Tinkerers

Posted on Mon Nov 4th, 2024 @ 12:21am by Lieutenant JG Nayisa Wrea & Lieutenant Ame Solis M.D.

Mission: Character Development
Location: Mess Hall
Timeline: Between Missions
3284 words - 6.6 OF Standard Post Measure

In the corner of the mess hall, a smattering of components were strewn about the table, silver hair occasionally popping up from a very invested hunched-over posture. Nayisa paused from her latest project to take a sip of her smoothie, some wacky concoction of fruits that turned it into a bright teal color. Spread out on the table in front of her were several PADDs with various diagrams, vastly outnumbered by a variety of small parts ranging from connectors to what suspiciously resembled a thoroughly deconstructed tricorder. There was nothing secret about what she was going, and she was making no effort to hide her work.

The tricorder had been decommissioned like... five years ago anyways. She called dibs on it, therefore it was hers.

Looking around, Nayisa realized how few people were in the mess hall, compared to the waning dinner rush she entered into. Had it really been a couple of hours? Normally, she'd give it a rest, but the problem she was trying to solve was practically devouring her brain, and she couldn't let that happen.

Ame tentatively leaned into the Mess Hall to gauge the traffic before committing to the motion. Food service by replicator would do for now, she’d heard there was a kitchen on board but that wasn’t inconspicuous enough. “Hasperat, warm and a Jumja Tea.” She squeezed the back of her neck, scratching her fingers up into her hairline.

The Bajoran’s other hand gripped a PADD, schematics and worklist ready for her first few weeks. Food materialised as quickly as she managed to raise her hand, the smell of warmed spices wafted out from the alcove. She stacked the plate on the back of her PADD and picked up the cup with her free hand.

It was pretty empty compared to her earlier review of the Mess, the hunched figure in the corner seemed preoccupied with whatever they were doing. Sitting closer might dissuade any conversation if they were engrossed but also might set the seed with a new face. Ame opted for a few tables over, sliding the plate onto the table with a soft flick and squeezing herself between the seat and the table to look out at the blur of starfields.

Her gaze shifted curiously to see what it was the other patron was working on. There was so many things spread out on the table it was difficult to determine if it was a complete item or a puzzle. It made her feel more optimistic about the state of her own research.

Nayisa's dark eyes fell on the newcomer as she took a seat nearby, giving her a polite nod to make up for the rather obvious stare she was giving. The woman had to have transferred recently, because she didn't recognize her, and that was a first. the intelligence officer had taken the time to memorize the manifest and basic information about people, an endeavor that helped occupy her time under house arrest, and this new face was certainly not present at the time.

Turning her attention back to the mess of parts in front of her, Nayisa continued her tinkering. Her attention shifted between the outer shell of the tricorder and a small circuit board that was connected by a small bundle of wires. With probes, she would poke different parts of the board and watch the casing respond, either with movement or by lighting up. While she was doing one such test, she was holding the tricorder in place with one hand. Perhaps it was the table, but the thing liked to rotate on her.

A quiet hiss suddenly came from the silver-haired woman when the casing of her deconstructed tricorder snapped shut on her fingers. It wasn't strong enough to do any damage, but it still hurt. Pulling her fingers out of the plastic trap, she glared at the casing while rubbing the sore spots. "Rude," she mumbled to the piece, putting it in a tray on the side that was decidedly for "bad parts" that needed to think about their actions.

It was quiet enough that the snap and hiss were audible to the Bajoran, her brow perked and she couldn’t help but lift her eyes from the PADD to the woman nursing her fingers. “You okay?” Ame asked, nature not allowing her to just sit and eat her warm parcel of home. Still being in uniform could paint her as Science or Medical, but her haste in responding may have gave her department away.

Glancing over, Nayisa saw the unfamiliar woman addressing her. "I think so. These casings are always so finicky," she responded, looking down at her fingers. There was a nice red mark across her digits where the casing snapped shut on them, and she flexed her fingers to make sure they were still usable. The movement stung a little, but Nayisa didn't react to the minimal pain.

Ame nodded, “Okay, so long as there’s no breaks.” Her attention returned to the steaming wrap on the plate in front of her. Cutlery in hand she began to tuck in. It wasn’t the same as home but at least it was warm. The problem with warm hasperat was the level of heat, whilst it wasn’t steaming hot, it was the first time she’d experienced it from this replicator. And the level of spice was reminiscent of her grandparent's cooking.

“Who adjusted this receipe …” Jumja tea wouldn’t soothe the acidy hit on her tongue, it had to have been someone native. More native than she was apparently. Her nose wrinkled further into a sniff, and her eyes widened. “I’m sure I read one of the previous CMO’s was a Bajoran too.” Ame blew gently through her lips. A gulp of Jumja cleansed her palette, but that would likely do more of a hindrance when taking another mouthful.

Ah, the new doctor. Nayisa observed for a moment, noting her mannerisms and response to the food. "Think they messed with the recipe?" She asked.

Ame glanced over again and shrugged, “More traditional, standard starbase replimat was much … milder? Nutrients over flavour.” She used the side of her fork to cut another slice from the spiced wrap. “That was quite a snap, is that a pet project or a punishment?” The Doctor asked with interest, even if it was a little odd to have a conversation over two tables.

Nayisa wished the tables could move more easily, so she could scoot hers closer. "Pet project," she answered. Picking an item up off the table, she held it up for the doctor. "I was trying to understand what all this board does and I'm using this retired tricorder as my test subject. I got this little thing... five years ago, and never bothered to see what it did. Figured I could change that." Looking down at the mess on the table, she mentally reorganized it to see if there would be space to accommodate a guest. Deciding to chance it, she shifted some items around, eventually forming a space free of clutter that provided enough room for a guest.

Amusement forced its way past the Bajoran’s lips with a tight rasp, she picked up her plate and cup; carrying it over to join the woman and the scattering of tricorder parts. Ame made sure to keep her space to a minimum, so as not to disturb the organised chaos. “I’m not much of an engineer, just the basics you know unless it's bio-based.”

She picked up her fork and cut another generous slice of the wrap. “What’s a thing?” Carefully she leaned over the components spread over the table to discern which part it was. “Is it a specialist one?” Ame made sure to scooch back to avoid getting food on the components.

Moving closer allowed the doctor to get a better look at the woman sitting next to her. The shock of silver hair in an edgy pixie cut and parted on the side, it was cute for sure. Dark eyes, maybe a Betazoid or just a humanoid with dark eyes. Not in uniform so off duty. “I’m Ame, Doctor Solis Ame, I’ve just been assigned.”

"Nayisa," the silver-haired woman responded with a smile. There was a half-second pause where she debated telling the newbie what her position was, but it was a common response to get a little nervous once people heard that she was in Intel. Perhaps she'd wait a little, hopefully convince the doctor that she wasn't a Doom-and-Gloom first. She held up the computer board, which was about the size of her thumb. "This is a 6400-GXi Quantum computer board. These are known for their incredibly fast transmission of information, and I was checking how fast the response was with this decommissioned tricorder... and I guess my fingers."

She shifted the PADD she was taking notes on over toward the doctor. Normally, she'd write in Wrea-ese, her own encrypted style of writing that looked like gibberish to the untrained eye, but it wasn't sensitive information so she cared less. Besides, she wasn't working on any of her little side projects, she was merely exploring. On the PADD was a bunch of detailed notes, and to the side was a diagram of the board with a bunch of labels stemming from it. "I got lucky to claim it, because these are quite valuable. Sanitizing it was a pain though."

Ame nodded with the explanation, which made a little more sense. “If only you knew someone who handled sanitisation as part of their role?” She tapped the handle of her fork against her chin in jest. “Did you manage to get it attached or did you need something more fine?” Building bridges was something she was told to do in all areas of the crew, she didn’t mind which department anyone was from.

As a Doctor, she’d had many interactions with Internal Affairs reviewing whatever they deemed suitable to stick their nose into. It didn’t phase her anymore, if she’d done nothing wrong there was no need to worry. She tried her best and acted with integrity and in line with Starfleet and Medical guidelines.

“What will you be using it for? Transmitting scans or overall data transfer?” The Bajoran leaned further away from the equipment as she loaded the slice onto the fork and made short work of it. A quick short exhale to soothe the unexpected heat again.

Nayisa snorted at the remark. The doctor's idea of "sanitization" was far different from Nayisa's interpretation. "It came as a container of scrapped parts, probably yoinked from a mission to stop smugglers or something. I'm not sure what I'll use it for yet, but since it has fast data transmission, and it's small..." She inspected the chip between her index finger and thumb, her brain clearly in thought. "I am tinkering with a decommissioned tricorder --not this one, a different one--, so I wonder if I can somehow use this to get faster readings."

Ame’s eyes narrowed, there was something Nayisa wasn’t letting on and being new to the ship and her crew she had no idea what it could have been. Most of this was very much above her head but there was an idea. “Have you thought about adding some kind of feedback loop?” She lifted the end of her fork to her chin, taking a moment to consider if her offering was even relevant to what the woman was trying to achieve.

“In med tricorders, we use a bio-feedback loop to filter out interference—like when a patient’s vitals are all over the place.” Her free hand moved turbulently with the peaks and troughs of a sinus rhythm. “It helps stabilize the readings, makes them more accurate when things get unpredictable.”

She shrugged and returned her fork to cut the last of the wrap into bite-size pieces, its contents oozing out as she did. “Might be worth trying something similar here. It could help smooth out any inconsistencies before the data even hits the processor. But. I’m no engineer…”

"Oh, interesting thought." Nayisa tilted her head slightly as she pondered it. A feedback loop was usually good for reading information, not so much transmitting it. "While it is a transmitter, not a scanner, I'm curious if a feedback loop could reduce the time between reading the data and sending the data. Thanks, I'll give that a try!"

Nayisa grabbed her smoothie and took a sip, giving a slight wiggle of her shoulders as she enjoyed the flavors on her tongue. "So, tell me about yourself. You're obviously new here, so where did you transfer from?" she asked with a smile.

At least she’d helped a little at most, Ame gave a gentle nod, “It’s worth a try.” She shovelled another fork of Hasperat into her mouth nodding with each awkward chew as she waited to answer, “I transferred from the USS Corvus after six months, I was serving on Starbase on 621 before it was attacked. It’s been a busy few years. What about you? Have you been here long? What is it you do?” It was hard to tell with the woman being out of uniform unlike herself.

Well, guess it was time to actually identify herself. "I've been an intelligence officer here for... a year, ish?" Nayisa pouted as she counted the missions in her mind, her pinky extending then folding a couple of time as she debated if shore leave counted as a mission. "I came aboard during shore leave after the Pioneer docked for repairs. It was a weird time, because I came out of 6-month mission from hell to hear that the intel chief here died, but then she was actually alive, there was something about a clone thrown into the whole thing..." A wave of her hand dismissed her rather casual retelling of the story. "I tried starbase life, it wasn't for me. Starbase 621 though, huh?"

“I guess that spooks a lot of people when you tell them?” Ame nodded, “There’s not much exciting about me unless you like listening to pleading transmissions from ex-husbands.” She might as well have put it out on the table, “Sounds like it's been some kind of time over here huh?” She shovelled another fork full of food into her mouth. “Mmmm. Decidedly less action when you don’t travel through space, lots of minor or routine medical things. It was actually where I grew up, my Dad’s still out there but I’m hoping to convince him to come back to Bajor. But it's a big ask.”

She realised that as she spoke asking him to return to Bajor would be abandoning his home and the life he had created with his wife. Her lips pinched in thought. “Cloning isn’t something I’ve had much of a review of since my time in the Academy. Sounds interesting, maybe I can have a read if it's not classified. Lots more tends to happen on patrol ships.”

Nayisa shrugged. "It's common for people to shy away from us intel folks. Something about us invading their personal lives or whatever." A hint of a smile tugged at her lips as she remembered her adventure into Kane's quarters. "Yeah, I'm sure if you venture into the mission logs you can probably find it. I'm not sure what classification it has, since it didn't really interest me." If the mission were ongoing, she might have dug a little deeper, but it was post-mission and during shore leave, and the issue had been resolved, so she simply didn't care. "But yeah, it's been exciting here, at least from my perspective. Maybe less for you, because you have to deal with the aftermath and all."

Ame’s lips pressed together as she nodded, “Mhmm. I’ve seen the injuries and have the check-up list.” She pushed the last slice of hasperat around with her fork. “I’ve no issue of things being poked around, there’s nothing interesting. You don’t happen to play Baseball, do you?”

Reluctantly, she prodded her fork into the wrap and finished her meal. The Doctor then moved on to warm her neglected tea. “What kind of things do interest you? I love a good people watch, especially in public places. Guess the ailment, what’s the emotional trauma, who’s in the love triangle.”

While always prepared for a far more aggressive line of questioning, the tangentially-related, rapid-fire ones that the doctor sent her way caught Nayisa slightly off guard. "I don't think I've ever played baseball, but I have watched it. I also people watch, recreationally. What can I say, I'm nosey." She added a little grin at her last words.

The Bajoran couldn’t help but chuckle at the off-kilter response, “Sorry I’m asking a lot of questions. I talked to Savin about getting to know people and baseball came up. I hoped to find a few more players.” Carefully she swirled the tea before looking back to the woman at her side with a wide smile.

“I bet! I guess it comes with the line of work. I imagine lots of people shut down. Sounds like the perfect skill for people-watching. What else do you get up to? Other than fiesty refurbishments?” She peered over the spread of parts again looking for anything else that might be familiar that might assist with what Nayisa had said she was hoping to achieve.

"I'd be down to give baseball a try," Nayisa offered. Catching the glance at the parts, the intel officer looked over the parts as well before deciding that she was done for the afternoon. She needed to think more about how to get into the software itself. "As you can tell, I also like to tinker."

Mentally Ame added one more to the tally, it was nearly half a team and that was a pretty good start for a few days on board. Her smile widened. “We’ll have to get something arranged, just the two of us or I can gather up a bit more of a group. Whatever works for you.” Carefully she swirled the dregs of her tea.

“I’d never be able to get it all back together without some assistance. I have a habit of leftover parts when it comes to engineering, and that doesn’t bode well in my profession. Luckily I don’t dabble too far outside my field. It looks like chaos.” The Doctor leaned back in her seat and cast an eye over the parts, she could pick out a few of them outside of the basic components.

Nayisa chuckled at the response before grabbing a container out from under the table. "Well, don't take... this as a fair assessment of engineering skills," she joked, gesturing to the parts. Setting the container in her lap, she began putting parts into it. "This is just what makes sense for me."

The Bajoran looked sad toward the bottom of her almost empty mug. “We all work in our own little ways, eh?” Ame answered with a smile as she drained the last of her Jumja tea. Carefully, she stacked her empty cup on the small plate. “Would you like a hand?” Having fulfilled the core reason for her visit, she needed to head back to her quarters to wash up and rest, ready for the excitement of the next morning.

Nayisa gave Ame a smile. "Sure!"