Eye of the Beholder

Posted on Sun Jul 10th, 2022 @ 4:12pm by Ensign George Paxton & NVeid tr'Rehu

Mission: Character Development
Location: Engineering
Timeline: Between missions
3046 words - 6.1 OF Standard Post Measure

"Hi George." NVeid walked up to the engineer, though he seemed a little unsteady on his feet, as if he were drunk. "Got a moment?" His face was pulled into a frown and he kept his right eye as closed as possible. "Somewhere....private?" Because he didn't really want gossip tto spread and it felt somewhat, personal.

George's expression changed to one of concern as he noticed NVeid, slightly off balance. "Of course. We can use Finn's office," he then moved to help the surgeon but stopped short as he remember that he didn't like to be touched and instead motioned toward the inside. "I don't think anyone will bother us in here," he said hoping it was the truth. Finn wasn't supposed to be working much, but every engineer on the ship knew that was not her nature. "Whats going on?" He asked once the doors had shut behind them.

"I think..." The Romulan squeezes his eyes shut in an attempt to keep himself upright. "I think something is off..." He gestured towards his right eye. "I can't focus, I feel dizzy and I'm getting one hell of a headache. I've done nothing out of the ordinary, that I can think of...but it's out of alignment..."

"No offense Nveid, but isn't that something you should go t sickbay for? I mean, I'm happy to help but my medical training is pretty limited," George said as he pulled up a chair for the Romulan to sit in.

As he sat, NVeid shook his head. "No, I need an engineer. Scan me and see yourself.." He sighed softly. "It's bionic, medical can't do anything about it."

George raised a curious brow and grabbed the tricorder on Finn's desk. Upon scanning the man, he found what NVeid said to be true. "Oh," George whispered. "I see. Well, I'll certainly do my best, but usually, Finn takes care of these types of repairs. She's helped Savin with devices before, not that they're the same. She just has a wider knowledge of these sorts of devices."

"I don't want to burden Finn right now," the older man murmured, "can you help me? I can..." He hesitated, swallowing hard. "It can be taken out, if needed." He preferred not to but as it was he felt unsteady and he hated that feeling.

"Honestly, Finn is usually overjoyed with extra work, not burdened," George muttered but understood what NVeid meant. "Yes, I think I might be able to help. It looks like your visual input relay is trying to send data over the wrong protocol. Try...this..." He input some changes to the port and address where data is sent and hoped that would fix the problem. "Does that seem better?" He asked with a note of genuine concern in his voice.

NVeid winced visibly as changes were made and shook his head. "Everything is warped and double now," he said, wrenching his healthy eye shut again, "I think something is wrong with sensory input, like left and right aren't properly working together?"

"Oh no. I'm so sorry. It looks like the left input, but that's the one I just changed so maybe it's the right?" George tried adjusting it in the opposite direction. "How's that?"

Carefully, the Romulan opened his eyes. "No it's still not right. I don't get it, I've done nothing out of the ordinary, it shouldn't be out of alignment like this. I've only been swimming and I've been climbing trees with my son. But that was days ago. It was fine yesterday and most of today."

George thought for a moment. Could it be linked to one of those activities? "NVeid, I am terribly sorry, but would it be less dizzying if you removed it? It might be easier on you and might help me solve the issue. Some of the readings on the tricorder are blocked. That or we can call in Finn, she may have some ideas without removing it. I'm sorry, I wish I knew more about these things. It'll just take me a little more time to try to narrow down the issue." He said, trying to convey as much compassion as he could.

He could sense the compassion and knew there was no malice involved, especially since he had made the suggestion himself. Still, his face drained of all colour as he turned away to remove it. Turning back, he covered the right side of his face with his had as if not to scare the man as he handed over the artificial eyeball. Obviously he couldn't remove any internal connectors and he wondered if the young man would be able to handle seeing them, if needed. He said nothing, his expression really saying all as to how he felt.

George felt horrible for the Romulan. He couldn't imagine how difficult it would be to be forced to share the disability with others and have to ask for help just to see properly. "Let's see what we can find. You said you went swimming and climbing trees? I don't see any water damage so that's good. Is tree climbing something you do with your son often?" He asked, hoping that some conversation would make NVeid feel more comfortable as George inspected the unit further.

The Romulan nodded slowly. "Yes, when we have a chance. The last time we did was on my prior assignment, so we grabbed the opportunity to climb real trees while he visited me here with my sister. She's his caretaker while he's not allowed to be here on the ship. He visits whenever we have leave. The trees were in bloom too, very pretty yellow and white flowers." Despite the feeling of dread that seemed to wash over him, he managed a small smile. "Jarron was covered in pollen when we got down "

As George looked further, he noticed traces of something left behind on the device. Pollen. An idea struck and George quickly sat in Finn's chair to do some research. "That certainly seems like a good time. How old is Jarron? If you don't mind me asking."

"He is ten years old, going on eleven this year. I adopted him when he was five, after his father was killed. His family wanted nothing to do with him because he's a hybrid. His father's family is very archaic, wanting only purebred humans."

George stopped for a moment, furrowing his features in confusion. "Really? Wow. I always want to think people like that don't exist anymore. He's very fortunate to have a loving father such as yourself though," he offered a kind smile. "Okay, so I may have discovered something helpful. You have pollen residue on your device and from what I'm reading here, the pollen from the trees on that planet are actually charged with ions. It's possible that you accumulated enough for it to affect its function. Is there a specific solution you use to clean it? We can start with that and then make adjustments from there."

NVeid carefully shook his head. "It doesn't usually need cleaning and I normally don't have a need to take it out, thankfully..." He shivered visibly. "The very idea is sufficiently traumatic," he admitted slowly, while finally lowering his hand. "I assume...all will need rinsing? If it's on the implant it's likely on the... connection as well?"

"It is likely, we should definitely check. I'm sorry, I know this must not be easy for you. Do you mind?" He held up the tricorder, asking for permission to scan his eye socket as well, where the connections were located.

Holding his breath, the Romulan nodded his permission and tilted his face up a little. "You may touch, if needed," he added, physically and mentally steeling himself.

"I don't think I'll need to, don't worry," he reassured NVeid. "Tell me more about your son. What else did you guys do on shore leave?" George asked, doing his best to maintain a good engineering bedside manner as it were. In the meantime, he continued to scan and confirm the presence of pollen on the connections as well.

"He told me about school and making friends. And his aunt now has a partner he gets along well with. You have to know they are much younger than I. My father was... extremely young when he met my mother. He didn't know of my existence until we met by accident and he has introduced me to his family since then. I'm grateful for their acceptance of me, as I have lost mine, I mean my mother, sister and stepfather when Romulus was destroyed. I spend some time catching up with my sister too. What about you?" Obviously he didn't really want to talk about himself.

"Oh, I don't have any children. I do have a lot of siblings though," George replied. "We need to find a good solution to rinse everything in. I think there's one in the database that should work well," he walked up to the replicator and dug through various options as he continued to talk. "I have seven siblings to be exact. Made for quite the rambunctious household as you can imagine."

"I meant, what did you do during leave." The conversation was a nice distraction from his terror, and he was visibly relaxing just a little. "Seven siblings? Wow... I have, well had...three. I'm the oldest. And only my uhm...first sister was a pure blood Romulan. Sadly as I was taken by the Tal Shiar because of my abilities, I never really got to know her. I suppose..she was ashamed of me." He sighed. "At least, I assume so as we never spoke much when we did get to meet."

"The Tal Shiar? Wow, I had no idea. And maybe your sister just didn't know what to say. I find that's the problem sometimes. It's certainly my problem sometimes," George said as he brought a solution and a spray bottle to the desk. "Ok, we'll need to clean the device in here and I'll need to spray down your connectors, or can you do it if you feel you're up to it. I'm sorry again, I know this must be difficult."

"Extremely," the surgeon admitted, "the feeling of taking it out is... overwhelming. You do it, I can't see what I'm supposed to be doing." He tensed up a little at the very idea but it was necessary. "I can't handle seeing my own body parts very well," he admitted, "same as I can't handle seeing my own blood."

"Interesting conundrum for a surgeon," George mused. "As for our previous subject, I spent some time piddling around on the planet. Went on a hike, did some star gazing, and ate some delicious meals which I still need to work off at the gym," he chuckled as he very carefully cleaned off the device. When he was done, George grabbed the bottle and looked at NVeid with concern. "Is it ok if I touch you? I'll make it quick. I just need to clean out those connections." His voice was soft and gentle.

"It just concerns my own. I got no qualms if it concerns someone else's blood. I've seen too much of my own." He nodded slowly in consent. "I already said you could and... perhaps we could swim a few laps to get you back into shape?" He sat very still for a moment. "Do I need to do anything?"

"No, just try to relax. It will only take a second," George gently put his fingers on NVeid's face to hold it steady and then applied the solution to the connections. Working as quickly as possible while making sure that everything was cleaned off properly. "Done," he said as he let go a moment later, "and I would love to go swimming anytime."

George took some additional scans of both the connectors and the device itself. There was less signal interference with the pollen cleaned out. "I think we just need to make a couple of small adjustments and then I'll have you try again."

"Please..." Having sight with only one side was disconcerting and it was messing with his depth perception. "I hope you're not too put off by this?" After all this was still something very private.

"Not at all! I'm glad you came by, I'm always happy to help NVeid. I hope you know that. Blood, body parts...none of that bothers me. Just small spaces," George looked at the surgeon with kind and understanding eyes. "Can you imagine being an engineer and panicking when you think about the jefferies tubes?" He chuckled softly. "Ok, I think I have it fixed. Try it now."

Turning away, NVeid put the artificial eye back in place and blinked a few times, his eyes watering. "That does feel better, vision is no longer double just... slightly out of alignment." He rubbed his eyes. "While I'm grateful this was possible, I'm still sad they couldn't save it. They told me it was damaged beyond repair." He shuddered again. "I don't see why you can't be afraid of small spaces...we all have our fears and desire to overcome them, right?"

"Yes, we do. Still slightly out of alignment, you said?" George put a hand on his chin in thought. He was basically out of ideas. They had done everything he could think of. With a sigh, George tapped his combadge. He knew NVeid might not like it, but he had gone as far as his knowledge could take him. "Paxton to Keating," he called.

Before he could stop the engineer, the chief was already summoned. "Just slightly, like I'm not wearing correcting glasses or something. Did something happen, that you don't like confined spaces? Personally, I don't like being restrained...by any means."

Just then Finn responded. "Keating here, what's up Pax? Do you need me in engineering?"

"No, no, I just need to borrow your brain for a moment. I'm working with an assistive device that was covered in pollen from the planet we visited on shore leave. The pollen particles were charged with ions, causing interference. I got it all cleaned out and reset it, but it seems like the data is still slightly off. Got any ideas?"

"Hmm," Finn wondered what this device was, but it was clear by George's wording that for whatever reason he didn't want to divulge too much detail. Nevertheless, it was work to do and Finn was glad for a work-related distraction. "Did you try sending a charge pulse to the main processor? It's possible that the ions discharged the processing line and it just needs a kickstart."

"Good idea, I'll give that a try. Thanks!" George said with an excited look.

"Anytime," Finn replied through the comline. "Like seriously, anytime. Please bother me again with work at your earliest convenience."

George chuckled lightly and then worked to set up what Finn had suggested. "Sorry, NVeid. I know you didn't want to bug her, but we'd reached my limits and I think her suggestion might just work. And to answer your question from before, I was locked in a small closet once for a long time and I think that may have triggered it, but honestly, I've just never liked closed-in spaces."

"Do what you can..." The Romulan resigned, "as long as it'll function again. I've not had this much issue with it before. Just falling from a tree when I first had it and it wasn't aligned properly." He sighed. "Is it strange that part of me wishes I had never been captured? That I had never gone to that conference, with the Captain's wife, no less. Not Kane, obviously. A prior captain, on a prior assignment. Come to mention it, I'm no fan of small spaces either, the way I arrived there to begin with. I had the luck of encountering an intelligence shuttle on my way, and they locked me in stasis. Ironically that saved my life as the shuttle was attacked and destroyed."

"I don't think it's strange at all. I can't think of anyone that wouldn't feel the same way," George said gently. "Ok here it goes," he made performed the steps that Finn had described. "How does it feel now?"

NVeid blinked a few times to get his bearings and offered a smile of relief. "Much better, thank you. No more headache and dizziness, still a touch unsteady bit that'll pass I hope." He cast the engineer a look of gratitude. "Thank you for your discretion ensign," he said formally, "it's greatly appreciated. Especially towards the chief engineer."

George raised an eyebrow over the Romulan's last statement. "I understand wanting to keep this private, but you should know that even though Finn might come off as non-caring or emotionless, she does actually have a heart in there. Most people don't see it, but she can be very caring and kind in her own way. Don't tell anyone else I told you that, she'll kill me," he chuckled. "I'm glad it's working correctly for you now though."

"I know she does, which is why I'm glad you didn't tell her. She would've insisted on coming down when she's supposed to be resting." He tapped his temple with his left hand. "You forget, I'm a telepath. I have experienced her sense of care, and her need to work. The only way of keeping her from it is by not telling her too much."

"You're probably right," George smiled. "Swimming tonight on the holodeck?" He inquired before they parted ways.

"Certainly, I'll make sure some time is booked. After shift?"

"Maybe an hour or two after shift. Things are a little busier for everyone else when your workaholic CEO is down," George winked.

"Two hours after shift," the surgeon confirmed, "thank you again, I'm most grateful to you." He got to his feet and smiled gratefully. "Perhaps...one time... I'll tell you how this happened...maybe."

"I'll always be here if you'd ever like to talk. In the meantime, I'll look forward to the swim. Have a good afternoon NVeid," George raised a hand signalling his goodbye and walked out of the office to continue his duties.