hey guys! i know, shouldve update sooner (a LOT sooner), but i just needed to buckle down and write. not much i can think of to say, except read, enjoy, consider, and review!
-"Irene"

p.s. tell me if you get the Hitchhikers reference!

He had traded replicator rations, holodeck reservations, work hours, he had stressed to Captain Janeway how extremely important this was, he had done everything in his power to get that nice, solid, twenty-four hour block of time. Which was all the time he had to beat the Doctor's high score.

His eyes hurt, his feet hurt, he was hungry, and he was exhausted. But none of that compared to the thought of letting that smug hologram win.

As his ship blew up for about the hundredth time, he closed his eyes and asked, "Computer, how long?"

"PLEASE RESTATE QUESTION."

"How long do I have left on timer Paris High Score?"

"THREE HOURS."

65220.

65220.

The only thing that was in he allowed to occupy his thoughts, the only thing he could think of, the high score he HAD to beat. Of course, the look of shock on the Doctor's face would be worth dwelling on too.

He chugged the cup of coffee Neelix had brought in earlier. For once he was grateful for the self-appointed Morale Officer, he wouldn't have been able to play video games for twenty-one straight hours without the caffeine the Talaxian kept bringing in.

He pushed another quarter in, and gripped the controls.

Tom had lost track of the time, he allowed his eyes to flick upwards at his score, and his heart stopped.

65500.

With a lifting feeling of sheer glee, he played on, and didn't even care when his ship got destroyed on the last life.

He got the score!

He carefully entered his initials, making sure they were entered correctly. He didn't believe it. He had done it. He settled his gaze happily on the scoreboard, and then froze in horror at what he saw.

1 7o9 98,430

2 TEP 69,560

3 EMH 65,220

4 TEP 60,920

5 KEJ 59,340

He didn't need to ask the computer where she was, he knew where she would be, but he asked anyway, just to make sure, then ran to the Astrometrics Lab.

Panting as he trotted inside, the automatic doors closed with a whoosh behind him.

He stood, startled for a moment, almost not recognizing the ex-Borg with her new science officer's uniform. He cleared his throat, "Seven?"

She turned, "Lieutenant?"

"Were you in my holoprogram earlier?"

"Specify?"

"The arcade?"

"I was trying to pursue my quest for humanity."

Tom stared for a moment, blinked, then said, "with video games?"

Seven turned her head to the side, inhaled and exhaled a deep breath, "the arcade itself was a social scenario."

"Ah. But, did you play any of the games?"

"Yes. It was an inefficient waste of time."

"A waste of time?" said Tom, close to being offended.

"Correct. Although from what I have heard from the Doctor, you have wasted even more time than I have."

"The Doctor? Does he know you took my score?"

"It was irrelevant data. I did not mention it to him."

"Irrelevant data?" squawked Tom.

"Yes. Do you make it a habit to restate what others have already said?"

That managed to shut him up.

"I understand you have made a bet with the Doctor?" asked Seven.

Tom nodded.

"Was the bet that you would beat the high score, or his score?"

"I- I don't know."

"The exact terms were not made clear?"

"I…" Tom paused, his eyes widening, "no…" he gleefully turned to run out the door, stopped just outside Astrometrics and called out to the cyborg, "thanks, Seven, you're a lifesaver!"

Seven on Nine simply raised an eyebrow, then turned back to her console.

Tom ran into sickbay, but the Doctor was nowhere to be seen. "Computer, activate EMH." He called.

"EMERGENCY MEDICAL HOLOGRAM IS ALREADY ACTIVE." Said the computer in it's usual, cool, official tone.

"Huh?" Tom frowned. "Computer, locate the Doctor."

"THE DOCTOR IS IN THE MESS HALL."

Tom found this to be rather strange, considering that since the Doctor was a hologram, he didn't, no, he COULDN'T eat. But then again, he might just be there for some social reason. Or, more likely, he was there for medical reasons, Neelix had most likely poisoned someone. It was bound to happen sometime.

But as he stepped into the Mess Hall, it seemed there was no medical emergency. Neelix hadn't poisoned anyone. Yet.

And there was no sign of the Doctor.

"Here, why don't you try this?" he heard Neelix's voice from the kitchen.

There was also a disappointed sigh, and then Tom recognized the voice of the Doctor. "Almost, but not quite, entirely unlike tea."

Tom stepped into the kitchen, and gagged at the scent of what was probably the strongest batch of Neelix's Leola Root stew that he had ever encountered.

The Doctor stood near the stove, his mobile emitter pinned to his upper left arm, as usual, and his hands were cupped around a deep bowl of Neelix's vile concoction. The Talaxian stood over his shoulder, leaning forwards anxiously with his hands folded.

"What are you two doing?" asked Tom.

The Doctor looked up at him and replied, "I've been trying to add some new taste subroutines to my program."
Tom eyed the soup as if it might leap out and attack him at any moment, "how's it going?"

The Doctor shrugged, "not bad I suppose, I can taste, if that's what you're asking. But everything ends up tasting exactly the same…" apparently not bothering with spoons, he lifted the bowl to his lips, tipped it upwards and took a very large gulp. "Almost, but not quite, entirely unlike tea." He said with lonely disappointment into the bowl.

He suddenly came to his senses, his head snapped up and his eyes fixed on Tom. "The score?"

"Well, see, that's the thing…" began Tom.

The Doctor smirked, "it isn't your fault, really, as a computer program my hand eye coordination is…"

"Oh I beat YOUR score, alright." Said Tom.

The Doctor faltered, "what? Is this some kind of a trick?"

"No trick. Seven of Nine beat your score as well, and mine."
The Doctor simple stared, frozen with a shocked expression (literally, his movement subroutines seemed to have locked up) he blinked as an idea seemed to come into his eyes. "But you didn't get the High Score, did you?"

Now it was Tom's turn to give an evil grin, "but we never actually AGREED whether it was YOUR score, or the HIGHEST score, did we?"

"Yes, but that's not the point!"

"Oh, I think it is, Doctor, it is very much the point."

The Doctor opened his mouth to retaliate, but then Neelix barged himself in-between the two of them, and into the conversation. "You know, since a do-over seems unavoidable, why don't we make it a competition open to all of the crewmembers?"

Tom began to say something as Captain Janeway walked in. "Neelix, I want REAL coffee this time."

Neelix looked surprised, "but that was coffee!"

"It was your coffee substitute," she raised a hand, "don't say a word, I've drank the stuff long enough to be a connoisseur, and I can tell if it's not coffee."

"But it tastes so much better than coffee."

"No, Neelix. It tastes almost, but not quite, entirely unlike coffee. Please, don't argue with me when I'm short on caffeine." The captain put her head in her hands.

"Yes captain." Neelix scuttled around for a moment, and came back with a steaming mug.

Janeway gave a contented sigh after a long drink, setting the mug down, she turned the trio. "So what's this I hear about a competition?"

Both the Doctor and Tom started to talk at the same time, but were cut off by Neelix. "These two have been duking it out for the high score in Tom's new program, so I was thinking, why not organize a competition to include the rest of the crew?"

Janeway smiled, "that's not such a bad idea, we haven't had much excitement recently, no planets, no attacks. I'll mention it to Chakotay." She took her coffee and left.

The EMH and pilot glared at Neelix, who seemed to take no notice. "I'll start organizing!" he said, clapping his hands and rubbing them together.