A/N : I thought Lore deserved a story of his own, as I'd always liked him a bit more than Data. So, here's one of his misadventures.

disclaimer : i own nothing.

The Devil's In Your Eyes

Lore was on his knees, naked and shaking. He would've wept had he not known better. Next to him was one of his companions, a large Klingon man, in the same position, his head cast down. He didn't say a word.

There was an officer in front of them, no, not just any officer, this was the Commander of the Forces on this planet. He sneered at them, his rotting teeth so grotesque even a hardened being like Lore was shocked. This man was bigger than the Klingon next to him, and his dark blue skin made him nearly invisible in the dark, were it not for the light reflecting off his eyes and yellow teeth.

"Foolish," he said, "Foolish that a Klingon and a," he paused and shook his head, "And a mere android thinking they could fool me." he smirked, "Very foolish."

Lore said nothing and stared at the ground. He heard a snap and almost flinched, looking up to see the commander had slapped a whip against a nearby desk.

"You," he said, pointing to the Klingon, "Your father has already bailed you. I have to let you go." he then turned back to Lore, "But you're still here."

"How much is bail?" Lore asked.

"25,000 credits."

Shit, he said inwardly. He had all of 75 to his name.

"But I suppose an android wouldn't have that much on them, would they? Would you?"

Lore gritted his teeth, "No."

The guards in the room rustled about, getting the Klingon his clothes and possesions, leading him out to whomever was waiting for him.

Lore was alone, utterly alone, in this dark dreary cell with this disgusting creature.

"I've got something better for you though, better than jail time. Something that will make you wish you'd never been created."

Lore almost laughed, "You think you can scare me?"

"Scare you? No. That won't happen until it's all said and done."

The Commander snapped the lights on, "Come with me."

XXX

There were two men forcibly holding his mouth open, looking at his porcelain plated teeth.

"This one doesn't look too bad." the younger one said.

"Eh, see that - " the older one stuck his finger right inside of Lore's mouth, "Back molar, it's chipped. That could be a circuit problem in the future if the connection in the jaw gets severed."

As the man was retracting his finger Lore bit down hard. The man yelped and smacked him on the side of the head, hitting him square in the temple and interfering with the circuits in his jaw. He had no choice but to let go, it was only reflex.

"Damn thing!" the man screamed, "I oughta get you deserviced for that!"

Lore grinned but said nothing.

"Oh well, c'mon there's others," the young one said, and the two walked off.

There was a jab in his side as a guard's gun collided with his ribs.

He feigned hurt but then straightened up. Currently he was attached to a chain gang of other poor souls up for sale at today's market, most of whom were organic beings. Since the guards could not tell from their position he was not mortal, they gave him the same punishment as everyone else. The jabbing didn't hurt him though, didn't even rattle his inner core. But it was best they didn't know this.

Lore was trying to get a feel for the planet, especially now, out in the hot midday. He was told in his earlier mission they were going to a planet called Kelopsia, rarely visited and inhabited by humanoids, however they had large deposits of Manganese. This was his original quest, to overtake a merchant vessel and steal their goods. That's when they'd been caught and when he'd been taken into custody.

He looked around at the Kelopsians, all in swaying white robes of silk. These people were long and willowly, completely hairless, and skin ranging in blue hues from nearly translucent white to deep indigo. In general, they were a beautiful race.

And here he was with all the other ugly beings, so foreign from this planet. Especially him. His pasty white skin and yellow eyes made him stick out like a sore thumb.

Buyers came, most overlooking him. Lore was not a burly man, and most at the market were looking for men to do physical labor. The Kelopsians were either unable or unwilling to do hard work, and had for their entire existence depended on help from outsiders. Once they became powerful and the help ended, they needed slaves.

Lore was staring at the ground, boggled by the immense boredom of the situation, when a pair of two lovely cobalt feet were in front of him. He looked up, and saw a very small, fine featured woman above him.

"And what is your name?" she asked in a quiet voice.

"Lore."

"Lore? That's an odd name. Then again, you are a foreigner so I'm not surprised."

She looked down the line of slaves, then looked back at him.

"Tell me, in what areas are you trained?"

He scoffed, "A better question is what areas am I not trained in. See those are quite few. I'm a very well educated being. A jack of all trades, really."

She nodded, "I am assuming you are trained in mechanical crafts?"

"Of course."

"And electronic repair?"

"Correct."

"My husband seeks a new worker that can service his fleet. Am I correct in guessing you are a good candidate for this?"

"My lady, I do all my own repairs!" he said, flipping open the panel on his forearm.

She looked at it in amazement. "An android? You look so life like."

"My creator was a very skilled man." Lore said proudly, "I'd love him if I didn't hate him."

The woman smiled, "You'll be accompanying me if the price is right." she said, then motioned to the guard, "How much for this one?"

"This one?" he said, kicking Lore back to see his face, "Eh, 400 credits."

"Not bad, not bad at all." the woman said, and paid for Lore. They released him from his bondage and had a guard escort him to the woman's transport shuttle.

"I am going to continue shopping. You will be brought to my estate in the meantime. My name is Lady Kina, and I am happy to add you to my staff."

"Your welcome, my Lady." he said, winking at her. Kina's face was blank, and he realized she probably did not know what a wink meant.

This is easy as pie, he thought, that spoiled bitch doesn't know up from down. I'll be out of here in no time!

To be continued