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MPT-LS: Year of Hell - Containment Deck - (Tag Surda; Security, Science, others welcome)

Posted Sept. 7, 2021, 8:07 p.m. by Lieutenant Commander Adam Magnusson (Chief Intelligence Officer) (Hjortur Ingi)

Posted by Lieutenant Surda (Chief of Security / RTF) in MPT-LS: Year of Hell - Containment Deck - (Tag Surda; Security, Science, others welcome)

Posted by Warrant Officer Jonathan Durheim (Chief Engineering Officer) in MPT-LS: Year of Hell - Containment Deck - (Tag Surda; Security, Science, others welcome)

Posted by Lieutenant Surda (Chief of Security / RTF) in MPT-LS: Year of Hell - Containment Deck - (Tag Surda; Security, Science, others welcome)
Posted by… suppressed (21) by the Post Ghost! 👻
Jonathan moved quickly through the corridors of the Leviathan; not so much because he was concerned about time, but he was simply excited about his job. He loved tinkering and trying new things; whether success or failure, he delighted in seeing ideas come to life. He had some ideas for this new anomaly already, but he hoped some of the research team would be available for experimentation. With a demonstrated ability to copy the appearance of others, it was vital to ensure that it did not escape to cause havoc and confusion. And while both freezing and physical containment did seem to be effective on the bridge, it was a mistake to assume that would be sufficient for long-term ‘storage.’

As they approached the familiar bounds of the Containment deck, Jonathan half-turned to the Security Chief who accompanied him. “Miss Surda, do you have any thoughts on this new item? I’d welcome your input - it’s clear that the anomaly can present a severe security threat.”

-WO Durheim, CE

“The abilities concern me… but the execution leaves much to be desired.” Tactically, the anomaly could have hidden amongst the crew for a rather long time, rather than the quick capture treatment it had received. “My tentative assessment is that it’s not a major security risk, but new understanding could change that quickly.” Surda scanned to open the door to the containment deck, stepping aside politely to allow Durheim through. “And your opinion?”
-Surda, CoS

“Hmmm…” Jonathan absently scratched at his chin as he considered Surda’s question. “I suppose it depends on the degree to which it is able to impersonate others; as well as what is required to do so. I would assume that it encountered Mr. Cobb in some capacity some time in the past, but when? And what was the extent of the contact? Given those unknowns, I plan to prioritize isolation as well as containment.”

“As well, would you be able to review the bridge readings for the past few hours? Any information from it may help us to detect other impersonating entities - after all, this is the only one we have discovered so far. I believe Mr. Magnusson mentioned that ARU-2750 had lost mass; but as for how much; well, I did not hear if it was discussed.”

-WO Durheim, CE

(Bump; feel free to interject!)
Durheim’s mind was racing with ideas; and he considered how best to meet the various containment goals that he considered to be important to keep this most recent acquisition safely isolated....

With the entry to the containment bay coming into view, his mind sharpened onto the step-by-step necessities of containment; before leaping onto a somewhat unrelated tangent. He remembered that a new crew-member had joined his department recently, but he had yet to meet them. Perhaps the containment of this anomaly would make for a fine way to get to know the new engineer…

WO Durheim, CE

Lance was watching the CE “ is it unwise to waste power on something that can be stopped by a force field” he asked to watch the wheel turn in his head.

Dr. Hellsing
Lt. Lance Von Hellsing

“Ah, Mr. Hellsing, I believe?” Even from behind the thick goggles, the gleam in Jonathan’s eyes was clear to see. “I must say that I am delighted to meet you, and just in time as well!” The chief engineer of the Leviathan was a distinctive-looking individual, to say the least. Between the small stature, severe burn scars, and mechanical arms; well, it was unlikely that he could be confused for anyone else. With a cheerful wave, he indicated that Lance should join them in the containment bay.

As they walked, Durheim considered the question. “Well, I suppose the term ‘unwise’ is ah; let’s say… subjective. What works in one situation may not work in another. I am not sure how much experience you have with anomalies?” The question was earnest; and didn’t carry an accusatory or condescending tone - though he continued before giving time for a response. “My approach - which to be fair, is not to imply it is the best approach; is to place emphasis on solitary containment, as well as individualized approaches. I feel this provides several benefits; first of course we prevent anomalies from.... well, interacting with each other. They can be unpredictable enough solo! Secondly, it gives everyone involved an opportunity to try new ideas, and develop new methods and technologies. If standard containment fails, I want our people to have the mindset of experimentation and ingenuity.”
Durheim gave Lance a long look; more inquisitive than might be expected mid-lecture. “Many, many crewmen have died on the Leviathan, Mr. Hellsing. The unexpected is guaranteed, and accidents happen. We are in a constant state of ignorance regarding our captives; sometimes to our own benefit. But incompetence and laziness… those are utterly unacceptable traits aboard this ship.”

In a nearby alcove, several RTF members were present, with a large, clear, cylindrical container resting on the floor next to them. The container appeared to be half full of ice water; which sloshed around unnaturally within it’s confines. As the small group approached, Durheim turned to Lance once more and asked “Mr. Hellsing; here we have an anomaly that was captured on the Bridge a short time ago. It presented as Mr. Cobb; quite convincingly I must say; for several hours before it ah, revealed itself. As you can see, it has been temporarily contained in a form that resembles water; partially frozen by external action. Due to it’s behavior, I would place priority on both containment and isolation. It has proven it’s ability to mimic other beings - a situation that could prove disastrous if left unchecked. Secondly, we do not know the mechanism by which it, ah, collects the data needed for this mimicry. Given these points Mr. Hellsing, how would you approach long-term containment of this item?”

His lecture over, Durheim stepped back to give Lance room. Nearby was a workbench; only somewhat organized but well-stocked. Jonathan looked at the new crew-member with appraising eyes; curious to his thoughts and eager to see how this problem would be approached. He had his own ideas of course - but he felt this was a fine opportunity to get to know Mr. Hellsing on a professional level; to learn his thought processes and his approach to problem solving.

WO Durheim, CE

Lance looked at the water “well first of all I can tell you this is not a mimic because there’s no organic properties within the water. Mimic can only copy organic bodies” Lance then pull out a tricorder that was not standard issue but was modified “ but I am picking up small amounts of electrical impulses to show signs of actual thought. Has this creature shown any signs of wanting to harm any of the crew” he asked as he studied the water (reminds me of SCP-054)

Dr. Hellsing
Lt. Lance Von Hellsing

In the container, the strange liquid continued to churn, now and then forming deliberate and randomly shaped ‘peaks’, at times resembling a tiny hand, at others a minuscule foot…

  • Goo

“A mimic? I am not familiar with that… ah, creature, or item; whichever it may be categorized as. A member of our science department may have more knowledge, however.” Durheim shrugged; not being overly concerned with exactly what the anomaly was; merely how best to contain it.

At Lance’s question, Jonathan tilted his head in brief thought. “No, I am not aware of any directly malicious action taken by this anomaly. As mentioned, it impersonated Mr. Cobb for a not insignificant period of time; to include speaking - though it is debatable if any actual conversation took place; as opposed to a stimulus-response.”

As they spoke, Durheim’s eyes flitted back and forth to the container and it’s contents; watching it slowly become more active. As it’s apparent energy increased, he once more readied the fogger in his hands; giving the quickly-assembled contraption a quick test; nodding absently in satisfaction as it spat out a small cloud of super-cooled air. Though he had practically slapped it together when he was on the bridge earlier, it had proved remarkably effective against the anomaly.

-WO Durheim, CE

Lance watch as the water was being more Active his scans were showing little more electrical impulse activity. “Well this thing may have the capacity for self thought I like to try some thing. Have you ever heard of a white noise generator it is a device on where a spirit could be able to manifest words. I would like to try a different way of using a white noise generator by generating a small enough field within the container and seeing if this entity can use the white noise generator to communicate with us”

Dr. Hellsing
Lt. Lance Von Hellsing

Durheim cocked his head and looked inquisitively back and forth between the Lt. and the anomaly; before shrugging. “If you feel that would be beneficial, then I am curious to see what may happen.” Turning slightly, he raised one arm to point towards the side of the nearby workbench, where a console and compact replicator were built into the benchtop. It had a limited capability in comparison to the larger wall-mount units, but it was quite handy.

“I must say, I have not heard of such a phenomenon that you are referring to - though I suppose that is not a very meaningful statement; considering our line of work. If we have time later however, I suspect the science and research department would be very interested in a demonstration.” Durheim moved to give Mr. Hellsing room to work, and as he stood to the side he nonchalantly inserted a pair of earplugs into his ears; thinking of several previously contained items that produced dangerous effects via audio. After a brief pause, he drew forth another sealed pair of plugs, offering them to the other engineer.

-WO Durheim, CE

After an hour Lance had made a very Basic White noise generator he then attach the white noise generator to the anatomy. The White noise generator will cycle through words to help The anatomy to communicate it was capable of,

Dr. Hellsing
Lt. Lance Von Hellsing

Inside the containment vessel the liquid was unable to take form, although it sloshed and churned in an unceasingly desperate attempt. But as the white noise was applied all movement instantly ceased, not a single wave evident on the surface. An eerie calm crept in, settling upon both men as if wrapped in blankets of cold mist. It was as if the liquid was…listening.

Endless moments passed by, the liquid seemingly frozen by its analytical attempt. Then suddenly a single ripple, surging inwards to be swallowed by a cavernous, swirling mouth. Then a whisper, ubiquitous in its resonance yet still chillingly hollow, like an icy finger being traced along each listener’s spine.

“And we did speak only to break the silence of the Sea.”

  • Goo

Lance looked at the CE “ Houston we have a contact” he said but still very chilled.

Dr. Hellsing
Lt. Lance Von Hellsing

Durheim immediately recognized the content; if not the specific voice or words of the anomaly - while posing as Mr. Cobb on the bridge, ‘he’ had been quoting some poetry or related items regarding the ocean. His head cocked in curiosity, and he stood from the stool that he had occupied while observing Mr. Hellsing work. “Yes indeed, Mr. Hellsing! You do seem to have established something at least; I don’t know if this qualifies as conversion as of yet, but it certainly appears to be a start towards that. I had never considered something like this white noise generator - I must remember that for the future; very well done.”

Ambling around the vessel, Jonathan watched the anomaly closely, seemingly unaffected by the unnatural voice’s efforts to tickle its listener’s spines. The RTF agents leaning nearby on the walls of the bay were not so resistant; visibly shivering at the eldritch tones. “So I must ask, Mr. Hellsing - what next? Does this tie into any ideas or efforts towards containment, or are you focused on information-gathering currently?” While the Chief Engineer’s words could be taken as critical, his tone was pure curiosity, bright and questioning. His eyes, visible through the thick goggles, shared the sentiment - they were open and twinkling, eager to see what came next.

WO Durheim, CE

Lance smiled “ tell me my dear CE are you a fan of the old movies called Ghostbusters. In the movie they have some thing that they call a containment unit. What I was thinking might be something very similar but in a way. We can use the transporters two store a creatures powder in a custom-made buffer with its own power source. And after we successfully stored on a buffer it’s just a matter of cold storage” he start to pull up files that shows a procedure that was used by an engineer of the name of Scotty he used to be the chief engineered on board the USS enterprise.

Dr. Hellsing
Lt. Lance Von Hellsing

Jonathan shook his head. “No, Mr. Hellsing; I can’t say that I am familiar with that media - there was a distinct lack of entertainment media available to me for much of my life. But that is neither here nor there! As for your suggestion of storing items inside a pattern buffer…” The Chief Engineer’s scarred brow furrowed as he considered his words. “In short, at this time I cannot approve such a method for anything beyond temporary containment; and even then I dislike it. I do not object for arbitrary reasons, mind! My primary reason is that in practice, there is almost always an unacceptable level of decay in the stored data beyond seventy-two hours or so. Yes, there are documented exceptions - some quite notable indeed! But it is not a solution that has sufficient research.” He paused, tapping metal fingers together as he gathered his thoughts.

“Secondly, most if not all of our specimens and subjects of interest, if you will, already operate well beyond our understanding of physics; and on occasion, reality itself. There are documented cases of changelings having adverse reactions to transporters - where they are stored in the pattern buffer only momentarily. If we extrapolate these incidents to anomalies… well, I daresay we don’t need any more unpredictability where they are concerned, Mr Hellsing!” Pausing once more, he pulled a small squeeze tube from a pocket on his coveralls; taking a mouthful of nutrient paste and swallowing before replacing the half-eaten tube.

“And lastly, we must consider that a part of our mission is containment - if we were to develop a fail-safe for buffer storage used in this manner, that would say… allow us to ‘flush’ the memory and effectively destroy it’s contents… well, while that is preferable to releasing a dangerous anomaly; it is still a failure of part of our mission. That does happen! We are far from perfect, and countless deaths are part of ARU history. But it is something to be considered, and avoided when possible.” Throughout the lecture (it couldn’t be mistaken for much else, after all) the Engineer’s tone had been that of a teacher, patiently explaining his thought processes; but not shutting down the idea entirely - merely shelving it for further investigation.

Surda finally interjected, having been content to watch the back and forth between the engineers. “I spend quite a bit of time communicating with contained anomalies, but I’ve never spoken to one quite so… cryptic.” Especially one that spoke of an old Earth poem. “I must wonder if it intends to be the Mariner.”
-Surda, COS

“Ahhhhhhhh,” the anomaly moaned at the sound of Surda’s voice. “This soul hath been alone on a wide wide sea.”

  • Goo

“And never a saint took pity on this soul in agony?” Surda quirked an eyebrow up. “Hellsing, Durheim, what’s your opinion on the possibility of this anomaly having been adrift in space?”
-Surda COS

“Quite possible, Miss Surda - Quite possible indeed. Perhaps my freezing it....” Durheim paused, shaking his head. “No, my freezing it would be unrelated to it’s, ah.... poetic aspirations - it was saying something similar while it was on the bridge, prior to being detected. But that does not preclude a prior time spent in vacuum.”

WO Durheim; CE

At Surda’s poetic response, the liquid formed into a singular peak, curling at the end as of a long and bony finger, beckoning for the gathered crewmembers to draw in.
“Listen, Stranger! Storm and Wind, a Wind and Tempest strong!” it gave a whispered warning.

  • Goo

“If it had been in empty space… would it be aware of other anomalies? Gravitational perhaps, which would steer us off our course?” Surda was drawing parallels as best she could, but it had been a while since she had read the poem.
-Surda, CoS

“Hmmm…” Durhiem frowned thoughtfully, considering the possibility. “I suppose that may be possible; though I don’t know how we could determine that. But yes, given the references to danger and being adrift… this anomaly having encountered gravitational anomalies in the past would make sense. But the consistent warnings…” He scratched absently at his chin, considering the mobile body of water.

“I must say, while I am hesitant at best to take anything said by an anomaly seriously… well, we are headed towards a location that has apparently claimed several ships already. But without abandoning the mission entirely, how much caution can we exert? And in case the warnings become something beyond the current vague premonitions… can it be trusted?”

-WO Durheim, CE

“I have met many individuals people are hesitant to trust.” Hell, she had been an individual Starfleet was hesitant to trust. “More often than not, they just want to be acknowledged. If this anomaly is attempting to help us, perhaps even to save our lives, we ought to at least take its warnings into account.” Surda tilted her head, considering. “I’ll set a direct alert for any further communication to ensure we don’t miss more specific omens.”
-Surda, COS

“The Anomaly was set upon us to be a distraction” A deep voice said from the entrance. The voice belonged to the new Intelligence Chief, Adam Magnusson. He walked into the room surveying the personnel calmly. He lingered only moments longer on the two other members of the Senior staff, barely a moment on young Hellsing before resting his gaze on the poetic puddle “According to Admiral Roebuck it was so no one would question” He paused and eyed the creature curiously “The triangle” He clasped his hands behind his back “Captain sent me to inform you that this was sent here on purpose and to inquire if there have been any developments”

CIO


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