Posted by Lieutenant Cherp’Eng (Chief Science Officer) in Meeting the Chief Engineer [Side Sim]

Posted by Lieutenant Kaia (Chief Engineer) in Meeting the Chief Engineer [Side Sim]

Posted by Lieutenant Cherp’Eng (Chief Science Officer) in Meeting the Chief Engineer [Side Sim]
Leaving his meeting with Captain Colter, Cherp’Eng stopped by the animal labs on Deck 5 to check in on Ensign Millis and ensure the continued health of his egg. Following this, Cherp’Eng headed down to Deck 18 and the office of Lieutenant Kaia, the Chief Engineer. He heard she was a Raka, a race he had never seen before, but knew that like the Caitians, they were a sentient feline species. He’d also heard that they were very short. He hoped they’d be able to appoint a suitable officer to the role of being in charge of the Mechanical Sciences. As he said to the captain in their meeting, given that section of science works with the engineers, and is on one of the decks adjacent to Main Engineering, he thought Lt Kaia’s input would be useful.

Reaching out a hand, he tapped the chime on the door of the Chief Engineer’s office and waited for admission.

Cherp’Eng: CSO, USS Manhattan

Kaia’s office was adjacent to main engineering, a decently sized window in the corridor outside giving a view of the space, and the engineering team dutifully going about their work. The door slid open, a cheerful, “Enter,” accompanying the swoosh of the door.

The interior of the office was as chaotic as it could be. It was clearly both an office and a workshop, a tall but narrow desk pushed up against a corner along with two chairs - one a regular-sized chair, the other which resembled a lifeguard station with its elevated seat and ladder-lined sides. The rest of the room - the workshop part of it - was littered with projects. Half-finished models of unrecognisable scrap, what looked to be a fully articulated artificial arm, pistons and engine parts and electrical diagrams displayed on padds. And yet, despite all the chaos, it was clean. Not a single bolt, screw, or tool was laying around, each was securely contained within various pouches, drawers, and straps, and the floor was clean, no discarded rags or puddles of oil. There was, if one looked closely, even straps and clamps securing each of the chaotic projects in place, as if the owner worried they might go flying at any moment.

The final thing of note was the gravity. It was not significant, but there was a slight increase, Cherp’Eng’s footfalls hitting just a little harder than they regularly did on the Manhattan. “Good morning, you must be Lieutenant Cherp’Eng,” Kaia called from across the room, where she was sitting, cross-legged, on one of the worktables. “Feel free to sit on the chair, if you like. There’s probably a stool somewhere around here if that’s more your speed. Welcome to the Manhattan, how was your trip through the wormhole?”

Lieutenant Kaia
Chief Engineer USS Manhattan

“Good morning Lieutenant Kaia,” Cherp’Eng returned the greeting, even as he noted the slight increase of gravity in the office, “yes, Lieutenant Cherp’Eng, Science Chief at your service. I’ll just stand. Chairs … and stools … and beds … do nothing for my people. The trip through the wormhole wasn’t comfortable for me, but I coped. Space on the transport vessel required me to sit in one of the chairs on board, and my legs were bent like a … like a wagon wheel … no … that’s not it … like a pretzel for me to fit in to the allotted space. Still, I was able to review the ship specs on my way here, seriously impressed by the science facilities on board, 23 different labs, including the 2 computer science labs and the 3 adjaceent to Main Engineering up on Deck 17, for the mechanical sciences. At the present time, there’s no one in charge there, and I’d like to fix that, given they’ll be working alongside your engineers mostly, and I know next to nothing about engineering, I wanted your input on the best candidate for the role. I had three in mind. Do you have time to consider them now, or would you rather I leave them with you to review at your leisure?” He looked around the room, “It seems that you are quite busy, I hope I didn’t interrupt any important work.”

The padd he had with him had the profiles of three crew members on it.
Lt. JG T’Rell (Vulcan): Specialises in robotics and artificial intelligence, known for her logical problem-solving and pioneering work in autonomous repair drones. Her calm demeanor ensures efficient collaboration with both science and engineering teams.

Lt. JG Jaxen Korr (Trill): Expert in cybernetics and neural interface technology, with prior experience integrating bio-mechanical systems on deep space assignments. Renowned for innovative solutions bridging organic and mechanical design.

Lt. JG Rava Kelen (Andorian): Focused on mechanical systems optimisation and micro-replication, Rava is recognised for rapid prototyping skills and an energetic, hands-on approach in shipboard laboratory projects.

Cherp’Eng: CSO, USS Manhattan
OOC: I actually had this typed and ready to go before I had my LOA, apologies for the delay, Riley.
OOC2: The name and background of the three NPCs were all developed by me with the assistance of Quillbot AI, however the idea for them were mine
Russell

“Yes, existing in humanoid-made spaces can be frustrating,” Kaia nodded, commiserating with the scientist. “I can jump really well in Standard Gravity, so that helps, but interacting with basically any console or button? I’ve had to install little ladders and collapsible stools pretty much all over the ship. They build fairly decent accessibility features for their own body plan, but it’s a little harder for folks like us. I replaced the bed and furniture in my personal quarters pretty much immediately. I’m not in the regular Chief Engineer’s quarters though, they’re WAY too big for me. I think they’re using it as visitor’s quarters, or maybe storage. Do you need my team to do any work to make your personal quarters more accessible for you? Remove the bed, adjust the height of the tables, adjust the gravity, or anything else?”

She stretched in the way a cat does, stretching her arms out onto the surface in front of herself and arching her back, letting out a brief satisfied sound before leaping down from the table she was sat on and walking over to Cherp’Eng, putting into great contrast the differences between their heights - her being less than half his height. “Nothing interrupted in a way that I can’t get back to it. These projects are mostly for working on when I’m not busy with something else, to keep me in the room and available to help people, rather than wandering all round the ship looking for things to fix. Now, let’s see those profiles…” She took the Padd if offered and navigated briefly to the menu to take a copy of the Data and put it on her own device before handing the Padd back to Cherp’Eng. “Your name, do you prefer I always use the full name, or would you be okay with me calling you Cherp?”

As she waited for his response, Kaia climbed up the ladder of her tall chair, settling down in the seat like a cat, her digitigrade legs making that more comfortable than having her legs hang off the edge. Her tail flicked playfully as she read the data on the three scientists. “Honestly, it could really depend on the mission we’re on, which of these officers would be best fit for the location. I think… uh, what are Korr and Kelen’s pronouns, the summaries don’t mention their genders.”

Lieutenant Kaia
Chief Engineer USS Manhattan