Posted by Lieutenant Junior Grade Kiama Naim ((A) Chief Science Officer) in Engineering Lab - The Artifact

Posted by Lieutenant Commander Maxwell Wynter (Chief Engineer / 2nd Officer) in Engineering Lab - The Artifact

Posted by Lieutenant Junior Grade Kiama Naim ((A) Chief Science Officer) in Engineering Lab - The Artifact
Posted by… suppressed (1) by the Post Ghost! 👻

(snip)

“Really? Nothing else got broken? Nothing escaped that shouldn’t have?” Max smiled, “Your Officer was ok I hope, and yes it’s gone now.”

“Yes, he and everyone else in the lab is fine. A few of us, including me, got hit by glass. I didn’t even realise that I had gotten cut,” Kiama chuckled softly and shook her head. “And yes, that is all that happened. No further damage to the lab or crew and nothing was set loose on the ship.”

Looking back at the box, he tapped the top of it a little. The sound it made indicated it was not hollow, but the weight of it definitely did not make it feel like a solid block of metal. It was oddly light in fact which was highlighted by Max being able to push it across the bench towards her with only a little effort and one finger.

Lt Cmdr Wynter, CE

Following Max’s gaze down to the box, Kiama tilted her head slightly. For a couple of moments she seemed to just stare at the box. And while she was indeed looking closely at the box, taking in everything she could make out with the naked eye, she was also mentally probing the box. Of course, she couldn’t get a read on inanimate objects. Yet one never knew what might be hiding just out of sight and it surely never hurt to give it a try. Or at least so far it never had.

~Lt.jg. Naim, aCSO

Kiama’s mental probing got nothing in return, it simply appeared to be an ancient metal box. Covered in corrosion it did appear that there were carvings or something like them in the box, where the corrosion did not fill or build up on the surface. Lines could be seen travelling in different directions in some parts where it was thinnest.

“Here we go,” Max said and handed Kiama a small tool, like a hand held laser but used for dissolving corrosion with repeated swipes of the beam over a section. It would be slow work but without physically touching the box it would not cause any damage that wasn’t already there.

“Thank you,” Kiama replied as she took the small tool.

“We can adjust the beam to make sure it leaves the metal the box is made of,” Max explained, “but my forte is making engines work, not archaeology. Any advice?”

Lt Cmdr Max Wynter, CE

Kiama looked from the tool to the box and back at the tool. “Archaeology isn’t exactly my forte either, though precision work on delicate things is, you might say. So my recommendation is to set the beam to the lowest intensity. We can later try a slightly stronger setting, but for now I’d recommend a cautious approach. After all, we want to keep this box - whatever it might be - intact, if possible.” That said she adjusted her tool and pointed it at the top left corner of the side closest to her.

~Lt.jg. Naim, aCSO

“Gotcha,” Max said and made the adjustment, then moved so that he was working on the side opposite to Kiama. Their beams dissolved the corrosion just slightly on contact and it was apparent that there was a lot of corrosion, it was going to take time.

“How have you found the Manhattan so far?” Max asked her, looking up at her over the box for a moment as he worked. “We haven’t talked much since we met. Have you settled in well?”

Lt Cmdr Wynter, CE