Posted by Captain John Tiberius Glen (Captain) in Main Sim-Confrence Room A-Briefing &Meeting the Ascended
[snip]

Verity looked at the CSO then leaned forward, intrigued by Josan’s explanation. “Thank you for clarifying. We appreciate your willingness to communicate with us in our manner. We’re particularly interested in the purpose of the VA station. It’s been a point of curiosity and discussion among our crew. Can or are you willing to shed some light on its origins and its current functions?”

Saelk let out his breath and nodded. “Everyone was called here so that we all could know and have an open discourse”

Max continued to just listen and observe everything going on. He was still curious about how this ‘ascension’ worked and he was hoping to get some information provided. Having details about the VA station would be good as well. It might be a way to help these poor folks out and make it good for both the planet and Star-fleet to work together. But having an idea of what they know and what they do not know is important. He had not seen any clues of advanced technology from citizens of the planet but he knew the Merrimack was not the first warp capable ship present so there was no breaking of the prime directive at this point. He wondered what else would come from this discussion.

Josan after a moment spoke, “..The VA stations are a shortened term for which does not translate into your spoken languages. Suffice to say it is a scientific research station setup to continue the Ascended’s goals of finding the upper limits of organic life which our own civilization was not able to answer before we ascended into our energy based form. It was built millions of your years ago by automated machines which were activated pre-planned thousands of years before as our civilization ascended beyond the physical realm. From there each station’s fleet of drones and assemblers built the stations in question and then used the genetic sequences to populate a nearby star system with a suitable habitable planet. The life forms on these planets were custom made and tailored to progress along a variety of evolutionary paths the station’s core artificial intelligence matrixes would then compile this information refine and reinstitute another round of experiments and refinements. When one dead end of organic limits was found another would begin, when an upper limit point was found this was then forwarded into the ascended plane of where we reside for us to analyze and contemplate. It’s current functions for this cycle of the natives on Planet 19 were for a humanoid species similar in scope and structure like yourselves. The station proposed the idea of utilizing a parasitic organism to test the limits of the organic frame of the created species. An unexpected mutation however from a passing cometary anomaly however, mutated it into something more beneficial that you now observed thousands of years ago. While it initially harmed the natives natural immunity took a surprising turn to evolve as you see now.” Josan said.

It took a little bit for Salek to process the information before he spoke. “You said that the lifeforms were custom made and tailored… how so? Through genetic modification? How did these lifeforms come to be in… for lack of a better term or understanding in your posession for observation and study?”

We used samples of our own genetic code before Ascension, as well as genetic material and samples from other known organic life forms of our time and housed them in the stations for the experiments. The systems there just before and after our Ascension created and seeded originally made lifeforms from those bases to suit the experimental testing to come in the decades or such longer.” Josan said.

Verity nodded thoughtfully, absorbing Josan’s explanation. “So, these VA stations were essentially designed as laboratories for experimenting with various forms of life and their evolutionary paths. It’s fascinating to think about the potential insights that could be gained from such a long-term study. And it’s incredible how the unintended mutation led to the positive outcomes we see today on Planet 19.”

During the discussion, Captain Glen had quietly entered the Conference Room and stood at the back drinking a coffee. When he was noticed, he said, “Please don’t mind me! I don’t wish to interrupt. I am fully recovered now, and trying to get up to speed on this discussion. Welcome Josan! Thank you for attending. Please do continue with your conversations!”

Verity turned to Salek, her curiosity still piqued. “Lt. Salek, do you think the knowledge and research gathered from these VA stations could hold valuable insights for our own scientific endeavors, especially in understanding the limits and possibilities of organic life?”

Saelk frowned deeply. He looked worried at the thought and then let out his breath slowly and controlled. He paused to take a breath before he gave his answer. “My research is the discovery of something the likes of the Federation have never seen. With this while it is an intriguing venture paints a very very fine line between legality and illegality. The only way that the research would be of use and intriguing is if they can prove they have not genetically altered the genome of the organisms. They started out as a type of clone of sorts from my understanding. It makes me want to check their blood for any traces of cell death and cellular decay… I don’t think that this would be present as it seems they had replicated their genome and created a replication of it that had the capability to reproduce naturally and was not infertile as it seems that most clones are, they lack the ability to produce gametes and thus cannot reproduce… as we saw no technology of any sophistication that would would reproduce genetic clones… then we can only assume that they are able to reproduce as any other biological species. However how much of that genome sequence was originally to their code? Was it altered in any way? Where there any alterations made to any of genetics the offspring at any point? If the answer to any of these questions is yes the research is invalid for use by the Federation due to the laws created after the Eugenics Wars.” Saelk explained rather restrainedly.

• Glen, CO

Verity listened to Salek’s explanation, nodding in understanding. “I see your concerns, Lieutenant. Ensuring that the research adheres to ethical and legal boundaries is crucial. The potential knowledge gained from these VA stations could indeed be groundbreaking, but it’s essential that we approach it with transparency and caution. Perhaps there’s a way to collaborate with experts in genetics and bioethics to assess the validity of the research before we consider integrating it into our own scientific pursuits.”
Verity turned back to Josan. “Considering your insights into the VA stations’ history and the evolution of life on Planet 19, do you think it’s possible for us to learn from their experiences without crossing any ethical boundaries?”

V. Aphelion, First Officer