Engineer's Log, Stardate ???

[blindlygo]

Since being given leave to wander the city, Geordi had spent a lot of time at the Renaissance Center. He'd discovered the database accessible from the communicator quickly enough, but there was something constraining about staying in the cramped temporary quarters to read it, and out in the city at large, the distractions were innumerable.

It had made the discovery of the library and museum building at the Renaissance Center invaluable. With his meeting with Science Captain McEngineer hinging on the arrival of the Glorious Dream of Uncontested Starfall, Geordi had found himself at loose ends for an uncertain number of days, but he was determined to use it productively- and that was where the database came in. No matter the outcome of that meeting, after all, he'd still have to figure out a way to get by here until the problem with the fold-space accident could be reversed, and that would require learning about this Fleet, in every way he could.

When he'd started out, finding a datapad and a open seat in the building, it had seemed like a good idea, but now, hours later, after more pages than he could count, he realized he was reading each sentence several times over to actually pick up the information. With a huge sigh, Geordi leaned back in his chair, and ran his hands over his face. "I feel like I'm back at the Academy," he said, slightly louder than he'd intended.

Comments

[weeabhoo]

After several hours at the same station, sleep spread sticky cotton over his eyelids and Jinto put his head on his forearms and began drifting away.

"I hear that..." He replied, in that half-awake state where the normally shy might express a bit of solidarity with a stranger.

[blindlygo]

"Hm?" Geordi straightened in his seat and glanced around at the sound of the nearby mutter. When he caught sight of Jinto, he realized just how far his comment must have carried. "Sorry. Didn't mean to disturb you," he said. This time, his voice was quieter, and he took a moment to glance around the area, to see if anyone else in the area seemed to have been disturbed by him.

[weeabhoo]

Jinto sat up, suddenly awake, cheeks flushed. All around him were holos of ship schematics.

"Oh, man. Fell asleep. How embarrassing." He swiveled towards Geordi. "It's OK, I shouldn't have fallen asleep anyway. I guess you're trying to take in all this new technology too, huh?"

[blindlygo]

"Trying being the key word. Seems like you're having the same problem," Geordi said, with a sympathetic tilt to his head as Jinto sat up completely upright. "There's a lot to take in, even in cases where it seems familiar."

[weeabhoo]

He nodded and noted the man's eyewear. Well far be it from a guy wearing a tiara to question anyone else's accessories, symbol of rank or no.

"I thought having served on a starship the last couple of years I'd have an advantage. But now I'm having to unlearn what I thought I knew about ship construction."

[wizardsaregodtier]

Let no one accuse Aibghalien of unreasonable expectations; he was positively delighted that this library had books, when his brief interactions with this technology-riddled world-ship had impressed upon him the preference of its inhabitants for electronics. Having obtained some number of them, which now followed behind him in a stack that floated in midair, Aibghalien felt pleased enough to offer a sympathetic smile to the man vocalizing a plight he'd completely misunderstood.

"It's an extraordinary amount to take in, particularly for those of us from worlds with little experience with technology."

[blindlygo]

It wasn't a complete misunderstanding. The sheer amount of information to absorb was the primary cause of Geordi's complaint, though the information he was attempting to learn was likely different from that Aibghalien was searching for.

Nevertheless, the assumption was correct enough that Geordi didn't have to take more than a moment to understand what the comment was about. "It's a huge task, all right. At this rate, two months might not be enough."

[wizardsaregodtier]

Humans must have a similar lifespan to the ones he was familiar with here, if two months seemed like a significant investment of time. Luckily he'd spent enough time living life at human speeds that he could put it into proper context. "I expect we'll be here much longer than that," he said rather darkly. "Causing a multiplanar breach with a teleportation effect means that neither are adequately understood enough to reproduce."

[blindlygo]

Geordi tilted his head as he considered the thought. "You know, it's strange to put it on the same level as a transporter," he said. "But they might as well have been attempting to create a wormhole..." but there he trailed off, as he considered both the sentence, and the person who said them. "But from the sound of it, you're more familiar with both dimensions and teleportation than you think they are."

[fonewearl]

In and out of the building a few times herself, Mirys was there not for any manner of specific research or anything, but to simply see what she could learn about this ship and the fleet it was a part of without unnecessarily bothering anyone. She was there mostly to kill some time before Maya contacted her about their planned meeting.

At the same time, however, she actually wanted to know more about all of this as she intended to stay as long as she could, even after everything was fixed and they were able to send people back; she was already in the process of leaving her old home when everything happened, making the fold accident an unpleasant experience but also a rather convenient coincidence.

Looking through her own selection of things to read, Mirys remarked, "I know. It's been four or five years since I actually had to read up on anything." Four or five years to Geordi may not have been too much, but to Mirys it was a pretty long time. "I never thought I'd actually be wanting to bother with history stuff, either."

[blindlygo]

"I admit, I've never been the most interested in history, either," Geordi said, with a brief shrug, "But it's easier to be disinterested when you've already gotten the basics since you were a child."

At that, he set his datapad aside, and sat up again in his chair. "We met after the briefing, didn't we?"

[fonewearl]

"Yeah, but we didn't exactly have a lot of time to talk back there," she answered. "That and it was too crowded, too easy to be in anyone else's way." She'd found that out quite easily, even after actively trying to be out of anyone else's way.

Things had been so busy at that time that they had both neglected to do any introductions. Now would be as good a time as any, then.

"The name's Mirys. Mirys Hargrave."

[blindlygo]

“It was a bit crazy, all right.” In a way that reminded him of the first days of classes at the Academy, he thought, now that the Academy was on his mind, but he didn’t voice it.

Instead, he smiled and nodded. “Glad to meet you officially, Mirys. I’m Geordi La Forge. Found any good history texts yet?”

[stellarcoffee]

It's especially hard to concentrate on research when it's so easy to wander one direction and stare at the lingering damage to the Cultural Center off that way, or the memorial to those lost so far on the journey. But there's a job to be done, even if it's an unofficial one, so Janeway's wielding her datapad and quirking an eyebrow at Geordi over it when she hears him voice his thought. He's got a point, with all the data there is to review before they'd be able to operate halfway decently in a new fleet with new technology. But...just one problem.

"You can have all the all-night cramming sessions you want. It's just not the Academy until you've got Boothby hounding you about impinging on his plant's space," she jokes.

[blindlygo]

Glancing away from his datapad, Geordi ended up staring for a moment, rather than responding. It wasn't only the familiar uniform that brought him up short, it was also the mention of Boothby. He hadn't made the comment expecting for it to be recognized by anyone. However, only a moment later, he was over the surprise, and already starting to grin.

"I don't know of anyone who got through the Academy without facing that at least once," he said, setting his own datapad aside for the moment. "I didn't realize there were any other Starfleet officers here," he said, after a momentary glance toward her collar. "Captain. I'd thought it was only me and Data."

[stellarcoffee]

"And we were better off for it. Hard to imagine how Starfleet brought its officers up before him."

A familiar element in a strange place was always comforting. Janeway had gotten to thinking she was the only Starfleet officer around, and even if there had been she would have expected anyone else to be from her own crew. Geordi's more classic uniform was a clear sign that it didn't matter if someone was in the alpha or delta quadrant, but it was still something good in a strange setting, and that'd have to be enough.

Janeway extended a hand to him to shake, bearing fairly casual. "Lieutenant Commander. Kathryn Janeway, Voyager. We must have just missed each other -- it wasn't exactly difficult to get lost in that crowd."

[blindlygo]

"Geordi La Forge, of the Enterprise. Lieutenant Commander Data isn't here at the moment, but he isn't hard to spot." Geordi took the offered handshake with a firm grip. "Better late than never."

It wasn't that he was glad to see someone else dragged into the situation, but after meeting so many different people with so many different backgrounds in the last few days, it was something of a relief to find someone who he could know something about from the start. It was no guarantee they would be able to work well together, of course, but Geordi knew he was good with people. They could manage. "Got any study tips, sir?"

[edify]

Obi-Wan had always enjoyed libraries, and though the likes of the Jedi Archives differ from what is made available at the Renaissance Center, he knows a collection of documents when he sees them.

He carries his own datapad, intent on uploading information, when he finds a new acquaintance seated and attempting to stay awake.

"There's nothing wrong with taking a rest," says Obi-Wan as he approaches Geordi's table. He motions to a chair in front of the man, unassuming and still standing. "Do you mind a bit of company?"

[blindlygo]

Geordi glanced up at the sound of Obi-Wan approaching, then shook his head, as he made a gesture of his own toward the unoccupied seat. "Go ahead." He took a second glance at the datapad, then set it aside with a sigh. "You're right, I could use a distraction for a while. This all looks like Klingon to me right now."

Fin ally taking his eyes off the pad meant he had the attention to spare for a newcomer instead, and a quick glance made the datapad Obi-Wan was carrying obvious. "Studying?"

[edify]

Obi-Wan takes the seat, setting down his own pad. "You could say that. I'm particularly interested in the history of the military and its government that we currently find ourselves in." He's happy to lend his services to a cause, but he wants to make certain that it's a good one first.

"And you? Before your nap at any rate." He speaks softy and gives a gentle smile, meaning nothing but friendliness behind the teasing words.

[blindlygo]

The remark is taken in the good humor it was intended in, if Geordi's wry smile is any indication. He taps the screen of his own pad. "The idea was to do the same thing you are, but you see how well that's going." Despite the talk of a nap, Geordi looks more awake already, with a conversation to focus on.

"Honestly, I'm more interested in this fold-space engine."

[freeprince]

Being far more a student of magic than a student of technology, Wrathion was trying to give himself a crash course in preparation of being able to assist more. He did, however, come from a world where at a high level magic and technology were inextricably linked. The Titans used both of them at once in their mighty forces - and he himself had uncovered many of their secrets quite recently in Pandaria. In light of that, he felt confident he could assist in fixing the problem with this so-called engine that had brought them here--

... But right now, as he looked furiously through books and data pads, the Black Prince was becoming increasingly frustrated with having information without context.

In order to prevent himself from throwing a temper tantrum which might damage the surrounding area more than anything, he decided to accost the first person he ran into to make them explain some things to him. As it was, it turned out that that person was Geordi. And he did so by way of tapping a hand much harder than was probably necessary on the table in front of him and say-

"Excuse me"

[blindlygo]

Geordi was not paying much attention to his surroundings at that particular moment. Although he’d noticed the movement of someone nearby through his VISOR, he hadn’t paid the figure much mind, until he was actually being addressed. The sharp knock made him flinch, and he almost fumbled the datapad that was held loosely in his hand as he straightened, to actually look at the person standing close to him.

“Sorry, did I bother you?” It was the first reason he could think of that anyone might have to approach him. Reading an expression could be difficult under the layers of information his prosthetic vision afforded him, but that was no reason to start things off on the wrong foot here.

[freeprince]

He ignored that. Instead, he gestured to the datapad in the man's hand. "By observation, you understand more about the basics of the technology this... fleet... uses. And I require an introduction of the basics. Teach me, and I assure you that I will reward you."

Admittedly, he based this assumption on two things. The first was the VISOR itself. While it was not too dissimilar to some of the outlandish helms you might see come out of an engineer's workshop, it appeared more advanced at a glance. The second was in the body language of this man - tired, but not entirely perplexed or frustrated, the way he rapidly was becoming.

[blindlygo]

Well, that wasn't what he was expecting to be asked. Geordi's eyebrows were creeping steadily upwards, as he listened to that proposal. It was because of this that his answer started perhaps too slowly for Wrathion's tastes.

"Well, they're close to what I'm used to, sure... but why ask me to be a teacher? I'm sure there's someone who works here who might be a better teacher than I am." And that's not even addressing the part about compensation. He'll puzzle it out if this even continues.