DISCLAIMER: I don't own the characters or basic ideas from Star Trek. No profit is earned in writing this.
AUTHOR'S NOTE: I got this idea for a series of stories based around original characters based in the Star Trek TNG universe. A series of original characters will be the center of the story with canon characters only showing up briefly. I will work on this as I can. Each chapter will be a self-contained story, but building on the one before. I don't really have an 'end' in sight. I'm just enjoying the exercise and I hope you will as well.
LOWER DECKS
CH. 10 Slice of Artificial Life
Kevin Davies opened the door to his quarters to the sound of giggling. He entered without any apparent concern, but Deanna hesitated at the door. "You know," Kevin said to the room in general, noting her hesitation, "there was a time when I would have found disembodied giggling really creepy. Now it's just part of home."
"Hi daddy!" Rose called through the comm system, breaking away from whatever she was doing that had her giggling, as Deanna entered the room, her best professional smile making way for one of genuine amusement. "Hi, Counselor Troi. What brings you here?"
"I wanted to check in on you and your father. You've both been through a lot recently." She knew from experience that both Davies and his daughter preferred directness. In Rose' case, although she observed the social niceties, she really didn't understand the need for them and the concept of small talk baffled her.
"True," Rose allowed. "He's been hurt twice now since I came to live on Enterprise. This is statistically unusual based on my research."
"Job can be dangerous," Kevin agreed, "but it's necessary, and I think I'm pretty good at it."
"You are efficient," Rose acknowledged, "despite the amount of trouble you get into. Still don't like you getting hurt."
"Me neither," Kevin said, heading for the replicator. "Can I get something for you, Counselor?" He gestured for her to take a seat at the table and ordered a cup of barley tea for himself.
"No thank you," Deanna said, taking the offered seat. "I am curious, Rose. What had you giggling when we came in?"
"Oh. I read an engineering textbook written on Earth in 1996, old calendar. They sure had some funny ideas."
"They did what they could with what they had," Davies said, taking a seat. "If you want some perspective, I'd suggest reading a text on medieval science as well as books on the achievements of the ancient Mayans, Greeks, and Chinese." He took a sip of his tea. "It's a process, just like in any sentient species. I'm sure there was a time when the Alasi'ar were oohing and ahhing over fire, just like everyone else. And now, here you are."
"Very true," Rose admitted. "It's still funny, though."
Davies chuckled. "No argument there."
Troi decided to get on with the business at hand. "Have you been able to learn much about the Alasi'ar, Rose?"
"Not much," Rose made a sound like a sigh, making Troi wonder. Clearly, Rose didn't need to breathe. She recalled that Data occasionally mimicked certain Human behaviors as a way of fitting in. It seemed likely Rose was doing the same, just as she mimicked human speech patterns. "I've been over the data the Vatai provided many times, but found nothing beyond what I initially learned. They have a colony or base of some sort in that system, but the Vatai have had very few dealings with them."
"So you'll have to visit them if you want to know more," Davies concluded. "I'll try to arrange it, although I can't make any promises."
"I know, daddy," Rose answered. "Thank you."
"The Federation will most likely try to make contact with the Alasi'ar at some point," Troi reasoned. "I think you two would be an excellent choice to be a part of that mission."
"That's a ways down the road," Kevin sighed. "We have a lot to do before we can think about that."
"There are the Skreelii to worry about, and finding Hessa's home," Rose confirmed. "I am monitoring the progress on both fronts as best I can. All of the preparations are going well."
Davies frowned thoughtfully, recalling her comment from earlier. "Rose? What did you mean about the amount of trouble I get into?"
"Based on your service and personnel records," Rose answered simply. "You've received 14 commendations and nine reprimands."
"You accessed my records?" Davies asked, setting down his tea. He was a little surprised, though not overly upset.
"Yes. Was I not supposed to? Those records aren't classified. I checked."
"Perhaps not, Rose," Troi interjected, "but they are private. You need authorization to access them. Did you access anyone else's?"
"Three," she admitted. "I wanted to get the whole story behind a couple of those incidents."
"And you didn't have any trouble getting at them?" her father asked.
"No," Rose answered.
"Am I going to be hearing from Lieutenant Worf about security breaches?" he asked.
"Of course not," Rose sounded a bit indignant. "I was careful."
Davies frowned slightly but decided to let that statement pass without comment. "Then I suppose I'll have to call him myself, won't I?" Davies said taking up his cup of tea to resume drinking it.
There was a slight hesitation and Rose sighed. "Yes, daddy. Sorry. I won't do it again."
"I'll hold you to that," he promised. "We'll go over in more detail what you are and are not allowed to access without permission, as I know you haven't forgotten the rules already laid out."
"I haven't," she confirmed. "The accidental deletion of data due to time and lack of access is a strictly organic failing."
"Uh-huh." He glanced at Troi. "Not what you were expecting?" he asked, leaving the question open ended.
Not sure what was meant by the question she gave a diplomatic answer. "I had no expectations," she said, shaking her head.
"Is it difficult for you to perform an assessment of me when you can't detect my thoughts or emotions?" Rose asked curiously.
Troi was surprised by the sudden question, but she didn't think, on reflection, that Rose was trying to change the subject, so she decided to just see where the conversation took them. The security breach was a matter for Lt. Davies anyway. "It is a change," she admitted, "but I'm trained for just such work."
"You want to know how I'm fitting in, correct? I know I make mistakes, but I think I'm doing alright over all. The command structure is simple enough but the social dynamic is fairly complex, especially when a dozen different cultures interact. It's the unwritten rules of social behavior that confuse me the most."
"We all have trouble with those, occasionally," her father allowed. "Live and learn."
"Yes, daddy." Her attention switched back to Troi. "Does telepathy really make a psychologist's job easier? Research suggests many would see it as an invasion."
"Some do," she allowed, "which is why telepaths and empaths follow a strict code of ethics. I'm only half Betazoid," Troi replied. "My father was human, so I can only sense strong emotions."
"That might actually be for the best," Rose observed, causing her father to wince.
"So, you read that report too, huh?"
Troi looked at him curiously. "Report?"
"It's not important," Davies shook his head. "Just an embarrassing incident a few years ago." Rose began giggling again and Davies sighed. "Want to hear it?"
"I'd love to," Rose said. "I love your stories, and the reports are so dry."
"I'll admit I'm curious," Troi added, "but-."
"Its fine," he assured her. "You might get a laugh out of it. I was assigned as a guard at a scientific conference. I'm not sure why." He settled back in his chair and Troi did the same. "The conference was a snore for those assigned to security. There were no problems and the topics were way over my head."
"Sounds dull," Troi agreed.
"At one point, I found myself standing at the door of conference room where they were talking in five and six syllable words."
OOOOOOOOOO
Davies tuned it out for the most part, the content of the presentation wasn't really his concern. He was there to… Why am I here? It seemed unlikely that there was a potential threat to any of the attendees, and none of them seemed to be any kind of threat personally. No one who didn't belong there had tried to get in and he couldn't imagine anyone wanting to do so. So why am I here?
The assignment was so dull, his mind started to wander and he found himself listening in for lack of anything better to do. Blah, blah, big word, blah, blah really big word… But he paused upon hearing the words 'molecular reduction.' Huh?
Paying slightly more attention to the lecture gave the dangerously bored ensign a notion of what the scientists were talking about. It seems the jman in charge was planning on shrinking a test vehicle and crew to the size of a pea. Davies blinked at this, slowly, then blinked again. Okay. That's the 'what' but the 'why' eludes me.
He thought about it for a time then gave it up in favor of thinking about how bored he was. Several people had passed the door to the conference room but seemed to have less interest in the topic than he did, which was a wonder to him. Eventually, he drifted back to the discussion. So what can you do with a shrunken ship? Espionage? No. A tiny ship would still show up on sensors and getting taken out by a fly swatter would just be embarrassing. Medical applications? Wasn't there an old entertainment about a group of doctors being shrunk so they could go inside a patient to operate? After a moment's thought he discarded the idea as impractical. Too many easier ways with nanotechnology. Good idea for a drama, he allowed, lousy idea for a proctologist. He listened attentively for a while, but heard no hint of potential applications. Still wondering about the why here, folks. It was all theory about how it would be done, none of which he understood. Hot water? Maybe he's going to wash it in hot water. The scientists didn't seem to sure themselves, as they kept debating about exotic particles and radiation levels. Radiation at the levels mentioned, he knew were usually a bad thing. Tellin' you guys, he glanced at them. Hot water doesn't pose any of those problems.
There was a brief pause in the discussion and Davies turned his attention toward the room. Not seeing any problems after a quick examination, he looked back to the corridor. The discussion resumed and he soon grew bored again. Blah, blah, big word, blah, blah really big word. He spotted a Klingon approaching the room, but after consulting the placard next to the door, he moved on.
More fun than the law allows, Davies reflected, glancing up and down the corridor before turning his attention back to the discussion. They were talking about exotic particles found in a certain nebula, and seemed stuck on scheduling around certain stellar events.
Don't have to schedule a hot bath, he reflected. Of course, you'd have to be careful not to boil the crew; that would be embarrassing.
"We are not going to wash it in hot water!"
Davies' head snapped around to scan the room. The head researcher was looking extremely aggravated about something, but there didn't seem to be any reason and no immediate threat to the group in the room. How about putting the ship and crew on an extreme diet, then? Davies wondered absently as he scanned the room and took in the surprised and confused expressions of the other researchers. Then it clicked. Hot water? He took a closer look at the extremely annoyed scientist who was now glaring at him. Oh Betazoid.
OOOOOOOOOO
"When I realized he was responding to things I was thinking…I thought something I probably shouldn't have. He jumps to his feet, glaring at me and says; 'that was just rude.' Which, to be fair, it had been."
"You must have been very annoying to get a reaction like that," Deanna chuckled.
"Guess so," he agreed. "I'm probably the only security officer in Starfleet with a reprimand for not controlling my thoughts."
"They went that far?" she asked, genuinely surprised.
"I don't let it bother me," he shrugged. "I usually get a laugh when I tell the story, and I don't think anyone really holds it against me, not even that scientist after he calmed down."
OOOOOOOOOO
Deana Troi left Davies' quarters with a sense of relief. Evaluating a person whose emotions she couldn't sense was more difficult than she liked to admit. Her training and experience made it possible of course, but the endeavor made her realize that, perhaps, she relied a bit too much on her empathy. Rose was a strange case. It never occurred to her to think of the AI as anything but a person, but that didn't mean she overlooked that person's nature.
There were two distinct sides to Rose, Deana reflected. She acted very much like a little girl, saying things the way that a child would and being, well…childish. Rose had laughed at her father's story at the appropriate points and had reacted in much the way an organic child would. After watching Davies praise her and joke with her or gently admonish her when necessary, it seemed a healthy family relationship to her, if a very odd one.
Then, there was what the girl said. Rose understood many things and learned with the speed one would expect of an AI. Deana wondered briefly how much of the 'little girl' persona was an act. She knew some of it was, but in many ways, she was still just a child. There was so much about Federation culture that she simply didn't understand and she was learning just as a child would.
While Rose occasionally watched the classes that Hessa and Aela attended she did not do so regularly and preferred independent study. That independent study included watching people in Ten-Forward, playing logic games with the two Vulcan children on the ship and their parents, and apparently, reviewing files she shouldn't be accessing.
She bore further watching, but the counselor didn't believe Rose was any sort of intentional threat. Turning toward her office, she began to formulate her report and recommendations. Thinking about all she'd learned during that visit, she couldn't help smiling over Davies' story. The scientist must have been very high-strung to react that way to random thoughts. Pushing that aside, she wondered when Davies would report to Worf.
That question was answered when the turbolift doors opened on her deck and Worf was standing there waiting, looking rather unhappy. "Worf," she greeted him.
"Counselor," he nodded. "Have you just come from Lt. Davies' quarters?"
She nodded. "He called you then, about Rose?"
"He did," the security chief confirmed as they swapped places in the turbolift. "Perhaps Miss Davies has been granted a bit too much freedom."
Troi decided not to comment. It wasn't her area. The doors closed and she continued toward her office while wondering about Rose' comments about the amount of trouble Davies got into. There were probably some more interesting stories to be told.