Posted by Ensign Oliver Pierce (Engineer) in Give a Guy a Hand? - Alt Timeline - TAG Any Medical -
“AGH! Ffff… ok! Ok. Ow.” Oliver gritted his teeth and tried to stifle a yelp of pain. He was hunched over his desk in his tiny quarters with his sleeves rolled up and his right arm laid out bare before him. His mechanical right hand sat palm up on the desk twitching as a thin bit of metal, the remnants of a now very broken tool, rose out of the mechanical base of his wrist. He breathed hard, regretting doing self-maintenance tired, and slowly extended his left hand to pull out the broken tool.

I wish I didn’t do that! He thought as the attempt both proved the tool was quite stuck in there, and set off a fresh wave of pain. Though mechanical, the prosthetic was very much so connected to the nerves in his forearm, and he was deeply regretting opting for this appendage that primitive compared to modern bio-synthetic limbs. He thought for a moment about calling Reno, or Sural, or anyone from Engineering for help, but eventually thought better of it. Engineers tended not to have a delicate touch, and alone just barely grazing the broken metal rising from his wrist was nearly as painful as losing the hand in the first place.

“Ok,” Oliver said aloud, “You’re fine. You just need to get to sick bay, and talk them through fixing your hand.” He sat in silence for a moment just looking at the mess he’d made of his artificial limb. Through gritted teeth, he managed to berate himself, “Get up. Now.”

Oilver stood and began the long trek to sick bay from his quarters on deck 45.

When he finally arrived, he walked as confidently as he could through the door and spoke up and, without properly thinking of the pun, “Hello? Can anyone lend a hand?”

Oliver Pierce, Eng.

Micah looked up from a console where she’d been charting on the morning’s activities. “I’m sure I can.” As she crossed the open floor toward him, her brows raised with surprise. “Well, I might have to rephrase that. I’m Lt Glass and a doctor, but you might need an engineer instead.”

Despite the fact that the affected limb was not organic, she found herself reaching out to take the mechanical hand in her own. While waiting for the officer to respond, she carefully rolled the arm, from the elbow, a few degrees to the left and right to get a better look at what was sticking up out of it.

—Glass