Insufferable Alien

Posted on 02 Apr 2016 @ 2:39pm by Lieutenant JG Drusilla McCarthy & Lieutenant Olsam Mott

3,623 words; about a 18 minute read

Mission: Episode 10 - Symposium
Location: USS Galileo: Counselor's Office
Timeline: MD75: 0800 hours

[ON]

Olsam Mott was already sitting on the patient's couch when Lieutenant McCarthy reported for duty at 0800 hours. No doubt she had been expecting Crewman Sellars, but Olsam had, naturally, already taken care of that by making some "adjustments" to her schedule; namely, asking Sellars to file for a delay in his counseling session to open up the morning slot. Not that Sellars' issues stemming from the war or whatever weren't important, but Olsam's last annual psychological examination was exactly one year ago today - at 0800 hours. Renewing his certification was much more important than whatever Sellars had going on.

"Good morning, Lieutenant McCarthy," Olsam said, beaming up from the couch. He gestured toward the coffee table. "I took the liberty of replicating some tea for us. And coffee. And some pastries. And assorted breakfast meats."

Drusilla stopped short on her walk into her offices, a PADD in one hand as the other rested against the back of her neck. It took a few moments for the scene greeting her to actually settle into her sleep addled mind, "Doctor Mott?" She didn't managed much more than that as her brain still tried to fully wake and function at full capacity.

"Yes, I'm Dr. Mott. We've met before. Are you suffering from amnesia or early onset dementia?"

Drusilla blinked at the abrupt responce before moving behind her desk and calling up her schedual, "As far as I am aware, My mental capacity is quite ok Doctor. But as far as I was concerned, I was due to meet another crew member at this time today."

"I took the liberty of scheduling myself for my annual psychological evaluation this morning. I like to be prompt with these sort of things, and the previous year's evaluation expired," he paused, glanced at the chronometer, "three minutes ago. I moved Crewman Sellars to a different timeslot after consulting with him. Well, I mean, I guess you could call it consulting. It was more like me telling him, and then he just started stammering. Does he do that a lot? That's probably why he's seeing you on a regular basis. The stammering, I mean."

Turning off her chair, Dru sat back into her chair as she studied the other man more closely. This was their first time meeting but Drusilla had heard Tuula mention him before. It was clear that the woman held a torch for the burly Bolian but the counsellor was still not yet sure why. "Can you explain to me Doctor on why you felt it necessary to take another crew members slot instead of just meeting me later in the day?"

"Well, I'm busy later in the day. And I like to follow protocol, which says I should have my evaluation annually. Today is annually. If I had scheduled an appointment at any other time besides 0800 today then I would have been early or I would have been late, both of which are quite wasteful of my time and yours. Sellars saw the logic in it, do you?" Olsam asked, tilting his head slightly to the side.

"Then why pre-chance did you not make the appointment in advance given you knew a year ago when it would need to happen again?" Dru didn't think that Mott was being intentionally disrespectful but it annoyed her that he felt that him and his business seemed to take precedent over everyone else. She would have expected someone in his profession to respect others and their appointments.

Mott laughed at first but later realized that was an actual question.

"Oh, I did. But it was with Lieutenant Miir. He's not posted on the Galileo right now, and I can't very well travel to Dusseldorf just for a psychiatric evaluation, can I? Or... Could I? Do you think the Admiral would spring for that? Maybe I could take a shuttle, be back in a week or so. That's a good idea, Dr. McCarthy," Olsam mumbled, half to himself, as he stood up to leave.

"Sit down!" Dru's words came out harshly as her fingers moved to kneed the flesh of her forehead. "As much as I feel you might benefit from sticking to your original plans; as the counsellor onbaord now your psychiatric care is my responsibility and as such, you will do your review here and now."

Olsam threw his arms up in the air as he flopped down into the chair. "That's what I've been trying to say since you walked in here!" Going from exasperated to cheerful in the blink of an eye, he reached for a small plate and began assembling an assortment of the food he'd replicated. "Would you care to join me for breakfast?"

As she attempted to sooth the thumping pain building behind her skull, Dru wondered how she had managed to get herself into this mess. Her stomach rumbled as her body tried to remind her that breakfast wouldn't go amiss. "Sure...why not. Tell me how you are today Doctor Mott."

The Bolian handed over the plate he'd prepared for himself, heaped up with probably twice as much as she might normally get for herself, and then set about fixing himself something. As he spoke, he sounded as if they were enjoying a Sunday luncheon rather than conducting a psychological evaluation, "Me? I'm very well, thank you for asking. And how are you, Lieutenant McCarthy?"

As she started into the food, Dru realised that she was more ravenous than she realised. His question didn't escape her attention though as she swallowed a mouthful before replying. "Are you asking the question to try and deflect away from yourself Doctor? This is meant to be me evaluating you...."

"Well, I'm happy to be evaluated. I don't know about where you come from, but on Bolarus IX we're raised with manners that guide us to inquire about the well-being of people with whom we're conversing," Olsam said, which was ironic given how often he was pointedly offensive. "Are you refusing to answer to try and deflect away from yourself, Lieutenant? Are you uncomfortable when people inquire as to your emotional state and general well-being?"

Dru suddenly coughed on a piece of food as she listened to the Doctor speak. Was he genuinely being serious. She was beginning to understand now the stories that patients told her about this Doctor. "Doctor, we are in a counselling session for solely you. I would suggest that if you wish me to talk about myself that perhaps you schedual me into an appointment in sickbay. Do you always try to shift focus away from yourself in the way you are doing now?"

At her refusal to answer, Olsam wrinkled up his nose, clearly having taken offense over it. "I wasn't deflecting anything! I just asked how you were. It's small talk! I thought you were human? Humans love small talk! Is this an evaluation or interrogation?" He hopped once in place on the couch and pulled at his collar while beads of sweat began popping up along his forehead. "Don't you have a list of questions to ask, like if I ever feel insane or bloodthirsty or something?"

As Dru felt the headache behind her temples begin to intensify even further, she pushed away her food in favour to moving to the replicator. "Can I offer you something to drink?"

"Gosh, I don't know. If I say I'd like some tea are you going to tell me
that I have long-standing issues with my mother?" Olsam huffed, folding his arms like a petulant child. After a moment, he leaned forward. "Yes, I'll take a cup of rooibos, thank you."

Slowly her breathing, the counsellor counted backwards from five to one inside of her head as she tried to control both her patience and the thumping inside of her skull. "I'm beinging to think that you may have long standing issues with counsellors Doctor. Mother issues? Insanity? Bloodthirsty? Is that what you've come to expect from our profession?"

Olsam graciously accepted the tea and blew across its surface. He kept his eyes averted while he spoke not because of the content but because of how amused he seemed to be by the ripples he was creating in the tea. "I haven't come to expect much of anything from your profession. It's not as if you people practice an actual science. It's pseudoscience, at best."

"My job has nothing to do with science, I'm here to listen, talk to and help people understand their psychological state. The age old debate on if counselling is a science or an art more so applies to psychologists and psychiatrists. Psychiatrists especially as medications are involved with alter the brains chemistry." Dru took a deep breath, she was beginning to understand nothing Mott did was intentionally meant to harm, just just seemed to have no awareness of the impact of his words or actions beyond expressing himself.

"Well, I'm glad one of you can admit there's no science involved in all this," Olsam said, as if he'd had this discussion many times in the past. He settled into the chair, inhaled deeply of his cup of tea, and then asked with an air of genuine but pointed curiosity. "So, if you don't alter the brain's chemistry, and you don't practice any sort of scientific work... What would you say it is that you do here, counselor?"

"I do precisely what my title entails...I counsel people. I help them figure out what kind of a mental state they are in and where they might be going through a tough time or experiencing emotions which they can't cope with, I try to help them through this." Dru allowed the Doctor to lead the conversation, she didn't particularly want an argument, especially given how delicate this particular subject could be to some of her fellow colleagues.

Olsam blinked. "Huh. Well. I see. I guess that's necessary. Lonely crazy people need someone to talk to. Like, someone has to maintain the waste extraction systems. It's not glamorous work, but someone has to do it, right? So, you're like the waste extraction systems technician of the medical department."

Dru found herself blinding at the analogy which the Doctor had just used. It was becoming another care of her wondering if his insulting was intentional or not. "You could fix a person who almost died from phaser wounds and physically they are fit. But psychologically...every time they close their eyes they remembering the shots, the screams, the pain...they cant sleep, they cant work, they can't function. If you didn't have the counselling profession what would you propose would be done to help people be able to live a normal life and return to their jobs?"

"Engramatic replacement therapy," Olsam replied, quickly and with no small degree of certainty. "I think you humans call it 'brain washing' or something, which is a pretty good metaphor. It's like cleaning out the mind. It's illegal in the Federation, of course, but you could always send your patient to Angosia or something. They're making great strides in memory replacement! Or..." He paused, watching her. "You could go with the more traditional route? Just get over it. That's what I do. So your leg got blown off? Big deal. We can make new legs now."

Now Dru was beginning to realise why precisely this Doctor had built the reputation which surrounded him no matter where he went...he genuinely didn't care. How or why she still wasn't sure given that it contradicted someone in his profession but the words he had just spoken could not indicate any other explanation.

"Why do you heal the people you look after Doctor? Why do you give them a new leg when their old one is blown off? Why do you treat diseases that would otherwise kill a person if left untreated?"

"Because I like to play God," Olsam quipped, then grinned. "I'm a healer because I enjoy remaking things that have been damaged and broken. And I like to be of assistance. Also, if I didn't treat a disease that would otherwise kill someone, I think that would make me a bit of an asshole, wouldn't it?"

Dru choose to ignore the question, she wasn't quite certain that she would be able to maintain a politeness in answering it. "So you cure or heal the person for the effect it has on you rather than on them?"

"I treat the sick and injured because it's my responsibility, my profession, my interest, and my sworn duty to do so," Olsam said, lifting a thin eyebrow. "Do you want me to give you some speech about saving souls and serving the needs of my fellow crewmembers for the sake of service and service alone, all while ascetically denying my own needs and satisfaction?"

"No I expect you to give a genuine answer. Its abit pointless coming here if your not going to be genuine." Dru sat back In her chair as her hand moved to settle on her abdomen. "Tell me about your colleagues in medical. Do you get along with them?"

"I'm always genuine," Olsam said, sounding almost combative. He stared at her for a long moment like he wasn't going to answer the other question and then relented. "Yes, of course, I get along with them. I get along with everyone. Haven't you heard? I get along with everyone famously. I can't believe you haven't heard.

"Dr. Allyndra and I have a very good working relationship, and we often dine together. Dr. Voutilainen and I are very good friends; we were even married briefly. I don't know Dr. Chaparral very well as he's often working off in the corner doing something or another; I never bothered to inquire. Our nursing staff is competent, though Nurse Veri is a bit too touchy-feely for my tastes. You can't just go around touching everyone. That's how diseases are transmitted. So, I suppose that covers everyone except that stupid hologram people keep insisting on activating. But she's just a hologram, not really a colleague. Or a person."

Dru was intrigued given that she had heard the opposite but she was willing to give the alien the benefit of the doubt. "What is it about the..stupid hologram people which you don't like?"

"It's mostly her that I don't like. I've never had any extensive experience with other holograms. But this one has an attitude problem. Not to mention she's an inferior medical practitioner. She's not even a doctor, even though people call her doctor. She hasn't attended any accredited medical school anywhere in the Federation. I checked!"

Dry couldn't hide her smile at this statement. "A hologram is a physical representation of a database. Our holograms are part of the medical database and therefore don't have a requirement to have attended school."

"Well, if you haven't gone to medical school then people shouldn't be calling you 'doctor.' And you certainly shouldn't be able to attend to patients without strict supervision from a real doctor," Olsam said. "Who wants to be treated by a medical database, anyway? It's creepy."

"If you ever found yourself in a situation where you had an illness or injury which noone in medical would resolve, would you rather die or allow the hologram, who has the information and ability to save you, to save you?" Dru sat back in her chair as she studied the Bolian closely, there seemed to be aot that he didn't like and wasn't afraid to express as so.

Olsam narrowed his eyes slightly, sensing a trap. "That's absurd. There's no such thing as an illness or injury which couldn't be treated by medical but could be solved by that walking encyclopedia. Unless everyone was incapacitated, in which case it would be an emergency and that thing would just be fulfilling its function, for once, instead of mouthing off and getting in the way of actual medical practitioners."

"Do I sense some hostility towards this Eee Em H programme Doctor?" Dru's features stayed static but she couldn't help but poke...call it payback for the counselling professions comments.

"I doubt it," Olsam said dryly, slowly turning his head to stare right at her, "Given humanity's lack of empathic ability, you probably aren't sensing anything at all. Besides, you can't be hostile over a non-sentient object." He lifted his chin proudly. "I'm just not that emotionally invested in the situation."

Dru bit down on her tongue hard as she restrained herself from responding to that statment. Instead she grabbed a nearby PADD and took a moment to bring up the officer's file, quietly surprised as she read through his records. "It says here that a number of weeks ago you had an issue involving several members of the crew? Security hauled you in I believe...would you like to tell me what happened?"

"Huh? I don't remember anything like that happening. Are you sure you're looking at the right Olsam Mott? My cousin is Oldam Mott. You have very large hands, so you might have hit the wrong key," Olsam said, gesturing toward the PADD.

Double checking the name, Dru shook her head as she looked back up at the Bolian. "No...definitely you Olsam Mott...serial number whiskey mike eight nine nine six five one nine...the names of the others involved were one Lieutenant Junior Grade Tuula Voutilainen and...Petty Officer second class Rebecca Williams?"

"Oh, that slut," Olsam said, waving a hand dismissively. "That was years ago."

"Really..." Dru's eyes glanced at the stardate on the report as she wondered if Mott was purposely trying to avoid the subject. "...According to this it was mere weeks ago? Would you like to tell me what happened?"

"No, not really," Olsam said, then pointed to her PADD. "You have the incident report. What more could I add to it? I'm sure Benice and Pax were very thorough."

"But they can't educate me as to what was going through your mind when you..." Dru glanced down at the notes before reading aloud, "...dragged an unconscious woman through the decks of the ship, between her quarters and sickbay?"

"She's a lot heavier than she looks. If you see her she doesn't seem all that fat, but she is very heavy. I almost came out of the whole incident with a lower back injury trying to drag her down the corridor. Is that in the report? I was sure to mention it. I think I used the word 'hefty' if you want to search for the relevant section."

Dru couldn't help but raise an eyebrow at this, having seen the yeoman in various senior meetings with Captain Holiday, she wondered where the woman hide the weight. If only she could manage the same. "So were you thinking that you needed to get her to sickbay urgently? Why not use the transporter as you'd have an override being Assistant Chief Medical Officer of the ship."

Olsam scoffed. "I had no intention of letting that woman besmirch my spotless record with a transporter log record. What would the transporter chief think? It was barely a flesh wound, anyway. Hardly an emergency. No need to waste precious resources on that sort of thing when you could just wrap the patient in a rug and drag her to Sickbay."

"Ok..." Dru jotted down some notes on her file as she reached some conclusions. The alien claimed to take pride in his job but it seemed that patients weren't treated with the same respect. "Have you ever considered attending a course on social etiquette and proper manners Doctor Mott?"

"No, but I have considered teaching a course on social etiquette and proper manners. Would you like to attend?"

"I would recommend that you leave it to ourselves here in counseling who may know the subject better than yourself Doctor Mott." Dru looked back down at her notes before back up at the Bolian. "I'm going to declare you fit for duty it its conditional. I'm going to arrange for Starfleet Medical contact you in relation to arranging for you to attend classes, via subspace communication, on sensitivity with people and something around the lines of social etiquette and proper manners."

Olsam had a very blank sort of look on his face as he stared at her, the sort you might expect to see on a farmer being instructed on the finer points of space-time distortions by an astrophysicist. Eventually, he made one very solid blink.

"I'm sorry, I don't follow. Are you suggesting I'm insensitive and don't know how to communicate with people?"

"Yes I am." Dru looked Mott straight in the eye as she gave her acknowledgment. It seemed that brute and bluntness were the only way to get through to the Orion. "I don't know if it's intentional or not but one hundred percent, you have people skill issues."

"That's absurd. And you're absurd for saying it," Olsam said. He stood up, huffed, and then held up a hand to ward off argument. "But fine, fine. If it will make you people happy. If anything it will give me an opportunity to demonstrate my absolute and complete competence when it comes to interpersonal communication."

Dru finally let out the breath she had been holding before slowly nodding her head. It had been an argument more easily won than she had anticipated but at least she had succeeded in bringing him around...somehow....

[OFF]

Lieutenant Olsam Mott, M.D.
Assistant Chief Medical Officer
USS Galileo

Lieutenant JG Drusilla McCarthy
Chief Counsellor
USS Galileo

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