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Engineering Lab - The Artifact

Posted April 6, 2021, 12:27 p.m. by Lieutenant Kiama Naim (Chief Science Officer) (Silke Fahl)

Posted by Lieutenant Commander Max Wynter (Chief Engineer / 2nd Officer) in Engineering Lab - The Artifact

Posted by Lieutenant Kiama Naim (Chief Science Officer) in Engineering Lab - The Artifact

Posted by Lieutenant Kiama Naim (Chief Science Officer) in Engineering Lab - The Artifact
Posted by… suppressed (4) by the Post Ghost! 👻

(snip)

He rubbed his jaw for a moment as he looked at the Galaxy, then picked up his tricorder and tried to take more readings. There was a lot for the tricorder to read, too much in a very real way. “Well, I believe that whatever this device is that has contained it, it’s sold and safe. I’m detecting no power fluctuations nor what appears to be a power spike. You seem to have the ability to, I don’t know, control it?”

“I wouldn’t go so far as to say that I have the ability to control it. But whoever build this must have been telepathic as well,” Kiama mused and then looked briefly up at Max before fixing her gaze on the galaxy again. “Maybe I could go more, but to be honest I’m not sure if I dare to even try. What if I do something wrong and destroy this and most likely along with it our own galaxy?”

He looked at it for what felt like a long time, staring into the depths of the colours and arms that spread out before the two of them, like a pair of mighty titans looking down at the universe. “It’s frightening, isn’t it,” He said, to see this, and wonder if our own galaxy is somehow contained the same way as this one.”

Lt Cmdr Wynter, CE

“It is,” Kiama replied in a low voice, her eyes still fixed on the galaxy in her hands. “And that would be really strange. I mean, I’m standing here, holding a galaxy in my hands and at the same time I find it hard to imagine that our own galaxy might be exactly the same. But either way it raises the question: Why? And who did this? And how?” Once more she reached out with her mind to sense the emotions of all the sentient beings contained in that ball and after a few moments she dared to try something else and opened her mind a little more to find out if maybe she could hear their thoughts as well. Despite knowing that that had to be overwhelming if she was able to do that.

~Lt. j.g. Naim, aCSO

“There might be other artifacts in the collection that we found,” Max suggested, although he shrugged lightly, “although aside from some old cups and pottery this was the only thing of any real interest either mechanically or mysteriously.”

Kiama nodded thoughtfully, still starring almost transfixed at the galaxy in her hands. “I’m wondering if there are some mentioning of this on some of the other artefacts. Maybe some drawings or something,” she mused.

The emotions she sensed were a muddled mixture of everything, including some that she couldn’t identify from species that nobody had likely ever dreamt of. They were all there, but nothing was clear. This would be logical considering the distances involved in that galaxy, despite the numberless individuals those emotions hailed from.

When she opened her mind further, there was no revelation or great surge of anything. Just a gentle hum of something in the back of her mind as she listened. Like a room full of whispers covered by a blanket, it was there and Naim would know that each one was an individual voice, but she was too far away to hear anything except the gentle white noise of the galactic voice. What she would feel though, was a draw towards the galaxy. A pull of her mind towards everything in it, as if she could zoom in as far as she wanted, explore each arm and each nebula piecemeal. How much time this was taking outside her head she couldn’t know but in the moment, Kiama was the traveller of an entire galaxy which lay spread out before her.

Lt Cmdr Wynter, CE

Without even considering whether or not it was wise to do so, Kiama followed the pull she was feeling. Of course she didn’t physically move, but she let her mind move closer and closer to the galaxy. It was as if she was diving into this other world. Well, billions and billions of worlds really. She wished she’d be able to make out individual voices, minds. What were they thinking and feeling? Did they know that there were other galaxies out there? She didn’t think so. After all, how could they if they were caught in this device? They themselves only know about them because they could see them.

~Lt. j.g. Naim, aCSO

That pull turned into a tug as Kiama let her mind move towards the galaxy, and the tug to a sudden rush. It wasn’t random, it was very specific and Kiama could feel exactly how specific as her mind flew through space and into the arms of one particular nebula. The galaxies background hum began to change, turning into something more distinct. Not voices, but places. Each one distinct the closer she got to them, worlds full of life both intelligent and primal.

Kiama would know she could change her direction at any point, it was as if she rode a wave and all she need to was point her mind in a new direction and it would be carried to where she wanted to go. Despite the vastness she would know was in front of her, it took mere seconds. Soon, her mind could feel the energy of no less than five worlds teeming with life before her, still far too far away to listen to any voices they nevertheless had an identity she would be sure she could remember. One world seethed with what she felt was water and one was a frozen ball. Two of them were green and fresh, although one much hotter. The last world had an energy that was different, less natural. All Kiama had to do, was point her mind at one or more of these tugs.

Lt Cmdr Wynter, CE

For several short moments that felt like an eternity to her, Kiama felt torn between the different worlds. Where should she direct her focus towards? At first she wanted to move closer to the ocean planet. She had always loved the sea and was intrigued by species that lived in the water. But in the end her focus turned towards the world that felt less natural in a way. Lay there the key to unlock this mystery, so to speak? Would she find out more about how this galaxy ended up in this device if she let her mind move closer towards it? If it did, how was it possible? Had someone managed to put the galaxy they were living in within this device? She couldn’t imagine how that might even be possible and at the same time she couldn’t disregard that thought either.

~Lt. j.g. Naim, aCSO


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