Moving On

Posted on Mon Jan 13th, 2020 @ 9:14am by Warrant Officer Koh Ottasu

Mission: Dead Moon
Location: Counselor's Office

Something hadn't felt right, in his heart, since those whatever-they-were had invaded the ship and probed the crew in their sleep. It was a terrible, sinking feeling but the only real mercy was that it wasn't constant. Or maybe that was the worst part? He wasn't sure, and he didn't want it to affect his duty or even worse affect what he had off duty.

To that effect, the Son of Ts'usu found himself in front of the office of the ship's counselor. Not a new concept for him, even the ships back in the Navy had counselor offices. To help cope with the rigors of star travel certainly.

He checked the status on the outside indicator, and saw that it did not indicate any form of 'do not disturb' status, so with that Koh took a breath, and hit the announcer chime.

“Enter” called Styveck as he set down his Padd, he didn’t have an appointment scheduled so he was trying to catch up on taking notes for the patient charts. He stood to welcome the new visitor, Good he thought to himself. Word must have traveled fast about his arrival and it was good that the crew were coming to see him instead of vice Versace.

Styveck walked out from behind his desk and paused in the center of the room between his two large lounge chairs, “Greetings Warrant Officer,” he said addressing the man by his rank,” I’m Lieutenant Styveck.”

A quick nod to the Vulcan, "Lieutenant." regarding his rank first, "I'm Koh Ottasu, wing leader for the Blink Fighter element aboard the Astrae. I was wondering if you had some time, I'd like to talk about the recent events of the ship." a pause, "Alright, to be honest I'd rather not, but I figure counselors here on Federation ships are similar to the ones back on the Ts'usu navy ships so..."

“I understand you are reluctant to speak of recent events but I also recognize your desire to process the emotions so you can move forward. I can assist you, please have a seat and we will talk Mr. Ottasu.” Styveck sat in his lounge chair and began speaking, “Thank you for coming it is not easy to ask for help sometimes yet you are here. I would like to begin by asking a simple question, What do you like most about your job?” Styveck found that by allowing the counseled to speak about something they’re passionate about that follow up tough questions would be easier to answer.

Koh gave a nod, and felt at ease at the moment. The notion that this was something the doctor recognized helped him feel like it was something others would suffer through. He took the offered seat with a nod. "Thank you. My ... My job?" he thought about it. Was did he like the most about his job, his duty really? "I... I enjoy the freedom, and the thrill." he stated. "If I'm allowed to give two answers, sir."

Styveck nodded, "You enjoy flying and the feeling of freedom it brings, but it may also be the feeling of you being in control of destiny."

Koh thought about it for a moment and then gave a nod, "I can agree with that. I've never been one to want to completely control a situation, but a little control over my life now and then is nice." a pause, "Which is why I'm here. I got the chance to lose that feeling, and ... didn't sit well with me."

"That is good, that you are here, and even better that you have identified a problem. Have you felt in or out of control for the majority of your life?"

"That's a tough one. A lot about life back home is, well, pretty well planned out. School, secondary school, then the debt of service, then after all that you can figure out what you want to do. For me, I enjoyed the feel of the cockpit. In there, I'm the one that decides. Well, me and my flight leader but, you know what I meant." Koh smirked, "I got to choose my courses, but I had to go to school. I got to choose my branch of service, but every child of Ts'usu pays the debt. It's weird, I guess. It's like you have a choice, you have control, but only from the offered choices."

"It's been like that for a lot of my life. Really, the only time I felt really more in control of my life was when I was flying sorties with the Federation."

“Lieutenant, your life as you have described sound like you have lived a multiple choice test. For example you had to serve but got to choose where. I normally would not recommend this, especially as a Vulcan but I want you to do something for me, between now our next meeting. Do something spontaneous for yourself, something you control, get a tattoo or experience something new. It seems like you have lived your life in a box, and we need to move out of the box in order to move forward.”

Koh gave the matter some thought, and then gave a nod, "I think I could do that, yeah. I don't think a tattoo would work through the fur, but... but I get your meaning." he gave another nod, especially at the notion of a life in a box.

"A Tattoo through the fur would be a bit challenging," Styveck responded. His attempt at human humor had failed again. "I am glad you did understand the metaphor, Could we set up another meeting in about week?"

Koh gave a nod, "Barring any emergency, certainly. A week works." he offered. This was much easier then he had initially thought it would be.

Styveck stood, "Thank you for coming today, please send me a message of your availability so we can again at your convenience.

Koh stood as the Lieutenant did, and smoothed out his uniform shirt as he did so. A habit, perhaps. "Of course. Thank you for working in the time to see me with no notice." a pause, "I'll get you a copy of my duty roster within the next two hours. Thank you again."

“It is my job and my pleasure Sir. I will see next week.”

Styveck nodded and stood as the Warrant Officer exited, before sitting down and finalizing his initial notes from the session.

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WO Koh Ottasu
Blink Fighter Element Lead
USS Astrea

&

Lieutenant Styveck
Chief Counselor
USS Astrea