When Data made it to his quarters finally, he found Worf standing outside the door. There were several red lines down his face. He looked like he very much wanted to go in and destroy whatever was inside.
"Worf, what happened?"
"I followed the girl inside, and found her looking like she was talking to your cat. I went to detain her, and your cat leaped at my face using its claws. I left the room to make sure I did not do something that would later be regretted."
"I see. Thank you.
Data proceeded into his room, finding the girl huddled into a corner, with Spot in a defensive position in front of her.
The girl's eyes widened, and she stood.
"Machine-human-male," she began, "Orange-feline-female-Spot believes that you are a good keeper. She confirmed that you are not the Scary-human-machine-male-Lore, and are a Calm-not-sincere Machine-human-male. Though this one does not know how to how to translate the name that Orange-feline-female-Spot gives, other than as bits of information…" She gave him a look, as if asking him to elaborate."
"My name is Data. How do you know Lore?"
"Scary-machine-human-male-Lore was part of this one's past. This one does not know how, this one only remembers the name, and an image. You remind this one of that image, but not completely."
"Do you believe that you are some sort of android?"
"That would be illogical. This one is organic, and has experienced organic growth, since this one's birth-egg hatched. At least, this one believes so…" She gained a puzzled look. "This one's birth-egg-carriers and birth-egg-conceivers believed this one to be organic… This one's Serious-birth-egg-carrier-male-Spock was very thorough in making this one intelligent and logical. Though, those could be traits of in-organicness…" her face was now thoughtful as she thought about it deeply.
"Why do you refer to yourself as 'this one'?"
"This one does not remember how not to. This one… feels innate… fear… when this one tries to speak of oneself in any other way. This one does not know why." She was downcast, and looking quite unsure of herself.
"What is your name, do you know?"
"This one's name… This one's name is… is… um…" Her face became one of someone trying to remember something. "Bree! Yes, this one's name is Bree. Formally, this one is Young-part Vulcan-part human-most Heinin-feline-female-Bree." She looked quite proud of herself, and then frowned. "But formalities will end up making tongues bleed. You released this one from a 'death-sleep.' Therefore, this one owes you this one's life. That means you are now this one's keeper."
"What does that mean, that I am your keeper?"
"A keeper is someone who guides the growth of one who is 'young.' Typically, a keeper is not related to the young. This one is past the earth age that humans consider 'adulthood.' But, this one's people see adulthood as when you are able to show maturity through your actions, not through your appearance. After the earth age appearance of twelve, we do no not age until we perform a feat of maturity."
"What would that feat be?"
"This one does not know. This one had a birth-egg birth. When this one was in the egg, this one did not pass through infancy, and those who touched the egg gave this one everything they knew. This one's birth-egg-conceivers had normal births, and passed through the chronological phases of life. This one only knows that this one must still depend on others to help this one live. This one could function individually, but this one still is quite… childish and illogical at times."
"I see. Why did you choose me as your 'keeper'?"
"You…" she stopped, pondering the question. "This one is unsure. This one has been pondering that, too. This one… is having difficulty remembering this one's own life. This one is not sure why. May this one stay here? The place this one was assigned to stay in was frightening, and was not close enough to here."
Data considered her request, for a moment. After thinking for a bit, he contacted the captain. He did not answer Bree's question, so she just assumed that he had not made a decision. So she stayed. For a while, at least.
