The King in Yellow

• Real-Life Date: 16th - 19th of August 2024

• Stardate: 91413.2

• Archive Link

A local celebrity donated a series of scripts to Starbase 777’s theater troupe with hopes of them performing it sometime in the future. Not long after the fact, however, those who came in contact with the books (and those who interacted with the troupe) started exhibiting strange symptoms. These people began speaking in riddles and behaving… abnormally, to say the least.

Chaos began to erupt on the Starbase; bloodwine poured out of replicators, lights and temperatures were tampered with on and off, and a riot of civilians and officers alike broke out on the entertainment complex. A fight broke out in the command deck as Science and Medical received word of a potential pathogen and prepared to analyze samples received from a patient. Scientists tiptoed their way around an infected officer to meet up in medbay as those still sane within Security were dispatched to deal with the riot.  

A proper analysis revealed a parasitic infection was rapidly spreading across the Starbase, small & worm-like, which spread through touch. Another patient in Medical had ink stains on her fingers and clothes, revealing the parasites were coming from said ink. Science and Medical worked quickly to develop a cure for the parasitic infection and an acidic solution to be rid of the eggs once and for all.  

Once the officers on board were back in their right minds, they found that the celebrity had brought the scripts, but she knew nothing of the parasites contained within. An alert in Engineering drew their attention to a replicator producing many copies of the scripts. They found her assistant, who they learned been jealous of her fame and attempted to kill her, and she was arrested for the attempted murder of her employer.