Originally posted on fanfiction.net - Link.
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Let Sleeping Cyborgs Lie
“Psst, Boimler,” Tendi whispered. “Hey, Boimler. Wake up.”
“Hmph?” Boimler mumbled sleepily lying in his bunk while hugging a stuffed, uniformed bear. “Ah, it was nothing, Captain. Anybody could defeat the Borg armed with nothing but an algorithmic protocol database and an oscillatic modulator…”
“Boimler, wake up,” Tendi urgently. “This is an emergency!”
“Huh?” Boimler groggily opened his eyes. “Emergency? Where?”
“Hey, keep it down will ya?” Mariner grumbled irritably from her upper bunk. “I’m trying to sleep.”
“Sorry,” Tendi apologized whipping off both of her friends’ blankets. “But I really need your help.”
“Ahhh!” Boimler yelped covering himself before realizing he was still wearing his nightclothes. “Okay, okay, I’m awake. What’s the problem?”
“It’s Rutherford,” Tendi said.
“What, is he muttering about warp thresholds again?” Mariner drawled.
“No,” Tendi pointed at Rutherford’s empty bunk. “He’s gone.”
“So what?” Boimler yawned drowsily. “He’s probably tinkering with some Engineering project or making a late-night run to waste extraction.”
“Not while he’d still asleep,” Tendi said. “That’s the problem.”
“Huh?” Mariner frowned, confused. “What are you talking about?”
“I heard a weird noise, woke up and saw Rutherford get out of his bunk and walk off with his eye closed,” Tendi explained. “His organic eye I mean. His implant’s ocular display was lit up.”
“Okay,” Boimler blinked for a moment. “That’s a little weird.”
“I got up and tried to ask Rutherford what was going on, but he just ignored me,” Tendi went on. “Right before he crawled into a Jefferies tube and disappeared to who knows where.”
“That’s also weird,” Mariner remarked. “Even for Ruthy.”
“I think Rutherford may be sleepwalking,” Tendi fretted worriedly. “Or his implant is controlling his actions like the times he told us about when he blacked out while running implant updates.”
“Okay, but why wake us up?” Boimler asked stifling another yawn. “Why not report Rutherford’s behavior to Sickbay or Security?”
“Because he hasn’t done anything wrong,” Tendi explained. “At least not yet. He may just be sleepwalking. I don’t want to report him for simply wandering around the ship in his nightclothes.”
“Eh, good thing Ruthy doesn’t sleep in the buff,” Mariner quipped. “Unless he suddenly decides to do so in front of Freeman or some other senior officer.”
“Oh no! That would ruin Rutherford’s reputation for sure!” Tendi gasped in horror. “Come on! We have to find Rutherford and get him back to bed before anyone sees him!”
“Do we have to?” Mariner sighed.
“Yes!” Tendi insisted dragging Boimler and Mariner out of their bunks. “Come on! Let’s go!”
“Hey! Ow!” Boimler yelped leaving his stuffed, uniformed bear behind in his bunk. “Can’t we change out of our nightclothes first?”
“There’s no time!” Tendi stated propelling her friends down the corridor. “We have to find Rutherford before he gets in trouble!”
“Ugh, fine. Whatever,” Mariner reluctantly gave in. “Let’s just get this over with.” She tapped the nearest display panel. “Computer, locate Ensign Rutherford.”
“Ensign Rutherford is currently located in Jefferies tube fifty-four, junction three,” the computer replied.
“Wow, he’s covered a lot of ground,” Boimler blinked in surprise.
“So can we,” Tendi said opening the nearest maintenance hatch. “Let’s go!”
“Wait,” Boimler protested. “Why can’t we take the turbolift?”
“Well, we could if we want people to see us wandering another the ship in our nightclothes,” Mariner drawled giving Boimler a look. “Nice set of Phoenix-themed pajamas by the way.”
“I see your point,” Boimler blushed climbing into the Jefferies tube. “At least it’s a nice night for a crawl.”
“I’d rather crawl back into bed,” Mariner said as she and Tendi followed after Boimler. “Or go on a good pub crawl, whichever makes me pass out first.”
The three ensigns quickly made their way through the ship’s Jefferies tubes. “Okay, we’re here,” Boimler announced reaching the previously mentioned junction.
“And there’s Rutherford,” Tendi pointed where Rutherford stood working on an exposed power coupling with his organic eye still closed. “Quick, let’s get him out of here before anyone finds out.”
“Aha!” A hatch opened revealing Ensign Amadou followed by Ensigns Moxy, Karavitus and Asif. “See? I told you there was a weird power anomaly in this section.”
“Too late,” Mariner drawled.
“That’s no anomaly, that’s a Beta Shifter,” Karavitus glared at Mariner and the others.
“What are you losers doing here?” Asif frowned. “You’re supposed to be asleep.”
“And we’d like nothing better than to be so,” Boimler said. “Just let us collect Rutherford and we’ll quietly be on our way…”
“Not so fast,” Karavitus snapped. “You guys aren’t authorized to be working here at this hour. What kind of sneaky Beta Shift sabotage are you trying to pull?”
“What’s he doing, anyway?” Moxy asked indicating Rutherford.
“Looks like he’s realigning the transtator relays,” Tendi noted checking Rutherford’s work. “Doing a great job too.”
“Oh no he doesn’t!” Amadou protested. “I’m the one who’s been working on an entirely new transtator relay configuration for months. Once I implement it the Cerritos’ power transfer efficiency rating with increase by a whooping point one two percent!”
“Seriously? This is how Engineering nerds try to top each other?” Mariner gave him a look. “Man, your guys’ sad attempts to score a promotion are ever lamer than Boimler’s.”
“Yeah,” Boimler smirked. “Wait a second…hey!”
“Get away from there, Beta Shifter,” Amadou ordered moving to pull Rutherford away from the exposed power coupling.
“Stop! Leave him alone!” Tendi quickly blocked his path. “You shouldn’t wake a sleepwalker. Or a sleep repairer or adjuster whatever it is Rutherford is doing.”
“Letting Ruthy tinker with the ship while he’s asleep could be dangerous too,” Mariner pointed out. “He causes enough Engineering problems and mistakes when he’s awake.”
“He could also be dreaming and suddenly start stabbing everybody with a brace coil,” Boimler gulped nervously. “Or bite our cheeks or try to eject the warp core.”
“He’s the one who’s about to be ejected,” Amadou snapped shoving Tendi aside. “Right out the nearest…”
BRZZZUUUM!
“Ow!” Amadou yelped as he suddenly ran into an invisible obstruction. “Hey, what the…?”
“Huh, looks like Rutherford activated a small, localized force field,” Boimler blinked at the shimmering barrier. “I didn’t know the Cerritos could do that.”
“Must be part of the ship’s fire suppression system,” Tendi reasoned.
“Hey! Let me out!” Amadou yelled pounding against the force field.
“Don’t worry. We got this,” Karavitus and Moxy lunged at Rutherford. “Get him!”
“No!” Tendi cried before Rutherford casually nerve pinched both ensigns and sent them unceremoniously crashing to the floor. “Oh. Never mind.”
“That’s it! This ends now,” Asif snapped pulling out a phaser.
“Wait! Haaauuuhhhhhh!” Boimler yelped as Asif aimed the phaser at Rutherford only to suddenly disappear in a shower of sparkles. “What the…oh, I get it. Rutherford must have tapped into the ship’s controls and conducted a site-to-site transport.”
“Looks like that’s also all he transported,” Mariner smirked as Asif’s phaser and pile of left behind clothing harmlessly fell to the floor.
“Oh my,” Tendi blinked at the sight. “I wonder where he materialized.”
“GET OUT OF HERE YOU SICKO!” Ensign Haubold was heard shouting in the distance.
“AAAHHHHHH! STOP! THIS WASN’T MY FAULT!” Asif’s screams rang out in terror. “THAT STUPID BETA SHIFTER TRANSPORTED ME HERE! I DIDN’T MEAN TO INTRUDE! NO, NOT THE WHIP! YEEEOOOWWWWWW!”
“By the sounds of it I’d say he wound up in the middle of one of Ensign Haubold’s whip fighting, swinging and utilization lessons,” Mariner commented.
“Ha, serves him right,” Boimler chuckled.
“Bet you won’t say that if Ruthy suddenly decides to do the same to us,” Mariner warned. “Let’s wake him up and get out of here.”
“And just how do you propose we do that?” Boimler indicated Karavitus’ and Moxy’s unconscious forms. “Without Rutherford suddenly turning on us?”
“Hmmm. Lemme think,” Mariner paused a moment before cupping her hands to her mouth. “Hey, Ruthy! Wake up! Time to rise and shine!” Rutherford obliviously ignored her. “Welp. That didn’t work. Anybody else got any bright ideas?”
“I do,” Tendi said and slowly approached Rutherford. “Hi, Rutherford! It’s me. Your friend. Tendi! Don’t toss me against a bulkhead or release any neurozine gas or zap me with a plasma shock.”
“Tendi, stop give him ideas,” Boimler groaned.
“Don’t worry. Everything is going to be okay,” Tendi soothed before gently injecting Rutherford with a hypospray.
“Whoa, where did that come from?” Mariner asked as Rutherford slumped to the deck.
“Oh, I always carry a spare hypo around,” Tendi said casually. “Never know when it may come in handy.”
“O-kay,” Boimler blinked helping Tendi pick up Rutherford’s limp form. “How did you know it would neutralize a sleepwalking Rutherford?”
“I didn’t,” Tendi admitted. “But I didn’t want to risk tampering with his implant. So I settled for temporarily paralyzing his body instead.”
“Remind me never to get on your bad side,” Mariner commented at Tendi. “C’mon. Let’s blow this joint before anyone shows up.”
“What is going on here?” Lieutenant Arjun suddenly poked his head into the junction.
“We really have to stop saying that,” Boimler groaned.
“There is no maintenance or repairs scheduled for this section,” Arjun said. “What are you people doing?”
“Uh…” Boimler stuttered.
“Exactly what it looks like we’re doing,” Mariner provided quickly. “These Delta Shift jokers obviously aren’t up to snuff, so our man Rutherford here had to pick up the slack.”
“Huh?” Tendi and Boimler stared at Mariner in confusion.
“Really?” Arjun skeptically raised an eyebrow.
“What? Doesn’t the evidence speak for itself?” Mariner asked pointing to Karavitus’ and Moxy’s unconscious forms. “Look, those two are literally lying down on the job. Typical lazy Delta Shift.”
“No! Don’t listen to her!” Amadou shouted still trapped behind the force field. “Those lousy Beta Shifters are lying! They’re up to some kind of power coupling sabotage!”
“What? Let me see,” Arjun entered the junction and ran a tricorder over the exposed power coupling. “I don’t believe it. Who is responsible for this?”
“Uh, he is,” Boimler admitted indicating the still sleeping Rutherford in his arms.
“Ha! See? I was right!” Amadou crowed. “You Beta Shifters are in for it now!”
“Really? That is incredible,” Arjun stared at Rutherford in amazement. “This young ensign here has somehow managed to improve the ship’s power transfer rates by point one eight percent.”
“WHAT?!” Amadou yelped.
“Uh, of course he has,” Mariner agreed quickly. “That’s our Rutherford for ya.”
“I did not think such an outcome was possible,” Arjun whistled in admiration. “I would love to how he did this.”
“I sure Rutherford would too,” Tendi commented. “If he manages to remember…”
“But any techy explanations will have to wait,” Mariner interjected quickly. “All this work has obviously tuckered Ruthy out. Best we get him back to bed.”
“Of course,” Arjun nodded letting Mariner and the others pass. “Every engineer needs to rest. Let your friend know I will submit a report regarding his work to Lieutenant Commander Billups. He may even decide to issue a promotion.”
“WHAT?! NO!” Amadou howled pulling at his hair and frantically pounding against the force field. “BILLUPS CAN’T PROMOTE HIM! I’M THE ONE WHO DID THE REAL PREP WORK! THAT PROMOTION-STEALING JERK STOLE MY IDEA! GAAAHHHHHH, YOU CURSED BETA SHIFTERS! AAARRRGGGHHHHHH!”
“Whew, that was a close one,” Boimler sighed in relief as the four ensigns exited and made their way from the junction. “Guess running into Karavitus and the others wasn’t so bad after all.”
“Yeah, messing with those Delta Shift bozos was almost worth losing a little sleep over,” Mariner smirked. “Almost.”
“Who cares about them? I’m just glad Rutherford is okay,” Tendi said gazing at Rutherford’s closed eye and now inactive oculus. “We should help him run a Level One diagnostic on his implant when he wakes up.”
“I’m sure he’s fine,” Boimler said. “He probably just ate one too many cascarons and buñuelos before bed.”
“Yeah, it’s not like Ruthy’s gonna suddenly display a completely different personality or anything,” Mariner snorted with a laugh. “That’s as likely as him willingly getting rid of his implant.”
“I wonder if it’s possible for an implant-controlled Rutherford to modify his own implant while asleep?” Tendi pondered curiously.
“Let’s hope we never find out,” Boimler sighed.
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Disclaimer: I do not own Star Trek: Lower Decks.
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Let Sleeping Cyborgs Lie
“Psst, Boimler,” Tendi whispered. “Hey, Boimler. Wake up.”
“Hmph?” Boimler mumbled sleepily lying in his bunk while hugging a stuffed, uniformed bear. “Ah, it was nothing, Captain. Anybody could defeat the Borg armed with nothing but an algorithmic protocol database and an oscillatic modulator…”
“Boimler, wake up,” Tendi urgently. “This is an emergency!”
“Huh?” Boimler groggily opened his eyes. “Emergency? Where?”
“Hey, keep it down will ya?” Mariner grumbled irritably from her upper bunk. “I’m trying to sleep.”
“Sorry,” Tendi apologized whipping off both of her friends’ blankets. “But I really need your help.”
“Ahhh!” Boimler yelped covering himself before realizing he was still wearing his nightclothes. “Okay, okay, I’m awake. What’s the problem?”
“It’s Rutherford,” Tendi said.
“What, is he muttering about warp thresholds again?” Mariner drawled.
“No,” Tendi pointed at Rutherford’s empty bunk. “He’s gone.”
“So what?” Boimler yawned drowsily. “He’s probably tinkering with some Engineering project or making a late-night run to waste extraction.”
“Not while he’d still asleep,” Tendi said. “That’s the problem.”
“Huh?” Mariner frowned, confused. “What are you talking about?”
“I heard a weird noise, woke up and saw Rutherford get out of his bunk and walk off with his eye closed,” Tendi explained. “His organic eye I mean. His implant’s ocular display was lit up.”
“Okay,” Boimler blinked for a moment. “That’s a little weird.”
“I got up and tried to ask Rutherford what was going on, but he just ignored me,” Tendi went on. “Right before he crawled into a Jefferies tube and disappeared to who knows where.”
“That’s also weird,” Mariner remarked. “Even for Ruthy.”
“I think Rutherford may be sleepwalking,” Tendi fretted worriedly. “Or his implant is controlling his actions like the times he told us about when he blacked out while running implant updates.”
“Okay, but why wake us up?” Boimler asked stifling another yawn. “Why not report Rutherford’s behavior to Sickbay or Security?”
“Because he hasn’t done anything wrong,” Tendi explained. “At least not yet. He may just be sleepwalking. I don’t want to report him for simply wandering around the ship in his nightclothes.”
“Eh, good thing Ruthy doesn’t sleep in the buff,” Mariner quipped. “Unless he suddenly decides to do so in front of Freeman or some other senior officer.”
“Oh no! That would ruin Rutherford’s reputation for sure!” Tendi gasped in horror. “Come on! We have to find Rutherford and get him back to bed before anyone sees him!”
“Do we have to?” Mariner sighed.
“Yes!” Tendi insisted dragging Boimler and Mariner out of their bunks. “Come on! Let’s go!”
“Hey! Ow!” Boimler yelped leaving his stuffed, uniformed bear behind in his bunk. “Can’t we change out of our nightclothes first?”
“There’s no time!” Tendi stated propelling her friends down the corridor. “We have to find Rutherford before he gets in trouble!”
“Ugh, fine. Whatever,” Mariner reluctantly gave in. “Let’s just get this over with.” She tapped the nearest display panel. “Computer, locate Ensign Rutherford.”
“Ensign Rutherford is currently located in Jefferies tube fifty-four, junction three,” the computer replied.
“Wow, he’s covered a lot of ground,” Boimler blinked in surprise.
“So can we,” Tendi said opening the nearest maintenance hatch. “Let’s go!”
“Wait,” Boimler protested. “Why can’t we take the turbolift?”
“Well, we could if we want people to see us wandering another the ship in our nightclothes,” Mariner drawled giving Boimler a look. “Nice set of Phoenix-themed pajamas by the way.”
“I see your point,” Boimler blushed climbing into the Jefferies tube. “At least it’s a nice night for a crawl.”
“I’d rather crawl back into bed,” Mariner said as she and Tendi followed after Boimler. “Or go on a good pub crawl, whichever makes me pass out first.”
The three ensigns quickly made their way through the ship’s Jefferies tubes. “Okay, we’re here,” Boimler announced reaching the previously mentioned junction.
“And there’s Rutherford,” Tendi pointed where Rutherford stood working on an exposed power coupling with his organic eye still closed. “Quick, let’s get him out of here before anyone finds out.”
“Aha!” A hatch opened revealing Ensign Amadou followed by Ensigns Moxy, Karavitus and Asif. “See? I told you there was a weird power anomaly in this section.”
“Too late,” Mariner drawled.
“That’s no anomaly, that’s a Beta Shifter,” Karavitus glared at Mariner and the others.
“What are you losers doing here?” Asif frowned. “You’re supposed to be asleep.”
“And we’d like nothing better than to be so,” Boimler said. “Just let us collect Rutherford and we’ll quietly be on our way…”
“Not so fast,” Karavitus snapped. “You guys aren’t authorized to be working here at this hour. What kind of sneaky Beta Shift sabotage are you trying to pull?”
“What’s he doing, anyway?” Moxy asked indicating Rutherford.
“Looks like he’s realigning the transtator relays,” Tendi noted checking Rutherford’s work. “Doing a great job too.”
“Oh no he doesn’t!” Amadou protested. “I’m the one who’s been working on an entirely new transtator relay configuration for months. Once I implement it the Cerritos’ power transfer efficiency rating with increase by a whooping point one two percent!”
“Seriously? This is how Engineering nerds try to top each other?” Mariner gave him a look. “Man, your guys’ sad attempts to score a promotion are ever lamer than Boimler’s.”
“Yeah,” Boimler smirked. “Wait a second…hey!”
“Get away from there, Beta Shifter,” Amadou ordered moving to pull Rutherford away from the exposed power coupling.
“Stop! Leave him alone!” Tendi quickly blocked his path. “You shouldn’t wake a sleepwalker. Or a sleep repairer or adjuster whatever it is Rutherford is doing.”
“Letting Ruthy tinker with the ship while he’s asleep could be dangerous too,” Mariner pointed out. “He causes enough Engineering problems and mistakes when he’s awake.”
“He could also be dreaming and suddenly start stabbing everybody with a brace coil,” Boimler gulped nervously. “Or bite our cheeks or try to eject the warp core.”
“He’s the one who’s about to be ejected,” Amadou snapped shoving Tendi aside. “Right out the nearest…”
BRZZZUUUM!
“Ow!” Amadou yelped as he suddenly ran into an invisible obstruction. “Hey, what the…?”
“Huh, looks like Rutherford activated a small, localized force field,” Boimler blinked at the shimmering barrier. “I didn’t know the Cerritos could do that.”
“Must be part of the ship’s fire suppression system,” Tendi reasoned.
“Hey! Let me out!” Amadou yelled pounding against the force field.
“Don’t worry. We got this,” Karavitus and Moxy lunged at Rutherford. “Get him!”
“No!” Tendi cried before Rutherford casually nerve pinched both ensigns and sent them unceremoniously crashing to the floor. “Oh. Never mind.”
“That’s it! This ends now,” Asif snapped pulling out a phaser.
“Wait! Haaauuuhhhhhh!” Boimler yelped as Asif aimed the phaser at Rutherford only to suddenly disappear in a shower of sparkles. “What the…oh, I get it. Rutherford must have tapped into the ship’s controls and conducted a site-to-site transport.”
“Looks like that’s also all he transported,” Mariner smirked as Asif’s phaser and pile of left behind clothing harmlessly fell to the floor.
“Oh my,” Tendi blinked at the sight. “I wonder where he materialized.”
“GET OUT OF HERE YOU SICKO!” Ensign Haubold was heard shouting in the distance.
“AAAHHHHHH! STOP! THIS WASN’T MY FAULT!” Asif’s screams rang out in terror. “THAT STUPID BETA SHIFTER TRANSPORTED ME HERE! I DIDN’T MEAN TO INTRUDE! NO, NOT THE WHIP! YEEEOOOWWWWWW!”
“By the sounds of it I’d say he wound up in the middle of one of Ensign Haubold’s whip fighting, swinging and utilization lessons,” Mariner commented.
“Ha, serves him right,” Boimler chuckled.
“Bet you won’t say that if Ruthy suddenly decides to do the same to us,” Mariner warned. “Let’s wake him up and get out of here.”
“And just how do you propose we do that?” Boimler indicated Karavitus’ and Moxy’s unconscious forms. “Without Rutherford suddenly turning on us?”
“Hmmm. Lemme think,” Mariner paused a moment before cupping her hands to her mouth. “Hey, Ruthy! Wake up! Time to rise and shine!” Rutherford obliviously ignored her. “Welp. That didn’t work. Anybody else got any bright ideas?”
“I do,” Tendi said and slowly approached Rutherford. “Hi, Rutherford! It’s me. Your friend. Tendi! Don’t toss me against a bulkhead or release any neurozine gas or zap me with a plasma shock.”
“Tendi, stop give him ideas,” Boimler groaned.
“Don’t worry. Everything is going to be okay,” Tendi soothed before gently injecting Rutherford with a hypospray.
“Whoa, where did that come from?” Mariner asked as Rutherford slumped to the deck.
“Oh, I always carry a spare hypo around,” Tendi said casually. “Never know when it may come in handy.”
“O-kay,” Boimler blinked helping Tendi pick up Rutherford’s limp form. “How did you know it would neutralize a sleepwalking Rutherford?”
“I didn’t,” Tendi admitted. “But I didn’t want to risk tampering with his implant. So I settled for temporarily paralyzing his body instead.”
“Remind me never to get on your bad side,” Mariner commented at Tendi. “C’mon. Let’s blow this joint before anyone shows up.”
“What is going on here?” Lieutenant Arjun suddenly poked his head into the junction.
“We really have to stop saying that,” Boimler groaned.
“There is no maintenance or repairs scheduled for this section,” Arjun said. “What are you people doing?”
“Uh…” Boimler stuttered.
“Exactly what it looks like we’re doing,” Mariner provided quickly. “These Delta Shift jokers obviously aren’t up to snuff, so our man Rutherford here had to pick up the slack.”
“Huh?” Tendi and Boimler stared at Mariner in confusion.
“Really?” Arjun skeptically raised an eyebrow.
“What? Doesn’t the evidence speak for itself?” Mariner asked pointing to Karavitus’ and Moxy’s unconscious forms. “Look, those two are literally lying down on the job. Typical lazy Delta Shift.”
“No! Don’t listen to her!” Amadou shouted still trapped behind the force field. “Those lousy Beta Shifters are lying! They’re up to some kind of power coupling sabotage!”
“What? Let me see,” Arjun entered the junction and ran a tricorder over the exposed power coupling. “I don’t believe it. Who is responsible for this?”
“Uh, he is,” Boimler admitted indicating the still sleeping Rutherford in his arms.
“Ha! See? I was right!” Amadou crowed. “You Beta Shifters are in for it now!”
“Really? That is incredible,” Arjun stared at Rutherford in amazement. “This young ensign here has somehow managed to improve the ship’s power transfer rates by point one eight percent.”
“WHAT?!” Amadou yelped.
“Uh, of course he has,” Mariner agreed quickly. “That’s our Rutherford for ya.”
“I did not think such an outcome was possible,” Arjun whistled in admiration. “I would love to how he did this.”
“I sure Rutherford would too,” Tendi commented. “If he manages to remember…”
“But any techy explanations will have to wait,” Mariner interjected quickly. “All this work has obviously tuckered Ruthy out. Best we get him back to bed.”
“Of course,” Arjun nodded letting Mariner and the others pass. “Every engineer needs to rest. Let your friend know I will submit a report regarding his work to Lieutenant Commander Billups. He may even decide to issue a promotion.”
“WHAT?! NO!” Amadou howled pulling at his hair and frantically pounding against the force field. “BILLUPS CAN’T PROMOTE HIM! I’M THE ONE WHO DID THE REAL PREP WORK! THAT PROMOTION-STEALING JERK STOLE MY IDEA! GAAAHHHHHH, YOU CURSED BETA SHIFTERS! AAARRRGGGHHHHHH!”
“Whew, that was a close one,” Boimler sighed in relief as the four ensigns exited and made their way from the junction. “Guess running into Karavitus and the others wasn’t so bad after all.”
“Yeah, messing with those Delta Shift bozos was almost worth losing a little sleep over,” Mariner smirked. “Almost.”
“Who cares about them? I’m just glad Rutherford is okay,” Tendi said gazing at Rutherford’s closed eye and now inactive oculus. “We should help him run a Level One diagnostic on his implant when he wakes up.”
“I’m sure he’s fine,” Boimler said. “He probably just ate one too many cascarons and buñuelos before bed.”
“Yeah, it’s not like Ruthy’s gonna suddenly display a completely different personality or anything,” Mariner snorted with a laugh. “That’s as likely as him willingly getting rid of his implant.”
“I wonder if it’s possible for an implant-controlled Rutherford to modify his own implant while asleep?” Tendi pondered curiously.
“Let’s hope we never find out,” Boimler sighed.
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Disclaimer: I do not own Star Trek: Lower Decks.
