New tricks

Posted on Mon Jul 11th, 2022 @ 10:20am by Lieutenant Commander Savin & Lieutenant Commander Finnley Keating VII

Mission: Character Development
Location: Savin's quarters
Timeline: Inbetween Missions
2390 words - 4.8 OF Standard Post Measure

Savin paced his quarters, still questioning himself on whether this was a good idea or even if she'd see right through him. Reports indicated severe trauma, and orders to rest. What he was about to do would likely violate those orders, but did he have any choice?

"Lieutenant Keating, this is Savin. Could you please come to my quarters? I believe the red alert signal to my bedroom is malfunctioning."

"On my way!" Finn replied, a little too eagerly. Sure she was supposed to be resting anytime she was able to, which meant no overtime or additional duties, but any distraction work could provide, she jumped on. Anytime she wasn't working, Finn's thoughts were filled with Silnan. Even sleep served as no respite since her dreams were filled with guilt accompanied by the face of their interrogator.

The fact that the call came from the counselor would've been slightly suspicious had she not needed to repair his systems before. Though, just in case, Finn chose to remain on guard as she pressed the chime on Savin's door.

"Whats going on with your alarm?" Finn asked with a plastered smile as the door opened.

Savin stepped aside to let her in, gesturing towards his private chamber. "I frequently test my system to make certain they are functional," he explained truthfully, "however, the night time alert appears to be malfunctioning. I was hoping you could have a look?" As she walked past, he gave her his full attention, studying her as he already had noticed the fake smile.

"Sure thing," Finn opened the panel where the main controls of his alarm met and her once fake smile started to turn into a genuine one. She had been slightly suspicious before but here in front of her seemed a genuine problem and she was happy to tackle it. "Looks like your power module burned out. Easy fix," she said. "Mind if I use your replicator?"

A genuinely created problem at the very least. Savin nodded and smiled as he sat down on the bed to watch her. "Of course," he answered quietly, "you can get anything you need lieutenant. Meanwhile..." He pretended to hesitate. "Are you recovering well?"

Finn sighed, she worried this might happen. "I think I'd recover better if people stopped treating me like a fragile piece of china and let me handle things my own way," she replied with a hint of annoyance. "How have you been lately?" Finn asked, looking to change the subject as she replicated the piece she needed.

"I am not treating you like pottery," Savin answered logically, "you are here, are you not? Had I wanted to avoid you I would have requested lieutenant Fenn or Ensign Paxton." The annoyance was lost on him as he watched her. "I am well," he answered, "rested and ready for duty. And you?"

"I didn't mean you, I meant everyone else. To be honest, I appreciate that you gave me a call. Everyone else wants me to 'rest' or talk or whatever. I just want to live my life the same as I did before the mission. Like this," she motioned towards the burnt-out module. "If you hadn't contacted me directly, someone else from engineering probably would've gotten it whereas before I always handled a lot of stuff like this," She said, surprising even herself with how much pent up annoyance she let out in her response. "Anyway, this should only take about ten minutes. I'm going to run a quick analysis to see what caused the burnout to make sure there isn't another weak spot in the system that needs to be addressed."

Savin nodded, while covertly pressing down on his PADD, thereby extending the damage he had already caused. "You talk when you are ready," he responded knowingly, "and not sooner. You find solace in your work, and little rest at home am I right?"

"Exactly! Why does no one else on this God-forsaken ship seem to understand that?" Finn started the diagnostic, but within seconds a flag was raised. She furrowed her brow. "What the heck? Now you have a faulty relay chip. Huh, maybe your whole system is going to need a rehaul. These parts aren't supposed to break this easily."

"What do you do when work does become too much? Are you prepared to take yourself off duty or even see a medic?"

Finn, busy with work didn't really even think about the line of questioning. "I've never been in a position where work was too much, but sure, if it came to it. The lives of the people on this ship are too important to risk. If it ever became too much or I didn't think I could fulfill my duty then I'd take off," she shrugged. Finn then reached in and carefully took out the burnt-out power module, replacing it with the new one she had replicated.

"Are you aware of your limits?" Savin asked, watching as the replacement module shorted as soon as it was placed.

"Now that....definitely shouldn't have happened," Finn's nose turned up at the audacity that this system had to screw around with her. Something very odd was going on. She walked to the replicator to get a new module and when she got back to the panel an idea struck. She removed the cables to and from the power module and then rehooked those wires to the diagnostic padd she had been using. If a signal was being sent from elsewhere, she would find it. In the meantime, the new power module would be safe until she reconnected the wires.

Savin frowned mildly at her ingenuity. "What happened?" He asked, feigning interest as he waited for her to answer his question.

"The one I put in shorted, which shouldn't have happened. Something strange is going on with the system. Did anyone else work on this since the last time I came by?" Finn asked, having completely forgotten about the question he posed earlier.

"Not that I am aware of." A straight lie, one he hoped she wouldn't notice as he wasn't an adept liar. "Do you know what your limits are, lieutenant?" He repeated.

Finn raised an eyebrow as the counselor answered. Something was off about this whole thing. "Yea, I know what my limits are. Do you?" She asked, looking back to the diagnostic which was starting to reveal some pieces to the puzzle.

"I am extremely aware of my limits lieutenant. That is why I have certain systems in place and why I employ an aide." Savin smiled innocently at her. "Tell me, what are your limits?"

"Isn't that a sort of personal question?" Finn quipped back as she started to become more suspicious of the repair she was called in to do. It was clear by the diagnostic that signals had been sent in both instances of hardware failure. Where did that signal get sent from?

"It is," he acknowledged, sensing her suspicion. "But since you returned the question and I answered yours it is only fair you answer mine, is it not?"

"It is if I asked you that question. I only asked if you knew your limits, to which your response was yes and that you have certain systems in place. I didn't ask you to specify those limitations," Finn replaced the faulty relay as she kept running analyses to pinpoint where the signals were coming from. Perhaps the more she fixed things, the more likely she would be to catch the issue.

"Then ask me," the counselor challenged.

"No offense Commander, but I'm not dumb enough to fall for that trap," Finn stated. Though clearly I was dumb enough for this trap, she thought, somewhat disappointed in the lack of further evidence. With nothing else to go on, Finn rehooked the cables back in to the second new power module. Making sure to monitor the system from a different point as she made the switch over.

"What trap?" Knowing she seemed to be on to something, Savin just watched her, though he occasionally glanced at the PADD lying beside him, as if to read what she'd been saying. "For the record, I am deaf, therefore I am reliant on other systems to assist me. If such systems fail, then I can get into serious trouble."

"The one where I ask you a question that I don't want to answer myself," Finn said. She then looked at Savin. "I replaced both parts so it should be operational now. Give it a try."

Nodding, Savin walked over to his desk and activated his test system. Everything seemed to be working until suddenly the strobe light failed. "You should know by now that I would never expect you to answer a question you do not wish to answer," he pointed out as he walked back.

"No, but it's like you said, it isn't fair," Finn walked back to her diagnostic panel and put her hand on her chin in thought. It was a clever ruse, one that was very difficult to catch. She walked to the replicator and had a new strobe light created.

"Nor are you being fair to yourself," the counselor pointed out as he sat himself on the bed again. "Or to your team. You are not giving yourself time to heal."

"That's not true, I just do it differently. You want to talk about what's not fair? Seeing my engineers work extra hours every day when I'm not supposed to. Seeing them suffer because I've been told to 'take it easy' even though I don't want to. You know what else isn't fair? The fact that no one listens. I don't need more time to heal, I just want things to go back to normal," Finn spat the words out, frustrated that here she was listening to the same story everyone wanted to weave. Poor Finn needs time to heal. Screw that, Silnan died. I don't deserve to heal from that. I deserve for it to haunt me. I should have to live with it, because it's my fault, she screamed internally.

She closed her eyes and let out a deep breath as if swallowing the rage before it surfaced. Finn then calmly collected the strobe and replaced it as she had done the other two items. "Alright, try now."

"I suggest you find a way to release the rage I sense from you," the counselor suggested as he dutifully activated the system, this time from his PADD, "only then will you be able to fully heal."

"Everyone gets mad from time to time. I tend to use it to fuel a good hard workout in the gym. I don't think I'm the only one to do that," Finn said, still resisting the idea that she needed to heal at all.

"Now you are not being truthful. I sensed something beyond anger. Do not lie to me lieutenant." He watched her closely as he stood and approached her. "You are not in any shape for a hard workout."

"Don't lie to you?! Like you lied to me about someone tampering with the system? Mind if I take a look at that PADD you've been using?" She asked, annoyed that she'd come here only to be questioned and livid over the fact that he'd just told her not to do something that she was fairly sure he'd done himself.

"You did not mention anyone tampering with it," Savin answered as he held out his PADD to her. "You asked if someone worked on it." Her anger was palpable now, though he couldn't tell if it was similar to the anger she was still bottling up. All he could do, was sense it, but not tell a difference.

Finn clenched her teeth and held her tongue as she removed the program that Savin was using before and installed a fresh copy that contained no ability to sabotage the system as a whole. She had been bested, there was no denying it and no reason to get upset any further. "Try now," Finn said, handing the PADD back to the counselor and preparing herself to leave without further discussion.

Dutifully, Savin ran his test program and it functioned without issue. "What are you doing to deal with the anger you are trying to keep in?" He asked, tucking his PADD away after disengaging the test program. "I am certain your anger is not wholly directed at me, though you are welcome to unleash it upon me." He'd rather she did here, than unleash it on some poor engineer.

"I wouldn't unleash it on anyone. No one deserves that," Finn said more softly this time with a hint of defeat in her voice. "Usually, I'd spend time on the holodeck surfing. It's always been my go-to hobby for releasing frustrations. But...I know that's not a good idea until my fingers have fully healed so I'll just go for a run later." She sighed, exhausted from the discussion, and closed up the panel she'd been working in. "Your system is working now. If there's nothing else?"

"Not unless you have something while you are here. Under the pretense of having your job, you could indulge mine," the counselor suggested. "And as for unleashing, I can take it, it is what I am here for," he offered kindly. "There is no reason for you to pent it all up and exhaust yourself with it, when there are means to unload it."

"Ah, but then the run wouldn't be as satisfying would it?" Finn half-smiled. "I appreciate the offer, but I'm fine." She said, picking up her repair kit to head towards the door.

"I doubt it," Savin answered, as he followed her. "but I cannot make you talk. Nor is that my intention. Just stay on too of your limits, and keep the doctor satisfied. No doubt, he is keeping tabs."

Finn hesitated at the door. Though she didn't like the idea of being tricked into coming over to do work that was purposely created, she appreciated that for the first time since she'd been back, someone seemed to trust her enough to let her go. "I will. Thank you," she said as the door closed behind her. Perhaps Savin wasn't that bad after all, she thought.