It was late, but Reed didn't mind. After having spent the last day and a half allowing the new reality of everything to settle in, he decided a few drinks, real drinks, were in order. He appreciated the flexibility Oksana had given them in training and their schedules, it meant he could take time to himself when he needed it.

Wearing his Blackwatch gear from earlier that evening, he'd put in time working with Idaris on more drills. He was becoming fond of their time together and lets his thoughts drift as he motioned to the bartender across the way "Another scotch on the rocks please." It had been mostly quiet, possibly due to the time, or possibly the fact that others had decided bothering a Senior Chief wasn't worth their time.

Kaelen was sitting at a booth on the far end of the room, splitting her attention between her PADD and people watching. Long after her typical dinner time, she nursed the remains of a drink, which was mostly ice at this point. She wasn’t sure when he had come in, but it must have been while she was reviewing the data sets. Kaelen stepped up to the bar as he ordered, a triumphant grin on her face. “Make that two, please.”

She tucked her PADD under her arm as she took a seat and turned toward Reed. “I was hoping to run into an engineer of repute in here.”

Looking over at her "Well you certainly found one." In truth Reed probably entered after she was already here but the man hadn't paid attention to anyone really but the bartender. However, good company was always welcome.

The bartender was quick and placed their drinks before them. Nitro grabbed his and took a sip "I think where we went wrong with everything was developing synthale. It's just not the same. How's your evening been going Cinder?"

Kaelen leaned into the bar and swirled her drink before taking a sip. “I take zero credit for such a blunder of chemistry.” She took a seat and turned toward Reed setting her PADD onto the bar counter, “I will take credit for this.” Activating the PADD revealed an image of a duranium door and frame in the science lab. The video showed Kaelen fixing three small puck sized devices on the door and stepping back.

Each device blinked in sequence, then emitted a small flash. The door’s normal shine grew dull and cracks began to spread across the surface of the door. Chunks of metal began to fall off and just before the feed cut off, Kaelen reappeared, she carried a metal crash bar which she used to push the center section of the door apart. The chemical reaction continued to work on the door and large fragments fell to the floor like a sand wall giving way to a wave at the beach.

"Thats quite a magic trick, a nicer way to knock than I usually do. Less boom is sometimes a good thing." Reed took another sip before taking the PADD and watching it again.

"Kicking it would be faster, but still a nice way to breach. When do we get these?" He was reminded of his previous jokes in losing digits from explosions, this would take out some of the fun but also appeared much safer.

Kaelen allowed herself a faint smile as she reclaimed the PADD. “I suppose kicking it would be faster, assuming the door doesn't kick back.”

She turned her glass, watching the brown liquid swirl as the ice melted. “This is still in the experimental phase, but we have a proof of concept, and the chemistry is solid. Before I approach the Captain about deployment, I'd like to establish optimal placement.”

She turned toward Reed again. “That's where I'd love to bring in a seasoned breaching engineer. I'm wondering if we could develop a scanning subroutine for the team tricorders, one that would assess a barrier's composition and structural characteristics and help operators determine the best placement for the charges.” She tilted her head at Reed. “Am I asking a tricorder to do the impossible, or is there something here worth pursuing?”

"I'm game" he replied. "I think the solution may lie in skipping the tricorder and letting the device do the scanning itself. Can't always trust there won't be dampening fields and the like, so I think having everything as contained as possible in one device, especially since it only needs to do one specific task and scan would be the best idea." He took another drink before considering a few things. "I guess there are a few items we could look at needing before these missions, I dont feel that our current loadout in the armory addresses all needs. It's too... imprecise."

She tapped a series of commands into her PADD, integrating a micro-material analysis (MMA) sensor into the prototype’s control circuit. “I knew I liked you, Senior. If we can identify the barrier’s composition, we can fine-tune the charge, and…” Kaelen’s PADD beeped an acknowledgment. Her face lit up. “There we go! We have a compositional profile before the device goes off, as it were.” The simulation on the PADD now showed the sensor scanning the door and adjusting the latinum-nitrium ratio to match the material’s properties.

“This way, each charge can adapt to duranium, tritanium, or even solid stone without wasting reactants.” She studied the results, “We get the breach we need without putting more energy into it than necessary.”

"Sounds the safest path in all of it, I can't wait to try it out. And any additional fail safes or low band linking you can do between devices would probably be best too. I've had dampening fields stop devices from exploding in the past and let's just say, things didn't go to well after. But you're smart when it comes to making the small tweaks and considering possibilities, I'm sure you'll be able to handle it. And if not, well, I've been told by Damona they can replace fingers and limbs so no pressure." He was half serious, half joking. Just enough that no one around him could actually tell either way.

Kaelen gave him a sidelong glance, a faint smile tugging at the corner of her mouth. “Well, Senior, I'd hate to give Damona a reason to add my name to their list of repeat offenders.” She turned her attention back to the PADD, adding a few notes to the prototype's specifications. “But you're right about the fail-safes. If we're going to rely on these in the field, I want each charge to function independently. A low-band link would be useful for coordinating the sequence, but it can't become a single point of failure.”

She paused to study the schematic, considering the implications. Reed's experience with dampening fields was exactly the sort of thing she needed to account for before taking the design any further. “I'd rather have the system recognize when something's wrong than have it blindly follow a sequence that could leave us in trouble.” She looked back at him, her expression warming. “And for the record, I appreciate the vote of confidence. I'll do my best to keep all your limbs attached, too.”

Reed laughed and raised his glass toward her. "Then we have a deal, Cinder. You keep my fingers attached, and I'll make sure your charges end up exactly where they need to be." He finished the last of his scotch and set the glass on the bar, the ice rattling against the sides. It was getting late, and morning drills would come early whether he was ready for them or not. He would do no one any good if he showed up with a hangover, plus he had a new teammate to meet. "Send me what you have when you're ready and I'll start working through it tomorrow. Get some sleep." With that, Reed headed for the door, his mind already turning over dampening fields and how to beat them.

Kaelen settled back on her barstool, watching Reed head for the door. Once he was gone, she turned her attention to her PADD, reviewing the notes they'd discussed. A new thought occurred to her. “Can we make the control module entirely mechanical?”

The PADD acknowledged the question and recorded it in her notes. Tossing back the last of her drink, she offered the bartender a smile. “Looks like I a few more simulations to run.”