Finn Got a Haircut

Posted on Fri Mar 24th, 2023 @ 10:33pm by Lieutenant Didrea Zade & Lieutenant Sturgis O'Connell

Mission: Character Development
Location: USS Athena
Timeline: MD04 : After "A Tense Briefing"
787 words - 1.6 OF Standard Post Measure

After Zora dismissed the senior staff from the tense confines of bad news, Zade gently released the breath she was holding as she made her way to the lift. Not only was Kane arrested, but Finn was... gone? Did she transfer? Whatever happened to her, this Sturgis O'Connell was now in her place. She couldn't help but turn her head to look him over. He could hardly be blamed for Finn's departure, but the feeling that Finn was being forgotten about stuck in the Trill's gut.

But at least Fenn didn't take over engineering.

Realizing she was staring, Zade gave him a kind smile. No point in being rude to him. "Welcome aboard, Lieutenant. If you have a moment?" Aside from her own transfer, the only other time she usually had to remind engineering of the implant was when a new department head came around. Though he may have seen it on Finn's... well, his desk, one of several PaDDs that she recalled seeing the last time she was there.

"Of course. We can walk and talk to engineering. Or I can accompany you to your department. Security is it?" He asked, making an assumption based on questions she'd asked in the briefing and knowing that she wasn't one of his own engineers. Why a security officer wanted to talk to the engineering chief was still a mystery though.

"That's right. Lieutenant Zade, chief of security." The lift opened, and the Trill gestured in an invitation for him to enter. "We can take a more scenic route to engineering via deck 12. I just wanted to make sure that some schematics I gave Fi- the previous chief weren't mistakenly discarded following her departure. Did you happen to see some notes for a small audio emitter in your office?"

"Not that I've seen lieutenant. The office was pretty bare when I arrived. Can I ask why she would have left such a thing?" Sturgis replied.

Zade couldn't help the frown that briefly furrowed her brows. "Deck 12," she told the computer, once the doors shut. "They're schematics for my vocal implant and backup translator. I can send an extra copy to you, but I like to make sure engineering has a copy on hand."

"A vocal implant?" Sturgis furrowed a brow. "No offense lieutenant, but aren't implants typically handled by medical?"

"They are, but medical's expertise is limited when it comes to repairing such devices. They'd likely send it to you or one of the other engineers anyways if it needed repairing." Zade could understand where he was coming from. This information, after all, was pretty deeply rooted in the nuances of medical care, so why would he need to know? But for equally understandable reasons, Zade wasn't comfortable letting just anyone fix it. "It's a precautionary habit, Lieutenant. I've found it easier to have this conversation while everything's in working order." She gave him a slight smile.

"Understood. Do you have the schematics for the device? I could just keep a replicated one on hand for you..." Sturgis led, wondering why this hadn't been proposed as a solution before to the woman or why she didn't keep a spare herself, but assumed there must have been some reason.

Zade paused for a moment to consider the idea, a bit disappointed in herself for not thinking of keeping a spare around. It would make the whole process of repairing it a lot less stressful, and it would mean one less trip to sickbay. Perhaps the idea never crossed her mind because the implant malfunctioned so rarely. "I have a copy of the schematics I can send you. And I think having a spare device on hand would actually be a good idea. Most of the time, the device gets shorted out, and it has a reboot procedure to make sure it's functioning properly. Fortunately, those cases are rare." She gave him a sheepish smile. "Generally speaking, I know how to care for it, but I've broken the device before while trying to reboot it myself, so I usually ask someone more tech-savvy for assistance."

"Well then, let's get a replacement replicated and stored in sickbay so that you have very minimal downtime if you have a problem again. Then if you bring the damaged one here, I'll make sure an engineer repairs it and gets it back to sickbay to store again. How does that sound?" He stopped as they arrived at the main doors for engineering and awaited her response.

The Trill gave him a kind smile, noticing that they ended up at one of the doors to engineering. "That sounds like an excellent plan, Lieutenant, thanks. I will send those schematics after I complete my rounds."