Posted by Ensign Rand Farquharson (Yeoman First Class) in side - sim: In Memory of Jay

Posted by Commander Roman Alden (First Officer & Chief Science Officer) in side - sim: In Memory of Jay

Posted by Ensign Rand Farquharson (Yeoman First Class) in side - sim: In Memory of Jay
Posted by… suppressed (9) by the Post Ghost! 👻

(snip)
“I can take her out of the tank and check her out. Then we’ll put her into a fresh tank while we clean hers since it seems the goo is bothering her somehow.” Maybe she was shedding skin like a snake? Roman hadn’t the faintest idea. He put on protective gloves and a protective gown over his clothes, and then set up another enclosure. The he put something down to protect the lab counter. He lifted the goo lizard out of her typical enclosure and set her on the lab counter in the space he’d readied to look her over.

~ Roman

The lizard was docile as normal as the lab crew put fresh water in and took the plants out, but no one handled her, rarely. So when Alden picked her up to move her at first she skirted away, almost hissing, flipping her tail out, but the lack of goo didn’t protect her. When Alden got ahold of her she squirmed and thrashed, even biting a gloved finger. Luckily her teeth were made for grinding plants and not puncturing flesh. All the movement caused the little bit acidic goo that had started to appear again to get flung about.

Roman counted his lucky stars those protective gloves went up as far as they did. The acidic goo hit just below the edge of the glove. If any got on him, it wasn’t enough to cause much pain. She wasn’t normally quite so aggressive, then again he rarely tried to handle her. A face-full of goo would be unpleasant to say the least.

There were no sores or wounds on her, but the goo was not producing as quickly as normal and her skin had an opaque quality to the color. Where Alden had to hold her tightly some of the scales flaked off leaving behind soft delicate beige skin instead of the normal dark brown.

Franks

Roman set her back into the new enclosure and locked the lid, taking the protective gloves off. “Her scales are coming off and her goo isn’t being produced like normal. I’m thinking she’s shedding her skin, but let’s keep a close eye on her just in case I’m wrong.”

~ Roman

Franks had donned protective gear incase Alden needed assistance. Always two people whenever handling an animal, just in case, so he was cleaning up the goo that had been dropped. Once she was in the new cage he took both his and Alden’s protective gloves and gowns and put them in a metal container. They would have to be washed carefully in the lab, that had its own water supply along with medical for cleaning hazardous materials. They couldn’t risk washing them with the other ship’s laundry and the goo getting into the water supply. “I’ll keep an eye on her.” He looked over at the clean enclosure where she seemed rather agitated now. “When she calms down I’ll give her some clean plants to roll around in and fresh water.”

Roman nodded. “The new skin is a lighter color. It might be like a new layer of skin for us, tender and weaker. Maybe her own goo would harm her new skin. I’d keep an eye on her while she does her rolling around.”

From down the hall…”Randall Oyne Tavish William Ian Farquharson ciamar a b’ urrainn dhut? Carson a dhèanadh tu sin dhòmhsa?!” Franks smirked. “If there is one person in the world I wouldn’t want to make mad, it’s my sister. I wonder what Randy did now?”

Franks

There was only one thing that would be, and with this taken care of, Roman was not going to miss it. He knew exactly what Randy had done, and his grin made that no secret. “I’ve got to go.” Then he made his way to the door of the Galley to see what was going on.

~ Roman

Franks looked from Alden to the noise down the hall and back. He’d never seen Alden grin. Whatever it was Alden knew and Franks really wanted to ask because…well, who didn’t want to know what Randy had gotten into. Plus it was Rand and she was like the lab’s baby sister.

Entering the Galley would find Randy in the far corner facing the rest of the room, a huge guilty grin on his face and holding onto the back of the chair, shifting his weight from one side to the other trying to keep the table between him and his very upset sister.

Rand was standing on the other side of the table countering Randy’s feints but making no move to get closer…yet. “Carson? Carson a chuireadh tu nàire orm mar sin? (Why? Why would you embarrass me like that?)”

Randy shook his head, “Careful Rand, people might think you a shrew.” Rand glared at him, but her posture changed becoming more stiff and formal, her expression desceptively calm, her chin raised and her hands clasped lightly in front of her, but she just stared at him. Rand refused to take the conversation to English and air the topic.
Seeing the subtle shift Randy grinned even more. “Come, come, you wasp; i’ faith, you are too angry.“

Rand didn’t hesitate the words came all on their own and so natural and full of sincerity it was as if the words were hers. “If I be waspish, best beware my sting.“

Randy didn’t have her talent but he wasn’t going to give up the chance to let Rand’s talent go unnoticed. He would pay for it later, but it was worth it to see her so easily take on the role. “My remedy is then, to pluck it out.“

Rand was truly irritated with Randy and thought him acting a fool and she was still angry at him. “Ay, if the fool could find where it lies.“

Randy: “Who knows not where a wasp does wear his sting? In his tail.“

Rand: “In his tongue.“

Randy: “Whose tongue?“

Rand rolled her eyes, but in the exchange she’d managed to get right up next to Randy. “Yours, if you talk of tails:” Then she punched him and turned and walked away. “and so farewell.“

Randy grunted for good measure, though it did knock some of the wind out of him. His laughter was strained as he tried to draw in breath, but laugh he did as she walked away. “What, with my tongue in your tail? Nay, come again, Good Rand; I am a gentleman.”

(OOC: Words in italics are quoted from William Shakespeare, The Taming of the Shrew)
Rand

Anyone in the galley who’d been minding their business was now watching Rand and Randy’s little show, both impressed with her acting and amused by her and Randy. Roman stood in the doorway, grinning at Randy. Who wouldn’t enjoy watching him get punched? He met up with Rand, “Feel better?”

~ Roman

Randy was taking a lot of flack from those in the Galley. No one believed that he was innocent. Randy was wise enough not to tell them what he had done wrong. He also deflected any questions concerning how Rand had learned to do that. He would be in a lot more trouble when Rand realized he’d egged her into some ‘improve’. It was worth it.

Rand looked up at Roman a small grin on her face. “Yes.” Then she flexed her hand and winced, “No…ach..ow.” A tiny sigh escaped her. “I hurt my hand. Should have slapped him instead.”

Rand

Roman grinned, probably one of the first she’d seen in days. “I’ll have to teach you how to punch properly, then.” He said, then because he figured she’d want to know he told her about the goo lizard and what was going on in the lab. “I think she’s fine, but I have lab staff keeping a closer eye on her.”

~ Roman

Spending time in the gym, with Roman, while he worked out, and letting Roman teach her how to punch? Yes please. Meaning getting to spend more time with him. She couldn’t help grinning back at him. It was a relief to see him smile. But it only made her not want to go back to the project. “I’d like that.”

She was curious about what was going on with the goo lizard. “No one got hurt did they?” was her first question when Roman said she got aggressive when he picked her up. Both the people and the animal. “So she’s going to get bigger soon. Could you use the shed skin to see how it protects against the goo?”

Rand

“We’ll make time for it,” he said. Roman pulled up his sleeves revealing clean, non burned skin. “Thankfully no, she’s not producing goo like normal, otherwise I don’t think things would have gone so well. And I was gentle with her.” He thought about her second question and shook his head. “Maybe, but I don’t think so. There were only flakes of skin left in her old enclosure, I think as the skin decays the goo starts to break it down like it would anything else.”

~ Roman

“So not like a shed snake skin.” Rand walked along with no destination, enjoying the discussion. She’d been in the galley to get breakfast but had been side tracked by Randy. And was immensely glad no one knew what they were arguing about. “How much bigger do you think she will get?”

Rand

Roman nodded. He was headed vaguely towards his quarters, slowly, not wanting to get back to work on the project but knowing he should. “I’m not sure. I haven’t been able to find any reliable way to tell how big she’s supposed to get. I can’t imagine it’s too big judging by the size of her now, but I can’t say how big she’ll be.” He shrugged and then said, “I can hope she doesn’t stay this agitated. It would make handling her safely virtually impossible.”

~ Roman

“Maybe she was just scared. No one usually handles her because her goo is so dangerous. To her we probably look like big scary giant monsters. I would be terrified if the resident giant suddenly decided to man handle me.” She shrugged. “Maybe she will feel better when her goo is back?”

Rand

Roman nodded again, “Let’s hope.” They were in the lift by then, headed up to deck three. Roman hadn’t yet realized how little left they actually had. Two disks, dated 06 Sept 2247 - 12 Sept 2247 and 14 Sept 2247 - 19 Sept 2247. The dates were written on the disk labels as they had been for all of the project disks. As they’d gotten further through the project the videos and audio files had gone from speculation and observation to solid results. Videos of experiments and videos trying to show specific behaviours of the animals. Not to mention project summaries as they neared the end of the project. They’d have only needed a few more months. Less, maybe.

~ Roman