Hardware Guy meets Software Guy
Posted on Tue Feb 6th, 2024 @ 5:16pm by Ensign Connor Turner & Chief Petty Officer Xoán (John) Rocha
Edited on on Wed Feb 7th, 2024 @ 11:08pm
0 words; about a 1 minute read
Mission:
Episode 15 - The Evil That Lies Beneath
Location: Operations - Deck 6 - USS Pioneer
Timeline: MD001 1100 hrs
Xoan had heard that there was new transfer, a computer systems specialist. He wondered if this Ensign Turner was an introvert like himself.
He was under no illusion that he was some interplanetary playboy. He just did his job and did it well.
Connor was happily working on the computer core. He was completely oblivious to anyone coming into the room. He adjusted his glasses and scolded the computer, "Why are you being difficult? I'm just trying to install a patch that will make you run much more efficiently. Don't you want to run more efficiently?"
Xoan walked over to where Connor was working. "Sir, she gets a little temperamental when it comes to instituting new programs." Xoan said. "Let me see the patch, please?"
Not expecting someone, Connor had a small fright and leapt up, hitting his thigh against a console. He turned around to see the Chief Petty Officer and said, "Yes, I can see that she and I still have to get to know each other better. It is a dance, you know?" He stepped aside and allowed the Chief Petty Officer to take a look.
"Indeed." Xoan agreed. Studying the patch he said. "Here's the problem on line 57. She doesn't like the syntax of this algorithm, but I know a workaround." He added with a smile. After making a few alterations to the program, he handed it back to Connor. "It should work now, I'm Chief Xoan Rocha, crytanalysist and software specialist, but I also answer to 'John'."
"Ensign Connor Turner," Connor replied simply in his British accent. "Computer specialist."
"Welcome to our little family, sir." Xoan said. "Have you worked with any non-Federation systems?"
"I can't really say that I have," Connor admitted. "I helped rebuild Mars after the, um, well, incident...."
"Thank you. the 'incident' affected a lot of families, my elder brother Xabier, a Utopia Planitia engineer was among the dead." Xoan said.
"I'm very sorry to hear that," Connor replied solemnly and sympathetically. The engineer did not know what else to say. Anything else might be taken as offensive.
"Thank you, for your condolences, Sir." Xoan said. "I visited the monument in San Francisco and paid my respects, last time I was on Earth."
"I can't say that I have," Connor answered blandly. "So..." Connor started, not knowing what to say, being particularly British and polite.
"As I was saying earlier, I've worked with non-Federation tech before, Klingon programming language is very straight forward, it does what its supposed to do without any bells or whistles." Xoan said. "Romulans on the other hand have very complicated computer languages with a lot of dead end code, that which makes it difficult to de-crypt." Xoan grinned. "Now Breen tech, what we know of it, is a mixture of Romulan tech and some organic tech, think gel packs, only more complicated and using RNA and other chemicals that act as the programming 'Language'. You need a biochemistry and molecular degree, just to fully understand how it works."
"I've read about most of this, but to work with it would be quite enjoyable." He shuffled his feet before continuing. "Frankly, most of the time, I just need to talk to the computers and things work out."
"Lucky you." Xoan said not unkindly.
"I'm just nice to them," Connor answered as if the answer was patently obvious. "You said that this one has its quirks. It really is that way with all of them. Just like people have different personalities, the same is true for computers. You just have to get to know them."
"Ah, a technopath." Xoan said. "I thought they were a myth."
"I'm not a technopath. We just understand each other. I think they are much easier to understand than people."
"True, if you give a computer an operation to perform you can be certain of the result." Xoan said. "People are complicated by emotions and how they appear to others."
"And I don't really understand them. I mean, when my ex-girlfriend told me that we would get together for shoreleave when we both went our separate ways. We did not talk for a year and I thought that we were still together because she did not tell me we broke up. Well, I called her up after a year and we mutually ended it. I probably would not have considered it if it were not for talking to Counselor Zhara. Well, maybe Sophia had a lot to do with it too. She's a sweet dog."
"I haven't had the pleasure of meeting either of the just yet." Xoan said. "I haven't been very sociable. I've met Marisol's girlfriend, she an Andorian-human hybrid Corpsman named 'Azure', very attractive and tough as nails."
"That, um, sounds, rather unusual," Connor admitted, not certain who Marisol was or why Azure was brought up either. However, he was not about to bring up the subject. "I'm fairly new here. Just got onboard on shoreleave and well, I generally do not socialize well, either."
"You probably don't know who Marisol is, she's the transporter operator." Xoan clarified.
"Ah," Connor simply answered. "Maybe I met Marisol briefly when Marjani and I transported down to Aquill but I, um, would not have been paying, um, much attention." His face started to pinken.
"Marjani, is she your girlfriend?" Xoan asked.
“Yes,” Connor answered proudly and then continued to pinken more. “Do you have a significant other?”
"No, I spent a lot of my career doing hush hush things for Starfleet Intelligence, it wasn't a life very conducive to romance." Xoan replied.
"So, you moved to ops?" Connor presumed. "To find a girlfriend?"
"Not necessarily, but after my team was disbanded, I thought it was time for a change." Xoan said. "So how did you and Marjani meet?" He asked.
"Um, well, she asked for a computer wizard, in her words, to do some work on her ship."
"What a lovely story."
"It is not a story; it is the truth. Before I did her work, she kissed me. It terrified me since I still technically had another girlfriend still."
"And a little greedy." Xoan teased. "I didn't have a girlfriend, and you had two."
"Just one at a time," Connor corrected. "I don't really understand it all."
Xoan laughed. "I'm only teasing." He said "I'm happy for you." "There was a girl back home, Ánxela Pereiro. When we were younger, I told her I liked her, and she pushed me in the river."
"Was that flirting?" Connor asked curiously.
"Perhaps, I don't know, my parents didn't want me to hang around her after that." Xoan said.
"I suppose that I can understand that. How old were you?"
"Eleven, maybe ten." Xoan replied.
Connor snickered lightly. "Right. I guess I can see that both ways. Did you ever try to contact that girl again?"
"Yes, a few years ago, I contacted her, she's married with two children, a boy and a girl." Xoan said. "She's also a limnologist and studies rivers, I guess she remembered me in a way."
"You guess? In a way?" Connor eyes screwed up, trying to sort out what Xoan meant.
"What I mean is she remembered the incident, she didn't say that pushing me in the river, sparked her interest in rivers, I just like to think it did." Xoan explained.
"Ah, I see," Connor answered, not certain if he did.
"So what do you and your girlfriend do in the minuscule amount of time we get off?" Xoan asked.
"Um, well, we have not done much of anything," Connor admitted. "We only officially had one date and that was on Aquill.... After that, she had to leave and I did as well with Pioneer." Connor's head hung at the sad thought of not being with Marjani.
"Cheer up, now the computer is working; perhaps you can spend some time with her." Xoan said.
"I can't," Connor replied sadly. "She is not a crew member. She's on some mission elsewhere. So, it is holo calls or nothing right now."
"Sorry, man, that sucks." Xoan said.
"Yeah," Connor replied despondently. "It seems that happens to me a lot."
"How are you at cards?" Xoan inquired.
"Cards?" Connor asked, wondering how this had anything to do with this conversation. The entire thing seemed like a nonsequitur. "Um, I don't know. What kind of card game?"
"Poker, blackjack, they say lucky at cards, unlucky in love, so I was just wondering." Xoan asked.
"No," Connor shook his head, starting to understand. "I cannot say that I've played many card games of that nature. I have played canasta, bridge, and pinochle."
"How about Rummy?" Xoan asked.
"Is that the matching and runs game?"
"Yes." Xoan said. "I find it quite fun."
"Ah," Connor answered, not knowing what to think of a game that to him seemed to be mostly a game of chance. "Right. Well, everything seems to be in order here," he said changing the subject back to work. "I suppose I should see what else needs servicing."
"Okay, nice meeting you Connor." Xoan said.
"You, too." With that, Connor headed off to the next task on his PADD.
A Joint Post By
Ensign Connor Turner
Computer Systems Specialist, USS Pioneer
Chief Petty Officer Xoán Rocha
Operations Officer, USS Pioneer
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