Ensign Ragh- Can You Hear Me Now?

[Ryan Augustyn]

(Sickbay, USS OEB))

Ragh had a particularly interesting appointment with Lieutenant Commander Peters and the man had just arrived to sickbay. During his previous onboarding physical, talks were had about the doctor getting a better diagnostic reading of Peters' implants. It wasn't an area Ragh was particularly familiar with. As it was, Klingons typically were very anti-implants and other body modifications, but he had learned a thing or two during his studies at the academy. 

Peters: You mentioned wanting a closer look at the implants.

Ragh: Yes. I would like to get a better understanding of their capabilities and make sure they're probably synchronized for you. 

The computer began it's scan. Ragh waited patiently why readings began to come in. He had a lot of questions himself. 

Peters: Still talking to the computer, at least.

Ragh: Have you noticed.. anything of note? 

The doctor noticed Peters absentmindedly touch the implant, probably unaware he was doing so. 

Peters: The external units are second-generation models. Internal processors interface directly with the auditory nerve bundles. Bypass the middle ear entirely.

His shoulders lifted faintly in a small shrug.

Peters: Haven’t had a failure yet.

Ragh: Hm. Intriguing.. 

Rath thought to himself he should have brushed up on neural implants before this meeting.

Peters: I do pick up a wider frequency range than I used to.

The corner of his mouth tugged upward slightly.

Peters: Comes in handy in engineering. Machinery complains before it actually breaks.

Ragh made a note of that. Did he mean before the implants, or even since he's had them?

Ragh: This feels like the normal parameters you'd expect?

Peters: The filtering delay still feels stable. Five nanoseconds doesn’t sound like much on paper, but it’s the difference between hearing the ship… and hearing everything.

His gaze shifted briefly toward the doctor again.

Peters: If something’s drifting, I haven’t noticed it.

Ragh: That is good.

The diagnostics scanned continued. Something had caught the doctors eye. It was the frequency profile.

Ragh: Take a look here. (He pointed at the display) These frequencies ranges.. here.

Cadfael leaned slightly to look at the display, studying the spectral analysis chart with a thoughtful tilt of his head. The curve stretched well beyond the range normally associated with human hearing, dipping lower and climbing higher into frequencies most biological ears would never register.

His brow lifted faintly.

Peters: That… normal?

Ragh: Well normal is a tough question. Klingons, for example, have more heightened senses than humans. This range is far behind what even the sharpest of Klingons hunters could hear.

Cadfael studied the graph another moment, then gave a small hum of recognition as the explanation settled into place.

Peters: The E.A.R.S. processors aren’t limited by the cochlea. They just convert whatever frequencies the receptors pick up into neural signals and let the brain sort it out.

His gaze shifted briefly toward the doctor again.

Peters: Guess my brain figured out how to make sense of it.

Ragh: For 11 years, I'm genuinely surprised you can handle such a range and constant bombardment of raw sound. 

The officer leaned back, a small smile creeping onto his face.

Peters: Might explain why I can usually hear the warp coils getting temperamental before the diagnostic board does.

The corner of his mouth pulled into a faint, lopsided smile.

Peters: Engineering calls that preventative maintenance.

Ragh: I will say, as your doctor I do have some concerns but all your scans are normal and you seem to be handling it quite well. 

Cadfael glanced once more toward the spectral display, still faintly intrigued by the shape of the graph.

Peters: Out of curiosity, is that level of neural adaptation typical after this long?

Ragh: Yes, and no. The body can adapt to many things, especially implants designed to be adapted to. But I'm not sure.. I would need some time to look over all the raw data and compare it to an EEG of your brain. 

Ragh smiled. Before the appointment, he wouldn't have guessed the implants would hold much interest to him but this was an intriguing case.

Ragh: Everyone reacts to things differently, and in your case it has been 11 years. Possibly too long without getting them updated more frequently but as it's stands, they seem to serve you well. I would just like to keep an eye on things.

Peters: Response 

Ragh: I shouldn't need any more tests done, I have all the information I need. Just need to sit down and make sense of it all. 

The scans finished. Ragh gestures to Peters for him to stand.

Ragh: I appreciate you coming back in. As it stands, everything seems to be okay.

Peters: Reponse 

____________

Ensign Ragh

Medical Officer 

USS Octavia E. Butler 

O240212R13