The Impact of the Mayhem in Holodeck Three

Posted on Wed Sep 9th, 2026 @ 12:54am by Lieutenant Commander Nathan Lake

368 words; about a 2 minute read

Personal Log — Lieutenant Commander Nathan Lake, Chief Medical Officer

“Personal Log: I’ve spent the better part of the last hour trying to figure out what happened in Holodeck Three. So far, my professional assessment is: I have no idea. Not particularly reassuring coming from a department head. Anderson completed a full examination once we returned to Sickbay. A few cuts, some bruising, and a shoulder that will probably remind me tomorrow that I’m not twenty-five years old anymore. Nothing serious. Lieutenant Rhos was fortunate as well.”

“The holodeck was another matter. I requested that every holodeck aboard be taken offline until Engineering completes a full diagnostic of every holodeck system. Considering that safety protocols were taken offline, I’m not comfortable allowing anyone inside any of them until we understand whether this was isolated or a system-wide issue.”

Nathan paused the recording. For several seconds, his quarters were silent. Then he resumed the log.

“Now, let’s talk about the creature. I keep trying to convince myself that it was simply another manifestation of the corrupted program. Maybe it was. But it looked directly at me. Not Rhos. Me. And said two names. Emily and Sarah. Those names weren’t part of Holodeck Program Lake Four-Seven. They weren’t buried somewhere in the program parameters because there were barely any parameters to begin with. So where did it get their names?”

Nathan leaned back in his chair, considering the question.

“I’m a doctor, not an engineer. I’m not going to pretend I understand enough about holographic systems to determine whether any of this is technically possible. That’s why I’m going to request a meeting with the XO and Chief Engineer. I want Engineering’s preliminary diagnostics before we meet, particularly the program-generation logs and any record of external database access during the malfunction. Until then, and until I’m overridden, the holodecks remain offline.”

A faint smile appeared.

“I’m sure that decision will make me extremely popular with the crew.”

The smile disappeared almost as quickly as it had appeared.

“Well… I suppose we’ll see what happens. Until then, Nathan out.”

Nathan reached toward the terminal and ended his log.

 

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