Captain's Log 03 - Landing Party

[universal_charm]

Who: Jim Kirk & Anyone Who Wants to Come On an Expedition
Broadcast:No
Action: Yes - On the moon, in the Terraformers
When: Sometime this week

Tests have been run, data has been gathered, packaged, looked over, highlighted with all sorts of colored sharpies. There is only so much the data can prove. What's needed now is an actual investigation, getting the final clue to a puzzle that, Kirk thought, they were running very short of time on.

Which was how he ended up down on the surface of the toxic moon, in front of the nearest terraformer.

Time to go find some answers.

<sub>[ ooc: Since I didn't want to flood the comm, it can be assumed that Kirk announced he would be going to explore the terraformers and asked if anyone wanted to come and form an expedition party. So, if you want to come, feel free to jump in.

Also feel free to start your own side threads. I will put up some sections, but feel free to start your own as the group explores. The ultimate goal is just to gather information (but this is a Jim Kirk Expedition (TM), so something may very well go wrong!), so have fun!)

If you need help starting things or want a refresher, here is the original mod post. ]</sub>

Comments

[universal_charm]

_{[ He accepts this without question, following into the habit as easily as she had. He turns to take the tri-corder from her, reading through it and raising his brows. Only to scrunch them at her words. ]}

Is it now?

_{[ He looked up at her, the question clear in his eyes. Coincidence? ]}

Any thoughts as to why, doctor?

[dancingmd]

The gum is encoded with data, possibly instructions or programming of some sort.

[universal_charm]

Any idea on how to get said data? And can we run it to see what it is?

_{[ He looked over the edge towards the battery core and back to Bev. He lowered his voice so only she could hear. ]}

I want to know what the hell those things were meant to do. There is absolutely no way this connection is a coincidence.

[dancingmd]

[She shakes her head.]

Not my area of expertise. I mean, I’m sure there is a way, but no one has found it yet, that I’m aware of.

[Glancing back at Clay, so excited about their find, and her shoulders sag ever so slightly. It’s a relief that Kirk is thinking along the same lines as her, but she doesn’t want to damper the enthusiasm of progress either. Her voice drops low to match his.]

I agree. Especially after what happened to the Nunnalis. Best case scenario is that Atroma is taking advantage of events that have already been unfolding and placing us conveniently in the middle of them. Worst case… well. I don’t think I have to say it.

[universal_charm]

Hmm... Maybe Hank can do something. He's the scientific sort. Or him.

_{[ He nodded his head towards Clay, the one who had been poking around and discovered all this. Tyrion was another choice, though he wasn't the first to come to mind considering that he was from a less advanced world. He was learning quickly, but Kirk wasn't sure about his understanding level. But... worth a shot. ]}

No, you don't. But I don't think it's anything as innocent as that. It's to many things lining up right.

_{[ He tapped his finger against his data pad. ]}

I'm sure others will come to the same conclusion, but until we learn a bit more, I would say keep this to ourselves for the time being. I'd like a bit more proof before getting a lot of people riled up.

_{[ He had said publicly than he doubted the existence of a reality show, but something like this... well, it was one thing to state your opinion and another to level outright accusations. ]}

[dancingmd]

Mmm. It's all more of a... gut feeling right now. And that's something that's hard to prove.

[universal_charm]

_{[ He nodded, frowning at the thought, but it was true. A gut feeling. A series of events that seemed connected, but they had no links to actually make those connections beyond coincidence. It wasn't enough. ]}

Does that mean, you think, that Atroma might have planned on us wanting to help the people on this moon?

[dancingmd]

I do. After all, they've been watching us for over a year now: they're going to be more than familiar with our tendencies. As a whole, we are usually cooperative and we usually try to help the people we come across. It'd be reasonable on their part to assume we'd do the same here.

[universal_charm]

Well, we're decent people, of course we would be cooperative.

_{[ The words are grunted, hating that their good natures are being - well, not twisted, but it feels like manipulated. Even so, Kirk couldn't bring himself not to help, regardless of knowing something like that. ]}

I don't want to think they could have planted all this so far ahead of time, but... it just all fits to nicely.

[dancingmd]

[Beverly understands his feeling completely. None of this changes the fact that she is going to do everything she can to help the people here, but it's a frightening thought.]

It does.

Not that I know what to do about it either.

[universal_charm]

_{[ He ran a hand through his hair and sighed. ]}

We can worry about it later. For now, let's get as much information as we can to bring back to the people here. One thing at a time, right? And this needs our full attention right now.

[dancingmd]

[She nods.]

Of course. The main thing now, I think, is to study of our leftover gumballs, see if we can’t decipher their code. If we can’t well… at least we can give them to the people here. It's better than nothing.

[universal_charm]

_{[ He nodded. ]}

Do all we can, and hope for the best after that.

Good job, Beverly. Can you work on the gumballs while I check in with the others?

[dancingmd]

Of course. I'll keep you updated on our progress.

[universal_charm]

Excellent, and thank you.