[BACKPOST] Room for Improvement

Posted on Fri Mar 27th, 2015 @ 12:04pm by
Edited on on Thu Apr 23rd, 2015 @ 11:14am

Mission: Temporal Kickback
Location: Ops Chief's Office
Timeline: before being sucked into the temporal vagina

Ven sat in his office, well it was called an office. The room looked more like a place where the ops and engineering staff tossed used parts. Actually, it was both. He was hunched over a table twisting wires together on something he had been working on for a while now. He had even taken the thing into a staff meeting with him.

Aelyn was concerned about the Hera's Chief of Operations. She was still largely unfamiliar with the staff, having been busy with desk work to help lighten their Captain's workload, but now the half Caitian Officer was trying to rectify her distance with the crew. She hoped to get to know them better, starting with the Xenexian officer, Ventarus Nosplet. He seemed to have no prior experience running a department and his deportment left a lot to be desired. Apparently, he had been promoted from within rather than having Starfleet send for a proper replacement. She had a feeling that mentoring him would require a great deal of work, but it would be worth it. She had read his departmental reports and there was great promise, he just needed a little guidance. Aelyn brought herself to the office of the Operations Chief and rang the chime.

Ven looked up at his door. This was his office not his room so he was Not use to people ringing the bell to come in. Most people just barged in. Who ever was showing this new level of respect for Ven had already impressed him. "Please come in."

Aelyn entered and took in the clutter that surrounded them. What a mess! There didn't even seem to be an empty chair for her to use. It seemed she had her work cut out for her! "Lieutenant Nosplet, what is the meaning of this mess?" she asked.

Ven watched Aelyn enter and look around. He also looked around. "Mess? Where?" He looked under the table where he sat.

"Why are all these parts in your office?" Aelyn asked, looking about through some of the used parts strewn about. "These are all used. Lieutenant, there are storage lockers for this sort of thing, and most of this should be bound for recycling anyway."

"Oh! Well they are!" Ven explained and held up what he was working on. It looks like it was once a tricorder but it was not anymore. "In my spare time I invent things...you like coffee?"

"I do," Aelyn said as she picked up and examined the tricorder Ven was working on. "What does this do now?" she asked, able to see that he had changed its primary functions.

Ven's eyes lit up, he loved nothing more then showing off his gadgets. "Let me show you!" He said holding his hand out for the device back. "This little guy is going to change away missions forever!"

"Please, show me," Aelyn said, handing the device back to the excited Engineer with a curious tilt of her head.

Ven took the hand held device and typed something into the controls. He then pointed it at the table and pressed one of the buttons. A blue beam shot out of the top and in a mater of seconds a white coffee cup with a black liquid materialized before them.

"Behold!" Ven exclamed excitedly. "Coffee!"

Aelyn's eyes widened as she watched the mug of coffee materialize before them. Her nose twitched as she detected the aromatic brew. It smelled like coffee, but something was off... "Impressive," she said, then reached out to take the cup. "Stable, sturdy container and properly replicated fluid dynamics... Although you have a few bugs to work out; this coffee is cold." She brought the cup closer to get a better whiff of the scent, then a cautious taste. "And very bitter, but that could just be the replicator pattern you're using. I would say run the pattern through a regular repicator to test for pattern accuracy." But her initial impressions? Definitely impressed!

"Yeah..." Ven said looking at the thing. "It still get confused over hot and cold...ice cream was messy. I'm also having trouble coming up with a small enough mater container. So far I have gotten it small enough to replicate most drinks and some smaller foods, but it only holds enough for a few uses then needs a recharge. But that's the fun of inventing! Working out the kinks." Ven set the device down. "As you can see Commander, I bring this stuff here to help better the crew. Anything I don't use I always recycle back into the replicators. I alway felt that there was no point in using brand new replicated parts when used ones would work just fine. If I can get this thing to work right, I'll present it to the captain and then I'll make fresh ones to keep in our emergency kits."

"Innovative. It definitely needs those kinks ironed out, but i could see how something like this could be useful in an emergency situation. But you can't keep all the spare parts in your office. You also can't bring this stuff into staff meetings. You're a department head and a Senior Officer, you're supposed to be setting an example for those working under you," Aelyn said seriously. She wasn't relly scolding him... well, maybe she was, but she was trying to be nice about it.

Ven wore a confused look And he cocked his head to the side. "I don't understand. None of the crew were at the meeting and I stopped once the meeting started. And how is storing and using used parts for the ship not setting a good example?" He was clearly not being demeaning, but honestly asking.

It's true, none of your subbordinate were are the meeting, but that is not the point," Aelyn said with an exaperated sigh. Alright, so maybe this was going to be more work than she originally thought... "A staf meeting is not the place for tinkering. Your full attention should be on the meeting, and you should be conducting yourself in a manner that is fitting of an officer of your station. You come to meetings and the bridge in a dissheveled state; you can do better, Mr. Nosplet."

Ven immediately wilted under the small verbal lashing. Any typical Starfleet officer would have been able to deal with such a small scolding, but Ven was anything but a typical officer. Truth be told, many have wondered in the past how he got there in the first place.

He sagged into a nearby seat and stared at his shoes. "Yes ma'am" he barely squeaked out.

"Now, with that out of the way, I do want to say I'm encouraged by everything else I've seen from your performance so far," Aelyn went on. Goodness, how had this timid thing managed to make it to Chief of Operations?! "You need some polishing, which I will work with you on, but you work well with your peers, your subordinates look up to you and respect you and follow orders well, you manage the ship very well. I am pleased. And your inventions are an added bonus, but you will need to work on them on your own time, not while you're on duty. I will, however, authorize lab space for you to dedicate to your tinkering so you can keep your office neat."

Of everything she just said, only one thing made its way into his mind. "A lab?" He peaked up at Aelyn from under his mess of hair. "Like, a real lab?"

"Yes, a lab," Aelyn said with a hint of laugh. "And you must keep it in order. I don't expect it to be clean all the time, but I should be able to come through at any time and walk without hinderance, find a chair, and find the replicator." Though the last bit of that was just to tease him for the state of his office and not being able to sit down or get a cup of coffee, but she would make it a real stipulation if she found he was keeping the lab space in complete disarray.

"More chairs...got it." But his mind was already wandering to the idea of having a proper work space for all his gadgets. His finger bounced off his lips as he stared off into space.

Aelyn chuckled with a shake of her head. This one was certainly interesting! "Focus, Mr. Nosplet," Aelyn scolded gently. "First order of business, I'd like you to clean your office. Then in the morning, report to my office looking properly dressed, meaning no dirt or grease on your face and no wrinkles in your uniform, and then we can go over unallocated space to set up your lab."

Ven looked at her in confusion again. "How could I possibly clean all this up before I get the space to store it in?"

"You're a clever fellow, I'm sure you'll figure it out," Aelyn challenged him. She could simplify things by just letting him pick his lab space now, but she needed to affirm the boundaries: work before pleasure, meaning his office had to be clean before he could get the lab. But she had faith that he could figure out a solution.

Ven looked around the office then back a Aelyn. "Ok, I'll move it all." He said with out explination. Beaming the lot to cargo bay two would work out since he knew it was empty and the cargo that was going to go in there was now in a different dimension...or timeline or something.

"Very good," Aelyn replied with a nod. He seemed resolved and that was good enough for her. "I'll see you in the morning, Mr. Nosplet, bright and early," she added as she turned to leave.

"When bright and early?" Ven said to her back. He hardly slept so sometimes it was hard for him to know exactly what time it was. Actually the only time he really got sleep was when Amelia came and dragged him off to bed. "I don't want to be late."

"In the morning, start of duty shift," Aelyn reminded him. "Come to my office and I'll approve your lab space."

"See you then." Ven said as he stood and picked up a PaDD. He was going to have to spend the next few hours placing transporter tags on everything in his office. Time to get to work.
TAG