Data's Soul
I don't own Star Trek, because if I did, Tasha Yar would have survived at least to the second season.
"Three…"
The Thalaron core counted down to the point when it would release it's deadly energies into the helpless ship before it. Data stood before the glowing green double-helix, his hand poised on the trigger of the tool which would end it all. His mind raced through all the memories he had accumulated over his life, recalling them all with perfect clarity. The process took point oh two nine seconds so he ran it again. And again. After the fourth time, he decided to run his memories through his emotion chip. He cranked the power of his chip to 1200% capacity. At that level, the chip would burn out in 5.047 seconds but considering…
"Two…"
Data pressed the trigger on the phaser in his hand. The beam moved as if in slow motion, inching towards the double helix of the Thalaron Core.
Time slowed down further for the android. All of the moments of his life were now given an emotional background. It was like when he had first activated his chip and been overwhelmed by the emotion. But this time he didn't fight it, he let the joy and the sadness and the friendship and the anger and the hope and the despair and the hate and the… love… wash over him and his memory files expanded with all the new information to nearly triple their normal size. But he didn't mind. He wasn't going to be using them again any time soon.
Then his mind fixed on the memories of three people. Three people who had meant everything to him. The three people in the galaxy whose lives he valued above his own.
First was his best friend Geordi. The man who had helped him more on his path to being more human than anyone else. He remembered how Geordi had always encouraged his growth and development as a person and never viewed him as simply a machine, or even a machine with sentience. Instead Geordi had regarded him as a person, one with unique needs and wants and his own story to tell. The one to whom he bequeathed everything he owned (except Spot, he was going to Worf). His best friend in all the many worlds he had visited.
Second was his daughter, Lal. The one who had given him his first taste of emotion, even if it was vicariously through her positronic breakdown. He may not have known it at the time, but he had loved her more than anything else in the universe in those few weeks she was alive. Her face, the face she had chosen, flashed before his optical sensors.
Last, but certainly not least, was Natasha Yar. The woman whom he had loved for long before he knew what love felt like. The woman whose passion and desire to protect others inspired long him before he knew what inspiration felt like. The woman who… had said it never happened. The woman who he could not save. A tear formed in Data's eye but it didn't have time to fall.
"One…"
The beam finally met the glowing column and exploded in a flash of light. And then all Data saw was white light. Strange, usually when I am shut down I see blackness, Data thought. "Dearly beloved," he heard a voice say, "We are gathered here today to pay our last respects to a man whose bravery, whose innocence, whose childlike wonder at the universe and endless quest for humanity has brought out the best in each of us and allowed us to truly know what it is to be human."
That voice sounds familiar. "Q?" He said sitting up as he realized that he had been lying down. He looked around. He was sitting in a padded coffin with the front half opened. He was in a church of some kind with mourners filling the pews, all of which he recognized even though most he had only seen them in passing. In the front row sat Tasha and Lal, smiling sadly at him. Over to the side stood the Enterprise's Senior Staff, holding glasses of champagne.
"Hush, Data, you're supposed to be dead," said Q with a playful smile. "Now where was I? Oh, yes. Note I called him a man, not a machine, for he was indeed a man. A machine cannot be brave for it feels no fear. A machine cannot invoke emotions to the depths that Data has. A machine cannot create art or music or poetry as Data has. For such things are the product of the soul, not the mind. A machine thinks but does not feel. You cannot mourn a machine. But you can mourn a man." He rested his hand on the coffin, his smile turning genuinely sad. "Data, I mourn for you."
"Q, if this is one of your games, I do not find it amusing" Data deadpanned, although he had been touched by Q's speech.
Q sighed, "No, Data, this is no game. You really are dead." Then he composed his face into it's normal, narcissistic look. "And why do you always assume that I am up to something? It just so happens that I always visit my friends on their deathbeds. It's the least I could do. And seeing as you weren't exactly on a bed when you died…" he gestured to the coffin.
"So I'm dead." Did I just use a verbal contraction? But the thought was gone as soon as it appeared. "Then is this the afterlife? I thought…"
"You thought you couldn't get into the afterlife just because your brain is on a hunk of silicon instead of a hunk of grey matter? Were you not just listening to my speech?"
Data sighed, choosing not to argue. He opened the lower half of the coffin and swung his legs out, staring at the crowd for a second. "Are they real?" he asked as he stood up.
"As real as you and me. Every life you've touched and is now deceased. Those two ladies in the front have been waiting for you for a long time. It wouldn't be fair to let them wait any longer," said Q with a gentle shove in the direction of Tasha and Lal. Data slowly strode up to them and they stood up. For a second they just stood there, unsure of what to say.
"I…" Data started, but before he could get any more out, Tasha leaped at him, smothering him in a fierce embrace. "I thought it never happened," said Data, a little more harshly than he intended.
"It did happen, Data. And I never regretted it. I was just so scared. I was falling in love with a man who couldn't feel love or anything back. Please forgive me. I love you, Data, and I'm sorry I never told you. Please, don't ever leave me alone." She squeezed him tighter, burying her head in his chest, tears in her eyes.
After a moment of shock, Data returned the embrace with equal all his strength, somehow knowing that he wouldn't hurt her. "It's okay, Tasha. I forgive you. You never have to be alone again."
Lal stood back, smiling, the sadness fading from her eyes. After what seemed like an eternity, Tasha drew back to allow Data to embrace his daughter.
"Father…" she whispered.
"I'm so sorry, Lal." Data whispered back, tears in his eyes. "I'm so sorry I couldn't save you. No father should outlive their daughter."
"I already owe you so much for the time I had, Father. I am glad we made the most of it." She drew away and looked him in the eyes. "You're crying."
"I just love you so much, Lal. I do, I really do."
"I love you too."
Finally Q couldn't stand to be ignored any longer. "Well, Data, aren't you going to make introductions?"
"Aren't you omniscient?" Another verbal contraction; what is going on?
"Yes but not everyone here is so go on."
"Oh, yes, Tasha, you know Q, he's really not that bad when you get to know him." Tasha glared at Q remembering the time he nearly killed her. Q just looked innocent, or at least tried to. "And this," he said, wrapping his arm around Lal, "is Lal, my daughter. Lal, this is Q, an omnipotent and quite troublesome being who likes to meddle in the affairs of us 'mere mortals.' And this," he cupped Tasha's hand, "Is Tasha Yar. A very intimate friend of mine."
"Daughter?" Tasha exclaimed, shocked. She smiled warmly. "It's a pleasure to meet you."
"A pleasure to meet you too, Tasha. My father has told ms so much about you."
"Really?" Tasha said slyly, eyeing Data mischievously.
Q crossed his arms huffily. He did not like being ignored. "Come on, Data. I have one more thing to show you." He gestured to the Enterprise's senior staff by the side of the church.
"Are they dead, too?" Tasha asked.
"No, they are all alive and well. I just thought that as long as we are having a funeral, we might as well listen to their eulogies too." He put a hand on Data's shoulder and led him to where his friends were standing. "You know, Data, you are taking this death thing a lot better than your Captain did."
"I thought you said that they were still alive."
"They are, but Mon Capitan was dead for nearly an hour a few years back when his artificial heart gave out."
"I remember that incident. Did you do a big production like this for him, too?"
"A little different, but like I said, I always visit my friends on their deathbeds." Data then realized that they were standing in the Captain's quarters. What the…? He looked back to see the sanctuary of the church. But he couldn't tell where one room turned into the other. Before he could ask, Q said, "Omnipotent, remember? Now they can't see us. We are just eavesdropping."
Tasha noticed the rings on Will and Deanna's fingers. "So they finally got married, eh? Took them long enough. What was it, fifteen years?"
"Longer." Data replied, "They were a couple long before they came on board the Enterprise."
"Data, hush," said Q again, "Just listen."
(Scene from end of Nemesis here)
"Q!" said a voice, seemingly from nowhere. The room rippled and suddenly there was one more occupant in the room. Wesley Crusher, looking no older than the last time Data had seen him, was glaring at Q. "I told you to leave them alone! What are you doing here?" He then noticed the room's other occupants. "Commander Yar! Lal! Wait… I thought you were dead."
"We are," replied Lal.
"So is he," said Tasha, jerking her thumb in Data's direction. "And you can call me Tasha now, Wesley."
"Um, alright… Tasha. I think I see what is going on here. This is one of Q's Deathday Parties, right? Has he gotten to the part with the mariachi band yet?" asked Wesley with a knowing smile.
"Wesley, you'll spoil the surprise!" exclaimed Q.
"Does this mean that you are also deceased, Wesley?" inquired Data.
"NO! Well… yes… sort of… it's complicated. I'm a Traveler now so time works a little differently for me. I've grown old, died, and been reborn six times now." said Wesley, trying to explain. "Anyways, Q threw me a party the first time I died. He's really not so bad when you get to know him as an equal."
"Nonsense, Wesley, I have no equal," said Q, crossing his arms
"As a peer then," said Wesley, imitating the gesture.
"Close enough," muttered Q, "So, Data, are you ready?"
"For what?" asked Data with a tilt of his head.
"For Heaven of course!"
"There's a literal Heaven?"
"Of course! And I think you of all people have earned your wings and halo," sang Q as he gestured grandly to the door to the cathedral. Tasha and Lal took Data's hands and led him towards the door, which opened to reveal a broad, grassy plain with flowers blooming on the hills and in the treetops. There were people as far as the eye could see, talking amongst themselves, doing various activities, or just relaxing in the shade of a tree. In the distance, a mountain rose out of the ground, ringed with clouds. Winged humanoids could be seen fluttering busily from place to place.
"Q, if this is a joke, I will never stop hunting you." Data managed to sputter out as he gaped at the paradise before him.
"This is no trick, Data," said Tasha, "This is probably more real than the rest of your life put together."
"Come, Father, lets explore this brave new world together," said Lal, pulling her father's hand. Data allowed himself to be pulled along into the field of flowers.
"Data! Before you go, I have to ask. Is there any message you would like me to pass on to your living heirs?" shouted Q behind them.
Data thought about it for a second before shouting back. "Tell them… tell them that I finally know what it means to be human."
Wesley stood back standing next to Q by the church doors. "Should we tell him?"
"That this is only the beginning?" Q responded haughtily, "No, lets let him figure that out on his own."