Posted by Nicole Cline in Side-Sim New Research in the Starfleet Medical Journal

Posted by Lieutenant Junior Grade V’alura Belmont (Chief Science Officer) in Side-Sim New Research in the Starfleet Medical Journal
[snip snip]

[Chain of messages of V’alura reporting the experiment’s progress and interesting results interspersed with her own musings on optimizing the AI’s code and requests for insight on various medical theories and terminology. In her last response she decided to name their AI “Harlie” which was the name of a fictional AI in an Earth sci-fi novel. The message ended with V’alura rambling about the many sci-fi novels she read as a teen.]

Dear Solal,

Good news! Harlie vs Betelgese Syndrome is complete and the results are in! Little Harlie’s predictions of disease progression matched the recorded progression of Betelgese syndrome 91.75% of the time. [Here V’alura inserted various graphs and charts of the gathered data, first detailing one of cases in Starfleet’s databases then displayed Harlie’s predictions] There’s a lot more but I think I’d bore you with the down and gritty AI details. To summaries Harlie heavily drew from the preexisting data compiled by the Betelgesians and correctly predicted disease progression in the cases we selected as typical. She seemed to struggle with the a-typical cases such as [cases of humans and Betelgesians with rare genetic disorders who contracted the disease]. Which, was expected as there were so few a-typical cases in the Betelgesian data.

Which means for the next phase of testing we should select a disease from a population with greater genetic variety than the Betelgesians. If you know of any diseases that would fit that criteria then we could use that for phase two of testing. Attached is my first draft of the final report I plan to send to Starfleet Medical. Please add to any comments or theories of your own!

Don’t you love the thrill of research?
Lt. JG. Belmont, CSO
[Followed by V’alura’s electronic signature]

Lt. Jg. Belmont, CSO

Solal’s reply to V’alura’s came the same day she’d sent her letter.

Dear V’alura,

This is good news. A 91.75% prediction rate is higher than I would have expected an AI to achieve. Medical disease and disorder is notoriously difficult to predict. Atypical cases I would expect it to have trouble with. Another study with a wider genetic variance should help, but don’t expect as high of a prediction rate. For a species with a high variance rate I suggest the Ulgarians, Ulgarian measles would be a good illness to have the AI attempt to predict. It is also transmittable to most humanoid species, if you would like to try and have the AI predict cross-species illnesses. Your final report looks good, however, I would like to add a little to it. [Solal goes on to list medically specific information from their tests to add to the report]. Otherwise, it looks ready to send on to Starfleet Medical.

Sincerely,
[Solal’s signature is here]
Lt JG Solal, Immunology, USS Ogawa

~ Lt JG Solal, Immunology, USS Ogawa

V’alura read through all of Solal’s notes then integrated his feedback into her final paper. As she re-read the final draft, glass of wine in hand, she found her thoughts drifting towards Solal. Of course she skimmed through his personnel file before their research began. From it she learned that he was half-vulcan like herself and that he was raised on Earth. Also like her. She was terribly curious about him. If he faced the same difficulties and hardships that she did. If his human half was never enough for his human peers. Professionalism kept her curiosity in check. After all, even though they were working together on this research they still didn’t really know that much about the other.

And V’alura has shared plenty about herself. Her momma always said V’alura could talk until the cows came home. Solal never seemed to acknowledge her personal ramblings. It seemed, to her, that he preferred the distance of professionalism. With a heavy heart she typed her next response and took comfort in her glass of real wine.

Dear Solal,

Harlie performed beyond either of expectations, but I would attribute that to the vast and detailed database of the Betelgesians. They stood against that disease for nearly half a century before they and Starfleet finally vanquished it. Ulgarian measles is very promising for the next phase of testing. We could run two simulations of the disease. The first with simulated Ulgarians and the second with cross-species illnesses. It would mean more number crunching in the final report but I welcome the added challenge. I will start work on the new simulations if you could compile the data on Ulgarian measles. That will be the library that Harlie will pull from when making her predictions in the simulations.

T believe the attached document will be of great help. [Attached is a summary of Harlie’s interactions with the database on Betelgese Syndrome. The data shows how she interacted with the data and utilized it in each simulated case.]

Lt. JG. Belmont, CSO
[Followed by V’alura’s electronic signature]

Aannnd sent. V’alura leaned back in her chair, glass of wine in hand while she watched her little beta fish swim around its tank. Then she thought. Oh, what the hell. And began a new message.

[Second message sent twenty minutes after the first]

Solal,

It’s me again and before you wonder, no, this second message is not about the research. A personal correspondence if you would. If you’ve skimmed through my personnel file like I’ve skimmed yours then you’ll know I’m a Vulcan-Human hybrid raised on Earth like yourself. I’ve met so few people like us and I would like to get to know you better. I’ve wondered if you had the same struggles as I did.

When I was a little girl my mother found me a Vulcan mentor. She was a scientist living on Earth, someone who had no reason or even time to speak to me. Yet she still found time to teach me twice a week. She taught me Vulcan and Vulcan meditation techniques. Instructed me in all the ways of Surak and how to live a life of logic and control. At the time I resented her. Mind you, I was six years old. I recall she was very stern and seemed to disprove of anything I did. Younger me wanted to express my emotions like my human friends did. Except, my emotions were too much for my human peers. I almost really hurt a boy in my class when I got so angry I shoved him. Well, you should know as well as I do that even as young children we posses greater strength.

That day it really connected with me. That I wasn’t human. That I was different. Several of my classmates were scared of me after that. They called me a freak for a time. I know this seems so sudden, and perhaps unwanted as well. I understand if you wish to keep our connection purely professional but I think we could be good friends. I feel that we could really understand one another, and isn’t it nice? To know someone who really understands?

Signed,
V’alura Belmont

Lt. Jg. Belmont, CSO

V’alura,

The research is going well. I have attached the requested compilied information. Whether you choose to test against cross species illness or not is your choice. I’ve compiled both databases, one with only the Ulgarians and one with other species vulnerable to Ulgarian Measles.

I’ve read both of your letters. I was raised on Earth, by adoptive human parents who knew little of Vulcan traditions. I was left on their doorstep as a young baby. I was not taught the teachings of Surak, the control of my emotions until my teen years. I was nearly expelled from school, for injuring a classmate. It was not the only incident. My emotions are too unpredictable to control without Vulcan meditation. I don’t often speak of my past, but I never thought I’d speak to someone else like me. A Vulcan raised on Earth. I look forward to your future letters.
[The requested databases are attached to the letter.]

Signed,
[His electronic signature is here]
Solal Segal

It was the only letter Solal had signed with his surname, a name he generally chose not to use, because Vulcans only have one name. But in actuality, his names were both of French origin, where he was raised.

~ Lt JG Solal, USS Ogawa

Gosh, this poor kid. V’alura’s heart went out to Solal. It must have been so difficult growing up without any lessons in control for so long. She counted herself blessed that her mother not only found her a Vulcan mentor, but also enrolled V’alura into acting classes. While she browsed through the attached databases she thought about her next response. There were so many questions she wanted to ask, but she didn’t want to overwhelm him. So she put that off for the time being to program their test simulations.

That didn’t take long. They had the framework in place from the last test. All V’alura really had to do was flesh out the simulation for the second round of tests, simple work for a skilled programmer such as herself. Then all that was left was to add in the databases and test the system for glitches and flaws. Those jobs she passed onto the Ark Angel’s cybernetics lab.

V’alura started on a new message to Solal, but had to put it on hold after receiving a summons to the biology lab. Ah, the work of the CSO never ends. The next day V’alura finished her message during breakfast and sent it off.

Solal,

Phase two of the project is progressing smoothly. My team on the Ark Angel are testing the simulation program and we should be able to begin the tests themselves within a few days. It’ll be interesting to see how Harlie tackles this new test and how she utilizes everything she’s learned from phase one. I don’t anticipate as high a rate of accuracy but I’ll gladly take anything above 71%. Down the line, maybe after we finish our research, we could redo our later tests with a fresh Harlie. It could give us a great comparison of how her learned behavior has improved or hindered her function. Or perhaps rerun the tests with the other AIs out there like her. Gosh, my mind is racing with all the possibilities. I get excited thinking about all the data we could collect.

But on a more personal note, our messages have lead me down a trip on memory lane. I’d love to know if you experienced this too in school. Anytime there was a group project everyone wanted to be my partner. I thought it was because it was at the top of my class in most subjects but really they thought they could get away with having to do less work. Once I had a partner who didn’t do any work and when I confronted him about it he said, and I quote, ‘Don’t Vulcan’s love this kind of thing? I thought you wanted to do the project by yourself.’ Or my partners would agree that I should do the harder parts because they would be so much easier for me.

Then there was sports. We’d line up and the teacher would pick two kids as team captains. I would be picked first, and then the other team captain would complain that I had an unfair advantage. That whoever had me on their team was practically guaranteed a win. It wasn’t so bad when I was younger but as I entered my teen years it go so bad that I finally threw my hands up and said I’ll support both teams from the sidelines. My physical education teacher would make me referee or scorekeeper. Which, was awful because I loved playing baseball and soccer. I count my blessings every day for rodeo. Oh yeah, I did rodeo for years. Mostly barrel racing and, well, regular racing.

What about you?

Signed,
V’alura Belmont
[V’alura’s electronic signature here]

Lt. Jg. Belmont, CSO