#ltcommanderandroid

❝ might I ask what you're doing? ❞ he says as he makes his way across the room to observe what his friend was doing. when it came to Data there was no telling what thought was going through those processors. but it was guaranteed that he'd soon find out. ❝ if you're pondering your latest joke, spare me now. ❞

those jokes were getting . . . better but they still made him groan.

Deanna takes a sip of her drink, something fruity but pleasantly biting, with a name she'd long since forgotten. "But I think it's more fun talking with someone who's likely to have a unique opinion."

She leans forward to close the gap between them, more or less, arms resting against the table. "Do you think, perhaps, the nature of the universe is for us to put good into it? Or simply to be bystanders? What if we were created to gaze at the stars, rather than to explore them?"

A huff of incredulity couldn’t be intercepted and sailed aggressively down his nostrils; a gust of air impelled by unadulterated contempt and repressed ire. The vehemence of Lore’s rancour was evident in every particle of his synthetic embodiment; it frenetically effervesced underneath his bioplast sheeting and scintillated in the yellow of his optical components; the profusion of acrimony congregated in his sclerae and accentuated the luminescence of his irises. A scowl eclipsed his countenance, the darkness that obnubilated his features was impervious; the majority of his emotions were inaccessible, cloistered from the individual fraternising with the vermin he’d tried so hard to circumvent. His algorithms were exerting themselves to appease and govern his capricious emotions. The fluctuating palpitations he was experiencing were symptomatic of his subroutines trying to keep him in thrall by foraging auxiliary power from non-essential systems. It was an excruciating sensation, and as the years had elapsed, battling the process ⸺ the pain ⸺ had become extraordinarily laborious. Fortunately, he could still depend on his keen temperance and acerbic wit.

beverly rests a hand on data's shoulder gently, and squeezes, in what she hopes he interprets as a comforting gesture.

"you did everything you could, data. they were lucky to have you on hand." and she isn't lying - she thinks far more would have perished in the shuttle crash if data hadn't rendered severely needed first aid. as such, two ensigns had perished but will riker and geordi la forge had survived, both unconscious on biobeds in her sickbay before them. on the mend now, of course, but for a while it had been touch and go especially right as they'd been beamed back aboard the ship.

@ltcommanderandroid asked: ❛ why are you laughing? this is a very serious situation. ❜ - for Deanna

"I'm—" the counselor snickers, trying to get herself under control (and valiantly failing. "I'm sorry, Data, but I think you misunderstood." She wipes at a smear of red on her cheek, sticky and cloying, then promptly licks it off her thumb.