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

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.

Scans of herself showed no problems other then an increased heart rate and blood pressure, likely due in part to her sudden anxiety/movement.

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?”

The little Fayth seemed to consider the question. “..I…do not know?” she stated. “..Where did you come from?” She echoed then.

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

Little Fayth reached out to the containment field and then as her finger touched it snapped it back shaking her hand out. “..Ouch!” she said in surprise. “..What was that?” She inquired.

GM CockRoach

It was then that Mazi giggled. She hadn’t meant to. Afterall, they were seeing a miniature version of the CSO on the pad acting like a doll and reacting like a child. It seemed comical to her. “I have to say I am amazed at the fact it actually says anything. Interesting that it didn’t understand the feel of the containment field, though. As energy, you would think it would recognize energy around it.” She was constantly monitoring the ship, shields and occupants to be sure nothing was occurring without their knowledge. She also wanted to be sure nothing was leaking in or out of the containment fields as she watched the almost hysterical scene unfold.

Mazi
Eng