Interlude – Colonel Mustard, with the Holosuite, in The Box of Delights
by Alderman Yolanthe Ibalin
Post Details
ON:
The light from her computer gave Klia's green skin a creepy caste as she examined the lines and lines of code, hunting for the bug in the holonovel that had nearly killed her best friend not so long ago. The almost loss of the Cardassian Ambassador was not, as far as she thought, such a tragedy.
She had been looking at the program for hours and hours, over and over, dissecting sub routines and program calls to try and figure out what exactly had gone wrong. Holo programs didn't just overflow their buffers; not without help.
She took a long pull on her raktajino milkshake as she scrolled down the next log file, comparing it to the master, and then promptly choked on it, spluttering the frothy beige liquid over the screen.
"Oh. Wow. You're beautiful." She examined the lines of code. Simple, elegant, brilliant. "Oh. I don't know who wrote you, but I want to have their babies."
But it also meant something else. "You sabotaged my holosuites, you bastard!"
--------------------
"It wasn't me!" Klia declared as she burst into Yolanthe's office in the back of the Box of Delights
The bokkai looked up from where she was double checking the previous evenings takings, hesitated because she wasn't sure she wanted to ask, but did it anyway. "What wasn't you?"
"The clusterfuck in Holosuite Seven." Klia placed the padd which proved it in front of her business partner as if she was presenting a trophy.
Yolanthe looked at it and frowned. "Okay, the small words version please."
Klia hooked a foot around one of the chairs in front of the desk, turned it, and sat across it. "The code on the left is what was loaded. The code on the right is the play-log. It shows that after the initial load, a small adjustment was made to the save options sub routine, forcing the game to play through. To do so, it had to disable the safeties. But what's really really brilliant is that is also cross linked to the environmental context buffer, and adjusted a couple of variables to stop it being opened from outside, and hey presto, killer holosuite. Its genius. Colonel Mustard with the holosuite, in the Box of Delights. If I was going to try and gank someone and make it look like an accident, that's how I'd do it."
When the wall of words subsided, Yolanthe looked thoughtful, but she was golden yellow with annoyance. Someone had sabotaged her bar. Why? The Cardassian Ambassador obviously. "Well they can't be that good, you spotted it."
Klia looked smug, "That's because when it comes to all things holographic, I am the bastard offspring of Lewis Zimmerman and God. Trust me, this is good work. Really good work. The only flaw in the entire thing is that someone would've had to have been in the spa seconds after you went in to load it. And we have no cameras in this bar."
Yolanthe ran a hand through her hair, which was turning to cream under her fingers. "Oh good."
"So what do we do? Do I take this to security?"
"No!" Yolanthe flashed green for a moment before returning to yellow. "Security aren't bothered about civilian issues. Or worse, they could shut us down. I can't have another disaster like the opening night. I can't."
Klia was surprised. "Lani, Someone tried to kill you."
Yolanthe shook her head, "More likely they were after the Cardassian Ambassador. Afterall, he's a political figure, probably has enemies. I'm just the bartender. Besides we haven't been here long enough to make enemies."
"Not unless you've been betting on fights again."
"I haven't. Besides, I promised you I wouldn't clean anyone out again. I meant it." Yolanthe put her head back and stared at the ceiling, alternating ochre and lead in frustration and despair. "Look. Let's just sit on this. Hope its a one off and no-one else decides to take pot shots at the local politicians inside the Box. If something else happens, then we'll think about help."
"And what if something else leaves you dead? Or me dead? Or a client dead?" Klia felt honour-bound to point out the obvious. "What then?"
"No arguments." Yolanthe opened a draw in her desk and locked Klia's padd inside it. "If we make a fuss now, there won't be a next time because we'll be out of business."
"But-"
"No Buts. No ifs." She fixed Klia with a look that would tolerate no argument. "I'm going to suck it up. We are going to suck it up."
"But!"
Yolanthe slammed a pale yellow fist down on the desk. "But nothing! This is our first week, and we've already had more disasters than most places can take. I will do whatever it takes to keep this place going. Even if that means getting a little roughed up because my patrons have enemies. Do you understand?"
Klia rocked back under the force of her friends words and knew the best path was to bend in the wind. "As long as you're sure."
Yolanthe's white eyes were impossible to read, but her colour, the stiffness of her posture, the thrumming tension that pulsed through her said it all anyway. Klia held up her hands in defeat. "Fine. Just promise me if anything else happens, we get help."
"I fight my own battles," The bokkai replied, perfectly calm, despite the yellow of her skin.
"Promise me!"
Yolanthe relented, "Okay, I promise."
"Thank you." Klia backed out, knowing she had got as much as she was going to get. Yolanthe had far more riding on the success of the bar than she did. Whoever had sabotaged her holosuite had them neatly sewn up, even if they didn't know it. At this point in time they had no-one to turn to. All the way up back to her own office, Klia was praying that this was as bad as it got.
Unfortunately, no-one was listening.
OFF
Yolanthe & Klia
Owners of a malfunctioning Box of Delights
by Alderman Yolanthe Ibalin
Post Details
| Title | Colonel Mustard, with the Holosuite, in The Box of Delights | |
| Mission | Interlude | |
| Author(s) | Alderman Yolanthe Ibalin | |
| Posted | Tue Jun 08, 2010 @ 12:07pm | |
| Location | The Box of Delights | |
| Timeline | SD20, afternoon |
The light from her computer gave Klia's green skin a creepy caste as she examined the lines and lines of code, hunting for the bug in the holonovel that had nearly killed her best friend not so long ago. The almost loss of the Cardassian Ambassador was not, as far as she thought, such a tragedy.
She had been looking at the program for hours and hours, over and over, dissecting sub routines and program calls to try and figure out what exactly had gone wrong. Holo programs didn't just overflow their buffers; not without help.
She took a long pull on her raktajino milkshake as she scrolled down the next log file, comparing it to the master, and then promptly choked on it, spluttering the frothy beige liquid over the screen.
"Oh. Wow. You're beautiful." She examined the lines of code. Simple, elegant, brilliant. "Oh. I don't know who wrote you, but I want to have their babies."
But it also meant something else. "You sabotaged my holosuites, you bastard!"
--------------------
"It wasn't me!" Klia declared as she burst into Yolanthe's office in the back of the Box of Delights
The bokkai looked up from where she was double checking the previous evenings takings, hesitated because she wasn't sure she wanted to ask, but did it anyway. "What wasn't you?"
"The clusterfuck in Holosuite Seven." Klia placed the padd which proved it in front of her business partner as if she was presenting a trophy.
Yolanthe looked at it and frowned. "Okay, the small words version please."
Klia hooked a foot around one of the chairs in front of the desk, turned it, and sat across it. "The code on the left is what was loaded. The code on the right is the play-log. It shows that after the initial load, a small adjustment was made to the save options sub routine, forcing the game to play through. To do so, it had to disable the safeties. But what's really really brilliant is that is also cross linked to the environmental context buffer, and adjusted a couple of variables to stop it being opened from outside, and hey presto, killer holosuite. Its genius. Colonel Mustard with the holosuite, in the Box of Delights. If I was going to try and gank someone and make it look like an accident, that's how I'd do it."
When the wall of words subsided, Yolanthe looked thoughtful, but she was golden yellow with annoyance. Someone had sabotaged her bar. Why? The Cardassian Ambassador obviously. "Well they can't be that good, you spotted it."
Klia looked smug, "That's because when it comes to all things holographic, I am the bastard offspring of Lewis Zimmerman and God. Trust me, this is good work. Really good work. The only flaw in the entire thing is that someone would've had to have been in the spa seconds after you went in to load it. And we have no cameras in this bar."
Yolanthe ran a hand through her hair, which was turning to cream under her fingers. "Oh good."
"So what do we do? Do I take this to security?"
"No!" Yolanthe flashed green for a moment before returning to yellow. "Security aren't bothered about civilian issues. Or worse, they could shut us down. I can't have another disaster like the opening night. I can't."
Klia was surprised. "Lani, Someone tried to kill you."
Yolanthe shook her head, "More likely they were after the Cardassian Ambassador. Afterall, he's a political figure, probably has enemies. I'm just the bartender. Besides we haven't been here long enough to make enemies."
"Not unless you've been betting on fights again."
"I haven't. Besides, I promised you I wouldn't clean anyone out again. I meant it." Yolanthe put her head back and stared at the ceiling, alternating ochre and lead in frustration and despair. "Look. Let's just sit on this. Hope its a one off and no-one else decides to take pot shots at the local politicians inside the Box. If something else happens, then we'll think about help."
"And what if something else leaves you dead? Or me dead? Or a client dead?" Klia felt honour-bound to point out the obvious. "What then?"
"No arguments." Yolanthe opened a draw in her desk and locked Klia's padd inside it. "If we make a fuss now, there won't be a next time because we'll be out of business."
"But-"
"No Buts. No ifs." She fixed Klia with a look that would tolerate no argument. "I'm going to suck it up. We are going to suck it up."
"But!"
Yolanthe slammed a pale yellow fist down on the desk. "But nothing! This is our first week, and we've already had more disasters than most places can take. I will do whatever it takes to keep this place going. Even if that means getting a little roughed up because my patrons have enemies. Do you understand?"
Klia rocked back under the force of her friends words and knew the best path was to bend in the wind. "As long as you're sure."
Yolanthe's white eyes were impossible to read, but her colour, the stiffness of her posture, the thrumming tension that pulsed through her said it all anyway. Klia held up her hands in defeat. "Fine. Just promise me if anything else happens, we get help."
"I fight my own battles," The bokkai replied, perfectly calm, despite the yellow of her skin.
"Promise me!"
Yolanthe relented, "Okay, I promise."
"Thank you." Klia backed out, knowing she had got as much as she was going to get. Yolanthe had far more riding on the success of the bar than she did. Whoever had sabotaged her holosuite had them neatly sewn up, even if they didn't know it. At this point in time they had no-one to turn to. All the way up back to her own office, Klia was praying that this was as bad as it got.
Unfortunately, no-one was listening.
OFF
Yolanthe & Klia
Owners of a malfunctioning Box of Delights