Deck 9 - Stellar Cartography

Operations stations for a few key science and exploration functions are concentrated here.

Each can be configured to perform many different functions, but there are work stations for biology-chemistry-physics experimentation, extra-terrestrial analysis, eugenic labs, astrophysics and astrometrics and, naturally, stellar cartography.

The Chief Science Officer's office is also located nearby

From Auxiliary Operations Systems —>

.The Astrometrics section is pretty quiet - the Phoenix is still in well-charted space.  Iren runs an inspection of the systems, looking for snags resulting from the rushed refit.  Engineering, after all, are busy with more vital systems.  Problems found are logged to be passed to Engineering - anything obvious and simple can even be fixed. But it still gets logged.  Looking behind the panels is part of it - but more time is spent running diagnostics and checking functionality.  During this process  - while checking behind a panel for scorch marks or loose connections - Iren swaps out the sub-processor.

With a quick look at the duty roster and ongoing research in your department, it is as you predicted, astrometrics is empty and quiet. As luck would have it, the astrometrics research team is in holodeck two running a number of simulations on isotooe fractionation, so you have the main lab to yourself.

The inspection of the panel and workstation reveals nothing out of spec, it was always suspected that the injection of the worm code was likely done remotely, this presents more evidence to support that theory.

Your slight of hand goes undetected and the compromised A23-gamma unit is removed and replaced.

While he has time to himself, Iren busies himself with devising a phage program to fight the worm - far less disruptive than a full system reset.  I need be taste£ in the “honeypot” viirtual environment.  But first it must be constructed.

The stellar cartography holo-emitters provide an excellent venue to immerse yourself in the A23-gamma sub-processor's obsolete revision 17.3. With datapulses swarming around you, you trace the malformed algorithmic codes to a malicious script lurking deep inside the array. Fascinated, you watch as it spews malformed code back into the sub-processor poisoning the array, making it weak.

Inside the honeypot simulation, you should be impervious to any real harm, but immersed in this environment, the worm seems so tangible. You can almost smell the earthy mucus that drips from it's coded carapace. Could it have infected the simulation?

Before you can find out, the worm turn's it's eyeless head to you. Does it sense your presence?

As if in reply to your unasked question, it spits acidic malformed code at you, narrowly missing but burning the simulated foundations at your feet...

Your honey-pot is compromised. Like a creature in the pit of a dungeon, the worm attacks. All you have to fight with is your worm-phage code...

The safety protocols should prevent any harm.  Should.

Nevertheless this seems a very good time to set the phage program onto the worm.  The phage’s data spike rams into the worm’s carapace seeking to inject it’s own corrupting code, set to hijack the worm’s replication machinery and turn it to the end of building more phage instances.  In theory it should work….

The worm's thick carapace crackles with blue lightning as the data spike hits home...

Eureka 14:20, Today: Starfleet, on behalf of Lieutenant Commander Iren Thatyil, rolled 7 using 2d6+2 ((3,2)). WEAK SUCCESS

...and the sharp probe sticks in fast...

...but the data transfer doesn't begin immediately, something in the worm's code is interfering with the compiler. With a few quick keystrokes, you find the logjam is at the machine language level.

Although the top level interfaces are all consistent with Federation computer code, the worm architecture doesn't appear to be using any known Federation code.

If you aren't mistaken, it looks Cardassian.

You can get the phage to work, but choose one:
-It requires rare or difficult to obtain elements.
-It requires putting many innocent lives in danger.
-It will cause great harm to the ship.
-It will disable an important system on the ship until extensive repairs can be made.
-It will only be temporarily or partially successful.

-It will only be temporarily or partially successful.

Disrupt the worm for long enough to get out, but leave it in the system - and the phage will need a redesign,

Unfortunately the safety protocols will protect the worm from any attack through the holography system - say by manifesting a ushaan-tor and slashing at it - and disabling them does not seem like a good idea.  Iren takes advantage of the worm’s lapse of control to deactivate the holo-systems.

He calls Ops.  “The worm is proving a little troublesome.  Assistance would be welcome”