A mirror darkly

Posted on Mon Aug 1st, 2022 @ 8:11am by Lieutenant Tate Sullivan Ph.D.

Mission: MISSION 0 - History Speaks
Location: Lieutenant Sullivan's office, USS Elysium
Timeline: Backpost
1405 words - 2.8 OF Standard Post Measure

ON:

Due to his recent performance, Colton had been ordered to see to on the ship the ship's counselor about the issues he suffered from. He was none too happy it he disliked talking to the head shrinkers, as then were no even combat personnel let alone scout snipers, he believed that they were incapable of related to the psychological bagger that came with the his job, but orders were orders, so he made his way to office of Lieutenant Sullivan pressed chime and wait with annoyance for a response.

"Come in," Tate called out, her doors opening obediently to allow her guest entry into her office. She knew this particular session had the potential to be challenging as most sessions that were involuntary tended to be. Still, she was also hopeful she could find some common ground with which to build some sort of rapport with Colton.

Colton walked into officer the annoyance plainly written on his face. "I'm sure yo know this wasn't my idea so let's get it over with as quickly as possible, this cutting into my range time which would do a hell of lot more good, than sitting in here wasting both of our or time."

Disappointed she wasn't going to be surprised, at least to start with, but also not really expecting to be, Sullivan shrugged. "Tell me something, Staff
Sergeant, if I was ordered to report to you for weapons qualification or some other combat training that wasn't my idea, how would you respond to being ordered to hurry up because I thought what you had to offer was a waste of time?"

"I see were going with that counselor, but they are two very different things, I don't have a root around in your head to provide effective weapons training, I know what my issue stems from the bigger problem is I can't talk about it in any but the absolute vaguest details. Too sick with your analogy it would like You coming to me for weapons training, and the weapons being various shaped blocks to you or speaking a different langue and the universal translator being on the fritz, So I'm gonna better off with a hypo from the doc to help me sleep, but if insist I tell ya what I can. Colton replied in his typical gruff fashion.

Tate did not agree with Colton's analogy, but his response did reveal what he was thinking and that was worth addressing rather than engaging in a power struggle. "You're not the first person to think as a counselor, I am the equivalent of a mental plumber who roots around in people's brains. That's not what I do, and I can also tell you that I don't expect people to detail every traumatic thing that's happened to them during the first meeting. You and I have to build trust first and even more importantly, it takes time to build coping skills before you open that kind of vein."

She paused, then offered, "I appreciate your candor, and out of respect for it, I'll do the same. It doesn't matter to me if you come to these meetings and say nothing at all. I don't keep hostages and I don't make people talk. That said, you know as well as I do what happens when people don't follow orders, and if I report that you refused to cooperate with me, the consequences of that are going to fall on you. As I see it, you're being given a choice. The only question is what sort of consequences you're willing to deal with."

"Following orders therein lies my dilemma, I know full well what my issues stem from the issues it been classified and locked down so tight I surprise my memories of it haven't been wiped, so it's not complete the fact I don't like people poking around in my head, it more Dammed of I do Damed if don't, reveal what know to source f issue and face courts marshall, or not tell and like face the same outcome." Colton replied with heavy sigh

It was not the first time Tate had encountered someone who was asserting his career contained classified information he was not either able or willing to talk about. Sullivan wasn't sure exactly which camp Colton fell in, or perhaps it was that he fit in both, but she offered what she always did in such situations. "As a Starfleet counselor, I am authorized to hear about anything you've done in your career. You wouldn't have been assigned here otherwise. Every member of Starfleet has to have access to a mental health professional who can assess his or her mental fitness for duty. That said, I don't force people to talk and I don't keep hostages as I already mentioned, so the ball is in your court entirely."

Colton thought for a moment, and sighed, "My career is likely over either way so here it goes, it started in 2385 it was supposed to be a 6 month to a year OP to destabilize the Terrain empire, it actually a an 11 year shit show, I don't the whole damned Dominion war was this bloody, I lost track of the number that personally killed men, women, children, and it gets worse about 5 and a half month in we captured my terrain counterpart, and I took his place, suppressing the only difference between us were the uniforms we wore, I took his place sunbathing the Empire from within also with several officers who counterparts had been capture as well. somehow we all ended up on the same ship, were chasing down renegade ship at least we thought, it a was a trap, set my counter part who had escaped the week before, in an instant all our coves were blown. As the bloody fight erupted over several decks including the bridge
by counter and Tearrin Spec ops platoon Boarded the ship, due to the damage to the ships sub systems and the brutal fighting the ship cashed on Class M moon, after 2 weeks our Starfleet showed up and hauled ass back to our dimension. But what keeps up the night, it is not the horrors that saw or the even the I committed to keeping my cover intact, it is the fact all were knocked out during the crash, so I don't which me walked out of that fiery wreck." Colton had a look of genuine fear on his face.


It was a lot to absorb and Sullivan wasn't sure she fully understood all of what he had offered. "Are you saying you think you are the Colton from the Terran Empire, is it physically, or do you mean you haven't let go of the person you were forced to become over there?"

"I think, the former is a very real possibility, considering all the dreams feel more like reliving memories, and some of them were not part of mission, and given it, was a section 31 op them scrambling and altering memories isn't out of the question, and another option is not so not be able to let go but the fact if I'm not him, how easily I became him, the empire most ruthless assassin, wouldn't keep you at night counselor?" he stated coldly.

Tate chose to ignore his tone and instead focus on his words. If he was hoping to get a rise out of her so he could have an excuse to give up on counseling, he would soon see that wouldn't happen. "I think that sort of worry has kept people up at night over the course of sentient history, as they have been forced to do things under circumstances they've never imagined. Sounds like something that could be explored through counseling, yes?"

Sullivan didn't exactly know what she was confronting. If Colton truly believed he was actually from the Terran Empire, was this a matter for security to investigate? Or was she dealing with something exclusively psychological in nature? She needed more answers to make a decision, but ultimately, that
required his buy-in.

Colton was silent for a long moment, "I guess you're right but it's not going to be an easy road for either of us." he replied the ire and desperation in voice clear as a bell.

Tate smiled. "I have found that nothing in life worth doing comes with an easy road. Shall we get started on untangling this?"

 

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