Star Trek: Theurgy

Day 20 [0900 hours] Of Problems Past and Present

April 08, 2023, 07:23:03 PM

[Lt. Reika Sh'laan | Computer Core | Deck 12 and 14 | Vector 03 | USS Theurgy] Attn: @RyeTanker

Reika liked the fact that there was some leeway during her first couple of days back on duty.  Given that she was in charge of vector 3, she needed to spend some time refamiliarizing herself with the vector in her charge.  She’d spend the morning going over the four decks worth of computer core and the afternoon going over the storage areas in her care.

As she stepped up to the deck 12 entrance to the core, Thea’s voice came through the door controls.  “Please state your name and input your identification code.”  Nothing to be worried about, Reika reminded herself.

But at the moment, she didn’t feel like there was nothing to worry about.  This was the first time she had entered the computer core since the day that she ended up on ice.  And since it was her being in the computer core that directly resulted in her stint in stasis … it felt like a little bit of panic was warranted.

But her tactical training kicked in - at least for the moment.  When she was under fire - simulated or real, it didn’t matter how much internal panic she had felt under pressure.  She did her job.  This is no different.  “Lieutenant Reika Sh’laan,” she said before entering her access codes into the door. 

“Access granted,” came Thea’s very humanoid voice.

Reika took one step inside the room.  Just enough for the door to shut behind her, and instead of walking directly in, she sidestepped and pressed herself against the bulkhead. Deep breath.  One trip to the cooler after stepping inside here doesn’t mean a second trip.

But somehow between her last experience in the core and her news from Doctor Kobol that morning, she was unsettled. Her antenna drooped low.  How can my emotions go from such a high of elation after my evening and subsequent night with Kino to such despondency between Kobol’s news and now entering the computer core?  Banging her head backward against the bulkhead twice, she took another deep breath, opened her eyes, and forced her feet forward.  “I’m stronger than this,” her voice seemed to contradict the words, but nevertheless, she started walking toward the core.

As the stately Andorian walked across one of the catwalks to the center of the core, blue eyes looked over the handrail down the four decks the computer core spanned.  It was nowhere near as ‘beautiful’ as the thrumming cobalt of the warp core, but it still held a mechanical elegance that few other locations aboard could speak of. 

Inputting her code into a keypad, a core interface popped out, and she began typing in some commands to look at the various computer system statuses.  Her eyes scrolled down the list that she had called up.  Yes.  Uhuh.  Check.  Okay.  Um … No.  Processing speeds in a subsection of the core dealing with environmental controls looked off - performing nowhere near the computations per second that were expected.  “Suppose I should check that out.”  Returning the interface to its locked position, she headed to the nearest lower-level access port.  What she was looking for would be found on deck fourteen.

Five minutes later, Reika was laying on her back with her head inside a panel.  Having narrowed down the processing speed issue down to a well-burried mechanical error code that she was trying to determine exactly what was failing so that she could contact engineering so they could do the mechanical repair.

But keeping her mind focused on the task at hand was becoming more and more strenuous as her mind kept being drawn to a console on the other side of this deck.  The console where those months ago she had been working to thwart the Federation's attempts at a communications and tracking incursion.  The one which lead her to the device located near the deuterium tanks - which, when found, initiated a microfracture in a tank that caused her genetic unspooling - unspooling that she was told that very morning, was showing signs of flux again.  The comparitive silence of the computer core did nothing to deafen her perspective on what happened to her months ago or the possibility that it was still happening to her or would happen again. 

Re: Day 20 [0900 hours] Of Problems Past and Present

Reply #1 – April 11, 2023, 06:02:43 AM

[Lieutenant Commander Frank Arnold | Vector 2 Engineering | Deck 6 | Vector 01 | USS Theurgy] @Dree

Lieutenant Commander Frank Arnold turned his neck form side to side as he listened to Lieutenant Kala Marika talk about the ODN relay retrofit the crews were doing on the connection between Vectors 1 and 2.  The discomfort wasn't from his deputy talking as she pointed out the changes that had been made to the connection ports.  That part was actually pretty interesting since they did a better job of re-aligning and connecting as the ship came together from multi-vector mode.  The main issue with his neck was that it still felt strange to have that other half-pip on his collar. 

He'd never really thought about getting the actual title of Chief Engineer.  Rightfully that position still belonged to Blue Tiran in his head, but she was gone, and he was still adjusting.  Another supposed victim of a curse that came with the post.  The Chief Engineer was paying attention, so he didn't snort as the familiar thought came up again.  His nostrils did flare as he raised a hand and drew a line along the connections that Bajoran had just pointed out.  Pressing a button on the console, he watched the computer model of the system work and there was a noticeable improvement in protection for the ship's data access lines, and the ability to communicate across the ship. The Chief nodded his approval at the whole process.  "Looks good Marika.  Let me know if anything comes up during the refit.  Last thing we need is for the bridge to suddenly lose contact with Engineering because someone forgot to plug the ODN conduit back in."

The Bajoran engineer looked offended at the prospect and was about to get defensive when she realized the Chief was teasing her and gave her boss a tight smile.  Frank wasn't fazed by this as he turned his grin on her and she eventually shook her head and her smile became more natural.  "Thank you sir."  "Don't mention it."  If there was anything worse than plugging the holes in the ship, it was getting her ready to go on what promised to be another hair raising adventure, but repairs were effectively complete, and the crew was figuratively tightening down the final bolts putting the shine back into everything. 

An automated message caught his attention indicating someone was accessing the computer core and this piqued his interest, especially since he was getting tired of organizing people for the moment and missed getting his hands on a problem and working it over.  The computer core was mainly an Operations matter, but when something was broken on it then Engineering would be called in. "Okay Marika. You keep at it. On your way." He made a shooing motion and the other engineer nodded and took off.

Frank stared at the computer code again and pressed it on the LCARS screen, then accessed the details.  His head tilted to one side as he didn't recognize the name of the person doing the maintenance aside from the fact they were probably an Andorian.  But why were they physically working on the computer core?  Arguably the most important component next to the warp core, especially since it constituted a major part of Thea's data matrix.  Crossing big arms, he tapped his fingers in his biceps for a moment before shrugging.  Maybe he was being immature about it, but he really wanted to play hooky from the no doubt long list of planning and personnel problems he had to look over, so with a smile and twinkle in his eye, Chief Arnold grabbed his tool kit and headed to the nearest turbolift.

"Computer Core, Deck 12, Vector 3" he ordered after the lift car had arrived.  He hummed a short ditty as the car moved quickly to it's destination and deposited him at the nearest exit where he made his way out.  Smiling impishly as he made his way to the door nearest to where the other person was working, Frank took a moment to compose himself before pressing the button and stepping through.  Aside from the massive bank of processing power and bioneural gel packs in front of him, the computer core didn't look all that different from Engineering and his head turned left and right to see if he just managed to find the right area where the panel was open. 

This turned out to be moot as he spotted a pair of blue legs sticking out of the core.  Eyebrows dipped in curious amusement as he stopped for a moment, then used his knuckles to knock on the side of the core as a warning.  He could only really claim to know a couple of the Andorian's on the ship.  Neither one would make it a point to be tucked into the computer, so this one was new.  Seeing as how he was being irresponsible, Frank decided he'd carry it as far as he could just to change things up a bit and "Ware! Adventurer!  You've entered the dark data caverns of the great flying space tub!  You are now under the gaze of the great grease monkey guardian of the hallowed slimy data packs.  Show thyself and be recognized!"

Re: Day 20 [0900 hours] Of Problems Past and Present

Reply #2 – April 14, 2023, 08:20:58 AM

[Lt. Reika Sh'laan | Computer Core | Deck 12 and 14 | Vector 03 | USS Theurgy] Attn: @RyeTanker

Reika was both buried in the bowels of this part of the computer as well as in her own mind.  Between the loudness of her thoughts and the thrum of the computer core, she didn’t hear a thing until there was a nearby knock.  If it hadn’t been for her arms over her head, she might have banged her head against the innards of the sub-processing unit she was entrenched in.  As it was, her head banged into her arms which banged into a microprocessing converter housing after which an, “Uhf,” was clearly heard. 

It took a moment to untangle blue fingers from the crevices into which they had found themselves, and as she did, she heard, “Ware!  Adventurer!  You’ve entered the dark data caverns of the great flying space tub!  You are now under the gaze of the great grease monkey guardian of the hallowed slimy data packs.  Show thyself and be recognized.” 

What in the world?  Before her accident, the Andorian’s attitude had usually no-nonsense when on duty.  She had prized her work ethic and her business-like demeanor.  So for a moment while still entangled in computer parts, she wasn’t sure if a greeting like this intrigued her or irritated her.  As she pushed herself partway through the opening, she reminded herself that this was her second chance.  And while she should do things to the best of her ability, lowering her guard and not taking herself or others quite so seriously when protocols could be more relaxed would make it easier to reintegrate herself into the crew and give her a better rapport with them.  Making a conscious decision, she opted to let the greeting intrigue her.  She wiggled herself partially out of the small space that she had shimmied into in the first place.  When she was almost extracted, her eyes lighted on a solid set of legs clad in Starfleet issue pants, and as she finally squirmed the rest of the way out of the hole, she sat up taking in a burly, bearded human wearing gold.  Offering her hand to the stranger to help her up, she waited until she was on her feet.

Brushing her grimy hands off on her pants and then dusting her back and backside  off as best as she could while chuckling.  “Aww, I’m sure you speak to all the pretty girls that way,” she winked at him figuring if he were relaxed enough to jest with her in his greeting, he’d likely enjoy at least a bit of repartee.  “So by great grease monkey, I take it you’re an Engineer?”  Then looking at the number of pips, she corrected herself.  “Or Chief Engineer?”

Upon hearing his response, she offered her hand, this time to shake.  Giving his hand a firm grasp and a solid up and down, she said,  “I’m Reika Sh’laan, the newly thawed yet former OPS officer currently assigned to vector three.  I thought I’d start my day by refamiliarizing myself to the section under my charge, and found some sluggish processing speeds for the environmental controls.”  She gestured to the open panel.  “Hence the position you found me in a moment ago.”

Re: Day 20 [0900 hours] Of Problems Past and Present

Reply #3 – April 19, 2023, 08:18:38 PM

[Lieutenant Commander Frank Arnold | Main Computer Core | Deck 12 | Vector 03 | USS Theurgy] @Dree

The Chief Engineer chuckled as he saw another gold shirt wiggle her way out of the computer space. At least she had a good sense of humour at being pulled out of her work like this. "You're right. A person does have to be pretty effective at their job before I even consider using that line of greeting."  Frank's large paw seemed to swallow the smaller blue hand as he mentally sighed in relief that it wasn't actually the security medic he'd run into. If Zark had been caught surprised in bowels of the computer systems, there was no telling which end of devilry she'd opt to use. Though when this new Andorian winked at him, he was starting to wonder if there was a mischief streak on all of the female shaped Andorians. On the other hand, he didn't have a large sample of data to draw one, so he was probably imagining things. 

"To be honest. I'm still getting used to the rank, but Lieutenant Commander Frank Arnold. Chief Engineer, and it's a pleasure to meet you Reika Sh’laan." He let the hand shake for another moment before letting go. "I'm not exceptionally big on the whole rank thing since I only really use it when I'm issuing orders, but since this is more of a shared cooperative experience, you can call me Frank, or Chief of it makes you feel more comfortable."

Frank tried to think up something else to say, but his mind went black for the moment, so it was time to crack on and he looked at thr open panel. "Usually when it comes to hardware maintenance, Engineering would take care of it, but since you've already cracked open the core, I might as well help take a look." Frank kneeled down and opened his own tool kit, the took out a PADD. Pulling a couple of cables, he reached into the  compartment and hooked them to a data node, and an ODN line. His hands started moving about the UI, running various diagnostics. "I hope you don't mind me running my own tests, but tell me what you've found so far. Hopefully it's nothing major." Frank's face turned slightly stormy suddenly. "but if we find another silicone phallus in the wiring, I'm gonna have my assistant run a DNA test on it so I can beat the owner over the head with it. "

Re: Day 20 [0900 hours] Of Problems Past and Present

Reply #4 – April 20, 2023, 06:01:37 AM

[Lt. Reika Sh'laan | Computer Core | Deck 12 and 14 | Vector 03 | USS Theurgy] Attn: @RyeTanker

Reika nodded twice slowly.  “Yeah,” she said.  “I heard about Blue.  Knew her … well ... before.  It’s usually a good thing to get a promotion, but sometimes the circumstances are hard to swallow.”  And silence prevailed.  She understood it.  It was hard to lose a comrade.  What she didn't say was it was harder to lose a bunch of them at once - or at least feel like you have when you wake up and only a handful of the people you knew are still around.  And even to those who died while she was thawed - to them, she was likely as good as dead.  The whole situation is hard to wrap a mind and heart around, and the Andorian felt for the Engineer.  His rank was always a reminder of who he lost - even if they were just co-workers.

“Usually when it comes to hardware maintenance, Engineering would take care of it, but since you’ve already cracked open the core, I might as well help take a look.”

Reika watched Frank kneel down.  “It was a processing speed issue.  I just wanted to make sure that there wasn’t something physical causing the problem before I tackled it from a programming standpoint.  And if it wasn’t or it was an easy fix, I didn’t mind doing it myself.” 

Reika watched as his pale hands maneuvered around inside the space with ease - almost as if his fingers had their own eyes.  “Nope,” she responded. “I don’t mind you running your own tests.  Always better to verify.”

“Would you prefer I don’t even take a look at the easy stuff if it comes up?  I don’t want to step on toes, but I also don’t want to bother engineering every time something slight happens either.”

“As to what I found, I just that the processing speeds slowed down in regards to the part of the core controlling life support, and I wanted to check it out.”  The Andorian turned and leaned against the console table above with one hand on each side of her while her eyes were trailed on the engineer.  “See or feel anything of note in there?”

“I’m sorry, did you say a silicone phallus?  People have been stashing those?  In the computer core?  Please tell me you’re kidding?”

Re: Day 20 [0900 hours] Of Problems Past and Present

Reply #5 – April 27, 2023, 05:53:53 AM

[Lieutenant Commander Frank Arnold | Main Computer Core | Deck 12 | Vector 03 | USS Theurgy] @Dree

Chief Arnold shook his head at the question of who should be looking after the computer core. "I was just teasing you, and it really doesn't matter as long as nothing gets damaged or someone goes beyond their abilities in making a repair that could endanger the ship.  Haven't encountered that too many times thankfully.  Though I do remember this one braggart that insisted it was a good idea to cross the deuterium and anti matter feeds.  The Chief had him kicked off the ship in record time.  Dumped him onto a quartermaster job at some really out of the way never ever gets visited supply post towards the galactic core."

At the Andorian's question of if he found anything, Frank frowned at the results and began typing more.  "You're instincts are good, there is something.  Except it's a little strange.  I'm running an analysis program on it to extrapolate what it is I'm seeing here.  As for the toy, who knows?  My Assistant Chief, Azrin Ryn, and one of the other ops people, Alistair Leavitt I think, heard of him?  Anyway, they found a dildo on deck 28 while trying to track down a noise in the Jeffereies tubes.  Azrin said she found it in a coolant line near the warp core.  I didn't know whether to be thunderous or laugh when she told me.  I understand that Mr. Leavitt didn't take the finding too well, but that's understandable."

The PADD had beeped with the results somewhere in his story, but the Chief liked to finish talking if the situation wasn't life and death.  He turned the PADD towards Reika so she could get a better look at the results and and another window popped to the side to show the affected areas of coding. "This is strange. It's almost like someone buried a program within the environmental controls.  For what I can tell.  It almost seems encrypted.  What do you think?"

---

OOC: Shout outs to @rae and @Griff for story material. Full story here.

Re: Day 20 [0900 hours] Of Problems Past and Present

Reply #6 – April 29, 2023, 12:14:33 AM

[Lt. Reika Sh'laan | Computer Core | Deck 12 and 14 | Vector 03 | USS Theurgy] Attn: @RyeTanker

“Ha!  Deuterium and antimatter feeds? You’ve got to be kidding me.”  She let out a quiet snicker.  “Let’s see how many stupid ways we can blow up the ship, shall we?” 

“So … Okay,” the Andorian said, cocking her head slightly.  “Are shenanigans common on the ship?  Deuterium and anti-matter feeds - a dildo in the warp core coolant line?  Naked Romulans posing for a couples painting night?  Or is it that we’re just currently between crises and the crew needs creative ways to blow off steam?   I haven’t been awake for that long this time, but before, we seemed to manage to go from crisis to crisis.”

But during the conversation a beep emitted from somewhere below where Reika was leaning.  When the timing was right, Frank handed over the PADD, and V3 COO looked over the information.  “That does look like a separate program embedded into the system.  Damn, that’s odd.”  Tapping a couple of details on the PADD, Reika looked it over in a little more depth.  “It is definitely encrypted, but the encryption looks … I dunno.  Familiar somehow?” 

She handed the PADD back over to Frank and stood up from her perch.  Then walking a little ways around this part of the core, the Andorian pulled out a stowed keypad, typing some things into the computer interface.  She pulled the encrypted program that Fank had found and started analyzing it. Her antenna just as fixated on the program as her eyes were.   “Okay.  It looks like we have binomial signatories.” Nodding as she made some notes on the terminal. “But it’s combined with trilaterial nomenclature.”  Typing and a pause followed by an, “Oooh!” and more typing.  “And I think that’s augmented with a simple string computation.  So knowing that,” she glanced back toward the CEO,  “I’ll be able to run an algorithmic decryption of each of the component parts.  Might take a few minutes for Thea to work through though.”

But the typing continued for a little bit.  “Any idea why someone would add an encrypted packet to the environmental systems?  It doesn’t make sense to me.  Cause it’s likely that whatever’s in that packet is clogging and up the computing power slogging the speed.”  She walked back over a few step to where Frank had been embroiled in the guts of the computer.

Reika crossed her arms under her chest only half listening to Frank as blue fingers or her right hand tapped against her left arm while staring off into space for a moment.  It was obvious from her eyes and the way that the expression on her face slowly changed from contemplative to content and further onto something akin to merriment.  When suddenly, the capricious statement,  “So Frank, what would you consider to be the most romantic spot on the ship?” flew out of her mouth.

Re: Day 20 [0900 hours] Of Problems Past and Present

Reply #7 – May 05, 2023, 05:21:16 PM

[Lieutenant Commander Frank Arnold | Main Computer Core | Deck 12 | Vector 03 | USS Theurgy] @Dree

Frank grunted in agreement at Reika's general assessment about how the ship seemed to be a magnet for shenanigans and the ludicrous.  "I think you're right.  The universe does seem to have a special spot in it's heart for the crew.  If nothing else, it seems to keep everyone on their toes.  There are times I think it's actually safer to just stay in my quarters, in fact....."

As soon as his PADD beeped and he handed it over, it was clear that Reika's brain went into overdrive as she began to parse the information.  It was good thing that Frank kept general sense of truisms in his mind when it came to the gold shirts, if it was a person problem, call Security.  If it was a physical problem, call Engineering.  If it was a software problem, call Operations.  Since his own specialty was material sciences, that left him somewhat less capable in the programming area, and he would readily admit it, but that's why everyone worked as a team, and Engineering and Operations were generally very closely linked to each other in their fields.  As his mind finished that run on sentence, he stood patiently for a moment before he grabbed his tricorder and crawled into the space that the Andorian had just vacated.  Punching several buttons, an light blinked indicating a good wireless connection tot he data junction.  Typing some more, the Chief began to setup a tracker program on the secretive errant data packet.

Frank's mind was only starting to get engrossed in his work, so he didn't slam his head into the top like Reika had done, but it did cause him to pause and he blinked in surprise at the Andorian's question.  Why in the world would she be asking about romantic spots? The chief's eyebrows furrowed together as he took a look out in the Operation's woman's direction before shaking his head and going back to his tricorder. "Really can't say. Usually one of the lounge's is a good place to go.  I'm pretty sure the first impression that people got when I went into the Whetstone was that I was having a date with Reggie, one of the pilots."  There was a pause. "Okay, that was a date of sorts, since we did do something silly yet very fun afterwards."  Frank pressed several more buttons.  "Lemme see the PADD for a moment."  Frank took the PADD and gave it a quick scan for series of coding lines that he thought were pretty unique to the packets and transferred them over to the tricorder, then handed the PADD back to Reika so she could keep working. "Next to that is the arboretum.  Somehow it's still managed to survive all the holes and cracks that get punched into the ship.  Only thing I would recommend avoiding there on a date is the Remembrance Wall.  It's gotten pretty long, and is only going to get longer."

That morbid thought was cut off as the tricorder beeped then flashed red.  The Chief quirked an eyebrow as this was a result he certainly hadn't expected.  "Reika, I tried to set up a blood hound program to see where these packets are going, and it just hit a wall." A bit of fancy finger flying and a swipe saw the whole program and history transferred over to the PADD. "What do you make of it?"

Re: Day 20 [0900 hours] Of Problems Past and Present

Reply #8 – May 09, 2023, 05:49:46 AM

[Lt. Reika Sh'laan | Computer Core | Deck 12 and 14 | Vector 03 | USS Theurgy] Attn: @RyeTanker

Words once spoken can’t be taken back.  Reika noted Frank's original surprise at her question about Romantic spots, but the engineer's original seeming surprise gave way to a very nonplussed attitude.  Still, Reika, shows where your mind goes when not focused on work.  Get back in the game, girl!

But Frank seemed to take the question in stride.  “Reggie” was a new name for her, so it didn’t mean much to the Andorian, but she could hear - maybe not affection in his voice, but enjoyment of his time with whoever this ‘Reggie’ was.   But she listened in case he dropped any useful tidbits for a future time that maybe she could surprise the Trill with.  Admittedly, she was a bit disappointed when all she got was ‘the lounge,’ but that at least did get her thinking in the direction of some research that she would do later. 

Reika took back the offered PADD.

Then the arboretum was mentioned and Reika noticeably colored and held the PADD up in front of her face.  Aloud, she said, “No remembrance wall, got it.”  With barely a pause, she said, “I can see why that’s a spot to avoid.”

As her face began to return to its normal blue instead of it’s previous lilac, she heard her name and looked over at the Chief.  As he transferred the the program and the history to the PADD, her brow creased as her eyes slid across the lines of coding.  “It’s acting like it hit a firewall of some sort, but I’m not seeing anything that looks like what I typically would call a firewall.  I wonder if there’s some sort of ghost element written into the program.”  The Andorian set the PADD down and looked at the chief.  “Would you mind if I used the terminal?” she asked waiting for him to step over, so she could interface with the PADD and work on the problem from a keyboard - which was much faster. 

“Thanks,” she said as she slipped into the spot that Frank had previously occupied and her fingers flew across the keys as she ran different permutations on coding fragments that would pick up elements of a ghost firewall program.  After her fingers finished dancing, it didn’t take much more than a moment before the terminal beeped at her.  “Okay,” she said, pointing at a couple of highlighted fragments.  “If we put these together,” she moved those fragments, and we run a trace for secondary injunctions on the tertiary threads, we might ….” her voice trailed off for a split second.  “Yes!  Here,” she pointed, “Do you see those?”

Re: Day 20 [0900 hours] Of Problems Past and Present

Reply #9 – May 15, 2023, 04:15:18 PM

[Lieutenant Commander Frank Arnold | Main Computer Core | Deck 12 & 14 | Vector 03 | USS Theurgy] @Dree

Chief Arnold waited for Reika to process what she was seeing and he watched as her fingers flew over the PADD to isolate the spurious data fragments that were part of the jumble.  The Chief Engineer couldn't help but grin as he saw the enthusiasm in the Operations woman as she showed the PADD to him.  She'd highlighted the scrap code and his mind mulched over it.  "That is very strange.  Taking the PADD for a moment, he began running a trace on one of the scraps and seeing where it bounced around.  Both eyebrows arched as the scrap began to snowball all over the ship.  It wasn't much, just a few extra bits really, but there was additional data definitley being processed.  The trace died for a moment and the Chief tapped his finger on the PADD. He replayed the code on his first data wall they'd hit and cycled it in action several times so his mind could logic what he was seeing before typing again to introduce a polymorphic decryption algorithm.  In essence, the trace program would hit one of the data walls and quickly duplicate itself over and over as it brute force slammed its way through wall till the encryption gave way.  While it was doing that, there was a watch for any warning being transmitted along the data lines with a hound program set to track.  Seeing as this was damned odd, Chief Arnold used his authorization to tap a higher level diagnostic protocol to increase the speed at which the computer would work on the problem.

"Can't say I've seen someone to go to all this trouble for scrap code before, but it's definitely going somewhere in the ship.  It does look like something that did get introduced very early into the life of the core. I'd even say it could have gone as far back as possibly even the initial installation when Theurgy was being built."  Frank blew out some air as he considered the implications of having something like this inserted into the construction process and what else could be compromised.

The main processors were pretty quick about demolishing some of the initial firewalls and Frank added a record function that he tied to Thea so she could keep an eye on the process for further study and defence. While the system worked, Frank kept talking.  "So, how do you find being thawed?  I know of a few others.  My main deputy, Lieutenant Azrin Ryn is one of them.  Seems to be trying to make up for lost time that one.  She's quite happy working on the Quantum Slipstream Drive, especially since propulsion was her specialty to start with."  The Chief emphatically did not mention that the Trill Engineer was having trouble coping with waking up from cryo sleep and seeing the world change around her.  "Another one is one of the Wolves, Ensign Talia, Talia, Al........Ibrahim. I think she got pulled out of stasis and restored around the same time.  A very determined woman.  Just got out of cryo and pretty much went to a boxing match being hosted by Lieutenant Amarik in Intel. The two beat each other senseless. Couldn't tell afterwards though since my odd job assistant, Zark, have you met her yet? Put her back together.  I wonder how Talia's doing now."

Frank's ramblings stopped as his brows furrowed in concentration at the red flashing warning on the PADD.  "Interesting.  Looks like we have a physical stoppage on the trace. Well Reika, how do you feel about a little adventure through the Jefferies Tubes.  It looks like the trace stopped on Deck 15 at junction......." A quick look at the PADD "Junction 3-15-6384.  Hmm, that's near the Planetology Lab.  What could be near there?"

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OOC: More technobabble!

Re: Day 20 [0900 hours] Of Problems Past and Present

Reply #10 – May 24, 2023, 06:27:48 AM

[Lt. Reika Sh'laan | Computer Core | Deck 12 and 14 | Vector 03 | USS Theurgy] Attn: @RyeTanker

Reika listened as the Chief took the PADD and began to work through the data as he processed some parts of what he was saying aloud. 

But at hearing that this happened early on, she had to jump in.  “Do you think it was an error or done on purpose?  And if done on purpose, what could that purpose be?” she asked as much to herself as to the Chief.  “Because…Wow…a person could have planned on hamstringing the Theurgy at a specific time or during a specific event.” 

And as usual, she could easily get fixated on that one idea or topic even though outwardly she appeared to be completely engaged.  But she did hear the word, “thawed,” and had to replay what he said just before that for the context. 

“Well, no one plans to go into stasis, so I guess no one really thinks what it will be like when they come out, but what I’ve found isn’t what I would have expected if I had ever thought about it beforehand.  I guess a space coaster would be the best description for it these last few days.  Extreme highs and lows and it’s all fast-paced and some of it very unexpected overall.  But I’m glad that I’m back and grabbing the Andorian Duternian by the antlers and all that.”

Arnold kept talking and started throwing around names.  Azrin…Talia Albrahim...Amarik.  But the fight caught her attention and a sly smirk curled her lips.  ‘Yeah….fights can be one hell of a good time - well when you’re fighting the right person.’

And then the name Zark dropped like a bomb.  Reika scoffed slightly remembering the Andorian from when she was newly thawed and the ‘dance’ that they two did.  With the grabbing of hair in the midst of it, you’d think that her intention was to go at it.  ‘But the poor woman was drugged,’ she reminded herself.  ‘I’m sure she’s not like that normally. Probably a really great and solid person.’

“Yeah, I met Zark but only briefly, and she was a patient in sickbay.  But a great dancer,” Reika quipped. “I didn’t realize that she had any medical training though as she was the one who was being tended to. I think she had been stabbed, which I wouldn’t have expected to happen on the ship, but I’ve been hearing a few things about crazy jaunts to Qonos, so I really don’t know what landed her in there.”

But it was then at the Chief got a ping on his trace.  “Deck 15?”  Reika asked as her eyes unfocused and she mentally ‘looked through’ that deck trying to remember what all was on that level.  "I mean besides planetology, there’s stellar cartography, vector 3 battle sickbay, and of course, we still have some of the computer core on that level.  But nothing stands out to me.  So I guess you’re right.  We need to check the junction out.  I’m game.” She said as she pushed her sleeves up, like she was now ready to work having pushed all other cares and ideas out of her brain. 

“Though, I’m not sure about the different Jeffries Tube accesses in that area.  You’ll probably have to lead the way.”

As she stepped aside and grabbed the computer access panel that they had removed to work on this part of the core,  she crouched down and slipped it back into place and checked everything else out to make sure that they had left the area as they found it.

As the two started off, Reika asked.  “So where did you serve before the Theurgy, Chief?”

Re: Day 20 [0900 hours] Of Problems Past and Present

Reply #11 – May 31, 2023, 07:42:07 AM

[Lieutenant Commander Frank Arnold | Main Computer Core | Deck 12 & 14 | Vector 03 | USS Theurgy] @Dree

Frank laughed richly at the idea that Zark had been pretty much stoned when she'd first met Reika and he summarised it with "If her free exuberance was still in place while she was out of her mind, it must have been quite the show!" The Chief took a moment to shake his head in disbelief.

Waiting for Reika to go through the list of places of note on deck 15, Frank couldn't figure why something would be routed through an ODN junction on that deck.  Packing up his tools and disconnecting the various data leads, Frank helped Reika to put the core cover back on.  Taking a quick moment to check the telltales that the panel was indeed secure, the Chief Engineer also made a check of his tool case and surroundings.

Finding nothing out of place, Frank waved his hand indicating the Andorian should follow. "We know where the data stops, so we'll go take a look and if anything really looks out of place, then we'll back track."  Frank gave Reika an easy smile. "Can't let these decrepit old legs get worn out too quickly or my deputy is gonna build me a new set of artificial legs.  Given the way she is, I might get rocket legs instead.  Let's travel civilized."

Frank led them to the turbolift and he mulled over Reika's question.  Had it really been that long ago? "There were several postings.  I was on the Cortez for most the war.  Got transferred out before she disappeared.  Then came the Exeter, Akagi, and I was slated to become assistant Chief on the Megallan before a um close friend suggested I take a trip to Qo'nos with my leave time.  Now, here I am."  The pair reached a turbolift then entered shortly after it had been summoned. "Deck 15, Planetology Lab"  The computer beeped and the subtle nudge of the turbolift moving could be felt as they headed towards their next clue.  "Like a good fight do you? What do you practice?  I was an amateur boxer in my Academy days. Nowadays I mostly work with training our Chief Diplomat, Enyd Madsen and a few others.  Considering how much trouble she gets in off ship, it's a good thing she can hold her own and has a quick wit to get out of trouble.  Frank elaborated as they two strode into one of the realms of the teal shirts and several looked up to see who the two interlopers were.

Re: Day 20 [0900 hours] Of Problems Past and Present

Reply #12 – June 04, 2023, 03:28:29 AM

[Lt. Reika Sh'laan | Computer Core | Deck 12 and 14 | Vector 03 | USS Theurgy] Attn: @RyeTanker

“Quite a show is an understatement,”  Reika laughed and barely stifled a snort.  “She pulled me into a drug induced dance and then as she twirled around, she grabbed a hold of the gown of a Wolf on the biobed next to me…I don’t remember her name.  In the process, Zark yanked the Wolf’s gown off before two people escorted her back to her biobed before Dr. Rez sedated her.  It was, well, I’d say it was a site, but there’s a site and a *sight*  the latter was the case this time.  But it made me laugh after my scalp stopped hurting from where she almost yanked my hair out.  Ya know, it certainly helped my waking from stasis be a memorable one."

As Frank finished his packing, Reika stood up from her perch where she had been leaning and stepped out after the engineer listening to the places that he had been posted.  “I had a friend, Nihla Grik.  She was a Lieutenant from Tactical  Ever heard of her?  But I don’t know anyone else who served on any of your other ships. "

“Yeah.  I like a good fight - probably as much as anyone who’s been a part of tactical at one point or another.  Even after transferring to OPS a few years ago, fighting keeps me on my toes.”  And garnered me my girlfriend.  So damn straight I like fighting.  “How much trouble can a diplomat get into where she needs to fight?  You talk like she’s a walking diplomatic time bomb who finishes her negotiations with her fists instead of ideas and ideals.  But if you like fighting, we should spar sometime,” the Andorian suggested.

Once the turbolift doors opened in front of them, Reika stepped off the lift and stepped aside waiting for Frank, catching the looks of several of the scientists.  She guessed that people would at least recognize the chief.  “Nothing to see here,” she quipped as eyes continued to follow them heading for the ODN junction on the deck. 

“You’re not going to take the lab offline, are ya?” a particularly petite brunette made eye contact with Reika as she was looking her direction.  “We’re halfway into a three hour long procedure, and if we lose power….I don’t even want to think about how much extra work and what new supplies we’ll need because of it.”

Reika looked from the woman to Frank. “I don’t think we should have to.  D’ya think, Chief?”

Re: Day 20 [0900 hours] Of Problems Past and Present

Reply #13 – Today at 07:49:00 AM

[Lieutenant Commander Frank Arnold | Planetology Lab | Deck 15 | Vector 03 | USS Theurgy] @Dree

Quite a bit of ground was being covered by the Andorian worked to catch up on everything she'd missed since going into stasis and Frank laughed at the shenangian that Zark had managed to get herself into.  Truth be told, he understood it wasn't really her fault since Kala Marika had to detail someone later on to take a look at the replicator system in sickbay in addition to a few other things that day.  This was the first he was hearing of the the events that had led to that particular request though, and given that Andorian's free exuberance with her affections and passions, it was no surprise that things had gotten even more out of hand than usual.

When Reika went on naming people she'd served with, the Chief Engineer shook his head in a negative as the name didn't ring any bells.  Not really surprising given how Starfleet had really expanded in the lead up to the second Borg invasion and the Dominion War that followed.  Passed a certain point, the ability to get to know each person in the organization just became too hard and despite his age, he'd buried himself in research for a while instead of ship board or station duty.  That had limited his interactions with most of the crews that had been exploring galaxy till later.

Finally, while he did nod and accept the offer to spar with the Shen at a later date, her description of the Chief Diplomatic Officer elicited a hard frown.  The impression sounded too much like one Enyd's staff that was having problems integrating with everyone on the ship, and even worse, her department in particular.  The only reason he knew this was how Enyd would discuss personnel on him, especially in light of an evaluation of the attache in question that Zark had given to his current sparring partner early on in the ship's repair evolution.  The scientist executing the experiment brought his attention back to the present and he looked at her for a moment.  Given the way his face was though, it looked more like he was trying to bore a hole through her head with his eyes. "I hope not.  If we have to shut down the lab for just this, we're looking at taking down everything we come across that this code touches."  Frank gave his usual easy smile as he shrugged.  "And, we won't know more till we can actually locate the junction and run follow the trail, so carry on and if we need to turn the power off, I'll let you know."

Making his way to the Jefferies Tube access, Frank punched in a code and pulled on a latch to open the hatch.  The inside was like any crawl space.  Well lit and cramped. Sighing at the pounding his knees and hand were going to take, he moved in first and began crawling.  If his memory served, they'd have to move past one cross way, then the ODN junction would be half way down the following tube.  Deciding to carry on the conversation from where they'd paused to interact with the science types, Frank felt it necessary to explain Lieutenant Madsen's situation. "The thing is Reika, Miss Madsen doesn't actively seek to get into fights, they just sort of happen to her as she moves through life. I'd even go as far to say the universe has it out of her, since she keeps getting tossed all sorts of crazy encounters whether she wants them or not." Frank snorted at one of his more fascinating memories. "If it's the incident I'm thinking of where Zark was stabbed; Enyd had just completed a negotiation with a rebel faction, but there were hold outs in the camp and they decided their return to the fold was unacceptable, so a fight broke out."  There was a bit more crawling. "In another incident, she ended up being kidnapped after attending the Opera of all things.  That's the event where we picked up a Romulan, Hirek I think was his name.  Don't know anything else beyond Enyd doesn't like him."  Some more crawling. "Then there was I think a tour of some ruins where some Orions and Nausicans tried to turn her into a stripper."  The more he thought about it, the more hindsight told him the next event was his fault for missing all the signs as he crossed the junction and crawled into the next tube. "The next one I saw personally was on a food tour where we were almost attacked by some sort of Klingon vampire bugs, and when we went to a bar, Zark ended up kissing Enyd and dropping some strange drink into Enyd's mouth in the process.  Very much against her will I'll add, though Zark looked like she really enjoyed it.  Enyd ended up getting some sort of Klingon battle juice that made her really aggressive and tried to choke Nysari.  Zark was hammered but seemed to recognize the situation and fixed the situation it by the simple expedient of hitting Enyd senseless."  Frank shook his head at the memory of the night and one of the most amazing displays of high functioning drunkenness he'd seen.  There was also word that the the night had gotten even more rowdy afterwards.

Frank finally reached the junction compartment and shifted to sit on his butt as he punched in the code to open the panel then pulled out his PADD and plugged in the leads to begin getting readings. "So it's more of a case that chaos follows Enyd around everywhere and that's part of her life." Frank snorted. "Really unfortunate that one of her best friends is Zark since that one also has chaos follow her around, but our fellow case of blue exuberance likes to get into fights with it and drags Chaos around with her on a leash."

---

Shout out to @Ellen Fitz cause of Enyd