LT Tamio K'Wara - One of Life's Greatest Artworks

[LT Tamio K'Wara]

(( Captain’s Ready Room - Deck 1, USS Artemis-A ))

Tamio was, for all intents and purposes, a surprisingly simple person. They had layers, of course, they had never met an individual who didn’t, but they weren’t the type to sugarcoat, keep secrets or omit details that may paint them in a negative light. Their father raised them better than that.

K’Wara: Lieutenant Tamio K’Wara, reporting for duty, Sir.

MacKenzie: Welcome aboard, Lieutenant. I see here that your last assignment was serving as an exam proctor at the Academy?

With that being said, however, Tamio did their utmost to keep any indication of their personal opinion of Captain MacKenzie firmly contained within their head. Granted, Starfleet had pretty clear guidelines that anything occurring strictly within the confines of one’s own head wasn’t ground for fraternization charges, but that didn’t mean it couldn’t get very awkward very fast.

They were aware of the rumours of Captain MacKenzie ‘entry interviews’, and while they felt relatively confident that they wouldn’t be reduced to a bawling incoherent mess at the end of this, they still had a vested interest in not botching this.

K’Wara: Three years, Sir. It’s been a while since I was on a Starship that wasn’t the Centris.

MacKenzie: I’ve spent a substantive amount of time serving as an exam proctor myself when I’m able to get back to Earth or one of the Academy satellite branches. It’s rewarding work, but never quite so much as the real thing.

K’Wara: I’ve heard as much, Sir. ::slight grin:: The tale of the Klingon Boot Knife made its rounds on Starbase 118. Real deal or not, one can never accuse Cadets of lacking imagination.

Tamio themself had several fond memories of the sometimes insane ideas and stratagems applied by Starfleet Cadets when they were faced with their final exam, and some slightly less fond, but Tamio could count on one hand the amount of time they had actually interrupted an Exam...

MacKenzie: Speaking of the real deal, why are you here?

Time for the real questions. Tamio’s expression settled into a more calm manner, though never stoic. Stoicism was the primary antagonist to true creativity, and while Tamio had long since learned that a good poker face was a necessity for a Starfleet Officer, a poker face didn’t always have to equal zero expressions.

Instead, Tamio applied a soft and friendly expression, one open, but not lighthearted. There was nothing lighthearted about the truths thad had to be spoken for them and the Captain to start off on the right foot.

MacKenzie: And, I think more importantly, what is it that took you off a starship and proctoring exams for three years, anyway?

There it was.

K’Wara: Ah. Yes... ::deep breath:: As for why I am here, specifically, I don’t have a good answer to offer. I didn’t request the reassignment, but Starfleet Command seems to consider my permanent position with the Academy a waste of personnel at this junction. As for the end of my service on the Arthur Royale, there was a ::searches for words:: tragic incident during a mission. It ended with the death of an entire away team, including some very dear friends I’d served with for years... ::looks out the window:: I’d lost friends in the service before - it happens, and we reconcile that fact or we end up trapped in our grief - but this time... ::looks back to the Captain:: This one was difficult to move past.

Tamio could still recall Morrígan’s face with perfect clarity, the way it had looked when she reported to the transporter room to get beamed down alongside the Chief of Security and the others. But while that clarity still infused them with the loss and regret that her death had caused, they found that it had become increasingly easier to look past that final memory, and remember the good times.

Time didn’t heal all wounds, but they did make them easier to bear.

MacKenzie: Response?

K’Wara: I tried as best I could, attended mandatory counseling sessions for months, followed all directives to work through that grief, but in the end, Counselor Th’lon recommended that I accept a reassignment to a less demanding position, and I personally made the request for a position with the Academy.

MacKenzie: Response

K’Wara: I am not an explorer or pioneer by nature, Captain. I value a sense of home and family, I value connections. I enjoy watching someone at the beginning of a journey, and I enjoy seeing how their exploits and accomplishments, academic or otherwise, change them and turn them into the next version of themself. That journey, I think, is one of life’s greatest artworks.

MacKenzie: Reponse

TAG/TBC

LT Tamio K’Wara

Operations Officer

USS Artemis-A

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