[sb118-artemis] Ensign Tho'Bi - Starfleet are Geeks

[Tobi]

———————————

(( Main Engineering - Deck 16, USS Artemis-A ))

Starfleet was known throughout the Federation for taking only the best, brightest, most capable of officers.  It traded heavily on the legends of Kirk, Picard, Sisko, and Janeway; individuals seemingly without fear, steeled for the final frontier; and while this may hold true for command officers, much of Starfleet was, in reality, made up of science and engineering geeks.  Geeks who were not always the best at communicating, particularly when they first met. 

The tall column of the Warp Core pulsed in the background.  Teams of engineers moved about the engine room. 

Sadar: Ah, well, I’m... I’m looking for someone to answer some questions about the new sensors that were installed on the USS Galaktoboureko... Uhh. One of our shuttles. ::slight pause:: I-I don’t suppose you’ve heard anything about the project yet?

It seemed his speed talking had gone unnoticed.  Good.  As for the project, he had seen a brief outline on his Padd.

Tho’Bi: :: gestures with his tricorder :: Yes, I read about it on my Padd :: looks down at tricorder :: but this is a tricorder :: places hands and tricorder behind his back :: Yes,  USS Galack-toe-bore-echo :: tilts head slightly and then straightens up :: type eleven shuttle craft.  16.5 meters in length.  Warp 6 capable.  oO I sound like a text book Oo  Type 5 phasers.  Microtorpedo launchers oO Oh, please stop talking Oo  Do my antennae seem wonky to you?

To her credit the Mizarian science officer endured his speed-talking-techno-babble well; and might have gotten through it, if it weren’t for the blurted out question about the wonkyness (or not).

Sadar: Y-Your, your antenna? ::looks:: Uhh, n-no, I think they look standard? D-Do they feel off? Do you need to lie down? I-I don’t have my medical tricorder, but I could probably do some rudimentary-

When he was a child, he had models of many of the various ships of the Federation.  His favorites were all named, ‘Enterprise’.  While saucer separation went back to the first Constitution Class ‘Enterprise’, it wasn’t until ‘Enterprise D’ that an actual ‘Battle Bridge’ was added.  From an early age, he began to wonder if he didn’t have an ‘anxiety bridge’; a place his brain transfered control to when he became anxious.  

Tho’Bi: Oh.  Standard.  :: nods absent mindedly :: oO Perhaps it is in my head Oo :: points at his temple :: Perhaps it’s in my head :: points at his antennae :: Or on my head :: smiles ::

The joke fell flat.

The awkwardness between the two of them was evidently proving to be inconvenient for others too.  Awkward people tend to give and need a lot of personal space; unfortunately, when two awkward people are giving and needing space, it does tend to take up a lot of, the aforementioned, space.  Their conversation had wandered into the middle of the main thoroughfare, running from the large island console that housed the master systems display to the towering warp core.  This point was made, when a human enlisted cleared his throat in a very human display of frustration.

The lieutenant was the first to pick up on the need, in both senses, to move things along.

Sadar: Oh, s-sorry! ::to Tho’Bi:: We should, uhh... D-Do you mind answering some questions about the sensors for me? I need to beam aboard some biological samples for a project, and, f-frankly, I don’t understand half of the engineering jargon in the report.

His antennae felt less wonky.  The young ensign was more than happy to move to the safe, familiar ground of tech.

Tho’Bi: Yes, I can do that :: nods ::

His reply felt a little curt even to his own ears; but after all his speed-talking, he decided short and to the point was preferable.

At first, the ensign was a little bewildered as, after hearing his positive reply, the Mizarian science officer immediately walked away.  He quickly realized, the lieutenant was attempting to remove the pair of them from the main walkway.  A little embarrassed by his oversight, in relation to his fellow engineers, he hurried after her. 

Sadar: I know the sensors are a lot more fine-tuned, so as to read the background radiation more clearly, but will that complicate the calculations for locating biological samples? I have a very broad spectrum of acceptable example samples, but if the sensors are getting overwhelmed by data... Am I making sense?

One the most challenging aspects of engineering was, however good your engineering knowledge, in practice, engineer always exists within a broader context; an engineer often has very little knowledge of broader context.  This was one of those cases.  

Tho’Bi: Data processing and hubs should be able to handle the feed.  Optimized synchronization of isolinear chips will help smooth out any potential kinks.     

Sadar: Response?

The ensign wasn’t sure his answer had been helpful.  He decided to try again.

Tho’Bi: ::talking with his hands:: Sensors are in fact a palette of different types of sensor technology. :: gestures for each one :: From subspace, to electro-magnetic, virtual particle mapping to variable band optical imaging.  ::makes a big circle with his hands::  All of this data is feed into are systems all at once.  ::puts up his index finger::  But… we usually only look at it one sensor tech at a time. :: opens his palms :: So… if the data flow becomes too much, ::gestures on the beat of the syllables:: shut down the sensor tech you don’t want.

Sadar: Response?

Tho’Bi: ::still talking with his hands:: Or… :: makes a rotation shape with his hand:: The computer can cycle through them automatically.  ::open palms:: the problem with approach is you only get one sensor at a time.  No good if you need constant data.

Sadar: Response

TAG/TBC

————————————

Ensign Tho’Bi

Engineering

USS Artemis-A

A240203T11