Posted by Lieutenant Casela Synthi-er (Counsellor / RTF) in Check-Ins | Step 2: Imply an Inkling of Sanity (CNS)

Posted by Lieutenant Tal Abara (Senior Researcher (Cognitive Science)) in Check-Ins | Step 2: Imply an Inkling of Sanity (CNS)

(snip)

“Understood,” Tal hummed and contributed a harmonious nod, “I will speak with DaiMon Lazol as soon as possible.” She pressed her lips together in deliberation, “it sounds like you’ve eliminated any reason for me not to take care of myself.” A hint of appreciation seeped into her umber features, “I hope that goes for you as well.”

A Cheshire type grin crossed her face, “Have no worries there, I’m not given the chance to not take care of myself these days. Hopefully things in that area will die down soon, and I can actually get back to work.” She chuckled softly, sipping at her drink before snagging another piece of fruit. Watermelon she thought, from Earth maybe? Either way, it was good.

“That’s me,” Abara greeted and lifted her hand to Dean in a wave goodbye. Tending her gaze to Synthi-er, Tal drifted into her office and delayed just shy of the door. Her silence extended a moment of appreciation for its simple design. From the floor to the walls, instinct guided her to the obscure painting and the various odds-and-ends adorning the Counsellor’s shelves. She lingered on a question long enough to find her way to a seat, only to release it into a comfortable unknown. “I’ve had far worse company than Dean,” Tal released a chuckle that tempered into a grin. “How are you, Lieutenant?”

— Tal Abara, Cognitive Researcher

“I honestly don’t know what we would do without Dean. He is amazing at what he does.” Now what he did was up in the air. He did a lot and Casela didn’t know how she’d managed the last couple of months except for him. She sat and took a slice of fruit. “I am doing very well. And yourself? How have you found your first day on board so far?”
Lt Synthi-er, CNS

‘What he does’ left room for the imagination to wander, but Tal chose not to venture down that rabbit hole. She sensed Dean was good for Casela, and that was enough to appease her curiosity. When asked about her day, a sheepishness crept across her face. “I know I’ve been inculcated with scepticism by my previous tours, but part of me is still waiting for the next shoe to drop.” She furrowed her brow, her following words tainted with a freckle of surprise. “Frankly, it’s been a good day. Smoother than I anticipated, but I cannot complain.”

– Tal Abara, Cognitive Science

Casela had been at this long enough to know that Tal was curious, but she would learn soon enough all about Dean. He was amazing. “Everything you’ve heard is true. Some may have been exaggerated a bit, but not by much. I have footage I’d like you to watch. You are here to help determine the effects on the crew of these anomalies, and to also study the anomalies. You and I are the only ones with the clearance to do so, study the anomalies, by the way. But I think it would be a good idea for you to know what it is you have been assigned to do.”

Tal scrunched her eyebrows, a slight wrinkle forming between them. She allowed a leisure nod and took in a silent breath. Meetings equipped her with the requisite knowledge and faulty insight, but she’d yet to observe any tangible proof of what her job entailed. Sooner than to express gratitude for a sliver of reality, Tal settled back and awaited the scene Casela wished to impart on her.

Casela turned her large display screen on, typing in her access and security codes (never one to speak them aloud) and swivelled it around for Madison to see. The screen began to play the security footage of Dave’s Breach. (OOC: Here is the thread that Dave’s breach thread https://www.star-fleet.com/core/stf1/leviathan/posts/103028/ ).

Abara narrowed her eyes, zoning into the screen before her. Though her trained features shed any tacit emotion, Casela might sense the tumult subdued beneath the surface. Sorrow. Intrigue. Fury. They infected her essence with impenetrable darkness that seemed to writhe and twist, growing like a stormcloud around her. But it refused to deliver the sweet release of rainfall. She shifted, dismissing any hint of tension from her body and leaned forward. (OOC: I’m not sure how far Casela showed her, so I’ll leave this vague in case it was just that first post or the entire thread. :P)

Casela watched Tal carefully. The record wasn’t pretty, but she felt it was necessary. She was going to be studying the psychology of these anomalies and trying to create a plan of treatment for those exposed based on the work she did with the crew. Casela needed her to be aware of how bad it could be. (OOC: she would have shown Tal however much she could handle. So feel free to pull from the whole thing.)

Horrific scenes tormented her senses. They urge Tal to rip her gaze from its tragedy, but her conscience refused her the right. She endured the bloodcurdling screams, her fingers inching to her lips in horror as crimson, blue and green-tinged blood bathed the halls in their ghastly tint. Flames. Destruction. Loss. So much loss. Secondhand anguish eclipsed her expression, betraying her poise when Casela spoke the names of the fallen. She watched the rest with narrowed eyes and dark fingers leaving dents in her chin. She didn’t make a sound. When it ended, Tal turned to Casela and frowned. She didn’t need to speak to express all that passed through her mind.

Casela waited a moment after it ended, “We lost 89% of the crew in that encounter. All but 12 of them in the first 2 minutes. This ship, this crew, is our home and our family. This is not even the only incident. This was breach on our ship. There is others you can see, the capture and containment of them, which is even more violent most of the time. But this” she taps the screen, “Was in our home.”
Lt Synthi-er, CNS

“Damn.” She considered the footage once more, finding it’d revealed three fundamental facts:

1. The creatures aboard the Leviathan made Denebian Slime Devils look angelic. Never underestimate them. Doing so could be lethal.
2. Teamwork is not some pillar of camaraderie shoved down their throats by a cheery superior — it’s pivotal to survival.
3. Leviathan’s crew is a family; defend by any means necessary.

Tal found a strange contradiction in her final note. Cobb suggested they were expendable at the hands of their superiors – mere pawns in a warped game of chess. But he’d also implied, much like Synthi-er, that the crew were invaluable. He declared himself a ‘Captian of People’, and Casela had proven herself a protector of those people. She honoured them. But was their protection, their suggestion of value, limited? It conflicted with her values to consider the possibility, but reality dictated otherwise. But Tal maintained her observation. The crew is family, and family deserves protection.

And if that made her naive or idealistic, so be it.

Tal knew the saying about the caged beast, but she trusted it did little to mitigate the sorrow and rage born of Dave’s breach. It did zilch. Tal shook her head, shifting her gaze back to Casela. “So, beyond their psychology and how it affects the crew,” she observed, “we study these anomalies to protect ourselves – this family – from them.” It was not phrased as a question, but it could be interpreted as a gesture of clarification.

— Tal Abara, Cognitive Science

Casela nodded, “Indeed. That particular incident had a side affect that we did not expect. A religious cult has formed, with Dave as their ‘god.’ In fact I have heard rumors that this cult has spread to the USS Constellation. I’m not sure why there, but it has. Dave is no longer on the ship, he was transferred to containment on an ARU protected world. He basically has his own giant amusement part to explore rather than trapped in a small cell here. But it was deemed he was too dangerous to transport to the star base or to keep on another ship. So a different solution was made. Everyone on board, whether on the containment decks or elsewhere, were affected by his breech. Situations like that is what you will be dealing with analyzing. But we all, in this department, handle it. Especially in this department, we have to help each other.”
Lt Synthi-er, CNS

Tal’s nose wrinkled, her lips parting in inquiry. The Cult of Dave and its diffusion to the Constellation was not her concern. Still, she couldn’t help but wonder why the cult formed, what lasting effects Dave’s breach had on the crew… and just what wacky situations the Constellation’s counselling staff endured. But, sooner than to muddle her words in a string of questions condensed into nonsense, she nodded and said: “May Dave’s personal Wonderland entertain him for the next…” she shook her head “…forever.”

Tal fell into a moment of thought. Synthi-er made it abundantly clear to Abara that this department survived by the interconnectedness of multiple parts - multiple people. And she respected this revelation, appreciated it. But it left her wondering how these cases - the anomalies and the people - affected the counselling staff. This wasn’t her field of study, but secondhand trauma was something she found pertinent to consider. When she spoke, it was compressed to the essence of her thoughts. “Understood,” she said, “how can I help?”

— Tal Abara, Cognitive Research