Linguistics Laboratory - Level 3

[Gen Blue]

Map of the lab.

This is the place where the undecipherable is deciphered. Where the unreadable is read. Where the instruction books for our alien gadgets are written, even though no one ever reads them.
The hardcopy library of reference books is stored here in a fireproofed room with Halon extinguishers.
Its public library has a gazillion books, dvd's and other digital data carriers, all filled with data on languages, anthropology, archeology and history about Earth and the known planets/galaxies. Its data centers are networked into the base's computer system. They contain a copy and an index of every piece of research data available.

[JacksonMiracle]

((On behalf of the linguistics depatment, I just want to say thank you Gen Blue. ))

[Stargate78fan]

Yes thanks you, General Blue. I also like the intro.

[Ryn]

<<From Quarters>>

David pushed his pole with the monitor along and felt kinda freaked out about it. He supposed he was going to have to get used to it, eventually, but for now it was... plain annoying. He'd rejected Julia's efforts to help him move and instead just focused on his way, hoping he wasn't making a spectacle of himself.

He noticed the Linguistics Lab didn't look all that different from when he'd last seen it. It was just as comfortably messy as always. Of course his laptop was gone, since that was in the Infirmary, and some books of course, too. There was a rectangled shape in the dust on the desk where it had sat. He eyed the library longingly (visible through a set of slide doors on the other end of the Lab), but then decided to rummage through the papers on one of the other desks instead, just to see if there'd been a few new projects to work on whilst he'd been away. After reading a few and then discarding it wherever it ended up, be that on the floor or in the bin, he saw there was nothing new. The linguist began a small clean-up, and soon forgot about Julia standing there still behind him.

He muttered as the pulseoximeter on the finger continued to hinder him, the darned thing made a simple thing like reading a sheet of paper or holding a stack of them, near impossible. With him being still weak, at present he just didn't have the dexterity in the other hand to hold anything for long, which meant that both hands had to support the sheet instead of one, and which he found very annoying.
It had already annoyed him when he'd typed on his laptop, before, though he had found a way around that, by simply holding the finger up in the air and using a different finger to type with. He could touch-type quite well so that had been the easy part.

In the end, Williams became frustrated with everything that hindered him, and kicked his chair to vent that. The monitor's readings spiked and it began to beep, which in turn caused further frustrations and annoyances.

"I can't work like this! Look at me!"

He sighed deeply and leant heavily on the desk, ignoring the monitor's continued bleeping.

[Northern Girl]

NPC – Julia Hawkins, RN

Julia took the few steps over to the monitor, silenced the alarms for the next two minutes and then turned towards the very frustrated David.

“David, you’ve got to clam down... Now take a seat until your readings drop back to normal again.” She bit her lip and switched between watching David and the monitor, making sure that the pulse and blood pressure dropped back to its normal level. Then let her eyes move around the walls, until she found the emergency button on the wall next to the door. ‘Ok, just so I know where to find you…’
”Look, I can understand that you’re getting frustrated about having to drag around this post, being monitored 24-7...” She slipped a small sigh.
”Now, for as long as you’re in here and I’m with you, I guess we can take that pulseoximeter off. It’s only there to monitor there your pulse for the time being…” Julia held out her hand to receive it. “But as soon as we head out of here, you put it back on again, and that’s as far as I can go. Deal?”

** Team leaders and department heads please report to General Blue's office. **

But before he had a chance to respond to either the question or the intercom, Julia’s pager started to call for attention in her pocket. She looked at the display and grabbed the phone on the desk.

[phone] "Infirmary, Carrie Svensson [/phone]

“This is Julia, you paged me?”

[phone] “Yes. Where are you, and do you have David there? [/phone]

Julia glanced at David “He’s here right beside me; we’re in the linguistics lab…”

[phone] “Good, keep him there. He’s NOT fit to attend any meetings, and if he’s giving you a hard time about that, I’ll come and talk to him. OK?” [/phone]

Julia hesitated a bit, still looking at David “Sure I’ll tell him that.”

[phone] “Good, bye then. [/phone]

“Bye...”
She hung up and looked hesitantly at David.
“Ehm, that was Carrie, in the Infirmary. She said that you're NOT going to that meeting…”

[Ryn]

He'd been just about to agree with Julia on the new development. The pulseoximeter going away would be a huge improvement on him handling things, so he had nodded and had been about to speak but then the intercom had sounded. The linguist hadn't realised how much he had changed in the past two or three days - he'd lost track - when he felt how much the announcement irritated him. Blue had one heck of a timing, it seemed. He'd been waiting forever for something INTERESTING to do, something he could really sink his teeth in... He'd given up finally and had gone on vacation in Foreston, only to find that his brain didn't agree with that and went on strike.

Needless to say, it was not at an opportune moment for him. And apparently, he and his doctor agreed for once. David smirked at himself, deep down he knew he wasn't fit for this kind of thing. He still felt exhausted, and also still felt kind of mentally shattered ever since the conversation he'd had with Claire. Something had happened in that other universe, and that was still nagging at him too, he wanted to know what, but he figured she would in all probability never tell him. He could sense it was something really personal, the way the lieutenant was avoiding to talk about it. He didn't know Claire that well, but he could read people.
But people also seemed to have an effect on him that they didn't have previously, or rather a different kind of effect. He felt much more inclined to be alone now, though he did still like to talk to others. Afterwards though, he always felt exhausted, like he did now. Williams was actually beginning to see a pattern.

Lost in thought as he was, the linguist hadn't realised nor heard that Julia'd been on the phone. The sound of her putting the receiver down startled him and caused him to look at her.

She had to repeat her statement before he could make sense of it. Coming back to reality went rather slow though he managed now.

"Right," He heard himself saying. "Um, yeah, okay. I... I'm not up to it now anyway. The timing's all wrong ..."

David stared at the phone, wondering what on Gaia to do now. Maybe he could go back to indexing the database or clean up a bit more. The database won, since he'd never been a fan of cleaning up.

"Um. Can I ... can I stay here a bit? I've got this project going on in the library. Nothing really important, but I'd like to do a bit more on it. It's nowhere near finished so ... um, it'll keep me busy...." And away from chatter...

[Stargate78fan]

Astra jumped startled when she heard someone complaining. She'd been so lost in concerntration that she hadn't realised there was somebody else in the lab. She blinked and rubbed her eyes. She'd been busy trying to decipher the text that Kylie had given her. She turned around and now saw two people in the lab with her.

One was a man and one was a woman. They appeared to be in deep converstation. She noted that the man had a moniter and he looked very distressed and the lady was trying to reassure him.

Astra didn't know everybody on the base. She kept pretty much to herself outside her work, and very rarely joining in any social gatherings. She was still grieving the loss of her family and friends. She sighed and put the file back together neatly. Astra got up and walked over to the pair.

"Hi, I'm Dr. Owen. Do you need any help?" She offered, introducing herself and waiting for them to reply.

[Ryn]

David looked up, startled at the sound of the new voice. He blinked several times over, confused. The lab had been dimly lit as he'd come in, and he could have sworn it'd been empty before.... Well, guess I was wrong. Yet another sign of how ill I am. It made him look around for more hidden people.

"Oh, hi Dr Owen. I'm sorry I had no idea you were here. I'm Dr David Williams, chief linguist. This is nurse Julia Hawkins. She's here because I'm medically unfit for duty, and I'm here because I'm currently somewhat of an outpatient with the Infirmary." Williams then explained.

"I....don't think I've seen you around, before...?"

[Stargate78fan]

"It's nice to meet you, Dr. Williams and Nurse Hawkins. Now, I see why Nurse Hawkins is with you now," Astra said, nodding her head to show she understood.

"I usually keep to myself after work and rarely join in social gatherings. I don't do well at them and feel rather awkward. So I tend to stick to myself really. I'm hopeless at meeting new people and making new friends," Astra explained, feeling her face flush.

"Is there anything you need help with?" Astra asked, quietly.

She glanced at her watched and was surprised to find that it was mid morning.

"Looks like I've just done an all nighter in the lab again. I was so engrosed in my work that I didn't notice," Astra said shyly.

[Northern Girl]

"Um. Can I ... can I stay here a bit? I've got this project going on in the library. Nothing really important, but I'd like to do a bit more on it. It's nowhere near finished so ... um, it'll keep me busy...." And away from chatter...

Julia glanced to the clock on the wall.
“Ok, I’ll give 15 minutes, then I really think we should head back to the infirmary. I you feel up to it, maybe we can do another trip later on this afternoon? “
She jumped as well at the sound of a voice from within the depth of the room.
‘Man that was scarry…’ and nodded towards dr Owen as David introduced her.

[Ryn]

David nodded at Dr Owen. "That's fine, I don't mind the socially inept, just as long as you're good at your job, which you should be else you wouldn't be here... OK I know that didn't come out right, I'm sorry....". He sighed, leaning on his desk. Already, this was tiring him, and the linguist was quite inclined to take Julia's offer.

"One second," he told Owen and turned to Julia, whispering to her quietly.

"Ok. I'll work on the datacenter for a while. Then I'll go back to the Infirmary, I promise. Alright?"

Upon her nod, David turned back to Astra.

"You've probably heard the announcement, Dr Owen. Could you go in my place? It's just that... I'm short with staff at the moment, with Miss Stevens being in the Infirmary as well.
If you can't go, or don't want to, it's fine, honestly. I'll just send a note to the General explaining what's going on. He'll just have to find me somewhere then, if he really needs to talk to me... I'm not pressuring you or anything. Just asking."

He waited to see what she would say, hoping she would go, but if not he would accept any decision. They were not military and he could not order her to go even if she worked for him. It was entirely voluntary. That was how he worked and he preferred it that way, not wishing to put people under too much pressure.

[Stargate78fan]

Astra smiled at Dr. Williams's comment. "I got that a fair bit at the SGC, mostly in good humour though," she replied good naturedly.

"Um sure I'll go the meeting for you, Dr. Williams. Though I'm not sure what you want me to do there. Just take notes? You want me to ask any questions for you?" Astra queried anxiously. "Not that I'm trying to sound negative about myself here," she added.

[Ryn]

"Oh, thanks," David smiled, weakly. He sat down, taking a breath. For some reason his pulse was racing. He guessed it was the stress he was under, every movement he made was tiring. After a few moments, he looked at her again.

"Well, I would like for you to ... explain why I can't be there. And take notes, yes. Especially should we get some kind of mission, which I doubt, but you never know... Um. I trust your judgement in this. Sorry. I'm not well...". He felt dizzy for a second or two. For a moment the room swam, and he just about fell off the chair, but could hold onto the desk just in time. "Whoah."

[Stargate78fan]

"I can do all that for you," she said possitively.

When he had his dizzy spell Astra stepped closer, putting her hand on his shoulder.

"You know you should really go back to the infirmary and rest up. You go to the infirmary and I'll go to the meeting. You look tired and need some rest," Astra said gently.

[Ryn]

"I will," said David weakly. He settled on his chair, holding on to the desk. The dizziness hovered in the back of his head, waiting to strike, and he felt tired.