Perspectives

Posted on 30 Jun 2016 @ 10:22pm by Lieutenant JG Natalya Kirilova & Lieutenant Oren Idris Ph.D.

1,693 words; about a 8 minute read

Mission: Episode 11 - Divinum Mundi
Location: USS Galileo - Deck 7 - Observation Lounge
Timeline: MD 02 - 1120hrs

[ON]

After a follow-up mission briefing was finished, Oren gathered his things into his bag before taking his cup and placing into the replicator on the way out. Following behind the other officers, the El-Aurian caught a glimpse of the new Chief Engineer and felt into step beside her.

"Lieutenant Kirilova," Oren announced himself, greeting her with a friendly smile. "In a hurry to get somewhere? I was wondering if you had time for a drink?" Although he knew he offer probably appeared forward to the Human, Oren felt it was only polite to want to extend the invitation to a newcomer.

Natalya seemed surprised by the invitation, but only because it had been unexpected. "Oh, hi! Lieutenant Idris, right?" Natalya said, even though she was sure of Oren's name. Though she'd met the senior staff during the briefing, Oren was one of the few to introduce herself personally. "Sure, I'm just getting off-duty."

"Great!" Oren said excitedly, adjusting the strap of his bag as it began to slip when they rounded the corner to the nearest turbolift. "So, this new mission will be exciting," he commented, deciding on a fresh topic to start off with.

"I think so too." Natalya said, not quite as excited but still exuding some anticipation. "I've never seen a Colony-class starship up close, and I look forward to seeing one do what it was designed to do." That sort of mission interested her, as she'd been part of a first-wave colonization effort, albeit as an infant at the time. "Never been to a trinary star system either... except for Alpha Centauri, of course."She laughed. Who hadn't been there?

"I lived there for a little while." Oren led the woman into the turbolift. "I was working with university on an experimental dating system," he explained as the doors closed. "Is the Lounge alright?" he asked.

"Lounge is fine." Natalya said as she followed after. She thought about what Oren had said about her efforts towards a dating system. "Rocks, fossils, or artifacts?" She asked simply. Many scientific fields used various forms of dating systems, but geology, paleontology and archaeology relied upon them heavily.

"Artifacts." Oren perked up slightly as they exited the turbolift and walking into the Lounge. "I used to hold the position of Anthropologist on the ship before I became the Chief Research officer. Now Ensign Marika Lenaris is the Anthropologist on board."

"I've met Ensign Lenaris, she's very... charming." Natalya said with a nod, trying not to smile shyly. There was only a very slight pause as she chose a more appropriate way to describe Marika than the more personal one she'd been thinking. They were just new friends at the moment, it seemed, but Natalya definitely had some feelings for her.

"I'm starting to realize that there's an awful lot of talent on this ship. Down in engineering we do see our share of progress, but sometimes it feels like reinventing the wheel. You know... fighting tooth and nail for a tenth of a percent increase in efficiency." Natalya admitted, sheepishly admitting some of her struggles. "It must be exciting to see so many new ideas. Or at least glimpses of them." She imagined many of the of the scientists could be quite secretive about their research. Practically everyone was warned at the academy to not even show their mother a first draft.

Oren chuckled. "It is. Occasionally they let me see the title of their research paper," he joked, leaning in as he said it, as if bragging. "I don't know anything about Engineering. As far as I know, the ship might as well run on faith, trust and pixie dust." Oren's complete lack of talent (and interest) in Engineering used to be a sore spot for him, but now Oren wasn't nearly as bothered by people holding their heads when he spouted some nonsense about how a warp engine worked or what made the ship go. It felt liberating, not wanting to know something. Considering how much he overthought most things in his daily life, knowing how a ship ran would probably just keep him up at night, sick with worry that something might go wrong.

"Pixie dust..." Natalya said with a soft laugh, shaking her head. "You know, I always get at least one new person a year to train who seems convinced that the ship responds best to tender loving care. And I tell them... you think like that, the ship will swallow you whole. They demand a constant sacrifice of sweat, muscle, and the blood of dragons." Natalya grinned as they reached the entrance to the lounge. The doors opened a split second before they should have, signaling that someone was about to leave.

"Ladies first." The man who'd just been leaving said in gentlemanly fashion, looking at Natalya as he made way.

"Well, you heard the man." Natalya said to Oren, giving her a gentle push on the arm as she'd been leading the way. She returned the courtesy by offering the man a smile.

Oren and the man at the door exchanged a slightly confused look between them before Oren made his way through the door. While he appreciated the gesture, he knew it was on a false perception so he waited for both himself and Natalya to sit down before addressing it.

"I get the feeling you may have gotten the wrong idea. I can't be a lady. I appreciate the gesture greatly, but I'm not a woman," he told her calmly, sipping his newly replicated drink. Although Oren made a point to not see himself as either a man or a woman in a social sense, he couldn't help but be more comfortable being seen as male rather than female. It was simply a fact he couldn't deny.

Natalya was surprised at the revelation, but not totally shocked. There had been a bit of ambiguity there, but the way how Oren wore his uniform and presented himself led her to believe that he was female... or at least a male with feminine qualities. It had been a coin toss really, and she'd picked the wrong side. Well, at least there was no ambiguity now.

Some people might have gotten hung up on the moment, but Natalya had been shut down by enough straight women to have more than a passing familiarity with the aftermath. "Well, there's a first time for everything." She said, raising her glass in salute.

Oren grinned, raising his glass in response. "I know I present myself a little differently than most human males, so it can be confusing," he explained needlessly.

"So, do you have any experience working with androids or other forms of AI? I know there's an exocomp down in Engineering. It's adorable."

"Not much, I'm afraid. Nothing beyond the standard onboard computer system. From an academic standpoint I have been keeping abreast of developments through published works, but I don't have much in the way of first-hand experience." Though it was regrettable that Natalya wouldn't be as well equipped to deal with that aspect of the mission, AI development was well outside of her realm of expertise. She couldn't be expected to know everything... just like how an astrophysicist couldn't be expected to be an expert on exobiology.

"I did get to meet Doctor Farallon once when she spoke at Starfleet Academy though. I do have some familiarity with exocomps. It's a privilege to have Copper with us." Though Natalya was a bit leery of AIs and synthetic lifeforms, the exocomps had been around for over two decades now and they had gained a good reputation for being skilled and reliable... if a bit quirky.

"I find the idea of an AI fascinating!" Oren gushed. "One species created by another is an incredibly unique anthropological concept to observe. I've never gotten the chance to speak to one before. I tried talking to Copper once, but he just kept beeping and backing away from me." At the last, Oren gave a visible pout, obviously frustrated with the exocomp's behaviour.

Natalya nodded sympathetically at the last bit. Copper was an outstanding engineer and she had no problems at all with his performance or behavior, but communicating with him on a more personal level could be difficult. She accepted Copper, and the several holographic entities in service aboard the ship, but personally she didn't approve of creating them. Creating a synthetic lifeform also created a new evolutionary paradigm, and providing a crucible to test and improve upon those creations was the sort of interference skirted dangerously close to a violation of the Prime Directive.

"I wouldn't take it personally. We make it so easy to show when it's not a good time to talk. Perhaps one day you'll catch him at a better time."

"Is that possible? Do exocomps have moods? Emotions?" His youthful face settling into a contemplative frown, Oren seemed to disconnect from the conversation for the moment as he thought about the possibility of an exocomp genuinely disliking him.

"I'm... not... sure." Natalya said, clearly hesitating with her answer. The exocomps had been around for over twenty years now, but people still didn't know a lot about them. And like other sentient constructs they had protected rights and it probably wasn't easy trying to study them. There were some things about Copper that she did know, however. "He's like us though. "He has a job that he wants to do well, and he's got a way of doing things that works for him. Maybe... you've just got to do things his way. Send a request to connect and share data. Like computers do." Natalya shrugged.

"Engineering to Kirilova" Natalya's commbadge chirping interrupted the moment. One of her newest crewmembers was on the line.

"Go ahead."

There was a tangible pause before the man replied.

"Ma'am, there's been an... incident. Could you come to engineering?"

Natalya sighed, and sent Oren an apologetic smile. "I'm sorry." She said as she stood from the table. "On my way."

[OFF]

Lieutenant Oren Idris
Chief Research Officer
USS Galileo

Lieutenant JG Natalya Kirilova
Chief Engineering Officer
USS Galileo

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