here!” he called to the flying lizard behind him, who immediately vanished, apparently sensing the danger of the situation itself. At least it listened well…

Already able to feel the heat beneath his hands, and starting to come through the fabric of his uniform at the knees, Mirok didn’t even bother to take the time to turn himself around the way he came. He needed to get out of there now. So, with sweat rolling down his face, he proceeded to crawl backward through the duct.

As he crawled, the temperature of the metal surrounding him rose quickly. As he bunched up his arms in his sleeves to give his hands insulation against the burning metal, one of the beads of sweat rolling down his face fell to the floor of the duct, sizzling as it instantly turned to steam.

As he reached a juncture, the heat and the pain were making it difficult to concentrate. Was this the side duct that would lead him back to his cell, or was it the next one? His profuse sweating stung his eyes, making it impossible to make out the far end of the side duct. Taking his chances, he backed down the side duct. His knees and forearms felt like they were on fire, being burned through his uniform.

He felt his foot hit something behind him. Barely able to turn his head, trying to avoid brushing it against the side of the duct, he tried to squint to see what was in his way. To his horror, he saw what looked like another vent. He had gone the wrong way, and there was no way he could go far enough now to make it back to where he had come in.

Slumping down to extend his arms in front of him, he rested his face against them to avoid the searing metal. As he crouched, waiting for the merciful end to this agony, he thought of his brother Rhian, perished in military service as a science officer. “I’m coming, Rhian,” Mirok whispered.

[Deleted]

She watched as Teav ran off and she merely shrugged, as she sat down. Her calmness would have been unnerving to anyone watching on, Suddenly a noise sounded behind her and she slowly turned her head, a bridge had extended allowing to to pursue a path in the opposite direction to Teav.
“Luck at last.” She muttered as she stood up, though she could not help but feel somehow she was being messed with.

As she walked she became increasingly annoyed, nothing seemed to lead anywhere it was a myriad of dead ends or walking around in circles. However just as she was about to again sit down she turned a corner in to medium sized room. Only one console was present it was in the wall.

She raised an eyebrow as she walked closer. “Too easy.” As she turned to leave the door behind her seemed to morph into a solid wall. Holographic? Biological metal? She didn’t know nor really care.

Turning to look where the console had been she sighed as it too had vanished. Now she was trapped in a grey metal room with no doors or anything of any kind, except small vents at the top of the walls.

A hissing noise started as the vents began to spew what she could only guess was some form of toxin, immediately her lungs began to burn. She didn’t panic.

She looked around again before shrugging, “And now I pay my own price.” She said as she sat down, her hands to her side she took in deep breaths until her vision had become clouded and her body no longer able to keep itself in a sitting position.

She collapsed to the floor, seeing nothing but blurred grey. She was oddly at peace with the situation, in her mind it was a punishment the universe had long owed her, and she had been more than ready to pay it… Moments later her heart stopped and she was gone.

[Deleted]

The sound of beeps filled the now silent room. No one spoke after the events they just witnessed. They simply finished up reports and recorded data. One by one, the myriad of viewscreens that had been focused on the Romulan crew started to power down, indicating that the Romulans in each of the environments had perished, in one form or another. The lone figure in the center of the room uncrossed his legs and stood up.

“Is the simulation finished?”

Another pressed a few more buttons, before replying, “It is. They have all perished.” He paused before continuing. “At least they think they have.”

The man in the center, obviously the leader, began to pace back and forth. He walked to several consoles looking them over, each of the console managers waiting in trepidation to see if they had done well. It was a truly terrifying experience. The leader stopped behind the man who had spoken. “Will they remember anything when they are put back on their ship?”

The man shook his head. “No sir, they will forget it as if it were a dream. They are ready to be transported back.”

“Do it.”

The man initiated the transport, sending the still-living Romulan crew back to their ship. “Done sir.”

The leader asked one final question. “Is the operative in place?”

The other man nodded. “Yes sir. And her memory is modified properly as well. She will be prime to naturally transmit data, while we perform other experiments.”

The leader devilishly grinned. “Finally. The rule of the Kobaltek will be surpreme.”

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Taev was blinded by the white light. “What is it?” he yelled out, hoping the damn science officer was doing her job. “Kreiala, answer the question!” He got no response. He stood up from the center chair and the white light dimmed and eventually receded completely. Taev looked around the bridge of the S’Harien. He didn’t see the Science Officer. “Where the hell is she?” he asked angrily, to no one in particular.

One of the bridge officers said, “Sir, the phenomenon is gone.”

“What!” Taev said. “How do you expect us to find the other ship then? Hmmm?”

The poor officer, would had gotten the brunt of Taev’s anger before, was filled with fear. Taev could smell it on him. “It’s just gone, sir.”

Taev rolled his eyes, knowing it would never be found again, save by pure luck. He looked at the communications officer and said, “Inform Command that the phenomena is gone and the Koimae is lost.”

Sitting back in the chair, Taev ordered them out of this region of space. The S’Harien went back to her pointless existence.

(ooc: At this point, we now return to the point just before the sub-space anamoly takes us in. The anomaly is now gone, and so it will appear to everyone that nothing happened. None of us will remember what happened inside the anomaly and we will proceed normally. The Kobaltek have made us experience a simulation and have suppressed the memories. We will come back and acknowledge this in a later mission. I assure you, we WILL have a chance to exact revenge. The new mission will start on Monday of next week. If you want to make a final post in this thread, please do so, keeping in mind you do not remember what has just happened.)