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Calloway's Lab - Sharing Information

Posted Sept. 8, 2021, 6:58 p.m. by Commander Shedda Mal'athar (Executive Officer) (Jennifer Ward)

Posted by Lieutenant Commander Faye Calloway (Counter-Intelligence Officer) in Calloway’s Lab - Sharing Information

Posted by Commander Shedda Mal’athar (Executive Officer) in Calloway’s Lab - Sharing Information

Posted by Lieutenant Commander Faye Calloway (Counter-Intelligence Officer) in Calloway’s Lab - Sharing Information
Posted by… suppressed (4) by the Post Ghost! 👻

(snip)

Shedda was no whiz at computers. She’d taken the basic courses at the Academy and then in her command training she’d gotten more indepth over views of the systems used. And being CSO she had worked and learned from the computer scientists working under her. So she knew enough to know Calloway was brilliant and possibly scary. “So this system identifies digital attacks to our systems. Could it identify and contain a person? Say someone was physically on the ship and accessing the system or does it just counter and stop what the person is doing?” She could see the benefit of such an ability but also the possibility for....mishaps.

Mal’athar, XO

Calloway shook her head. “No, it’s simply a computer firewall system. Now, could we tweak it to prevent someone from trying to change programming or something? Possibly, but that would be an extensive additional overhaul to the design process and I think everyone at R&D would have kittens,” she said with a grin.

~Faye Calloway, Counter-Intelligence

Shedda nodded, so all digital then. Then she cracked a slight grin, “Kittens are so cute though. But it looks like you have your hands full with just this part of it. How often is currently…glitching? Is that the correct terms?”

Mal’athar, XO

Faye bobbed her her to and fro. “Good enough. The issues I have been having involved the integration with the Manhattan’s systems. Remember that we designed a system but I built it on site to blend in seamlessly with the current systems. It involved less disruption to the ship’s systems, but it does mea that if something silly like a relay blows or we don’t have power calibrated at a junction correctly, poof, we have to go in and fix stuff. But now that I’m not working alone, that’s much easier than it was before when I was crawling through the jefferies tubes all by my lonesome,” Faye said with a grin. It was a nice conversation and she appreciated that the XO asked relevant and informed questions. that and she was surprised by her lack of possible unease around Shedda. Not that she had spent much time with Orion females back in the day, but that one woman at Kodell’s dinner party had been more than enough. She was grateful that her time with Daggum and their love had eased whatever discomfort there could have been during this meeting.

~Faye Calloway, Counter-Intelligence

“Are there any parts you need to make the power flow smoother? Something we could do, physically, to help the integration smoother, or parts to keep on hand?”

Faye shook her head. “We’ve got all the parts we need and Chief Darrach and I have a good system going in terms of maintenance checks on the power flows. Engineering helps when there’s something that needs more physical repairs. We’re good,” she said with a nod.

“I appreciate you taking the time to go over it with me. You said something about being ‘read in’ on the project. Any boxes we need to check off so your superiors and those in R&D don’t have puppies as well as kittens?”

Mal’athar, XO

Faye studied the XO for a moment before she turned back to her screen and tapped at the keys. “I have authorization to bring people into the fold on a need to know basis. Before, it was entirely classified and I got stuck in a position where I had to break that order so that I could fill the Captain in on what I was doing. All of the stuff surrounding that classification are lifted but it was agreed that the reason for my experiment did not need to be public knowledge and was safer for all if it was not.” Faye turned her head to glance at Shedda. “I have things I can show you to demonstrate the severity of the threat we’re possibly up against, but I’m mindful that not everyone can handle seeing shocking images. Up to you. Do you want to see for yourself or just have me explain it?”

~Faye Calloway, Counter-Intelligence

Shedda shook her head, “Shocking and disturbing or not, if it affects the health and safety of the crew or security of this ship, I think it’s best I see it first hand.”

Mal’athar, XO

Faye had come a long way. Before she would never have thought to even ask, but her own traumas and then finding out her mom had PTSD meant that she was more mindful of how she approached sensitive and or difficult topics. With the XO’s permission, she set about her explanation.

“For the last few years, Intelligence has been revamping many of the data security protocols on ships across all fleets. It’s a slow process, understandably, but an important one. My work on the manhattan has been experimental but it’s an experiment in action and very necessary given our assignment and high probablilty of being away from help should we encounter issues.”

She tapped the keypad a few times and the display changed to show a crippled ship. “This is the USS Odyssey. It was commissioned seven years ago and sent on a deep space mission to explore the closer regions of the Delta Quadrant. This is, of course, before our little wormhole was discovered. The Odyssey was expected to do two years and return to a base for regular maintenance. Half way on their way back to Federation space, Command lost contact. Several months later a freighter came across the ship and relayed the information back to Starfleet via a Federation registered freighter.” Faye exhaled in preparation for what was to come next. It never failed to stun her. Not once.

She tapped a key and images began to slowly cycle. The ship was shown adrift, then interior shots showed the environmental systems were clearly non functional and the crew frozen, and in some spaces floating about, clearly dead. There were also signs of asphyxiation. It was grim and Faye held a somber gaze as she turned back to Shedda. “From the information gathered and extrapolated, it appears the ship’s systems came in contact with a virus. We’re not entirely sure how, but it seemed to be an evolved bit of tech. We don’t know its origins, but it sweeps through a computer and takes over, trying to restructure things to its liking, as if there is some sort of outcome it’s searching for. The freighter captains reported a few rumours of similar incidents with other non-Federation ships. While I’m not entirely willing to concede the point, some of my colleagues at S.I. believe that this might be a part of some adaptive technology that the Borg assimilated at some point.” She grimaced. “We have since learned that it’s very possibly tied to an organization that we’ve dubbed the Shadow Syndicate, their purpose is not clear but… they have gone to great lengths to achieve goals that are not entirely obvious to us. But they don’t matter to the Manhattan. Not anymore, anyway. We dealt with them recently and I suspect they’ll stay clear from now on,” she said with a tiny, if pained, smirk. “What matters is keeping our systems stable and functioning in an incursion and that is what I’ve helped design. And at least for the time I remain on the Manhattan, I can add my hacking abilities to block any sort of infiltration. My last steps are to make this system run on its own without much babysitting unless it’s a crisis.”

~Faye Calloway, Counter-Intelligence

Shedda nodded occasionally, simply to indicate that she was following what Faye was telling her. She stared, heart broken, over the devastation and for the families left behind, but at the same time taking in all the details she could as the images flashed across the screen. There was a visible tightening of the jaw at the word syndicate and Shedda wondered if it was simply a term applied because of similarity or because there was a connection with Orion and the people she tried so hard to not be associated with. “You and Cpt Cochrane are sure this ‘Shadow Syndicate’ will stay away?” It was really a moot point. It was someone they needed to look out for no matter how sure anyone was. “Have there been any reports of something similar since the Odyssey?”

Mal’athar, XO


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