Articles
Posted on Thu Apr 2nd, 2020 @ 8:47pm by Commander Arianna Frost & Captain Akiva ben-Avram
2,992 words; about a 15 minute read
Mission:
Mission 0: Everybody Has A Story
Location: Specialised Science Lab
As always, casual conversations seemed to be yielding more results than official ones. At the very least, giving her more clues to follow. Jaya had been a joy to interact with, both on a personal and professional level. Qurban...had been disturbing, though whether or not in a bad way, she was still deciding.
She didn't think his revelations malicious in intent, but the context of them...they were jarring. She could understand how he seemed to know classified information and the fact that she was indeed progressively going blind, he was after all, who he was. Still...Frost didn't like feeling so unprepared for information. Last time she had felt that way was three years ago, after the incident, when she was diagnosed.
Luckily, there loomed another distraction on the horizon. A lead to chase. If she could find her designated target. He wasn't in his office, nor in his quarters. He had to be somewhere.
Akiva was working inside a science lab which he has reserved for himself. It was uncommon for an Overwatch Administrator to do such a thing, but Akiva was a special breed. Four years prior, just before the rogue synth attack on Mars, Akiva and gud team of specialists had completed construction of an android. For Akiva, though, it had been so much more.
And, at his first meeting with the Memory Theta field team, the precious android he'd passed off as his daughter was taken from him. She had bravely given her life to save an entire world.
Her biosynthetic body had been in his custody ever since, though it had meant selling his soul to administrate this place to do it. For all his effort, he'd gotten nowhere in bringing her back. Most days, now, he often just hung his head over Biynah's inanimate and unblemished remains.
Science labs? A curious place to find the Station Administrator to be sure. Then again, given his initial specializations, she could see someone perhaps trying to unwind, by folding back to their original pursuits. Oh well, it was as good a place as any to have the chat.
Ari contemplated knocking or somehow announcing herself, but chose a more direct route in the end. "Idle hands?" She asked as she entered the lab.
The sudden question startled Akiva. "Hey! I, uh, was busy." He quickly drew a dropcloth over the worktable. Once it was covered, he turned to face Ari. "Hello, Commander...did you need something?"
"I was wondering if we could have a chat about a few things?" Ari waved a PADD. "No recording this time. I'm chasing a few leads and I need some info. I can come back another time?" She pointed towards the door.
She'd noticed the slight jump and the quick covering of the work table, but decided not to mention it. Not yet anyway.
Akiva rubbed his hands together and wiped them on his legs. "Now is as good as ever. Have a..." He was about to offer a chair when he realized there wasn't one. There was but one stool and he gave it a scoot toward Ari with his foot. "... stool." Leaning against the work table, he crossed his arms and waited to hear her out.
Ari rolled the stool over and took a seat. "So..." she brought up the PADD, "I wanted to ask a few questions about the Article 15 you brought up against Mrazak."
More than a flinch. No, it was closer to a dry heave. "Go on," he said flatly. Clearly this was a sore subject for him, but he was professional enough not to shut down the inquiry.
"Whilst I understand the letter of the law and where Mrazak's transgressions fit within the Article..." Ari began, noting his sudden stillness. "Do you think making a public spectacle of it helped your ongoing issue with him?"
Akiva rubbed his forehead. "In hindsight? No. But when I first came to Memory Theta earlier this year, I was quite naive. I thought I could fix everything through by one man to justice. Instead what I failed to realize is that Mrazak is merely the product of the corrupt system that he serves. Why did I expect anything other than for that system to back him?" He made to go on, but instead chose to let the rhetorical question hang in the air.
Ari watched as the still very present distress danced over his features. "You're a man of the system, do you truly think it was that? Or the matter of the wrong place, wrong time? Or wrong approach perhaps?" A dark eyebrow raised.
"There is no one system," Akiva countered. "When I crossed over from the Fourth Fleet in the Gamma Quadrant to Memory Theta, I did more than just change divisions. I entered into a whole different structure, one which operates under different rules and holds different values." His brow raised to meet her own. "Now that I know better, I know a direct approach won't work. That's for the white ops division. Here in black ops, subtlety is king. That was how Mrazak beat me. And it's how I will beat him." It occurred then to Akiva that perhaps such boasts might not do well to be made before the Chief Intelligence Officer. Ari seemed nice enough, winsome even as compared to Kaz, but Akiva didn't know how far he could trust her. "Of course, I've had other matters to attend to. Perhaps I should cede victory."
"Perhaps," Ari shrugged, feeling slightly amused. "So he understands it was the approach that was wrong. Good." She thought to herself. "Just do me a favor, do it the right way, eh? I'd hate to have to investigate you too. Investigating people I have to work with is bad enough. I'd hate to have to investigate the Captain too..."
Her eyes fell on the covered work table, before she looked up at him again.
"I'll keep that in mind," Akiva said with a half smile, feeling a thrill of excitement at her roving eyes. What must she think of him, or what he was doing in the lab? He certainly recognized he was behaving suspiciously enough. "Did you have any other questions?"
"Ryland Dedeker." She said, letting the name sit for a moment, to see the reaction.
If there was a name that could make Akiva smolder more than Mrazak's, that would be the one. Akiva's voice dropped an entire octave when he asked, "What about him?"
"Now, do you hate him still because of Laena or because of Mrazak?" Ari's eyes danced over his expression and posture. "I understand that there is underlying history between the two of you, prior to him joining Theta upon Mrazak's return?"
"At one point, I was his first officer," Akiva said. "He was the shuttlebay manager aboard the USS Vindex. And he was a ben-zonah then as he is now."
Both eyebrows raised and her expression changed into a 'come now' expression. "I understand that there were some...issues then?" She was really trying to be respectful towards his situation, but she needed to ask.
"Yes," Akiva said. "He often falsified shuttlebay logs so he could skip out on his shifts. I received no fewer than ten sexual harassment complaints against him, and three safety violations when he tried seducing women with the shuttlebay doors open to the vacuum of space. For HaShem's sake, he even got busted growing strains of illicit plants in the airponics bay and trading them for even more illicit favors. Do you know he once deserted? The man is a disgrace to the uniform and belongs in a penitentiary."
"And his attitude towards your...estranged wife? Pardon the label, I don't know where your relationship is at." Ari pushed as respectfully as she could.
Akiva bristled at the question. "She was one of his earliest complaints," Akiva said, but reluctantly added, "though she later withdrew her complaint. Apparently they developed a... platonic rapport." His voice clearly expressed the doubt and insecurity he held over the situation. "Laena has always seen the good in others. In me." Akiva started choking up a little, so he clamped that down. "We were never legally married. I made vows according to my people that she never seemed to understand. She... she went to the Academy back in May... the summation of her years of ambition and study. But since we were never legal in her eyes, she wanted to put our relationship... our marriage on hold."
Tears began to form in Akiva's eyes. "I didn't understand, though I pretended to for her sake. She's always been such a mystery to me. Drew out the best in me. Maybe that's why we fought so much. Sometimes I wonder if I drove her..." He cut himself off, even sniffed and wiped his eyes. "I'm sorry, this is not appropriate. You have a job to do and I barely know you. I must beg your pardon."
Ari held up a hand, "I'm also a member of your crew, Captain, and we need to stick together. So it's absolutely alright." She said sincerely, sympathy echoing in her features. "If anyone should apologize, it's me for bringing up a painful subject. As for Dedeker, yes, he's pig and he's wasted no time trying to get into my pants too. However," she threw on an enigmatic smile, "even a pig can be useful."
"If you say so," Akiva said with a sardonic scoff. At least he wasn't crying in front of her. He could do without repeating that performance. "Thank you for your understanding. I'll try to I answer the rest of your questions."
"Have you had any updates on the status of McKay?" Arianna nodded.
Akiva shook his head. "No. Once she was delivered to Elba II to live out her sentence, Lieutenant Nevada McKay passed beyond my purview."
Frost nodded, "is there anything of relevance in the Articles raised I should know about that's not in the paperwork? Is there anything you want to ask or tell me? Anything you didn't have a chance to say before?"
"No, ma'am," Akiva said out of respect for her gender, "I tried to be thorough in my paperwork as only a Hebron can. Perhaps that was what made defeat such a bitter pill to swallow."
He studied her for a moment, wondering if how far he could trust her. Was she really the down-to-earth colleague she presented herself to be or was she just the femme fatale version in the long line of strong and mysterious operatives that Starfleet Intelligence keeps sending his way? That she was easy on the eyes was no help in that determination. Akiva did his best to disregard that. All things considered, he still considered himself a married man. "I suppose I do have one question, though."
It was not often that his clipped shibboleth came out, but it began to do so now. "What is your real purpose here? You've surely determined that none of us were part of whatever bungling happened or is still happening at Starfleet Intelligence. Something is keeping you here in my house. I would know what it is."
Arianna thought for a moment on the answer. As much as she wanted to share, there were things that she simply had to keep to herself. Yet still, the need for rapport was there, her own and she felt that there was his too. After so much betrayal, she could not begrudge the question nor the wondering.
"My investigation is nearly concluded, yes. Into the matter of Karna Zsan and Kazyah Linn. However, I am experiencing the case of one thing unearthing another. At this stage I can't discuss one without discussing the other...yet." Arianna began, looking up at the Hebron. "What I can say is, in relation to your question, that I believe whoever is batting for you up there in the brass circles, has decided you need someone in the Liaison facet who will at the very least not stab you in the back and possibly bring some balance to this place. So, I am here because of that, likely, and because of my experience with certain threats Theta has faced before."
That was a very roundabout way to extend an olive branch. Akiva chewed the inside of his cheek as he considered her words. "So you're like my guardian angel, huh?" It sounded almost crazy enough to be true. Akiva was made of skepticism though. "Tell me, Arianna Frost, if you know the meaning of this."
He pulled away the covering drop cloth from his work table to reveal what appeared to be a sleeping young girl.
Her eyebrows went up slightly at the comparison, before they resumed their usual position. Then they went up again. She took a moment to take the sight in, then remembered the state he was originally in when she walked in and what he had told her during the interview.
"You've been tinkering." Arianna hazarded a guess. "Where you shouldn't."
'On the contrary," Akiva said. "This is exactly where I should be tinkering. Biynah was a basic AI for a long time until I incarnated her just before the ban 4 years ago." Akiva's eyes began to glimmer with recollection. "We were exploring the new frontier in the Gamma Quadrant, so the special dispensation wasn't hard to receive. Biynah was already alive, so she was just sort of grandfathered as an exception to the ban. The real trick was when she wanted to go to the Academy."
Akiva paused for a pained, wry chuckle. "I was dead set against it, but she was so determined. Starfleet presumably wanted to gauge the ban, perhaps suggest the Federation Council to revisit the policy. If she passed the Turing test and other batteries, then she would have been permitted an Academy experience. When I let her go, I was worried I would never see her again. Little did I know she was fated to save an entire world."
He trailed off again. Memories of Bynaus were still painful to recall.
"After... Bynaus... I threatened to expose Memory Theta. Admiral Nyel laughed and offered me my current position. Ever since I've tried to reactivate her." His eyes fell down to Biynah's supine, unmoving form. "I don't know if it will ever happen."
Arianna nodded, "whilst the nature of Theta allows for various experiments to be run, including reactivating a banned life form, or keeping a formerly omnipotent creature safe from what I can only assume is an even greater evil...please be careful. Should you succeed, facing against the ban now could be a lot more difficult than having an already established synthetic life form present just before and after the Mars attack. The 'Data Precedent' would be really hard to invoke now. I mean this in as sympathetic manner possible, sir." She said sincerely.
"My daughter is dead," Akiva said flatly, eyes downcast. "I suppose I'm just looking for the part of me that died with her."
"She may be gone, but you're not." Ari's tone softened. "I hope you find it though. A daughter wouldn't want her father to be lost, or part of him. Speaking from experience, obviously, being one." The corners of her lips quirked upward in an attempt to lighten the mood.
This entire year had been one of loss for Akiva. His wife who left him. His daughter who left him, just in a different way. His unborn son whom he never knew. His ethics and sense of purpose, both swallowed up and perverted by his time here.
"Finding oneself is easier said than done," he mused aloud. "But thank you." At that he let out a deep, long sigh and just stared at the wall.
"You're welcome," Ari nodded, taking a deep breath. This sharing thing was still difficult, despite having been part of the regular service long ago, where these things were normal. "I'm still trying to do that myself, after I got injured on an assignment, and since I've had to have micro surgeries on my eyes to keep the progressive blindness at bay. It's effected all facets of my life and of service. More of a desk jockey nowadays than a fielder, especially a solo one."
Akiva tried not to laugh at the fact that Kaz had been blind. To his great embarrassment, he could not help himself. "I am sorry. Please forgive me," he said with his hand over his mouth. "Kazyah Linn was blind since before I met him and it never seemed to slow him down much. From what I know of you, I doubt even full blindness would stop you either." He blinked at the sound of his remark in his own years. "Yeah, that really was a meh-toom-tam thing to say. If you don't have any more questions, maybe I should go."
Ari shook her head amusedly. "No, it's alright, sir. I interrupted you, I should leave you to it." She said as she stood up. "I'll put what you told me to good use."
Eyes closed, all Akiva could do was regret being the complete horse's ass that he was. "Arianna..." There was a faint quiver to his voice that made him regret saying her name. He almost dismissed her, but decided to say what was on his heart. "Thank you. Don't be a stranger, no?"
A small smile emerged, "you're welcome...Akiva." She said with the same quiet tone. "And the offer goes both ways. I'm pretty good at keeping things to myself." She gave him a wink and a smirk, as if to say, 'you're forgiven'. With that, she turned to leave him to his self exploration.
Akiva watched her go without another word. Once she had left, he let out a blue streak of Hebrew profanity until his throat hurt.
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