Ensign Ollie Bergmen & PNPC SCPO Ral Shaw - Final choice

[CPT Arianus]

(( Holodeck 3, Deck 222, DS 224 -  Simulation of Artemis Medbay ))

Ollie rubbed his hands together, shivering as the cold numbed his fingers. He felt the seconds lengthen, and the temperature in the simulation dropped with each heartbeat. He knew it was a lie. If the life support systems hadn’t failed, there would be no reason for the temperature to drop. Plus, he was out of the simulation. He should not feel anything that Lyara and Imril would be exposed to.

He nearly startled when he felt a hand on his shoulder.

oO ::voice from the past:: Leave him, he will be dead on arrival. Oo

Kaz'Orah: Are you ok, ensign?

Bergmen took a deep breath, trying to steady himself, forcing a weak smile that felt like a thin mask over the turmoil churning inside him. His heart raced as he glanced forward, locking eyes with Chief Ral. Her gaze was piercing, searching for something—perhaps validation, perhaps a hint of weakness.

In that gaze, he understood. Understood now why he was summoned here to evaluate Lyara and Imril, all of whom had been assessed the same way he had. It dawned on him that his presence was no accident; in a particularly cruel twist from Ral, who had brought him into this moment not only to evaluate their performance but to force him to confront his own insecurities. It was as if she wanted him to see for himself just how much of a wreck he was, to reassure herself of the chaos he felt inside while facing...this drill. The thought made his chest tighten, adding to the anxiety that already coursed through his veins.

But that was of little consequence now. He had a job to do, and whatever he felt, or the reasons behind those feelings...  that was the problem of tomorrow's Ollie Bergmen.

Ollie cast his eyes away from Chief Ral and concentrated on the scene ahead of him. Ral nodded thoughtfully and tapped her combadge to open a one-way channel with trainees' combadges.

Ral: =/\= You have three minutes and thirty seconds. Remember why you are here. =/\=

Lyara sped up in her efforts to assess, triage, and label the injured and deceased.

Lyara: Alright, our next move is to quickly tag as many patients as we can and rank their condition.

Imril: Response

Events at the sickbay were really starting to pick up steam. Lyara clearly hadn’t given up on her mission to save as many lives as she could as she analyzed the situation, evaluated the severity of the injuries, and tagged those who still had a glimmer of hope for transport.

Lyara: If we remember our training we’ll have to transpo-

Poor lighting, haste, and tunnel vision took their toll as Alroyo slipped as she unwittingly stepped into a barely discernible pool of blood next to the biobed. Ral, as Ollie noticed, quickly turned her gaze to Imril, as did he.

Imril: Response

Ensign Lyara gradually got back up from the ground, completely covered in blood. She had it smeared all over. On her pants, on her uniform, and even tangled in her hair. It was a truly unsettling sight.

Ollie saw her eyes. Saw the shock. The dawning understanding of what it was that she had fallen into. Simulation or not, the shock protecting her now will wear off after a few hours and... Ollie made a note on his PADD to bring her a cup of hot raktajino after the drill.

Lyara: We have to… I think we… ::Taking a deep shaky breath:: Teleport the patients.

Imril: Response

Ral glanced at Kaz'Orah, and he gave a nod. She then turned her gaze toward Ollie. It took him a moment to see why she was gazing at him, then nodded in understanding. They had already been subjected to such horrible decisions that no one should ever have to confront. After everything they had been through, they truly deserved this moment.

Chief Ral confirmed the transporters, and patients began vanishing in pairs, accompanied by blue flashes and the unsettling sound of bodily atom deconstruction.

Lyara/Imril: Response

And then she clicked on the screen once more. A muffled explosion rumbled beneath their feet. For a moment—two, maybe three seconds—silence reigned as the bodies vanished into the transporter beam. But then, Ollie recognized the ominous sound all too well. It was the unsettling creak of metal, signaling that the ship was starting to buckle; the decks under them began to give away under their own weight.

The power cut out once more, plunging the screens into darkness and silencing the siren's final echo. The sickbay found itself once again enveloped in the dim glow of emergency lights fed only by batteries.

Three patients remained on the sickbay with Lyara and Imril. All three were triaged as red. Critical. Internal bleeding, pneumothorax, brain injury developing intracranial swelling.

Berger would have sworn he saw a smile on Ral's face as she pushed her combadge and opened that one-way channel to ensigns.

Ral: =/\= You still have a time left. There’s a chance the lifeboats are still functioning... if they’re still there. =/\=

Ollie gazed back at his fellow ensigns as the significance of those words dawned on him.

Lyara/Imril: Response TAG/TBC

–
Senior Chief Petty Officer Ral Shaw, PNPC
Simmed by Ollie Bergmen, A240009JC1
&
Ensign Ollie Bergmen
Operations Officer
U.S.S. Artemis-A
A240009JC1