“How many artifacts are currently on the ship?” Although she’d worked for the Admiral before, Fin felt like she was still learning about her new position on the Wolverine. What experience she’d had with ‘the warehouse’ was unique as most people never got a chance to work with the magical/other worldly objects kept there. She pretty much felt like she was filling the shoes of the CIO on the ship by not doing much of anything. At least this meeting with Kadence and Mado was a chance to interact with more of the crew.

—Fin, CIO

“Aside from the standard issue field gear? 7 – 8 if you count that damned I-drive in Engineering being tinkered by Lieutenant Ford Prefect. Two are under specialized containment fields, so they will last longer than the 72 hour period. One of them needs to be examined in the cargo bay, unfortunately… it’s apparently returning to its original size,” said Mado.

GM

“Its original size? And what might that object be?” Fin asked with raised brows. What was so big it needed a cargo bay? “Also—72 hours period? You mean we can’t get farther away than 72 hours from the Warehouse?” Well that was just really bad planning on someone’s part.

—Fin, CIO

“It’s original size?” Her voice came over Fin’s at the same time. She then bit her lip as the other woman continued to ask the questions she was thinking at that moment. How was it they hadn’t been prepared beforehand to cope with the relics? And if there were more to collect, how were they going to maintain the safety of the ship in the process.

“A car,” replied Mado, in a dismissive tone as if it was perfectly normal, “The static bags provide a small level of neutralization, that can last up to 72 hours. Though, depending on how powerful the artifact, that period could be shorter. There is a specialized compound we can use to extend that period to a week. Any further time period of that requires the special containment field device which we are picking up.”

When Mado was finished speaking, she shook her head. “What are the possible side affects that having these relics on board could cause? I need to make sure that THAT isn’t something we can’t handle as well.” Her job as Counselor was to make sure the mental well being of the ship was kept up. If there was any chance the relics would upset that balance, she needed to know now before things escalated without their ability to handle it.

Kadence
CNS

“Under artifact neutralization, nothing. If we use the I-drive… well, I don’t know, honestly. Presuming that I-drive returns normalcy within a set time frame, probably nothing,” replied Mado.

GM

Tossing back the last of her drink, Fin gestured for another and set her elbows on the table to look hard at Mado. “You don’t know? Shouldn’t you be a little more up on the containments and effects of these artifacts? I realize we are working together here, but you have a lot more experience with them than I do.”

—Fin, CIO

“Lieutenant , I don’t have to remind you that the I-drive is the codename for the highly experimental drive that allows a ship instantaneous travel one point in the universe to another point in the universe,” replied Mado, “which I had the misfortune of experiencing myself. There is only one of its kind at the moment, and well… the effects are so unusual that it somehow warps reality, causing everyone to change into unexpected things, like having all the molecules of the ship suddenly become yarn. I am pretty sure you have the clearance to view the file, if you read about it. In any case, the only reason why I don’t exactly know is because the experimental drive has only been used a few times, and even when I was aboard with my limited specialized equipment, there was no unusual reaction… so far. But dealing with that drive is dealing with improbabilities and well… I try not to think about it less the improbable becomes the probable and then we’d be in big trouble.”

OOC: I-drive = Infinite Improbability Drive

IC:

Kadence sighed. “Ok, so we have the maybes and the possibilities. How about the worse case scenario? I need to be sure the Captain is aware of ‘worse case’ so we can be prepared and not blindsided should it happen.” Stars forbid she murmured as an afterthought. “I don’t want to be an alarmist. But things happen in space. And if we can’t get those containment fields, we need to know what to prepare for and the security measures we need to have in place to be ready for it.”

Leaning back in her seat, she glanced at her companions. She was a Counselor, but she was also specially trained in things most didn’t know about. With a mission like this, the unknown factor was what they needed to know about more than ever. It wasn’t what they were ‘chasing’. It was what they were running from, hoping to never encounter it.

Kadence
CNS

“That vase is bad news. Bad enough that it could be considered well… the equivalent of a warp corp breach level of disaster or greater. The worse case is that we’ll have to eject all the artifacts into space… assuming no malfunctions occur while that happen, which is a high probability. It’s been known that these artifacts can alter a person behavior… and evidence that it can incite violence and even riots,” said Mado.

GM

“So, how many people on the ship actually know what we’re dealing with?” Her take on the situation was that not many did and that seemed dangerous. “If the Wolverine has been tasked by the Admiral to collect these ‘other worldly’ things that have unusual powers, it would make sense to let them in on how they might be affected if they don’t do it right. Right?”

—Fin, CIO

“The Admiral left it to the Captain’s discretion to reveal information as needed basis. I understand it’s been the senior staff only, because the Captain told the Senior staff… but in a limited fashion,” replied Mado, “Though I guess the same orders have been given to us too.”

GM

Kadence thought for a moment. “Ok, so what about we place a shuttle just outside the ship, place the artifacts in it and drag it with a tractor beam? If the artifacts are in the appropriate security level containment fields, they should be sufficiently stable till we hand them over or they are destroyed. Would that work for now?” She wasn’t sure how viable the idea was. But she knew a failed containment field in a shuttle off the stern was better than the destruction of the shuttle bay. Less lives at risk as well.

Kadence
CNS

“That sounds feasible if there is enough room in the shuttle for all the artifacts. Of course, if only one of the items causes an explosion, it will destroy all of them. That wouldn’t be the case if they were each in their own containment field in one of the shuttle bays. Right?” She looked at Mado for confirmation.

—Fin, CIO

“Correct. But as they do have unusual properties… it’s not so much as an artifact exploding is an issue… it is when they harmonize and cause unexpected adverse and compounding effects. And certain artifacts are known to survive ship explosions too… so for one artifact to destroy others… more like a highly unlikely scenario that artifacts destroy all other artifacts… at least the probability is not 100%. Artifacts have been studied for centuries and well… we still don’t fully understand the metaphysical properties.”

GM

The more she learned, the more dangerous it all sounded. That part about the artifacts didn’t frighten her though. Her line of work for the last decade had been very perilous. It was trying to imagine and prepare for the interactions the crew would have with them that was keeping her on her toes. Mado certainly knew much more about their assignment than she did, but Fin was aware of just how badly it all could go if everyone wasn’t paying attention to the details.

“So, we should pull up the last known location of the missing ship and head in that direction, don’t you think? Once there we might be able to pick up a trace of the direction it went.”

—Fin, CIO