STF

side sim - Plant Food

Posted Nov. 2, 2021, 7:52 p.m. by Lieutenant Markus Woods (Chief Science Officer) (Sam Haynes)

Posted by Captain Rende Asam (Captain) in side sim - Plant Food

Posted by Lieutenant Markus Woods (Chief Science Officer) in side sim - Plant Food

Posted by Lieutenant Junior Grade Sharah Fayth (Medical) in side sim - Plant Food
Posted by… suppressed (3) by the Post Ghost! 👻

Sharah hated that it took so long to adjust to the rhythms of a new ship. It was a horrible situation in which to make a good impression on her new department head and crew mates. So the only thing to do was to fall back on what had already worked. She spent time in the arboretum, she made sure she ate and stayed hydrated, and to hold the image of surfing strongly to the forefront, allowing the noise, the storm, to rage, but move around and through her and not concentrate on it…or at least try not too. At the end of the first half of her shift she got an official communication from the Academy, from Prof Barswenson. There was apparently a new plant for her research he thought she should look into. It just so happened that the small arboretum/hydroponics bay on board had one of the plants. She requested time in the chemistry lab and she was excited to see there was time after her shift.

She replicated a grilled cheese from the sickbay replicator before she left and spent only a few minutes in the arboretum collecting the sample she needed and then headed to the chemistry lab. She was concentrating on focus and her vision focused and what she needed to do when she got to the lab. Most importantly trying to keep the noise manageable for she’d have to cancel her time. She was not going to cause an accident because she got distracted.

Fayth, med

Mark stood in his office, not his quarters workstation but the actual science labs office for the department head. A few other researchers were moving about, and he’d just finished up the paperwork for his shift thanks to shift change. As senior staff, he was always on-call, of course. But that left him free to focus on his own work. He glanced out through the doors when he saw a familiar figure wend through the corridor and disappear into the chemistry lab next door. With a sandwich. And a bundle of something.

It was nice to see her again, which sent a wave of relaxation through him, despite the urge to go talk to her. But … he had something to do. Around him was a holographic display, pages of research and data, along with various mathematical proofs and models. For a couple minutes he continued working.

A sandwich in the chem lab?

Nope. He couldn’t let it go. =^=Computer, save my log. Heading S.F.C.R. and secure workstation.=^= The computer double-beeped it’s compliance as he headed out of the room. Making his way into the main lab area, he slipped out into the hallway and over to the chemlab door, then strolled over to Sharah. “Doctor Fayth… I wasn’t aware my chem lab was going to be on Good Eats though I can say you’re far easier on the eyes than Alton Brown. What’s goin’ on?” He broke out into a grin, just for a moment.

Lt Woods, CSO

At first she didn’t respond. She was going through cabinets and pulling out various solutions, beakers, test tubes, etc. Then suddenly she stopped turned to look at him, her cheeks flushing pink, “Good Eats?” There was a slight brush of contact and then she grinned, “Well how else am I supposed to figure out how to make the best grilled cheese?” She pointed sadly to the waste receptacle by the door, where her half eaten sandwich currently resided. Then she was distracted again and going through drawers in a cursory manner. Then back at him again, “Have to analyze the chemical composition of the different types of cheeses and bread. Figure out what gives it the best taste.”

She paused and looked at the station then, “Ah!” she crossed the room collecting pipettes and requesting distilled water from the lab’s replicator. Then she cleaned her hands and slipped on gloves. “So what I’m actually doing is getting ready to analyze the chemical composition of this plant. But finding the best grilled cheese really should be a priority,” she grinned up at him. Then she held up a cutting of a small magenta and yellow moss. “Xenuvian moss. Supposedly it is almost a cure all for any type of bacteria. A college from the Academy wrote to me about it. I’m going to find out.” She started tearing the moss into smaller pieces and dropping it into a very old fashioned mortar and then began grinding it gentle with the pestle. “When I was on my cadet cruise, my project involved writing a program to allow away teams to find medicinal plants for emergency medical situations. Eventually it evolved into a bigger program.”

Fayth, med

Noting the half-eaten sandwich he frowned. “So now you’re wasting food,” he said then broke into a small grin. He glanced at the nearby chronometer… the clock. “So this is a personal project,” he said, an odd tone in his voice. A mixture of curiosity, accusation, and neutrality. It was just after shift rotation, and he couldn’t imagine she would be invading the chem lab while on duty, especially since they were without casualties. Even on a ship with a crew around a thousand and two sickbays, it was unlikely that she’d be terribly busy, unless they were in a combat situation. Not with the amount of medical personnel aboard.

“It was replicated and replicators just don’t get it right, so…it was mostly inedible anyway.” It was uncertain if she was joking or serious. Though she was enjoying the banter she was also adamant that anything but real grilled cheese was disappointing. She glanced up at him though, “Well yes and no. It’s not part of my duties for sickbay. It does fall under one of my areas of medical expertise. It is however part of my responsibility with the training program I developed.” She took the crushed moss and dropped it into a test tube. He felt…odd…the schedule had said ‘open lab time’ didn’t it? Yes it had, so…she smiled softly, he wasn’t disturbing her ‘work.’ “I’m off duty now.”

“Sounds a lot like some of the old wilderness survival medicinal stuff they used to teach at The Pathfinder School. They talked a lot about medicinal plants as well as medicinal trees of the eastern woodlands of North America, including how to identify plants for medicinal purposes, even if you don’t know what they are. And some Traditional Chinese Medicine too. Identifying based on sour, bitter, drying like an astringent. A lot of people would laugh at various points but, back home, they really had some of it down well. That lead to a lot of pharmaceuticals which paved the way for true molecular medicine. But you don’t always have that in the field, so sometimes the old ways are still the best ways.”

Woods, CSO

“Here, heat that over the burner, just warm enough until the oils start to seep out.” She passed him the test tube. “It’s exactly like that. So the idea started with the fact that most away teams don’t take a medical officer with them, unless a doctor is specifically requested. And there are plenty of scenarios, dangerous or benign, were the away team can get cut off from their ship and medical aid. So I developed a program that allows a person to input into a tricorder what they need, anti-inflammatory, antibiotic, sedative, etc. and then the tricorder will search for known chemical compositions in the local flora. The program then tells them how to make the medicine. It’s not super complicated, mostly making salves, teas, or tinctures of a sort. Not as strong as what we could make here in the lab, but enough to help until medical aid arrives.” While she talked she was crushing another sample of the moss, adding it to a test tube with distilled water and the stoppering it.

Fayth, med

Chemistry wasn’t his specialty, but he had a solid grasp of it. General sciences, practices, procedures, and lab work were all part of the curriculum. If he couldn’t handle a basic lab, he had no business being there in the first place. So it was that he took a moment to sanitize and glove up, then went to heating the tube and it’s contents, carefully while he listened. “That’s very useful, and a good program. Obviously with ongoing iterations. Have you worked up one for copper-based blood chemistry rather than iron-based?” Vulcans were the primary concern there. He felt fairly sure that was taken into consideration, but it was better to ask.

woods, cso

“There is talk of taking the holodeck program I created and adding it to the first aid and emergency medicine optional ‘extra’ courses. A few ships have actually picked it up and are offering it for CE credits.” When the moss had heated enough she had Mark put the test tube in the rack next to the other one and she slowly added distilled water to it as well. She picked up the room temperature one and swirled it a few times. “The program isn’t that in depth. What I did was look at medications we can use for anyone, determined their chemical composition, and then cross referenced with medicinal flora. Medications that would require blood base and type would be too in depth for someone with only basic first aid knowledge. That would require being able to mix two or more plants, in the correct parts, and make sure they are exact. And in the type of emergency situations the program is designed for, if they could do that they would most likely have access to at least a med kit or a medic.” While they talked she took the pipettes and added a sample of each to tiny test tubes and capped them. Then she placed them into the sample holder on the mass spectrometer and set it to start. Then she cleaned up the work space, leaving it as neat as she found it. “And that’s it. It will be hours before the results are done.”

Fayth, med

As she worked and explained he moved with her, passing the right thing at the right time. Partially from ‘listening’, and partially from at least a few years of basic lab procedure work. Quantum physics, mechanics, and high-energy physics were more his specialty, but he had to be well-rounded for the job. “Compounding in the field would be rough. And no two plants have the same amount of chemicals, and even within they vary. So all you can do is get in the ballpark. I would assume you’ve already looked at interaction warnings.”

As they finished up with the last, he frowned. “Is the mass spec being slow,” he asked, turning his attention to the machine. Sure, some things couldn’t be rushed, but last he checked, everything in the labs were top of the line with the Viking-A being in mint condition, shiny new.

Woods, CSO

It was such a surreal experience, how easily they worked together. Sharah could easily ‘read’ what he was doing out of practice and instinct and what he was doing by reading her own thoughts. It was comfortable and natural and his presence was never part of the chaos nor enhanced it. He was separate from it. His presence was so unique it made it easier for her to focus on him. She felt less distracted around him, though that was probably illusion, wishful thinking. And it scared her how much she wanted to be around him. It wasn’t because of the telepathy, the calmness of his presence, it was how all that allowed her to get to know him, to be present in the moment.
She always was, but it seemed easier with him - or maybe she wasn’t, maybe she was feeding off someone else’s perceptions. It was hard to tell sometimes, and that caused a sense of deep loss in her. With a shrug she pushed it away, she couldn’t change it. “Most of the medications are designed to be applied topically, so allergic reactions would be localized to where it touched. Those given internally are instructed only to be given if the patient is awake and can inform them about allergies, and known allergens are listed. The program also tells them that if they give medicine A then they can safely use D and E but not C or H. It’s not perfect, but if the person follows the steps, the risk is greatly reduced. It will never be a replacement for a medic, nurse, or doctor, but it will help.”

Markus nodded, listening intently. “Okay so yeah, you’ve already started factoring in drug interaction warnings. And no, of course it wouldn’t replace actual medical personnel. but It’s a lot better than nothing. You’re really passionate about this project.” Quietly he considered other equipment to bring along for an away team. But this was something that wasn’t anything more than extra programming. Knowledge weighs nothing, and a tricorder was standard equipment for an away team, in most cases, even when weapons were not. Most operations folks as well as officers usually carried at least a pocket phaser anyway.

She smiled and shook her head, “No, it’s not slow, I just prefer the longer tests. The machine is supposed to be just as accurate with the short analysis time, but I prefer not to risk it. The longer run allows for more detail and cross confirmation. I also put several samples of each in just to verify the results. It will take an hour or two, and then I’ll come back and check it.” Then with a sense of self-determination she asked, “Would you like to do something…with me…together, until then?” It wasn’t exactly enough time for a date…she wasn’t sure she would call it a date anyway, but she would like to spend more time with him.

Fayth, med

“Gotcha. Just wanting to be thorough,” he said. “That I understand. And yes, I’d love to do something with you. We’ve got about an hour, right? Could grab something at one of the lounges, or in quarters. Or whatever you have in mind?”

Markus

“How about the lounge? I haven’t seen it yet.” [There were too many people all in one place and some times she preferred the illusion of isolation.] “After I can pick up the results and then…?” Sharah wasn’t really sure what after that; she just knew she wanted to spend more time with Markus. He didn’t give much away and she was getting to know him in a very genuine way.

“Well, we can look over what you’ve got so far. But it’s not something a simple working dinner date would cover. But at least the broad strokes maybe. Or.. whatever. I tend to go with the flow. Play it by ear.” He flashed her a bright smile, just happy to be there at the moment. The research was a cloudy subject, but ideally witha bright future. There was hope floating in those clouds.

She led the way out of the lab and to a turbolift. “Deck 12,” she murmured the request and the lift took off. “How was the science department today?” It was a genuine question. Sharah wasn’t in the science department anymore, nor was she a department head, but she had found after her time on Ark Angel that she enjoyed hearing about the different projects and studies going on and she’d missed that casual collaboration of the science department.

Sharah

As the lift took off, heading for Deck Twelve, almost unconsciously Markus slipped one arm around her waist, his hand settling on her right hip, just steadying her and taking a moment to make contact once more. She felt good to the touch, but also seemed just as comfortable with him before. If he overstepped, he’d know it instantly. But, he was a betting man, and it was a good bet it was anything but an an over-step.

“Good. Everybody’s putting in good work today, though … Uh… I uh electromagnetically reconfigured some data storage.” Euphemism for wiping computer or data storage… or breaking something with an electromagnet or electromagnetic field. As he said it, through his chagrin came the image/surface memory of a small, wearable device he turned on and it shot across the lab, slammed into the wall, and exploded into tiny pieces. Whoops. And it had been something for her. The memory of that was like a punch in the gut, just for a moment and he visibly deflated.

Markus, Science imposter


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