RP Log: The Search for Choma
| Roleplay Log | |
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Location(s):
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Stardate:
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| 2026-02-02 22:59 | |
Tilar is moving moderately swiftly, tricorder in hand. Castillo has taken care of her shadow situation for the moment, unexpected though it may have been. Now? Now she follows the trail she's picked up for Choma. It's not going to be an easy trail, but it's something.
Tilar goes over to the turbolift, frowning as the DNA trace disappears on the lift. She pauses, stepping off the lift again and looking around. One hand reaches out, fingertips probing around the edges to search for any loose panels.
"This doesn't make sense," Tilar murmurs quietly, frowning at the secure panels. He didn't go that way. "People don't just disa-" She blinks once, adjusting her tricorder. "People disappear all the time, Vi. We just call it 'transporters'." Scanning adjustment made, she tries again, looking for any sign that Choma had been transported away.
The sound of the turbolift moving can be heard behind the elevator's door. The entry opens suddenly and a Ferengi steps out. He is frustrated by Tilar's presence in front of the lift. He stares at her as he slips by to visit the park.
Tilar makes a frustrated noise at the result: Nothing. "People don't just disappear," she repeats quietly to herself, looking around. The tricorder gets snapped shut for the moment and she looks back at the lift. The Trill woman steps inside, moving on to her next theory.
Once inside, her head tips back and she looks up at the emergency hatch. Tilar reaches up, twisting the latches to free the hatch. Maybe, possibly, he got in there and did some climbing.
The hatch is able to be opened. The exposed lift corridor goes on for ages. The top of the lift is visible in the great distance. Along the vertical track are horizontal corridors that the cars can use to switch tracks and get to other locations on the station.
Tilar puffs out a breath and pulls herself up through the shaft. It's not an easy task; she's not as physically strong as some of her fellow crewmates, but she is both determined and still SOMEWHAT trained for this sort of thing. Plunking herself down at the edge, she pushes herself up onto her feet, taking a moment to look around and orient herself before scanning again, searching for the trail. No sign of it. "C'mon Commander... give me something," she says quietly, frowning.
The turbolift maintenance alarm beeps from within the car. "Hatch ajar." The soft computer voice announces as a warning.
Tilar turns in place, considering the options. Didn't go up or down. Not that she's been able to pick up. Eyes skim around slowly, carefully. There should be emergency hatches in here, right? "Could really use your help, Jessica," she says, wracking her brain.
The turbolift maintenance alarm beeps from within the car. "Hatch ajar." The soft computer voice announces as a warning.
Tilar squeaks at the sudden announcement and leans down, grabbing the hatch to yank it closed behind her. The last thing she wants right now is to get caught up here; that would likely not go over very well.
An Andorian woman enters the turbolift. She watches as Tilar closes the hatch above her. "What are you doing?" Her question more of an accusation.
"Checking for pathogens," Tilar answers, twisting the hatch closed. "I was following a biological trail and it led here. Where it promptly disappeared. Since a lot of systems are malfunctioning or broken, doing it by hand is more reliable." She looks over at the Andorian woman, frowning as she looks her over. "What are YOU doing?"
The Andorian says, "I'm trying to get home. What deck do you want?" She asks. "I need deck 70."
"None at the moment. I need to find whoever was infected by this pathogen," she says, lifting her tricorder. Tilar huffs and shakes her head, turning to step off the lift.
The Andorian waits for Tilar to exit the turbolift. The doors close. The sound of the turbolift leaving can be heard. Then, the sound of another turbolift car entering the junction can be heard. A Bajoran man exits and moves fore.
Tilar hisses between her teeth, frustrated. Then she takes a moment to close her eyes. Breathe. Think. "Okay. Start over. Maybe he doubled back," she says, starting to walk back the way she came. "He's probably hiding. This is not SUPPOSED to be easy."
Tilar squints and kneels down on the floor as she spots... something. One hand reaches down, not quite touching the floor, but fingers moving over what she spotted. The tricorder comes around and she examines the scuff markings on the floor, eyes shifting to follow the path back towards the park. "You definitely went that way," she murmurs softly, rising up and walking back out towards the park. This time, though, her eyes remain fixed on the ground, seeking further signs of those markings.
Those cables look dangerous. Let's not touch those, Vi. Tilar backs away, eliminating that possibility and finds herself inevitably returning to the turbolift. Her arms cross over her chest and she ponders for a few moments before murmuring to herself. "Lifts don't just go up and down." She scrunches up her face, thinking. "I need to take some engineering refreshers. Okay. Let's try this again."
Unlike before, the deck is scuffed up in the center of the room. It looks like someone scraped it up with heavy equipment.
"Okay. Left and right. Up and down are out." Tilar blinks down at the floor, tilting her head curiously. "Well... that's unexpected." The tricorder comes out again as she crouches down, scanning the scraped up floor carefully. Nothing. She straightens up again and makes a face before looking up and sighing. "I'd rather not. Maybe..." Maybe she can scan around the outside of the lift through the walls to see which direction this one travels. Left, right, and back; front leads right back out to where she came from.
Tilar thinks for a few moments. There is another location, though. Maybe it's over there. She considers that, and then gives the command.
Tilar says, "Level 75"
Tilar steps off the lift, tricorder in hand and looks around. She frowns and shakes her head, nose wrinkling as she frowns deeply. Nothing. No scans. No scuffs. No marks. Nothing. There is a soft curse uttered to herself and she looks around.
Tilar turns back towards the lift, but doesn't get on it just yet. Instead, she moves along the wall, adjusting her scans to go beyond it and into any spaces behind the wall: Jeffries tubes, turbolift shafts, or other unexpected vacant areas. The lift itself moves too fast to get readings.
The sound of the turbolift moving can be heard behind the door.
Port has been checked. Now Starboard. Tilar looks around and shakes her head. Nope, nothing here either. Sighing, she turns and heads back the way she came.
Tilar comes wandering back. The Trill physician thinks and then steps back into the lift.
The damage to the floor is no longer present.
"Fine. We'll do this again." Tilar puts the tricorder back into her pocket and reaches up to open the hatch again. There's a soft grunt as she hauls herself up and out into this new shaft. "You owe me so many drinks when I find you, Commander..."
The maintenance section of this part of the turbolift is cramped. The large vertical shaft isn't present in this part of the ring. Down the horizontal shaft, Tilar can see another turbolift car at the central park station.
Tilar leans back slightly and looks down the length of the maintenance shaft, peering at the car at the other end. "...oh... OH!" Her eyes go wide and she drops herself back down into the lift, shoving the hatch closed again and stepping off the lift.
Tilar steps off the lift and puffs out a breath. Okay. Plan... F? G? At this point, Vi has lost all track of where she is in that alphabet. She steps off to one side of the lift, and doesn't get back on. Not right away. No, instead she takes her time and waits. The traces stopped at the door, and weren't in the lift. They weren't in the shaft. But people don't just disappear, remember? So one of the cars MUST have a trace somewhere. Everything else has been eliminated; there aren't a lot of other options left. So the Trill woman pauses and waits. She calls the lift, examines it for traces, and then sends it on its way. Then she calls it again, scans for traces, and sends it on its way. And this pattern is repeated, however many times it takes. "So many drinks," she mutters.
Tilar almost cheers when she finally gets a result on her tricorder. The woman steps into the lift and starts to run a more thorough scan, checking around the lift to see if he touched anything, or if he seemed to remain on the ground.
Tilar looks at her scan readings and then frowns. So she found where he was, but the results just mean he was on a turbolift. Which could go almost anywhere on the station. The brief moment of elation with success is suddenly washed away with the return of frustration. The traces are more concentrated on the ground, so he was probably on the floor. Okay, so they dragged him... somewhere? The Trill woman mutters softly and looks at the panel, considering the options on the screen. The most OBVIOUS place would be the detention center. Well. It's worth a shot.
Tilar says, "Deck 9"
Tilar steps off the turbolift and looks around, glancing down at her tricorder. Nothing. This isn't overly surprising, though. With the number of people that move through here, that isn't a surprise. She walks over towards the security office, eyes still somewhat sweeping the floor as she heads in that direction, though doesn't enter just yet.
Before stepping into the office, Tilar pauses and moves to one side. She doesn't want to get tossed in a cell herself just yet. First, she adjusts her scans to look beyond the door: Who is in there? Or what is in there? If it's empty, even better.
Tilar makes a face. There is a guard in there. Not great. She lets her eyes skim around, searching. Thinking. Oh right, she's a doctor! Tilar's hands drop into her pockets and she feels around. One of the things she regularly keeps on hand are emergency medical supplies. That includes this lovely hypospray and sedative. The vial is slotted into the hypospray and she purses her lips, pressing them into a thin line.
There is a security officer sitting at the post between the armory and detention facility. He seems busy watching a video on the nearby wall panel. "Hey." He says. "He's just drunk. I wouldn't even bother, but if you have to look at him, don't need me."
Tilar programs the hypospray and palms it, then steps in through the door. She doesn't speak. She doesn't comment. When the guard simply waves her through, she nods and just walks right past him. The less time she spends in here, the better.
One room down. On to the next. Hypospray still carefully palmed in hand, Tilar steps into the detention center and... doesn't see Choma. The Trill woman scowls, free hand rubbing over her face with frustration. The tricorder comes out, a scan taken, and... nothing there either. He isn't here. She grits her teeth and turns, heading back out the way she came.
The security guard at the station watches as Tilar steps out. "Hey, one second." He asks. "Is brain surgery fun?" The nearby wall console has a medical drama displayed on it.
Tilar steps out of the detention center, pausing at the question. She looks at the drama on the display and almost laughs. Almost. "I'm a little biased, but yes, I generally find my work fun," she says, nodding. "Thinking of changing your career?"
The officer shrugs. "I don't know. Maybe." He resumes watching his show.
She isn't a person of interest anymore, and so Tilar turns to depart. He's not interfering. She looks at the officer for a few moments before stepping back out of the office.
Tilar moves away from the security office and down the hall just a little bit. The hypospray is slid back into her pocket and she lets her shoulders slump somewhat, defeat threatening to take hold. He could be anywhere. The detention center was a long shot, sure, but it made sense. She's back at square one, and has to figure out what to do next.
Tilar drums her fingers silently on the outside of her thighs, thinking silently for a few minutes. Options are endless. That's not helpful. Scanning every single level on the station isn't practical. And she's locked out of the system. "Wish I was the telepath," she mutters, looking around. This area is busy. Busy isn't always good for dragging bodies. So. Where could one drag a body relatively unseen? Not here. Straightening up, she turns and heads back to the turbolift to consider further options.
Tilar looks at the display on the turbolift, staring at the options. So many options. So many choices. Time to start narrowing it down. This floor is busy. But one of the restricted areas will likely be less busy. So.
Tilar says, "Main engineering"
Tricorder in hand, Tilar steps off the lift. She looks around and steps out of the way, just in case someone else wants to walk by. The tricorder beeps and trills softly as it performs its scan, and finds... nothing. Again. Tilar groans quietly. At least this scan can assure her that there aren't any traces above either; that rules out a couple of locations. So she turns and heads back into the lift, continuing the search.
Another less public area? Well, restricted is her current search area, so Tilar looks at her options. Only three more. That narrows it down somewhat, and eliminates some of those options.
"Dammit," Tilar hisses softly, the results indicating that Choma isn't here either. Or above her. That eliminates a couple of locations, though. She shakes her head, rubbing at the side of her neck. Then she turns and heads back into the lift for the next stop.
Tilar steps onto the lift, again. The list is examined and her nose wrinkles at the remaining options for restricted areas: Operations and Support. Those are likely low-traffic areas, but high risk. Her jaw rolls slightly, thoughtfully, before choosing the lower risk option.
Tilar says, "Support systems."
Scans are taken here as well, and reveal... nothing. This result, however, doesn't seem to surprise Tilar. Not this time. There aren't a lot of places where someone could be contained here. The woman gives a small shrug and pivots on one heel, going back into the lift. This floor and the administration levels have been eliminated. There aren't a LOT of other options for stashing someone.
Taking a deep breath, Tilar looks at the panel again. The only remaining 'restricted' area is Ops. "...no," she says to herself, shaking her head. "Bad idea." So she looks at other options, finger trailing slightly along the list. There's one more security option, as well as the medical ward. She's been staying in medical quite a bit, so that rules that one out. Security? Maybe. Upper docking ring? Hopefully not. But that's the least risky option, so eliminating that is her next stop.
Tilar continues on with her search, tricorder sweeping left and right as she steps off the lift. No signs here, but this result actually has her looking almost relieved: Between the landing bays, drydock, and here? The lack of traces indicate he must still be on the station. Nodding to herself, she turns and moves back into the lift.
"Okay. Let's go with the other lead," Tilar says, examining the panel again before going to her next choice. It's higher risk, but she's prepared for that. The hypospray in her pocket gets palmed again, just in case.
Tilar says, "Commercial hub"
Stepping off the lift again, Tilar pauses to run some more scans. Again, she finds the readings muddled; there are a lot of people. This is an annoying, if somewhat expected, result. Shaking her head, she moves over to the security door. Same as at the other security area, she pauses to scan through the door and wall before deciding to enter.
Tilar's eyes go a bit wide as she looks at the readings. Five officers are in there. She doesn't have enough sedative to get them all. Not to mention actually being able to reach them all before they get HER. Her lips press into a thin line and she flicks her eyes over towards the medical ward, considering her options. "This would be so much easier if I had access to literally anything," she mutters quietly.
Shaking her head, Tilar heads back towards the turbolift. Later. She can deal with this later. And maybe not alone. Eliminate the rest of the variables first. Quarters are a good place to stash someone, and there are a LOT of those.
"Quarters, quarters..." Tilar murmurs quietly to herself and then shrugs, picking one. There's no real pattern to select from.
Tilar says, "Level 80"
Tilar steps off the lift and looks around, again sweeping her tricorder around slowly. No results. She isn't terribly surprised by this. Shaking her head, she turns and steps back into the lift to select the next option.
Tilar says, "Level 70"
Tilar is apparently starting to lose focus, as she steps off the lift and pauses. Squinting. She looks around. "...this is where everyone's quarters are. Why did I come here?" She shakes her head, partially to clear it and partially because this was a ridiculous choice, then turns to head back into the lift.
"Only one choice left," she says, considering the options. "I think." Tilar squints, lips moving silently as she considers the options before nodding.
Tilar says, "Level 120"
Tilar is almost ready to give up her search at this point. There aren't a lot of places left. But finally, FINALLY, Tilar finds something. Her eyes go wide and she inhales sharply, excitement rising. She exhales slowly through her lips and looks around, considering the options. "Okay. Okay, this is something. Come on, Commander. Where'd you go?" Turning, she begins to walkaround the ring to narrow it down further.
Tilar picks a direction and walks, continuing her scans. The tricorder sweeps left and right carefully, looking for the trail. Not finding it here, she moves on to the next set of storefronts. "C'mon..."
Fore was where she got here. Port has no sign of him. Tilar moves around the rings steadily, methodically, narrowing down her searches. Aft? Well unfortunately, or fortunately, there is nothing here either. Which leaves starboard. Moving on, she heads into the area where he must be. He has to be. Right?
..and yet? The scans indicate nothing. Tilar frowns deeply at the tricorder. "How?" she mutters at it, lifting her eyes to look around the area. She looks confused more than frustrated. Fore showed something. Aft, port, and starboard showed nothing. So, she makes her wayback to the original fore ring.
Tilar comes back into the fore ring and nods, picking up the traces again. "Okay. Okay, so here somewhere?" She looks around at the various storefronts. "But where?" Rolling her jaw thoughtfully, she moves along in front of the storefronts, watching to see if the traces change.
Not enough. Too faint. Tilar shakes her head and looks at her options before picking one, stepping into the nearest storefront to look more closely.
"Hey!" The store owner shouts. "Get out of here with that! No cheating allowed!" He is looking at Tilar.
Tilar blinks a few times and squints at the lighting. It's a little harsh on the eyes, but it's... fun? Fun. Sure. She takes a few moments to study the readings, then looks up when she sees the store owner, blinking at him. "I'm not here to play right now, I promise I'm not cheating," she tells him, shaking her head. "It's just a scanner. But I'm leaving. My apologies." How does one cheat with a tricorder? Question for Hauser when things aren't as critical. Tilar turns to step back out.
"Seriously, how would I cheat with a tricorder?" Tilar mutters to herself as she turns and walks to the next storefront. One step at a time, one store at a time. Progress is progress.
Tilar steps into the next storefront, and hitches her eyebrows up when she actually gets a result. Well. That was unexpected. She looks around the area, taking a moment to peer down the stairs before stepping back and away. Walking slowly, she first walks past the tables, just in case someone is hiding behind those curtains, and makes her way to the holosuites.
Tilar follows the trail, sweeping past the holosuites and finding... nothing. Nothing THERE at least. But she DOES find something. There is a narrow hole in the wall, and that's where the trail leads. Her lips curve into a small smile and she looks around. Before sliding in, she's going to make sure no one else is following her or watching her. Area secure, she ducks in through the crevice to the space behind it.
The sounds of laughter can be heard up the spiral passageway.
Tilar slides into the space and pauses, examining the markings with a frown. That's delightfully cheerful and welcoming. Her eyes snap up and she leans over to look up the spiral without actually moving; there are voices up there. Her head tilts slightly, eyes closing as she listens for any information.
The sounds above are a chorus of noise. Many voices are chatting. It's difficult to isolate them through the reverberation down the passage.
Tilar leans over to look up the stairs, listening to the conversation above. And there is one Selay up there that she has gotten somewhat familiar with: Commander H'Riss. She frowns at that and slinks back down, listening to any distinguishable conversation. Highly suspicious people are behaving suspiciously, but that is likely where Choma is being held.
But Tilar knows she can't do this alone. So now it's time for backup.