Slime and Sickbay

It was only a few hours after launch and there were ensigns all over the station preparing the unoccupied quarters with extra beds and medical supplies for when the liberated prisoners were beamed aboard. There was no telling how many there would be or how many would make it on board, but there certainly wouldn't be enough room for all of them in sickbay. So the ensigns were following orders to make do.

This meant that there wasn't much activity in sickbay at the moment, which was precisely why T'Pren arrived with a stasis box holding a sample glass of light green slime. She was in her uniform with the top slightly undone, her hair loose and long except for a small braid at her hairline to keep it out of her face while she worked.

Zíma was in the process of instructing an engineering ensign on limitations they'd like to see put on all replicators in the quarters housing refugees.
"Some of the organics may be starved or malnourished, and since we can't keep an eye on all of them at once, this is the safest way to proceed. Organics have a tendency to overeat and under-masticate when they're desperate, so here is a list of acceptable orders..." they handed the young man a PADD. "And a limited mass per hour, at the bottom, there. Everything clear? You should probably put that into the displays as well, so we don't get complaints about broken replicators."
The android wore their eerily creaseless uniform, and a line of hyposprays at the ready, attached to their waistband.
"Hello, Lieutenant. Any relevant updates from the bridge?"

"Doctor," greeted T'Pren with a small smile. She was still anxious and tightly wound, but she looked infinitely better than she did at the briefing that morning. "Nothing at all. Everything is smooth sailing at the moment, so I thought I'd help where I could and get some other work done before things got complicated."

She held up the stasis box with its gooey sample. "Will I be in your way if I do some DNA work? And is there anything I can do to help you get set up?"

Zíma gestured to the empty workspace.
"Be my guest. You may as well make use of the space while we have it."

"Thank you," said the science officer, setting her sample down on the space the robot indicated and beginning the process of rummaging through and raiding the cabinets for the tools and supplies she'd be needing for her work. "Are you sure you don't need help with anything while I'm here?"

"As unpredictable as the outcome of our mission may be, I think I've prepared for the most likely challenges."
Zíma rolled up their sleeve and set their forearm on the charging station they'd taken aboard. Best to have as much life as possible while the ship was calm.

As T'Pren bustled around, she passed Zima and his little station and her brows shot up in curiosity. "What is that?" she wondered as she set her things down on her own workspace and dropped into the chair unceremoniously.

Zíma watched the station as numbers slowly flickered up toward their full capacity.
"My engineer designed a flaw in my power system. It is not a complete ecosystem of waste and recharge the way true Soong models are. I very slowly drain power and rely on this station to replenish it. She wanted us to have a weakness which would cause us to rely on our custodians."

The expression on T'Pren's face was one of sympathy for Zima and disgust for his makers. "So they wanted slaves," she muttered darkly, turning to her work. "They wanted an easily controlled work force. Like a synthetic Jem'Hadar. But, of course, the Federation is above genetic engineering."

"I do not have genetics, Lieutenant. It's just engineering." Zíma didn't keep his eyes off the numbers flickering past. "She was afraid of us."

"But you have a mind," T'Pren replied, setting up her tools with an almost robotic precision. "So it doesn't matter what they built you from. It's the same concept."

"If you say so," Zíma watched as the numbers flattened out on the screen, then removed their arm from thew charging station and pulled their sleeve back down. They tucked the charging station back into a console compartment.
"I will be idle until I am needed. Do let me know if you need a hand."