Captain I.R.I.S. sat in the command chair of the Federation starship U.S.S. Royalton. The raised dais gave her the perfect vantage point from which to view the low level hum of activity, that always accompanies the bridge of a starship. Not that she needed a vantage point. The bridge had been designed for a humanoid captain, that needed a central and elevated position to oversee activities. I.R.I.S was possessing of no such need. Her onboard sensors scanned out around her at all times, giving her detailed information on everything in her environment. If androids were going to be given command positions aboard starships then Federation engineers could rethink their design aesthetic.
I.R.I.S., short for Integrated Resource Inter-management System, was a prototype. The first artificial intelligence of her kind. After the Federation had perfected the science of the Positronic Net, following in Doctor Soong's footsteps, they began experimenting with "Synthetic Personnel". At first these newest members of Starfleet were assigned low ranking positions like crewman and ensign. However, they soon proved to be invaluable in other more critical areas. Their superior intelligence, processing ability and adaptability turned out to be naturally suited to officer level positions. So, in the years that followed, they had slowly been given higher and higher rank. Culminating in the I.R.I.S. prototype.
She was the first artificial intelligence, the first Synthetic Lifeform, ever to be given permanent command of a Federation starship. Six months after her posting she turned out to be every bit the asset her designers had hoped she would be. In her time as captain of the Royalton, an Akira class starship, it had become one of the most efficient in the fleet. Despite the concerns expressed by many within Starfleet the crew had acclimated remarkably well to being under the command on an A.I.
I.R.I.S's link with the ships computer indicated that a turbolift was approaching Deck One, Bridge. Her onboard sensors indicated it was a human bio-sign inside the turbolift, identification Lieutenant Allison Haige. Scans indicated Lieutenant Haige was carrying a PADD. Iris linked with the PADD's transmitter and downloaded the contents. It was a proposal for an upgrade of the gravimetric sensor array using a new quantum algorithm. Iris quickly cross referenced the algorithm against the ship's database and found that it had been the thesis of a remarkably gifted student at Starfleet Academy two years earlier and had been the source of much research since. She continued by running a number of simulations and concluded the proposal was viable and would result in a 17.8% percent increase in the sensitivity of the gravimetric array. The entire process, from being alerted by the computer that the turbolift was in route to finishing the simulation, took exactly 11 seconds.
A moment later the turbolift's doors whooshed open and Lieutenant Haige entered onto the bridge. She made her way toward Iris. She was thin, but athletic, with a petite build. Her brown hair was pulled back in a tight ponytail, that made evident her soft and pretty face. Her deep brown eyes locked on Iris' as she stepped up onto the dais.
"Ma'am." she began. "I have a proposal for your review." she handed Iris the PADD.
Iris glanced down at the device and scrolled through the several pages of text and several dozen pages of specs. She found the crew preferred her to act as human as possible. It tended to unnerve them if she approved a proposal they hadn't presented yet. So, in response to human preference, she pretended to read from the device.
"This is excellent work Lieutenant." she said in a cool voice, that was devoid of emotion. "You may implement it at your convenience."
The young Lieutenant beamed a huge smile at her. Obviously she was pleased with the praise. "Thank You Ma'am. I will." She strode to her station at Operations with a bounce in her step.
Iris had also learned the value of offering platonic gestures of praise and reassurance to the crew. She estimated that her efforts in this area accounted for 23% of crew moral under normal operating conditions.
She stood up from her seat and drew herself up to every inch of her 5' 11'' frame. She turned her cool blue eyes to her First Officer, Commander Bradak, and met his eyes. They were just as blue as her own, but three shades darker. He was taller than she was, 6'3'' with a sturdy build, like someone who would have excelled in football on Ancient Earth. His dark black hair was cut short and accentuated the harsh plains of his face. He always seemed to look at her with mild puzzlement because, as a Betazoid, he was accustomed to reading the thoughts of most people he encountered. He has informed her on their first meeting that androids were immune to telepathic probing and thus she was somewhat of an enigma to him.
"Commander, you have the bridge. I will be in the Ready Room" she said in an authoritative yet pleasant voice.
Her voice was in part due to her extensive programming and in part the product of her adaptive learning subroutines. She had improved her voice in both pitch and harmonics to be most receptive to the average humanoid nervous system. It was a voice that would encourage communication, but never let the other parties forget that she was the authority in the situation.
The doors to the Ready Room hissed open in front of her. She walked gracefully over to the desk near the back of the room. She sat down in the well padded chair and interfaced herself with the main computer's library. She gained access to her personal files by entering a 2000 digit alphanumeric code and opened the files marked as Molecular Sub-Cohesion Analysis. She was currently researching a way to bond a series of alloys over the hull in order to increases structural integrity, without returning to space dock. She could have stored the information in her own memory files but even her resources were finite. Best to store very large files on the ships computer and access them when needed. For the next hour she sat perfectly still staring straight ahead conducting her research.
She was interrupted by the main computer indicating an incoming transmission from Starfleet Command. Priority One. She closed out her personal files and turned to the small display on her desktop.
A moment later the comm chimed. "Captain." Lieutenant Haige's voice said. "There is an incoming transmission from Starfleet. Priority One."
"Thank You Lieutenant," Iris responded, "Put it through to my ready room."
The small screen flicked to life and Admiral Nakisara appeared. She has never corresponded with him before, but she had all of Starfleet's personal files as part of her programming and recognized him immediately by a simple search of her internal database.
"Admiral Nakisara," she began. "How may I help you?"
The Admiral's face faltered for a moment, clearly startled from being addressed by name by a complete stranger. As quickly as the disorientation came it passed back to the an expression of authoritative indifference. Perhaps a human would not have picked up the expression at all, but Iris was a skilled interpreter of micro-expressions and facial dynamics. Also, she processed every millisecond of time with perfect clarity giving her a wealth of virtual time to analyze every nuance of his face before he even began to speak.
" Captain Iris, a pleasure to speak with you." he said, in a tone almost as cool as her own. "I can't tell you how much I have looked forward to your acquaintance. You are somewhat the talk of Starfleet Command."
"I trust that I am exceeding expectations?" she questioned.
"Indeed!" he proclaimed, His demeanor cracked somewhat and filled with a hint of genuine enthusiasm. "You have preformed beyond anyone's expectations!"
She smiled, doing her best impression of the beaming smile Lieutenant Haige had given her in response to praise. "I am pleased to hear that Admiral. However, I am sure the purpose of your communication is not to complement my performance."
"No its not, but Starfleet's opinion of your performance is the reason you were chosen for the assignment I am about to give you." He lowered his voice, as though speaking in confidence to an old friend.
Iris recognized his personality as extremely familial and open. She was not surprised he had reached the rank of Admiral.
"We have an assignment of some delicacy for you." he continued. "We have detected an anomaly on the Romulan side of the Neutral Zone. Starfleet Intelligence is not certain of its origin but we have reason to believe that it is a weapon detonation signature."
"What kind of weapons signature?" she asked.
"I have forwarded all the data we have on the event. I would be interested in your opinion..." he said, with a bit of anxiety creeping into his expression. Again something a human would have been unlikely to notice.
Still interfaced with the main computer she located the data packet attached to the transmission and downloaded it into her onboard database, taking care to encrypt the information at every stage of the process. She opened the files and began to analyze the data at lightning speed. In only several seconds she had analyzed the information sent by the Admiral and reached a conclusion.
In a voice as casual as someone having light dinner conversation, she said. "As I am sure you are already aware this is most likely Omega."