Vivienne felt very much uncomfortable – her default state of being, really. But ever since she had told Frisco that she was experiencing some… lasting issues after the hallucinations, she had felt like the woman had kept an eye on her. And that impression was only confirmed when she had been given an appointment with Doctor Selara to see if there was a physiological issue that caused her distress.

That didn’t mean she was looking forward to the meeting however, and caused her to be a few minutes too late. As she finally convinced herself to actually enter sickbay and not hover in front of it, she found the Doctor waiting for her.

“Hi….”, she said carefully.

“Ah, yes… Miss Claybrook, welcome,” Selara said with a smile. “Please have a seat.” She pulled up Vivienne’s medical file on a PADD. “As you no doubt guessed, Dr. Frisco asked me to perform an evaluation on you.”

“Yeah I… thought so.”, Vivienne said and exhaled. “But I am not even part of the crew.”

There was that unspoken addition that she felt almost like she had done something wrong – after all, why was she the one still struggling with the aftermath of the hallucinations, when everyone else seemed completely fine?

“Be that as it may, we are responsible for the health of everyone on board,” Selara chuckled, opening a tricorder. Selara removed the probe and scanned Vivienne’s head. “You shouldn’t fear you’re being singled out. There are still some crewmembers afflicted with residual hallucinations. It’s not unlike the PTSD found in soldiers from the Battle of Wolf 359 and the Dominion War.” The tricorder beeped, and she consulted the screen, “As I suspected, some increased activity in the hippocampus and amygdala.”

“So my brain is broken?”

Selara chuckled, “Heavens no!” She made some adjustments to the tricorder and continued scanning. “We’re seeing familiar activity in the other crew with hallucinations.” She replaced the probe and closed the tricorder. Selara turned to Vivienne, “Your activity is a bit higher, but nothing to be alarmed about.” She pulled up a chair, “What sort of hallucinations are you having? Are they more visual or auditory? Is there something that triggers them?”

Vivienne hesitated for a moment. It was difficult to explain, and despite trying to push any unreasonable hopes and dreams away from her as much as possible, she still found her mind wandering to the possibility that they weren’t hallucinations but something else.

“I am not sure what triggers them, to be honest. And they are auditory, never visual. A few days ago I was having coffee with Lieutenant Silveira, and he …. he said the one thing, but I heard other things.”, Vivienne confessed, blushing.

“I’m… not sure I understand,” Selara frowned, confused by the woman’s words.

“He… I heard him say that I look nice.”, she said, closing her eyes. “But that’s not what he said. What he said was that the coffee was really good, and I… I mean I heard that too, I just heard the other thing as well.”

Selara smiled warmly. It was always a joy to see young love. Lieutenant Silviera wasn’t an unattractive man, so she understood Vivienne’s embarrassment. She decided to pivot the conversation to another topic. “Were there any other times this happened?”

Vivienne nodded. “It happened in several instances. For example, I stood in the turbolift with Commander Rynn, and I was so sure she was complaining about engineering not fixing the thermostat in her quarters. But her lips didn’t move.”

Grabbing her PADD, Selara pulled up Vivienne’s medical record. She stood, “I’ll be back in a moment.” Selara left and returned with a small case. She opened it and took out two probes, which she attached to Vivienne’s forehead. Opening her tricorder, she pressed a few buttons and tested the readout from the probes.

“I want you to do something for me,” Selara started. “Look around the room, let your mind wander, and tell me what you hear. Not the conversations they’re saying, but the unspoken. People’s body language, sensations you feel, things like that.”

Vivienne gave a nod, but felt entirely strange doing so. It reminded her of the times she had tried to focus on what was relevant and in front of her, only to end up getting distracted by things that shouldn’t matter at all.
She turned her attention to one of the nurses moving about, waiting for any sensation to feel.

She felt cold. Was that a sensation she was supposed to feel, or was she just really miserable at choosing climate-appropriate clothing? And just when she became far too conscious of pullover, she… heard something.

“The nurse said I should stop staring at her.”, she blurted out.

Selara studied the tricorder as Vivienne spoke, “I see…” She chuckled, “Just as I suspected. You’re not experiencing hallucinations, although I understand why you’d think they were. This is a manifestation of your Betazoid abilities, specifically telepathy.”

Turning the display to Vivienne, Selara pointed to spikes on the readout. “Here are increased activities in your paracortex. Yours is underdeveloped, relative to a Betazoid that is. There is also an activation of psilosynine while you spoke.”

“I… that’s… weird. And late. And weird.”, said Vivienne, clearly not quite comprehending what that could mean.

“You’re correct about it being later than usual,” Selara admitted. “Typically Betazoid abilities manifest around puberty. It’s not entirely uncommon for them to surface later in age, particularly in those not full-blooded Betazoids.”

Selara typed some commands into a PADD and handed it to Vivienne. “I want you to try some exercises. They should help strengthen or repress your abilities, however, you wish to proceed.” Selara wasn’t an expert in telepathy but understood that not everyone wanted voices floating in their head. “Come back in a week to discuss your progress.” She made notes on her PADD, “If you decide to strengthen your abilities, I implore you to be ethical with them. Don’t read people’s minds without their permission. Unintentional moments will happen, but let people have their private thoughts.”

The young woman slowly nodded. “I have the feeling my next appointment should be with a counsellor.”, she admitted.

“I think that’s reasonable, given the sudden nature of this news,” She typed commands into her PADD, “I’m requesting Lt. Anderson reach out to you to schedule a session.” Selara searched the young woman’s body language; there was something she was missing. “Given everything here today, how are you feeling?”

“Let’s just say the fact that I didn’t seem to develop any telepathic abilities has been the reason of… well, issues… as long as I can remember. I mean… imagine you grow up in a family where everyone else has it, and you just… don’t.”, Vivienne said quietly.

Selara nodded, “I can imagine that it would make you feel like an outcast. It makes you feel like you’re missing out on a joke or barred from a secret society. Or, perhaps, your family are communicating telepathically and sharing things you’re not privy to.” She sat down next to Vivienne, “Compound those feelings over 20+ years, and it’s bound to cause resentment and loneliness to an intolerable degree. Even worse, to the point where it becomes an everyday tolerance.”

“Yeah… that.”, Vivienne sighed.

Selara smiled, “Maybe this could be the thing that resolves the issues with your family. I know the concept may be a distant thought, and it probably should be at this time, but it might be worth exploring. After consulting with Mr. Anderson, of course.”

“I will do that.”, Vivienne nodded and got up, sensing that the conversation was coming to a close, and deciding that she needed a little time to digest the news. A better relationship to that side of her family was something she had already given up on, and she wasn’t entirely sure if she wanted to rekindle that hope.