2022-02-17: Ask A Simple Question, Answer It Yourself
- Cutscene: Ask a Simple Question
- Cast: Mitsuba Greyvalley
- Where: Dreisstrager - Captain's Quarters
- Date: February 16, 0096
- Summary: Mitsuba asks about a troubling element of the Dreisstrager.
Mitsuba slumps back into the chair at the desk in her quarters. She takes a moment to open a private line. She rarely uses this one -- Commodore Fikes almost always has more pressing concerns, but... Ruri had seemed so scared.
She's surprised to see Fikes's image almost immediately. No staff -- just a direct line.
"Captain," he says, a little stiffly. "This is my personal line. Is there a problem?"
Mitsuba glances to the side. "... It's one of the Nergal contractors, Commodore," she answers. If she wants to receive the information she wants, she's going to have to be direct. "I brought her in to assess the AOS. She described it as... I think the term she used was 'hollow.' She seemed distraught. I thought at first it was a panic attack, given her young age, but she explained that she has a sort of technopathic ability."
"Ah. Miss Hoshino?" comes a preemptive question. "Nergal's 20-million gilla investment?"
Mitsuba blinks. "20 million gilla --" Her expression is, for a moment, utterly blank. "... Is Nergal participating in --"
"Not as such. The situation isn't mine to discuss." A silence settles over the conversation for several moments. "The type of project Miss Hoshino came from before she entered Nergal's care is known to G-Hound," he explains, calmly. "You've read about Category F research, of course."
"Old Federation Newtype research again..." The Sainklauses' mysterious past, a mobile weapon not far off in its design intent from the Gaplant, and now the Category F question... "Sir, what are you saying?"
There's a brief pause. Commodore Fikes leans forward on the viewscreen slightly, hands in his lap just below the limit of the screen. He takes a slow, deep breath in, his shoulders tensing slightly. "The AOS is hardened against psychic intrusions of this nature. It's a flourish no ship would ever need, under normal circumstances --"
Mitsuba actually cuts him off, asking, "*Why*? Why would a *ship* need to be hardened against --" Then something catches. She straightens up a bit. "Of course. It's replacing a full CIC and then some. Normally, the human element is a buffer against the risk level of any type of intrusion -- a psychic intruder lacks the data the computer has, and ... someone like Miss Hoshino, would lack the human element."
Fikes nods slowly, but says nothing. He lets Mitsuba draw her own conclusions; it'll be better for her.
"But why doesn't the rest of Nergal's fleet use such countermea -- Oh. Right. Nergal's 20-million gilla investment." Again, Mitsuba answers her own question. "Alternative solutions to full-ship information management. Parallel development."
Again, Fikes nods. "Nergal seems to have decided the Nadesico's paradigm was the one to pursue, but I have the utmost faith in the Dreisstrager and in its crew. As long as it remains committed to the Federation's ideal of freedom and autonomy, it will remain the most important vessel in the Earth Sphere."
Mitsuba does not protest this. She knows Fikes is passionate about the project. She'd rather not fight it. "Sir," she answers, agreement-by-implication. "I have nothing else."
"Dismissed," Fikes says, firmly. The line cuts.
Mitsuba chews on that. It makes sense to her -- but will it make sense to Ruri? ... She has some time to consider, at any rate.