How Sayori Learned to Push Away from her Old Responsibilities and Embrace her New Ones

Posted on Mon Aug 31st, 2026 @ 1:28pm by Captain Alexander Johnson & Commander Sayori Summers

891 words; about a 4 minute read

Mission: Licking our wounds

With the arrival of the escort ships, and engineers to assist with the repairs of the Iroquois enough so it could go back into a higher warp. With enough officers to tend to the ship, he walked into the main engineering. Seeing parts sprawled all over the floor, this time with new circuits, gelpacks, and the like, it was on the road to recovery.

"Commander Summers, your location please." Alexander replied as he turned to the office and noticed an empty chair.

“Hi Captain!” Sayori’s voice echoed from a hole in the ceiling just above him. He turned to see purple locks dangling down toward him. “Gimme one sec please, sir! It’s a bit tricky to get down from here! Can you step back?”

Taking a step back as he was told, awaiting her descent down.

A pair of feet came out of the hole, then legs, hips, a waist, and finally all of First Officer Summers as she finished lowering herself as far as she could go and then let gravity handle the rest. She landed on her feet, letting her knees absorb the shock, and then stood up to look Captain Johnson in the eye. “The engineers were having trouble with EPS relay four-seven-alpha. I know it’s my job to delegate now but in these urgent times sometimes it’s faster to just crawl into a hole and help! What can I do for you, sir?”

"Just to tell you take a break, we have a ton of new people here to help repair it well enough to get to dock."

“Heheh,” Sayori said, putting her hand behind her head, a big drop of perspiration on her brow. “Sorry, sir. Old habits die hard. Gotta learn to delegate better. Jenkins!” she turned toward a nearby Lieutenant. “You’re in charge! Use the new people well!”

A confused Jenkins replied with a quick “Yes ma’am” and started directing people. He really did have it in hand, permitting Sayori to follow her Captain.

“So, a break, you say?”

"You have done enough the ship made it out thanks to you. We are alive. Take a break, starbase is just a few short hrs away."

“That soon?” Sayori asked. “I guess I’d lost track of time. A break seems earned then.” She took a deep breath, in an attempt to calm down the energy that continued to course through her. “Any suggestions sir?”

"Ive got people cleaning out his quarters and office, gather your stuff. They are yours now. You have earned them. He would be the first to tell you of that."

“Oh,” Sayori said, suddenly a bit sullen. “Right. The new office.” She had packed up her belongings from her Chief Engineer’s office, and one of the Ops staff had already moved it to her new workspace. She’d already been through with a few people how this had been earned, that the circumstances were tragic but that she wasn’t any less worthy of the role.

She took a deep breath and then smiled again. “The new office!” she tried again, this time more cheerily. “Let’s go check out my new digs, sir!”

The turbolift took them most of the way there. “I suppose I never asked if my predecessor liked his office. Had he ever said anything about it to you?” Sayori asked Alexander.

"He was more hands on approach... didn't care to stay in his office long enough to like it."

"I hear that," she said. "I think I might try to use it more. It'll take effort to break my habit of wanting to pitch in and fix things. Forcing myself to use the office will help with that."

The office door opened for her. It was sparse, but functional. A desk. A comfortable chair behind it. A small computer terminal on the desk and a big wall screen behind the chair. Two guest chairs were in front of the desk. One wall contained a replicator. There was space for more furniture.

"I can do a lot with this space," she said. "Coat of paint. Something on the walls. A couch over here, maybe. Ooh, maybe a plant?" She grinned. "Can I get you something to drink, sir? As my first guest in my new office?"

"I am good. I have some... other news to deliver. As commanding Officer."

"Oh dear," Sayori said tightly, her mouth a pencil-straight grimace of discomfort. "Want me there?"

"Its fine, you have your own duties to start as XO. Until then... try and relax."

“Relax. Right.” Sayori took a deep breath. “I can do that. Relax. Yeah.” She would figure it out. There was a lot to figure out, but she would get there. It may be a learning curve, but learning can be fun.

"You have this commander. You wouldn't have been given the position if you weren't."

“I have this,” Sayori agreed. “I have this. I have this!” She took another deep breath and bounced lightly on the balls of her feet. “I should get to those duties then.”

"You do." He smiled, as he stood. "Maybe talk to the chief counsellor, it helps trust me."

“She’s helped before,” Sayori agreed. “Alright. Off to it. Am I good to go, sir?”

"Your good to go." Alex agreed sending her away

 

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