Lt Commander Sevantha Saa - A Plague on Both Your Houses
Sevantha Saa
(( Bridge, Deck 1, USS Thor ))
Squaring off with Mjölnir was an unproductive use of her time and questioning her worthiness in a passive moment felt wrong. As a piece of mythology, it invoked a certain level of respect that Sevantha felt inclined to give it, one did not just test their worth on any given day doing scientific star scans. Worthiness was something tested by pressure and stress, moments in which one’s moral and ethical resolve were challenged, where the decisions were difficult. Unveiling a strange psychology about the hammer, Sevantha now realized how the item was a type of personality test, one that now suspected someone to be conducting to study her.
There was a poetry society she suspected at play or, if she was truly treacherous, she’d accused the Captain and First Officer of having left. Herrick, after all, had been the victim to a similar prank. Trake, or someone who knew him well, would have access to the programs.
She’d contemplate on the suspects later.
Saa: Right… ::She exhales:: Reports, anything of interest or concern?
Caras: It’s been awhile since i’ve been on the actual bridge and not a simulation of it, and i had no idea that secondary systems were behind, the isolinear buffer invariance discriminator subroutines are behind by two versions.
Tito: I would be shocked if I was in Engineering… I think?
Caras: No, no it’s mostly boring, Uninteresting work… to most. I figure you’ve got way more going on over there.
Tito: I am enjoying the chance of mapping out this region. It's an Astrophysicist paradise. ::he smirked at Caras:: Certainly boring by Engineering standards. Important as it is to keep the ship running.
Talyra: Well, this astrophysicist’s paradise would benefit from more detailed scans on sector 138-alpha.
Saa: See to it the updates are complete, Mr. Caras. It’d be nice to return the ship back to Captain Promontory and Commander Herrick with little to do before reassignment.
Turning away from them, she focused her attention on the viewer. Admiring the speckling of stars in the vast void of space twinkling at them with light that was thousands of years old.
Caras: I mean if you’re going to be that reductive, a lot of engineering is just convincing silicon to do math for you, or trying to make you particles that really don’t like one another to put on their “get-along” T-shirt, AKA a warp bubble.
What a colorful image he created for them. Morro Caras was anything but boring when he explained engineering at least. .
Tito: That’s the best definition of physics I hear from an Engineer, Commander Caras.
Talyra: That was an attempt at defining physics?
Saa: Mr. Tito, Ensign Talyra, please conduct a secondary scan of 138-alpha. ::She folds her arm:: We’re here for data and spatial mapping, so let's not miss anything.
A thorough review of the sectors would also kill time though it’d likely still crawl for her. The most productive thing she could do at the moment was engage the officer in conversation to fulfill some aspect of her job, knowing the crew, and not just as the counselor on board.
Caras: Honestly after being trapped on an alien planet, getting trapped in an exam, and then chasing down a trespasser in a gallery, I’m fine with a nice quiet mission. I really think the Gamma Flotilla Expeditionary Task Force is really tossing us a softball this time. I feel like we’ve earned it. Especially the Captain. Don’t you think putting him on diplomacy duty on a luxury cruise ship is a little bit obvious though?
oO Did you just… Oo
Tito: I am certain Captain Promontory will have his hands full.
Sevantha pivoted towards Caras, face full of disbelief as he invoked the q-word so casually in almost the exact same tone his mission jinxing gymbro Lhandon Joseph Nilsen had. It appeared the ensign had also turned her sights to the Orion in quiet awareness. Words did not manifest at first, especially as Tito managed to continue the conversation unaffected by the curse just laid upon them by her companion.
Morro Caras didn’t believe in the shadows, at least, he claimed not to though as of late she’d noticed he’d been a little more wary of testing the fates. But this was a particularly egregious offense.
She did not hide her shock or surprise from him, in fact, she let it burn as she maintained the professional demeanor that the second officer was required to carry.
Saa: Did Mr. Lhandon Joseph Nilsen teach you to challenge fate so audaciously?
Her voice was calm, collected, hiding a storm beneath. It was one of the few times one could see more than a visual likeness to her mother.
Caras: response
She glanced at Tito briefly when she caught him moving. Seeing he was returning his attention back to the console, she relaxed slightly and did the same.
Tito: I admit running scans and collecting data feels good.
Talyra: I agree, though looking at these screens isn’t quite the same as the bigger displays in the lab.
A warmth melted its way into Sevantha’s expression as she addressed the ensign, taking the opportunity to elaborate on the plans to fulfill the officer’s goal in the quadrant.
Saa: Once you’ve collected the preliminary data here on the bridge, Mr. Tito and yourself will be joining Lieutenant Commander Orlan Aislin for more extensive studies in the astrometrics lab. ::She smiled:: Chief DeVeau recommended you be present for every step of the process to build experience. :
Caras: response
Tito: Besides what can possibly go wrong?
oO Another?! Oo
Disbelief touched Sevantha’s features again as a second member on the bridge questioned their situation, issued a direct challenge to the fates to change their lot. Had no one the sense to simply accept the fact their day would be boring and uneventful full of data gathering and mappings, the basics of exploration and study. .
Talyra: ::dryly:: I see experience hasn’t disabused you of your naivety, Lieutenant Tito. It’s fortunate that you’ve held onto your innocence this long.
Saa: One should not challenge the fates so flippantly.
Caras: response
Talyra: Some are more fortunate than others in that regard, I fear.
Saa: Experience is the greatest teacher…
Briefly her mind returned to the night shift on the Octavia E. Butler bridge, she was on shift with Toxin and one other ensign, before her body had been completely destroyed and reprinted by the Herald. Moments like those reminded her just how cursed the q-word could be.
That time, it had been her folly to invoke it even in her mind, something she refused to do again.
Despite that, she had been dangerously close to doing so today in her logs.
Tito/Caras: response
Talyra: “Let us sit and mock the good housewife Fortune from her wheel, that her gifts may henceforth be bestowed equally.”
Turning towards the ensign, she tilted her head.
Saa: Is that a quote?
Tito/Caras: response
Talyra: Shakespeare just felt appropriate for some reason.
Shakespeare. She had little familiarity with the terran author though she had found that many earth born Captains had a fixation on his ancient works. There was one of his works she’d found herself particularly interested in after having stumbled into a holoprogram of the “Midsummer Night's Dream.” A fantastical story she had enjoyed viewing, but she suspected part of her enthusiasm was the elaborate verdant scenes of tall woods, flowing streams, and elegant and impish faeries. Titania in particular reminded her of Jalaran warrior though the pairs of lovers story was so peculiar, the mix of romance that occurred… Sevantha had simply wondered why they would not all simply enjoy themselves in the revelry.
Human sensibilities were so strange.
Maybe she owed the program a revisit.
Saa: Invoking such recognition of the passiveness of our current circumstances ::Avoiding the q word:: to always have disastrous results, it is a lesson the Fates have taught us several times over.
Tito/Caras: Response
Gently she shook her head, she was sure there was scientific data somewhere, maybe she had the wrong scientists on board. S’vyak onboard the Octavia E. Butler she was sure would have a case study on the matter. It wasn’t directly spiritual science but it was based in superstition (according to those here) which meant it had some basis for him to invest studies in. Maybe she’d send a request.
Saa: Mr. Caras, regarding the updates, are there any issues we may encounter with the newest versions rolled out or issues that may have been affecting performance by them being out of date?
Caras: Response
Turning away she focused on the science officers.
Saa: What have the secondary scans revealed about that sector?
Tito/Talyra: Response
In the eyes of scientists she could see this news as exciting which she felt, though admittedly it was far from her area of interest.
Saa: Forward the data to the astrometrics lab for further investigation… ::shifting gears:: Do you two truly not believe in cursing oneself and those around you?
This was the kind of conversations she enjoyed having and admittedly, they had time for, the Four knew she couldn’t talk about the stars or engineering as cohesively as the three of them could but they were people, and knowing people was of interest to her.
Tito/Caras/Talyra: Response
While she hadn’t the bluntness of the Romulan ensign in this, she found herself silently agreeing, though questioning why it appeared all their acquired ensigns as of late hadn’t even the aura of Junior Officers Poetry Association about them. Were the instructors at the academy cracking down on this early?
[[To Be Continued…]]
