Season 15: Episode 3 - Restless Spirit

[Lorut Vila]

USS Discovery
Mission Day 1
Engineering

"What can I do for you Ensign?"

She simply shrugged. "Nothing, was just sharing a nicety; contrary to what you may have heard, I am capable of feelings." She crossed to the replicator and got herself a hot cup of coffee, and settled down at the Pool table. "I am just taking a break from the Ops office for ten minutes or so." She shared. The Ferengei seemed as unfriendly as she normally was. What was his story?! She said nothing more, though, and sat crossed-legged in the chair. "Where is everyone? It's quieter in here than in Ops," she said. She was a bit disappointed-she was looking forward to the noise that kept her thoughts from drifting to her own problems.

[Lek]

USS Discovery
Mission Day 1
Engineering
She simply shrugged. "Nothing, was just sharing a nicety; contrary to what you may have heard, I am capable of feelings." She crossed to the replicator and got herself a hot cup of coffee, and settled down at the Pool table. "I am just taking a break from the Ops office for ten minutes or so." She shared. The Ferengei seemed as unfriendly as she normally was. What was his story?! She said nothing more, though, and sat crossed-legged in the chair. "Where is everyone? It's quieter in here than in Ops," she said. She was a bit disappointed-she was looking forward to the noise that kept her thoughts from drifting to her own problems.

[Main Engineering - USS Discovery

Lek managed a fair replica of a Vulcan eyebrow arch before snorting as he replied.

"I'm sorry you are? Probably doesn't matter. The reason it's quiet is because unlike you Ensign, the Engineering department is busy making sure the glitches the yard apes induced while we were at Katra are ironed out."

[Kinley Garrison]

[USS Discovery-B | Deck 13 | Cryptology Lab]

Kinley wasn't saying anything that Sydney hadn't already deducted. STEVE's programming was fairly rudimentary from an Artificial Intelligence aspect, hence why the cryptologist saw it more as a 'pet' and potential project than anything she deemed as being a threat to Discovery's security, unlike other Self-Aware Computers. With the time she'd had during all of the upgrades the ship had taken on, Sydney had 'cleaned up' a great deal of STEVE's programming to stabilize him. He would certainly present with far fewer glitches than before, but would still be the lovable, small velociraptor that he had been initially created to be, with a love of jello still included.

Even though her shoulders had relaxed slightly, given the Chief Science Officer's friendly demeanor, Sydney still remained rather tense in Kinley's presence. She nodded at the woman's recounting of the crew's previous mission, having read through the numerous logs and reports after gaining the necessary clearances for her role. She'd always been one to keep up to date on whatever she was taking part in and Discovery was no different. Even as Kinley described the task set to her, Sydney stayed mute on the fact she'd already taken a look at the new Commander's prior work on the Breen Translation measures taken. The linguist had her own thoughts but wasn't entirely sure how well received they would be.

"Of course, Sir," she answered with an almost forceful nod. The very idea of putting her skills to use besides being tasked to monitor something that really didn't need her help certainly sounded more engaging that her current duties. "And I'm sure you have already cleared inviting me to this 'Task Group' with my Chief? It was more of a rhetorical question as she didn't see Lieutenant Banan arguing with someone whose collar carried more weight than his own, especially when it came to his newest Ops Officer he'd relegated effectively to the 'basement'.

Dropping her hands from behind her back, Sydney turned to step next to the seat she'd previously been occupying: one of only two in the small Cryptology Lab. Taking control of the console there, she quickly closed the scrolling diagnostics and brought up the Breen Unimatrix that Kinley had previously worked on. While her eyes stayed on the screen, her hands flowing over the controls with the speed of one that had probably mastered LCARS while her age was still in single digits, Sydney spoke without looking away. "While your work on the Breen Language was impressive, Sir, I do think that Starfleet as a whole might have been approaching the problem from an incorrect point of view. As we know, the use of their refrigeration suits allows some automatic translation of the language spoken by the user to be translated into a close replica of Breen syntax, but I believe that may be overlooking the idea that the Breen Species themselves has a language that their own system automatically translates into an electronic language that is more easily translated between them by use of these suits."

Having made use of the numerous screens within the small lab, Sydney had brought up several examples in both Kinley's programming, prior Starfleet study, and the study of other species that had dealt with the Breen, particular intelligence gathered from the Dominion, and highlighted a few corresponding sections. Taking her hands away from the console and standing up straight, the Ensign turned to Kinley to explain, "My brief study of the issues presented has led me to believe we need to decipher the programming contained within the refrigeration suits, pinpoint exactly what it does to all speech, and then work backward from that to reach the root language of the Breen to be able to properly integrate their language into our Universal Translators.

"Basically, both us and them are using different types of Universal Translators whose programming and syntax are bumping up against each other. If we can turn that 'bumping' into 'connecting' via a unified decryption matrix, we'll be able to start treating the Breen language just like all other languages our Universal Translator is programmed to compute. At least, that's how I'm seeing it." Sydney wasn't entirely sure if all of that made sense to Kinley, but was hoping the Science Officer had been able to follow her rambling on the subject. Despite her expertise in linguistics, the Ensign was much better at written forms than spoken ones.

As the ensign was pulling up the files, Kinley was certainly impressed at the level of homework she did.

"I've already taken the liberty of asking your department head, and he was pretty cool with it, so you'll have no need to worry about that. They've given us a pretty far-out deadline so it's not a rush project by any means, thank goodness.

Looking at the rough schematics of their current work, it was clear that this was a greater challenge than what they had initially thought. Trying to synchronize two different and even conflicting unimatrices at once, now that was an entirely different matter. She sighed internally. Trust the Brass to severely underestimate the sheer scope of this task and foist it on them. But it ultimately made sense. What better way to celebrate more than a century of Starfleet than with a brand-new language to communicate with an enemy? Lofty goals for sure.

"Yeah, You make some pretty good points. Looking at it, it seems like we've got a greater challenge than what we've planned. I'll see if I can get one of their helmets so we can pull it apart and find their translators.  It might be a start, at least. "˜ She nodded, still deep in thought and planning the steps for the project. Suddenly, she got an alarm. Her bridge shift was coming up soon. "I probably should get back to the bridge at some point. Perks of the job." she chuckled. "Keep a good eye on Steve for me. He's sometimes too clever. and can get into mischief."

[Sydney Reid]

[USS Discovery-B | Deck 13 | Cryptology Lab]

"œI've already taken the liberty of asking your department head, and he was pretty cool with it, so you'll have no need to worry about that. They've given us a pretty far-out deadline so it's not a rush project by any means, thank goodness.

Sydney wanted to say this was surprising, but it really wasn't. The only indication of any thought given to Kinley's response was a slightly raised eyebrow. Banan hadn't struck her as a man that would stand in the way of someone else taking on the responsibility of managing his newest Ensign, and the cryptologist hadn't exactly done herself any favors by being so brief with him at every turn. While there seemed to not be any 'bad blood' between Sydney and her Chief, there certainly wasn't any 'warm and fuzzy' feelings, either.

"œYeah, You make some pretty good points. Looking at it, it seems like we've got a greater challenge than what we've planned. I'll see if I can get one of their helmets so we can pull it apart and find their translators.  It might be a start, at least. "˜ She nodded, still deep in thought and planning the steps for the project. Suddenly, she got an alarm. Her bridge shift was coming up soon. "I probably should get back to the bridge at some point. Perks of the job." she chuckled. "Keep a good eye on Steve for me. He's sometimes too clever. and can get into mischief."

There seemed to be no argument coming from Sydney as Kinley quickly included her in the project team as if she hadn't just been invited to be part of it. Clearly, the Chief Science Officer had misrepresented her intentions when first arriving, but, compared to the alternative, at least tackling the Breen Language was more interesting than what the rest of the cryptologist's future days would look like. Sydney couldn't help the small grin that came to her face as Kinley seemed to already be planning their next steps.

But just as quickly as talk of the project had started, the Ensign's smile dropped at the sudden chime coming from the Science Officer. Even before Kinley said it, Sydney had an idea about what she was going to say. Feigning a smile and a chuckle along with her, the woman nodded, "Of course. He seems to like following me around, anyway, but I'll keep an eye out. Wouldn't want STEVE to suddenly take over the ship." Sydney joked, but it was probably her single greatest fear when it came to Starfleet and their overconfident view of their system security.

"Have a nice day, Commander, and thank you for thinking of me"¦" Sydney said as she stood back at some semblance of attention to wait for the Science Chief to exit the lab. Already she was internally cursing herself for how awkward the statement had been. She really had no clue how to behave in these odd moments, especially with someone of such high standing on the ship. Perhaps remedial training was in her future.

[J.B Dersch]

Tanner offered a reassuring smile, "I can join ya." She put her PADD down and leaned on a closed locker, "I would ask what you haven't counted yet, but I have a feeling you may have already completed the checks. In fact, I'd bet money that we're both the kind of person that when we're having a bad day,  it's easier to hide away in a vague room where we can count things and distract ourselves." Tanner shrugged, "Or I'm wrong and I'm just speaking inward, as I'm originally from Earth and I have a large, very complicated family. Some who I'd rather see pushed out of an airlock. So, you can imagine my joy that we're heading back to their side of space."

"What about you?" She tilted her head, "Should I be worried about someone who enjoys counting rifle ammo while growling angrily to themselves?"

As she mentioned she had something similar to counting something or hiding in a Room?...Well she did have a point. "Yes..I do tend to Do that." But now About someone worrying  about a pearson who counts ammo for fun while getting angry.."Yea, Should have seen me when i was A Patrol Sargent going through thier weapon lockers." He said with a laugh.

[Tanner Lachlyn]

As she mentioned she had something similar to counting something or hiding in a Room?...Well she did have a point. "Yes..I do tend to Do that." But now About someone worrying  about a pearson who counts ammo for fun while getting angry.."Yea, Should have seen me when i was A Patrol Sargent going through thier weapon lockers." He said with a laugh.

Tanner laughed, "Noo, I don't think I would want to see that. I always find it ironic I went into Security when I was the one rallying against order at home." She smiled, "Yet I find most situations we go into require a delicate hand as opposed to a fist. We take on the responsibility for the crew and then have to deal with our own issues. I'd say that yelling at inanimate objects is valid."

[J.B Dersch]

Tanner laughed, "Noo, I don't think I would want to see that. I always find it ironic I went into Security when I was the one rallying against order at home." She smiled, "Yet I find most situations we go into require a delicate hand as opposed to a fist. We take on the responsibility for the crew and then have to deal with our own issues. I'd say that yelling at inanimate objects is valid."

Tanner laughed, "No, I don't think I would have enjoyed that.

[Weapons Locker -  USS Discovery - Ensign J.B Dersch - SEC/TAC ]
"Well, Today is not one of my best, But if you catch me tomorrow, It might be better"  He took a look at his PADD then looked back to Tanner, "Well Believe or not, I have not checked the Back up Weapons in lockers 45-47, I will sent the list over to your PADD, Should be a really quick one, Just has some simple Away Team Packs, and Transporter Enhancers stored in tiny Backpacks" He tapped his PADD once and Tanners showed a List of the Packs and what Locker they were in. "And when you done with that, Up to you, We can take each one out, and Clean them, And Make sure they work, It will give us something to do for the next few Hours" Cause Doing nothing on a Ship for 2-3 Hours while at warp...No Way!.  He closed the locker he had open and moved to the Next Row, And begun the First Check on that Row.

[M'Nia]

[engineering -ens M'nia]
M'nia walked into engineering for her shift. She tried to always be a little early. To her that was the mark of a good officer. Be on time or even early for your shift. She had the beta shift. Good grades at the academy plus her participation in that undercover mission had earned her this. The ship was interesting. She was particularly interested in the slipstream drive. It was interesting and different. Lt cmdr lek was ok, for a ferengi. Still he knew his stuff. She loved her job to tell the truth. She was still getting to know everybody but that would come in time.

[Lorut Vila]

Discover, MD1
Engineering

"I'm sorry you are? Probably doesn't matter. The reason it's quiet is because unlike you Ensign, the Engineering department is busy making sure the glitches the yard apes induced while we were at Katra are ironed out."

She made a face. "You know why people don't like Ferengeis? THIS is why," she said. "But why aren't YOU with them, then? Even the Romulan is on the deck with all of us," she said, settling back to sip her coffee. "Anyway, perhaps you should have your ears checked. You do have ears in those giant folds, right? Because I clearly said it was my legally allotted break time," she said.

She looked at him-pips said he was a Lieutenant Commander. His attitude said he was five. What was WITH these people and the amount of children they employed?! It was like some terribly bad movie from early Earth, with that one homeless British boy, begging for soup and earning a penance in a workhouse. Bajor wouldn't even think of it!

She looked up as someone else came in. A Caitian! Interesting. She glanced at her chronometer. She still had a good few minutes.

[Lek]

Discover, MD1
Engineering

She made a face. "You know why people don't like Ferengeis? THIS is why," she said. "But why aren't YOU with them, then? Even the Romulan is on the deck with all of us," she said, settling back to sip her coffee. "Anyway, perhaps you should have your ears checked. You do have ears in those giant folds, right? Because I clearly said it was my legally allotted break time," she said.

She looked at him-pips said he was a Lieutenant Commander. His attitude said he was five. What was WITH these people and the amount of children they employed?! It was like some terribly bad movie from early Earth, with that one homeless British boy, begging for soup and earning a penance in a workhouse. Bajor wouldn't even think of it!

She looked up as someone else came in. A Caitian! Interesting. She glanced at her chronometer. She still had a good few minutes.

[Main Engineering - USS Discovery]

Lek's eyes flashed and he closed on Vila faster than she would have thought he could move. Stopping inside her personal space and speaking in a tone as cold as space itself.

"First off Ensign, you are now on report for insubordination. I don't care what the Ops chief does, but in Engineering, ensigns know their place and yours is not in Engineering. When you become Chief of Engineering, you get to tell me how to do my job. Now I suggest you get out here before I call Security and you find yourself in the brig!"

Lek then waited for Vila to make another mistake.

[M'Nia]

[Main Engineering - USS Discovery]

Lek's eyes flashed and he closed on Vila faster than she would have thought he could move. Stopping inside her personal space and speaking in a tone as cold as space itself.

"First off Ensign, you are now on report for insubordination. I don't care what the Ops chief does, but in Engineering, ensigns know their place and yours is not in Engineering. When you become Chief of Engineering, you get to tell me how to do my job. Now I suggest you get out here before I call Security and you find yourself in the brig!"

Lek then waited for Vila to make another mistake.

"Oh Boy!" M'nia thought to herself. Vila was talking herself into the brig at warp speed! Well she had that kind of reputation and it was obviously well earned.

[Tanner Lachlyn]

[Weapons Locker -  USS Discovery - Ensign J.B Dersch - SEC/TAC ]

"Well, Today is not one of my best, But if you catch me tomorrow, It might be better"  He took a look at his PADD then looked back to Tanner, "Well Believe or not, I have not checked the Back up Weapons in lockers 45-47, I will sent the list over to your PADD, Should be a really quick one, Just has some simple Away Team Packs, and Transporter Enhancers stored in tiny Backpacks" He tapped his PADD once and Tanners showed a List of the Packs and what Locker they were in. "And when you done with that, Up to you, We can take each one out, and Clean them, And Make sure they work, It will give us something to do for the next few Hours" Cause Doing nothing on a Ship for 2-3 Hours while at warp...No Way!.  He closed the locker he had open and moved to the Next Row, And begun the First Check on that Row.

Alright, so this guy was an interesting one. Tanner nodded and picked up the PADD. Slowly she thumbed through the new tasks, "Bring it on." She moved over to the first locker, "As for tomorrow,  let you know if its is better." Tanner grinned and set to work. This wasn't how she'd expected her shift to go, but it felt nice not to be alone.

[Sydney Reid]

[USS Discovery-B | Main Engineering]

After her earlier meeting with the Chief Science Officer, Sydney had decided to track down none other than the Chief Engineer to try and schedule some time with him. After trying to go through the normal channels of contacting Lieutenant Banan, who had said he was too busy and told her to handle it herself, the newest Ops Ensign decided to do just that. Having made her way up from the Discovery's 'basement' upon being relieved by an early-arriving Beta Shift, Sydney found herself creeping up behind a familiar Caitian just in time to hear the commotion going on in what was supposed to be a break room.

Having arrived just in time for her keen ears to hear the start of it, Sydney couldn't help but be slightly amused at Commander Lek's reaction to the Bajoran's known penchant for rebelliousness. Reaching behind M'Nia to log into the nearby console, the Ops Officer could already see where this all was heading, and it really wouldn't do her any good to let it continue. Once logged in, she whispered softly, "Excuse me," as she passed by the Engineering Ensign, and stepped up to the pair of officers standing toe to toe"¦or more so Nose to Navel given the Commander's height.

Waving a hand through the air about chest high in front of her, Sydney made her voice momentarily high-pitched as she interrupted with a, "Hi," before returning to a more natural tone. "I hate to interrupt whatever it is you two have going on, but I feel it's imperative that I do before either of you take things further. If you don't mind, I'd like draw your attention to the very recent sensor logs, that are needed as a result of all of the holoemitters stationed in all corridors of this ship."

Pulling out her PADD, Sydney brought up the holographic recording of the event that had just taken place, including clear and definitive recordings. As the log played, she narrated as if doing the voice-over for a nature documentary. "Not the best start for Ensign Lorut here, but not the best reaction to it from you, either, Commander Lek, but that's not the good part." Letting it play, she paused the recording just after Vila's mocking question about Lek's ears. Cringing dramatically, "Ewww"¦ Not a good look, especially between officers. Is it insubordinate? Maybe? That's usually up to the overseeing officer, but we'll save judgement for the moment, because I think this next part will be of particular interest to the Commander."

Letting the recording play in real-time, Lek got the opportunity to see just how quickly he'd closed the distance between himself and the offending Ensign. The Commander had just uttered Vila's rank when Sydney paused it to declare, "Gotta say, that is some impressive speed for a Ferengi, Sir. Let's watch it again in one of my Papa's favorite parts of watching sports: Super-Slow-Mo." Winding the recording back, Sydney did indeed allow them to watch just how quickly Lek had crossed the expanse, uniform shifting with each muscle movement, the way his large ridges swayed, even a spray of spit that came from his mouth as he launched into his verbal correction.

Pausing just as his slowed-down muddled words started, with his face clearly showing the rightful contempt that had come as a result of the Ensign's mockery, Sydney made sure to point out, "You see this here, Commander? Hmm? While, yes, Ensign Lorut may have been 'Insubordinate,' this recording would also show evidence of you committing 'Physical Intimidation of a Subordinate'. Would you think that's fair? Despite your smaller stature?"

Sydney wasn't looking for an answer, but an end to the needless argument. Letting the image of the two linger for just a moment before disabling the holo, she tucked it in her palms behind her back. "Now, the way I see it, what we have here is just the kind of usual flare-up that can happen after having worked so long and hard going through all of the repairs, upgrades, and crew turnover as a result of the last several weeks. Being that both of these are about equal, given each of your ranks and the severity that Starfleet Rules and Regulations calls for, how about we say that I was coming down here to ask Commander Lek, here, about the malfunction in the 'Break Room Sensors' and we pretend this incident never took place.

"I don't know about you, but I know that, as the lowest ranking Operations Officer, I will have to file all of the H.R. paperwork for this, and I have NO interest in doing that. It's boring and it sucks and I'm sure we all have better things to do than give statements to Command." Turning her attention first to Vila, "Ensign Lorut, Lieutenant Banan was looking for you regarding your TPS reports, so you may want to run since I believe I saw him heading this way." Then she turned her gaze to Lek, "And Commander, I was hoping you could find time to schedule a meeting with me in regards to the recent upgrades to the Comms System. Do you think we could do that now, perhaps?"

Once again, Sydney wasn't really looking for an answer, but giving both an excuse to get out of this situation before it turned badly for all three of them"¦four if they included M'Nia who would be called as a witness. While she just wished to be lazy, she was also doing her best to treat both parties with the respect they each deserved, despite the heavy emotions that had become palpable in the small break room.

What happened next was entirely up to Vila and Lek, but she hoped both got the hint and would be on their individual ways to more pressing, and less troublesome, matters.

[Lek]

[USS Discovery-B | Main Engineering]

After her earlier meeting with the Chief Science Officer, Sydney had decided to track down none other than the Chief Engineer to try and schedule some time with him. After trying to go through the normal channels of contacting Lieutenant Banan, who had said he was too busy and told her to handle it herself, the newest Ops Ensign decided to do just that. Having made her way up from the Discovery's 'basement' upon being relieved by an early-arriving Beta Shift, Sydney found herself creeping up behind a familiar Caitian just in time to hear the commotion going on in what was supposed to be a break room.

Having arrived just in time for her keen ears to hear the start of it, Sydney couldn't help but be slightly amused at Commander Lek's reaction to the Bajoran's known penchant for rebelliousness. Reaching behind M'Nia to log into the nearby console, the Ops Officer could already see where this all was heading, and it really wouldn't do her any good to let it continue. Once logged in, she whispered softly, "Excuse me," as she passed by the Engineering Ensign, and stepped up to the pair of officers standing toe to toe"¦or more so Nose to Navel given the Commander's height.

Waving a hand through the air about chest high in front of her, Sydney made her voice momentarily high-pitched as she interrupted with a, "Hi," before returning to a more natural tone. "I hate to interrupt whatever it is you two have going on, but I feel it's imperative that I do before either of you take things further. If you don't mind, I'd like draw your attention to the very recent sensor logs, that are needed as a result of all of the holoemitters stationed in all corridors of this ship."

Pulling out her PADD, Sydney brought up the holographic recording of the event that had just taken place, including clear and definitive recordings. As the log played, she narrated as if doing the voice-over for a nature documentary. "Not the best start for Ensign Lorut here, but not the best reaction to it from you, either, Commander Lek, but that's not the good part." Letting it play, she paused the recording just after Vila's mocking question about Lek's ears. Cringing dramatically, "Ewww"¦ Not a good look, especially between officers. Is it insubordinate? Maybe? That's usually up to the overseeing officer, but we'll save judgement for the moment, because I think this next part will be of particular interest to the Commander."

Letting the recording play in real-time, Lek got the opportunity to see just how quickly he'd closed the distance between himself and the offending Ensign. The Commander had just uttered Vila's rank when Sydney paused it to declare, "Gotta say, that is some impressive speed for a Ferengi, Sir. Let's watch it again in one of my Papa's favorite parts of watching sports: Super-Slow-Mo." Winding the recording back, Sydney did indeed allow them to watch just how quickly Lek had crossed the expanse, uniform shifting with each muscle movement, the way his large ridges swayed, even a spray of spit that came from his mouth as he launched into his verbal correction.

Pausing just as his slowed-down muddled words started, with his face clearly showing the rightful contempt that had come as a result of the Ensign's mockery, Sydney made sure to point out, "You see this here, Commander? Hmm? While, yes, Ensign Lorut may have been 'Insubordinate,' this recording would also show evidence of you committing 'Physical Intimidation of a Subordinate'. Would you think that's fair? Despite your smaller stature?"

Sydney wasn't looking for an answer, but an end to the needless argument. Letting the image of the two linger for just a moment before disabling the holo, she tucked it in her palms behind her back. "Now, the way I see it, what we have here is just the kind of usual flare-up that can happen after having worked so long and hard going through all of the repairs, upgrades, and crew turnover as a result of the last several weeks. Being that both of these are about equal, given each of your ranks and the severity that Starfleet Rules and Regulations calls for, how about we say that I was coming down here to ask Commander Lek, here, about the malfunction in the 'Break Room Sensors' and we pretend this incident never took place.

"I don't know about you, but I know that, as the lowest ranking Operations Officer, I will have to file all of the H.R. paperwork for this, and I have NO interest in doing that. It's boring and it sucks and I'm sure we all have better things to do than give statements to Command." Turning her attention first to Vila, "Ensign Lorut, Lieutenant Banan was looking for you regarding your TPS reports, so you may want to run since I believe I saw him heading this way." Then she turned her gaze to Lek, "And Commander, I was hoping you could find time to schedule a meeting with me in regards to the recent upgrades to the Comms System. Do you think we could do that now, perhaps?"

Once again, Sydney wasn't really looking for an answer, but giving both an excuse to get out of this situation before it turned badly for all three of them"¦four if they included M'Nia who would be called as a witness. While she just wished to be lazy, she was also doing her best to treat both parties with the respect they each deserved, despite the heavy emotions that had become palpable in the small break room.

What happened next was entirely up to Vila and Lek, but she hoped both got the hint and would be on their individual ways to more pressing, and less troublesome, matters.

[Main Engineering - USS Discovery]

Lek's turned to face the new voice and his expression went from furious to apoplectic and when he roared, the engineers in the compartment all cringed

"And who in the hell are you? Don't answer, because I don't care. What I do know is I'm going to have improve the signage to keep lost Ops ensigns out of Engineering. Now, I suggest, in the strongest possible terms, you both get out of my sight! I don't know what's happened to the Academy, but they seriously need to improve their course on Starfleet customs and courtesies.

"Petty Officer Surak, you are now on sentry duty! Unless someone is a member of the command staff or has proof they need to be in Engineering, this compartment is now off limits!"

Lek then moved back to the pool table and ignored the two ensigns after one final head bob toward the door.

[Sydney Reid]

[USS Discovery-B | Main Engineering]

Holding up her palms in silent defeat, fingers wrapped around her PADD in one, Sydney offered nothing more to the Chief Engineer, realizing it better not to press. While she may have ensured that she would certainly not be on the Commander's 'Christmas List', at least she'd hopefully kept them both from saying, or more importantly doing anything that would result in much harsher outcomes than some hurt feelings. Sydney was a bit disappointed to realize so quickly into her first assignment just how much Ego still played a role in the day-to-day.

Turning and walking out, she paused momentarily at M'Nia's side, giving the woman's sleeve a gentle tug as she whispered, "Good Luck," with a slight smirk before making her way to and out through the main doors en route back to the turbolift. If the Chief Engineer would not give her the time to pick his brain about the recent upgrades, all she had to do was see when the Assistant Chief Engineer was on duty and ask him. Lieutenant Gianetti was known to be the more"¦forgiving of the two, leading engineers.