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 (5) by the Post Ghost! 👻

(snip)
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

They sat down and returned to work. Something was bothering Rand about it but she couldn’t quite put her finger on what it was. But soon she had a whole other problem to deal with. She hated to do it, but she had to stop the tapes several times to ask Roman what felt like to her never ending questions. Not about the animals but the data and results. She was unfamiliar with a lot of the terminology and concepts. Given enough time Rand could have studied up on it and been fine, but she didn’t have that kind of time. Unless they wanted to come back to this in a few days.

Roman hadn’t noticed yet and that was lucky because if he had, he wouldn’t be anywhere near it. He was upset, of course, but he explained each and every thing she asked about.

Finally she sighed and shook her head. “This is beyond me. I’m getting lost trying to connect the different results and studies together. I have no idea what you’re talking about on the video.” She was frustrated with herself, like she’d failed. When really it was just a matter of not having the advanced training for the specific subject matter.

Rand

Roman shook his head, “You aren’t a biologist, you can’t be expected to know or understand everything.” He held his hand out for the notes. “I can finish this one.” It would be hard for him, to focus and do the notes but he had to. He hoped trying to focus on the science would be enough to get it done.

~ Roman

Rand passed the PaDD over. “Well no but…” Rand took it personally that she wasn’t able to finish it. Though her hand, sore from punching Randy, thanked her for the break. She continued to sit with him, paying attention to what was going on. Esp if Roman needed help finding where she had put information. Watching him take the notes and make the notations from his point of view was fascinating to her and she managed to figure out some of what she was missing.

When the disk was done she refilled their tea and then sat back down.

Rand

Roman finished out the notes for that disk. He was lucky it wasn’t physical paper or he would’ve stained it with tears. Rand stayed with him, sitting next to him as he wrote his notations and time stamps. When the disk was finished, he set aside the PaDD and put his head down on the desk.

~ Roman

Rand reached over and rubbed his shoulders a little. “I can probably do the next disk myself. I think I’ve figured out what I wasn’t getting.” And she proceeded to explain to him the parts she’d had trouble with, just so he would know he didn’t have to worry about her confusing the entries and data. “You can take a break.” Something was still nagging at her, making her stomach twist with worry, but if it was other than generalized worry about Roman she couldn’t pin point what it was.

Rand

“No,” he said, lifting his head. She explained to him the parts she’d have trouble with and he knew she understood, he wasn’t worried about her confusing it. He was just being his typical stubborn self. Without reading the label he stuck the next disk in.

It would be the last video on the disk that was taken on the day of the attack, the two before it would be filmed just a couple of days earlier and the day before. The file named were marked with the date. Roman was familiar with about when the videos were taken, and he knew they were getting close, but he hadn’t realized how close. Rand was doing most of the notes, after all, she was dealing with the dates. The first two videos on the disk were short, four and seven minutes, the last one from the 19th was longer.

~ Roman

Rand didn’t think he would let her just go through and get the information. He had to be part of it. The first two videos didn’t take long. They wrapped up several of the studies that bad been conducted. There was the venom antidote left and the life cycle studies, but the animals didn’t survive the attack. The attack! What had been bothering Rand suddenly became clear. The final entry was the day of the attack. She ejected the disk suddenly, “We’re done,” and took the disk with her as she left.

The videos had been upsetting as they always were for him, and they’d only been more difficult the further they’d gone. He wasn’t crying as much anymore, as if he’d simply dehydrated himself out of tears over the last week, but he was quiet, and Rand would be able to tell it was hard for him. He was lost in thought in between videos when Rand jumped up and made him jump. She ejected the disk and left with it. “Rand? We’re not done! What’s wrong?”

She had to find Randy. She didn’t care how mad she was at him, she couldn’t do this. She couldn’t watch it, she couldn’t watch Roman watch it. No. Enough. She found Randy still on shift in sickbay. She marched right up to him, “You, now,” and dragged him to an out of the way to a quiet corner. Randy stamped his foot and glared at her, “Rand I’m working. You might get to be lazy this week and goof off taking your leave time, but I still have things to do.”

Rand slapped the disk into his hand. “Yes work, this work right here.” She grabbed his arm and her voice dropped very low. “It’s recorded…the attack, it’s on this disk. I can’t…he can’t.” Randy pinched his nose, “And you just snatched it away and disappeared with it.” It wasn’t a question. He took the disk, dragging Rand with him and marched her right back to Alden’s quarters. “Alright, so Rand I want you back here in an hour, go play with Nibbles or something.” He looked at Alden and then sat down. “You know why she stole the disk?” He was pretty sure Alden did.

Randy

It had taken a few minutes after she’d marched off without a real word why, but yes, he knew. The realization had set in when he looked to see which disks were left: none of them. And they’d gone by date. That meant she had the last disk, and Roman… Well, he was never able to forget.

He knew what exactly they’d been doing that day and that meant he knew what was on the disk. It had to be, to freak her out like that. But he wouldn’t have guessed that the final video would’ve been saved. He’d have assumed that with the ship damage it would’ve been corrupted, like so many other files had been.

But somehow, it wasn’t. Of course it wasn’t. Roman’s face gave it away to Randy. He knew, and he couldn’t believe it. That that was on video. After all he’d been through trying to finish the project, he didn’t think he could handle it. He was upset enough at the knowledge of its existence. The fact that Randy was here, and that he was sending Rand away, confirmed it. He nodded slowly to Randy’s question.

~ Roman