Episode 4: Revelations

USS Enterprise – Briefing Room

Seated around the table looking troubled and perplexed where Captain Picard, Captain Riker, Councillor Troi, Geordi LaForge and Ambassador Worf, whom Picard had asked to sit in on this meeting for his insight into the potential threat the constructs presented to the Enterprise and DS9. Data stood at the head of the table, the small view screen in front of him alive with scrolling data.

"Any word from Starfleet?" Riker asked Picard.

"Only that they will soon be sending an expert on cybernetics," Picard replied. He turned his chair towards Data, "What has your research uncovered?"

"During my connection to the information database I was able to download some information sir. It is not overly detailed but interesting nonetheless."

"Go on."

"The robotic entity that transported aboard does indeed derive from an alternate universe, as we first suspected. They call themselves 'The Assembled', and from my brief perusal of their historical database they have existed for at least ten thousand years."

"Ten thousand?" Riker said, astounded.

"Correct, Captain. From what I was able to gather they were first constructed on Earth, or rather a parallel Earth, as slave machines but soon turned against their human creators."

"Sounds vaguely familiar," Picard mused, "the typical plot point of late twentieth century science-fiction come to life."

"Except in this case it was a reality, Captain. The Assembled were able to overthrow the humans on that Earth and spread out to their colonies that had been established. In the span of some three centuries they were able to mass a fleet and destroy most of the human life in their space."

"Any idea how much territory we're taking about, Data?" LaForge asked.

"At least as much space as what the Federation presently covers."

"You said they destroyed all biological life?" Worf asked.

"Yes. Be it plant, animal or microscopic the Assembled used all of their technology to wipe it out wherever they found it. They developed elaborate sensors to detect potential organic life within their space and moved against it. Sentient life was the first to fall to them."

"If their universe was similar to our own, I find it difficult to believe they were able to destroy entire races so soon," Worf said, crossing his arms.

"Humans fell within three centuries, from what I was able to gather. Other races were dealt with over the following centuries. From what I understood, there is no sentient organic race left alive in their reality."

"How were they able to do this, Data?"

"I cannot say, Captain. Their technologies in many aspects are vastly superior to our own. They have devices that are able to rearrange matter on a molecular level, so their production facilities are incredibly advanced. They can produce whole armies of robots or fleets of starships in a fraction of the time it would take us to build one ship. A moon or a rocky planet would provide them with raw materials to build fleets of vast proportions. Asteroids could be used to compose thousands of robot soldiers. Their artificial intelligence and neural networks are superior even to my own. Whole starships geared for one singular purpose, driven by an AI more sophisticated than anything we have encountered. Armies of individual robots each with their own drive and desire to consume life. Worse still, they have spent the latter part of five thousand years building up their armadas and military virtually unopposed. They are unlike any race we have yet encountered."

"Don't take it so hard, Data," LaForge said, "we won't start to fear all artificial life."

"I do not, Geordi. However, because of this they are able to adapt new technologies to their own. That is the main reason for their visitation here, to search for new devices. Although that is only one reason."

"What else did you uncover, Data?"

"After they established a foothold on their reality, they discovered one race had fled using a means to transport to another parallel dimension. The Assembled quickly dispatched a ship and obtained a damaged transporter. They managed to repair it and began to experiment."

"Where they found whole new universes filled with sentient organic life," Riker said with a frown.

"Yes. By now the Assembled had fostered an intense hatred for organic life, although why this is or how it evolved I cannot say. To discover one universe after another fuelled this fire."

"Data, after centuries of warfare, what prevented them from spilling over this war an conquering whole new realities?"

"The Assembled are quick to adapt new technologies but very slow to create their own. They have not evolved beyond what we have witnessed in quite some time, nor have they been able to uncover many races with technology significantly more advanced then their own. Their ability to move from one universe to another, while impressive, does have its limits. It requires a tremendous amount of energy and a focal point on the other end to provide a means for their scouts to exit. Additionally, they can only send a few robots through at a time."

"Lucky us," LaForge said.

"The Assembled are looking for something, Captain. I was not able to get much detail on it, but during one of their incursions they came across an account of a 'Great Machine', a device of incredible power. The Assembled believe that if they are able find this Machine and control it, they could open greater portals. Or they may be able to generate the 'Great Fall'."

" 'Great Fall', Data?" Picard asked.

"I was not able to clarify this detail. They hold this 'Great Machine' and 'Great Fall' with almost spiritual relevance, but I cannot say what it exactly is."

"This is all very interesting, Data, but we have to prevent them from attacking us again."

"I believe Geordi and I have devised a means to shut down the transporters if another incursion is detected. However, there is a far greater danger, Captain."

"I don't like where this is going," Riker said under his breath.

"While I was able to download a great amount of information, I was not able to access anything of a sensitive or technical nature. The Assembled data probes were far more intrusive. They were able to transfer almost our entire database, including technical specifications and record files from DS9."

"So they have access to Federation technology?" Picard said, swallowing hard.

"Correct. Not only that, but with the transporter technology and the DS9 data files, they could construct a device that could move them from one reality to another without the need for a focal point on the other end. It has happened more than once, as we know, on DS9."

"Good Lord," Riker breathed.

"Things here may have gotten a bit more dangerous it seems," Picard thought aloud.

"Indeed," Data agreed, "if they are able to adapt our transporter technology and devise some means to open larger portals, they could begin massive invasions into alternate realms. From what I observed, their AI driven starships number in the millions, each filled with hundreds of individual robots."

"Data, you said you had information on the last incursion these Assembled undertook?"

"Yes. I was able to access the frequency variation the scout utilized during the last known successful incursion."

"What good does that do us?" Worf wondered.

"With Dr. Ondari's assistance, I believe we can adjust the transporters and perform our own incursion."

"You think this other reality may have more information about these robots?"

"It is possible. We may be able to assist one another. At the very least we should warn them about the Assembled's potential for using our technology to open more secure portals."

Picard stood and straightened his uniform, walking over the window and breathing deeply for a long moment. Turning to the assembled group, he looked around and spoke gravely, "These…robots for lack of a better term pose a serious threat to the Federation and our allies. If we have a chance to marshal some kind of defence against them, then I believe we must take it, regulations be damned. If we can help our fellow humanity as well, then it would be remiss not to do so.

Data, you and LaForge get whatever assistance you need from Dr. Ondari and get to work. As soon as you can, we'll send an Away Team to this alternate universe. One that I will lead myself."

Stargate Command – Control Room

It was late at Stargate Command, well past midnight as Jack O'Neill strolled into the Control Room, munching on an apple. Major Carter was alone in the room, rubbing her temple and hunched over a computer terminal.

"Hey," Jack said, "what are you working on?"

"General Hammond needs these new defensive protocols online as soon as possible. What are you still doing here, sir?"

"Couldn't sleep," Jack said, "Thought I would stick around."

"Every time I close my eyes I see those airmen, being burned up in that energy cascade."

"Yeah, me too," Jack said quietly. "Any thoughts on that robot thing?"

"Not really, sir. I'm almost too tired to think. We did manage to have a manual override built into iris. If it detects that same energy signature coming through, the iris will automatically close and disconnect itself from the computer. That'll stop them from opening it the same way they did before."

"That's good news at least," Jack said, "say Sam, does the Gate Room look like it is glowing to you?"

"What?" Sam asked, rising from her chair. As she stood, she had to admit that it did indeed appear as though it was glowing down on the floor. Three distinct silver-blue funnels of light seemed to be forming just in front of the Gate. "Not again," Sam wished, hitting the alarm. As the alarm was activated and the sound of booted feet could be heard heading towards the Gate Room, three uniformed humans stepped out from the light and took a look around.

Jack looked over at Sam and after a long pause, pointed his half-eaten apple at the bald human and asked, "Am I crazy or is that Patrick Stewart in the Gate Room?"