Ensign Philomena O'Malley - One Step Forward, And...
Philomenaomalley.sb118
(( Engineering, Deck 3 – USS Arrow ))
Philomena listened to the other two women intently, but there was a decided change in her own demeanor. She wasn’t shaking or desperately trying to remember directions in fear that she’d forget them. She didn’t want to call it too soon, but it was change, and change felt good.
Waters: Keep us apprised of your progress... ::she paused, looking to O'Malley's collar again:: Ensign.
O'Malley: Understood.
Waters: And Ensign?
O'Malley: Yes, Lieutenant?
Waters: Welcome aboard. You will do fine.
She felt a blooming warmth in her chest at that remark. Though perfectly polite and professional, it was nice to hear assurance that didn’t come from herself. Philomena let out a relaxed sigh. She pressed her lips together and nodded.
O'Malley: Thank you, Lieutenant. That means a great deal.
With that, Philomena took to a nearby console and started filing through each individual instance of additions made to the master log in order to try to see if any of the additions looked suspicious. An initial run-through didn’t reveal anything particularly out of place; they were all complete component additions to the log. But, remembering what was being asked of her, she went through them again.
Philomena knew it was rude to eavesdrop– and she wasn’t trying to, honestly. But as she was reading through the logs, she couldn’t help but hear Commander Wilde address Lieutenant Waters over her shoulder
Wilde: I wonder if you'd tell me... Stardate 239711.29. The day the Arrow was boarded by Orions... And my brother was injured. ::She paused.:: Where did it happen?
oO Damn. With how much peril these people seem to encounter, they must have some morale board. What can you even do to lift the spirits at that point? Oo
Philomena tried to ignore her and continue working by reviewing the logs one more time. This time, something struck her attention.
In this case, she recognized that there was a large patch of changes made not half a day ago. Philomena hadn’t originally recognized it as suspicious because it had been planted in a larger cloud of seemingly mundane and completely normal adjustments. But she knew these couldn’t be correct. The changes tagged nearly every member of engineering. She could still hear Wilde and Waters conversing with each other, but she thought that this might be important. She quickly pulled up the information on a PADD and brought it over.
Wilde: Ah, of course. ::She chewed her lip.:: The stalwart Commander Serinus. You know, I will ask him. I'll do just that...
O’Malley made quick eye contact with the Lieutenant Commander. She could feel her own gaze soften. What a terrible thing, to have a sibling injured in an environment like this, and to have to keep working through it. Should she say sorry? Like, an empathetic “sorry?” It wasn’t exactly a conversation that she was supposed to have been privy to. She shook it off and handed the PADD to Lt. Commander Wilde.
O’Malley: I hate to interrupt, but I think I’ve found the digital timestamps for when the logs were changed.
Wilde/Waters: Response.
O’Malley: 14 hours ago. It was a host of small additions, all labeled as “temporary or emergency shift changes.” It looks like whoever was changing them was making a lot of other unrelated changes to the logs as well. This could be to further cover their tracks or to cover up a problem we haven’t discovered yet!
She tried delivering that last bit with some levity, but it fell flat in her head once she realized that could actually be the case.
Wilde/Waters: Response
Philomena sighed frustratedly through a smile. After rubbing the bridge of her nose for a moment, she responded.
O’Malley: That’s going to be harder. The changes don’t designate what console a change came from, only that the changes were made within the parameters of the system.
Wilde/Waters: Response