Post by nebulaflare on Feb 6, 2014 8:34:31 GMT
The airlock hissed open, followed by the tantalizing smell of hot coffee and freshly toasted bread. “Roxi, is that you?” Dr. Oliver called out. His hands were carefully poised over a beaker and petri dish, and he couldn’t afford to look up to see who had entered. He blew a strand of gray hair out of his equally gray eyes, concentrating on his work.
There was a rustle of paper at the front of the lab. “Yes, it’s me,” a young female voice piped up in response. “Is there anything else you need?” she asked.
“Goodness, is it lunchtime already?” Dr. Oliver set the beaker down and looked up. He was an elderly scientist with a head full of gray hair, and gray eyes to match. He peered over from the towers of test tubes and beakers. “Thank you, Roxi dear. I’d be lost without you.”
Roxi bit the inside of her lip, and smiled. A curious habit of hers, Dr. Oliver had noted. She adjusted her glasses, special tinted eyewear that blocked out the annoying florescent light from her sensitive eyes. “Your wife left a message on your PDA,” Roxi said. “She wants to ask you to pick up a carton of eggs from the market before you go home.”
“Bah, that woman and her baking,” the doctor grumbled, washing his hands in the sink behind him. “As long as she doesn’t make any more fruitcake...last one tasted like rubber...smelled like it too...”
Dr. Oliver reached over to a towel to wipe his hands. Roxi was such a hard worker, and by far a better personal assistant than his more qualified lab assistants. She had already gone straight to work cataloging his research notes and data sheets, filing them away neatly into their proper cabinets. She had already shelved the glassware that had been washed earlier by the lab workers.
“You know Roxi, I’m sure if you really wanted to, I could pull some strings to get you eye surgery,” he nodded. He had made the offer before, but Roxi had declined.
Roxi looked up from the cabinets. “Oh, no thank you,” she said, picking up another folder and filing it away. “Needles make me nervous.” She grinned. “Besides, the glasses are fine. I don’t get headaches anymore. And they’re a lot cheaper than surgery.”
Dr. Oliver shrug. “You do a lot for an old man who can’t keep a neat lab…or find his pen in the morning…” he patted belt, suddenly looking around. “Where did I put my pen…”
“Left front pocket.”
His hand went up to the pocket, thumbing the fountain pen that was nestled inside. “Hah. See what I mean?” he said. He reached over to his desk and scooped up the sandwich and coffee Roxi had placed for him. “I’m gonna take a stroll to the Holodeck and eat my lunch there,” he nodded. “When I get back, have my research notes for experiment 58-C ready. I’ll also want reference books on bimolecular reactivity."
Roxi blinked. “…The…three large blue books on the top shelf at the back of the room?”
Dr. Oliver sighed. A hardworking assistant, but she did lack specific training. “…Yes Roxi. Those books.”
Roxi nodded, kneeling down and opening another cabinet to search for the research notes. Dr Oliver turned on his heels and left the lab. It didn't really matter that Roxi lacked the proper credentials. High school dropout must be rough on her, and not everyone could be brilliant. Besides, he could trust Roxi alone in his lab, more so than his lab assistants. After all, the girl just wanted to make an honest pay.
--
Roxi waited a good ten seconds before looking up. “Okay Athena,” she said. “We got fifteen minutes.” She shut the cabinet, sliding the notes over the desk and crawling underneath the computer monitors. She pulled out a small cube, lit up with LED lights. “How fast can you hack into level four research?”
“Estimation of three minutes and fourty-two seconds,” the robotic voice replied from the cube.
“And how much time you need to log out of the system database before the AI catches you?” Rose asked, grabbing a few wires and plugging them into the cube.
“Two minutes and twelve seconds.”
Rose pulled herself up and began typing into the computer’s keyboard. “Ok, good. That about…five or six minutes. Plus five minutes spare for Dr. Oliver’s tasks, so we got another four to five minutes to spare.”
“Confirmed.”
Rose’s fingers flew across the keyboard, opening research files, scrolling through them, and quickly closing them before accessing the next. She adjusted her tinted glasses, making sure they had full visual range of the computer screen. “Just keep em coming, Athena,” she said. “Good. Ok, now search for anything related to the Red Roots project,” Rose instructed.
“Scanning…” Athena chimed in, pulling out files and presenting them on the screen.
Rose propped a hand on her chin, watching the files whiz by faster than the human eye could read. She picked up bits and pieces while her glasses grabbed the rest. She could always wait until she was off the station when she could read them at a more favorable pace. “Wait,” she quickly said. “Go back a page. Was that a picture of Tanner?”
The file popped up again. Rose frowned. “Why is there a profile of Tanner in Red Roots? Is it because he was part of my training?”
“Negative,” Athena replied. “That is not Tanner Mirabel.”
"Not Tanner…?" Rose glanced at the clock on the wall. “Two more minutes…Athena, pull up all files related to…Tanner Mirabel, or whoever this person is, and the Red Roots project.”
“Scanning…” Athena answered. Images and text scrolled across the screen.
Rose frowned. “Cloning pods..why is-”
“Error,” Athena suddenly beeped. Rose stiffened. She didn’t like to hear that word.
“What’s the error…” she asked cautiously.
“Require higher security level of clearance. Unable to access database due to time constraints.”
Rose breathed a sigh of relief. “Ok, just keep showing me everything you can. When time’s up, log off.”
--
Dr. Oliver returned to find his lab exactly the way he liked it – clean, organized, requested books and research notes stacked on the desk, and Roxi Wallace the assistant sitting on a stool, passing time with her favorite PDA game.
“Oh, welcome back sir,” Roxi said, shutting off the game and sliding off the stool. “Mr. Smith sent a message, he wants to move your meeting back two days.”
Dr. Oliver nodded. “Oh, good,” he said. “Gives me more time to prepare for the presentation.” He picked up the notes on the desk, flipping them open. “Oh, Roxi? Could you also run down to cargo and place some orders of plasma for me? Bring the paperwork here for me to sign. “
Roxi smiled. “Sure thing, sir.”
There was a rustle of paper at the front of the lab. “Yes, it’s me,” a young female voice piped up in response. “Is there anything else you need?” she asked.
“Goodness, is it lunchtime already?” Dr. Oliver set the beaker down and looked up. He was an elderly scientist with a head full of gray hair, and gray eyes to match. He peered over from the towers of test tubes and beakers. “Thank you, Roxi dear. I’d be lost without you.”
Roxi bit the inside of her lip, and smiled. A curious habit of hers, Dr. Oliver had noted. She adjusted her glasses, special tinted eyewear that blocked out the annoying florescent light from her sensitive eyes. “Your wife left a message on your PDA,” Roxi said. “She wants to ask you to pick up a carton of eggs from the market before you go home.”
“Bah, that woman and her baking,” the doctor grumbled, washing his hands in the sink behind him. “As long as she doesn’t make any more fruitcake...last one tasted like rubber...smelled like it too...”
Dr. Oliver reached over to a towel to wipe his hands. Roxi was such a hard worker, and by far a better personal assistant than his more qualified lab assistants. She had already gone straight to work cataloging his research notes and data sheets, filing them away neatly into their proper cabinets. She had already shelved the glassware that had been washed earlier by the lab workers.
“You know Roxi, I’m sure if you really wanted to, I could pull some strings to get you eye surgery,” he nodded. He had made the offer before, but Roxi had declined.
Roxi looked up from the cabinets. “Oh, no thank you,” she said, picking up another folder and filing it away. “Needles make me nervous.” She grinned. “Besides, the glasses are fine. I don’t get headaches anymore. And they’re a lot cheaper than surgery.”
Dr. Oliver shrug. “You do a lot for an old man who can’t keep a neat lab…or find his pen in the morning…” he patted belt, suddenly looking around. “Where did I put my pen…”
“Left front pocket.”
His hand went up to the pocket, thumbing the fountain pen that was nestled inside. “Hah. See what I mean?” he said. He reached over to his desk and scooped up the sandwich and coffee Roxi had placed for him. “I’m gonna take a stroll to the Holodeck and eat my lunch there,” he nodded. “When I get back, have my research notes for experiment 58-C ready. I’ll also want reference books on bimolecular reactivity."
Roxi blinked. “…The…three large blue books on the top shelf at the back of the room?”
Dr. Oliver sighed. A hardworking assistant, but she did lack specific training. “…Yes Roxi. Those books.”
Roxi nodded, kneeling down and opening another cabinet to search for the research notes. Dr Oliver turned on his heels and left the lab. It didn't really matter that Roxi lacked the proper credentials. High school dropout must be rough on her, and not everyone could be brilliant. Besides, he could trust Roxi alone in his lab, more so than his lab assistants. After all, the girl just wanted to make an honest pay.
--
Roxi waited a good ten seconds before looking up. “Okay Athena,” she said. “We got fifteen minutes.” She shut the cabinet, sliding the notes over the desk and crawling underneath the computer monitors. She pulled out a small cube, lit up with LED lights. “How fast can you hack into level four research?”
“Estimation of three minutes and fourty-two seconds,” the robotic voice replied from the cube.
“And how much time you need to log out of the system database before the AI catches you?” Rose asked, grabbing a few wires and plugging them into the cube.
“Two minutes and twelve seconds.”
Rose pulled herself up and began typing into the computer’s keyboard. “Ok, good. That about…five or six minutes. Plus five minutes spare for Dr. Oliver’s tasks, so we got another four to five minutes to spare.”
“Confirmed.”
Rose’s fingers flew across the keyboard, opening research files, scrolling through them, and quickly closing them before accessing the next. She adjusted her tinted glasses, making sure they had full visual range of the computer screen. “Just keep em coming, Athena,” she said. “Good. Ok, now search for anything related to the Red Roots project,” Rose instructed.
“Scanning…” Athena chimed in, pulling out files and presenting them on the screen.
Rose propped a hand on her chin, watching the files whiz by faster than the human eye could read. She picked up bits and pieces while her glasses grabbed the rest. She could always wait until she was off the station when she could read them at a more favorable pace. “Wait,” she quickly said. “Go back a page. Was that a picture of Tanner?”
The file popped up again. Rose frowned. “Why is there a profile of Tanner in Red Roots? Is it because he was part of my training?”
“Negative,” Athena replied. “That is not Tanner Mirabel.”
"Not Tanner…?" Rose glanced at the clock on the wall. “Two more minutes…Athena, pull up all files related to…Tanner Mirabel, or whoever this person is, and the Red Roots project.”
“Scanning…” Athena answered. Images and text scrolled across the screen.
Rose frowned. “Cloning pods..why is-”
“Error,” Athena suddenly beeped. Rose stiffened. She didn’t like to hear that word.
“What’s the error…” she asked cautiously.
“Require higher security level of clearance. Unable to access database due to time constraints.”
Rose breathed a sigh of relief. “Ok, just keep showing me everything you can. When time’s up, log off.”
--
Dr. Oliver returned to find his lab exactly the way he liked it – clean, organized, requested books and research notes stacked on the desk, and Roxi Wallace the assistant sitting on a stool, passing time with her favorite PDA game.
“Oh, welcome back sir,” Roxi said, shutting off the game and sliding off the stool. “Mr. Smith sent a message, he wants to move your meeting back two days.”
Dr. Oliver nodded. “Oh, good,” he said. “Gives me more time to prepare for the presentation.” He picked up the notes on the desk, flipping them open. “Oh, Roxi? Could you also run down to cargo and place some orders of plasma for me? Bring the paperwork here for me to sign. “
Roxi smiled. “Sure thing, sir.”