Had T’Penni not been a Vulcan, the constant system malfunctions that the Constitution was experiencing would have likely caused her to feel greatly annoyed and frustrated. However, given her natural disposition, she was able to remain calm and collected despite the technical issues at hand, for now. 

After arriving in engineering with Commander Thaustin, the chief engineer had been greeted by a swarm of her engineers working tirelessly to determine what systems were affected and attempting to find solutions to their problems. As chief engineer, T’Penni was aware she needed to see the bigger picture, or Commander Thaustin would lose faith in her ability to discharge the duties of the office she was holding. 

T’Penni approached the central operations table to review what was being reported. With a quick glance at the large wall-mounted display, too, she automatically started to see a pattern. Calling over her deputy, she orders for further diagnostics to be undertaken on the primary computer processor. 

“Do you have any ideas on what’s causing issues?” Thaustin asked her. He had been courteous in giving her the space she needed to work, but now he wanted answers. T’Penni knew that was evident in the tone of his voice. 

T’Penni looked back at him as she started to circulate around engineering. “I believe we are looking at a series of bio-neural circuitry gel packs that have malfunctioned.”

“That doesn’t sound good,” Thaustin commented.

“Indeed,” T’Penni replied with a slightly raised eyebrow. Though the commander’s statement was almost accurate, it was not helpful nor necessary for her to be productive in her work. “We must isolate and determine which ones require repairs.”

Spending a bit more time, focusing on the issue, and cross-referencing what she had found compared to her deputy (and everyone else), T’Penni eventually believed she had located the problem. “Here,” she pointed at the ship’s display. These six gel packs connect with the computer processor and are all offline.”

“I’m no engineer, but it looks like they’ve burnt out,” Thaustin stated from her side.

T’Penni agreed with his analysis. “Indeed,” She said with an approving nod. “Some unknown charge has caused significant damage.”

“Those sensor readings indicate they’ve been fried alive, lieutenant,” Thaustin added. “I take it they will need to be replaced.”

Nodding her twice, T’Penni walked over to the nearest storage locker, pulled out a repair kit and packed replacement gel packs. “I will endeavour to get the work completed.”

“Let me join you,” Thaustin insisted, “I’ve wanted to stretch my hands and do more engineering work since we left port.”

“Very well,” T’Penni agreed before gesturing towards her superior, the nearest access hatch for them to use to access the primary computer processor. 

After climbing exactly twenty-one Jeffery Tubes, T’Penni found herself crawling along the final section of the access tunnel and approaching their destination. Commander Thaustin hadn’t said much since they had started their trek through the ship’s bowels. Besides an update from engineering to say that internal communications were up and running and an update request from the captain, not much was exchanged between them. T’Penni had preferred it that way.

“So, lieutenant, do you think our troubles are connected to your interplexing beacon?” Thaustin said as they reached the hatch they needed to uncover. 

“It is logical to assume that, especially as our malfunctions started shortly after we attempted to use the beacon,” T’Penni answered as she tapped in her clearance code and waited for the small door before her to release its lock. 

“I hear a ‘but’ there,” Thaustin challenged as he pulled his legs around to sit in the tunnel beside her. 

“The beacon was working efficiently, and nothing should have gone wrong,” T’Penni answered. She was now sure of it. Her adapted technology to enhance their communication device should have worked perfectly. The simulations and diagnosis had shown that. Nothing was wrong with it. Returning her focus back to her work, T’Penni pulled the hatch off in front of her and gently placed it on the deck plating before her. 

“Fascinating,” She stated with a further stretched raised eyebrow at the sight before her.

“I know I’ve said this already today; I’m no engineer, but aren’t burnt-out gel packs meant to be black and not pulsating blue?” Thaustin asked.

Taking her tricorder out, T’Penni was intrigued by this enigma before them. Scanning all of the gel packs that were meant to have been inoperable, she could not determine what had happened from a visual inspection. Then her tricorder beeped at her. “I have discovered the charge that has affected them. It is a photonic-based one.” She looked at the first officer.

“As in holographic photonic charge?” Thaustin asked, perplexed by T’Penni’s remarks.

“Precisely,” She confirmed before returning her attention to the gel packs. “Whatever registered these gel packs as inoperable when we were engineering has now moved on.”

“Where to?” Thaustin inquired; his hand was itching to tap his combadge.

Using her tricorder one more time, T’Penni scanned the gel packs and their circuitry to find the answer. “It has moved into the holographic systems.”

“That may be the reason why Connor was behaving strangely earlier,” Thaustin stated.

“Maybe,” T’Penni confirmed. She wasn’t prepared to give an indefinite answer to that issue, but she was intrigued by what was happening here. “We should return to engineering to trace the charge further.”

“Let’s get going,” Thaustin said as he got back on his hands and knees to make their way out. 

Returning to engineering, T’Penni returned to the central console as she tried to figure out where the charge had gone. It had undoubtedly travelled around the entire ship via the holographic projectors. The charge appeared to drop in levels in some locations while being quite prominent in other areas. 

“Commander, I am concerned at how in some places the photonic charge appears to be erratic in its movement, while in other areas it remains,” T’Pennis shared. 

“Suggestions?” Thaustin asked.

T’Penni considered her response but came to the only logical course of action. “To ensure the ship’s safety, I recommend we shut down all holographic systems.” 

“All holographic systems?” Thaustin checked.

“All holographic systems, including our holographic LCARS displays,” T’Penni said, knowing what the commander was confirming with her. “Once they are shut down, I may find a way to localise the charge and purge it from our systems.”

Thaustin tapped his combadge and hailed the bridge. McCallister responded instantly, and after being told of what they had investigated and the suggested plan, he gave his authorisation for T’Penni’s shutdown idea. 

“Accessing shipwide holographic controls,” She said as she tapped away at the console before her. After bringing up the system preferences, she inputted her command codes to confirm the deactivation of every holographic projector on the ship; T’Penni pressed the confirmation button.

Nothing happened.

“Problem?” Thaustin asked, seeing that she was being denied computer access.

“Indeed,” She replied, looking at the computer error message before her. “I am locked out of the holographic controls.”

Thaustin attempted his command codes, but he received the same response. Once McCallister had tried it from the bridge, T’Penni was perplexed by what she could do next. She was about to suggest overloading the holographic emitter network by accessing the optical processor control and using it to charge the secondary power relays when Commander Kazlaf interrupted her.

“I think I know what’s happening,” The chief science officer said over the intercom. “Can you all make your way to astrometrics?”

Intrigued by the commander’s findings, T’Penni gave an affirmative nod to Thaustin and made their way to the science lab.