Replicator Request

Posted on 02 Nov 2016 @ 9:05pm by Lieutenant Claire Annette & Lieutenant Commander Arivek Zhuri

Mission: Prelude; Breakfast at Curmudgeon's
Location: Main Engineering

Clair finally found the entrance to Main Engineering and let a heavy sigh slip from her lips as she headed towards the large glowing column. She knew it was the seat of all power production aboard the ship, but she honestly had no idea how it worked. Hence why she was in security rather than a technical field. She could rewire explosives, but this... This was another matter entirely. Then she saw whom fit the description of the Chief Engineer and called out to him. "Commander Zhuri, a moment of your time, if I may?"

Arivek looked up from the console he was working on. There was a slender woman walking toward him, and he was slightly taken aback by her appearance. Her skin was pure white and her hair was not far off in color. But it was her eyes that took his attention. Her piercing red eyes that seemed to see right into his soul and read his innermost thoughts. They were unnerving, but the woman seemed to give off zero malice in her intent. "Yes, of course," he said, locking the console and walking towards her. "What can I do for you, Lieutenant?"

Claire wasn't sure if he was unnerved by her appearance or not - he was rather hard to read. None the less, she'd be as pleasant as possible. Closing the rest of the distance to him and offering a handshake, she smiled politely. "I'm Lieutenant Claire Annette, the new Chief of Security. I have an unusual request for you and your industrial replicator."

"Of course," Arivek said, returning the smile as he took her hand. "And welcome aboard. What sort of request?" he asked as he walked over to the wall and stood on the elevating platform.

Following Arivek's lead, Claire joined him on the platform. "The armory replicator isn't equipped to replicate an explosive substance I need. Namely, gunpowder. I've been ordered to add firearms to our armory and while we can replicate the pistols and rifles, as well as slug casters, the explosive bits are beyond us so right now we have almost 400 weapons with no ammo, including a shipment of eighty TR-116C rifles I was able to acquire from the station. I was hoping you could replicate a stockpile of that ammo."

"Wait..." Arivek looked at the woman, "What?" The platform began to move downward towards the large room that sat below Main Engineering. "What is gunpowder?"

Claire grinned slightly. She didn't really expect that question, but wasn't too surprised. "It's a chemical explosive normally used in a firearm to propel a chunk of soft metal at a target. These days they're especially useful for fighting Borg and for use in areas where energy weapons are unreliable. Blunt force trauma is notoriously difficult to adapt to."

If there was anything Arivek was an expert on, it was the Borg. He was specialized in nano-technology so it came with the territory. He could confirm what the woman said was true. "I'm not replicating explosives for you," the man said as the platform came to a stop and the two were standing in a massive bay, the floor covered in replicator panels. Arivek stood there, waiting.

"Captain's orders. Either replicate the ammo or the gunpowder and we'll assemble the ammo. Or you could upgrade the armory replicators to handle it without burning out." Claire wasn't trying to be unkind, but Arivek's blunt refusal was a bit off putting.

The man stood there for a moment. He was being asked to replicate something he wasn't comfortable doing, but if the Captain ordered it, then he had no choice. "Do you have these orders?" Arivek asked, holding his hand out for a PADD that he was almost sure the woman had. He'd do it gladly, but only after proof of the orders.

And Claire pulled a tiny PaDD from her pocket and handed it to him. "Getting him to do paperwork in general seems to be a pain in the ass... But I have it. Sorry about forcing this on you. Like I said, if the armory replicator could do it, I wouldn't be here."

"Yea, I get it. But you have to understand, this request is unconventional, and you're asking me to replicate a dangerous substance," Arivek said as he took the PADD, giving it a quick glance. "I'll replicate it this time, but if this is going to become a regular thing, I'll have your replicator upgraded." Arivek stepped off the platform and walked over to the replicator control screen.

"as long as we don't run into any Borg, we'll just need this order. And everything will be in level 10 stasis fields and will require command access until then." Claire assured Ari. "I'm not a fan of these things either since it's too easy to kill someone with them if used carelessly, but I'm even less of a fan of the ship being turned into a Borg hive."

"I'm specialized in nano-technology, specifically Borg nano-technology," Arivek said, looking at the PADD again to double check the amount being requested, "That's the last thing that would happen. I can protect this ship from their technology, to a point. But I'd rather us not get that far," he said, looking back up at the woman.

"And this will hopefully prevent it from getting even close." Claire was starting to feel a bit of a kinship with the Chief Engineer - perhaps it could bloom into friendship, or at least a positive working relationship.

As the two officers spoke, the floor sparkled as the technology began its work. After a few moments, four large canisters appeared in the middle of the room. Walking over to them, Arivek opened the lid of one of the canisters and looked at the dark grey powder that filled it. "Is this the stuff?" he asked, looking over at the Lieutenant.

Claire moved next to the open canister and poked it with a finger, then sniffed her finger. Sharp and pungent with a metallic residue. This was a smell from her childhood she'd never forget. "This is it. Thanks." She then resealed the container.

With a nod, Arivek closed the lid. "I'll have it delivered to the armory within the hour," he said, typing a few things on a PADD and handing it back to the Lieutenant. "A confirmation of the completion of the orders. You'll need a new set of orders if you need more."

"With any luck, we won't need even this much. I'll have people working overtime for weeks just assembling all the ammo as it is. Thank you." Claire smiled politely and offered a handshake to the blue skinned engineer in thanks.

Arivek smiled back at the woman. "If you need a hand assembling ammunition, I might be able to spare a few people."

"Thank you. I might need an engineer to look over the assembly systems, but once it gets going it should be fairly easy work for my grunts to take care of. I'm sure engineers are needed far more working on preventing damage than building things that cause it anyway. If you need to punish someone though, send them my way." Claire was appreciative, but the work was pretty mind numbing and she'd rather use her own pool of unskilled labor first.

"Of course," the man said. "Have a good day, Lieutenant."