Ensign Esox, the young Saurian engineer, entered Lab Three and looked around the smaller but still useable lab. It was almost completely bare, but that wouldn't be the case for long. The two Waydi crystals would be arriving soon for Captain A'Printa to begin her study , with the hope to identify a way for non-telepaths to communicate with the Waydi species.
Esox was excited about the possibilities. Not only was he getting the chance to work on such an exciting scientific adventure. but, he was also getting the opportunity to work with two high profile personnel in the fleet. Captain A'Printa and Lt Sedai.
He smiled as he rubbed his hands together in anticipation before tapping his comm badge. "Captain A'Printa, this is Ensign Esox. I have unlocked Lab Three and have coordinated to have the Waydi crystals brought here tomorrow. I understand that you need to set up some equipment? I will be in the lab if you need me."
As he stopped talking he took one more long moment to take in the beginning of the lab and this unique project.
"Ensign, Captain A'Printa. I'll be, um, there in, ah, a moment, ouch, I think." Esox hears through his comm. True to her word, A'Printa walks into the lab a moment later carrying an assortment of books in one hand, rolled up parchments wedged under the other arm, and a backpack filled with odds and ends literally falling out and onto the ground as she walks. Various thin items appear stuck into her hair causing it to go in no certain direction.
"Hello Ensign, um, Esox was it? Good to see you. Hold these..." She smiles and dumps the stack of books into his arms. Before he can react, she dumps the parchments on top of the books, walks to the middle of the room, and drops the backpack with a thud.
"Whew. Now that feels better." She sighs, stretches, and looks around the room. "Huh. A bit on the small side, but the crystals are small too. I guess it'll work. Let's see..." She reaches into her backpack, tosses a few items over her shoulder, a few to the side, until she has collected several small items which she quickly assembles into an unfamiliar device.
Esox likely thinks she forgot about him until A'Printa turns back in his direction and tilts her head to try and see him behind the books he's holding. "Ensign? What are you doing standing there holding those books? I need the third book down with the gilded spine and the parchment with the indigo clasp. Give those to me without mixing up the order of the other books. And be careful not to drop the black or green clasp parchments. They're nice and clean and I don't want any dirt on them. Ok?"
Then she proceeds to lay down on the floor herself, pulls several multi-colored markers from her hair (oh, that's what they were), and starts writing on the floor.
"Hello Ensign, um, Esox was it? Good to see you. Hold these..." She smiles and dumps the stack of books into his arms. Before he can react, she dumps the parchments on top of the books, walks to the middle of the room, and drops the backpack with a thud.
"Whew. Now that feels better." She sighs, stretches, and looks around the room. "Huh. A bit on the small side, but the crystals are small too. I guess it'll work. Let's see..." She reaches into her backpack, tosses a few items over her shoulder, a few to the side, until she has collected several small items which she quickly assembles into an unfamiliar device.
Esox likely thinks she forgot about him until A'Printa turns back in his direction and tilts her head to try and see him behind the books he's holding. "Ensign? What are you doing standing there holding those books? I need the third book down with the gilded spine and the parchment with the indigo clasp. Give those to me without mixing up the order of the other books. And be careful not to drop the black or green clasp parchments. They're nice and clean and I don't want any dirt on them. Ok?"
Then she proceeds to lay down on the floor herself, pulls several multi-colored markers from her hair (oh, that's what they were), and starts writing on the floor.
Ensign Esox watches in disbelief. This is the famed Captain A'Printa? His previous delusion of getting to work with one of Starfleet's smartest minds is replaced with the possible horrors of working for a mad-woman.
He fumbles to put the books down as per her instructions. He gets them stacked on the floor where he thinks a desk will go. Do mad-women scientist even use desks? Fear of perpetual standing grips him for a moment and the books almost topple over. He is just able to catch them and stack them up in what he things is the original order she handed them to him in. Or was the orange-spined one above the blue trimmed binder?
Decided he'll most likely get sucked into whatever singularity she accidentally creates, he collects the one with the gilded spine and the parchment with the indigo clasp and walks over to her, placing them next to her on the floor.
He fumbles to put the books down as per her instructions. He gets them stacked on the floor where he thinks a desk will go. Do mad-women scientist even use desks? Fear of perpetual standing grips him for a moment and the books almost topple over. He is just able to catch them and stack them up in what he things is the original order she handed them to him in. Or was the orange-spined one above the blue trimmed binder?
Decided he'll most likely get sucked into whatever singularity she accidentally creates, he collects the one with the gilded spine and the parchment with the indigo clasp and walks over to her, placing them next to her on the floor.
A'Printa doesn't appear to even notice Esox setting the items next her as she feverishly writes equation after equation on the floor, mixing and matching colors, quietly humming to herself. After a few pauses to look up at a wall, another time the ceiling, A'Printa calmly rises to her knees, takes the parchment, and unfurls it before her. To Ensign Esox, it likely appears to be a gibberish mix of several languages, as well as a few other unusual words. She studies it carefully, looks at her writing on the floor, then back again at the parchment. A few moments pass until she grabs the book, flips open to a few pages, shakes her head in frustration multiple times, until finally coming to a page that apparently meets her needs.
Several quiet moments pass (if Esox tries to ask, she shh's him) as A'Printa takes the device and makes adjustments to it. When finished, she sets it next to her and turns it on, quietly grabbing the book and parchment with the other hand. She stands up, dusts off her knees, and walks over to Esox with a grin.
"Ok, Ensign. Lesson one. Never make snap judgments about the crazy lady in the room." She drops the book at his feet and holds up five markers. "Red is the x-axis, Blue is the y-axis, Green is the z-axis, Purple is the t-axis, and Black the s-axis. To properly calculate the values you have to figure out each axis both independently and dependently in relation to various universal constants, knowing that there are no such things, which means you make your best guess and hope the universe doesn't implode in the process."
With a smile, she taps her comm. "Ok. I'm ready on my end. Light it up." Then she grabs Esox by the arm and guides him out of the room. "For safety, it's best if neither one of us is in the room. Not that's there's any actual danger, it's just that 4.87% of the time we loose something in the target area. I know, gotta work on that one." She sighs to herself in quiet thought.
Ensign Esox notices the device in the middle of the room activate. It emits a glowing purple beam which scans the entire room from top to bottom. Next, a green holographic template is generated over every existing item in the room. A tube rises up from the center and turns bright red next, followed by the entire room becoming wavy, as if looking through a curtain of extremely hot air, even though there is not heat. A'Printa calmly looks at the events and shrugs.
"Step 1, get room dimensions. Step 2, create holographic template. Step 3, link pattern buffers. Step 4, harmonize with shielding to bypass barriers. Step 5, let the fun begin." She smiles as various pieces of equipment begin to transport into place throughout the room. After 30 seconds, what was once an empty room is now packed with a variety of scientific equipment. Then the show ends as the device powers down and everything appears safe once more.
"Welcome, Ensign Esox to my world." She chuckles, walks back into the lab, and picks up the device in the middle of the room. "In laymen's terms, a really fancy pattern buffer enhancer. It saves time while keeping nosey people out of the loop." She holds it over her shoulder in his direction, then promptly dumps it into a garbage can next to an apparent desk. "Only good for one shot, then burns out. Another problem I have to work on, um, someday." A'Printa chuckles to herself and sits down in a chair. She takes out a flask and has a drink, before kicking a chair in Esox's direction. "Have a seat, Ensign. I have three questions. Who are you? What do you know? Why should I care?"
Several quiet moments pass (if Esox tries to ask, she shh's him) as A'Printa takes the device and makes adjustments to it. When finished, she sets it next to her and turns it on, quietly grabbing the book and parchment with the other hand. She stands up, dusts off her knees, and walks over to Esox with a grin.
"Ok, Ensign. Lesson one. Never make snap judgments about the crazy lady in the room." She drops the book at his feet and holds up five markers. "Red is the x-axis, Blue is the y-axis, Green is the z-axis, Purple is the t-axis, and Black the s-axis. To properly calculate the values you have to figure out each axis both independently and dependently in relation to various universal constants, knowing that there are no such things, which means you make your best guess and hope the universe doesn't implode in the process."
With a smile, she taps her comm. "Ok. I'm ready on my end. Light it up." Then she grabs Esox by the arm and guides him out of the room. "For safety, it's best if neither one of us is in the room. Not that's there's any actual danger, it's just that 4.87% of the time we loose something in the target area. I know, gotta work on that one." She sighs to herself in quiet thought.
Ensign Esox notices the device in the middle of the room activate. It emits a glowing purple beam which scans the entire room from top to bottom. Next, a green holographic template is generated over every existing item in the room. A tube rises up from the center and turns bright red next, followed by the entire room becoming wavy, as if looking through a curtain of extremely hot air, even though there is not heat. A'Printa calmly looks at the events and shrugs.
"Step 1, get room dimensions. Step 2, create holographic template. Step 3, link pattern buffers. Step 4, harmonize with shielding to bypass barriers. Step 5, let the fun begin." She smiles as various pieces of equipment begin to transport into place throughout the room. After 30 seconds, what was once an empty room is now packed with a variety of scientific equipment. Then the show ends as the device powers down and everything appears safe once more.
"Welcome, Ensign Esox to my world." She chuckles, walks back into the lab, and picks up the device in the middle of the room. "In laymen's terms, a really fancy pattern buffer enhancer. It saves time while keeping nosey people out of the loop." She holds it over her shoulder in his direction, then promptly dumps it into a garbage can next to an apparent desk. "Only good for one shot, then burns out. Another problem I have to work on, um, someday." A'Printa chuckles to herself and sits down in a chair. She takes out a flask and has a drink, before kicking a chair in Esox's direction. "Have a seat, Ensign. I have three questions. Who are you? What do you know? Why should I care?"
Ensign Esox works his way into the seat, pausing several times to make sure she wasn't going to kick the chair out from under him or possibly task him to quickly stand and rearrange the books again. With a brief glance at them, his mine worked through how they could be stacked alphabetical by title.
As he finally placed all of his weight in the chair, he looked up at her.
"I am Ensign Esox. I have been working at Starbase ARGO for the past eight months." He let out a quick breath and took in another. "Prior to that, I was a student at Starfleet Academy. This is my first assignment."
Only a moment passed before he answered the second question. "I know that I have been assigned to work with you and Lt Sedai on the Waydi crystal translator project. And I have seen them work before. I saw Lt Sedai interact with the first crystal when it originally arrived a few months ago."
His ability to answer the first two questions, something he wasn't sure at first he would get through without an obtuse reaction from Captain A'Printa give him a bit of confidence. "And... uh.... you should care because I will, uhmmm... be the only Ensign that you have on this project. Professor Kass at.... at Starfleet Academy told us that Ensigns do the... uhh, the real work of Starfleet. Everyone else just thinks up... things.... to do"
He firmly nodded his head before suddenly regretting his bold statement.
As he finally placed all of his weight in the chair, he looked up at her.
"I am Ensign Esox. I have been working at Starbase ARGO for the past eight months." He let out a quick breath and took in another. "Prior to that, I was a student at Starfleet Academy. This is my first assignment."
Only a moment passed before he answered the second question. "I know that I have been assigned to work with you and Lt Sedai on the Waydi crystal translator project. And I have seen them work before. I saw Lt Sedai interact with the first crystal when it originally arrived a few months ago."
His ability to answer the first two questions, something he wasn't sure at first he would get through without an obtuse reaction from Captain A'Printa give him a bit of confidence. "And... uh.... you should care because I will, uhmmm... be the only Ensign that you have on this project. Professor Kass at.... at Starfleet Academy told us that Ensigns do the... uhh, the real work of Starfleet. Everyone else just thinks up... things.... to do"
He firmly nodded his head before suddenly regretting his bold statement.
A'Printa calmly listens to Esox's answers while ripping out a few loose papers from one of the books, examines them, holds them up to the light, then tosses the loose papers into the waste can. As he finishes, A'Printa takes another drink, her shoulders droop, and she sighs. Calmly her gaze rises to meet Esox's with a weary expression.
"Wow. I totally feel sorry for you Ensign. You have no idea who you are. You just regurgitated the old rank and serial number routine. ANY child can find that out with a simple search on any computer. Do you think I'm stupid? That I didn't read your file before coming here? Mistake one."
A'Printa holds up two fingers. "Mistake two. You don't know anything, apparently. Once again, refer to mistake one. No, let me correct that. You DO apparently know how to regurgitate what's common knowledge and what a senior officer should already know. Or are you trying to insult my intelligence and assume I don't know how to read a data file?" She gives him a sideways scowl before grabbing a marker and twirling it in her fingers.
"Lastly, it's good to know what Professor Kass thinks. Next time I speak to him, I'll have to compliment him on such a fine opinion. However, Ensign, once again you regurgitate again. Mistake three. That gives you a failing grade and we're not even past introductions. Oh, for your comment about being the only ensign... I'm captain of a starship, with a crew of nigh 250 capable souls. You're looking very replaceable right now, Ensign Esox."
A'Printa sighs again, crosses her leg, and proceeds to remove her boot, followed by her sock, and then places the marker between her toes. Very calmly she begins to draw with it on the floor next to the chair.
"Here's advice number two. When I'm working in the lab, I become a very cruel task master. I expect perfection in everything." She grabs a piece of paper and begins folding it. "Anyone can be trained to regurgitate. In fact, some species like Vulcans, are very good at it. If that's who your are, what you know, and why I should care... then you have no business working in my lab. You're not qualified to work on this project. This project requires something far different."
A'Printa smiles and throws two paper airplanes into the air, giggling as she watches them fly in random circles. One eventually smacks against the wall, while the other sails through some machine, flashes, and then crashes onto the floor trailing a whiff of smoke. Then she takes a third plane and tosses so it hits Ensign Esox square in the chest, falling into his lap. "I can be cruel, but never heartless. Any good teacher gives students a chance to correct their mistakes. Let's try this again." She pauses with a friendly smile. "Listen carefully. Who are you? What do you know? Why should I care?" Then she leans back folds her arms, and watches Esox intently.
"Wow. I totally feel sorry for you Ensign. You have no idea who you are. You just regurgitated the old rank and serial number routine. ANY child can find that out with a simple search on any computer. Do you think I'm stupid? That I didn't read your file before coming here? Mistake one."
A'Printa holds up two fingers. "Mistake two. You don't know anything, apparently. Once again, refer to mistake one. No, let me correct that. You DO apparently know how to regurgitate what's common knowledge and what a senior officer should already know. Or are you trying to insult my intelligence and assume I don't know how to read a data file?" She gives him a sideways scowl before grabbing a marker and twirling it in her fingers.
"Lastly, it's good to know what Professor Kass thinks. Next time I speak to him, I'll have to compliment him on such a fine opinion. However, Ensign, once again you regurgitate again. Mistake three. That gives you a failing grade and we're not even past introductions. Oh, for your comment about being the only ensign... I'm captain of a starship, with a crew of nigh 250 capable souls. You're looking very replaceable right now, Ensign Esox."
A'Printa sighs again, crosses her leg, and proceeds to remove her boot, followed by her sock, and then places the marker between her toes. Very calmly she begins to draw with it on the floor next to the chair.
"Here's advice number two. When I'm working in the lab, I become a very cruel task master. I expect perfection in everything." She grabs a piece of paper and begins folding it. "Anyone can be trained to regurgitate. In fact, some species like Vulcans, are very good at it. If that's who your are, what you know, and why I should care... then you have no business working in my lab. You're not qualified to work on this project. This project requires something far different."
A'Printa smiles and throws two paper airplanes into the air, giggling as she watches them fly in random circles. One eventually smacks against the wall, while the other sails through some machine, flashes, and then crashes onto the floor trailing a whiff of smoke. Then she takes a third plane and tosses so it hits Ensign Esox square in the chest, falling into his lap. "I can be cruel, but never heartless. Any good teacher gives students a chance to correct their mistakes. Let's try this again." She pauses with a friendly smile. "Listen carefully. Who are you? What do you know? Why should I care?" Then she leans back folds her arms, and watches Esox intently.
The young Ensign looked down at the paper airplane sitting in him lap. It's dart shaped wings were formed by the crisp lines folded in the paper by the Captain. The nose was slightly crinkled where it had impacted him square in the chest, much like her verbal daggers.
How do you talk on a level field with someone eight times smarter than you? Someone who knows more about your future in Starfleet from reading a one page report than you will ever know during your whole career? Someone who already decided you were too dumb to waste time on before they even knew your name?
You can't. So, you might as well talk with honesty.
Esox slowly stood up, setting the small paper airplane on the desk. "I am a Starfleet officer. I may not have braved the Borg or defended the Alpha quadrant from the Dominion, but I have sacrificed to be where I am today. I have worked and studied and honored those that have gone before. I am a Starfleet officer and deserve at least the respect of a being if not that of one in service to the Federation. I know that this project is important to the continued diplomatic initiative with a space-faring species. This work could open communications to a species in need of our support. And I care because its pivotal to allowing my fellow Starfleet officers, which I respect, the ability to do their mission."
The Saurian, still with a calm voice finished. "I can think of no greater reason than that as to why you should care. But I can't even begin to fathom whether you do or do not. I'm hear to assist in any way I can. If you think I'm not smart enough, or would be in the way or just don't want it, simply say so and I will return to the main lab and assist in whatever other projects they could put my efforts towards."
Esox is no warrior, but he felt pride in his fledgling career with Starfleet. He awaits her decision.
How do you talk on a level field with someone eight times smarter than you? Someone who knows more about your future in Starfleet from reading a one page report than you will ever know during your whole career? Someone who already decided you were too dumb to waste time on before they even knew your name?
You can't. So, you might as well talk with honesty.
Esox slowly stood up, setting the small paper airplane on the desk. "I am a Starfleet officer. I may not have braved the Borg or defended the Alpha quadrant from the Dominion, but I have sacrificed to be where I am today. I have worked and studied and honored those that have gone before. I am a Starfleet officer and deserve at least the respect of a being if not that of one in service to the Federation. I know that this project is important to the continued diplomatic initiative with a space-faring species. This work could open communications to a species in need of our support. And I care because its pivotal to allowing my fellow Starfleet officers, which I respect, the ability to do their mission."
The Saurian, still with a calm voice finished. "I can think of no greater reason than that as to why you should care. But I can't even begin to fathom whether you do or do not. I'm hear to assist in any way I can. If you think I'm not smart enough, or would be in the way or just don't want it, simply say so and I will return to the main lab and assist in whatever other projects they could put my efforts towards."
Esox is no warrior, but he felt pride in his fledgling career with Starfleet. He awaits her decision.
A'Printa listened to the ensign's words with less expression than a Vulcan, her calm, polite smile never wavering an inch. As he finishes, she crosses and raises her hands to her chin, her smile slowly becoming more neutral.
"Courage to say what's in your thoughts, honesty to say what's in your heart. Most interesting retort, Ensign. Lesson 3. This starbase is very typical. People bark orders, people follow orders, people do as they're told because it's their duty. That's the problem. It wasn't too long ago that a single man acted irrationally one time, and totally deadlocked the entire starbase. They followed him blindly down the rabbit hole, didn't expect the unexpected, and so the unexpected came and greeted them hard.
Intelligence is learned over time. Wisdom is learned through experience. Creativity... can't be learned or experienced... only developed. For this project, you don't have to be smart or wise. You can learn both as you go. But in order to make something that doesn't exist, to think in ways nobody before you has..." She pauses and takes a drink from her flask. "That, Ensign Esox, is the hallmark of the creative. That is the world I live in. Question is, do you live there too?"
She lifts her foot back up, removes the marker, and calmly begins massaging it. "You take great pride in being an officer of the Federation. What I'm asking is for you to break out of that so typical, so common starfleet shell and, well, be an actual scientist. If you can do that, then you can learn a lot from my methods. So, if you will... I have another small test."
She puts her sock and boot back on, slowly stands, and stretches. "Your task Ensign Esox, is to solve the secret of the paper planes. Let's see what you're truly capable of. While you work on that, I'll be over there adjusting some of the equipment. Have fun."
"Courage to say what's in your thoughts, honesty to say what's in your heart. Most interesting retort, Ensign. Lesson 3. This starbase is very typical. People bark orders, people follow orders, people do as they're told because it's their duty. That's the problem. It wasn't too long ago that a single man acted irrationally one time, and totally deadlocked the entire starbase. They followed him blindly down the rabbit hole, didn't expect the unexpected, and so the unexpected came and greeted them hard.
Intelligence is learned over time. Wisdom is learned through experience. Creativity... can't be learned or experienced... only developed. For this project, you don't have to be smart or wise. You can learn both as you go. But in order to make something that doesn't exist, to think in ways nobody before you has..." She pauses and takes a drink from her flask. "That, Ensign Esox, is the hallmark of the creative. That is the world I live in. Question is, do you live there too?"
She lifts her foot back up, removes the marker, and calmly begins massaging it. "You take great pride in being an officer of the Federation. What I'm asking is for you to break out of that so typical, so common starfleet shell and, well, be an actual scientist. If you can do that, then you can learn a lot from my methods. So, if you will... I have another small test."
She puts her sock and boot back on, slowly stands, and stretches. "Your task Ensign Esox, is to solve the secret of the paper planes. Let's see what you're truly capable of. While you work on that, I'll be over there adjusting some of the equipment. Have fun."
Esox looks at the three paper airplanes for too long thinking....
The Saurian lets out a long slow breath, thinking hard one last time.
He smiles at turns towards Captain A'Printa working on the other side of the room. He speaks confidently again. "Keep trying until you get perfection."
Maybe they mean you have to shoot wild, before finding your mark. Maybe, you have to test the air first, before shooting at your target? Yeah, that could be it.... maybe?
Or, no, wait. For every one... thing..... that goes where its suppose to, one wanders off and one.... gets vaporized by a laser? That doesn't make any sense at ALL!
Ok... no wait. The first pieces of paper were to test the material. The second two was to see how they performed and the third one was thrown at me because.... uhmmmm... I was the only target in the room? That's the same as my first thought.
One paper airplane in the hand is worth one that crashed and another that is on fire? That might be it.
Hands of the maker determine the outcome of..... synthetic organic fiber folded into the shape of an aerodynamic wedge.
I should have listened to dad and been a freighter pilot!
Or, no, wait. For every one... thing..... that goes where its suppose to, one wanders off and one.... gets vaporized by a laser? That doesn't make any sense at ALL!
Ok... no wait. The first pieces of paper were to test the material. The second two was to see how they performed and the third one was thrown at me because.... uhmmmm... I was the only target in the room? That's the same as my first thought.
One paper airplane in the hand is worth one that crashed and another that is on fire? That might be it.
Hands of the maker determine the outcome of..... synthetic organic fiber folded into the shape of an aerodynamic wedge.
I should have listened to dad and been a freighter pilot!
The Saurian lets out a long slow breath, thinking hard one last time.
First pieces of paper weren't good enough. Second ones didn't go where they were suppose to. but the last one...
He smiles at turns towards Captain A'Printa working on the other side of the room. He speaks confidently again. "Keep trying until you get perfection."
A'Printa scratches her head looking at the console with a scowl. "Blasted triolic endothermic reactions." she mutters under her breath, rips off a panel, and dives into the console head first, appearing as if she's half swallowed. A few curses later and she pulls herself out of the console, covered in sparking wires, holding onto a blackened connector. With a grin or triumph, she rips it off, throws it aside, pulls a spare one from her pocket, and the console comes to life. "Ha! That'll teach you to try and take time off! No excuses!"
Then as quickly she composes herself and looks in Esox's direction. A'Printa studies him for a moment with a tense stare... before shrugging her shoulders. "Interesting interpretation. I guess that'll do. Why don't you help Tinker with the modulating assembly?"
As Esox begins to wander what that means, he hears a yawn from behind him. Turning he views a 1-foot tall girl, with pointed ears, wearing a green ethereal gown, and hovering aloft with fluttering wings. She stretches, yawns, and smiles in his direction. "Hi! I'm Tinker. I hear we're gonna be working together. Pleasure to meet you!"
Then she leans around Esox, puts her hands on her hips, and pouts in A'Printa's direction. "AND I am not trying to take time off. It's not MY fault that gizmo zaps my emitter matrix. YOU were supposed to fix that."
A'Printa and Tinker square off across the room, glare at one another, and finish by sticking their tongues out in unison. Both huff and turn their backs on the other to settle the debate. Tinker turns back to Esox with a grin. "So, how good are you with connecting things?"
Then as quickly she composes herself and looks in Esox's direction. A'Printa studies him for a moment with a tense stare... before shrugging her shoulders. "Interesting interpretation. I guess that'll do. Why don't you help Tinker with the modulating assembly?"
As Esox begins to wander what that means, he hears a yawn from behind him. Turning he views a 1-foot tall girl, with pointed ears, wearing a green ethereal gown, and hovering aloft with fluttering wings. She stretches, yawns, and smiles in his direction. "Hi! I'm Tinker. I hear we're gonna be working together. Pleasure to meet you!"
Then she leans around Esox, puts her hands on her hips, and pouts in A'Printa's direction. "AND I am not trying to take time off. It's not MY fault that gizmo zaps my emitter matrix. YOU were supposed to fix that."
A'Printa and Tinker square off across the room, glare at one another, and finish by sticking their tongues out in unison. Both huff and turn their backs on the other to settle the debate. Tinker turns back to Esox with a grin. "So, how good are you with connecting things?"
Esox shakes off the bewilderment and refrains from rubbing his eyes. He'd worked with holographic entities before but never... and certainly one that was dropping some kind of odd dust all over the place. Is an error in the hologram or intentional?
He turns to the console and starts putting together the items for the modulating assembly. "Please... uhhh, Tinker..... hand me that adapter assembly coil plug resonator there next to your left wing."
He turns to the console and starts putting together the items for the modulating assembly. "Please... uhhh, Tinker..... hand me that adapter assembly coil plug resonator there next to your left wing."
"Oooooo." Tinker's eyes widen and she giggles. "You really ARE going to put something together! It'll be interesting to see how, um, you giant geckos do things. I bet your tongue is really useful, huh? I don't have anything nearly as cool as that. All I have is this magical wand." She smiles and pulls out a long wooden twig from her sleeve.
She turns, glares at the coil plug, waves her arms, and mutters "Esaelp ngisne ot dna ria eht ni pu". Magic dust flies from the wand and the coil levitates, floats over, and lands gently in Esox's hand. Tinker sighs and frowns. "Like I said, nothing too spectacular."
From across the room, there is a curse, followed by A'Printa kicking another console. With a sputter it springs to life, followed by several other devices. Tinker sighs. "Oh dear. The white queen just summoned the, the, oh... oh dear." She leans in close to Esox and whispers. "Here come the gremlins."
She turns, glares at the coil plug, waves her arms, and mutters "Esaelp ngisne ot dna ria eht ni pu". Magic dust flies from the wand and the coil levitates, floats over, and lands gently in Esox's hand. Tinker sighs and frowns. "Like I said, nothing too spectacular."
From across the room, there is a curse, followed by A'Printa kicking another console. With a sputter it springs to life, followed by several other devices. Tinker sighs. "Oh dear. The white queen just summoned the, the, oh... oh dear." She leans in close to Esox and whispers. "Here come the gremlins."
Esox watches the item land in his hand, then looks over at A'Printa for a moment. Then he looks at all of his components on the table and calmly states " Esaelp, rehtegot flesruoy tup." When nothing happens he sighs and starts putting the device together.
In a moment he holds up a completed modulating assembly. He walks over to A'Printa holding the item in his outstretched hand to her.
In a moment he holds up a completed modulating assembly. He walks over to A'Printa holding the item in his outstretched hand to her.
As Esox extends the item, it levitates out of his hand and over to a waiting trio of exocomps, which take it, examine it, pulse lights to each other, and then hand it to A'Printa. "You think so too? I was wondering about that." She nods towards the Exocomps which then fly off in different directions, checking and repairing equipment as they go.
"See? Those gremlins are VERY rude. They took that device out of you hand without so much as a thank you! Jerks! Hmph!" Tinker crosses her arms as she decides to sit down on Esox's head.
"One of these days you're gonna have to play nice." A'Printa waves a rod towards Tinker, almost taking out Esox's head in the process.
"Never! They're just upset because I surpassed them. I AM the superior model after all. I can do ten times ten exponential ten what they can do!" Tinker retorts. "Besides, I use magic. Magic trumps technology any day!"
A'Printa smirks and shakes her head. "Well, Ms. Magic. Why don't you work with Ensign Esox and see who can get all the lab equipment running and tested? You two vs the gremlins?"
Tinker lifts off Esox's head and her eyes beam with the challenge. Suddenly, one of the exocomps turns to face her. She glares. It blinks red lights. They race forward and butt heads mid-air, neither giving ground. After a moment, Tinker growls. "You're on, Q-bert." And then she flies over, grabs Esox's arm, and pulls him towards the nearest console. "Let's go. It's you and me, Mr. Gecko! Let's bury that ego-centric toaster knockoff!"
A'Printa calmly watches the exchange unconcerned, then walks over to her desk, sits, and quietly begins reading a book.
"See? Those gremlins are VERY rude. They took that device out of you hand without so much as a thank you! Jerks! Hmph!" Tinker crosses her arms as she decides to sit down on Esox's head.
"One of these days you're gonna have to play nice." A'Printa waves a rod towards Tinker, almost taking out Esox's head in the process.
"Never! They're just upset because I surpassed them. I AM the superior model after all. I can do ten times ten exponential ten what they can do!" Tinker retorts. "Besides, I use magic. Magic trumps technology any day!"
A'Printa smirks and shakes her head. "Well, Ms. Magic. Why don't you work with Ensign Esox and see who can get all the lab equipment running and tested? You two vs the gremlins?"
Tinker lifts off Esox's head and her eyes beam with the challenge. Suddenly, one of the exocomps turns to face her. She glares. It blinks red lights. They race forward and butt heads mid-air, neither giving ground. After a moment, Tinker growls. "You're on, Q-bert." And then she flies over, grabs Esox's arm, and pulls him towards the nearest console. "Let's go. It's you and me, Mr. Gecko! Let's bury that ego-centric toaster knockoff!"
A'Printa calmly watches the exchange unconcerned, then walks over to her desk, sits, and quietly begins reading a book.
Esox and Tinker work quickly but Esox ensures quality is maintained. He's not about to let an emitter array overheat and blow up half the lab just because a holographic fairy wants to do something faster than a holographic drone.
After a few short hours the final tests are done and Esox is confident that everything is working properly. Unlike the little pixie, he has not been glancing over his shoulder every other minute to check on the progress of the gremlin.... errr, drones.
However, now complete, he decides its worth seeing where they are and he looks across the room.
After a few short hours the final tests are done and Esox is confident that everything is working properly. Unlike the little pixie, he has not been glancing over his shoulder every other minute to check on the progress of the gremlin.... errr, drones.
However, now complete, he decides its worth seeing where they are and he looks across the room.
When Esox looks over, two drones are wearing sombreros and using straws to drink from glasses of liquid. The third exocomp, Q-Bert, is quietly making starship-shaped smoke rings from a pipe made in the shape of the Doomsday machine.
After a moment, A'Printa looks up from her book (her feet are now propped up on the desk) and smiles towards Esox. She raises her flask. 'Well done Ensign! I'd say you and Tinker did a great job getting everything up and running. Q-Bert and the others saw how hard you were working and decided to party instead. So, I guess you won."
Tinker shouts for joy at the outcome. "See? I told you they had inflated egos! Stupid Gremlins! We win!"
Q-Bert responds by blowing up one of the smoky starships with a beam from his pipe (complete with sound effects and appropriate screams). Tinker just snorts and sticks out her tongue.
A'Printa sighs and smiles at Esox. "I think that'll do fine for today. We should be ready for the crystals. You're dismissed, unless of course you'd like to stay and party with Tinker and the Gremlins?" She asks with a smirk.
After a moment, A'Printa looks up from her book (her feet are now propped up on the desk) and smiles towards Esox. She raises her flask. 'Well done Ensign! I'd say you and Tinker did a great job getting everything up and running. Q-Bert and the others saw how hard you were working and decided to party instead. So, I guess you won."
Tinker shouts for joy at the outcome. "See? I told you they had inflated egos! Stupid Gremlins! We win!"
Q-Bert responds by blowing up one of the smoky starships with a beam from his pipe (complete with sound effects and appropriate screams). Tinker just snorts and sticks out her tongue.
A'Printa sighs and smiles at Esox. "I think that'll do fine for today. We should be ready for the crystals. You're dismissed, unless of course you'd like to stay and party with Tinker and the Gremlins?" She asks with a smirk.
Esox heads for the door with a nod. He pauses just before exiting. "Captain A'Printa. Tomorrow morning I will bring the crystals in."
He nods again before exiting for the day.
He nods again before exiting for the day.
A'Printa nods and then calmly begins reading again. Tinker waves bye, then swoops in and steals Q-Bert's pipe with an evil laugh.
Esox walks into the lab in the morning carrying two slam metal cases with "AG-21-8" letter in bright red on the side of each.
He proceeded to an empty table, placing the cases, letters up, on it. With two click snaps of the metal clasps on the side, the cases popped open, revealing the red crystal in one, the blue in the other.
He proceeded to an empty table, placing the cases, letters up, on it. With two click snaps of the metal clasps on the side, the cases popped open, revealing the red crystal in one, the blue in the other.
The lab appears to be completely devoid of anything unusual. In fact, it appears to be eerily clean, devoid of foreign particles. For a moment, Esox probably thinks he's entered a sterile environment, in total contrast to the way he left the lab yesterday. After a moment, he hears a long yawn as Tinker steps out of the wall, only this time clad in an EVA suit and wielding a dilithium drill. Tinker floats over to Esox, calmly looks down at the crystals, and nods. With a swish, her face shield rolls up to reveal a familiar doomsday pipe sticking out of her mouth. She pumps the drill with an audible click, puffs a little on the pipe, looks him in the eye and states with a sly smirk: "Hell Ensign... it's about time." reference vid
Captain A'Printa is nowhere to be seen.
Captain A'Printa is nowhere to be seen.