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CH05: S [D05|1000] Weighted Grade

Chapter 05: Supplemental [Day 05 | 1000 hrs. ] Weighted Grade

[Selena Ravenholm | Gymnasium | Deck 6 | Vector 1 | USS Theurgy] attn: @Stegro88

Clutching her right bicep with her opposing hand, Selena was unusually self-conscious as she waltzed down the corridor.  Dressed in a simple exercise outfit (a figure hugging sleeveless top with curve fitting shorts), a few crewmembers would actually turn to stare.  Normally that wouldn’t bother her, she was proud of her looks, but this time her towel was draped over her right arm, hiding it from sight.  In truth, nothing was wrong with it, at least according to the diagnostics.  In the woman’s mind however, things were quite different.

Losing an arm isn’t a big deal for a cyborg like Selena Ravenholm, removing one and replacing it with something better is just a fact of life.  Some upgrades and maintenance require removal as well.  But never before had one of Selena’s limbs been shot off.  A vain attempt to defend Thea’s core from Savi marauders resulted in a graviton beam ripping her arm into two pieces, cutting right through the simulated bicep.  Aside from the gravimetric shear that was at the heart of the alien weaponry tearing apart the connections, reattaching the arm was a simple matter, leaving nothing more than a “scar” where the beam came into contact.

Ever since getting the arm back into place, Selena had been taking it easy. She’d been working of course, she just had been confined to her desk rebuilding some of the computer pathways that were crippled with Thea’s abduction.  There was a lot to do, and now she’d been called to engineering to help with hooking up a cloaking device of all things.  She’d started to complain that such things were not in her skill set, but that fell on deaf ears.  The only concession she got was to have some time to run some needed physical diagnostics and calibrations on her arm.  Hence this trip to the gym.

Shockingly, weight lifting was one of the best ways Selena knew to ensure her limbs were in full working order.  The subtle motions required to safely lift a weight saw to the machine’s range and rate of motion, and the forces involved ensured that the structural strength was adequate.  And, in full honesty, she liked the looks on people’s faces when they saw a woman of her small stature deadlifting well over 200 kilograms like it was nothing.  Her shoulders would pay for it of course, but there had to be some fun, right?  Sadly, she wasn’t in the mood to show off this time.

Reaching the gym, Selena mentally readied herself for the quick workout.  As soon as the door opened her steel-blue eyes turned towards the weight benches, left arm pulling the towel off of her right, and stopped short of the closest bench.  She wasn’t expecting anyone to be in here at this hour, but laying there on the bench was a craggy alien, pushing at least 350 kilograms at a decent clip.  There was no one standing over the being as a spotter, so she wordlessly stepped into the role.  Looking down at the alien, she quickly realized he was a Reman, and the math immediately added up in her head.  Remembering the shuttle they’d picked up yesterday, this had to have been one of the survivors from their little sirilium fart.

Reaching out with her hands, ready to catch in the event the dumbbells slipped out of the man’s grip, Selena couldn’t help but chide.  “I don’t care if you’re stronger than a Vulcan, you really shouldn’t do this alone.”

Re: Chapter 05: Supplemental [Day 05 | 1000 hrs.] Weighted Grade

Reply #1 –
[ Tesserarius Lorad | Gymnasium | Deck 06 | Vector 01 | USS Theurgy ] Attn: @chXinya
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Lorad had awoken early that morning. He put it down to the new and unfamiliar environment. The quarters that he had been given, really, the whole ship, looked, sounded and even smelled different to what he was used too. And that was discomforting. But he was a soldier. He would adapt.

After a meal from the replicator, Lorad had decided to walk around the ship, the vector, and familiarise himself with where different locations were. And for the most part, it went well. Most of the crew were polite it a little standoffish and Lorad could not blame them for that. He was Reman; his species did not have the best reputation, especially with the Federation. But more than that, he was an unknown and from what he had gathered, unknowns had not been good to them recently.

After wandering for a bit, Lorad found himself in the vector’s gym on deck 06. He had considered asking someone to spar but given the response when he entered he settled on running as an initial exercise. Soon though, practically everyone left and Lorad grew tired of running and decided to work with some of the weights that the ship had. Setting the initial weight on one of the bars at 250kgs, Lorad lay down on the bench and proceeded to begin lifting it up and down. As he finished each group of 25 lifts, he increased the weight on the bar by 10 kgs.

It was almost an hour and an additional 120kgs later when Lorad heard the door to the gym open. He had been practically alone the entire time he had been here but no he resisted the urge to stop and see who it was before completing his lifts. He could feel the movement from the person as they stepped up to the end of the bench near his head but as Lorad had his eyes shut, to protect them from the overhead lights, he could see nothing.
 
"I don't care if you're stronger than a Vulcan, you really shouldn't do this alone," a female’s voice said from above his head.

“No. One. Here,” Lorad said simply in Standard in between lifts. After he finished his 25th lift, he returned the bar to its resting place and sat up. Bowing his head to shield his eyes, he slowly opened them and waited for them to adjust before turning to look at the female that had joined him.

She was Human, at least, her face was. Her arms and legs appeared to be completely cybernetic in origin and her clothing hid any further details. Turning his eyes back to the floor, Lorad considered what to say.

“You want lift?”

Re: Chapter 05: Supplemental [Day 05 | 1000 hrs.] Weighted Grade

Reply #2 –
[Selena Ravenholm | Gymnasium | Deck 6 | Vector 1 | USS Theurgy] attn: @Stegro88

Selena frowned when the Reman just shrugged off the danger of lifting solo simply because  no one else was in the gym at the time.  “You could’ve called The…” she started to lecture, not realizing the impossibility of the suggestion until it was too late.  She didn’t have to choke back tears at the reminder of her missing friend anymore, but the pain was evident, if just for a moment.  In the time it took for all that to happen, the alien finished his set and returned the bar.

Watching the Reman with her arms crossed, Selena was curious why he didn’t seem to want to look at anything at first, keeping his eyes screwed shut and only opening them when not looking towards a light source.  It took her a moment to remember that Remans didn’t do so well in the light.  “The…” catching herself too late again, Selena was still having trouble remembering that Thea wasn’t here anymore.  “Computer, reduce lighting to 35% of normal.”  Hopefully that will be enough for the visitor’s comfort.

“You want lift?” he asked a moment later.

“Sure.” Selena responded with a shrug.  “Do you mind spotting for me?  I’m here to test out my arm so I could use the safety.”  Unfolding her arms she rolled her shoulders to loosen them up a bit.  Tapping the weight controls she lowered the bar down to a paltry 50 kilos, far below her usual workout.  The last thing she needed right now was for the artificial musculature to snap.

Straddling the bench and laying down onto her back, Selena’s eyes glowed a bit in the dim light, the blue effect shining up at the Reman’s face.  Normally her VISOR would’ve hidden the glow, but she’d left it in her quarters this time, she didn’t need it getting in the way.  Gripping the bar, she braced herself for the sudden force.  “I’m Selena, by the way.”  Pulling it out of the receptacle, the bar lowered to her chest before her arms started the repetitions.  50 kilograms jumped through the air like they were nothing and the servomotors barely made any noise from the effort.

Re: Chapter 05: Supplemental [Day 05 | 1000 hrs.] Weighted Grade

Reply #3 –
[ Tesserarius Lorad | Gymnasium | Deck 06 | Vector 01 | USS Theurgy ] Attn: @chXinya
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Even as Lorad began to ask if she had wanted to lift, the woman had asked the computer to lower the lighting level. His eyes quickly adjusted to the more comfortable illumination setting and he stood up, towering over the shorter woman as he stepped aside.

He thought about what she said and equated it to what he had observed early between crewmembers. One had laid down to lie while another had stood near their head; ready to catch the bar in case they got into trouble. Was that why she had chided him? 

As he positioned himself as he requested, he considered what else she had said. His thoughts were interrupted by the woman introducing herself as Selene before she lifted the bar. He moved a clawed hand to just below the bar as Selene began to raise and lower the weighted bar.

“I Lorad,” the Reman introduced himself in Standard, his voice seeming to echo around the empty room, at least to him. “What happened to arm?” Lorad asked as he used his free hand to point a clawed finger at the only point of distortion he could find, a ‘scar’ on her right arm. The woman seemed to be having no difficulty in her lifting and Lorad returned to thinking about what she had said earlier. “Who could I have called?”

Re: Chapter 05: Supplemental [Day 05 | 1000 hrs.] Weighted Grade

Reply #4 –
[Selena Ravenholm | Gymnasium | Deck 6 | Vector 1 | USS Theurgy] attn: @Stegro88

Looking up at the Remen from below, Selena studied his face.  There was something about him that stood out to her, but she couldn’t put her finger on it.  When he quickly pointed out the dimple in her right arm the hacker/reporter/communications specialist realized it was the intelligence behind the eyes.  Even though they were sunken into his skull at the bottom of those deep eye sockets, Selena could see a touch of how his mind worked behind those irises.

“I got shot.” she answered bluntly, not even bothering to blunt the fact.  “We’d been boarded by a hostile race and I got winged.”  Just mentioning the disastrous fight with the Savi riled Selena up and she started pumping noticiably faster.  Her arms didn’t flex like organic arms under the effort, at least not nearly as much as they should.  Augmented strength led to some interesting side effects, and while her arms didn’t show the expected reactions the rest of her body still did.  There wasn’t a lot of motion in her torso with each rep, just a reactive sinking of her abdomen with each lift of her arms.

After a good 25 lifts the bar went back into the receptacle.  While her breathing hadn’t picked up at all, Selena could feel her heart starting to beat harder inside of her chest.  Rolling to the side and reaching behind her, she tapped the controls to increase the weight.  At the same time, she thought about Lorad’s latest question.  “Thea would’ve helped if she were here.” she finally admitted, unable to avoid mentioning the AI any longer.  “Even then, grabbing anyone at random would’ve gotten you a partner eventually.”  Initially resetting the bar to 100 kilograms, a quick status check via her occular implants showed that the repairs were holding admirably.  Throwing some caution to the wind, the weight went up to 150 kilos.

Shifting back into the proper position, her feet planted on either side of the bench and core ready for the weight, Selena’s mechanical fingers wrapped around the bar.  “So what do you think of the ship so far?  Is everyone treating you well?”  This time, as soon as the weight was firmly on her arms they could both hear the servos whirring under the load.  This was the only sign of effort on her part though, her arms started pumping almost as easily as they had with just a third of the weight.

Re: Chapter 05: Supplemental [Day 05 | 1000 hrs.] Weighted Grade

Reply #5 –
[ Tesserarius Lorad | Gymnasium | Deck 06 | Vector 01 | USS Theurgy ] Attn: @chXinya
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Her verbal response to his question about her injury did not say as much to the Reman as her physical response to it. Her arms began to work the weighted bar at a faster rate and she had soon completed 25 repetitions. Selena sat up after resting the bar back onto the mount and Lorad noted that her breathing had not noticeably increased despite the escalation in pace. He watched as she doubled the weight on the bar before answering his question.

"Thea would've helped if she were here," Selena said as she looked down at her arm. "Even then, grabbing anyone at random would've gotten you a partner eventually." Lorad couldn’t stop the small chuckle at her reply. He thought about how to respond to that; he really needed to work on his language skills while aboard. It was becoming taxing having to carefully consider and frame his responses using his limited vocabulary. Before he could speak, however, Selena had reset the bar’s weight to 150kgs prior to returning to her previous lifting position. This time, when she picked up the bar, Lorad could quite easily hear the sounds of mechanisms within her arms working under the increased load. Not that it seemed to affect her physically. "So, what do you think of the ship so far?  Is everyone treating you well?"

“Ship strange. Feels empty. Unfamiliar. But I adapt,” Lorad responded as he kept an eye on the woman’s efforts in case intervention was needed. “Crew have not been unkind,” Lorad phrased, stretching his linguistic ability to the limit to try and correctly convey his meaning. “Grabbing one a random would change that, I think. I am Reman,” Lorad pointed out in reply to the woman’s earlier suggestion. He had many questions regarding this hostile race that had boarded the ship. She had not been specific in who they were which was, concerning, to Lorad. Threats to this ship were now threats to his sister. And those he would not abide.

“Who is Thea?” Lorad asked bluntly. “Where is she?”

Re: Chapter 05: Supplemental [Day 05 | 1000 hrs.] Weighted Grade

Reply #6 –
[Selena Ravenholm | Gymnasium | Deck 6 | Vector 1 | USS Theurgy] attn: @Stegro88

Listening to Lorad talk about his time mingling with the crew made Selena smile.  It was nice to know that even with the pure hell they’ve all been through in the past few days they were still as inviting as Starfleet officers should be.  The reporter in her was already piecing together a draft for FNN: “Despite being hunted by half of Starfleet they were still more than willing to help those in need and even to provide a home to those that had none.”  His little joke about it not being a good idea to not literally grab someone to help brought a small giggle as well.  At least Selena assumed that he was making a joke.

Five repetitions in her eyes started to wander a bit.  The ceiling was growing quite boring so her steel-blue gaze looked around for something else to look at but Lorad’s face dominated most of her field.  Mentally shrugging from the lack of options she focused in on the Reman’s sunken eyes, automatically absorbing what detail she could get.  To her surprise, his gaze only jumped between two places: her own eyes, and her arms.  With the amount of “skin” she was showing combined with the way her top and shorts were essentially painted on, eyes from all genders had a habit of finding their way to her figure.

Passing eight reps, Lorad asked the two questions that anyone else would’ve already known.  Swallowing her sorrow, she couldn’t help but pause with the bar up to shift her torso, shimmying side to side just enough to rest in a different spot bare millimeters from where she had been.  That said movement induced a notable demonstration of “jiggle physics” slipped her mind as it was trying to regain her focus.  Resuming her exercise, she finally answered.  “Thea…is a hologram actually.  Her positronic core is a main component of the ship’s computer allowing for far more than the typical Federation ship.  Or any ship really.”  She paused again, pushing the bar several more times in quick succession, the servos in her arms whirring at a pitch related to how fast she pumped the bar.

“She was taken right in front of me.  Savi boarded us, shot my arm off and beamed off with her core.”  The last reps in this set were pumped out at record pace, a yellow warning flashing in her vision: at this speed her right bicep was reading a dangerous stress level.  Slamming the bar into its housing so fast Lorad barely had enough time to get out of the way she kept her grip on it for several moments, fingers pressing so hard she could feel the metal deforming under her fingertips.  Panting from the physical and mental effort, Selena struggled to regain her composure, chest rising and falling in rapid succession.

“Sorry…” she apologized, already regretting the outburst.

Re: Chapter 05: Supplemental [Day 05 | 1000 hrs.] Weighted Grade

Reply #7 –
[ Tesserarius Lorad | Gymnasium | Deck 06 | Vector 01 | USS Theurgy ] Attn: @chXinya
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As Lorad stood above Selena, he had made a deliberate choice to focus on ensuring his companion did not suffer an injury through his inattention. In truth, he had noticed how she was dressed right after his eyes had adjusted to the lowered lighting levels, but he had made no mention of it. What would be the point, unlike the worlds he and Samala had stopped at during their flight, no one here would be interested in a Reman. Why entertain the thought?

After asking about Thea, Lorad noted the reaction that it caused in Selena. She subtly shifted her position on the bench, which caused some interesting secondary movements that Lorad couldn’t help but notice, before she settled down to continue.

Her response was...strange. She said that Thea was a hologram of a computer. Something called a positronic? It made no sense to Lorad in the slightest. All he knew of holographic entities was the doctor that had saved Samala. Was this Thea a doctor as well?

One thing he could tell, was that this Thea had been important to Selena. Selena had been defending her core during an attack by something called a Savi, where she had been injured; and now her reactions to his questions were disturbing her. It all came to a head a moment later when she slammed the weighted bar back into the holder; quickly apologising a moment later.

“No, I sorry. I upset you. Is arm ok?” Lorad countered as he reached for a nearby towel and held it out for the woman if she wanted it. As he held it, he wondered if she would take more questions. Deciding to risk it, he considered how best to ask.

“I not understand what Thea is,” Lorad began slowly, trying to keep his voice soft. “But she important to you, I can see. But who are Savi? I not know of them.”

Re: Chapter 05: Supplemental [Day 05 | 1000 hrs.] Weighted Grade

Reply #8 –
[Selena Ravenholm | Gymnasium | Deck 6 | Vector 1 | USS Theurgy] attn: @Stegro88

Forcing herself to calm back down, Selena gently reached out to take the offered towel.  Sitting up as she pulled it out of Lorad’s grasp she wondered how the soft cloth felt against his skin as it dragged across his fingers.  Her own could only approximate the texture, even the best prosthetic technology in the Federation couldn’t match the natural senses perfectly.  Dabbing her collarbone just drove that point home, the downy fabric felt like a soft sponge against the skin there to give quite the contrast with her still sweat-soaked face.

“You didn’t upset me Lorad.” Selena tried to be reassuring on this point.  “And it’s fine, just overstressed the servo.”  Wiping down her face by just mashing it into the towel and swirling.  “I’ll have to run some detailed diagnostics to figure out what the exact problem is.”  Glancing at the weight bar she thought about doing another set of reps but that yellow light concerned her.  Lorad fired off some more questions, and she answered with a sigh.  Better to not stress her arm any worse until she knew what it could hold.

No long dripping sweat, Selena tossed the towel over her should and shifted down to the foot of the bench so that the Reman could have some room to sit.  “Thanks, she is.  She’s very different from the majority of us, in a way I’m one of the few that can connect with her in a fundamental way thanks to my implants.  I got used to having her around all the time, all I had to do was say her name and she’d be there.”

Staring out to the back wall, Selena’s eyes dimmed a bit as she thought back to the Savi attack.  “As for the Savi, we’d never heard of them before.  We were hiding from a Starfleet armada hunting for us when the Asurans found us first.  They threatened to carve us up out of some revenge thing, but before they could start this massive ship decloaked and gave its own message.  Anything they deemed of scientific value they were going to take, and they did.  People were beamed right out of their chairs and boarding parties beamed into take things they wanted.  I was elbow deep fighting a worm they managed to load into the computer so we were caught by surprise when they beamed into the room behind me.”

The memories came flooding back, finally let loose through all of her earlier denials.  “They were wearing suits so it was hard to make out any features other than the basic humanoid form and the eyes behind the mask.  The oddest part is that they seem to be make up of at least two species, one of them was tripedal and much larger than the rest.  The moment we tried to stop them they opened fire and their weapons hurt.  Tearing apart whatever they hit the only thing that kept us alive was by staying in cover.  Our only victory before they left with Thea’s core was cutting off part of one’s arm.”

Falling silent, it took the woman a moment to realize that her face was wet again, but this time from tears.  Quickly wiping them dry again, “Sorry, that was a rough day, and it hasn’t really gotten better since.”

Re: Chapter 05: Supplemental [Day 05 | 1000 hrs.] Weighted Grade

Reply #9 –
[ Tesserarius Lorad | Gymnasium | Deck 06 | Vector 01 | USS Theurgy ] Attn: @chXinya
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A rough day. Lorad understood this phrase and could sympathise. He and his sister had been having a rough day for the past 28 days, or was it 29? Lorad couldn’t remember at the moment. He made a mental note to log their journey. They had done so much and he wasn’t sure if he would be able to remember it all if he needed to later on.

“I offer help but Samala say I useless engineman, uh, engineer?” Lorad recollected, his mind drifting for a moment. He wasn’t ashamed to admit his faults. Knowing one’s weaknesses was better than not knowing them. And he had his own strengths when compared to his sister. He could at least shoot straight. “Maybe I learn while here.”

Lorad thought back to the conversation he had had with Captain Trent the night before and the offer that the man had made regarding Lorad joining Starfleet and the ship’s crew. Ignoring the humour in joining an organisation that the ship was currently declared a traitor of, Lorad wondered how long he should wait before giving an answer. He had asked for until Samala was healed and woke up but what if she never did, or it was a long time. He had decades left in his life but he didn’t know if he should spend them waiting for her. Would she want him too?

“These Savi, they come back? What they take?” Lorad asked, his voice taking an edge to it as the soldier in him came forward. Even if he wouldn’t or couldn’t answer the question now, he still had a role to play. Protect his sister. And to do that, he had to protect this ship.

Re: Chapter 05: Supplemental [Day 05 | 1000 hrs.] Weighted Grade

Reply #10 –
[Selena Ravenholm | Gymnasium | Deck 6 | Vector 1 | USS Theurgy] @Stegro88

Selena couldn’t help from a small laugh at Lorad’s declaration that he wasn’t an engineer.  It wasn’t to be mean, it was just the way he said it.  At the very least, it managed to lift the pall that had fallen over her spirit.  Lorad stood there in silence while she regained control, his face clearly showing that he was thinking of something.  Of course he had to bring it back to those damn Savi.

“Thea and a portion of the crew for the most part.”  Selena answered, struggling to keep her face level and her eyes dry.  “I haven’t seen a census but they say they took people with mixed parentage.  And the Captain.”  Finally looking at the Reman, she added a shrug to her next statement.  “I doubt they’re coming back, they probably got everything they wanted.  Once the ship is back together though, I’m sure we’ll be going after them though.”  Selena’s eyes regained some of the lost luminosity from earlier.  “I’ve been working at turning one of their tricks back onto them when we do.  Once I’m in their computer they’ll get a taste of their own worm.”

Flexing her mechanical fingers, Selena ran one last diagnostic to make sure there was no permanent damage.  Nodding to herself that her arms were working fine, she patted the bench and stood.  “Care to take another whack at the bar?  I can spot you.”

Re: Chapter 05: Supplemental [Day 05 | 1000 hrs.] Weighted Grade

Reply #11 –
[ Tesserarius Lorad | Gymnasium | Deck 06 | Vector 01 | USS Theurgy ] Attn: @chXinya
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"Mixed parentage?” Lorad repeated as he tried to understand what Selena meant. “Samala would know what she meant,” Lorad thought to himself. And then he understood. “You mean two bloods. Children with different parents. Like Samala. Romulan and Reman.”

Lorad couldn’t understand why they would want to take them though. If these Savi were as technologically advanced as Selena was describing them, then they wouldn’t need to kidnap hybrids to study them. A simple sensor scan would suffice. No, there was something more going on there.

“Lorad help when go,” Lorad proclaimed firmly. “Told Trent I would. More sure now. Savi threaten Samala.” Lorad stood there as he thought about how he would need to communicate better with everyone.

"Care to take another whack at the bar?  I can spot you,” Selena offered with a pat of the bench.

“Thank you,” Lorad said before adjusting the weights back up to 350kgs and laying down on the bench. Grasping the bar, he lifted it free and began to pump it up and down. “You say you use computer. You good with computer? Can you make translator better? People know I say but I not know what people say. All mixed up. Words backwards.”

Re: Chapter 05: Supplemental [Day 05 | 1000 hrs.] Weighted Grade

Reply #12 –
[Selena Ravenholm | Gymnasium | Deck 6 | Vector 1 | USS Theurgy] @Stegro88

Nodding at Lorad as she stood, Selena gave him a genuine smile.  “Yes, exactly.”  Then the simile faded.  "I’m not sure why they didn’t take me though, very few people are enhanced like I am.”  When the Reman declared that he’d help them with the Savi that heartened her.  She wasn’t sure why just one more person would make her more energized, but there was something about Lorad’s genial mood that just lifted her spirits.  She made a note to go visit this Samala he keeps mentioning, they sounded like quite the pair.

Selena stood to the side to give Lorad some space while he reset the bar and bench to his liking, drinking some water and patting the sweat off of her face and collarbone as she watched.  Finally noticing the weight count, her eyebrows went up in surprise.  350kg was no joke, the idea that a fully biological being could press something like that was remarkable.  As soon as he was ready Selena set her stuff back on the side bench and took up the spotting position.  Watching him closely, her eyes couldn’t help but be drawn to the way his muscles rippled and bulged under the motions.  Reman skin may look like old, gravelly leather but it certainly reacted like normal flesh.

If the 350kg load was a burden to the Reman he showed no sign of such.  In fact, he had enough energy and focus to ask Selena about his translator.  She had noted his odd way of speaking, not once did she think that it was a universal translator.  She figured he had learned Federation Standard somewhere.  “Certainly.  When we’re done I’ll take a look at it, if the processors are comparable to Federation UT’s I should be able to upload our translator programs.  If not, I can’t see why we couldn’t get you another one.”

Re: Chapter 05: Supplemental [Day 05 | 1000 hrs.] Weighted Grade

Reply #13 –
[ Tesserarius Lorad | Gymnasium | Deck 06 | Vector 01 | USS Theurgy ] Attn: @chXinya
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“No, I not clear,” Lorad said as he raised and lowered the bar. “I have Starfleet badge. Commander Dewitt gave me. Said it have translator in side. I not good speak Standard. But translator not good speak Reman. It mixes words. All backwards,” Lorad tried to describe as he worked the bar up and down. “My Standard better than translator’s Reman. It need teaching.”

Lorad wasn’t sure if he was making sense with what he was saying. He could see Selena looking down at him but with the light behind her as it was, it shrouded her face to his eyes and prevented him from seeing it clearly. Deciding to wait for a response, Lorad considered what else that she had said to him.

He could agree that she was unique as he himself had never seen anyone with as much cybernetic enhance as she possessed. He wasn’t even sure which parts of her were still human; not that he was sure he could tell even if she was standing naked in front of him.

“I not know why they not take you,” Lorad said after finishing his set of 30 and placing the bar back in its holder. “We find them, we can ask.”

Re: Chapter 05: Supplemental [Day 05 | 1000 hrs.] Weighted Grade

Reply #14 –
[Selena Ravenholm | Gymnasium | Deck 6 | Vector 1 | USS Theurgy] @Stegro88

Frowning at Lorad’s explanation of what was wrong with his translator, Selena was having a hard time trying to think of what the issue was.  If she was understanding him correctly, he was saying that he’d given up on letting the universal translator do it’s work, that he’d instead just use the Federation Standard he’d picked up.  She wasn’t a language expert and didn’t know enough about Reman to guess as to why the UT would have trouble, it’d would have to be a pretty complex one to throw the galaxy’s best translator for a loop.

“How long did you use our translator before switching to standard?” Selena asked, guiding the bar into its cradle when Lorad finished his set.  She’d heard of first contact missions encountering similar barriers, especially when its not one preceded by a duck blind or other reconnaissance mission.

Lorad had already moved on though, looking up at her from the bench with those inset eyes of his.  Saying that they can ask the Savi why the left her out of the abductee club was just humerous enough to really tickle her funny bone.  The giggles just started and she couldn’t stop them.  It quickly turned into full-blown laughter, forcing her to step back from the bar so that she can bend over, clutching her stomach.  “I’m, I’m sorry” she wheezed between fits, waving off Lorad’s concern with a mechanical arm.

Re: Chapter 05: Supplemental [Day 05 | 1000 hrs.] Weighted Grade

Reply #15 –
[ Tesserarius Lorad | Gymnasium | Deck 06 | Vector 01 | USS Theurgy ] Attn: @chXinya
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Lorad just lay on the bench as Selena laughed above him. He had no idea what he had said that was so funny. He had offered her help in obtaining an answer for her question and now she was laughing at him. Sliding forward slightly so that he cleared the bar, the Reman sat up and turned to the side; all the while still pondering what he had said that elicited such a reaction from the cyborg.

Selena waved off his quizzical and concerned look with a wheezed apology between laughs and Lorad just waited for the woman to regain her composure. As he waited, he thought back to the day before and considered when he had asked for the translator to be disabled. It had been after he had been assigned quarters while he was with Lieutenant Commander Dewitt.

“You ask when stop using translator,” Lorad began, having to suppress memories of what he had done that brought about his even meeting Dewitt. “Was soon after coming aboard ship. Could not understand Lieutenant Commander Dewitt. All the words jumbled up. Speaking Standard easier.”

“I not understand why laugh,” Lorad said after a brief pause. “I offer help but you laugh. Do not you think Lorad can help?”

Re: Chapter 05: Supplemental [Day 05 | 1000 hrs.] Weighted Grade

Reply #16 –
[Selena Ravenholm | Gymnasium | Deck 6 | Vector 1 | USS Theurgy] attn: @Stegro88

“No, no no no, nothing like that.” Selena wrapped her arms around her stomach in an attempt to keep the giggles under control.  Lorad looked hurt, with the language barrier he thought she was laughing at him.  “What you said, about asking the Savi?  That was just surprisingly funny.  I don’t know why, it just was.”

Finally collecting herself, Selena cleared her throat.  “So you stopped the using the UT not too long after coming on board it probably didn’t get enough practice with Reman.  It can be pretty good with vocabulary, but grammar…oy.”  Sitting down next to Lorad on the bench, she leaned back, propping herself up with her hands, one of them pushing into the bench behind the man.  “The translators can be pretty tricky to work with, especially with languages we don’t know a lot about, like Reman.”

Staring off into space a little bit, Selena tried to remember what she knew of how universal translators work.  “Honestly, I’m surprised they work at all.  Idioms don’t translate very well, dialects can be different enough to nearly be another language, and some languages have very different foundations.  That's why the computer needs as much exposure to them as possible.  The bigger the sample, the better the accuracy as they said in science class.”

Looking back to Lorad, Selena’s eyes glowed in the low light.  “Long story short, the more Reman you use, the better the translator will be.  If you want to keep using Standard until then, no one will stop you, but if you talk to the computer it will learn from you.  Samala can help as well.”

Re: Chapter 05: Supplemental [Day 05 | 1000 hrs.] Weighted Grade

Reply #17 –
[ Tesserarius Lorad | Gymnasium | Deck 06 | Vector 01 | USS Theurgy ]
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Lorad could do nothing but sit there as his head tried to follow along with the Selena was saying to him. Languages, translators, idioms; it was all too complicated for the Reman shock trooper to understand. His education and training in life had been more directed towards physical skills. Marksmanship, combat techniques and dilithium mining were more his forte. 

What he managed to decipher from her speech was that the translators needed to hear more Reman for them to work better. But the clearest part of Selena’s deliverance was her suggestion that Samala could help. 

Hearing her name, Lorad’s attention dived inwards as his mind once again replayed the events of the previous morning. Of how his curiosity had been the cause of the injuries that nearly killed his sister and that only the presence of this ship had delayed her death. And now, her life was dependent upon this ship’s survival. And none of this he had told to the woman with him.

“Samala not help,” Lorad said softly and slowly. “Samala in stasis. I make nebula explode. Damage Apache. Hurt Samala. Dewitt save us,” Lorad tried to explain using his limited vocabulary. “Samala’s life now tied to ship’s. Must keep ship alive so Samala lives."

Re: Chapter 05: Supplemental [ Day 05 | 1000 hrs. ] Weighted Grade

Reply #18 –
[Selena Ravenholm | Gymnasium | Deck 6 | Vector 1 | USS Theurgy] attn: @Stegro88

Lorad’s blunt statement about Samala brought Selena up short.  Her breath hitched for a quick moment, the faux pas immediately registering to the woman.  “Oh god, I’m so sorry, I didn’t know….” she quickly apologized, her hand instinctively reaching out to rest on Lorad’s tricep.  “Thea’s a tough ship.  If just two deck plates are still bolted together Samala will be alive if she’s still in stasis.  But I’m sure they’ll get her all patched up before things get that bad.  Who knows, maybe this time next week all three of us will be here enjoying each other’s physiques.”

Sitting in silence, mechanical hand lightly touching craggy skin, Selena stared into Lorad’s eyes, gauging his reaction.  She could imagine how it would look for another human if they were in Lorad’s place: a single pair of glowing eyes shining dimly in the darkness less than a meter from their faces, and focused right on them.  Did Remans have the same primal fears as humans?  Her mind started to run down that path, curiosity on fear response flitting through her head.  A moment later, something new pushed its way into her mind.

As it turned out, the pressure and texture sensors in Selena’s hand worked as well as they had before the Savi arrived.  Every ridge on the man’s upper arm rippled underneath the artificial skin and his skin was pleasantly warm.  The muscles underneath were solid despite the recent exercise, and for a moment less pure images started to flood the cyborg’s brain.  Shaking them loose and pulling her hand back, Selena couldn’t help but turn away to hide the blushing.  “So, um….thanks for helping me lift.”
 

Re: Chapter 05: Supplemental [ Day 05 | 1000 hrs. ] Weighted Grade

Reply #19 –
[ Tesserarius Lorad | Gymnasium | Deck 06 | Vector 01 | USS Theurgy ] Attn: @chXinya
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Lorad appreciated Selena’s words regarding both the toughness of the ship responsible for his sister’s continued wellbeing as well as the expediency and skill of the doctors that would eventually repair and heal the injuries Lorad himself had caused to Samala. But he was also a realist. He was essentially stranded on the most wanted ship in two quadrants. It had the entirety of Starfleet pursuing it and if they ever managed to catch it, Lorad was sure that he would either be imprisoned or executed as evidence of the Theurgy’s link to the Romulans. “I don’t even know why this ship turned renegade.”

Even as he thought those words, he realised that Selena’s hand was touching his arm. Besides Pakena, he could count the number of times a non-Reman had touched his skin on one hand; or at least those times that didn’t involve some form of combat. He found himself intrigued by it. “Was this how my father felt?” Lorad wondered. Remans were almost conditioned to see themselves as a lower-class species that no one wanted to look at and for the most part, even in free Remans, those thoughts held true. But now, feeling the different textures on his arm from Selena’s hand and looking into the glowing eyes of the cyborg Human female, Lorad’s imagination began to work.

“Thank you for kind words, Selena,” Lorad said quietly, his voice still seeming to echo in the empty room despite the volume. “And you welcome.”

- FIN
 
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