Lieutenant Ikaia Wong - What Would Picard Do?
kabanning
((Examination of Ikaia Wong))
((OOC: Tags cut for length))
Wong: Starfleet is an exploratory organization dedicated to studying a wide variety of scientific phenomena throughout the galaxy. Or providing humanitarian aid when needed.
Watcher Blake: Response
Wong: So let me ask you a question - why? You come all the way from another galaxy entirely and you’ve chosen to watch the Paak and now us. What is your purpose here?
Watcher Naminae: We are studying the Paak... and now you.
Wong: There's some striking similarities to what you do and what we do. Studying life and space phenomena. I suppose we should have to compare notes some time.
Watcher Naminae: We are not the same. Your "study" includes using your weapons against a ship you had never encountered before. Intervening to provide "aid." Making first contact with another species. You cannot observe something in an objective manner once you become a part of it.
And there it was. He knew that Carter's and Reade's actions would come back to bite them. It was only a matter of time.
oOThanks for making this harder on me….Oo
Wong: We don't typically shoot first and ask questions later. That's not usually the Starfleet way.
Watcher Naminae: What has been your personal experience thus far in this part of the galaxy when encountering new species?
Wong: We try our best to understand the species we encounter. And provide aid and understanding where we can. Also, we tend to study the new species we run across if we get the opportunity.
Watcher Naminae: There is a planet in your records: Idrustix. You came across a sentient species of bacteria.
Wong: Correct. That would be the Lucia. Or more accurate Geobacter Lucia.
Watcher Naminae: Tell us more about what happened.
Ikaia sighed.
Wong: Admittedly, first contact with the Lucia was rocky. Initially, they had colonized the Betazoids on our away team believing them to be the same as other host species they had on their home planet. However, at the time, we had little understanding of Lucia mistaking them for actual harmful bacteria. I had started treatment of our Betazoid friends until it was discovered that the Lucia was, in fact, sentient. A new vaccine was created in order to allow the Lucia to live harmoniously within their new Betazoid hosts instead of getting attacked by their immune systems.
Watcher Naminae: And yet despite knowing their existence on that world, your Federation is proceeding with colonization. You state you respect the rights of others and yet you disregard their sovereignty, whether it is to colonize, provide aid, or otherwise interfere as you see fit. Because ultimately, it is your Federation alone that judges when it should interfere, is it not?
Ikaia pinched the bridge of his nose. He was very firmly aware of the good cop-bad cop routine going. It reminded him strongly of the first recorded encounters with the Q.
oOWhat would Picard do….?Oo
Wong: That's not what happens. For starters, we have established a symbiotic relationship with the Lucia as the planet's only sentient species to date. The Trenvonn wanted to wipe them out instead of trying to understand them. As far as what Starfleet and the Federation does when we encounter new species, we have General Order One - The Prime Directive - that prevents the very issues that you're describing.
Watcher Blake: Response?
Wong: The Prime Directive prohibits Starfleet from interfering with the natural development and evolution of a species. It's the right of a sentient species to live in accordance with its normal cultural evolution and we, as Starfleet, cannot interfere with the healthy development of alien culture or life. That's the Prime Directive.
Watcher Blake/Watcher Naminae: Response
Wong: Right well. The Federation isn't about assimilating life into itself. That mentality goes to the Borg who seek out new life just to forcibly add to their numbers. The Federation, it's always a choice and there's always time to make that choice if it's ever made at all. But we aren't perfect. Mistakes can and do happen. But we always try to fix them when we can.
Watcher Blake/Watcher Naminae: Response
Wong: But I am going to point out, despite your objections, that we are very similar, complete with imperfections. You are capable of making mistakes and errors in judgment in your attempts to study the universe and you have already made a few in the time that we sat here together. For one thing, this setting…
Ikaia then gestured to the room around him.
Wong: …Is only really familiar to one person. I've only ever seen this place once and watched a proceeding that involved a friend. And ::a brief glance at Naminae:: I only recognize one of you. And ::a brief tug at his robe:: I literally have nothing on under this. You took away both my pants and my shorts and not once did you question if I liked a gentle breeze near my neutral zone and the answer to that is no. I do not. But you didn't once consider what was comfortable or meaningful to me. You just assumed what was comfortable and familiar to one was the same for everyone else. And that is just the surface level here.
Watcher Blake/Watcher Naminae: Response
Wong: You've conflated my caring and compassion for arrogance. You've assumed our individuality is a fracturing. You believe our colonization to be conquest. And quite frankly, at least one of you seems to be looking for the worst in us because she wants to confirm her own biases.
Watcher Blake/Watcher Naminae: Response
Wong: And not once did you ever consider your impact on the Paak people. Do you know how they view you? What is your Prime Directive?
Watcher Blake/Watcher Naminae: Response
Wong: You said it yourself - How can you be objective in any of this if you're now involved? The way I see it - you're no better than us.
Watcher Blake/Watcher Naminae: Response
Lieutenant Ikaia Wong PA-C
Chief Medical Officer
Amity Outpost
V239711IW0