You Know the Rules
Posted on 14 Apr 2024 @ 6:09pm by Lieutenant JG Kai Nokamura
564 words; about a 3 minute read
Mission:
M-18 The Past is Future
Location: Holodeck 1, USS Granger
Timeline: Prior To Problematic Rendezvous
Lapsing into his native Hawaiian, Kai entered "The Workroom", a holodeck program of his own design, and said, "Lock the door." The computer responded according to a security protocol of his own devising; it wouldn't keep anyone out. Starfleet was touchy about that sort of thing. Instead, the protocol ensured that the room was 'scrubbed' of all sensitive data before whoever it was got through the door.
The workroom was entirely white with a raised platform in the center. He could write on any wall in the room and its contents would be automatically saved to his private files. At the moment, there were mathematical equations on one wall and on another a picture of a man, wrapped head to toe in red ribbon, lying on the floor of a holodeck.
"Computer, display information on intruder," Kai said. The image shifted to the right and on the left, details began appearing. Slipping out of his sandals, he walked across the space to stand in front of the display, reading back the man's attempts to gain access to the program. He shook his head, picked up a pen and started making notes on the nearest bit of empty wall.
"Third one," he said. "The protocols are still working but maybe they need a bit of tweaking? I don't know. Let's see." He ran one hand through his hair and stood back from the display. "Computer display information on all three intruders. Run them side by side." He watched the scroll start and then, after a minute or two, said, "Stop." He made a few notes and then started the scroll again.
Two Hours Later
A pair of six foot five inch Klingon twins, both male, wearing board shorts and sandals, strode across the room and spoke in unison and in fluent Hawaiian to Kai's back. "Time to stop, brah." They each put a hand on his shoulder. "You promised to meet that beta shift engineer for coffee after he got off shift."
"Five minutes," Kai said. He had identified a hole in the security, small one, and was framing the fix. Not a good time to stop. Not at all. All in all Constantine Rook was responsible for ten holodeck adventures, each one more elaborate the last, and with each one, his reputation grew and along with it, the security issues.
"Counting," the twins replied. "You get one and one only. Your rules, brah."
He kept working, barely heard the twins, deep in crafting a fix that would more than cover the slight hole the intruders had been working when they hit his trap. He was in the flow, lost in the programming, and then suddenly he wasn't.
He was sitting on the floor of a shut-down holodeck. "Restart the Workroom," he said with a tired sigh.
He didn't bother standing, just drew one knee up and rested his arm on top, and faced the twins who were sitting in beach chairs drinking one of those 'haole' drinks they served at the hotels. "You know the rules, brah. You wrote them. Twelve hour countdown begins ... now."
"Alright," Kai said. "Alright. But once the twelve-hours are up ..."
"Six-month countdown on that one, brah," the twins answered.
"I am too clever for my own good," Kai said as he stood up. "Shut down the workroom."
Lieutenant JG Kai Nokamura
Assistant Chief Engineer
USS Phoenix
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