Star Trek: Starbase 777 - cmd-mess-hall

Rakim arrived in the mess hall with purposeful strides, PADD clutched tightly as he rapidly moved to the nearest replicator. "Green tea, Hot." He requested, the drink retrieved before he then moved over and then slipped into a free seat on a unoccupied table. The El-Aurian, as he started to sip his drink, commenced work on his report. The report opened as he called up his notes from the time alongside it and forced himself to think of only it. By the time the result of the query about visiting his son arrived, Rakim had almost finished the report. A moments pause following the message notification before he then after he agonized for a moment over it, finished it off and sent the report in. Checking the report was sent before he called up his Inbox. Called it up and navigated down to the message he'd had started to look for. Finding it before he stopped and forced himself to look at the subject first. Hopeful for a hint of the result. 'Had he said yes...or had he said no?' The El--Aurian wondered as he looked down and his hand hovered over the subject. Hovered for a moment before, after he looked at what could be seen of the subject and grunted upon the revelation that the label to the message amounted to 'From MSRC, Subject: Re.' called up a overview Message overview To: Lt Cmdr Rakim From: Merciful Sun Rehabilitation center.

Subject: Re: Request for visit with 6 of 12 (Kedwyn)

There it was. The message he'd waited for, devoid of any helpful hints in the title, something he winced at. Wincing as his jaw worked, as he wrestled with whether or not to open it yet. The battle eventually won out by the part of him that wanted it open. A tap all that was needed as the message expanded and started to read in silence as his drink stood neglected.

19:06

When he finally arrived at 'Therefore, I am pleased to inform you that your request to visit has been granted by the patient.' Rakim rested his head on the PADD for a moment and just shook for a moment, before he got up and downed his drink in one. Downed it before he returned it to the replicator and dashed out of the mess hall. He had a request for compassionate leave to write.

It was busy in the mess hall. With alpha shift having just finished it meant that a good handful of people had come here post-shift looking for their lunch. Isli had been invited here by a friend from Tactical who had said that they should meet and have a catch-up seeing as how it had been a while since they had last spoken, but so far, they hadn’t shown. The clock was ticking on and Isli was sat there looking dreadfully awkward, not only one of very few people sat alone, but also wearing a blue uniform in a sea of Command and Tactical red. Were people looking at her? They probably were, wondering what she was doing here by herself. Would it look suspicious if she left? What if her friend was just running late and they did show up – if she left, then it would look like she had ditched. Too scared to move but also too scared to do much else she remained seated at the small table she had picked out; swinging her legs and twiddling her thumbs simultaneously, looking back and forth between the table’s surface and the door as she tried to suppress a rising sense of panic.

Completely unaware that he had yet to de-sticker his bag since it had been co-opted for use during a outing he clutched carefully in a metal marred hand as it rested by its strap on one shoulder, Vara'l quietly entered the mess hall. Storm grey eyes impassive despite being faced by the well populated wall of sound and people that loomed large between him and a snack, the Romulan proceeded on past a series of tables as he beelined directly for the replicator. The urge to trigger the process that quieted his hearing implants surpressed with the practised experience of one once sensitive to noise as he moved, Vara'l forced himself to focus. Forced himself to drink in every element of his surroundings as he approached and then as he arrived at the replicator. Arrived and ordered himself some food before he turned and started toward a table he'd marked as been conspicously devoid of people. Not that he ended up walking that way for long, as grey hued eyes spotted the blue of science, a lone solitary island amongst the crowd of people. Someone who at least to him, looked like she was waiting for someone. Looked like their panic had risen enough and solidified enough it probably would be harder to cut than the however many days old cake he'd once encountered in more painful days. Something that caused sympathy to flare like fire that desperately grasped for the embers of what emotion he allowed himself, pushing him as he briefly searched the room to see if anyone happened to be headed that way. Searched and found nobody. The brief decision that followed a no brainer for the Lieutenant as he resolved to check on the other and approached their table, a tray clutched in his hands as he asked. "Hello, I hope you don't mind my asking, but is everything alright?"

The Trill would have jumped out of her skin had it not been for her noticing the officer approaching, caught during one of her many glances between the door and the table. For a moment she had considered hunkering down in her chair in the hopes that they might ward them away, but doing such a thing would likely just make her look more suspicious than anything. If there was one thing that she wanted, it was to make sure that she didn’t do anything stupid in front of another officer – another senior officer, she noted too, as she caught the glint of his rank pips. She seemed to have had a thing for run-ins with officers higher in rank than her as of late, and in typical fashion for her, they didn’t always go well… Like one of them being as a result of her having accidentally tossed about one-hundred isolinear chips on the floor, for example. She took in the officer’s appearance as she watched them walk over: noting the bag in one hand and the tray from the replicator in the others, the metal implants, and the pointed ears. A Vulcan or Romulan, then – and either a cyborg or Liberated Borg. A cool combo - not to say that assimilation was cool, or that physical trauma that resulted in you needing cyborg parts was cool, but being a survivor of either of those things was. Analysing this at least was distracting enough to stop her going ‘oh god someone is coming over,’ so by the time that the officer had reached the table, she had managed to stop herself from panicking further. “I’m alright, sir, thank you,” she spoke as she looked up at him, although her words were a little too fast for someone who was totally fine. “I was just waiting for someone, and they haven’t shown up, and now I’m… Very out of place in a room of people I don’t know from a division I’m not part of.”

When the other seemed to spot him and started to hunker down, Vara'l did his best to come off as non-threatening as he modulated his posture slightly. Slowed down and relaxed muscles as he attempted to convey the fact he hadn't approached as a officer, he approached as just another member of Starfleet command. One a tad concerned she happened to be on the way to quite the bout of panic, already panicked as she was, not that he'd ever have admitted that to them considering where they were. That'd do the exact opposite of what he wanted. He wanted to check on them, wanted to ensure they were alright, not end up with them panicking more because of a officer looming over her like a devil that planned to punish them further. "Alright, Ensign.. and I...do take your point regarding the place." He offered as he gently smiled sympathetically as he continued. "Would it help if I was awkward and offered to pull up a chair to converse with you for a time until your friend arrives?" The Lieutenant offered before he paused a moment and continued. "Might at least distract your from times passage in a place you feel out of place of." His tone calm, as it had been as he'd started to speak, storm grey eyes something that betrayed little as they continued to gaze at the Ensign. "As if he or she was on the last tactical shift, there is that possibility they may be a tad late, there's been a good bit of work to do."

”I don’t think that would be awkward, sir,” the Trill replied. “I mean, it might be a bit awkward for me, having to be rescued by a senior officer and all – but not awkward for you, sir. I think it would be quite a nice thing for you to do.” She pushed herself a little more upright in her chair – if she was going to be in the company of this Lieutenant Commander then the least she could do was look presentable. That wasn’t to say that she didn’t normally look presentable. Right now she just looked as though she was ready to hide underneath the table, that was all. At least she would look less suspicious now, given that she was actually talking to someone and not seeming to just linger here in a space that she didn’t belong to. What was it with her and senior officers having to be her knight in shining armour, recently? There was Lieutenant Commander tr’Kota at a gathering a little while back, then Lieutenant tr’Lareth-Morvar with the isolinear chip incident, and now this Lieutenant who was yet to be named. “I’m Ensign Isli,” she stated, watching the officer take a seat. It seemed that once she had got talking then she was fine, not appearing to be too nervous in their conversation. “Thank you for coming to speak with me, sir – I was considering going and replicating myself a jacket with a red stripe so I could blend in.” There was a light laugh at that; an attempt at a joke. She hadn’t actually been considering it. “I was waiting for someone from Tactical, actually – you’re from Tactical, too, sir? If you’ve been busy today then maybe that’s why they’re running late, although it has been a while. Maybe they’ve forgotten.” A few PADD messages had been sent by herself as a reminder, so if they had checked them, then they should have remembered. Oh well. Hopefully it was just that they were busy and it wasn’t anything else going on, like them purposefully trying to avoid her or something.

The Lieutenant allowed himself a small smile when the other proceeded to say they were being rescued by a senior officer. "Perhaps it might ensign, though I'm not the most senior officer or Lieutenant there is so I suppose it may well be less awkward that might initially be expected.." As he proceeded to settle into a chair he pulled up to the table. and settled his tray upon it as he relaxed. "I'm Lieutenant Vara'l Tr'Hara, transferred in earlier in the year and you're welcome though ah I don't really know how effective the red stripe idea might have been." He chuckled. When the other confirmed they'd been waiting for someone from tactical, Vara'l looked a tad thoughtful for a moment. Looked that way and then proceeded to cover the end result of that, a pang of sympathy born of a slight suspicion the lady had been stood up, as he confirmed. "I am indeed from tactical and ah, if they were on the most recent shift, things were indeed rather busy." The man paused a second. "So they might be running late due to that." The Romulan's jaw worked a bit after saying that as he mentally ran through the faces of the different people who he'd encountered on shift today and worked back through his collection of memories as he attempted to gauge if any happened to have had a thing to go to after work. "Though that does partially depend on what they work in, within the department."

The senior officer was right – it could have been worse. She could have been approached by the Chief of Tactical themselves and quizzed on what she, a Science nerd, was doing amongst their sea of red. Honestly, it was surprising that hadn’t happened, given her recent proclivity for summoning senior staff. Besides, this officer seemed nice enough. Having gone out of his way to make sure that she was alright was a good sign to begin with. When he laughed at the comment about changing her jacket, she did too; the tension in her shoulders releasing somewhat. “It definitely wouldn’t have been effective, because if sat here and changed my jacket then everyone would see… Or I’d have to hide underneath the table, and that would look even more suspicious than a science officer sitting here not doing anything, I think!” The officer then confirmed again that they had been busy in Tactical. Isli was going to presume that was the reason that her friend hadn’t shown – as opposed to her having been stood up by him. Not that this was a date or anything, it was just a chat – but still… Being ditched was an ouch. With any luck, her PADD would soon ping and she’d get a message of apology from him saying that he had been held up. “My friend’s an armoury officer: I think he sort of maintains weaponry and things, from what he’s said..?” It was a line of work that you would never find Isli in: for a long time at the Academy, the thought of just holding a phaser had scared her. Having to use it was a whole other matter. “You might know him – Ensign McWilliams? …What is it that you do in Tactical, sir? If you don’t mind me asking, that is.”

"I think you'd have been right there aye!" He agreed as he softly chuckled, the smile that stayed settled upon his face completely natural now, despite any other emotions that reared their heads as the other continued to speak. The growing suspicion that the other had in essence been stood up one that continued to gain ground in his mind as he watched them and listened. "Would certainly have made for quite the story also" He added after a moments though as he wondered if the others friend would happen to turn up soon. That is if they planned to turn up at all, as he internally hoped they did as well, this ensigned seemed quite nice, certainly not deserving of being stood up without even an apology. Something Vara'l knew a officer could find at least a shred of spare time for even if they happened to be in one of the more recently hectic roles what with the tribbles having managed to get into a number of unfortunate places. Something that had resulted in somewhat of a mess that many had been forced to pull longer shifts to take care of. Those amongst their number including, he suspected, including armoury officers. Though he unfortunately hadn't much interaction with said officers under his belt, so he reckoned. "Thats about right, when it comes to that role." He initially indicated before, when they gave the name of who they waited for, he took a moment to wrack his brains as he attempted to recall if that was the name of a armour officer he'd happened to have met. "I don't mind at all Ensign, I should say though not as involved with the armoury as some tactical officers, I'm a Field tactician." He initially replied. "I'm trained in the planning and execution of certain tac plans for shore leaves and anti-boarding operations." The romulan explained. "Though considering the chaos the tribble caused when they got into certain areas, I'd be unsurprised if they happened to be involved in the clean up." He added.

After he added that, Vara'l pulled out his PADD as he mentally called up the list of officers he'd spotted and tried to gauge if he'd seen them. "Saying all that, I believe that name is somewhat familiar to me in passing, yes."

”’Quite the story’ meaning an extremely awkward, very embarrassing story,” the Trill replied, but managed to find amusement in it and gave a semi-awkward smile as she spoke to the Romulan. Well, she presumed that he was Romulan, going by the outward displays of emotion – and also with her having listened for an accent. She wouldn’t have actually done the jacket thing, but she would be lying if she said that it hadn’t (at least briefly) crossed her mind. She just had known that was a stupid idea, so she hadn’t considered it any further. There was something about being alone in a room full of people you didn’t know, in a place that you shouldn’t be, that made your brain come up with the stupidest of things. It was anything to break out of a socially awkward situation – although what her brain had conjured only would have made things far more socially awkward. Very useful of it! “A field tactician,” she mused when Lieutenant Tr’Hara stated his occupation. “That sounds fun. Kind of terrifying, I mean, because away team missions and things are never not scary – but still fun! And an important job, too. ‘Anti-boarding’ sounds like a big thing.” Isli was aware of Starbase 777’s history and how it had a knack for bad things happening: bombs, escaped prisoners, you name it. Whether it was here or on any other posting, Tactical and Security were always doing good work to make sure that people like her – the nerd scientists who wanted nothing to do with the scary things – could get on with their job in peace. “How did the situation with the tribbles go? Did they cause a lot of damage? I wasn’t on duty when all that was happening, so I just stayed in my quarters. There wasn’t really much that I could help with. It’s not as if I could talk to the tribbles or anything,” she added with a laugh. Her xenolinguistic skills didn’t go to the extent that she could talk to animals, unfortunately.

"Perhaps, though its good you're able to smile at it..." He smiled a tad then as he continued to enjoy his food and watched the other. Watched them even as he continued to wrack his brain about where the ensign might have happened to be. Wracked his brain for a while until the other proceeded to turn his focus to the subject of his job and their comments about it. The Romulan, still having resolved to take as much care as possible so as to ensure he betrayed nothing of the specifics of what he happened to be feeling, simply continued to watch as the other proceeded to call it fun. The storm grey like eyes of the Romulan, old beyond his years, simply continued to watch the other, impassive stormy windows into a mind unwilling to let free his emotions in a place like this. "It can have its moments of fun aye though...I can't deny that it's also got its moments where its terrifying, given the nature of the role." He then proceeded to fall silent as the other proceeded to ask how the tribble situation happened to have gone. "It was utterly hectic at points and otherwise downright hard to deal with....they didn't cause overly much long term damage to tac areas as far as I'm aware but." He smiled a tad. "..They got into several area and dislodged a lot of stuff, left us with alot of paperwork to do after undoing the damage." Vara'l paused once more. "And aye.. it did seem more a problem for scientists other than those in Xeno linguistics and an number of other unrelated roles and tac." The romulan then looked distant for a moment before he snapped back. "There ended up being quite alot of tribbles in the end..."

As they sat there conversing, Isli listening to the Lieutenant’s reply, she found herself slowly developing a sense of unease. Was it unease? She wasn’t sure if she could call it that for it wasn’t incredibly strong, but there was… A sense of something when it came to this officer. He had gone out of her way to speak to her, he smiled and made lighthearted jokes here and there… But there was a strange feeling when he looked at her. She couldn’t tell if he was scrutinising her or not, but his gaze seemed somewhat peculiar. It was like watching an emotional brick wall, aside from the moments that he smiled or engaged in an amusing comment. There would be a brief smile and then back to being impassive, then rinse and repeat. It was strange, given how he had been so nice. Maybe she had gotten his species wrong? For all she knew, he might not be Romulan – he could be a Vulcan, or a Vulcan-hybrid, struggling to keep emotions at bay. Maybe she shouldn’t be encouraging him. x_divider

20:59

Aside from her internal musing on the officer’s façade, Isli simply nodded along with his explanation. She was glad that she had stayed out of the way during the tribble situation: she would have felt far too upset with the idea of having to round them up and get rid of them. Death by tribble was how she wanted to go in the end. “I’m glad that they didn’t manage to cause too much damage… Aside from fur everywhere, maybe.” She didn’t comment on how the officer mentioned xenolinguistics in particular. She hadn’t mentioned linguistics, so now her Vulcan-hybrid theory had moved into him being part Betazoid. Not that it meant that Betazoids were allowed to read minds without consent – but maybe he was. That was the thing when it came to telepaths. They could be, and you would never know. “…What happened to the tribbles, in the end, sir? I heard some other officers mentioning cannibal tribbles, but that sounds… Immoral. Circle of life and all, I know! But – handing normal tribbles over to cannibal ones is a bit… Yuck.”

Blissfully unaware that he'd been so clearly identified as being someone who suppressed his emotions to a degree, if not for why he did so, Vara'l realized way too late that he probably had miss-stepped. All he'd done is mentioned one of the areas of the science departments disciplines under its umbrella that happened to not have a role to play at the time. One that he sensed, from how they happened to approach what they said and how they acted after a moment, suggested to the Romulan that the other happened to have some things she had started to entertain. Concerns or something, given how they paused on like that as they spoke. "Fur everywhere and a bunch of things scattered all about." Vara'l commented as he sketched out things falling before they scattered about the place with swift hand movements before he sipped his drink again. "And well." He paused as he allowed himself a bite of food. "They did indeed mention cannibal tribbles aye." Vara'l chased the bite of food down then with more of his drink. "Though I suppose the best thing to call them would be tribble predators, they were less cannibals in the conventional sense and seemed more like some form of tribble or other thing that hunted the rapidly multiplying ones." The Liberated Borg commented as he winced at the thought of the non-violent tribbles being ruthlessly hunted down like that by predators they in many cases couldn't have escaped thanks to doors closed on them by officers. "And well.. they weren't handed over to them by officers as far as I'm aware.. its more that the tribbles replicated so much they came to the cannibals whenever the cannibals hadn't already reached them." The Romulan's jaw worked a bit then. "Was still yuck though." He added. "And unfortunately it didn't end well for the tribbles, from what I heard they were too close to highly dangerous numbers so the order was given to use the transporters."

23:21

Vara'l looked slightly haunted then before he sighed. "It was.. very unfortunate, don't know all the science babble but something had happened to make the tribbles replicate like crazy.. so there were just too many." The Romulan paused then before he said. "By the time it was all over though, they'd gotten into a bunch of areas and scattered a good few things about when they managed to get up high enough that is."

The topic of ‘cannibal tribble’ versus tribble that hunted the other types made her think. Birds of prey hunted smaller birds, right? Big fish ate little fish? But then those were different species – did the cannibal tribble count as a different species entirely? There were lots of different types of tribble, but as far as Isli was aware, they were counted as breeds instead of as different species. Someone out there had named the tribbles with the very sharp teeth (and sharper appetite) ‘cannibals’… So she was still inclined to feel a bit put off at the thought of it straight-up consuming other creatures that looked pretty much just like it. But, again, it was just the circle of life… Something that she had always found a little bit cruel. It was unsurprising that she hadn’t ended up becoming a biologist – and had steered away from what some considered ‘normal’ sciences at all, ending up in social sciences instead. Culture and history contained gruesome things too, but you didn’t have to see it. x_divider

18:42

“So there being so many of them wasn’t natural, then?” She enquired towards the end, steering them away from talk of cannibal tribbles or tribbles being… Directly beamed into space, if she was understanding the Lieutenant rightly. His unnerved look made her think that she had got that right, and she resisted a grimace at the thought. “I thought that was just what they did: you know, reproduce really fast, and then the more of them you have, the more will reproduce even quicker until you have a whole room of tribbles. …Maybe they don’t and I’ve just watched too many shows and read too many books where they do that, but it’s probably an over exaggeration for the drama. I think it would be nice to have a few tribbles – some with different colours – and make sure they’re neutered so they can’t take over. It’s a shame that things got too out of hand. If there had been a smaller number and they could be neutered quick, then maybe people could have adopted them instead.” Or maybe that was just stupid wishful thinking.

Having mentally squished the feeling of discomfort that had come from the demise of tribbles who happened to have only been guilty of being exposed to something that had made them enough of a danger they had to be disposed of as best he could, Vara'l sipped his drink. The Romulan fully aware as he tried to push the emotions linked with that feeling down, as he considered the tribblesome events that if he dwelt on that too long he'd probably have ended up more out of sorts than he already happened to be about it. "From what I understood from my tricorder scans, there's being really fast at reproducing and then theres.. how fast those tribble were." He responded then, the word fast given a tad more emphasis than might have been expected. "They do happen to be really quick at reproducing normally.. thats true but the tricorder informed me that it was many percentage above the standard rate that the station tribble were reproducing at." He informed the other before he allowed himself a bite of food and chased said bite of food down with a draught of his drink. "So... it was rapidly becoming dangerous and senior staff had to...decide." Their other comment something he then considered briefly before he allowed himself a small smile. "...It would have been nice to have a small number of them, I'll admit ...though in this case as far as I understand it, that wasn't possible."

The Trill winced at the Lieutenant’s precise word choice of ‘decide,’ knowing what that meant. As much as she didn’t like to think about the demise of all of those poor tribbles, she could understand that the situation was out of control… Especially given that they were reproducing even faster than normal. What would happen if you left them unchecked? They’d just get faster and faster with more of them, and they’d keep going until what… They ran out of food? Until they filled a whole room and had suffocated everyone in it? Nope, the senior staff had been right. Tribbles playing sardines wouldn’t have only been dangerous for everyone on the station, but it wouldn’t exactly be humane living conditions for any tribbles either. Even Isli with her wouldn’t-hurt-a-fly attitude could see that. “I can understand why it wasn’t possible. It’s a shame, but… I guess you’ve got to get rid of something if they won’t stop going. It probably wouldn’t take normal tribbles that long to fill up a small room, so if they were going even faster than usual then it totally could have been bad.” RIP to the tribbles, she thought to herself as she looked between the Lieutenant and the rest of the room, still keeping an eye out for her friend… And this time, she caught sight of a familiar figure coming through the doors. Immediately she broke into a grin – far less nervous now than she had been at the start of the conversation – and gave them a wave so they could see where she was sitting… Not that she was particularly well-hidden, giving the blue on her uniform and how she stood out like a sore thumb. “Finally! Look, there’s my friend, Ensign McWilliams. You’re probably right, sir – they must have been held up at work. I’m so glad that I didn’t get stood up.” Whoops – that bit wasn’t meant to have been said out loud. Oh well. She was sure that Lieutenant Tr’Hara would understand; he had been understanding enough to come over here in the first place, after all.

"The rate they were going, that was indeed the worry aye." Vara'l agreed simply in the face of the others comment about the tribbles replication being bad. There wasn't after all much else that could be said when someone posited something that was simply..correct. It would have been utterly bad, it may well have ended up fatally bad for serious for the station as a whole, if the senior officers hadn't issued a order simply fatal for the tribble instead of officers and enlisted personnel still aboard. A decision he respected the senior officers for having decided upon making, even if it sat so badly with him that something like this had ended up with so many beings deaths. Deaths of tribbles yes but deaths all the same. A unfortunate situation, all in all. When the others friend finally arrived, Var'al couldn't help but smile warmly as they then allowed what he'd suspected to slip out. Confirmed that what he'd worried about hadn't happened and that by extension his presence was no longer needed. "They have indeed arrived, it was good to talk to you Ensign, I'll leave you to your talk with Ensign McWilliams" He responded as his smile warmed ever so slightly, those storm grey eyes calming as he grabbed his tray and proceeded to stand as he conveniently glossed over the other thing they'd uttered. He.. sensed that that bit had meant to be something of a internal observation, not something uttered out-loud as it had been. "Have a good rest of your day, both of you" Vara'l then nodded a greeting to the other ensign and started off toward another table.

[D] At the time of the disruptions, Vara'l happened to have just completed a shift, specifically the shift that had followed on from the teacher meeting that he'd attended with Telim. One that had happened to go brilliantly he couldn't have denied that though he happened to find himself not to fond of the man who happened to be Telims languages teacher. Hell he happened to be so not fond with them he'd even ended up here brooding over his drink, he silently noted to himself as he leant over the drink he'd replicated and clasped it once more in both hands. Clasped it for as long as it took before he happened to notice that he'd just heard the name of a ship that had just docked being sounded over intercom and had.. shortly after that just heard something that sounded not too far unlike the sound that was made when a conduit blew. Getting up as he decided that he happened to not be off shift anymore, Vara'l allowed himself to go investigate the disturbance. Then simply stared as he confirmed that he had indeed heard a perfectly good conduit blow out. "..What."

Terry wandered into the mess hall by accident, he'd gotten lost again, something he seemed to have a tallent for. He looked around trying to figure out where he'd ended up this time. "Yep I think I'm not supposed to be here..." He mumbled, then properly saw the other. "Uh, hi, what's up with you, you look about as confused as I feel but probably for a different reason."

Briefly having forgotten that he happened to be talking with someone who sounded like they could hear normally, Vara'l initially gave a Terran Sign for '"Don't know?' before he pushed through his shock and proceeded to speak. "I...am staring at something that seems to have one, just happened and also seems to also be something that happens to well..be highly unusual." He managed as he pointed to the aftermath of the blown out conduit. "That happens to be a conduit that seems to have just decided to go..bang."

22:17

As Vara'l remembered he still had some of his equipment stowed in one of the bags that happened to still be next to the chair he vacated, Vara'l briefly moved over to said bag and retrieved his tricorder before he returned to where he'd been standing. Returned there and smoothly turned back to the conduit as he flipped it open and started to scan. "I'd suggest moving back a bit, Lieutenant."

"Well damn. I just got myself lost." He took a large step back as the other told him to, continuing to watch. "I mean, I'm no engineer, I'm a counsellor, but uhhh I don't think plasma conduits just do that for fun or something. Any idea why it happened?" Terry slightly cocked his head. "Sabotage, maybe? Then again I doubt there would be motive... I should probably just shut up and let you work." He paused, running through everything he knew about plasma conduits which, he had to admit, didn't take a whole lot of time, eventually coming to the conclusion that he should maybe just stick to counselling and not trying to solve technical problems.

Vara'l continued to watch the conduit as the other happened to admit that they'd gotten lost. As they then further informed him that they happened to be a counsellor, wasn't he like horrendously behind with his counselling he mused internally in a moment of distraction he quashed with a careful exertion of training reinforced will. "They really dont, no." Vara'l confirmed calmly before he then added. "I've no idea why it happened, I'm scanning it now to try and determine more specifics and I'll.. hopefully be able to get a better idea on the cause or not." The Romulan mused as he mentally appended another hopefully as he internally wished for a easy explanation for why this thing conduit happened to magically go bang. "Until we've got some idea from scans, it'd probably be a idea to keep from any assumptions about the motive." Vara'l then added to the other before he briefly glanced to them as he continued to scan the conduit and.. heard some of the other things that happened to be happening "Those other sounds.. rather well..sound indicative of this conduit perhaps being part of...a wider series of incidents." Vara'l observed after a bit of listening.

He listened to the other, briefly thinking. "So a bunch of things blow at the same time, that's odd. What else happened during that time? Maybe something unusual happened that caused this? Like I said, I'm no engineer, but you know, seems weird that that kind of thing would happen out of nowhere." Terry sat down on the floor where he was, ignoring any and all seating opportunities in the room in favour of the ground. "So my guess is that something happened and set off this mess. No clue what it is, but something, you know?"

"Yep,sounds like other stuff is happening as well, unless I'm hallucinating the whole surprised yelling thing from before, pretty sure someone got spooked." He then paused as he checked his tricorder again. "I suspect that something unsual, as you refer to it, did cause this though I'm no engineer either the fact..this is is a very..weird occurance raises questions" The Romulan mused as he checked the result and frowned to himself before he flipped the tricorder closed and slipped it into a belt holster. "I think It'd be best if we pop our heads back into the mess hall and advise anyone looking like they're not entirely sure what to do to report to their posts or their quarters."

23:54

"While we work out the something that happened that is, cause it does rather feel like this is too wide spread to not be something caused by a specific." His jaw worked a moment before he then settled on utilizing their term. "Something, to call it what you called it as there...doesn't seem to be any better way to put it." He frowned. "..And that rather means it'd be best for them to do either of those two things I think."

He got up again, pacing. "What happened, what happened, what happened..." He mumbled. "Was there anything going on today... I think I heard something about a ship docking, that's all I can think of. But docking ships don't exactly... do this on a regular basis... I mean, would that even be possible?" He trailed off as he stopped pacing, staring at a spot on the wall for a bit before starting back up. "Even if it is possible we can't know that that is what caused it and if it is, then why?" Really he was just thinking out loud, and even then thos thoughts were half assed guesses at best.

"I suspect that the timing between its docking and this happening is indeed not a coincidence and well, anything is possible counsellor." He then paused as he considered the why. "I suspect that is something that will have to be a thing we.. find out as we go along." When the lights then went dark, Vara'l almost instinctively reached for a weapon that wasn't on his belt as he swept the area with his gazed and watched out for anything that actually looked.. solid and not ghost like that wasn't the counsellor or another officer. He was doing so when the automated yellow alert sounded followed by a alert from the captain, one that sent him into action as he poked his head into the mess hall again and called. "You heard the captain, to your stations people!" In the hopes that that would be something that managed to knock anyone who remained in there from a sense of terrified or at least shocked inaction into the calm grip of training ingrained action. Once he'd proceeded to do that, Vara'l then turned to the counsellor. "Fancy company to one of the turbolifts Lieutenant?" He asked the other. "I believe as a member of medical personnel your post'll be around the sickbay area if I'm correct, mine is nearer to the security base if so, so we can at least travel together for a time before we need to pop off in different directions."

Terry suppressed the instinct to count heads when the lights went out, they'd had a few power outages a year when he was growing up, usually just for a few minutes at a time, and back then it was always, gather the siblings, make sure everyone's there. "Ooh, yellow allert, haven't had that while on the station yet, usually means that people are gonna have a bad day though so let's see how much my scedule will fill up once this is over." He chuckled. "Sounds like a plan, yeah. Knowing my luck I'd manage to get myself lost on the way back, so let's go." He nodded as they started walking. "So you think it's that ship as well?" He asked, looking at the other in the dark.

As they started to head toward #senior-staff-corridor in the dark, Vara'l slowed his pace slightly so he could ensure that the other happened to well...still be with him. Slowed his pace and proceeded to carefully say as the other chuckled. "Had more than my fair share of them in the past on past postings and...I wish you weren't right about that on the bad day front." He responded initially before as the other proceeded to speak again, he turned slightly as he walked so as to ensure the other remained in his view despite the dark. The gesture something that he hope would also be of help when the lights finally returned, which he suspect they would. "Don't wany you getting lost....and well....the timing of the ships appearance and the start of what has occurred... makes the ship quite high on the list of suspects." Vara'l, as they continued along the corridor, then proceeded to comment "Hopefully the lifts will be working correctly." As he considered all that had occurred so far and idly suspected that the damage that had caused the conduits to blow out might be somewhat related to energy surges.

”Just a sec… I am going to grab a cup of tea” T’oran stood up and wandered over to the replicators “London Fog, hot” T’oran grabbed the fragrant concoction and wandered back. “So what were we talking about?”

[D] Having agreed to accompany a Ensign to the mess hall during a shift break to discuss some matters that had arose during said shift, Vara'l could be found sat at ease at the table they'd both selected. One of the myriad tables they'd had available to choose from when they'd both entered to find that the mess hall happened to be reasonably sparsely populated and then mostly by people from their shift who'd happened to pick the same place to spend their break. "We...were mainly just discussing last shift and some of the paperwork, Ensign. " Vara'l responded simply as he watched the other and proceeded to sip the Vulcan spiced tea he'd selected after he'd drained the Cardassian Coffee he'd elected to try as his breaktime drink. "Spending some of the time we've got on break working." He added after a moment before he then looked down at his food and mused. "Perhaps not the best use of the lunch break, after a hectic morning shift potentially." "And one that could have, what's the human saying.." He paused and frowned before he proceeded to hit upon a potential way of putting it and just decided to take a stab at saying it how the humans happened to go about saying such things. If he got it wrong he got it wrong. His words as he uttered them perhaps slightly hesitant at first becoming more sure with each syllable uttered. "A pin put in it until the end of lunch?"

”Sure thing, Commander.” Eiffel sighed after a brief pause, “Any special plans this weekend?”

The terse reply noted by Vara'l idly as he worked his way through the opening stages of the utter bliss that was drinking a good cup of tea or coffee, the Romulan kept the ensign fixed with a silver-grey eyed gaze. The eyes, that betrayed little normally perhaps briefly coloured with curiosity for the moment immediately after the other inquired as to his plans before the emotion disappeared behind that carefully emotionless mask. Their comment along with the sigh when it came to the proposition that working on work might be postponed during break both filed away mentally for later analysis by the Liberated Borg Romulan as he effected a smile and replied. His reply careful, mindful as he happened to be as he responded that this individual had only just arrived on the station, something that meant they were past the information that could be accessed about them.. an unknown. "Nothing major past my planning to spend the weekend with my adoptive son enjoying some of the sights on the station we've yet to enjoy and he's wanted to go see with me for a little bit." He responded. "We heard of a new shop and a new thing that'd opened in the entertainment complex you see.. so I thought that I might take him to the other places he wanted to see while we also looked into the newly opened stuff."

T’oran noted the brief reaction. He considered why that reaction may have occurred, and filed away his thoughts. “Sounds like fun! I hope you enjoy that! I would ask about work but you asked me not to discuss that on break…..” T’oran paused for a second “I am not the best at generic small talk outside of work topics with people I just met a bit ago I guess. The stereotypical weather discussion doesn’t quite work on a space station, does it?” T’oran chuckled briefly. He then began to stare off into space forgetting for a moment where he was. Remembering. Forgetting. Or at least wanting to. Family was a bittersweet thought for him.

Vara'l allowed himself a smile when the other said what they said, the point they raised one that seemed entirely fair to him. "If it'd help, I'm happy to discuss work if you are happy with doing so on a break, Ensign." The Romulan commented with a smile. "As I can certainly understand struggling a tad on the small talk front with people who you happen to have just met about a couple of hours ago...as aye the normal weather discussion isn't exactly as effective here as it'd be planetside." He chuckled a bit then as he sipped his drink, noted the brief and distant look and decided to shift the topic smoothly away from something that seemed like it might be a sore one for them. "So on that line of thought, how have you found your first..or one of your first full morning shifts on station, if you don't mind my being nosey?" The Romulan inquired as he continued to softly smile and sat there, his posture calculated to be something that spoke of a relaxed calm even during periods where that might have happened to not be what he felt. "And haven't just incorrectly assumed that you're new to the station" Vara'l then awkwardly added before he continued on to say. "Apologies if I have just done so."

T’oran smiled “No apologies necessary! You are correct about my recent arrival. It has been satisfactory so far! Haven’t had any major assignments just yet, but hopefully soon!”

"I'm glad to hear that its been satisfactory so far." He began as he sipped his drink once more and considered his surroundings a moment as he idly wondered if he had some time to get some food to accompany his drink. * "Though I hope things'll improve and it'll end up a tad more than just satisfactory." *Vara'l then sipped his drink again as he looked back at the Ensign. "And I suspect you'll probably get some larger assignments in shifts as time goes on, right now you're new to the station and just settling in, so there'll be a wish to not overwhelm you while you settle in I suspect." The Romulan commented as he checked his PADD and by extension how much time happened to remain of their break.

”This is true! Thank you, Sir!” Eiffel also checked his PADD and frowned. “Shoot! I knew I was forgetting something. Sir, I hope you don’t mind if I excuse myself. I was supposed to be on my way to my quarters for a virtual conference a minute ago!”

"You're welcome, though Its just what I and some others experienced." He responded simply before, as the other headed him off before he uttered another word of what he'd intended to say, he smiled and instead nodded to indicate he didn't mind. "I don't mind at all, if you've got a conference to be getting to you best be off and going, at least you're close to where you're going." Vara'l smiled then as he gestured to the exit from the mess hall. "I'll see you around I imagine, enjoy your virtual conference."

”Thank you sir! It was nice chatting with you!” T’oran stood up and quickly made his way out of the mess hall, and headed to his quarters.

"Good talking with you too, Ensign." Vara'l watched the other go then and once he finished his cup of tea proceeded to get the food he'd started to pine for, the food slowly demolished before the end of the break. [D] Vara'l departed after the break ended and headed back to work.

Ah, just a normal lunch day, nothing too fancy. Snake didn't really feel like eating a big fancy meal for lunch, well, he normally didn't, but he'd normally wish he had a much fancier meal to munch on. Today? He was fine with the meal they had. Pasta, it was. Snake was a quarter-Italian, after all. Pasta was his lifeblood food. Such perfectly handcrafted (or so it seemed handcrafted) penne pasta in a rich Alfredo sauce, one that wasn't too cheesy, but had a hint of tang, the soothing of the milk, and the slight bite of the ground peppercorn. It was truly a delicacy beyond anything he held dear in the food world. If Snake loved one thing and would eat one meal for the rest of his life, pasta would be it. Thank goodness there were so many customizable options for it, too. Snake ended up bringing a plate of penne with Alfredo and freshly grilled and sliced chicken breasts, topped with a small amount of Parmesan cheese on top. Chicken Alfredo? Snake would have that as his last meal and every other meal before that. Snake literally cracked his knuckles before picking up the fork to dive into his pasta. The Italian in him was awoken immediately. He wouldn't be surprised if he ended up talking with his hands afterwards.

Phoenix entered the mess hall soon after, holding a bunch of clutter that he had taken from his quarters regarding certain evaluations regarding work that he had to do, making his way over to the table as he dumped his stuff on top of it as he didn't mind working during his breaks of, he found it sort of soothing when he could sit and relax in the background over a evaluation. His attention then shifted to the replicator as he ignored Snake since he had no business to go over with him. * *Standing in front of the machine, he quickly pondered around before saying one of his favourite dishes of all time. "Deconstructed lasagna, 375 Fahrenheit with slices of stone baked garlic bread on the side." He watched as the meal got generated within a few seconds as he placed his hand in the replicator as he took out two plates of food, quickly shuffling over to the table as he placed it at the side of his work. Carefully making sure that it wouldn't spill over his work as he placed his legs over what seemed to be a bench as he got ready to do a bit of reading. (edited)

Snake was also at first minding his own business until he saw Phoenix grab his lasagna - and good GRACIOUS, did it look good. Especially the garlic bread. Touché, Snake thought - and promptly Snake approached the replicator again. He wouldn't let this pass him by. "Slices of stone baked garlic bread, please." Of course the please wasn't necessary but it was polite and Snake wanted to change his tune from his formerly assholey self. Not that he didn't have his pasta nearly drenched in Alfredo sauce. Just gave him a dipping sauce for the garlic bread. Snake decided that maybe it would be a good idea to make new friends with this new person he was unfamiliar with. Perhaps he would be a good person to hang out with here, he'd just have to see. So! On he was to the table that Phoenix was sitting at. He leaned down slightly just to get Phoenix's attention, although still keeping a polite distance away until Phoenix gave him permission. "Mind if I join you? Looks like you could use some company."

Phoenix looked up from his work as he waited for the lasagna to cool down before taking his first bite. Staring at the person who was in front of him for a few seconds as he briefly looking him up and down to see what he had on him. "You may take a seat beside me." He said in a monotone voice as he returned his attention to his work, taking a piece of stone baked garlic bread as he began ripping it apart so he could have little bites when eating it. He didn't really acknowledge the person that was beside him that much, he didn't exactly feel like talking at that time but knew he had to if he wanted to keep the peace regarding the future of his career. His eyes kept shifting between his food and his work as he tried to gauge whether it was the right time to start eating and have a break or even move away from this area just to get a bit of privacy when it came to this new person.

Snake cracked a smile as he obliged and proceeded to set his tray of pasta down before taking a seat across from Phoenix. Heh, this one was of the jolly sort, it seemed! Regardless, Snake saw this as a valuable opportunity for him to get to know Phoenix, and for Phoenix to get to know him and others - especially since Snake saw the number of pips on the officer's uniform denoting him as an Ensign. "Ensign, hm?" Snake said. "Well hey, thanks for letting me hitch a seat over with ya, Ensign. I'm Lieutenant Junior Grade Snake. Alan Grayson is my real name but Snake is easier to say." He didn't even brag about himself and his backstory. "I'm assuming you're fairly new here? If so I don't think we've properly met." Snake proceeded to dig into his pasta while awaiting Phoenix to introduce himself, which he imagined would be good to give Phoenix some grace especially as Phoenix seemed not too talkative, or at least that's what he assumed. So, Snake took a few pieces of garlic bread and dipped them in the top of the pasta plate, capturing the sauce on top before sinking a bite into his mouth. "Mmm! You made a good choice with this garlic bread, you know? I've never had it like this before."

"Hello, I am Phoenix Leongard." Phoenix wasn't budging with any of the emotion stuff, rather being a stone wall that showed no emotion or bias towards anyone. His eyes were glued to his work as he didn't really look towards the higher rank, carefully moving his hands towards his ripped Garlic bread as he took another crumb of it, shoving it inside his mouth as he somewhat liked the taste of it brushing against his taste buds. "Stone baked variants are known for fewer greasy kinds of food, therefore you know that it's a more healthier decision compared to the things you don't know about. Like if I were to ask for a normal pizza instead of a stone baked pizza, I would be knocked out for commission and you would recieve more cramps than a stone baked counterpart." Phoenix was ranting on and on as he didn't take a breath after explaining all that. Rather waiting for the end as he took a huge inhale as he scrolled through another section of his work as he inputed data for it.

Snake wasn't sure what this ensign's name was before he introduced himself, but once he heard it was Phoenix, Snake's eyes widened. "Yooo! Phoenix is a badass name," Snake said. "I've never met anyone named Phoenix before you. That's so cool, bruh, it's so good to meet you Phoenix!" Literally, as Snake was taking more bites of the garlic bread that he made for himself, made just how Phoenix had his garlic bread made, the garlic bread somehow tasted better. With each bite, it was getting more delicious. Evidently it was most likely the placebo effect but Snake didn't care. He just kept on nomming the garlic bread as he listened intently to Phoenix. "How-- literally you're making this garlic bread more yummy the more I eat it. You some sort of wizard??" Snake teased, but then he returned. "Nah, just messing. You made a good choice, I couldn't help but try it myself, it's incredible."

Phoenix slowly turned towards Snake as he didn't really see the point in being this enthusiastic about anything especially when it came to food, somehow finding it odd in a certain degree. But Phoenix bit his tongue and decided to continue scrolling through his work once more before setting his eye back on Snake. "I tend to go for foods that my palette accepts, thus that is why I chose this dish. I sometimes like making things by hand when it comes to culinary practices, since I believe that stuff done by hand is a lot better than synthesised food." Phoenix placed his hand on top of his garlic bread as he took a big scoop of it in his hand, slowly shoveling it into his mouth as he continued to stare at Snake. Phoenix began hypothesising about why this person was teasing him for only eating food, putting all the evidence into place in his head as he went through a timeline of events. "I believe I have deduced why you are over here, though." He placed his work padd at the side as he got ready to explain his reasoning towards Snake as he felt it was necessary in case things got him into hot water. "You want me to feel welcome on board the ship since you believe you are the first person that I've seen. Therefore by rational reasoning you want to see how I respond towards your human interaction as you try to navigate the field to see if I am a friend or not. You are testing the water if you will, and that's my deduction."

Snake was just about to take another bite of his pasta when all of a sudden, Phoenix went on his rambling about real versus synthesized food. And as soon as Snake thought he had a moment to respond, he couldn't as Phoenix spontaneously went onto another ramble of why he was over there, letting him in on his deduction skills. It was a bit off-putting, as Snake wasn't expecting someone he just met to outsmart him two minutes after they had just met. The fork with pasta literally dropped onto Snake's plate as he remained speechlessly frozen for a moment. Thankfully, no sauce or other food spilled or made a mess on the table or on either Snake or Phoenix as a result of this. Snake was a lucky motherfucker for that. With Snake's next thought completely obliterated as Phoenix made his deduction, Snake was immediately disarmed. Not that he had any reason to be armed, and he had no ill will towards Phoenix. But right away, his communication skills were that of a rock. "Uhhhhhhhh..." And it took a moment for Snake to be able to process everything that Phoenix had just said. Holy shit, he was onto something, and he was onto it well. Snake didn't even know how to respond. The ensign had just outsmarted him! Snake had to take a moment to even remember how to speak. "Uh... well, you know, I--... yeah. G-go-good job! I, uh... yeah." Snake was a blithering idiot now. He didn't necessarily feel threatened by Phoenix, but it was amazing how well Phoenix could either read Snake like an open book or how his deduction skills were just that good. He'd never met someone so open to analyzing him like that. "W-well, I think it only sensical to do so given you're fairly new! Plus we're in the same division! We might be working together, bro!"

"I do hope so, you seem like a reasonable type of person who matches my style. I would be honoured if we serve together in some way, though it seems like I have flabbergasted you in the process." Phoenix took his own fork out as he stabbed the deconstructed lasagna since the temperature was up to his standards, slowly taking it up to his face as he began blowing on it to make it extra cool. Shovelling it in his mouth as he briefly put a bit of time into eating rather than working, as he warmed to the idea of a sort of friendship between the two, slightly making a visual observation as he thought that he may of put Snake off the friendship route. "Forgive me for a second, ever since I had my amnesia four years ago. I have lost all sensation when it comes to emotions, I don't remember my parents or any childhood memories. I only know now and how to serve for the greater good." Phoenix gave Snake a look, his face was so blank it looked like he had frozen and became a stone statue at that very moment."Do you mind if I ask about you, what do you do on this ship? Do you have any hobbies or outside work activities that you like to do?"

It genuinely took a second for Snake to recover from being so flabbergasted. But once he did, he finally managed to remember how to speak galactic standard. "Er-yeah, y-you did flabbergast me for a sec," Snake said with a laugh. "But hey! I'm glad you think I'm reasonable! I used to be a jackass. Not anymore, found out that got me nowhere. I don't really know a ton of people well in my division, only a few good friends and colleagues, it's mainly in other divisions who I know more. But hey! You're one of the few in command I've talked to face-to-face!" As Phoenix spoke again, Snake also took more bites of his own pasta - holy crap, even the pasta didn't measure up to the garlic bread. And HE chose the pasta he ate! The garlic bread put the pasta to shame. At the very least, Snake felt like Phoenix wasn't as difficult to reach now. Looked like not being a jackass worked after all! "Amnesia?" Snake asked. "Dude! I'm sorry, man. That sucks. You deserve to know everything about who you were and how you were raised. It makes you who you are. But if you're happy now that's totally okay too! Maybe I can help form new memories with you." It was really a bummer, Snake thought. Not being able to remember anything beyond four years earlier. Snake hoped he could help in any way possible. "Oh, me?" Snake said. "I'm a Diplomatic attaché. The same job Lieutenant Eshen has. I love talking to people and making connections, both inside and outside of duty. But outside of duty? Damn right I got hobbies! I'm a professional actor and a musician. Electric guitar is my instrument of choice! But I also sing. Played Spock in Kirk: The Musical! Other than that, I've taken a liking to movies and photography. What about you?"

"I tend to do a ton of non-replicated baking as I find it's a subject that can be altered for one to make the best produce. I also sometimes do a ton of arts and crafts when I have free time as I like reading instructions of things so I can adapt or even adjust according to my liking." Phoenix pushed his padd out of the way as he found the conversation very interesting to say the least, he wasn't aware that people still played instruments that dated back decades ago." I would like to dabble in musical entertainment as I do want to add new skills to my assortment." Taking his fork back in his hand as he shovelled more of that delicious deconstructed lasagna in, slowly taking a few more mouthfuls as he found it delicious something that agreed with his palette. Quickly noticing that there was an alternative to eating as he placed his fork back down by the side of the plate. Taking a scoop of his garlic bread crumbs as he threw it on top of the lasagna as he wanted to enjoy the taste of both delicacies, taking his fork back as he began stirring it inside the deconstructed lasagna. "Forgive me for playing with my food. I just want to test this out if you don't mind." He knew some customs didn't allow you to do this, but he persisted with it as he made sure to coat the garlic bread with the tomato and beef sauce.

Snake's eyes widened as his smile grew as Phoenix spoke of his hobbies and pastimes - well! This would be easier after all! "Ooooh! I had a feeling you were into non-replicated food! You're doing shit with your hands, getting the work done, that's some mad respect there bro! Arts and crafts though? Brooo that's dope! Arts and crafts are super therapeutic and so much fuckin' fun! Listen, I'm a simple man. That sort of pastime is god tier." Snake kept on munching on his pasta, before he scarfed down more of the garlic bread which was really starting to get to him. "No, no no no no no, that's not playing! You're experimenting. That's nothing to shit on! Listen, man, my philosophy is this. If you just placate yourself with how the world is and don't question it, shit would be boring. You've gotta live it up a little! Life's too short not to."

"I do agree on that part, perhaps you should follow suite and join me on this fusion cuisine. Mixing it does really give it more flavour to be totally honest with you." Phoenix was totally engrossed with his meal as he had hit the next tier of the food world. Scooping the food into his mouth as he repeated the process till he was almost done. "A lifespan can be filled full of wonder and freedom to do what you want, whether you follow orders or chaos. It's like a river that you sail down until you appear at your next destination and restart the process time and time again." Phoenix wasn't trying to flex his philosophy skills. He wasn't one to dabble in those types of things. But the words came to him in an instant as he didn't really know why his brain came up with that, readjusting his seating as he felt a tiny bit uncomfortable with not having a backrest. That was the only downside when having a nice dinner with friends. "I have a question for you, an ice breaker if you will. What is your favourite part of this ship?" Phoenix was briefly asking this question to sort of get a layout of a good location to go to since he didn't know what facilities the starbase had.

Snake was expecting Phoenix to just go more into how he made more arts and crafts and filled his time with that - he wasn't expecting a philosophical ramble that right away made Snake pause. Holy--- life was a river, wasn't it? Phoenix was right. So if life was a river, were the people in it all of the individual droplets of water that made up the river? The people, and the places? The people, places, objects, events, emotions -- oh shit, he was going down a mental waterfall. Snake snapped back to it. "Uuhhhhhh... y-yeah, let's go with that." Thankfully, the ice breaker that Phoenix suggested had immediately brought Snake back intno a more cohesive state of mind. "Oh! Favorite part of the ship? Location-wise, I'm a big fan of the holodecks, but that's just me and nearly every ship and station has those. But something that's unique to here? The ballroom is INCREDIBLE. Same with the aquarium, wherever you have the chance to do recreational stuff around here, it's S-tier stuff. The environmental complex especially. I haven't been in Maggie the Magnificent's showroom yet, but I hear it's in a league of its own, it's top-notch stuff!"

Phoenix was slightly stumped on who Maggie was, he didn't really know the names of the other members on board the station yet. Finding it slightly interesting in regards to the mystery of all these locations and people, he had never met. Perhaps he would get around and find out who and what they all were, "Perhaps I could go see this showroom for myself, if they have their own place. Then I believe they would be open for business, and I could learn what they had to offer." Phoenix placed his hand on top of his Padd, quickly dialling in the places that Snake had suggested to him. "If you are interested, I could set a few hours of free time to investigating that area. Since I do intend to boost my public image regarding the crew, since I haven't gone out of my way to introduce myself to everyone on this ship. That would take hours, wouldn't it." Phoenix asked in the rhetorical sense, but he didn't mind an answer from Snake. Shifting his attention away from his meal and back to Snake for a few more minutes as he wanted to hear all the gossip about this showroom since it sounded like a magical sounding place. Even though he didn't believe in the common Houdini.

Evidently, Snake was in a better mood when he was munching on the garlic bread rather than when he was munching on the very pasta he had designed. Ironic, really. He thought he knew everything about his own taste buds. Apparently not - Phoenix apparently knew good food better than he did. He'd have to take a note from Phoenix. "Yeah, any place around here that sparks your interest, check it out. We have some small businesses around here that are thriving as far as I'm aware. Such talented people, really!" Then Phoenix suggested that he and Snake look around - and Snake immediately let out a smile. "Let's do it! I'd love to check out some of the places I haven't yet! There are new businesses coming in, it feels like, every day. It may take hours and it doesn't have to happen all in one day but absolutely! That would be dope! I'm down!" Snake finally saw who Phoenix was like without the emotional mask in front of him, or at least, that's what he had interpreted it as. He was excited for how he could help Phoenix adjust not only to the station but also to him and the rest of the division!

"Then we shall do it over a long period then, I look forward to looking into these civilian shops and learning what they are capable of." Phoenix nodded his head a few times to show that he was interested in learning new things about this station, perhaps he could learn if he would like any activities they provided of course. "I assume you can message me or use the chatroom to contact me in some way. Say for instance if you want to explore a shopping establishment that could interest you, since I don't really know what I am looking for." Phoenix went back to his meal as he scooped the final bits up, munching away as he looked back over towards the food replicator as he didn't know if he wanted more to eat, slowly swiveling his head back towards Snake just to check on him. "Are you needing me to take your plate? If you are finished your meal of course, I wouldn't mind clearing up." Phoenix offered as he didn't know if Snake was going to eat the rest of his dish. Noticing that he took a leaf out his book and went for the garlic bread.

Snake snickered at Phoenix's inquiry as to if he was finished. He was about to finish, but was it worth it? Compared to the bread nah. "Honestly yeah, fuck the pasta, the bread is where it's at," Snake said, comedic timing on point. Hell yeah, he got this bread. He wondered how Rai would have responded to all this. Anyway, Snake got his plate and discarded it with the replicators before finishing his garlic bread. "But in regard to the civilians' businesses? Hell yeah bro! Whenever you want when we're not both on duty I'm game! The chatroom or PADD works, chatroom gets pretty chaotic, just saying." Snake had the feeling Phoenix would be a good friend moving forward. Phoenix had the perfect compliment to Snake's slightly unhinged energy. Although, maybe he would need to take a note from Phoenix on how to chill out. Seemed to work for him.

"I have witnessed the chaos of the chatroom, but it could prove more informative if we take the rest of the crews ideal into place. Perhaps it could narrow things down and we would have less to look at?"* Phoenix stood up as he followed Snake towards the replicator to get rid of his clutter. Carefully slotting it on top as he pressed a button to make it vanish rather than talking to it since he was in deep conversation with Snake.* "Or we could have more time to explore and learn about things between the two of us, I wouldn't mind that at all." Phoenix went back over to the table as he grabbed his PADD back up, beginning to walk out the door. "You can follow if you would like, if you want to continue talking." Phoenix waited a few seconds just to make sure that Snake was behind him, in case they had to cut their conversation short.

Snake couldn't help but snicker at the mention of the chatroom. That was already a good indicator of just what 777 was like when it was unhinged. But Phoenix was right. "That's true," Snake replied. "Very true." Snake followed Phoenix out the side of the door with him. "Actually, I have a duty shift in a few minutes, so I wish I could continue chatting with ya," Snake said. "But whenever you want to do shit, I'm down!"

"Then I will catch you another time." Phoenix walked off down the hall as he parted ways with Snake after an interesting lunch time, wanting to continue his work in private since he had his daily interaction for the day. Finally, he had made a friend that he could almost relate to even though he had no emotions to show for it.