Star Trek: Starbase 777 - social-sciences-lab

Lilian entered the lab carrying blown up prints of photos as well as some other readings. These recent findings were fascinating but she needed some time to really sit down and analyze them.

Thol sat at a worktable with a PADD in his hand and a much larger stack of PADDs nearby. He was generally aware of his surroundings but was focused on reading the report and absorbing its information. Any minor detail could prove useful later.

“Hello ensign, how’s your work going?” Lilian spread the photos across a table, and began sorting them into piles based on what exactly they were of.

Thol turned and paused for a moment, not expecting to see such a high ranking officer. It was not every day that the fresh Ensign had chats such as this. "Oh it is going well sir, thank you for asking."

"No need to be so formal ensign. We're all working for the same goal." Lilian bit her lip at the photos. Most of them were of old carvings, but making sense of them was proving hard.

Thol nodded, surprised by the response but more than okay with it. As Lilian had said in the end a scientist was a scientist no matter their official rank or title. "Oh, what should I call you then?"

"You can call me Lilian if you like. Or if you want to be slightly more formal Lieutenant So is alright." Lilian had started assembling something of a tree of the photos, trying to get some sense of how they fight together.

Thol shrugged, clearly relaxing a bit. It seemed like there was no need for formalities. He had been concerned about screwing up in front of a senior officer but instead seemed to just be chatting with a colleague. "Lilian it is then. I'm Thol."

“Good to meet you Thol. You’re a… political scientist, right?” She had done her best to keep track of the science division, but the starbase was a big place and she was still worried she might have it wrong.

Thol nodded, smiling slightly. He was surprised that Lilian had any clue who he was. Just another junior officer among the sea of personnel. Admittedly Thol had studied his superior officers but there were a lot to remember. “I am. You are a historian, right?”

"Close enough, archeologist and anthropologist." The pictures had started to make some sense. Assuming her theories about what the pictures represented were right...

Thol paused for a moment, clearly embarrassed. He had been identified by a superior officer but had screwed up who the superior officer was. "Oh, sorry." He wondered if this was just a chat. "You need help with something Lilian?"

"If you want I won't say no, mostly trying to figure out some pictographic inscriptions and pottery fragments and how they connect." She moved over a bit in case Thol wanted to look.

The inscriptions were largely humanoid, Thol could reasonably assume the inhabitants of the planet. They appeared to be performing various actions, from construction and painting to combat and worship, in a sequence.

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