LtCmdr Tristam Core, "Inverted priorities."

[Deliera Jay]

((Primary life support control))

::Yellow alert. They'd gone from red to yellow alert. That was a good thing, right?::

oO THAT DOESN'T MATTER THERE'S STILL INVERTED GRAVITY ON THESE DECKS Oo

::Tristam Daneil Core was effectively hanging from a console.

::On a regular day, this would seem to be a strange sentence. "Hanging from a console"--as if there were some distance between the top of the console and the deck plating below, despite the fact that there was maybe just a meter clearance, if that. But he was not hanging conventionally.::

::The room was effectively upside-down, Tristam's feet dangling toward the open two decks above him. It was a hell of a drop from deck six to deck four.::

::The gravity did not care about that fact.::

::Tristam also did not have great body strength. As someone who hadn't done chin-ups since the Academy (almost twelve years ago(!)), this was quite the feat. He chalked it up to adrenaline and natural humanoid fear of falling.::

Core: Mncedisi!

::He was calling to his new colleague, a young human engineer that had joined him in repairing the damage to the primary systems. Long story short, gravity in the area flipped on accident following a short circuit and now they both were hanging from the bottom of a console, in danger of falling.

::Next time he was involved in ship construction, this nonsense "open floor plans, visible access to decks above and below!" crap was getting a large "NO". There were three decks these two were about to fall up into.

oO NOTE TO SELF: REMOVE GRAVITY INVERSION CAPABILITY Oo

::WHO THOUGHT THAT WAS A GOOD IDEA TO BEGIN WITH???::

Mncedisi: I'm working on it!

::Mncedisi reached up to the controls on the console--a bit too far from the top of her finger-tips. In a last ditch effort, she pushed herself up as much as possible, effectively "jumping" to try and hit the command prompt button, but she missed (just barely). The fingers that were holding onto the console's edge began to slip-

::And before she could fall to the ceiling two decks above them, Tristam caught her arm.::

Core: I've got you!

::In spite of the protests of every muscle in his body, the Rodulan swung the dark-skinned damage control technician back up to the console again. She caught it, pushing herself up on her elbows (the few seconds of rest having apparently done some good). Mncedisi had a more secure hold.::

::But then he lost his grip.::

Mncedisi: Brace!

::He was half-way into his fall when the crewman hit the control button. The room that had once been upside down turned right way up again--there was a short moment where gravity ceased to exist, where they were all floating and could get two breaths of air in, but the moment was lost just as quickly.

::All the items and equipment that had not been bolted down, of which had fallen up to the ceiling, now fell back down to the deck plating in various clusters.

::Mncedisi dropped directly down onto the console she'd been holding onto for so long, the upper slant of cool metal slamming into her stomach as the lower half of her body was forced down to the deck. The Rodulan, higher up in the room, fell to the ground harder than her, landing on his forearms having tried to indeed brace his fall.

::A pained groan could be heard as Tristam rolled himself onto his back, scrunching his nose and staring up at the two decks above him--the ones had once been below him only seconds before. His brain needed a couple seconds to re-evaluate what the orientation of the room was--was 'up' still 'down'? Was 'down' back to being 'up'? These were the important logical questions he only just a minute to answer before inevitably having to get back up again.

::Mncedisi, winded and probably looking at some serious bruising, let go of the console and gently dropped to the ground, holding onto her ribs.::

Core: Sound off!

::Affirmations and statements of injuries were given verbally by those in the decks above, a crewmember being helped back up onto deck five by other crewmen after having caught the railing before plummeting down to the ground like the Rodulan. Tristam got up and crawled over to Mncedisi, giving her a visual once over.

::She waved him away.::

Mncedisi: I just need a minute.

Core: Yeah, ::he breathed.:: Take fifteen.

::Tristam hauled himself upright, head lagging just a bit, and he moved out of the area dedicated to the life support components of the Veritas as medics made their way into the room.::

Core: =/\= Core to the Bridge--the gravity short-circuit's been corrected. =/\=

Teller: =/\= Response? =/\=

::There was a stutter in Tristam's step when he heard the unexpected voice of Lieutenant Geoffrey Teller. Teller was not Roshanara. He was also not Delano.

::Where were Rahman and Delano?

::Wait, was Teller in command of the ship, or just answering the com?

::What on Rodul had been happening up there while Tristam had been busy?::

Core: =/\= Alright. Give me a couple minutes--we've got minor injuries down here. =/\=

Teller: =/\= Response? =/\=

::Tristam glanced back over his shoulder to the small scene in the PLSC area.::

Core: =/\= Oh, you know. Minor spats with inverted gravity in triple story engineering work areas. The usual. ::He huffed, straightening a little when a muscle in his chest strained.:: It's been sorted. =/\=

Teller: =/\= Response? =/\=


Tbc . . .

LtCmdr Tristam Core
Components Specialist
USS Veritas
C238803SB0