OOC: So I thought of trying something other than a lounge thread for those that want to participate. For those that do just jump in and have fun. This is meant to be a fun almost “below decks” type thread. ~ Kate

Vanessa stood in the turbo and silently hated the day she was about to have. No one liked performance reviews and people enjoyed them even less when the reviewer was some pencil pusher whose desk was light years away and had no working knowledge of life on a starship. At least when your department head performed a review they knew the players, their strengths, and their weaknesses. So instead of Vanessa walking around with Calvin, tempering any negative findings with personal tidbits about the crew, she was babysitting someone named Federik Fereth.

Entering the conference room, Vanessa took a seat at the table. She was the last one in the room with all the other officers of the Genesis present. “Okay boys and girls here we go.” Her tone was light but they could tell she was not her normal perky self. “Starfleet has an old friend of mine coming to review the crew and by old friend I hope you are detecting my sarcasm.” Clicking a button on her PaDD a large image of a Starfleet officer filled the screen. This is Lieutenant Commander Federik Fereth or what we called him at the VA the feedback ferret.” The image was of a small, wiry man whose still image showed a restless energy like a malfunctioning EPS conduit and the posture of someone who had spent far too many hours curled around a diagnostics console. His eyes were bright and beadlike making one easily think of a laser beam with the precision of a tactical computer tracking photon torpedoes. A narrow face, slightly overlarge ears, and a faintly twitching nose gave him an oddly rodent-like appearance—not unpleasant, but unmistakably reminiscent of something quick, alert, and always foraging for inefficiencies. His uniform, while technically within regulations, had been customized almost beyond recognition—festooned with microtools, color-coded patches, and his treasured “Fereth Feedback Device,” a tricorder so heavily modified it practically had a personality of its own.

“The guy is harmless but his energy and jokes will make you want to blow yourself out of the air lock or him. Depends on your personality type. Luckily you all get to meet him because in 15 minutes all of us are due in the lounge for his kick off for the day. He likes to put everyone at ease before he goes over every nook and cranny in your department. It is going to be a blast.” Her tone and facial expressions indicated that it was going to be the exact opposite however there was no anger or irritation in her voice. It was more the tone someone had when they described an academy lecture on deep space pulsars or quantum engine mechanics that would put anyone to sleep other than an engineering cadet.

Vanessa Slade CNS