Lt. JG. Gnai - Trying New Things
Lich
(( Primary Engineering, Deck 11, USS Eagle-A ))
After a brief spurt of the aforementioned attempted fixes, Gnai tried to move the joint again, hoping that it was fine enough, and they didn’t need to truly find out the extent of Lt. Cmdr. Kettick’s joking… It wasn’t completely out of the realm of possibilities that he would have some sort of small explosive that could shake the joint better…
Gnai: It seems to be moving better, do you concur?
Kettick: That it is. :: The Remmilian was packing away his tools :: A small piece of foreign matter that had managed to get stuck in the actuator, too deep for conventional cleaning to catch it. Nothing to worry about, although you might want to think of a redesign if this happens too often.
That was a relief, that it was something easy to fix. But the thought of redesign made Gnai somewhat hesitant. The suit was already entirely rebuilt once, and it didn’t want to have to go through that process again, when it was perfectly functioning still.
Gnai: ::somewhat nervous:: What sort of redesign are you thinking of?
Kettick: This one reckons that yours is first and foremost designed to interface with technology that mostly cater to upright bipedal, plantigrade, four-limbed beings with radial symmetry. But have you ever considered something more optimised for critical situations? More limbs, more joints, treads or even anti-grav technology... ?
Those were all good ideas, yes, especially the anti-grav idea… That would make the locomotion more similar to how Gnai floated in its tank, perhaps the suit would be easier to control because of that. Or, perhaps, it might have double the bouncing up and down, and somehow manage to make itself seasick. It had heard of such a condition, and it pitied the poor humanoids who had it.
However good the ideas were, though, after locomotion, the main purpose of the tank was to allow Gnai to interact properly with non-Galadorans.
Gnai: Initially, yes, but this was suggested that emulating a humanoid body with the suit might make it slightly easier to interface with humanoids.
Kettick: This one has learned to emulate the common trends of body language used by primates. As did you, and likely for the same reason. :: The shrugs, for instance :: But this one would never have suspected the configuration of your suit to have a social function. An encounter suit, in a way? To better... blend in?
It bobbed up and down in its tank.
Gnai: Yes, exactly. Humanoids are already somewhat predisposed to treat this differently, so this wanted to try and reduce that if possible.
Kettick: Response
Gnai: This also was under the assumption that anything too… over-engineered might end up being more of a liability than an asset, at least in tense missions. Already, this has ended up with a broken suit, and had to be carried around in a combat situation. Experimenting with anti-gravity, or more complex limbs… that could spell disaster.
If a suit utilized anti-gravity technology, and that was to suddenly switch off… Gnai could envision it now, the tank of the suit crashing to the floor, and Gnai being stuck between shards of transparent aluminum, once again reliant on a crewmember to help it get out of such a sticky situation.
Kettick: Response
It shrugged with the arms of its suit, ceding the point. There was plenty of time outside of the missions, it wasn’t always going to be in life-or-death… there was, in fact, room to try new things. And if Lt. Cmdr. Kettick was as good as everyone said he was, perhaps he could find a way to implement some of those ideas in a way that wouldn’t be unsafe on an away mission…
Gnai: Perhaps… This could be convinced to try out alternate suit designs outside of missions. It could be an interesting experience!
Kettick: Response
Tags/TBC