Droplets from the Inkwell

Writing Quickie: Captain, Navigator, and New Tech

Beren rubbed his left temple as he waited for the pain is his head to fade. He felt a hand on his shoulder. “Is the new interface giving you problems again?” Captain Sabine asked. He noted the tone of concern in her voice.

“Yes, Captain. The neuro-cybernetic engineers said it might be a problem for a while. The neural scanner is still learning to work with my brain’s particular structure.”

“I imagine so. Plus, the technology is still in beta. Personally, I might have waited another year before opting to try it out, if it had been your choice.”

Beren looked at her and grinned. “In a year, they would have expected me to pay for the procedure, which I can’t afford to do. As a beta tester, I get to do it for free.”

The captain chuckled at that. “I suppose so. At least you’re not paying them for the pleasure of allowing their gadget to send lancing pain through your skull.” The pair shared a laugh. “Do you have our course plotted for Caltori 6?”

“Not quite. I’ve managed to get five out of the seven jumps plotted before the pain got too unbearable.”

“You know this is an official mission from the Confederation, right?”

“Yes, and I know that means we need to submit our full course trajectories before we leave the station.”

“I’d like to leave within the hour. Do you think you can manage that, what with the pain?”

“Yes, Captain. I’m switching over to use the viewscreen now.”

“As opposed to...?”

“I had the system set to direct all visual feedback directly to the optic centers of my brain.”

The captain swore in Keldevaran, her first language. “No wonder you’re experiencing so much pain.”

Beren grinned. “Yeah, it’s the poorest part of the neural interface’s implementation. A lot of the beta testers won’t even try it out.”

“I don’t blame them. As new as the technology is, you’ll be lucky if you don’t give yourself a stroke.”

“Well, I figure someone has to test it out at some point. It might as well be you.”


“Well, if you have a stroke, I’m demoting you, just so you’re forewarned.”

“I suspect that will be the least of my concerns at the time, Captain.”

She laughed at that. “Fair enough, Lieutenant. Now, get back to calculating those last two jumps.”

“Aye aye, Captain!” Beren saluted before turning to face the console in front of him.

JarredH

Give me pen and paper and I shall create entire worlds and fill them with adventures.