Kelly had stepped into the Sensorium hoping to get in more workout time. It wasn't exactly that she needed it, what with her enhancements helping boost her natural abilities by at least tenfold. But she liked to push her limits. To see how much stronger and faster she could push herself to become. There was a limit to what a human body, even an enhanced one like hers could do, of course. But she had yet to find it. And she wanted to push right up until her toes were nudging at it.
When she saw the setting she'd accidentally stepped into, she looked up, seeing the woman working over the table. The woman's back was to her, so she couldn't see what she was doing, but it appeared she'd been noticed. Looking down at herself, she saw that she'd been dressed in jeans, a tight fitting shirt and a leather jacket over that, fingerless gloves on her hands. Hmn. Not what she'd have chosen. So she mentally reconfigured the outfit back to her UNSC Navy cargo pants and jacket. The gloves could stay though. She liked those.
When the woman spoke, she looked up, running a hand through her hair, still unused to the new sensation of it being so soft.
"Sorry. I was hoping to find an unoccupied Sensorium." She paused, walking over to the other side of the table to watch the woman work. Her hands stayed in her pockets. "Am I disturbing you?"
Temperance was currently gluing pieces of the saucer-shaped Occipital bone back together. Glancing up at the woman she shook her head. "Not particularly. I was just trying to keep myself occupied."
She nodded. She knew the feeling well enough. She hated inaction. Every second of it seemed to grate on her nerves. It made her jumpy. Erratic. She had to be doing something. She would have gone mad otherwise. "It's all we can do these days, I suppose."
A pause as she watched the woman work. She'd seen forensics work once or twice. But none of them had seemed quite as...absorbed by it as this woman did. "I don't believe we've met. I'm Kelly."
It was more true for Tempe than Kelly might have imagined. There wasn't particularily a lot of work for a Forensic Antropologist to do onboard a ship like Stacy. So she ended up having to keep herself busy with gluing not really there skulls together. Even Temperance knew that was a little lame.
She looked up and offered Kelly a vague smile. "I'm Doctor Temperance Brennan," she said as always giving her full name along with the Doctor. "What is it you do?"
Kelly would have debated that her fighting imaginary enemies was equally lame. But then, with all that had just happened, she'd at least seen some real action. Not that it really mattered, everyone would be needed at some point, if what the Daligig said was true. Tempe would have her chance.
The smile was returned by a tight one from the tall Spartan. She was about to reply, when the woman followed up with her question. And that got her to stand up a little straighter. "I'm a soldier, ma'am."
"Really?" Tempe asked, her eyebrows arching in interest. She motioned to the skull she was reconstructing. "This is the skull of a young man who died in World War I."
"He apparently died in the trenches near Nancy, France," Tempe replied, remembering the details from the report that had come with the body. "According the his remains he was barely eighteen."
A pause as she thought back to Déjà's lessons before nodding. Nancy, France, where the Battle of Nancy had been fought, where Charles the Bold had been killed. It had taken damage in WWI as well if she recalled correctly. She hadn't thought that bit of information any use at the time, but the strategies the AI had been drilling into them still stuck in her mind.
At the Doctor's analysis though, she frowned slightly. Just eighteen? That was young. Far too young. "Too young for death." She shook her head slowly. "Any idea what the COD was? Blunt-force trauma? Or it the skull fragmenting due to post-mortem causes?"
No, she didn't know anything about forensics. But she knew the terms. And she was curious about the work. She'd never gotten a chance to be this close to the examiners after all.
"The skull was fractured post-mortem," Tempe began to explain. "We were able to conclude that he died because of a gun shot would that entered his abdomen and exited through his Trapezius muscle... The upper back," she added, remembering for once that not everyone knew all the scientific terms for body parts.
"Because of the trajectory of the bullet, he was more than likely shot by someone who was laying down. One of my colleagues believes the shooter might have been injured himself."
She nodded, she knew the trapezius muscle. It was one of the more difficult groups to work out after all. Though Déjà had always said it was superficial and didn't increase a subject's strength in the slightest. She nodded at the analysis before tilting her head at the bones again. "Must have been some wound."
The frown didn't drop from her features. Wartime was crazy. She'd been on enough battlefields to know. It was never pretty. "I've seen wounds like those inflicted before. It isn't a pretty thing to see."
"He more than likely wasn't able to recieve immediate medical attention," Tempe frowned, looking back to the skull. "And that's probably the main reason he died." It was sad, but it was a fact of war.
"They never are," Tempe agreed, pushing some more shards of the skull around. "Have you been in a lot of battles yourself?"
"A major problem back during the Old Earth wars. Or so I was told anyway," she'd had to learn about these things after all. Or course the Spartans' equipment had virtually eliminated the need for battlefield medics. But they still needed treatment. Now and again. "Medics tended to be picked off by snipers and gunners. It made it harder for the oncoming force. Like this boy here."
She nodded, watching the woman work. "I've lost count. When Earth started to colonize new planets. Well, that just meant that the battlefield for us soldiers grew."
Paused, thinking back for a moment. "2552, ma'am. Utilizing the standard Earth calendar that is. Some planet's are significantly ahead or behind, seeing as they day cycles there may be longer or shorter."
"2552?" Tempe repeated, feeling a little more than bewildered. "It's only 2007 in my world." She couldn't even begin to think of all the scientific advancements that must have occured in over five-hundred years.
When she saw the setting she'd accidentally stepped into, she looked up, seeing the woman working over the table. The woman's back was to her, so she couldn't see what she was doing, but it appeared she'd been noticed. Looking down at herself, she saw that she'd been dressed in jeans, a tight fitting shirt and a leather jacket over that, fingerless gloves on her hands. Hmn. Not what she'd have chosen. So she mentally reconfigured the outfit back to her UNSC Navy cargo pants and jacket. The gloves could stay though. She liked those.
When the woman spoke, she looked up, running a hand through her hair, still unused to the new sensation of it being so soft.
"Sorry. I was hoping to find an unoccupied Sensorium." She paused, walking over to the other side of the table to watch the woman work. Her hands stayed in her pockets. "Am I disturbing you?"
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A pause as she watched the woman work. She'd seen forensics work once or twice. But none of them had seemed quite as...absorbed by it as this woman did. "I don't believe we've met. I'm Kelly."
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She looked up and offered Kelly a vague smile. "I'm Doctor Temperance Brennan," she said as always giving her full name along with the Doctor. "What is it you do?"
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The smile was returned by a tight one from the tall Spartan. She was about to reply, when the woman followed up with her question. And that got her to stand up a little straighter. "I'm a soldier, ma'am."
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At the Doctor's analysis though, she frowned slightly. Just eighteen? That was young. Far too young. "Too young for death." She shook her head slowly. "Any idea what the COD was? Blunt-force trauma? Or it the skull fragmenting due to post-mortem causes?"
No, she didn't know anything about forensics. But she knew the terms. And she was curious about the work. She'd never gotten a chance to be this close to the examiners after all.
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"Because of the trajectory of the bullet, he was more than likely shot by someone who was laying down. One of my colleagues believes the shooter might have been injured himself."
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The frown didn't drop from her features. Wartime was crazy. She'd been on enough battlefields to know. It was never pretty. "I've seen wounds like those inflicted before. It isn't a pretty thing to see."
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"They never are," Tempe agreed, pushing some more shards of the skull around. "Have you been in a lot of battles yourself?"
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She nodded, watching the woman work. "I've lost count. When Earth started to colonize new planets. Well, that just meant that the battlefield for us soldiers grew."
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