Star Trek: Theurgy

Day 03 [1015 hrs.] Letter & Spirit

November 24, 2017, 11:12:04 AM

[ Lt JG Nator 159 | Officers' Quarters | Deck 16 | Vector 02 | USS Theurgy ] Attn: @Nolan

Nator had worked with haste through hir morning duties, after spending longer than s/he meant to sharing an impromptu breakfast with the Captain. The svelte humanoid was still digesting that particular conversation, but had relegated it to the back of hir mind while s/he got to work. There was a lot of lost ground to make up, whatever the doctors fretted about. And hir boss. Half a dozen other people, too, probably.

S/he was getting bored of being told s/he was being cavalier with hir health. On the contrary, s/he was taking it every bit as seriously as s/he ought to... at least according to hir. S/he just also thought that doing a proper part in the name of getting Thea up and running again (and ready for the next inevitable slugging match) was every bit a higher priority than making sure s/he was getting enough sleep. Call me a utilitarian. I can rest later.

To that end, and skirting the rules laid down by other officers mandating that s/he submit to a babysitter that would then have to follow hir round, not performing their own duties and reducing the agency of perfectly capable crew, s/he had gone digging through the crew manifest. One of their Science department was a roboticist by the name of Tovarek; s/he wondered if he might be able to help hir. According to Thea, he was currently in his quarters.

It was a little odd, walking through the corridors and feeling as if s/he were sloping off truant somewhere, but it didn't take long to find the proper section, then junction, then the right door. Nodding at unfamiliar faces as s/he went, hoping none would recognise hir in turn and raise a flag with Ops that s/he was somewhere s/he shouldn't be... somehow, s/he suspected Stark wouldn't much care for the potential excuse of 'I was taking a break to make sure I got enough rest'. The Hermat wasn't sure s/he wanted to insult the Chief's intelligence by trying that one, if it were to come up. 

Hir thumb brushed the door chime. Nator took a short breath, bouncing on the balls of hir feet a couple of times before settling and waiting for an answer.

Re: Day 03 [1015hrs.] Letter and Spirit

Reply #1 – December 14, 2017, 10:33:30 AM

[ Lt Simon Tovarek | Officers' Quarters | Deck 16 | Vector 02 | USS Theurgy ] Attn: @Top Hat

After replicating some of his favorite stew, Simon Tovarek was seating in his quarters with PADDs scattered across the considerably smaller quarters. He had finally earned some downtime after a long day and he intended to make the most of it. That usually meant that he'd overlook his research concerning his drones.  Although, the feminine form of Natalie Stark seemed to be a recurring obstruction during that research, his mind dwelling to her more than once a day. With a spoon halfway in his mouth, the chime at the door brought a confused look on the scientist. He wasn't expecting anyone at this time. Had he missed a briefing or something?

He placed the spoon back in the half finished bowl of stew as he walked over to the door. He was wearing his standard issue uniform, jacket opened up a little for comfort. He opened the door and looked at Nator who stood in the doorway. He didn't know the individual nor why s/he was at his door "Can I help you lieutenant?" he asked her as he still looked rather confused at the person before him.

Inviting the person in would be the most logical decision, yet Simon felt a bit uneasy why this Hermat choose to show up at his door. It was a primal instinct to no trust strangers at the door. Yet on the other side it was starting to gnaw at his curiosity, why WAS the Hermat here. He waited for the initial response of hir before stepping aside and gesturing hir to enter. "Take a seat, or well, clear out the junk to have a seat." he said as he blatantly became aware of his messy quarters.

Re: Day 03 [1015hrs.] Letter and Spirit

Reply #2 – December 27, 2017, 09:57:35 PM

[ Lt JG Nator 159 | Officers' Quarters | Deck 16 | Vector 02 | USS Theurgy ] Attn: @Nolan

As soon as the doors parted, the smell of a hot meal hit hir nose. It seemed that Nator simply couldn't avoid faux pas at all any more; this morning s/he had interrupted the captain's breakfast, and now apparently that of another officer. Although, it mightn't even be breakfast... s/he had neglected to check the lieutenant's duty schedule on the way down. The state of the man's uniform spoke to the reasoning that he was coming off-shift, as well as the faint smell of a day's sweat that clung to him, mostly masked by the foodsmells drifting through the door.

The confused blink of someone that didn't recognise another might have amused the Hermat in another universe. I can certainly sympathise with that one.

"Lieutenant Tovarek?" s/he checked; s/he didn't know him from the next officer in Science blues, so not knowing his face was expected, but s/he'd found that s/he required to form this new habit of checking names just to be sure. At least until hir memory came back. If.

"Can I help you, Lieutenant?"

Nator nodded. "I hope so, sir."

There was another moment's hesitation, for which s/he could not blame him, before he waved hir through. "Take a seat..."

"Thank you."

The smaller humanoid took the opportunity to cast hir eye over the man's quarters. A little larger than hir own, but they felt a little smaller on account of the greater amount of clutter compared to hir own rather acetic tastes. Stooping, s/he picked up a stack of PADDs on a chair and carefully moved them to the nearest flat surface, taking care to avoid letting them fall over and to preserve whatever order they might have been in. Sitting, s/he looked between the man and his meal, a somewhat-awkward expression on hir face.

I should ask soon, or it'll be even worse if I get halfway through and then say 'Oh wait, you were eating; I will come back later...'

S/he pointed briefly at the bowl on the table. "I interrupted... should I arrange to return at a better time? I don't anticipate that this will take long, but-" the Hermat gestured vaguely, trusting context would carry enough meaning.

---

ooc: Apologies for the wait!

Re: Day 03 [1015 hrs.] Letter & Spirit

Reply #3 – January 08, 2018, 11:27:37 AM

[ Lt Simon Tovarek | Officers' Quarters | Deck 16 | Vector 02 | USS Theurgy ] Attn: @Top Hat

As the Hermat came forward into the room, the eyes of Tovarek traced hir as s/he moved towards the appointed seat he had offered hir. In the meantime he continued his meal while studying the junior officer in his quarters. He wondered to what honor he had earned the company of this exotic specimen. The interest of the science officer growing by the minute as he remained silent and let the Hermat talk first. S/he suggested to return later as Tovarek was eating and the Russian scientists smirked and shook his head as he shoved the bowel a bit further away from him and wiped his lips with a napkin.

"No need to reschedule Lieutenant." he answered, skipping the rest of the pleasantries he continued to get down to business. "Tell me, how can I help you?" he asked as he leaned back and took a more comfortable position as he narrowed his eyes. He was curious why this specimen came to his quarters of all places to call for help. Surely s/he could have filed an official query to the scientist, yet if s/he showed up in his quarters with the request it either had to be quite urgent.

While Tovarek listened to the reply the Hermat gave him, he frowned a little as he scratched the back of his head before ruffling through his hair "That's quite a specific request... Why ask this to me?" he asked with a mix of pride to his work, yet also with some form of caution.

Re: Day 03 [1015 hrs.] Letter & Spirit

Reply #4 – January 10, 2018, 06:11:34 PM

[ Lt JG Nator 159 | Officers' Quarters | Deck 16 | Vector 02 | USS Theurgy ] Attn: @Nolan

"Tell me, how can I help you?"

Tovarek was concise; a blessed relief compared to the few interactions s/he'd had with some of the other crew so far. S/he was grateful, because that meant s/he could get back to work in the shortest possible time for hir own sake as well as not being found away from hir duty rotation. He was, however, justifiably confused as to why s/he'd be bothering him in his quarters while he was enjoying his downtime.

Least s/he could do to return the favour of concision.

"I require something like an exocomp, or similar, that can both monitor me and assist my work," Nator responded in hir clipped fashion.

The rules on artificial intelligence research had been relaxed - mostly because of Thea herself - but the exocomp project had been cancelled a long time ago. Try as s/he might, though, s/he couldn't think of a more practical machine to help hir that wasn't a full-blown android.

"That's quite a specific request... Why ask this to me?"

Cagey. I suppose the heads of department would be speaking to one another... I wonder if Stark already warned him about me? If indirectly. The Hermat dismissed the notion as pointless paranoia. S/he shifted in hir seat with a discomfort that had nothing to do with the chair.

"Because... Because I need a minder, per orders, and a mere sensor subroutine with a bunch of if/then conditions is not regarded as enough. I was only brought out of stasis the day before last... Commanders Stark and Nicander have been quite insistent, and quite dismissive of my protests." S/he looked at the deck for a moment, before spearing him with hir gaze once more. "The idea of dragging a perfectly able officer from other critical duties to... babysit me feels like a waste of manpower. So, I seek a compromise. Given that I suspect any enquiries to my own department will just land me in front of Stark again, I checked the crew manifest for experimental roboticists. And your name was the top of the list, sir."

It was probably the longest string of words s/he'd put together since being awoken in sickbay to a horrible sensation of nausea and disorientation. Per hir own logs, s/he and the Chief Science Officer had never shared a compartment before, let alone a job task, which somehow made talking to him easier than it had been with people s/he supposedly knew already. All expectations were gone... just a 'normal' introduction. S/he didn't have to spend the whole conversation trying to dredge his face out of hir memory and remember some detail s/he might have forgotten, because there were none.

What was that, I was thinking about concision before?

Still, it was probably the shortest way s/he could have framed it.

"I understand that if you can complete this for me, it will need to be cleared with Commander Stark before I actually use it. But in the meantime, I would ask that this be kept discreet. If possible, Lieutenant." Because I have no idea how Stark will take it. Well, that wasn't entirely true. Stark would probably take it as another contravention of her orders.

All in a week's work...

Re: Day 03 [1015 hrs.] Letter & Spirit

Reply #5 – January 20, 2018, 10:50:46 AM

[ Lt Simon Tovarek | Officers' Quarters | Deck 16 | Vector 02 | USS Theurgy ] Attn: @Top Hat 

The request Nator made was specific and would have to be tailor made to fit to hir expectations. The science officer shoved the bowl away from him as he straightened his posture and looked over Nator while he ran his tongue over his teeth. He thought about possible solutions, creations, yet brewed on them still as he deepened his query to why the lieutenant would be in need of such a thing.

Soon enough it came to his attention that it was nobody less than Stark who had been treading caution as the Hermat had only been brought out of stasis. A faint smile decorated the lips of Tovarek before he nodded slowly and mumbled "Oh Stark..." he shook his head and ruffled his hands through his hair as he leaned back in the couch and pondered about the situation.

"I could try and jumble something up to your needs lieutenant, yet the problem would lie in how long you'd need such a... companion." he started "I mean, if commander Stark or Nicander notices that your work is above par, I'm sure they'd probably relieve you of the spare officer. If it were the case for the exocomputer... Well..." he paused before he shrugged "Consider me working for a solution for about a week or two. If the exocomputer would be discarded by the end of that week, we'd be facing the same problem of inefficiency as placing a fellow officer at your side. Not to mention the loss of resources." he tried to explain to the Hermat.

It wasn't that Tovarek wasn't up for tinkering an exocomp for the Hermat, it was more that he wasn't sure how cost efficient it would be in the long run. "Then of course there's the case of Stark needing to sign off on it." he sighed as he placed his arms at the back of the couch and stretched himself. Discretion was advised and Simon nodded slowly "I can understand the need for discretion... However, Stark and I are on a rather good footing. If you prefer I could negotiate this with her so you wouldn't have to." he suggested "Perhaps her and I can agree to a certain subroutine that would check all your actions before executing them. Think of it as... Spell checker of sorts?" Simon suggested, unsure of the Hermat would agree to the science officer taking it up to her superior. He had the feeling that this request was albeit cutting a corner and leaving Stark in the dark because of it.

Re: Day 03 [1015 hrs.] Letter & Spirit

Reply #6 – January 28, 2018, 07:05:50 PM

[ Lt JG Nator 159 | Officers' Quarters | Deck 16 | Vector 02 | USS Theurgy ] Attn: @Nolan

For a moment, Nator's eyes tracked the bowl as it was pushed a short distance over the table, dismissed. Hir nose could easily detect the meat in it, the symphony of flavours and aromas tickling hir carnivore's senses. Pushing back against the old instinctual response, s/he refocused on the man as he leaned back in his seat, quietly echoing hir mention of Stark's name.

There was an interpersonal link there, s/he was sure, and s/he was also sure s/he hadn't been aware of it before now. Another thing that had happened in hir absence, it seemed, not that s/he'd had especially much to do with Stark prior to hir injury or, indeed, that it was any of hir business. It is a complication, though.

Otherwise, Tovarek's response was less than positive - for which s/he could hardly blame him, if s/he were to consider it. S/he was still used to a dreadnought at full capacity and capability, within easy reach of just about anything they might need at short notice thanks to being able to dock at any starbase as required. 3 months under heavy strain was going to take its toll and mandate a rationing program no matter how well-equipped or supplied an individual vessel had been at the outset.

It did rather defeat the purpose of trying to save humanoid resources, though, if s/he just ended up taking material ones away from other needs. And the time over a week or more of this officer, too. In hir haste to find a solution hirself, s/he'd neglected the obvious. Nator decided not to pursue that particular line of thought too far, lest s/he have to admit that Stark might have a point about a chaperone.

"The Chief asserts that the quality of my work is not in question. Though I do have a sensor routine to monitor me, which I wrote myself. I had Thea read it before deployment, but most of its trigger conditions are thankfully yet to be tested." A beat, as Nator's rock-steady gaze bored into the human's eyes. Hir face was quite expressionless.

"What is the nature of your relationship with Commander Stark?"

Hir personality didn't seem much different to hir recollection, either, even if hir 'people memory' was shot. Still blunt as a Tellarite judge.

Re: Day 03 [1015 hrs.] Letter & Spirit

Reply #7 – January 30, 2018, 10:37:41 AM

[ Lt Simon Tovarek | Officers' Quarters | Deck 16 | Vector 02 | USS Theurgy ] Attn: @Top Hat  

The scientist took his time to watch over the Hermat as s/he thoughts seemed to run it's own course in hir mind. He remained silent before s/he spoke up once more concerning the sensor routine. Tovarek nodded slowly "I can always glance it over and adapt it where needed, run some closed circuit plans before we execute it for your duty?" he suggested. Simon however could tell that the Hermat had done it's own math concerning the use of a chaperone or a makeshift robotic companion.

The question that came rather unexpected was the one where Nator asked about his relation to Stark. The flush in his cheeks might be a betrayal of the thoughts by the scientist, yet he seemed otherwise cool about it as he shrugged "Does that matter to the case lieutenant?" he bounced it back as he leaned forwards again and rested his elbows on his knees whilst folding his hands together. He let the question seep in for a few seconds before he continued, not letting Nator reply.

"Commander Stark and I have served on various occasions on the bridge and we've sailed through some murky waters during the Harbinger ordeal. I'd like to think that we can be considered friends." he concluded whilst his mind in the background wondered if there could perhaps be more to it. Was the Hermat pointing out something that Simon wasn't noticing before? It was food for thought when he'd find the time to do so. "Either way, I don't think it serves you any interest otherwise." he concluded before his eyes seemed to bore their way into hir eyes "Was there anything else I can do for you?" he asked more to the point.

Re: Day 03 [1015 hrs.] Letter & Spirit

Reply #8 – February 05, 2018, 08:41:39 PM

[ Lt JG Nator 159 | Officers' Quarters | Deck 16 | Vector 02 | USS Theurgy ] Attn: @Nolan

An acquiescent wave of hir hand answered the scientist's offer to look over the algorithm. It seemed the easiest way to get him to stop talking about it. S/he couldn't quite shake the feeling that coming here had been a mistake... scientists weren't exactly known for a general lack of curiosity when presented with incomplete information, and here s/he'd waltzed in with a half-cocked plan to duck out from under the thumb of one officer by exploiting the skills of another. Which would have been fine, if the job had been either quick or easily-resourced. Alas...

"Does that matter to the case, Lieutenant?"

Nator didn't reply; hir suspicion was borne out by the evasion. The implication was written in his worrying about his standing with hir superior - given that he'd suffer no professional repercussions for any alleged misconduct on hir part, that left only a personal concern. At any rate, Tovarek continued talking before s/he could respond even if s/he'd wanted to.

This is the sort of foot-insertion that got me demoted at the fleet yards, s/he considered in a rare moment of reflection. On balance, s/he thought s/he preferred to avoid thinking about hir problems.

"...Either way, I don't think it serves you any interest otherwise." A beat. "Was there anything else I can do?"

"Ah, no sir," the svelte humanoid said as s/he stood, before leaning over and replacing the stack of PADDs s/he'd moved to sit down back on to the chair where s/he'd found them - it was hardly 'tidy as you go', but s/he'd have felt quite put out hirself if someone had upset a filing system (however ineffable to an outside observer) while visiting.

"I will leave you to the rest of your meal. Thank you for your time; I think you are correct in that we should more carefully husband the ship's stores... please disregard my request."

Nator gave a polite nod to give the lieutenant time to either reply or dismiss hir, before turning towards the door.

---

FIN