24 Hour Follow-Up: Kurokawa

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OOC Date: April 7, 2011
IC Date: January 10, 2128

Commander Eisley meets with Lieutenant Commander Kurokawa to discuss her immediate plan of action following the Givers' revelation.


The EAV Genesis; XO's Office


Every good office is dominated by a desk and this one is no exception. The XO's desk is almost eight feet across, half that in width, a sheet of black glass that shimmers through with motes of color. Bits of it light up as needed, becoming brilliant controls that respond to a touch and then fade into nothing when not. Behind it sits a high-backed chair, sleek and black. Behind that is a plasma screen that occupies almost the entire wall, pretending to be a window that looks out into space when not otherwise in use. In front of the desk are two smaller chairs, also black though not as imposing. Black is a theme here; there is also a sleek black sofa set against one wall, ruining the perfect linear symmetry of the room. It matches the charcoal color of the carpet, and imposes in hard lines against the ivory walls.


The XO's office is easy enough to find. It's just down the hall from the conference room, one of only a few doors on the upper deck of the Genesis. The door whispers open to allow admittance, not being locked at the moment, and the Commander has strongly encouraged appointments for these reports, given that everyone is supposed to be on light or no duty, though no one seems to be honoring that particular order. Even Eisley herself is attempting to keep busy, her primary strategy in this capitalizing on other people's industry and collecting these reports. Thus, at the appointed time, the Commander can be found in her office, seated behind her desk, pressed and polished into uniform precision. On the screen behind her is a view of the stars, a faerie land of nebulae that form the swirling arms of the Milky Way. Impressive as the display is, she has her back to it, a data pad on the desk in front of her holding far more of her attention.

The diminutive Chief of Engineering can't be more than five foot one and maybe 105 pounds soaking wet, and somehow she manages to have more of a physical presence than many of the Marines on board. She steps in through the door when it slides open and moves immediately to an empty seat across from the Commander, sinking back in what may be a bit of a defensive posture. "Lieutenant Commander Kurokawa reporting in, sir," she states grumpily.

It's the monkey on her back. Even when she's not carrying the monkey. Eisley looks up as the smaller woman comes in and after a moment pushes the pad off to one side, adjusting her position so that she actually almost leans back a bit. Her elbows settle on the arms of the chair, hands joining together, though only her index fingers rise in a genuine steeple. The grumpiness and defensiveness are not lost on her and so after a moment she quirks an eyebrow. "Are you all right, Lieutenant Commander?"

"I've been up ever since we came out of stasis," Monoko answers in a flat tone. "I have been working nonstop processing the database, upgrading the engines and shields for FTL, fabricating the necessary parts for the cloaking device, looking into adding the cloaking device technology to the shuttles, and double checking everything five times just to be safe, because when I try to sleep I start to have dreams about my mother, father, and older brother being stuck in a lobster tank along with a bunch of other humans at a cannibal restaurant." A beat. "Other than that, I'm fine, Commander."

While it could be argued that the content of the dream might be humorous, Eisley doesn't smile. Her mouth thins out a little bit, the expression inclined toward somber understanding and maybe, possibly, a peculiar degree of compassion for the younger woman. "It is… not wrong to feel that way, but a lack of sleep will do you harm, in time. Have you spoken with either of the doctors?"

A roll of the eyes comes at the part where the Commander tells her that isn't wrong to feel that way and suggests that she try to get some sleep. The mention of the doctors, however, causes her to visibly tense up and sink deeper back into her seat. "Iie," she answers quietly with a shake of her head, eyes narrowing. "It was my understanding that I'm here to report to you on my work. You wanted to know what I'm doing, and I told you."

That roll is noted, though not commented upon. The Commander frowns a little bit at this particular reaction to her inquiry. She is very quiet for a moment or so, considering her many and varied alternatives from which to approach the young woman. "Very well. Would it expedite matters if we brought some of the technicians out of stasis?" For now she focuses on that; battering through the shields will happen later, just wait.

She actually snorts at that, does the little Engineer. "No," she answers in an annoyed tone. "It would do the exact opposite. I can learn all of this shit fast enough on my own, and while extra sets of hands could be useful the time that I would have to take to explain to them what the hell they're doing and why they are doing it would totally negate any benefit. That's what robots are for. They don't ask questions and offer stupid opinions. They just do what they're told."

"Do you have a problem with being asked questions?" Now Eisley leans forward, just a touch, one brow arching ever so very, very slightly. There is no sharpness to this question, only a stark, somewhat cool neutrality. It is quite possible that she is not used to such… color …from the crew. "I am afraid I have quite a number of them to ask you."

"I only have a problem with being asked /stupid/ questions, sir," answers Mono in an equally cool and neutral tone. "I don't have the time to read them all in on the new tech so they can work on it with me. It'll be easier once they're brought out of stasis later to have them simply read through the data for a few days before touching anything. As for your questions, I will do my best to answer them, provided I know the answers at this time. I still haven't had a chance to read through everything yet."

Eisley tilts her head slightly as if to acknowledge that. "Then I shall attempt to limit my questions to intelligent ones. How long before the Genesis cloaking device can be brought online?" Number one. Number two, "And how long before the FTL drives can be implemented?" Two entirely different subjects, yes, but these two questions are right at the very -top- of the pecking order.

"As you haven't been the one reading through the files and trying to install all of it, that's not a stupid question at all," offers Mono, perhaps a bit conciliatory. "The FTL technology is proving much faster and easier to implement, given that it's mostly adjustments to the existing technology. I have had to fabricate a new capacitor to handle the amount of energy required, but the schematics suggested as much. We actually have FTL capability as we speak. I hadn't sent an update about it because I just finished it and figured I would tell you in person. The cloaking technology requires a whole set of new machinery that we don't have at the ready, so I'm having to fabricate all of it from the schematics, and then install it all. That's going to take a bit longer. I've also popped down to the shuttle bay to see if the shuttles have enough room in their existing machinery to add cloaking devices to them on a smaller scale, and I think they might. I need to confer with Seaman Ben-Haim about which systems I can move around and where I can move them two without interfering with his ability to pilot. But that's all secondary. Cloaking capability for the Genesis is going to take about a week."

This information is taken in silence; the Commander does not interrupt, merely listens, nodding a little bit to punctuate it, or to verify that she is listening and processing. Mercifully, this is not -entirely- technobabble. Her eyes don't glaze over at any rate, which is - hopefully - promising. "…a week," Eisley echoes there at the last. Her fingers tap together a single time, adding a note of somberness to the processing of this. After a bit she nods. "That will have to be factored into the equation, I suppose. In your professional opinion, given what you know about the ship's systems, is there any reason to suspend use of the FTL drives until cloaking capability is engaged? I understand that we lose the element of secrecy the moment we activate that, but one week puts us halfway to the wormhole."

A thin brow lifts slightly in curiosity, apparently not expecting such a question. One can almost see the math being done in her head as her eyes narrow ever so slightly. "Well, the two cannot be run simultaneously, anyway. When you move THAT fast, nothing can hide it. Two systems are, as the Snail said, mutually exclusive. So no, there's no reason why we couldn't start using FTL before the cloaking technology is finished. The only downside would be if something saw us and got to us fast enough, ran us down, we couldn't come out of FTL and hide our location. Chances of something not only noticing us but catching up to us would be pretty slim, as far as I can tell. They would have to be going exponentially faster than we are. Also, at that speed, things like weapons are pointless - you can't shoot anything when you're moving that fast, you'd just hit yourself. So as long as we STAYED in FTL, we wouldn't have to worry about being attacked. We'd have to come out of FTL to go through the wormhole, though, but by the time we reach the wormhole, like you said - I should have the cloaking technology done before then."

Eisley did not get her position for being dumb, and she -did- promise to try and keep the questions intelligent. Hopefully that one counts. This information is also considered and apparently weighed and she at last leans back in her chair. The leather is not yet broken in and it creaks a bit as she settles into that new position, rolling it back and to the side slightly so that she can -almost- look at the engineer and the starmap simultaneously. Almost. Sadly they're on different sides of the room, and thus she has to turn her head from one side to the other to accomplish anything of the sort. "All right. And… what does your instinct tell you about where we should go, Kurokawa?" This question is different, yet much the same. It is asked with a different kind of curiosity though.

Her expression fades back to neutrality at this latest question, Mono doing her best to guard emotions and reactions. "Back to Earth, sir," she states flatly. "My instinct is to go back and salvage anyone and anything we can if the monsters have already left, or to stand and fight if they haven't." And then she sighs. "But I know that such an opinion is neither popular nor reasonable given the information that we have. If we're going to turn our backs on our families and homes, and we may as well go all the way and turn our backs on this galaxy as well. New Eden is compromised, and neither of the other planets are entirely acceptable. We may as well see what else is out there."

Having asked the question, the Commander merely listens again, absorbing the response with professional neutrality. It wouldn't do to invite an honest, open opinion and then attack it, really, and so she only nods at what the young woman says. "There are a few who share the sentiment, but as you have observed it is not reasonable. If the information we have is accurate, then going back would be… imprudent." To say the least. As for the second half of the thought, she nods, though only once more, giving up another of these singular points of acknowledgment. "There is something to be said for venturing out and attempting to locate a more hospitable place to settle down. The options presented to us in this region are decidedly… unappealing." Another pause ticks in, then ends on a somber note. "Thank you for your report. If you have any additional information, technical or otherwise, please forward it to me and I will review it in greater depth before I make my report to Captain Ramesh. In the meantime, I would -strongly- recommend that you try and get some rest." It isn't an order. Yet.

Mono nods once. "Sir." With that, she pushes to her feet and turns to head for the door. A small hand lifts to press the access pad, and she pauses. "If you wish to get to know me, sir, it would be best to approach me as a person and not my position. Perhaps it is my culture, but work and personal matters are kept completely separate." Before an answer can be given, she presses the access pad and the door slides open. She's not yet through the door, but any response that comes will have to be quick if she's to hear it.

No further comment is forthcoming, and so it is difficult to gauge the Commander's reaction to this bit of information. The chair does squeak again though as she leans back once more, thus to watch the departure… thoughtfully.


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