Hey Guys
The past month has been tough. As you all know I am a university student who is trying to complete pre-medical coursework for PA or if I decide to, medical school. I am very busy with my curriculum but not only that I also volunteer extensively in my local community both in terms of animal rescue and people who are down on their luck. Because of all of this I am insanely busy and the sim has suffered. I originally intended to step down however after speaking to some of you and I-Chaya I have decided instead of take a three month hiatus from simming and put the sim in I-Chaya's complete care during that time period.
I urge you all to work with her and bring the sim back to it's strength. During this time period I will remain in an administrative (website, forums) capacity as well as try to develope the sim universe a little more when I do have free time.
When the three month hiatus up I will reevaluate whether or not I can commit in the long term. If not we will collectively decide on the future of the Charon when that time comes.
-Thomas
Sunday, March 20, 2011
Sunday, March 13, 2011
[USS Charon] SD 241103.13 || Character Backlog || "Stressors" Pt. II || LtCmdr. Landon Neyes, NPCs
=/\= Sickbay, USS Charon =/\=
The pile of PADDs had grown slightly in the last hour, as Neyes attempted to assuage his mind by flooding it with distraction. Work was the best option right at that moment, given how there was so much to do now that the warp drive had been officially brought online. Landon was a man on a mission, whether said mission was to repair his broken heart, or to finally repair the Charon once and for all, no one could tell. His face was plain and emotionless with the lines of someone at work. He would read, and then maybe 'Hmmm' every so often. The Engineer wasn't one to talk to himself in quiet situations, and had all but gotten used to the fact someone would be around him at all times.
"You're still there." Neyes said, matter of fact. The real intention was to ask the obvious question, 'why'.
He was, of course, referring to the counselor seated in the corner of the medical bay. Nothing in her hands but the idle motions of a woman trying to crack a puzzle she didn't understand. Her stern and analyzing stares had been cutting a hole in the side of his head for the last two hours as he'd been working. Her dark hair fell down in locks from a tight bun in the back, and her dark eyes seemed to pierce whatever defenses he'd been trying to build between them as she decided when to make her next move. It had been a stand of up until now, you see. Karyna would say something to goat him, coax him, tease him, influence him, or just simply anger him, and Neyes would swat it down from the conversation with frightening apathy. There seemed to be nothing she could say which would allow her to penetrate his steely fortress of brood and mystery.
"Come on." She sighed. Finally appealing to the realist in him. "We've been here for hours. You know you're never going to leave if we don't talk about SOMETHING, so you might as well budge and let me in. Come on. Bring it."
Landon cracked a grin. He liked her, and her unfailing logic merited at least some kind of reward. She had been staring at him for quite a while now, and he admired her determination. "You know I can remember almost everyone I've ever killed?" He said, without turning to face her.
Karyna made a face. "Oh." Not what she had in mind. "How... How does that make you feel?" Silently she kicked herself for chiming in with such a clichéd response.
Neyes slowly set the PADD down, and looked around at her. The cortical monitor on his forhead blinked, the auto-hypo with anti-stimulants poked out from his neck, and the armature implant on his right arm all made him look like some kind of robotic humanoid. He made a little gassy-infant face and squelched his voice as he mocked her. "Oh gee wizz, Doc. It makes me feel all angry and sad and stuff. I can't sleep and the bad people in my head are always making me do bad things! Can you make them go away?"
She pursed her lips in irritation.
He rolled his eyes, realizing it probably wasn't the best time to be poking fun at someone trying to help him. Fine, he thought to himself. You win this round. "Counselor, I just mean... shouldn't killing someone bother me more than losing a relationship? I have killed... T'dhyu... quite a few." The ways he'd killed with daggers alone all seemed to bounce around, adding up to some monstrous number. "It doesn't seem to bother me though. I have ended lives, destroyed realities by stopping someone's existence, annihilating their future, hurting their loved ones and cutting short their potential as animated and sentient beings..."
Karyna, shuffled a little in her seat. "You think that should bother you more? Is it possible killing is just something you see as a job, like a side-effect of protecting someone?"
"You really want to know?" He raised an eyebrow at her, thinking of all the reasons he'd killed people.
She tapped her PADD, "You're not answering my question, Commander."
"OK." He tapped his knee, trying to place his thoughts. There was always this feeling he carried around that killing someone was only necessary if his future or the future of someone he cared about was in jeopardy if he didn't. Only then did he do it if the situation called for it. Obviously anyone capable of firing a phaser was also equally capable of vaporizing him in his sleep, but they had to give him a reason. A serious threat, or a fight. Maybe a war. The brutal and unceremonious murder of his Mother, Father, and baby Brother, for instance.
"Yes. But why do I remember them? I can recall dates, faces, names. At least when I knew their names. It's not because I'm proud of it, but I also don't really feel remorse. It's one of the more interesting parts of being joined, I suppose. I get to recall all the bad things along with the good. You'd think after all this time, all the adventures and all the wars, that Neyes would forget SOMETHING. But I remember everyone. And it doesn't bother me. Honestly it's just something I've learned to accept."
Karyna nodded, "So what does bother you?"
Landon seemed to grow uncomfortable and rigid. "What if this is what it means to live this long? What if I lose touch. Say I just keep having these things happen to me over the next couple centuries and eventually I just don't give a shit anymore? Do I want to live a life like that? At first it's exciting to know that once you're done with this life you get to do it all over again, learning from the past and moving forward. Now though... it just seems like I'm weaving my way through a life of disappointments."
"Are you disappointed with your life? Or with Landon's." She started to lean forward a little. He'd suddenly popped, and apparently once he started talking, it was all she could do to keep up.
"I feel silly asking this question. But I guess after all this time I still don't understand what the point of it all is. I'd love to say I'm some iconic temple of wisdom and knowledge, but it just isn't true. At my age you start to compare everything to what you've already done. Because let's face it, I've been most places, seen most species, I speak nine languages, and I can calculate a manual jump to warp in half the time it took anyone else in my class. I know a lot. I know what life feels like. Death has jammed it's angry fist up my backside so many times now I can't remember what it feels like to be in a place where I don't worry about someone trying to kill me.
"I fall in love with an amazing woman, human, interestingly enough, and then she vanishes from my life. Out of all the things I can think of that happen, I only get upset when someone that means something to me gets hurt. Shouldn't I be enlightened enough to care about everyone?"
"I think you're putting too much pressure on yourself, Commander. Even humans know that they can't be caught up in the issues of everyone. It's too much for anyone, even you. Just because you have the experience of centuries doesn't mean you're any different on the inside than the host you carries you. You're really only 26, don't forget that. Your next host will be young, probably too, and you'll have to face that all over again."
Landon rubbed the palm of his hand against his short hair. "I don't know if I want to, or if I can. I guess, that's what I'm feeling."
Karyna leaned back a little. The conversation had taken a darker spin, and she hand't exactly been expecting it. From what the crew had said, Landon was a bastion of integrity and work ethic even with the drugs. The sudden introduction of the possibility of a suicide was something she would not have been ready to peg on him, and probably would have thought it nearly impossible. Trill were basically conditioned tanks. Their bodies were prepared both mentally and physically to care for their culture's most important articles, the Symbionts. Taking one's own life would be an unforgivable grievance against the honor and pride of their race. If it was the Neyes symbiont's gesture, however, he'd need to be referred to a specialist. A Trill psychologist, maybe.
She blinked as she suddenly noticed he was staring at her in annoyance. She'd drifted off into thought without realizing it.
"Are you done wondering if I'm going to off myself or not?" He chided.
"Well you did say you weren't thinking about living through another lifetime, Sir." She held up a hand defensively.
"One. Killing myself would be a tragic loss of skill to this ship, one which you all need desperately, I might add. Two, my death would release me to haunt all the poor bastards who deserve to never sleep again. I'd much rather they simply sleep forever, but I just haven't gotten around to it yet. I have things to do, Counselor. I won't die before they do."
"Yes. Well. As long as you're sure that's not the problem."
"You're safe. My brains shall remain where they are for now." He grinned, enjoying watching her try to keep pace with his feelings. He couldn't even really pull it off, and he certainly didn't expect her to be able to.
Landon already knew what was wrong. He took drugs to deal with the morbid curiosity of wondering if he was cursed to fail at everything that mattered, or if he was some kind of monster who wreaked havoc on the lives of those he didn't outright kill. He remained in Starfleet as a place to hide, from his losses. It was enough for him to simply wake up in the morning and do his job, not having to think about his family or Lexi. The problem with doing a job was that he needed to do it better than anyone else. Neyes needed to be the shining star in every situation, and there was no way he was going to accomplish it sad and tired. Drugs were the necessary bridge for him to deal with the problem in an efficient and timely manner. It had gotten out of hand, though, he had to admit. It felt too good to forget about anyone but himself for so long.
"If that's all, Doc. I have a lot of reading and status reports to catch up on before returning to duty." Landon spoke kindly, but made it clear he was most likely done with the discussion."
Karyna eyed him, unsure if she'd actually made progress or not. That was to be expected though. Her main goal was to get him to talk, and it had been accomplished with flying colors. "Alright, Commander. I'll release you back to active duty. You'll be required to see a Counselor at least once a month for the next 6 months, though. Is that understood?"
Landon looked at her and winked. "Yes, ma'am. I'll be there. Thank you."
With that, she stood and walked out of sickbay. She'd have a lot of reading to do before speaking with him again, she imagined...
=/\= End Log =/\=
Lieutenant Commander Landon Neyes
Chief Engineer
USS CHARON
NPCs
Monday, March 7, 2011
[USS Charon] SD241103.07 Science Report, CSci CMDR Arcos Darye
ON: //--Training of Specialist Smith: attached to Biology lab-// The team continued to prepare probe planning for the six systems of study. Assisting Ensign Blande and the biology team was specialist Smith. She had been selected to watch over and observe a team in action as part of her management training program. "Specialist Smith, Glad you could join us today. We will be selecting two of our planets in question to accumulate biological, geological, and ecological data. If you'd have a seat next to one of the stations, I am certain you'll find yourself useful." Ensign Blande said starting run some calculations. Specialist Smith took a seat next to one of the consoles. She had a good feeling that today would be a good day to watch the bio guys at work. "Team let's get started!" Blande said calling up the search criteria. "First probe: Atmospheric planetoids within one of the systems deemed uninhabitable." Blande called out. "Searching…" one of the crewman called out. "Searching…" Specialist smith said aloud after she entered the program specifications in. The team continued to enter in the data and read through system after system after the list of planetoids was pulled up. After about an hour, specialist smith was feeling rather tired of looking at the thousand of nearly insignificant planetoids the computer brought up, but she pressed on anyway. "I think I've got one." Ms. Smith called out. "It was nearly picked last time a science ship came this way. It has a nitrogen oxygen atmosphere, but no water on the surface. There are several sub-terrainal caverns that vent open to the atmosphere where the probe could sneak in…" "Interesting," Ensign Blande said. "I suppose that's one, we should gather a few more before we make our decision. "How about some coffee or tea?" Blande said looking at the time. They'd been at it nearly an hour and half now, but the drudgery of searching made it feel like the shift had gone by. "That sounds good. Can we omit the no food or drink rule for the day?" the crewman asked. "I guess so, were only doing computer assisted searching anyways." Blande replied. Most of the team got up and got hot beverages from the lab replicator and began to search away again. After the shift was over the team had narrowed down the selected systems for the probe from over a thousand to a dozen. The next shift for the study would bring that number down to two, where two of the probes destinations would be locked in. After the session Ens. Blande walked over to Specialist Smith. "You did pretty good." She started. "Too bad your going after the botany position. We could use an assistant lab manager… but then I suppose that's true of most of the sciences. Good luck" She said as she turned off most of the equipment and went to lower the lights. OFF Specialist Smith //Science Report – USS CHARON – Star Date:241103.07// C. Smith| Botany| Specialist| Plant Care and harvest| 1) OFF| 2) Plant Care| 3) Office/OFF |Total Science Personnel: 24 (max 29/min 17/skeleton 3)| A) Biology: Biology mixes with a lot of the other fields, but the lab is utilized for a majority of the ships biological research including microbe study, cellar study, animal and space creature study, the study of Life, how it works, and how it continues to function today and in yester year. Biology Officer in-charge: M. Blande |OFFICE HOURS: 1st shift CURRENT STUDY SUMMARY: Lab 1: Local Life Forms – threats, cautions and general study Lab 2: Edible plants identification (works with botany) Lab 3: "Extract of Gouranni Herb for toxic identification" Progress Update: Biology lab assignment #3 is completed for the most part. Additional labs for further sample extraction are being completed this week. Team will continue to research other edible plants of the nearby star systems and look for biological life forms that could pose a threat to away teams. The team will launch several planetary probes to accomplish this task, selecting the most likely planets for the ships destination and then account for research friendly. B) Chemistry: Chemistry studies the physical nature of life, the study of chemicals and elements how they react and work together with each other. Chemistry often works with biology and physics to come to a closer understanding of what we explore on the ship. Chemistry Officer in-Charge: T. Yin |OFFICE HOURS: 2nd Shift CURRENT STUDY SUMMARY: Lab 1: Toxins and Chemical benefactors of Local Area Lab 2: local medicinal secrets (joined with medical) Lab 3: "Extract of Ka'al root" Status update: The Extract from the Klingon root has nearly been completed. All that remains is to continue to mix the root with the Gouranni Herb for toxin neutralization. Once completed the Ka'al roots will be continued to extracted and placed on reserve for the ships chef should the need arise to visit the selected Gourrani planetoid where the conference is being held. C) Geo-sciences: The Geo Sciences department works with anthropology, Stellar Cartography, biology and other fields of science to grab a basis of the physical relationship of ecosystems, glaciations, gravitational pulls, tectonics, and seismic behavior of planets, moons, asteroids, and planetoids. Geo-Sciences Officer in-Charge: I. Castillo |OFFICE HOURS: 1st Shift CURRENT STUDY SUMMARY: Lab 1: Study of Ecosystems and Geological stability (localized area) Lab 2: Development of celestial objects (localized area) Status Update: Team will work with biology to gather planetary data through the launch of six recoverable probes to be designed by cybernetics. Team hopes to gather from a flyby… the ecosystems and geological stability of the six chosen planets. D) Physics: Physics assists in astrophysics, quantum physics, bio-physics, standard physics. The Physics team answers question in gravitational effects, trajectory, and other physics challenges. Often Physics will work with geology or stellar cartography. Physics Officer in-Charge: S. Ronsett|OFFICE HOURS: 2nd Shift SUMMATION OF CURRENT RESEARCH: Lab 1: Trajectory/masses/make up of celestial objects in sensor range Lab 2: Tri-Probe method Status Update: Tri-probe data is still being collected in a nebulous region of ionized gases. The nebula contains several asteroids. Although the largest of these is planetary like, it has no atmosphere and is not in rotation around any central star. The team will continue to collect data until probe no longer has uncharted area to cover. Although most of the probe will self destruct or act as a hazard beacon… the logic unit of the probe will be ejected and rendezvoused with at a later date. E) Stellar Cartography: Stellar Cartography works with Astro-metrics to provide maps of the galaxy and studies the stars themselves mapping inner corona and outer solar system alike. Stellar Cartography Officer in-Charge: Y. Beindocoff/B. Roberts |OFFICE HOURS: 1st shift/2nd shift SUMMATION OF CURRENT RESEARCH: Astro-metrics: Star chart review and update (works with helm/navigation) Lab 2: (Partnered with physics) Study of Celestial objects Status Update: Team continues to assist the helm and astronavigators with star charts, while updating, collecting and maintaining the stellar maps. It is likely that team will be able to assist both geo-sciences and physics department again this week. The three teams have worked together on much of the classification and telemetry of celestial objects for several months now. F) Cybernetics: The team plays a part in science cybernetics and robotics. Together the team assists in probe assembly, repair, research, and equipment programming. These guys play a major role in research set up, and develop new ways to keep us busy and tooling our research. Cybernetics Officer in-charge: Ollanda |OFFICE HOURS: 3rd shift SUMMATION OF CURRENT RESEARCH: Lab 1: Probe repair/construction/re-programming Additional task: Maintain science equipment (works with engineering) Additional task: Tri-probe assembly. Status Update: Team is assisting engineering with repairs to science equipment, station, performing pre-diagnostics and diagnostics, assisting with calibration of lab equipment and putting together probes for science teams study. In addition the team is devising the probe assembly of the three probe method being devised by Physics. G) Anthropology: Part of the anthropologies job is to find out what humanoid life is like in surrounding solar systems. They are basically a historian, but also provide an in-depth analysis in to cultures, societies and the way people live now, then… and on many worlds flourishing, dying, or since perished. A lot of the teams focus is providing a guide for officers to use when approaching a world on or off duty. Anthropology in-charge: G. Yellin |OFFICE HOURS: 3rd shift SUMMATION OF CURRENT RESEARCH: Lab 1: study of local cultures, archeology, and developing peoples (works with ships counselor) Lab 2: The study of the Gourrani Status Update: Team is analyzing record banks of all local civilizations and past civilization of passing inhabited or once inhabited celestial objects, natural or artificial. In addition, team is helping to assist ships counselor with current peoples in area's customs, laws, and traditions, and economics. Team adds study of Gourranni for science team enrichment.
SUMMATION OF CURRENT ASSIGNMENT: Lab: Care of plant and fungi specimens/care of harvest of edible specimens Status Update: Volunteer teams are maintaining the lab, Specialist Chris A. Smith is working on lab management training. Upon completion rank grade of Petty Officer 3rd class will be issued. Administrative team congratulates Specialist Smith. I) General Science Lab: The General Science lab will be available at request, but is currently on standby for mission specific research. The lab has holo-emitters for research and is shared with other departments as per request; departments can make use of the lab if unused by the science team. The General Science lab is the ships state of the art science laboratory capable of housing six differing experimentations from any science department. The lab assistant is charged with set up and preparing the lab for each team utilizing the lab. Additional assistants can be utilized if necessary from other labs. GENERAL LAB SCHEDULE: (CURRENT SCHEDULE – one shift open) Shift 1: Morning coffee: Inner-Department Guest speaker (Science) Shift 2: Lab prep/clean up Shift 3: -Open for study- REQUESTEE|REQUEST DURATION|REQUEST SHIFT(s)|SUMATION OF REQUEST ----------------------------------------- Commander Arcos Darye| Chief Science Officer| 1st Shift NOTE: The Bridge team is charged with gathering scans for the science department, requesting launch of science probes, and monitoring data for bridge operations. All scans and data can be made available to other departments and teams on request. The science lab teams may also monitor their portion of the scans from the bridge at their request, but is limited to lab masters and the science department officers. +Science Labs All Labs Functioning +Science Stations All Stations Functioning +Science sensors/Deflector Function in standard norm STAFF STATUS: Officer injured: 0 (0 major – 0 minor – 0 Severe) Enlisted injured: 0 (0 major – 0 minor – 0 Severe) Promotion Request: Additions: Addition: Rank|ADDITIONEE|POSITION Training Requested: Training: TRAINEE|POSITION (BYà) TRAINER|POSITION Management Training: (WEEK 3)Spc C. Smith| Botany | (BY->) | Cmdr Arcos Darye | CSci Transfers: VI. Science Commanders comments +Lab Assignments: If you come up with a good research assignment, just begin the process in character by developing a Pre-Lab report. I have attached a request form, just fill it in, and write something in character above about your character putting the report together. +Training: If you are looking to advance in rank and you are a non-commissioned officer we will develop a role-play training month on in differing lab assistant positions. Once completed you might be promoted to Technician, after you master a lab for another month we should be able to promote you to specialist… at which point you'd be specialized to an inner department. As for leading a lab, we might be able to get you to work on your petty officer rank requirements and start training you on lab set up/and running the lab… not sure on the time requirement on that one, but we should be able to get you working on a story line in character. +Attached Reports: Lab study request form: Name and rank: I. Pre Lab report Purpose: Materials: Method/Procedure: Hypothesis of result: II. Safety/Hazard Report For seen Hazards during lab: Hazard 1: Hazard 2: Hazard X: General safety rules: 1. Wear eye protection 2. Know location and operation of safety equipment in lab and emergency devices 3. Never work in laboratory alone 4. Do only the experiment approved for the lab 5. Do not wear personal clothing that is not pre-approved for lab use 6. Report all accidents to Lab Master. 7. Do not make oral contact with objects in lab 8. Be mindful of the appearance of strange odors 9. Keep the Laboratory clean. Clean up spills immediately 10. Check lab equipment prior to lab and only use equipment in good condition 11. Check temperature reading on all objects in experiment before reaching. Avoid physical touch of hot objects. 12. Read reagent listings on any known reactions for reagents used in experiment. 13. Clean hands thoroughly prior to leaving lab to avoid oral contamination and optical damage. III. Authorization Request Time/shift research is done: Additional Days of study: Lab requested: Personnel requested: Estimated Set up time required: Estimated take down time required: Science team member requesting: Comments: |
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)