SIM:Ens Eric Da'Pan: Tyrants of the Past
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Characters
Ens. Eric Da'Pan, Tyriden th'Dani
Summary
Da'Pan and Tyriden discuss tyrannical bosses.
Sim
((Free Spirit - USS Independence-A))
::Tyriden and Eric discussed the electrical discharges for a while, Eric trying to reiterate his own rationale for being calm about it to Tyriden. He hoped honestly that he was right but at the same time he kept trying to keep the fear, however small, from his mind.
At his mention of statistics - half jokingly, half seriously - Tyriden decided to ask about Lt. Breeman. What was he like as a person? Eric mentioned that the man was a bit technical at times, and also a friendly individual. He was a former engineer and a bit eccentric.::
::Now smiling, Tyriden said,::
Tyriden: Then I will look forward to working with Lt Breeman. Before I enlisted in Starfleet, I partook in many jobs under many employers. Most of whom were highly demanding and uncompromising.
::Eric could see that Tyriden seemed a bit distressed about this. The andorian was shuddering slightly and Eric thought he saw a look of sadness or perhaps even shame in the man's eyes but he couldn't be entirely sure. It was best not to jump to conclusions, so instead he just let him keep talking.::
Tyriden: One of these days I shall tell you about some of my unpleasant encounters with these tyrants.
::Tyrants? That was a strong word. Eric tried to be careful here. Was he touching on some fears or hurts Tyriden had? He hoped the man wouldn't be too worried about meeting Lt. Breeman. Maybe he should try to calm Tyriden down a bit. Eric let himself descend slowly into a calmer demeanor, not that he wasn't calm right now - maybe just a little worried for Tyriden. He'd seen this kind of thing before - guys who'd come from tougher places and ended up becoming more or less type-A personalities. "People won't like me if I don't work hard," Eric imagined such people thinking to themselves. But all Eric could say was, learn to work hard and play hard.
Maybe he should try using the lieutennant's first name to make him seem more personable?::
((OOC: Not sure if you intended to this next line of dialog to be some kind of outburst... Sorry if I make Tyriden seem more aggressive))
Da'Pan: Honestly, Kevin isn't like that. I've worked with him before and he tends to be more an explorer than a tyrant--
Tyriden: Perhaps it is sufficient to say, at least for this evening, that after working for so many despotic employers, I have been conditioned to satisfy the bosses' demands at all costs. ::Eric listened, feeling a bit worried but at the same time concentrating on that curiosity he had about all people. It was an art he'd spent his entire life honing -- how to listen to and learn about people without prying, how to get to know people without distressing them.:: The experience has turned me into a perfectionist. But a perfectionist who is afraid of disappointing his superiors.
::Everyone was afraid to a certain degree of disappointing his superiors. To be sure, Eric had disappointed his own on occasion. But he tried to keep his distance from those experiences, to learn from them and then to live in the now. How could he do his best job presently?
He recalled the maintenance guy again, the guy he'd met back at the University of Olympus Mons on Mars. He had been slightly overweight and, as Eric had gotten to know him more, had turned out to be very insecure about himself. Everything for him had been about doing his job properly, about staying on the good side of his employers. He'd lived for the times they praised him for doing a good job. Yes, Eric had reasoned, it was great to be praised and complimented, but it was not healthy to base one's own view of one's self on the opinions and statements of others.
Heck, more often than not, people hadn't even commented on James' work, instead simply taking it for granted that he would do his job just like everybody else. And that was exactly the position Eric was in now. He wasn't necessarily the best at his job but that didn't bother him in the least. But for James, the maintenance guy back at the University of Olympus Mons, not being praised had been horrible. The silence of his superiors had driven him to comfort himself by other means. He'd over-eaten many times, sabotaged himself by believing that the silence of the building management signalled their plotting his termination or perhaps their disapproval.
It had reminded Eric of his first experiences using an optical telescope. If one was not careful one could see things that weren't there in the blurry smudge of a distant planet or star or nebula. Indeed, Giovanni Schiaparelli had thought he'd seen canals on Mars before the planet had even been colonized.
Eric could tell Tyriden wasn't someone who kept himself comfortable by overeating. But he suspected there would be something there to keep away the self-inflicted pain that would still be there in order to maintain the standards set by the past 'tyrants.' Perhaps Tyriden kept himself reassured by overworking and thus avoiding their wrath? In any case, Eric decided he'd best let the counsellors help the man if he was willing. For now though he tried to address Tyriden's point directly.::
Da'Pan: Honestly I understand you, my friend. And I can tell you confidently, if there is a tyrant on our ship Kevin is the last person who would be him.
::Tyriden straightened now, acting as though he were coming to his senses. Eric could tell that he might have uncovered something darker about this person.::
Tyriden: I apologize Mr Da'Pan, for this unintentional... outburst of emotion. Perhaps the day's events have exhausted me mentally and physically more than what I expected.
::Eric smiled. He was tempted to feel a bit guilty but he trusted himself enough to know that he would never tell anyone what his new friend had just told him. It was a secret that was safe with him.::
Da'Pan: No no, don't apologize. All I can tell you is that if you live life worrying about the tyrants of your past.... ::He could feel a philosophical bent coming on now:: they'll never stop ruling you.
Tyriden: Response?
::He laughed now.::
Da'Pan: You'd be surprised at how many people I've met who've let someone they last saw twenty years ago continue to run their lives in their absence.
Tyriden: Response?
TAGS TBC
Ens. Eric Da'Pan
Science Officer
USS Independence-A
as simmed by
Lt. Jg. Kevin Breeman
Chief of Science
USS Independence-A
Commentary
I decided to skip the discussions on Henk as there isn't a lot of character development in that section. I thought it would be nice to examine Eric's way of handling problems like workaholism and insecurity by examining both a past event (the overeating maintenance guy) and what Eric perceives as Tyriden's present difficulties with a past dominated by tyrannical bosses.
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