Compensating the inverse voltaic potential

Posted on Sat Nov 23rd, 2024 @ 4:33pm by Teresa Forrest & Caden Walker

Mission: Shackles
Location: Cargo Complex - Deck 19, SS Mary Rose
Timeline: MD -04 09:42
1471 words - 2.9 OF Standard Post Measure

The Mary Rose's cargo complex, while certainly not as shiny and polished as it must have been in its hey-day, was still an impressive sight (at least to Walker's eyes). It took up a not inconsiderable portion of the secondary hull with connections to adjacent storage areas as well as the ship's main hangar deck. And, from the looks of things, it was still the home for a good percentage of the ship's supplies. Stacks of various-sized cargo containers filled the compartment. Narrow aisles, just wide enough for a being to pass through, wove back-and-forth among them.

Walker made his way slowly down one of these, his eyes sweeping over the various containers. Every so often, he'd pause to read more closely what was on the label of a particular unit, cross-referencing what he saw with the list he held in his hand. So far, most had been pretty standard fare - tools, engine equipment, spare parts. However, there had been a few whose labels were...incomplete. Whenever he came upon one of these, Walker would make a note for himself so that he'd be able to follow up (and update them) afterwards.

"Oy! Get back here, you stupid little - " the voice was muffled, coming from behind some of the crates to Walker's right. Right at that moment there was a series of thuds followed by a clank as a metallic object of strange design tumbled down from the crates and hit the ground. A series of grunts and swears in various languages followed, before the head of a human woman appeared from behind the crates, hair a mess, clothes dirty and dusty. "Now where did you go, you - OHI!" She grinned sheepishly as she spotted Caden. "Dropped my inverse voltaic potential compensator. Tricksy little buggers, them. Be a doll and help a gal down, would you?" as she started precariously clambering down.

As the woman spoke, Walker's eyes scanned quickly from where she was beginning her descent to the bottom of the stack (and back again). It was not, in his opinion, so far a distance that it would have been impossible to scale. However, it was also apparent that a fall from that height would most likely result in injury. Knowing that it would be better for both of them if that didn't happen, Walker set aside the PADD he'd been working with and took a step closer to the stacks. He planted his feet in a suitable position, then raised his arms toward her.

"Man of few words, aren'cha," the woman replied with a smirk, holding on to Caden's hand for stability as she clambered down. Once back on the decking she reached down to pick up the compensator she'd fumbled. "There you are, naughty thing. Should still be good. Right?" before turning her attention back to Walker and offering a proper hand in greet. "Teresa Forrest, engineer."

"Caden Walker, logistics officer," Walker said, "Your appearance was...unexpected."

"Makes two of us," Tree offered, straightening out her outfit a bit and wiping off some dust. An aged, black tanktop underneath equally worn brown leather jacket, over cargo pants and heavy leather boots. "You new onboard?"

Walker nodded in the affirmative. "I arrived a few days ago," he said.

"I've only been here a little while myself, guess we're both still new," She agreed, sizing him up a moment. Moderately big man, strong build, no-nonsense attitude, very short hair. Ex military? Extensive scarring on his face. Probably seen some heavy stuff. Probably lived some. Probably still dealing with some of it, as well. "So, what brings you to Rosie?" she asked, with genuine interest.

"Work," Walker replied. It was pretty much the story of his life. Whenever one ship's contract finished, he would go on in search of another. Again and again. And, from that standpoint, the Mary Rose was simply the latest in a growing list of vessels he'd served on. Yet, at the same time...it wasn't. Because, if he was being truly honest, it wasn't only that the Mary Rose had had an open logistics position, or that it had been convenient to get to (which it hadn't). But he certainly wasn't going to explain all that to a strange woman he'd just met.

What he said instead was, "My last contract finished. I saw there was a vacancy for logistics officer, so..."

"Yeah. Sounds about right," Tree offered with a slight shrug, reaching up to scratch the back of her neck a bit. "And familiar. That's about how I got here too," She added, considering the now dented compensator she was holding (and that was her entire reason for being here) before looking around a bit. "This is the awkward moment where the conversation peters out. Which way you heading?"

"Oh, I'm not going anywhere," Walker said, retrieving the PADD he'd set aside earlier, "not until this inventory has been completed." And it was indeed his intention to continue what he'd been working on before being interrupted. However, as he spoke, his eyes went from the display on the device in his hand to the damaged tool that Forrest held in hers. A quick calculation went through his head. He took another look at his PADD. Then, he looked directly at her. "Come with me..."

No sooner were the words out of his mouth than Walker turned and started back down the way he'd come. He did not glance behind him to see if she was following, but his ears listened for footsteps. At first, he heard nothing. In fact, it wasn't until he'd made it a good several yards that he heard her step quickly to catch up.

"Uh - " Tree blinked, confused for a moment before jogging a bit to catch up. "Normally I don't go with guys the first meeting just because they ask nicely," She added with a smirk. "Guess you're the exception."

Walker continued on for several more paces before eventually coming to a stop in front of the stack of cargo units he was looking for. Setting aside his PADD, he began to unstack them. He took the first one down and put it just to the right of where he was standing. Then he did the same with the second and the third until, finally, he got to the one he wanted. A quick flip and the latches swung free, allowing him to lift open the lid and reach inside.

When he withdrew his hand again, it contained another compensator. "Here," he said, offering it to Forrest.

"Oh you're a useful one," Tree blinked, then smirked, weighing the new inverse voltaic potential compensator, comparing it to the banged up one. "Yeah, this should work just fine. Leaves me with the question, what do we do with this old junky one? Could be useful to keep around in case I need another?"

"May I," Walker asked, holding out his hand for the damaged compensator.

"Huh? Sure," Now supplied with a proper, new and unbattered compensator, Tree readily parted with the abused one.

Taking the device in hand, Walker held it up closer so that he could examine it. The dents and scrapes from its most recent plunge were readily apparent. However, so were other signs of wear and tear. Yet, nothing he saw indicated the unit was entirely unusable...yet. "We could put it away in reserves as is, maybe use it for spare parts," he said, looking over at Forrest again, "or...I could fix it."

"Well, I could fix it myself as well. If it's broken. I was just banking on it being functional," Tree smirked, with a shrug. "I mean, if tinkering with it floats your boat, have at it."

Walker paused. As much as his ability to 'read' others had improved over the years, there were still instances when it wasn't entirely clear to him whether there was more to what was being said or not. The words being said (and visual cues that were readily apparent) made it seem like Forrest was okay with his offering to deal with the damaged unit. However, given that this was their first time meeting, he did not know whether there were other (more subtle) cues specific to her mannerisms that he needed to be aware of.

"I will take care of it," he said, his hand closing around the tool, "and return it to you by the end of the day."

"Just put it in inventory," Tree smiled. "And, thanks for your help," she added, before pausing semi awkwardly and rubbing the back of her neck. "Well, it was nice meeting you, I should probably go get this installed."

"Yes," Walker replied, with an affirmative nod.