Lt. JG. Vhysa’lia - My Evil Plan Has Been Revealed!
Lich
(( Primary Sickbay – Deck 7, USS Artemis-A ))
Finding the newest addition to the Medical Department (aside from her) and befriending him had been working decently well, as far as Vhysa’lia could tell. He wasn’t immediately trying to pry into their past life, or pulling faces at having to interact with an abomination. But he was damned curious about her.
Vhysa’lia: Oh, I dabble, you know. A good deal of the work that I was doing before I came here was helping acclimate some of our kyn’cheya, our newest, to our society. You wouldn’t believe the sort of medical problems that can arise in those cases. ::shrug, then a look of curiosity:: I’m sure you’ve seen your fair share of… interesting cases?
Best not to get into the weeds of the details there, lest they scare off a new colleague with too-flippant remarks about death. And it wasn’t as if the skills she’d picked up in the genetics labs for the Kobali Medical Corps were likely to be relevant in the Federation, not with their restrictions and suspicions on genetic engineering. All the work with patients in the sickbays, however, and their multitude of problems… that would always be relevant.
Bancroft: ::mildly:: Well, yes and no. There’s something interesting about every case if you stare at it long enough. Like abstract art, or a Vulcan’s idea of romantic poetry.
That was something they could both agree on, at least.
Bancroft: We did have that run-in with the murder-particles during the last mission – I assume that was in your briefing. If not, you’re overdue for a crash course from Doc Crashcart.
What an odd nickname he’d given himself. Vhysa’lia had no idea what to make of it, but the murder-particles she had read about. It wouldn’t do to show up to the job without a proper review of what had happened on the last few missions, after all.
Bancroft: But other than that, I’m brand new. Just a few weeks out of my final clinical rotation. This is my first posting. First Sickbay. First crew. First… all of this.
Vhysa’lia: Everyone’s got to start somewhere, you know.
They grew silent, working together over the tools as sickbay bustled around them. It was an island of calm in a somewhat hectic place.
The quick glance that Bancroft threw her way didn’t go unnoticed. But what exactly was he thinking?
Bancroft: ::idly, but with a note of curiosity:: If I might ask a question, ma’am – I’m enjoying your company, but I don’t think I’ve ever witnessed a Lieutenant spend this much time chatting with an Ensign who hasn’t even peeled the plastic off his pip yet. ::beat, dryly:: What gives?
Vhysa’lia: What, I can’t just be curious about my colleagues? I have to have some ulterior motive?
They laughed. It wasn’t too far off base that she was seeking this conversation out for more than just idle chatter, but was it so wrong to want to make a friend in the department while things were still calm, someone she could count on when things became rapidly not calm, as they were wont to do?
Bancroft: Response
Vhysa’lia: ::hands up, in mock surrender, another light laugh:: Fine! You caught me, it’s all a ruse... ::pause:: But please, ma’am feels… too formal. I would prefer just “doctor”.
Ma’am also, in a way, felt weird. As a species that didn’t sexually reproduce, the Kobali had somewhat lost their perception of gender and sex, especially as the pool of new Kobali grew more and more diverse species-wise. Vhysa’lia’s kyn’steya had been a woman, and that’s what most people outside of the Kobali saw her as, but it just didn’t feel like the complete picture for her. For ease of fitting in, they didn’t mind the assumption, but “ma’am” just felt too much, somehow.
Bancroft: Response
Vhysa’lia: So, I do have to ask. Crashcart? Where and how did you get saddled with that?
She’d never really picked up any nicknames during her time as a Kobali. Not that they didn’t exist, they just never ended up being bestowed one.
Bancroft: Response
Tags/TBC :)