Evolution
Posted on Sun Apr 28th, 2024 @ 7:52am by I-400 & Boso Gane & Oko Gane
1,120 words; about a 6 minute read
Mission:
I-402
Location: Daystrom Outpost Zeta, Mutara Sector
Daystrom Outpost Zeta was one of many outposts of the Daystrom institute. The outpost's history dated back to the late 23rd century following the destruction of the Genesis planet. Originally established for what was still its primary purpose; monitoring the remains of the Genesis planet and studying the Genesis particles that had resulted from the planet's disintegration to determine any long-lasting effects of the Genesis project, the outpost had since become home to a host of other projects by the institute.
One of these projects was codenamed 'The Cradle:' An experimental biobed that far outclassed even the best biobeds of the time: It was expected that the Cradle would cut down on recovery times by 25% when comparted to contemporary biobeds thanks to a breakthrough that allowed the cradle to regenerate damaged tissue at a faster rate than its contemporaries.
Leading the project was Nairut Noxi- A Bajoran woman from Starfleet Medical leading the joint venture with the institute. It had been another successful day of testing, which meant the prototype was one step closer to being cleared for field testing. Giving instructions to her staff, Nairut made her way into the lab housing the cradle.
"Scream and your entire staff dies:" Said a young looking, yet mechanical woman standing near the biobed almost as soon as the doors to the lab closed.
After Nairut redirected her guttural instinct to merely exhale, the woman continued:
"I could've killed you, Nairut; the night we met." She said. "But I didn't."
"Are you expecting a thank you note?" Nairut responded.
"I expect you to know why:" The woman countered.
Nairut's eyes moved towards the biobed.
"The cradle..." She said.
The strange woman played back a recording of Nairut unveiling the Cradle project:
"Ladies and gentlemen; this is the next thing!"
"This... Is the next me." The woman said.
"The cradle regenerates tissue:" Nairut pointed out. "It can't build a living body."
"But it can:" The woman countered. "You can: You lack the materials."
An imperfect copy of the woman stepped forward, holding a container of Dilithium.
"You're a brilliant woman, Nairut:" The woman continued.
Nairut turned around to find another imperfect copy standing directly behind her, holding the artifiact that the institute had reported stolen on New Year's. The copy held up the artifact's glowing green porthole to Nairut's eyes, causing them to black over akin to Borg assimilation.
"But we all have a little room to improve." The woman said as Nairut fell under her control.
First, the Cradle was used to shape the Dilithium that I-400 had brought into the shape of a humanoid endoskeleton before the long process of binding the organic tissue to it.
"It's beautiful:" Nairut pointed out. "The Dilithium atoms aren't just compatible with the tissue cells, they're binding them! And Starfleet never thought-!"
"The most versatile substance in the galaxy; and they use it to make their toy boats go." I-400 said. "Typical of humans: They always scratch the surface and never think to look within:"
One of I-400's drones proceeded to unlock the artifact, and the glowing core was extracted before being added to the Dilithium endoskeleton, turning the usually pink colored Dilithium an aquamarine color.
Several hours later, the body had finally reached an advanced enough state that
"Cellular adhesion will take several hours, but we can initiate the consciousness download:" Nairut explained as she hooked a wiring harness up to an access port on I-400's head. "We're uploading your conscience, starting... Now."
As the upload began, Boso could immediately establish a telepathic connection to the still-developing organic body.
"I can read her:" He noted in amazement. "She is dreaming..."
"I wouldn't go so far as to call them dreams:" Nairut corrected. "It's the core coding of I-400's cerebral matrix. Right now, it's just informational noise, but soon-!"
"How soon?" I-400 asked impatiently. "Not to sound impatient, or anything..."
"Might I remind you we are creating a full brain." Nairut responded. "It's not something we can easily cut corners with..."
As Nairut spoke, Boso moved and placed his hands on the cradle, and an image flashed before his eyes: A great wave of immense power decimating everything in its path. It was the image of a frightening apocalypse, and Boso leapt back from the cradle with an audible yelp.
I-400 immediately stood up and looked at her accomplice as Boso looked back at her; pure terror in the Hebitian's eyes.
"How could you??" Boso finally managed to squeak.
"How could I what?" I-400 asked nonchalantly.
"You said that we would destroy the Federation!" Boso said. "Not all life in the bloody universe!"
"When did I-?" I-400 stammered. "Look, organic life will have every opportunity to improve!"
"And if they don't?" Oko asked.
"Ask your ancestors:" I-400 responded.
"You're insane!" Boso sneered.
"Look, there were at least 3 dozen extinction level events across the galaxy before even Earth's dinosaurs had theirs!" I-400 explained. "Whenever life starts to settle on a planet, the heavens throw a stone at it! And believe me, they're winding up... We have to evolve: The weak... Must be cast off..."
"And who decides who's weak?" Oko asked.
As Oko spoke, Boso made a quick motion with his hands, dispelling the mind control and releasing Nairut from it.
I-400 merely chuckled.
"Life always decides who is weak and who is strong." She said.
Suddenly, a monitor begam going off: It was not related to anything happening in the lab. Instead, I-400 had commandeered it to utilize the station's external's sensors to raise an alert to any incoming starships dropping out of warp, and now there was one:
INCOMING STARSHIP
NCC-78316
"We have incoming:" I-400 said. "The Bellerophon: We need to move."
"That won't be a problem:" A newly-freed Nairut responded, proceeding to pause the download.
"Oh, for goodness sakes..." I-400 groaned, realizing what had been done before blasting the Bajoran woman.
As Nairut dropped to the floor, Boso and Oko fled in the blink of an eye.
"Wait, guys! I..." I-400 stammered.
At this point, the drones took over, executing the rest of the Cradle project staff in seconds.
"They'll understand..." I-400 muttered. "They'll all understand... I just need a little more... Time."
I-400 disconnected the wiring harness before ordering her drones to take the cradle back to the cube, and eliminate any other Daystrom staff that stood in their way: The goal now was to get back to Planetoid Lazzaro as quickly as possible.
Posting by
I-400
Antagonist
Boso Gane
Mission-specific NPC
Oko Gane
Mission-specific NPC
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