Starship engineers tended to be a curious breed. They knew that engineering, their land, their kingdom, was the heart of the ship. And as the medics tended dilligently to the flesh-and-blood forms of the individuals onboard, and the counselors concerned themselves with the grey matter of the same, so too did the engineers deliver care and oftentimes compassion to their patient - the ship.

Since early childhood, Mirai and her sister had been wholly devoted to what their mother affectionately called ‘tinkering’. Kara had been the theoretical genius, able to visualise any mechanical problem and invent all manner of exotic and cutting edge solutions. Mirai had taken a more practical angle, a ‘trial and error’ style approach, to coin a human phrase. It was a less noticeable methodology and seldom earned the same unabashed praise so often bestowed upon her younger sibling, but she had always got the job done in her own way.

But the shadow of the mighty Captain Kara Nakuto had lingered potently over the other and, in truth, she feared it might never recede sufficiently for her to feel the spotlight grace her own cheek. Even now, as she made her way to the engineering deck for her check-in with her new DH, Mirai could not help but wonder if the name Nakuto on the engineering manifest had sparked excitement…before the realisation of which sister it was attached to had washed it all away.

So it was with a degree of anxiety and already mounting defensiveness that the less desirable Nakuto engineer pressed the door chime for one Lieutenant Koria Sutret - the Chimera’s engineering chief.

• Mirai Nakuto (Eng)