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Ethics Examination

Posted on Mon Feb 13th, 2017 @ 4:25pm by Commander Mal Xustos & Staff Warrant Officer Nexi

Mission: Refit Rondo
Location: Wandering Star
Timeline: Current

Mal sighed. The captain had just handed him the job of overseeing a written exam that Nexi had to take as part of her enlistment plans. At first glance, Nexi was both a caring sister and a sword-wielding maniac with impulse control problems. Mal actually started to reach for where his kopis and gladius were, but rethought that idea. His relationship with Nexi wasn't going to be improved by a sword duel. His kindness to Aewia, when Nexi wasn't misinterpreting it, was something that would smooth things over. He picked up the isolinear chip with the exam on it and put in one of the pockets of his utilikilt, put on his jacket, and zipped it up. He made his way down to the cargo bay with the hidden door that led to the secret shuttle bay. He wasn't quite sure what the purpose of the secret shuttle bay was, besides giving Nexi a place to park her flying lair so she could lurk in it without interruption. With a bit of effort, Mal succeeded in convincing the door to the bay to open for him.

I feel like double-oh-ridiculous, super spy.

He found Nexi's Orion Class runabout and went to the door. He rapped on it with his knuckles.

"Nexi?" he said. "It's Commander Xustos...I mean it's Mal. I'm here to administer one of your enlistment tests."

Slowly, the rear hatch began to lower, revealing Nexi standing in what was supposed to be the cargo area of her ship, but it was clearly modified with holding cells.

"Oh, it's that time already," Nexi said in a dull tone, crossing her arms of her chest as she stared at Mal, surprised that he was the one to issue this test. "Alright, come aboard, let's get this done," she said with a huff, then led him through the ship. Past the holding cells was a workbench with a frightening array of bladed weaponry as well as supplies to keep them maintained in good condition; past the workbench was an open area that had been modified into a sort of kitchen with a small table backed up to a comfy looking couch, and beyond that was the cockpit which was refit with Ferengi displays. The lights were dimmed as she cleared some clutter from a chair so that Mal could sit and load the test to her computer using one of the few consoles that was still had the standard issue Federation displays.

"Uh, let me know if the computer gives you any trouble, it can be a bit temperamental," she said, giving him some space to work.

"I'm sure I'll be fine," Mal said. He took a seat at the computer and pulled the isolinear chip out of his pocket and stuck it into one of ports on the console. When the command prompt came up, he ordered the computer to download the exam. Within seconds, it was ready. He rose and stepped back.

"There you go," he said. "It's all yours. I, uhm, need to proctor the test, so I'll have to sit over here where I can see you. You can't really cheat on it, but Starfleet Command insists that the test be monitored. I'll just sit over here and try not to get in your way."

"Alright," Nexi replied, then sat down to begin the test. She was quiet for a while as she went through and answered each question, but then she came upon a question that out a confused expression on her face. With a huff and a scowl, she skipped the question to come back to it later, working through all the questions in a timely manner. Then she came back to the question she couldn't answer and simply stared at it for a long time, looking more and more frustrated as the minutes ticked by. Then she had the computer display the question in Ferengi, but that only served to frustrate her even more.

"Uh, I know you're not supposed to help me, but I don't understand what this means," Nexi said with great embarrassment, switching back to standard English and pointing out a phrase: moral culpability. "It didn't translate into Ferengi, so I have no idea what it means."

Mal looked at the screen and read the phrase Nexi pointed out to him.

"Morality involves our sense of right and wrong, good and bad. Culpability refers to being held responsible for an action, usually one that is considered morally wrong. Moral culpability has to do with what you can be held morally, as opposed to legally, responsible for. Morality and legality can be different things. A person is morally culpable for an act if at the time of the commission of the act they understood what they were doing and understood that the consequences of the act were evil. This presumes that they were in control of the situation at the time. Does this make sense to you?"

"Yeah, not really," Nexi said, but his explanation did help her understand the context of the question enough to try to answer it. "I was raised by Ferengi and morality isn't a big thing with them," she said as she gave the test a good once over to make sure she was confident with her answers. It was a test on Starfleet conduct and ethics, so her score probably wouldn't be all that great, but she hoped she would at least pass, otherwise she wouldn't be able to move on to the next set of study material.

"I wouldn't know," Mal said. "I mean, I'm familiar with the Ferengi. I've always just assumed that the Ferengi have a different sense of right and wrong than most Federation member cultures, and, intellectually, I could accept that. But I can't imagine being a brekkian female child in the clutches of the Ferengi was an experience I would wish on anyone."

"Brekkian-Betazoid," Nexi corrected, but at least he got the 'Brekkian' part right, most people assumed Bajoran when they saw the nose ridges. "And it's only been in recent years that the Ferengi have developed their own sense of morals, and even those are heavily steeped in legalities, and there are still traditionalists who only see morality and ethics as something to be exploited," she explained as she finished her test and saved it. "Uh, I guess I'm done," she added, getting up from the computer so he could do what he needed to do with it.

Mal sat in the chair vacated by Nexi and looked over her test. He uploaded her answers back to the isolinear chip and pulled out a small PaDD from one of his utilikilt pockets. He inserted the chip into the PaDD. The test answers loaded onto the PaDD and the system graded the test. Mal took a moment to review the answers. Satisfied that the score was accurate, he pocketed the chip and and the PaDD.

"Ninety-three percent," he said. "Not bad at all. You can be proud of yourself."

Mal looked at Nexi a moment.

"Why are you enlisting?" he asked. "Don't get me wrong. I'm all for encouraging people to serve. I'm just curious. As a civilian contractor you are free to come and go as you please as long as you honor the terms of your contract. While you're here you get all of the benefits of a Starfleet career without the commitment and the potential hassles. You don't strike me as someone who is overly fond of authority by any stretch of the imagination. If you don't already know this, most personnel, especially enlisted personnel, move about frequently. You're not likely to get assigned only to ships with commanders and supervisors who like you enough or find you useful or amusing enough to put up with any serious insubordination. You'll have to learn when it's appropriate to speak up and share your opinion and when to keep your mouth shut and follow orders. You have willpower and determination to spare by all reports. You could learn these things. But I'm curious. Why go through all of this?"

"Aewia," Nexi answered with resolve, leaning against one of the consoles. "I guess I could stay a contractor, but there are some downsides to it; that kind of life is hard and fast and people like me don't tend to live very long; don't matter I'm as good as I am at what I do, I can't protect her if I'm dead. And I suppose I have enough saved up that I could just call it quits and take Aewia back to Betazed and live comfortably, but even with the way she is now, she's a lifer like me and neither of us would be happy anywhere but a starship. I guess I've just come to a point where I realized that I can't live with one foot out the door, and this way I get to live a piece of the life she loved. Look, I don't expect you to understand my motivations; fuck, there are some days I barely understand them myself, but I want to be better, and not just for Aewia but for myself too. I know it ain't gonna be easy, I'm having a hard enough time adapting as it is, but it's worth it to me to try."

Listening to Nexi, Mal came to realize that there appeared to be more to Nexi than disdain, anger, and a lack of respect for authority. She was really trying to become something new, something more than she was, something different that might better fit her life as it was now as opposed to what it had been before.

"I think I understand," Mal said. "And I admire you for taking on the challenge. If there's anything I can do to assist you in your endeavor, please don't hesitate to ask."

"Uh... I could kind of use some help," Nexi said uneasily. "I, uh, I'm still learning that English language stuff, and mostly I'm learning on my own with the computer, but I had someone who was helping me on the side, but he left. And uh, I could... you know, use a tutor? Just for the harder stuff," she meander through, clearly uncomfortable with even broaching the subject of her issue of illiteracy let alone the fact that she was asking him for help. "It's why all my displays are in Ferengi, it's all I could read before Enalia took me in, and it don't translate very well."

Mal smiled.

"I'll be happy to help," he said. He thought about making a comment about knowing that it wasn't easy for her to ask for help and that she had impressed him, but decided Nexi might take that as condescending. "So, I can think of a few ways to help you learn to read and write English. They all depend on how fluent you are now. You read the test well enough. Can I assume you have a basic understanding of english? Enough, say, to read instructions if they aren't too complicated, or read a short note? English is a bizarre language, full of double meanings and contradictions. The only way to get fluent in it is to read it, write it, and speak it everyday. Do you use a universal translator for everyday conversation? I don't remember seeing you where a Starfleet commbadge, but I wasn't looking closely enough to see if you had some kind of civilian model."

Nexi lifted the corner of the collar of her Starfleet inspired jacket to show that she was wearing a Starfleet commbadge. "I also have a modified Ferengi translator in my ear; it has a homing beacon and a direct connection to my ship so I can give it commands when I'm on a mission. Before Enalia gave me this commbadge, I was able to receive Starfleet comm signals through my earpiece. I can speak English passably enough, but I do rely on my earpiece to translate for me, otherwise it would take me too long to have a conversation."

"Okay," Mal said. "At some point we may want to try having you listen to spoken English with the translator off. Sometime when speed is not a factor. What would you think of that?"

"Yeah, uh, that's what Daln was helping with before he left," Nexi admitted.

"It sounds like this Daln was a good friend," Mal said. "Were you close?"

"Something like that..." Nexi replied with an uneasy shift in her stance as she looked away from Mal. She wasn't used to having people in her life; Aewia had weaseled her way in past Nexi's defenses because she was family, but Daln, that had been something special, and now that he was gone, Nexi had to learn how to get over her 'first love'.

Mal let Nexi fumble for a moment, then spoke.

"If you ever want to talk about this," he said. "Or anything else, professional or personal, I'd be happy to listen. I'll try not to butt in with too much unsolicited advice on the personal stuff."

Nexi had enough personal talk as it was and scowled slightly. "Yeah, okay," she said in a clipped tone. "So when is my next test set?" she then said, eager for this exchange to be over.

Mal smiled, but not too broadly.

"I need to confer with the Captain and then I'll get back to you," he said. "I'll get you the prep materials as soon as possible and if you need a bit of help preparing, I'm here."

Mal could tell that Nexi was uncomfortable. She was starting to give off an irritable, cornered animal sort of vibe. Deciding it would be better to leave voluntarily rather than to leave Nexi, arguably his subordinate, with the disagreeable duty of throwing out a superior officer. He knew that she was trying, in her own way, to respect the chain of command and that it did not come naturally to her. So, Mal let her off the hook.

"I should really be getting back to work," he said, rising. "I think we're done here for now. I'll be in touch about your next test. Good day, Nexi."

Nexi simply nodded in reply, following him out of her ship and closing up the hatch once he was out. Well, that was was interesting...

 

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