=/\= Messhall, 0530 hours =/\=
Neyes cradled his right arm carefully as he made his way into the mess of the small vessel ferrying them across Romulan space. He'd woken up to some kind of itchy feeling in his bicep, and a shooting pain had wracked his entire right arm immediately thereafter. At the time he thought it was just a muscle spasm, which were far too frequent since his surgery, but his arm failed to perform even menial functions in the minutes following the pain. He had naturally concluded that his implant that maintained his right arm's muscular ability was acting up, but he wasn't entirely sure the Quantum Fury's medical staff was up to his high standards of care. In an attempt to soothe and care for it himself, he decided a little relaxation in the mess was as good a solution as any other he could come up with.
He continued to rub his arm gently as he shuffled over to the replicator. "Hot cocoa, with a little kick."
The computer quickly, but not surprisingly, bounced back a contrary statement. "Please rephrase the request."
Neyes smiled a little at how a computer advanced as theirs couldn't even identify the subtleties of language. In truth he shouldn't still be surprised, but he couldn't help but enjoy the vacant humor of being an engineer of something that was so conflicted in its usefulness. Everything had to have a flaw, of course. A replicator receiver that could act similar to a real waiter or bartender would be nice, though. In this case, he didn't really have the patience to deal with the needy conditions of the computer. His arm was pulsing painfully, and he needed something to bring down the sting a little. "Simply put I want it to contain Synthehol. Surprise me."
As if suddenly relenting to his garish request, the replicator shimmered a tall and steaming mug of something delicious. Landon's lips pressed together as he imagined drinking his new beverage. With his good arm, he retrieved his new treasure and turned to find the most comfortable spot in the room to unwind for a little while. The room was dark, and a little smaller than he was used to, but the view of their warp travel was just as relaxing as any larger starship.
"You're up early." Auden had finished a double-shift in sickbay and had decided to get a cup of warm hot-chocolate and gather his thoughts before heading to bed. He wasn't sure how he was convinced to cover two shifts but it felt nice to be back to thinking like a doctor after more than a month off. Auden was genuinely surprised to find someone else up at this hour who was not working the night shift. The room may have been dimly lit but he could tell the man was extremely attractive and dressed rather casually.
"Oh. I'm sorry." Landon's brow shot up as he spotted the young man sitting across the room from him. "I didn't know anyone else was in here." A little laugh slipped out, realizing he'd been so wrapped up in himself since waking up, that he'd forgotten to notice anything else. It was dark in the room, but he was a little surprised he hadn't noticed the guy. His short blonde hair was darkly illuminated and he held what looked like something similar to Landon's own beverage. Landon took the chance that he'd be willing to share the space for a little while, and made his way over. Since he hadn't expected to run into anyone of note, Landon was still his his pajama bottoms and his fitted shirt with a little fish on it. It had been a gift from a friend at the Academy, and he'd taken to wearing it again in the last few months.
'Oh goodness. Of course he's coming over here and I probably look like hell after the day I've had!' Auden offered Landon a crooked smile as he quickly brushed his hand through his hair and fixed his posture. After having regained his composure he extended a free hand in greeting. "Doctor Auden Anderson."
"Oh Doctor?" Landon chimed. He'd been forced to get used to the idea of waiting until tomorrow to have his arm looked at. With the newfound Doctor, though, perhaps he wouldn't need to wait that long. It was against his usual MO to just ask for favors immediately after meeing someone new, so he decided it would be best to just sit and talk. He seemed nice enough, after all. Landon smiled thoughtfully as he noticed the young doctor trying to clean himself up.
Auden nodded. He decided a long time ago that introducing himself as a doctor seemed to allow for most people to connect with him better. The onjly down fall was that it could sound more formal than he would have liked at times.
Shuffling, Landon put down his drink and sat next to Auden. He quickly smiled and held out his hand. "Landon Neyes. I'll be the new Chief Engineer on Charon. Although I'm not sure how that's going to turn out..."
"Oh really?" Auden smiled, gently shaking Landon's hand. "And why are you having doubts about this working out?" He looked over the man again, able to see now the Trill spots running down both sides of his head. He was thankful that he had finally met an Engineer. Far too often Auden was finding himself with a broke piece of technology and not being tech savvy he was often left inconvenienced by this fault. Perhaps knowing the Chief Engineer of Charon could work in his favor someday.
Neyes took a couple moments to sink further into his chair, sipping his drink to get comfortable. "Well I'm really more of a pilot, to be honest." He admitted. "Starfleet decided, in their infinite wisdom, that given my experience with advanced and experimental drive systems... I'd be more useful in a gold collar. It's fine though. I can disassemble and rebuild a shuttle's warp drive in less than a day, so I suppose I'm qualified." Landon's voice was confident, but he allowed some of his cautious attitude about the assignment to seep through. It was no secret in his previous postings that he was an accomplished engineer, but he had always had a passion for being at the helm. This was definitely a new experience.
Auden could sense the cofidence in the way Landon spoke, "In one day? That's impressive." The doctor recalled the horrors of basic warp mechanics from the Academy, he had managed to barely scave his way through it. "Have you had experience leading a department before?" Auden wondered if maybe Landon was having doubts because this was his first time as a department head.
"I've been a senior officer since my first deep space assignment, but the flight control departments on Starships are usually small with just a few people. It'll be interesting to have so many underlings." He smiled deviously. "What about you? You specialize in anything or are you here for the excitement of Romulan intrigue."
"I'm just a medical doctor." Auden gave Landon another crooked smile, "I have done a lot of research work involving cures for rare deseases and write a lot of medical journals. Nothing as grandeur in comparison to being an Engineer." He was a modest individual and didn't want Landon to think he was some stuck up smart-ass. His attention was drawn to the lower part of Landon's arm now where there seemed to be some sort of bionetic implant.
"Sorry to be so bold Landon but may I ask what these are for?" Auden was a very tactile individual, without even thinking his fingers lightly touched Landon's arm, where a bionectic implant was showing.
Having almost forgotten the ache in his arm, Landon looked down at the implant running through it. Although it was much more extensive that what was visible, two curved cylinders moved around his tricep and disappeared into the skin. Small flexible metal plates reinforced his damaged skin where scarring failed to form, and metal rods were visible moving from his forearm and into the ligaments of his hand. He flexed his right hand slightly, and cringed as the pain resurfaced. "About half a year ago I was shot in a battle with the Cardassians. Trying to save Mr. Lansine, actually." His voice was a little softer, and he pointed to a spot near his bicep. "I was hit right here. The shot obliterated most of the nerve fibers and as a result I lost all function in this arm. They would have given me a prosthetic, but the shock of losing a limb would have been too hard on the symbiont, so they put in this implant to return mobility and strength. It's a little unsightly, but it has increased the strength in this arm three-fold, and I can use it again."
"It adds character." Auden lightly touched the implant again and then quickly retracted his hand, thinking he was being too invasive for having just met this man. The story was an intriguing one, he was not all too familiar with Trill physiology beyond the basics but he could understand as to why the physicians had gone with the implants as Neyes explained.
Neyes nodded and held out his arm. "Would you actually mind taking a quick look at it? If that's alright I mean, I don't want to impose. You're off duty so feel free to say no. It's just it's been hurting like a son of a bitch and I'm scared to even tinker with it." Naturally he was probably qualified to take a look at the mechanical components, it was the biological part that unnerved him.
"You're in pain?" Auden looked at Landon, genuinely concerned. He was maternal of such things and immediately got up from the table, walking over to the corner of the room where a small med-kit could be found. Most central rooms on board Starfleet vessels had med-kits hidden in them somewhere, it could mean the difference between life and death in some situations. The young doctor brought the kit over to the table and set it down, pulling out the medical tricorder.
"This shouldn't take too long." He flipped the device open and initiate a number of basic physiological scans, making sure to compensate for the non-biological components as well. "Well. I believe it's more biological than it is mechanical. There are a few bundles of free nerve endings being stimulated by the electro-chemical functions of your bionetic implant, what used to be pain receptors I believe. How long has this been happening? Do you regulate the functioning of the implants often or have changed adjusted the frequency in the last little while?"
Neyes cringed a little as Auden scanned his possible injury. The pain wasn't unbearable, but it was apparently keeping him awake, which was annoying enough to justify asking for help. He smiled. "Like I said, I won't touch it. Doctors only I'm afraid." A small moment passed as Landon watched the young man tinker with the interface by his bicep, then took out a couple instruments and began working. He always though it was a strange place to have an interface, but he wasn't a doctor, so he'd simply accepted it as the best place to have it. The pain slowly started to dim, and Landon felt the implant adjust slightly, then settle comfortably back into some unfelt region of his arm. Landon laughed a little in amazement that the doc was able to fix it up so quickly.
"This shouldn't take too long." He flipped the device open and initiate a number of basic physiological scans, making sure to compensate for the non-biological components as well. "Well. I believe it's more biological than it is mechanical. There are a few bundles of free nerve endings being stimulated by the electro-chemical functions of your bionetic implant, what used to be pain receptors I believe. How long has this been happening? Do you regulate the functioning of the implants often or have changed adjusted the frequency in the last little while?"
Neyes cringed a little as Auden scanned his possible injury. The pain wasn't unbearable, but it was apparently keeping him awake, which was annoying enough to justify asking for help. He smiled. "Like I said, I won't touch it. Doctors only I'm afraid." A small moment passed as Landon watched the young man tinker with the interface by his bicep, then took out a couple instruments and began working. He always though it was a strange place to have an interface, but he wasn't a doctor, so he'd simply accepted it as the best place to have it. The pain slowly started to dim, and Landon felt the implant adjust slightly, then settle comfortably back into some unfelt region of his arm. Landon laughed a little in amazement that the doc was able to fix it up so quickly.
"Ah. You're a life-saver, Doc!" Wide-eyed, Neyes beamed and held out his arm, flexing his hand freely. "I'll be sure to recommend you to my friends." He joked playfully.
Auden smiled. "Glad I could be of help."
Before they could continue their conversation, an alarm went off indicating the ship had gone to alert status. He couldn't imagine it was good, because it either meant they'd dropped out of their stealth, or Romulans were somehow involved. Landon looked at himself in his PJs and figured it'd take him a few minutes to report to a station if he was going to get into a real uniform. With a thankful expression Neyes stood and turned to Auden. He firmly gripped the other man's shoulder and gave it a little rub. "Thanks again, Doc. Err... Auden. We'll have to finish this later, I guess."
Auden wondered why the alarm would be sounding. "Of course." He offered Landon a small smile before the two made their leave of the mess hall.
=/\= End Joint Log =/\=
Lieutenant Junior Grade
Auden Anderson, MD
Medical Officer
Uss Charon
&
Ensign
Landon Neyes
Chief Engineer
Uss Charon
