Through the Looking Glass

Posted on Thu Sep 5th, 2024 @ 3:54pm by Commander Kevin Lance & Lieutenant Tracey Walker Jr

Mission: Deep freeze
Location: BS Neva
Timeline: Current

On:

Trace was shivering. The ambient temperature was cooler than he was used to, he was wet, and he was naked. He had managed to find a spot, off the beaten path to get his bearings. He was in some kind of facility that looked like it could be on a planet’s surface or on a ship, he had know way of knowing until he gathered more information. Aside from the humming of machinery, he heard no signs of their captors. Captors, yes, he remembered what he and the Commander had been discussing, that it was likely that they were stuck in some kind of simulation.

Given that he remembered who he was, and what he had been talking to the Commander about, he reasoned that, for whatever reason, he was out of it now. And as far as he knew, he was the only one.

Standing up, he started to look around. It didn’t take him long to return to the main chamber and count the number of pods. Each one had a member of the crew of the Norris, along with a monitor positioned above each one, identifying them and showing screen images of both their present and their past. He found a locker with his belongings, and he quickly dressed and donned his modified phaser and whip.

Fairly quickly, he found the Commander and the Captain. Watching their monitors for several minutes he noticed a patter to the Commander’s lives. In each one, he was a bully of some kind and a womanizer. He had slept with several women throughout each occurrence, one of them his own girlfriend. In light of this discovery, he had to assume that somewhere in his subconscious, Commander Kevin Lance was a bastard.

On the other hand, none of this had really happened and no one remembered anything. For all he knew, he'd slept and killed his way through the lives he'd lived too. He'd never know, since his own monitor was dark.

Still, it said something about the man...he just didn't know how he felt about it just yet. Briefly, ever so briefly, Trace wandered if it would be better if the man never woke up. No one would know. He dismissed the thought immediately and moved on.

Still unopposed, he wandered around until he found Geneva's chamber. Her screen showed an image of her weeping, a hand on her belly. The screen flickered through her lives too, and the pattern he recognized there was one of survival. No matter how bad things got, she found a way to survive...and that said something about her too.

Taking all this into consideration, he continued to wander, and eventually found what he assumed was the control center. A lone guard sat in a chair in front of a switchboard, dozens of monitors in front of...it. As the figure was clad in black robes, there was no way of telling what it was.

Quietly, Trace moved into position, his modified phase pistol in his hand.

A door on the far side of the control center and two more hooded figures entered. Trace ducked behind a row of equipment before he was seen.

"The Masters had approved the proposal to impregnate the females," one of the newly arriving hooded figures said, "Once we enter the list of mating pairs, the automated systems will harvest the necessary genetic material from the male and implant the combinations into the females."

"The additional energy output is impressive," the second observed, "but the gain is not without risk. In order for the embryos to gestate properly, we will need to increase life functions around the womb. The equipment was not designed for a multi-zoned approach to cryo-stasis."

"The experiments on the test subject worked well enough," the first replied, "and the Masters have determined that the reward is worth the risk. "And if it does fail, we can always acquire another batch of subjects."

"Very true."

The guard at the control panel had immediately straightened up when the other two entered. Now one of the new figures was talking to the computer. "We shall commence with the first pairing."

On the monitors above the switchboard, images of Lieutenant Commander Kronnelti and his wife, Dianna, were displayed.

"An interesting genetic combination," the second hooded figure mentioned, "Was it truly the best?"

"Certainly not, but we have already seen the conflict that arises when we interfere with voluntarily bonded pairs. Better to permit a substandard genetic match than run the risk of open rebellion. Resets are far to costly."

Another pair of images, Ensigns Chin and Mariten, flashed on the screen. Then Geneva's face appeared.

"It is a pity that this one's mate perished and was reclaimed before she could be impregnated," the first hooded figure spoke, "but we can manipulate the simulation such that everyone thinks that he is the father. Here, we will just match her with another subject." The image of Ensign Larry popped up on the second monitor.

Tres rolled his eyes at the absurdity of a dumbass like Ensign Larry Larry being with a woman like Geneva. Silently, he retreated into the darkness. Now was not the time to make his move, but he had learned a couple valuable things.

One - Geneva was in danger of being impregnated, for real. Her monitor had shown that in the simulation she was pregnant, but that wasn't real...yet. Two - The 'Masters' spoke in a language that he understood, and, more importantly, the computer understood. That meant than when the time was right, he just needed to find the right combination of words to release everyone. They just needed to be ready should an army of 'masters' be waiting for them.

Quietly, he made his way to Geneva's pod and, using his skills as an Engineer, commanded the pod to open. Her eyes fluttered open and went wide at seeing him. He put his hand over her mouth and held up a finger to his lips. She nodded, and spent several minutes getting her bearings. By the time she was lucid, he had her clothes and belongings. He gestured to her and the two of them disappeared into one of the winding corridors.

It didn't take long for an alarm to go off in the control center.

Off:

Lieutenant Tracey 'Trace' Walker
Chief Engineer
USS Chuck Norris

and

Commander Kevin Lance
XO
USS Chuck Norris