Lieutenant JG Amelia Semara - The Weirdest Thing

[Max]

(( Intergalactic Museum of Toilets, Dangan Prime, Alpha Isles ))

So far, the strange museum speed tour had lived up to its reputation.  It was so speedy, in fact, that it was hard to even really appreciate what any of them were really looking at, at least most of the time.  Amelia instantly recognized the LCARS display on this particular piece, and had to immediately share the discovery with Stros and Richard.

Semara: Guys-guys-guys! ::Beckoning with a fluttering hand:: Look what I found!

Amelia was in awe.  The card stated: Direct waste transporter disposal system.  A prototype replacement for the classic head toilet to discreetly relieve officers while on duty using transporter technology in high-stress situations, so they wouldn't have to leave their post.  Development discontinued due to inadequate scanner resolution.

Matthews: What do your elf eyes see?

A brief look sideways betrayed that not even a telepath could make sense of Matthews, sometimes.

Semara: I thought this thing was a myth! ::Beat:: I bet it would feel so weird! ::Suddenly thoughtful:: But it does make you wonder - how much a’ what’s inside you is “you”?

After all, a gut biome couldn't just be beamed straight out of a healthy person's insides without consequence.  Who knew this place would provoke philosophical ideation?

Matthews: ::Reading the info plague:: Wait, from right out of you? Not like, you go in a uniformed issued…um…undergarment for adults and have it beamed away then?

Stros: It was an experimental project that showed promise…until mass production was attempted.

Matthews: I’m already imagining terrible ways to utilize teleporting the innards of a person. I wonder why we haven’t seen this weaponized. Everyone is always trying to weaponize things after all.

Something deep inside Amelia groaned, but she managed to keep it from coming out.  Why did Richard say things like that in front of an In.... Oh.  Right.  The man was just like that.  But then, why bother trying to get such a precise transporter lock, when you could theoretically also beam an assailant wholesale into empty space?

Amelia shook her head.  She needed to spend less time around Richard, or she'd get paranoid about everything becoming a weapon.

Stros: Remind me to avoid an angry Ensign Matthews and transporters.

Ah, yes - this was also the same man who had a penchant for turning tricorders into grenades.

Semara: :: A little smirk. :: That also goes for Ensign Matthews and tricorders, Ensign Matthews and gel packs... Ensign Matthews and really anything, I s'pose.  Best keep an eye on him around anything that actually s'posed to be dangerous...

She grinned at Stros, then waggled her eyebrows at Richard.

Matthews: Okay honestly I’m curious now to see the advances in toilets before and after a species became warp capable. We saw advances in so many things. Where’s museum brochure?

The group was already moving on again, and the little trio was dragged along behind it for fear of missing out something that might be even stranger than what they already saw.  Amelia's face mirrored Stros' shrug.

Stros: Perhaps your curiosities will be satisfied as we continue the tour. ::Craning his neck:: It appears the next one may be of particular interest.

They passed under a sweeping archway rhapsodically declaring: Waste Management of the Future!

Semara: I guess someone still ain't heard the phrase, "If it ain't broke..."

Matthews: Response

Stros: If matter reclamation is not longer the management style of the future, I believe I am afraid of what may come.

Amelia brightened - this was actually something she studied, once upon a time.

Semara: Actually, there's been some return-to-nature types who've figured out some really interestin' alternatives.  With the right kind a' infrastructure, you can get a whole little mini-ecosystem goin' to process and recycle waste byproducts back into useful, nutrient-rich fertilizers for agriculture, and the like...  :: A glance that admitted to rambling. ::  'Course that ain't somethin' that works on a starship.

It was a little disappointing she never got to use her knowledge and experience as an ecologist aboard the Khitomer.  Now she might never.  Perhaps there would come a time for that again, but right now, the Alpha Isles needed something else.  Maybe she needed to think more like Matthews, worrying about where the next threat would come from.

Or maybe not.  Maybe the Isles needed someone thinking like an ecologist - someone working to restore balance rather than another weapon to tear it apart.  Amelia liked that thought, and promised herself to hold onto it.

Matthews: Response

As people spread out in the next room, filling it like so many molecules of gas trapped by the four walls, the next item they nearly bumped into drew a look of pinched eyebrows from Amelia.

It - for "it" could barely be described as a toilet - was all primitive shapes torn out of an abstractionist's sketchbook.  A large basin, and a tall cone dead center of it.  "It" stretched even Amelia's definition of adventure.

Stros: ::Looking at the object:: I believe fear is the appropriate reaction to…whatever that is.

Amelia stood for a good stunned moment before breaking out into a little giggle.

Semara: Prolly someone's idea of ergonomics.  :: A big grin. :: Well commander, I believe you've won at findin' the weirdest thing in this museum.  :: Another chuckle. :: Well done.  Whaddya say, Richard - team up in the next museum?  He's too good at this.

Matthews: Response

The tour seemed like it was already congealing back together to be led to somewhere else entirely.  But Amelia stood there a moment longer, grinning at the other two officers just a moment longer, enjoying the collective, profound confusion for just a moment longer before they were whisked away to the next strange museum.

Tag / END  (( OOC: Gonna cut this here with the end-of-leave ceremony picking up.  Thanks for a fun little outing! ))

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Lieutenant Junior Grade Amelia Magnolia Semara

Science Officer - Special Projects

USS Khitomer - NCC-62400

A239710MA0