Please Fix My Door

Posted on Fri Oct 27th, 2023 @ 4:40am by Ensign Rimal Iska & Lieutenant JG Astrja Kyan

Mission: Character Development
Location: USS Athena :: Deck 8
1295 words - 2.6 OF Standard Post Measure

Iska awkwardly pressed the button to his quarters for the fourth time, hearing the angry beep of technological noncompliance in return. The first two times should have been sufficient enough to inform him that something was weird with his access, but he decided that two more times would confirm the obvious. He checked the number by the door, again, to make sure that it was correct and the Bajoran wasn't trying to break into someone else's room.

He was, indeed, locked out.

With a frown, Iska pressed his communicator, "Ensign Iska to Ops... Prophets, this is embarrassing, but I'm locked out of my quarters. Again. Can I get some assistance, please?"

"Hello, Ensign Iska, this is Lieutenant Kyan," said a surprisingly cheerful voice. "I will be right down."

And, shortly, a short Andorian in a uniform skirt with a satchel over one shoulder came striding down the corridor. She waved. "Ensign Iska? You said this had happened before?"

Turning around, Iska spotted an Andorian walking towards him, and gave a wave in response when she addressed him. "Yes, that's me. Nice to meet you, Lieutenant Kyan." At the question, he looked back to the door, as if the presence of a technical wizard like an ops officer would magically fix the problem. "Yeah, this is the second time. Last time, it was something weird with my clearance after transferring, and that was an easy fix. I checked, and my clearance is still valid, so I'm not sure why it won't let me in."

Astrja had already produced a multitool and popped the door chime/sensor out of its casing. "No changes to your physical state that would cause a misreading?" She plugged the unit into her datapad.

"Did we have a class together in the Academy, Introduction to Three-Dimensional Tactics maybe?" She asked while poking the sensor with a probe.

"I don't think anything's changed..." At the second question, Iska looked over the Andorian more closely. It took a moment, but recognition soon appeared on his expression. "Oh yeah! Weren't you the one who first volunteered to answer that trick question by Professor Golaven?"

"Yes, I should have known better," grinned Astrja, "but I managed to get through in the end. It was an interesting course though, I learned a lot, not that you could tell by my grade."

She fished out a magnifier and looked closely at something. "I bet this is it." She used a probe to remove something and then a high UV sterilizer on the unit. With a flourish, she slotted it back into place. "Try now."

Iska gave a lopsided grin at the memory of Astrja confidently giving the wrong answer to said trick question. "Hey, if you do it wrong, do it confidently?" He attempted to access his quarters again, and it worked, the door sliding open to reveal... well, something resembling a frat boy's dorm at the Academy. The quarters were small enough that everything was visible from the door. The bed was unmade, and there was a little disorganization in the form of some stray articles of clothing and some disheveled PADDs on the coffee table. Just past the edge of the door, the desk-converted-bachelor-table was visible, with an embarrassing amount of cups on it. Before he could enter, however, the door shut in his face, and the request to open was met with an angry beep. "Well, it looks like you're probably on the right track," he thought out loud.

"Humph," said Astrja and popped the sensor out again. "So were you mean to a door sensor in the past? This one has it out for you." She took out the magnifier again and a circuit tester. "These are not easy to break you know."

Iska shrugged. "I treat all my doors with respect!" He watched her work for a moment, "you weren't in Intro to Ancillary Systems with me, or at least, I don't think you were. That class was rough."

"No but I liked that class, lots of hands-on work, tough, yes, but fun," she replied. "I got one of my best grades in it." She looked at the door sensor and fitted it back in. "If that does not fix it, I am going to have to go to supply for an entirely new unit."

Iska glanced at the door, unsure if he actually wanted to test the changes she made. If she couldn't fix the door, however, then he was probably going to have to be assigned to temporary quarters, which was a whole other nightmare. Was that worse than her seeing just how little he had changed since the Academy? Deciding he at least wanted to sleep in his own bed tonight, he tried the door's access panel again. There was a moment's pause, then the door opened, and stayed open. "Well, your grades seemed to have paid off," he said, giving her a smile.

Astrja packed her tools away. "Is that a barb? It sure seems like a barb," she replied with a grin. "And, you know, if you wanted to invite me to your cabin, there are easier ways."

Iska felt the light warmth of embarrassment hit his face. "No, no! I didn't mean it that way!" He briefly glanced into the doorway to his quarters before turning his attention back to her. "I also didn't plan on inviting you... not that I wouldn't want to! I... uh..." The awkward bumbling paused as Iska realized he was digging himself a deeper hole to lie in. "Since you're here... would you like to come in?"

"Just for a moment, I am still on shift," said Astrja with a smile. "Could I trouble you for a glass of Andorian The, chilled?"

"Sure." Iska, who had perfected the art of forgetting his manners when extending an invitation, led the way into the quarters. The space was small, barely larger than the dorms at the Academy and most definitely a privilege compared to the corridor of bunk beds that many other recent graduates got to sleep in. The cup collection was even larger, now that it wasn't obscured by the door; there were about 15 cups across his desk. "Prophets, I'm sorry, this is such a mess," he sputtered out, moving to the replicator to get the requested drink. At least he didn't have underwear hanging around. "I've had a couple of really weird shifts since I've been aboard." The attempted excuse was accompanied by a friendly smile and the beverage being offered to her.

"No worries," said Astrja taking the drink and having a sip. "How are you finding the Athena? It seems like a fine ship but I am still getting my footing here."

"Minus being the apparent target of chest injuries..." Iska joked. He gave a little wave of his hand to dismiss the joke, "nah, it's great here. I basically got right to work after I transferred. A lot of it has been all of those tasks you'd assign to an Ensign, like taking inventory, but the people seem nice. Serious, but nice."

Astrja nods. "Well, if you need help, ask, Ops is here to help." She smiled and handed the mostly empty glass back. "Time to get back to work. Let me know if you want to hang out after shift sometime."

Iska gave her a smile in return, accepting the cup. "Yeah, let's plan to hang out." He made a point of putting it back into the replicator, instead of in his apparent collection. While she seemed to not mind the mess, it left Iska with a gnawing feeling of self-consciousness. He waited for her to leave before grabbing cups from the desk and making the walk of shame to the replicator to discard of them.