#positronicminds

Perihelion has counted the containers that the clients have loaded on board, and it matches the initial arrangement. It’s ready to spend another long trip through space, bored out of its metaphorical skull, except for one thing.

The being that helped load the cargo on from the other ship is... still on board. Perihelion sends out a final departure warning, which doesn’t seem to bother the rogue stevedore, nor the other ship’s crew, some of whom definitely saw them board. Maybe this was their intention, or maybe they’ve forgotten; either way, it doesn’t feel particularly inclined to rat out the potential escapee.

Perihelion closes up and disengages from the other ship. It doesn’t detect typical life signs from the stowaway, which is even more intriguing, but it politely ups its life support to match their previous ship’s conditions anyway.

Data had to admit he was excited at the prospect of having a brother. Although Lore had not been the ideal family member, the sense of brotherhood and camaraderie that he had felt during their first few hours together was something that he found he desired to experience again. 

With the discovery of the B-4 unit, Data thought it may be possible to experience the same familial feeling with him. Although attempting to integrate his memory engrams into the B-4′s positronic matrix was unsuccessful, Data had hope that his brother would still be able to learn the ways of the ship and be a productive and happy (although happiness may not have been within the realm of his capabilities) member of society. 

Data has so many questions. They gather on the tip of his tongue, ready to be asked in a rapid-fire slew of inquiries, but he refrains from voicing them just yet. He has been recently fitted with modesty and etiquette subroutines, and he understands that there are motions that must be gone through before the human will feel comfortable providing so much information at once.

“You wished to meet me, Captain Kirk.” It’s not a question, but it is an invitation-- you wished to meet me, and here I am.

“My father informed me that you expressed a desire to see the nature of his work. I have been instructed to answer your questions to the best of my ability, and to...” he hesitates, cocking his head. “...‘be myself.’”

“What would you like to know?”

     THERE’S A strangled gasp tangled in his throat when he just barely manages to save the drink from tipping off the tray and spilling all over Data’s nice yellow uniform; the pause between his almost-blunder and the awkward aftermath is stifling, staring at Data with parted lips as he struggles to decide whether to apologize or simply act like nothing happened.    

        “data!” he’s just said goodbye to geordi, who had to rush off, leaving hugh with the promise that someone would be coming by to say hello shortly. he’s not sure who to expect — ( picard, maybe? a small, naively hopeful part of him wonders. )  — but he never suspected it would be the android. it’s been ten years, but hugh recognizes him instantly. he hasn’t changed much — hugh supposes androids don’t. hugh, on the other hand, has changed significantly. he looks nothing like the drone data had known back then. he’s still in recovery, of course — fresh scarring, and he’s walking with a cane, but the warmth in his smile as he greets the other is unmistakably hugh. “geordi didn’t — when he said...” he graps at words and fails to find the right ones, instead making his way over to data as quickly as he can. “it’s so wonderful to see you!”

     “Get over yourself already!”

     It had been weeks.  Maybe three, maybe four -- but when most of her days consisted of staying in a small and sparse room, even a single second felt like ten of them.  Restlessness was no longer an emotion.  It had long since become a state of being, so much so that anymore, it was the only thing she ever felt.  She missed people.  One of them she missed the most, so much so that despite that restlessness, she felt hard pressed to get out of bed because her heart hurt so badly.  An emotional hurt so bad that she didn’t talk to either brother about it.  One would just give her snark.  The other, she wasn’t so sure if he’d understand.

     Today had started out to be one of those days, too.

     Through Lore’s needling questions about what she saw with Soong’s installation and his cutting remarks, Red pushed and persevered -- mustering whatever patience that she could to do so.  Most days, the android left frustrated and empty handed.  A couple days, the conversation left Red bristling, but ultimately, she left her mouth shut for the sake of herself and the one bright spot in this whole situation.

     B-4.  Ironic that she called him a ‘bright spot’ this entire time.  He had been her kidnapper, threatened to hurt her if she didn’t comply, all because something bad was going to happen to him.  He had started it this horrible situation, but he didn’t contribute any more to it.  Red had come to terms with it quickly -- he was naive because that was how he was created.  For an android, it seemed he had delicate feelings and an even more fragile sense of the universe around him, along with the people always rushing about within it.  People that they never saw, but she desperately tried to teach him about when Lore wasn’t looking or didn’t feel like forcing his opinions on his older brother.

     Maybe that was what made her snap at Lore today.

     It had been a particularly biting remark delivered while Red spoke to B-4 about her process when creating music, the android having stumbled on her mumbling lyrics to a new song that she had been trying to work out while in captivity.  Maybe it was the same level of commentary Lore had always contributed whenever her presence was near, and she was tired of it, or maybe it had been ever-so-lovingly crafted to really dig in deep, just for today -- but enough had been enough.

     She snapped.  Before she even realized that it was happening, she snapped.

     “I’ve been nothing but civil to you!  I’ve been compliant!”  Her words raised in near hysteria, her hands clenched into fists and held at hip level.  “I’ve tried respecting you, learning about your mission!  And yet it’s poke, poke, poke!  Why?  I haven’t done anything to you or against you--”

     And then she did it.  The thing that, no matter what the subject matter, she had tried to avoid doing since they left her vessel floating in the void of space weeks ago.  She gestured back towards B-4, and thus, got him involved.  Her voice raised as she continued, sapphire eyes bright with rage.

Send me a url and I’ll write some positivity for it.