A/N: Welcome, welcome, to my Star Trek story! This is an idea I had stuck in my head since I watched the newest movie, and figured I should bring it to life. Extras and one shots can (eventually) be found at a - subpar - star - trek - fanfic - blog dot tumbr dot com just remove the spaces and put in the dots and you should find it, no problem. Without further ado, please enjoy the intro to 'Of Legacies and Logic!'
Cora's first memory was hearing someone tell her she was special. Revolutionary. She carried the capabilities to save a lot of lives. An incident like the Kelvin would never occur again.
Her programming and the development of the Derma-Matter she was made of began shortly after the Kelvin's destruction. The idea was born from a stupid suggestion by an angry Science Officer who had survived the tragedy.
"What is the point of our men and women dying needlessly. We can create a sentient ship, one that can pilot itself, even with autopilot disabled. A ship that can man itself."
The man was nearly laughed out of the council he had summoned. They told him it was foolish, to have a starship that was self-sufficient. It would make Starfleet obsolete, and there was no point in that
.
A childless Officer, who had worked for Starfleet for many years now, devoting his life to his work in the lab, and research at home, stood up for the man.
"A starship is still a machine," he said, "and machines break. Starfleet will never be obsolete. What this man presents is not a finished product, but a rough idea that barely scrapes the surface. However, he may be right in thinking that we need to prevent a tragedy such as this from happening ever again. Would a sentient ship not be determined or feel obligated to save the lives of the crew within her?"
This got the council thinking, and eventually, they came to an agreement. They would attempt to bring this idea to life, secretly, in the basements of the Starfleet academy.
The scientists tasked with bringing this thought of a sentient ship with feelings to life were then faced with a problem. They did not have the capabilities to program any of the active Starships with sentience, and any attempts made to do so led to the ship malfunctioning. With a new problem came a new solution. Program a whole ship with the sentience as it is being built. The scientists ran tests using small shuttles, and were ecstatic to see that the program worked; it effectively desensitized the shuttles to the program.
Another problem, though; the sentient shuttles were smart, but they did not feel. The blatant disregard of human life was apparent when one shuttle, whilst on a test run, unbuckled it's pilot and dumped the man out, several stories to his death. The childless man spent all night thinking, writing a formula, and thinking some more. Finally, he looked to his colleagues and announced his newest idea.
"I've come up with a formula for what I call Derma-Matter. In essence, it is programmable flesh. As I said before we began this adventure, a starship is a machine. It is not capable of human emotions. However, what if we create a vessel, a sort-of avatar, fully capable of every human thought, and emotion, everything a human can do, the vessel will be able to do. If we program the starship and the Derma-Matter at the same time, with the same program, it should work."
"But how," a young scientist questioned, "will we keep them connected? If we go about the Derma-Matter idea, we'll simply have two beings with the same programming."
The man had an answer for the young scientist.
"Dilithium." He said, "Dilithium crystals are what make starships run. If we take a bit of the Dilithium from a ship that's being built, it will serve as a connection between the Derma-Matter and the core of the ship thereby connecting them. We simply need to find a way to keep the Derma-Matter and the ship connected by the Dilithium whilst the programming process is occurring."
Within a year, they had their first successful test. The shuttle they tested, with Derma-Matter vessel resembling an infant, flew like a charm, and even prevented itself from going into an oncoming collision while it's rider was occupied with the infant.
Cora's first memory came in the year 2255. The first thing her eyes noticed was that everything was bright. The second was that there was loud beeping all around her, as well as hurried talking.
"Admiral Dawes, she's finally awake. Derma-Matter heart is stable, all organs appear to be functioning normally, brainwaves reading as they should."
"Good. Dismissed, all of you. I'll take care of the rest myself."
A rather ancient, weathered face appeared above her, blocking out the lights. His expression was thoughtful, but excited. He was mumbling to himself, as his cheerful blue eyes scanned over her face.
"Chocolate brown hair, lovely, dark brown eyes. A pretty, round face. Excellent bone structure-" he cut himself off, and finally addressed her, "My dear, my name is Admiral Archibald Dawes. Can you sit up?"
She tried, but she could not. Admiral Archibald Dawes nodded, helped her sit up on the bed, and jotted something down on the PADD in his hand. "To be expected. Can you speak?"
She tilted her head, blinked, and opened her mouth, "Can you speak?" The voice that flowed past her lips was softly accented, sounding like she came from the streets of London.
"Vocal functions operating properly," he wrote some more. "We thought an English accent would be more soothing. We call you Cora. Do you know why? There's a very special reason."
She, now named, "Cora," tilted her head in the opposite direction. Admiral Archibald Dawes smiled, crossed to a curtain, and pulled it away.
Cora's eyes widened greatly. Outside, a massive structure of steel was being erected. The lights of the work platform shined with an ethereal glow upon the behemoth frame.
"We call you Cora, my dear, because you are, in essence, the core of that starship. If all goes according to plan, as long as the programming is right, you can save a lot of lives." He let the curtain fall shut, and the awe dropped from Cora's face when the ship was gone. He crossed to one of the many beeping machines, reading what it said, and writing it down. He began mumbling again, Cora wasn't exactly sure if she was meant to hear him, "Oh, you're revolutionary, my child. The first ever fully man-made human being, not a speck of machinery in you. The starship won't be completed for years, yet.
"That means I've got years to continue to improve your programming, and the Derma-Matter. We'll have to teach someone from the crew how to create you in the event that you end up destroyed. Perhaps more than one of you? If the ship gets destroyed, if someone gets stranded, perhaps it will be beneficial to them to have you as support. But how to go about that without crippling the ship? Hmm." Admiral Archibald Dawes began scribbling furiously on his PADD. He seemed to notice suddenly that Cora could, in fact, hear him, and he gave he a kind smile. "Tomorrow you will start speaking lessons, with Captain Christopher Pike. If all goes according to plan, that man will be the Captain of your starship. It would be smart to get close to him. For now, you should rest."
He left the room after a few more moments of talking to her gently, shutting the lights off when he exited. As he left he was muttering to himself again, "And- Oh! What if I could find a way to program a takeover into your bit of Dilithium? If you can take over enemy ships it would certainly be ideal." The room was plunged into darkness when the door shut, but the beeping continued around Cora. She lay there, on the medical bed, and stared at the ceiling for a long time. Then, slowly, she sat up, placed her feet on the cold stone floor, and crossed to the curtained window. With a sharp tug, the curtain was ripped cleanly from its rod, revealing the beautiful ship once more. Cora dragged a stool over to the window, sat, and stared. In the morning, this is where Admiral Archibald Dawes found her, sleeping, with her arms crossed on the window sill to pillow her head.