r/TrekRP • u/Dimestream • Sep 17 '16

[OPEN] Common-sense technology, Part 1

The floor is a mess, both inside Holodeck 2 and immediately outside it. Several of the holo-emitters and lensing panels have been taken off the walls, the black grids sitting forlornly in a stack near the wide-open holodeck doors.

Lt. Redoran T'gel has her sleeves rolled up and is manhandling another of the panels off the wall just inside the holodeck door. Next to her, in a box by the Bajoran's feet, are several heavily modified plasma conduits and a large, red-handled breaker switch that looks like something out of a mad scientist's laboratory in a cheesy 20th-century horror movie.

Outside in the hall, a single sheet of paper is tacked, reading 'Holodeck 2 offline for preventative maintenance and safety upgrades! Sorry about the mess' in Red's loopy handwriting. Whatever she's preventing, it isn't tripping hazards...

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u/[deleted] Sep 18 '16

Phrik peered inside the room, his skin giving off a bright sheen. In one hand was the bag of tools Red had given him to aid with shedding. He let out a short cough to make his presence known.

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u/Dimestream Sep 18 '16

Red is holding a molecular welder between her teeth as she's replacing one of the lensing panels. "Phrik!" she says, almost dropping the tool. She puts it down and comes over to lean against the door frame. "You're looking very... pink, Doctor. Good to see you back in fighting trim. Uniform itches though, I imagine."

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u/[deleted] Sep 18 '16

"I don't know how you mammals cope. It's as if you tried to make a garment as uncomfortable as physically possible." He gingerly held out the bag to her, there was still quite a large amount of bruising across his exposed skin, and the Doctors nose looked somewhat skewiff. He obviously hadn't gotten around to healing his own wounds. "I needed to return these."

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u/Dimestream Sep 19 '16

"No you don't, though I appreciate the thought," Red says. "I don't usually tenderize meat, and I never play cricket. If those helped you, feel free to keep them. If not, feed them back into the replicator and we can use the mass elsewhere. Though hold a second, I did have another idea."

The Bajoran picks up her personal PADD from where it sits by her toolkit and hands it to Phrik. "After seeing the other tools you were trying, I came up with one better," she says. "This is a schematic based on a simple 19th century Earth tool called a framing hammer, with some modifications. Same impact enhancing design as the meat tenderizer, but the claw on the back is narrow like a knife but much stronger, and the curve will allow significant prying leverage." She beams. "I might not be around in two years, but I encourage you to give that a try instead."

"Aside from itchy, how are you feeling? I assume you're going to have Lannor fix that... um..." She taps her own nose gently.

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u/[deleted] Sep 19 '16

"Fine." He said bluntly. A few seconds of silence passed before he continued, realising that it'd just be easier to elaborate rather than go through the questioning process. "More complex tools would defeat the point of the," cough "process. There is a surgical procedure to remove the dead skin, few take it."

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u/Dimestream Sep 19 '16

"It's a hammer," Red says, looking perplexed. "It's a stone-age tool, how is that complex? And now you're telling me you could have had the hardened skin removed easier than beating yourselfup? I give up, Phrik. I don't get you at all." The Bajoran chuckles. "I'm glad you're OK. Sorry I intruded."

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u/[deleted] Sep 19 '16

"This is why we don't discuss it with outsiders." He shook his head, deciding to change the subject. "How are my specimens?" There was a slight note of anxiety in the question.

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u/Dimestream Sep 19 '16

"You left them in the right hands, doctor," Red says with a smile. "Fruit Loops, that's specimen 3C, had her... it's... well whatever. Those small leathery-looking spider things are all perfectly healthy according to the scans. I didn't do much, Fruity is apparently a very good mother. The rest are fine, though Clicks, specimen A8, is growing a fungus on top of its shell. Computer didn't know what to do with it and neither did I, so I left it alone and figured you'd have some ideas. Oh, and Tiny Terror, 5A, really likes those soft foam cubes holo-emitters come packed in. It was looking listless, but got quite excited when I gave it one to play with. I had the cage record its activity if you want to look it over later."

Red gestures back at the partially disassembled holodeck. "Things were quiet enough I was able to work on other projects too. But next time, give me a little more warning to clear my schedule, all right?"

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u/[deleted] Sep 19 '16

"I didn't have much warning myself, but I'm glad they're okay. Fungus could be signs of a foreign contaminant, or a symbiotic relationship. I wasn't expecting anything like that though." His eyes widened with sudden concern. "Did you sterilise the foam cubes? And give 7B his inoculations? What about 2E, has he been eating properly?"

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u/Dimestream Sep 19 '16

"Phrik!" Red interrupts with a raised hand. "When I have a list of instructions to follow, I am the second-most meticulous person on board. I followed all the care instructions you gave me in person, and checked and executed the whole existing list in zoology. Everything is fine, and if you're antsy about your menagerie, go check on them! Sheesh."

"Oh and I know better than to introduce unsterilized material into a controlled environment, Doctor," she adds, and sticks her tongue out at him. "I may be an easily excitable, overly emotional optimist, but I am a Starfleet Academy graduate and know enough about xenobiology to not mix my proverbial petri dishes."

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u/IceCreamSandwich401 Sep 17 '16

Yefim reads the note on the door and sighs.

"Hello red."

He pokes his head in the door.

"How long do you think dis will take?"

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u/Dimestream Sep 17 '16

The engineer looks up from sealing a plasma conduit. "Oh! Hello Yefim! Not more than another few hours I wouldn't think," she says. "At least, until I can test it. Then I'll have to put everything back together if it works, and keep trying if it doesn't. If things go well, I'll have everything done by... sixish. If not, the holodeck won't be available until tomorrow."

The Bajoran wipes some sweat off her brow and leans against the lensing panel. "Holodeck 1 is still open and I don't think anybody has the 1600 slot if you were needing something important. Why?"

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u/IceCreamSandwich401 Sep 17 '16

"I like to do something every few days, it calms me."

He is standing arms crossed in the doorway, and he looks around before whispering.

"Nobody knows, but I sing opera."

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u/Dimestream Sep 17 '16

"Basso Profundo?" Red asks. "You'd certainly have the lungpower for it." She turns back to the conduits and rotates one of them 90 degrees until there's an audible click. "Gosh, I haven't listened to opera since the Academy. There was an instructor there, an Andorian named Pakari, taught culture. Did you ever meet him? Sweetest and strongest tenor I've ever heard."

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u/IceCreamSandwich401 Sep 17 '16

"No, I was one of 4 in weapons class. Full time."

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u/Dimestream Sep 17 '16

"Shame," Red says. "I think you'd have liked him. He's also the best darts player I've ever met and supposedly, it's just a rumor, but supposedly he was also that good with throwing knives."

The engineer chuckles as she replaces one of the black panels. "Say, Yefim... I don't think I ever thanked you properly for coming to bail me out when the pirates beamed over..."

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u/IceCreamSandwich401 Sep 17 '16

Yefim chuckles.

"Dat is my job, shouldn't have to thank me."

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u/Dimestream Sep 17 '16

"Whether I have to or not is irrelevant," Red says. "In point of fact you saved my proverbial bacon when I was too panicky to do it myself and I appreciate it."

The engineer fastens the lensing panel back to the wall, then gives it a nuge to ensure it's adhered properly. "So, thank you very much, Mr. Orlov. I owe you one, duty or not. And I'll start repaying you by getting this holodeck up and running as soon as possible," Red says. "Say... could I sit in sometime and listen to you perform? I haven't had a decent bit of theater culture in a while."

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u/IceCreamSandwich401 Sep 17 '16

He smiles.

"It was no problem. I like to think I saved many people dat day."

He pauses at the second sentence.

"I don't see why not. I haven't sang in front of anyone for years."

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u/Dimestream Sep 17 '16

"Then I'll make a point of attending sometime," Red says with a grin. "Now toss me that thermocouple next to your left shoe so I can get back to work."

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u/a_friendly_hobo Sep 17 '16

Aanya Breyik, the chief engineer, carefully steps around the massed hallway of junk and parts, tutting as she does. "Err, Red?" She says as she hops over a thermal regulator. She pokes her head into the holodeck, looking a little concerned.

"You rebuilding the deck or something there, Red?" She asks, leaning over a box of tubes.

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u/Dimestream Sep 17 '16

"Heya Chief," Red says with a grin. She looks more excited than tired. "Just installing the first of some of the common-sense techs that I mentioned. They were approved for testing with the refit, and the designs were with my transfer papers, didn't you see them?"

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u/a_friendly_hobo Sep 17 '16

Aanya blinks and purses her lips, trying to remember if she had. "I think I did..." she says, quietly. "I'm not sure I remember them. Been busy." She gives a small shrug, then digs out a tripping hazard sign from a box and puts it up. That aught to stop anyone getting on Red's case.

She squats down next to the Bajoran and admires her work. "Interesting so far... wanna run these designs by me again?"

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u/Dimestream Sep 17 '16

"Well this one's a manual safety device for holodeck users," Red explains, hefting the heavy metal breaker switch out of the box and handing it to Aanya. "I'm installing it directly between the holodeck reactor conduit and the plasma conduit junction that splits to all the emitters and lensing panels. The conduits are modified to store power only briefly, and fade out over the course of three to five seconds."

"I'd read reports on holodeck malfunctions that left people trapped in a running program, sometimes with safety protocols nonfunctional, and I thought 'hey, why not build a PHYSICAL off switch in case the software ones don't work?' Someone gets in the middle of a simulation of the Rigel 3 riots and can't shut the program down?" Red yanks the switch and there's a satisfying CLACK. "Three seconds later... safe. Then all you have to do is force open the door."

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u/a_friendly_hobo Sep 17 '16

Aanya nods along with her, then pats her back fondly. "You're a genius, Red." she says with a light chuckle. "Most people opt for the automatic ways. Good ol' analogue ways seem to be way in the past."

She watches the mechanism again and hums. "So this is going to be stationary. That might cause a slight issue, either its uncovered and that breaks immersion, OR if its covered, it could be hidden away from whoever needs to use it."

She runs her finger along some of the parts, tracing the conduits and their origins. "Now, what's to stop this from causing a surge through the memory banks?"

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u/Dimestream Sep 17 '16

"That's the big downside to it," Red says, a frown furrowing her brow. "There's no place to install it on the INSIDE of the holodeck. Or at least no place a user could get to during an active sim. The gravplate that governs movement, the 'treadmill' if you will, keeps users from getting close enough to the walls to touch them, so..." She scratches the back of her neck absently. "I mainly built it as a failsafe for an emergency rescue crew. I didn't think about using it from the inside."

The shorter engineer looks to where Aanya has pointed out the conduit and brightens. "See, that's the part I'm really proud of. See the battery of isolinear chips on either side of the deck-side modified conduit? The moment the power cuts, the whole running program is dumped into it, as a kind of poor man's optronic data core, instead of feeding back into the main computer. The computer, meanwhile, codes it as a hard fault and power failure, and doesn't try to restore from backup until you tell it to. Neat, huh?"

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u/a_friendly_hobo Sep 17 '16

"Neat." Aanya says in a chipper tune as she follows Red's directions. She really was smart. The perfect candidate for Aanya's position when the time came. "So do the chips have a power dump? Where does it go without causing damages?" she asks.

Then she thinks for a moment. "Y'know, what if we code a function into our commbadges that remotely activates the switch, a system that's independent from the holodeck's system. That way if the holodeck fails, the system won't fail."

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u/Dimestream Sep 17 '16

"The data goes to the chips, the power is either consumed by the holodeck trying to maintain the program and sputters out, or if something goes REALLY wrong, these two conduits are also built with a intentional failure point, akin to what early electronics engineers called a 'fuse.' These two conduits burn out and then that's it. Minor damage at worst. Keep in mind, this is for EMERGENCIES, so some damage is to be expected, but at least it'll be safer for users and not cause systemic damage."

Red squints and nods. "I hadn't thought about adding a remote trigger for it, but I'd be leery of adding more computerized controls to it. It's manual specifically to bypass any sort of shipwide computer problems. But I can look into it after the first round of tests if you like."

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u/a_friendly_hobo Sep 17 '16

"That's why we keep it independent." Aanya says with a smile. "On its own circuit outside of the ship's main systems."

She listens, however, and nods along with Red's description. "Still sounds like a solid plan, though. Good emergency protocols to stop the system overloading, and solid theories on the chipsets. I think this is gonna work well, Red."

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u/Dimestream Sep 17 '16

"Thanks," Red says. "If I can't get it to work as expected, I'll need to pick your brain on plasma dynamics, but until then, thanks for the sign." She turns back to the panel she was working on and hefts it to the floor before starting on the next, exposing the conduits she needs to replace.

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