Electric Dreams and Bacterial Schemes

Posted on Fri Oct 20th, 2023 @ 5:02pm by Lieutenant Marikit "Kit" Urso & Lieutenant JG Orion Wolff
Edited on on Fri Oct 20th, 2023 @ 5:04pm

Mission: S1 Episode 6: Joy and Ashes
Location: Science Lab; Gladius
Timeline: Date 2371-09-01 at 1500
4683 words - 9.4 OF Standard Post Measure

ON

Orion was quietly musing over the auxiliary battery he'd developed to help ease the power strain their tiny ship was under as he made his way to Main Engineering. He was hoping to find Kit there so they could discuss the redesign process; the PaDD he was carrying had the schematics since the bacteria could prove dangerous; they had always faced enough of that without adding other variables to the circumstances. Though he had to carry himself down here since it seemed their Chief Engineer didn't check her messages or had her hands full with one thing or another.

So it was that he stepped into Engineering and began looking around, moving up to one of the few slaves they still had present on the ship. "Where is the Chief Engineer?" He spoke firmly but without condescension in his tone. An enslaved person was a slave; there was no need to speak down to them.

The slave jumped slightly, having been taken unaware, and then immediately bowed his head to Orion and took up the typical subservient stance. "Mistress is up on the second level, Master."

"As you were." He offered, giving no further thought as he moved to ascend to the second level and began to look for Urso, there weren't many places up here that she could hide, but he also didn't specifically know what her work schedule was like given that she always seemed to be fixing or re-routing something.

Kit was indeed upstairs, currently sitting on the deck in a semi open area with a scattering of components around her, a tool in her hand, and some sort of amalgamation of machinery growing in front of her crossed legs. She was quite focused on what she was doing and nothing would take it from her. The past couple of evenings had been fun, but they too lay forgotten in the face of whatever project she was working on.

It seemed her crew knew to leave her be lest they be roped into it somehow. There was literally no one around her.

Orion wasn't out off by the chaos surrounding their Chief Engineer, in fact he needed to drag her out of said chaos to get their project done. So mustering himself to the task, he strode over to where she sat and cleared his throat to get her attention.

"Lieutenant Urso, I need a moment of your time." He spoke up while looking and watching her work.

“What do you want, Wolff?” Kit asked without looking up from what she was doing. She bit her lower lip as she worked a small component into the larger mass with her fingers, then there was a pop and she pulled them back with a hiss while she shook her hand.

“Yeah well fuck you too, I don’t particularly like you either.”


"Charming as ever," He replied, his nose wrinkling a little at the suddenly overpowering stench of ozone. "Have you received any of my messages about the battery project?"

"Oh I'm very sorry, your royal lordship, that my manners affect you so negatively." Kit rolled her eyes slightly and wiggled her fingers a bit then tapped them together. "No, I've been rather busy."

"I don't suppose you have a minute to look over the schematics I have of the prototype I built?" He replied, moving past her sarcasm while holding PADD out to her. "I built the prototype for the battery and I'm sure there are ways it could be improved."

Instead of answering, Kit turned her head and looked up at him, then back down at the mess on the deck, then back up with her brows lifted high in an "are you serious right now" expression. It wasn't like she didn't like Wolff, but she often thought he felt his social status made him a candidate for priority treatment.

"How about a tit for tat? I give you a hand with what...ever this mess is, you take a look at the project." Orion held her gaze, not having missed the incredulous look she'd given him, he knew sometimes if you wanted something, you had to give something.

“Yeah no offense but I wouldn’t trust you with this mostly because I wouldn’t want it blowing up in your hand. People would be mad and it would just be a mess to clean up.” She pulled herself up on the deck and up to her feet, wiping her hands on her hips. “You’ll have to owe me some other way.”

Orion narrowed his eyes as he considered this since he typically didn't like leaving someone with an open-ended favor and Kit Urso was merely unpredictable at the best of times, an entropic force of chaos at the worst. "I suppose that's acceptable, though I refuse to be roped into shenanigans. I hate shenanigans." He stated firmly while offering her the PADD with the schematics on it so she could look them over.

"Woof, you are way too boring for my brand of shenanigans anyways." Kit smirked and shrugged at him, seeming quite like she was joking but she was in fact serious. This was a man who was too uptight to know how to have fun, and while she usually had an interest in rectifying that, she really had none in this case. "So did you bring it here or am I coming with you?"

"I left it in my lab, unless you'd rather me bring a potentially deadly and energy hungry bacteria into Engineering," He replied with a touch of dry sarcasm in his voice before he continued. "Then I realized if it killed you and I lived, you'd haunt me for the rest of my life and I have a feeling there would be many regrets."

He was walking and talking, leading the way out of Engineering.

"Well how the fuck am I supposed to know what you're doing in your evil genius lair, Woof? You're damn right about the haunting though. You'd never get a full night's sleep ever again. You know what in fact that sounds fun in general, maybe I'll just do that when I die regardless." She shot back at him and moved to follow him out while she barked out a few orders to her people.

"Uh huh," Orion quirked a brow at the woman, waiting for her to stop barking the orders to her people. "So just haunting people in general or me specifically?"

"Just you, why not? You seem like you could use a friend." She poked at him and continued to walk behind him, her arms crossed under her very modest chest.

Orion didn't know how to respond to that given that she was right of course, he could use a friend, but he also didn't let himself make many, hell he'd been so focused on getting this position that he'd done little more than make casual acquaintances with people when they were back in the Alpha Quadrant. "Though I'm assuming the desire to give me a friend would also be for your own amusement as well."

“I’m loathe to miss a good opportunity to harass your type, yeah.” Kit grinned. “Maybe help you get that stick out of your noble ass while we’re at it, hm?”

"Good to know that you have set goals for yourself." He replied and looked over at her as they walked. "You're the kind of person I was warned never to mix with, the kind with too many subversive ideas floating around in your head."

While it was true he'd been warned about mixing with those from a lower status, things were different here and he knew he needed to relax, but he also wondered what would happen if he did that. Would his world come tumbling down all around him or would the galaxy keep working the way it always had? It was a little frustrating being the son of a Dominion Lord and the expectations set upon his shoulders.

Better known as the stick up his noble ass.

"What would you suggest about removing that exactly?"

“Being social is a good first step. Not looking down your nose at people is another. Just be… normal. You’re not a lord here anymore, you know? Who is there to lord over anymore?” She waved her hands slightly.

Orion made a slight face at her suggestions since it went against everything that had been drilled into him by his father and his tutor's that he had to be an example of the Empire beyond what others in the uniform might think. He didn't immediately reply as he led the way to his lab, considering Kit's words. A moment later they stepped into his work area after he'd unlocked it and they stepped back towards the work station where the battery was still connected. It was large and a bit ungainly but it was functioning as he stepped to the side as he waited for his companion to look it over.

"Your thoughts?"

"Well it is possibly one of the ugliest pieces of engineering I've ever seen and that's saying something." Kit sighed and shook her head as she walked over to the battery and knelt down next to it so she could inspect it more closely. "Tell me about it. No I didn't read a damn report you've sent me, I've been a little busy making sure we don't just fall apart."

"It meant to replace or supplement our auxiliary batteries and secondary power systems, as well as taking some of the strain off the warp core." He began, resisting the urge to sigh in exasperation at her statement, but he knew that wouldn't get them anywhere. "Its power cell is renewable, I managed to finally find a way to use the energy-devouring bacteria we found before our esteemed captain so nobly died in battle,"

"If my math is correct, this should be able to function on par with our auxiliary batteries, though with the benefit of having a more readily available power source." Orion offered up, proud of what he had made while watching her inspecting. "Though the bacteria are dangerous to life forms as they can feed off the electric impulses our bodies produce naturally, though to avoid something disastrous happening I used the design for the casing of the nadion power cells of our phasers to provide as much protection as possible."

"So they are energy-devouring and energy producing? What are you feeding them to sustain them?" She asked, poking at the battery with a finger as if some information might come out of it - or maybe she was trying to see if it would simply fall apart.

When she touched it, nothing particularly happened. It continued to hum with life, producing power and feeding into his work station, which appeared to be running at full power instead of the half or quarter power some systems were forced to run on the ship. "Yes, it's a bit of a paradox but as they feed off of a source of energy they produce a significant charge, which is how we discovered them in the first place, but the colony is being fed from a small plasma charge cell, not very efficient by modern standards but perfect for this project since they are easy to produce and we have a surplus of them even in out current situation."

“Hm okay… they’ve taken to it well I see. Are there any negative effects on them that you’ve found?” She asked. Despite being ugly, the functionality was impressive and she already had sparks of ideas forming in her head.

"And how dangerous are they exactly?"

"No negative effects that I've been able to see, eventually we will have to switch out the batteries in order to rehome the colonies since if they grow too large, they can cause an overload." Orion answered while watching the woman sitting in front of his device.

"They can be quite lethal if someone is exposed to them and they don't receive anti-radiation treatment within an hour or so of exposure," He explained while wondering what she might have in mind for the device. "Exposure to a humanoid results in eventual total shutdown of the body due to lack of an electrical charge flowing through the body."

"What exactly is 'eventual' in your book? Like if I were to crack this open right now and shove my hands into it, what would happen to me?" She asked, looking up at him and quirking a brow.

"Well, that I'd ask you to really not do, but total shutdown of the body can take between one to two hours," He furrowed his brow while watching their Engineer. "Exposure would feel like when your hand goes to sleep, which would progress over that time to a total lack of sensation until the bacteria eventually reaches your brain, at that point there's no chance of recovery, the shows over as they say, at that point."

"Though if you were exposed, you would have about a two hour window in which to get treatment with anti-radiation drugs, which can actually kill the bacteria as it stops them from being able to properly consume energy, but I'd still not recommend it since the treatments are...unpleasant."

"Yeah, Woof, I'm not stupid I'm not going to actually shove my hand into it but we will inevitably at some point have to deal with some sort of breach where these little fucks will be all over the place and I want to make sure no one gets killed." Kit rolled her eyes. "If they were to preempt with some sort of anti-radiation medication, do you think that would make a difference?"

"Only speculation but it should help delay the onset of infection, but I don't have enough data to say conclusively if it would prevent it." He sighed as she used the nickname that she'd decided on for him, he wasn't sure if she did that because she liked him or if she knew it annoyed him.

"Should probably consult the doctor about it." She said and finally stood up, rubbing the back of her neck then her face. "Have you tested what happens if you stick them in a really small box and then multiply to a point where they don't fit in the box anymore?"

"Yes I have, if the box is meant to contain an energy source or is properly sealed the colony can't escape but is soon followed by a rather spectacular explosion spreading bacteria and shrapnel everywhere." Orion nodded as he focused on the battery for a moment before looking up at Kit.

"Though that would take months of unchecked growth, at least according to my simulations since this was all done with predictive models and time on the holodeck."

"And if there's some sort of energy surge that the colony is exposed to? What happens then?" She leaned in close to the battery, not even looking at Orion at the moment.

"The colony becomes hyper charged, there will be an increased power output, but also a significant growth in the colony and we would need to check on the power cells as soon as possible."

"Sure but is it possible for them to grow rapidly enough that we don't get the chance to check the cell, it blows up, and then we have the little shitters everywhere?" Kit half asked, half mused.

"It's possible, but if that were to happen we'd need to act quickly to ensure they didn't compromise the power systems and get to the warp core at that point since that would be a very bad time for everyone." He offered, quirking a brow at her though he wasn't sure why he was still letting himself be surprised by Kit's attitude about things and manner of speech. "But I'd say that it would have to be a significant power surge to cause that to happen, or multiple power surges."

"Oh hells no these aren't going anywhere near main engineering." Kit chuckled out and shook her head. "I have too many other things to worry about other than your science experiment going wrong and killing my whole staff before eating the warp core."

"Any thoughts about the unit? Improvements or suggestions on how you think they should be deployed?" Orion nodded with her, he wouldn't want these anywhere near the warp core but he was curious to see how Kit would want them deployed around the ship.

“I think I have a couple of places we could shove them to try them out and I have some ideas of how to make them more… streamlined.” She ended politely for once and looked at him. “How many types of energy have you tried with them?”

"Plasma, antimatter, solar radiation, nadions, and a tetryon stream, all on the holodeck but the bacteria responded most positively to plasma and solar radiation." He moved to grab a PADD to look over his notes and make sure that he hadn't forgotten anything. "Tetryon was difficult for the colony to process, but the bacteria was able to sustain themselves off it, just not thriving and nadions was a suitable energy source for them but given that our own needs for it I thought it best to be something that we could more easily produce and have on hand."

Kit gave a pensive sound at that information and tapped her lower lip a few times. “Tell me more about what happens with the tetryon option. You say they sustain but not thrive; what do you mean by that?”

"When exposed to tetryon, the bacteria at first acted normal, but as time when on I noticed that they weren't producing nearly as much energy output and there was no further growth from the colony, it was as if they didn't have enough food to do more than merely maintain their current size." He explained to her while pulling up the results of the tetryon trials and offering her the PADD.

"Eventually the bacteria went into a state of hibernation, so I wrote off Tetryon as a possible energy source since it would also require the ability to produce exotic particles, which we are lacking on a large scale at the present."

“Mmm alright, that won’t work then. How long does solar radiation sustain them?” She asked, obviously still considering the device before her.

"As long as they have a steady supply, indefinitely since that is their natural food source," Orion moved to take a seat after bringing chairs over for them. "What are you thinking?"

“Say they don’t have a steady source, how long?” She clarified, mildly irked she needed to but not dwelling on it.

"If we are drawing off of them for power, they are able to go for about two weeks before they enter a state of hibernation until they are provided a new food source." He supplied frowning as he pondered the idea of just sustaining them off of the occasional recharge from a solar source. "I don't know how well they would function as a power source for the battery without something for them to feed off of though."

"Well, I was considering if we could use them with solar power, but stopping every two weeks seems... inconvenient to say the least. Though I suppose that would depend on how long exactly it would take to feed them." Kit sighed and got up, wandering around the room. "It's good work though, Woof."

She would find his space was neat and well organized, nothing out of place and everything in its place, there were a few things here and there but for the most part it certainly wasn't a disaster area. "Well we could switch to solar power, recharging should only take a couple of hours, or maybe we could find a way to tie them into the power feed from the solar sail directly..."

He watched her moving around his space as he wondered what she thought of the room, whether it was what she expected or if she found it too tidy and clean for her tastes, not looking like someone had been living and working in the space.

"It would just be a much less precarious solution than plasma, though given I'd likely have to use plasma as a back up, perhaps it just isn't worth the effort." She said and sighed and then looked back to Orion directly. "Sure wish we didn't have to worry about blowing up the ship."

She grinned at him then, obviously joking.

"Yes, I think everyone would prefer if we kept the ship intact, since all of our stuff is here." He gave her a little smirk while moving over to where she stood. "We could cut out the plasma feed all together if they had a dedicated solar feed, less complicated perhaps."

“We could but that would require us to make stops, probably, and I don’t trust people not to get irritated about that.” Kit said, thought for a moment, then shrugged. “But maybe they just need to be told to go fuck themselves.”

"Is that one of your many solutions to problems? That they can go fuck themselves?" He questioned her, serious but also trying to be more relaxed and conversational with her.

“You’d be surprised how often it works.” She grinned and shrugged once more. “I’ll see what I can come up with to fix this and I’ll send it your way, alright?”

"That sounds like a plan and I'm looking forward to what you send, it should be interesting." He offered with a chuckle while nodding to her before deciding to try and be more friendly with her.

"Would you like to have a drink before you go?"

“Oh so you do know how to have fun.” Kit teased him and took a step closer. It wasn’t like she disliked Orion, but he may as well have been from an entirely different world. In a way he was she supposed, the line between the common people and the nobility was a stark one.

“What do you have?”

"Every once in a while us noble snobs know how to cut loose," He teased her back while moving to gather up the bottle of spirits he'd made, having words to drop how strong the alcohol came off, letting the infused flavors of the blueberry flavor come through. "Been working on making alcohol, finally managed to get it where it doesn't taste like something you'd clean plasma injectors with...still got a kick but got hints of blueberry in this one."

He poured out a few fingers of the clear liquid into a pair of glasses. He didn't dislike Kit, but her brashness and disregard for his station gave him pause since he wasn't used to a commoner acting that way around him.

"Alright let's have a taste." She said and took the glass though didn't immediately sip it. Instead her face twisted up like she was trying to decide something, then finally she spoke again.

"You say you know how to let loose, hm? What is the craziest thing you've ever done then, Lord Woof?"

"The craziest thing? Are we grading on my metric or yours?" He tilted his head to the side as he moved to take a seat, using his foot to push the other over to Kit. "And Orion is fine, Lord Woof would be my father,"

He smirked and sipped his drink, taking a little small pleasure in thinking about the look of irritation at being called that, though he was sure that Kit had seen that on his face more than a few times when she called him Woof. "There was the time at the Imperial Academy that I filled one of the labs with Elephant Paste just because I thought it would be hilarious, help me with a further metric."

"Oh come on, Woof. You have to have something better than that." Kit rolled her eyes. What a stick in the mud. "If that is the craziest thing you've done by anyone's metric it's no wonder you're so dull and stuck up."

He considered her remark and knew that what he'd given her was a fairly lame answer, but they were as far away from Imperial Space as one could physically get. No one involved in the incident was on the ship, and they weren't likely to return to Earth where Kit might encounter any of them, so what was the harm in telling her about it now?

He took a sip from his glass before swirling the rest around for a moment. "There was an incident when I was younger, thirteen or fourteen, I ended up getting into a fight with the son of one of the nobles of Africa, bloody lip, broken nose...nothing serious. The son had a prize boat, made all from real wood."

He gave her the details about real wood to help give Kit an idea of the value of the boat before he continued. "He and his friends were keen on trying to catch me out when I was alone, jump me. So I knew how much the boat meant to him so I snuck down to the docks and stole it, sailing it off to a place I knew." He continued after a moment, sipping his drink and looked over at her, considering the memories the story brought up. "I took my time rigging it to burst into flames before I called my rival and let him know where the boat was and waited until he was almost to the boat before setting off the chemical charge that would set everything on fire and stood by watching the boat burn."

That was more like it. Maybe there was some hope for the man after all. Kit grinned and took a sip of her drink, finding it strong but pleasant in flavor. It could still use some improving, but it wasn't bad - especially if someone just wanted to get drunk. "Well, that's what he got for being a dick."

"That was my thinking and my father felt it was an appropriate object lesson for the African noble's son. If there is something you prize, keep it protected or keep it secret, I enjoyed the way the flames shifted color because of the chemicals I used, a rather brilliant display." He offered while taking another drink from his glass.

"Dare I ask what the craziest thing that you've done is?"

"No... no you don't." Kit laughed and grinned, shaking her head. "It involved a pineapple, some fishing line, and some unfortunate pilot cadets who lost a bet at dom-jot."

"Now color me intrigued." He smirked while arching an eyebrow after she had mentioned this particular incident to him just now as he shifted to pick up the large beaker he had used for brewing his moonshine and refilled their glasses since he was having a good enough time with Kit now that he was relaxing.

Kit opened her mouth to start, but was cut off by a call on the comms. "Osborn to Urso. Lieutenant, we could use you back in engineering. We are having trouble with the coil alignments."

Sighing, Kit shook her head. "I'll be right there."

She slid out of her chair and flashed a smile to Orion. "Well, guess you'll never know. Need anything else before I go, Woof?"

"Nothing else, though I'll hold you to telling me that story." He smirked and downed the last of his drink before moving to stand, taking a moment to tidy after himself and Urso.

“Uh huh. We’ll see. See you around then, Woof. I’ll get those suggestions to you as soon as I’m able.” Kit didn’t wait for him to reply and instead gave a mildly dismissive wave over her shoulder as she walked out. Time to save the ship from falling apart.

Again.

END