Engineering Therapy

Posted on Wed Jun 5th, 2024 @ 8:13pm by Petty Officer 2nd Class Henry Washington & Lieutenant Sturgis O'Connell & Ensign George Paxton

Mission: Character Development
Location: Engineering
1692 words - 3.4 OF Standard Post Measure

"Petty Officer Washington, right?" Sturgis spied the man working in engineering and though he wasn't one to mingle often, he was feeling unusually outgoing today. Perhaps it was his subconscious attempting to fill the void that had been left by not being with his family. It was an emptiness that continued to be difficult to overcome no matter how much time passed. "I could use an ops hand with this if you're willing. It's a micro fusion inter-relay converter. I'd like to patch it into the EPS system to give us a more efficient power conversion ratio."

"Yes Sir, it is," Henry said. He had seen the assistant CEO around the ship a few times but had never had the opportunity to interact with the man. "Oh!" Henry said, his eyes widening at the prospect of a new engineering problem. "I had a similar idea but I couldn't solve the issue with the plasma pulse matrix overloading during the initial start-up. Did you figure it out?"

"Yea, I worked up a bit of a programming sequence that distributes the load across matrixes so that they don't overload." Sturgis smiled at the fact that Henry recognized what he was trying to do and had run into similar issues, but the smile was short lived when he saw Paxton walk in looking sullen. He paused for just a moment before yelling after him. "Ensign Paxton, over here."

George reluctantly changed his course to move towards his superior. He'd have preferred to work alone, but it didn't look like that was going to happen. "How can I help?"

"We're going to patch this micro fusion inter-relay into the EPS system to give a more efficient power conversation ratio. We could use an extra hand." Sturgis replied.

"It'll be fun," Henry said cheerfully. He was already mapping out the pathways in his head and bypassing any issues he thought would come up. "You okay George?" He asked, noticing that the Ensign didn't seem as stoked about the assignment as he was.

"Oh, yea, fine," George replied. "Happy to help", the smile on his face was empty.

"We can all see through the facade, George," Sturgis smiled. "Let's get to work. No use talking about anything here if we're not getting anything done." O'Connell was nothing if not efficient. He could address personnel concerns and work at the same time.

Henry looked between O'Connell and George and shrugged. He wanted to check on his friend but work was work and if he was being honest with himself, he was more comfortable working than he was discussing emotional matters. "Where do we start Boss?"

"Junction 68 Beta. You two grab the equipment and meet me there, I'm going to get the programming portion set up in the meantime," Sturgis didn't wait for a response before moving off.

Only a few minutes passed before the trio met back up with equipment in hand. "The program is ready, let's get to work on installing the relay," Sturgis didn't waste any time. "And while we're at it we can talk about what's got you down." Sturgis slipped out a barely noticeable smirk and grabbed one of the tools to begin work.

George nodded and grabbed a tool himself. "To be honest, I'm not sure what the problem is. Mason and I had an argument a while back, but it wasn't a huge deal. I probably overreacted, but we never had a chance to discuss it before all the action of the last mission and ever since then it's been different. Like, when he's not around, I miss him, but when he is around I feel annoyed. Almost like he's being clingy or trying too hard...I normally love that Mason tries hard to show that he cares about me, but now for some reason it's annoying." He shrugged and tightened a bolt.

Henry pulled a panel from the wall and placed it at his feet. "What does he do that annoys you?" He asked as he flipped open his tricorder and started monitoring the power flow readings. "Charlie always tells me when I annoy her...well she has a look. It took me a while to get it right though, maybe you just need to train Mason to know your look."

George chuckled, a good legitimate chuckle which he hadn't felt in a while. "I'm not sure what it is that annoys me. Maybe that he's too polite? But how does that make sense? Thats a good thing."

"Well, not if it's covering up their own feelings right?" Sturgis replied. "If they're too polite and you want to know what they really feel, that can be hard I suppose, but now I'm curious." He looked to Henry. "What does the look look like? I wonder if my wife has the same look and I just never noticed."

Henry paused what he was doing and thought for a second. He eventually scrunched his face, one eye half-closed, the other bulging out of its socket. He wasn't quite sure what to do with his lips so he just pouted them a little. He had no idea if this was right but he guessed it looked as though he really needed to head to waste extraction, quickly. "Something like this, I think." He smiled and relaxed his face. "Or maybe not," he added seeing the look on the other men's faces.

"I'm fairly certain my wife never made that face," Sturgis chuckled.

"You know, I think that is the problem," George interrupted as the thought struck. "He's always so nice and sometimes overbearing I never know what he's truly feeling."

"Well, George, you can be like that too." Sturgis replied. "We spent weeks in the jeffries tubes when I first arrived and it was clear you were uncomfortable, but you never said anything. I heard rumors of panic attacks and I'd read your profile so I knew of the problem, but you never did come and talk to me. In fact, when I came to talk to you it was nothing but smiles and 'yes sirs'.

George gazed downward with an awkward smile. "That is true."

Henry's eyes widened in awe. "Wow Sir, you just knowledge bombed him," he said. "So now that you know this, what will you do, George?" He asked

"I'm not sure," George said with an air of defeat.

"George," Sturgis put down the tools and looked the man dead in the eyes. "Either talk to the man or end it, but don't drag him along. That doesn't seem fair for either of you." He paused for just a moment. "That's what my wife and I did. It wasn't working, so we took a break. There's nothing wrong with it."

George nodded. "I suppose you're right. I'll talk to him, he deserves that much anyway."

"Good," Sturgis smiled and looked at Henry. "What would you do if you were in that kind of situation with...I'm sorry what's your wife's name again? Starts with a C right?"

"Charlotte, Sir," Henry said, standing a little taller and straighter. "Though most people call her Charlie. And in answer to your question...I don't know. I'm not saying we're perfect but communicating has never really been a problem for us. She gets me like no one else and I can't imagine wanting to spend time away from her, ever." He felt his face flush. "Sorry, that's not helpful, sorry."

"Really?" Sturgis lifted a brow in curiosity and George seemed to do the same.

"That must be quite nice to have such a perfect fit," George commented as he helped to calibrated the system that the trio were working on.

"Looks like we're about ready for a test run over here. Just one last program sequencing to input. How are things looking on your end Washington?" Sturgis asked.

"A few more isolinear replacements and we're good Sir," Henry said as he held one to the light to make sure he was replacing the correct one. "It took time George, it wasn't always so easy, but we knew we were right for each other so we worked on it. It's worth it if you're sure about them."

"It doesn't always work either," Sturgis commented, somewhat solemnly. "Doesn't mean it still isn't worth it. My wife and I were together for ten years, but I don't regret a moment of it. So, even if it doesn't work out, it might be worth it anyway."

George nodded. "Forgive the intrusion, but I thought you and your wife were just temporarily separating?"

"Well, that's the hope I think," Sturgis replied, "but who really knows. Though I do think being apart has given me some clarity. I would definitely take another swing at it, given the chance. Maybe I just need to spend some more time around the Washingtons here so I don't screw it up again if Adrian takes me back," he chuckled.

Henry smiled, awkwardly. He wished Charlie was here to help him deal with the emotional crewmates while he continued his work. They were so much better together than they were apart, two pieces of the whole fighting for the same thing. "I got it," Henry said suddenly. "Charlie is much better at these things than I but I know what she would say if she were here," he said to the confused looks on their faces. "You can't fix something if you're apart. If you both want things to work, you have to be together, it's the only way."

"Seems like a good approach to most things," Sturgis nodded making a mental note himself that perhaps, if he truly wanted to repair things with his relationship, a transfer back to the his previous post would be warranted. That itself brought a million questions. Did he want to leave the Athena already? Was there truly a chance to fix his relationship with Adrian?

"Are you ready for a test run now?" George asked Henry, tearing Sturgis away from his own thoughts.

"Yes," Henry replied as he replaced the final chip. "You got this." In more ways than one he added mentally.