pocket canon plot: to boldly go where many have gone before

[o_tea_p]

When; January 5 (characters who wander in will come back out the same day, no matter how long they spend in TNG!verse)

Canon Universe; Star Trek: The Next Generation

Participants; Open! You can wander in the same location as Iroh, or find yourself on a different part of the Enterprise entirely
 

Iroh came perilously close to dropping his third favorite teapot. One moment he had been in his kitchen, preparing to open up the Jasmine Dragon for the morning rush. He stepped through the door to the main dining area, and then suddenly he was somewhere else: a long, metallic white corridor. He looked behind him, but as expected, there was no door back to his shop.

He sighed and looked down at his pot. "I should have brought a teacup."

Comments

[nopolicelikeholmes]

"So I've noticed," she said matter-of-factly. "And you're in charge of maintaining the energy source for the whole ship?"

[takealook]

"Pretty much," he said, with a touch of pride. "It can be a very complicated and delicate business. We try to avoid that as much as possible, though."

[nopolicelikeholmes]

She nodded in sympathy. Engineers - the unsung heroes of space!

"I'd hate to think of what might happen if there were a leak," she said, being as intentionally vague as possible. Someone her age from this universe might know what this ship used as a fuel source, but she sure as hell didn't.

[takealook]

"You wouldn't even know," he said, shaking his head. "If antimatter collides with matter, that'd be it for us. It's why we don't usually let civilians in here."

[nopolicelikeholmes]

Despite the fact that she was supposed to be pretending to already know this shit, Shirley couldn't help but freak out a little at this new information.

"Oh. Wow. Yeah. That would kind of be it for the whole universe, wouldn't it?"

HOLY SHIT WHY DO THEY POWER SPACESHIPS WITH SOMETHING THAT DANGEROUS? Unless this guy is messing with her. He doesn't look like it, but... what do you even use to contain antimatter?

[takealook]

Geordi suspected she was like most people, really. How many people stop and wonder how their spaceship works as long as it gets them from Asteroid A to Planet B?

"Our universe, anyway. Ship would be gone pretty quick," he said. Not something he really enjoys contemplating, but he'll be honest. If it happened, he'd be right there trying to prevent it. "Don't worry too much, though. There are plenty of safety precautions."

[nopolicelikeholmes]

Shirley chewed on her lip in the absence of anything to smoke. Truth be told, she was worrying about it a bit, but her concern was tempered by the fact that he knew way more about it than she did and he wasn't more worried than she would expect an engineer at a nuclear power plant to be - less so, maybe even.

Do you ever look at a crowd and suddenly you're struck with the realization that every person in that crowd is living an entire life as rich and full as your own? With thoughts and feelings of infinite depth crammed into their heads and knowledge of things you will never see and people you will never meet and places you will never go? Like everyone is just carrying these little universes inside of them, all unique and beautiful and snowflake-like, and you will only ever know a fraction of a fraction of what's out there and once it's gone it's gone forever?

Shirley is having that feeling, but about this universe.

[takealook]

Geordi was having feelings about replacing that power converter. But that was okay. He was sort of used to living in this universe, after all.

"So, where are you from?"

It was a casual question. He'd decided that she was from some backwater planet somewhere. Maybe she'd never been on a ship before. That would explain why she was so curious.

[nopolicelikeholmes]

Oh. Shit. Shirley usually tried to develop her covers more thoroughly than this, but without knowing anything about the universe it had been impossible. There was no 'right thing' to say here, nothing she could be 100% sure would work - but there was a minimal-risk plan, and it just happened to be the craziest one she could think of.

"Oh, a place called Tattooine," she said with a handwave. "You've probably never heard of it."

[takealook]

He certainly hadn't. They hadn't stopped at any planet of that name recently that Geordi remembered. She was far from home, that he could judge.

"What brings you to the Enterprise, then? You want to see the universe?"

[nopolicelikeholmes]

She smiles and nods once, without skipping a beat. "I've always wondered what life is like in other parts of the galaxy. It's one thing to read or hear about it, but actually getting out of my comfort zone and trying new things has taught me a lot.

"What about you? Is that why you're here, too?"

[takealook]

He shakes his head. "Nah," he said. "Although I enjoy it. I've just always enjoyed fixing things. I joined Starfleet right out of high school and they taught me know to put that to use."