The Pulse and the Pattern
Posted on Thu Dec 4, 2025 @ 12:58am by Lieutenant Liam Blackwood & Civilian Nyla Thane
2,004 words; about a 10 minute read
Mission:
Chicken Run
Location: DS5 - Science Lab 2
Nyla stepped through the doors of Science Lab 2 and paused just inside. Her gaze swept the space in a quick, practiced sweep—bench layout, display terminals, wall monitors, secondary power taps, emergency cutoffs. All noted. All catalogued.
She adjusted the strap of her bag higher on her shoulder and moved forward. Liam wasn’t in sight yet, though she could hear the subtle clink of someone adjusting an instrument deeper in the room. She drew a steady breath and rounded the corner.
“Lieutenant?” She called out.
Liam looked up from the instrument he was calibrating.
Ah....Nyla. Good tim...” He caught himself. “Dr. Thane. Good timing.”
He set the tool aside and stepped away from the console, gesturing toward one of the side workstations he’d cleared. “I’ve got a station set up for you over here. Should give you everything you need.”
Nyla met his correction with a small, almost imperceptible lift of her brow, but she didn’t comment on it. Instead, she stepped closer, her attention shifting to the workstation he’d prepared.
“Thank you.” She said simply.
She set her bag down, fingers already brushing across the console’s edge. “This will do.”
Liam nodded. “Good.”
“If you need additional processing power or a secondary display, just let me know. I can reroute a few systems.” He stepped back toward his own console, giving her space but not quite disengaging.
“And if anything behaves strangely, it’s because this lab was overdue for a recalibration, not because of whatever you’re about to put it through.” Liam said with a grin.
“I’m not planning to break anything.” She said, tone crisp but edged with the faintest dry amusement. “If your systems fail under routine analysis, that’s hardly my fault.”
“Routine analysis shouldn’t cause any issues.” He said, keying in a final command before glancing her way. “But if a console starts smoking, I’ll assume you’ve found something interesting.”
Nyla paused just long enough to give him a sidelong look. “If anything starts smoking." She said “I’ll inform you.”
Her attention returned to the console, fingers moving with precise efficiency. “And then I’ll find out why.”
Liam finished the final sequence on his console, the display settling into a steady idle glow. He glanced over to her once more. “I need to take care of a few other tasks elsewhere.” He said. “You’ll have the lab to yourself for a bit.”
As he passed her workstation, he reached for a small portable fire extinguisher and set it neatly at the corner of her console without a word. “Just in case.” He added, before turning and heading for the door.
Nyla stared at the fire extinguisher, expression flat, unreadable. Then she exhaled quietly through her nose. “Noted." She said.
She slid the extinguisher a few centimeters to the side to reclaim her workspace.
“Good luck with your tasks, Lieutenant.”
Liam slowed as the doors parted, glancing back over his shoulder. “Thanks. Good luck to you as well.” Se said with a smile and nod before stepping out and letting the doors close behind him.
Nyla waited until the doors sealed behind Liam before reaching into her bag for the PADD. She connected it to the workstation. She pulled up _VID-001 – Survey Clip (1:02)_.
The larger monitor responded at once, the display snapping into full resolution. Nyla expanded the clip across the screen, isolating the controls.. As the first frame settled, she leaned in, ready to begin.
Nyla started the clip from the beginning, letting it play through once without interruption.
Elyra appeared on-screen. Day three since initial discovery… half a klick east of the village… weather holding steady. The camera adjusted, revealing two figures in the mid-ground. Jalen Marek stood with a tricorder, giving the lens a brief, half-turned glance before stepping out of frame. A second woman tan field vest, short presence, speaking to someone unseen...passed through so quickly Nyla barely caught the details.
The camera moved closer to the structure. The sealed stone archway filled the view: one solid piece, no joints, no seams. A low-intensity beam swept across the upper curve, catching the shallow, deliberate markings etched into the surface.
Dust shifted as Elyra brushed the stone. Then the sound cut...wind, movement, equipment hum...everything dropping into stillness. The faint static pulse flickered through the audio. Elyra glanced back toward the recorder, frowning. No reply. Just silence.
After four seconds, the sound resumed. Elyra stepped back, explaining that the phenomenon repeated every time they approached. A final note about sending the composition scan and the recording ended.
She restarted the clip, this time slowing the playback to half speed.
Hours passed without Nyla noticing.
Liam stepped back into Science Lab Two, rounding the corner toward the workstation he’d set up for her. Nyla was exactly where he’d left her. The console around her had dissolved into a kind of organized chaos. Empty coffee cups, PADDs stacked at odd angles, handwritten notes.
“I was told you were still in here.” Liam said as he approached.
Nyla finished the note she was writing, then looked up. “Yes.” She said. “I had more to review.”
Liam stepped a little closer, eyes skimming the spread of notes and PADDs without touching anything. “What exactly are you working on?” He asked.
Nyla rubbed the back of her neck.. She looked from the scattered notes to him. “Dr. Elyra Norwood.” She said. “A colleague.....made an unusual discovery and asked for my assessment. Sent a clip, scans, and her field notes. She wanted my input.”
“What kind of discovery are we talking about?” Liam asked.
“She found a structure that appears to be a vault.” Nyla said. “An archway with markings along the upper curve. I’ve been mapping and comparing them, but there’s no meaningful translation yet. I’ve run the symbols through a few algorithms to approximate possible structures, but nothing conclusive.”
Liam leaned in slightly, studying the symbol grid without touching anything. “Vaults don’t usually hide their intentions behind something this intricate." He said. “If the algorithms aren’t giving you anything, it might not be a script at all. Could be structural notation, sequencing, or even a kind of calibration pattern.”
Nyla opened her mouth to answer, but her stomach growled loudly enough to interrupt her thoughts.
“When was the last time you ate?” Liam asked.
She checked the time, then looked back at him. “It’s been a while.”
Liam nodded. "I figured." He said. Come on. Let's get something to eat."
"Ten more minutes." She said glancing back to her work.
Liam shook his head. He stepped closer and closed out a few of her open displays before she could argue. “It’ll still be here afterward.” He said.
Nyla’s eyes narrowed slightly as he closed her displays, but she didn’t stop him.
Liam smiled. “Come on.” He said. “I know a place.”
Nyla stood, gathering her PADD and sliding it into her bag. She didn’t look thrilled, but she fell into step beside him regardless. “Lead the way.” She said.
A few minutes later, they arrived at the place Liam had mentioned. Shanks. Nyla was there the night before. She said nothing. However, returning two nights in a row edged close to looking like a regular. She very much hoped no one inside remembered her.
As they stepped inside, the bartender greeted them. Liam returned the greeting and made his way toward an open table. Nyla followed a step behind him.
Once they settled into their seats, the bartender came over.
He gave Nyla a knowing smile. “Aldebaran whiskey again?”
“No, thank you.” Nyla said quickly. “Water.”
Liam lifted an eyebrow at that before ordering a Synthehol for himself. The bartender nodded and headed off to fill the orders.
Liam glanced back at her. “Aldebaran whiskey?”
“It’s not important..” Nyla said. “I was here last night and had a couple. That’s all.”
“That’s it?” He asked, smiling.
She nodded.
Before Liam could continue, the bartender returned with their drinks. They each placed a food order, and once the bartender left again, Liam lifted his glass. “Cheers.”
Nyla lifted her glass of water. It felt silly, but she tapped it lightly against his all the same.
After they each took a sip, Nyla glanced toward the bar. She raised a hand to get the bartender’s attention and gestured subtly toward Liam’s drink, indicating she wanted the same.
Liam smiled. "“Changed your mind about the water?"
Nyla looked at him. “Evidently.”
“Good,” Liam said, settling back in his seat. After a moment, he nodded toward her bag on the chair beside her. “So… those markings you were buried in all day....does anything about them stand out to you yet?”
“Some things." She said. “The pattern isn’t random, but it doesn’t behave like language either. It’s too uniform in some places, too irregular in others.”
“Uniform and irregular." Liam thought about it for a moment. “That usually means intention. Someone designed it that way.”
“Yes. Which means they serve a function.” Nyla said.. “I just haven’t identified what it’s tied to.”
“If they serve a function, then something out there must be tied to it.” Liam said to himself. He took another sip of his drink, thinking it through. “Did she send any scans or readings that might hint at what the symbols are connected to?”
“Nothing conclusive. Environmental scans, surface readings, the survey clip.” Her fingertip followed a line of condensation down her glass. “The only consistent response was the pulse when they approached the archway.”
She paused as the bartender set her drink down, though the real reason was the thought forming in her mind.
“That was the only thing that reacted.”
Liam looked at her. “The pulse?”
Nyla nodded. “In the clip, every time the team approached the archway, the sound cut out. Wind, equipment, background noise....everything dropped into silence for about four seconds. A static pulse hit just before it, then the audio came back as if nothing happened.”
Liam frowned. “Four seconds, every time? That’s not interference. That’s a controlled cycle.”
"Exactly." Nyla said. "It's a query cycle." She lifted her glass but didn't drink from it. "It triggers on approach, waits for a return signal and when it doesn't receive one, it resets." Nyla took a sip as she finished the thought.
Liam took a moment to process her explanation. The way she framed it…it made sense. At the very least, it was a theory worth testing. He leaned forward. “Then how do you answer it?” He asked.
Nyla set her glass down. “I don’t know yet.” She said. “The symbols might be part of the response. If I can map them and determine how they relate…” She shook her head. “But I’m still left with the same question."
She took a long sip of her drink, more out of frustration than thirst.
“Well… if it wants a response, we could try giving it one.” He said. “Modulate a tricorder to emit a return pulse. Try matching different harmonic frequencies. Even a simple EM echo might tell us if the system reacts.”
Nyla tapped her fingers against her glass. "It's possible." She said. “A controlled return pulse would at least tell us whether the mechanism is active or dormant.”
Liam nodded. "Then that's the first step." He said. "Confirm it's listening."
Nyla nodded. “I’ll ask Elyra to run a test. See what we get.”
Liam smiled and lifted his glass toward hers, expecting her to meet it. “Sounds like a plan.”
Nyla hesitated only a moment before lifting her own glass to meet his. “We’ll see.” She said then took a sip.
A post by
Lieutenant Liam Blackwood
Chief Science Officer
Deep Space Five
Dr. Nyla Thane
Deputy Director of Science, Exploration, and Archaeology
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