Don't Say The 'Q' Word....

Posted on Fri Jul 30th, 2021 @ 3:43pm by The Narrator & Alison Bliss & Daiyu & Chloe Waltz PhD & Kindra Graham
Edited on on Fri Jul 30th, 2021 @ 4:29pm

Mission: I Ain't Fraid of No Ghost...
Location: Ghost
Timeline: November 1st - 2hrs after 'My Head is an Animal'

With the offending crate successfully destroyed by James, Alison taking some private call on the bridge with the puppy at her feet and Daiyu now somewhat cleaner (and hopefully calmer), the rugged little Firefly's interior was a little more settled. At least for an hour or two.

Then the puppy started barking, yipping at thin air, as the wind rattled over the ship's hull, catching small stones and grit from the ground and hurling them at Echo's outer surface with an apparent passion for trouble. Two warning lights pinged up on both the bridge and Chloe's main panel in engineering - and the words 'filter full' lit up in friendly red letters on the simple display beneath the port engine controls.

Alison straightened up and shook her head. "It's all right... all right." She said calmingly leaning down and patting the puppy until it stopped yapping. She scratched it and patted it a bit longer before she straightened up and tapped the intercom. "Chloe, do you see that? Please tell me that we don't need to go outside again." The threat of Reavers was enough and having filters full of dust meant they were staying right here, for now, stripped of the most optimal option to stay alive.

"I see that," Chloe responded from the engine room. "Strange. The filters don't usually fill up that fast." Then again, she was used to dealing with new, efficient ships with brand new filters who only landed on clean Core planets. What did she know about filter usage? Only that it should have given a "clean soon" warning before a "full" warning. Maybe she needed to double check the warning system. "We should probably check that before we go. Last thing we want is to burn the engines out because of a full filter, then be stuck here."

"Sticking here is not an option today." Alison replies over the intercom. "Let me know what you find out, as soon as you find out." And after a bit of pause Alison added quieter and more concerned. "Please."

She sat down looking at the puppy growling but holding itself short of barking again. "It's ok buddy. I know, I know." She added calmingly which also made the puppy calmer as it sat down and looked at her.

"I can try clearing the alarm." Chloe didn't even wait for a response before hitting a button to clear the full filter warning. As the light came back afterwards, well, it was either an actual filter warning or a malfunction with the sensor. Both of which would require some intervention. "I'm still seeing it. I can go out there and clean the filter. I would strongly prefer if somebody came with me, though." Especially after what happened. Then again, if they wanted to do it without her... these people were crazy, and from what Chloe gathered they didn't have much to leave behind. "Though if you'd rather, I could walk somebody through the process."

"I'll go outside, no problem Chloe. You don't have to unless you want it but that probably would help. I am heading to the cargo bay now. Meet me there if you want to go outside." Alison replied over the intercom, turned her attention to the dog. "You want to go outside, or you want to keep an eye on things buddy?" She asked the puppy and leaving the console, which caused the puppy to run after her.

Kindra had arrived at the door to the bridge intending to find out if there was any news about Alden, Jonas, and Whit, and to play with the puppy if she could. The companion got there in time to hear Chloe talking about the filter warning and Alison's plan to go outside. She hurried along behind Alison and the puppy on their way to the cargo bay. "Alison… How, uh, complicated is it… to clean the filter?"

"I have no idea." Alison replied truthfully with a disarming smile. "I am a pilot and a good one but me and machines aren't going hand in hand." She shook her head. "So never let me close to the machinery without a supervision." She laughed. "I silently hope that Chloe will want to go outside and do the cleaning herself, but I can't force her to that, not with Reavers around. So in such case I will have to try my best with her guidance.” Alison pointed at the puppy that was valiantly trotting behind her. "Either way I am going out again and someone needs to keep an eye on the little one. Will you help me with that?"

"I'd be delighted to take care of the puppy," said Kindra, smiling back at Alison as they hurried down the steps. Then she frowned. "Reavers?" She'd heard stories and wasn't sure she believed most of them. But even if the part about ruthless murderers that killed everything was true… "There are Reavers around? Have we heard anything more from Alden, Jonas, and Whit?" She and Alison reached the cargo bay, and Kindra swallowed. "You shouldn't go outside alone."

"Do you have anyone in mind to come with me?" Alison asked looking at Kindra with a smile. She appreciated the concern. "And maybe don't talk about Reavers just yet. We don't want panic. But should something unexpected happen, don't go outside to save anyone, just leave, regardless if I am out there or Alden or someone else. I've just talked to Alden and so far they are fine."

"Yeah," Chloe responded after a moment - the moment it took to find her gun. "I'll go. I'll meet you in the cargo bay." As much as she didn't want to go outside, it would probably be fastest if she was there to do it herself. She'd rather get off this planet as soon as possible.

Alison approached the lockers and pulled out the leather suit once again. "Don't forget the helmet and make sure you have oxygen to breathe." She said hanging the suit and turning to Chloe as she arrived. Then turned to Kindra. "How is our the most sane member of the crew?" Alison asked playfully and she started to change pants.

Kindra had crouched next to the puppy, and after offering her hand to scent had set about giving the critter reassuring scritches, though the puppy seemed to sense Kindra needed just as much reassuring. "You mean me? I'm worried about you both out there," she answered truthfully. Chloe and Alison – Echo's engineer and most skilled pilot - were both critical to lifting off this planet, especially if they first needed to jump Echo to wherever Alden, Jonas, and Whit were just now. More importantly, they were her friends. If she went out with them she'd just be a liability. She and James could keep an eye on the puppy, comms, and Daiyu.

Thinking of Daiyu's most recent self-destructive episode, Kindra asked, "What, uh.. what do you know about Daiyu's mental health?"

Alison sighed pausing for a moment what she was doing. She glanced at Chloe and then at Kindra. "I am not an expert, but Daiyu is broken. There are some deep personality disorders within her, I saw enough to suspect paranoid, schizotypal, antisocial, borderline, dependent, depressive, passive–aggressive, and post-traumatic organic." She shrugged. "But this are wide nets to describe what I saw and honestly... Daiyu needs help in a friendly and safe environment. Alden unfortunately ignores that completely and in his misguided idea he considers that her being here is better than anything else. Regardless of at best emotionally neutral-cool to negative environment on board, not to mention constant physical threats, chaos and insecurity." Alison continued putting on heavy leather pants. "And I just can't get to him." Her last words flared with anger.

"'In a friendly and safe environment'," Chloe repeated. "Safe for others, that is. The girl is crazy. I don't know how she's still here. I can lose my job for throwing a cup of coffee at somebody; she can literally rip a guy's face off, and receive a soft reprimand. No offense to Alden, I don't think I could any better than him. But she needs professional help."

It surprised Kindra to hear Alison describe the Echo's environment as emotionally neutral-cool to negative, but then Chloe added clarification. "We are all broken, some more than others," she said, her almost automatic response to anyone's assertion that a person was broken. "I agree, Daiyu needs professional help, pricey help." It wasn't like they could just abandon Daiyu at a medical center someplace and hope for the best. Kindra considered this new-to-her information about what happened on Santo. "The sheriff in Caster said Alden destroyed a man's face. I knew Alden was protecting Daiyu, but I thought it was an exaggeration – to extort money. Has she harmed anyone on the crew?"

"Just bites here and there unless you consider harm her outburst that take mental and emotional toll on the crew." Alison sighed. "She did self-harm drinking medical spirit but I guess that might be because she didn't know it was harmful." Finishing with the pants, Alison picked the jacket and put it on making sure that the outfit was properly sealed before she reached for the helmet. "You thinking too much and too good Kindra. We are not responsible for her to pay for her professional help. This is the rim, not the core. Here people are tougher. Living on the Echo in constant chaos and danger, and with people she alienates quickly, where she does not do her part to keep things alive... you can't rely on her. That is a very detrimental environment for her. Besides we can't provide her what you have in mind with the earnings we are making so professional help is a moot point." Alison paused and looked at Kindra. "We need to dump her but to be clear I am not considering just dropping her on the first available planet like a puppy in the woods. We need to find a planet where people are building something, where she could live in relative peace in a small community. Where she could learn what it means to be part of a bigger world without constant threat looming over her life and life of people around her."

Kindra nodded along with each of the points Alison made. Clearly, she had given extensive consideration to the matter of Daiyu's mental health, possible treatment, and the potential impact of Daiyu's erratic and self-destructive behavior on members of the crew. Alison's compassion for Daiyu and her condition was there too in Alison's imagined ideal environment in which Daiyu could heal. And Kindra thought Chloe's comments reflected consternation and fear, more than hostility. It seemed to Kindra that both women wanted Daiyu to get the help she needed.

"You-all have been dealing with, uh, this situation much longer than I have. Thank you for helping me understand." Kindra lifted one shoulder and bowed her head, a gesture of apology. "I'm sorry, I meant no criticism. Daiyu is… complicated, to say the least." She needed a good long think about it all, but ultimately Kindra knew that even with expert professional help, Alden's unconditional love, and the acceptance of Kindra herself and others, the only person truly able to heal Daiyu, was Daiyu.

"I don't take it as a criticism." Alison said softly and even a bit sadly. "Daiyu needs help. I feel she needs it as soon as possible to have the best chance for the best outcome. I also feel we cannot provide that help. But I am not an expert, at least no more than you are Kindra. I am open to any suggestions how to deal with it and different points of view on the case are more than welcome."

Beyond the locker area, in a hidden alcove where she often took refuge from the noise of the engines, Daiyu huddled her knees against her chest. The echoing of the conversation didn't carry over everything that was said, but Daiyu had heard enough. Everybody saw her as a useless burden. That was not a new assumption. The brothers at the Monastery had expressed similar feelings.

But Alden...

Daiyu lowered her chin into her right shoulder, turning away from eavesdropping. Somehow she would prove them wrong. Alden was not an abbot like Father Johns, but he seemed just as nice.

What haunted her, though, was if would he still be nice when everyone thought she was dangerous? What happened wasn't her fault! A single tear shed down Daiyu's cheek.

Weakness. Nobody cared if you cried. Daiyu wriggled out of her crawlspace and started to run. Catwalks, corridors, closed loops in tight spaces, it didn't matter. She just ran.

With a quiet stillness that spoke of a deeper, more complicated soul, James followed the wayward young woman. Eventually, she would come to a hard stop and he'd be close at hand.

-----------