Posted by Lieutenant Aasrel Izei (Assistant Medical Chief) in OX’s Office - Some Concerns

Posted by Lieutenant Commander Todd Nyman (XO) in OX’s Office - Some Concerns

Posted by Lieutenant Aasrel Izei (Assistant Medical Chief) in OX’s Office - Some Concerns
Posted by… suppressed (18) by the Post Ghost! 👻
Commander Nyman sighed as he scrolled through the information on the PaDD. On paper, Aasrel seemed to be a decent officer. He had a relatively good record of service. A strong academic background. But then two things stood out… First, his assimilation by the Borg, and the subsequent extensive length he had gone to to remove his implants. This was not an issue in and of itself, their were many ex-Borg who were very productive members of Star Fleet. And the removal of his implants was a choice he had the right to make. But then that was paired with a very - spotty psychological history. The most complete observations were rather out–of-date. His newest, post-recovery, were basically no more than a rubber-stamp approval for him to get back to work. And one was simply not accessible at the moment.

That was never a good sign.

Nyman leaned back in his chair, scrolled through one more time and shook his head. It didn’t feel right to him. He felt like… maybe he shouldn’t have taken the promotion. As Chief Counselor he could have been a lot more help. But that wasn’t his job anymore. The only thing he could do at this point was respond to the report Ensign Garnes made regarding him.

=^= Doctor Izei, this is Commander Nyman. Please report my office, when you are available. =^=

|Lt. Cmdr. Nyman, XO|

Aasrel was getting sorted in his quarters with Bethany when he was paged. There was a feeling of deep dread balling up in his stomach. What did the XO want?

Well, the only way to find out was to hurry up and go. =/\= On my way, Commander. =/\= He said into the comm, and then hurried off down the corridor.

Aasrel rang the chime and waited nervously. Telepathically, he was listening nonintrusively.

~ Izei, AMO
The door opened to revealed Nyman standing on the other side. As far as Aasrel could tell, a taller, somewhat fit human male. His soft green eyes opposed the harsh red of his new Command uniform. It was still stiff from being freshly replicated. He brushed a strand of blonde hair out of his face, stood up straight and welcomed Aasrel into his office.

“Come in, Doctor,” he said, pointing an open hand to the chairs in front of the desk, “Please have a seat.”

There is no reason to be nervous, it’s not like anyone is in trouble or anything. Just a few things to discuss is all, this business with Ensign Garnes and the incident in the hallway and I’d like to get this over with, hopefully sooner rather than later.

He wasn’t sure the extent of Doctor Izei’s listening in, but thought it important to keep at least his projected thoughts in check. Almost like he would around another Vendorian.

He walked over and took a seat at his desk, pulled his uniform down to flatten it to his chest.

“If I understand correctly, there was an… incident that happened shortly after you came aboard.”

|Lt. Cmdr. Nyman, XO|

His telepathy was fairly strong, so he overheard a lot, but he was polite, so he tried not to listen in when it wasn’t welcomed. But he did hear, and when Nyman said incident the way he did, Aasrel knew exactly what he was talking about.

Who’d reported it? What was Nyman going to do about it? Finally he answered with, “Yes?”

~ Izei, AMO

“Now, for the sake of completeness,” he continued, picking up the PaDD off his desk,

“I would like to hear your side of events.”

|Lt. Cmdr. Nyman, XO|

Aasrel swallowed and looked away, clearly embarrassed. “I saw that officer, and I um…” What was the phrase Bethany kept using? “had a post-traumatic response. ....It won’t happen again.” He said, studying the floor like it was made of magic steel.

~ Izei, AMO

Nyman paused entering the information into his PaDD. He looked across the table and slowly set the device down. There was a sense of discomfort emerging from him despite the effort to appear calm.

“Doctor,” he said, “Post Traumatic Stress Disorder is a recognized psychological condition. It is, as Star Fleet is concerned, a medical condition.”

He nodded his head downwards, asking in both thought and gesture if he understood.

Afterwards continuing to speak,

“It is not Star Fleet’s policy to reprimand officers for showing signs of a medical condition.”

|Lt. Cmdr. Nyman, XO|

This conversation was immensely uncomfortable to Aasrel. Not because he thought it was bad to have a mental health condition, but because he didn’t like or want to talk about it or the reason for it. “I know that,” he said. “Can you, um… Apologize to her? For me?”

~ Izei, AMO

“I will,” he said, more to comfort him than anything. Ensign Garnes didn’t seem to want an apology anyway.

”…You won’t really, will you?” Aasrel sighed. Fine, he’d have Bethany do it.

“I don’t require any more information than you are able to give me,” Nyman reassured him.

That was the second lie, but he could tell how uncomfortable the situation made Aasrell. To make it slightly more convincing, he glanced toward the PaDD on the desk,

“That’s just an acknowledgment we had this discussion, nobody is going to read that.”

|Lt. Cmdr. Nyman, XO|

Aasrel sensed deception, again, and frowned. “You’re not being honest. Please, tell me the truth, Commander.” He said. He looked at the PaDD and read through it himself.

~ Izei, AMO

He froze in place, not even bothering to stop Aasrel. Nyman’s mind shouted out some kind of expletive, but its meaning wasn’t clear. His eyes dilated so large only a rim of green was left. Was the Commander angry? afraid? intrigued? It seemed like all three at once.

The form was a medical incident report. The same one a commanding officer was supposed to fill out if there is a reported workplace injury, or an allergic reaction, or anything that had to be reported to the Chief Medical Officer. Anything that had to be followed up by the Chief Medical Officer.

As he watch them review the information, Nyman tilted his head to the side. But a sly smile creeped up onto his face. It was the intrigue taking over.

“So you are a true telepath,” he said, “You must be, right? I wasn’t sure but… Fascinating.”

|Lt. Cmdr. Nyman, XO|

Aasrel nodded with certainty. He’d fought for, nearly died for, his abilities. The surgery that restored his telepathic powers had caused a brain bleed. He was lucky to have survived with no adverse effects to his mental capacity. “I am. My abilities are pretty perceptive. Let me ask, sir, how can you expect those under your command to trust you when you are not honest?”

He didn’t have to finish reading the form. He’d seen enough of them. “You want this followed up by your medical department.”

~ Izei, AMO

“Not everyone possesses such abilities,” he said, replying to both questions at once. If the doctor was going to bring up every single lie, they’d be here all day. So he would have to stick to the truth, though only in technicality.

“So it’s okay to lie to them?” Aasrel knew he shouldn’t question so openly, but apparently some of Bethany’s brazenness had rubbed off on him.

The Commander nodded in agreement,

“I don’t believe trust is always necessary. Cooperation is good enough most of the time. As for visiting our doctor - Well when I first heard of the incident I couldn’t be one hundred percent sure that it wasn’t a physiological issue. So I took the appropriate course of action.”

|Lt. Cmdr. Nyman, XO|

“I…” Aasrel was so taken aback, he didn’t know what to say. You don’t need trust? Who thought that? Well, this guy, apparently. He recovered and shook his head. “I’d rather not discuss things. I can promise it won’t happen twice.”

~ Izei, AMO

“And now who’s not being honest,” the Commander chided playfully. Both of them would know that’s not how it works. There is no it ‘going away on its own’ for chronic conditions.

He dropped to a more serious tone,

“Having PTSD hardly disqualifies you from serving in Star Fleet. It certainly makes things more difficult, but with treatment it’s possible to have a very successful career. Though I also can’t blame you for wanting to keep this confidential.”

There was a pause. That statement came from experience, not all of it second hand.

If this were a - he stopped. Couldn’t think about that now. Suffice to say that Star Fleet was much more reasonable when it came to this.

|Lt. Cmdr. Nyman, XO|

There was no going away on its own, but Aasrel was in full avoidance mode and treating it meant some counselor trying to make him not avoid it. “I was treated,” he said, after a silence. “During my recovery.”

~ Izei, AMO

Some feeling inside of him said to pull back. It wasn’t his job anymore. He should be pushing it.

“And did it help?” he asked, raising an eyebrow. “Like when you were in treatment, did it seem like it was working?”

|Lt. Cmdr. Nyman, XO|

“Of course,” Aasrel lied. It hadn’t, really. And on the Aasimov, he hadn’t trusted the counselor, so he hadn’t seen him at all. Two could play the lying game. The man was odd, but Aasrel felt he was not telepathic or empathic.

~ Izei, AMO

The Commander studied Aasrel’s expression. Even without empathy, it was easy to tell when humanoids lied. It was still ingrained in him, however, never directly point it out. But he knew Aasrel might need it.

“Think about it this way. As Commander, I need to be sure this crew is both fit and prepared to do their duties. If I were to suggest you do something harmful, well that would just be shooting myself in the foot then, wouldn’t it? So, when I suggest you continue treatment, the treatment you just said helped, why wouldn’t you?”

|Lt. Cmdr. Nyman, XO|

“I am fit and prepared.” Aasrel said. He wasn’t able to come up with a reason why not, so instead he didn’t answer that part.

~ Izei, AMO

“So you continue to insist,”

He couldn’t even be upset at this point. Aasrel’s commitment was something to be admired. It was the Commander’s choice whether this went further. If he wanted to force the confrontation and expose whatever feelings the doctor was trying to keep hidden. Another glint of a smile crossed his face,

“Well then, if that’s the case, I suppose there is nothing to worry about. Perhaps a medical visit isn’t necessary at this time.”

His voice got lower as he learned forward,

“ I could order you to… but I don’t see any reason to escalate the issue. We’ll keep this between us, and Ensign Garnes. I’ll even deliver your sincerest apologies, just like you asked.”

|Lt. Cmdr. Nyman, XO|

Did he mean it, or didn’t he? Aasrel’s empathy reached out to ascertain Nyman’s emotions. “Thank you, Commander,” he said regardless.

~ Izei, AMO

The Commander dropped his civil smile for a brief moment. A wave an intensity emanated from him just as it did when Aasrel pointed out his previous deception.

“There are some other things should be kept between us, Lieutenant. Like, for example, when you sense someone is being deceptive.”

|Lt. Cmdr. Nyman, XO|