Posted by Lieutenant Junior Grade Solal Segal (Oncology and Immunology) in Side-Sim New Research in the Starfleet Medical Journal

Posted by Abigail G in Side-Sim New Research in the Starfleet Medical Journal
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[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 V’alura Belmont, CSO , USS Ark Angel

Solal hated sci-fi. Imaginative nonsense if you asked him. He’d protested naming the AI “Harlie”, but in the end, given up on it. V’alara could call it whatever she wanted. It was her AI, after all. Solal was only consulting for the medical stuff. He’d stick to the medical stuff. That was on his mind when he read her letter that night. He read the draft of her report and then he wrote this response:

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

He sent off the letter, stood and stretched, checked the holodeck schedule, and then grabbed his violin case. With a quick peek into the hallway, he headed out toward the holodeck.

~ Lt JG Solal, Doctor

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]

[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 V’alura Belmont, CSO , USS Ark Angel

Solal, as usual, sat down to read his letters after a long day of duty. There were two letters from V’alura today, and that was unusual. Solal checked the first one, first. It was what he expected. He read through it and the attached documents. He was going to write a quick reply, something along the lines of, ‘This is good news, continue sending me your results.’ but he wanted to check the second message first. What if it contained something important she forgot to put in the first one?

So Solal opened the second one and paused after the first paragraph. He did not like where this was going. He had skimmed her file: looking at her scientific credentials. Not her personal background. That was irrelevant to the project. He’d met no one else like himself, half Vulcan. He never expected to meet another raised on Earth, caught between human society and Vulcan emotions and ideology. He reread the letter multiple times. I almost really hurt a boy in my class when I got so angry I shoved him.

Solal had a near identical childhood experience. Multiple, actually. And he possessed Vulcan strength, so no one in his class was a match for him physically. That was why he was taught the teachings of Surak, the Vulcan meditation methods. Because his emotions were too strong and out of control, and he’d nearly hurt people. Nearly been expelled from his school. They called me a freak for a time. They called him a freak for more than ‘a time’. He was always different, and always sorely reminded of it. That he had weird ears and, “Ewww are you sick?? You look green hahahah!” That sort of bullying behaviour hadn’t ended until secondary school. He’d been lonely most of his life. All he’d wanted when he was younger was a friend.

He sat quietly for a long while before he started writing this response:

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.

With the letter written, he turned his computer off and sat on his bed, unsure what to think. She was like him. And yet so very different from him. The thought crossed his mind that Séan would find this information highly interesting. It was amusing. And then he shook his head at himself. Amusement was an emotion. V’alura was bringing his emotions closer to the surface than normal. He’d need to meditate tonight.

~ Lt JG Solal

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 V’alura Belmont, CSO , USS Ark Angel