Interesting Development

Posted on Wed Oct 21st, 2026 @ 1:23pm by Lieutenant Delix & Lieutenant Sornax

2,096 words; about a 10 minute read

Mission: Echoes in the Triangle
Location: Chief Science Officers Office | Science Lab One | Deck Six

ON:

True to his word, Delix arrived at the Science Chief's office with the plans in hand just before the end of the next day. "Lieutenant Sornax, I have your sketches."

Sornax was knee-deep in reports about the Arcadia's next destination and found himself trying to separate fact from fear. Apparently, the ship was en route to a location in space right near the Delta Triangle, as well as near the borders of the Gorn Hegemony. No matter what you thought about the Delta Triangle, being close to those two things was indeed bad luck.
"
Thankfully, a distraction was provided when someone arrived at his office, causing him to look up from the console on his desk. “Lieutenant Delix, please come in. Don’t mind the spartan appearance; I still haven’t fully settled into the office. You said you have sketches for my proposal already? You must have worked on that the moment I left engineering.”

"I did, and Ella worked through the night. She had some ideas, so this morning we just refined it a bit. I think I figured out a way to get your checklist, and Ella had a couple of ideas to up that a bit." He motioned to the chair. "Mind if I sit?"

“Not at all, Lieutenant, take a seat.” Sornax stood up from his chair and walked over to the replicator in his office. “Want to try out the replicator we talked about yesterday? Can I get you something to drink?” he asked.

"Uhhh, sure. Just a mint tea for me."

“Computer, one mint tea, hot. And one red leaf tea with milk.” A moment later, both drinks formed in the replicator and Sornax brought them over to the desk. Rather than sitting on the opposite side of the desk, he took the chair next to Delix and placed the teacups down, handing the mint tea over to the engineer. “So tell me, what sort of ideas have you and Ella come up with?”

"So...we used your headset idea to expand it. Full body suit. We can use math to create sensory inputs. If you want, we can create a sensory room where a team of up to four can interact with the data via 3D, but also create sound and touch sensory experiences. Also, we can translate certain things. For example, have your people experience an ion storm safely so that we can get the best data. We scale it down and give enough sensation to feel but not hurt."

The Chief Scientist was impressed. This was well beyond what he asked for, and not in a bad way. He was quite simply impressed. “The idea is exciting, to say the least, Delix. I want to clarify: are you suggesting turning a lab into almost what would be like a holodeck but confined to a suit? At that point, what is the difference between the suit and a holodeck? Would I assume that it’s the ability to deliver the data in real time to such a system compared to a confined suit?”

"In part. The model is small, so the room won't be ... completely transformed. You'll see a smaller-scale model, but the suit will not only monitor the occurrence and translate it to something a being can interpret, but it will monitor the person who wears it, and then it will let you get data on what would happen should someone be exposed to those conditions. It can also give you estimates based on species."

“Well then, I can’t say no to that. But I want to clarify, many times these suits would be used for interacting with and studying up-close space-based phenomena as well. Imagine being able to hypothetically swim through a stellar nursery to see things up close, or observe cosmological life from a first-hand experience rather than on a view screen?” The excitement in Sornax’s voice was apparent as he continued. “However, your idea would be perfect if we sent a probe into the atmosphere of a planet that might have adverse environmental conditions as well. It could prepare us for various effects we’ve not seen before. Could we set up a section of the astrometric lab for this? If you want more space, though, due to the routing of sensors and such, we could just as easily dedicate an entire secondary lab on deck seven to the whole project.”

"Astrometric Lab works. We can close off a small section of it. It will take a while to integrate it all." Del looked around as if searching for someone.

The officer nodded his head and then proceeded to drink his tea as the two continued. "Works perfectly for me." Pausing, Sornax watched Delix, trying to tell what he was distracted by. "Everything okay, Delix? You looking for one of my scientists?"

"Searching for a Vulture amongst your people." He turned to Sornax. "I take it you haven't read the security reports from overnight?"

Frowning, Sornax nodded his head. "Actually, I have. I had an interesting talk with someone right after to give me some insight, and then had a conversation with both Poe and the offending parties. I'll be forwarding a notice to Commander Walker, but I've told my science officer and your engineer they are going on report. I won't tolerate the kind of bullying they are engaged in. Let alone any for that matter."

"Good. My engineer has been dealt with. He's scrubbing the poop shoot until we dock at base, then he's off the ship." He paused. "Walker signed the order on that one. As for your scientist...he's going to get off with the understanding that he goes to counseling and he's been reduced to final year cadet status." He sighed. "How is Poe? I had to drag him to security to file the report."

"I'm sorry, who decided what is happening to my science officer? That decision is between Commander Walker and me, or hell, the Captain." Suddenly, there was a bit of frustration in his voice, as if someone was running circles behind his back just because he was the new department head on the ship. "As for Poe, it's a private matter at the moment. Physically, he is fine, but as for anything else, that is for him to share with whoever he wants to. But I can promise you he is going to be just fine."

Sornax reached for his tea and took a long sip, choosing to hold onto the cup rather than put it back on the desk as the conversation continued. "Can I ask why you all chose to put in orders for your engineer to be removed from the Arcadia? That seems like a rather harsh decision unless he's been a source of disciplinary issues in the past."

"No. Commander Walker is protective of Poe, much to my ... dislike, and frankly I've grown to understand that protectiveness, much to my...horror." He sighed and sipped his own tea. "That and Walker's idiot husband, who is thankfully dead, was a bully to the Engineers...Walker didn't know, and one incident is enough to banish a bully."

"Interesting. Very interesting. Seems like I need to talk with the Commander to understand things about Poe and the independence of me running my own department." Sornax studied Delix for a moment, drinking the rest of his tea. "Delix, why do you dislike Poe so much? And please, don't tell me it's because he's weird or clumsy..."

He waved a hand. "No, of course not. I have an engineer that puts him to shame in those departments. The truth of it is he looks exactly like Zai, Walker's ex, and Zai was a bad person. Everyone keeps telling me he's not him, but damn it if I believe them...although I'm slowly, again to my horror and resistance, starting to admit that maybe, just maybe, he isn't like Zai."

"Just because someone has a passing similarity to someone else does not make them the same person, Delix. They drilled that into us at the Academy. I mean, hell, if we went with that viewpoint, then so many humans would just be the same person to me. I had to give that misguided preconception up a very long time ago. You know he's honestly trying very hard to be a better officer, and it eats at him that everyone looks down on him." Sornax decided to tread carefully with his next words, but he wanted to broach the subject, regardless. "What he needs is positive influences, friends."

He sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose. "When I found him, after the idiots messed with him, he was...he gave up; he just...I've never seen someone so..." He shook his head. "I can't promise anything. Zai caused a lot of issues for me, and after what he did to Walker. Well, it's perhaps a trauma I must deal with."

“Trauma I can relate to. My best friend aboard the Yggdrasil was Yennferra - I, you don’t want to hear about that. Just know I get it and that sometimes talking with someone helps. If you just keep it all bottled up, it won’t do you any good at all.” Sornax looked around the office for a moment, trying to push aside a flood of thoughts that had come back to him after mentioning her name. “Anyways, I appreciate you at least trying. Whether he’ll admit it or not, your kind action of seeing Poe to sickbay and then security meant a lot to him. And sometimes those small actions can start a positive chain reaction.”

"Hm..." He said. "Yennferra was... Denobulan?" He'd picked up on the little slip and the change of subject.

“Yes,” Sornax answered with a twang and a pain in his voice. “She was like you, an engineer, in fact, the Chief Engineer. She had been promoted not six months before the ship was destroyed. We had become quick friends when I transferred to the ship. And I had to watch her sacrifice herself so that I could save the crew I had rescued with her.”

There it was, another person who now knew a bit more about his past aboard the Arcadia. Yenn probably would have found humor in the fact he was telling the story to another Denobulan engineer. “You know, she swore people didn’t realize Denobulans made the best engineers. You probably would have liked her.”

He snorted. "Probably cause that comment alone told me she was smart. We have an ability for medical and engineering that...well, most people do not have." He paused. "Sacrificing oneself is in the job description if called for." Again, he paused. "But it is never easy for those left behind."

“I won’t argue with you. I think a lot of people underestimate just how skilled our people really are. They tend to hear about our complex marital structures and hyper fixate on it. Hell, my own mother still sends me messages wanting to know when I’m going to get a few wives and give her grandkids. It’s always about how my sister is at least married already.” The scientist rolled his eyes for a moment at the thought of it. “And you’re right, of course, sacrifice is something we’re all aware we may be called upon to make. I just wish…damn Klingons can burn in hell.”

"Indeed, but we did have some help from the Klingons getting Walker out. Not all are bad." He sighed. "Well, I should go."

Sornax was going to ask just what kind of help some Klingons had offered, but he didn't want to push the subject. It felt like there was something between Delix and the Commander. "Delix, you should drop by my quarters for dinner one night. I'll make us some red lentil soup with spiced beef as they make it back on Denobula. Always nice to make a new friend, after all."

He grinned. "Sounds good. Sab's always on my behind about making new friends. He says I'm about as friendly as a grizzly bear."

Sornax let out a chortle and nodded his head. "Not going to comment on that one. I'll just smile and nod. I'll catch you later. Thank you for working on this again; I can't wait to see the results."

Del gave a nod. "This will be fun. Get our minds of engines and replicators being bad."

OFF:

Lieutenant Sornax
Chief Science Officer
&
Lieutenant Delix
Assistant Chief Engineer

 

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