Snippet #2586249

Lal, Chief Engineer of the Nobunaga and one of the most premier experts in Slip-Stream Drive technology, looked over her datapad, checking her calculations. So far, their first live test with Slip-Stream Drive appeared to be going well, and if she had any say in the matter, it would continue to go well.

She'd checked the algorithms numerous times already, and in theory their first test should go perfectly well. But, Lal knew from experience that things rarely went according to plan, and the emotional, human part of her synthetic body had the inane, but prudent, fear that things could go wrong.

It was irrational, to a degree, but Lal couldn't help herself. Hence, even after the rest of her engineering crew had become more relaxed into their four hour journey, Lal was still looking over her calculations and checking on the Slip-Stream Drive, making sure everything was in order and would work properly.

"You worry too much, Chief."

The android stopped in her reading, turning her head. One of her engineers, a woman by the name of Marianne Yevel, had stopped beside her, observing the artificial lifeform.

"Everything's running smoothly so far, Chief. We should get to the Delta Quadrant with no problem." Marianne proclaimed, giving her superior an assuring smile.

Lal couldn't help but smile in return. Much like her father, she'd had an emotion chip installed in her long ago. The chip hadn't entirely been necessary, due to...oddities in her initial creation, but the chip itself had helped her get better control over her emotions, which she'd been more vulnerable to, in the past.

"You're likely right, Marianne." Lal acknowledged, dipping her head. "Still...I can't help but check. I want to make sure that everything goes perfectly here...I've been in charge of the Slip-Stream Drive project in Starfleet for quite some time, so I have every incentive to ensure that this goes smoothly."

Marianne nodded in return. "Fair point, Chief. Still, you should relax a little. Simulation tests predicted a 98% chance of success, and we have early warning programs in place to alert us to any possible problems. Which you designed and implemented yourself, I might add. The only thing that could make things go horribly wrong at this point, would be a Q. So don't stress out over this, okay, Chief?"

Lal's lips twitched into a small, and she felt rather touched by the consideration and kindness displayed by her subordinate. She'd chosen her team well, in more ways than one.

She thanked Marianne for her concern, and waved the woman off, letting her go back to her duty. As for Lal herself...after a indecisive nanosecond, the android stowed her datapad away. It wouldn't hurt to take a small break for the time being, unwind a little. Her team had everything well in hand, and like Marianne said, nothing short of an act of Q would send things spiraling into chaos. So what would be the harm if she took a break from her calculations?