"Marvellously Terrifying"
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"Life is a mistake, an anomaly born from the chaos of nature. Ours is
to correct this mistake and restore perfect order to the universe."
- The Imperian Leader
--==(/\)==--
Over the last hour the Oltharian Engineer had dismantled both the probe
and robot to the best of his abilities, exposing a level of technology that
the gentle giant could not help but admire. It was clear to see that the
Imperians were a highly advanced race surpassing almost everything that
the NEW ALEXANDRIA's Robotics Engineering Officer had seen or studied over
the years. Some of the technology the CEO had encountered within the frame
of the robot had reminded him of the Cytherians while other parts seemed
to lean more towards the Tholians in their design. Either way this seemed
to indicate that the Imperians were an ancient race whose technology had
been influenced, or used as a model by other races.
While carefully studying the internal composition of the robot, the
CEO's thoughts went onto another artificial life, one that he had helped
bring into being. Elan had developed a sense of awe for Annie, the ANUBIS'
Avatar, and knowing her as he did the Engineer could only look upon the
mechanical woman with heartfelt amazement and admiration. As he gazed
upon the inactive form of the Imperian conqueror though, the giant felt a
different type of awe, one that stood at the distant opposite of the
emotional spectrum. To see such exquisite mechanical marvel built and
used for the sole purpose of killing everything in its path had made the
life-loving Oltharian sick to his stomach.
With the desire to learn more about the interaction between the probe
and its passenger, the Oltharian turned his attention to the opened casing
and the mould of the Imperian therein. That shape added to the visible
connections linking the two made it clear to the Engineer that they had
not been meant to be separate entities, like a shuttle and its pilot, but
rather to act and react as one. Further investigation revealed an even more
intricate relationship between the two, the probe itself not possessing
any power source or navigational controls leading to the conclusion that
probe was nothing more than an extension of the robot.
As the Oltharian continued his investigation, his eyes zeroed in on a
particular item inside of the casing which seemed to not entirely
belong there. Its colour and shape matched that of the Imperian but the item
appeared to be removable in some way, an attribute which a tricoder
scan quickly confirmed. After having cautiously retrieved the item from the
open casing and confirmed that it had been powerless and harmless the gentle
giant visually inspected it, its odd shape not giving any indications
as to its purpose.
"Found something of interest?" The ANUBIS' Avatar asked as she joined
the Oltharian in the cargo bay. Although artificial in nature, Annie
possessed a curiosity that had been embedded into her systems as an effort to
help her become more than she had been originally designed to be. At first this curiosity had been used to improve on the basic programming of the
ship's humanoid form, but this attribute soon proved to lead the Avatar into
fields of research that had nothing to do with her primary function.
The Oltharian welcomed the Avatar with his customary bow of respect and
invited the Avatar to step closer and have a look for herself.
"Actually I would have to admit that I have found a great deal, although the
majority of which is beyond my immediate understanding. So far I have been able to assess that the robot and probe were meant to function as one, having
found no power source or navigational systems onboard the probe."
"That would be an efficient use of the limited space," Annie said as
she leaned over to look inside the casing. "If the energy system within an
Imperian is sufficiently powerful to supply a small craft such as this
for space travel, it is surprising that Lt. Cmdr. Maya and Lt. Pravat both
came through their encounter with the robot in as good of a shape as they
did." Although unable to express any emotions, the Avatar had almost sounded
surprised or at least puzzled as she had said this.
Although intrigued by the tone in the Avatar's voice, Elan had instead
focussed on the words themselves based on the simple fact that Annie
had been absolutely correct. If the Imperian that had been found inside of
the probe had been the craft's source of energy, the robot itself should
have been more powerful then it had shown itself to be, unless something had
caused its power to be somehow depleted. With a new mystery on his
hands, the Oltharian turned his attention back to the inactive robot on the
floor, using his tricorder to locate something that could have been the power
source for both the Imperian and its vehicle.
"Interesting," the Olthairan said. "I had not noticed these before,"
Elan noted as he continued to scan the body of the Imperian. "I am picking
up micro-fractures throughout the external armour as well as on many of
the internal components. It is very likely that this Imperian had been
*damaged* before his discovery, either as a result with the probe's
meeting with the HATHOR or because of something that had happened previously,"
the ANUBIS' CEO explained with a certain tone of puzzlement.
"That may explain how a simple water bottle was able to disable it,"
Annie pointed out as she glanced at the shattered water bottle before turning
her eyes onto the strange item that Elan had found inside of the casing.
"The grip on this device matches the hand of this Imperian, the fingers
sliding right into these openings," Annie continued, changing the focus of
their conversation with little trouble. "If the Imperian was the source of
power for the probe, it is logical to assume that it would also provide
energy for any tools it would have needed."
"A scanning device of some sort?" Elan wondered, not sure why an
Imperian would require such a tool for the achievement of their ultimate goal.
"I would lean more towards it being a weapon," the Avatar suggested
instead. "The power supply of the Imperian might have been too weak to enable
it to use this when it was discovered."
"If that is the case," Elan said obviously troubled by his train of
thoughts, "we are facing an enemy that is even more powerful than we
had first anticipated.
--==(/\)==--
Lieutenant Junior Grade Elan Talak Fairborn
Robotics Engineering Officer 2006 post #062
Stardate: 60341.1030
Setting: USS ANUBIS, Cargo Bay 15
Francois Charette {f_charette@hotmail.com}
Chief Engineering Officer
USS ANUBIS
NEW ALEXANDRIA
