After messing around in the Jefferies tubes and getting yelled at by Mr. Scott, Lieutenant Warren retired to her quarters for the rest of the afternoon. To say the least, the past two months on the U.S.S. Enterprise had not gone how Captain Li had imagined it would for the Lieutenant, but it had gone exactly how Susanna suspected it would. The moment Warren reported for duty on the Enterprise, Mr. Scott immediately gave the young woman the stink eye and micromanaged her every step of the way. She couldn't so much as look at a console without first requesting permission from the chief engineer.
As she absently slouched at the electric keyboard in her quarters plucking at random keys, the buzzer to her room sounded. "Enter," she said.
The Vulcan first officer Mr. Spock entered the room, standing as stiff as a board as a proper military man should.
"Yes, Mr. Spock?" she stood at attention herself as a show of respect to her commanding officer.
"Shouldn't you be on duty?" he inquired.
"I'm afraid I may have upset Mr. Scott to no end," she shrugged. "So, I decided to stay out of his hair for the rest of the day."
"Mr. Scott is concerned about your performance in engineering," he explained. "And, rightfully so. You have only reported for duty on time once in your two months serving aboard the Enterprise and you have failed to report for duty without excuse twice."
"Yes, I know," she bowed her head. "I apologize."
"An apology is meaningless if no action is taken to correct it." Spock expected more from a Vulcan, but saying he was disappointed in her behavior would be an admission of such emotions he did not have. "If you do not self-correct, you will inevitably be removed from the Enterprise."
"Is that some sort of threat?" she narrowed her gaze on him.
"No, Vulcan's do not make threats. As a Vulcan, you should be well aware of this fact."
"Half Vulcan. And I was raised on Earth, not Vulcan. For obvious reasons," she said while pointing to her lack of Vulcan features.
"But your mother is a Vulcan, she certainly educated you about our kind," he assumed.
"Mr. Spock," Warren took a short step toward the man, "I haven't spoken to my mother in fifteen years. Or my father at that. They weren't the best parents, to say the least."
"I understand," something which Spock certainly did, considering the turmoil he had with his own father. "Nonetheless Lieutenant, what I said is not a threat but a statement of fact."
"I understand," the Lieutenant's tone dropped. "I will do better. For the Enterprise, for the crew, for you, Mr. Spock."
The conversation was not nearly as difficult as Spock had imagined given the amount of distress the woman caused the chief engineer. "Very well," he said.
Before leaving, Spock paused to stare at the electronic keyboard that rested across the Lieutenant's desk. "Fascinating instrument," he commented. "From the later twentieth century."
"It's a replica," the Lieutenant flippantly gestured at it. "It's almost impossible to get your hands on a real one."
"Do you know how to play it?" he wondered.
"Yes; been playing it since I was very young. Since I was four," she replied.
"It takes a great deal of patience and discipline to master a musical instrument," he noted. "It also takes a great deal of patience and discipline to excel at Starfleet academy. It begs one to question why you seem to lack the same discipline when it comes to being a Starfleet officer."
"Maybe I've come to realize-"
But before the Lieutenant could finish, lights began flashing through her room and Uhura's voice chimed in over the intercom, "Red Alert! All officers report to their stations! I repeat; Red Alert!"
An expression of concern consumed the Lieutenant's face; however, Spock remained ever stoic. "We'll save our conversation for another time. Report to your station, Lieutenant Warren," he said.
As the two exited the Lieutenant's quarters, they witnessed several fellow officers, who were in the hall next to her room, collapse to the ground.
Spock knelt down to examine one of the fallen red shirts. "She is in deep comatose," he noted.
"What on Earth is happening?" the Lieutenant added, staring at the unconscious bodies spread throughout the lengthy corridor.
"There is no time to discuss the matter," he said. "I must report to the bridge immediately."
"I'll report to engineering," and with that, Warren sprinted along the corridor to the turbolift with Spock closely following behind.