Posted by Commander Dira Myqian (Executive Officer) in SB 157: The Boiler Room Cafe: Meeting with XO

Posted by Lieutenant Zoi Haven (Chief of Security) in SB 157: The Boiler Room Cafe: Meeting with XO

Posted by Commander Dira Myqian (Executive Officer) in SB 157: The Boiler Room Cafe: Meeting with XO

(snip)

A somewhat amused expression appeared on the XO’s face. “It is a rather bad habit, especially after two decades of doing so pretty intensely. But I wouldn’t say I’m always analyzing people for the sake of making decisions on them. More like, since I have a particular skillset, and I’m psi-positive, I’m more aware of a person’s… being, than they might be. I don’t necessarily do anything with that knowledge and many times it’s simply not my place,” Dira said practically.

Commander Myqian, XO

“Hazard of the job.” she said in between bites. “I don’t know if I would consider that a bad habit though. I mean, it could probably have its down sides. I’m just not sure I would call it a bad habit. Take for instance, my job. I can’t be in a room without knowing where all the exits are, without having taken the attitude temperature of everyone in my vicinity, of knowing a myriad of details about people in a glance without even trying. It means I rarely completely relax even in pleasant company and my attention never stays fixed to the person I am engaging in conversation which some think is rude. Granted I have been doing security work for many more years than 20.”

Haven, CoS

Dira twirled her spoon in her long fingers as she considered this point of view. “There is that. But I find as a therapist people have a harder time seeing you as anything else. And there’s nothing wrong with that in principle. But that isn’t going to be my role on the Ogawa. So if I want to cultivate a different sort of relationship with this crew, I have to be prepared to set aside at least some of my therapist tendencies and try to approach it all from a different angle. Goodness knows how that will go, but I imagine it’s all a part of the process,” she said with a smile.

Commander Myqian, XO

“I think you will have less of a challenge in that than you think.” She set down her spoon and picked up her tea for a sip before she explained her logic. “You are coming to the ship as an Executive Officer. If you had started as a psychiatrist here and worked your way up to XO, you might have difficulty transitioning as everyone remembers you and has interacted with you as a therapist on board. It would be hard for them and you to think of yourself as anything else. However, coming into a ship where people only know you as an XO is very much to your advantage. They may have looked at your file and know you were a therapist, but they won’t know you as a therapist. Act like an XO and people will treat you like one. We are conditioned to be that way afterall.”

Haven, CoS