Settling In (Open)

[traviswhistler]

Got the peace and quiet covered...

Travis took a long look around the common room of the ship's sleeping quarters. They had the bunk rooms on board the Resonant beat hands down. Just tossing his bag on his bunk aboard the Venia he could tell, the heavy canvas bag didn't land with a thud like it did on the old warship's racks, and that was without giving any mention the rest of the accomodation. His first stop was the engineering spaces, he had gone there first without even giving a thought to stowing his gear.

The hums and whirrs of the power plant and its subsystems made gave it a familiar feeling, but that's where the similarities stopped. The Venia's systems were top of the line by comparison. He had spent months reviewing all the technical manuals and manufacturer's specs on her and felt comfortable with what he was walking in to, but the newness of the outfitting promised enough to keep his mind and body busy. That was how he liked it.

He hadn't seen anyone on his way down, and no one was lounging in the sleeping quarters, or anyone he had seen, anyway. Not a huge surprise, he didn't know meal times and was certain there was plenty to do otherwise.

Checking in with the captain probably should have been his first stop, but he couldn't resist a look at the machinery he had to work with, and the weight of the bag was starting to take its toll on his leg. He had repeatedly told the medical officer who had cleared him for service on the Venia that he was healing well and was ahead of schedule according to his physical therapist and that was true, but from time to time, it still acted up.

He sat down and stretched it out, lifting it up and letting it down, going through the motions. His backpack was close by and he pulled it to him, opened it and began digging for his records. Next to the way he packed his bigger bag, this was a wreck, but it held everything truly near and dear to him. Music player, an armful of cigarettes, a box containing his old collar devices and medals, and some things from home. Pictures, letters, and a birthday present from his sister he had been sworn not to open until the day arrived.

He found the records buried at the bottom and withdrew them, tucking the rest of the contents back in and setting the bag aside. He spread them out across the table and made sure everything was in its proper order for review, and with that, sat back for a moment.

This is it, Trav, starting over, take two. Checking in could wait a few minutes longer.

[somerandomhippie]

With a yawn, Katy meandered down the hallway, giving a stretch. It was odd, how these things ended up working- the person with no actual job on the ship ended up doing more work than some of the others on the flight deck. Sure, some she could understand- the tactical officers weren't doing much, and it wasn't like anyone had called them in a while, putting the communications officer at a standstill- but you think they would have a designated paperwork officer on one of these things. It was crazy, the amount of stuff that needed to get done just to keep this ship moving.

Placing her palm against the scanner, it dinged quite comically as usual as the doors slid open. If anything, these engineers had a thing for silly sound effects. Entering the service tunnel, she nipped around the corner, crouched down to scoop up the armful of banged-up metal pieces, and walked out again. It was her little project, something to fiddle with in the night. After the last incident nearly setting her bedsheets on fire, however, she'd decided not to keep it in her bunk anymore. Tinkering was a lot harder than she thought.

It was a short walk to the commons room, which was why she had chosen to store her craft where she had. It was rather large- at least three or four feet long- and quite bulky, which meant it was rather hard to pick up and walk around with. Shifting it's weight to her knee, she managed to keep it up long enough to get into the commons room, and stumbled in rather inelegantly.

Noticing the person at the table, she smiled at him. She hadn't seen him around before, but then again, they always seemed to be picking up new people. Cropped hair, quite light, and tattoos. Lots of them. All the way up his arms, and from what she could see, most of his upper body as well. What caught her eye, however, was the records on the table. "Nice tracks," she commented, trying to find somewhere to put her load now that the table was full.

[traviswhistler]

The sound of the lounge's doors sliding open drew Travis's attention from his thoughts and to the woman coming in with an armful of metal. He stood quickly, wincing as his leg protested to the sudden movement, and made himself useful. He recognized her from the file on the ship's company as the ship's First Mate. "Nice tracks" she said with a warm smile,the bold black emblem of the UGAP's armed forces on the stark white front of his service record gave away the nature of the mess of papers. He smiled back, it was considerably nicer than the welcome he was used to receiving on a new ship from a yeoman who was overworked or an engineer who had better things to be doing. "Thank ya, ma'am." he replied, his drawl spilling out thick as it tended to do.

He gathered the service record and the other papers together and set them aside before he crossed the lounge to lend a hand.

Taking some of the weight, he almost forgot to introduce himself. He was concentrating on doing his best to not let him limp show too prominently. "Travis Whistler, ma'am, reporting to the ship for service as an engineer." Civilian ships were great and varied in how the crew interacted, some as strict and formal as a capital class warship, some more so, and some bore no resemblance in the least. Unsure of the nature of his new vessel, he erred on the side of caution, she'd fix him if she saw fit.

The nature and design of the object she had carried in was unknown to him, but she carried it carefully despite its awkwardness, and he made sure to get a firm hold of it from beneath. "What's this you've got here?" he asked, too curious to resist, as he so often was with anything that could be taken apart and put back together.

[somerandomhippie]

Attempting not to fall over, she kept her balance until the man cleaned the table up a little and helped her out. "No, thank you," she sighed, smiling over the edge of the pile. "This thing is a little heavier with the wiring inside, I guess." It'd taken ages for her to figure out how to put all together, seeing as she was making it up along the way, but perseverance had paid off in the long run. It would be a lot better once she got the wheels in. She should probably do that now.

Shifting her hands a little now that she had the help, she grinned at him again. "Oh, really? Nice to meet you, I'm Katy Tyler. Normally I'd offer a hand, but considering the circumstances..." She shrugged as much as she could. "Been on here long, Travis?" If there was one thing she didn't mind about the job, it was all the people that were around here. It was crazy, but the good kind, that made you laugh even when you'd had a rough day.

Laughing, she said, "Well, right now, it's a hunk of junk. But, I'm working on it. Slowly." Looking around, the only open spot seemed to be the floor, at the moment. Well, at least it wouldn't fall off anything that way. "Um, maybe we should just set it on the floor?" she suggested, looking around to make sure there wasn't anywhere she missed. Thank God she had help with this.

[traviswhistler]

"Good to meet you too" Travis replied, laughing a slight light and wearing a smile that was a little more at ease as the First Mate introduced herself as 'Katy'. The lack of a title or post was different than he was used to, but it was a nice change. Back onboard the Resonant the crew regularly dispensed with the formality but the higher -ups always went by rank. The captain would still be 'Captain, sir' but it was a good sign for the rest of the crew. Of course, now he'd have to make a point to not just use a last name, that habit was surprisingly hard to break.

"Understand completely" he said to the handshake. It could wait, given the load in their hands, holding off wasn't a bad idea at all. "No, just got on board, actually. Made a stop to check out the engine room, see what I'm working with, and came straight here. I was just gettin' ready to go find the Captain, if he was free."

He motioned with his head to an area of the room that was free of furniture and had room to work. It was as good a place as any, the table wasn't even near big enough. "Floor it is then. Over there? And slow ain't bad with somethin' important, gives you time to make sure it's done right. Anything a wrench turner might be able to help with?"

[somerandomhippie]

Listening as Travis explained, Katy raised her brows, and nodded. "Really? Well, then, welcome aboard." She didn't have much ship experience, but logic usually dictated that when you were putting together a crew, you tried to get everyone at the same time. Oh well. Things never usually worked out that way. Twas life. "Take you time, tour around a little. It's not like anyone's going anywhere, I guess. Oh, and a note of warning, don't use the bio-synthesizers. Worst food ever." It was a miracle in itself they managed to stay operating, without being bashed by some of the more irritable crew.

Peering around, Katy spotted the patch that was being motioned to, and agreed, "Looks perfect." Edging her way over, she smiled. This guy had common sense, that was clear. "I'd love a little help. I probably did it all wrong anyways, so someone with a little more experience in the noggin would be amazing." Slowly setting it down, she stepped back, and knelt down again with a sigh. The head was falling off, held by only a couple wires. Opening up the side panel, she pulled everything back into it's approximate place, trying to make sure nothing was tangling up.

"Well, here it is." She waved her arms dramatically. "My hunk of junk. Still need to finish up the base, and actually weld it together, but it's coming." Now that she'd pulled it back together a little more, it was starting to assemble the dog-esque shape it was supposed to look like. Fiddling with one of the ears, which was basically a tiny dish, she patted the head absent-mindedly. She'd become quite attached to it, even without it actually activated yet.

[traviswhistler]

"Thank you, and ain't that the truth?"

Even given the size of the crew of the Resonant, much larger than the crew he was part of now, he probably could have named every man by at least the last name. Many of them, much better than just that. Practically anywhere there was human civilization, he could have likely said 'I know someone from those parts."

You had plenty of time to get to know people when no one was just a 'day in, day out' figure. It was one of his favorite parts of life on a starship. Unless you really went out of your way, there was always someone you could call a friend close by.

"And, I'd be more than happy to help out. Sense in the noggin', I've probably had most of that knocked out of me by now, but experience fixin' things, I got plenty of that left." He shot up a wry smile before leaning back, supporting himself with both arms out behind him, and surveyed the contraption before him. It almost looked like a...dog. It had the elongated body and, though it only hung on by a few wires, what he was almost certain was a head. It even had ears. They way she patted it on the head said something for the idea to it.

He laughed softy to himself. This was different. But it was a good kind of different.

Leaning forward and off his hands, he reached behind him and retrieved a small black flashlight from his belt and began examining the exterior and interior of the machine. "Let's see...a lot of this wiring could be consolidated with a wiring harness. First piece of equipment that goes bad on the ship will probably have something we could make work, or enough that I could rig one up. That'll make things easier to manage inside, and give some more support to this...head?"

He looked up with a grin.

"Is this supposed to be some kinda animal?"

[somerandomhippie]

With a joking laugh, Katy added, "Not unless we throw someone out the hatch. With all the personalities on here, I'm surprised that hasn't happened yet, to be honest." If one thing could be said about this place, it was that it was pretty crazy. There were a few military types, of course, but most of everyone had a personality all their own, and quite a sense for fun on the job. Most of the time everyone just joined in, but occasionally there'd be a clash, and explosions would ensue. Both of the metaphorical type, and the literal ones.

Returning the smile, she pointed out, "If you didn't, I'd wonder why they sent you over to this crazy house. 50 IQ points, and you've got more than the entire crew combined." Sure, lots of them were geniuses, but they had their blonde moments. Quite a few. As Travis fished a flashlight from his belt, Katy held the dog up, so it wouldn't be flopping all over the place. She nodded as he gave suggestions, peering around, until he looked up with a sly grin on his face.

"Brava!" she beamed, shifting to give him a little applause. "Right on the money. If I get him finished, he'll be Who, the robot dog. The idea's been floating around for a bit, and besides, every ship needs a mascot." Scratching behind the metal ears, she probably went a little pink. She'd mentioned Who to a few people, after the R4 attack, but the actual project had mostly been a one-girl thing. Still, it was nice to share it with someone, especially if that someone knew how to fix him up right.