The room was annoyingly cool as Hazina took her place at the science center of the simulation. She tapped her fingers on the metal console gently as her eyes swept the buttons and screens for the second time ever. Her father had programmed this machine. She knew pride was an illogical and human emotion, but she allowed herself to feel this emotion for the simple fact that she could; was she not more human than Vulcan? With a slight flick of her head, which caused the hair on the back of her head to come unbound and tumble down her back in a slightly tangled ponytail, her gaze was met by a slightly nervous Kanshero.
It was his second time taking the test. Although she had not been present the first time he took it, she had been able to understand when he explained what happened. He had panicked beyond belief and ruined the entire mission. After he had explained the simulation in as much detail as he could remember, and after much coaxing from Hazina, he had retired to his room. Hazina had been left standing in the middle of the gym pondering the point of such a simulation that seemed impossible to beat. When a ball from the volleyball game going on a few feet away from her slammed into her back, she had a sudden jerk of realization. The fear on the girl's face as she reached for the ball made everything clear. The simulation was all about fear and maintaining one's ability to think during such crises.
She nodded to him before turning back to the console. While she did not know anything about God or praying, Hazina found herself hoping that Kanshero would be able to pass the simulation this time. Her eyes followed the last person to be involved in the test before she gave her friend one last glance. She swallowed and found that her throat had tightened. Why was she suddenly nervous for him? Her eyes fluttered closed as she pushed the meaningless emotion away. Being nervous would get neither of them anywhere.
While she enjoyed actually interacting with Kanshero and hearing his nervous laughter through the entire ordeal, which took 2.49 hours, Hazina found herself staring at the console before her. She offered Kanshero a bow of congratulations when the proctors told him that he had passed. He pulled her into a tight hug and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek before pulling away and fleeing. Hazina cleared her throat and turned to the man standing closest to her.
"Admiral Marshall, there is a glitch on the science console. The numbers read accurately the second time they flash." She stared at him blankly.
"But you read them the way they should have been." He stared at her.
She readjusted her ponytail so that her hair was back into the tight bun at the back of her head. "It was only logical that I adjust the numbers to persuade my peer that the ship was indeed in danger. I assure you, the problem can be fixed with a simple--"
"Who are you?" He stared at her with furrowed eyebrows. His eyes widened slightly when he spied her pointed ears. "You're their kid."
"If you are referring to Commanders Spock and Uhura then, yes, I am." She clasped her hands behind her back.
"Would you be interested in fixing this problem for us?" He took a step towards her.
Her eyes slowly moved around the simulation room. While she had noticed the glitch in the science console, she would have to see the test being taken from the outside. She explained this to the man. He led her from the room and down the hall to his office. He picked up a memory stick and urged her to follow him again. They sat in darkness until the computer flickered on and began to replay the entire experience. Her eyes focused on the consoles in the other divisions.
"There is simply something blocking the ROM of the overall memory supply of the simulation. Still there could be some kind of small…" She turned to him with raised eyebrows. "Who has access to that memory stick? Is it the only one you use for the simulations?"
"We take this memory stick to the administrators and they copy it then return it to us empty. We change memory sticks every month." He handed her the small piece of technology when she reached for it.
Her fingers began moving across the keyboard swiftly as soon as the screen pulled up. Her brown eyes widened slightly as she breezed through the encrypted information. The muscles in her face tensed as she suddenly stopped typing. "There is information on this memory stick that should not have been here. The information contained a small…" She could not think of the correct word. "I think an archaic word for this is a trojan. It was attached to the file so that it would be destroyed."
"How were you able to open it then?"
"I grew up around technology more advanced than this, sir." She stood and handed him the memory stick. "I would suggest changing memory sticks before every simulation. Also, the problem has been transferred to the simulation. Perhaps you should contact my father." She nodded.
"You cannot fix it?" He frowned.
"I could try, but I would prefer it if I could view the original programming." She released a sigh that went unnoticed. "I will contact my father later."
"Thank you." The Admiral took the memory stick and sat down in his seat heavily.
His actions had caused Hazina to believe that he was responsible for the entire ordeal. She glanced at him over her shoulder before she closed the door. Her boots made soft clicking noises as she walked quickly down the hall. She stepped out into the cool November air and allowed herself to wallow in the warmth from the sun. The walk to her room was quiet and somewhat dull to Hazina. She went into the room and sat on her bed. Perhaps her father was off shift and she could talk to him before he went to sleep. She set up the communication links as the replicator produced a cup of steaming tea. His face appeared on her screen as she was lifting her drink. She placed the cup on the counter and lifted her hands in the traditional greeting.
"Your call is unexpected. I am pleased to see you are well." His eyes flicked to something behind the screen.
"Father, an error that I fear may be growing, has been found in the Kobayashi Maru."
Spock's attention snapped back to the computer screen. "I did not know you were interested in being a captain."
"I was commanding science officer for Kanshero Matazuma. This was his second attempt at the test, and he succeeded. There was a glitch in my console. Also, I found that a parasite must be cause of this due to an infected memory stick." She tilted her head when she saw a curtain of black hair. Her mother's face appeared on the screen. "Hello, mother."
She smiled widely as she grabbed something from the desk. "Hello, daughter. Don't let me interrupt you two." She gave Spock a quick kiss on the cheek before she disappeared. "There's soup for you in the refrigerator. Eat it." Her mother's voice floated over from wherever she was.
After the sound of the door closing, her father turned back to the screen. "I am uploading files to you as we speak. I do not understand how the Admiral could allow something so careless to happen."
"If I cannot fix it?" She looked at her father with something akin to hopelessness in her eyes. If her bangs were not long enough to cover her eyebrows, he would have noticed that they were lifted.
"You and your sister should be able to complete the project quickly. After you have reassessed the situation, but find you cannot come up with a solution, simply send me another message." He pressed a button on the keyboard. "The transmission is complete. I have an hour before I am scheduled to return to the bridge. Do you need anything else?"
Hazina wanted to tell him no, but she could not help but think that now would be a very logical time for her to talk to him about her obvious successful bonding to Kyleth and her attraction to Kanshero. If anyone could understand, it would be he. After little debate and finding that the time was inappropriate, she shook her head. "I will contact you at another time. Live long and prosper, father."
"And you, daughter." He gave her a small smile before the screen went black.
She stood from her quickly accessed the files he sent her and studied them. Without hesitation, she forwarded the files, in an encrypted message, to her sister. She continued to study to commands and input values when she heard a knock at the door. She looked up to find Kanshero and Aziza strutting into the room. Her eyes lingered on their smirking faces before she looked at the screen again. She pointedly ignored the fact that the room was completely silent. Only after she had successfully read the string of information three times, and remembered it thoroughly, did she allow herself to look up. Kanshero and Aziza stood in the small kitchen appearing to have a heated conversation. Hazina clicked on the file of her mother singing and blocked out their voices before she could even pick them up.
Shi'Kahr appeared at the door exactly 17.43 seconds later with her messenger bag carrying her laptop draped over her chest. Her brown eyes took in the scene before her. Her sister sat at the desk staring at the computer screen while Kanshero and Aziza talked a few feet away in the kitchen. She smiled when she recognized the gentle music she heard; her mother's strong voice recited Vulcan poetry to her father's playing with great fluidity. She placed her bag on Aziza's bed and stepped behind her sister. She had already broken down part of the character input for the software. Shi'Kahr smiled and presented a memory stick to her sister. "I have done the last tenth of the characters. Did father send it this way to make our endeavor more interesting?"
Her sister's darker, but brilliantly brown, eyes looked up at her with emotions of annoyance and confusion. She pulled her sister to her gently and pointed to a particularly complex equation on the screen. She looked at her two friends in the kitchen to find Kanshero enveloping Aziza in a tight hug. An emotion she did not recognize began to grow in the pit of her stomach. Her fingers brushed her sister's hand as she reached for the memory stick.
"They are simply talking about the fact that Aziza is failing her most needed engineering course. She must score a ninety percent on the final to complete the class." Shi'Kahr's index finger, which was painted the color of orange sherbert, brushed the screen. "That feeling, ko-kai, is called jealousy. It is illogical and useless." She stood and brushed her hands down her hair. She turned on her heels and walked towards her laptop.
"Your body temperature has risen by one point eight degrees since the last time you were on Vulcan. Perhaps this is part of your aging?" Shi'Karh looked at her sister over the top of her computer monitor. "You have also grown two inches."
She looked at her sister with a somewhat annoyed expression. Only Shi'Kahr would get enjoyment out of pointing out things that annoyed her. "Vahk." Too bold. Again, Hazina was reminded that she was stronger than her sister, but she did not playfully accost people in such a manner. Her eyes moved back to the screen when she realized she had been reading the equation incorrectly. Aha. She looked at her sister to find the girl typing. "I hope you are continuing in your former fashion of deconstructing the characters from the bottom."
"Only logical, Hazina." She did not look up from her computer screen.
"Hey! Let's go for pizza." Kanshero stood in the middle of the room with his hands clasped. When neither sister looked up from her laptop, he looked to Aziza.
"Take Shi'Kahr with you. Her weakened state is a sign of lack of nourishment." Hazina spoke without derailing her eye's gaze.
"I do not like pizza." Shi'Kahr made the statement in a matter of fact voice.
"How about both of you come?" Kanshero's voice held slight merriment. He leaned towards Hazina's computer screen. "What are you doing? That looks like some heavy stuff."
Hazina's head snapped up. Aziza smiled and explained before she could even make the demand. "It looks complex."
"It is a project my sister and I have undertaken." Hazina looked at the computer again. It would take days, possibly even two weeks for them to break down the equations and commands. It was, indeed, a fascinating task. Her fingers stopped on the keys suddenly when she recalled something her mother had said to her during one of her transmissions. It was only fair that she be supportive of her friends. She clicked several buttons before the laptop began to shut down. She stood and nodded once to her sister. "We shall accompany you."