Posted by Lieutenant Junior Grade Sharah Fayth (Chief Science Officer) in Main Sim - Fulcrum Runabout - Reality Bubble Tests!

Posted by Fleet Captain Drudoc Andone (Commanding Officer) in Main Sim - Fulcrum Runabout - Reality Bubble Tests!
[snip]

As Fayth watched the reality bubble continued to lightly bounce off the containment field. But a problem soon popped up when they tried influencing it with thoughts, that being the containment sphere interfering. The bubble in this case remained just that a highly self contained energy bubble.

Meanwhile the computer beeped again showing its results. =/\= Analysis complete, object is made up of preanimate matter, protomatter and biltihium based crystal energy structures. =/\= It said. The result of biltihium would be quite surprising to Fayth perhaps and the engineers, such a crystal structure was known only by word of mouth to be a one of ‘many’ make ups of energy based life forms. The fact it had pre-animate matter which didn’t ‘quite cut it’ as being truly life, as well as protomatter which as the group would recall was a key component in the Genesis device from the late 2280s of an era before. Made this a highly influential discovery! Based on what they had experienced so far this was both very dangerous but also an amazing find. In essence they could be looking at some form of primitive energy based life form!

GM CockRoach

Sharah read the scan results very very carefully. She’d never seen anything like that, though she’d read about it. Her instincts told her that this was a life form, not how they knew it, but. She stopped Asam with a hand and walked over to the containment field. It responded to thoughts, so on some level, maybe not how she understood or used it, this creature? life form? person? was telepathic. She certainly didn’t want to hurt it with the craziness what was in her mind, but she was the most logical choice. She wished that Rainns was there, but she breathed pushing that thought away and the fear of the unknown. It wouldn’t help here. “I think it might be an energy based life form. Let’s see if it will talk to me.”

She walked over to the container and dropped one of the side panels and gently put her hand in. She kept her mind as clear as possible, making her thought very clear and succinct and using her telepathy, ‘Who are you?’

Lt jg Fayth, CSO

The bubble stopped its lazy drifting at Fayth’s thoughts, there was a simple pulse effect from it but otherwise it did nothing else. Perhaps in its current form it could not really ‘think’ in a manner that it or Fayth understood without touch? This might explain why the bubbles elsewhere only materialized when they touched someone. It’s also possible the reason they were seeing it now versus not from before, was due in part to the transporter and containment shield having an indirect or direct effect on it.

GM CockRoach

The bubble had drifted away at her attempt to touch it. This time she purposely, and she hoped gently, touched the bubble asking the same question again. I that didn’t work she focused on the feeling of hunger accompanied with the idea of wanting to eat a grilled cheese sandwich.

Lt jg Fayth, CSO

There was a sudden rush up her finger and through her mind. The pulse of the reality bubble flickered in a pulsing pattern almost to rapid to fully comprehend.

Fayth pulled her arm back and grabbed a medical tricorder and began scanning herself instantly, she was still standing but she wanted to make sure that she was okay. She took the probe out and scanned her arm and brain for more specific scans.

Caelian watched the interplay between the lieutenant and the containment unit. It was almost comical, like she was trying to coax a bird into her hand. If that bird could rearrange matter or fling you halfway across the galaxy, he thought wryly. Shaking his head, he went back to monitoring the runabout’s systems for trouble, reciting his formulas as loudly in his head as possible.

“A lifeform, huh?” he sighed before he could stop himself. “There go my theories and experiments. Ah, well…”

He watched the movement of the boridium-hydrogen mixture move along the subsystems like a river on the display, almost mesmerized by the simplicity of it. It was one of the things he loved about being an engineer: putting all the parts together and seeing them come to life, work in harmony towards a common purpose. There were times he could swear the pulse of a warp core was like a ship’s heartbeat, the vibration of the deck plating its breathing. Every part working in synergy turned a ship into something very much resembling—

“—a living thing,” he whispered to himself. Shaking himself, he turned excitedly to Sharah. “I have, er, I think… What I mean is… Bah!”

Turning back to his console, he set the engine diagnostic and pulled up the runabout’s sensors. “Scanning the protoform’s energy pattern and beginning long-term monitor. Adjusting external sensors to maximum and scanning for additional frequency matches.”

His fingers flew across the keypad almost as fast as he could think. It was a long shot, but maybe his entire theory wasn’t lost after all. “Computer, monitor the protoform’s energy pattern and record any synergetic bursts from the nearby pockets.”

=/\= Analyzing and scanning. =/\= The computer said.

When the computer chirped back assent, Caelian swiveled back to Fayth with a broad grin on his face. “Lieutenant, I know it’s going to come out crazy, but I’d like to collect another similar-sized energy pocket and see how they interact within the field. If it’s an energy-based life form, it may not be able to act on its own; it may not have the strength to respond. For all we know, it’s like a neuron—capable of base function on its own, but unable to act in a way we can understand without its peers. If it gets too dicey, we can set them back out into space.”

—Caelian Weir, Engineer—

Fayth turned to look at Weir, oh now why hadn’t she thought about that? She grinned, “That’s brilliant Weir. Get another one.” She turned to the pilot, “Move us to a safe location and lower the shields while Weir gets another one, then raise shields again…” She turned back to Weir, “I’ve kept them up to stop others floating by us, but maybe we should leave them down?”

Lt jg Fayth, CSO

Caelian shook his head, watching the sensors. “If they’re affected by interaction with us, I don’t think that’s wise. Yet. But if we drop the aft shields, we should be able to pick up another pocket so long as we’re not going too slow. Think of it like creating a wake on a sailing ship, a space where we can grab them while staying ahead of them.”

“What I need you to do is keep trying to communicate with it.” He gave Sharah an encouraging nod, then turned back to his readings. “I’d like to see if we get any kind of response from nearby bubbles, see if they’re ‘talking’ or have the same energy pattern. If our little friend is too weak to talk, maybe it just needs a confidence boost of company.”

—Caelian Weir, Engineer—

Finally the pulsing of the reality bubble ceased and in a flash in its place was a tiny 3 1/2 inch tall form of Fayth! Thankfully complete with clothes and such. The clothes were similar to garb she wore off duty it seems. The little Fayth looked up at her much larger originator. “..Who are you?” It echoed. Then seemed to tilt its head, “..Who am I?” It added then quizzically. Scans of little Fayth showed she was exactly like her larger counterpart originator. Except 3 1/2 inches tall and seemingly lacking the full Fayth personality and memories......

She turned back, eyes widening at the sight of a very tiny version of herself. She knelt down to get eye level with the thing. “I am Sharah. Where did you come from?”

Meanwhile the computer chirped. =/\= Energy pattern confirmed. Current sample does not resonate with spatial bubbles outside craft on any known bands. =/\=

Caelian frowned and folded his arms across his chest. “These little buggers aren’t very theory-friendly, are they? I guess if they communicate with one another, they do it in a way that we can’t readily detect. I… don’t rightly know what to make of this, ma’am.”

“Well, until we get a better handle on these things, it’s probably best to keep them apart,” he grumbled, turning back to his console and tapping in a few commands. A white flash winked briefly to life inside the containment field as Caelian modified it to segregate the bubbles from one another. “Raising aft shields again.”

Attempts to snag another of the bubbles went off without a hitch and they soon had another bubble inside a containment field. The little Fayth looked at the bubble nearby with curiosity but no real recognition that seemed present.

GM CockRoach

Lt jg Fayth, CSO