Post by Admin on Mar 31, 2016 6:00:58 GMT
The Test
Postby DeirdreMcGowan » Mon Nov 03, 2008 5:20 pm
Ding!
No, it didn't mean the passengers were free to move about the cabin. Though technically they could actually, if there were any passengers. The old fashioned timer's tinny peal signaled that the the test subjects had been in the oven for precisely 10 minutes. The poor soul that drew the short straw, covered head to toe in an EV suit, shuffled from the small temporary airlock (fashioned out some spare parts) into the heated contraption. Bending over the crewman looked over the test subjects, then poked them with a thin probe. According to the directions he'd been hastily given they responded as they should, so he removed the subjects' tray and shuffled back into the airlock.
The oven sealed behind him, and then the warm air was sucked out of the airlock and replaced with standard air. Overhead the light turned to green and he was able to hop out of the airlock to be immediately settled upon by the watchers in the room. The test subjects were whisked away from him without so much as a by your leave. Inside the man's facemask a pained frown was plastered on his face. He wouldn't even be able to get out of the suit until word on the subjects were handed down, because he might have to go back in if something was wrong. All he could do now is wait.
Whirring along in a turbolift, the test subjects were on their way to the supervisor. The lift was going all out, being sped along under emergency rules the supervisor put into effect for the test. It was imperative, so the porter of the subjects was told, to make sure the supervisor received them while they were still warm from the test. Slung over her shoulder a bag contained the main solution the subjects' analysis would require, along with six containers to pour the solution into.
The lift came to a halt, the doors opened, and then the porter burst out looking for the supervisor. She was eagerly waved over by the senior officer who took possession of the subjects and the bag. The porter was dismissed, and returned to the lift sadly; she would probably be the last one now to hear the news as the tube went back to it's standard course.
The supervisor, flinging her shoulder length, curly red hair back over her shoulder, opened the bag and extracted the solution bottle and the containers. She poured each container three-quarters full of a white, opaque liquid and handed them out to the other analysts who had hurriedly gathered round. The subjects themselves continued to lay on the tray, motionless as they peered down on them.
"They look like they should," one said.
"I'd say they look perfect," said another.
"Well, let's see if they're in as good a condition as the appearance would indicate," said the test supervisor, who picked up one of the subjects carefully. After one final look, the subject was bent in two and slowly pulled apart. A brown, gooey substance pulled from each side until the two halves were about two inches apart, when the goo separated. "Excellent, just as it should be," the red-headed supervisor said.
A moment later one half disappeared into the supervisor's analysis unit. After very short computation a result came in.
"Mmm," Deirdre McGowan said. "Perfect." She licked some chocolate off of her lips. "I'd say the oven is quite ready, Commander." She lifted her glass of solution and toasted her fellow testers. "Milk and cookies on me." With that, the other half of her cookie disappeared.
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DeirdreMcGowan
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