"Beauty And The Beast"
[ Previous post Brian's "Does History Repeat Itself?" ]
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"The universe is not given shape by the laws of science but rather by
the perceptions we have of it."
- Ahar Wisecloud, former head of the Oltharian Scientific Circle
--==(/\)==--
This had not been the first time the Oltharian Engineer had forgone
sleep in order to tackle the tasks at hand, and he knew that this would not be
his last. By now those around the gentle giant knew that staying up and
working for days without any rest had been the norm and that having been raised on a world of 38 hour days had only made this seem normal.
The current tasks which had monopolized the Robotic Engineer's time had
been lying on the work tables on either side of the giant. To his right the
inanimate form of the Imperian droid that had been captures displayed
its intricate internal workings to the Oltharian who had taken great care
to reveal the secrets buried deep within the mechanical killing machine.
To his left, an equally inanimate form rested on the second work table but
this one drew from the engineer emotions of deeply felt sadness and sorrow.
To some the bodies of the two artificial beings had been as similar as could be since no beating heart could be found within the false humanoid form that their exterior shells had been given. To Elan, one of the Engineers of NEW ALEXANDRIA who had been instrumental in the creation of the ANUBIS' Avatar, the frames of Annie and or the Imperians could not have been more dissimilar. One had been built out of passion with the intent to help all achieve a better way of life while the other had been create out of malice with the sole purpose to kill and destroy all life.
The sound of the door of the workshop opening drew the 7'6" giant away from his work and towards the door where a wide-eyed Ensign stood frozen by fear as if she had walked in onto a mythological beast.
"Ah am sorry," Ensign Hogg said in her thick accent as she desperately tried to get her feet to move from where they where. "Doctor Summers mentioned that one of the Imperians was here," Logan tried to explain but found the imposing size of the Oltharian too intimidating to continue.
"You must be Ensign Hogg," the gentle giant said as he bowed in accordance to his people's ways and beliefs towards any and all members of the medical profession. "News of your rescue from the Cardassian freighter has reached me and I am pleased to see that you are unharmed. If there is anything that I can do for you Healer, please do not hesitate to ask as it would be a pleasure and honour to assist you in any way that I can."
Confusion replaced the instinctive fear that had taken hold of the ANUBIS' newest Assistant Chief Medical Officer. Since her arrival onboard the mysterious ship Logan had not had any time to research the specifics on the members of the crew having been dragged from the transporter room to the Black Hole Lounge and then to Sickbay to see if she could assist with Enaii's unusual condition. After hours of working to solve the situation which had befallen the Intelligence Officer, Ensign Hogg had decided to stretch her legs, see more of the ship and face the race which had for one reason or another spared her while she had been onboard the Cardassian freighter.
The Assistant Chief Medical officer had not expected to find anyone in
the Engineering workshop, especially not at such a late hour, and the
Ensign had been even more surprised when she had stumbled upon the likes of the Oltharian. After her initial reaction though Logan began to sense the
kindness which radiated from the giant and eventually found it within
her to dismiss her concerns and move deeper into the room.
The warmth of the Oltharian's smile made the Ensign feel even more at
ease as she slowly approached the workstation on which the Imperian had been
placed on. Although she had been scared of the engineer at first Logan
found his size oddly comforting as she studied the shell of the robotic
killer. After a few minutes of observation the Assistant Chief Medical
Officer's gaze moved onto the second work station where she found the
body of what appeared to be a woman.
"Is she another type of Imperian?" Logan asked, her head ever so
slightly tilted to one side as she saw another machine which seemed to have
nothing in common with the one closer to her.
"Her name is Annie," the Oltharian Engineer replied as his eyes washed
over the motionless form of the woman. "She is the ANUBIS' Avatar, meant to
help the senior staff in times of difficulty and provide a direct link to
the ship's system when on an away mission."
"What happened?" the Assistant Chief Medical Officer asked as she
realised that Elan and Annie shared something that extended far beyond the realm of machine and engineer.
"Her processors overloaded during the retrieval of our Intel Operative
and I have been trying to restore her primary operating system without
damaging her personality components," the Robotics Engineer explained. "I had
actually hoped that I might find something within the sophisticated
inner workings of the Imperians to help in this and insure that she would
come back with all of her programming intact."
Logan watched as the giant hand of the Oltharian ever so gently
caressed the artificial woman's arm in a way which hinted that Elan felt for Annie - not in an amorous way but rather in a parental way, like a father hoping and wishing for their daughter.
--==(/\)==--
Lieutenant Junior Grade Elan Talak Fairborn
Robotics Engineering Officer 2006 post #137
Stardate: 60342.2200
Setting: USS ANUBIS, Engineering Workshop 2
Francois Charette {f_charette@hotmail.com}
Chief Engineering Officer
USS ANUBIS
NEW ALEXANDRIA
