Manishie, meet Manishie

Posted on Wed Oct 19th, 2022 @ 5:11am by Captain Bethsabée Leroux & Commander William Gerhard & Chief Petty Officer Manishie Karalo & Chief Petty Officer Nish Karalo

Mission: Sojurn
Location: Various
Timeline: Day 306 10:00
2128 words - 4.3 OF Standard Post Measure

[Armoury]
The relative privacy of the armoury was further strengthened by the order for other armoury officers to steer clear of the room for the next hour or so. Manishie sat in front of her locker and stared at her boots. How was she supposed to act meeting herself? Would they get along? Or would they clash? Besides, who's to say they weren't completely different people, a lot of a personality supposedly comes from experiences one goes through and not so much the genetics of it all. Would their two experiences be different enough to have made an impact?

When the doors opened she immediately looked up, and to her relief it wasn't her mirror image that she was looking at. She got up from her seat and saluted; "Commander."

"Chief," William said as he entered the armory and nodded for her to relax. He'd always considered Manishie as one of his trusted NCOs. She was a good investigator and was always professional. The news one of the new arrivals was Manishie from the other universe had been surprising to him. He could tell by the look on her face that she was struggling with the news, and he didn't blame her. How would he fair if another version of himself had stepped off that pod? "How are you holding up," he asked as he stood and crossed his arms in front of his chest.

Manishie shrugged, "It's been a weird couple of weeks." She didn't quite know what to say about that exactly. "I'm alright though, thanks." She looked down at her hands, fiddling with her fingers. "The Captain said you and her want me to meet with the other me."

William nodded in response as he watched her nervous fiddling. "We do think it's prudent, but only if you're ready for it. I told the captain I wouldn't force you, but it's a small ship. At some point you two will meet each other, especially since we want to start integrating the crew," he said before he sat next to her on the bench. He clasped his hands infront of him and stared at the lockers across from them. "I can't imagine what you must be feeling though," he offered as he looked over at her.

"There's no point in putting it off, really. It's just..." Manishie wasn't sure if William was the right person to have this conversation with, but he was the one that was there right now. "What do you say to yourself? Hi, nice to meet you?"

William looked over at Manishie with a sympathetic look. "I can't answer that. But I do know that whomever that his, they aren't you. Your unique, and your life has been different from hers. Yes, you might look the same, but that doesn't mean you're the same person," he offered. He hoped that his words could offer some solace, but he wasn't really sure what the correct protocol was for this situation.

"I just really wonder what she's gone through." Over the past couple of days that she had been avoiding this whole thing, Manishie had thought back on a couple of memories, not all of them pleasant. "They say there's nobody that can truly understand you, but if our lives have been very similar before the whole crossing universe things. Who knows."

William nodded before standing up from the bench. "Well, here's your chance to find out Manishie," he said as he made his way over to the exit. He stopped at the doorway and looked back at her. It was down to her now, is she stood and followed him then the meeting would happen. If she stayed seated, then he would report to Beth that Manishie was not ready yet. "Just remember, I've got your back in all this," he offered again as she watched him.

Manishie stood up almost immediately as he started to make his way to the exit. "This has all the potential of being a train wreck in slow motion." She picked at her nails a bit as William turned to reassure her once more.

[Captain's Quarters]

Manishie stood in front of the Captain's quarters, she knew why she had been called there. She was to meet her counterpart, the Manishie they knew. She tried to get into the right headspace, remember what Zac had talked to her about surrounding this. They had actually never finished the list in all earnesty but it had been enough of a start for her to actually sit down and write some proper questions down herself. The one thing that worried her was how to act when meeting herself. What if they didn't get along? How was it going to affect them if they realised they clashed? Maybe they were both completely different people, in psychology they said a lot of a person's personality comes down to their experiences in life, rather than genetics. How different had their experiences be, and would it have been enough?

With all that in her mind she reached out and hit the chime to the quarters. The doors parted and she stepped inside before saluting; "Captain."

Beth looked up from the PADD she had been looking over and smiled at the woman. This was the new version of Manishie that had come through with Hughes and Jamesson by the look of the clothes and lack of uniform. "Hello Chief," Beth said kindly indicating for her to come in and sit down. "I am glad to see that you agreed to meet with me so we can get some stuff out in the open." Beth did not like how things had been hidden and kept in the shadows until now.

The 'other' Manishie, that's how she felt, and being asked to come here and sit and talk with a Captain she didn't recognise as the Captain of the ship was only making that feeling sink in deeper. "Yes ma'am." She took a seat and looked over at the woman waiting for her to take the lead. There were a great many things to put out in the open and she wondered what angle she would take. The personal or the professional.

“We do not know each other. I was killed in your universe a long time ago I believe so tell me a little about you.” Beth said wanting to start a conversation with this woman. “Are you in armoury?” she questioned.

With a nod Nish confirmed that little tidbit at least. "I am, investigations. Was trained on Earth, but there's less and less to investigate there in terms of crime. So I got enticed to join Starfleet." She gave a bit of a smile at that, "my dad was a shuttle pilot, gave me a hankering for the stars. Was very proud when I was assigned to the Atlantis." The smile immediately faded knowing that he must've been devastated when the Atlantis disappeared and now she knew there was no chance of her ever making it back to him.

“I bet he was. Earth Starfleet is a very small place at the moment.” Beth could see in the future how amazing it could come with the right guidance and moves but they would be sitting it out. “Is that something you like to continue onboard or is there another career path you would like to take?” Beth asked seeing the smile fade.

"It feels weird to step into a role that's already taken by... well basically me." Manishie gave a bit of a crooked grin, "and if my last assignment is any indication, there's not going to be enough work for the both of... me." She put up her hands as a form of apology, she was making light of the situation. She didn't want the Captain to think badly of her, or her coping mechanisms.

Beth just set her face into a patient smile as she allowed the woman to carry on speaking. Everyone coped in different ways, Beth turned inwards whilst Manishie obviously joked. “So a change of department is in order then? Do you have anywhere in mind?” She wondered talking instead of looking at the records she had from the pod.

"I learned to fly spacecraft from my dad, took a course in piloting shuttles and warp-capable vessels in bootcamp." Manishie wasn't quite sure what else she would be capable of on the ship. "I'm ok with Delta-shift or something. I know I'm an intruder."

Beth paused in opening her mouth to speak and stood her head. “You are not an intruder at all. This is a situation we are all having to attempt to as we go along but you are very much part of this crew now.” Beth said firmly. She was not going to have the woman leave feeling like she was an outsider or a burden. This was a situation out of there control but every Earth Starfleet Officer or crewman was welcome onboard.

"Thank you." She meekly responded. She had been quite harsh on herself, but she had sensed the hesitation around her from the other crew. She imagined it was the same for her resident counterpart as well. People just wondering who they were encountering before taking the step to approach.

William and Manishie approached the door to the captain's quarters and he stopped before pressing the door chime. He looked over at Manishie. "Ready," he asked and when she nodded he pressed the chime.

“Ah that should be them now.” Beth said rising from her chair in reaction to the chime but she turned to her companion. “Are you ready?” Beth checked not wanting to rush this if the other woman still needed time.

"No time like the present." Nish her eyes widened a bit, she probably wasn't ready for this. She didn't want to put it off any longer either though. She got up from the chair and straightened her uniform. The feeling in her stomach was a weird excitement and dread. As if meeting a blind date or something like that.

When the door opened, William nodded at Beth. "Captain," he said before stepping aside. He would follow behind Manishie, but it was not his place to enter first.

“Commander.” Beth responded coming around the desk to stand beside the version of Manishie Karalo she had requested to know about more. “Please come in chief.” Beth called hopeful that the woman she had known for the last year would come in with no issues.

Manishie walked into the room after William and looked inside. There was a bit of a weird feeling in the pit of her stomach as she first spotted her alternate-universe self standing up from the chair. "Wow. this is..."

"Super weird." Nish agreed with her local universe self. "Like feeling..." she rubbed the fingers on her right hand together to try and figure out the right words.

"A bit car-sick." Manishie knew exactly the feeling her other self was experiencing. "Like the first time we took a shuttle up to go to New Berlin."

"Oh, New Berlin." Nish immediately reminisced about the time her father took her up to the moon to visit the fledging colony there.

Both of them seemed to be lost in thought for a moment before they snapped out of it, turning a darker shade of red when they realised the two senior-most officers on the ship were in the room with them. As if on cue they both straightened their backs and cleared their throats. It only helped them regain their composure for a second because the fact that it was absolutely in sync made them burst out laughing over the absurdity and stress of the whole situation.

Beth smiled at the pair and sat down relieved. “Feel better now?” She asked relieved that it had gone better than tears and people angry. It was uncharted territory but Be tv was relieved that the tension in the air was no longer quite as palatable.

"Much." The two Manishies said in perfect harmony. They both looked at each other and didn't want to speak. Nish pointed at Manishie who with a wry smile added, "this will take a little getting used to."

"Took the words right out of my mouth." Nish added. Her eyes then narrowed, she wondered if her counterpart was wondering the same thing as her. "Do you think..."

"Probably not."

"Would be silly, right."

"Yeah, physics don't work that way."

Tentatively Manishie and Nish reached out a hand. When that turned out to be safe, if that was what they were testing, they pulled into a hug.

"I'm sorry you have to go through this." Manishie squeezed her mirror self tightly.

"I'm just glad I don't have to go through it alone."