Stardate 36652.3

8:52 PM (20 hours and 52 minutes)

Soong Residence

"Alena was asking for you again today," Mrs. Touras stated, thankfully accepting a cup of tea offered by Noonien.

"Oh? What did you tell her?" He asked, smiling.

"She told her what she always tells her," Mr. Touras interjected, suppressing laughter. "Alena came in asking to see the crazy doctor. 'The crazy doctor will see you later, dear,' Annabeth told her, 'He's busy at the moment working on some other crazy newfangled thing.' Then she sent her off to bed!"

Mrs. Touras laughed and gave her husband a soft punch in the shoulder. "Daniel, you!"

Noonien shook his head and sighed. True, it had been a long day, but it was always worth it to wind down with the Touras family. If only he was done with his work earlier in the day, he could visit with their eight-year-old daughter, Alena! They'd grown rather fond of each other, Alena and him, and he did so miss her company.

"Perhaps one day she will let me hire her!" Noonien jested, smiling. "Of course by then I'll be old and withered...but every 'old and withered' mad scientist must have a beautiful young assistant, right?"

The young couple laughed, and the evening proceeded in such joking and chatting, friendly conversation passed over several cups of tea and coffee.

Dr. Noonien Soong, cyberneticist. He never found time for anyone, as his work seemed to eat away at every waking moment of his. Anyone, that was, except of course for Mr. and Mrs. Touras (and Alena, when she was awake). He hardly even remembered meals...if it weren't for the young couple stopping in every evening, he might fall to bed without an ounce of nutrition. But they reminded him that he was only human, and needed sustenance to survive, and therefore to continue his work.

His life had always been such...work, eat, sleep, work, skip sleep, eat if he remembered...even when he was working at the university, following Professor Isaac Asimov's (named almost cruelly by his mother after the infamous science-fiction writer from Earth, circa mid 1900's) work in the field of robotic science. Noonien eventually tired of the rude and snide remarks from fellow professors, and decided to make himself disappear. A small Earth-founded colony on Omicron Theta seemed the perfect place, and for several years it was. The most peaceful little town was like something from an old motion picture or novel. Sure, the residents all thought he was a bit mad, but Noonien was smart enough to know that the same conclusion would be drawn regardless of where he set roots, and Omicron Theta seemed the best group of people to have that opinion of him.

Mostly, Dr. Soong remained confined to his basement, researching as much as he could and doing experiments with what few supplies were made available to him. It was a quaint existence, but it was a happy one. His greatest flaw, however, seemed to be also his greatest success; his ability to remain in silence, alone, for days at a time, sometimes weeks, not seeing or hearing from another soul. At first it troubled the colonists, and they feared he might be dying, or attempting to conceal a terminal disease that would deprive them of the young scientist at any moment. After a few months however, they came to terms with the fact that he was simply a withdrawn man.

While Noonien was lonely, he would never admit it. Not even to himself.

There was one rare occasion, where he decided to go out to enjoy a meal among the other citizens of the town. That was where he bumped in to Daniel Touras. Their friendship was almost instant; Daniel completely understood the scientist's need to be alone for undetermined amounts of time, and would sometimes sit in that very basement of a lab and watch him in silence for hours. He never asked ridiculous questions—in fact, he never asked questions at all. He just observed and listened to Noonien talking to himself and figure formulas aloud. Noon would roll around, and Daniel would go upstairs and fix lunch for two, and bring the second portion down. He'd leave Noonien in peace for a few hours, and then return.

Eventually Noonien made the time to meet Daniel's wife and daughter, Annabeth and Alena. They were some of the most wonderful people that he'd ever met, and Alena instantly fell in love with Noonien. Though only seven years old at the time, she seemed perfectly lucid and smarter than a lot of adults that Noonien was acquainted with. She offered small services in the laboratory. "Alena, would you fetch me that tool?" "Yes, Dr. Soong!" "Alena, could you give me that notebook please?" "Yes Dr. Soong!" Her enthusiasm impressed even Noonien, and more than that, her intellect. She seemed to have a special understanding of how everything worked, and was constantly providing him with new ideas for little gadgets and trinkets that could be constructed from the simplest materials...and sometimes the most difficult roadblock could be easily solved with a solution so lacking in complication that Noonien would never have thought of it himself.

Alena was eight now, and Noonien did dearly love her like his own daughter. He only wished he wasn't so preoccupied as of late. At the same time, he did feel he was about to make an accomplishment. "I'm so close to a breakthrough, I can just smell it!" He often told Daniel, as his companion observed his work in silence.

These evening get-togethers had been Annabeth's idea. "It's a good way for Noonien to get his mind off work once a day!" She explained when her husband inquired about it. These events were often late at night, whenever Dr. Soong could make a few minutes for them, but he was ever so grateful.

"Oh, dear!" Annabeth exclaimed. She seemed to have caught sight of the clock on the wall in the study, and it read late; 12:52 AM. "I have to head back home, dear." She said to Daniel. "If Alena wakes up and she's alone, she'll be mortified!" She stood up and began gathering her things. "Dinner was lovely, Noonien, thank you."

"My pleasure Mrs. Touras." Soong replied, still wearing that smile so wonderfully accented by glowing brown eyes.

She shook her head. Ever since they'd known each other, she had been attempting to convince him to use her first name; Noonien wouldn't hear of it. He insisted that it was "inappropriate to address my best friend's wife by her first name rather than her married name". Of course, that conversation always ended in some note of Daniel and Annabeth really being his only friends, and he'd better start calling them properly! But no, he still called her Mrs. Touras, and probably always would. Perhaps it was part of the charm that so drew the Touras family to him.

Once Annabeth had gone, Daniel heaved a great sigh. "I should probably be checking out too, or neither of us will ever get any sleep!"

"I won't keep you," Noonien said, as he began to clear the table. "Tell Alena I said hello, and I will try to visit as soon as possible."

"Of course! Goodnight Noonien!"

"Sleep well Daniel."

The friends exchanged their goodbyes, and soon Noonien Soong was left alone in quiet and darkness. The silence was a familiar feeling, but that never made it any less cold.

He stood up and made his way to the kitchen, tossing the dishes into the processor as he passed. He glanced out a small open window up at the stars. They were so peculiar here...nothing like Earth. The constellations were different, almost to the point of being confusing. But they were still beautiful. Brilliant white lights shimmering against a black velvet blanket, looking somewhat like a yin-yang, definitely appearing to represent the same thing. White and black, dark and light, good and evil. Each needed it's counterpart to exist. Granted, the night sky really was blue somewhere up there, but from Noonien's vantage point in the kitchen, tired and thoughtful, it looked like a deep black.

Sighing, Noonien leaned out through the open window to pull it closed, but paused as his fingers on the sill brushed against something that was not there that morning. He glanced down; a small, white envelope. Scrawled across it in simple but elegant script, it read, Oftenwrong.

Often wrong Soong. That was the charming nickname the colonists of Omicron Theta had endowed him with. It seemed accurate enough to some, but the good professor himself preferred Noonien. Just...Noonien. It was the name his mother had given him, and it was, in essence, his identity. Few of the colonists actually called him Oftenwrong to his face, but every now and again he would receive a passing, "Hey Oftenwrong, how's research on that little man going?" And then they'd snicker and meander off to whatever business they had that was so much more important than treating their fellow citizens kindly.

Gingerly, Noonien picked up the note and examined it. He pulled the window in and engaged the lock, then used the kitchen counter behind him as a seat. Who would leave him a letter? Anyone of the Tourases would simply approach him with anything they had to say, and everyone else avoided him as well as they could. Oftenwrong. It looked like a woman's writing, and the thought almost made him laugh. Perhaps he was more exhausted than he thought.

Noonien finally decided to examine the contents of the envelope, and slid his finger underneath one corner of the flap. He tore it open, careful not to rip the entire package to shreds, and removed one neatly folded sheet of paper. It read:

Dr. Soong,

We don't all think you're crazy. Would write more, but don't want to get caught.

Mother and father don't appreciate you. But I do. I know what you can do for this

colony, and I respect that you don't let others put you down. You just might

save us all one day, Oftenwrong. I believe in you!

Yours Truly,

J.O.

That was it. No name, no hint as to who this mystery person might be. J.O.? Who did he know in the colony with those initials? No doubt there were plenty of people.

Noonien sighed and put the letter in a kitchen drawer, then jumped down from the counter and headed toward his bedroom for some clothes to sleep in. Tomorrow, perhaps, he would investigate. But for now it was time to sleep, and perhaps once some of his vigor was revitalized he would be prepared for a challenge.