Pedantic Rambling is Optional

Writers: AL, Kurt
Date Posted: 13th April 2008

Characters: Feydik, Kitali
Description: A panel with wires behind it starts coming loose and Feydik comes to fix it.
Location: River Bluff Weyr
Date: month 9, day 11 of Turn 4

Kitali rummaged through the drawer of her desk, found the report she was looking for and sat down to look it over. She cast a glance over at the door from time to time. She had requested that a technician come over. A panel with some wires that she knew had something to do with the electricity that powered the lights had come loose and some wires were showing. In addition, one of the lights had the annoying habit of growing dim, then brightening, then growing dim, as if it had a mind of its own. She hoped that both of those issues could be fixed. The light itself was more of an annoyance, but the wires could pose a threat to the little ones that she taught.

A rapping at the door came presently, and tall, lanky young man stepped into the office. He was wearing a heavy apron with several pockets, and carrying a caddy that contained several tools.

"Hello," the man introduced himself after clearing his throat.
"Feydik, Junior Journeyman Technician. Uh. I understand that there is an electrical problem that needs to be addressed?"

"Ah, yes." Kitali set the report back on her desk and stood, motioning to the panel. "That's been coming undone, and that," She pointed up at the offending light, "keeps getting dim then bright at sporadic moments."

"Ah, oh, yes, that would be a bit of an issue, wouldn't it?" Feydik agreed. "Well, I should like to look at the panel first, and try to determine if the lighting issue is related. He looked around, then found an empty chair and dragged it over to the wall under the panel. He was about to climb up onto the chair when he stopped and looked at Kitali. "You're not using this right now, are you?"

Kitali chuckled a bit, "It's all right, go ahead and use it. I'd rather you get the thing fixed. I have another class tomorrow and some of the children might get curious and want to try and play with it. I'd rather not leave them the temptation."

"Ah, yes, well, hopefully it would be out of reach," Feydik replied, "but one should never doubt the amazing powers of children to get into what they ought not to. Given half the chance." He opened the panel and peered inside, rubbing his chin. "Ah, this must be the problem," he indicated at length. "Looks like a loose wire. I'll have this corrected in no time at all. Just a matter of re-affixing the...oops." Feydik's finger slipped and the wire popped free, completely shutting off the overhead light.

"My thoughts exactly. You'd be surprised at what little ones are capable of doing when they put their minds to it." Kitali moved a little closer and crossed her arms over her chest as she watched the man work. When the light went out, she couldn't help but grin. "Oops?"

"Pity the technician with clumsy fingers," Feydik muttered in the sudden darkness. He carefully descended the chair and felt around for his tool caddy. He took something from it and clicked a switch.
Immediately, there was light again, though not as bright as before, as it came from what appeared to be a small, metal lantern in the tech's hands.
"Don't worry though, I'll have it fixed shortly." He began to climb back onto the chair, but then hesitated.

"Uhm... I don't suppose you'd be willing to come hold this for me, would you?"

"Accidents happen." Kitali offered as reassurance, then moved from her position to the technician and held out her hand. "Just tell me where you want me to point it."

"Just directly at the panel, if you please," Feydik replied. "Ah, yes, just like that. If you don't mind holding it, this shouldn't take long."
He hmm'd softly to himself as he examined the wiring. "Well, looks like this is going to need some soldering work in here. The join has completely broken off. That's long-term though. In the short term, I have a few ah, quick and dirty tricks up my sleeve." He fished into his apron and brought out a length of wire and then reached in again and withdrew a set of pliers. With these, he began working inside of the panel.

"Fascinating." Kitali watched Feydik as he worked. Music was her thing, not this sort of craft. It was foreign to her, but strangely intriguing at the same time. She could probably come up with all sorts of questions, but that wouldn't necessarily help the man finish his work, so she remained silent.

"You think so?" Feydik asked as he tweaked something and the lighting came back on. "I think so too, actually. It is what brought me to the Technician's Craft in the first place." He continued to work inside of the panel, tightening a few things up. "Electrical theory is extremely interesting. Just to be able to use power in the form of electrons to do so many things. Lighting is just the beginning. We're learning more and more every day, and the potential is, well...boundless." He closed the panel and climbed down from the chair, wearing a goofy smile. "This is where you politely give me a hint that I'm risking launching into a spiel, and that your time is limited."

"You're risking launching into a spiel and my time is limited." Kitali parroted, then laughed. "I find it fascinating, but not to the point that I think I want to study it. I'll leave that to you and other fine technicians."

Feydik chuckled, then cleared his throat. "Well. That should take care of your lighting issue until I can schedule some time to fix it permanently. Perhaps sometime next week, if that works? Pedantic rambling is optional."

That brought about a full laugh and Kitali held out the light to the technician. The fellow did seem to have a good sense of humour, something Kitali could certainly appreciate. "I see! Well, I must admit that sometimes I rant about music, so I suppose we have a bit of something in common - just with different topics in mind."

The young technician smiled. "Rants are fueled by passion, and passion is a good thing. Well, when properly applied, anyhow. I mean, it motivates us to reach beyond the mundane, to reach the next level. So...uh..." He stared at the light that Kitali was holding out to him, like he had no idea what she was doing with it. Then he blinked. "Oh, hey, that's mine, isn't it?" He accepted the light and chuckled nervously.

His chuckle was echoed by one of Kitali's own. "I see you have quite a bit of passion for your chosen craft. It seems to be a good thing in this case."

"Oh yes, absolutely," Feydik agreed as he put the light back into his tool caddy. "I started my apprenticeship as smithcrafter, you know. I was not bad at it, not at all, but something was missing for me. It felt just like...repetition. I had to convince myself that I was meant for that sort of thing. But when I first explored the technician's craft.
Well...you might say a light came on for me." He grinned sheepishly.
"Literally too...after a few attempts! Well!" He looked around. "I should spare you further details of my philosophy and life. I'm sure that you have work to attend to...now that you can see it clearly. Uhm...just send a work requisition to the technicians' station, and we'll schedule a time to have somebody -- most likely me, but not definitely -- come down and do a more permanent fix on your wiring."

"Right, will do." Kitali stepped back and examined the man's work, though she really had no idea what kind of quality work he did. "Thank you for coming and fixing it."

"Just doing my job, of course," Feydik smiled. "But it is my pleasure as well. And, uhm...you're welcome!" He picked up his tool caddy and took a moment to look around again. "Right then, well, I think I have all of my toys. So, schedule that repair, and let somebody know if you have any problems before then." He made his way to the exit and stood at the threshold. "Have a good day!" He paused as if there might be something more to say, but, seeing as how there

Last updated on the April 17th 2008

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