Posted by Lieutenant Casela Synthi-er (Counsellor / RTF) in Side Sim - Is my head on straight? Juliet with CNS

Posted by Ensign Juliet Anders (Security Officer /RTF) in Side Sim - Is my head on straight? Juliet with CNS

Juliet sighed. This was the part she hated the most.

Medical was easy. “Yes, I’m fine. No I’m not in any current pain or discomfort. No nothing has changed since my departure from my last duty station. Thank you, can I go now?”
Checking in with her Supervisor was easy. “Yes, Sir, I am not going to cause any trouble. No, Sir, it won’t happen again. No, Sir, I don’t need additional warnings. Yes, Sir, can I go now?”
Even checking in with Security wouldn’t be half bad. “Yes, Sir. I’m aware I am not longer a Lieutenant with supervisory clearances. No, Sir, I won’t be trying anything funny or trying to get where I shouldn’t. Yes, Sir, I will behave. Can I go now?”

But Counselors. They were different. Different environments, people, questions, even their manners. Would this one try and play the best friend you can count on me card or the I’m here if you need me but I’m not going to make it easy for you? Or perhaps they will simply look at her, shake their head and tolerate her as a lost cause they were sacked with. That was the problem… one never knew.

Juliet arrived on the deck and stepped free of the turbo lift. Her hand rose to brush an errant strand of jet black hair behind her ear as eyes of crystalline blue gazed around. Slowly she stepped up to the receptionist desk and tugged down the front of her impeccable tunic top. One she she hadn’t lost, her ability to maintain an inspection ready uniform no matter where she went. “Lieu.. Ensign Anders here to do boarding check in.” She still slipped now an then. Hard to say ‘Ensign’ again after having been a Lieutenant for a few years. She was still adjusting. And still turned her head when someone called out to a Lieutenant in her vicinity.

She stood, half at parade rest, waiting to hear how long her wait would be till she had to play ‘nice and well adjusted’.

Ensign Juliet Anders
Security

Crewman Dean looked up and did a double take. His eyes widened slightly but his professional on duty mask stayed in place. “Yes En. Anders. I have you here. Would you like anything to drink or eat? The trip out to Leviathan is always long and those transports, well their environmental controls were always too warm for me, making me sleepy. XO told me once they do that on purpose.” Dean wasn’t making chit chat, simply talking. It was part of his job to help pass the time for those waiting, but he tried to be genuine about it. While doing that he paged En Watkins.

“No, thank you. I’m fine. And I usually sleep on long trips anyway. Makes it go faster and helps with time lags.” She wasn’t being cold, merely conversational as well. She caught the double take and wondered if she had caught the man in the middle of something he shouldn’t have. Perhaps a lurid thought, or a pastime on the console at his fingertips he shouldn’t have been at. It didn’t matter cause just then another person joined the small party.

Just a few brief moments later En Watkins came around the corner. She was wearing her standard uniform looking professional and crisp. Her brown hair pulled back in a a tight bun. She took one look at Anders and thanked her training for keeping her from stopping and her jaw hitting the floor. Except for the eyes....did the Lt know about this?

“En Anders. Welcome to Leviathan. If you’ll come this way to my office we’ll get started.” Watkins went over what she had read of Anders file, and it wasn’t all that different from anyone else, but now that she’d seen her, the similarities to the Lt were bizarre, and that was saying something for Leviathan. Once in her office she waved to a seat. Her office had a desk in a corner and a choice of a chair or a larger two seater. Some people liked more room. But the Lt was very clear on this point. Coddling and hand holding were not for the office. There were other rooms on the deck for that. The office was for fitness for duty evals and consultations. Making such a distinction was important for the amount and types of work they did on Leviathan. “Alright En. So you are here for an onboarding. Which means we aren’t going to delve into your psyche today. You’re here to make sure you are mentally fit for duty. So tell me, how did you end up here? By choice, by orders, or by the lesser of two evils?”
En Watkins, counselor

She murmured the usual pleasantries as she rattled them off in her head like a check list.
Welcome aboard
How was your trip?
Can I get you a drink?
Have a seat…

A few more moments of this and she could ask to go. The question posed to her was one she was waiting for. It’s what most asked, professionally or merely curiously. “I’m here because it was this or early retirement and back to the civilian life for me. In my current rank condition, I’m not suited for much out there.” She waved her hand absently to encompass anything outside of the ship. “I have skills that are useful out here in the black so why not keep offering them up?” She wasn’t sure how much was in her records, so she didn’t offer it up. Her mind, purely out of habit, glinted over the woman’s thoughts. She wouldn’t intrude, never that! But she wasn’t beyond reading surface thoughts if they were loud enough or directed at her. Half the time she wasn’t even aware she still did it automatically. In the field, it kept her and her team alive. So why not keep using it to stay that way?

She took the offered seat and settled herself, lifting her leg to rest her right ankle on her left knee. Her hands resting on her shin as as she watched and observed. That, too, was automatic.

Juliet
Security

Synthi-er had been showing her staff how to keep their thoughts locked up, or at least from straying. So what Juliet would mostly pick up on was professional curiosity in order to do her job. But she was good a reading body language and knew the En was ready to get out of there. “Seems a normal enough question, but on Leviathan, well we are all misfits. Most of us are here by orders or a lesser of two evils. Very few choose to come here because they want to be. How are you at handling conflict? Before you answer let me explain the situation here for you. We have ARU, we have RTF, we have Intel, we have standard security, We have S31 agents. No one wants to work together and everyone thinks they are the best. Problem is, they are all right. But we have to work together. So, now to my question.”

“Your department head, Lt Surda, has done an amazing job of working with the RTF agents to begin to make some kind of working team effort. Cpt Manhattan, head of RTF is also working very hard at that as well. Actually, the whole command staff is. But there are still some bumps along the way. You will have extra duties. Cpt Manhattan has training 6 days a week for RTF agents. What do you plan to do to make sure you get enough down time. The body and the mind need rest. They are all organs after all. And it’s good to have a plan in place. We can go weeks with nothing and then we can go months with non-stop.”
En Watkins, Counselor

Juliet listened and actually paused a moment to think of her answer. This wasn’t a time for flippant remarks and smart alec comments. “I’m trained to work with whoever I’m told to. I find what skills they are best at and play to those assets. Most of the time when mixed teams are made, it’s not a case of who’s the better shooter. It’s a case of this person knows explosives, this one knows layouts, this one knows the target. Once you can figure out what each person is good at, then ‘who shoots the best’ becomes the game, not the objective.” If only her own team had learned that long ago. Well… her old team.

“As to down time, that’s easy. When I’m not working, I’m working out or in my quarters. I’m not a party animal who stays up and takes every moment of down time to socialize and catch up. I know it’s in my files, so you are probably aware. I was a Team Leader, a Supervisor and been in Special Ops for quite a while. I know down time is precious and never promised. You have no worries I won’t decompress when given the chance. Then I will worry about honing my skills for whatever is to come next.”

While she wasn’t one to like Counselors, or their staff in general, this woman wasn’t among those that Juliet would avoid if possible. She never labeled anyone a ‘friend’ anymore. They never stuck around. There were simply people you were willing to hang around, and those you avoided. Thankfully, this woman was current in the former list.

Juliet
Security

Watkins nodded, “That’s good. I’ve seen your file of course. The CNS will know more with her clearance but you should know that your time as a team leader is an asset here. Just because there was…political issues before, we don’t stand much on that here. We’ve survived this long because we’ve learned to put that stuff behind us. Or well to accept it and move on. There isn’t a person on this ship who hasn’t made mistakes and the wrong person notice. And I’m not just saying that. It’s amazing most that anyone of this crew was allowed to still be in Star Fleet. But that holds us together, in a very weird way. Now moving on from your past. The most serious question I’m going to ask you. How will we, the counseling staff, know if you are in need of our help. What would you consider the warnings signs? We deal in high stress situations constantly, something you are used to, so you should know what your limits are and be able to tell us. There’s no need for us to be chasing after you every time we see something that would bother a typical officer. So what should we be aware of so we can help you when you need it?”
Lt Watkins, counselor

Now she did the mental double take. No one had ever asked her. They came by after something happened and asked if everyone was all right. But if you said ‘yes’ then that was the last of it. Unless you walked into the office, mostly you were left alone. “I don’t know.” It was choked out of her like a bad taste. Admitting weakness wasn’t one of her strong suites. Admitting she didn’t know her own self was ten times worse to her.

She didn’t realize that she was suddenly up and pacing. When she turned to face the desk and realized she had been looking at the wall a moment ago, she stopped. Putting her hands on the back of the chair she had been sitting in, she looked at the woman across from her. “I can’t tell you what to look for because I don’t know. I know how to behave, how to rest and take care of myself and how to get along with others. That includes superior officers and supervisors and team leaders. But I can’t tell you what to look for that’s a warning sign. Can I go now?” She had been partially open a few moments ago. But now the shields were up once more and she was tired of playing head shrink.

Juliet
Security

Watkins stopped and blinked at the last question. Anders was certainly ready to get out of here. Synthi-er was going to have a field day with this one. “It’s okay En. For everything you’ve been through you probably already have built in warnings and adjust accordingly. It’s instinct now. And instinct is hard to put words too. Look, we ask as a matter of course. We, as a team, don’t like dodging our crew mates steps. It makes people twitchy. We’re here if you need us, and if you don’t,” Watkins shrugged. The Lt had a strict don’t bug the crew policy. She was the only one allowed to bug people, and as of to date, Watkins had never seen the Lt do that. “Can I help with any of your onboarding? Have you been given your berth? Need directions to find your DH or the doctor? Did you things get transferred over and delivered correctly?” Watkins was being genuine. She didn’t want to make Anders nervous or uncomfortable, so in that vein she stood up and walked Anders out of her office and across the lobby towards the turbolift. Anders might be on edge, but she seemed more than competent to do her job.
En Watkins, counselor

The fact the woman didn’t press her was just another plus in her column. Though she still wondered if the doc wasn’t gonna track her down and corner her another time.

Off balance from the glossing over of her lack of reply, she found herself answering without thinking. “No thank you. I’ve found everything all right. And yes, my things are in storage or my quarters. I appreciate that. Heading to see CoS next, actually.” As they reached the door, Juliet turned to face the woman. Her look softened, just for a moment, from the hard core shell surrounding her. “Thank you. And I’ll do my best to come to you if something’s wrong. I admit, though, I can’t make any promises. Don’t take it personally.”

She nodded once more and turned to step forward so the door would read her proximity and open.

Juliet
Security