Surgical Intervention, Part 2
Posted on Mon Feb 8th, 2021 @ 8:14am by Civilian Resident Judah Capek (NPC) & Second Mate Colleen Branagan & MERCHANT RANKS N'Tach Oro-korinko (NPC)
997 words; about a 5 minute read
Mission:
The Proving Ground
Location: Engineering, Second Star
Timeline: 2-days Pre-Launch
Previously, in the Engineering Section, Colleen Branagan was trying to help with the mess of the last Engineer leaving the ship. She's getting to know those who work and repair Second Star.
Judah prompted them like shy children to move towards Colleen, "They'll listen to you, I told em you were a friend."
The four floating robots cautiously moved forward, Nessy with a giant optical antennae upraised was the closest, while Zombie stayed far back. N'tach had yelled at them. Chris Callahan hadn't trusted them. How would this new one react?
And now, how will they all work together?
"Oh, hello! This is the nicest surprise since I was hired!" Colleen exclaimed. "I'd shake your antenna, but I don't want to throw off your sensors," she joked. "You four are going to make my life so much easier! I'm not actually an engineer, you know," she confided, "but I can fill in for a bit, if you'll help me. Let's get those leak problems solved first. Do you have any observations or sensor readings that will help?"
Banshee was the talkative one, the others conferred, and decided they liked her. Banshee sent a text reply to the panel closest to Colleen.
{[Query?(-Engineer)] Purpose?}
Judah translated, "It... he is asking why you are here if you are not an Engineer. Its a functional tone, not pejorative, by the way."
Branagan shrugged, looking at the one which had put up the text. "Science and engineering are sort of similar. I think I was hired to do whatever is required, so that's what I'm doing. I'm sort of feeling my way along here, because this is a different kind of assignment than I've ever had before. I'll trust you to tell me if I'm doing something wrong."
Nessy supplied her own input, {EMHSYSFAIL: (EPSInsulationFAIL>64Thz)(Betawv<122Gh;SYSFAIL)>EPS1.7a -EPS 2.7C et al...}
"64 terahertz? That's more than I imagined! No wonder there's a problem. Let me think a minute. Are we getting submillimeter radiation from the wave, too?"
Nessy bobbed up and down, its way of nodding yes.
"That won't be good, so we need to get that sealed right up!"
Colleen did her thinking out loud so the robots could follow it and keep her on the right track. "All one leak, or several smaller leaks? I'm hoping smaller ones."
Judah listened to more chatterspeak, translating "Several small sites. Internal sensors can't pinpoint, but perhaps 12-15 sources of ambient Beta wave signal productions."
Nessy was excitable and chattered: {(ENGINEER/FALSEENGINEER-COLLEEN) RepairSYS@1.7;1.8;a/b/1.9a/2.1;2.2;2.3a/b/c...)} listing the numerous sites in digital chatter speak was easy, but hearing it much less understanding it was impossible without a brain wired for it. Nessy was just excited to talk to people, but the point came across.
"At least it can't penetrate any metal or liquid water on the ship. So, this is what's interfering with Judah coming fully online! Do you have the location for the leak or leaks?"
Peggy settled onto the master display console, or colloquially known as the "ping pong table." It projected onto the screen a few schematics of the EPS grid, using a yellow particle spray to highlight the spread of signal leaks. Peggy was the most empathetic of the quad, and knew organics were visual learners. This would show rather than tell where the sites to be fixed were.
"Oh, excellent, thanks ... I'm sorry, I'm not sure which one you are, but I really appreciate this communication effort." She quickly noted the places that were highlighted red on the display, and marked up her own small version on her Science PADD. "This doesn't look so bad. Let's take on the bigger ones first."
Zombie was excited, too, taking this opportunity to address the closest EPS repair by directly cutting through the corridor wall to access it. No sooner did sparks fly than a crate crashed over the small bot, tools flying and sending Zombie wailing into the dark recess of the Warp Coil assembly.
N'tach had thrown it, he bellowed in anger, "Get those machines out of here, I have enough mess to clean!"
Banshee yelled loudly, {(NTACH)(Illegal operations conducted, damage to ZOMBIE assembly)(UNIT:PEGGYseekRecover/NESSY?BANSHEE?/ E-NEColleen?/ Judah seek reply?)
"Sir, the little robots are helping me stop 64 leaks. Unless you think you can take care of all 64 by yourself, before further damage occurs, just leave them to me, and you can go on with what you're doing without worrying about the leaks. Judah will be able to come on line and work with you when these are sealed," Branagan promised, thinking he didn't really need to throw things when the mess was already large enough..
N'tach looked at Colleen in confusion, realizing he had alienated her with his temper. He felt genuinely bad about it and regret welled inside him for being so childish in front of her.
"And I'll fix that little booboo on the bulkhead just as soon as the leak is sealed. No worries." She smiled at him, hoping her remarks were taken as a welcome solution and not as a reprimand for his temper.
He nodded, "Apologies, this is not a good day for me. Please, do as you think best. If they are assisting you, I will not interfere." He sulked before walking into the Engineers' work office and locked the door behind him.
Peggy had gone to retrieve Zombie, the two of them floated down to the scene. Zombie was furious, but Peggy overrode the concerns by assigning thirty worksites to him in the far off reaches of Engineering. Banshee zapped a protolaser tool onto a jagged edge on Zombie to smooth it.
Judah asked Colleen, "I look forward to meeting you in person, so to speak, do you think maybe an hour until we are clear?"
"With these little guys working to help me, she said fondly as she gently tapped Zombie, "It might even be less."
-End-
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