I've decided to try my hand at writing a multi-chaptered story. I've planned out the basic structure of each chapter, and this should be around 8 chapters in length. Updates will be sporadic while I finish my thesis. The story takes place a few months after the Enterprise-E launched in 2372, before First Contact and the Dominion War.
Pale fingers flew rapidly over the console, inputting commands at impossible speeds. Around him, the bridge crew were quietly going about their duties; the only audible noise was the soft beeping of consoles around the room. The Captain was reclining in his chair, staring out the viewscreen, his stern face thoughtful. Commander Riker, to the right of the Captain, was preoccupied with his own console.
They were on route to a small planetary cluster for a scientific survey mission, and so far, the journey had been uneventful. The Enterprise-E had only been released from drydock a few months ago (two months, six days, four hours, two minutes, Data effortlessly calculated), so they were currently on a shakedown mission to test the starship's capabilities. Up to this point, the ship seemed to be operating well within normal parameters. Although its design differed in some ways from the old Enterprise, he had noticed that his fellow crew seemed relatively well settled in their new environment.
He continued to work in his usual calm, precise way as his shift continued; the fact that he was running several programs at once never manifested in the smooth, efficient movement of his hands across the console. 38.45% of his processes were focused on his work (a more than adequate percentage), but he had other things 'on his mind', as the human saying went.
One of these processes was focused on the task he was intending to complete with Geordi down in Engineering after his shift. Ever since they had set out in the new Enterprise, he had been spending several hours with the chief engineer in an effort to analyse his emotion chip and determine if it could be switched off or even removed. This was proving quite difficult, as it was currently fused to his neural net - the result of an overload of his positronic relay.
After years of keeping the chip in storage, after an unfortunate incident on the holodeck with Dr. Crusher, Data had decided that his development as an artificial lifeform could not continue without it. He had convinced Geordi to help him install it. And at first it had been wonderful – he could now comprehend his friends' jokes, where previously the basic concept of humour had escaped him. He could make actual subjective judgements about things based on emotional reactions.
Unfortunately, he had become so caught up in these new sensations that he had failed to adequately consider the downside to having emotions. On a mission to the Amargosa Observatory with Geordi, he had initially enjoyed himself immensely, exercising his new capabilities to laugh and make jokes to the fullest. And he was examining a solar probe with Geordi when he suddenly felt this wild, uncontrollable urge to laugh.
Up until that point, Data had kept up a constant stream of jokes and laughter, but it had never felt anything like this. He was staring down at the probe, still chuckling quietly at his most recent witticism, when he had felt this utterly inexplicable impulse take hold. And for the first time he didn't know why he wanted to laugh; there had always been a reason before. Without warning, the chuckling suddenly escalated to uncontrollable laughter, exploding from his vocal modulator, racking his deceptively slender frame. He was vaguely aware of Geordi staring at him with what he believed was an expression of annoyance, mixed with alarm. A dizzying tide of emotion swept from the emotion chip and surged through his neural net. Warnings began to trigger in various processes, and his neural net was scrambling to contain the immense load being placed on his systems, but he just could not stop laughing.
When he awoke a few moments later, it was with a stunned numbness that he ran a quick diagnostic and discovered that the chip had overloaded his positronic relay. Geordi was saying something about contacting the Enterprise, but he just couldn't focus. And then, later, with a gun in his face at point-blank range, listening to Soran cocking the trigger, he just couldn't control the intense, agonising fear that seeped through every component in his body. And when Riker had told him to get to Geordi, he just couldn't move. Just watched as Soran beamed away with Geordi in tow.
After that, he had struggled to contain the feelings of regret and overwhelming guilt at failing to rescue Geordi; felt a pang every time he recalled that terrible moment where he was too afraid to help his best friend. And the sickening thing was that if he hadn't installed the chip in the first place, he would have been fully capable and in control, and Geordi would be safe.
He had worked with Dr. Crusher in sickbay, trying to figure out exactly what had gone wrong with the chip, only to discover that it had fused, possibly irreversibly, to his neural net. After that Dr. Crusher had refused to look into it further; she felt she didn't have enough expertise to interfere with his circuitry at such an advanced level. As all his systems seemed to be functioning normally, she had declared him fit for duty – a statement that Data severely disagreed with.
With limited options left to him, he had demanded to be deactivated until they could find a way to remove or switch off the chip, but Picard had refused; their mission was too important. The captain's words in Stellar Cartography had helped to bolster his resolve, and thankfully Geordi had subsequently been returned to them safely, but the memory of how the chip had completely overtaken and controlled his actions still made him... uncomfortable.
After being evacuated from Viridian III, while the Enterprise-E was being constructed, Data had spent considerable time learning to better control and understand his emotions. Now, aboard the new starship, he had determined that he was able to operate effectively under stress. So far only a small amount of progress had been made in terms of how to switch the chip off, but the sessions with Geordi were proving to be beneficial.
He was in the process of running a viability test on a series of potential methods Geordi could use to improve the control pathway when a voice, directly behind him, broke into his focused reverie.
"Open your eyes, Data. That's it."
Data froze. Even his hands stopped typing commands into the console. Every single nonessential process dropped the tasks they were completing and focused entirely on what had just been uttered behind him.
In a swift, inhumanly fast movement, he spun around. Pale eyes stared wildly at the source of the voice, but all that met his gaze was Picard, standing behind him and looking extremely puzzled.
"Is something wrong, Mr. Data?"
"I..." Data trailed off, his brain working furiously. He glanced around the bridge, but nothing presented itself to him that could explain what had just occurred. Certainly none of the crew seemed to have heard anything out of the ordinary – although most of them were looking at him oddly. "Sorry, sir. Did you request something?"
Picard was still looking at him a little strangely. "I asked you if the long-range scanners show any unusual subspace activity."
Data rapidly consulted his console. "No, sir. All sensors read normal."
"Thank you, Mr. Data." Picard turned, then changed his mind mid-step and looked back at his second officer. "Are you sure you're all right?" It was very rare to see the usually implacable android so startled. The expression on Data's face alone, even without seeing the way he had reacted to Picard's question, was enough for him to think that something was very wrong.
Quickly, Data considered whether he should tell the captain exactly what had occurred. A conclusion was reached in a matter of milliseconds. "Yes, captain. I believe there may be an issue with my auditory receptors. I will investigate it in further detail with Geordi when my shift is complete in thirty-nine minutes, five seconds. In the meantime, it will not interfere with my duties."
Picard nodded, still frowning slightly. "See that it gets resolved, Mr. Data." He returned to his chair.
Data turned back to his console and continued to work in the same calm, precise way as before. Internally, he was still attempting to process what had occurred, as well as running a detailed diagnostic on his auditory receptors and interpretation programs. Only a faint line between his brows conveyed the bemusement he felt about what he had just experienced.
It wasn't really the words that so perplexed him; that was only a small part of his confusion. It was the voice itself that troubled him.
For Picard hadn't spoken in his own voice. It was the voice of his father, Doctor Noonian Soong.