Posted by Civilian Karilan Massat (Owner, Quill and Parchment Books) in The Quill & Parchment- Second Chances

Posted by Civilian Rafael Torres (Resident) in The Quill & Parchment- Second Chances

Posted by Civilian Karilan Massat (Owner, Quill and Parchment Books) in The Quill & Parchment- Second Chances
Posted by… suppressed (4) by the Post Ghost! 👻

(snip)

Karilan was uncomfortably quiet for quite a while, simply looking at Torres. Her finger tapped the rim of her cup as she blatantly judged him.

“Tell me, Mr. Torres… you are working on a base model T-97 dual impulse engine with tri-bored matter infusion intakes and a bored-out mixing chamber. The engine is operational, but its output is only 80% of what its maximum should be. What do you do?” she asked flatly and then sipped her coffee.

Massat

Torres knew a test when he saw one, but he also saw things differently than others might and that was how he tended to find himself in conflict. “Well, the manual say to check the primary deuterium supply to ensure that there’s no issue there but that it’s likely to be something in the driver coil assembly that’s blocking full output, but, unlike its predecessor, the T-97s, in my opinion, well, um, they they get gunked up a bit in the vectored exhaust director and while you’re generating full power capacity, it ends up wasted. I dunno, I think they should go back to the old components in the director. They wanted to make it all shiny and new, but really the old version worked better and still can handle the extra power output of the engine.” He shrugged, mostly to let his unease with his rather presumptive answer generated for himself.

~Rafael Torres

It was a good answer, and it showed a more than rudimentary grasp of principals. But Karilan was an engineer of no small ability… and probably unbeknownst to Torres was somewhat of a celebrity in engineering and technical circles. If they were going to take on this person in such a capacity, they had to be sure that he was able to handle it. Not just from a technical standpoint… but able to handle the pressure and not free to past avenues of escape.

“Thats a good answer, Mr. Torres. I appreciate your instincts in going past the manual. Tell me… why do you like engines? Like working on them?”

Karilan

Raf didn’t answer right away. In fact, he looked back towards the drapes that concealed their presence, letting his mind go elsewhere for a moment. But the discomfort that rose up was quickly quashed and stuffed back down so that he could look at Massat with intention. “I’m a no one from nowhere. A ship don’t care who you are or what you’ve done. And honestly? You can have all the fancy pilots and cocky captains you want, but you ‘ain’t going anywhere without a functional engine. But, even if the engine is the heart of the ship, it’s more than just parts. I dunno, but sometimes I think they have personalities. Quirk, just like people. They like what they like and you gotta get to know them or else you’re always fighting them. I’ve done enough fighting, you know, so I figure you do right by the ship, or it’ll do right by you.” He shrugged and drank from his cup, hoping his embarrassment wasn’t completely obvious.

~Rafael Torres

Karilan smiled inwardly in happy surprise. She simply nodded on the outside. After a moment, she said “Tell me… have you had the opportunity to work with the Applied Dynamic Autonomous Matter / Anti-Matter Calibration System? And if you did, what do you think of it?” Her questions tone was conversational, but the subject was important. Designed by Karilan themself, the system was now the high-end standard for mixing chamber systems found in most starship. But it was a finicky system and required a high level of skill, or a great deal of frustrating practice, to operate effectively.

Karilan

He shook his head, the embarrassment growing. “Nah. I mean, I’ve heard really good things about it, but, I uh, um…” Raf ran a hand over his head. “I only have a certificate. It’s just the basics. And we worked on smaller vessels mostly. You’re supposed to start there and work up. I can fix a freighter sure, but the fancier ships?” He gave a mirthless chuckle. “You think they’d let someone like me near one of them? Nah.”

~Rafael Torres

Karilan sat back, a stern expression on her face. “A certificate means that you did class work, nothing more. And the principles of engine function are the same regardless of the ship. The only difference is the parts and how they work together to make the ship go. And what do you mean… ‘someone like you’? Someone like what? Tell me.” Her words were direct, and she purposely projected a feeling of demand.

Karilan

It took a lot of control for Raf to keep himself from saying anything that might get himself into trouble, but somehow he managed it, though he did Karilan a Are you for real? type of look. “Look, I did odds jobs on ships for awhile. That’s why I did the certificate program. But I’m an ex-con and an addict. I barely managed to finish the certificate and even then…” His jaw tightened and he looked away. “238 days,” Torres said, looking back at Karilan. “That’s how long I’ve been sober. It’s the longest I’ve been so in nine years. I’m never gonna have one of those fancy engineering degrees people take seriously, but it’s like I told Dash, if I didn’t find good work, then it won’t matter. Don’t you get it? I was stupid kid and at 19 I did a terrible thing. And ain’t no matter how much time passes, or how much you did to repay your debt to society, or you keep yourself outta trouble, most people turn their noses up at yes, someone like me. But don’t worry yourself about it, I’m used to it. And you are giving me a chance. I appreciate that.”

~Rafael Torres