Autopsies and Secrets

Posted on Thu Apr 12th, 2018 @ 2:01am by Lieutenant Commander Kiril Nevin & Gunnery Sergeant Roderik Kos & Ferrofax

1,140 words; about a 6 minute read

Mission: S1E1: Bynars Be Bygones
Location: USS Phantom

“Janus, please raise the temperature twelve degrees,” Nevin said as he walked into the sterile room. He practically shivered beneath his scrubs due to the temperature. “We need the body to warm up if we’re going to get any answers.”

"Warming the body will only aid in the necrotising process, and diminish the signals analysis I am performing on the glial tissue implants," Janus's holographic avatar materialised on Nevin's should like a gaudy lime green parrot. It then flipped, glowing red. "You're in my climate controlled house now. You can wait your turn to play with it."

Nevin sighed, "And how long will your analysis take? I need to perform an autopsy and currently, the body is too cold."

"I have already calculated how long you could hold your breath, and that time frame does not consign to the time of my experimentation. I would suggest taking a seat, and totalling Pi to the seven hundredth decimal point," Janus said in her syrupy happy voice. "I will inform you when my investigation of the neural implants is com-"

The arm of the deceased Bynar suddenly shot up into the air, as though it had a burning desire to ask a question.

"Interesting!" Janus said joyfully. "There appear to be redundant neural connections between implants and this bodies motor neurons. Would you like me to continue further testing?"

"No, not really," Nevin replied. "If you wanted to run your own experiments, you should have done so before I wanted to do mine." The man crossed his arms. "At this point, Janus, my authority supersedes yours. I need you to cease your evaluation and you may continue when I am finished with my own."

"Fiiiiiine," the Red Pyramid said with a sigh, still perched on Nevin's shoulder. It then flickered an impish shade of green. "I'm sure you'll find out what I found out all by yourself. But when you can't I'll be happy to enlighten you."

"Feel free to speak while I work," Nevin stated as he walked up to the body. He could feel the temperature rising in the room as he reached for the laser scalpel. "What did you find?"

"The firmware running the various cortical implants has been radically upgraded from the base specifications given to us by the Bynus planetary leadership. There is significant bandwidth application and processing overclocking routines still functioning in the implants post-mortem," Janus replied, still resting on Nevin's shoulder. "I would not be surprised if you found they died of shock due to no longer being compatible with the global network."

Nevin stopped when he heard that information. "No longer being compatible?" he asked, somewhat to Janus, somewhat to himself. "Download what you can from the Bynar's memory banks," he said.

"There is a great deal of noise to signal due to the effects of decomposition on a microcellular level. I would suggest using the firmware upgrade to infect another Bynar, and sedating them heavily so they do not suffer a cardiopulmonary event. I would also suggest employing light jazz," Janus offered happily. Then with a sudden shift, the pyramid shot off of the doctor's shoulder, pivoting to point at a spot on the floor. It glowed a sullen fiery red. "The Phantoms sensors have detected a Federation runabout entering the upper troposphere of Bynas. I predict a .05% chance that this is a hostile act, and recommend firing immediately to be on the safe side."

"No, don't do that," Nevin said, looking up from the dead Bynar. "Open a comm channel to Sergeant Kos."

"Fiiiiiine," Janus said in the best sullen teenager emulation. "But I'm keeping two photon torpedoes locked onto it just in case. Comm channel open."

"Kiril to Kos, we have some uninvited guests coming in hot. Do me a favor and when you're finished on the Bynar vessel, head down to the planet and scope it out. Last thing we need is surprises."

"Copy that. Kos out." Rodi answered over comms.

When the channel closed, Nevin looked up at small holographic representation of Janus. "Now, back to our work, we will not be experimenting on any live Bynars. I think what we have here should do just nicely."

"Except I cannot emulate a living Bynas brain to acceptable tolerances. Without a victim in the process of upgrading finding an effective countermeasure will be beyond us," Janus said, drifting slowly around the autopsy table. "I have access to all of Ferrofax's counter-intrusion and diving software. We are in range of seventy downlink satellites. One of them could easily carry a single-use malware package holding the upgrade kernel. It would be one life compared to the billions below. Not to mention the socioeconomic los to the Federation. That protection is part of the MemoryTheta mission statement, is it not?"

"Our mandate doesn't allow the slaughter of an innocent person for any reason," Nevin said with a finality in his voice. "But..." Nevin stopped for a moment but didn't look up from the body he was dissecting. "I do want you to package up the upgrade kernel," he said. "Download all the necessary information and make sure we have everything we need. I want this...virus ready for archive and have it returned to Theta with us."

Janus flickered for a moment, before her overly perky voice returned.

"I am downloading the upgrade kernel. I am also writing a small and concise info packet regarding its dissemination should the need to infect a lab specimen become apparent. If you require an immediate upgrade to an individual Dr Kiril, you need only say the phrase 'Janus you were right."

Nevin sighed, knowing there was no point in arguing with the hologram. "Alright, fine. But I want that entire package to be under lock and key. And you're under direct order not to touch it. Nor do I want anyone to know we've kept a copy for ourselves, including the field team. Let's just keep this between you and I, and when we get back to Theta, we'll deposit it safely into the archives where it will be safe."

"Historically asking VI to hold to sets of conflicting orders usually ends in the comical death of all biologicals," Janus reported, before flickering to her red sass mode. "I promise you'll be the last to go when I activate the HAL 9000 emulation."

Then she binged, like a microwave.

"All files copied, all source material deleted and locked behind a rotating syntax code wall with a quantum twist. I solemnly promise not to tell anyone that we now have the power to control the fate of a Federation member world and that you ordered me to keep quiet about it."

"Thank you," Nevin said, immediately pushing Janus' statement from his mind. The less he dwell on the fact, the better.

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