Posted by Lieutenant Solomon Kane (Chief Medical Officer) in Side Sim - CMO Office - The Bear Cave (Tag CE)
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He put on the glove and flexed the fingers, and he scowled. Well, he scowled more than usual. “Its already pretty restrictive. Range of motion in the fingers is crap. Any fine motor function will go right out the window, and if you are working in trying to get a finger or fingers in somewhere small, the odds are you’ll end up tearing the glove, making it useless.” and he glared at the covering for another minute. “What if…” and he suddenly stood and went to his desk, coming back with a pad of actual paper and a pencil. He began sketching, and in a few minutes he turned the pad around and slid it across the table.
On the page was a black and white drawing, but it was beautifully done. Complete with shading and creases where the glove would crease as the fingers contracted, it showed a cross-section of the glove near the wrist. Two layers separated by a void between the two were all labeled. The layer against the skin was labeled ‘Novaloid / Para-aramid cloth’. The top layer was labeled ‘bioplast / nanopolymer blend’. The void was labeled ‘ionization- inert gas’.

“What if you encapsulate a gas inside the glove? The skin side layer would be moisture absorbent, so no sweating. The out layer will be flexible, but the nano polymers already reinforce the plasma conduits. And should the outer layer breach, the gas will neutralize the plasma on contact.”

Kane, CMO

She watched in fascination as he drew the sketch. Her leg unbending so she could move closer to the table to watch. As he slid the paper to her, it took her a moment to stop being impressed with his drawing, and focusing on the drawing.

“I hadn’t considered using the blend on top. I figured something like that would have to be so thin as to make it almost useless.” There was admiration in her voice, but she didn’t look up as she looked at the drawing more intently. “Novaloid....” she murmured half to herself.

Looking up, she glanced at him a moment in thought. “How much gas would be needed in the middle layer? It seems like it would have to be significant for insulation and, if breeched, to render the plasma inert. Wouldn’t that be rather like working with a large balloon on your hand?” She wasn’t criticizing, it was her own question as her left hand absently flexed open and closed trying to imagine the feel of the gas layer pressing away while she tried to grasp something.

Bridie
CE

“Not necessarily. Think about it. You dont need all the plasma rendered inert. Just what is burning the tech. So they reach in and try to grab something, ok? They brush against a… a… oh hell I dunno, a screw or something. That causes the plasma to arc. The outer layer protects from the arc, right? Well say they cut the glove, then it arcs. You only need enough gas to neutralize the arc at the point of contact… not the whole thing. And if they cut the glove, the gas comes out right there anyway, so…” and he sat back and looked at her, waiting for her comments. His face had changed slightly. It still held a scowl, bit it was somehow… softer… or maybe just less angry and annoyed. Either way, the change was noticeable if she looked hard enough.

Kane, CMO

Completely attentive, she noticed the difference. She kept her smile to herself once more, though it was getting harder. “That makes sense. No need to flash the whole conduit leak, merely save the hand.” She picked the padd up and typed in the suggested materials and reran the sim.

With her current specs, the injury rate on the covered skin if plasma leak occurred was about 15%. The tear risk was 20% and the burn rate to skin if outer layer ripped was about 25%.

With his materials and the gas added, the injury rate to the hand was dropped to about 3%… The tear risk was 11%, and the injury to the hand if the outer later ripped was down to 7%.

Her smile wasn’t hidden any more as she looked up at him and slid the Padd to him. “I wouldn’t have thought of the aramid as an outer later to help prevent the tearing. I was worried about the heat shielding being the outer later, not the inner.” She couldn’t help it, she had to add, “See… relatively painful.” A small laugh accompanying her words. But she quickly got back to the glove. “Do you think this would be practical as a full body suit? It seems like it would be more maneuverable in most situations. And certainly where manual dexterity is a critical thing.” She was holding his drawing up to look at it once more. “Or maybe just the arm sections…” she half murmured as the realistic aspects of such a thin suit clashed with the need for oxygen tank, helmet and mag boot attachments. Her teasing comment to him already forgotten.

She reached up to scratch her face where an errant strand of hairs had fallen from her tightly braided bun. Setting the drawing down, yet still puzzling over its use beyond just the gloves, she reached up and released the auburn hair from its jail of knotted braids. Shaking her head a moment and sighing in relief as the tension on her head eased, she placed it back in a simple ponytail and picked the drawing up again. “Yeah… maybe just gloves…” she said and bit her lip still trying to puzzle out the full suit with the changes.

Bridie
CE

Kane watched her hair fall around her face, and thankfully she was engrossed in specs, or she would have seen a remarkable shift come across his face. The scowl was replaced by eyes that opened wide and a slight parting of his lips in surprise. As she tucked her hair back, he shook his head to clear and refocus; the normal scowl replacing the momentary lapse.

“You, uh… you could…” and his words stumbled for a second but he caught himself. “You could do gloves and then segmented pieces, kind of like armor. Cover the important parts… ‘cept the face. This would in no way be transparent.”

Kane, CMO

For once, she was so engrossed in the specs, she didn’t notice his face, or his stammered start to his reply. “Well,” she looked up and grinned. “Anyone stupid enough to put their face that close to plasma would deserve what they got… don’t you think?” She was referring back to Jodders’ accident earlier in the week. “But that would be interesting. To wither put a simple glove replacement on a hasmat suit, or a full arm attachment. I don’t see a need for more than that. I need to replicate a sample and we’ll have to test it in more than just a sim.” She glanced back at him from looking back at the PaDD. “If you don’t want to be bothered, I can do all the testing. I’ll just let you know how it goes.”

She knew she had pushed it, asking him to help this much. And the last thing she wanted was him blowing up and kicking her out cause he had ‘helped’ and wouldn’t watch her test because it wasn’t his job.

“I believe I promised dinner…” She smiled and pushed up from the table. “When did you eat last, today?” She stepped towards the door planning to go to the mess for something for them both.

Bridie
CE

“N-no, no. Its fine.” and he internally cursed enough to make a Klingon blush. ‘Get ahold of yourself, man. he thought to himself. “You’ll need some medical scanners to do the eval, anyway. Bioresistance before and after plasma contact. I wouldnt trust your JO’s to get that as specific as you’ll need.” and he looked down at the glove and new specs before realizing she asked him about dinner. “And, uh, yeah. Sure. Dinner’s fine, I guess. Eat here or go to the mess?” he asked with just a hint of less annoyance than was typical.

Kane, CMO

She didn’t realize how much it would be a relief to hear him offer to help. Her own insides chiding her at her ridiculous reactions. “I’ll go get it. How about you think of the sims we need to run. You know what tolerance levels we need to hit to make it successful.” She didn’t give him a chance to answer, but turned and headed out the office, closing the door behind her.

She glanced at the nurse in the room and smiled. “Back in a minute. Getting dinner. You want anything?” It made no sense to run just for them if the nurse wanted something as well.

Bridie
CE

The nurse looked up and a very confused expression swept across her face. “Um… no? No thank you, I mean.” and her gaze went from the CE to the office door, and then back to the CE. “How’s… how’s everything going in there?” she asked hesitantly.

Kane, CMO

She smiled and nodded. “Ok… and it’s going well. Thanks.” She ducked out the door and headed for the mess.

About 10 minutes later she returned with two trays and stepped into the bay. Nodding to the nurse, she balanced the trays in one hand and knocked with the other. She hadn’t gotten confident enough to simply walk back in unannounced.

Bridie
CE