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Post by somerandomhippie1 on Jun 21, 2010 17:48:13 GMT -5
After being on the ship a few days, touring around, Penn was getting used to the layout. It was a little dizzying at times, but he was sure he'd pick it up in no time. The medical bay was very nice-- state of the art, really. The university had only begun to bring stuff like this in. So, one morning, he decided to go through the system, just in case he needed to know how to use it off the top of his head. He pulled on a wind-breaker, for some odd reason- why would he, if there was no wind in space?- and bunkered down in a chair for some surfing.
He started up the program, and was met by a calm, yet firm voice.
"Please enter you password," it requested. Penn furrowed his brow. Password? He hadn't been given a password.
"Uh... Penn Gwyther?" he tried.
The computer hummed for a second, then stated, "I am sorry, that is incorrect. Please enter the correct password."
Penn furrowed his brow. What was it?
"Uh... Venia?" he tested.
"I am sorry, that is incorrect," the computer repeated. "Please enter the correct password.
Penn grumbled. He tried his name, serial number, the Venia's serial number, birth town, address, his whole immediate family up to his great-great-grandparents, the computer's serial number, the Brazilian football team, something weird written on the front of the door, and a few expletives. Nothing worked. He tried whacking the console, first with his fists, then his head in exasperation. He eventually just laid on the chair upside down, hoping the increased blood flow might spark his brain to something. How was he supposed to know his password?!
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Post by kiri on Jun 25, 2010 12:03:36 GMT -5
Kiri couldn't help it anymore. She giggled.
She'd been standing in the doorway of the medical bay for several minutes now, watching the poor man struggle with the computer. The bag over her shoulder and the lack of any sort of uniform or insignia marked her as a newcomer to the ship - fresh from settling in to her bunk, in fact. Her bag held the few supplies and small equipment she'd brought with her for use in her new job.
In her other hand was a small piece of paper with a string of letters and numbers scrawled on it, given to her by one of the science officers. Unfortunately, it seemed the woman had forgotten to give it to the rest of the medical staff.
Although her giggle had likely already alerted him to her presence, she took pity on him and stepped the rest of the way in to the room, grinning. "Having trouble, there?"she asked, barely - just barely - keeping a mocking tone out of her voice. Antagonizing her coworkers would not be a good way to start out on this ship.
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Post by somerandomhippie1 on Jun 29, 2010 22:47:14 GMT -5
Penn whipped around as he heard someone giggle in the doorway, promptly falling off the chair. He grumbled, more in exasperation than in pain, and got up to see who had been behind him. The person stepped forward-- it was a rather pretty brunette, no uniform to speak of though. He had managed to pin on an insignia before he had rushed out the door, but that was just because he was a stickler for neatness. He attempted to smooth down his hair, then offered a hand to her.
"Just a little bit," he admitted. "Penn Gwyther," he introduced himself, as a side note. "You wouldn't happen to know how to access that computer, would you, by any chance? It's got a vendetta against me, for some reason..."
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Post by kiri on Jul 2, 2010 13:56:31 GMT -5
Kiri bit her lip to stifle another giggle. Really, this was entirely unlike her. He just looked so comical, tumbling to the floor in surprise. She was about to step forward to offer to help him up, but he stood before she could do more than awkwardly extend an arm towards him. A quick once-over revealed a young man, not too much older than her, attractive - if in the slightly pale, geeky way most doctors seemed to have - with a badge of rank pinned to his shirt.
Kiri happily took the proffered hand, her grip trying very hard to be confident as she shook it. "Kiri Brooks, just came aboard. As to your computer issue... maybe this will help?" She held up the small strip of paper with the hex code written on it. "It was told it might come in handy."
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Post by somerandomhippie1 on Jul 2, 2010 15:13:10 GMT -5
Penn looked at the paper she handed him. Well, that certainly looked like a password to him. "Well, thank you, Miss Brooks," he grinned at her. "Wish I'd met you twenty minutes earlier." He took the paper and gave it a closer look-- it seemed to be one of those delta-based encryptions. Oh, more fun. "Which department did they ask you to head?" he asked Kiri. She seemed about his age, but there was a certain something about her that seemed quite wry for her age. A smartness-- that's what it was. Smarter than the jumpy little lad he saw when he looked in the mirror. Not that he didn't like the jumpy-- it was quite useful, some days. It just wasn't all that sophisticated.
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Post by kiri on Jul 2, 2010 15:25:19 GMT -5
Kiri grinned and gave an odd little one-shouldered shrug. It was a nervous habit, but at least it was better than biting nails or - gods forbid - stuttering. She glanced at the paper along with him, the string of characters meaning very little to her. Computers were necessary as far as her digital equipment went, but other than that she preferred avoiding them whenever possible.
His question made her blink. She hadn't exactly been briefed when she came aboard, just given a quick once-over and told where to go. "I... I honestly don't know. My specialty is infectious diseases and viruses, if that's any help?"
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Post by somerandomhippie1 on Jul 2, 2010 15:38:47 GMT -5
Penn narrowed his eyes. "Probably medical, then," he told her. "Especially if they gave you the jargon to this computer." Even just looking at the stuff made his eyes swim. He had given himself an eye exam earlier, and he didn't think he needed glasses... Not that he would know. He glanced around, hoping to find a keyboard of some sort in which he could type this stuff into. Nothing. "You wouldn't happen to know how to use this thing, would you?" he asked Kiri, going over to stand on the chair. Maybe there was something on the back he could just feed this into... He wished they had briefed him on this. He was very bad with computers.
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Post by kiri on Jul 3, 2010 10:27:43 GMT -5
"I'd certainly guess I was medical. Wouldn't be much use at anything else, to be honest." Kiri glanced at the computer with a brief scowl. It looked similar enough to the one in the lab back home... maybe if she was lucky it worked the same. Was worth a try, at least. "I'm no good with computers, but... well, let me see."
She followed him to the computer and pulled up a second chair. The same calm, vaguely feminine voice spoke as she registered on its motion sensors. "Please enter your password."[/i] Kiri tapped the screen with a finger hopefully. Sure enough, the black screen blossomed to life, revealing a user interface that was clearly designed for simplicity. "Ah-ha! Here, give me..." She grabbed the paper out of his hand and quickly used the on-screen keyboard to type in the code. When she victoriously hit enter, it chimed merrily and the operating system started to load. "There! Just like back home."
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Post by somerandomhippie1 on Jul 3, 2010 11:18:46 GMT -5
Penn flipped his head upside down, to watch as Kiri called up an on-screen keyboard to type in the password merrily. He shook his head. Gods above, why did it have to turn out to be something as simple as that, to make him look like even more of an idiot?
"You're a genius," he told Kiri truthfully. "Though, seeing as they got you for this place, it must be a common fact. Why they wanted me for this, I have no idea." The desktop popped up, so he swept his feet out, to land on the plushy office chair with a thud. Hey, they were giving him Brazilian football updates. Good job, they were in the quarter-finals.
"Speaking of that," he started again, with his previous train of thought, "Did some random coppers come knocking at your door, or am I the only one that got a police escort?" He had no idea why they'd give him one. Didn't they have better things to do with their resources, like escorting the geniuses who were on-board here?
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Post by kiri on Jul 3, 2010 14:24:43 GMT -5
Kiri slid her chair to the side to give him room to access the computer, smile dropping a bit. He'd called her a genius, and sounded like he meant it. Not that she hadn't heard the term before - graduating with dual Masters degrees at the age of 22 tended to spark such comments. It just didn't feel like her. Sure, she could rattle off book facts and was a fair to middling problem solver, but at the lab she'd come from, she was the least of the staff. The newcomer, upstart, youngster, no place in a proper research lab. Maybe that would have changed after the Anomaly Virus, but she never had the chance to find out.
"Police? No... I got men in suits. Very secret agent, Hollywood type affair. Sat me down, put a file in front of me marked 'Confidential' in big red letters. I honestly thought it was a joke at first." She tried not to watch over his shoulder too obviously as he checked what were apparently soccer scores. Figured he'd be in to that, what with the accent.
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Post by somerandomhippie1 on Jul 3, 2010 14:38:52 GMT -5
Penn almost laughed. "What, did they pull them straight off the nearest movie lot?" he grinned. "Sunglasses and everything?" No wonder Hollywood hadn't let go of the stereotype-- apparently, they still used it. Some things never changed. "I didn't get the file folder until I was at the police station, so by then I kind of inferred I wasn't being Punked or something. I doubt they would've given a Ed student top-secret information in the middle of a lecture." Being pulled out by the police in the middle of the class had been bad enough. People had thought he had been questioned in a case, or worse, arrested. Not the best way to up your reputation.
He winced as he read through the Wales' team news. "Illegal check injuries? They'll be in a rough spot without him." Damn the French-- they weren't the most courteous of players. He looked over at Kiri, who was reading over his shoulder. "Gonna tell on me for checkin' the standings?" he asked her teasingly. "I doubt they even like like Fifa anyways-- they're probably too busy reading scientifical journals to catch up on sports. You follow a team?" he asked her off-handedly. She sounded American, so probably not, but hey, maybe he could convert her to Wales. Loyal fans, but not the biggest base ever.
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Post by kiri on Jul 3, 2010 15:01:35 GMT -5
Kiri laughed as he told his story, suddenly very glad hers had turned out differently. "I think I prefer the men in suits. At least they just showed up at my apartment and knocked. I mean, my roommate was a bit freaked, but she gets freaked if I sneeze too loud." Callie had been a sweet roommate, clean, quiet, and friendly, but she was nervous as a kitten.
She continued peeking over his shoulder at the scores, most of the statistics scrolling across the scene little better than random to her eyes. Clearly they meant something to Penn, though, considering the tenor of his emotional reaction to them. "Only if you tell on me for playing stupid games on my terminal. No, I've never been in to soccer. Baseball's the only sport I ever really watched, and even that only rarely." Sports were nice enough, she supposed. Watching athletic men show off their skill and run around in often very-revealing uniforms... yes, it did have its perks.
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Post by somerandomhippie1 on Jul 3, 2010 16:29:35 GMT -5
Penn grinned. "My roommates were a little better-- sure, they'd take his baton off him and play catch with it, but they'd give it back eventually." You never really got bored in college, especially with Irish roommates. And you learnt to hold your drink down, too. Fun times, really.
"Ah, shame," he sighed at her sports confession. "Good sport, it is. Little violent, though-- a guy from the Wales team'll be out until who knows when-- dislocated his kneecap," he explained. "Guy broke four of my ribs in high school, once. That hurt." He better stop before he got too self-centered, and drove Kiri off. This was getting to be too nice of a conversation to cut off now.
"Well, then, it's a deal, Miss Brooks," he grinned at her ultimatum. "We can all play stupid games on our terminals. Shake on it?" He held out a hand, and raised an eyebrow to himself. He usually wasn't quite this forward.
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Post by kiri on Jul 4, 2010 19:20:36 GMT -5
Kiri winced in sympathy at his description of his injury. The worst thing she'd ever done to herself was sprain an ankle from slipping while wading in a creek back home, and that was back when she was twelve. Still, she'd seen enough broken and bruised ribs in medical school to know exactly how unpleasant an injury it was. "Ouch... that... sounds horribly painful. Why would you put yourself at risk like that, just for a sport?" The question was mostly rhetorical - she knew the medical, hormonal reason. Which also explained why she, as a girl, just didn't get it.
She took his hand with a grin, her grip firm. His skin was warm and dry against hers, a welcome contrast to the perpetually chilly air of the ship. She matched his grin with one of her own, glad that at least one of her coworkers would be a downright pleasure to be around. "Agreed. Stupid games it is."
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Post by somerandomhippie1 on Jul 4, 2010 20:40:41 GMT -5
He grinned as she took his hand. It was a little small, but it was warm, and friendly. Maybe they could trade stupid games sometime. Tetris or something.
"Well, I didn't quite," he tried to explain. "See, some hits in football are allowed, but full-body ones are illegal. The guy who hit me was a rugby player, and I hadn't seen him coming. And, I suppose I didn't expect him to bypass the rules like that-- our league was pretty good about that. I only got hurt because I few into the bleachers; otherwise, I would have been perfectly fine." Well, he was sure chock-full of excuses today.
"I love the sport, I guess," he admitted. "It's a lot of fun, playing with the people there, and I was really good at it. They were going to send me into the pro leagues, until I got busted up." He sighed. He loved teaching, and helping others, by that extension, but football had been a big passion of his. He had dreamed of going to play as a child, and he had almost got there-- it was crushing, but at least he had other passions to turn to. "I can still play, but never as much as I used to-- they're afraid I'll crack my ribs again."
Whoops, he was ranting about himself again. He never usually did this, unless it involved something he really liked to talk about-- or talk to, for that matter. Time to switch it up. "Did you ever play? Even, just as a kid?" Maybe they could start up a ship league-- or, even better, he could teach Kiri to play. That would be even better than stupid games.
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