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[Luke has on his determined face. This is the face he gets when he has A Plan, usually involving helping people and keeping himself busy. Even when he's not working Luke can't seem to sit still for more than five minutes so this is decidedly a good thing all around.]

Tranquility, this is Luke Skywalker. I'm fed up. With a lot of things, but I specifically want to address something that I can change. This last jump I realized that I've been on the ship for a year now and the after-effects of charging into Engineering to help save the ship have been making me miserable-- well, relatively speaking, for almost as long.

As I was hurling my guts out on the floor the other day I came up with an idea to-- alright, so it won't get rid of the 'Engineering sickness' entirely but it should at least help. And maybe if I get enough input from people who are smarter than me I can make it even more effective.

The medbay is stocked with plenty of drugs but the problem is that when the grav couch spits you out you're already puking and hating your existence before you even hit the floor. By the time the drugs have a chance to kick in the worst of it has passed. Making it from your grav couch to the showers while you're trying not to pass out and fall on your face again feels like the longest walk of your life.

So-- [He holds up a finger and then leans over and disappears from view. Seconds later he reappears with a crude drawing he's done of a device and holds it up to the camera.] Uh, I'm no artist but I hope it makes sense. All it is is a self-contained IV and timer. The idea is that it would be set to go off about a half hour before the user is scheduled to be released from their pod. There's a pump attached to the container which administers whatever drugs are in there; I'm envisioning anti-nausea and painkillers. By the time you wake up you're already feeling 'em! [Luke disappears briefly again to set down the drawing.]

Now, it'd be really, really simple to make. The hard part, as some of you might have already guessed, is the timing. As of now we don't know how long each jump lasts but I'm working on that with a couple people and hopefully I'll come up with a solution soon, though it may take some experimenting... which would take a while because unfortunately I can only run tests once a month.

Otherwise, I'd like to ask for help, specifically from the- uh, ironically- Engineering department and the Medbay. I'll need parts, mostly pumps, timers, casings, that sort of thing. And Medbay staff, I could use a second eye on this design and some medical expertise. Obviously the use of these things will have to be monitored by medical officers to make sure no one's overdosing or using the wrong drugs in the wrong combinations.

Uhhh... [he rubs his hands together thoughtfully] somewhere down the line, if I can get a solid, working design I'll probably need all the help I can get, putting together as many devices as possible. Anyone who wants one should have one, anyone whose jump experience can be improved even a little.

Zero-two-five-dash-one-eight-five. Get a hold of me if you'd like to help. Thanks, guys.

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Hello, Luke. [William appears to be in Medical Bay. By now, his sentence in the 'drunk tank' has long since finished.]

We'll be able to supply the meds and IVs. But you'll need a medical officer for the latter each Jump, as we'll need to sterilize and use new each time.

Edited (title) 2014-11-10 06:34 (UTC)

[This is actually exactly the person Luke was hoping would reply and he looks rather pleased to see William.]

Hi! Yes, absolutely. I'll need a lot of cooperation from the medical staff for this because you guys will have to be the ones setting them up each jump. Do you think you have the manpower and supplies for it?

I think so, [William says thoughtfully.] I mean passengers can help-- our nanites is needed to get shit out of storage, and of course you need training to attach the IVs right before the pods close. I mean it might mean interested persons have got to show up an hour earlier so we can get everyone and a decent cushion of time.

However, for setup and teardown, we should be all right. It's more a matter of time than personnel.

[He nods.] Then that'll have to be the procedure. Those who want to use the device will have to show up early and those who miss the cutoff might be out of luck that jump. I think those who are desperate enough to feel better will be sure not to miss it. I know I wouldn't.

Would it be alright if I came down to the medbay to go over my design with you? Er, whenever you have time, that is.

Absolutely.

[William nods his head, his expression bright with curiosity.] Come by anytime. I'm here nearly always. Pretend it's about the fucking title and the six figures I earn doing it.

[ As far as Peter's concerned, this guy means well, but he's seen enough insanity in space to know that there's a significant risk of this going down poorly. ]

We're already kinda vulnerable in the pods. Don't you think getting someone a chance to pump us full of chemicals in there is kind of a bad idea? [ He doesn't look all that bothered by suggesting it. At least he hopefully looks friendly. ]

Last I remember, someone's pulling some strings in this ship. Doesn't sound all that unreasonable that they'd take a chance there.

[Luke doesn't seem bothered by the question. In fact, he seems excited to get to answer a concern about the security of the devices.]

Ah. Like I said, it would be a self-contained device; small, attached to the user's arm or something. If someone wanted to sabotage it they'd have to get inside the pod and drain it which would probably wake up the user. Even if it didn't, if someone were able to get inside a pod without waking the person inside they wouldn't need a device to inject them full of chemicals. Although at that point I think it'd be much more effective to just shoot us.

In other words, unlike with the nanites there'd be no outside vulnerability at all.

Mm. [ Peter isn't sure, still. But this at least shows the guy is thinking. It doesn't help that Peter isn't exactly... trusting of people upon first meeting them. He's borderline human and he's been dealing with superpowered beings that could drive a person insane with the magnitude of their power... for over a decade now. ]

I'm not all against it. We could probably try to come up with a way to be sure they're more tamperproof, though.

[Luke's brows furrow slightly.] I don't see why that'd be important. The devices wouldn't be prepared and administered until right before the jump and the whole thing would be conducted by the medbay staff. The only risk would be if a medical officer tried to sabotage them themselves. But then we already have to trust these people with our lives as it is.

I mean, I think the overall risk would be very low. If someone wanted to hurt us these devices would be an extremely impractical way of going about it, but if you're still worried I'd be happy to take any suggestions for preventing tampering.

[ Peter sighed. He could really get too paranoid, but he came from a universe where magic ran rampant and space gods could be as common as rats some days. ]

Sorry. Just feeling like I'm back home. Funnily enough, this ship isn't as dangerous of a situation as I've been in before.

[Luke smiles mildly in understanding.]

Same here. Still, my experiences back home weren't as... enduring as this. People have tried to warn me not to trust others but-- I think we're going to have to trust each other to a certain extent if we want to get through this. At least knowing who to trust will probably prove important.

Can't say you're wrong, buddy. When the world's falling apart around you, the only thing you can do is trust the people at your side. [ Even if Peter's been known to keep major secrets just cause he thinks it'll keep people safe. ]

[ there's a thoughtful second before she says anything, but then: ]

We have any idea how long it takes the pods to get us ready after the Jump?

I mean, bringing a human body out of full stasis isn't easy, right? I'd say it's at least ten, fifteen minutes. We might not have to time all this to the end of the Jump - just figure out the first thing the grav-pods do when they spit us out, and set the IV to start fueling right then.

That's a really good point, actually. The timing portion is all very experimental right now but that's something I'll keep in mind when I start running tests. I know we've recently learned a lot more about the pods than we used to know so maybe I can find someone who can help me learn even more.

[Luke pauses and lifts his eyebrows at her.]

Hey, you were pretty handy a couple months ago. You think you could be that someone?

I might be. [ spoken with a slow grin, meaning he's pretty much got her on board already. ] It'd help if I could take one apart, but no promises that this ship wouldn't cram some sorry asshole in there whether it's functional or not.

Edited 2014-11-12 00:47 (UTC)

[Luke can't help but chuckle even if it is a grim thought.] I'd like to take this whole ship apart and find out how it's abducting people from different times and realities. Wouldn't that be something?

Anyway, there was that status management room that we found during the nanite thing. I think we should do some more digging around in there.

I'm game. Just give a heads-up and I'll shuffle my shifts around.

You got it. I want to get started on this well before the next jump so that we'll have plenty of time for research before the first test. You'll probably hear from me by next week.

Roger that.

I don't have any expertise in Engineering or in Medicine - beyond minor Healing [and even that is complex] - but if you need help, I'm willing to donate some time. I'm a fast learner and I think your thoughts - if put into action - could markedly improve people's lives on the ship.

I'm Hermione, by the way.

Hi! Sure, I could use definitely use help in the future. I have to run a bunch of tests first and make sure it's working before I start mass producing them. That's when volunteers will really come in handy so I'll get a hold of you then.

And uh, thanks. It's good to hear from people who like my idea. [He gives a grateful smile.] So far the response has been pretty positive.

I'll wait for your word, then. I know that there are serums that might prove useful, but don't neglect potions. They can cure a wide range of maladies in the right dosages.

[She returns the smile as best as she can. It's not an easy expression anymore.]

I can't imagine why it wouldn't be. We all must get tired of feeling the negative effects of living on this ship.

[The talk of serums and potions briefly confuses Luke but in the end he just assumes that she's talking about drugs. He's come across a lot of very unusual dialects on this ship.]

There've been a couple concerns about the safety of my design, which I definitely anticipated. I just assumed the concerns would outweigh the praise. People can get pretty paranoid around here, especially if they've been on the ship for a while.

And that experience with the nanites a couple months ago definitely didn't help things. People don't feel safe in the pods.

[Potions are a pretty regular asset in the Med Bay thanks to some of the Wizards and Witches on the ship - Hermione included - which is why she assumes he'll know - partially - what she's talking about. ~~Clearly Luke is too healthy or too tough for the Med Bay.~~]

Changes can be made when necessary. I think people are relieved to at least have an idea to work with rather than simply enduring.

[She's tired of enduring.]

I can't blame them. But we can't avoid them forever.

[Both but he still somehow ends up there occasionally. Not really accident-prone, more like danger-prone. Unsurprisingly, Luke was friends with Harry when he was here... lots in common is an understatement.]

You're right. This place really starts to grate on you after a while so even doing something small can make a big difference, especially in the long run.

How long have you been on the ship?

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