The New Workerbee

Posted on Thu Apr 11th, 2024 @ 6:20am by Ensign Liam O'Connor & Lieutenant JG Nayisa Wrea & Petty Officer 3rd Class Sam Saghir

Mission: The Trojan Horse
Location: Intel Offices
2388 words - 4.8 OF Standard Post Measure

The several hours after P'Rel gave Nayisa the promotion were busy ones for the silver-haired woman. The first order of business had been to find a spot in the intel suite where Nayisa could conduct her business and have at least some privacy while doing it. Unfortunately, her options were quite limited, so she settled for one of the corner stations in the main room. She then set up the station so she could access it from her quarters, that way if she really needed privacy, she could use it from behind a closed door. The next step was to route necessary traffic to the station, and the more she added, the more a backlog that didn't exist moments ago grew. By the time she was fully set up, she had about 200 things to review, and she gave the computer a disdainful look.

Maybe this was P'Rel's form of punishing her for technically breaking the rules.

Over the last couple of hours, Nayisa had been reading through each item that came in, and yet the counter in the bottom corner didn't seem to change much. Eyes on the screen, she reached for her tea and took a sip, keeping the mug in her hands as she read the incoming data. Maybe holding the mug would keep her from falling asleep.

Sam sided up to Wrea who was busy at one of the corner stations, the dividing bulkhead at least partially obscuring the screens she was working on. "Erm... con, congratulations..." he awkwardly offered with a small blush forming.

Briefly breaking eye contact with the data stream, she glanced over at Sam. "For what? Getting more work?" She asked. Despite her attempt to make it sound like a joke, there was a hint of underlying seriousness.

Sam gulped, having expected a gracious and pleasant 'thanks' or similar and felt the tribbles in his tummy start to move again. "Oh erm...yes umm... I think that the witch also thinks her promotion is a punishment for something..." he laughed nervously. 'Shit' he said to himself 'the witch', was a lower deckers name for the Vulcan officer - and he wasn't sure if he could get away with it with Wrea.

The nickname of course caught Nayisa's attention. She had dealt with Vulcans before and didn't see P'Rel's behavior as anything other than Classic Detached Vulcan. There were some real pieces of work in Nayisa's history that made P'Rel a bit more moderate, but she could also understand why people saw her as cold. Nicknames didn't bother Nayisa, especially if the person deserved it, but with her promotion, was she expected to report such things? "Well, the Commander doesn't need to take it out on others," Nayisa decidedly answered, hoping the extra emphasis on P'Rel's rank would deter him from doing it again.

Sam sheepishly laughed, feeling his cheeks redden further than they already had. "Is is there erm...anything I can help with?" he asked, frantically trying to change the subject and appear helpful.

"I would say 'do my work for me' but that would be an abuse of power," Nayisa answered, giving him a little smirk. Turning back to the screen containing the most boring data feeds known to the quadrant, she shrugged. "Maybe you can help make this less painful, however. Perhaps a sorting algorithm?" She could easily do it herself, but she was already busy enough just reading the reports, and besides, he did offer.

Liam's footsteps echoed softly as he rocked up to the entrance of the intel offices, his noggin already buzzing with thoughts of the task at hand. The reports of dodgy power relays had been giving everyone a headache, and he was dead set on sorting it out. He gave the door chime a nudge, keeping in mind the intel officers' touchiness when they were in lockdown mode. Leaning back a bit, he waited it out, cool as a cucumber but keen as mustard to lend a hand.

Just as Sam was about to answer, the chime to the intel suite sounded. Wrea and Sam both looked at eachother; to Sam's mind there wasn't any of the other duty staff due down at the moment, and there were few others with a legitimate reason to access the suite. Knowing he was, by far, the subordinate; Sam looked curiously to Nayissa to act on the intrusion.

The new face to the intel suite made Nayisa instinctively lock her screen, the wall of text blinking out of existence. There wasn't much in the way of sensitive information at the moment, but that could change in an instant. After sharing a look with Sam, she realized that he was expecting her to handle this. Ugh, another responsibility. Giving the newcomer a smile, she turned to fully face him and asked, "can I help you?"

"Apologies for the interruption," he began, addressing both John and Liam.

"Backlog indicates that there are some power relays behind that bulkhead requiring inspection and any necessary repairs or replacements. It should only take a few minutes." He paused briefly before adding with a hint of humour, "I'll promise not to touch anything I shouldn't or overhear anything I ought not to hear."

Nayisa gave the newcomer a smile. While walk-ins were typically undesired, it wasn't like there were datapads of sensitive information laying around that someone could swipe. The suite was impeccably clean. P'Rel was strict with regard to loose items laying around, and for good reason. "Sure. What type of access do you need?"

As Liam spoke, he adjusted the strap of his toolkit, a habitual gesture that gave him a sense of readiness. "Just need to poke my head in, give those relays a once-over, and see what's what," he continued, his voice carrying a hint of anticipation. "If there's any troubleshooting needed, I'll make sure to run it by you lot first before tinkering around."

He flashed a quick grin, his excitement evident. "Wouldn't want to set off any alarms or accidentally shut down the whole system, right?" Liam's words were accompanied by a playful wink, his easygoing demeanor helping to ease any lingering tension. After all, tackling maintenance tasks was all part of the job, and he was keen to show off his skills and contribute to the smooth operation of the ship.

Nayisa chuckled. This guy seemed pretty easy-going, perhaps a little excessively. But she gave a shrug and a nod to his response, as it seemed reasonable enough. She could tell when people were accessing things anyways. "Trust me, the scolding from Commander P'Rel isn't worth it," she joked. She gave Sam a light nudge, "right?"

Not waiting for a response from the fellow spook, Nayisa turned back to the newcomer and added, "yeah, go ahead and do what you need to. We can make sure you don't run into anything or mess something up."

"Ah, crikey," Liam muttered, a touch of frustration coloring his tone. "I'd be a pretty rubbish engineer if I messed things up instead of fixing 'em." With a determined shake of his head, he leaned in closer to the access panel, his fingers deftly manipulating the mechanism.

As he accessed the bulkhead's removal mechanism, Liam muttered to himself, "Let's see here... engaging the micro-pulse stabilizers... recalibrating the power regulator matrix..." He paused, his brow furrowing in concentration as he assessed the intricate components before him. "Alright, time to give this thing a gentle nudge," he murmured, carefully prying the mechanism from the wall with practiced precision.

With the access panel now open, Liam's gaze fell upon the power relays within. "Right then, let's have a gander at these relays," he said, his voice laced with determination. "Running a diagnostic sweep... checking for any irregular fluctuations in the electroplasma flow... hmm, looks like we've got some variance in the levels here."

Turning his attention back to his colleagues, Liam couldn't help but offer a sheepish grin. "Sorry about the interruption," he said, his tone apologetic. "Just trying to sort out this little hiccup in the system. So, how's your day been treating you so far?"

Literally a rollercoaster, Nayisa thought, keeping a polite smile on her face. She got slapped on the wrist by Zora, promoted by P'Rel, then got stuck with the one task she hated doing the most: desk busywork. "You saved me from a long backlog to read, so not too bad," she answered lightly. "How about you?"

"Oh, you know, the usual heroics—rescuing damsels from out-of-control replicators, slaying the proverbial warp core crocodile," Liam joked, the sound of clinking metal and his own grunt audible as he wrestled with a bundled conduit. He secured the cap to isolate it and ran another scan to check if that was the culprit behind the fluctuations.

Amidst his work, Liam's voice emerged, somewhat muffled from inside the access point. "I haven't seen you around before," he remarked, curiosity lacing his words. "Do you intel types ever leave the highly sensitive and classified areas?" His tone carried a hint of playful teasing.

Nayisa held up her hands, fingers curled as if she were trying to be spooky, yet her expression was still jovial. "We like to keep to the shadooowwwsss..." The joke deployed, she relaxed a bit, hoping that the monitor that momentarily flickered on behind him wasn't going to cause problems. "I'm around, I've just been on house arrest. It's fine though."

"Now there's a story," Liam remarked, shifting slightly to continue scanning further into the panel. It wasn't the most comfortable work, but he was determined to see it through. "So, spill the beans. What landed you in the clink?" he asked, his Australian slang surfacing with a hint of curiosity.

That pesky monitor was definitely going to cause problems. "I'm going to disconnect a monitor behind you. No peeking." Ignoring his question initially, Nayisa moved around him to turn the monitor off, taking a moment to make sure it stayed off. She knew she couldn't drop the "yeah, I was in the brig" line without the yellow shirt becoming nosey, so she figured she could give him something to satisfy his curiosity. "It was a dare to locate the Commodore's secret stash of ale," she finally answered, giving him her classic superficial smile.

"Ah, ale?" Liam chuckled, his attention momentarily diverted from his diagnostic scan. "Can't say I've had a drop in a while. Been too busy diving into the ship's systems to even think about a drink." He shook his head with a wry smile. "But hey, if you managed to snag some, I hope it was worth the effort."

Turning back to his work, Liam realized he hadn't really taken the time to properly observe the two individuals in the room. He glanced up and noticed Sam, tall and robust, exuding an air of healthiness that spoke to his dedication to fitness. Brown hair, brown eyes—Liam made a mental note of the details, finding them rather mundane for someone working in such an exciting environment.

The other person, however, caught Liam's attention immediately. With dark eyes reminiscent of an inert warp core and hair as silver as the hull of a ship, she exuded an air of mystery and intrigue. Liam found himself intrigued by her presence, his curiosity piqued.As his diagnostic tool beeped, indicating he had found the issue, Liam couldn't help but roll his eyes at the familiar culprit. "Typical," he muttered under his breath. "A faulty isolinear relay, probably overlooked by those so-called starbase engineers. Shouldn't take long to sort out."

Nayisa chuckled. "It's always the relays, isn't it?" As he inspected her, the intel officer took the moment to inspect him while his attention was diverted, taking note of whatever quirks stood out to her. The obvious sign that he probably enjoyed being outdoors was the rich tan on his skin. He was definitely enthusiastic, a sort of positive energy coming from him when he spoke. Those brown eyes, currently focused on the relay, told stories.

"Indeed, it's crucial to keep a close eye on those relays," Liam explained, his tone carrying a hint of concern. "They handle a hefty load of data and electromagnetic current, which can wear them down faster than other components. That's why Starfleet trialed the bio-neural gel packs; they process information at lightning speed. But with great processing power comes great risks. Ever seen one of those packs quite literally grow arms, legs and tentacles? It's like watching something straight out of a holonovel. We have to be careful not to overstep our bounds and play god.”

As he adjusted the frequency in the alignment tool and disconnected the first relay, Liam retrieved a replacement from his belt. He scrutinized the serial number, ensuring to make a mental note for operations resource consumption. Carefully, he inserted the new relay into the vacant slot, his movements deliberate and precise. He felt Nayisa's gaze on him, her silent observation not escaping his notice. Aware of her scrutiny, Liam couldn't help but wonder what thoughts were swirling behind those observant eyes.

Nayisa chuckled at the idea of a sentient gel pack. "I can't say I've ever seen a pack with appendages. That sounds just a little terrifying."

"You'd be right in thinking so," Liam confirmed, swiftly checking that everything was back in its proper place. "There, all done. I can run remote diagnostics from engineering, so there's no need to take up any more of your time," he explained, sliding the access panel back into place. "Thank you for your patience and the conversation. Crawling through Jeffries tubes can be awfully lonely so I enjoy the company from time to time," he added with a smile. "If there's nothing else, until next time."

Ah, crawling through the tubes. Sometimes Nayisa missed her early career, when she was the tube runner as she fixed things with engineering. "If you ever need company in the tubes, hit me up sometime. I can always find something to do in there. I'm Nayisa, by the way."

"I think I'll do just that next time. I'm Liam," he said, reciprocating the introduction. "See you around, Nayisa," he added, offering a friendly nod. Turning to Sam, he offered a parting remark, "Have a good day!"