Malfunctioning Equipment and Replicated Coffee (pt.1)
Posted on Thu Aug 7th, 2025 @ 10:27pm by Lieutenant JG Camryn Shepard
Edited on on Thu Aug 7th, 2025 @ 10:41pm
Mission:
Season 6: Echoes of the Zynari
Location: USS Elysium - Random Decks
Timeline: MD4 - Early Morning
892 words - 1.8 OF Standard Post Measure
Cam's alarm chimed. In her cabin number 10 on deck 24, the prone sleeping form of an El Aurian female with prominent Klingon cranial ridges on her forehead grunted softly. A strand of blond hair fell across her face as she turned. The alarm chimed again. This time, it sounded ethereal. Faint. Then it screamed in her ear. Quickly, she turned toward it with annoyance and slammed her fist on it, breaking her precious alarm clock into pieces with her unusual Klingon strength. It beeped in protest before becoming silent. Cam groaned, opening her mouth as a yawn escaped from its cage.
Sitting up, she covered her chest with her blanket and looked around her quarters before spying her broken alarm. Exhaling a sigh, she rubbed her bruised hand and brushed the broken pieces onto the ground before touching her lamp. It glowed in a soft light, a warm sepia tone. Picking up her datapad, she reviewed her list of tasks. It constantly updates, letting her know what needs to be repaired and what didn't. Ever since they entered this unusual expanse, constant malfunctions and other annoyances had become pretty common.
Instead of being annoyed, Camryn had accepted this change of pace with a mere sense of amusement. Being El Aurian with a strong sense of openness and the capacity for listening, she loved exploration and learning new things. However her history of loneliness had impacted her sociability. It wasn't negative. Social conversation with others wasn't her favorite thing to do. Taking things apart and putting them back together was. It gave her joy to see new technology, break it apart and make it new again.
Getting up, she pulled up her night gown and walked towards her locker. Opening it, she admired the display of her seven clean uniform tunics, one for different time of day. Grabbing one, she walked toward her bathroom to shower and get ready.
Walking along the corridor of deck 25, Cam headed toward the coffee mess where she ordered her usual coffee. The coffee replicator malfunctioned and started screaming in Janeway's voice, "There's coffee in that nebulae!" As funny as it sounded first few times, it grew tiresome after thirty times whenever it replicates coffee. People want their coffee, not listen to her hollering. As she entered, another engineering specialist stood before the replicator and closed the cover. She stood and pressed an icon, ordering, "Black coffee. Sweet."
After a few second delay, the coffee mug appeared. The specialist picked it up. However, as soon as she took a sip, the replicator screamed a war cry, "THERE'S COFFEE IN THAT NEBULAE!"
She jumped with fright, spilling the hot coffee on herself, and cried out just as Camryn came over to take over, "Hey, I got this. Go to medical immediately to get those burns taken care of."
The specialist nodded, drying herself off and ran out. Cam stared at the coffee replicator and sighed. Pulling out the tricorder, she opened it and scanned the replicator. Waving the device over the console, the steady beeping hummed as she muttered, "So, what's your issue today?"
The replicator remained silent. Hayley closed the tricordor and sighed, "Computer. Coffee Black. Unsweetened."
It hesitated for a few seconds before the mug of steamy coffee appeared. Grasping the mug, she attempted to pick it up just as the replicator screamed another warcry once again in Janeway's voice, "THERE'S COFFEE IN THAT NEBULA!"
Releasing the mug, she sighed, pressing the button. It recycled the drink as she pulled out the tricorder, scanning the replicator panel. Cam shook her head, mumbling, "There's nothing wrong with you and yet you keep screaming that same voice again. I should check your voice patterns."
Taking the open engineering kit, she picked up the cylindrical tool and unscrewed the panel. Scanning the inner components, she picked out the speech processor and took out another tool. Pressing it against the component, she tweaked the setting and adjusted the voice. Putting it aside, she stood and spoke, "Computer. Coffee, Black. Unsweetened."
As it replicated the mug of coffee, it flew out. Neatly missing Cam by a few inches, it smashed against the wall as the replicator screamed, not in English but in Klingon with Janeway's voice. Cam's eyes widened as she exhaled, pressing her fingers against her forehead to rub away her headache, "Please. I just started my day. Will you behave?"
The replicator screamed again, but not in Klingon. It screamed in Vulcan with the same phrase in Janeway's voice. Cam shook her head, muttering as she knelt before the open compartment. Pressing her tool against the speech processor, she deactivated it. The replicator shut down as maintenance mode started up. Putting away her tools into the engineering kit, she closed it and stood up just as another officer approached the replicator. He started to say something as Cam spoke, "Sorry. Out of order."
He looked at her and replied, "Really? I just want coffee. When will it be fixed?"
Cam exhaled, "It will be fixed when I get around to it. Go to the Promenade if you want good, roasted, unreplicated coffee. If you'll excuse me, I got a list of things to do."
He started to protest just as Cam turned to leave. Looking over the padd, she carried her engineering kit and headed along the corridor towards the lift.
