[Re]-Activating the Construct

Posted on Sat Jul 26th, 2025 @ 7:18am by Captain Piraa sh'Zamhlass & Commander Haxin Mariwat & Commander T'Zara

3,192 words; about a 16 minute read

Mission: Project EDEN
Location: Engineering Lab 1
Timeline: July 26, 2401 || 1030 hours

"In here," Haxin said, helping the Captain pry the door panels apart. Per Project EDEN's design, its power source and computational processing had to be separate from the ship's main power generator and computer core. While the Bolian engineer would have preferred a dedicated setup reserved like the ship's computer core, Haxin absolutely appreciated that the Valiant was not designed or built with EDEN in mind. In fact, no Starfleet ship currently in production would have this feature.

And Haxin equally hated that which he appreciated. Since EDEN had been, by the human expression, "tacked on" to the Valiant, this meant that EDEN relied on primary computer integration to maintain its activation. And, without an active computer, the only way to bring the system online was to be physically present at its core and press a button.

But Piraa's first impression of the dark room suggested that it would not be so simple. As she shone her flashlight around, it was clear that several of the equipment clusters had been knocked over, with a couple of the gelpacks ruptured and other items spread out.

T'Zara added her own strength to getting the door open with a grunt. "It's ironic," she muttered. "That the very thing made to help us cannot aid us in getting it activated."

"This is not right," Haxin muttered, stumbling into the dark room. "All of this equipment was secured. None of it should be scattered around like this."

"And yet, here we are," Piraa stated. "And before you go lamenting that we didn't open up a computer core for you, you know full well why Commodore La Forge didn't authorize it."

Haxin fumed and grunted, a feeble attempt to curtail his rage. "I don't need to be reminded of that oversight. But even on board the Genesis we had a setup like this, but the equipment was never dislodged."

"This isn't the Genesis and it happened," T'Zara grunted back at him. "We are here, now, and I am tired of hearing you complain instead of helping."

"Agreed," the Captain added. "Mister Mariwat, you and I can debate the laurels of this unfortunate situation later, but for now, we need to get EDEN online. We are your hands, direct us."

The Bolian scoffed, then pointed at a tower near T'Zara. "Commander, if you can get that back upright and check the ODN connections, that would be helpful. Captain, you can assist with the fusion core. I'll work on running diagnostics on the mainframe to make sure there aren't any errors."

T'Zara turned to the tower and began to lift it into position with a grunt. "One thing at a time."

The Captain moved to the fusion core and started to examine the fusion core. Upon visual inspection, there was no visible damage to the outer casing, and no cracks in the distribution system. In the dimly lit room, Piraa located a tricorder and engineering kit, to which she picked up and moved over to the fusion core. She opened the scanning device and synced it to the fusion core to begin running diagnostics. Most of the systems checked out, aside from the interior deuterium core, which appeared to be misaligned.

Piraa paused, considering how the core could have become misaligned. It existed in a solid state, and the only way it could become misaligned was due to exterior physical damage, something that forcibly caused it to move. Yet, a clear inspection already informed her that there was not any damage. She glanced up at Mariwat, who'd already started to run his diagnostics on the active console. Clearly, the Bolian was distracted, so Piraa took clear advantage. She stood up and crossed the room and knelt next to T'Zara. "It's not like a bioneural processing tower to fall like this did," she whispered.

T'Zara looked at her and took note of her appearance and lowered tone, which she matched. "Are you suggesting sabotage?"

The Andorian activated her tricorder and began to scan a power tap that led to the apparatus that T'Zara was rebuilding. "That's one way of putting it."

The Menthian officer was stunned that the Captain would even hint that she was correct on such a thing, or that it would happen. "But why? I understand the aversion to letting a computer take over, but the failsafe's in EDEN should prevent anything from happening that we don't allow."

Piraa glanced back up at Mariwat, who seemed to be humming while making adjustments to... something. "This is too haphazard," she remarked. "If someone wanted EDEN to stay offline, all it would have taken was a laser torch to a few key systems. Whoever did this... intended for EDEN to be put back together."

"Why, though? To prove that it isn't needed?" T'Zara asked as she continued her work.

"I'm thinking the other way," the Andorian reasoned. "To prove that it is needed." Nodding towards the Bolian, Piraa whispered, "Those look like sensor logs to you?"

T'Zara looked and gave a slight nod. "But why? That was our entire mission."

Piraa shrugged. "Your guess is as good as mine," she replied. "For now, let's keep an eye on Mariwat."

"What is going to keep him from having EDEN keep an eye on us?" T'Zara asked very quietly.

The Captain didn't have a clear answer to that. "Probably nothing, but at least we both know EDEN is easy enough to take down. As soon as I can, I'll get down to the computer core and make sure the backups are protected. If Mariwat's stuck EDEN deep into the system, we'll make sure she doesn't get out."

"The one good thing is all her hardware is isolated, so that's good." T'Zara said as a waft of cold air and a beep came from her suit. "I need to change the battery on this thing soon. That fall damaged it."

Piraa's eyes darted to the source of the beep. "Where do you keep spares, your quarters?"

"I have four in my quarters, two are the Armory, six are in Ops and one is somewhere else," T'Zara said.

The Captain nodded, looking back to Mariwat. "We both can't go, someone's going to have to keep an eye on the Bolian. How do you want to play this?"

"I'll keep an eye on him and see if I can warm him up," the Executive Officer said as a waft of chilled air came from her collar. "Perhaps we can convince EDEN that he's not well and should be observed around the clock and report directly to us."

Piraa considered the options for a moment, and the fact that Haxin probably had safeguards built into EDEN to keep it from blocking Mariwat. But if that indeed were the case, perhaps the construct could be manipulated in a way to undercut Mariwat instead. "It's worth a shot," Piraa said. "I'll get your battery."

With that, the Captain rose fully to her feet. It took her a moment to decide how she would play this before ultimately settling on a decision. "Commander Mariwat, Commander T'Zara's breathing apparatus was damaged when the ship was forced from warp. I'm going to collect parts to repair it."

Mariwat paused, as if the action was unexpected. "Very well," he said a moment later. "But be quick. The sooner we get EDEN back online, the sooner we can save the ship." Then he returned to work.

Piraa looked back at T'Zara, nodded, and then left the room.

T'Zara finished up what she was doing and headed over to where Haxin was. "It isn't easy being unique, is it?" she asked.

"Someone once asked me if it was easy being blue," Haxin replied without a beat, and without looking up from his screen. He did use a hand motion to wave away a certain portion of the holographic display before resuming typing. "Said it was a reference to an old human song. I didn't understand it then, and I don't understand it now."

"It is quite easy being blue," T'Zara said. "Pink is a shade that I find extremely unusual. The Andorians really seem to think so."

The Bolian paused and actually looked over to the ship's Executive Officer. "Huh. For a moment there, I actually forgot you were blue. Or, maybe I never noticed."

The Executive Officer's cryo suit gave a beep and a waft of icy air around her neck. "Perhaps because it is natural to you. Just like cold is natural to me."

"And it's quite the variable," Haxin remarked. "Did you know that I had to add additional code to EDEN to accommodate your presence on this ship?"

"You did? Why?" she asked before her suit gave another beep.

"You are an anomaly," he simply replied. "EDEN was programmed to expect traditional humanoids, not ones requiring additional equipment in order to survive in a human-centric environment. Which is odd, because there are so few humans aboard this ship. The Andorian captain, for example, can handle extreme cold, yet she tolerates what humans consider room temperature."

"Andorians are able to adapt to the temperatures around them even it if means they are uncomfortable," T'Zara said . "It would kill me after a time if it became too hot. I am the only member of my species to leave my world to serve with others."

"And that's why I had to adjust my algorithms," the Bolian explained. "Special accommodations, little knowledge of your species. I've tweaked EDEN to learn as much as she can about you so that she doesn't get confused by you in the middle of a crisis."

"Does that mean that she will be able to isolate me and get me to Sickbay in the event of my cryosuit failing?" The Executive Officer asked, wondering if EDEN could be used to isolate and remove others if they were in the way.

"As long as the independent transport sensors still function," Haxin said without skipping a beat. "EDEN can't react properly without being able to study all available information. Shuttering her down before arriving at our destination is going to interfere with the test. Her system won't be at optimum performance, and we'll be lucky if we clear all of the objectives."

"Unfortunately, this incident wasn't planned on and we have no choice," T'Zara said. "What could we do to speed it up?"

"Almost there," he said, adjusting a last little bit of code. "Is that unit you were working on ready to power up?"

"It is," she said with a final check. "What's left after this?"

"Restoring the last safeguards and bringing EDEN back online," Haxin replied.

T'Zara gave a nod and activated her end of things. "EDEN is coming up and operational." she commented.

"Good," Haxin said, tapping away at his console. "EDEN is coming online in three... two... one!"

With a brief flicker, EDEN appeared. "How may I assist?"

Haxin smiled, eager and excited to see the avatar appear. "EDEN, perform an assessment. What is the Valiant's current status?"

"The Valiant is currently being repaired and should be fully operational in two hours, twelve minutes and three seconds barring unforeseen accidents."

"And what about the ion storm outside?" Piraa asked, having reentered the room. One hand was behind her back, tightly holding onto a phaser that was meant to stay out of sight. "How was it that a vessel with state of the art sensors missed this storm and flew right into it?"

EDEN went silent for a moment. "Unknown," she stated after a moment. "Restrictions on sensors and information prevent me from further analysis."

"Who placed these restrictions in place?" T'Zara asked.

"Restrictions?" muttered Haxin, surprised that EDEN was able to detect that. "Are you certain, EDEN?" he asked, turning back to his console to enter in a few commands.

EDEN paused. "Unknown."

T'Zara blinked as her cryosuit beeped and a blast of cold air came out of it. "What do you mean, unknown? Who has access besides us, Commander Mariwatt?"

Haxin looked up from his console. "Restrictions to sensors can only come from someone with Alpha Two clearance," he calmly replied. The Bolian gestured to his display, which confirmed his statement. "And there's only two people on board with such clearance." He smirked for a moment before his face turned serious.

"It's obvious that neither of you want EDEN to succeed. I am not going to allow someone's personal feelings to mothball this project again!" Haxin slammed the console, which immediately erected a forcefield wall between himself and the command team.

Piraa looked around, notating that the forcefield even cut off access to the room's only exit. "Mariwat," she said, still concealing the phaser behind her back, but used her other hand, which contained the spare power cell for T'Zara's cyrosuit, to try and wave the Bolian off. "Think this through. Starfleet's not going to look positively at you for locking us behind a forcefield."

The Bolian nodded. "No, but since the ion storm breached the hull and wrecked havoc on the ship's environmental systems," he reached over and tapped a button, "decompression tore this deck apart, even when you two came down to bring EDEN online to help." Instantly, the air began to be sucked out from inside the forcefield.

"What...what are you doing?" T'Zara gasped before her training kicked in. "EDEN, disable Commander Mariwat," She ordered, giving her access code.

EDEN shimmered and appeared on the other side of the forcefield. "Commander Mariwat, please do not resist," she stated as she reached for him. A secondary copy of her shimmered into existence and aborted the command to release all the air.

"What!?" stammered Haxin, spinning around to see the additional holo standing next to the console. The surprise was enough for the first copy of EDEN to grab his right wrist and pull it away from the console. "You're not supposed to be able to do that!" he shouted as he tried to resist, but found her grip quite firm.

"Not able to do what, Commander?" asked the Captain. She pulled the phaser out from behind her back and held it beside her, a demonstration of her waning patience. "EDEN, disable the forcefield."

EDEN complied while it kept Mariwat in hand.

"Your access to EDEN is hereby revoked, Commander," T'Zara said.

"EDEN," the Captain said, stepping forward and out of the area that had been confined by the field, "send Commander Mariwat to the brig."

"Wait!" Haxin protested as a beam of light surrounded him. "You can't do this! I'm--" was all they could hear before the transporter made it impossible for him to speak.

Piraa lowered the phaser, thumbing the safety back on as it returned to her side. She stepped up to the console Haxin had been manipulating and saw a printout of EDEN's settings and restrictions. Sure enough, sensors had been restricted, but only with what appeared to be a manual override. The Andorian took a moment to remove the override, and checked for anything else she assumed might be abnormal.

"EDEN," Piraa said, turning around to face the active avatar. "I'll repeat my question. How did the Valiant wind up in this ion storm?"

EDEN turned to face the Captain. "I was ordered to divert the course of the Valiant by Commander Mariwat and to give no warning."

Piraa frowned. "So it's true then," the Andorian remarked, turning to face T'Zara, With one obstacle now overcome, she handed over the replacement battery for the cyrosuit. "Mariwat intentionally defied orders, sabotaged the vessel, and tainted the tests as a means to justify the project. At least... justified in his own eyes."

"Do you think this will get EDEN permanently deactivated?" T'Zara asked as she accepted the battery and swapped out the one in her suit.

"There's value in the project," Piraa stated. Her Andorian eyes shifted over to look at the avatar that was still manifested beside them. "And, as much as I'm hesitant about the program, there's a reason why Starfleet pushed for its reactivation. I think we owe the legacy of the work already performing and Starfleet's needs to give the program a fair shot."

"I hope it does not jade the view of others," the Menthian said as her suit beeped and a cold waft of air came from her collar. "The past experiences seem to often come back to haunt us in the present."

Since EDEN hadn't been addressed, it simply computed what the odds would be of it's eventual termination or replacement.

Piraa kept her gaze on the holographic representation beside her. It was incredible how it stood there, emotionless, while she and T'Zara presumably decided its fate. "And what say you, EDEN? Given today's events, do you feel that you deserve the chance despite Commander Mariwat's behavior?"

EDEN looked at the Andorian Captain. "It is not relevant what I deserve," it said. "I am a program which was used to bring harm to others, which goes against my very programming, by the very being that programmed me."

The Andorian's antenna twitched, a bit surprised by the avatar's response. "Interesting," Piraa remarked. "The level of awareness it has, and the ability to self-correct."

T'Zara gave a nod and cocked her head. "The use of I is really amazing, but that can be programmed in. The self-correction can be added, too."

"You are correct, Commander T'Zara," EDEN said. "However, I am also programmed to be aware of others and interact with them as they would normally interact with others."

Piraa chuckled, wondering if EDEN could possibly give a Betazoid a run for their latinum. She then looked back to the display with all of EDEN's code and parameters. "Well, EDEN, we need to get out of this ion storm and complete repairs. Are you able to help us do that?"

"Affirmative," EDEN responded immediately. "Repairs are underway. My calculations indicate that we will be exiting the storm in one standard hour. Commander Mariwat wanted a guarantee in the even=t of overall failure of the Valiant's command team."

"What an arrogant..." T'Zara said something that her Universal Translator didn't know or wouldn't translate. "I should put him on ice and let him contemplate that for a while."

The Captain had no intention of arguing for anything less. "Surely, the environmental controls in the brig could be on the fritz for a bit. But for now, we've got a ship to get to safety. EDEN, please do what you can to assist Engineering with repair efforts. It's time to get the hell out of here."

"Understood," EDEN said before the hologram vanished.

"I wish I could do that," T'Zara said with a wistful sigh. "Now to get out of this mess and see who wants to kill us next."

Piraa scoffed and shook her head as she recalled the horrors from a few months prior. Pale skin, black eyes, red laser lines... and the emotionless faces of younger crewmembers forcibly enslaved by a final Borg attempt to end the Federation. "Yes. Let's get the hell out of here."

 

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