Posted by Lieutenant Junior Grade Cassidy Abrams (Chief of Security) in Ensign Ashlyn Trenton: On-boarding Check In, Chief of Security

Posted by Ensign Ashlyn Trenton (Security Officer) in Ensign Ashlyn Trenton: On-boarding Check In, Chief of Security

Posted by Lieutenant Junior Grade Cassidy Abrams (Chief of Security) in Ensign Ashlyn Trenton: On-boarding Check In, Chief of Security
Posted by… suppressed (2) by the Post Ghost! 👻

(snip)

Cassidy said nothing for a moment but then nodded slowly. For the time being she didn’t think it necessary to drag out details about her interactions with her department head (though she herself was feeling on edge with Trenton), and wanted the ensign to focus on what was next. “And now you’re here. Where trust, especially of each other in this department is essential. Or people could die or harm could come to them,” she said matter-of-factly. But Cassidy’s expression warmed slightly. “But you’re not the first to come to this ship uncertain how to begin and how to let the past remain there,” she said as she thought of her best friend Vora. “Lot of people have to overcome different things in order to become the kind of officer they really want to be. All I’m going to ask is that you try, and I think you’ll find that people might surprise you.”

Abrams, COS

Ashlyn chuckled a bit, “As long as it’s the kind of surprise that makes me go ‘Huh, neat’ and not the kind that results in accidental broken noses and really long apology letters.” Now that Ashlyn seemed to have shaken herself free of the sudden attraction to the department head, she took a moment to really look around the office and get a feel for the kind of person she was. “So I remember reading that you majored in Botony and Exobiology and it got me curious about how you use both for Security? My own majors are pretty self-explanatory, info security and culture help with gaining new information and protecting it while not offending the dignitaries that I’m assigned to protect. It puts me into a good position to lean toward diplomatic roles if Starfleet Intelligence doesn’t work out.”

• Ensign Ashlyn Trenton
  Security, USS Europa

Cassidy nodded. “I can imagine it would,” she said. She understood that Intelligence was made up of a multitude of roles and that those that worked for the agency were not all the cloak and dagger type of people. For the moment she left the Europa’s odd experiences with SI out of her thoughts.

The weird tension in the room had dissipated a bit so Abrams allowed herself to relax. but only a bit. “Science for me, at least as it pertains to my current role, is more about how I think. I operate from the perspective that I don’t know everything and I am always seeking information. I work through variables and try very hard to not make assumptions and let the evidence speak for itself. There’s a rigour that comes with having been an experimentalist that lends itself very nicely to security, even if my days are spent very differently lately.”

Abrams, COS

Trenton thinks on this for a long moment, making sense of it herself. Using the scientific method to apply critical thinking to her work in security is effective enough to consider it an interesting idea to emulate. “I didn’t consider that, I’ll have to look into it further.” The Ensign stood up, but not to leave, instead she began pacing behind the chair either in deep thought or to burn off more excess energy. “Can you share a generalization of the kind of things you’ve had to deal with while on the Europa? It’ll give me an idea of what to expect and where I may need to apply extra training.” Trenton stopped and leaned forward onto the back of the chair she was sitting in, resting her hands on it. “I know real experience will always outweigh training, but having a good training base will reinforce good habits while dealing with the variations of the same issues.” Ashlyn begins pacing again trying to think of more to say, “I’d also like to ask what you do to unwind or de-stress?”

• Ensign Ashlyn Trenton
  Security, USS Europa

Cass opened her mouth and then shut it quick, her thoughts forming quick to avoid as much awkwardness as possible. “We’ve had some rather intense away missions. You can expect to be in the rotation for those assignments, but I will always choose skills above most other things. Seniority isn’t everything. Umm, other than that, we do patrols and get the occasional interpersonal dispute that gets passed onto counselling usually. Expect chaos, hope for boring,” Abrams said with an automatic wink, before cursing herself.

“As for my downtime, it depends. I try to spend it with my partner when I can, but he’s pretty social too, so we’re often hanging out with friends and stuff.” She shrugged. “I like sports, but dislike water ones, so don’t expect me to join anything there. But that parkour class sounded like fun. My friend Vora might like it too. She’s all into rock climbing and stuff, though she’ll tell you she’s not at all graceful,” Cass said with a light laugh.

Abrams, COS

Trenton’s smile slowly stretched across her face, she hadn’t considered that more people on the Europa would be interested in her Parkour program given the limited interest on the Challenger. This would be a great opportunity to really go all out with her program and she was more than eager to share it. “I know this is off-topic, but may I tell you about the Trenton Park program I wrote for parkour?” Her eyes lit up with an eagerness that was uncommon, she didn’t take pride in a lot of her work considering it all necessary. This program, on the other hand, was something she truly enjoyed and she wanted to share it with almost desperate energy.

((Space left blank for Cass’s response))

Trenton showed a gitty sort of excitement that made her look more girly than usual as she took back her PaDD to bring up the details of her Trenton Park program. “Trenton Park is a 23rd-century dystopian city based on the Cyberpunk genre of the 20th century. The city is broken into three classes, the minimalist oppression of the High Class where everything is made up of neat soft corners and clean lines, massive skyscrapers, and several aerial trams to keep the upper crust from having to interact with the lower citizens. The middle class is the most densely populated and generally takes up a centralized section out to the edge of the city. It has the highest traffic volume and presents excellent climbing, jumping, and dodging opportunities. Here you also see the heaviest signs of the oppression from above, armed guards, patrol robots, and a heavy police presence. Then you have the lower city and slums where you would encounter the less pleasant persona of the seemingly pristine city. It’s also where there is a drastic change from the ‘Minimalist Cyberpunk’ style to the ‘Chaotic Cyberpunk’ style. More large machinery, obvious signs of mechanical upgrades on people, that kind of stuff. Here you also get good practice for parkour on low surfaces so it’s safer for the less experienced runners.” Trenton took a moment to run through some of the artistic images on the PaDD to go along with her descriptions.

“That’s just the setting, there are three roles available in the program: ‘Socialite’ for those that just want to enjoy the setting and have a drink or food with friends, ‘Jumper’ for those that want to learn Parkour in a safe and sturdy environment, and ‘Runner’ for those that want to take part in the programs internal game. The program is set to allow for the replication of themed food and drinks using standard replicator protocols so it’s not like the program is giving out free food and stuff. There are even places for the Socialite to design clothing and accessories within the theme of the program that can then be forwarded to the replicator system. This allows you to ‘test’ the things created first before you generate them for decoration on the ship. For the Jumper, there are programmed instructors and cordoned areas for learning how to do parkour safely. They teach the various jumping skills and how to take falls so you minimize how much you get hurt. There are also safety protocols in the program to prevent you from getting extremely hurt if you take a long fall. Still hurts though, I did dislocate my shoulder when I tried to catch myself to stop a free fall.” Ashlyn chuckles lightly before continuing.

“The Runner is where the bulk of this program really shines. There is a game built into the program where all the runners can work as a team or opposing teams to try to gain control of the city by stealing data cylinders from other sections of the city. The section with the most Cylinders can challenge the central tower to try to capture the overseer and thus conclude the program. This mode is also what allows the guards and police to chase after you so you can have something to dodge and avoid. There is still a lot more I’m working on to add to the program, like a point system to encourage people to do more parkour both in and outside the program. The best part is I only got the Engineers mad at me once! I…uh…may have blown a few relays trying to change safety parameters to let me build 20-50 story tall buildings that you could jump off of.”

Trenton released a happy sigh, “To be fair, I did have a lot of help making this. Engineers that didn’t want me blowing relays or melting iso chips, science cadets that had more research into the Cyberpunk genre than I had, and a slew of people willing to test the program. All in all, the program is in version 0.75 build 1287, so it’s not done and still has plenty of room to grow. It’ll be a real blast once it’s complete though it’s fully enjoyable now.”

• Ensign Ashlyn Trenton
  Security, USS Europa