A Visit to Engineering

Posted on Thu Feb 2nd, 2023 @ 3:14am by Lieutenant Commander Aarix Teral & Ensign Sara Richards IX & Lieutenant Jayla Kij MD

2,613 words; about a 13 minute read

Mission: The Icarus Files
Location: Main Engineering
Timeline: Uh... probably before we blew up the crystal?

It had taken Silver awhile to work out how to navigate the ship alone. But he quickly realized that he could follow certain uniforms to get where he wanted to be. And so, following a gold uniform, he eventually found his way to main engineering. He was so little, he mostly went unnoticed and anybody who did notice him thought he was another iteration of a FELINE.

He nosed around for a few minutes before picking up on a familiar smell. A friend was nearby! He stuck his nose to the floor and sniffed his way around, picking up on the stronger smell and following it until he found a pair of legs sticking out from under a console. He gave an excited yip and pranced around, waiting for the man to come pet him again.

What was that noise? Aarix paused his tinkering to look toward his feet, spotting the little fox from sickbay. At first, he thought it was a FELINE because of its size, but he also knew the design of his little robot helpers like the back of his hand. "Hey there," he said, scooting out from underneath the console. "What are you doing down here?"

Silver yipped happily and did his little happy jig again, then head butted his friend gently. This was a nice surprise. He didn't get to see many of his friends very often- aside from the girl, of course.

Aarix gave a small smile as he offered a hand for rhe creature to nuzzle. "You're quite a ways from sickbay, Silver... hopefully you're not lost?" Internally, he was debating calling sickbay to make sure the doctor knew where Silver was, and maybe confirm that he could be wandering around like this.

Silver simply leaned into his hand and gave a sort of half purr, half growl sort of noise that indicated extreme happiness. He then gave a little play jig and darted out of reach, giving the happy chittery yip once more. He wanted to play!

This thing had all kinds of energy. Aarix hadn't seen something so wired up to play before. He did recognize the signs of play, but they were amplified by the little wiggles Silver was doing. "Oh, you want to play, huh? Do you fetch?" He grabbed a spanner and held it up, giving it a little wiggle to catch his attention before gently tossing it, the tool skittering across the floor several meters away.

Silver struck a rather adorable pose in which he turned to watch the spanner, one front leg up in the air and head cocked to one side. Then, he scampered after the spanner and snapped it up, trotting happily back to Aarix, tail held high.

Aarix was admittedly amused by the little thing as he scampered to collect the spanner, returning as if he had won the best prize in the world. If this was a hunting breed, this little fox probably needed to fetch things once in a while. "Good boy," he chuckled, extending his hand to ask for the spanner. "You want me to throw it again?"

Silver responded by doing his happy jig and chittery yip once more. He looked up expectantly, and then remembered that he still had the toy and dropped it at once.

The engineer smiled and picked up the spanner, then looked around for a place to throw it. He did have work to do, but also didn't want to disappoint the little fox. Standing, he flipped the spanner in his hand before throwing it past the warp core, the tool making a notable ding as it hit the opposite wall. "Go get it!" He didn't see it land, but hopefully it helped Silver stay busy for a minute.

Sara jumped when a spanner suddenly flew past her and hit the wall behind her. Poking her head out from around the warp core, she saw Aarix standing there. "Uh... everything alright, Chief?" She asked.

Spotting Sara, Aarix gave a sheepish little chuckle. "Yeah, just entertaining a little fox. He'll be heading your way in a moment. Sorry about that."

And sure enough, the little fox appeared, nose to the ground in case he missed the toy. But, he was distracted by a new person- a new friend! He let out his happy chittering yip and bounded up to her, also giving her a little play jig.

"Hey, little guy!" Sara squatted down to greet the white and blue creature. "Well, aren't you adorable?" It was a strange sensation picking up emotions from creatures, but she could tell that this one was enjoying all the attention he was getting. "Who's a good little fox?" She cooed, scratching his neck. "Who's a good little fox??"

Silver reveled in the attention, lightly head butting the new friend and purr-growling his pleasure. He had completely forgotten the toy he was supposed to be retrieving and instead wound his way around her almost like a cat.

Sara giggled at the creature's behavior, sensing how happy he was. "Oh, you love attention, don't you?" She cooed, letting him slide under her fingers. "You know his name, Chief?"

"Silver," came the reply from across the room.

"Silver," the half Betazoid repeated, looking down at the fox. "What a lovely name for a lovey dovey little fox!" When the fox came around in front of her, she gently booped his nose with a finger and smiled.

This made Silver start, but it was only momentary. Was this a form of head butting? He decided it must be, so he gently butted her knee.

A chuckle escaped the woman's lips as she booped him again. "You're cute, but I have work to do. We can continue play time later." With that, Sara stood and began working at the console again.

With the fox distracted, Aarix had crawled back under the console to continue his work. He would come back out when Silver returned the spanner. Not long after he got himself settled back into place did he feel a tap on his leg.

"I brought the supplies you requested, Teral, Aarix," Myn reported, sitting next to the pair of legs on the ground and tapping one leg with his paw. The FELINE allowed his storage compartment to open, which sent the handful of tools and replacement parts clattering to the ground in front of him. His visual optics whirring, he began to sort them by size with his paw.

"Thank you, Myn," came the reply from under the console. A brief moment passed before Aarix suddenly sneezed, the action jerking his head right into the underside of the console. "God- ow..." He lay on the floor for a moment, rubbing his forehead.

Myn looked up and tilted his head after hearing the strange sound from his organic. "Are you alright, Teral, Aarix? Should I call for assistance?"

"No, no," Aarix grumbled, the pain of the impact slowly fading. "I just hit my head. I'm fine."

From across the way came the chattery yip again, but this time it was a curious sound instead of a happy one. With a sharp little yip, he started back the way he’d come, remembered the toy, doubled back to grab it, and quickly returned to his friend. Once there, he dropped the toy and gave a greeting chirp to the FELINE. Another new friend!

Myn turned his head toward the noise and stared curiously at the oddly-shaped FELINE, his tail flicking with indecision. He stayed still for a moment, allowing his processors to scan the creature and look for a match in his internal databases. "Teral, Aarix, I am unable to find a record of this FELINE in my databases. Is this a new design you have created?"

Aarix turned his head a little to see the two interact, his hand still to his forehead. "No, Myn, that's not a FELINE. That's the doctor's pet fox, Silver."

"The Captain allowed pets on this mission?" Myn stood and began to circle the not-FELINE, trying to understand just what it was. Like the robot, this creature had fur, though it was an odd combination of white and blue. It also had long spanners sticking out of its head... were those supposed to be there? According to his databases, perhaps they were horns, which were used by many creatures to defend their territory.

Silver chittered and did his play dance for the colorful cat, trying to get it to play. He'd had endless fun playing with the other two FELINES. Maybe this one would play, too.

Myn didn't understand the movements this creature was displaying. If anything, it confused him. They were highly inefficient and a waste of energy. "I do not understand your request, Silver-the-pet-fox. Please try in another language," he offered, his processors trying to find a way to communicate with it.

A chuckle emerged from under the console. "Silver doesn't have a universal translator, Myn. You gotta read the nonverbal cues." Aarix watched the interaction for a moment, "Silver's asking you to play with him. See how he's bouncing around? Try mimicking what he does and if he doesn't abruptly change his behavior, it's probably fine."

The calico FELINE looked back at the creature after listening to his organic's explanation. If Aarix said to mimic, then he would mimic. He watched this Silver move around for a moment before putting tension in his paws to bounce in a similar way to the fox. Myn's movements were a lot more rigid than Silver's, as if someone had taped springs to the robot's feet.

In response, Silver leapt closer and nipped playfully at Myn, then sprinted away, pausing after a few steps to check if the FELINE was following.

Myn stopped his actions at the bite, his internal protocols flagging the action as an attack, but the movement away from him and the pause made the FELINE abort the protocol. Instead, he tilted his head. "Sir, did I do something wrong? Silver-the-pet-fox ran away from me."

Aarix poked his head out again to watch the creature. "He's still playing, Myn. Animals tend to express emotion in their tail and ears, so watch those. If his ears go flat against his head or, I don't know, his fail puffs up, those are aggression signs and you need to change it up." Turning his attention back to the console, he finished what he was working on. "Remind me to tweak your protocols later."

"Of course, Teral, Aarix." Myn looked at the creature's ears and tail and, seeing them not in the state his organic described, decided to follow the creature. Teral, Aarix said to mimic the creature, so that's what he was going to do.

Meanwhile, Silver had realized the FELINE was not following him and he turned to see what was going on. He gave a little quizzical chirp and flicked his tail happily. Had he hurt the FELINE? He hoped not.

Myn got closer and searched his database for things that other creatures did when they played. Identifying one that this creature may approve of, he suddenly dropped his front legs and kept his rear in the air, moving his tail the same way the fox was.

Silver darted forward, nipping playfully, and then turned and ran again, happy that the FELINE was now attempting to play.

Finally. The thought was intended for the finished console, as well as Myn's literal programming. As an engineering drone, Aarix intentionally made his programming a little more rigid, but maybe that was a mistake if the drone can't pick up on basic social cues. Aarix scooted out from under the console and began to stand, then that tingle in his nose hit again. He scrunched his nose to try and get rid of it while standing, but the sensation forced another sneeze out of him. His balance was primarily thanks to his hand anchored on the edge of the console, and the jostle from the sneeze made his grip loosen just enough. Not only did he fall, but he ended up twisting and hit his head, again, on the console at the same time. "The hell..." At least it was the back of his head that time, but it still hurt.

Not too far away, Silver perked up in concern. He chirped twice and poked his head around the corner to see what had happened.

Myn heard the noise and looked as well, seeing Aarix on the floor rubbing his head. The only conclusion he could come up with is that he had fallen, which meant he might be injured. His programming then kicked in. "Teral, Aarix, I will retrieve assistance."

"Myn, no-"

But the FELINE was already gone. He ran past Aarix to the other side of the warp core, where he knew another organic was working. "Ensign Richards, Sara, I request your assistance. Lieutenant Commander Teral, Aarix has fallen."

Sara quickly turned her head to look down at Myn. "He fell? Does he need medical assistance?" She followed Myn back to the chief, seeing him indeed sitting on the floor. Oh gods, what if it was serious? She wasn't trained for any serious injuries, just the basic first aid everyone learned at the Academy. Running up to him, she kneeled next to him to begin assessing.

"That is not part of my programming. I am programmed only to find an organic member of the crew to make that assessment," Myn replied, stopping just out of the way.

"I'm fine, I swear," Aarix grumbled, not liking the sudden attention. Grabbing the console again, he pulled himself to his feet. "I just lost my grip. It's not like I fell from two levels up."

"Are you sure? It wouldn't hurt to get it checked out," Sara objected, standing with him to make sure he didn't tip over or anything. "Concussions are quite nasty-"

"Ensign," Aarix interrupted. "I'm fine. I didn't hit my head hard enough to give myself a concussion." He could tell that Sara disapproved of his decision and sighed. "If it makes you feel better, I'll keep an eye on it and visit the doctor if anything changes."

By this time, Silver had started pacing near Aarix, concern evident in the weird sort of purring growl sound he was making. He tipped softly and shook his tail at his friend, head tilting to one side in a sort of questioning expression.

Aarix turned his attention to the fox and gave him a pat on the head. "I'm fine, Silver, really. I've had worse. Let's get you back to sickbay."

Silver again did his little happy jig and yip-yipped. While he didn’t understand what his friend had said, he recognized certain words that meant doing something together and he was always up for doing thing with his friends.

The little creature sure had a way of sneaking a smile onto Aarix's face. Holding out his arms, he offered a ride to Silver. "Come on, you." To Myn, he said, "Myn, if you could close up the console for me?"

Myn watched the encounter, taking note of the change in the creature's behavior. What an interesting not-FELINE. "Of course, Teral, Aarix," he replied to his organic. Looking back at the creature, he said, "I hope we can resume our frolicking another time, Silver-the-pet-fox. You know where to find me."

Silver yipped twice at Myn and then took Aarix up on his offer, leaping into his friends arms and yip-yipping happily. Now he knew how to find his way here, he could come down any time. For now, though, it was time to go off on an adventure!

 

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