JP: Cmdr Davis & Cadet Shedet - A Ball of Green Trouble

[Jalana]

(( Chief Science Officer’s Office ))

Out of all the days to be called to the principal's office, today was not a good one. Even though the full effects of whatever happened on Daaka had passed. Her mood was still in the trash.

So, when she received her schedule and found the first thing would be visiting the Chief Science Officer for a one on one, Shedet wanted to call in sick…but that meant talking to Cade who she had called old. Rather deal with the Chief.

The Orion girl made sure that the uniform fit her well but not snug, preferring to stay away from the truly snug that she liked…at least for now. Impressions were needed for a cadet.

She blinked and realized that she was sitting in the office and he was actually talking to her.

Davis: … I figured it’d be good to get some time together, me being the Chief Science Officer and you being an officer-in-training under my command.

Plus a chance to give her a pep-talk and/or a speech about acting a little more maturely.

The Orion blinked. Then blinked again. What was he talking about?

Shedet: You’re the Chief Science Officer, sir. You lead and I follow as they say.

He picked up “his” PADD from his desk and tapped it absent-mindedly in his palm as he did a mental check on his to-do list while talking with her.

Davis: As I’m sure you know, most of science is waiting around. Turns out most of being a department head is checking in on lab spaces… to see other people waiting around.

Was he explaining Science 101 to her? The Orion tilted her head slightly and raised an eyebrow in a distinctly Vulcan way.

Shedet: Yes, I’m well aware how science works, Commander.

Goddess, she was digging her hole but the attitude was still present and it was starting to take a mind of her own. She wanted to be a scientist again, didn’t she? Be in starfleet as an office?

oO Then shut up and stop talking back. Oo

Davis: I know, but it’s just this afternoon and then it’s done.

And then the grump spoke.

Shedet: The commodore wanted us all on shore leave, Commander. This appears to be more than…needed right now.

He could empathize with her desire to not do any more work during shore leave, but this kind of response was exactly the problem.

Davis: I *do* decide the duty rotation, you know. People still staff the ship when she’s docked.

His tone was playful with a hint of warning in it. He knew he wouldn't use punitive staffing, but maybe don't talk to your department head like that?

Oh, ho. He was going to be like that was it. Shedet eyed the curly haired man. Was this the game he was planning to play? Really deep down, the Orion girl was begging herself to just shut up but her mouth had a mind of it’s own right now.

Shedet: Whatever you say…”Commander”.

He cocked his head at her quizzically, processing and reprocessing what she said and how she said it.

He studied her for a moment, trying to read her expression and body language. Was there something else going on? How silly to react that way.

Davis: ::stifling a confused chuckle:: Is there… something on your mind, Shedet?

Shedet: Oh, nothing. Just trying to point out standing around doesn’t get the job done. Anyone can stand around. *You* could stand around…sir.

Suddenly the PADD felt heavy in his hand so he set it facedown on the desk, and sighed.

Davis: Shedet, I–

He looked at her steely gaze again and changed his mind. Instead, he picked the favorite PADD back up from his desk.

Davis: Let’s just get started, shall we?

He motioned to the door.

With nothing much else to do or say (at the moment), Shedet stood and followed him out in to the main corridor.

Davis: I like to work furthest from my office to the closest. So that means we start with the Implant Research Labs on Deck 38 and work our way up.

 

((Timeskip, about an hour, Cybernetics Lab, Deck 13))

The time in the Cybernetics lab was actually interesting but it was not something that Shedet was going to admit at the moment. She had been actually focused on one of the readouts when she heard his voice to her side.

Davis: We’re about halfway done. And you’re getting a hang of this now, eh?

Shedet: Obviously.

Davis: Mmhm.

He was trying, really trying, to get to know her better and to establish a stronger rapport. But it just wasn’t happening. Everything he said, it felt like, was taken as an affront. What had he done to offend her?

Shedet: You want to take a look at that secondary reading, Commander? Seems to be saying something “important”.

Maybe if he showed her that he cared… not just about the people under his command, but her specifically. Perhaps demonstrating some cultural awareness? He had picked up a few words.

Davis: Oh? Let me see, morl-etu.

Honestly, Shedet should have been impressed with the fact that Commander Davis had gone out of his way to use an Orion word. That was something not very common since universal translators were ubiquitous. She should have just smiled at him, appreciated the effort and continued on.

What she should not have done was hyper fixate on the fact that he missed the slight hesitation between the noun morl for comrade and attached the suffix -etu which was only used to refer for a beta. What she should have done without hyperfixation is actually let him know what the word usage was and give him a little Orion history on the pheromone difference between an alpha and beta Orion. How their species were always matriarchal and their genetics evolved in a way that alphas became planners and leaders while betas became doers and solvers. Shedet should have taken the time to explain how alphas and betas needed each other that an Alpha would feel incomplete without a beta and vice versa but also been wise to explain the past where Orions used to really get hung up on alphas were better than betas and how they had fought that prejudice and how she should not have reacted so poorly to a function of their language.

She should have done a lot but she didn’t do it. Her blue eyes became ice as she tried to kill him with her piercing gaze. All she could think was:

oO Did he just call me a beta? Oo

Shedet was an alpha. It should have been obvious to him as the essence of her pheromone scent, even suppressed by her medicine, told Orions what she was. How dare he consider her a beta. Was he trying to insult her? She fought hard to prove she was an alpha all her life and this was how she was being treated?

(( OOC: Shedet is referring to a social structure that has been dissolved but still permeates their culture down to their language. Normally she wouldn’t have reacted this way but being off her meds doesn't help. It is no excuse for her actions and she has no grounds to act this way. The following responses and reactions being done has been planned out in advance by the writers of Shedet and Lazarus. A reminder of the old adage in simming that might be new to our newbies but “IC actions have IC consequences''))

Shedet turned away from him to try and melt her screen with the anger that she was feeling. She didn’t even bother to respond to him.

Lazarus stood there, slowly realizing that his attempt to show her he was genuinely trying to connect was ineffective at best. Likely worse–he knew she heard him, but when he looked up at her she was facing away.

Damn.

((Timeskip, about 45 minutes later, Sensor System Lab 2, Deck 9 ))

The doors peeled open to yet again reveal a lab space with a few people moving about to check on this or that.

Davis: Ah, this one will take a moment longer. You see that? ::He pointed to a device in near the back left corner of the space::

The device was roughly cylindrical, about 2 meters tall, with sidecar recorders and processing units. Typical redundancies for experiments that might not be readily repeatable. No doubt it was finely calibrated, so careful data collection ensured they would get results each time while awaiting a recalibration.

Shedet: It’s a doo-dad.

At this point, he was unfazed by her attitude and was determined to press on.

Davis: It’s an exotic dark matter detector. It works by measuring Higgs fields or some such. I couldn’t tell you much more because I'm not that kind of scientist.

Shedet: uh huh.

The Orion’s mind was still on the completely innocent remark of a man who was trying to relate to her and was fuming deep inside from the comment. She noticed they went over to a wrap around set of panels large enough to fit six people in if they were all working on at once. Shedet stepped up to tap on the panel knowing he was planning to show her. She brought up the data and as soon as Commander Davis walked over, she transferred the panel to the other side.

Shedet: Oops. Slippy fingers me. I locked it out on that side. Can you release it, Commander?

He raised an eyebrow, but decided to not be suspicious. Mistakes happen.

Davis: Of course.

As he approached the other side and reached out, she transferred it back to herself. As he was coming over, she waited until he was three-quarters of the way back when she transferred it again.

Shedet: Oops.

Lazarus sighed. The determination he felt moments ago dissolved into defeat. Why couldn’t he get along with her? Why was she so difficult?

She did it once more before finally locking it in place.

Shedet: Sorry about that, Commander. I guess that’s what you’d expect for a morletu.

Davis: Your displeasure has been registered, Shedet. Can we please just finish this?

He didn’t want to think about it any more, at least right now. Disciplinary action? That seemed a bit extreme for a bad attitude. He’d have to talk to Jalana…

“Oh gee, Jalana! I’m having trouble with a member of my staff,” he’d say.
“I see, dear Laz. What’s the issue?”
“Well ma’am, it’s a cadet.”
“A cadet? You can’t handle a cadet?”
“No ma’am.”

He sighed again, just imagining that interaction. How humiliating.

Shedet: Sure. Whatever.

She turned to reorient the axis of her screen just to get this done but that didn’t appear to be what was going to happen.

Davis: That’s *enough, cadet.*

Well, she knew that tone and internally kicked herself. Again, she had gotten on someone’s bad side and she was the jerk. She knew it deep down but this was already a hole she had dug so might as well bury herself.

He felt the eyes of the other scientists in the lab train on him after he raised his voice, and his ears flushed red.

Davis: Ahem, excuse me. ::Lowering his voice back down to usual levels. The intensity of his voice only increased, though.:: Shedet, you are dismissed. Enjoy your shore leave.

He pointed to the door.

Shedet: Dismissed? You said–

Davis: *Now.*

With a huff, she spun on him, threw her blond hair over one shoulder in a gesture of dismissive disinterest and strode out wishing she could just slam a door.

As she left, and the doors closed behind her, he set down his PADD on a nearby station and rubbed his temples, while gently shaking his head.

Well, that got out of control.

(( Two days later, Office of the Chief Science Officer ))

Two days to cool off, reflect, and collect themselves. He ordered her to his office, with the intention of having her explain herself.

He sat behind his desk, looking at her, and lazily tapping a stylus against the edge of a nearly empty mug of cold tea.

When Shedet had received the summons to the CSO’s office, she assumed she was either in deep hekvet or there was more work to be done. She had already had a chance to stop by Doctor Foster’s office to discuss her medicine and even though she had her dosage, it was not really helping her mood.

As she approached his office, the Orion promised herself to behave and apologize and that was exactly what she was going to do until she walked into the office and saw him sitting there.

That plan went out the proverbial window. It would have been obvious to him when she crossed her arms across her chest and canted her hip to the side in a pose of irritation. Her nose wrinkling at the feeling of irritation.

Shedet: Bad day, huh?

Davis: And that’s all you have to say about it? *A bad day?*

Shedet: What else is there to say?

The accent returned, the longer vowels, the more fluid way she connected words. A trait that only those close to her knew was her being stressed and trying to rely on old habits. She waved her hand dismissively as if she didn’t care though her gut was already dropping down towards the floor.

Davis: Shedet, I want you to know something. Your personnel records–

Shedet: ::glaring:: What? Couldn’t figure things out on your own so you decided to dig into my records? Wanna figure out how a twenty-seven year old is still a cadet? Is that it?

Though her voice was measured, the venom was obvious. She had come to the point of letting the language slip go but rooting around in her old record, the past she wanted to never hear about again, just rankled her.

Davis: No, I was going to tell you I *haven’t* looked at them. And I don’t intend to. I’m not interested in your past so much as I am interested in the present. And presently, you’re being a tremendously difficult person to work with. Why?

Shedet shifted hips and continued to speak as if she had calmed down though inside was still raging. Another thought had come to mind.

Shedet: Cause I’m Orion. I’m a pain in the galaxy’s ass. That’s what everyone expects, right?

Before he could speak, her eyes glanced at his cup, then towards the replicator and schooled her impression while she continued to talk.

Shedet: Refill of your tea?

Davis: Uh, yes… Thank you.

Before he could do or say anything, she scooped up his cup and strode over to the replicator. She continued to talk so that he was focusing on her words and not her fingers.

Shedet: I don’t conform easily, Commander. It’s been the bane of my existence. I was born to be wild, to live free of rules which then I got to actually put into practice.

Having finished changing the recipe temporarily to include triple sugar instead of his usual amount: none. She turned with the replicated cup with a smile and walked over.

Shedet: I can’t be caged.

Hopefully the speech worked. As she watched him sip the tea and realize what he did after a mouth full.

The cloying, viscous liquid slide over his tongue and down his throat. His perfectly fine–superb, in fact–tea was now a confection. He was no stranger to sweet tea drinks, but the wild gushu raw pu erh in his mug did not call for that treatment.

He was surprised by it, but soon registered what had happened. He shot a glance at her as he set the mug down on his desk unceremoniously.

Shedet: ::Grinning:: Oops.

Davis: Ok, fine. ::He said with frustrated resignation. Perhaps candor is in order.:: What are you trying to accomplish here? Do you *want* me to call you a pain in the ass? Your own little self-fulfilling prophecy?

He heard the frustration in his own voice, and it saddened him. He took it a bit too far.

As much as one side of her wanted to free him from the mess he was in, Shedet was still in a very bratty mood.

Shedet: I mean, you wouldn’t be wrong.

Davis: Look. I understand that it’s possible you’re upset at me for something I did, but I have to tell you I have absolutely no clue what’s going on or why.

Now he was almost pleading with her. If she didn’t want to help him understand, then that’s on her. But he had to try.

Damn it, if he’d only gotten to know her better… She did so well on Endassi, but then he didn’t really invest in their relationship. And now this was happening and he had nothing to pull from.

It might be the wrong choice, but he needed to do something bold and decisive.

And that was to pull her closer instead of giving her distance. He needed to show her she was trying. Leaving it unaddressed was clearly only making her more upset.

Shedet: Mhmm. I’ve gathered.

He raised his hand, gesturing her to pause for a moment.

Davis: I have an order, and a request.

Shedet: Yes, “Commander”?

Davis: At 2000 hours today, report to Sensor System Lab 2, Deck 9. That Higgs dark matter detector test is being run and we’re going to observe. That’s the order part.

The Orion sighed and blinked her eyes at him. For a moment, she thought to make things a bit more complicated but relented. She was being a pain in the ass to begin with and she knew it.

Shedet: Fine. What’s the request?

Davis The request is that when we meet there, we try to give each other a second chance. We don’t have to pretend to be best friends, just… can we be cordial while we work with the belief that we’re both interested in solving this *thing* between us?

Shedet: ::sighing:: I’ll try.

 

((2000 hours, Sensor System Lab 2, Deck 9))

The experiment was set to run at 2030, so by the time he had arrived the final checks were underway. The reports from the lab leader said they had been hard at work for the past 6 hours or so, calibrating this and that, checking and re-checking the equipment. It was all a much bigger to-do than the typical experiments run on the Conny, but not without precedent.

As to why the Conny, there was some kind of benefit of running the experiment on a ship with a QSD. Something about the QSD created a local effect on quantum foam to make it easier to account for. Quantum mechanics were sometimes even more confusing than temporal mechanics, but he trusted the experts.

He had entered the lab, said his hellos, but then stayed on the perimeter with “his” PADD in hand. He was absent-mindedly running his fingers across the slightly bent seam along the back from some impact or another. He had the report he needed to fill out for the experiment pulled up and ready to go.

The door peeled open, revealing a certain cadet. He mustered a smile and a kind tone.

Having changed into a new uniform and at least tried to be presentable, Shedet had spent the hours between working on her mood. Yeah, she was still a bit grumpy, her emotions were jumping all over the place but this time, she was going to actively not try to plaster Lazurus across the science lab walls verbally.

He gave her a smile and surprisingly, she was able to muster up one in return.

Davis: Welcome. They’re just finishing setting up.

Shedet glanced over to the strange device that she had seen (and ignored earlier) and folded her arms. Breathing in and out a few times, she turned back to him.

Shedet: Okay. What is it?

He leaned over to talk to her in a somewhat hushed tone, trying to not distract the busy technicians and scientists putting it through its final paces.

Davis: It’s an exotic dark matter detector, somehow using or relying on Higgs fields? I’m sure you know more details than me. I’m a research psychologist.

Shedet: ::slightly snippy:: My science degree was in archeology. I…::breathing:: only have the basics of most of the other professions.

Davis: Well then, we have plenty in common. ::He pretended to not notice her tone.:: Science officers out of their depth.

The Orion looked at the strange contraption that they were supposed to monitor and shook her head slightly.

Shedet: Shouldn’t we get like…professionals?

A technician approached the two of them.

Cadet Shedet relaxed slightly. There were the professionals.

Technician: We’re about to start the power-up sequence. It should take about 15 minutes, then we’ll run our final checks.

Davis: Sounds good, thank you for the update. ::He logged the information and time in his log.::

The tech gave a thin, polite, professional smile and returned to work.

Davis: ::to Shedet:: The funny thing is, as I understand it, the experiment itself lasts less than 15 minutes. All of this work for just 15 minutes of data collection. Remarkable, eh?

Shedet: Maybe? Sounds like a waste of time to me….::quickly:: but I’m no scientist yet.

Which was true. She had only grabbed the archeology degree because she knew a lot about it and would have helped her get through the Academy faster. She hadn’t actually planned to use it but here she was.

Davis: I’m just glad we’re not antagonizing each other. Thank you for taking me up on my request.

Shedet: You’re welcome. ::smiling:: but the night isn’t over.

One of the techs suddenly called someone over to check something. They seemed worried, and were working quickly.

Lazarus stayed silent but trained his attention on them, ready to react as needed. There was a whole hell of a lot of power running to that apparatus.

It didn’t take a genius to sense that the room had shifted and the green woman shifted also to watch.

Shedet: Is…something up?

Technician 1: Whoa-whoa-whoa, hang on!

Technician 2: We’re in the yellow over here with the Higgs chamber!

Suddenly the console in front of the first technician burst into a cascade of sparks. The technician shielded their eyes and backed away, seemingly unharmed, but the sparks continued.

This was quickly devolving into panic.

Davis: Stay here, cadet.

He handed her his PADD and crossed the room to the apparatus.

Shedet didn’t respond. The soft hairs on the back of her neck had begun to tingle and her brain was screaming a warning that she had yet to figure out.

Davis: What’s going on?

Technician 2: I don’t know, everything was fine and then suddenly it’s going off the rails. The Higgs chamber is overloading, but that ::they pointed to the sparking panel:: was where the cutoff was.

There was a loud pop, and plumes of vapor erupted from the sides of the main apparatus.

Technician 3: That’s the coolant! We need to cut all power.

Davis: How?

The technician pointed to the sparking panel.

Davis: Backups?

Technician 3: There’s a manual cutoff inside a panel on the main apparatus.

He looked at the main apparatus, but it was obscured with coolant and sparks.

Davis: Get everyone clear.

He marched right into the cloud, and began feeling for the release latch on the panel. The apparatus began to hum and throb with almost unthinkable quantities of power flowing through it. The hairs on his arms and the back of his neck were standing on end.

Release latch, where was it? He had to go by feel alone, and the cacophony of the various systems failures was reaching a fever pitch. He turned around to make sure everyone was clear, but all he saw was the cloud and the sparks - and now arcs of plasma - from the console.

He found a seam! Now he just had to run his fingers along it until–yes! The latch! He popped it open and before he could pull the lever, the apparatus let out a thunderous clap, and the sparks ended. He pulled the shutoff for good measure, and the machine went dormant.

Everything went from simply being a routine experiment with a side of harassing the Chief Science Officer to her gut telling her that something had majorly gone wrong. She only stood in place for a few moments before charging forward to one of the secondary panels, piping the live feed information to her computer and began to read it.

Switching it to wave form, she understood it a bit better and though her knowledge of the science was low, the spiking waves were obviously the problem.

Shedet: Hey! There’s a major shift in the build up of your bosons. Aren’t they supposed to be stable in the field?

Technician #3: Yeah! I don’t know why it’s going crazy but it’s going to start a cascade and blow out three decks if we can’t get the power under control.

Shedet’s mind quickly spun through everything she remembered about quantum mechanics. Luckily for her, she had a remedial class on it and an instructor who was a nightmare.

Shedet: Look! There!

The screen had shifted slightly and she brought up the second layer.

Shedet: Did you take into consideration gravimetric pressures?

Technician #3: Yes! We plotted the gravity pressure around the Constitution.

Shedet: How about the station?

The man froze for a minute, his own brain working.

Technician #3: No, no. That shouldn’t have any effect. This is a small field and we’re only setting up the experiment to flash the higgs boson to get more data on it.

Shedet: It’s Quantum Physics! You’re affecting the dark matter around us. We need to close it off or :: pointing to Davis who was talking to the other scientists and looking at the experiment:: they are all going to get fried.

She ignored his protest as she immediately opened up their algorithm that was running and began to load programs on top of it, literally changing the experiment as it was running.

Technician #3: What are you doing?

Shedet: Those particles need to go somewhere. I’m applying the Schrödinger–Pauli equation to them and then going to slam them through a controlled wave function collapse.

Technician #3: All you are going to do is force the matter to materialize as…

The man’s eyes widened and Shedet nodded.

Shedet: Yes! The Pauli equation will allow it to become anti-matter. We have chambers here to capture the small amount that we store. When the power is killed, we shunt it all to the container and all we do is generate a few ounces of fuel and cause the quantum layer to burp. Simple.

It was not simple.

Technician #3: This hasn’t been.

Shedet: We either do it or punch a hole in the Connie’s power grid and possibly fry everyone in this department. Standby on transporters. As soon as you see it materialize, you beam that slekta to the containers. GO!

Her fingers flew as fast as she could with her brain watching the system harmonize and the alert that someone was entering the zone and heading for the power.

oO Here goes nothing. Oo

As the power was pulled, Shedet activated the collapse and within the milliseconds of the antimatter forming, it was safely transported into a storage container. Shedet wiped the sweat from her head and gasped out the breath she was holding.

Technician #3: Well, we’re not dead.

Shedet: Hijacking an Intrepid Class starship was easier.

Technician #3: Wha…

Shedet: ::quickly:: Nothing.

Through the thick cloud of coolant, a figure emerged.

Ada: I’m alright. Is everyone else–why are you all looking at me like that?

The voice was different but the speech, the cadence, the personality was the same. As the emergency systems pulled the cloud of coolant away, Shedet’s eyes grew wider.

Shedet: Oooooooo. Helfa.

Ada: What? ::She looked down at her torso to make sure she didn’t have a conduit sticking through her or something.:: I think I’m fine. I think everyone’s ok, right? I got to the cutoff.

Shedet: I…didn’t calculate the quantum…burp.

Ada: Shedet! Really?! YOU did this?? You could have killed us all.

That was far enough. First the little gimmicks, the tea, the “faulty” panels… those were all things she could take in stride, but sabotaging a delicate experiment for laughs was too much. Definitely time to go to Jalana.

The technicians were murmuring at the perimeter of the room, looking very uncomfortable.

Ada: And why is everyone being so *weird* right now??

Shedet: Commander Davis. Um...You just walked into an unstable higgs boson field...that I just used a Pauli equation to stabilize and a controlled wave form collapse to clean it out.

Ada: I–I–wait, no one calls me that, Ensign. ::Her tone was more baffled than anything else. Shedet never knew her by that name.:: Hold on, hold on. You did what?

Shedet: and what happens if...another experiment was happening at the same time and we both shoved two bubbles of quantum reality together?

Azura looked around the room. It was exactly as she remembered, minus everyone staring at her like she had two heads…. Or like they’d never seen her before.

She felt the blood drain from her face as the realization settled in. The environmental controls cycled the plumes of coolant out of the room, but it was eerily quiet. Azura Ada, standing in a room of familiar strangers.

Ada: Oh shit.

Shedet: (sheepish wave) Welcome to the other side of the bubble? Also ::pointing to collar:: It’s Cadet.

Ada: I… think we should go talk to Jalana.

Shedet: I think…you should stand there until security gets here and they can escort us to Jalana. I done one goof up. Let’s not make it two.

Ada: That is… ::she ran the calculus in her mind:: reasonable, yes. Just no restraints, please?

Shedet: Sure. Let’s go with that.

Shedet reached for her commbadge. She didn’t know if there was an  “accidentally crossed the borders of reality” protocol so she was going to make it up as she went. THIS was going to be a difficult report for Shedet’s academy record.

——
Lt Commander Azura Ada
Second Officer
Chief Science Officer
USS Constitution-B
C239510LD0
(she/her, character)
(she/they, writer)

&

Cadet 2nd Class Shedet
Science Officer
USS Constitution-B NCC 9012-B
V238008N10
he/him & she/her (player & Character)