Posted by Lieutenant Surra Almikaz (Chief of Psychiatry) in Kane’s Mandatory Evaluation- Round 2 [tag Kane]

Posted by Lieutenant Dr. Solomon Kane (Chief Science Officer/Research & Development) in Kane’s Mandatory Evaluation- Round 2 [tag Kane]

Posted by Lieutenant Surra Almikaz (Chief of Psychiatry) in Kane’s Mandatory Evaluation- Round 2 [tag Kane]
Posted by… suppressed (15) by the Post Ghost! 👻
Not looking forward to her next encounter with the sociopath Kane, Surra rested her forehead on her arms which were crossed in front of her on the desk. She took a couple of deep breaths as she was still seething with anger from the last time she met with the man. Lifting her head, she clenched her fists a moment before she tapped her comm badge, “Kane, report to the psychiatric suites for your mandatory evaluation.”
There was no courtesy in her voice and she marinated in frustration. It wasn’t the fact that he was rude and irate, she had lifelong experiences dealing with personalities like his. Her cousin Najma was as bad as they came and if she could survive being in a room with that woman, then she could deal with Kane. What bother her the most was him trying to tell her how to do her job. She’d felt the urge to stun him with a phaser, drag him into an airlock, activate it and watch him float off into space. As a psychiatrist she knew these were not normal thoughts and very few people she had ever encountered triggerwd these types of thoughts in her. Also she wasn’t capable of acting on these thoughts....she didn’t think.
Surra focused her energy on clearing her mind and getting a handle on her herself before he showed up. She wasn’t going to let this man make her angry or get her kicked out of Starfleet.
Pressing the internal comm and she said, HARLEEN, let me know when you know who arrives.”

Almikaz, CoP

It was several minutes before the CoP received a written comm from the labs. =/\= Can’t. Experiment requires constant observation. You want to talk, I’m in Lab 3. No metals can come in. You have clearance to enter. =/\=

The lab schedule did indeed show that Lab 3 was closed by order of the CSO, and his own calendar was cleared for the next five days.

Kane, CSO

Surra frowned, she wasn’t afraid of the man but she would essentially be on his turf by going to him. This was her last attempt to reachout to this man and if it didn’t work out this time she was done and there would be no more psych evals, at least not from her, for him. “Very well Lieutenant, I will see you in a few minutes.” Surra walked to the reception area where HARLEEN was, “I am headed to deck 8a to Science Lab 3 to make contact with Lieutenant Kane for his psychological evaluation. If I do not return you know my last whereabouts.” She told the AI half joking.

About 20 minutes after their last comm transmission. Surra arrived in the Science Lab 3 Deck 8. A true scientist at heart she had started her career in the science department in Starfleet serving on the Academy ship USS Challenger as the CSO in l.g. Lieutenant rank. Therefore one positive about this interaction was finally seeing the Owies science labs. She glanced around the room, curious about this experiment he was working on and required constant monitoring. Not immediately seeing Kane, she called out to him in a patient and calm voice, “Lieutenant I am here, do you have a few minutes to chat?”

Almikaz, CoP

“No, but we can anyway.” came the gruff response from the far back area of the laboratory. Back there, surrounded by a wholly impressive and somewhat disturbing mechanical concoction of magnets, relays, power conduits, and other various known and unknown gadgets was the Chief Science Officer… and what looked like a photon torpedo warhead. Without looking up from where he lay on the deck looking up under one of the circles of magnets around the torpedo, Kane said “No metal on ya, right? If you have anything pierced or whatever, it’ll get ripped out or off in the next minute.”

Kane, CSO

She expected a snarky response from the man. A loud sigh came from her mouth as she made her way to the back of the lab.
Surra knew she didn’t have any metal on her, but she couldn’t help but pat herself down to be extra sure. “No metal, I even removed my badge.” She pointed at the object and asked, “What is this?” she was genuinely curious.

She paused for a moment, then said, “I read your file and I learned something I didn’t know before. You are from an alternate reality? Is that correct? It must have been hard for your to adjust to a new reality, even so, you seem to be doing quite well.... career-wise at least.”

Almikaz, CoP

OOC: Sorry for the delay, I got really sick.

“Yeah, probably not something you wanna broadcast out the open.” Kane said without looking at her. “Temporal Investigations will quite literally put you in a hole no one even knows exits.” He moved something and suddenly a loud hum started up and lights came to life all over the machinery. Kane slid out from under the system and then stood up and moved to a table a few feet away. “Its also not something that’s just ‘in my file’, so I know you had to get cleared for it. Which the last Counselor didn’t even bother to do, so kudos.” He tossed a pair of dark glasses at Almikaz and said “Put those on if you want to keep your eyeballs.”

“Okay…Sure. I will make sure it stays confidential as this entire session will be. So who else knows?”

She caught the pair of goggles that were tossed at her and put them on. “Thank you. I happened to really like my eyeballs.” She said with a grin as she put them on.

A few moments later, Kane tapped a switch on the table and an alarm sounded. Blast doors slid into place over the outer door to the lab and the Computer’s voice said =/\= Warning. Warming. Armed explosive device detected in Lab. Activating Securi- =/\= and Kane’s voice cut it off. =/\= Computer, override alarm. Authorization Kane Seven-Nine-Delta-Two-Three. =/\= and the voice fell silent. Kane put on his own glasses and then said “Hold tight, then we can talk.” He lifted a PaDD and tapped a few commands…

The alarm jolted Surra. She watched nervously as the blast doors cover the lab. “Umm”, she said as she pointed to the doors. She wasn’t be sure if she was in danger or not. The fact that Kane was in the room too didn’t mean anything to her.

And the torpedo warhead exploded in a flash of brilliant white light.

Surra jumped back a bit as the torpedo emitted its light. Although tempted to remove her goggles to observe the brilliance more closely, she knew better. Her concern became focused on the explosion she thought was about to happen and she cautiously began to put more distance between her and the luminous torpedo.

But it didn’t. The explosion- now a small swirling ball of violent gas, heat, and light- was held in place in the system of magnets and other devices. “Huh… cool. I thought the compression wouldn’t be that great. Neat.” Kane said as if setting off photon torpedoes in the lab was an everyday occurrence. He tapped a few commands on the PaDD and the ball of destruction vanished in a hum of golden light. Kane tossed the PaDD on the table and said “Okay… let’s get this over with.” and walked to the CSO office, leaving the door open behind him.

Kane, CSO

Surra stood there for a moment wiped as she wiped the sweat from her forehead. “Yeah, that was pretty…impressive.”
She removed her goggles, paused for a moment then quickly followed him. As she followed him, she spoke, “I must admit the experiments I did when I was a scientist where not as exciting as that. They were mostly biological. You are obviously dedicated to your work. Seem to enjoy it. And your demeanor is much different demeanor than our first encounter. Can I ask you a sincere question? Have you talked to anyone else about your temporal transference? Do you know how it happened?”

Almikaz, CoP

“Well, even if I said ‘no’, you’d probably still ask them anyway.” Kane replied. “And thats two questions.” he said as they walked into his office. The place was a wholly chaotic mess. It almost appeared as if someone had broken in, trashed the office trying to find something, but only succeeded in getting frustrated and taking it out on the space. PaDDs and even papers lay strewn about, and there was a half-eaten sandwich that was obviously several days old half-covered by a set of minor surgery tools. Kane brushed a stack of PaDDs out of a chair and onto the floor, and gestured to it for the CoP to have a seat. He himself went and sat behind the desk, kickking his fet up on it as he did.

“Ok… so let me save you some time and answer all the same questions up front and then, if you happen to have anything original, we can chat. I spent, as close as I can tell, close to two or three years of my life in a hole where the only thing that I did was answer questions. Day in, day out. So yeah, Doc… I’ve talked about it. And no, it wasn’t a temporal transference. Thats just part of it. I switched universes. Entire realities. Yes, I know how it happened. No, I can’t tell you how. Yes, I remember my previous life. Yes, there are parts I miss and parts I don’t. No, I don’t think I can go back. Yes, I have thought about how. No, I am not going to try. Yes, I know that I should be thankful to be alive. No, I don’t think about that other reality often. Less and less, actually. Yes, I’m fine with that. No, I don’t have any kind of unidentified or lingering effects from the shift except the cybernetic hand.” and he held up his left hand and wiggled his fingers. “Yes, it really hurt. No, I don’t think my shift was done intentionally. No, I don’t think it was an attempt to invade this reality. No, I am not from nor have I ever been affiliated with the Terran Empire.” and he stopped short and looked at Almikaz. “So… what else you want to know?”

Kane, CSO / R&D

Bump

“I assure you that this session will go much smoother and quicker if you allow me to lead it, but in any case, thank you for all the information you just provided. You actually just gave me some starting points for our session.” She smiled briefly at him. “Also be mindful my line of questions will serve a different purpose from the ones you were asked while you spent three years in a hole.” Speaking with the man invoked feelings of anxiety and she hated it because she wasn’t supposed to feel anxiety during sessions and she’d never felt that way till he had become her patient. After taking a deep breath she continued, “I am interested in the parts you miss as well as those you don’t. Tell me more about those. Also have you made any meaningful relationship connections on this side?”

Almikaz, CoP

Kane shrugged. “I don’t miss parts from there because thats pointless. And the two people I would miss existed here and died almost two hundred years ago… so again, pointless.” He thought for a moment and then said “And yeah. I have a girlfriend here.”

Kane, CSO

“Oh,” said Surra with a smile as she tapped on her pad adding a note.. Then she thought Maybe this man didn’t have an impossible personality after all. He was actually capable of connecting with someone. “I would love to hear more about your girlfriend. You dont have to tell me who she is but do tell me what you like about her. However, first I would like to know how adjusting to this time period has been like for you. So tell me about the time you first realized you’d been hurled into the future. Were you aware that this was happening during the transport or had you passed out and woke up here?”

Almikaz, CoP

Kane gave her a hard look and said “Well… I spent what was, from my limited perspective of course, eternity being torn apart at the quantum level over and over and over and over again. Then… I came-to naked, one handed, in a Jeffries Tube of a ship I had never been on with guys in weird uniforms pointing phasers at me. I was beamed into a box which was then beamed into a bigger box. Right about then I realized I wasn’t in Kansas anymore. That was confirmed a while later when I started being ‘interviewed’. And as far as my love-life is concerned, no. Because that is part of me Fleet doesn’t get to have a say in. They get to dictate almost every damn other thing, but not that.”

Kane, CSO

She listened as he recounted his experience. “I see. Everything you told me indicates that your journey here was no walk in the park. You were held captive after arriving, relentlessly questioned, all while you were trying to figure out where you were.” She didn’t feel sorry for him or pity for that matter but the way he was treated didn’t sit well with her. “I hope you received the proper apology and restitution for the way you were treated.”

Kane laughed. “Oh that’s rich. Sure.. they apologized and gave me the keys to my own Risian resort just for the inconvenience.” He then shot her a somewhat dirty look and said “You get that this little meeting of ours is mandatory for me, right? As in I have no choice? I hope that answers your question.”

The part about the keys to the Risian resort was kind of funny. Surra quickly averted her eyes and looked down at her PaDD to keep from laughing. “So if these meetings were not mandatory would you do a psych eval on your own? Also just curious, why do you think your evaluations are mandatory instead of voluntary?”

Kane looked at her like she had just grown six feet and turned purple with bright yellow polka dots. “Are you serious right now? As in… actually one hundred percent serious? Of course I wouldn’t do these asinine things on my own! I freakin’ HATE them! And they are mandatory because I. AM. NOT. FROM. HERE. and somebody somewhere thinks keeping me on a short leash is the best way to address that! C’mom, Doc! Catch up!”

Surra unintentionally rolled her eyes then said, “Dr…er....Lieutenant, whichever you prefer, I am not interested in your love life just what makes this person special to you. Does she remind you of someone from your previous life. I am curious because you do not seem to be.... the most agreeable person. If I didn’t know any better my first impression is that you are definitely not a people person. But your girlfriend changes my perspective a bit. I just want to know how you formed a relationship with this person.”

Almikaz, CoP

“A person is fine.” Kane said curtly. “I can deal with a person. People suck. A person can be smart. People are dumb, panicky, dangerous animals and you know it. That’s why you have a job, after all… isn’t it? Because if they were all well-adjusted, empathetic, decent creatures… you’d be a pastry chef or something. But they aren’t so here we are. A person can be reasoned with. Hell, a person can be fun. People, though…” and he shook his head. “No thanks.”

Kane, CSO / R&D

“Well I don’t know about a pastry chef....” she realized she was off track and said, “So I take it your girlfriend is smart, well adjusted, decent, fun, everything you find to be admirable qualities that would make them appealing to you.” She looked up from her PaDD, then said “I agree people can suck, but like the work you do there is a particular science in knowing how to deal with them. I do wish everyone was all those things you said and that wouldn’t necessarily mean I would be out of a job, I just think it would mean my job would be easier. Instead of seeing these sessions as an obligation you should see them as opportunity. This is an opportunity to understand how you can be more engaging with your peer and still have them respect your boundaries. You don’t have to hangout with them, but how you treat and interact with them while working with them is important.”

Almikaz, CoP

Kane laughed heartily and smacked his hand on his desk. “Oh gods above Doc you are a riot!” and he laughed some more before staring at her. “First off, you are one for four on my girlfriend. She is smart. And as for your so-called ‘opportunity’? You seem to be working under the assumption that I: One. Give a single s#!t about understanding how to be more engaging with my ‘peers’. Because I don’t. And two: give an additional s#!t about them respecting me or my boundaries. Because I care even less about that. Tsk- tsk, Doc… you know what they about assuming…”

Kane, CSO / R&D

“Sure.” Said said Surra as she looked at her PaDD for the time. “All I am saying is you think someone is trying to keep a short lease on you, as you say, but I see it differently. If you expressed the type of frustration and anger you expressing now, then I absolutely understand why your psych sessions are mandatory.” She stood. “Well that’s the end of our session, but before I leave I want to leave you with two things, number one, you should give a s#!t about being more engaged with your peers and number two respect is important especially if you want to continue to work around people and so are boundaries. Otherwise if you continue to think the way you do, you are surely going to stay in someone’s psych office and if that don’t work…well you’ll have bigger problems.”

Almikaz, CoP

“Oh really?” Kane said. “Bigger problems? I was shunted from one reality to another sans hand. I lost not only everyone and everything I had ever known; but I was sent to a reality that was almost the same… but isn’t. You ever heard of the ‘Uncanny Valley’, shrink? I bet you have. I want you to think about something as you get out of my office. And I want you to think about it really long and hard. How would you be… how would you react if you were living your entire existance in that valley? Where every single moment of your entire life was set in a place that just seemed the very slightest bit off. So yeah, tell me again how I could possibly have bigger problems.” Kane stood up and walked past her to the door so it slid open. “Maybe once you think about that you might decide to be a better Counselor and start with empathy instead of judgment. And yeah, even a complete jerk like me can grasp that concept. Maybe you should give it a shot.” He turned and walked out of the room and towards the machine he had been working on.

Kane, CSO / R&D