What's in a Brain?

Posted on Fri Mar 25th, 2022 @ 9:15am by Lieutenant Etan tar-Lexros & Lieutenant Sky Jansen-Carey

Mission: Free write
Location: Counselor's Office
Tags: counseling, operations, psych eval

If anyone had asked Etan while he was walking from his quarters to the Chief Counselor's office, he would have truthfully told them that he was not feeling any particular fear. What he was feeling instead was a deep and abiding sense of pure discomfort. He didn't do well at trusting people, especially people he'd never met before; it took him a long while to get comfortable with people. Still, he hoped that the evaluation would be simple and wouldn't require discussing anything that was too personal. Still, he steeled himself as best he could as he approached the door, pressing the bell button and waiting patiently.

Sky checked her schedule as the door chime rang, walking over to the door she offered a warm smile as she greeted the latest member of the crew. “You must be Lieutenant tar-Lexros, please come on in.” She stepped aside allowing him to enter.

Etan nodded and smiled, stepping inside. He could tell from the pips on her shoulders that they shared the same rank. "I am. I'm the new Operations officer, Miss Jansen."

“Please make yourself at home. The replicator is available for use if you want anything.” Sky moved around to her seat. “I’m Sky Jansen, please feel free to call me Sky it saves using rank.”

Etan noted the strange lack of professionalism aboard this ship. That seemed to come straight from the top - a Captain who openly played sports with his Bridge crew, an XO who preferred to be referred to by first name, it all seemed highly irregular and overly informal. In the diplomatic and legal communities of his homeworld, informality tended to mean one of two things - family or danger. While he'd been made aware of the Captain having romantic relationships with two members of the crew, he was not himself part of that family; nor did he have any interest in being so. He'd turned down romantic entanglements previously; he preferred the simplicity of duty. Therefore, his inherent assumption defaulted to danger, that some sort of trap was being laid for him. or some practical joke was about to be played. He'd suffered too many of them over his life. Still, treat people as they wish to be treated, and all that. He didn't take anything from the replicator - he was here as the subject of an assessment; that meant he was on particularly sharp pins and needles right now. "Um, yes... Sky. I wanted to try and get my intake psych eval resolved before my first duty shift, I've already had my physical and met with the Captain. Did you receive my outgoing evaluation from the Cannonball? She's in for refit now, but I was under the impression that dispatches of that nature were being prioritized."

Sky nodded. “Records sometimes take a little while to catch up, saying that I think I saw yours waiting for me this morning. However, I would prefer that you give me a brief rundown of your situation. Records say one thing, a personal perspective however, can often say something else.”

Etan shrugged lightly at her request for a rundown of his record. There wasn’t much he felt he could tell her that was different than the documentation would list. “After graduating the Academy with honors for technical aptitude, I was assigned to a five-year mission on the Klingon border, working Ops on an Ambassador class ship. I worked my way up the line to Assistant Chief of the Ops department about halfway into the tour, when our former Assistant Chief was transferred to the Cardassian border. A few months ago, the Cannonball was selected for refit at the end of her five-year mission - that mission ended three weeks ago. Most of us who weren’t direct command staff were transferred off. I was assigned here as Chief of Ops, and uh, here I am. This is a big ship, and I’m trying to get my bearing on what the level of need is, and how to establish repair sections, provisioning, and the like, by reading reports from other Galaxy class Ops chiefs and asking about pain points here. There’s not much else to say.”

It would be painfully obvious from the young man’s tone and approach that he was focused on the technical details of the ship, and of the situation. While he was probably personable enough to serve as an interdepartment liaison (part of the Ops role), anyone who was slightly more experienced would realize that he was inexperienced in the role and - were the galactic situation less dire - should have served another tour before becoming even an Assistant Chief, just to get some confidence and social ability. But too-quick promotions were becoming a sad norm. Still, he’d been assigned, and seemed to know what the job entailed. He’d probably grow into it better over time.

Sky nodded. “Okay so how are you fitting in on a personal level? Have you met many of the crew yet? Do you tend to socialise much, or do you prefer not to?”

Etan shrugged about that. He didn’t recognize any issues, at least. “I wouldn’t know for sure about fitting in - you’d have to ask others. I haven’t had any real resistance from the Ops staff, or from any other officer. I’m not aware of any pranks having been played on me, or anything in the offing meant to embarrass me - so I must be fitting in better than at my first year of the Academy. I don’t tend to socialize much, and I have a great deal of study to do. I need to get fully up to speed on this ship, her specs, and usual pain points of the class, and not just base my knowledge on older spaceframes. So far, I’ve met the Captain, you, and the Doctor - at least that I’ve spoken to at length. I’ve met some of the Helm Control staff, and one of my new reports. But I’ve only been aboard less than a week and I haven’t had a duty shift yet. I’m certain that I’ll meet more people as time goes on. I will be booking time with the Engineer after my first shift to discuss the needs of Engineering and the overlap. I also need to meet with Lieutenant Commander Doctrine about her needs for specialized equipment; and have a joint meeting with the Helm Control Chief and the Engineer concerning our secondary vessels. But I don’t expect that to be until next week. And if you have any provision requests, including any psychoactive medications that the Doctor doesn’t or can’t prescribe, please let me know and I will absolutely have them brought aboard.”

Sky nodded. “I appreciate that, thank you.” She smiled. “It sounds like you keep yourself pretty busy, what do you like to do to relax, to let off steam?”

Etan raised an eyebrow, considering the question for a moment before responding. “I haven’t really had anything that I needed to relax from. I love what I do, working hands-on with equipment, repairing it, and improving it within regulation. So I haven’t needed to “let off steam” the way others do. My work makes me happy.”

Sky smiled. “Fair enough. If that’s what makes you happy. So are there any questions you’d like to ask?”

Etan smiled in return, more out of an attempt to get a clue of her conduct than any specific happiness. He thought about questions he wanted to ask - the only one that came to mind was one he didn’t feel appropriate. But, at the same time, he needed to know. “I apologize if this is considered prying, or too personal, but, in your professional capacity, do you believe that an ongoing romantic relationship between the Captain and two officers will have a non-negative impact on the crew’s professional conduct, their morale, and the proper operation of this ship as a whole?”

Sky hadn’t been expecting that one but she wasn’t going to avoid answering the question either. “Captain Carey is a professional, as is his wife Talsi, as am I.” She offered a smile. “Some species have more than one mate, granted it’s not usual for Humans or Betazoids to have multiple partners, but as long as it doesn’t have an effect on our working relationship, which it won’t, I see no problem with it. If anyone has a problem with it then they will need to take it up with the Captain or with Starfleet.”

Etan nodded at her comment, considering it for a moment. Her answer was valid, but even though his species was known for polyamorous relationships, he’d never really seen the point. Plus, the regs strongly discouraged commanding officers from becoming romantically involved with their subordinates. It wasn’t outright forbidden, of course. But it was generally frowned upon, and that was hard for a new Operations Chief to overlook. “If you are certain of that in an objective professional capacity, Miss Jansen, then I trust your skilled judgment. If anyone voices any concerns to the Operatons department, I will direct them to you and the Captain.”

Sky smiled and nodded. "I appreciate that Lieutenant. Well if there's nothing else you'd like to ask I'm happy to approve your psyche evaluation."

Almost immediately, Etan shook his head and gave her a more genuine smile. There was nothing he wanted more than to get this approved and get to work. "Nothing else from me, miss. Thank you for your approval; I'll come by either tomorrow or the day after to discuss any urgent provisioning or maintenance needs. Have a good day." Since she didn't outrank him, he didn't need to worry about being dismissed. So, having concluded the conversation, he turned for the door and just about scurried out.