Ensign Imril -- OK, If I Have To...

[Chris Taylor]

((Flashback: 240205.16))

(( Deck 1, Main Viewscreen Maintenance Corridor))

If the front end of the main viewscreen looked bad, then the reverse side was a total disaster area. The crack which bifurcated the screen's business end was the end result -- the structural last gasp -- of power fluxuations which had torn their way across the whole system during the fight with the Orions. What remained on the generally unseen side was a twisted, half-disconnected mess of conduits, power batteries, EPS lines, computer relays, and a semi-functional superstructure barely held together by a duranium skeleton which had warped and buckled under extreme heat. It was this buckling which had ultimately snapped the screen.

The two-piece viewscreen had chugged along best as it could afterwords, until it couldn't. Pockets of heat, formed by overcharged systems that had been disconnected from any means of vacating excess power, continued to weaken the framework over the course of a day until Lt. Udesky sent a maintenance ticket down to Main Engineering detailing multiple lines of static obstructing her view. These energy pockets needed to be expunged and the framework reinforced before repairs on the screen could begin. Ordinarily, this job would have required a pair of workbees cutting their way through the hull to get at the endangered areas. But they were busy elsewhere, and the ship's DOTs couldn't get through the tangle of parts.

That was where Imril's long-simmering pet project came in. The miniaturized field integrity shield generators that they'd been tinkering with since their first mission as an ensign.

It was always fun to test new or improved technology. Especially when that new or improved technology was your very own creation. Less fun, though, when one had to squeeze oneself through a compressed maze of mangled ruin to do it. Inside of an exosuit, to boot. The area was pressurized, but sweltering hot. And there was the risk of rapid collision with something solid if one of the trouble areas gave out and exploded. In which case a bit of armor and padding couldn't hurt. Through their boots, their gloves, anything of their suit that touched the walls or floor, they could feel the cramped corridor groaning. The whine of structural instability.

Imril: =/\=Imril to Lt. Minthar. I'm in position at the first sensor relay. I'm really feeling some creaking here. Tricorder confirms it's at thirty-four percent structural stability. Switch Bridge to remote viewing and power down the viewscreen.=/\=

Minthar: =/\= Acknowledged. Powering down in three... two... one...=/\=

Inside the bridge, a portable holo-generator gave Udesky something to look at and fly by.

Imril: =/\=  Applying the generators. Keep that DOT outside on standby to catch me if I get blown out of the front of the ship, please.=/\=

Minthar: =/\= Will do, Ensign. Carry on.=/\=

Imril carefully unslung a pack from their back and pulled out a palm-sized, relatively thick, emitter. They attached it to one of the metal outcroppings. A second went lower, just outside a isolonear network box that was jutting out at three wrong angles. A third got wedged between two junction panels. A fourth went to the floor, set over a hairline crack. Problem areas identified by the tricorder scan were the basis for where to place them.

Imril: =/\= Emitters placed. Activating now... Emitters are scanning the surfaces and each other... Situational integrity field initiating... Field is stabilizing... Notable decrease in surface vibration... Tricorder confirms increase to fifty-six-percent integrity in the affected area. Good enough to call this section safe to bring the syphon cables through.=/\=

Imril's voice was controlled, but inside they were a buzz of excitement. It! Was! Working! They would have pumped their fist, if they'd had room to do that.

Minthar: =/\=Looking good on our end, Ensign. Good work.=/\=

Imril: =/\=Thanks. I'll begin the energy drain once I have another couple problem areas shored up. Moving to the holo-projection manifold. =/\=

((Flashback ends))


(( Deck 16, USS Artemis ))

Over the course of Artemis' overhaul, Imril's "mini-FIG"s had gained a bit of popularity. They'd fielded numerous requests for the devices by others in need of shoring up a piece of the ship without adding more stress to what was left of the ship's power grid. Their creation was paying off beyond their expectations, and it felt great.... But it also meant that the devices had gone from one engineer's pet project to something other engineers got to nitpick. Which was, sometimes, not so great. Imril seemed to be spending half their time lately actually working on repairing the ship and the other half repairing the mini-FIGs themselves, or fine-tuning the mini-FIGs, or making more mini-FIGS, or fielding 'constructive criticism' on the mini-FIGs... A never-ending cycle that kept Imril more than busy.

At least when the repairs were all over, there would probably be enough field-testing on the devices to merit publishing a technical paper. A padd full of noted for said paper sat with the rest of their engineering kit at the base of the Jeffries tube they had crawled up into to double-check the status of some of the secondary shield generators' power conduits.

A light rapping softly rebounded through the thin space. Politely and safely alerting the engineer to the presence of another.

Bergmen: Ensign Imril? Lieutenant Bergmen, Operations.

Imril: Yes, sir? Yes, sir! Can I have a moment? I'm just finishing up here.

Imril logged the conduits as fully repaired and load-worthy in their duty padd, and sent that update to their shift supervisor. They climbed their way out of the tube to see Begman waving a padd.

Bergmen: As much as I believe everyone appreciates your work to get the ship back into shape as soon as possible, I noticed your shift ended one and a half mandatory work breaks ago, which you didn't take, so I came to remind you.

Imril: I'm pretty sure I took some down time, Lieutenant.

They had visited a restroom somewhere in the past few hours. And gotten some food, from somewhere. Oh, yeah, someone had set out a bunch of Burger Nagus party platters in a room near Main Engineering. That counted as a break, right?... When was that? Imril looked off to the side, trying to place a time-stamp on the meal.

Bergmen let out a soft chuckle.

Bergmen: Come on, Ensign! Let’s go to grab a coffee and a snack in the mess hall, and then I'll be off your back. ::smiles::

Imril: If you're sure you have the time?

Bergman: Response

Ever the dutiful ensign, Imril logged their break period and sent that notification off after the other one. Then followed after the Operations officer. As much as there was still to do, they could appreciate that Bergam was acting in Imril's best interests. A little time off, and they could get back to it that much more efficiently!

Imril: Thank you for the consideration, Sir.

Bergman: Response

TAG/TBC
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Ensign Imril
Engineering Officer
USS Artemis-A
A240110I12