"There Is Such A Thing As Too Much Realism In A Simulation"
(Previous Post: "Trust And Confidence")
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Stardate: 60308.1130
Setting: USS ANUBIS, Deck 7, Sickbay
The Shillian woman laid on the biobed, completely motionless and fully aware of those hovering around her, but yet her eyes remained fixated on the ceiling lights above where she had been. The Chief Science Officer had convinced herself that the chaos within the Holographic Simulation Chamber had been just that: a simulation, so despite the loathing the scientist had for war and destruction, she had convinced herself that all would be fine. As a scientist the Shillian had been asked more than once to look beyond her personal limits and likes to expend the boundaries of knowledge, and this time had not been any different. The head of the science department of the USS ANUBIS had wanted to see one of these ultra realistic holographic imaging systems in operation and this had been the best opportunity to do so.
"You do know that you are out of danger?" Prav said, gently tapping the arm of the Shillian scientist with his own finding the lack of movement from the woman to be a little disconcerting given that the Assistant Chief Medical Officer had reported no injuries aside from a few bumps and bruises. "If you are angry at me for having brought you out of the infiltration zone the way I did, I am sorry, but you left me with next to no options in that regards," the Marine Command Officer added, trying to enlist some sort of response from the woman.
"Why?" The Chief Science Officer asked, finally showing some sign of life by turning her head towards the Marine standing next to her bed.
"Why what?" Pravat replied, "Why am I still here or why I brought you to Sickbay in the first place?" While looking into the eyes of the Shillian, the Enaran saw something that he had never seen before coming from the Chief Science Officer: anger. It was true that the intensity of the emotion had been muted to say the least, but it had not invalidated what the Marine Commanding Officer had clearly perceived from the scientist.
"Why place your men as well as yourself in that kind of danger? Did you not get enough of that during our last mission? I mean you lost people back there and instead of protecting those who came back you exposed them to more danger. Why?" The Chief Science Officer asked through clenched teeth and teary eyes. Pravat did not know why exactly but he knew that whatever had brought this on had meant a great deal to the Shillian, unfortunately her comments about those who had not returned from their last mission had touched on a nerve.
"Listen Maya," the Enaran replied, immediately falling into a defensive posture against the Chief Science Officer. "I do not tell you how to do about your duties and responsibilities, so I would appreciate you doing the same for me. Scientific research and Marine operations are two completely different worlds, and we each deal with them in our own ways, according to our training and experiences," the Marine Commanding Officer said in maybe a little more forceful tone than he should have which made the Shillian turn her head away.
"Lieutenant," the Assistant Chief Medical Officer said in a whispered voice, "this is neither the place nor time for this. Please do not upset my patient."
The Marine had not been in the mood for this after having seen his training interrupted and his methods openly questioned by the Shillian, so he glared back at Ensign Summer for a moment. "Fine, I'm going, just be sure to remind her that next time she walks in on one of our training exercises she will be on her own," Pravat said regretting the words spoken almost as soon as they had been said, but his current anger prevented him from apologizing and instead he did as he had said and left.
As the Marine Command Officer walked out of Sickbay, Ensign Mei re-entered just in time to see the Marine Second Lieutenant storm out, his body gesture indicating without a doubt that he had not been happy. "Is everything all right?" The Counsellor asked of the Assistant Chief Medical Officer who simply shrugged her shoulders leaving Susan with only one person to ask about what had taken place. "Maya, what happened?"
The Shillian scientist hesitated for a little while before turning her head towards the Ensign, the anger that Pravat had seen in her eyes having completely vanished, replaced instead with a deeply felt sorrow and sadness that could be picked up by anyone regardless of their non-telepathic abilities.
"I said things that I should not have," the Shillian said before turning away once again. "When Pravat said that there was no safety protocol in the Holographic Simulation Chambers I realised that the destruction around me was more real than I cared to deal with and instead of just accepting that this was the way he dealt with the training of his people, I lashed out at him and now he is angry at me."
Ensign Mei found it hard to believe that the Shillian scientist could have lashed out at anyone for any reason, but her training in Counselling also made her understand that certain people reacted in different or exaggerated ways because of the emotional baggage they carried with them. It seemed that the latest experience endured by the Chief Science Officer had touched on one or more aspects of this baggage which had in turn triggered the response that the scientist had given and now regretted.
"Right now the best thing for you is to rest," Ensign Mei said coming across to the Shillian woman as a caring friend instead of a concerned Counsellor, something that Susan had not really intended on but had been grateful for nonetheless. "Once you are released from Sickbay, go back to your quarters and try not to think about this. Right now emotions are still too high to see this clearly, so time is the best medicine for the moment. If you would like, you and I can have a friendly chat about this first thing tomorrow morning," Susan said, pushing the suggested meeting to the next morning so to give her the time to do some preliminary research on the Shillian scientist and her past.
Susan had expected the Shillian to offer some sort of protest or give an excuse to explain why she would not be able to make the early morning meeting, but instead the Counsellor was surprised by a gentle smile and a positive nod of the head that meant the scientist had accepted the suggestion.
**Maybe the day I had been speaking about is not as far off as I had thought,** the Counsellor thought, giving the Shillian scientist a warm and reassuring smile before leaving her in the tender care of the Assistant Chief Medical Officer.
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Jessica Solarik { maya_992003@yahoo.com } 2005 post #097
Lieutenant Maya
Chief Science Officer
USS ANUBIS
