Architects of the Future

Posted on Thu Jan 2nd, 2020 @ 4:43pm by Lieutenant Mona Gonadie & Petty Officer 2nd Class Ila Dedjoy & Ensign Briaar Gavarus & Ensign Fiona O'Dell
Edited on on Sat Jan 11th, 2020 @ 2:15pm

Mission: Neutral Zone Neutrality
Location: R&D Department
Timeline: 2396

The traditionally lazy, disorganized Ensign Briaar Gavarus was up and in the office working a bit earlier than usual. The last test of an experimental force field belt had taken a particularly bad turn late in the testing when the impact-absorption field failed somewhat spectacularly leading to its test pilot, and the temperamental Tellarite’s life-partner Ensign Fiona O’Dell getting punched extremely hard in the head by an increasingly aggressive Klingon security officer.

After a day in sickbay nursing a concussion and a long night of recuperation for both women, followed by a few days of reduced duty for Fiona to fully recover, Gavarus was intent on figuring out exactly what had gone wrong with the invention she had put so much work into. The belt was being designed as a protective measure for both the couple’s adopted daughter, the miniature minotaur, Minerva, as well as the three daughters of their department chief, Ensign Mona Gonadie. The Miradonian R&D chief’s children, in spite of being half-Romulan, were likely going to be able to fly as newborns and Gavarus wanted to perfect the belt before they were born to help protect them from crash-related injuries. But the failure in testing was sticking in her proverbial craw hard, prompting an uncharacteristically intense amount of focus this morning.

The portly porcine sat at her control console on the R&D section of the flight deck, going over the data from the test, with the testing computers hardwired into the console so she could make sure that there was nothing wrong with that equipment itself that might have caused the malfunction. The belt itself was in pieces on the deck in front of the console, as the first thing she did was disassemble every component to check for faulty wiring or physical connections, but found nothing. “GOD’S DAMMIT!”

Shouting, the angry engineer in a stained gold tunic slapped the console as another diagnostic came back with nothing of any use. “Computer. Diagnostic twelve, frickin’negative. Log it. This time I’m gonna check the inertial feedback sensors to see if they were picking up the data properly and match it from the sensors in Petty Officer S’Rina’s boxing gloves to make sure there’s no data sliding.”

Ambling onto the small flight deck with a horned toddler parked on her narrow hip, that was becoming increasingly difficult for Fiona O’Dell to manage with her narrow and spindly stick figure, one hand wrangled the toddler while the other was holding steady a plate bearing breakfast. Having recognized why her porcine partner was up at this hour and the underlying issues, Fiona had risen, gotten Minnie ready for the day and whipped up breakfast for all involved. Now, like a peace offering to the tall Tellarite, she came bearing food.

“Ye canna solve problems on an empty stomach, you,” she opened with a gentle nagging, as she held out the omelet as an offering. “Spinach an’ feta cheese omelet with a hint of Cajun seasoning fuir kick?”

Rolling her eyes, Briaar groaned and hung her head a little as she turned towards Fiona who, as usual, knew exactly what was bothering her, why, and what to do about it. And with her two stomachs growling in protest as her porcine snout caught a whiff of the provided breakfast, she rubbed the back of her neck and sighed.

"Thanks. It smells awesome. I just... I need to figure this out, Fee. It's driving me nuts that all that data and I still don't know why the belt cut out on you." The touchy Tellarite said as she hooved over to take the offered plate with a resigned smile for her unlikely but welcome family. "An' I don't want to show it off to the chieftain' say 'Yeah! We solved your flying babies with hollow bones' problem knowing that I screwed something up. It's NOT the power regulators and it's NOT the input sensors and it's NOT a dozen other systems I checked. It's like the field just turned off for no damn reason."

“Aye, alreet… so ye know what it wasn’t,” Fiona countered, sitting down on the bench alongside the outer bulkhead of the break room, positioning the miniature minotaur on her lap so the cheerful child could snuggle up to her less bony mother as she patted the spot beside her to get briaar to sit. “Might it be that the power generated by the battery is joost nae sufficient to withstand the force of the blow comin in? Like, S’Rina hit it s’hard she overloaded the field because it dinna have enoof power ta withstand it?”

Bringing her considerable bulk down, Briaar flumped onto the bench where Fiona had patted and as soon as she did, little Minnie leaned in against her prodigious paunch and hummed happily. Taking a bite of her omelet, Briaar half-heartedly muttered, "Yeah, I guess."

That was when Mona came in, sporting her new blue uniform and extra rank, carrying a box with two dozen iced carrot cake donuts. "Personally, I think that's a good lead to go on. The logs don't show anything but a shutdown, right? Then look for overloads in each component and make sure there's no feedback."

Not quite looking up to greet the department chief and newly minted Lieutenant, Gavarus took another bite while she thought. "I checked for overloads but... but the power wasn't coming from a battery pack. It was a wireless connection drawing power from the ship's grid. Maybe the problem is in... Chief? Holy crap! Look at you!"

“Waaaaaaitaminnit. I dinna recognize that shade a’blue, and ye been promoted, AND ye come bearin’ sweets,” the surprisingly observant O’Dell remarked, taking it all in as her eyes narrowed suspiciously. “Yuir nae leavin’ us, are ye Chief? Wait, we’re still in business, aye? They’re nae shuttin down R&D, are they?!?”

"Well, yeah, I've put on a lot of weight... I am carrying three chicks..." The seemingly oblivious Mona set the box of donuts aside and looked down at herself before addressing what they were referring to. "Oh! The new uniform? This is our new department color. You'll both be wearing it tomorrow. It looks good, doesn't it? They finally talked me into accepting a promotion so we can grow the department. Something about new projects and all that."

For her part, O’Dell sagged a bit in relief. New uniforms and new rank were seldom heralds of good tidings in her experience, but this was different. This time it was Chief Gonadie who came bearing the news, and it was news that apparently their department would be growing. Which ideally meant that they were succeeding, since more would be asked of a larger department. But the key she was taking away from this exchange was that R&D was still in business… if anything better business/ Nudging her portly partner, O’Dell grinned. “Aye, ye’ll look good in blue, Gavarus!”

Tilting her head and allowing a smirk to crack her grumpy face, Briaar looked down at her slightly disheveled gold uniform. "I guess. It's weird but... Being an Engineer, I figured I'd be in gold my while career. Who'd a' thought we would be at the start of an entire... division."

Then, putting her now empty plate down and stifling a small burp, the porcine engineer leaned over so that Fiona's voluminous curls were in front of Mona. "OOH, you're gonna rock this too, Fee. What do you think, Minnie Moo? Will your Mum look awesome in blue?"

At the question, the tiny tot looked up at her pint-sized parent, over to Mona's blue covered belly which was at her eyeliner and then giggled, bouncing up and down. "BOO! BOO!

"Both her mums will rock a blue uniform, but nooobody's g'win ta wear it like the Chief. Look, the color matches some of her tips. Ye canna compete wi' alla that perfectly coiffed festive tropical plumage goin on over there," O'Dell was laying it on a bit thick, but she suspected the Chief might be a bit sensitive about her weight and appearance, which was less chicken and more hen these days. But still was she beautiful, as O'Dell would remind her. "That's sooo much better for ye than the red was, Chief. Or L-T now, aye? How aboot that? Which d'ye like, mum?"

"Ah... Let's stick with Chief..." Now Mona was definitely self-conscious as she adjusted her uniform and blushed slightly. "There's a lot to be done today, which is why I brought donuts in for everyone. Yeoman Dedjoy will also be stopping by. I asked her to lend her expertise to a couple of our projects. I'll also be going over the records of a few new additions to the department. First and foremost being a daycare specialist."

"I'll also be starting replication of our first custom hardsuit. Fiona, the armory will be expecting you after lunch for fitment."

"Aye Chief, as ye say," the wee test pilot agreed easily. Hoisting the hefty toddler over to Gavarrus' lap, O'Dell scooted inside to drop off the plate and utensils in the reclamator, then returned to the flight deck. Catching a donut and tossing it at her perpetually hungry handy-gal, the pipsqueak pilot looked up at the avian aviatrix. "Alreet, so what needs be done?"

"Yeah." Briaar said as she bounced Minnie on her knee while taking a bite of her donut. Talking with her mouth full, she continued, "An' who do ya' think can handle nanny duty f'r Minnie?"

"What aboot yuir mother-in-law? O'Dell quipped. "She already g'win ta be aboot once yuir chicks hatch, and Minnie loves 'er. Which is a consideration, because that nursery school teacher said wee Minerva's expelled, and she doesnae seem to get along with joost innyone. And given the temperment a' the L-C, yuir wee birdies might be a bit choosy aboot their caretakin as well. If ye dinna mind me bein' s'bold, Chief." While she was making a lot of presumption, the Mariposian midget had a valid point or two.

"Yeah, she's on the top of the list, if she'll take the job. As for the scientist, there's one I've had my eye on for a while on Earth. Being promoted does make my offer a bit easier though." Mona got lost in thought a moment before snapping back to reality. "Ah, but Jaeih also has her duties to Moira as well, so she might be an occasional guest as well. I've heard that she's already gaining proficiency with a sword and is also not the most welcome at the ship's daycare."

Finishing off her donut, Briaar looked down to Minnie on her lap, "What'cha think, Minnie Moo? You think you can turn on the cute and help talk Gammy Jaeih into coming to help babysit for you? And you can play with whatsherface maybe?"

Minnie scrunched her little cow face up and made a raspberry in the air, but then immediately giggled and squeaked out "GAM!!!" and smiled.

"I... Have no idea I that's good or bad, Fee." Briaar half-smiled at the adorable, if perplexing display.

"Aye, that's a good one. Have ye noticed we seem ta be raisin the generation that doesnae get along wi' innybody but the people they choose to be around? I wonder where they all get THAT from," O'Dell mused. "Alreet Chief- scientist back on Earth, get us a nanny fuir the auxiliary daycare next to the flight deck, Dedjoy comin doown from the pod to mix wi' us mere mortals, and ye've redesigned a pilot's hardsuit in yuir spare time. So what's first? Get our new spiffy uniforms on to pose fuir a holo?"

"That sounds like a good idea, actually. I had the computer replicate uniforms for you in the break room so they should be ready," Mona replied with a grin. "Hopefully the measurements on record are still accurate."

Blushing ever so slightly, Briar looked down to her prodigious paunch and bit her bottom lip. "Yeaaaahhh, we shall see. I'm, uh, not exactly keeping up with the working out as well as I should be, what with Minnie and... uh... yeah. Fingers crossed."

Looking up at the bigger of her mothers, little Minnie leaned in to hug on Briaar's belly, letting out a sound that was somewhere between a purr and a moo as she nuzzled into her mother's soft middle. "Okay, let's go do this, then."

Patting the prodigious paunch of her porcine partner, O'Dell hefted the heavy minotaur child off her mother's lap and down to the deck, where she helped the hooved heifer find her footing. Holding her hand, Fiona began leading her to the locker room to get changed. Pausing, she waited for Briaar- while she was a bit too tall to comfortably hold Minerva's three-fingered hand at her height, still she loved to be included in family moments like this. Thus the Mariposian maiden paused to wait for her, to give her a bit of joy as their lives changed a little bit, evolving and changing once more.

Grunting slightly, Briaar got up off the bench, wiping some donut crumbs off her top and looking at it for a moment. "Weird. Last day in gold. Okay." Then she followed after Fiona and the waddling Minerva who was still excited to be walking. 

Once back in the breakroom, there were a few minutes of silence, punctuated by the occasional grunting curse from the tubby Tellarite and the Gaelic tones of O'Dell telling Minnie to put something down followed by giggles and irritated moans. Then, after a few minutes more, the unlikely family unit emerged. On the flight deck, Mona was holding a PaDD and going over some files with the crimson-clad Yeoman Ila Dedjoy, who had arrived while they were changing. 

Holding little Minnie on her bony hip, Fiona was slightly adjusting the collar of her new, blue tunic as Briaar walked behind them, tugging down on snug-fitting R&D uniform that was just a smidge too tight on her rotund form. "Ugh, yeah. Back on the frickin' diet. What'cha think, chief?" the portly porcine muttered as they came out onto the deck and over to their smiling chief. Even the miniature minotaur had been changed into a matching blue onesie and was beaming happily along with the Miradonian Lieutenant and her red-headed Mum.

"I think I picked the right shade of blue. You all look outstanding in it. It really brings out Minnie's eyes, too." Mona wasn't exactly lying, but she may have been exaggerating a smidge as she picked up the holo-cam and fiddled with the timer. "And now we need a group photo, and no you're not getting out of it, Ila. You're technically one of us, even if you're not specifically assigned to the department."

"Thankye, Chief! It sets off Gavarus' blonde that mooch better, and it doos compliment me hair well. Aye, c'mon Yeoman, ye kin be our spot 'o red in the sea of blue, eh?" Setting Minnie down on the deck and steadying her, O'Dell waved the petite cybernetic doll-eyed researcher over, encouraging her to join them.

The doll-faced woman nodded and gave in. "I suppose I don't have any excuse not to. After all, it's not like it's going to suck my soul out or anything like some of the people on my homeworld seem to think." After an odd look from Mona, Ila continued. "I grew up on a rock farm. Some of the farmers are... poorly educated and superstitious..."

"And that's now at the top of my list of weirdest superstitions..." Mona mumbled as she finished setting up the holo-camera and waddled over to join the others. "Everyone say cheese!"

Tucking in between Fiona and Ila, behind Minnie and in front of the towering Briaar who was always in the back of group photos, Mona led by example with a beaming smile. Dedjoy's smile was much more measured, while Fiona's stretched ear to ear. In the back, Briaar made a half-hearted attempt at a close-mouthed grin to conceal the prominent lower tusks she tried to keep ground down while, in the front, Minnie was ecstatic. With a wide, open-mouthed smile, she giggled and looked up at Mona's pregnant belly. With one hand being held by Fiona, the miniature Minotaur put the other, three-fingered little hand on the Chief's belly gently and smiled as she cried out, "CEEEEESSEE!"

The holo, like the ones before it, would go on record, and travel into the future. Other R&D departments in deep blue would eventually become more commonplace on United Federation of Planets starships, and as the historians would note, this was where it all started- with one very pregnant bird, and her brood of odd ducks that she gathered together to build, to test, to improve and innovate. To build the technologies of the 25th century... together. Families forged out of the parts at hand who worked together to accomplish what no one had considered before.

The department was named Research and Development. But the truth was they were architects of the future, even though they were all unaware of that fact in the moment. In that holo, all of them smiling, cheerful, looking to a bright future, it was just Mona's band of misfits on Deck 3... and that was just fine for all involved.