<snip>

Kovan stared down at the offered hand like it held a phaser. A lump formed in his throat. A steady stream of nearly every swear he knew cycling through his head while fighting the urge to panic. He was a terrible person, but thus far he had managed to keep his worse nature in check around his superior officers. It was a matter of survival. Get written up enough, cross too many lines and like the rules of human baseball strike out enough times and you are out. Kovan can’t lose this job. He couldn’t.

“Y-yes.” Kovan said, and with a start reached for the CE’s hand and barely shook it. “Sorry, sir, I wasn’t aware we had a replacement CE so soon.” Kovan couldn’t meet the CE’s eyes. He was tense and it showed in his stiff posture.

Ensign ch’Sirhc COMMO/ENGR

The obvious discomfort in the junior officer ilicited a laugh from the CE, jut not a malicious one. “Seriously, Ensign. Relax. Things get missed, it’s the nature of the work. Just don’t automatically assume deficiency when you see something wrong. I mean, I doubt you’d be very pleased if I automatically assumed the worst about you, right? That wouldn’t be fair, would it?”

Riss, CE

Relax. That wasn’t a word in Kovan’s dictionary. Not anymore. The word had been struck out with big black [REDACTED] lines and any reference to that word were similarly removed or crossed out. “No?” Kovan answered, unsure. This wasn’t going how he expected it to. Hell, he’d be far more comfortable if the CE had ripped him a new one or insulted him or any other kind of response that Kovan felt was deserved for a screw-up. This happy-genial mood was alien to him. Kovan was that person to assume the worst about everyone. That way when they’re half-way decent it’s a pleasant surprise, but also a sign that they want something from you. What was the CE’s angle? What did he want? Was this a set-up?? Was this all a ploy to get him comfortable so the rug pull would be unexpected???

Ensign ch’Sirhc COMMO/ENGR

ooc: Sorry! This one had slipped my mind. Also, you broke Kovan lol

OOC: Thank goodness I’m an Engineer and can fix broken things! LOL

IC: Riss watched the Andorian. There was a long silence and then Riss said “I don’t know what is running through your head right now, Ensign; but I promise you you aren’t in trouble. Take a breath, take a step back. Get your bearings.” and he took a step back to give the Ensign some space. “So now that you know what is going on, what is your take on the approach? Would you have done it differently?”

Riss, CE

Not in trouble. Right. Kovan pulled himself together, stood a little straighter. It wasn’t that he was totally assuaged by the CE’s words, but he was a man. No proper man needed coddling, and Kovan wasn’t about to display himself like some weakling. “It’s a solid approach,” He said, “I likely would have done it the same. With an added step.” Kovan motioned, following the plasma line with his finger, “It would work as a circuit breaker but what if the surge is more powerful than expected? These connections are simple, they could handle a weak surge but a strong one? I wouldn’t take the risk. I’d have added a surge protector here,” He motioned to the right of the connections panel, “Set it up so that when the connections blow the switch is flipped and the surge protector would absorb the rest of the energy and send up a flag in the system to shut down power to the line.

“Always better to be safe than sorry. Additionally you could try to prevent the surge altogether by setting up a power fluctuatetor at the site of the new installed connection, stem the flow of energy to a trickle then steadily increase it to normal output. ”

Ensign ch’Sirhc COMMO/ENGR

Riss listened and nodded in approval. “Good. And solid solutions, too. But we have a catch. This line is a dedicated power supply line to Medical, right? What if I told you that as we speak, the CMO is performing surgery? Would that alter your approach? Or do you stand by your initial solutions?” he asked.

Riss, CE

Great. Hypothetical situations. So this is a test now. Alright. Kovan can pass tests. “I can’t. If I used the surge protector that flips a trigger to shut down the power line then the surgery would lose power. I could keep the power fluctuator but that could also cause complications in keeping power for the surgery. My new approach would be to alter my current one. Place the power flucuatetor after the surge protector. So if a surge came most of it would be absorbed while still allowing necessary power through to medical.”

Ensign ch’Sirhc COMMO/ENGR

Riss smiled slightly and said “That could work. You could also, you know, just connect the surgery suite to a portable UPS and not even worry about it. Then you can do whatever you need without any risk of interference… right?”

Riss, CE

Kovan had a ready answer, “Even if you isolate the surgery suite to a separate power source you still must protect it. The power lines are still there, connected to consoles, equipment and lights. So while power may not be disrupted if there was an energy surge that power will still travel through surgery, overwhelming consoles and equipment, potentially to explosive results. If you take the USP route you still need to add some protection to the power lines.”

Ensign ch’Sirhc COMMO/ENGER

Riss grinned and said “Excellent. You know, for a Comms officer you are a pretty good engineer.” and then he laughed. “C’mon, Ensign. Let’s get this handled and everything back to code. You can tell me your life story while we work.” and he chuckled again and began to go about readying to bring the power relay fully back on line.

Riss, CE

This man was far too chipper. The obnoxiously upbeat people were the worst to interact with. You could tell them their grandmother passed away in a horrific accident and they’d spin the news around to find some asinine positive that seemingly negates the terrible news. As though one positive, no matter how small or inconsequential, was all it took to make the world right again. “I’ve been on a lot of ships, ” He said, “I tested out of the majority of the linguistics and communications classes at the Academy so I filled the slots with engineering.”

A head stuck out from the upper floor of the deck, the smiling face of Karl Johannsson in his Non-Comm Engineering uniform, it seemed like he had been lying down under a console as the two officers spoke “I knew you had it in you sir” He called out to the usually dour Andorian. He gave the Engineering Chief a nod “Sir” before pulling himself back to his duties, not wanting to intrude beyond the chipper comment.

SCPO Karl - Eng
OOC: Just wanted to but in with this apologies - Hjortur

Kovan shot Johannsson a look that could kill. Were all the Chipper and Happy people getting together and conspiring to fill Kovan’s day with their stupid positive vibes and outlooks? He bit back an equally withering response and instead turned to focus on doing as the CE said and bring the power relay back online.

Ensign ch’Sirhc COMMO/ENGR