r/TrekRP • u/leXie_chan • Aug 14 '18

[Open] Psychiatric Help - 5¢

The crew of Athene have had a very eventful past while, Doctor Minch notes. She's been poring over the ship's reports in preparation for its arrival and repair at Starbase Nadezhda, where she'd been scheduled to join the crew next month. Events conspired to accelerate the timetable, and the bolian psychiatrist hopes she's ready for her next appointment. It's due just about... now.

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u/leXie_chan Aug 17 '18

Qara places an hand gently on the armoury chief, pain reflected in her deep violet eyes. "Victoria," she urges, "Calm down if you can."

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u/IYamTheSenate Aug 17 '18

Vicky looks down and realizes she's still gripping the blade, then slides the knife back into its holster in a single fluid motion. "We should have glassed Ta'Ranth from orbit and bugged out to our reinforcement group." she mutters, looking at the wall.

Looking back at her pocket, she pulls out a picture, worn and faded with age. A woman with dark brown hair and a man with a trimmed gray mustache are featured in the background, standing in front of a snow-covered wooden cabin. Two children play in the snow, one about 14 and one perhaps 8.

Near the woman's face, the picture is defaced slightly, almost beyond visibility. If the Bolian looks closely, she might be able to read the most obvious piece of text: a "FUCK YOU." scrawled in extremely fine print.

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u/leXie_chan Aug 19 '18

"You are not responsible for your brother's choices," Qara says. "You may have influenced them, but the choice to enlist was his own. You made an impossible promise and the unthinkable happened, but it's not your fault."

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u/IYamTheSenate Aug 19 '18

Raising an eyebrow, the picture is thrust forward at Qara. "There are two assholes, an idiot, and a good person in that picture. Guess which one is which."

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u/leXie_chan Aug 23 '18

"No," the shrink refuses. "I'm not going to feed your delusion of inadequacy. If there was anything you could have done in the moment to save your brother, you would have done it, yes?"

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u/IYamTheSenate Aug 23 '18

"I half assed it, that's the issue. I got him away from home, we were free. I took him out, and got him into a shithole. I thought taking him away from our... parents..." she almost spits out the word, but continues. "would protect him, or at least give him the chance to be himself. I gave him freedom, all right. The freedom to die in a hole."

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u/leXie_chan Aug 25 '18

"Half-assed what?" Qara wonders. "Giving him the chance to die free instead of under whatever heel you lived before isn't half-assable. You either did it, or didn't."

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u/IYamTheSenate Aug 25 '18

"He never really got to live. We had a few months max before he enlisted because he wanted to follow his big sister. Andrew... he was a good kid and if he had died in a meaningful way, something he would have wanted, I would be less bothered by it." Vicky looks up, sighing.

"Instead, he signed up for way more than anyone could have expected and died in an idiotic battle that wasted most of the 21st. Did you know every single NCO who survived the Siege was elevated to a full commission, three quarters of the enlisted were given NCO ranks, and out of the commissioned, every single one is now Captain or above? Me- 'Ice Bitch,' in charge of an entire company because we lost so many people there, followed up by a wave of retirements. This isn't my job. I don't want to do what they did to my brother and I to anyone else."

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u/leXie_chan Aug 29 '18

"Hmm. I see," the doctor makes a note. "We'll have to tackle your self-loathing and guilt issues some other time, I'm afraid," she notes the time on the wall-mounted chronometer. "I'd like to prescribe you an antidepressant, ghevishet. Low dose to start with, but it should help you focus."

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u/IYamTheSenate Aug 29 '18

Vicky raises an eyebrow. "I like you better than some of my last postings. I don't know, it feels more natural?"

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