Lt Cmdr Quentin Beck - Two's Company, Three's a Colleague
Quentin Beck
((OOC: I didn't push this one too much because I am bringing together a couple of different scenes here - feel free to expand on any of them as you see fit!))
((Xenobiology Lab, Sickbay Complex, Deck 10, USS Ronin))
Beck: Hoh, yeah, potentially very dangerous. If our calculations are off by even a fraction, we could burn out the entire computer system trying to generate a holoprojection of this thing. Could leave us dead in the water. Kind of exciting, actually.
The Klingon Counselor did not appear to agree, though they did not voice their dissent. He continued.
Beck: I've got holoprojectors built into this table to help me work at scale; I'm going to need to modify it to use V'Len's idea. If it does cause a burnout, I'd rather it happen to an easily replaceable table than one of the holodecks.
As he spoke, Quentin shrugged out of his lab coat and tossed it onto the cart before rolling up the sleeves of his uniform. He snagged an equipment kit from the corner and opened it on top of the table, fingers moving nimbly to pull out several slender tools.
Shortrith: As in scaling it down so we can look at it?
Beck: ::nodding:: To start. It should allow us a much more detailed picture of what we're looking at, and with the image being fed straight to the computer through the holomatrix, it should also allow us to do some pretty intensive scanning off the bat. We can confirm fairly quickly whether or not this thing is alive.
They nodded, though their look of concern had not abated.
Shortrith: I'm sorry, but I still have concerns about energy consumption and overload, especially on a deck like deck ten.
Dark eyes shifted upward to study them for a moment before he nodded his understanding. It was pretty risky, and the chances of overload were… probably a little more than he should have been comfortable with, but Kel just mentioning anything holographic ventured into territory where Quentin considered himself an expert.
Beck: Frankly, I'm not sure there's going to be a better place than right here to do what I have in mind - most of this lab is fairly isolated, running off a series of batteries that aren't connected to anything else, and multiple gateways are protecting any data transfer going either direction from the consoles here. The only better place would be… maybe the holodeck or Astrometrics, but if I'm going to cripple anything, it should be this lab.
Shortrith: Is there any way we can do it without risking overload?
He shook his head before dropping to one knee and opening a panel beneath the table. Studying the inside for a moment, he shifted to stretch out on the floor, pushing the upper half of his body into the opening beneath the table and using one of the tools to start scanning the current configuration.
Beck: I mean, sure, we could run some simulations and work with the computer to determine the best time and place to handle the project, but that's going to add hours upon hours of discussion alongside the review. We don't have the luxury of that kind of time.
Shortrith: Response
He chuckled a little, not pulling himself out from beneath the table but reaching out to grab one of the slender spanners.
Beck: You are more than welcome to file a complaint, Doctor Shortrith. If you've got a better suggestion, I'm all ears.
Shortrith: Response
Finished with the spanner, he set it aside and reached out for another tool.
Beck: Trust me on this, Renaie. My gut is telling me this is the way to go, and my gut is usually right.
Shortrith: Response
((3 hours later))
It had taken most of the three hours that passed for Quentin to finish his work; this was in part because of the isolated nature of the lab. It took some significant jury-rigging and redistribution of power conduits and other circuits to get enough juice to the table for it to be able to handle the sort of holoprojection he was intending, not to mention needing to tie a computer feed from the ship's sensors directly into the thing to keep it as real-time as possible. This had also included retrieving a portion of the unused gel packs from storage and stringing them together in a grid on top of the table, throwing an eerie blue glow across his features as he finished making the connections.
Somewhere along the way, one of Kel's specialists had arrived to deliver his notes in person. The Doctor didn't particularly mind them sticking around, either, as he thought it would be quite helpful for one of the Science folk to be in the room once the feed was working correctly. He also recognized the specialist, both by name and by sight. He hadn't had the opportunity to meet her when he'd been recruited for Division 14, but Rhodium Wells had been listed among the department's assets at the time.
Beck: Welcome to the Xenobiology lab, Lieutenant. Please, come in and make yourself comfortable. I am just about through with my preparations here, and we can run a test.
Shortrith/Wells: Response
Smiling gamely, he smoothed out the front of his dark undershirt, having shed his uniform top while he was working, before approaching the primary console built into the corner of the table. He glanced up at Renaie.
Beck: Can you double-check the feed from the sensors for me before I turn this on? I want to make sure we've got the most up-to-date files before I have the holomatrix start analyzing.
Shortrith/Wells: Response
His chest swelled as he pulled in a deep breath, studying the gel packs for a moment before looking down at the console. His finger hovered over the startup initiator.
Beck: Hold on to your butts.
Shortrith/Wells: Response
The console chirruped once he pressed the control, and almost instantaneously, every one of the gel packs on the table glowed even more brilliantly blue. The fluid inside each pack shifted and swirled as the program he'd thrown together deployed, running first a series of unit tests to ensure the code would parse. As the tests ran, the projectors built into the table kicked on, displaying a variety of half-realized images above the uneven surface, cycling through them faster and faster with each passing moment.
Beck: So far, so good. Once it's finished with the next round of tests, it should start processing the data from the computer.
Shortrith/Wells: Response
The final batch of tests ran, the remaining images above the table flickering almost faster than the eye could see, before finally settling on a fully holographic recreation of what he assumed was a nebula that existed between themselves and their quarry. It was remarkably detailed, swirls of gas and debris fairly easy to make out. He grinned a little.
Beck: Well, I'll be damned - this might actually work. Okay, Renaie, let's see–
Before he could finish the suggestion, the image above the table changed. The fluid in the gel packs swirled and bubbled as they processed the data from Kel's use of passive sensors, and after only a few moments, the outline of a massive thing began to form.
Kel: =/\= Kel to Beck. Let me know if you getting anything through the gel packs. =/\=
He shot a look at Wells and Shortrith, doing his best not to smirk.
Beck: =/\= We definitely, definitely are, Commander. Right now it's still mostly just the outline, but give us some more time and some deeper readings, and I think this will clear up quickly. =/\=
Wells/Shortrith: Response
The image shifted a little, the outline of an enormous eye suddenly evident, and it sent a shiver down his spine. The last time he'd seen an eye like that had been on the holodeck with T'Ama when he'd introduced her to one of his Tolkien programs. She had played a rather convincing Strider, ignoring the pointed ears, and they had done their best to poke that eye out.
Almost as immediately as the eye had seemed to focus on the Ronin, the gel packs started to pop. The color had taken on something closer to violet before the minor explosions started, splattering the table, floor, and other gel packs with what almost amounted to blood. Quentin himself had gotten slapped with a big glob of it, smearing across the front of his undershirt, and he grimaced as the image above the table began to flicker.
Beck: Hell's bells, we need to start replacing the gel packs that are busting.
Wells/Shortrith: Response
His fingers darted across the small screen, instructing the computer to remember the current configuration. The comm sounded.
Kel: =/\= Kel to Beck! Are you getting anything at all? I think we may have upset it. =/\=
Beck: =/\= You can say that again. I'm not a hundred percent sure exactly what just happened, but we are having a few technical difficulties and are working on clearing those out. The data is coming through, though, absolutely. =/\=
There was some muffled conversation from the other side of the conversation, but he couldn't make it out. He needed to stay focused on the holomatrix, anyway.
Wells/Shortrith: Response
This time, a different voice rang through the comm, and he was able to make it out.
Velis: ::pauses:: The doctor or Commander Kel can likely confirm this, but I believe Commander Kel’s antennae might be functioning as a radio receiver.
His brows lifted as he glanced up at the speaker above… then frowned, lowering his gaze to look at the slowly stabilizing image of the holoprojected object out there.
Beck: =/\= A radio receiver, huh? That gives me an idea. =/\=
Kessler/Venn/Kel/Niac/Raga: Response
Wells/Shortrith: Response
His fingers danced once more over the screen. He adjusted the holomatrix parameters to process any audio-related sensor readings to display as something closer to a radio's signal.
Velis: ::nods:: I think if we can figure out the frequency, so to speak, we might be able to program the computers to simulate the creature’s “language” and enable us to communicate with it.
Kessler/Venn/Kel/Niac/Raga: Response
Velis: ::shrugs:: It won’t be perfect, but I think it’s the best we’ve got.
Kessler/Venn/Kel/Niac/Raga: Response
Beck: =/\= Perfect is the enemy of good. We are seeing some progress down here - instead of a vague black outline, it's a vague white outline that is starting to show some deeper details. =/\=
Kessler/Venn/Velis/Kel/Niac/Raga: Response
Shortrith/Wells: Response
[Tags/TBC!]
Lieutenant Commander Quentin Beck, MD, FASFS
Chief Medical Officer
USS Ronin NCC-34523
A238810SA0