Engineering Science Labs (Port & Starboard) (Deck 13)

The two engineering science labs sit on opposite sides of the QSD systems core, functionally identical mirror images separated by the width of the ship. Each lab is a mid-sized rectangular compartment lined along one wall with a bank of specialized analysis stations: a materials stress-testing rig holding a small sample chamber ringed by focused emitter coils, a molecular scanner housed in a waist-high console with a sliding sample tray, and a rack of isolinear processing units dedicated to running propulsion-modeling simulations. The opposite wall holds a long counter of grey composite cluttered with sample containers, spare component housings, and a scattering of handheld diagnostic tools clipped into a wall-mounted organizer. A large central island console dominates the middle of the room, its surface a broad, flat interactive display capable of projecting three-dimensional models of subspace field geometries or crystalline lattice structures for closer study; currently it displays a slowly rotating schematic of a benamite crystal's internal structure, rendered in translucent blue-green wireframe. Overhead, task lighting is bright and focused directly over the work surfaces, while the rest of the room remains dimmer, giving the space a slightly uneven, workshop-like quality rather than the even wash of a standard laboratory. The air carries a faint chemical tang from the materials-testing equipment, mixed with the same background ozone smell common throughout the engineering section, and a low, steady hum from the idling analysis stations underlies the room. Occasional soft chimes mark the completion of a scan or simulation run, and the deck plating carries the same persistent low-frequency vibration felt throughout Deck 13's propulsion spaces, more noticeable here than in crew areas but far gentler than in the power conditioning rooms nearby.