Starfleet Commander Ananda Greydon is a graduate of The University of Betazed and, a member of the newly formed Starfleet Counseling Service.
Half human, half Betazoid - her silhouette could be described as imposing: A tall woman by any standard, sh...
"Good Morning Commander Harrison," says the Betazoid in a warm, relaxed tone. "My name is Lieutenant Commander Ananda Greydon, and I'm here to debrief you. I will be preparing a monograph of recent incidents to present to the tribunal at Starfleet Headquarters. Please understand that while I am an officer of Starfleet, my findings are objective and seek only to present the perspectives of principal parties. Well then, shall we..."
Khan eyes Betazoid with suspicion and utter contempt.
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"How dare she?" He thinks to himself.
"This is my personal space, such as it is. And this woman - this alleged impartial finder of fact dares to appear before me, wearing a Sari? I think we'll teach her just how disrespectful it is to appropriate the native dress of another culture in an attempt to create a false senseof simpatico." Khan contiues his silent rant while he paces slowly in front of Ananda.
"Something about her seems... Could shepossibly be...?" He crinkles his nose crinkles and cants his head as he tries to gain a sense of this woman. "Clearly, somethingother than human," he reasons to himself.
"She must know, that were it my whim, I could snap her like a twig. Yet, no precautions for her safety have been taken. She sits confidently under the assumption that her day will proceed as expected. Perhaps I will allow her this privilege. But maybe I will not..."
His eyes narrow, and he puffs his chest like a predatory animal poised to strike. Undeterred by Khan's posturing, the investigator removes her shoes and pulls her legs into lotus position.
"Are we done asserting our dominance Commander Harrison? Shall we proceed?"
"Who are you? WHAT. ARE. YOU?!" He bellows.
His face is inches away from hers now, and she holds his gaze with a steadfast calm that irritates Khan to his core. Sensing this, he lowers his voice to a rumble that rattles the enclosure.
"Is it your contention, Commander Greydon that you are mere a repository of fact?" Khan posits with characteristic aggression.
"Yes, Command..." Before she can finish speaking his hand clutches her throat. A gestural emblem, certainly - albeit a deadly serious one.
"A proper recitation of facts should be accurate. Am I not correct COMMANDER Greydon?" Ananda nods and grabs his wrist.
"We shall begin with a basic fact: My name... is... KHAN!!"
"Quite understood, Commander. Perhaps I should address you as Mr. Singh?" She shrugs.
"I'm not not entirely sure if you are seeking to irritate, or rather enjoy being ignorant. Here, nor there... My patience has come to its end Ms. Greydon."
"Yes, I see it has..." Ananda coughs as she removes Khan's hand from her throat, then gracefully folds her hands in her lap. His icy blue eyes stare down at her, but she remains serene as he is choleric.
"Khan, can you please tell me how you came to meet Dr Heisen, the scientist responsible for your enhanced abilities?" She speaks in a hushed purposeful tone.
"Scientist!! Is that what your kind calls him?!" He bellows.
"The servile minions and sycophants of STARFLEET!!" Khan roars.
"In the interest of brevity, I respectfully defer to your prefered nomenclature. For the record, how would you rather we refer to him? His title, function or role?
"He was a monster. A so-called man of science who preyed on the disadvantaged. Those who could be disappeared without recompense." Khan begins haltingly, but rapidly develops a gravelly staccato as he continues: "In November 1971, he removed me along with several others from the streets of New Delhi by force, gassing us and throwing us into black body bags like garbage. I'm sure he might even have considered it a sort of rescue."
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The deep thrumming of Khan's voice strikes a chord with the Betazoid investigator. Through even his most grandiose eruptions of rage, his sincerity is compelling.
Khan continues to recount the narrative of his early years with great intensity - including his removal of Dr Heisen's implant chip, fleeing from the augment academy, and creating a secret cabal of his fellows. His story of the augments silently rising up by seamlessly infiltrating every governing body on planet Earth is terrifying as it is cautionary.
"Khan, please tell me about star date 1992.261," Ananda asks in a calm, thoughtful voice.
"That was the day we changed the world," Khan's simple reply.
...
"By learning to bear witness to our own pain and responding with kindness and understanding, rather than greeting difficult emotions by fighting hard against them, we open ourselves up to genuine healing and a new experience of living; this is self-compassion."
