Of Dinner and Destressing
Posted on Sat May 4th, 2024 @ 12:12pm by Commander Martin Sorenson & Lieutenant Njalia Sayffier
Mission:
Shakedown Shake-Up
Location: Esquimalt Station - the Cafe
Timeline: after both debriefs
2032 words - 4.1 OF Standard Post Measure
Njalia looked around the cafe, it had not changed much since she had met Astrja here which, while objectively, had not been that long ago it felt like a different age. She ordered some The while waiting and watched the people go by, Starfleet and civilians, Andorians and aliens, it was relaxing.
A short distance away, Martin was nursing a mug of dark roast. Truth be told, after his interview he'd wanted a different sort of drink, but it was early for that and a meal with more flavor than the Nelson's replicators would be welcome way to destress. He glanced up, and spotting Njalia, waved. "Lieutenant, care to join me?"
Njalia stood up and walked over. "Happily, sir. Did you just come from a debriefing as well?" she asked as she took a seat.
"Yes, I did. Hence the strong drink." He lifted his cup, flashing the joking grin. "I take it you've had yours as well?"
Njalia nodded raising her mug of The. "I forget that there is widespread resistance to advanced holograms. In Operations, it is . . . nearly non-existent. We love our technology in Operation."
He pursed his lips, head tipping to the side. "It may be hard for you to understand, but it's not unreasoning resistance. Many of us lost people or have friends who lost people in the attack on Mars. Advanced holograms can feel ...a little too much like synths."
Njalia pitched her voice so it would not carry and leaned in. "I know it is not a popular view but the way we treated the synthetics was . . . not in the best tradition of the Federation. The deaths caused by their subversion was terrible but we cannot let those mistakes define technology going forward." She leaned back, her voice back to normal. "There, a dark secret revealed. I feel better now, I could not express that to the administrator I was being debriefed by. I know it is an . . . uncommon stance. But I think sentience comes in more forms than we want to admit."
He similarly pitched his voice low. "I don't disagree with respect to how they were treated. But until we understand the mistakes in both design and conditions, some caution is warranted on moving forward, especially where potential sentience is concerned." He took a measured sip of coffee and leaned back as well. "There's an old joke about doctors having god complexes, but personally I'm uneasy about playing God and creating sentient beings is practically the definition."
Njalia nodded absently, momentarily lost in thought. Had she been playing at being a god? she asked herself. An image of Trelaine came unbidden to her thoughts. "Perhaps you are right. I need to examine some of my assumptions." She paused again. "I would not want to hurt anyone."
"I wouldn't want you to give up on advancing our capabilities," he said hurriedly, seeing the change in her demeanor. "You have real talent and I'd hate to discourage that. I mean, in both our fields advancing science can cause harm. You joined us after the reverse aging incident, but you've probably heard about it from others. The doctor responsible was working on longevity, trying to keep people from growing old and dying - that's a sort of holy grail in medicine - but it got out of control. That's an argument for greater oversight and caution, but no one (I hope) would say we should stop medical research or anything to do with increasing healthy lifespans."
Njalia nodded. "I would not mind living a long and healthy life," she smiled. "It is just that I know how having a . . . companion program can help. My QAI has been my assistant and, well, my friend for years now. Someone I could talk to when there was no one else, someone to help me organize my tasks and my thoughts. It is just hard for me to think that there are people who would not want that as an option."
Martin ducked his head; he could feel the echo of that desire for a constant friend and confidant in his bones, but at the same time there was a certain... sadness? worry? 'this way there be dragons'?.. at her solution. "I'm afraid this is where I have to confess that I was one of them." He glanced up smiling slightly. "At least before you made one for me. Though as much as I've come to appreciate him, I don't think I'll ever be comfortable regarding him as a friend." Looking back down, he sighed a little sadly. "Part of that is maybe too much time training in doctor/patient propriety and the balance power in interpersonal relationships because of time spent in supervisory roles. I value Max, but I'm simply too aware that he was created for me and on some level exists to serve my needs."
"Which isn't to say that QAIs have no role in emotional support or therapy. I know they've been immensely valuable there for a lot of people..." He paused, frowning to himself. When he'd taken the XO assignment, Dr. Lewe had decided they needed to discuss why didn't care for holoprograms heavy on character interaction. "I may just be an outlier when it comes to that aspect of it."
Njalia nodded. "I can understand." She sipped at her The. So many thoughts swirling in her head. "Would you mind if we set this discussion aside for a bit? My mind is awhirl with thoughts all chasing each other and I fear I will spiral into incoherence if I try to express them right now."
"Not at all." He opened the menu, glad for an excuse to leave that topic. "I came here to destress over a nice meal, so what cuisine do you want to explore?"
"I was intrigued by the Moari-inspired Kōura with Rēwena bread," said Njalia. "It seems both reminiscent of Andorian dishes while being new to me."
"It sounds like a good choice," Martin agreed. "I'm from earth, but it will be new to me too. Though if we're going for Maori-inspired, we should add kawakawa tea."
Njalia nods. "The full experience. So, though you do not need to tell me any details, how did you debrief go? I suspect you had questions about holograms too," she added with a slight smile.
"None of it's classified and we didn't discuss any personnel," he replied, then thought a moment. "Except the holograms. But those were the major issue in medbay, so I can't really blame him for asking, eh?" The corner of his mouth quirked upward. "He did kind of pounce when it came up though."
Njalia laughed. "EMHs giving Doctors a bad name for over a decade. It is my understanding that even the early ones were considered unfriendly."
"The Mark I's were definitely activate-only-as-last-resort. The designer, who was not a medical doctor but was a narcissist, used his own physical and psychological profile. Literally made them in his own image - talk about a god-complex!" Martin rolled his eyes. "And then they went so far in the other direction with the Mark II's that you had one too timid to handle an emergency situation." He shook his head. "And people wonder why medical officers don't like to use them..."
"Maybe if actual Doctors were consulted in their programming," suggested Njalia. "Would you like to work up a proposal with me in your massive amount of free time?"
"A project for my copious spare time," Martin laughed. "In theory the EMHs were developed using input from almost 50 medical officers' experiences, though I wonder if any of that was experience beyond the purely procedural." He paused a moment as their food arrived. "This looks wonderful."
"Indeed," said Njalia, pausing for a second of silent prayer before breaking into the Kōura, cracking the shell with expert precision. "I know some people do not like to know what the food they eat was modeled after but I like the reminder that we once had to hunt and fish for our meals. Though I am just as happy we do not need to now."
"Count me happy not to have hunt living things," Martin said, even as he de-shelled the crustacean with near surgical precision and popped it his mouth. Mmm. "It takes a lot like crawdads, which are native to my part of earth. Are they similar to anything from home for you?"
Njalia nodded. "Yes, near my home we had selsel, which are like these only flatter and with more legs. I have had them fresh cooked a few times. I was a Young Explorer, like your Terran Scouts, yes? We did nature hikes and caught our own food on occasion, an important skill but one you never want to have to use."
Martin nodded. "I did learn to fish, though not in Scouts. The hikes there emphasized how to make a fire and set up a tent. There was a little on foraging, but mostly learning how to tell which plants and fungus were okay to eat." He cracked another Kōura and cut a slice of bread. "I picked up a lot more from working in refugee camps - which I hope to never need, but it did come in handy when Starfleet insisted I had to pass a SERE course."
Njalia nodded. "I can only imagine how difficult it must have been working in such camps. I am not sure if I would have the emotional strength for that." She paused, fearing she may have ventured into territory he did not want to speak about.
"The Young Explorers," she said, picking up another thread, "are and always have been, paramilitary in nature, designed to get us young Andorians ready for military service. Much like your how your Boy Scouts were founded. It is a little less militarized under Federation influence but we learned weapons handling and self-defense along with wilderness skills and crafts."
"There were things about working with refugees that that were ...difficult... but don't sell yourself short. You strike me as someone who enjoys helping people and gets real satisfaction from it. I think you'd be fine, at least once you found workarounds for the lack of computational resources to use your skills," he said with a smile. "As to Young Explorers, there are still a few youth programs on earth like that, but most are more based in ethnic or cultural traditions. Plus a few that are more for adults interested reliving frontier history," he added, swallowing a chuckle. "Though I suppose I'm no place to judge anyone going off to live in challenging circumstances. There are probably people who still think joining Starfleet was just finding a better way of running away from home."
Njalia had another kōura and some bread. "Running away to Starfleet? You make it sound easy to get in," she said with a smile.
The remark brought him up short and he had to think a moment. "Sorry. I know getting into the Academy is very competitive. My path here wasn't that straight; I was already a doctor with several years of experience so after working as a volunteer on the post-Hobus relief effort I was recruited."
Njalia nodded. "My inspiration, Captain Ajzure, thinks that Starfleet should be bringing in more people from outside Starfleet to broaden our recruiting base. She argues that Starfleet needs to widen its recruiting base and accept new perspectives to avoid becoming to hidebound. You are an excellent example. I am certainly glad you are part of Starfleet."
"Thank you." Martin lifted his tea cup in a small toasting gesture. "I'm very glad Captain Ajzure inspired you to join. I think we need both - those formed by the Academy and Starfleet traditions, and those of us who came to it out of other life experience. In a sense, it's another layer of the philosophy of infinite diversity in infinite combination."
Njalia raised her cup as well. "Indeed. A variety of experiences and perspectives are valuable and welcome." For a moment she looked like she was going to ask something else but took a sip of tea instead.
