Posted by Lieutenant Commander Dagen Thor (CE) in Chief Engineer’s Office - Ensign Kesh reporting for duty

Posted by Ensign Kesh (Engineer) in Chief Engineer’s Office - Ensign Kesh reporting for duty

Posted by Lieutenant Commander Dagen Thor (CE) in Chief Engineer’s Office - Ensign Kesh reporting for duty
snip
“Bad chips,” he said with a slight shrug. His fingers spun through the highlights of her record which were, in a brief, quite brief. He set it down on the desk and gave it a slight push toward her. “Tell me about yourself. These things give clinical highlights that are appropriate cures for insomnia. What do you like to do? On and off the job.”
- Dagen, Ce

At each interjection of the trill, Kesh made visible effort to center all focus onto what was said, with body posture straightening slightly, ears twisting forward a few degrees, and eyes widening just a bit. All of which loosens once she continues her response to his prior remarks. However, at each junction, a slight edge of distress grows in the felinoid’s vocal tone, as maintaining focus on multiple threads of conversation becomes tenuous, but her vocal slur and stammer at least do not seem to worsen.

“Bad chips. Ah.. uh?” Eyes shift back toward Dagen, then at the chips again, with one ear twisting outward in a fashion of express doubt. Perhaps she thought that might not be the case, but decides not to press the matter.

Dagen shrugged. “That was the assessment on a sampling on units that were giving too high a variable of errors, so we pulled them all. Something for the manufacturer to confirm. Unless you think it may be something else?” By his tone it wasn’t a skeptical reply, but more curious.

“Mnnrr, not my place to be questioning the conclusions of you and your staff, however, there was an incident aboard the Athene where a large number of isolinear chips appeared to be flawed, but one of the other engineers was able to determine it was a labeling issue. Ah.. rrr… as in, they were of a different model than the physical and hard-coded labeling indicated. All it took was manually over-riding model number pre-set tolerances to ones that fit the actual model of the chip and… aah.. rr… these were 2370s chips, however. Likely not an.. ah.. applicable… solution here, sir.”

Confidence, hesitation, then withdrawal. Eyes, ears, and tail all follow along with the gradual swings of the felinoid’s emotions.

“Not mine,” Dagen said with a smile. “My team came up with that conclusion. And, as much as you may still think of yourself as an outsider, you are part of that now. You get to join in with a chatty Bolian, a gritty Vulcan, a paranoid Terran, and a short Centauran. If you would care to put another set of eyes to these and take one of the others in the team to help you, or two, then I give you that leave. As one author has put it, the game’s afoot.”

“Ah.. uh… about myself.” Uniform-adorned shoulders roll back, spotted neck cranes to one side in a distracting stretch, while three-fingered hands spend a moment tugging on uniform pants to adjust them, with everything lifting slightly, shifting, then settling back down. “Well, ahrrm. I am…” ah, the eternal struggle to think of things that are appropriate to mention at first encounter without being too personal. There is also the matter of trill society and what is considered appropriate there, since it differs from human or vulcan society. A human would want to hear about hobbies, a vulcan would want to hear about academic pursuits, and a trill would want to hear about… legacy? “…ah… I like to dip myself into the greater…” One arm raises to gesture in a manner that’s trying to prompt something to come out, but it isn’t quite coming, leading to a moment of outward twisted ears and lowered eyes.

By her body language it almost looked like a classic stall. Had he asked too much?

“Mnnf. Apologies, Commander. I think I worked myself up for something else than such a question.” A long breath is sucked in and she tries again, anyway, “As my record shows, I started out as a botanist and I still have a great love of all things botanical. Rrrnth. Once my plants revive from cryostasis my quarters will be much like a jungle. I think this gives me a unique, organic, perspective in Engineering, as well, as.. like my profile shows.. I took part in many of the great advancements in Slipstream and Slipway technologies back in the late 70s and early 80s. Rrrrnth. Though they are certainly outmoded with current scientific knowledge, I remain proud of the things I helped discover and refine.”

“Plants. I envy you. I can’t keep a plant alive if I tried. I always seem to do something wrong in the care of them even with help.” His smile was, hopefully, encouraging. Thor’s first host dabbled in botany. He found it quite .. therapeutic.” He replied to this as she looked to relax more.

“Mnnnpf. I saw to the construction of the first fully-contained aeroponics bay in the fleet aboard the original Athene back in 2371. Ahrr… I am quite adept at making anything grow in any environment… rrn… well, not everything.”

“The Genesis doesn’t have one of those .. yet,” he commented.

Like a train derailed off a cliff landing gracefully onto a different track, that initial stumbling awkwardness slips away as soon as Kesh finds the right things to say. The smell of frightened cat in the air dissipates, along with much of the visible fraying on the caitian’s fur.

“I will add, though, that this class’ layout is much more intuitive than a Sovereign.” A small, sage nod adds to her belated response to an earlier quip.

“And much more compact,” he added. “My career has been interrupted as well. I started in Engineering then took a long sabbatical for family reasons. I ended up taking courses to catch up with the developments in that time and landed a spot on the engineering team constructing the Genesis. I liked the building process and didn’t intend to be a part of the crew but only an observer for a time during the shake out cruise. I ended up staying on. The engineering group here is small and we’re fairly tight and informal for the most part. We each have our strengths. I believe it is important to work off one’s strengths and what gives you joy. When it comes to engineering specifically, what work gives you joy? What are you good at?”
- Dagen, CE

A tilt of the head and flex of round ears shows particular fascination with the matter of Dagen having assited in construction of Genesis. Perhaps a touch of envy can be seen in those bright golden eyes.

“Seeing something that was once flawed become less flawed. Rrrrnth. There is always room for improvement, after all, else we would be inhabiting all corners of the visible universe by now. Like with plants, I adore being told something is impossible and then proving it otherwise. The Borg transwarp coil I was given to study was said to be inoperable, but I proved otherwise. That and the aeroponics bay are my two greatest accomplishments.. rrn.. I think.”

Ears twist back in a moment of uncertainty, body sinking in momentary retreat, as boasting is such a difficult thing to do. But, those fuzzy ears lift up and forward again to gauge her new commanding officer’s reaction.

• Kesh, Engineering

Borg tech was tricky. There always seemed some kind of back door programming going on. Layers on layers, and that in itself complicated the tech. This and that integrated together. That was their specialty. Stealing tech yes, but also integrating it into what they had. The perfect retrofitters. Dagen had his moment of feeling envious. Alas it was so invasive. Alas they didn’t have Borg tech here nor did they have an aeroponics bay, but this was a research vessel and that did include engineering research, as in the case of Chan and her robotics lab. Unfortunately she was no longer aboard. He wasn’t sure whether she, by her evident body language, was quite the pick for a bridge assignment, but one could always start somewhere.

“Okay, let’s start you off with some bridge shifts. Two a week. In between there I want you to work with the others in the team.” He gestured to the chips. “Pick two from the team and we’ll put some fresh eyes on these.”
- Dagen

OOC: So let’s start with the chips after you pick the folks .. and then when the new sim starts up soon there you can be on the bridge then to get things started in the sim.

Kesh makes a point to let the chief finish what he was saying before committing any significant responses, as her head was already starting to swirl with ideas and general dizziness from trying to pursue multiple desire paths at once. A mystery of fouled chips? A lack of aeroponics bay? An opportunity to gush for hours about her time as chief of sciences aboard one of the creakiest starships ever built, attempting to crack the code of the galaxy’s biggest foe? Why yes, she is going to like it here. Those quivers in her whiskers and tremors in her lifted ears show that brimming energy, despite her other body language trying so hard to stick to the tired personal trope of being a misery guts.

That energy quiets a bit at the mention of bridge duty, as such a posting generally does not involve being up to her elbows in malfunctioning or alien technology, but such disappointment is offset by the opportunity to interact with the ship’s command staff. If there was a Fisk, Allana, M’kali, or Hannah among them, well, perhaps things would be quite wonderful here, after all.

“Yes, sir! I… mmn. Thank you, sir. It means a great deal to me that you are willing to give me opportunities to prove myself.” The felinoid starts to wiggle like an over-excited housecat, but manages to mitigate it to just a little bit of jostling the chair’s feet on the carpet. “I will familiarize myself with the rest of the team and make a pick right away, rrrrrnth.”

->Kesh, Engineering

She was shifting about like Reia did when she was excited about something, or even talking about here day that had interesting moments in it. Dagen smiled encouragingly. He had tossed a lot out there; a lot of gauntlets to take up. But best to give choices and know there were things that one could pursue rather than the opposite. “I won’t keep you longer. My door is open if you need anything.”

This prompt is taken for exactly what it’s intended to be, with Kesh rising from the chair only a little bit too quickly for her natural balance. One bare footpaw does kick the chair’s leg, though her grimace is breif prior to gaining a proper stature for that moment of respect to her commanding officer. “Yes, sir. Thank you, sir! Mmmnp.” The door opens and shuts a moment later, lingering just a little longer than it usually does due to the felinoid’s tail being so high and trailing behind her on the way out.

OOC: Sounds like a plan to me! Where can I find the names of these other team members?
OOC: They, alas are not documented beyond my scribbles. We have ..
Ens Deeg. He’s the paranoid ‘monster around every corner’ type.
Lt jg Angel, or Seraph. She’s the Vulcan gal.
Ens Bat. Portly Bolian, typically chatty, to not cough totally profile a Bolian
Ens Sebastian, short geeky gadgety fellow

OOC: Thank you! I’ll get a post written soon with her working with her team.

->Kesh, Engineering