Ensign Richard Matthews - Holy Catastrophe Batman!
Matthew Gough
((Deck 6, Isolation Room Three, Sickbay, USS Khitomer))
Tori: :: Softly. :: I'm sorry... That wasn't supposed to happen.
Words that never bode well to begin with. And when uttered by a time traveller, took on all new, terrifying forms.
El’Heem: ::Seriously and slowly:: What ::beat:: do ::beat:: you ::beat:: mean?
Eyes darting to the monitors on the biobed, then to the doors to watch for a momma bear to come rushing in. Either Semara or Ohnari he would expect at this point. Again, Connor? Push over. That one he wouldn’t worry about right now.
Maybe there should be some consideration for the sick patient in the bed. Usually a scraped knee was enough to elicit protective insects. Years of treating children as a first responder hammered the need for a delightful bedside manner into you. And Richard was delightful, dang it.
Distrust wove through rage, stitched together with feelings of helplessness crafted something unkind inside him. That had nestled into his chest to take up the room that he usually made for more positive feelings that he preferred to enjoy and project. That little space had already been suffering before this whole situation had started to unfold. Leaving Richard with little emotional resources to draw from as was.
Couldn’t even muster a feeling of calm to project for Tori while she spoke with Ras.
Tori: I mean... :: Hesitating. :: Whether we like it or not, there's already been consequences. :: Beat :: We needed a Hobart Hole big enough to transit, so I found a way to make sure y'all made one. Somehow, a little nudge must've been enough to change things in other ways... :: A grimace :: Like a hand.
The unkind thing stirred.
Matthews: :: Hand going to massage the bridge of his nose :: Okay so, am I hearing that you reached back through time using a smaller hole - I’m not calling it that! Another hole in space, time? And manipulated us into doing things. :: He glanced at Ras :: I think I would have preferred a phone call from the future.
El'Heem: Response
Tori: I'm sorry. I knew what we were risking for ourselves with this scheme, but you didn't even know there was a scheme. We -- I never meant to hurt you - I don't know how to make you believe that, but it's the truth. If you want to blame me... Fine. :: head falling, then sullen muttering :: My actions, my consequences.
Matthews: Meh, you’ll do a better job of beating yourself up over this than we could. :: He shrugged :: Course if you want to do that trick and nudge a younger me to make better choices on prom night. I’ll absolve you of any guilt.
El'Heem: Response
Matthews: Worth a try, hey if that changed I might not even be here now and would be safe Ras. Imagine a world you never met me, so quiet, so peaceful.
El'Heem / Tori: Response
Matthews: Then again, if you go meddling with my timeline, who knows what happens to a few planets I had a hand in saving, or at least whole populations. There was that dinosaur and Earth’s distant past when I had to deal with time travel too. :: He glanced at Tori and shrugged :: So much to take into consideration when you go changing people’s lives. But what do I know, right?
El'Heem / Tori: Response
Matthews: :: Giving his tricorder a little wave :: I get the feeling that those of us that didn’t make it. And aren’t close family friends in the future. Might not get much consideration in your planning. Here’s a little advice, your actions are going to impact more than you and your immediate family, keep that in mind. Now, if you excuse me. I’m just going to take a step back and take notes while you two talk, and make so many contingency plans, it makes Batman look reasonable.
El'Heem / Tori: Response
Moving to lean against the far wall, he started muttering to himself, while keeping an ear out for the ongoing conversation.
Matthews: First order of business, getting as much survival equipment and rations that we can, replicated in the event of a crash and system failure. Oh, and setting up a space for the animals while things get hairy. Baba could use some friends, we’ll stick them all in the life science lab for the time being.
Matthews: Oh, wait, question. How many attempts at time travel did you make? Sorry, just clicked that made it sound like you had to take a few cracks at it. If you were, why the heck did you settle for using the deadly radiation method?
El'Heem / Tori: Response
TAGS/TBC
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Science Officer
USS Khitomer (NCC-62400)
A238908RM0