Replicators and... Replicators

Posted on Mon Oct 2nd, 2017 @ 7:24pm by Lieutenant Renee Salchin & Lieutenant Valeria Mordin

Mission: https://wellington.pegasusfleet.site/index.php/sim/missions/id/3
Location: Valeria's Quarters
Timeline: Prior to "An Unexpected End"

=/\=

The Chief read the PADD as she was walking through the corridor where the officers were quartered. It was a list of complaints by several of the officers about things that had been going wrong with their quarters and today? Today, that was her mission. Go, find out from the officers in question what's going on, ignore what they say, find the real problem, fix the problem. So far, three out of three weren't what they THOUGHT the problem was, but something semi-related, and she only had to endure a dressing down from one of them trying to make her feel like an idiot. She snorted at that thought, then matched the door number with the next one on her list and pressed the chime.

"Lieutenant Mordin, this is Chief Petty Officer Salchin, I received a report that you're having an issue with..." She glanced down at the PADD, "Your replicator?"

"Just a moment, thank you. I have to cover my flowers." was the response from beyond the door, and perhaps would go down as one of the oddest responses in history. A few moments later, the door swished open to reveal the Wellington's resident rabbitess. She was off shift at the moment, so she was dressed far more casually than a uniform, but was still presentable. "Thank you very much, please come in." she motioned with some small degree of ceremony. Having to be invited into someone's dwelling was a ceremony that dated back to the times of myth, but Valeria seemed to be holding up the myth quite well.

Her quarters were pleasantly decorated. A mirror in every room, though very few pictures or images. The lighting was low, perhaps around the 70 to 75% brightness mark. There was a case with a thick cover over it, and there was a soft blue glow coming from where the cover didn't mask.

"The replicator has been performing oddly over the last hour. It delivers the requested meals and such, but the flavors are wrong. I understand the old human expression that everything tastes like chicken, but the chicken tastes like an orange." she explained as she led Renee through to the kitchen and dining area of her quarters. There was a plate, recently prepared, of what would appear to be your typical chicken salad. "I've gone through the most basic of troubleshooting steps. I've rebooted the replicator, and to make certain I even ordered an orange to see if it tasted like chicken."

"It tasted like an apple." she paused, "So at this point, I put in a request for assistance."

Renee's mind instantly went to 'mood lighting', but she banished that thought as the absolutely GORGEOUS Ts'usugi came to her side and led the blonde over to the replicator, explaining the problem. "Orange chicken is good with Chinese food, but in a chicken salad? Nooooo..." She debated tasting it to see what THAT would taste like, but nope.

She tapped a few buttons on the replicator to run a diagnostic, "This is going to take a few minutes, looking at everything from basic programming through hardware like the repli-" Renee cut off and shook her head, "Sorry, you don't want to hear the intimate details I'm sure."

"I've had Orange Chicken before, but not Orange flavored Chicken." she clarified, perhaps unsure if her point was heard, though as Renee cut herself off, the Ts'usugi shook her head, "Please, continue. I'm in the Sciences division, I welcome new details." she gave a ghost of a smile. "I can't offer you anything while we wait, aside from a comfortable seat." she motioned to a chair.

Renee smiled as she sat in the proffered chair and crossed one leg over the other, "Thanks!" She gestured over to the replicator, "Suffice to say, there might be a glitch in the replication feed itself. I suppose the easiest fix would be to replace the entire unit and reinstall the basic software to a blank system, but it would defeat the purpose of identifying a possible reoccuring peoblem or hack and figuring a silution to it."

Valeria sat across from Renee, and crossed her feet at the ankles, "Most of my custom recipes and requests are stored with my preferences, so replacing the entire unit is an option, though I imagine one that's quite involved." she paused, "And yes, it would deny the prospect of learning about the problem. Can't just replace every replicator at the drop of a coin." she mentioned with a smirk.

"Well, we could, but the Boss might not like it." Renee admitted, "And it most DEFINITELY wouldn't let me get to know someone else on board this ship that I've never met, nor have I met anyone of her species!" Renee was rather excited about that fact, "I really don't want to mess up the pronunciation, so do you um... mind?"

Valeria smiled, brushing some of her blonde hair out of the way of her face. "Certainly not." and she gave a smirk. "It's pronounced Valeria." she sounded her name out slowly, but more of a jest than anything else. After a moment's pause she resumed. "Ts'usugi has a T in the spelling, but it's silent. Suh... Suu... Gii..."

"It's an interesting way to find out who learned about your people by reading, and who learned by listening. People who only read about us tend to try to pronounce the T. I like to think of it as a Cosmic Test to see where people get the most of their education from but to be honest there are as many legends about our name as there are about our home, and why we live on the moons of Ts'usu." she continued, pronouncing the name of her homeworld much like that of her people. Just without the Gii at the end.

"We're a Delta native race, according to Federation charts. We considered applying for status as an ally along with our oldest allies the Dalacari. We felt that it would strengthen our borders, and in addition it would help bolster the defenses of the Dalacari. With those two considerations in mind, the both of our people applied for alliance status within the Federation once stable contact was made."

"And the rest, they say, is history." she said with a smirk, motioning around as though history were the space between them.

"Suh-suu-gii..." Renee repeated to herself, "I think it's awesome about your people and the Dalacari. We certainly could use all the allies we can get, what with what happened when we found the Dominion all those years ago, the Borg threat, etcetera. And also that we are rather exposed out this far, the Federation, I mean, allies who have a better grasp of thea are always a bonus."

The rabbitess seemed pleased that Renee caught on to the pronunciation so quickly. "We've learned to avoid Borg space, and give them no true reason to seek us out or assault us." in truth, the Borg were terrifying.

"In the Ts'usugi, the Federation has an ally that will heed the call to action. With the Dalacari, you have some of the most brilliant minds we've ever encountered. They constantly pursue knowledge and technology, and have left most of their physical tasks in the hands of drones. We worry for them, but we will always defend them." a pause, "Have you ever had the chance to meet a Dalacari?"

"I actually have." Renee admitted, "There was a pair on Titan helping with a few things we were trying out. Didn't have an official position, per say, but Andy and the Admiral didn't really restrict much from them."

Valeria gave a nod with that thin smile of her's. "They're a remarkable people. I hear we'll be having one on board sometime soon, so we'll get the chance to work with one again." there was a moment of silence after that. The end of one conversation line, and perhaps the start of the next.

"Is the lighting too low?" she wanted to play the good hostess. "I find Federation standard illumination a little bright. Not dazzling but it takes a little getting used to." she admitted. Then she gave a bit of a smirk to the technician, "Or did you think I was setting the tone?"

"Well, lower lighting does help ease the eyes, usually, but..." She blushed slightly as she chuckled, "I am used to lowered lighting setting the mood to something a bit more forward than repairing a replicator!

Valeria gave a soft nod, "Well, I hardly know you." she teased, but she finally relented and sat up a little more proper. "If nothing else, I trust we're passing the time nicely. Sitting and waiting is such a bore. And I can't even offer you tea to help it pass." that seemed to bother her the most. After another few moments, something caught her eye, "There's a green light blinking on the replicator panel."

Renee popped to her feet automatically, "You are indeed correct, and this is anything but boring, I've always enjoyed meeting new people, I'm just a really friendly sort!" She grinned at Valeria, before turning back to the replicator and picking up her PADD, scrolling down, "All right... What we have is a pair of problems... Your programming is off and that is on a chip that," She reached up into the lip of the replicator and popped the front panel to the open position, tapping each chip until she came to a yellow tipped on, which she pulled and held up to the lower light, "What the?" She glanced at Valeria, "This shouldn't have been in there in any case, not this bad off." She peered back into the device, "And this is extra... Or one of these are."

She shook her head, dropping the chip into a pocket and removed each of the other chips and slid them back in, switching the order around, "And that should solve the problem. There's an extra slot for exotic personal items built in, but this thing," She patted her pocket, "Isn't even of the right format for the slot. That was probably causing the issue you were seeing." She closed the replicator and scrolled down the 'recent' list to the chicken salad and placed the order, "Here, try this."

Valeria offered Renee a soft smile at the general display of her disposition. "Federation replicators are problematic, but the food they produce is much, MUCH better than the Insipp Units back home." and at the gift of a new Chicken Salad, the rabbitess gave a playful smirk up towards Renee, "See, now it's a date." she teased, before sampling the platter. Then another chew.

"Much better." she judged with a nod, "You've done your department proud."

She put her fork down for a moment, "So, a chip issue?" she questioned, but more to isolate the issue. "Would that have been part of the overhaul these ships usually get at a starbase?" she inquired, one of her long ears half-flopped forward. It was adorable to look at, though it also lead to the inquisitive look. Body language was a little easier sometimes with obvious clues. Introducing her ears.

Renee reisited the urge to reach out and ruffle the other officer's ears. It really was adorable, but she forced herself to focus on the issue, first. "Absolutely. In fact, I was looking over the reports and the entire ship was gone over. I've been finding misinstalled chips, extra chips, weird looking chips, and the like. I'm going to take a closer look at this one when I get back to engineering." She tapped the pocket again, "Unless you plan on really making this a proper date?" She winked.

The rabbitess stood slowly, and made her way over to Renee. A sway in her hips as she took each step with that one single ear still half-flopped. "Sounds like you have a bit of a mystery on your hands. It could just be replicators. Or..." she started, her voice a soft whisper. "... it could be nothing. I think what you have here in your pocket is a little more important than it seems." Valeria gently put a hand over Renee's hip, around where the pocket with the chip would be.

"Sort it out, then we'll see about a proper date." she whispered, her nose and Renee's just an inch apart. Seemed the teasing war was in full effect.

Scrunching her nose, Renee considered her next action carefully for all of a second. Obviously she really needed to look at the chip, figure out what was actually on it. The she crissed the inch and gave a gentle kiss on Valeria's nose. "Boop!" She announced, "Well then, I guess I'll have to comm you later, Valeria?" She used the first name automatically, sensing the sheer informality of the Ts'usugi.

The rabbitess merely gave a ghost of a smile, and gave Renee a soft nod while twitching her nose slightly. "I'll keep my schedule open."

OFF:

Chief Petty Officer Renee Salchin
Engineering NCO

Lieutenant JG Valeria Mordin
Science Officer