Nightmare consult

Posted on Thursday July 14th, 2022 @ 8:22pm by Lieutenant Commander Niali Deval Dr & Lieutenant Steven Edgeware

Mission: New Worlds
Location: Sickbay/counseling offices
Timeline: Pre Mission commencement.

It had taken Niali all morning to pluck up the courage to visit sickbay. Although she knew she could use her communicator she did not like to fail at anything and, they way her life was changing she felt she had to push through and overcome her dislike of the department she used to love. So, after several large coffees a counseling appointment and a run round the deck she arrived outside sickbay and entered.

Steven stood by the replicator slot and ordered a mug of coffee. He noticed Niali walking into sickbay. Knowing her feelings about being in sickbay plus she looked a lot paler then she should be. He walked over.

“Excuse me” she asked a nurse “is Doctor Edgeware in?”
She pointed towards the office and smiled, walking off towards a patient. Niali had already begun to tremor as she made her way to the office. “Dr Edgeware May I speak to you for a moment?” She asked.

“ Yes of course follow me.” He said concerned.

She followed him worried at her increasing reaction to being in sickbay.

Steven had set up an area in sickbay for patients who had been caught up in a bad situation and were suffering from PTSD.

“ I set this area up for people like yourself. Who have a valued reason not to like sickbay. How can we help you?” Steven asked

Niali took a deep breath, it was going to be difficult to relate the background to her problem. “Doctor I never wanted to be joined and prior to my joining I was seconded to Trill intelligence. My symbiont was passed to me without my knowledge when I was unconscious following an explosion on the ship I was travelling on. When I woke I was joined. I was told the Korial symbiont needed a host following the death of Korial.” Niali stood and began to pace. “The long and short of it was that Korial was an intelligence chief with…shall we say a penchant for torture. He is very strong within me and now I am having nightmares about some of the things he did. These nightmares also involve me as a torturer as well. Doctor I am killing people in my dreams and they are very, very real. I am sinking and I think loosing myself.”

“ This transfer, was it done under official Trill guidelines? Or was it a case of do it now report afterward?” Steven asked

“I am afraid it was a case of ‘do it now and not report it’ or at least the Trill symbiosis commission deny it. My family pressured me to keep the symbiont as that made them something of a wonder on Trill, both children joined. For a time he was indeed my mentor but he was never kind, always pushed me to do more than my conscience would allow and now…_” she swallowed and was unable to talk further. If felt to Niali as if he was there watching her

Steven’s hands ran over the console. He had seen this type of thing a couple of times before. Both had not ended very well. He was determined this would not happen a third time.

“ The problem is your symbionts mind is much stronger then your own. This joining should never of been allowed to continue. I can suppress your symbiont with a more powerful neural blocker. It can only be temporary as prolonged use will harm you both. But hopefully the shock of losing control over you. May get it to behave and stop trying to overwhelm you.”Steven said

“I have to admit I already have a neural blocker. It seemed to be working but now these nightmares are breaking through, I am frightened, not because they are dreams of torture and death but that…because I enjoy them. I have thought of asking for the symbiont to be removed but something has always stopped me. That is why I think I am being subsumed, Doctor I am becoming him.”

“ The fact that you feel your symbiont is taking over is a good sign. It means you still have control. It could be a natural process. A properly prepared joinee would of been fully trained for this. But as this was a case of put in now and ask later. You have had little to know training.Your neural blocker should of been set to cope with any increases. I looks like it could be faulty. We better take a look at it. He explained

“This blocker was implanted by Finchley in response to an incident in which we were helped by a Vulcan , he allowed Finchley into my mind to meet Korial and to try and find out why I felt so mentally consumed by him. Following that Finch obtained the blocker for me and…..” Niali stopped and appeared to be listening. Korial leaked into her mind *there is no need to do this girlie, just do as I say and everything will be all right. This man knows nothing about us leave now Niali* he whispered inside her mind. She stood, “I am..sorry to….nothing is….wrong Doctor..” she stood there her eyes moving rapidly seeing nothing.

Steven guessed what was happening. Time for his poker face.

“ Korial. It’s a pleasure to finally meet you. I am quite sure you wish your cohost to be in good health if only to keep yourself alive. But our scanners have picked up something that needs our attention. If it is ok with you sir before you leave. I would like your permission to treat it. Otherwise you may need a new host again soon.” He said

Niali spoke, it was her voice but not her. “Hello Doctor I am Ansu Korial, you have nothing to worry about, my Niali girl is under my care and tutelage she has a promising career in the field of interrogation, did she tell you what she did for me? I suppose not now she had her new career and that new lover of hers.” He spat those words out. “I am stronger than Niali but I would not hurt her. This has been allowed by the symbiosis commission, when my last host was killed they needed someone immediately as they did not want to loose me, you see they need me so they chose someone who had not been trained in the joining and that was my girl, and what a good choice that turned out to be, don’t you see doctor?”

One of Steven’s tutors at the academy taught him how to give a hypo to someone who was either nervous or frightened of having one. It was all a case of distraction. Get the patient to focus on one thing. While you did another. Like here in sickbay. He knew Korial’s ego would kick in and Steven was quite prepared.

“ Oh yes sir.” He said as the hypo spray hissed against Niali’s neck.

Niali sighed and slumped in her chair unconscious.

It was not ethical but it had to be done. They needed to boost the part of Niala’s brain that controlled her link with the symbiont. The Trills had developed a drug for just this situation. When it was impossible to remove a symbiont even though the host was overwhelmed. The only problem was it had to be administered when the host was unconscious. Hence the rather sneaky way he had administered the hypo knock out. The drug was slowly fed into her by drip feed and would take a while.

“ Niali. Can you hear me?” He asked

“Niali was deep inside an interrogation cell on the prison ship Avex. Her hand guided a probe into the cerebellum of an elderly man stimulating his reticula formation. He screamed in pain as his body burned from the inside out. “Who is in your cell?” She asked. “All you have to do is tell us and this will all stop, you have been brave enough now. “STOP” he screamed, “I WILL TELL YOU ALL”. “Good “ said Niali smiling as she nodded to a recorder. “Take it all down then kill him.” She walked away tears streaming down her face. “Yes, I can hear you, kill me please, I cannot do this any more.”

Something was very wrong. Steven looked at the panel encasing her upper torso. He place a device on her forehead.

“ This is one nasty little symbiont. But your fighting against Doctor Steven Edgware my friend. NIALI CAN YOU HEAR ME!!” He said running his fingers over the panel.

Niali was slipping, trying to hold on to the reality that was her life on the Oberon. Flashes of it overtook her, lightening bolts of reality sliced through the dark bringing momentary shafts of light. “I CAN HEAR YOU” she screamed as she stood before Korial a jagged knife in her hand. She brought it up to her throat, “release me or I will end is forever.” She said calmly.

Niali’s readings were weakening. Whatever was going on in her battle to take control against Korial. It was clear she’s was losing. Steven daren’t increase her dosages as it could harm her. This one one fight she had to do alone. All Steven could do now was hope.

“ Come on my dear pull beat the son of a ****** we can’t loose another crew member.” He said.

Korial paused, he had pushed her too far, it would do him no good for her to die now. There was no other host he would rather have and, probably not one near enough for him to be transferred into. “Now now my girl let’s not get too far away from where we want to be. You want me to leave you alone I will, but your nature will always be in me and I in you. One day you will ask for my help, and then he was gone from her mind.

Niali opened her eyes and breathed deeply. “Doctor?” She asked.

Steven gave a large smile. Niali had beaten Korial for how long? Who knew? But for now everything was as it should be.

“ Thank the beaches of Ballybrack. Welcome back.” Steven said

“I think I have beaten him again this time Doctor, thank you, whatever you did, it seemed to weaken him.” She leaned back exhausted and fell into a dreamless sleep.

[OFF]

Lieutenant Niali Korial MD
Chief Counsellor
USS Oberon

&

Lieutenant Dr Steven Edgeware
Chief Medical Officer
USS Oberon