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vbeyonddigital23 · 2 years ago

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How a SharePoint-based CMS can streamline enterprise policy management & lifecycle

Microsoft SharePoint-based CMS is an ideal content management system for enterprise policy management due to its versatility and collaborative capabilities.

Managing, updating, and regulating enterprise policy is crucial for organizations to set a regulatory code of conduct. Enterprise policy management (EPM) is an integral business operation that ensures the implementation of company regulations in both internal and external environments by storing, managing, and analyzing policy documents. Not only that, but it also enables organizations to make necessary changes and updates in the company policy to improve scalability and adaptability with the changing environment, thus maintaining a healthy policy life cycle.

As the business environment has changed drastically due to a global pandemic, it is now more important than ever for companies to incorporate fast, accurate, and reliable content management systems for policy management. And for a reliable content management system, nothing beats Microsoft SharePoint’s versatility and efficiency in data storage, processing, and distribution capabilities.

Embracing the age of digital enterprise policy management

Nowadays, enterprise policies need to be dynamic enough to keep up with the ever-changing business environment, especially when it comes to defining responsibilities and liabilities when transitioning from legacy systems to digital. Numerous businesses struggle through this phase due to the need for drastic policy changes. That challenge has only amplified in a post-pandemic business environment.

In such a scenario, having a robust and reliable EPM system backed by an industry-grade content management system (CMS) will help emerging businesses in adapting to the market changes with quick and future-centric policy changes. This can enable organizations to better analyze current market trends, company growth, and government regulations to create a smooth policy life cycle. To that end, a content management system built on Microsoft SharePoint can add significantly to a company’s policy management system for years to come.

How SharePoint-based CMS can help you build a modern enterprise policy management system

SharePoint helps organizations to create a collaborative work environment with an efficient and secured data storage, analyzing, and distributing platform for businesses. One of the major functions SharePoint helps policymakers perform is streamlining and organizing the complex and vast data that goes into creating and updating policies.

From an enterprise policy management perspective, SharePoint works perfectly as a collaborative work system where the leadership can work together with key departments such as HR and IT to update company policy and communicate changes with their employees quickly and securely.

The sheer versatility of SharePoint with its plethora of features can be customized to match individual business needs. It also applies to designing the most comprehensive policy management ecosystem to handle the dynamic external compliance burden. Being the central hub of information, SharePoint also helps in upgrading policies to match scalability and digital integration needs.

Now, let’s take a look at SharePoint’s key features that can help organizations streamline and modernize enterprise policy management:

Secure data storage

The biggest strength of SharePoint is its secure architecture and data storage. The platform provides centralized storage for the company’s sensitive data, which also includes the company policies and market insights. SharePoint provides end-to-end storage security with the following features:

Permission-based access: SharePoint enables policy and decision-makers to assign various permission levels to users depending on the company hierarchy, which means only the top-level management or specific designated users can create, view, or modify policies.

Version control: SharePoint’s version tracking allows users to prevent accidental deletion and overwriting by restoring the last relevant version easily.

Audit trail: SharePoint allows administrators to track people accessing and editing the company policy files with date, time, and version history data.

Tracking and assessment

The SharePoint automated notification feature informs people within the organization about the updates in enterprise policies and evaluating its benefits by communicating with the leadership team. In addition to it, SharePoint offers the following features to enable accurate tracking and assessment:

Real-time dashboards: Build detailed dashboards on Excel or Power BI and then import them to the SharePoint CMS. This way, leaders and administrators can get insights on the list of policies, version details, status for approval, and other crucial data. When someone from the leadership updates or approves a new policy, it immediately reflects on the dashboard, notifying all employees of the change.

Alerts and notifications: SharePoint can be configured to generate various automated notifications. For example, you can configure automatic notifications that inform employees when a policy or a procedure gets modified, or a new document is added to the system. Furthermore, SharePoint can alert a policy manager when a certain policy needs to be revised or reissued.

Assessments: One of the most interesting features of SharePoint includes customized quizzes for employees to assess their policy knowledge. It can also lock the policy read until the employee completes the required assessment tests.

Quick policy creation, distribution, and retrieval

Being a collaborative enterprise platform, SharePoint supports the generation, publication, and distribution of policy content. It supports various content formats like Word documents, images, videos, and audio files. Below are some of the features that help streamline policy document creation and distribution processes:

Content template: Having a set template on various content types significantly eases up the process of creating new documents like renewed policies. SharePoint allows creating and storing custom templates to save time and maintain consistency while making new policies or updating the existing ones.

Real-time collaboration: SharePoint helps the leadership team with a digital collaborative platform to work on creating new policies and updating the current ones. As teams can work simultaneously in real-time, it reduces the time needed for policy finalization.

Workflows: Build custom, automated workflows for your SharePoint CMS using Power Automate to facilitate smooth approval processes for new policies. Leadership teams can design a new policy and share it across relevant departments for quick reading and approvals. Thus, it streamlines the overall policy life cycle with defined stages from start to finish.

Search: SharePoint speeds up the policy search by enabling search by policy titles, keywords, or even a part of the content. For big enterprises with numerous policies, employees can find the required policy document with SharePoint’s result by relevancy.

Leverage custom SharePoint development solutions for enterprise policy and knowledge management

A SharePoint-based content management system can add sophistication, customizability, and simplicity to your enterprise policy management systems. With a fully digital system that applies automation to reduce time and error, business leaders can focus better on core business activities while being supported by a robust policy system.

VBeyond Digital helps you make this process even simpler and cost and time-effective Microsoft 365 solutions to accelerate your enterprise policy management process.

#sharepoint cms #best enterprise cms #enterprise content management software #enterprise content management systems

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dailyadventureprompts · 1 year ago

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Adventure: The Big Ambitions of Baron Bittly

Monsters from the primal expanse of the Drovidiin Wilds have been appearing without warning in the kingdom's heartland, somehow teleported hundreds of miles to rampage through towns and cities. After more than one skirmish with the beats, your party has ventured to the bordertown of Thimblewell on the edge of the wilds, seeking answers.

Adventure Hooks:

Though the party have heard whisperings of the beast attacks before, their firsthand exposure to the phenomenon comes when they hear screams and cries coming from the town's fancy playhouse. An acid spitting drake has somehow found its way inside the building during the middle of the performance and its rampage threatens to bring the house down.

Tasked with tracking down a crew of bandits that've been plundering local caravans, the party's raid of the outlaw's encampment is thrown into chaos when one of their targets breaks open an innocuous crate, pulls out a glowing glass canister and smashes it in the middle of the melee: unleashing a beast in a burst of blue light into an already chaotic final battle.

The party find a strange tension when they arrive in the town of Thimblewell. Though the settlement has a long history of being beset by monsters from the primeval wilderness it borders, there've been no attacks for the past several years and no one seems to want to talk about why. Eventually a disgruntled former guardsman points them in the direction of the local landholder, an amateur mage with a reputation for conducting strange experiments. He fails to mention that said mage has a defence system built into his manse, and that he's been expecting the party's arrival for some time.

Background: Irnett Bittley was never a mage of large talent, both because he was unable to summon up the showy displays of elemental mastery that would have earned him a living as a court wizard, and because his self important streak made him too proud to ever suffer suffer through an apprenticeship. He was a great mage, destined for great things, and the fact that others couldn't see that was their failing.

Tired of being challenged or denied by people who genuinely knew better, Bittley picked up stakes and went to the boonies seeking to find a pond small enough to consider him a big fish. He found it in Thimblewell, a little town sorely in need of a handymage, and he could have been happy and well liked there if the need to be great wasn't etched on his soul. Thimblewell had a monster problem, and while Bittley was no battlecaster he did have a knack for bindings and containment spells. If he managed to catch a monster by supprise while it was distracted by the local millitia he could shrink it down and hold it in stasis, effectively defeating the monster by kicking the can indefinitely down the road.

The townsfolk heaped praised upon him for his heroics, only to have their goodwill spat right back in their faces as Bittley started asking for increasingly steep "donations" to keep his enchantments in place, all but threatening to release the beasts again if his impromptu tax wasn't paid. Fast forward a couple of decades and Baron Bittley has become rich enough to buy himself a title and become Thimblewell's defacto ruler.

Still not content to be a backwoods landbarron, Bittley's latest scheme is to sell his stockpile of captured beasts one by one to unscrupulous individuals who are in need of a good monster: thieves in need of a distraction, poachers and collectors trafficking in rare specimens, nobles who'd prefer an untraceable and indiscriminate means of assassination. This enterprise is making Bittley even more rich, but with success comes paranoia, and we all know how dangerous a paranoid mage can be.

Challenges & Complications:

1: The drake was intended as a means of assassination, targeted at a countess and her heir attending the playhouse's performance in one of the box seats. As the party runs in to save the screaming commoners, they'll potentially be diverted by the countess's guards, intending to save their employer's life before anyone else's. Saving the noble might earn them a rich reward at the cost of many lives, but choosing to look after the common people will earn them the ire of the acid-scarred heir, who watched them save the rabble while his flesh burned and his mother was crushed to death under rubble.

2: After the party have defeated the bandits, they'll find three more of those arcane canisters left in the box, each containing its own miniaturized monster waiting to be unleashed. The caravan the bandits robbed was smuggling these beasts to a buyer with dangerous aims, meaning the caravan's owners now have good reason to want the party silenced. Do the party report their findings? Extort those who hired them at the cost of a knife in the back? Or do they just take their offbrand pokeballs and run, dreaming of the chaos they can cause.

3: Baron Bittley knows the party is coming for him thanks to his spies in town, he also knows he could never hope to take them in a fair fight. Thankfully he’s got access to magic, so he doesn’t need to fight fair, allowing them into his home only to catch them in a trap that will shrink them down to a few inches tall, whereafter it’s a simple matter of mage-handing them over into the basement bound dowry chest/prison he’s made for all those in town who’ve dissented to his rule over the years.

Thankfully the tiny townsfolk have been working on a jailbreak for some time now, having painstakingly sawed their way out of the box while their inattentive overlord’s been distracted domineering the world outside. The greatest hurdle to their escape has been the wild landscape of the junk fulled manor basement, filled with various pests that’ve become arcanely mutated from the leakage from the mage’s lab on the floor above. The party will need to engage in some borrowers esque traversal across the basement, up through the walls, and into the lab if they have any hope of reversing their predicament.

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#arcane #wizard #villain mage #villain noble #town encounter #rescue mission #bandits #mid level #dungeon #manor #dungeon manor #dnd #dungeons and dragons #d&d #ttprg #pathfinder

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sharedocsdms · 6 months ago

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Transforming Businesses with Enterprise Content Management and Document Approval Workflows in India

In the present speedy computerized scene, organizations across businesses are focusing on effective substance the board to smooth out activities and upgrade efficiency. Enterprise Content Management (ECM) has arisen as a distinct advantage, empowering associations to make due, store, and interaction immense measures of information flawlessly. Joined with robotized Document Approval Workflows, ECM enables organizations to further develop independent direction, limit postponements, and improve joint effort.

For associations in India, the requirement for streamlined Document Approval Workflows in India is developing quickly, determined by the rising interest for digitization and administrative consistency. Organizations managing complex documentation, like agreements, solicitations, or strategy endorsements, frequently face bottlenecks because of manual cycles. Document Approval Workflows dispose of these shortcomings via mechanizing staggered endorsements, guaranteeing archives arrive at the right partners quicker and with more noteworthy exactness.

Why Enterprise Content Management is Crucial

Enterprise Content Management offers a brought together stage for coordinating, getting, and circulating business-basic reports. Here are a few key advantages:

Upgraded Openness: Workers can get to archives whenever, anyplace, further developing coordinated effort and decreasing personal time.

Administrative Consistence: ECM guarantees secure capacity and review trails, assisting associations in India with consenting to neighborhood and worldwide guidelines.

Decreased Functional Expenses: By supplanting manual cycles with computerization, ECM saves time and diminishes authoritative costs.

Further developed Security: ECM stages give hearty encryption and job based admittance, protecting delicate data.

The Job of Document Approval Workflows

A basic part of ECM, Document Approval Workflows are fundamental for organizations hoping to robotize processes like buy orders, HR endorsements, and consistent documentation. These work processes digitize endorsement chains, diminishing human blunder and guaranteeing responsibility.

For instance, associations carrying out Document Approval Workflows in India can computerize endorsements for:

Receipt confirmation and installment handling

HR strategy affirmations

Buy orders and merchant the board

Benefits of Document Approval Workflows in India

Organizations in India can acquire huge benefits via robotizing record endorsements:

Quicker Time required to circle back: Mechanized work processes dispose of defers brought about by manual surveys.

Expanded Straightforwardness: Continuous following guarantees perceivability at every endorsement stage.

Mistake Decrease: Normalized work processes limit the gamble of absent or erroneous endorsements.

Versatility: Work processes can adjust to developing organizations, dealing with bigger volumes of reports easily.

How ECM and Document Workflows Work Together

When joined, Enterprise Content Management and Document Approval Workflows make a consistent biological system for overseeing and handling information. ECM fills in as the spine for content capacity, while work processes computerize errands like endorsements, notices, and accelerations. This incorporation drives effectiveness, empowering groups to zero in on essential drives rather than routine desk work.

Picking the Right Solution

With various ECM Solutions accessible, organizations ought to focus on stages that proposition:

Easy to understand interfaces

Powerful work process robotization abilities

Coordination with existing frameworks

Versatility to help development

Conclusion

As organizations in India embrace advanced change, taking on Enterprise Content Management and Document Approval Workflows is presently not discretionary — it's fundamental. Via robotizing processes and streamlining report the executives, associations can further develop efficiency, diminish expenses, and remain ahead in a serious market. Whether you are a little undertaking or an enormous company, executing Document Approval Workflows in India will open more noteworthy proficiency and accomplishment for your business.

Begin your excursion toward more astute archive executives today and experience the groundbreaking force of ECM and work process computerization.

#enterprise content management #Document Approval Workflows In India #document management system api #best document management software #document approval workflows #document security and compliance

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astriiformes · 1 year ago

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Hi, i just learned about the scientific revolution in europe at school. Can you tell me why you dont think scientific revolutions exist? im curious!

So I feel like I have to lead with the fact that I'm kind of arguing two different points when I say scientific revolutions aren't really a thing

One is that I'm objecting to a specific, extremely foundational theory of scientific revolutions that was put forth by the philosopher Thomas Kuhn, which I think really misrepresents how science is actually practiced in the name of fitting things to a nice model. The other is that I think the fundamental problem with the idea is that it's too vague to effectively describe an actual process that happens.

It's certainly true that there are important advances in science that get referred to as "revolutions" that fundamentally changed their fields -- the shift from the Ptolemaic model of the Solar System to the Copernican one, Darwin's theory of evolution, etc. But there are historians of science (who I tend to agree with) that feel that terming these advances "revolutions" ignores the fact that science is an continuous, accretional process, and somewhat sensationalizes the process of scientific change in the name of celebrating particular scientists or theories over others.

Kuhn's model that he put forth in The Structure of Scientific Revolutions (which is one of those books that itself stirred a great deal of activity in a number of fields) suggests science evolves via what he called "paradigm shifts," where new ideas become fundamentally incompatible with the old model or way of doing things, causing a total overturn in the way scientists see the world, and establishing a new paradigm -- which will eventually cave to another when it, too, ceases to function effectively as a model. This theory became extraordinarily popular when it was published, but it's somewhat telling who it's remained popular with. Economists, political scientists, and literary theorists still use Kuhn, but historians of science, in my experience at least, see his work as historically significant but incompatible with how history is actually studied.

Kuhn posits that between paradigm shifts there are periods of "normal science" where paradigms are unquestioned and anomalies in the current model are largely ignored, until they reach a critical mass and cause a scientific revolution. In reality though, there is often real discussion of those anomalies, and I think the scientific process is not nearly so content to ignore them as Kuhn thinks. Throughout history, we see people expressing a real discontent with unsolved mysteries the current scientific model fails to explain, and glossing over those simply because the individuals in question didn't manage to formulate breakthrough theories to "solve" those problems props up the somewhat infamous "great men" model of history of science, where we focus only on the most famous people in the field as significant instead of acknowledging that science is a social enterprise and no research happens in a vacuum!

Beyond disagreeing with Kuhn specifically though, I think the idea of scientific revolutions vastly simplifies how science evolves and changes, and is ultimately a really ahistorical way of thinking about shifts in thinking. Take the example of the shift from Ptolemaic, geocentric thought to the heliocentric Copernican model of the solar system. When does this supposed "revolution" in thought actually start, and when does it "end" by becoming firmly established? You could argue that the publication of Copernicus' De revolutionibus orbium coelestium in 1543 was the beginning of the shift in thinking -- but of course, then you have the problem of asking where Copernicus' ideas came from in the first place.

The "great men" model of history would suggest Copernicus was a uniquely talented individual who managed to suggest something no one else had ever put forth, but realistically, he was influenced by the scientists who came before him, just like anyone else. There were real objections to the Ptolemaic model during the medieval era! One of the most famous problems in medieval astronomy was the fact that assuming a geocentric model makes the behavior of the planets seem really weird to an observer on Earth, referred to as retrograde motion, which had to be solved with a complicated system of epicycles that people knew wasn't quite working, even if they weren't able to put together exactly why. There were even ancient Greek astronomers who suggested that the sun was at the center of the solar system, going all the way back to Aristarchus of Samos who lived from around 310-230 BCE!

Putting an end point to the Copernican revolution poses similar challenges. Some people opt to suggest that what Copernicus started, either Galileo or Newton finished (which in and of itself means the "revolution" lasted around 100-150 years), but are we defining the shift in terms of new theories, or the consensus of the scientific community? The latter is much harder to pinpoint, and in my opinion as an aspiring historian of science, also much more important. Again, science doesn't happen in a vacuum. Copernicus, Galileo, and Newton may be more famous than their peers, but that doesn't mean the rest of the Renaissance scientific community didn't matter.

Ultimately it's a matter of simple models like Kuhn's (or other definitions of scientific revolutions) being insufficient to explain the complexity of history. Both because science is a complex endeavor, and because it isn't independent from the rest of history. Sure, it's genuinely amazing to consider that Copernicus' De revolutionibus orbium coelestium and the anatomist Andreas Vesalius' similarly influential De humani corporis fabrica were published the same year, and it says something about the intellectual climate of the time. But does it say something about science only, or is it also worth remembering that the introduction of typographic printing a century prior drastically changed how scientists communicated and whose ideas stuck and were remembered? On a similar note, we credit Darwin with suggesting the theory of evolution (and I could write a similarly long response just on the many, many influences in geology and biology both that went into his formulation of said theory), but what does it say that Alfred Russel Wallace independently came up with the theory of natural selection around the same time? Is it sheer coincidence, or does it have more to do with conversations that were already happening in the scientific community both men belonged to that predated the publication of the Origin?

I think that the concept of scientific revolutions is an important part of the history of the history of science, and has its place when talking about how we conceive of certain periods of history. But I'm a skeptic of it being a particularly accurate model, largely on the grounds of objecting to the "great men" model of history and the idea that shifts in thinking can be boiled down to a few important names and dates.

There's a famous Isaac Newton quote (which, fittingly, did not originate with Newton himself, but can be traced back even further to several medieval thinkers) in which he states "If I have seen further it is by standing on the shoulders of Giants." I would argue that science, as an endeavor, is far more like standing on the shoulder of several hundred thousand other people in a trenchcoat. This social element of research is exactly why it's so hard to pull apart any one particular revolution, even when fairly revolutionary theories change the direction of the research that's happening. Ideas belong to a long evolutionary chain, and even if it occasionally goes through periods of punctuated equilibrium, dividing that history into periods of revolution and stagnancy ignores the rich scientific tradition of the "in-between" periods, and the contributions of scientists who never became famous for their work.

#SORRY FOR WRITING A NOVEL #i hope this makes sense and that i am not too deep in the history of science theory to give a good explanation #a much shorter tl;dr answer would be that my stance towards scientific revolutions is more skepticism than total rejection #but hyperbole gets the job done a lot faster haha #getting to the point that i really should have a #history of science tag

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jcmarchi · 6 months ago

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The Evolution of Generative AI in 2025: From Novelty to Necessity

New Post has been published on https://thedigitalinsider.com/the-evolution-of-generative-ai-in-2025-from-novelty-to-necessity/

The Evolution of Generative AI in 2025: From Novelty to Necessity

The year 2025 marks a pivotal moment in the journey of Generative AI (Gen AI). What began as a fascinating technological novelty has now evolved into a critical tool for businesses across various industries.

Generative AI: From Solution Searching for a Problem to Problem-Solving Powerhouse

The initial surge of Gen AI enthusiasm was driven by the raw novelty of interacting with large language models (LLMs), which are trained on vast public data sets. Businesses and individuals alike were rightfully captivated with the ability to type in natural language prompts and receive detailed, coherent responses from the public frontier models. The human-esque quality of the outputs from LLMs led many industries to charge headlong into projects with this new technology, often without a clear business problem to solve or any real KPI to measure success. While there have been some great value unlocks in the early days of Gen AI, it is a clear signal we are in an innovation (or hype) cycle when businesses abandon the practice of identifying a problem first, and then seeking a workable technology solution to solve it.

In 2025, we expect the pendulum to swing back. Organizations will look to Gen AI for business value by first identifying problems that the technology can address. There will surely be many more well funded science projects, and the first wave of Gen AI use cases for summarization, chatbots, content and code generation will continue to flourish, but executives will start holding AI projects accountable for ROI this year. The technology focus will also shift from public general-purpose language models that generate content to an ensemble of narrower models which can be controlled and continually trained on the distinct language of a business to solve real-world problems which impact the bottom line in a measurable way.

2025 will be the year AI moves to the core of the enterprise. Enterprise data is the path to unlock real value with AI, but the training data needed to build a transformational strategy is not on Wikipedia, and it never will be. It lives in contracts, customer and patient records, and in the messy unstructured interactions that often flow through the back office or live in boxes of paper.. Getting that data is complicated, and general purpose LLMs are a poor technology fit here, notwithstanding the privacy, security and data governance concerns. Enterprises will increasingly adopt RAG architectures, and small language models (SLMs) in private cloud settings, allowing them to leverage internal organizational data sets to build proprietary AI solutions with a portfolio of trainable models. Targeted SLMs can understand the specific language of a business and nuances of its data, and provide higher accuracy and transparency at a lower cost point – while staying in line with data privacy and security requirements.

The Critical Role of Data Scrubbing in AI Implementation

As AI initiatives proliferate, organizations must prioritize data quality. The first and most crucial step in implementing AI, whether using LLMs or SLMs, is to ensure that internal data is free from errors and inaccuracies. This process, known as “data scrubbing,” is essential for the curation of a clean data estate, which is the lynchpin for the success of AI projects.

Many organizations still rely on paper documents, which need to be digitized and cleaned for day to day business operations. Ideally, this data would flow into labeled training sets for an organization’s proprietary AI, but we are early days in seeing that happen. In fact, in a recent survey we conducted in collaboration with the Harris Poll, where we interviewed more than 500 IT decision-makers between August-September, found that 59% of organizations aren’t even using their entire data estate. The same report found that 63% of organizations agree that they have a lack of understanding of their own data and this is inhibiting their ability to maximize the potential of GenAI and similar technologies. Privacy, security and governance concerns are certainly obstacles, but accurate and clean data is critical, even slight training errors can lead to compounding issues which are challenging to unwind once an AI model gets it wrong. In 2025, data scrubbing and the pipelines to ensure data quality will become a critical investment area, ensuring that a new breed of enterprise AI systems can operate on reliable and accurate information.

The Expanding Impact of the CTO Role

The role of the Chief Technology Officer (CTO) has always been crucial, but its impact is set to expand tenfold in 2025. Drawing parallels to the “CMO era,” where customer experience under the Chief Marketing Officer was paramount, the coming years will be the “generation of the CTO.”

While the core responsibilities of the CTO remain unchanged, the influence of their decisions will be more significant than ever. Successful CTOs will need a deep understanding of how emerging technologies can reshape their organizations. They must also grasp how AI and the related modern technologies drive business transformation, not just efficiencies within the company’s four walls. The decisions made by CTOs in 2025 will determine the future trajectory of their organizations, making their role more impactful than ever.

The predictions for 2025 highlight a transformative year for Gen AI, data management, and the role of the CTO. As Gen AI moves from being a solution in search of a problem to a problem-solving powerhouse, the importance of data scrubbing, the value of enterprise data estates and the expanding impact of the CTO will shape the future of enterprises. Organizations that embrace these changes will be well-positioned to thrive in the evolving technological landscape.

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invisibleintrovertartist · 4 months ago

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I might've written a one-shot based on this post. 😳👉🏻👈🏻 I started it at 2 AM when I had woken up from a nightmare and needed something else to focus on. The text is... quite long, so I've put the rest of it under the cut. There should be no other content warnings, except alcohol consuming (and snogging). The text is written from Nova's pov and it starts right after the title. It's called:

Pandora's box

The jukebox played a scratchy tune at the street-corner bar in Metro Division, where Neon J and him had chosen to spend their Friday evening in. It had been a long day, and an even longer week for every artist under the NSR label.

After the Rock Revolution, a complete overhaul of the system — that was long overdue — had been put into motion and the musical enterprise, that had once governed the city with an authoritarian hold, had to be entirely re-established. This included piles of paper work, tedious and long-winded conferences, countless phone calls and overall working overtime.

When J had suggested that they go and grab some drinks after the last meeting before weekend, Nova had agreed without a second thought. The bags under his eyes had seemed to only double in size for the past couple of days, when he'd tried getting on top of his schedule by carrying out tasks in the nocturnal hours. His body had almost entered the autopilot settings by now, and a glass of ethylic alcohol would probably help with relaxing him into the day offs, instead of the never-ending chain of caffeine dosages that had only managed to turn him more jittery and agitated.

A few drinks wouldn't hurt — not when they had a cause to celebrate the first fruits of their labor, that hadn't rotted into the trees.

Nova drummed his fingers lazily on the slightly sticky surface of the table they were sitting at. They were occupying a quiet corner farthest from the entrance, and any curious on-lookers. Nova's rhythm had begun to falter at around the third cosmopolitan. He had never possessed a strong alcohol tolerance to begin with. He was also unfortunately not immune to J's charms, who had tried pulling him into a friendly competition in the form of a drinking game earlier, and eventually succeeded.

Well, at least there's a whole weekend to nurse a headache if it should come to that, Nova had thought and pliantly given in.

J rolled his wrist in a little circle, the brown liquid swirling on the bottom of his glass, where a few ice cubes had already melted. The evening was warm, and the bar's antique air conditioner tried pathetically whispering the humidity away from the confined space. They had both hung up their jackets on a nearby coat rack a long while ago. The scaly leather padding on Nova's chair kept sticking to the back of his knees, but he ignored the sensation in favor of focusing on chatting with J.

They'd swapped stories about their youth, argued about engineering and mechanics, and discussed the importance of astronomy in naval navigation. Nova had listened to J ramble about his deployment years: how he recounted romanticized tales about his voyages, that had clearly been coated with a golden sheen of nostalgia, and gestured his hands for more dramatic effect and emphasized the climactic parts. J was a great performer and a storyteller.

Nova noted every swipe of the hand, every fist glenched over his chest and every turn of the head, that made his hair whisk from side to side.

He wasn't even surprised, when his gaze occasionally dipped from J's eyes and to his mouth instead. It formed a wide jolly smile when excited, and Nova subtly traced the curving edges with a bubbling warmth somewhere in his abdomen.

It wasn't a regular stomachache or heartburn, as he'd learned approximately six months ago, but more of a psychosomatic reaction caused by a secret fondness, that he felt towards his best friend.

He couldn't exactly pinpoint when the feeling had first appeared. It probably had creeped in little by little, going unnoticed in the beginning as a microschopic spore, until it had settled in and grown a network of wispy mycelium all over his heart and ultimately started conducting the beat.

It was as if he had suddenly begun seeing J through a different kind of lens.

His appreciation had turned to wanting, anticipation to yearning and a fair deal of his thoughts, that had been innocent and neutral for the entire duration of their friendship, had twisted into ravenous, restless fantasies.

The feeling was bothersome, but manageable on average days, and he only ever indulged it on those occasional rare nights, when sleep eluded him. Now, it was a raging storm inside, fueled by the intoxicant into a frenzied hurricane. It tried clawing its way out of his throat, beckoning him to say something impulsive and idiotic at J, and making the tips of his fingers tingle with the need to touch him longer, than was platonically appropriate.

His eyes had started drooping a little and he felt his cheeks faintly beaming with warmth, that wasn't caused by the sweltering air outside.

The conversation between him and J had turned into companionable silence a few minutes ago, allowing Nova to safely zone out and let his thoughts wander freely. They seemed to automatically steer towards the lagoon of ludicrousy, where the siren-song of all his buried desires lulled him into a sweet, silent reverie.

His head felt light, but heavy at the same time, and he slowly lowered it to rest on his arms. Both his eyelids slid shut. He drew in a deep breath through his nostrils, and puffed it out a little more forcefully, than was intended.

J stirred awake from his nostalgia trip at that and shifted beside him. He chuckled amusedly.

"What's wrong? Drink starting to get to your head?" he asked false incredulously while grinning smugly. Nova parted his eyelids halfway open and shot him an annoyed look from between them. That only made J laugh and slap him on the back mirthfully. His cheeks held a faint dusky color, but otherwise he seemed far more sober than Nova. He leaned away and smiled down at him.

"I told you I'd be able to hold my liquor longer," he announced victoriously. "Did you forget that I'm a sailor, Nova?"

Nova pushed himself up and squinted at him. His vision seemed a little foggy and he had some trouble focusing it in the dim lighting of the room. He steadied himself against the surface of the table and turned in his seat to fully face J, who had done the same. Both their knees were nearly touching each other. One of J's eyebrows was raised almost provokatively, as if anticipating a quippy remark from Nova, delivered in his usual haughty fashion.

Nova's thoughts however had slowed down considerably, and any sassy comments not only took longer to form, but also kept continuously slipping away from his grasp. They were like fluttering butterflies, that he tried catching with a net by flailing around clumsily.

His gaze fell once again on J's lips.

He studied them intently, the only point of clarity among the haziness, that had swallowed up the entire room. He noticed an incospicuous line on his lower lip, that was slightly lighter than the surrounding skin. Nova also detected some dryness there, and swallowed thickly, when the pink tip of a tongue darted out and swiftly wet the plushy mounds.

He moved upwards to observe J's tidy and painstakingly groomed moustache, that covered most of his upper lip. J always took such good care of his appearance, either out of vanity or some remnant of a habit, that had been left from the navy. Either way, Nova could finally appreciate all the effort that went into his looks, although he had never personally experienced a similar need for upholding those kind of things himself. He'd even thought such superficiality to be frivolous and only a huge waste of one's limited time, back in the day.

When an awkward smile pulled the corners of J's mouth, Nova couldn't help, but come up with a metaphor for his notions.

J's lips were like the box of Pandora, and his moustache was the lid. There was a forbidden mystery hidden beneath it, a temptation written on the polished ebony cover. A certain dread existed within it too. If he decided to be bold and take a peek inside, would he find the damnation of mankind, or pure unimaginable bliss?

A part of him, that was most likely the true personification of himself, was appalled at the whole idea, finding it extremely irrational and risky — not to mention inconsiderate too. Another part, that possessed lower inhibitions, incited him to simply give in and not think too much about the consequences.

Besides, hadn't he just two weeks ago made a conclusion, that the feelings that tormented him every waking moment of the day, might've been actually reciprocal?

Hadn't he belatedly realised after one of his and J's interactions, that the latter had been flirting with him? It was hard to prove afterwards, as he'd been oblivious in the moment and remained ignorant for over three following days, until the realization had suddenly dawned on him in the middle of a morning shower.

The optimist within him wanted to believe, that he was indeed special in J's eyes, and that his possible advances in the future wouldn't be outright rejected by him. He also wanted to think, that they were gradually approaching a point in their relationship, where all uncertainties and hesitations on Nova's part would simply vanish on their own, and he could finally be out with his feelings and bare his heart to J.

The pessimist and the realist were obviously more reserved at the concept. Afterall, any potential conflicts and misunderstandings between him and J would not just affect them on an individual level, but on the company level as well. In a worst case scenario, dallying with J in the wrong way and in the wrong place, could endanger his entire career and get him thrown out of NSR. Not a desirable outcome, admittedly...

Nova swayed slightly in place. He started feeling a strong tidal pull, that was dragging him towards the open sea and the lethargic fathoms below. A seagull flapped its wings in his field of view. The motion was obtrusive and irritating. He thought he heard the bird cackling at him, until the shrill noise started morphing into recognizable words.

Nova, do you copy?

The humming in his ears begun to subside, though his vision was still lagging behind.

"Earth to Nova!"

J raised his voice a little, waving his hand in his face and shaking him by one of his shoulders. That made Nova flinch a bit and return to the present. He brought his hand to his face and tried rubbing the fog out of his eyes to no avail. When he lowered his hand, he saw J leaning across his seat with a sympathetic smile on his face, which was only about ten inches from his own.

"I think you've had plenty to drink tonight," he said softly and moved Nova's glass, that only had a quarter of liquid remaining on the bottom away and out of his reach. Nova chased the movement absently and started drooping forward again. J caught him with two firm hands on his shoulders and gently pushed him into a more straight position.

Nova knew he was talking to him, but his ears registered no audio. Only the movement of J's mouth kept him anchored and prevented him from slipping back into the world of inebriated daydreams. He wasn't particularly adept at reading lips, but could still discern them wrapping around his name, and then spouting incoherent nonsense for an indefinable time, before going still.

A hurried resoluteness rushed over his mind — a reckless madness of some sort. The heady feeling cleared his senses for a fraction of a moment, as the speed of his heartbeat increased by double, and blood surged into his limbs. He felt like he was standing on the edge of a steep cliff, ready to jump off and plunge himself into the murky water below.

When J leaned closer and tilted his head questioningly at him, he saw every wrinkle and imperfection on his skin, and could almost count all of his eyelashes individually.

He drew in air and opened his mouth to say something, when Nova suddenly grabbed at his waist and surged forward.

He could hear J letting out a small noise, that was quickly stifled under Nova's lips, when he unceremoniously crashed them against his. He tasted the tangy, bitter flavor of whisky on them, but also a richer, more pleasant undertone. Nova had never understood the appeal of basically guzzling hand sanitizer, as he was more partial to sweeter drinks, but apparently J enjoyed it, since it was also one of the numerous quirks that he'd picked up while at sea and refused to drop on land.

A million thoughts raced crisscrossingly in his mind, and parts of his cerebral cortex, that had laid dormant for the better part of a decade, started activating and pushing all kinds of garbled signals into his neural network. He became aware of J's hands digging into his skin through the fabric of his shirt, and how he took shallow little sips of air through his nose. His body was rigid and he trembled slightly in Nova's hold.

It was as if cold water had been poured down Nova's back.

The delightful tickling warmth in his gut started turning into frosty, sharp prickles. His mind started overcasting with ominous, black thunder clouds, that shot jagged knives of lightning to the ground and growled at him menacingly. J doesn't like this; he's uncomfortable; you need to stop; you're hurting him!

Just as Nova was about to figuratively yank himself by the scruff of his neck and start hurriedly spitting out apologies and beg for forgiveness, he felt J pinching his lower lip between his own and sighing concedingly against his cheek.

The hand on his other shoulder relinquished its hold, and started climbing his neck all the way to his jaw and to the back of his ear. When the tips of J's silk covered fingers brushed the bare skin there, it made a shiver run down Nova's spine and a wave of euphoria wash over him. J's other hand snaked over and across his upper back and shoulder blades, until he had wrapped his arm snugly around him. Nova was forced to open his eyes out of pure reflex, when J's palm slid to the back of his head and tilted it into a perfect angle.

And when J hummed contently and deepened the kiss, Nova's eyes rolled back into his skull and he took a deep relieved breath.

The prickles that had chained him into place had melted, and he could feel sensation on his hands again.

He felt at J's coarse turtleneck sweater and gripped his waist and torso a little tighter, bringing him closer to his chest and almost dragging him into his lap. J used Nova's shoulders as leverage and raised himself higher, tilting his head even further to the side and sealing any remaining gaps between their lips.

He pushed in deeper and kept kneading and even nipping his lips every now and then, while carding his digits through Nova's short hair. Nova had to admit, that J's moustache tickled him a little. At the same time, he fretted over his own scratchy beard, remembering that the skin on J's scarred side was more sensitive than the rest, and not wishing to give him any serious scrapes or burns that could become infected.

When J's tongue experimentally licked the inner surface of his upper lip, he forgot about pretty much everything.

If he had been asked about his thesis, or the numerous scientific papers he'd written over the years after his graduation, — or even his music career — he would've probably stared at the questioner dumbly, not even able to recite his own name. The bar faded into the background, and he felt as if he was floating in zero gravity, with no concept of up or down. He clutched J even closer and boldly answered his explorations, getting self-accomplished gratification from the way he twisted in his grip and muffled a groan into his mouth.

They were practically wrapped around each other by now. Their breaths had started mingling and eventually blended into one. What J exhaled, he inhaled and vice versa, until the air became stale with too much carbon dioxide, and they were forced to separate and take deep, proper breaths.

J's once so tidy moustache was completely ruffled, his cheeks were flushed and he had a dreamy faraway look in his darkened eyes. He panted shudderingly and kept softly glenching and unglenching his fist on Nova's shirt. He shook his head to himself, licking his lips and chuckling almost scoldingly at Nova, who was still looking at him mesmerized.

"I'm going to be so cross with you if you don't remember this tomorrow," he said and smiled, despite the chastising tone.

Nova, ever the practical thinker, broke out of his trance at that and immediately started reaching into his pocket and fumbling for his cellphone.

"Don't worry. I'll set a reminder..." he mumbled distractedly and drew the device out. He tried tapping the code into the pinpad on the lock screen, pressing a wrong button three times, until he was let through and an assortment of apps greeted him. He chose the calendar app from a folder, while J kept laughing at him in either amazement, disbelief or the overall absurdity of the situation.

After poking the keyboard with his bulky thumb and writing a simple, barely legible message for his future self — who'd most likely wake up next morning with the mother of all headaches — he dismissively pushed the power button on the side and dropped his phone back into his pocket.

He grabbed at J again and tried leaning in, but was abruptly stopped with a finger pressed over his lips. J had sobered up and was now looking at him more seriously.

"As much as I'd like to pick up from where we left off," he said steadily, "—you're still drunk, Nova. We're both drunk."

He removed his finger once he sensed no protesting from Nova, and moved his hand to his cheek. All of a sudden, Nova began feeling very tired and yawned, despite attempting to stifle it. J chuckled and lightly stroked his thumb over his cheekbone.

"Exactly. Let's continue this some other day, when we're both dried out and can appreciate it better."

Nova looked at him dubiously, but was too drowsy to come up with a valid argument and keep pushing on the issue.

"... Alright," he conceded.

J let him go at that, and Nova was free to try and rub the sluggishness out of his eyes again. It didn't really make a major difference this time either, but at least the stinging helped with centering himself and returning back into the present moment. The euphoric initial phase of his drunkenness had passed, and left him with a weariness, that was swiftly overtaking his body in its entirety.

He got up from his seat, and almost tipped to the floor, when he felt blood rushing down from his head and into his legs. He gripped the back of the chair and slightly swayed in place, as if he was standing in a flimsy boat right in the middle of the Great Pacific Ocean, waves rocking him back and forth.

Once the dizzying feeling receded, he took a careful step and followed it with another. He began making his way towards the coat rack, but was stopped with a hand on his arm and J holding up his hoodie right in front of him. He had already dressed into his furred military coat.

Nova took the offered garment gratefully and slipped it on. J circled on his side and slithered his arm around his, until they were unequivocally arm in arm.

"I'll walk you home. Someone has to make sure you actually get there," he joked. He shifted to look at Nova, gentle concern written all over his features.

"Will you be able to stay upright?" he checked and started slowly dragging them both towards the door, tugging on Nova's arm.

"I might not have sea legs like you do, but I'll manage," Nova affirmed with a grunt, and made J snort.

"That's the spirit! One foot after the another, soldier!" he laughed, like they were climbing out of the trenches after a series of relentless artillery fire had ceased. He pushed the flaky door open with his side, the rusty bell attached above it making a slight jingling sound, until they were outside in the warm starry night.

Nova noticed his gaze automatically drifting towards the sky, trying to find a particular bright speck, that was Saturn. Although its moons were impossible to see from Earth with a naked eye, he still zoomed in and searched for the one, that had been named after a curious woman from Greek mythology. The gods had gifted her with a box, that should've never been opened, for it deceivably held all the plagues and curses of the world. Pandora could not resist the temptation for the unknown, and thus was enticed into opening the box, releasing sickness and evil upon humankind.

Nova's eyes dropped to the valiant companion on his side. A dopey and ridiculously mushy smile tweaked the corners of his mouth at the sight. J instinctively turned to him, and upon noticing the way Nova was staring at him, he blushed adorably, eyes twinkling with a thrilling sense of delight and flusteredness. He averted his gaze and muttered something about watching where they were going, but smiled pleasedly nonetheless.

What Nova hadn't remembered earlier from the original myth of Pandora was, that according to it, she had eventually closed the lid, leaving one thing on the bottom of the box, waiting for the time when it would be opened next.

Hope.

He huffed a soft chuckle to himself, and focused on the road ahead. The neon lights of Metro Division created a funky, vibrant path for the two late-night wanderers.

There was a long way to go still, but at least they could have a chance at trekking it together — being far closer to each other, than either of them would've ever been able to predict.

#no straight roads #nsr #no straight roads one-shot #neonnova one-shot #neon j gijinka #djss gijinka #neonnova #I didn't want to post this on AO3 because it probably wouldn't make much sense to anyone unless I linked the comic there for context #this is very self indulgent #remember folks: English is not my native language so this might seem a bit weird #I'm kinda nervous since this is only the second text I've ever published online #my writing

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cruisingheightswithdragons · 1 month ago

Text

Star Trek: Lilip

Chapter One: Lilip

Summary: The Enterprise-D receives a distress call from a research station on a lush moon. They manage to find a humanoid alien of an unknown species, and bring them on board.

Word Count: 5148

Author’s Note: I thought it’d be fun to write chronicles of my Star Trek OC’s life, detailing their story and exploring their character. Hope you enjoy the beginning of a long series!

Act One

Captain’s Log, Stardate 43085.7 (February 1st, 2366; 7:07 am). Not long after Doctor Crusher had been transferred aboard, and Doctor Pulaski having departed, we have had little time for reunion as the Enterprise received an urgent distress call from the Terys star system. After looking through decades old data, it was found that the Federation had established a research station on a Class-M moon orbiting the lone gas giant in the system. However, the station had severed contact through unknown means, and attempts to reach out over the years had resulted in failure.

So, to say receiving a message from this station after six decades of silence has been a surprise is quite the understatement. Especially given that the station was set up to catalogue the life forms on the moon, and research how life can evolve and thrive on a gas giant’s satellite. Should this mission bode well, it would be imperative that the data from the station be recovered. The information they have could prove invaluable to future exobiological research.

“We are within range, sir.” Lieutenant Commander Data announced from his station at ops. His pearlescent hands thrummed away on the control panel in front of him with calculated accuracy. The ship was just now entering the star system.

“Very good.” The Captain of the ship, Jean-Luc Picard pulled at his red uniform as soon as he voiced his acknowledgment. He turned to the other station several feet to Data’s right, with an officer seated at another control panel. “Open communications, Ensign Gates. Let them know that we are here to assist.”

“Right away, Captain.” Gates replied. She tapped her panel diligently. With two beeps coming from her station, it was clear the message had been sent.

But would it be received? And would there be a response? That was yet to be seen as the Enterprise passed the star. It glowed a bright, almost white yellow. A plume of plasma erupted from the fiery surface, shaking the ship as the flames licked her hull.

“Shields are steady, Captain.” The Klingon, Lieutenant Worf, announced once the shaking ceased.

“Maintain course,” Captain Picard commanded, “Ensign, status?”

“No response, sir.” Gates said.

Picard furrowed his brow as his gaze landed back to the viewscreen. In the distance, a tiny, blue speck pierced its color through the vast expanse of space. It grew larger as the ship neared the gas giant. The planet was huge, its atmosphere was streaked with stripes of various blues. The clouds that made up the planet swirled around at incredible speeds.

Alarming speeds, actually. For there was an arch of atmosphere that bulged from the planet. It flickered like fire here and there as the gas giant expelled its contents. It was clear that this was what the distress call was about, as the expulsion was so rapid and powerful that it would no doubt reach the moon and tear apart its own atmosphere.

“Bring us around,” Picard ordered, “We must make sure that the moon hasn't been struck.”

Upon entering the commands on the console, the Enterprise maneuvered around the evaporating gas giant. It was impossible to avoid the blast from the expulsion of atmosphere, and it rocked the ship violently. Bodies flung this way and that from the momentum, but were quickly recovered once the quaking stopped.

“Damage report.” Picard demanded.

“Shields holding at eighty percent, Captain.” Worf said in return as he steadied himself on his console.

“Let’s just hope the moon holds out better than us…”

The satellite came into view after a careful orbit around its host. It was tiny compared to the giant, about the size of Earth’s moon. Breaking the vast, blue ocean was one supercontinent covered in lush, green vegetation, with a mountain range splitting it down the middle. Down there was the research station, which was last reported having a staff of one hundred and four personnel, but that was sixty years ago. It was only speculation what the number could be now— Larger? Smaller?

While the sight of such a planetoid bursting with life was beautiful, such wonder was doused upon taking closer inspection of its atmosphere. A pale blue trail faced away from the moon’s host like the tail of a comet. The air that the flora and fauna breathed was being stripped away. The Enterprise was too late.

Captain Picard stiffened at the sight. He cocked his head in Data’s direction, urgency flashing in his eyes. “Data, can you find any life signs?”

“It is difficult to tell, sir,” Data’s calm tenor sounded as he tapped away on his console, “The drastic changes in the moon’s atmosphere coupled with the planet’s rapid expulsion of its own is making it difficult to scan for life forms.”

William Riker, the Captain’s first officer, stood from his seat and took a step forward, his beautiful blue eyes not leaving the main viewscreen. “Do you have the coordinates of the station?”

“Affirmative.” Data confirmed.

“Scan there, see what you can find.”

While Data focused his search, a worried voice spilled from the lips of the Betazoid counselor, Deanna Troi. “Captain,” She addressed, “I’m sensing something from the surface…”

Picard turned to his trusted confidante, his gaze urged her to continue.

“An intense feeling of fear…” Troi’s black eyes clouded as she focused her mind to the sensations she began to pick up from the pseudo-antlers that made two bumps on her forehead. “And pain… great pain… Someone is down there, and they’re hurt badly…”

“Captain,” Data interrupted, “I can confirm life signs aboard the station, but it is difficult to determine how many.”

A blast from the gas giant pushed at the starship, rocking the bridge as people desperately tried to keep their footing.

“We cannot hold orbit around the moon or the planet for long, not unless we want to take a beating.” Picard planted his foot down firmly onto the carpet as the shaking stopped, steadily returning to his usual posture. He turned to Data. “Data, I want you to get down to the research station as quickly as you can.” Another plume of atmospheric discharge shook the ship. “You have one hour to assess the damage, and rescue anyone that may still be alive.”

“Just Data, sir?” Worf asked.

It was Data who answered. “With the change in atmosphere, it can be concluded that it would be impossible to breathe. As I do not require oxygen to survive, it is safest for myself to go, should the life support systems of the station fail.”

Worf simply nodded in agreement.

“Hurry, Mr. Data. Based on what we’re seeing, you don’t have much time.” Picard ushered as another shake rocked the bridge before quickly subsiding.

The android stood from his post, which was quickly filled by another officer as Data strode towards the turbolift. After inputting his destination for transporter room three, the lift moved in response. It moaned quietly as it made its way down, passing level after level. It finally stopped after several seconds, and the doors slid open.

Data walked briskly through the corridor until he reached his destination. A transporter pad against the wall made the rest of the room reflect a blue light. The officer that manned the station, Miles O’Brien, stood by a console several meters away.

“Ready when you are, sir.” O’Brien said in his Irish accent.

After grabbing a tricorder, Data hopped up to the pad, and positioned himself to stand above a white circle of light. “Energize.”

With a few taps of the console, and a sliding motion from his fingers, O’Brien breathed life into the transporter. The glow brightened, and Data was enveloped by blue streaks of light, his figure fading away until he disappeared completely. The machine ceased its bright glow as soon as the android vanished from sight, returning the room to a comfortable level of brightness as the machine purred its gentle hum.

It was by pure chance that the rapidly changing atmosphere didn’t interfere with the beam down. Data’s form appeared, wrapped in a blue light as he was transported from the ship to the inside of the station. The building was dark—the power having gone out from the strong winds outside. Shelves and appliances littered the floor. The station had definitely taken a beating from the high winds that blasted its walls and shook the room.

Tricorder in hand, the device lit up and murmured a droning sound as Data scanned the area. Stepping with calculated precision to avoid any debris, he moved his tricorder back and forth. There was very little oxygen in the room he had beamed into, and Data suspected that perhaps it was like that throughout the rest of the building. Regardless, it was worth looking around for anyone, especially if the life form that Counselor Troi sensed was still alive. After making his way down a dark hallway, Data entered what appeared to be a room dedicated to the operations of the station. A giant crack marred the wall and yawned as wind punctured its way inside. It wasn’t at all a surprise that there were several bodies scattered around, every one of them showing signs of asphyxiation.

One of the personnel, a Caitian, leaned limply against a podium with a control panel that was still lit with power. The feline’s eyes were bulging from her sandy colored face, but surprisingly showed the relief she felt in her last moments. Upon closer inspection of the panel, Data saw that the Caitian had rerouted all backup power to a single room. Life support was on and running in that space alone.

His photographic memory giving him the layout of the building, Data carried himself briskly through the next corridor. A ventilation pipe had ripped itself off the ceiling and groaned against the floor. Maneuvering himself around the pipe, the android continued until he had reached the room that still had power. With quick thinking, Data tapped the control panel next to the door. It opened, and a burst of air slapped against him as he quickly nosed his way inside. The door shut tightly behind him the second he had entered. Whatever loss there was in oxygen from the open door was minimal.

As Data scanned the room, it was apparent that these were sleeping quarters. A bed rested neatly against the far wall where a window rattled violently above it, ready to shatter at any moment. The pillows had been tossed to the floor, and the blanket dangled lamely from the mattress. To the right, a bookshelf had fallen and scattered its contents into a messy pile. But from the pile of fallen books and PADDs, a small, dark hand peeked through a gap.

Quickly, Data rushed to the bookshelf and used his superhuman strength to lift it off of whatever it had fallen on. Throwing it aside with relative ease, he soon picked away at the books. As he did so, the body underneath grew more visible.

It was a humanoid with deep, magenta skin. Their curly hair was a dark purple that cascaded in ribbons down to their shoulders. Interestingly, their ears were long and pointed with rows of grooves inside them. From the ear and to the chin, mutton chops of hair fanned out similar to the ruffs of fur belonging to an Earth lynx. What’s more, peeking from the bottom of their knee length gown, a purple furred tail twitched. This being—whoever and whatever they were—was alive.

Act Two

Pulling the alien out from the mess, Data heard a weak whimper. They were clearly in pain.

The window began to crack under the battering of wind. Immediately Data pressed his hand to his combadge, the golden delta chirping in response. “Data to Enterprise,” He began quickly, “I have one survivor. Two to beam directly to sickbay.” He returned his hand to the being that groaned in agony, holding them in his arms as the shafts of light enveloped the both of them. Soon, they vanished from the spot in the same instance that the window finally caved under the pressure and shattered.

Data had found himself and this stranger back on the Enterprise in its sickbay. In an instant, Doctor Beverly Crusher rushed to the pair, ushering them to a biobed. Data complied, and set the being down as Doctor Crusher began to scan them.

“Was she the only survivor?” Doctor Crusher asked Data.

The android nodded. “She was in the only room with life support systems active. While I did not cover the entire station, it can be surmised that everyone else had perished. It was clear from the bodies I had encountered that they all died from lack of oxygen.” He twitched his head, his yellow eyes darting back and forth as he made some calculations. “I estimate the time of death for the personnel aboard to have been within the frame of thirty to forty minutes before we had gotten to the moon.”

While she continued scanning, the doctor nodded, her eyes softened at her patient. Looking over her tricorder, she could see several bruised ribs, the bones in their arms splintered, and a concussion.

The patient’s eyes rolled lazily open as they opened their mouth to release a pitiful sigh. The whites of their eyes were a pale lavender, and the irises were a darker purple. Scrunching their bushy eyebrows, they looked around as best they could, their sight settling on Data, who returned the gaze.

“Data,” Doctor Crusher started, “I need to grab some hyposprays. I’ll be gone for just a moment, but please do your best to keep her from falling asleep, alright?”

“Of course, Doctor.” Data accepted as Crusher briskly stepped away to a small area out of sight. He looked back down at the being who began to move their hand. Their magenta fingers brushed against Data’s yellow uniform, and in response he grabbed their hand softly. “I am Lieutenant Commander Data. You are aboard the USS Enterprise. You are safe now.”

As the patient began to blink in acknowledgment, Doctor Crusher returned with three hyposprays. One by one, she pressed them to her patient’s neck and squeezed the trigger. They released a sharp hiss, but Data could see that the pain they were feeling was starting to subside thanks to the medicine.

“How’s that?” Doctor Crusher asked. She pressed her palm sweetly onto their shoulder.

After a strained swallow, the patient finally spoke. “…better…” They answered, their voice soft and quiet.

“I’ll need to gather a few tools in order to heal your bruises and your head. Will you be alright with Data for a minute?”

The being nodded, looking back at Data and squeezing his hand.

While Doctor Crusher rushed to a counter a few meters away, Data looked back towards the being. “May I ask, what is your name?”

With tremendous effort, the being coughed out, “Lilip…”

“Lily?” Doctor Crusher echoed upon her return. She pressed a thin, pen-like device over Lilip’s head. “That’s a beautiful name.”

“Lilip!” Lilip repeated, gaining more of their voice back. “With a puh at the end!” Their correction was cut off as their voice scratched at their throat.

“Lilip…” Doctor Crusher switched to a device that looked like a tricorder, but with two prongs at the end. She hovered the device over Lilip’s chest. “I like that name, very lovely.” Her eyes moved to Data. “And you’ve already made a friend.”

Lilip and Data once again locked eyes. The magenta being smiled warmly, though their eyes betrayed the pain they felt as Doctor Crusher set to work. It felt as if their ribs were being pressed tightly against the muscles that cradled them as the bruising faded. Their lungs felt tight and heavy, but the sensation soon evaporated, and Lilip gulped a mouthful of air.

“There we go, just breathe,” Doctor Crusher cooed, “I can’t imagine how hard it must have been to breathe down there.”

“Actually, Doctor,” Data said, “They were in the only room that had any power left, including life support systems.” He glanced down as the medical device moved up and down Lilip’s arms. “However, they were trapped underneath a fallen bookcase, so I would not doubt the possibility.” Blinking, his eyes met the purple stranger’s. “Is that a correct assumption?”

Lilip nodded. “Is everyone else okay..?”

Doctor Crusher ceased her work and glanced up at Data. The knowing look they both gave each other was all Lilip needed. Tears of pain turned to those of grief as they wept silently, squeezing Data’s hand yet again. The android let his other hand cup theirs, sandwiching it between him.

“Your bedside manner has improved since I’ve been away, Data.” Doctor Crusher teased playfully. She finally put her medical devices down on a table and placed her palm on Lilip’s arm. “You’ll be alright, just go easy for a few days.” She took Lilip’s other hand in hers. “You have my condolences, truly.”

As Lilip sunk their head into the pillow with Crusher wiping away their tears, the doors to sickbay opened. Lilip glanced through misty eyes as a tall human man with brown hair and a matching beard strode into the room alongside an older man with a bald head. The two wore uniforms similar to Data and Doctor Crusher, but were red instead of their respective yellow and blue.

“Data, report.” The older man ordered.

“Yes, Captain,” Data replied, “Upon my inspection, it can be concluded that—other than the lone survivor that had been recovered—all personnel had perished from the rapid evaporation of the atmosphere.”

“Well, couldn’t they just have locked themselves inside the building with life support?” The bearded man asked.

“From what I had gathered, the station could not withstand the wind speeds, and therefore would have left many places open for the oxygen supply to escape, such as the operations room,” Data answered as he let his eyes rest on Lilip, “I only had a short window of time to retrieve her before the systems failed entirely.”

“Well done, Data.” The bald man praised. He took a few steps forward to meet with the magenta being. “I am Jean-Luc Picard, Captain of this ship.” He waved a hand towards the bearded man. “This is my first officer, Commander William Riker.”

Riker gave a curt nod towards Lilip.

Captain Picard continued, “We’d ask a few questions, if you’re willing.”

Lilip, meanwhile, took their hands back and shuffled into a sitting position. Their ribs felt sore, and placing weight on their arms caused a jolt of discomfort to shoot through their limbs.

“Jean-Luc…” Doctor Crusher reprimanded, “She’s just lost her home, her family, her friends… give her time to settle down from the shock of it all.”

“And I would be happy to, but Command has issued me to give a full report on the information gathered from the station as soon as possible. I’m afraid this cannot wait.” He turned to Data. “Have you recovered anything in that regard while you were down there?”

“Negative, sir. I had no time if it meant saving Lilip.” The android returned.

“Lilip?”

“My name…” Lilip muttered softly. They rubbed their eyes to keep back tears, and let out a hoarse sniff. “If you want all the research notes we’ve collected over the years, I could catalogue them.”

“Is it possible that you could even remember it all?” Riker asked.

“Not… all of it,” Lilip admitted as they fought back a choked sob, still raw from grief, “But I can at least record what I can remember.”

Captain Picard sighed, his brow furrowed in disappointment. “All that information is lost… The gas giant ripped away the moon’s entire atmosphere, and with it uprooted the station since you’ve transported on board. Even if Data could beam down again, it would be a fruitless endeavor…”

“I still have the data I can remember!”

“Yes, but it would take quite a bit of time for you to record it all.”

“Captain,” Data interjected, “While it is true that we did not recover the data from the station’s archives, Lilip offering to record what they know is the only chance we have to learn about the biosphere of a gas giant’s satellite, to say nothing of a station that had been lost for sixty years.” He looked from his captain back to Lilip. “I propose that—as she has no place to go—Lilip remain aboard the Enterprise to catalogue whatever information she can recall. As senior officer of sciences, I will supervise her work.”

“That’s a pretty big proposal there, Data.” Commander Riker said.

“Yes. Indeed… And one that must be carefully thought over” Captain Picard muttered under his breath. He turned to face Lilip. “You are welcome aboard the Enterprise currently as a patient to Doctor Crusher, but as for this idea of you staying here…”

“Please?” Lilip asked. “I don’t know where else I can go. At least here, I can be of use to you.”

“That will remain to be seen,” Picard said, “But do rest now. We’ll have much to go over once you’ve regained your energy…” His gaze softened. “...and had a chance to grieve.” His eyes then fixed to Data. “Meet me in my ready room, we’ll discuss more there.”

“Yes, sir.” Data followed Picard and Riker to the exit.

Riker paused and turned around, his eyes resting on Doctor Crusher. “Good to be back, huh Bev?”

Doctor Crusher smiled. “Now that I’ve got my work cut out for me, it really is.”

Act Three

Captain Picard sat at his desk, his eyes looking sightlessly ahead. Upon focusing his gaze, he took one fond glance at the lionfish in his little aquarium before shifting to Data and Riker. “There’s still the question as to how and why the station had lost contact with the rest of the Federation for all these years.”

“Perhaps with the solar radiation from the star, it caused a storm much like the one we encountered upon our arrival, although not as strong.” Data hypothesized.

“Communication systems were completely dead,” Riker added, “It’s likely that they’ve been disabled all this time.”

“Yes, I was thinking the same thing,” Picard sighed, “All that information… all those people… decades of research from the moon… all that life, gone.”

“We still have Lilip.” Data reminded.

“That’s another thing,” Picard said, “This Lilip… Do we know anything about her? About her species?”

“She’s not like anyone else we’ve ever come across before,” Riker noted, “It’s safe to say we know nothing about her.”

“Mm, indeed.” Picard placed his index finger and thumb to his chin in thought. Letting his back rest against his chair, he softly swiveled to and fro as he let himself think.

Data took a step forward, his brows raised. “Lilip did offer to report any information they had learned and remembered. Perhaps her knowledge of her own species is part of that roster.”

Picard nodded. “I have Doctor Crusher analyzing the subject as we speak.”

“This’ll make quite the report back to Command, won’t it?” Riker wondered.

“Oh, Yes.” Picard’s voice had a hint of intrigue to it. He faced Data. “You did very well in retrieving Lilip, well done.” He paused his swiveling “I have given some thought to your proposal about her.”

Data’s eyes flashed with interest.

The Captain continued. “I have elected to have her stay aboard the Enterprise for now. Once she recovers, she will be assigned quarters, and I expect you to oversee her reports, Mr. Data. While her memory may not be as strong as official logs from the station, it’s all we have. I’ll alert Command to the situation at hand in my report. We will shelter her in the meantime until they decide what will be next for her. Understood?”

“Yes, Captain.” Data confirmed.

“Number One?”

“Understood, sir.” Riker insisted.

Picard stood from his seat and pulled at the bottom of his top. “Very good. Dismissed.”

“Well, everything looks good,” Doctor Crusher examined as she scanned Lilip with her tricorder. “Vitals are normal… I suppose.” She glanced up to look Lilip in the eyes. “How do you feel?”

It had been around ten minutes since Lilip woke from a brief nap. At this point, Lilip was sat up, their legs dangling from the edge of the biobed. Eyes clouded, they were still processing the loss of everything they had known. They did not respond.

“You know, we have a counselor on board,” Doctor Crusher said, “Perhaps it would do you some good to speak with her. Get your emotions all together, and figure out how to process everything that’s happened.”

Blinking, Lilip’s eyes cleared. It was as if they had only now just realized their surroundings. Looking around, their pulse quickened as their eyes scanned the various medical devices stored in the room. They turned back to face Doctor Crusher, clarity in their gaze for the first time since their rescue. “Can we go to a different room?” They asked, voice cracked with anxiety.

“Is something wrong?”

“I just—” Taking a breath, Lilip sighed. “I don’t like infirmaries…”

Doctor Crusher let out an amused sigh. “While you were asleep, the Captain had arranged quarters for you. Why don’t I show you to them, and we can talk there?”

Lilip nodded as they shuffled off of the biobed. Their tail lagged behind, drifting onto the floor as their gown kissed their knees. They followed the doctor out the door and into the hallway. As they passed several officers on their way to their next duties, several of them cast curious glances towards Lilip. Their face grew hot with embarrassment, for they knew just how little the Federation knew of her species. After entering the turbolift with Doctor Crusher inputting the destination for Deck Nine, the pair were met with an awkward silence.

“So,” Doctor Crusher cleared her throat as she broke the silence, “Would you like to tell me about yourself?”

Lilip paused, their shoulders stiffened. “What do you wanna know..?”

“Well, how old you are, what your life was like growing up on Terys Beta… that sort of thing.”

Lilip cringed, but was thankful the doctor didn’t ask about their kind. Not even they knew what they were. “Um,” They stuttered, “Do you guys still go by the Gregorian Earth Calendar? Or are you exclusively using Stardates?”

“Oh, you can tell me in years, if that works with you.”

“Oh. I’m, um…” After searching their mind to make the brief calculations, Lilip continued. “I’ll be twenty next month.”

“Really?” Doctor Crusher smiled sweetly. “I have a son who’s just a few years younger than you! Wesley’s his name.”

“Okay.” Lilip wasn’t fond of the idea of interacting with a teenager, but they kept up a polite front. “What does he do?”

The turbolift doors opened, and as the pair stepped out, Doctor Crusher answered, “He’s in school right now, studying to get into the Academy. As far as I’m aware, he’s still an acting ensign, too.”

“Acting?” Lilip echoed.

“Oh, he’s a very bright young man. He’s helped the crew here and there enough to warrant the opportunity!” Crusher beamed as she boasted about her son, and Lilip couldn’t help but let out a smile. The lovely doctor took notice and returned the expression sweetly, her eyes glowing with appreciation.

Doctor Crusher paused her steps as they reached a door. Ushering her hand, she explained, “These are Counselor Troi’s quarters. I just thought you should know in case you ever need to schedule an appointment with her.”

Lilip nodded absentmindedly. They wondered what this Troi was like. Continuing on, the duo passed a few more doors before stopping yet again.

“Here are your quarters,” Doctor Crusher pointed, “Shall we?” She pressed her fingers against the control panel next to the door, and it opened with a soft hiss.

Entering, Lilip couldn’t help but feel as though they didn’t deserve it. The room was separated in two parts—the entrance leading to a living area. A couch faced away from the windows against the wall, a coffee table placed neatly in front of it. Several chairs surrounded a small table to the left towards the door, and against the wall it was near, a replicator appliance yawned from its panel. There were several large potted plants placed delicately around the room, which Lilip appreciated. They made a mental note to study them sometime.

To their left, a small entryway headed to the bedroom, a queen size mattress resting against the far wall. And from that room, the bathroom which Lilip would have to check out later. These quarters were much more luxurious than the room they had lived in at the research station. For a brief moment, they wondered if perhaps there was a mistake in their room assignment.

“Why don’t you sit down, and I’ll get you something to drink?” Doctor Crusher’s voice snapped Lilip from their thoughts. “Tea? Water?”

“W-water, please.” Lilip realized just how parched they were upon groaning out their answer.

The good doctor input the order into the replicator, and a glass of cold water materialized out of thin air. Upon collecting it and bringing it to Lilip, Crusher asked, “Is there any particular reason that the sickbay was frightening to you?”

Pausing to sip their drink, Lilip did their best to collect their thoughts. “I just… I don’t like medical settings…”

Doctor Crusher hummed. “May I ask a more personal question?”

Lilip cringed yet again, fully aware of what she was going to ask.

“Does this have anything to do with you? I mean, your species is on no record anywhere…”

“Yes.” Lilip stated pointedly before taking another drink of water. The tip of their tail twitched in annoyance.

Crusher let out the short exhale of a humored breath. “I suppose this isn’t something you’re comfortable talking about?”

“No.”

“Then, I won’t push you, but I’ll tell you now that you will have to talk about it eventually.” Crusher rose from her seat on the couch and took several steps towards the door. “Settle in for now. I’ll call for you once everything is sorted out, alright?”

Lilip blinked appreciatively. They were certain that this doctor was extremely curious about them, but they felt safe knowing that she wouldn’t force them to explain what they didn’t know. After watching the doctor leave, Lilip finished their drink and stood. Upon placing their empty glass in the replicator, they stepped towards the bedroom.

Though they had only just woken up from a nap, the fatigue from everything hit them exponentially. The grief returned and hung over them like a dark cloud, fogging their mind and making their limbs heavy. Drawing themself under the covers, Lilip curled into a ball. Their home—everything they had ever known was gone. What would become of them now?

#star trek #star trek tng #tng #star trek oc #lilip #jean luc picard #william riker #deanna troi #worf son of mogh #data soong #beverly crusher #my fic #lilip chronicles

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georgegraphys · 1 year ago

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2024 team sponsors recap!

this is completely irrelevant to F1 but i study and do these stuffs for a living sooo 😩😩 2023 sponsors are based on the sponsors that are there at the beginning of the season (new sponsors that join in the middle of the season will be classified as 2024's)

Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team:

New sponsors: Whatsapp, Luminar (American tech company), SAP (German software company), nuvei (Canadian credit card services), Sherwin Williams (American painting company) 2024 data last update: 2024/02/14

Old sponsors that left: Monster Energy, Pure Storage (American technology company), fastly (American cloud computing services), Axalta (American painting company), Eight sleep (American mattresses company) 2023 data last update: 2023/01/07

Oracle Red Bull Racing F1 Team:

New sponsors: Yeti (American cooler manufacturer, joined later in 2023), APL (American footwear/athletic apparel manufacturer, joined later in 2023), CDW (American IT company, joined later in 2023), Sui (American tech app by Mysten Labs, joined later in 2023), Patron Tequila (Mexican alcoholic beverages company, joined later in 2023) 2024 data last update: 2024/02/15

Old sponsors that left: CashApp, Walmart, Therabody (American wellness technology company), Ocean Bottle (Norwegian reusable bottle manufacturer), PokerStars (Costa Rican gambling site), Alpha Tauri (? no info if they're official partners or not but Austrian clothing company made by Red Bull), BMC (Switzerland bicycle/cycling manufacturer), Esso (American fuel company, subsidiary of ExxonMobil), Hewlett Packard Enterprise (American technology company) 2023 data last update: 2023/03/07

More: Esso is a subsidiary of Mobil so there's possibility they merged or something

Scuderia Ferrari:

New sponsors: VGW Play (Australian tech game company, joined later in 2023), DXC Technology (American IT company, joined later in 2023), Peroni (Italian brewing company), Z Capital Group/ZCG (American private asset management/merchant bank company), Celsius (Swedish energy drink manufacturer) 2024 data last update: 2024/02/15

Old sponsors that left: Mission Winnow (American content lab by Phillip Morris International aka Marlboro), Estrella Garcia (Spanish alcoholic beverages manufacturer), Frecciarossa (Italian high speed train company) 2023 data last update: 2023/02/16

More: Mission Winnow is a part of Phillip Morris International. They are no longer listed as team sponsor but PMI is listed instead.

(starting here, 2023 data last update is 2023/02/23 and 2024 data last update is 2024/02/15)

McLaren F1 Team: (Only McLaren RACING's data is available idk if some of these are XE/FE team partners but anw..)

New sponsors: Monster Energy, Salesforce (American cloud based software company, joined later in 2023), Estrella Garcia (Spanish alcoholic beverages manufacturer), Dropbox (American file hosting company), Workday (American system software company, joined later in 2023), Ecolab (American water purification/hygiene company), Airwallex (Australian financial tech company), Optimum Nutrition (American nutritional supplement manufacturer), Halo ITSM (American software company, joined later in 2023), Udemy (American educational tech company, joined later in 2023), New Era (American cap manufacturer, joined in 2023), K-Swiss (American shoes manufacturer, joined later in 2023), Alpinestars (Italian motorsports safety equipment manufacturer)

Old sponsors that left: DP World (Emirati logistics company), EasyPost (American shipping API company), Immersive Labs (UK cybersecurity training company?), Logitech, Mind (UK mental health charity), PartyCasino (UK? online casino site), PartyPoker (American? gambling site), Sparco (Italian auto part & accessory manufacturer), Tezos (Switzerland crypto company)

Aston Martin Aramco F1 Team:

New sponsors: Valvoline (American retail automotives service company, joined later in 2023), NexGen (Canadian sustainable? fuel company), Banco Master (Brazilian digital banking platform, joined later in 2023), ServiceNow (American software company, joined later in 2023), Regent Seven Seas Cruise, Wolfgang Puck (Austrian-American chef and restaurant owner, joined later in 2023), Financial Times (British business newspaper), OMP (Italian racing safety equipment manufacturer), stichd (Netherlands fashion & apparel manufacturer)

Old sponsors that left: Alpinestars (Italian motorsports safety equipment manufacturer), crypto.com (Singaporean cryptocurrency company), ebb3 (UK? software company), Pelmark (UK fashion and apparel manufacturer), Peroni (Italian brewing company), Porto Seguro (Brazilian insurance company), Socios (Malta's blockchain-based platform), XP (Brazilian investment company)

Stake F1 Team (prev. Alfa Romeo):

???? Can't found their website (might be geoblocked in my country???)

BWT Alpine F1 Team:

New sponsors: MNTN (American software company), H. Moser & Cie (Switzerland watch manufacturer), Amazon Music

Old sponsors that left: Bell & Ross (French watch company), Ecowatt (??? afaik French less-energy smthn smthn company), Elysium (French? American? Software company), KX (UK software company), Plug (American electrical equipment manufacturing company)

Visa CashApp RB F1 Team (prev. Scuderia Alpha Tauri):

New Sponsors: Visa, CashApp, Hugo Boss, Tudor, Neft Vodka (Austrian alcoholic beverages company), Piquadro (Italian luxury bag manufacturer)

Old sponsors that left: Buzz (?), Carl Friedrik (UK travel goods manufacturer), Flex Box (Hongkong? shipping containers manufacturer), GMG (Emirati global wellbeing company), RapidAPI (American API company)

Haas F1 Team:

New sponsors: New Era (American cap manufacturer, joined later in 2023)

Old sponsors that left: Hantec Markets (Hongkong capital markets company), OpenSea (American NFT/Crypto company)

Williams Racing:

New sponsors: Komatsu, MyProtein (British bodybuilding supplement), Kraken (American crypto company, joined later in 2023), VAST Data (American tech company), Ingenuity Commerce (UK e-commerce platform), Puma (joined later in 2023)

Old sponsors that left: Acronis (Swiss software company), Bremont (British watch manufacturer), Dtex Systems (American? cybersecurity company), Financial Times (British business newspaper), Jumeirah Hotels & Resorts, KX (UK software company), OMP (Italian racing safety equipment manufacturer), PPG (American painting manufacturer), Umbro (English sports equipment manufacturer), Zeiss (German opticals/optometrics manufacturing company)

#mercedes amg petronas #red bull racing #scuderia ferrari #visa cash app rb #haas f1 team #mclaren f1 #aston martin #alpine f1 #williams racing #stake f1 team #f1 #ari's rant #sponsor talks

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