Posted by Warrant Officer Gerald Hopkins (Engineer) in Intro, then checking in with the XO

Posted by Commander Dira Myqian (Executive Officer) in Intro, then checking in with the XO

Posted by Warrant Officer Gerald Hopkins (Engineer) in Intro, then checking in with the XO
Posted by… suppressed (5) by the Post Ghost! 👻
(Given that Joe is on LOA I’m sending this your way Linds)

Gerald had a restless night to settle in on the starbase. He figured that he was going to be in deep space working on vital systems not, well, sitting around waiting for who knows what. His ocular implant was giving him trouble, the neural link was acting up again and he felt a burning situation deep in his head while the image flickered and looked like television static. He was sure it was just the relays needing to be replaced again and he rose to walk to the mirror, stumbling a little as he now knew his relays were going. The eyes always went first, followed by his balance, the relays were shot. He took out a small cylindrical tool as well as a small black case where inside were isolinear relays, smaller and more squarish versions of the isolinear chips found in some older starships. The relays were of a simple design and where a burnt orange in color. He pulled out two and set them on the side with his functional human left arm. Taking the tool he put it to the side of his head an twisted while pushing, a small shock could be heard as the exterior panel disengaged and folded down revealing the neural link inside. There were two of the relays located on top of each other and if both removed would disable all implants within his body within 5 minutes, effectively killing him. A flaw in Starfleet design perhaps? Maybe but they were trying to save soldiers not create the most robust system in the quadrant. Those 5 minutes were due to a buffer loaded into the main processing core that would degrade over time without the relays in place. As Gerald sighed he pushed in the top most and it clicked and the lights blinked out from it as he removed it from his head followed by the second one. There were many times he had thought about just passing away from this, it would have been called an error, a mistake but Gerald had never followed through with it. He sighed and inserted the new relays and they blinked to life as he closed his eyes and waited for the inevitable reboot of each system as it checked system integrity throughout. It was a painful process and Gerald had never quite gotten used to it as he could feel each of his internal and external implants shutting down and restarting before his ocular implant came up last. It appeared similar to a Borg unit, replacing the entire socket and mounting to his skull but lacking the wires and harshness of their cold assimilative ways. As his vision was corrected he saw the status of his relays and internal systems as well as some data about the world around him, like a step between a VISOR and replacement eyes. The relays were already reading 88% and they were brand new. His body was starting to reject more and more now. He looked at the old relays and they weren’t just worn out, no, they were cracked and burnt, this was something he’d have to consult medical about.

Putting on his uniform Gerald grabbed his PADD and strolled out as he re-read his transfer orders. He was an officer yes, but a warrant officer. He was enlisted through and through but was good enough and dedicated enough for a special honor one that he worked hard for, and paid dearly for. The Chief was away when Gerald was transferred aboard but he wanted to get a lay of the land and maybe get some information on what ship they’d be going to once their base leave was finished. He thought that the XO would be the person to know and found his way to their temporary office, rang the chime, and waited as patiently as a cyborg could.

SWO Gerald Hopkins, Eng

OOC: Joe is back but we can still do this and maybe connect it all. :) Sorry for the delay on my end.
IC:
“Enter,” came a clear voice from inside the office.

The small room was one of several guest offices that the Starbase had for visiting staff. Aside from a desk and two guest chairs, there was a shelf and a replicator. Basic.

Behind the desk, Dira was focused on her computer terminal rather intently, Looking up, her dark eyes took in Hopkins and she smiled. “Hello, come on in and have a seat,” she said, gesturing to one of the two standard chairs. “And you can remind me who you are and let me know how I can help you,” she added, tapping a couple things on her terminal and then switching it off to focus on Gerald.

Commander Myqian, XO

Gerald smiled as he entered the room and looked a touch out of place. He was used to working with soldiers, petty officers, and the occasional department head but meeting with an XO? There was no hint of disrespect, just a little unsure of himself. Sitting down he said, “Gerald Hopkins mam, I’m one of your new engineers on the ship. Well. When we get a ship that is. I was hopin’ to meet with the Chief but I couldn’t find him and thought I’d head your direction.” He handed over the PADD with his transfer orders as well as his long service record. The distorted voice of his was certainly unique but nothing offputting.

Gerald Hopkins, Eng

Dira accepted the PADD from him, letting her dark eyes take him as she smiled. Hers was a warm smile, sincere. But like all students of sentient behaviour she gazed deeper and dug deeper, even when the conversation was surface level only. “Welcome to the crew,” she said. “The Chief, as you can imagine, has a lot going on and can be any number of places, but I’ll help you track him down. For the moment, why don’t you sit and tell me what’s on this PADD? After all, I’m going from being the first officer of a ship of forty to ten times that,” she said with a laugh. “My brain feels inundated.”

Commander Myqian, XO

Gerald nodded as his artificial eye winked out. The commander would see the slight twitch to the left as the room lost half it’s sight and the eye piece went from a dull glowing green to a flat grey of inactivity. He was used to this happening though and didn’t want to bring it up as he was worried that it would affect his placement on the ship. He began to speak and his vocal processor was still functional as he said, “Of course Commander, I’ll take as little time as I can. On there you’ll find my service record, letters of recommendation, transfer orders, and an exemption relating to my semi synthetic status. I don’t have any positronic parts in me but Starfleet wanted to send one along anyways.”

Gerald Hopkins, Eng

She gave him a warm smile. “While I appreciate you not wanting to waste my time, that tells me absolutely nothing. Tell me about you and what you do best. What brings you to our crew?”

Commander Myqian, XO

Gerald studied the XO and said “Well Commander I’m a battlfield engineer by origin, I know how to make work of a problem and ensure that it’s done right the first time because you might not have a second chance to fix it.” He leaned back in the chair and thought for a moment. “I’ve worked under pressure my whole life as you can imagine Commander, and pressure is no problem by me. I’ve held shield generators together with ration tins, expended phaser rifle power batteries, and a few rocks so I can tell you that nothing on our new ship will ever be out of service long.”

Gerald Hopkins, Eng

She chuckled slightly and nodded. “Well, for better or worse I don’t think we’ll have to worry about that so much. The current USS Ogawa would fall under those parameters but it’s non-functional and we’re getting a new ship. So there will likely be more tweaking than outright holding bits together. But I’m pretty sure Mason will appreciate your ability to improvise.”

Commander Myqian, XO