Let There Be Photons! - Part II

Posted on Monday, 4 October 2021 - 7:11pm by Commander Soral & Captain Barret Stillwater & Lieutenant Ryan Rose MD & Lieutenant Alex Kingsley & Lieutenant Scarlet Rogers & Emerick

Mission: Operation: Lazarus
Location: Bynaus | Laboratory
Timeline: Current

Previously on Let There Be Photons!

“While they rest,” Alex spoke up, “please, show us how we can help.”

They Bynars lead Kingsley, Rose, and Rogers to a small lab. This is were the work would be done. The Bynars would code and weave the program while each of the three Starfleet members would be given a job to assist. While somewhat odd the Bynars understood this group. To Starfleet this was more then a program, if the ship's crew had come this far that meant that the EMH, circus, programs, and algorithms were more then a holographic projection.

Rose would be in charge of the logs and personality assessment and tweaks, Rogers would help with program data, and Kingsley would be ensuring that all logs and timelines since the deactivation would be entered into the program so that it was up to speed when Emerick finally emerged. They were clear with the group that this was not a short project. This would take a few hours if not a day to complete but with the help of a few more pair of Bynars the task would be completed.

Meanwhile Stillwater and Soral were sent off to the cafeteria spare tires of sorts and all they could do was await the results of the work.


And now, the continuation...

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Under the expert guidance of the Bynars, the trio of Starfleet Officers in the lab were soon engrossed in their respective tasks. It felt good, Alex had to admit, to be in a lab which wasn't in tiny pieces. As an added bonus, she had not been given anything too technical, given this was not her area of expertise. Sure she was a quick learner but she didn't want to jeopardise any hopes they had of recovering Emerick's programme.

"How is your work going?" she asked Rose and Rogers, turning from her workstation to give her eyes a break as she massaged the side of her neck.

Scarlet was lost in a bad but felt someone looking at her, "sorry, I was focused. What did you say?" Her cheeks flushed. She had to find a way to muktitask.

"No my bad for interrupting," Alex said quickly, waving away the apology. "I was just asking how it was going. I'm thinking I should maybe be asking who needs coffee?"

Scarlet chuckled, "large English tea with a tiny--tiny bit of milk. I'm afraid I'm the stereotype. I prefer tea to coffee of as brit."

"Yes, my mother went through quite the tea drinking phase when I was at uni. What about you Doctor? Can I tempt you with tea or coffee?" Alex enquired.

Ryan pinched the bridge of his nose with a sigh. "Actually I could really go for a ginger ale. This is definitely stressful work. Making sure Emerick comes back to who he was, not my vision of who he was, if that makes sense. How's it going with you two?" He'd obviously missed Alex's initial question as well.

Scarlet was obviously overtired and chuckled a little, "Don't you find it funny how the bubbles just keep coming up through the liquid with seemingly no start point--." She paused, frozen as somehow something clicked, "Oh... Oh! My gawd! Let there be freaking photons! That's it! If he has a self replicating deletion code, he needs a self replicating fix code that operates in conjunction to a freeze code to pause it so that the fix works quicker than the break, giving opportunity to find all the breaks. I can fix the code! I just need everything else so I can replace with the him side of things."

Alex grinned, "if this is what ginger ale inspires, I think we all need some. Sounds like a great solution to me. I've got the logs and timeline prepared, fortunately the Bynars didn't trust me with anything too complex given I have zero experience working on holographic systems or a programme as complex as Emerick's. I'll find some ginger ale, some tea with a tiny amount of milk and a seriously strong black coffee."

Scarlet looked to Ryan and offered a warm smile. She kept her voice low as Alex went to find the nectar of the gods aka tea, "told you we wouldn't stop trying. We're going to get him back."

Ryan tried not to get his hopes up about this, but he had a huge grin. "You are brilliant!" He leaned and kissed her.

"You owe me something awesome if we crack this," she replied before kissing him again.

"Definitely." Ryan smiled.

"Loud knock," Alex announced as she rounded the corner which led into the lab with a tray, setting it down in the far side of the room where there was zero chance of accidental spills causing mayhem. She flashed Scarlet an apologetic smile, "I wasn't entirely sure how tiny a tiny amount of milk is meant to be, but the replicator gave me this cute little pitcher of milk so you can add as much or as little as you like. And one ginger ale, as requested."

Scarlet chuckled and blushed, sitting up from her kiss with Ryan, "even if it was too much, I'm too polite, you know this. Thank you for this.". Scarlet eased the mug off of the tray along with the milk and poured it what hardly even constituted as a splash. Maybe a drop? A pipette sized drop of milk and she was good to go.

"Thank you Alex." Ryan smiled to her and took his ginger ale, downing half of it.

“No problem…” Alex glanced between them, “so we have a solid plan on how to get Emerick back, or rather Lt Rogers does… but even if we can stop him deleting his program again, how do we deal with… well, him wanting to delete programme?”

"Surely, if he has become 'human', then we deal with it in the same way that we stop humans 'deleting' themselves?" Scarlet thought out loud, "that and I can put an antideletion code where he'd require a password or something, or CMO authorisation. That said, if he is 'human' then regulations say we need to terminate the programme or reset it. It may be a grey area, but if the E-, if Emerick is not happy, perhaps this is just opportunity for an actual explanation and goodbye?" She wasn't sure how Ryan would take it, and so replied to Alex directly, avoiding eyecontact with Ryan. She didn't want to upset him, but the rules were clear and from a moral standpoint, sentient things should be treated as such.

A pair of Bynars approached the little group. "We have entered...."

"The final code," The second finished for the first. "That will mean that..."

"We can test the program within the hour."

"Great," Alex enthused, setting aside her untouched drink. "I guess break time is over and we should get back to work. Mostly you two, I'm just so we meet our annual quota of red heads per away mission this year..."

Ryan had been silent as Scarlet and Alex talked, and the Bynars came in. He'd been deep in thought about what Scarlet had said. "Sorry." He gave them both a weak smile. "You are right Scarlet, we should treat him like any other suicidal patient. No anti-deletion code. I just hope he will let us help."

Scarlet couldn't help but chuckle at the ginger comment before tuning back into what Ryan had said, "are you sure? I mean, instead of a no deletion code, we could do a 'reset only' kind of thing. That way, you don't lose lose him. Rather, you just get to know eachother again and again."

“We can do whatever you think is best, Doc,” Alex added. “From a ship perspective we do need to be sure we have an EMH in case of an emergency when you aren’t available or need help.”

" I mean, Barney works, but he's still a prototype with a tonne of glitches. You can't keep him long term not yet. Alex is right, you need an EMH. A reset code then?" Scarlet asked. She wanted to reach out to Ryan, knowing how hard he'd taken this to begin with. Scarlet knew it was u professional though, and they were trying to keep it professional.

Ryan wasn't sure he was qualified to judge the morality of the issue, but it was his sickbay, and they both had a point. They needed a reliable EMH. He nodded. "Reset code it is then." He ran a hand over his face. "I hope this works."

The tension in the room was thick. Waiting had always been the hardest part and even the Bynaus dwellers couldn't keep themselves from checking the time. The hour, which in reality passed at a steady pace, seemed to be dragging. It was a wash of relief when the final code sequence beeped.

"We are,"

"Ready to begin," The pair of scientists stepped aside and the one who spoke second started this time, "You may, of course,"

"Do the honours," the second finished.

Scarlet finished the reset code, applying it to the fix. She then finished the merge with the aesthetic renders before nodding to the baynars, "ok, ready." She squinted a little, as if bracing herself for a plaster to be ripped off, and pressed the save and load of the programme.

Ryan couldn't help but to reach for Scarlet's hand. It wasn't like their relationship was a secret, and he desperately needed the comfort. Scarlet took his hand willingly, to help him.

Soon, there was something happening, the program was activated and the holo matrix was stabilizing, a flicker here and a flicker there, but the hologram's image was focusing and the photonic being known as 'Emerick' was there, at least in appearance. "Please state the nat-" the hologram began the fundamental greeting, formal and flat, but he immediately stopped. Everything started to come back, to return as he began connecting faces with his resurrected memory files. He looked at Ryan. "Doctor Rose...I'm...alive?" Emerick was shocked by the revelation.

Ryan practically sagged in relief, then he hurried over and grabbed Emerick into a bear hug. "Yes, Emerick. You're alive" He spoke near Emerick's ear, seeming unwilling to release his friend just yet.

"That was not how I planned it," he recalled. "Everything was supposed to be erased. You were supposed to find nothing of me, and replace me with a better EMH." He was at a loss as to what to say. Somehow, he was back.

Alex smiled across at Scarlet, whispering ‘good work’ so as not to interrupt the reunion between Emerick and Ryan. Indeed she moves to join the Bynars to allow the two some space.

Soral and Stillwater, who'd been chatting, entered the room. "I see we have completed this mission," Soral said.

Scarlet blushed at Alex's thanks, humbly. She smiled and then looked to Soral, "yes, sir. I can have the EMH, Barney, uninstalled and Emerick transferred within twenty minutes of being back on board, if Emerick is OK with that." Scarlet looked between Ryan and the EMH.

Ryan finally stepped back, giving Emerick some space, and looking just a bit embarrassed. He looked to Emerick as well, hoping the answer was a positive one.

Though he was still struggling to comprehend the how of his re-existence, the who was right there in front of him. Those he was hoping to leave behind were there ensuring that he did not. They were responsible for his existence. "Barney?" Emerick replied. "You replaced me with a reptilian?"

Emerick nodded. "Deactivate him...her...it whatever. I'm ready to come home."

"Just a name, he was more Patch Adams than a dinosaur," Scarlet defended lightly. She offered a small smile and responded properly, "in that case, let's get you home."

Ryan let out a sigh of relief. "It's good to see you Emerick." He smiled. "And yes, let's get you home."

"Indeed," Soral said. "Emerick the ferocious has returned." He turned and without sparing a glance at the Bynars he headed towards the shuttle.


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