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Side Sim - CSO's Office - Now Is The Time (Tag Naim)

Posted Feb. 18, 2021, 3:04 p.m. by Lieutenant Kiama Naim (Chief Science Officer) (Silke Fahl)

Posted by Ensign Kaia (Engineering Officer) in Side Sim - CSO’s Office - Now Is The Time (Tag Naim)

Posted by Lieutenant Kiama Naim (Chief Science Officer) in Side Sim - CSO’s Office - Now Is The Time (Tag Naim)

Posted by Ensign Kaia (Engineering Officer) in Side Sim - CSO’s Office - Now Is The Time (Tag Naim)
Posted by… suppressed (10) by the Post Ghost! 👻

(snip)

“Um, sure! Maybe you can find K’Sang’s notes?” Kaia looked at the messy office. “Or he might have taken them with him when he left… We’ll see.” She lifted an arm and fiddled with her U.R.I., producing a holographic projection of her current model. The current model of the U.R.I. was pretty advanced compared to previous models, containing data storage, a personal UT, communications relays (it contained the functions of a combadge), remote interface capabilities, a transport beacon for Galdori “Teleporters”, and more. The big upgrade this time was the update to the holographic projection system, updated to copy a little from Federation holographic technology in making the projection out of a solid light interlace, which meant that Kaia could touch the projection, physically feel it against her hand, and move it around. Kaia rambled something about how cool the new URI was before her attention turned more to the projection. “This is what we had as of the last time we talked. It’s kinda a big collab between Engineering, Medical, and Science, since it kinda fits in all three categories.”

Kaia, Eng

“I will look for them,” Kiama replied with a smile and then shifted her attention to the U.R.I. and what Kaia was showing her. Nodding thoughtfully and replied, “I think I see what you were doing and as I said, I’d be happy to help in any way I can. Could you send me what you have so far so that can have a closer look at it?” While she talked, Kiama had started to lean slightly forward to get a closer look without consciously noticing what she was doing. Her dark eyes wandered slowly and methodically over every inch of the projection, taking in as much as possible.

~Lt. Naim, CSO

Kaia squinted at her diagrams, then nodded slightly and tapped a few things. “Send schematics to Kiama Naim,” she ordered her wrist-mounted computer, then looked back at Kiama. “Do you know of anyone in medical who might be interested in this project? Some of their insight might be helpful. Maybe I should ask the Crit leader about it…?” she looked thoughtful for a few moments as she considered her options.

“You could ask Ensign Shon Baht. I’m sure he’d be happy to help,” Kiama suggested without hesitation.

She zoomed in on one of the sections of the hologram, showing Kiama one of the joints. “One of the toughest parts of the project is figuring out how to transfer physical input from the user into movement in the prosthetic without too much circuitry. My main hope is to make a prosthetic that could be created without the use of computers and used in places where the need for computation is not good. Like if there’s a survey team who needs to blend in with a low-tech civilization but one of the people needs a prosthesis!”

Kaia, Eng

Kiama nodded thoughtfully as she looked closely at the hologram. “Might there be a way to connect it directly to the person’s nervous system and thus to their brain? That might reduce the use of circuitry and all,” she thought aloud. “What if…” Her voice trailed off and neuroscientist reached for a PaDD and to type in some commands. Her eyes were slightly narrowed as she worked on whatever idea had just come to her mind.

~Lt. Naim, CSO

“That’s too high-tech,” Kaia said with a grin. “If you can do that without 23rd century tech or electricity, sure, but the idea is to focus on mechanical motions.”

Kiama nodded thoughtfully, her left index finger tapping her lips. That was more tricky, but she was certain that it wouldn’t be impossible. It just might take longer and involve more research and trials. But she didn’t mind any of that. On the contrary.

She tapped a few things and brought up a high-tech gauntlet prosthesis. “This one has the same type of computational fluid in it that they have in starships. It picks up nerve signals directly from the nerves in the stump of the arm, and translates them perfectly with complex hydraulics to realistic movements. They can even,” she punched in a command, “camouflage it to look like flesh.” The image morphed, and Naim was treated with what looked like a lower arm, detached from any other limbs.

“That’s really impressive,” Kiama replied with a wide smile and then leaned slightly forward to have a closer look at the hologram.

Kaia looked at Kiama, an odd expression briefly on her face, then pulled the URI off her wrist and placed it on the table. The next thing she did was to grab her right arm, just below the elbow, and twisted it in a way that her arm definitely should not have been able to twist. A moment later, a lifeless arm popped right off, leaving a stump that ended halfway between the wrist and elbow, all the skin below the elbow devoid of the downy fur that covered the rest of the Raka’s body. Kaia waved the stump at Kiama, giving her a shy smile.

Kaia, Eng

A hint of surprise played across Kiama’s face as she watched Kaia, but it quickly turned into a tender smile. Without thinking about what she was doing, she gently wrapped her arms around her friend and whispered, “Thank you. It means a lot to me that you feel comfortable enough share this with me.” She never took anyone sharing their vulnerability with her for granted and it thus always moved her deeply when someone did.

~Lt. Naim, CSO

Kaia accepted and returned the hug, giving Kiama a tight squeeze. She let it linger for a while before wriggling out of the hug and grabbing her prosthetic. “I was born like this,” she explained, bracing the arm between her knee and her stump while using her natural hand to fiddle with it for a moment. “Pretty crazy that I managed to become an Engineer with only one hand, right?” she said with a grin.

Still smiling tenderly at Kaia, Kiama shook her head. “I don’t think it’s crazy at all. Sure, it’s a disability and I don’t want to down play it or anything. Yet I think in this day in age it isn’t something that keeps us from pursuing our dreams and goals. There are so many possibilities thanks to modern medicine, science and engineering these days - as your prosthetic proves - to help us overcome disabilities and disadvantages.” Smiling more widely, she continued, “And to me it shows how strong and determined you are.”

Kaia gestured to the display that was still running on the URI. “That’s what it looks like on the inside. All kinds of fancy circuits and stuff. But it can be a problem if I want to work with something where high levels of electronics might interfere with a project. Stuff where electrostatics are important. I mean, the fur causes enough electrostatic interference, but the arm makes it a lot worse. That’s why I’m trying to develop this mechanical-only project. It’s helpful for Starfleet, but it’s also helpful for me,” she explained, giving Kiama a cheeky grin.

Leaning slightly forward to have a closer look, Kiama nodded here and there while listening to Kaia. “Yes, I can see why that would be problematic. Hmm…” Her voice trailed off and she began running through ideas in her mind while chewing a little on her lower lip.

She slid her stump back into the arm and wiggled it around a bit until there was a very soft click sound. Then the illusion was complete and she moved the arm around. It looked real… but now that Kiama knew the trick, she might be able to spot a few differences. The fur on the fake arm didn’t have the same healthy sheen that Kaia’s natural fur did, and the palm of the hand had a slightly more plasticy look to it. It was difficult to spot if you didn’t know it was there though.

Kaia, Eng

“Have you any ideas how to go about it or where you’d like to start?” Kiama asked thoughtfully, looking Kaia straight in the eyes. She didn’t want to start brainstorming or making suggestions till she knew where her friend was at and if she maybe had already played through some ideas.

~Lt. Naim, CSO

“Well, the basics have been solved by different engineers all over. Getting wrist movement, while challenging, is quite doable on a mechanical lower arm prosthetic. I’ve pretty much got that down. The difficult thing is trying to create the ability to grasp. Fingers have an incredible amount of variability, and getting the precise amount of grip strength to hold onto something without breaking it is a very precise thing,” she explained. “I, uh, haven’t really got a solution for that.”

Kaia, Eng.

“Hmm,” Kiama said softly, her eyes unfocused. “Of the top of my head I can’t think of anything either. But I’ll definitely give it some thought.” After a few moments of silence she continued, “I assume you already looked at old prosthetics from when they were still purely mechanical? I see the difficulty regarding the precision when it comes to gripping something and I have no idea how precise those old ones were. But they might be a starting point anyway?”

~Lt. Naim, CSO

Kaia nodded. “Yeah, I’ve looked into a few options for old ideas. Most of them were pretty crude. By the time you get to the early twenty-first century - on earth at least - they’re already getting into electronics. I’m honestly not sure if it’s even possible. Even if it isn’t, whatever I discover in my research might be able to help others who don’t have the same resources that Starfleet does. I only got this because I’m a brilliant engineer and they wanted my skills on their ships,” she gestured with her arm.

Kaia, Eng

Kiama nodded thoughtfully. “I was afraid that that might be the case,” she replied. “I think I have to do a bit of reading on my own and mull all of this over for a bit. It’s a field I have very little experience with after all. Would that be okay?” she asked and then added, “And I’ll apologise already for probably going to ask questions or suggest things you already considered.”

~Lt. Naim, CSO

Kaia nodded. “That’s reasonable,” she said with a small smile. “I think I’ll head back to Engineering and see if there’s anything I can do down there to help out until my duty shift ends. And yes, I have been approved to work on this project during my duty hours, as long as it takes up less than 4 hours a week.”

Kaia, Eng.

“I wasn’t going to ask that, but good to know,” Kiama replied with a warm smile. Titling her head slightly, she suggested, “Should we plan to meet and talk about this more over lunch or dinner or something in the next week or so?”

~Lt. Naim, CSO


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