Ensign Amelia Semara - Empathy

[Max]

(( USS Khitomer, En Route to Sector 001 - Deck 6, Sickbay ))

Ohnari: You, are a brilliant scientist. I'm already on it, and so far, I'm not seeing anything concerning. ::flipping the screen:: See? All healthy levels accounted for. And no significant changes other than your psilosynine are just a smidge low, which, would account for the thought of exhaustion. You overworked yourself really.

Amelia gave a proud little smile, thinking of what that work had accomplished.  It was hardly a surprise, under the circumstances.  It wasn't the first time she'd pushed her limits just a little, and she seriously doubted it would be the last.  She had no intention of doing anything silly or dangerous, and hopefully her mere presence here was evidence enough she was not the sort of officer to risk frying her neurons (or damaging any other part of herself) simply for ego's sake. 
"Overworked" didn't explain the slightest thing about her symptoms, though.

Semara: If I remember my telepathic neuroanatomy right, these psilosynine levels ain't a problem as long as they're moderated by periserine, psiloglycine, and a bunch of neuropeptides I can't remember the names of anymore.  Or at least I've never had trouble.  But if my neurotransmitters are all right in line with prior exams...  Maybe we'd best do a full workup just to be sure?  I don't love mystery symptoms.

Ohnari: Very good, you know your enzymes. Never a bad thing to know what you're supposed to have in case something ever comes back off. I am running the standard biometric panel and comparing, but so far I am not seeing anything alarming. Why don't you tell me where you were when the symptoms started?

Amelia nodded.  That was pretty much the exact reason she'd been told to study the topic in university.  One never knew exactly how much a non-Betazoid doctor might know about a Betazoid's telepathic anatomy, so it was best to make sure one could always advocate for one's own brain health.  In this case, it seemed she was in plenty capable hands.

She thought for a moment about the timeline.

Semara: Well...  I know I was fine when I left my quarters.  I don't remember noticin' anything for a bit.  It took me a hot second to realize I was blockin' the feelin' without even thinkin' about it, but I was chattin' with the Captain when I figured it out, and it stopped pretty much as soon as I was off deck one.

She watched her doctor wince, then slump next to her on the biobed with a big release of air and a shrug.  If Amelia weren't a Betazoid, she might have jumped to the conclusion that the doctor was preparing to tell her she was dying from some obscure and horrible disease.  As it was, it was quite apparent Ohnari knew something - telepath or no - and it wasn't the most pleasant of information.

Amelia's lips quirked into a smile, hoping to encourage the woman to spill it already.  She could handle it, or so she thought.

Ohnari: First, I am going to apologize for the discomfort you experienced. And while I do believe you actually did overextend you senses and should rest a bit...there isn't anything wrong with why you had that experience. ::rubbing her forehead ridges in mild agitation.:: This won't be a new concept but some....uh...well, basically...

Semara: :: A little snort :: What is it?  Rare but friendly incorporeal brain parasites, and they'll pass in a day or two and I'll be all better?

Even if she understood the way other species did things, Amelia had always preferred the Betazoid way of total openness.  So much less wondering and concern along the way.  She didn't actually believe it was a brain parasite, but she did hope the doctor would just be out with it already.

Ohnari: Captain Shayne has an aversion to those who are telepathically inclined...it's a deep seated mistrust that is honestly generational at this point...but he's been...experimenting with a chemical compound usually received for interrogations or deep cover agents. What he's not doing...is consulting me at all, or taking the necessary peptide balancers that don't make the experience so...stark for you.

Semara: Oh!

Honestly, the first reaction was relief.  Amelia was in perfect health, like she always was, aside from needing a couple nights more of good sleep before attempting anything silly like telepathically talking to an incorporeal being for a good dozen hours or so.  That was good!

Semara: Oh.

Then it hit her.  It was like someone popped her balloon, stole her lollipop, and insulted her teddy bear then ran away cackling maniacally for no reason at all.  She wouldn't be making friends with Shayne, not now as an Ensign, not ever as any rank in any job at any time.  Those hopes were dashed.

Semara: Oh...

Her body deflated, matching Ohnari's slumped posture.  It didn't make one lick of sense, but when did prejudice ever?  She was familiar with some of the more extreme positions held towards telepaths in the abstract, but this was the first time she'd run into it personally.  It came as a shock - not just to find it in Starfleet, where tolerance and compassion was king, but to find it in a man who'd been so measured and acted so intelligently during the mission?  A man whose actions she'd admired?  And this wasn't even over something she could control.  There was no cake, no pastry, no dessert in the cookbook of any species she'd ever seen that would apologise for the mistake of being born the way she was.  She could no more stop being a telepath than she could stop seeing or hearing or existing...

Ohnari: Our first officer is a Hybrid, and I don't know when or why he started, but I think he's afraid of giving more away than he intends to, obviously not informed of the boundaries those inclined like ourselves place within our cultures. It's not like we're open receptacles just amassing all the thought waves and emotional imprints tossed at us all day, but that's a conversation for another time. But this time....well I am going to talk to him. However, rest assured we never had this conversation.

Amelia let her eyes meet the doctor's, and she half-smiled again.  The sympathy, the openness, the total trust.  It was the closest she'd felt to an interaction she might have had with her friends or family back home, simply letting each other's feelings comfortably bounce back and forth between them for a moment in resonance.

It was easy to feel a bit of kinship with the doctor in that moment.  Amelia, for all her happy youthful energy, often felt her age sneak up on her around other Ensigns in strange ways, but now, with the doctor, she could feel a well of life experience as deep as her own and found it to be a great comfort.

Semara: :: A light laugh. :: I think I preferred it when I had brain parasites.  But thank you.  I'm sure you'll handle it.

Ohnari: Response

Semara: No, I'll be fine.  :: A little smile. :: It just makes me... sad.  :: Her lips drew down. ::

It was a simple statement of fact, that three letter word, but it was less the word and more the lumpy, cold iron-pit feeling in her stomach that went with it she hoped the empathic doctor would tune into.

Ohnari: Response

Semara: I s'pose I am a little sorry for myself. :: A chuckle. :: But I meant more I'm sad for the Captain.  I don't know what it's like for you, but I've always found the empathic and telepathic experience to be a beautiful one.  Even in moments like these.  :: Beat :: Especially in moments like these.  There's somethin' comforting knowin' I can be there for folks, let them know I care.

That was all she wanted, really.  To let the Captain know she cared.  After the loss of life, the danger to the crew, the departure of his fiancée...  Sure, she was just an Ensign, but that didn't mean she had to be callous to the emotional needs of her superiors.

Ohnari: Response

Semara: It was kinda like that with Junior.  I don't know how long we were tryin' to guess at what to do before I made contact, and then poof!  I knew exactly what it needed.  Sometimes I forget how lonely non-empaths can be.  :: A smile :: You ever had a telepathic experience like that?  Where you just know something the moment you sense it?

It occurred to Amelia that, for all her knowledge of her own telepathic experiences and the Betazoid brain as a whole, she knew surprisingly little about how other species perceived that elusive, intangible other of awareness and presence.  Suddenly, she was teeming with questions.

Ohnari: Response

Tag/TBC...

Ensign Amelia Magnolia Semara

Science Officer

USS Khitomer - NCC-62400

A239710MA0