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 Lieutenant Corinne Dalton/SARAH (Ships AI/Avatar) in Holodeck 1- Reconciliation
Posted by… suppressed (2) by the Post Ghost! 👻

(snip)

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

“Well, that’s an absolute stretch and a load of boolarkey if ever I heard it,” Dante said, but his tone was hardly adversarial, more conversational. “If what you just said held any merit at all, then dozens of species with recorded experiences of afterlife and spiritual encounters with the departed wouldn’t call the physical form of a person being killed, death. The argument you will get from a legal and moral standpoint Commander is that death refers to the physical body, not the spiritual in most cases and in this case, Dalton’s body was very much murdered. However, while I am struggling to understand in all honesty why you want to let this go Corinne, it’s not me that this happened to. It is a grey area that I am willing to take advice from both of you on. However, I need an absolute rock solid assurance from you both that nobody in this crew is, or will be, under any danger going forwards from anything we do not do, Corinne.”

Captain Knight, CO

Her brilliant blue eyes widened slightly and Corinne stood there uncertain how to respond. She shook her head slightly and gave a half shrug. “I can’t because I don’t know. At the moment the only threat or potential harm is to me, Captain. I might not be able to die in the typical way, but I’m not omniscient…”

~Corinne Dalton

He nodded, it might not have sounded like he understood, but he did. Whether he understood or not didn’t matter though in his small opinion. “And there is the rub, your murderer is out there free to carry on doing what they are doing, and as the Chief pointed out, whatever you have become now we really wouldn’t call dead. Neither would they I would take a punt at guessing. So, at the moment, the only potential harm is to you. How do you think that might be achieved? A computer wipe? Virus implanted into the Computer to wipe your data? Destruction of the Saracen and all aboard?” Dante crossed his arms and looked at the both of them. “Do you see where my concern is placed? If a murderer is content to kill one person, how many more would they kill to cover it up?”

Captain Knight

Her face contorted, shifting towards anguish. Holographic tears sprang forth unbidden but Cori didn’t do anything to stop them. “What am I supposed to do? I haven’t seen the people involved in ten years. Nadda. Not a blip. Trust me, they are gone. If they even cared I still existed they would have done something by now. If someone else wants to take advantage of the situation, they could do so at any time. That fact hasn’t changed.” She was going to have to bring this up with Jarred, wasn’t she? Or was she? Cori honestly didn’t know.

~Corinne Dalton

Sinclair pursed his lips and tapped a finger against them. “Now… what if, and bear with me here…” and he looked at the Captain, “… what if we were to bring charges against them? I mean, we have the information… and an eye witness. There is no statute of limitations on murder. It would be well with my purview as Security Chief to write it up and submit it to you, sir. Besides… Corinne and I are already aware of an investigation into her. We could piggy-back that one. ” the big Scot posited.

Sinclair, CoS