Lt. Cmdr Rebecca Iko -- Totally not. Definitely not. What are you talking about?
Rebecca Iko
Saavei: It would also be beneficial to know how portable you require it. Being moldable is one thing but the weight and mass is another, depending on its intended purpose... unless this is also classified.
The purpose was the main reason why she was trying to keep this under wraps.
Iko: Uhm. I mean, it's only little so unless Tritanium's as heavy as a dwarf star it should be fine.
Then Bec turned to ‘Liv.
Iko: Kind of… round, donut-like shape?
It would be easier to just describe it as “ring shaped”, but Bec was scared that would give too much away.
Vanlith: And it needs to be moulded into shape and then maintain it. It won’t need to be moulded again afterwards?
Iko: No. But the shape is highly detailed.
Saavei: ::thinking out loud:: Perhaps if we added electrum? A small electrical current could be used to force it to remain in place once in the desired shape.
Rosek-Skyfire: It could also allow targetted flash-hardening to ensure it maintains the specific shape without the rest of the metal hardening before you’re ready for it.
Iko: It depends if Electrum would be a hindrance if someone was holding onto it for a while.
Vanlith: ::Shaking her head:: No its trace amounts of copper so would take the current to harden it into shape but wouldn’t hinder the person holding it. ::pause:: but combining it with tritanium should counteract the softness of the gold and silver making it stronger and the tritanium softer to enable detailed shaping. That should be able to do the job. We would need to get the balance right. I would need to do some calculations.
Saavei: How quickly did you need to obtain this alloy?
Iko: Ah… not for a while, I don't think. It's not a top priority, I'm just… looking for options.
Saavei: How much of this alloy will you require?
Iko: Only a small amount.
Rosek-Skyfire: ::pauses and turns to Vanlith:: What do you think? Is that even possible with our current supplies?
Vanlith: With our current supplies a small amount would be ok, but we would need to get the calculations right first so we aren’t scraping either resource.
They could try and see if they could grab some from the asteroids and the nebula if there was any. For purely amount of resource reasons and not any extra “value” or anything.
Rosek-Skyfire: ::nods:: My concern is that we don’t want to deplete those supplies so far that we can’t stretch what’s left. I’d hate for us to need that for something and then not have it.
Bec nodded. That was fair, and understandable, and she agreed.
Vanlith: Is there a date you need this by?
Bec shook her head. Kind of enthusiastically—mostly out of fear. She didn’t need it for at least a little while. She didn’t even know why she was thinking of this in the first place. It felt sudden and confronting and was she going to fast and she didn’t even know if she wanted to have the ceremony the definitely-not-a-ring would represent at all and-
Iko: I don't need it right now. I just need to know what I might be looking for.
Rosek-Skyfire: If you all think we can manage it without bringing the wrath of our CO down on our heads for being short on critical supplies, be my guest. I’m not looking for a dressing down when I haven’t even been here a few months.
Bec repeatedly shook her head, and held her hands up again.
Iko: It's nothing like that, I promise. Genuinely.
And with that she was being truthful.
Saavei: I am certain we can assist you.
Rosek-Skyfire: Response
Vanlith: It shouldn’t be a problem to help with this one. But nothing too big.
Bec gave an awkward smile. Yes. Nothing too big…
Iko: The Electrum did seem interesting. I think my understanding is that Tritanium is so strong and dense that it's great for starship hulls, but not for what I want to do.
Vanlith: ::Nodding:: Exactly, it wouldn’t take detailed shaping very well at all because of how hard it is. But it wouldn’t be damaged but every day bumps and knocks. It would survive like a hull does.
oO And also be cool. I mean what, why is that a priority? Oo
Rosek-Skyfire: Response
Iko: I want to help make the process of shaping it easier. What would happen if you mixed Tritanium and, I dunno… silver or something?
Bec shrugged. She was both relaxing more and worrying about what she would be doing next at the same time.
Saavei: As a soft metal, silver is easier to shape. ::confirming:: An alloy is still recommended to avoid losing said shape from external forces.
Bec nodded, giving Saavei a small smile. When she caught ‘Liv’s smirk, Bec went slightly wide-eyed and looked away. Did Char know what she was asking for? Was Char going to tell everyone? No, she would tell Kaito, and Kaito would tell everyone because while that guy was a great tactician he wasn’t so good at keeping secrets and then they would ask and try to hurry Bec up and she wasn’t even sure if she should do this so close to Robin’s wedding—after all she and Annamae had only just officially moved in together.
Though that last bit shouldn’t really matter, as this little alloy totally had nothing to do with Annamae. It was, uhm, it was going to be used to create an artifact for the Hovans to improve relations. Yeah. that. Not a potential engagement ring for her girlfriend or anything, what are you talking about?
Vanlith: The benefit of electrum is it is already an alloy containing gold, silver and copper. The copper allows for the electrical hardening and the gold and silver can help with adjusting the colouring to the desired purpose. If we use just silver the electrical hardening wouldn’t work as well, the colouring is less adaptable and we would have to shape quickly by hand to prevent the tritanium from hardening too quickly.
Bec nodded. There was a reason she had come to engineering to ask these guys about it after all. Even if it was much more dangerous than she had thought.
Rosek-Skyfire: Response
Saavei then offered their PADD. Bec had a look, first skimming over the contents, before nodding slowly and hesitantly as she realised the engineer too was fully aware under the false pretenses that Bec was planning to make a ring.
The Chief of Security and Tactical took a physical step back.
Saavei: A number of metallurgical options are displayed for you. Ranked by various factors.... Holographic replicas can be arranged at a later date before committing to a final choice. Finer details could be completed then.
Vanlith: And we can always meet over a coffee about some finer details if you would like?
Iko: Yeah. Yeah maybe…
Rosek-Skyfire: Response
Saavei: ::to Bec:: Does anything there match your idea?
Her head was swirling.
Vanlith: We don’t need an answer now if you need more time to decide.
Well thank #$&% for that.
Iko: I’ll have a look.
She held Saavei’s PADD close to her chest, before holding it back out by one corner and gesturing.
Iko: Do you mind?
Rosek-Skyfire/Saavei: Response
Iko: Thank you all. This has been… quite helpful.
Vanlith: You know me happy with help. Besides, metals are fun.
Rosek-Skyfire/Saavei: Response
Bec nodded again, and turned to leave. She walked somewhat briskly out of Engineering, until the door closed behind her and she moved into almost a jog back to the train and her desk in the Security Centre.
Her head was spinning. Equal mixes of excitement and anxiety, but predominantly spiralling second-guessing.
She looked at the PADD again.
oO Phase one just about completed, I guess. Oo
END for Iko
((OOC: You can keep continuing/gossiping in this scene! I just need to cut back on one and it seemed like the perfect moment for Bec to get scared off and run away :P))