Heading off to deal with the error, Helena found herself once again in the mess hall, working on fixing the replicator. Apparently the replicator’s engine needed some parts replaced, but with herself on the job Helena knew that the system could be brought back online.
“J’Hrd, I need someone to get the spare capacitor, as well as a new matter-energy conversion unit. We’re not dealing with another glitch, it’s just a routine repair. All I need are the parts.”
“Of course, chief engineer. It’ll be done.”
With that, Helena saw the Teluxciclain leave, as she managed to quickly remove the old, broken-down capicitor engine. That was the easy part of the removal, as while the capacitor was no bigger than a football, the other part that needed replacement, the matter-energy conversion unit was half the size of a bed, and twice as heavy as one.
As she was halfway done through getting the giant replicator part ready to be lifted out, a trio of engineers came back, following on from a order by J’Hrd, who had to do something else. Two of them were average humans, carrying the new matter-energy conversion unit together due to it’s size and weight.
It was the third person who caught Helena’s eyes however. This third person was a Macvedite, a humanoid that evolved from a unique form of scorpion. Her “skin” was a soft green chitin, and not only did she possess hard dark green chitin on her hands and feet, but she possessed a tail right above her behind, that had a third hand on the tip rather than a stinger. It was this hand that she was carrying the new capacitor in it.
That’s not what caught Helena’s eyes about her however. There were plenty of weirder and more unique people on the ship so someone like this girl were normal. What wasn’t was the woman’s weight. She had thought with the amount of exercise that a engineer went through on a daily basis, it was impossible to put on some weight, but here she was.
Eyeballing it, Helena could only guess that the Macvedite was around 200 pounds, 250 if one included the tail on her back. She had a rather pronounced pot-belly that seemed to sway and bounce a bit in her orange and white jumpsuit and small, but certainly fatty breasts.
The stars of the show though were her lower body. Two absolutely chunky legs, accompanied by two spheres of fat that were her ass. While her top half was relatively light, due to her own genetics the bulk of her weight settled below the belly. Even the tail looked a bit plump, as it reached around her potbelly and held out the capacitor for the chief engineer.
“The equipment you asked for is here, Chief Engineer. And we look to be right on time as well!”
“Thank you...” Looking up to the woman, Helena looked for a name tag or any sort of identification, finding it right over her right breast. “Serqet.”
“Of course. It’s a pleasure getting to work on this ship! Anyway, I should probably get back to help J’Hrd. The gravity generator needs a plasma charge change, and those things require a lot of strength!”
Beginning to head off with her other workmates, Serqet was caught off guard as Helena caught the woman by her tail hand. “Hold on. Before you go, I must ask something out of... curiosity.”
“What is it?” Serqet asked, stopping as she turned back to look at her Marrow superior.
“I’ve noticed your... how should I say this... rounded physique and I must ask. How did you manage to put on such a figure as a engineer. Our jobs are supposed to be the most rigorous on the Bos, yet your looking rather plump, if I do say so myself.”
“It’s... it’s not fat!” Serqet said, realizing what Helena was talking about and feeling a bit nervous about her figure. “I’m just big boned!”
“Big bones or not...” Helena replied, looking down at the Macvedite’s hips, a deadpan tone in her eyes. “Hips that wide don’t make for a good engineer. We have to squeeze through some pretty tight spaces sometimes to fix things, but with how big you are, you could get stuck.”
“My job’s not for all that though! I’m more used for part delivery! And it hasn’t hampered that job in the slightest, now has it?”
Serqet certainly was right in that regard. For what her job in the Engineer Corps entailed, she dealt with moving machine parts around for when they needed to be replaced, and the lazarette of the Bos was massive. There was little chance of the girl getting stuck, though the weight still concerned Helena.
“Perhaps for now you should focus on taking a bit of a diet. We only accept the best of the best on the Bos after all, and we don’t want people lacking behind.”
“It’s okay, I swear!” Serqet exclaimed, as she walked away, her hips bouncing up and down with each footfall. “My weight’s just fine!”
Seeing the Macvedite woman walk away in a huff, Helena let out a small sigh before getting back to work. She was worried about the girl’s weight, but there was more important work to do at the moment than help one of her junior engineers out.
Within the course of the hour, the Marrow girl fixed up the replicator, putting the spare parts in and sending the broken down capacitor and matter-energy conversion unit to be examined and repaired. Looking at the marvel that she had created, Helena had a faint smile as she prepared to move on to the next emergency.
Then her stomach grumbled.
Checking the time, Helena saw that enough time had passed during her repairs that it was now lunch time on the Bos. And with everyone rushing up to the Mess Hall, it was about time for her to get something to eat. Turning to the replicator, she thought on what she should eat, and what could possibly serve as a good meal.
“Hmm... how about for today the tuna ravioli salad? Perhaps with a side of kelp wrap?”
Pressing through the replicator’s menus, Helena created her lunch, just as the majority of the crew of the Bos arrived in the mess hall. There was a wide variety of people of various races coming in, most of them of varying weights and almost all of them ready to stuff themselves on some finely replicated food.
With her tray of tuna ravioli with kelp wraps in hand, Helena walked out of the way as she saw a Hydinian security guard walk up to the machine. Sitting down at a random table, the chief engineer slowly began to eat, as she waited for someone else to arrive and initiate things.