Star Trek: Theurgy

[2380] Ghosts in the machine

April 11, 2019, 12:43:18 AM

[2380] GHOSTS IN THE MACHINE

First Officer’s log, Stardate 56965.38.

Whilst en route to deliver disaster relief materials to Vinkarth colonists on Mibreon Prime, Theurgy has received an automated priority hail from an unmanned relay station requesting immediate repairs. We cannot afford to delay our humanitarian mission; However, I have convinced Captain Ives to allow a small diversion to drop off an away team to conduct the restoration while Theurgy continues onward to aid the settlers.

Due to the nature of this operation, I have requested for two junior members of the engineering team from Chief Engineer Solkar to join me as well as Assistant Chief Operations Officer Natalie Stark, who has just recently joined the ship. My aspiration is that this assignment will provide some useful off ship experience for these crewmen in line for their performance reviews next month.

Theurgy is scheduled to return in four days following the completion of their mission. Until that time, we will be alone. I hope we can complete our duty by then, and that we all get along in the confined space.

- Commander Ziegler, First Officer, USS Theurgy

[ Commander Anya Ziegler | Control Room | Relay Station NB943 ] Attn: @Brutus , @BZ , Anyone else
[Show/Hide]

Grasping the strap of her duffel bag that was slung over her shoulder, Anya Ziegler waited for the transport cycle to complete. When the tell-tale whine finally dissipated, she stepped down off the transporter pad onto the metal grating that comprised the floor in front of her. The station itself was dark. No overhead lights or console panels were illuminated. The only reason Ziegler could see where her footing was, was due to the residual lights from the pad behind them.

Perfect. She thought. Why didn’t I bring a palm light?

After a few seconds, there was a loud, audible click and one by one, various lights started up. The unmanned station must have been in power preservation mode, she concluded, not particularly filling her with confidence. Finally, when all the lights were on, Anya could see what their home would be for the next four days.
 
The station control room was a dingy grey space, not overly large, but split over two floors. It was shaped as if it were a cube with two corners of its cut. On the bottom floor, various free standing consoles and wall panels were spread out to the fill the area. Usually, Ziegler would have expected to see these on, displaying various information about the station and it’s status but currently the panels were blank – something else on power saving.
 
There were three doors on that level. Ziegler knew one would lead to the communal mess and relaxation area. The other two, both on the same wall opposite the exit to the mess, would allow the away team to access parts of the station to service it, either through corridors or Jefferies tubes.

Above this, on the level the away team arrived, a metal gangway circled three of the walls of the control room. Where it ended, there were stairs down to main floor. Aside from the ability to stand and stare down at the activities going on underneath you, there was little to do on this balcony. In one corner on this level, there was a single doorway leading to the habitat area. From her research, Ziegler knew that the area was little more than a bunkhouse. It was open plan, with four sets of bunkbed against the bulkheads and two restrooms. Both had sonic showers.

The final part of the control room was an alcove, in which sat the transporter pad. It was the primary mechanism for getting on and off the station, although there was also a shuttlebay at the complete opposite side of the station itself. Initial sensor readings had indicated there was an evacuation shuttle already docked which stopped the away team arriving in that method.

Turning, Ziegler appraised the team that had been assembled for this mission. Each had brought a bag of personal affects and clothing. In addition to this, there was a couple of boxes that had been beamed across with them filled with tools and supplies to fix whatever was causing the problem on the station.

“Lieutenant Stark.” Ziegler called to the only other officer amongst the four of them. “What would you say is the first order of business? Settling into our new home from home or running an initial diagnostic?”

Re: [2380] Ghosts in the machine

Reply #1 – April 11, 2019, 04:58:31 AM

[Lt. Natalie Stark | Control Room | Relay Station NB943 ]Attn: @Arista @BZ 
[Show/Hide]

The bright blue-white motes of light faded from Natalie Stark's vision, and the young Lieutenant looked around blinking her eyes. Her ears still rang with the trill of the transporter beam, though the station around them seemed almost completely silent. Even as she got her bearings, she knew that her newest posting of only a few months, the USS Theurgy, was already warping away, resuming its aide mission to the besieged colonists on Mibreon Prime.

Leaving me trapped here, on an automated relay station, smack dab in the middle of no where, with two engineers I barely know, and a First Officer that is intimidating as all get out. Smooth, Natalie, smooth, she thought, asking herself once again why she had been chosen for this mission. She was still getting her bearings on her new post. The ship was just so damned big. She still got lost from time to time, and had to ask the ships AI for directions. The ship's AI. Thea.

Now that was a concept that Natalie had taken an almost instant liking too. She supposed she should not have been surprised. After all, she had a thing for artificial intelligence and non-biological life forms. Her Academy room mate had been an android after all. And a Romulan to boot. That Natalie found Thea, as the AI was known, the easiest 'person' on the starship to talk to and relate to was not something that should have shocked anyone whom knew the shy Lieutenant. Not even the Lieutenant herself.

With everything she was still adjusting to on the Theurgy, and her efforts to manage such a large Operations Department, she was utterly baffled when Lt. Commander Hendricks, her boss, had informed her that she had been requested for duty on an Away Mission. One of the Federations Automated relay stations, a communications hub for the current sector, had sent out a priority hail, to any Starfleet vessel in proximity, requesting immediate repairs be conducted.

According to what she had gleaned about the station, from a few files in the Starfleet Database, and a series of questions she'd lobbed at her immediate superior as she tried to hide her surprise, the station was unmanned. It had facilities to house a small crew if a need arised. The most likely scenario was the one that seemed to be on hand - something had broken, and someone would need to come out and fix the issue in person. As such, they may need facilities to stay in for the duration of the repairs.

Lt. Cmdr. Hendricks had also intimated that these faculties had also been designed with the notion to serve as an emergency shelter in dire situations, if a ship had to be evacuated in the area, or had been set adrift. He swore he knew a grizzled old hermit had once set up shop in one of these relay bases as well, living there on his own for two whole years before a ship tasked to the Starfleet Corps of Engineers arrived as part of a routine Maintenance patrol. They had apparently had a devil of a time shaking the old fart out of the base and had to beam the cantankerous bastard into a holding cell.

Those thoughts did little to help her repress the trickle of anxiety that warred with the excitement of being some where new. Natalie did her best not to think about hidden old geezers on desolate communications platforms, as the lights clicked on around them. Immediately, the young woman stepped off the transporter pad, and drew her tricorder, starting to take scans of their immediate surroundings.

"Um...Power seems to be relatively steady in the ah, immediate vicinity. It looks like the station's been maintaining minimal life support since it sent out its priority alert," she reported, after the first officer addressed her. She had to swallow back the bout of worry she felt, being called on, and scrutinized, by the older woman. "That's a good sign, but well, that is....I think we should at least confirm that the life support systems are actually in working order. That would...that is to say, I think we should go down to the main floor. Ma'am."

Natalie nodded down, over the railing to the consoles below that seemed devoid of life, for the moment. "Our best shot for an in depth diagnostic would be to use the engineering console. If we can get it turned on, that is." Belatedly, she remembered to say, "Ma'am."

Re: [2380] Ghosts in the machine

Reply #2 – April 11, 2019, 05:13:47 PM

[PO1 Kiki Stevens | Roll a d20 for Initiative | Treks Into the Unknown | Exploring Dungeons | Where are the Dragons?]
@Arista @Brutus


[Show/Hide]

Foot steps echoed in front of her.  The darkness was quite tangible and it made Kiki remember the group session she had been playing last night.  A group of friends, unlikely as always, trekked into the center of a mountain that turned out to be a twisting maze of doom.  All kinds of traps, beasts, and what not had attacked the group over and over again.  How they made it out at the end; battered and beaten but not dead still boggled her mind.  She had three hit points left at the end, and should have been dead but their badass healer had BAMF'd the end healing in the final battle in the last room of the Evil Doom Maze.  So she ended up with three hit points because she rolled for shit. 

Holo-die weren't kind.

Now she was faced with one of her own live action adventures.  Could it turn out disastrous?  Could it turn out great?  Did they have a Healer?  What if she needed hit points?  What if she needed to fight something?!  That was the thing, the bespectacled young officer thought about as she stepped into the darkness of the station.

Why is it so dark?  They always say you can feel the dark.  They're right, you can feel this! 

Wide dark eyes stared from behind her thick black framed glasses that sat upon her small freckled nose.  She was slight and short.  She was the kind of person that came up straight to arm-pit level on most people.  Which was a detriment to life, really, when you were an Engineer because then you got to deal with the sweaty arm pits of all the people that had worked long hot hours trying to beat the ship back into flying shape.  Usually under a lot of pressure like 'hey we need engines in five seconds, so... we know it's broke but slap a hello-kitty bandaid on that sucker or we die!' kind of thing.  So, it was a consistent problem in the life if Kiki Stevens.

Lights flickered on as the El'Comandante of the whole crew stepped forward.  She was one of those fierce 'I am a warrior' kind of people.  The 'hear me roar' while rocking out to women's power rock kind of person.  She might be a wee bit intimidating, not that Kiki would say it out loud, but she was thinking it really hard.  Wait!  Are there any mind reading weirdies here?! Oh crap!  I said weirdies!  Okay.. uhh... kind mind-reading peoples.  I didn't really mean weirdies just uh... don't read my thoughts because... this gold is for one girl and one girl only.  This one.  So uhh yeah... I'm just going to sing a song now … This is the sonnnng that doesn't end.  Yes it goes on and on my friend... some people starrrrrted singing it without knowing what it was and they'll continue singing it forever just because this is the song that doesn't ennnnd, yes it goes on and on my friends...

…

…..

Wooooooooooow.  This place really needs someone to hit the on switch.

The song in her mind died as her dark eyes shifted taking in all the dark wall panels and the craziness of all that they were going to have to do here.  Automated station my left foot! she thought to herself as she shoved her glasses up the freckled nose again shoving them firmly back into place.  Her curly hair was short, but so curled that it kind of framed her face in this awesome arch of mess.  It only added to her appearance with the large glasses.  Some of the hair was pulled back with a small tie in the center of her head just to keep it out of her face.  Couldn't kill a whole ship because of an errant curl!

Tres Pips started talking to Dos Pips and Kiki was just doing her best to follow along the conversation.  'What do we do first, ol buddy back there?'  Why was it that the people in charge liked to quiz the less pip inclined?  Why was everything a test, or a quiz, did you fail?  Was there passing?  That added a whole knew thought process and stress to the situations when you were put on the spot like that.  Of course, being a Dual Pip Card Carrier, she answered quickly enough using only a little broken language with the 'uhhh'.  Because you put her on the spot El Tres Carrier! she thought with a little click of her tongue and a shake of her head. 

Omg wait!  What if the Commander is the one that is a mind reading weirdie!  I mean!  No!  Not a weirdie, damnit, I can't even control my thoughts... wait did she say engineering?!

“That's me!” she jumped forward, raising her hand up in the air like she was still in school.  She was wearing her usual uniform, but her Starfleet issued boots had been exchanged for her far more comfortable bright yellow ones.  One might expect to see a ducky face on the edges, but she had at least tried to refrain form doing that.  However she had exactly seven beaded bracelets all the color of yellow in different hues on her left arm as she shot it in the air.  They cracked slightly against one another as she jumped a bit bouncing because being as short as she was.. getting seen was often a problem. 

Vertically challenged.  She had been called once, and she had rolled her eyes.  Just short.

“I'm Engineering!  That's me!  I can.. I can use a console!  And really good too, because you know.. I'm an Engineer.” she grinned, trying to feign the confidence that was completely lack in her tone and words all together.

The silence in the room wasn't awkward at all.

Nervous laughter erupted from Kiki's chest.  “I'm.. just.. gonna go Engineer.. like super hard right now!  Because.. yep!  That's me..  ol' Engineering Expert.. of Random Low Power Stations... yep.” she clapped her hands together nervously and brushed passed the others to the other consoles that were still dark.  That was the first thing to fix.  But she just needed to find the handy-dandy on button.  That was all, there would be one. 

The other Engineer with them, she couldn't remember his name.. David.. Danny.. Denny.. something she couldn't really be bothered to remember because there were so many engineers on the Theurgy it was just like 'hey you fix this broken piece of junk, and you over there, that broken piece needs your attention'.  Names were like.. unimportant.  “No!  No you stay.  Stay!  I got this!” she said holding her finger out to the tall slender young man that had started forward.

“Seriously, it's just a console start up I mean... like.. I could do this in my sleep and everything!” she said skipping over towards the console with her curly hair bouncing like a singular mass.  She stopped short in front of the console and dropped her bag unceremoniously to the ground where the little key chains, fobs, and stuffed fuzzy things impacted the grated floor.  There was something sticking out of one of the pockets. It had likely been yellow at some point but now it had deteriorated to a odd mix off brown color commonly called baby-poo.  It was a little rounded piece that almost looked like the arm of a stuffed animal or something that was well loved.. well loved.  Still, the rest of it was hidden and one couldn't be sure what exactly it was.

She leaned down and began to feel up the console.  There it was, the button, she could feel the round button ready for depression.  She pushed it and nothing happened for a moment before it finally began to make the handy whirring noises inside before the screen flickered to life.

“It's aliiiiive!” she cried out with an evil movie-style laugh.  Oh wait!  I'm in the presence of the Pip Holders.  The laugh died on her lips.  “Heh. Sorry.  It's uhh, coming up.  You want me to check for power output and .. uhh system status?” she looked over her shoulder with an excited bright smile that practically beamed out of her eye sockets.

Re: [2380] Ghosts in the machine

Reply #3 – April 23, 2019, 11:51:20 PM

[ Commander Anya Ziegler | Control Room | Relay Station NB943 ] Attn: @Brutus , @BZ , Anyone else
[Show/Hide]

It may have been cruel to place Stark on the spot, but Ziegler didn’t care. The Lieutenant was an assistant department head now and would be helping to lead one of, if not the busiest areas of the ship. She would need to deal with unexpected questions and situations. Asking opinions and delegating decisions was an old tried and tested method.

Assessing the operations officer silently during her answer, Anya noted that choosing actions were not a difficulty and confidence would come with time. She gave a curt nod in reply to Stark’s choice of tasks but before she could reply, there was a short sharp squeak from the pair of engineers. Looking across, one seemed positively ill to be here and the other desperate for attention.

It had been a tactical decision to take junior members of the crew on this away mission. Seldom would the enlisted crew in the lower decks of the ship have the chance to shine and Anya wanted them to get some face time with a member of the senior staff that wasn’t their section chief. It was important for personal and professional development. That said, she could start to understand why Solkar had given words of warning at Ziegler’s choice.

Failure to adhere to the Starfleet code of uniform, this engineer seemed to take the yellow aspect of their department colours to heart with boots and bracelets adorned in various luminous golden shades. She was also keen. Very keen. Almost to the point of being off putting. Anya would preserve however, there was no way the first officer was going to call Theurgy back just to swap out an irritant.

With a modicum of verbal diarrhoea, this young crewman had dismissed any help from her partner and set off on her task. Leaving the other three to stand idle, watching. Ziegler was almost surprised that this bespectacled human hadn’t just leapt from the metal walkway with gibbering glee.

Say what you will, the enthusiasm was amusing; And when the high ceiling room filled with maniacal laughter, Ziegler couldn’t help but smirk.

“Very good, Stevens.” She called to acknowledge the efforts. “Please go ahead.”

Turning, Ziegler appraised the other two. Time to get to work.

“Stark.” Anya began. “See if you can get long range communications operational. I want to report to the Captain that we’ve arrive safe.

“I will check the logs to see when this array was last serviced.” Speaking aloud, she ensured her self-assigned task would be heard. Anya strived to be more of a leader, working alongside her staff, than a boss assigning tasks while they put their feet up.

“Lozano.” She said, finally acknowledging the final member of the away team without a job to do. There was a pause, before Ziegler finally settled on a task. “… Why don’t you take the bags the habitat area and run stock on the repair supplies onboard?”

[ PO2 Daniel Lozano | Control Room | Relay Station NB943 ]

This was all too much. There was no way that this was supposed to be happening. Grasping the strap of his duffel bag too tightly, Danny Lozano could feel a bead of sweat drip between his shoulder blades. He was a manifold maintenance engineer. The man spent hours in the bowls of the ship by himself completing the mundane tasks to keep the warp system alive. He didn’t spend a lot of time interacting with others and now here he was, isolated but not alone. To say he was surprised to have been chosen for this mission was an understatement. It was almost a nightmare; He was on a remote satellite with three women.

Stevens was ok, Danny had seen her around. Stark wasn’t too bad either; She was only an assistant chief, though the two gold pips on her collar had given him pause to say anything when they had congregated at the transporter pad to beam over. The biggest issue here was Ziegler.

She was the First Officer. Second in command of the entire ship! She was in charge of transfers. Whether she knew it or not, she held his fate in her hands. It wouldn’t be an issue for her to assign him off the ship or down to waste extraction. He had to be on his best behaviour. The stress of it all made him feel queasy; though that could be the other problem he had with the officer.

Anya Ziegler was beautiful. Ever since he had first seen her when she had come on board, he had been infatuated with her. Her shape, her hair, the look in her eyes. He loved it all. Yes, there had been other fantasies, but none had come together in such a package. She had often visited him in his sleep or his daydreams. Scantly clad and declaring her love.

It was complete fiction, of course, but it gave him comfort in the long night shifts. Often the scene would play out the same way, she would find him somewhere away from everyone else and admit her attraction. This hard, strong, woman flustered at admitting her own desires. Danny would close the gap to steal and kiss and once thing would lead to another. It was always hard, fast and passionate.

So, when Commander Ziegler had found him in a remote service area on deck 32 of Theurgy the blood was pumping so loud in his ears, he didn’t really know what he had agreed to. It had all been a blur and now he was so close to his idolisation that he could smell her.

Danny realised that he had been lost in thought when he finally heard the silence. He blinked a couple of times and spotting that both Ziegler and Stark were watching him. The former had her hand outstretched, holding her satchel to him. The ask was obvious.

“…Aye” He mumbled, taking the bag carefully so not touch her delicate skin. Quickly he collected the rest of the luggage and carried it away. The heat of embarrassment burning all the way down the back of his neck.

The walk to the habitat area was short. It was down a corridor away from the control room and that gave Danny time to breathe. Calm yourself, he mentally repeated, nothing is going to happen.

Well, nothing was going to happen unless he made it. Clutching Ziegler’s bag tightly in his hand, Lozano pondered on its contents. Obviously, there would a change in uniform, but it would also hold many secrets. What type of underwear did it hold? Was Ziegler partial to a thong? Or lace? Would he be able to grab a glimpse of her in a silk negligee when they all settled into their bunks? Would they have to share?

To his own frustration, dirty thoughts seeped into his mind again and he found himself ashamed at his own arousal. Cursing, he turned into the bunkroom. Against opposite walls, there were two sets of bunkbeds, each meticulously made so the bedding was ready for them. At the back of the room, two doors stood, presumably to the restrooms. Aside from that, there was little else to comment on the room. It was drab and empty. Aside of course from the bags already tucked under a couple of the beds.

Wait. What?

Danny dropped all the bags he held and checked back down the corridor. There were the sounds of the girls in the control room, but he could hear little else. Why were there bags here? Did the previous repair crews leave them? Had someone else answered the priority hail? What should he do?

Eventually, he finally came to the conclusion he needed to tell the others. They would know what to do. Besides, everyone was going to be sleeping here. They’d find the luggage like he had. Feeling his mouth dry out at the prospect of having to call the commander to be alone in the bedroom with him, he had to try something else. Stark! Stark would have a plan.

“L-lieutenant?” He yelled down the corridor, his voice echoing off the metal. “Can I have some help please?”

Re: [2380] Ghosts in the machine

Reply #4 – May 07, 2019, 07:56:45 PM

[Lt. Natalie Stark | Control Room | Relay Station NB943 ]Attn: @BZ  @Arista 
[Show/Hide]

Natalie gave herself a mental pat on the back for not jumping completely out of her skin when the diminutive Engineer cried out from behind her, eager to jump down into the control well and begin the diagnostics required to start troubleshooting this relay station. She did flinch, but it was slight, and she thought she had her face schooled by the time she turned to see the bright booted woman practically jumping in place with enthusiasm to get to the task at hand. She had no idea her own eyes were still quite wide with surprise and incredulity.

The Ops officer knew very little about the two remaining members of their team, beyond having briefly reviewed their personnel files. There had been some notations about PO1 Steven's eccentricities, but the brunette concluded that the file was a gross understatement. Almost criminal in how unprepared it leaves you for the in person behavior, she decided. She'd have to take that one up with the girls commanding officer - Solkar, if she remembered correctly. Or more likely just append her own impressions to the file.

Less people to talk to that way.

Still, the tiny bespectacled Engineer practically leapt down to the floor below (well note quite) and scampered (there was no better word for it that Nat could think of) over to the console in question. Crossing her arms under her bust, Nat simply watched for a moment, almost fascinated by the woman's actions, as much as her attire. The yellow shoes. The beads. The bag with...tassels? Something or another dangling off it.

Solkar apparently allows his subordinates a large amount of personal leeway in attire, she thought, sparing a glance at Commander Ziegler, to try and discern the other woman's thoughts about the Petty Officer. Or maybe he's decided it's not worth the effort to correct? All thoughts that Natalie lacked the confidence to consider voicing to the XO, who might have had some insight. Instead, PO1 Stevens got belated approval for her initiative, and Stark got her orders.

She straightened up where she stood, her arms moving from crossed to a more appropriate 'at ease' pose behind her back as she listened, falling back on training to hide awkwardness. She gave a curt nod and a quick, "Aye aye, Commander,".

Pausing long enough to hand off her own personal bag (a Standard Starfleet Duffle with a simple tag of STARK, NATALIE, LT. USS THEURGY patch adhered to it) over to the other Petty Officer (Lozano) she turned and walked over to the comm's station, across the well from the console that PO1 Steven's had set up at. While the eccentric non com worked on life support and getting a general feel for the station, Natalie began the start up process for Communications.

With her tricorder open and set atop the station console, she began to punch in a series of commands, the touch surface flickering to life under the pressure of her fingertips. All the while, the trilling noise of a diagnostic scan filtered about in the background for Natalie, her tricorder independently confirming the signals and processes of the communications station.

The long range automated maintenance call was functional, Natalie saw, the first thing that appeared on the display before her. Doing a quick double tap, she brought up the status and confirmed the number of day's it had been active. Satisfied there, she switched the beacon over to standby mode. For the duration of their stay on the relay station, the automated signal would be placed on hold, only kicking back in if they failed to fully disable (or reset the standby) it in two days time. [io]That should be sufficient[/i], she concluded, before delving into the actual live communications array, used to contact and broadcast non automated messages.

While the automated distress signal and the primary communications array were both accessible from the sole comm's station in the relay stations Operations Center, they were, in fact, two separate systems and arrays. Thus, if main communications were somehow disabled, a distress or maintenance signal could still be sent. She was now running the start up procedures for that subsystem...huh. Well, That's different.

Natalie planted her palms on the console and leaned over, fingers spread wide. Her lips were pursed as she read the display in front of her. Instead of going straight into an active broadcast mode, the comm's array had immediately failed over to a hard disk scan. Essentially a Level-2 self contained diagnostic that would have to run before she could do anything.

That shouldn't  be the case unless this system had been recently bought online and crashed. Her brow furrowed as she drummed her fingers against the touch pad. Dammit. She knelt down and popped a panel off the console's support column, checking the isolinear load out. It looks right. I don't see any burnt out chips....Maybe there's something with the array itself. Should be able to access that further down in the relay station...

Resigning herself to the issue at hand, and the need to report it, she stood back up, dusted her knees and called out, "Commander Ziegler, ma'am?'

Assured that she had the brunette German's attention, she coughed and gestured lamely to the console. "While the station itself seems operational, and I was able to easily access and suppress the priority alert, when i tried to bring up the long range communications array, the whole thing failed over into a self diagnostic. I don't seem to be able to bypass that. At least, not without doing some potential damage to the software." He frown deepened as she rolled that over in her head. "That's going to take at least a good hour to run its course." Before she could continue, Lorzano - No, Lozano -'s voice called out from the hallway to the side of the transporter pad, asking for her.

Natalie stared down the entrance to the access corridor, and then turned her head to Ziegler, with a silent 'what the hell?' look about her face. Shrugging, she jerked a thumb in that direction and lamely said, "I'll go see what that fuss is about, since this thing' stuck in a systems check anyway." She snatched her tricorder up off the console and clicked it shut, shoving it in the case attached to her hip as she bounded back up the gangway to the upper platform. With half a wave to the other two women in the main Operations Center, she strolled down the corridor toward the habitation module.

"What is it, Petty Officer?" she asked calmly as she strode to a halt in the entrance to the room, looking the crewman over. Unspoken was the query what exactly is so difficult about storing gear that you need someone to hold your hand? But that wasn't fair, and deep down Natalie knew that. Something was clearly wrong with this station, given the automated priority request for a maintenance team. Coupled with the odd diagnostic that kicked in on the long range communications array, the shyness Natalie felt was bleeding away to a curious sort of frustration she could sometime manifest when she was being pulled away from a challenging pet project.

Nothing seemed immediately amiss in the room. There were bunks, bags, and the Petty Officer - who looked a might bit green about the gills, come to think of it. "Are you all right, Lozano? Not experiencing any ill effects post transport? Gravity imbalance?" She asked the man, having not done a hard count on the bags in the room and thus not realized why exactly he had called for her. Her blue eyes took on a look of intense scrutiny and concern as he evaluated the non-com. Was the gravity off? It feels fine to me, she thought, but she knew that some beings were more sensitive to shifts in artificial gravity from one environment to the next, especially if they came from homeworlds with lower or higher gravity than that normally used on most Starfleet vessels and facilities.

Re: [2380] Ghosts in the machine

Reply #5 – May 09, 2019, 03:52:42 PM

[PO1 Kiki Stevens | Captain Stevens She's Our Hero, Gonna Take Engineering Down to Zer- Oh No, Gonna Make This Console Shoot Rainbows on the Less Optimistically Inclined!!]
@Arista @Brutus



Fuddy Duddies, the lot of them.

Standing there like they needed to be super professional.  No one was watching! And even if they were, she was all ready to boogy down and get her groove on while she was working.  Kiki wasn't the sort that just stood around being all professionally and super serious.  That was for when you were old!  And Kiki was young at heart and in body and well just all around.  People misunderstood that she hadn't seen her fair share of horrors in her line of work.  It was the Theurgy for crying out loud!  But, Kiki had figured out a long time ago that every one needed a ray of sunshine and she had decided that she would be one for the world!

Sunshine buttercups and raindrops!

As the power to the console resumed it lit up her face with an almost demonic light for a moment because it was some the only lighting in the area at the moment.  Pippy Three-stocking told her that she had done a good job. 

“You ain't seen nothing yet Mon Capitan, because, I just pushed a button!  You wait til I get to actually engineer something, then you'll be like 'oh!  I'm in the presence of greatness!' and you'll bow before your Engineering overlord because you know who holds the stations power in her little rainbow painted hands!” she turned with glee, she was totally kidding, probably, maybe, who really knew.  The bright smile, the twinkle in her dark eyes, and the brightness of her personality it was hard to know if she was just a beautifully crafted maniac or if she was honestly just teasing.

Sure enough, every fingernail on Kiki was painted a different color of the rainbow.  When you put both hands together they created a fleshed out full on ROYGBIV session.  It was pure art.

Donatello got to do bag duty.  haha Sucker she thought to herself as she watched the UFP logo fade into a black screen before all the icons and pretty rainbow arrays of the LCARS began to load up on the screen in front of her ready to be used.  Kiki's fingers were fast as they typed in her access codes so that the LCARS knew that she was legit (too legit, apparently) to get into the system.  Too legit, too legit to quit! Hey heyyyyyyyy.  Kiki was a fan of obscure music from all measures of old bands and what not, she didn't discriminate though she predominately listened to old Earthen stuff.  It was usually played in her ears while she worked when she didn't have to listen for her name all the time.  When she was stuck in a Jefferies tube, or in the reactor, or .. something secluded so that no one could see the secrets of her Super Awesome Engineering Dance Moves. 

He headed off with everyone's bags to the other room, but Kiki kept her own bag because it wasn't something she often let out of her sight.  There was Super Top Secret Stuff in there.  Things that people would ask questions about.  A whole manga collection, her own art work, journals, and Mister Snuffles.  So, there was some seriously amazing things in there, the kind of rip-the-fabric-of-space-and-time kind of stuff and she didn't want to destroy the universe. 

There was only so much awesomeness that one universe could take. 

She initated the scans of the area around the station itself and the sensor arrays that could possibly be able to tell them if anything external was going on.  She doubted there was, they had gotten here just fine without a single issue, but she would feel better if she got it all done anyway so that was one thing off of the Tres Pips mental check list with her super square boxes for those regulation check marks.  Or .. something. 

The other one was all 'I'll check out why the array isn't working' and Kiki was just doing her thing.  Waiting for the next time she could be super amazing awesome engineering, with extra sauce.  Kiki looked over at the Captainito who stood there as Stark (really bad last name, but fit the uptight nature) headed into the other room after Donatello. 

He was secretly a Ninja Turtle.

“So the sensors show nadda outside, mi amigo!” she called from her spot in front of the console where she finished up her work and stood up straight, not that she had been bent over for long but … she stretched her back anyway.  Donatello called out from the other room, that was why Iron Man went into the room beyond to see what he needed.  Why else would she have the last name of Stark.  She was totally secretly Tony Stark's long lost relative that he had probably created.  Part android, part Jarvis, part amazeballs.  Completely void of anything that would make her truly human.  Probably did not load the laughing and joking protocol properly and thus you got Stark the Stark. 

Should I be nosy?  Or use this opportunity to get to know the Great and Glorious Leader?  Kiki studied the Captain for a moment before deciding to carpe the Diem. 

“So.  Heh.” she rubbed the back of her neck nervously.  “You know what?  I like yellow!  It's like the best color.  Don't you think so? I mean you're probably cool with red, and that's a great color, but I think yellow just really brightens up a room.  I mean, you can't look bad in it, and it's so warm, and sunny, and bright.  I think it's just one of those colors you can't be mad at, when you look at.  You can't be mad at yellow.” she shrugged her shoulders and smiled. 

Re: [2380] Ghosts in the machine

Reply #6 – June 29, 2019, 04:18:22 PM

[ Commander Anya Ziegler | Control Room | Relay Station NB943 ] Attn: @Brutus , @BZ , Anyone else
[Show/Hide]

Stevens continued to speak. Most noticeable amongst the throng of words thrown about at warp speed was her apparent desire to her workmates to kneel in acknowledgement of her greatness. It was odd, Ziegler contemplated, was this how Vulcans felt around Humans? Did we all seem like hyper, emotional, egotists? The energy and the buzz given off by the young engineer was enough to give anyone second thoughts, but she was not completely intolerable, in fact, in many ways she was quite amusing.

It was the musing on colours that surprised Ziegler the most. She had a favourite colour, of course she did, however it had been a very long time since she had vocalised it. Aside from small children, who really talked about their favourite colour? Stevens, apparently.

“Green.” Ziegler replied to the short engineer, with a small smile. “I like green. It makes me think of trees, meadows and nature”

At her own console, once the start-up sequence has finalised, Ziegler inputted some commands and tried to pull the maintenance logs from the computer. The system was slow to respond as if contemplating every request. Most likely it was just antiquated. The relay had been here for years, if not decades. Eventually Starfleet Corps of Engineers would need to come out and completely retrofit the satellite from the ground up. In the meantime, it would be up to passing vessels, like Theurgy, to the conduct the repairs required to keep it operational.

While the computer dredged its records, Ziegler wondered if Stevens had chosen the Engineering track in the academy solely for the fact that they wore yellow or if it was just coincidence. She probably would have been distraught if she had joined in the times of James T. Kirk – Engineers wore red back then.

There was a small beep and Anya checked her console. That was odd.

“Stevens, what do you think is going on here?” The commander questioned, gestured to the list of entries on display. “There’s an arrival log from the previous repair team, about 8 months ago, and a couple of work entries, but no job completion or disembarkation records.”

Looking closer, Ziegler’s brow knitted further. “In fact, they seemed to be responding to the same error that we did.”

It was as if the work crew just vanished.

[ PO2 Daniel Lozano | Bunk Room | Relay Station NB943 ]

Lozano tried to swallow but he didn’t feel like anything could past the lump in his throat. Luckily, Stark had actually come to his aid, rather than Ziegler, but she didn’t seemed to see anything out of the ordinary.

“Bags.” He hissed, pointing towards the various duffels that were tucked under the bunk beds. “Why are there bags?”

Were there others already here? Was there a temporal loop that meant their bags were already here and these were the same bags but from a different time? Are they going to have the call the department of temporal investigation? His mind whirled and whirled, further questions and questions were popping into his mind.

Why did he accept this assignment? Why did he leave Theurgy? Why couldn’t this just have been the simple job that had been promised?

He felt sick. 

Taking a deep breath, he tried to clear the voices and invasive thoughts pinging around his mind like popcorn in a pan. Stark was here. She would know what to. She was a Lieutenant after all.

“What should we do, Lieutenant?”

Re: [2380] Ghosts in the machine

Reply #7 – July 19, 2019, 05:50:32 PM

[Lt. Natalie Stark | Bunk Room | Relay Station NB943 ]Attn: @Arista @BZ 
[Show/Hide]

Lozano had found the courage to point out the bags. All of the sudden, Natalie's opinion of the noncom's nature went from mild annoyance and concern for his help to sharp understanding. There were bags left in the bunk room. Bags, which Lozano had clearly not placed there himself.

Natalie's eyes went wide with surprise and then narrowed. Her mind went into overdrive, part of her wondering why Lozano didn't start a scan or some other sensible thing, worrying that he might not be the best choice for field work. Another part of her felt and noted her pulse quicken, in response to his hushed tones, and the clear suspicion and concern in his voice. Why indeed, why indeed, she thought, as she darted around the room with her gaze.

Two bunks on either side, built into the walls, similar to what she remembered seeing in crew quarters aboard one of the Defiant-class vessels her father had been working on in the Utopia Planitia Fleet Yards during a visit home over her summer break between years 2 and 3 at the Academy. There had been the undeniable possibility by that point that she might end up serving upon one such vessel, and her father, though worried terribly at the prospect, had decided his little girl needed every leg up he could give her.

Instead she'd served out the very tail end of what was at the time not yet a formalized Dominion war aboard an aged Miranda-class ship in the area of the Delphic Expanse, mostly with behind the line support work.

That trip had been years ago at this point, but the memory had surfaced in that moment, standing the room and taking it all in. Under each wall mounted pair of bunks were storage, and in these were bags that should not be there. That brought her back to the present.

"Let's set our own stuff down to the side, Petty Officer," Natalie suggested, her voice slightly strained, but hopefully sounding collected. Officers had to pretend to be calm even when their skin was crawling. As much as Natalie wanted to summon Commander Ziegler back into the room as well, there was little that the XO could do that the younger Lieutenant could not, and she didn't want Ziegler to be disappointed in her. Instead she fished out her Tricorder and took a few focused readings of the room, as well as a more general scan for life signs.

"The room looks relatively undisturbed," she said, turning around in place and then walking between the two sets of bunks, bending over to examine the sheets. "I can't tell when they were last  slept in but they have definitely been cleaned and well, the beds were made. That follows standard protocol for these kind of facilities.

"I'm not detecting any other life signs here but ours," she added to the petty officer, belatedly realizing that might not be reassuring. She gave a little shrug and decided not to tell him that the tricorder couldn't scan the whole relay station. There were parts deeper inside the complex that she'd have to use internal sensors to probe, or  go through and check out in person using the maintenance access corridors. And won't that be fun, wondering what's going to come around the corner without any warning. Now why did you have to go and think that?

Clearly the obvious paranoia on Lozano's face was affecting her. She bit her lip and then bent over to check the bag, pulling it out. "Well, someone didn't bother to tag their bags properly. No name or ship." she said with a clear frown on her face. Absorbed as she was with the task at hand she hadn't bothered to note that she'd angeled herself so that she was pointed directly at the petty officer, affording him a view that would have caused the young woman to blush were she wearing a skirt.

Apparently fear focuses the mind, she mused, realizing she hadn't stuttered. Perhaps it was a fascination with (or simply having) a problem on hand. Even as early as the Academy, Natlaie had found her shy nature bled away when she had something to deal with. And while this mystery was a little less concrete than most of the tasks she as an Ops Officer dealt with, it was still a challenge to work on, and much easier than dealing with people...even if she had to deal with people.

Pursing her lips, she stayed bent in contemplation. Oh, what the hell, she thought, and unzipped the bag. The jacket for a standard duty uniform was stuck inside, immediately on top, as well as a small padd, and more clothes underneath. She took the PADD out and thumbed it on. "Passcode protected. Nothing to identify. That's....frustrating."

Standing again, Natalie rubbed the back of her neck, letting the bag alone, and turned to face Lozano. She offered him a weak smile that likely did little to reassure the nervous petty officer. "Could be a case of needing to leave in a hurry. Wouldn't be the first time that someone left a bag behind in an emergency. Their ship could have come back and beamed them all off."
Natalie ventured.

It was possible, but even the Lieutenant knew it wasn't very plausible. Hands on her hips now, she looked around the room again, and took a deep breath, letting it out in a low sigh. "How about we check the refresher units real quick, you take the left, i'll take the right. Due diligence, maybe someone left a note or something. And then we'll both go back and let Commander Ziegler know what we've found?" She asked it like a question but it was an order in the end. She assumed this wouldn't take long at all. The units would likely have a toilet and a sonic shower stall - possibly two, but probably just one each, as well as a sink. Simple and compact, she imagined.

Not really waiting for Lozano to agree, or have a chance to argue, she turned and marched across the small bunk room to check the right hand door, reaching up to trigger the touchpad and open the refresher.

Re: [2380] Ghosts in the machine

Reply #8 – July 28, 2019, 05:08:35 AM

[PO1 Kiki Stevens | Green Means Go! | Team's in a Bad Situation Here, Cap'n | Come Out Come Out Where Ever You Are]
@Arista @Brutus




Green.

Well it wasn't yellow, but she supposed it was respectable, only because it was half-yellow.  The other half didn't need to be mentioned.  So since she really liked Half-Yellow, then she figured that the Zeigler couldn't be all that bad.  Someone couldn't be bad when they liked something that was so bright, cheery, and just down right awesome.  And she said that it made her think of meadows, and nature, and trees.  Which was nice because there wasn't any of that in space and honestly you needed to remember those things when all you saw was the wasteland of space in between cool beans stars and all the little planets that polka dotted the darkness. 

Kiki loved planet faring, though she didn't get to go as often as she wanted to because Engineering tended to get shoved into the basement of the Titanic and told to man the steam engines and keep the fires burning for when we ultimately have to run from a stupid decision someone made and we're dying.  You know, the norm.  There was nothing quite like running around with your ass on fire because someone was after you.  Such was the life, history, and time of the Theurgy and it's crew. 

Tres Pips headed over to one of the consoles and sat herself down to get back to work and Kiki figured that it was a silent shut down of all cool color talk.  There were so many more colors in the rainbow that they hadn't even gotten to yet.  There was Quarter-Yellow, Three Quarters Yellow, and there were all the shades of yellow, and gold was respectable because it was almost yellow enough to count.  There were so many different shades to talk about.  Butterscotch, butter cream, butter, yellow, lemon, and so many more obscure ones.  She had once, when she was a kid had a coveted crayon color, it was one that no one was allowed to touch or use, it was just hers and she would fight a kid over her beloved crayon.  Chickadee Fluff.  It was the best crayon in the history of all crayons and now they didn't make it anymore.  Crayons weren't a thing they made, and it was heart breaking that she couldn't open her plastic pencil box and smell the paper wrapped wax colored sticks and know.. that on the top in all it's shining yellow glory, Chickadee Fluff, was right on top just waiting to make the perfect blonde stick figures, and the perfect little sunshine beams from the corner drawn sun. 

Stevens. 

“that's my name, and answerin' is my game!” she called out hearing her name without thinking, it was one of the things that annoyed her superiors but if she wasn't annoying them she was probably either napping or not working.  Because, you know, the comic books called and I must answer.  She had a tshirt around somewhere that said that inside this really cool batman logo.  It was pretty boss and she liked to wear it but it was probably at the bottom of a pretty impressive laundry pile in her Quarters.  She supposed she could replicate them all clean and hang them up but then what was the fun hunting for the perfect tshirt when it was where it was supposed to be?!

She could almost hear the death glare that she probably got in response but if someone like Kiki wasn't immune to death glares from the Sith Lords of the Universe then she would probably have become particle dust by this point.  But honestly, it just fulled the fires of love and everything yellow.  Finally, she tore her eyes away from the console and stomped across the metal scaffolding while she worked to get herself towards the Captain where she sat.  Leaning down slightly so that she could see what the woman was talking about as she explained.  Apparently, people had come, answering the same signal that sent their team of four down, and yet there was a couple of work logs.  Nothing ever completed, nothing actually done, and then they were just gone.  But there were no logs about them leaving, or being picked up.

“Are there any handy dandy sensor readings that show a ship in the area that would have picked up the crew.  Any emergency transmissions?” she asked as she leaned across and began to push buttons on the console.  “Inspector Kiki to the rescue, not got many gadgets outside of this here console but I bet I can solve the mystery, eh Scoob?” she chuckled at her own little joke and looked down.

“Well I hate to tell ya, Mon'Capitan but there isn't anything in here.  Maybe we can find some personal logs?  There has to be some kind of footprint of our predecessors.  I mean even the dinos left behind skellies am I right?” she chuckled as she stood up and sighed.  “Truth is, there is something hinky going on here, that's for darn sure.”

- FIN