Lieutenant Ayumu Tanaka

Character Information

Gender		Male
Species		Trill (Unjoined)
Age		33

Physical Appearance

Height		6'0"
Weight		149 LBS
Hair Color		Black
Eye Color		Black
Physical Description		Standing at exactly six feet, Doctor Tanaka possess a build that some might consider to be “intimidating,” with a straight, athletic posture, short, messy hair, broad shoulders, and a stern-faced demeanor that appears to be his default expression. He does occasionally smile, but this tends to be very infrequent and most often at the request of others; if he isn’t asked, he tends not to smile, adding to his air of unapproachability.

Family

Spouse		None
Children		None
Father		Rujod Tanaka
Mother		Jaruzell
Brother(s)		None
Sister(s)		None
Other Family		None of Note

Personality & Traits

General Overview		Regarded by several of his contemporaries as “The Gentle Giant”, Doctor Tanaka is a man whose outward appearances—coupled with his strict, no-nonsense bedside manner— betray a selfless, compassionate individual who is deeply committed to his vocation. While he can oftentimes come off as intimidating to his patients, those who go out of their way to know him better will discover that he’s a doctor with a heart of gold, and is always more than happy to assist a friend in need. A small handful of officers question if this degree of selflessness doesn’t come at the partial expense of his individuality, but he casually dismisses those concerns as “part of the job description.” Though he would never admit it to out loud, Doctor Tanaka harbors something of a competitive streak; having been selected for the Trill Initiate Program at a relatively young age, he recognizes he is one of a select few who will ever have the prestigious honor of joining with a symbiont. To that end, he sees it as a dutiful obligation to remain within the good graces of the Symbiosis Commission by excelling in his chosen field. “Good enough” just isn’t enough to cut it; only the best of the best ever see it through to the joining process, and even if it comes at great physical and mental expense to him, Doctor Tanaka is more than willing to go above and beyond the call of duty. In spite of the demanding work regimen that he’s imposed upon himself, Doctor Tanaka does not believe in airing his personal concerns on a more public level; with several of his patients relying on him for their physical and mental well-being, he feels that he needs to be their firm, guiding hand when they need it the most, and part of that moral code entails remaining strong when others are weak; burdening people with his problems is honestly more trouble than its worth, and to that end he endeavors to keep his head down and fully commit himself to the task at hand, independent of his personal life and the worries that come with it. While for the most part this strategy has worked well for him, the death of his mentor and close friend, Captain Haruk Leon, has weighed a far bit heavier on him than most of his previous troubles, and his efforts to play it down and get on with his work as usual has only left him more withdrawn. Not that he’s grown to hate the company of others, but even friends and family have observed him to be less sociable than he was just a few short years ago.
Strengths & Weaknesses		+ Selfless, Compassionate, and dedicated to his trade. + Competitive and driven to excel, though he would never openly admit it. +/- Strict, no-nonsense bedside manner. - Intimidating appearance. - Often puts his job before his own social well-being.
Ambitions		Like many Trill before him (and many more who will come after him), Doctor Tanaka dreams of one day being joined with a symbiont, inheriting wisdom passed down through generations and becoming the elite few to have ever experienced the sensation of joining in their lifetime. Having been selected for the Intiate Program in and of itself is a high honor for him, as neither his father Rujod nor his Mother Jaruzell were determined to be suitable candidates for joining. To that end, he’s fully dedicated himself to his vocation, as a way of proving both to himself and to the Symbiosis Commission that he has more than earned his right to join.
Hobbies & Interests		-Rigorous Exercise: As Doctor Tanaka does not believe in sharing matters concerning his personal life with his patients, he instead elects to burn off steam through exercise, whether that be running a lap around his posting, hitting the gym to lift weights, or even booting up a hiking simulation on the holodeck; getting active helps to take his mind off of whatever’s bothering him at a given time. -Shogi: Introduced to him by one of his patients aboard the Granger, Doctor Tanaka has been oddly (if quietly) fascinated with this obscure Japanese variation of Chess, and if for whatever reason he’s not in the mood to exercise, he may instead opt to boot up a Shogi simulation in the holodeck and learn some new strategies.

Personal History		Ayumu Tanaka was born on Stardate 45314.77 (or, as the date is more commonly known amongst Federation member worlds, November 10, 2367), in the Trill city of Gheryzan. His father, Rujod, was a highly-respected neurosurgeon at the Gheryzan Hospital, one of Trill’s premier health care facilities; consequently, a fair bit of Ayumu’s informative years were spent in the company of physicians, nurses, radiologists and various other acquaintances of Rujod. This was not, of course, due to any birth defects or genetic anomalies, but rather of personal volition, whenever his mother was unable to look after him. While for obvious reasons, he could not be given free reign to explore the Hospital due to his age, he instead learned to satiate his budding curiosity through other means, most often by asking the various medical personnel who roamed its halls what exactly they did, how they did it, why it was important to do it, why certain treatments were more effective than others, and all other myriad of questions. Rujod, for his part, was proud of his son’s endless curiosity, and often joked that one day the doctors would come in to find that Ayumu had taken his place. When Ayumu was nine, Gheryzan was rocked by a series of terrorist attacks orchestrated by an anti-symbiont organization known as the Neo-Purists. While Ayumu and his parents were thankfully nowhere near the site of the attacks (Ayumu was in school on the far side of town), a city-wide lockdown was issued and Ayumu was sent home early. Rujod, for his part, had to go into work on his day off, as the hospital had been swamped with casualties, with several of them passing away within minutes of their arrival and countless more in need of urgent care. In his father’s rush to leave, Ayumu curiously asked Rujod if one of the victims was someone he cared about; With a smile, his father calmly answered, “I care about all of them, because just one life saved today is a life that’s going back home to their loved ones.” This gesture of selflessness left a very strong impression on Ayumu, and from that moment forward he realized that his calling in life was to follow his father into the field of medicine. It wasn’t until his adolescent years, however, that he seriously began to consider his personal agendas as a viable career option. Upon careful discussion with his father, Rujod suggested that Ayumu consider enrolling in Starfleet Academy; even if he wasn’t necessarily interested in serving with Starfleet full-time, the academic credentials he stood to gain from his tenure at the Academy would greatly expand his pool of career opportunities right off the bat. And so, that’s what he did; in the fall of 2385, Ayumu Tanaka, aged 18, enrolled at Starfleet Academy as part of a comprehensive seven-year medical training program. Following his completion of the standard four-year curriculum, he would then pursue an additional three-year program catered exclusively towards medical studies. During his tenure at the Academy, he proved to be both a fastidious and highly analytical student, never short on questions as he was driven to learn more about the greater galaxy in which he resided. So much so, in fact, that a few instructors even lowered his grades for asking too many questions in class. That seemed to do little in the way of hampering his academic prowess, however, as he would go on to graduate from the Standard Academy with honors in late 2389, and again with the Medical Academy in 2392. Upon completion of his studies, Ayumu returned to Trill and took up a brief tenure at the Gheryzan Hospital, so that he could further his medical training under the tutelage of his father. However, after just a couple of months, he received a notice from the Symbiosis Commission that he was overdue for enrolling in the Trill Initiate Program. Of course, that was hardly to say that Ayumu had no interest in joining- like most Trills, to be joined with a Symbiont and inherit the skills and experiences of the best and brightest minds that Trill Society had to offer was a natural desire for Ayumu, but he had become so focused on his medical studies that the Initiate Program had taken a backseat. Now that he was out of the Academy and studying in a Civilian field, he decided that now was as good a time as any to rectify that and enrolled in the Intiate Program. After passing a preliminary screening, he was assigned to Captain Haruk Leon, a joined Trill and fellow Starfleet Officer, who would evaluate him as his field docent. Recognizing the fact that Ayumu still held a Starfleet Commission that he hadn’t yet resigned from, Haruk approached Rujod about the possibility of assigning Ayumu to his personal command, the Saber-Class USS Granger (NCC-82521), under the dual pretense that it would make it easier for him to monitor Ayumu while still performing his command duties, as well as giving him some experience in working in the company of non-Trill specimens on a regular basis. Both Rajod and Ayumu were in favor of this arrangement, and after submitting a personal request to Starfleet Command, Ayumu saw himself bidding farewell to his parents on his first official tour of duty. The next four years were perhaps the most informative of the young Tanaka’s fledgling career. Regular day-to-day interactions with a wide variety of aliens from an equally wide variety of backgrounds helped to expand his worldview, as well as the finer intricacies of each species’ unique medical needs. During his tenure, the Granger made first contact with no less than three space-faring civilizations, and Ayumu considered himself proud to be part of the team who would go on to draw up the anatomical references for each. It was also in this time that he grew to develop a deeper respect for Haruk, who proved himself to be a strict but no less compassionate teacher who was only pushing Ayumu as hard as he was out of a desire to see his charge excel in life. Their Docent/Initiate dynamic soon evolved into an informal “friendship” as Haruk became something of a second father to Ayumu, offering personal advice based on decades of holding the center chair. In 2396, while docked at Starbase 152 for crew rotations, Ayumu discovered that there was an opening on the station’s medical staff and opted to be transferred over, as officers posted at the station had a propensity to rise through the ranks at least 15% faster than their contemporaries, and a few years posted at SB152 could- at least in theory- put him on the fast track to managing his own department. While it was regrettable that he would eventually be parting ways with Captain Leon, the fellow Trill nonetheless promised that he would put in a letter of recommendation to the Symbiosis Commission. Sadly, however, this was not to pass; just over a month later, Ayumu Tanaka received a notification that Haruk Leon had been killed in action. The Leon Symbiont, while saved, had been transferred to a new host whose identity could not be disclosed for cultural reasons. Ayumu was understandably crushed by the revelation, but he nonetheless elected to keep his head down and get on with his work, as he felt it morally inappropriate to be burdening his charges with his personal grievances. The next four years saw him continuing to rise through the ranks, even attaining the position of Assistant Chief Medical Officer and beating out several other prominent candidates for the promotion. Despite this, however, he was much more withdrawn than he had been aboard the Granger, and even some of his now-subordinates began to question if they really knew their supervisor outside any work-related contexts. In 2400, the Vesta-Class USS Valkyrie (NCC-92604) docked at Starbase 152 to take on the remainder of its senior staff. The Commanding Officer of Starbase 152, aware of the fact that Ayumu couldn’t seem to really connect with his fellow officers, recommended him for transfer to the Valkyrie, as its commander, Daegan Baas, was another joined Trill and Ayumu could stand to benefit from working under a Trill again.
Service Record		2385-2389: Starfleet Academy [Cadet- basic officer training] 2389-2392: Starfleet Medical Academy [Cadet- Medical training] 2392-2392: Gheryzan Hospital, Trill [Ensign- Unlicensed Assistive Personnel (Civilian Medical Training)] 2392-2394: USS Granger (Ensign- Medical Officer) 2394-2396: USS Granger (Lieutenant, Junior Grade- Medical Officer) 2396-2398: Starbase 152 (Lieutenant- Medical Officer) 2398-2400: Starbase 152 (Lieutenant- Assistant Chief Medical Officer) 2400-????: USS Valkyrie (Lieutenant- Assistant Chief Medical Officer)