Posted by Ensign Peter “Wraith” McGarvey (Security Officer) in Psych Evaluation of Peter “Wraith” McGarvey - Counselor’s Office

Posted by Lieutenant Ayla Sharise (Counselor) in Psych Evaluation of Peter “Wraith” McGarvey - Counselor’s Office

Posted by Ensign Peter “Wraith” McGarvey (Security Officer) in Psych Evaluation of Peter “Wraith” McGarvey - Counselor’s Office
Posted by… suppressed (1) by the Post Ghost! 👻

(snip)

Sharise was quiet throughout his explanation. It was something he had clearly given some thought about before and she had no reason to interrupt or interject. By comparison, she was about to say very little, but she had given it no less thought. “Why did you assume my question referred to battle?”

Lt. Sharise, CNS

He sighed with the question. It almost felt like someone had called him out but not in a bad way. Here he was talking about the one thing that he felt comfortable with; yet the one thing he secretly wished he didn’t feel comfortable with. At first, he felt unprepared for the question because it was true that he had narrowed his mental focus to the one category. However, as he sat and pondered for just a half moment, he was able to bring forward words to describe how he felt about everything else too.

“On the side it’s because that’s what my life has primarily been a battle, its why I joined Star Fleet, it’s what I did before Star Fleet and in some way I’ll probably do after Star Fleet assuming I make it that far. But there is more to it: I’ve come to realize that most of life is a battle in some way, people make moves you need to understand whether they are hostile, friendly, or neutral. It’s funny everything really is combat. Decisions in life matter and they trickle out and effect one another. I live my life as strategically…” he paused he was about to say a lie, he was about to present tense and he realized that was false.

“I used to live my whole life as a strategy, I didn’t take things for granted and I would make sure that the pieces fit together. After Catherine died, I gave up on living I just went into what I knew, what I could control.” he hadn’t planned on being quite so blunt but it rolled out with the admission, it was almost more for himself that Sharise.

-Ensign Peter “Wraith” McGarvey (Security)

“And yet, if there is one thing you really can’t control, it’s people. They have their own issues and challenges, their own way of viewing the Universe. And yet, on this ship, your job really, at its heart, has nothing to do with fighting, but with balancing safety and risk,” Ayla said, as much as an explanation for her thoughts behind her own question as a prompt for him to work with.

Lt. Sharise, CNS

“Isn’t that at the heart of control? Safety and risk? I don’t mean to go all philosophical but I’ve rarely met someone who wasn’t driven by these concepts, the drive and desire to stay safe or to protect something or someone else. Make no mistake I have my own deep seated beliefs about the universe, however, people always come back to these concepts. If you but take the time to learn how someone views those things, what does the person care about, how much, what do they fear? Each of these questions and so many more lead us to conclusions and understandings. I review the files of everyone that I can on this ship, I try to learn about each that I work with because it removes the unknown, which in turn reduces risk and promotes safety.”

Wraith looked calm as he sipped his drink. Knowledge truly was power and Peter had learned to make it his business a long time ago.

-Ensign Peter “Wraith” McGarvey (Security)

Ayla was used to these sorts of conversations and in fact enjoyed philosophical debate. But this session was about the man before her and whether he was prepared to be on this ship and do his duty. The issue was not whether he had a sense of duty and would fulfill it, but to what extent the extreme pursuit of it would trip him up and potentially cause harm to him or others.

“What would happen if you were to simply stop trying to control everything?” Sharise asked bluntly.

Sharise, CNS