Bad vibes
Posted on 02 Jan 2026 @ 3:20am by Lieutenant Lelina Evans & Lieutenant JG Ryan Collingway
Edited on on 02 Jan 2026 @ 5:55am
454 words; about a 2 minute read
Mission:
The Displaced
Location: Engineering
//Engineering/////
Sitting in Engineering, Ryan got the situation update from Lieutenant Evans. "The Eirians are leaving already?" he said. "That's...risky."
"It might be their only chance to get back," Lelina pointed out. "We need to help them."
"Right." Ryan plugged in some hypotheticals. "It's a good thing we adjusted our shield to match the harmonics. Without that, this only had a fifteen percent chance of working. We are now operating at thirty-five percent probability of success."
"Let's do our best to get it to a hundred percent. What is keeping that number low?"
"Unknown variable. The creature in the rift. There is a possibility it may become hostile."
"Despite us returning its child?"
"A bear can still attack even if a human returns a cub," Ryan pointed out. "It could be driven by instinct alone."
"Right," Lelina said. "We still need to send it a message first. The harmonics?"
"Okay." Ryan pulled it from his workstation. "The communications matrix could work. It is based on sending notes that create emotion rather than actual speech."
"So we are literally sending good vibes in the rift, to the creature. Not a bad idea." Lelina said. "Send our plan over to the science lab for analysis. I'll work on the abort windows."
"Yes ma'am," Ryan got out of his chair.
///Near Science Lab////
Ryan almost reached the science lab when he felt....something pass him by. A wave of dizziness. He touched the bridge of his nose. "Ensign Collingway to..." Another wave of dizziness hit him. The com, going to nowhere, went unanswered.
He could see someone walking towards him, in the distance. "Hey, are the coms okay?" he asked. The ground felt like he was walking at an angle. Distorted. Everything was dark.He looked up, and could see Lieutenant Mendon looking back at him. Only this time, he was fully assimilated.
"I asked you to protect the truth, Ryan!" Mendon shouted at him. "And look at you! Screwing it up and telling everybody!"
"No wait," Ryan began. This couldn't be real! "That's not-"
"My whole planet could be destroyed over this! And you want to tell the truth because you want to feel better?" Mendon accused. "You don't deserve to live. You should have died on that ship along with me!"
Mendon's hand went to his neck. Only this time, he stabbed him with the borg implants.
Ryan blinked several times as the hallucination disappeared. He slid to the ground, unable to move for the moment. What had just happened?
He took a deep, trembling breath, sweat running down his body. "Science lab," he repeated to himself.
And at some point, his body would obey his orders.
Ensign Ryan Collingway
Engineering Officer
USS Arawyn
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