Posted by Lieutenant Surra Almikaz (Chief of Psychiatry) in Main Sim - The Holodeck - The Conclusion

Posted by Lieutenant Zoi Haven (Chief of Security) in Main Sim - The Holodeck - The Conclusion

Posted by Commander Dira Myqian (Executive Officer) in Main Sim - The Holodeck - The Conclusion
Posted by… suppressed (9) by the Post Ghost! 👻
OOC: I usually hate ending sims like this, but this one is getting long in the tooth and I know Linds is getting ready to do the next one so, without further ado:

IC: Golfink adjusted the cufflinks on his tuxedo, tugging on the sleeves so that the shiny pieces of metal flashed out from the cuff of the jacket. He was nervous but it was coming off as cranky, as it usually did with the small little man. “Are we ready?” he asked Prem harshly as he walked around the holodeck inspecting everything to the finest detail.

He had decorated the space to map to the inside of Grauman’s Chinese Theatre as it was in the mid-1960s. His big premier for a commercial, was going to be as extravagant as he could possibly do, and having access to a holodeck made that goal too easy to achieve.

Prem did not look happy to be there either, but for different reasons. Used to a more utilitarian dress, she moved awkwardly in her evening gown and gloves. “How women wore these are beyond me. Why do you have everything like this anyway?” she asked her boss as she reached out and adjusted the little row of medals pinned to the pocket of his jacket.

“Because this is when cinema was an artform and not just cheap mass produced holovids designed to entertain and be disposed of without thought. This was the age of Ben Hur, the Godfather, and Wizard of Oz, movies generations upon generations removed that we still talk about,” he started to pontificate before his assistant cut him off.

“You still talk about, Golfink. We are forced to listen. You prattle on and on,” she sternly reminded him. “I suggest you not bring that up with the crew when they get here. They aren’t as passionate about this as you are. Now, the twins have finished the editing and loaded it into the holodeck so when you are ready, it will project on the front screen just like, well, a movie. Are you sure you want to wear your decorations?”
The man nodded absentmindedly then deflected once again, “Do we know who will be here? Surely, they will want to see what all this was for, all the drama they caused, all the…” He waved his hand around, “I don’t think they like me or my process very much.”

“No one likes you or your process. Especially not your process,” Prem teased him softly with a warm grin, “But many people do respect your work. Come on, shall I notify the captain for you?”

“You are a petulant creature,” he retorted with a snort as he adjusted his tie. “Yes call the captain, let’s get this over with.”
Prem tilted her head and pressed the chime on the arch. =/\=Prem to Captain Taylor. I believe we are ready for you, ma’am=/\=

GM Wombat

Taylor for her part was trying to get the collar of her dress uniform to sit properly. She hit her badge. =^= Taylor here, Excellent, I’ll have the senior staff and those who have opted to come along off duty ready at the holodeck shortly.=^=

She ran a brush through her hair again and then said. ==^= GALEN. Please inform all senior staff, the landing teams and off duty personnel to gather at the holodeck in 15 minutes=^=

The ship wide memo went out alerting those who had either been part of the mission, were section heads, or had opted to attend.

Willow moved to the door, Cai appearing and falling in step with her. His normal attire had been replaced with a collarless white shirt and dark trousers. He looked unhappy with that. “So, if this is horrible do we fake a holodeck incident? I mean I’m sure Kane and Oscar could make it look like an accident if the file was wiped from existence.”

She glared at him but said “don’t tempt me.” And winked. Arriving at the holodeck she waited for the others to show up.

Willow Taylor
CO

Oscar came in to the Holodeck in dress uniform, looking to be in… well, honestly, if it was anyone but Oscar, it would look dour, but for The Grouch, it was basically his modus operandi. He liked being annoyed, peeved, or perturbed on a regular basis. In this case, he had plenty to be annoyed with.

---

EARLIER, Cascarrabias Quarters

Oscar had had a breakthrough with his pet fungus, although it was something of a weird breakthrough. In spite of having no discernible need for photoreceptivity, the fungus had begun to mimic shapes in the room around it. This included Oscar’s face, but also books, lamps, and whatever Oscar put within two meters of it, provided that it was no larger than the storage container for the fungus. On the one hand, he still was no closer to figuring out if the fungus could actually communicate, but the fact that it showed even the slightest bit of cognizance made calling it a pet more sensible. And then the first summons came.

=/\= Attention Oscar Cascarrabias. As a member of the senior staff, you are requested by the Commanding Officer to report to the functional Holodeck for a special presentation in fifteen minutes. Thank you. =/\=

“Okay, Roman, I got the message,” Oscar said, as he just wanted to see how the AI would react.

=/\= Thank you for acknowledging this message. =/\=

Oscar sighed after that, but shrugged. Just confirmation that, no, Holodeck 2 still was not functional, and yes, his expectation that it would take another day to get it working was accurate. On the plus side, he was out of the trash can, so changing into his dress uniform would not be altogether difficult. He still hated that, because of the change in dress uniform protocols resulting in more comfortable dress wear, Oscar preferred the new dress uniform and hadn’t had the time or occasion to tarnish it yet. He would have to get on that. However, not ten seconds after he had stepped over to his closet, GALEN came over the notification system again.

=/\= Attention Oscar Cascarrabias. As a member of the recent landing team, you are requested by the Commanding Officer to report to the functional Holodeck for a special presentation in fifteen minutes. =/\=

“Okay, computer, I got the summons the first time,” the Grouch growled, at least doing his best to put on his dress uniform in a haphazard fashion.

=/\= Thank you, and thank you for acknowledging this message. =/\=

That was a little strange, of course, but new ship, new problems. When he had been given this posting, he was sure that Starfleet thought he was going to be on a ship based of design principles from a century prior, not one of the newest ships in the fleet. Well, here he was, and now they would have a lot of confusion as to how a NCO managed to make a ship filled with minor issues completely up to shape. He had just long enough to contemplate that and put on his footwear before he got another summons.

=/\= Attention Oscar Cascarrabias. As an off-duty crew member, you are requested by the Commanding Officer to report to the functional Holodeck for a special presentation in fifteen minutes. Thank you. =/\=

“Understood, GALEN,” Oscar said, and then added, “Aren’t you designed to reduce redundancy? Why did I get three summons to the same event?”

=/\= The Captain requested that senior staff, landing party members, and off-duty crew be informed to meet at Holodeck 1. I made the same announcement to individual members of each category. =/\=

“Got it. For future reference, if the same crew member is slated to receive the same message multiple times because they fall under multiple categories, only deliver the message once to that crew member.”

=/\= Understood. Logged and filed. =/\=

With that, Oscar finished getting dressed and let his room.

---

Alexis had just finished securing Frigga’s work vest around the dog and was donning her own uniform. The first announcement from GALEN came over the comm. All senior staff report to the holodeck. Well that wasn’t her. Alexis rode that fine line between being a Department Head and being a junior officer, but she was defiantly not senior staff. Glancing at Solomon, “Guess that’s you now.”

“You’re my plus-one. Get dressed.” Kane said as he heaved himself up off the couch and went to get ready

In the bathroom she was putting her hair into a bun and the second announcement came over requiring members of the landing team to report. As she reached for the pile of PaDD styluses on the counter, “Ugh…nope can’t go anyway. There will be no one left in sickbay if there’s an emergency. We were all down there.” Shoving a couple styluses into her hair to hold it, she glanced at Frigga. “You got to go too. You wanna go with me to sickbay or go with Solomon to the holodeck?” She snatched the precarious pile of styluses off the counter, knocking some to the floor. Frigga dutifully snatched them off and padded after Alexis to the bedroom. The third message came through requiring all off duty personnel to report. “Ha! My shift starts in 15.” Alexis removed her lab coat from the closet and slipped the styluses into her pocket to return to her office.

“The joys of being with a DH, doll.” Kane said from the bedroom. “I had your shift moved to match mine. Now. Get. Dressed. Or, if ya don’t, I get to show you another old Earth vid about when people believed the entire planet was flat… and it is a documentary from the 21st century! So you pick, dumb-ass holodeck vid? Or anxiety-inducing stupidity? Either way, you have to wear your uniform.”

NOW - Holodeck 1

Oscar walked over to the Captain and said, “GALEN still has some issues regarding efficiency in practice, but I definitely got the feeling that you wanted me here.”

He looked around, saw the film crew, and scowled. “Ah, this particular event. Can I just pretend I’ve suddenly gone blind, go to one of the Med Labs for however long this lasts, and act like I’ve had a miraculous healing?”

• Oscar Cascarrabias, CE

“Nice try, Chief,” Dira said, arriving just behind him. She was in her duty uniform but as usual presented a tidy figure. Looking around the grand setting, she smiled. “Well then, shall we see if this was all worth it?” she said in a low voice.

Commander Myqian, XO

Reluctantly making her way toward the holodeck in her dress uniform, microPaDD hidden in pocket, Frigga trotting along beside, Alexis muttered. “This is such a waste of time. We could be working. Do we have to go to this thing?”

Bonner, AMO

Kane, CSO /R&D

“Yes,” Brad muttered back, sweeping in behind her. “Besides, it’s good to give the junior docs a chance now and then to run the show. If they make a complete hash of it, that just gives us something to do after. Isn’t teaching fun?”

As guests started to arrive the little man went up to each in turn and give a slight bow of respect before handing them off to Prem who showed them around to the pastry table and eventually the forty or so chairs that filled the holodeck. The little medals tickled as he buzzed about but for Myqian it was clear he was alight with nervous energy barely concealing insecurity.

“Captain, thank you for coming,” he greeted Willow when she finally got to him. “Please let me know when as many people are here as you think will attend, then we can get started.”

GM Wombat

Cmdr. Dr. Brad Walker
Chief of Staff

Surra strolled in a little late, in her casual dress uniform as she didn’t have enough time to go back to her quarters and change. The first thing she noticed when she entered the room was the pastry table. A smile came across her face and she looked over the room and saw all her colleagues, some of them she’d met and some she’d not. The most familiar face in the room was the XO, so she made her way in that direction and stood beside her. “Commander. I have to admit I have no idea what this is all for, but since a call went out for all DH to attend, well here I am.”

Almikaz, CoP

Dira smiled at Surra. “We’re here to see Golfink’s promotional video that we’ve been the subjects of. Let’s hope we come off well or there will be hell to pay,” she said softly to the COP with a grin. She hadn’t minded her interview either, but then again being put on the spot didn’t usually faze her.

Commander Myqian, XO

“Ah,” said Surra with a nod of her head, “I must have missed that too.” she was referring to the interviews.

Unlike some people, Zoi didn’t mind wearing dress uniforms. She put it on with care and pride. She pulled up her normally messy blonde hair to a sleek chignon. Her makeup was minimal but well placed. When she stepped into the Holodeck as per request of the Captain, she was cool, confident and feeling every inch a Star Fleet Officer. She was not technically on shift, though she knew she would be contacted, as any senior officer would, in the case of an emergency. She walked up to Dira and smiled. “Commander.” Then nodded respectfully to the Captain by way of greeting. “Captain.”

Haven, CoS

When Haven walked up to Dira, Surra took an opportunity to introduce herself, “You must be our Chief of Security Lieutenant Haven. I am glad to finally officially meet you. I am sure you are aware since you are in charge of security, but Dr. Almikaz, chief of the psychiatry department.”

Almikaz, CoP

The wee little man let everyone mill about for a little bit before clapping his hands gently, once. “Alright everyone thank you for coming! If you could all take a pastry and a seat we would like to begin!”

He scurried over to the front of the room and waited patiently for people to sit down before explaining. “You are a difficult lot to work with,” he stated bluntly. “And no amount of coercion, cooperation, or compliance got you do what I needed you to do when I needed you to do it. You clearly weren’t as invested in this project as I thought you should be and for that I was endlessly frustrated, nay, vexed with the entirety of the crew. It was very clear to me you didn’t care.”

He paused briefly, Prem coughed uncomfortably, and if looks could kill she would have slaughtered Golfink on the spot but knew better than to interject at this point.

“However, after I was done being tortured by your staff I began re-reviewing the footage. What you are about to witness is the result of looking at you all through a different lens,” he said before moving back to the room as the lights dimmed and the vignette played.

The footage started with Bonner looking over her work in the lab, studiously examining something and looking quite professional as she goes about her business. A voice over started, a deep baritone started, “Start Fleet Medical is perhaps one of the least known, and yet most respected facets of the Federation…” The screen then shifted to footage of the surface and Oscar being a grouch but in a way that show cases his secretly kind heart. The voice over continued, “The are the heart of the federation. Extending grace and respect even to our enemies when called upon to serve.”

The video faded to an outside scan of the Ogawa sailing through space, “The USS Ogawa has filled this need for over 20 years, and done so with honor and integrity. Led by the renowned Captain Willow Taylor, the Owie, as she is colloquially known, doesn’t shy away from aiding those in need, even in the most dire situation.”

What then followed was twenty minutes of moving music, interview footage, and some creative editing of some of the crew to make them appear more caring and genuine than they might have been when dealing with Golfink and the twins. All told, it was a good promo. Maybe not award winning but genuinely flattering of the crew and the ship, show casing every member of the crew, even briefly. (OOC: Geoff isn’t a screen writer so just imagine what you want as a perfect video and that’s what it was :D)

When the lights came back up, however, Golfink was no where to be found. He wasn’t in the room anyway. He was just, gone.

GM Wombat