STF

Holodeck 1- Reconciliation

Posted Nov. 14, 2020, 9:13 a.m. by Lieutenant Corinne Dalton/SARAH (Ships AI/Avatar) (Lindsay B)

Posted by Lieutenant Commander Dr. Royal Sinclair (Chief of Security) in Holodeck 1- Reconciliation

Posted by Lieutenant Corinne Dalton/SARAH (Ships AI/Avatar) in Holodeck 1- Reconciliation

Posted by Captain Dante Knight (Commanding Officer) in Holodeck 1- Reconciliation
Posted by… suppressed (1) by the Post Ghost! 👻

(snip)

“Defining a sentient being from an advanced piece of programming is still a tricky point to get to, but once defined as not only Sentient, but Sapient, the law becomes very much the law. It’s getting to that point that is where the trouble lies.” Dante replied, looking between the two. “Now if Federation Security is investigating, they have more in mind than just solving a missing person case and protecting the other people involved might not be the best course of action for thmem. That’s where the concern should be so, Cori, what is going on?”

Captain Knight, CO

OOC: Shamelessly copying and pasting portions of a previous convo with Royal. lol
IC:
Steadying herself, she looked back at the ground where her body had been a few moments go, before gazing at Royal and Dante. “Alright, here goes. Don’t say I didn’t warn you though,” she said with a rueful smile.

“I fell in love with someone, a member of this crew of a middle rank. That’s all I’ll say unless you insist on names. But, he was charming, flirtatious, exactly the kind of person I’d have a fling with. But that’s not what he wanted and he practically courted me, as strange as that sounds. And the more time we spent together, the more I fell in love with him. He returned those feelings.”

“Then one night, he left a message for me to meet him on the holodeck at a certain time. I figured it was another one of his lovely surprises. But when I arrived at the holodeck he told me, it was this weird desert program that whisked me in and before I knew it was some sort of war insurgency program. I was so confused but kept thinking that he would show up and explain or join in or something. Things escalated and then I found myself running for my life from these people with weapons. I turned a corner and found myself in an alley and the next thing I know I hear a gun shot followed by this intense pain in my back on the holodeck. The next thing I knew I was lying in the dirt in a pool of my own blood and I realized that there were no holodeck safeties and that I had just been shot in the back and was actually dying.”

“Then he showed up and he was panicking. I remember him holding me, and saying he was sorry, that he never meant this to happen to me. He said that he told me the wrong holodeck and that he was on the other holodeck waiting for me to show up so he could propose.” Her voice had gone rather quiet by this point.

“Long story short, at the moment I died, a special program kicked in and preserved my consciousness, scattering me wherever it could amongst the computer network. Later on I found out that the holodeck program had been another crew member’s, who was engaged to another member of the crew. She left and then disappeared after their wedding, and by that point, the man I had been involved with was gone as well. And I guess in a state of solidarity, her former partner and I got to know each other better. We were both devastated by these people, for different reasons of course. But he then told me the truth, the big thing that reframed everything about my relationship with my partner.” Without using names, Cori knew she risked confusion, but she hoped Knight was still following the story.

“He told me that his wife and my partner had some sort of antagonistic relationship going on and they had a bet. That they were each trying to kill the other or something like that, and she also had an adrenaline addiction. She often used the holodeck without the safeties, and the program was hers. It was an honest mistake that my partner told me the wrong holodeck, but the holodeck was set up to kill her.” Cori exhaled. “So she lived and I got caught in the cross-fire, and some weird program I still don’t understand was added by her high ranking father to keep her from dying entirely. And I also learned that my partner was only in a relationship with me and only proposing to have plausible deniability. He wanted me to fall in love with him so I would defend him.”

Cori sighed. “And now you know what only Royal knows, and because these people are long gone, there’s no point in trying to do anything about their role in it. And that’s not what I want. I also have no intention of hurting the man she was married to because he is also innocent in all of this and doesn’t deserve to have Federation Security dragging us all through the mess that his former wife helped to create.” It was a lot to process, but Cori knew there was little she could do to make it easier.

~Corinne Dalton

“Okay, so what I got out of that was, you were killed by mistake in an attempt to murder someone else. I’m not hearing of any investigation or imprisonment of the murderer, and you don’t want this being investigated by Federation Security because you don’t want to drag other people through a mess they were involved in. Am I clear on this? Because not wanting Federation Security investigating your murder, even if it was supposed to be someone else rings a number of alarm bells for me that suggest I should be stepping outside the holodeck and ordering a quarantine of your program, especially if a high ranking Starfleet or Federation Official has some kind of secret program to trap a person’s consciousness after their body expires, I’m getting a whole kind of vibe from that that only Khan Noonien Sing and his genetically improved people give out when it comes to creating some kind of super human. What am I missing here that has kept a whole horde of Federation Security, Internal Affairs and dark agencies from coming down on this like a ton of Dilithium?”

Captain Knight, CO

Cori looked to Royal, desperation etched into her features. It certainly helped the situation that the creator of the program was a high ranking officer who was protecting his daughter, who had been the CO of the ship. But hadn’t she just said she didn’t want to use names? There was no way to answer his question properly without going there. “Because no one knows, Captain. No one else knows about the program. And I wouldn’t call it murder. Manslaughter, if you want to be more precise.” Cori sighed. “This whole thing was about a father trying to protect his daughter. A father whose… rank and privilege had allowed this whole thing to stay well wrapped up. The program itself isn’t an issue any more. It was a one-time use. That much I can tell you.” And she would know. After all, she lived in the systems.

She moved away, a light breeze moving through the alley rustling her raven hair. “I don’t want them investigating, because of the innocent people whose lives will be turned upside by this if it does come to light.” Cori turned back. “I’m an orphan, Captain. I’ve lost not one, but two sets of parents. Starfleet became my family, even when I resisted the connection. For better or worse I’m not going anywhere. There’s been enough pain, enough heartache over this all. I’m just… trying to move forward with whatever amounts to a life for me. Can you understand that?” Despite how hard it was, she was still fiercely protective of her ex and even though him moving on was harder still, her anger at him and his choices didn’t make it okay to hurt the ones he cared about. She wouldn’t let happen.

~Corinne Dalton

“Captain, if I may…” Royal said calmly. “As I am sure you have had situations in the past that required a… shall we say discerning attitude towards people and individuals… now is such a situation. Dalton does not want the past actions of the guilty, which until now have gone unnoticed by those in authority, to harm innocent people whose lives are intertwined with them. And unfortunately, if you both will allow me to slip into Security and Law Enforcement mode briefly… no actual crime was committed.” and he looked at Dalton. “Not even manslaughter.” Looking back and forth between the two he continued. “I say that because of what I ascertained when I first spoke with Lieutenant Dalton. She is very much alive… just in a different form. And, while I wish more than either of you know, that I could… discuss… her current situation with those responsible privately -” and his jaw clenched slightly, “- if I was ordered to investigate and bring charges… I couldn’t. Federation law doesn’t cover this, as far as I know. I mean, I could probably make a false imprisonment charge argument. But murder? Manslaughter? I can’t… because psychologically and emotionally the Lieutenant didn’t die. And as such… she is the one who decides what recourse to take, as she is the wronged party. And she has chosen the greater good over any form of retribution… again, a very complex action proving further she is a real person.”

Sinclair, CoS

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