Checkup after Work
Posted on Wed Feb 7th, 2024 @ 9:44am by Commander Martin Sorenson
Edited on on Wed Feb 7th, 2024 @ 9:56am
Mission:
Shakedown Shake-Up
Location: USS Nelson - Sick Bay
1266 words - 2.5 OF Standard Post Measure
Quentin had a day at work that was neither good nor bad. He had sat idle in the intelligence office since the start of his shift, which on one hand, meant he got to read about the Nelson's systems and nothing bad had happened; on the other hand this meant that he had felt like he wasn't doing anything except being there in case an encrypted transmission came in or the like. He also tried to occupy his time with thoughts about where his boss was at. Towards the end of his shift, Quentin remembered that he hadn't scheduled an appointment for his medical. Quentin made an educated guess that the medical staff were likely in a similar boat as he was. He figured that instead of making an appointment and waiting, he'd just go down there and see if the doctor could fit him in.
Quentin entered the sickbay and did what he called the 'pip scan'; the act of visually searching for the person with the most pips on his or her collar in order to determine who was in charge of a particular area. He eventually notices a man with three pips and walked over towards him. "Hey. Doc, do you have time to do my onboading medical? I know I'm suppose to make an appointment, but I was really hoping you weren't busy.", he said while twirling his antennae.
Dr. Sorenson turned and lifted his brows, glancing eloquently one way and then the other at the completely empty medbay. "Not busy would be a reasonable assumption," he replied with a hint of a smile. Truthfully, he had things to do, but they were all related to his position as XO and right now he was taking the excuse of the EMH's failure with the last patient to resume being a doctor for bit. Or at least work on the 'paperwork' while in the relative sanctuary of medbay, but he was happy enough for an excuse to set that aside. "Please, have a seat on a biobed and we'll get started."
"Sure!". Quentin sat down on the biobed and used his antennae to balance back out. Quentin now remembered that the doctor was also the ship's XO at the moment. "Say, Doc, do you know where my boss is? The petty officer down in the intelligence office said he was 'warring' with the holograms or something like that. What's the deal with this ship anyway? It seems, well, cheap...", he said in light tone.
Martin suppressed a chuckle at 'cheap'. He wasn't a 'ship guy' - one of the people who obsessed over every detail about existing ships and every news item or even rumor about new ones - but he knew people who were and so had some idea of the resources that gone into developing this class. Cheap it was not, though he imagined somewhere on the political side someone had made the case that crewing ships primarily with holograms would cut costs on everything touching living personnel... "There have been some bugs to work to work out with the holographic crew," he explained. "I'm not sure what issues Lt. Akita has with them at the moment, other than that they haven't been serious enough for him to raise them to me." As this was a new crewman under Asahi's command, he didn't add that the medical-adverse intel chief would avoid probably avoid coming to him for anything shy of holographic Borg. "In fact, I'm here rather than the EMH since it's bedside manner ...needs some adjusting. Our Ops chief will handle it soon, I'm sure," he added with a smile. "She's exceptional, so don't worry that things won't get fixed. We have shakedowns for a reason."
Scanning the badge, the doctor pulled up the patient's file, realizing as he did that they had skipped introductions. "So, Lieutenant Th'ziakres, I'm Dr. Sorenson. Before we get started, are there any medical issues or concerns I should be aware of?"
"No, Sir. Speaking of that, I had a run in with a malfunctioning EMH on the Prometheus. Apparently some doctor stole a gel pack as a memento... thing ran right towards me with a hypospray", Quentin said as he recollected telling that very story a few weeks prior to a young ensign who was also waiting for her assignment at Esquimalt station. At the same time Quentin remained confident and showed no sign of worry, even though medical exams were usually a trouble spot for him due to his unusual heritage.
"I've seen EMHs fail a lot of ways, but that's new one..." Martin remarked with a chuckle, scanning through Quentin's medical information. A hybrid - human/Andorian, which was not common but not terribly rare. He set the appropriate parameters for the medical scan. "I promise not to chase you with a hypospray." He paused a beat, and smiled. "At least as long as you don't run if you need a vaccination."
"Certainly not Doc, unless you somehow become an EMH...", Quentin said with a light laugh. "What's it like being the CMO and also the first officer? Must be a lot of responsibly...", he said. Quentin was making awkward small talk while waiting for the scan to began.
The doctor shook his head. "I don't even like doing holoprojection for meetings," he half-joked. "Though a holographic clone might be useful to handle being both CMO and XO... I had not actually expected to be filling both roles. Or at least not XO and all available medical staff. But it should only be until Ops can fix the EMHs." His eyes tracked the readings as the came up on the scanner. It was always a bit tricky with hybrids to spot readings out of bounds since the bounds were not so well defined. "It looks like you're in good health, Lieutenant. So if there are no questions, I'll off on your fitness."
"Just one thing, I'd like to set up regular meetings with a counselor.", he said. Quentin had been seeing a counselor since he first started shipboard life and it's always helped him manage things better.
Martin briefly curled his lips in. Vesta had had such a revolving door of counselors he was beginning to take it personally, but he had hopes for the most recent one (no one had sent a notice of transfer, so he assumed he was still there). But he refrained from voicing any of that. No need to scare the poor kid off. "We don't have one along for the shakedown, but there is a holographic one..." He paused. Considering the current issues with the medical holograms, he didn't like the idea of subjecting a new crewmember to whatever Uncanny Valley of Counseling might come with the ECH, especially one who might be requesting the meetings for some serious issue. "Okay, recall that I'm here because the EMH had some serious personality issues. It's something that's come up a few times with other holographic crew, though most have essentially no personality, so I have no idea how good or bad the ECH might be. If you're in counseling and need on-going care, I can set up remote sessions with Counselor Hayes on Esquimalt. He's slated to be assigned to Vesta once she's through refit," he explained. "I've spoken with him a few times, and he's good."
"That would be acceptable, Sir.", Quentin said. "Is that all Doctor?", he asked.
"I'll contact him. I'm sure he'll reach out soon," the doctor said, making a note. "That'll be all, Lieutenant. Well aboard."
