| Seeking Perspective |
| Summary: | Wherein Demos interviews Merrell about the Tuata case and a different perspective is presented. Sort of. |
| Date: | Feb 16, 2041 AE |
| Related Logs: | Of Dreams and Portents, The Tenth Sparrow, A Tangled Web, A Sea Without a Shore, Best Get to Work, and Fly |
| Players: |
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[ Security Hub ]----—[ Deck 6 - Battlestar Cerberus ]
More than just an office for the Marines and their XO, this room has remote surveillance views of the Brigs as well as a state of the art communications center built into the far bulkhead. A locked and heavily armored door to the aft leads into another room, the white lettering on it reading 'ARMORY.' There are a few desks scattered around the room for getting necessary paperwork done and the Commandant's picture hangs on the wall next to one of the President.
Things are busier in the Security Hub. The desk Sergeant is weeding through a series of requests for this and that. A line of folk are waiting to speak to her and the guard on duty is assisting in keeping the line properly queued up. Demos already took her turn at the desk this morning, so is free to work on her 'other projects'. Once more, she is seated at a desk within the office and the now-ubiquitous 'witness' chair is in place just waiting to be filled. Finishing up a piece of paperwork, she rises and moves to the coffeepot. Movements a hair slow, as though she is thinking deeply, she retrieves her mug and pours it full of the strong, black brew.
Merrell wanders into the SH actually looking clean for once. The coveralls can't possibly be the same ones she was wearing last night in the chapel - though they all look the same anyway. She steps up to the desk to Demos and nods to the woman, her hands stuffed into her pockets. "I hear there is a Sergeant Demos looking for me? Know where I might find her? I'm Senior Chief Merrell."
Demos looks up from her coffee mug and nods, "That's me, Chief. Thanks for coming over." Motioning with a nod, she indicates the chair, "Want a mug?" The coffee is lifted, to show what she means, then set down again. A folder is flicked closed and put to one side and Demos takes out a fresh 'interview form' and begins filling it out. "This shouldn't take too long."
Merrell nods, appreciating that apparently she won't have to go looking for the correct person. She shakes her head to the coffee and moves for the seat. "Nah. Thanks. So, what can I do for you? Is this in relation to that woman we found wandering Engineering? Miss Tuata?"
Demos nods once at the refusal, then again as the engineer guesses the reason for the visit, "Yes, it is." Adjusting the form, she looks up in order to focus on the woman, "Please tell me what happened, Chief. In your own words. And try not to leave anything out. Even the smallest things can be clues to larger events." Lifting her pen, Demos prepares to take copious notes.
"Well, myself and an engineering team were down in subsection thirteen, Frame Thirty-six. We were installing a steam bypass channel when we noticed this young woman walk by. I stopped her and questioned her. When she gave me attitude I confiscated her ID and had her take us to where she had been working. One of my Petty Officers was keeping a close eye on her and noticed that she had claimed to have been working on programming pad. Well the pad was clean and her hands were completely filthy. And this pad? It controls the operating protocols for our backup fusion reactor. Nothing, and I mean NOTHING is done to a reactor unless it is completely transparent. Well this girl was dodgey and on edge so I called your Marines down and had her arrested and detained until I could figure out exactly what was going on."
Demos's pen moves as notes are taken, "Where did she claim to be working, Chief? And do you recall what was on her hands? I am sure that someone checked the backup reactor. Did you hear what the result of that inquiry was? Also, and I am sorry to toss so many questions at you all at the same time, what do you mean by 'dodgey' exactly, please?"
"She claimed to be working on the backup reactor. Then she was told to go find a Doctor. The man was some kind of civilian department head that I didn't recognize. He didn't know her either. But when we asked her about the reactor again in his presence, the Doctor seemed confused as to why work was still being done down there." The Doctor is probably the one that was temporarily brigged as well. Merrell continues, though. "Her hands looked to be covered in something thick and dirty. We suspected it was grease. The tests on it we gear oil and an anti-seize lubricant that is only used together in airlocks. The work that she did on the reactor was found to be legitimate and quite impressive - oddly." A hand lifts to scratch at her cheek. "But her behavior was just off. Nobody saunters around Engineering. You move with a purpose. Her attitude was disrespectful. Her answers to my questions didn't always make sense. When I ordered her arrest, the woman began whispering prayers but didn't flee. Just..off."
Demos's pen continues, though pauses after a moment or two. Looking up, she frowns a bit, "Hold up, Chief. I'm a little confused. Was she told to go find a doctor or was that what she claimed? Do you remember who the doctor was?" She sets the pen down and nods slowly, "So you have a transcript of your interview of her? Or, if not, would you please provide one as nearly as you can remember?" She leans back a little, a small crease of concentration between her brows.
"I have no idea. She claimed to be looking for a Doctor to check her calculations. We discovered she had been elsewhere after the fact. But the Doctor did indeed need to check her calculations and modifications." Merrell is calm and relaxed. "The Doctor's name? No. It will be in your brig logs, though. As for an interview? Uhh. No. It wasn't even an interview so much as me asking her who she was and trying to trap her with questions. It was done in a hallway. I don't even remember much of what I asked her, to be honest. It was my first day on board and I had a lot going on." And apologetic shrug.
Demos nods, "That's okay, Chief. I'll find the man's name." She leans back a bit, lifting the pen to tap-tap her chin lightly with the end. After a moment's thought, she nods, "And don't worry about the conversation with the woman. Just thought that if you remembered something it could be useful. A feeling, or a… I don't know. Nervous tick she might have shown." She eyes you for a moment, as though hoping something sparks, then clears her throat a bit, "So. Moving forward. Please tell me about the investigation into where Miss. Tuata had actually been and what she was up to."
"She kept wiping her hands on her pants but it was just an attempt to hide the grease. We discovered where it came from, regardless." Merrell just sidearms the comment out there. "Where she had actually been. Alright, I ordered the entire place to be shut down and secured. We conducted x-rays of all compartments and found nothing amiss. But we found that she had access to airlocks on the edge of where she could have gone. So we checked those. As detailed in my incident report to Sergeant Barclay, we discovered that she had indeed been inside a particular airlock and done some fingerpainting with the grease."
Demos nods, "Thank you. I will get the incident report from Sergeant Barclay." Leaning back, she considers for a moment, then nods, "I think that is all I need for now, Chief, though I may have a question or two once I look over the report." Another pause, though this one is slightly longer, "Is there anything else that you can think of that may be useful? Or unusual?"
"Unusual? How about everything about this case?" Merrell deadpan's the remark. "My head is still swimming. I spoke to Lieutenant Karthasi about it in private and we assembled a few details on the more religious end but I imagine that isn't something you want to include in your official report."
Demos looks up at that, one brow lifting slightly. She sets the pen down and folds her hands on the desk, "Chief… No, it is no secret that I am not terribly religious. However, I do not discount the pull of religion on the minds, hearts, and more importantly to this case, the motivations of the… supremely devoted." Fanatics, in other words. "I would love to hear the details that you and Captain Karthasi have come up with. Even if those details do not answer the cold, hard, facts, they may point to something overlooked. Considering that we do not, yet, know what Miss Tuata actually did other than some phenomenally sophisticated work on a server and indulge in a bit of finger-painting with a fairly disgusting medium, I am looking for any way to shift my thinking. Please, Chief. Fill me in?"
Merrell listens to all that and just stares at the Sergeant across the desk. "When I tell you I've never seen anything like this, I want you to understand that I have nearly twenty years in this Navy. I am devoutly religious. So when I tell you that this blows my mind from both perspectives, I want the full weight of this to be felt." She pauses there for a second. "She believes that she was instructed from the Gods to save us. The Sister and I believe that they may have been acting through her." Coming from the SCPO that ordered Tuata's arrest. "What she painted is irrelevant for the most part unless you want a deep explanation. The point is that she painted something over a -hidden- piece of load bearing structure. This structure, post painting then began to show signs of failing. The grease had been cracked apart with these small fissures in the metal. This led to the investigation of three other airlocks where we discovered the same thing. These failures could have killed a lot of people and unchecked - it could potentially have decompressed the ship." But Merrell isn't done. "Furthermore, this young woman went -straight- to this airlock and knew exactly where this failure was going to occur. She would have had approximately three minutes to find where the failure would occur and paint this detailed picture."
Demos nods slowly, fingers toying with the pen as she listens. She almost forms a question or a statement, then lets it go. Finally, she tucks the pen behind her ear, "Thank you, Chief." Her opinions are left unspoken, unhinted at; or so she hopes. "I am going to include a summary of that in the report because it bears strongly on the conclusions I am drawing. I only have one more question for you at present." She fixes the woman with a quiet smile, though her gaze is intent. "Who were the members of your investigative team? We may need to pull them in down the road a little." Her tone indicates that this might me more formality than necessity.
The M&R Chief looks unphased by any of what's being said. "The team? Yourself, myself, Petty Officer Ter Avest, and Specialist Ren." The woman looks tired but more due to a lack of sleep than frustration or anything.
Demos's smile warms and she nods, "Thanks, Chief. I'll holler if we need anything else. Or someone will. You know the drill." Something has certainly eased in Demos' manner. She finishes up a line or two and puts the sheet in a file on her desk. "Just let us know if you think of anything else, please?"
Merrell rises from the chair and reflexively shoves her hands into her pockets. "The only thing I can think of is how unsettling everything is. You watch your ass, Sergeant." Its not a threat or a warning, but more a hopeful remark that Demos doesn't get hurt. She moves off for the hatch then.
Demos's expression softens, grows more introspective. She nods, "I'll give you that one. And you do the same, Chief." Her gaze follows the woman for a moment or two more, then drops to the file containing all of her notes. This is lifted, hefted, then placed in a drawer which she then locks.