Star Trek: Starbase 777 - the-cavern-underneath

As they descended, the darkness eventually gave way to feeble lights from the sides. They flickered, yet still lit up the pathway ahead. A long, long corridor...

Oddly enough, the corridor felt more comforting than the open streets. Kirio kept their grip on Omur and their phaser, keeping an eye out for any shifting shapes in the darkness. "Steady," they reminded him in a low murmur. No funny business.

He, however, was irritated by the flickering lights. They were giving him a headache. Nevertheless, he continued on. How valiant!

"You telling that to me or him?" Maiek piped up behind Kirio, because he was the most annoying person to ever exist. The hand Iki was holding was bent at the elbow, while his other one rested on the handle of his dagger.

Groznin was there in the middle of the pack trying to keep an eye on everyone. He had no idea what they were going to encounter down here.

“You, uh… go into caves often?” He asked Groznin, with an awkward grin, stepping ahead to walk by his side for a bit.

“No, but away teams get stuck in them often.” Groznin said, unable to count how many times an away team he had been coordinating and monitoring had gotten stuck or lost or otherwise trapped in a cave.

“I have no business being anywhere underground, I’m not gonna lie. This place is creepy.” He said, trailing behind Ed. Underground always meant bad things, in his experience it almost always meant that he was imprisoned there. Tavek was not really meant to be on a planet, let alone under a planet’s surface.

“Yeah… no, I don’t think I’m the cave diving type either.” He hummed, hands on his hips. God, he wished that they’d sent M’Rish on this mission instead of him.

As they walked and took a turn, the corridor began to... change. Not in the way their surroundings did around the fog, but the ground floor underneath them transitioned into something more modern and metallic, and the flickering was replaced with the cool, stable lights above their heads. Omur became visibly uncomfortable.

"Shh," he raised his head like an alert animal, straining his neck as he looked ahead. "Voices. What... what is this place?.."

”Its… certainly a contrast.” She whispered behind Maiek. Obviously, religions could often mix with technology and integrate it with its spaces. However, this was conflicting with the construction style she had seen before. Further than that… this difference in design and materials could only mean one thing: that these colonists had not built it. The notion didn’t bring her ease.

The more they looked, the more... lab-like, the environment began to look like.

Groznin was beginning to think that the fog wasn’t natural to the planet and instead made right here in this lab like area. He honestly felt bad for most of the colonists who probably had no idea their religion was manufactured. He shook his head disapprovingly.

.. suspicious. Kirio had been a little too focused to hear the question, though turned their head to glance at Maiek. They strained to listen for voices.

“Ohhhh… fuck no.” He mumbled, “This is, um… not good. Really bad. Guys? You see this?”

Murmurings in the distance. Omur was looking even more uncomfortable... seemingly contemplating something. A restless sort of energy was building up inside of him...

The beginnings of a snarl were showing on Maiek's face, the eyes cold underneath the artificial lab. He was beginning to have his own suspicions... and the man of the cloth did not like them.

He was right! He was right! HE WAS RIGHT! HE WAS RI - He kept these as inside thoughts as they walked through the caverns, though he was probably the only one smiling. He was once again forgetting the emotional toll this discovery would have on the village, its people, and Rami... Unless this didn't turn out how he expected it to, that is, but it was looking unlikely. (edited)

Kirio tightened their hold on Omur's arm, digging their phaser against his back to make it abundantly clear of what might happen if he made an attempt at running off. (Only a mild stun, obviously. But he was in Starfleet custody.)

There were multiple voices talking. One was sounding... agitated. A bit manic, even.

Twelve, who had accompanied the group down here, slowed their approach as they started to hear the noise. As they did so, they strained to hear anything cogent that could be parsed from the conversation as they attempted to move as quietly as they could!

Kirio glanced back to the group, inclining their head towards the noise. Maybe someone with pointier ears than theirs could understand what they were saying?... They paused for a moment to pull Omur towards them, pointing a finger over where their mouth was beneath the mask. If he even made a sound, they'd stun him and toss him over their shoulder like a sack of potatoes. (edited)

He moved closer and leaned forward, his head now basically on the same level as the people at the front. "Arnin," he whispered, already slightly raspy voice going near hoarse. "He is... spewing nonsense. Something about the fog, the containment, and... Rami?..."

3

Oh no. He hadn't known he was THIS right. Poor girl. "Who else has phasers..?" He didn't have one, so he hoped more than just Kirio did.

"Unless anyone has a spare, I'll stick by my dagger," extremely normal of you to say, priest. "I've also noticed a very curious lack of fog in this area."

Groznin swallowed, despite everything, he rather liked Rami and he definitely didn’t trust Arnin. “We should see what’s actually going on.”

"I'll politely insist against using it unless absolutely necessary," whispered over their shoulder to Maiek, and the security officer exhaled, shoulders tense. Mizax was squirming the closer they got to the sheen laboratory white, memories of circuitry and wires buzzing in the back of their skull. "On my signal, run for the entrance. Move slowly and lightly for now.." (edited)

Leaving sounded… very nice. The sight of a sudden laboratory, metal and colourless surfaces coming from what should have been just a normal cave seemed to freak everyone out. He mumbled a soft affirmation, eyes on Kirio.

He looked like he wanted to say something to that, but instead the priest just nodded. His attention then went back to Iki. "Ensign, you've heard the orders. Are you still unwilling to open your eyes? There is no fog here, and the area is clear. Perhaps you could try?.."

Running? Groznin wasn’t sure about that. “Running Lieutenant? Are you sure?” He asked in a hushed voice.

"They're bound to hear us coming either way. I'd rather get close quickly," they answered, still keeping their focus on Omur. "But if you don't think it's a good idea, sir.."

"I can go in first," he offered suddenly, all too calmly. "Drag Omur along, and talk their ear off. Then you can come in."

He shook his head. “No, I understand Lieutenant. But maybe not all of us, have some people stay back just in case.”

Kirio pressed their lips tightly together in contemplation. "You're under our protection, Mr. tr'Shen, I can't in good faith let you do that.." Sheepish, their gaze averted from the dagger's sheath. "No matter how capable you are." (edited)

"I've already survived the fog. I think I can manage a bunch of insane cultists, really, that is much closer to my job description than the former," he was aching, okay? He could only play along for so long. "And you need cover."

”Do we even know how many they are? How many elders does this colony have?” It would be a problem if they got terribly outnumbered. Who knew if those priests weren’t armed themselves? (edited)

"I know. Three including Omur, plus Arnin," came the swift response. "You're outnumbering them. They just don't need to know about that."

"What we needed was our civilian expert to remain unharmed." Violet eyes found honey in the dark, bright and firm. "You're already injured. That's bad enough." "Watch for my hand," they said to the group, suggesting they would have nothing more to say until they arrived.

"I've literally been attended to by your medics, Lieutenant," he gritted, displeased, yet did stay put. Just for now. He had an ensign to keep an eye on, after all.

”Stop fighting! Lieutenant, I think he knows what he is doing. He’s a grown man.” She had seen him in action before after all. And why the hell wasn’t that command guy, you know, in command? He should be handling this!

Kirio fought not to roll their eyes in the dark. "Sir, with all due respect, I don't think we should be sending our civilians headfirst into a potentially dangerous situation. But fine." They dropped it, going silent for reals this time.

"What's your say, Mr. Coordinator?" He asked Groznin, tugging on his sleeve.

1

Groznin cleared his thoat, quietly but clearly. He tugged his arm back out of Dmitri’s grasp. He had to take the lead her. “Mr. tr’Shen, I really must insist. You can come with us but I cannot allow you to go in first.”

”There is always the option of the detained…” She mumbled and it was kinda obvious what exactly was implied by that. Immediately after a one second dry pause she opened a cheeky smile. “I’m obviously kidding.” Yeah, maybe this whole situation was also getting to her head. Ha ha! Maybe!

"I understand your concerns, Starfleet" he uttered, as Iki was gently delegated to Garcia. "But I also disagree." His hand, so gentle before, curled in an iron grip around Omur's shoulder, and the poor man was then pushed forward, "You wanted a heretic so bad, yes? Now you're getting one. And everyone else, can follow me to this hell."

The voices became clearer. Arnin was... sounding mad. Something about his disbelief that they've lost all of the officers, that the priest was nowhere in sight, that Omur was gone.... there was also the rather ominous click-clacking echoing throughout it all, quiet yet persistent. In front of them, a widening of the corridor, humanoid shadows moving on the floor and wall, and a blue glow of the lights. And the two silhouettes, moving closer and closer to that entrance...

They stuck as close behind as they could without impeding their movement, both hands on their phaser. Silence hung heavy on them.

She allowed Iki to settle next to her in whatever way they preferred. Holding her hand, her sleeve or maybe she holding their sleeve, anything that made the ensign feel more grounded and would allow her to guide them if they still chose to keep their eyes closed all the way through. The only important thing of note is that she left free her dominant hand, which held a spanner tightly and ready.

“Really, I must insist Maiek, that you don’t go first,” Groznin hissed as he kept close to the group. He was somewhat appalled that the civilian wasn’t listening to him.

He sighed mockingly, grinning at Groznin as though he'd just won something. "Seems you've lost all your authority, Groznin. That's what you get for being passive. The good priest won't listen to you now."

4

His steps, on the other hand, were made obvious. The room ahead went quiet in anticipation. "My-my," he spoke up, his tone finding it's most teasing notes. "Someone was very lousy with the doors. Don't you know that's how you let the spirits in? Part the reason my people build multiple secret entrances, and nowhere as obvious as yours."

"You..." it sounded like he was at the loss of words, even if for a moment. "Why are you here? Where is the rest of your away team?!"

Groznin glared at Dmitri. “You!” He hissed, “Are not allowed to speak to me like that!” He was quiet, but seething. How dare Dmitri show up after all these years and just, just! Act like this! And how dare Maiek just ignore him. Did rank, authority mean nothing anymore

Oh my god, fine, if everyone else was going to be noisy— "Starfleet Security, put your hands in the air!" they barked, holding their phaser out. "We'll be investigating this chamber, thank you very much." (edited)

2

Being unarmed, as she'd not really expected the away mission to turn out as it did, Twelve clutched her med pack's handle and waited with the rest of the away team. Silent, as she watched Maiek head off, Twelve glanced from Dimitri to Groznin and back again. She then softly observed. "We-I feel you two know eachother." Twelve mused fairly quietly then before she looked off in the direction the priest had gone. She then looked back to the Lieutenant Commander and observed. "Lieutenant Commander, we're about to enter a immanent situation, a potentially hostile one." The El-Aurian observed. "We posit respectfully this isn-" At the Security Lieutenants action , Twelve suppressed a thankful sigh of thank whatever's out there for the avoidance of a social...whatever and simply moved to be slightly behind the Lieutenant. Ready to enter, just in case things happened to get...violent and a medic was needed.

His grin only got wider, as though that had been just the reaction he'd been looking for. Satisfied, he didn't say anything else, waiting for Arnin to say something interesting.

The entrance lead to a small platform, which had two short staircases on the opposite sides, leading down. There, in the center of a round laboratory, stood Arnin - disheveled, eyes trained on Maiek, expression absolutely livid. He was standing right in front of a large table, with someone's form lying on their side on it's smooth surface, their face turned away from the group. The two elders were standing right next to them, gaping at at Omur with disbelief. Behind this group, in a large, vertical capsule, was the fog. It was circling inside of it, licking at the glass walls, and clouding around... a mummified humanoid body. Large tubes connected to said glass casket, currently empty; they disappeared into the walls, leading somewhere outside.

4

5

“Oh, no.” Ed breathed, eyes locked onto the body. Fuuuuck no. Was he going to throw up? Maybe? Maybe later.

1

Ed could spot it's hands, held up, as if it was grasping at the glass...

4

3

“Fuuuuuck FUCK NO.” He clasped both his hands over his mouth, staggering back, “It’s alive. They’re alive. Oh, god.”

Guiding Iki inside along with her, after the group had gone in, she tugged on their sleeve. ”You can open your eyes now ensign! I think you’ll want to see this!” As for Garcia… her eyes were glued on the capsule. “Well… I’m actually out of words besides: WHAT THE HELL.”

Groznin stopped dead in his tracks at the sight before him. His eyes bounced around the room, horrified by the sight before him. Whatever he had been expecting, it hadn’t been this. His eyes landed finally on the body on the table, he had a terrible sinking feeling. “Who- who is that?” He demanded, shuttering at Edgar’s words. That couldn’t be true, it just couldn’t.

Twelve, as they headed followed the security officer in presumably, remained mostly silent. That was, until they glimpsed what they saw. "Ah." When they managed a soft exhalation that was all the emotion that spiked within the El-Aurian spotted what they did. What was this, this didn't conform to what had been expected by her, what was this. Had the people sacrificed something? Had they- It grasped at the glass. Was.. that individual alive? Twelve snapped out her medical tricorder and started to scan then. Data, Twelve needed data. That anchor of certain fact, of what was real what happened to be presently the most important thing. The status of beings in the room. It was all Twelve managed to think of as they looked at the horribly mummified body in the capsule. "..Sacrifice?" Twelve managed then as their gaze flicked to the table, attempted to work out who was on there.

Arnin, alive. The elders, alive. The person in the capsule, long gone. The body on the table, alive - and related to both Arnin and the mummified corpse.

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5

While everyone froze, Kirio sprang into action. "Heads against the wall. Every single one of you — you're under arrest," their heart was pounding, disgust churning in their gut, but they were following the motions nonetheless. Their voice was loud enough to be heard, a rumble of thunder, but not a shout. "If anyone makes a break for it, I'll shoot. Understand?"

Her eyes quickly then went from the capsule, taking in everything around. The fog, the tubes the… body on the table before the elders. She then remembered Rami’s words. How it was her grandmother the first to descend and discover the fog, how she was technically the first elder, the first colony leader. The realization downed on her harder than any spanner, colder than any chill on the spine this adventure had brought her so far. Too young to know their secrets… but old enough in a year to come down here. Her eyes trailed back to Arnin. “You… no. You can’t have thought to do that! Not that!” Her voice ecoed strident along the metal walls. “You were supposed to be her FATHER!” (edited)

He clenched his fists. Grit his teeth. Held his breath. But nothing could stop his inside thoughts becoming outside thoughts. He muttered: "I was right, I was right, it's never real, I was right..." He couldn't decide if he felt vindicated or confused. "Who else could it be? The one missing link..." He took a deep breath and ran a hand through his hair, standing up totally straight. His aim was, as soon as it looked possible, to approach the person on the table to see if they needed help.

Oh shit. Everything about this mission had suddenly clicked into place, and by god, was it bad. This was the person who had been so distraught, so full of grief and anger while knowing things she never should have known. It made him sick, honestly, to see this. He lingered behind the group, having backed up enough to see only glimpses of the body on the table. Even then, he didn’t want to see that much.

"Capsule occupant deceased." Twelve stated then before she rapidly relayed to the others. "Person on the table is alive and related to Elder Arnim and the corpse in the capsule." Twelve started to approach the table then. "We require access to the individual on the table to confirm their status and that you've done nothing to them." The El-Aurian informed the elders. "Do not interfere." Thought of the risk she might have just incurred gone from her mind in the face of all she'd just witnessed. In the face of the capsule, the person on the table, Arnim. Someone needed assistance, someone else had already expired. Something vile, something horrid had occurred. Her mind raced at that, emotions she was somewhat unused too joining ones she'd relearnt how to process since liberation. How could Arnim have done this? The question raced about her mind as she moved.

Oh, if twelve was approaching, he would too, then. He found himself caring very little about Arnin compared to getting Rami out of here alive. He owed her that, at least.

Her father, the corpse, oh no. Groznin felt the floor shift beneath him. He had grown fond of Rami, despite her being a colonist. Her lack of understanding what was going around her made him feel protective. She was just a young civilian. She reminded him of his daughter, of his wife, so kind and naive and so mad at Starfleet. “No…” He said softly, and feeling empowered for the first time since this whole mission began, approached the table in a desperate move to help.

“What the… No! Your own daughter, how could you do such a thing?!” He said, horrified after realizing who it was in that table. He knew such fathers existed, his own had been that, but looking someone in the eyes who could DO that was such a disgusting thing that he had to look away. If he had an actual stomach and the ability to feel nauseous, whatever he’d eaten at the feast would’ve come up. This was disgusting, and he didn’t want to see more. He stood by Ed at the back, not wanting to say anything more for fear of it just coming out as a stream of curses.

3

Omur was roughly brought down to his knees, and left sitting by the entrance. His two colleagues, seeing what was happening and the sheer amount of people in the room... listened. They moved to face the walls, hands shaking, just as they were instructed.

Arnin, though? Oh, he did not give up so easily. "Stay back!" the Betazoid spat out, dark eyes wide and boring holes into everyone's skulls. He held out his arms wide, covering the person on the table with his front like a vulture spreading it's wings above a fresh corpse, "It demands it! I have to do it! A sacrifice grand and painful enough to satisfy it!" He was... absolutely mad. One of his palms then landed on his thigh, while the other grabbed roughly at the clothing of the unconscious one behind him. "One step closer, and I'll release it!" it was practically a growl, swallowed up by hysteria. "I will release it back into the village, a--"

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3

TWANG, sang the metal, as it flashed through the middle of the room. Arnin bumped backwards into the table, his motion awkward, his head dropping to look at the sleek dagger sticking out of his palm and thigh, pinning them - and himself - in place, against the sacrificial altar. * *The culprit stood above, throwing arm still extended, something dark and satisfied settling down on his features. (edited)

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4

Nearly in sequence another sound echoed. It was duller, not quite metal on metal as a dagger against an altar, more like… metal on bone and flesh. Arnin’s head surely must have turned back, eyes up towards the ceiling, as it felt the impact. It almost made the image of a priest in religious ecstasy. The spanner clinked on the ground as it rolled away. Anyone curious enough to find the origin of its trajectory would see a certain engineer and her 5 feet of pure fury, her body positioned just like a baseball player after a good ball throw, face morphed into something twisted none of them would ever think of seeing on it, knowing Garcia as they did on a daily basis. “DESGRAÇADO FILHO DA PUTA!”

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4

"Shit! Maiek, we have phasers -" He immediately tried to grab Arnin's now probably unconscious body and get him away from the table on the floor somewhere so he could remove the knife and put some pressure on the wound, unless Maiek or someone else stopped him. "Twelve, we need to - unfortunately, we can't let this guy die of blood loss." Starfleet protocol, etcetera. But also... This was Rami's dad.

Kirio was quick to dash over to those who surrendered, cuffing them to keep them from wriggling away. "One of you focus on the body!" they shouted over their shoulder. "There are more pressing matters to worry about."

One issue about leading Arnin away - he was, quite literally, pinned to the altar, via a throw from a livid Romulan.

YEAH GARCIA! She just got 110% cooler in Tavek’s book. Confident no one would be messing with them after that, he got to investigating the room, looking for any equipment that controlled the fog that he could disable.

Twelve surged forward then, perhaps she might have attacked Arnim if another thought had stuck her. But no, her focus remained fixed on the table. The patient. The person who needed help. So she raced for the table, moved to the person, Rami she suspected. Not angled for him. No. If he was still up by the time they were done, that'd be something to be addressed later. No, Twelve just raced up to the table and danced to the side of him attempted to get around him, to the person on the table. The person who needed assistance. Hopefully someone would deal with Arnim before things turned vio- Well, Twelve observed in the privacy of her own mind, that certainly sorted that. "Secure the patient, Lieutenant and commence treatment, I need to check on the other potential patient." The El-Aurian half snapped then. "I will be with you presently." Twelve snapped out her tricorder and started to scan the person on the table! "Apologies for snapping, Lieutenant." Twelve then sheepishly added as her voice shook slightly. "Further, may we ask your name?" Twelve then asked Dimitri. "We think we heard what you were called, but feel we should ask even so." The El-Aurian added then as she observed. "He appears to be pinned to the altar, Lieutenant."

Breaking from his frozen state, he watched in equal horror and awe as Garcia chucked something hard enough to shatter reality itself. Holy shit.

2

"I'd skin him if I didn't have the audience," he snarled out in response, making his way down the stairs and towards the man to take his dagger back. "I missed his femoral. He'll still bleed, but it'll be fine. I'm taking it out."

Rami was pale, her skin clammy... but she was breathing. Perhaps she was under the effects of the fog.

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As soon as Maiek took the knife out, he passed over the wound with a quick dermal regen, leaving Twelve to focus on Rami for now. It healed in seconds. The wonders of modern technology! Then he returned to Twelve and Rami. "We saw a man like this earlier, passed out from the fog. Perhaps this was deliberately induced. Do you think it would be wise to wake her with a hypospray? I'm Dmitri, by the way." (edited)

After all hell broke loose, the fury quickly left her body, substituted by the feeling of a goal well achieved. Is this how athletes felt? Amazing. Since there was nothing more to be done in that department though and everyone started to move, she looked around the room again spotting Tavek near the equipment. Alright, now that was why she was here for! “Ed! With me and Tavek, let’s shut this thing down!” She ran after the android.

Twelve checked her tricorder as she looked to see the results of the scan. As she did so she asked. "Does anyone have a mask spare?" And looked around. "We need one, urgently." The El-Aurian then looked to Dimitri as her jaw worked a bit. "We could attempt to wake her, yes but I'd like to get her on a oxygen mask so she's getting clean air first as a priority." Twelve stated before she moved to start to move Rami. "Help me get her off the table, we can treat her away from it and given what it's related too, I'd prefer the patient come to consciousness well...off of it."

“Yes, sir!” He perked up, moving as fast as his legs could carry him towards the other engineers.

"Here—" Kirio tossed (read:handed normally, so it wouldn't break) Twelve their mask. It'd be fine until they could turn the fog off, probably.

There was a whole console at the back of the grotesque capsule. On it, a detailed map of the whole colony... with a circle of churches, including the main one, blinking red.

3

He helped get her off the table. A stretcher would really help here, but they didn't have one. "Wouldn't want her to see her father like this anyway."

Tavek made a beeline for the console, looking over it to see if there was an obvious way to shut the machine down.

Luckily for them, tubes were part of her specialty! And what was fog if not water very well distributed through air… “We need to figure out how it’s being directed, if its fans, or simply pressure! Shut that mechanism down or find a way to seal the endways.” And she was exactly looking for that. “Those must exist in some form for it to be controllable like it seems to be!” (edited)

"Thank you." Twelve accepted the mask with a nod once the patient was safely on the floor. She nodded slightly at Dimitri's comment. "We concur." The El-Aurian checked the tricorder scan again and then decided. "Lets try and wake her with a hypo, as you suggested, ideally the scan'll tell us what's in her system so we can address that." Twelve mused then as she looked it over. "If it's got hallucinogenic qualities as we-" She paused. "-I suspect, it's something we can..deal with." Twelve continued as she commenced treatment of the patient!

He followed behind, eyeing the console closely and crouching down to get a closer look. “If we were to seal it— could we just weld the ends shut, as a temporary fix while we find the actual mechanism?”

From what Tavek could see, the churches could both distribute and get rid of the fog, via a series of sophisticated tubes and fans. The tubes coming out of the casket also had visible valves for sealing. All of it was so... easy. Too easy. Which only reinforced the horrifying reality that all of this was made to control the colony.

4

In the meantime, Maiek was using some of his cloth to clean the blood off of his dagger, motions slow and methodical, all the while keeping his eyes on Rami. "I should've recognized this place as something malicious," he uttered, anger not yet gone from his voice and features, yet drowning under what appeared to be regret. "I should've been more vigilant..."

"How could you have known?" Kirio kept their phaser trained on the trio. "You didn't know any more than the rest of us when we got here— and you didn't see anything weird when you were in the church, yeah?"

“Y’know, I think he deserved that spanner.” He whispered to Garcia, staring down at how disgustingly easy it was for them to have called off the fog. It was all for controlling the colonists with fear and pain. In a way.. it was kind of a long, drawn-out torture on the scale of an entire town. He started to seal off all the valves that he could see, so no more fog could be pumped out.

Groznin was there, but he hadn’t done much beyond holding Rami’s hand as the doctor worked on her. She alive, which was good, but still unconscious and it was unclear what they had done to her. He tried to ignore the priest and everything that he had done. Now was not the time to be thinking of such things, processing it all could come later.* “Is she going to be ok?” Groznin asked, honestly concerned.

Tavek was right, he had deserved it. ”Santa Maria… we are witnessing the prime work of a sociopath…” All those innocent people, looking for a place to belong, vulnerable… and he had taken advantage of all of that. Why? Had it started with him? Had it started with the grandmother? “And they will hate us for opening their eyes, but it must be done! I’ll start with redirection to clean up the surface, and we will seal these valves welded shut for good!”

“You got that right…” He exhaled, eyes wide and still a little vacant from the sight before them, “I’m glad we’re at least here to see it through. I’m ready to seal them whenever you are, boss.”

"We do have a chemical analysis of this stuff in the database. It was actually on 777 at some point." Using that knowledge, he used whatever reversal agent or, if not available, stimulant he had that he thought might work to counteract the sedative effects of the fog.

"Nothing that immediately raised my suspicions," he replied, looking down at the smooth steel surface, pausing. Pondering. "But maybe that just means that I didn't look hard enough."

Color had returned to Rami's face, and her eyes briefly opened to look around the room. They were full of unshed tears. The moment of lucidity did not last for long, before the exhausted girl went back to sleep - this time, without the influence of the fog.

3

The engineers made quick work out of redirection and sealing. One by one, they could see zones being cleared out on the map - the fog pushed out of center of the sity, back into the pipes. The horror... ended. Just like that. The solution to their issue was right there, all the while they wandered. And yet... and yet. At some point, they could hear the buzz of their commbadges coming back to life.

"You didn't have the information you needed to make the final call. Neither did we, 'til now, only a suspicion. You couldn't have known, so.." ... "Knock it off." Very articulate, huh. "Good shot, by the way," they raised their voice so Garcia could hear, as it was directed towards her as well. "Somebody see if we can ring Eventide and let them know we're alive, yeah?.."

“Holy fuck!” Ed did a sort of melt to the ground, crouching on the floor, looking to his fellow engineers, “Okay… um… drinks? Please? When we get back?”

Besides the control panel and the map, there were also... logs. Documents. Evidence, perhaps?..

3

“Yes. You, me, Garcia if she wants. Drinks on me.” He said, crouching down to give Ed a kind of awkward pat on the shoulder before standing up to go help collect the evidence lying around.

"Mm," he shifted his weight to put away the dagger, before fishing out a cigarette. He didn't light it - just put it between his teeth, "Learning things is part of my profession, Lieutenant. But I'll listen to you. This time."

"Well, I did try to look into things. I just... Failed, even though I was right." He furrowed his brow, frustrated. "We should get her to the medical center as soon as possible, I think. Her people can take care of her there."

”Why do they always seem to keep detailed records of their work?” Because they were somewhat proud of it Garcia, thats why, taking notes of methods and experiments. Bastards. Assuming that was indeed what was available. A full plate for Starfleet Command. “Yes! Drinks boys, drinks till I’m in deeper sleep than this fog would have put me in.”

Ping. Comms came to life, and Sterling's voice came through.

“Why does a killer take a trophy of their victim? Causing misery is all they have to be proud of themselves for.” He said, looking down at the notes that he was gathering. Then.. yay, the Eventide! They’d soon be rid of this place, and he could go home to his cat.

“Yeesh. Yeah… yeah, no, I can’t help but agree. It’s fucked up.” He grimaced, “I hope people here take the truth well. They deserve a break from the fog and horrifying shit.”

There was a chuckle stifled under their breath at that. "I'll take it," the detective muttered in reply to the priest, relief spreading through them— and Eventide! Oh, thank fuck, Eventide.. They moved to answer. (edited)

In spite of their exhaustion, there was still work to be done. With the streets now clear of fog, the trip to the Medical center was made significantly easier. There were some loose ends that needed tied— more repairs, thanks to the havoc the fog wrought, for one. That was easily taken care of by the team, but convincing them of the fabrication the fog had been was another can of worms entirely. The evidence was enough to nail the coffin. They would be left to process it, as 777 had a Starbase to return to...