A Purpose in Life

Posted on Tuesday May 7th, 2019 @ 4:05pm by Civilian . & Lieutenant Junior Grade Alexander Darr

Mission: Welcome to Union Mining Station Number 42
Location: Archaeology Lab

Two of her shipping containers had been brought to her new lab, which was dandy. She figured she'd need days to set everything up, but at least then the place would be perfect. It was a bit larger than the last one she'd worked with, so she'd have to re-arrange some of the spacing. Namira needed everything to be precise, and to that end she proceeded to draw up plans first, to guarantee an ergonomic work environment.

Soon, the floor was covered with all sorts of markings, the meaning of which only she understood, and the necessary power tools were the first out of the box, along with a small other box which contained the fuel she needed - chocolate. She then turned down her hearing so the power tools wouldn't bother her as much, and began to drill holes in the floor.

Alex was wandering out the station, still trying to come to grips that he had been exiled here, when the sound of power tools came to his ears. Curious he followed the sound down a corridor to another lab where upon stepping in he saw a beautiful young lady. *Alex your luck is looking up.* He thought to himself. "Um hello?" He greeted.

But Namira kept working, she hadn't heard him. She drilled the third hole for where she was going to fasten her faeces analyser to the floor and moved on to the next spot on the wall when she saw a pair of boots where there hadn't been any before. She looked up, switched off the drill and touched herself behind her right ear, to dial up her implants again. "Good afternoon", she greeted. "Have you been waiting long?"

He gave his best smile. "Good afternoon." He returned and continued, "No not long." He admitted. I heard the power tools and I came to investigate." He admitted. "Oh, I'm Dr. Alexander Darr." He stuck out his right hand, "And you are?"

She took his hand and pulled herself up onto her feet by it. "Namira, and while it's not obvious yet, I'm the archaeologist and this is... will be my archaeology lab." Namira hadn't gone through the trouble of getting doctorates, it was all 'ritual' to her, and ritual was what archaeologists called something they couldn't figure out the purpose for.

"Namira." He repeated. "What a beautiful name." he commented as he dialed up the charm. "What's an archaeologist doing on this dump?" He asked, wondering who she offended to be here.

Namira smirked. "I'm glad you think so. I was named for the Daedric goddess of evil. But I try not to honour my name." She waved him over to the single already functional console in the room, bringing up a photograph. "As to why I'm here, these. I don't know what they are yet, only that they're not natural features. I'm going to investigate."

Alex blinked, *Goddess of evil?* He thought but brushed the thought aside and walked over the console. He bent down to peer at the photograph. He wasn't an archaeologist but the markings looked manmade. "You think an earlier civilization made these markings?"

"Without a doubt", Namira said. "And I'm going to survey the entire planet, so I'll be staying around for a while, one way or another. "Union Central is curious, and I can't blame them, so when they asked me if I wanted to head the dig, I said yes."

He stared at her incredulous at her statement. "You want to be here on this barren rock?" Yet he was thinking *Poor girl, Beautiful to the extreme but utterly without a lick of sense.*

"Well, no", Namira admitted. "I want to be down on that lively planet. But first things first. There's no scientific infrastructure down there, and I don't want to work from a field lab in a tent, at least not all the time."

Alex shook his head, he was right, not only was Namira without sense, she was crazy as well. "You want to be on the planet? For heaven's sake why?"

Was he being daft? "Because those ruins or whatever it is they are won't be digging themselves?" Namira asked. "Have you considered that I might actually enjoy my chosen profession?"

He stopped and stared at her. She was right, he hadn't considered it. He had just transferred his feelings to her. "I apologize. Please forgive me, I overstepped my boundaries and to be honest no I hadn't considered it." He admitted.

"Few people do", Namira said, shrugging it off. "And admittedly, crawling on all fours carefully removing layers of dirt isn't the most appealing position for most people. But it's still thrilling to find something new, and piece together the puzzle."

Alex was relieved she wasn't mad at him. "That's the most important thing that you like it. I don't begrudge you your happiness."

Namira looked him straight in the eyes, which was easy considering they were the same height. "You're not happy to be here?" She knew several people were put here because they had issues. Namira didn't think that was a terribly good idea, grouping people with behavioural issues or possibly even criminal records together, rather than in groups of other people who could provide good examples, but she was here to dig, not to get involved with policy making or execution.

Alex met her gaze head on, looking people in the eye never bothered him. He liked it. He could see what they were thinking. He nodded, "Happy?" He repeated, "No, I'm not happy. Not in the least." He admitted. "I didn't realize it was so obvious. I'll do my job, won't cause any problems and hopefully I can go back to civilization."

"What is your job, exactly?" Namira wondered. "It's got to be something that's needed here, no? You might have to get comfortable."

"My area of expertise is cybernetics." Alex offered, "As to whether it's needed here or not. I can't say, though someone obviously thinks it is hence here I am."

"So you're the one I'll have to see when I need new ears?" Namira asked. "Cochlear implants, I like to get an upgrade every ten years or so, to keep pace with current interfacing technology."

"New ears? Oh. Cochlear implants. Were you born deaf or is the hearing loss because of an injury? However yes, I'm the person you will need to see and I'm sure I can fix you right up."

"Neither", Namira smiled enigmatically. She hadn't been born, at least not in the traditional sense, but it wasn't an injury either. "But I've had these implants... well, similar ones, just not as finely tuned, since I was six, and that is days old."

A confused smile crossed Alex's face. Namira was being vague perhaps deliberately so which was ago with him. People had a right to their secrets but as this was something he would be helping her with he needed more information. "That's very young." He admitted "However without sounding or meaning to be pushy I need more information."

Namira chuckled. "No, it's a genetic defect, caused by something or another that went wrong in the lab, the causes were never investigated. I came out deaf and almost blind, not an ideal situation. My eyesight was corrected surgically, but there was nothing except implants that could be done for my ears. They're not so bad, though. At least the voices in *my* head are real, when I play audio books for example."

Alex nodded taking in the offered information. "I see. As it is a birth defect then as you already know the implants are the only solution. You mentioned earlier you like to have them replaced every ten years or so. Is it because they wear out? You notice a change in your hearing?" He asked.

"No, it's strictly to keep up with current developments", Namira said. "The ones I had before these, they didn't have the wide range of hearing that allowed me to listen to ultrasound, for example. And the ones before those couldn't even play back audio files from the computer."

"Alright. Then coming up with a suitable replacement shouldn't be any problem. Just tell me what you want and I'll incorporate it into your new implants. Oh, are you looking for these to be done anytime soon?"

"If you create something great, I'll certainly want to try it out", Namira said. "My sisters had ears that were designed to tap into communications frequencies, even decode them. Now that would be useful to have."

"Sure. Not a problem." Alex answered, "I just need to find a lab to call my own and I can create some for you. To make sure I create the right implants, in addition to being able to hear in normal hearing range, you also want to be able to hear in ultra sound and be able to not only tap into but also decode communication frequencies." He looked at her, "I thought you were an archaeologist, not a spy."

"Hm, I wonder if I'd make a good spy?" Namira mused. "Probably not, I'm not particularly good at pretending I care about something I don't. But who is ever going to say no to an opportunity that presents itself? And the more I can do, the easier my life becomes." She grinned at him. "Besides, it looks like you're wondering what use you're going to be here, and now you've already got your first research project to sink your teeth into."

Listening to her, Alex had to admit there was a certain logic to her argument. "That's true, both on your life being easier and me having my first research project. Which I will begin work on once I find my lab and I do like a challenge." He also had to admit (at least to himself) having something to work on would help to pass the hours on this rock.

"Say, would you happen to know if are there any restaurants on the station?"

"I'm an entangled piece of ribbony rope", Namira responded.

"If you don't know just say it." Alex bantered

"Didn't I just do that? I'm a frayed knot." Namira looked at him with a Cheshire cat grin.

"I suppose you did." Alex replied, "I guess I'll have to go and do some recon myself. I was going to ask you to have dinner with me."

"Only if you promise to at least pretend to be amused at my jokes", Namira said.

"Oh I promise." Alex replied solemnly. "Cross my heart. I will be amused at all your jokes even the corny ones." Flashing an honest happy smile.

"Good. You can do the scouting, then let me know what you've found. I'll make sure I'll be halfway presentable by 1900 hours", Namira offered.

"It's a deal." He happily agreed. Then he reached out and took her hand in his and gently kissed it. "Until 1900 hours, Namira."