Posted by Chief Petty Officer Oscar Cameron Cascarrabias Demalia (Engineer (Grouch)) in Side Sim - USS Silversides - Enter Oscar
=/\= USS Silversides - Balao Class - Main Engineering =/\=

It was third shift, and Petty Officer Caraascabias had been working hard to get the pump-jet systems back on-line before his ship went on an oceanographic mission five light years away. He was chosen in part because nobody else could figure out what was causing the system checks to have a cascade failure. There was something about Oscar’s understanding of ship’s systems that made him able to simplify tasks that utterly confounded others. That comment was repeatedly on his service record - from his previous five captains.

However, the Chief Engineer may have also sent him to do the job because of the isolation suit that was a permanent fixture of his personal effects. He had worn one when he was a young boy in Spain, and still carried one around for several reasons. Normally, such covering was to protect the wearer from others. In spite of numerous medical advances in the Federation, some individuals still developed incurable auto-immune deficiencies. In Oscar’s case, it was the opposite; Oscar’s suit was originally to protect others from exposure to him.

He had accidentally been exposed to a strong fungal growth that had bonded with his hair follicles - all of them. It had turned his skin and hair green (the primary color, not the emeralds and olives present among Orion people). The fungus also altered Oscar’s body chemistry so that he emitted an unpleasant odor that was potentially noxious to several Federation species, such as Benzites and Caitians. Even if an individual didn’t have strong olfactory senses or non-standard respiratory systems, Oscar’s smell after he exerted himself physically was likely to make someone at least vaguely nauseated if not render them completely unconscious. Hence, he was raised with a barrier separating him from others from the age of six until he was officially cured at sixteen. He was still green, almost twenty years later, but he only smelled as bad as an average human with similar hygienic habits.

The problem was that, given how he had been living for ten years, his personal hygiene was atrocious. His isolation suit technically decontaminated him, but as it couldn’t do much about the smell, Oscar had turned off the scent improvement protocols when he was ten. He’d fallen out of the habit of regular clothing changes because his suit contained the smell and the poor appearance of dirty laundry. Although he didn’t use the suit as a waste disposal unit - even a young man with little sense for cleanliness didn’t want to live in complete filth - he had learned to live without regular bathing or perfectly clean clothes.

As such, even now, Oscar smelled unpleasant to most people. His uniforms were grimy and potentially ripped. His face somehow managed to look dirty even with the green pigment hiding a lot of what would normally discolor human skin. He’d kept his isolation suit into adulthood mostly so that he could get by without failing uniform inspections; Starfleet had always been his dream, and he wasn’t about to let personal appearance standards get in the way. Combined with a natural affinity for Engineering, and nobody could quite figure out how to get him out of the fleet - especially since he wasn’t an officer.

As he walked up to the Officer On Duty - Ensign Vestol, a Vulcan who could not help but express disapproval for Cascarrabias - Oscar placed a handheld computing device in front of him. Vestol turned to Oscar with a look that was the closest a Vulcan could be to petulant.

“Yes, Petty Officer? You have only been on Deck 11 for two hours ship time when you estimated that you would require your full shift to complete the task.” Vestol had a way of making the most innocuous of statements seem like an accusation.
“I got done faster because I figured that a bunch of officers would have looked at the actual moving parts of the system before complaining to me. Turned out that some filter switches were jamming in place, which blocked some valves during testing.”
Vestol got to the point. “I take it that you removed the cause of the blockage.”
“You could say that,” Oscar said, reached into his bag, dug around for a few seconds, and pulled out a rotten creature’s body that had once been something analogous to a fish. “We need to recalibrate the bio-sensors for the pump-jet before we get to our destination.”
“Why did you feel compelled to bring that… thing… here?” Vestol was clearly finding the stench unpleasant. The few other people in Engineering were already keeping their distance, and we’re glad for it.
“I thought that it would be a nice present for you, Vestol. I know you have a side interest in exobiology.”

Along with his hygienic issues, Oscar’s relative isolation had robbed him of any social graces.

“Get it out of here. In fact, if the system is functional, don’t return until the start of first shift. Lieutenant Commander Kolenn wants to see you.”
Oscar shrugged. “Thanks for the night off. More time to sort my sock collection.”
“Dismissed, Petty Officer.”

With that, Oscar headed to his quarters. Whatever the Chief Engineer had to say to Petty Officer Cascarrabias could wait.

Oscar Cascarrabias, Engineering

Ooc: Nice First post Nick! :) ~Calé