Year: 2381

Stardate: 58054.4

"How do I look?" T'Mera fussed with the indigo halter top, which consisted of a seven centimeter band around her neck and material that draped over the front of her body and covered part of the black skirt, but left her arms and back uncovered. She smoothed the skirt down over the front edge of her chair. "Maybe I should have put my legs on."

Data made an attempt to be reassuring, "You remain aesthetically pleasing to me. I thought you found the prosthetics inconvenient while you are using the chair?"

"I do." T'Mera grumbled, "But I don't want to scare your friend. It's bad enough I have tubes in my neck and Borg implants on my face and arm."

"Geordi is my best friend, and he will like you, I am certain." Data stepped over to the side of her chair and reached out to lightly stroke her dark hair. "He also understands when there are physical limitations or disabilities."

"I don't think I can get the middle fastener closed on this halter." T'Mera leaned forward in the chair, "If I move like this, am I covered?"

Data tilted his head to check the large gap created between her body and the garment, "In human terms, I am getting an eyeful."

T'Mera stuck her tongue out at him, "What about in android terms?"

Data bent slightly to study the side view of her body, "In android terms, the draping of the fabric exposes everything along your pectoralis major region, near the sternum, including the mammary gland and nipple-areola complex, which show signs of ptosis due to the extreme weight loss you have been subject to." He reached over with his hands for the mid-back fasteners in the rear of the shirt, pressing them together. "However, I can easily remedy the situation for you. Now you have full modesty."

T'Mera sat up straight in the chair, "Thank you, Bright Eyes."

Data's eyebrows lowered and his yellow eyes glanced down and to the right, "I will still need to figure out a solution for creating the physical parameters and specifications for your android body. Using your body in its current state might be considered less than ideal."

"Access my holographic form in Daystrom Institute remote educational program number ITH101." T'Mera answered, smoothing out her skirt hem again, "It's me from ten years ago, but should still be fine, assuming you can translate the dimensions."

"That is an excellent idea." Data smiled down at the holographer, "I will be able to easily translate them, create your specifications, and then send the information to Utopia Planitia. You do not need to keep fiddling with your attire. You look presentable. I admit a preference for you to not look overly appealing."

T'Mera raised a slanted eyebrow, "Why not?"

"I do not wish to have Geordi accidentally become attracted to you." Data replied quietly. "Geordi was enamored of Lieutenant Yar, at the same time that I was. While this phenomenon has not repeated itself in the subsequent years we spent as friends, I would still like to take steps to avoid any such problems from occurring."

T'Mera smirked up at Data, "I'm fairly certain I look terrible, so you don't have to worry. If you're very concerned, you could always tell him right away about us."

Data nodded in agreement, "That would be the most prudent course of action."

The holostation doors whooshed open, and a short, stocky man with brown skin, close-cut black hair, van dyke beard and electric blue eyes walked into the holographic lab. Instead of a uniform, he wore a muted teal long-sleeved shirt with a rounded collar, a navy blue vest over the shirt, and black pants over black ankle boots. A small bag was slung over his left shoulder. He looked around the lab with confusion, then headed towards T'Mera, "Hi! I'm Geordi LaForge. You must be Doctor Chipman. I'm a little confused. I thought Data would be here."

"Hello, Geordi." Data spoke up and started to walk towards his friend, "It is good to see you."

T'Mera held up her right hand in the Vulcan salute, "Live long and prosper, Commander LaForge. Data is here and is moving to meet you."

Geordi stopped in mid-stride, "This is a hologram of Data?"

T'Mera shook her head, "No. Data is currently in a holographic form."

"Isn't that the same thing?" Geordi frowned, looking from Data to T'Mera.

"Not at all." T'Mera replied, smiling softly, "If I were to make an historical or educational hologram of Commander Data, I would have started with the basic AI program, which has the standard algorithms and parameters for all non-sentient holograms. From there, I would have overlaid the scripts for Data's knowledge, skills and personality, which would create the behavior patterns he's known for. That's not what I did here." She paused, then elaborated, "For this, I wrote a full transfer protocol that made it possible to have every single line of Data's positronic matrix change to a holomatrix form. Think of it as the difference between an actor performing as Data and Data himself."

Geordi resumed walking over to Data, then hesitantly placed his right hand on Data's left shoulder. "It's so hard to believe it's really you."

Data cocked his head to the right with a nod, "It has not been an easy time for me, as well, but I can assure you that I am Data. Or more accurately, I am a working copy of Data."

Geordi furrowed his brow, then shook his head, "This might take some getting used to. I saw the Scimitar explode. The Data that I knew was destroyed. Is a copy of you the same as you?"

T'Mera frowned deeply, raising her voice in annoyance, "They better well legally declare him to be Data, after all I've gone through to get him back for Starfleet! If I have to, I'll call in some favors, and have this declared the android version of fal-tor-pan, since there's precedent for that, at least. Or how many people have been declared lost or dead, only to turn out to be in some sort of temporal wedgie and return centuries later?" She let out a sigh, "Sorry to snap at you, Commander. The truth is, I didn't get to speak to Data before he was destroyed, so I have no way to know if this is anything like him."

Data quietly spoke to Geordi, "She can become quite impassioned -"

"I canhear you, Bright Eyes." T'Mera stuck her tongue out at Data.

Geordi held up his hands, "Whoa, whoa, both of you, it's okay! I didn't mean to say Data's not himself or that he'll have legal troubles. I'm just used to him having an aura, and all I can see is a hologram."

"Maybe you two should sit down and catch up with each other?" T'Mera offered, "After all, his skeleton and skull won't be here for a while."

Data pressed his lips together tightly in a slight smile, "That is a very good idea, t'hy'la. Geordi, would you care for a beverage or other sustenance?" He turned his head to the right, creating a table and two chairs to appear directly in the center of the available space.

Geordi sat down at one of the chairs, "Nah, Data. I'm fine for now." He removed the bag from his left shoulder and set it on the table surface.

T'Mera pushed the buttons on her chair to move herself to her workstation, "Oh, Commander LaForge, I meant to tell you I admire your clear documentation. You made some of my work easier."

Geordi smiled back at T'Mera, "Glad I could help." He turned to face Data, "I'm not even sure where to start."

Data sat down on one of the chairs, "I suppose I should ask what I have missed while I have been indisposed. My memory record diverges from that of the original Data, since I was imprisoned in B-4 right after the transfer we did in engineering. I should also inform you that you were correct. B-4 will most likely not be able to achieve my level of complexity."

Geordi nodded in agreement, "Yeah, I know how much you wanted him to be like you. I tried to work on him for a few months, but I was getting nowhere, and I wasn't even sure the transfer had been successful." He frowned again, then said, "Actually, I think I've changed my mind about the drink. Do you mind if I go get something?" He pointed to the replicator.

Data dipped his head once, "I do not mind. The replicator is fully programmed."

Geordi rose from the chair, walked over to the replicator, "Iced coffee." then grabbed the glass of light brown liquid that appeared. He returned to the table and sat down, "Let's see. Spot is with Worf, and she's all right. Your paintings are displayed all over the Enterprise, although some of the people who knew you asked for certain ones, and those are in their quarters. I brought some of the smaller personal items you'd owned." He indicated the bag. "You have something new to go with your medals. The Starfleet Citation for Conspicuous Gallantry was awarded to you. Your briar pipe, although I guess you won't have much use for it, yet. There's a holo-statue of Tasha in there, and a small yellow crystal. I'm not sure what that is."

"Ishara Yar's proximity detector implant." Data's facial expression turned thoughtful as he explained.

Geordi raised an eyebrow, "I also brought your emotion chip." He lifted his glass, taking a sip of the coffee.

"I will not be needing that, Geordi, but thank you for bringing it." Data resumed his neutral facial expression.

Geordi frowned, "Data, having emotions was your lifelong dream. Have your experiences with them been so awful that you'll give up on that?"

Data shook his head, "The problem is the chip, not the emotions. T'Mera is writing a subroutine for me, called Amygdala. It will let me experience emotions and control them to the level I wish to do so."

Geordi raised both eyebrows in shock, turning to look at T'Mera, "She can do that?"

T'Mera's back was to the men as she worked, but she quipped, "She can. She's just that good!"

An amused smile spread across Data's lips, "She has become quite the expert on the programming of positronic brains, in addition to her previous specialties in holography and artificial intelligence."

T'Mera piped up again, "She also knows to clear a memory buffer before trying new hardware…"

Data added, "And I enjoy her sense of humor."

Geordi snapped his fingers and sat up straight, "Wait a minute! I understand now. That would explain why the chip overloaded your positronic relay, if it was calling up every emotion you'd ever felt since your activation." He frowned, "But that would mean that you did have emotions, all those years. Why would Doctor Soong create a chip to give you what you already had? It doesn't make sense."

Data pressed his lips together, changing to a solemn facial expression, "As she learned more about how my programming works, T'Mera discovered that Doctor Soong merely laid down a small base of commands. Once I began to achieve sentience, I was creating my own pathways and erasing earlier, simpler ones. In essence, I was programming myself, which included generating emotions. According to T'Mera, Doctor Soong put in a deliberate hardware block that kept me from being able to experience what I was feeling. When he abducted me, he never asked me, nor did he check my current programming. He simply decided to put the chip in."

Geordi rubbed his beard and nodded, "To keep you from being like Lore. Since he didn't know you were generating them, he made that chip, but all it did was amplify what you were already feeling, and then you had that overload at Amargosa."

Data winced, "The incident at Amargosa makes me wish I could forget some experiences. I still feel remorse and guilt for what happened there. I also apologize if my insubordination at the Bassen Rift caused you any problems."

An expression of sadness passed over Geordi's face, "We were so devastated at losing you that I don't think the captain even remembered we disobeyed his orders." He lowered his voice, "Counselor Troi took it the hardest, I think."

Data frowned very slightly, "I did not think to ask, but is my recovery common knowledge, or is it being kept classified? I do not wish Counselor Troi to think I have been dead all this time."

"Oh, she and Captain Riker know about this." Geordi replied reassuringly, "The six of us knew it was a long shot, but we all had high hopes, anyway. Except Worf. He thinks we're trying to rob you of entrance to Sto'Vo'Kor. Let's see… right after your…" He hesitated, "I'm not sure what to call it. Calling it "your death" seems final. Destruction sounds the same way."

"Destruction is the truth." Data offered. "And I do not believe that androids go to Sto'Vo'Kor."

"All right, Data." Geordi resumed, "After your destruction, we got a new first officer, and Captain Riker played a practical joke on him. He told him to call the Captain "Jean-Luc"."

Data's head moved back a few centimeters in surprise, "Not the most auspicious way to begin a tour of duty."

Geordi shook his head, "That's an understatement. Commander Madden had a really rough time, at first. The Captain even called him Data, a few times, until it finally sunk in… After that, he just called him Number One." He let Data visibly react, then continued, "The Betazoid wedding for Captain Riker and Counselor Troi was interesting, although Worf was extremely uncomfortable."

"I imagine he would have been." Data nodded in reply, "I regret having missed it, although I am certain that my modesty subroutine would have been sending me alerts every fifteen seconds."

Geordi chuckled, "Mrs. Troi was disappointed you weren't there, too. How did she put it… "Oh, I wanted to see if that robot of yours had anything between the legs."" He lifted his glass for another sip of iced coffee.

T'Mera chose the moment to add to the conversation, "Commander LaForge, did you tell her that Data had an interchangeable penis with a choice of several pleasure attachments?"

Iced coffee sprayed across the table surface as Geordi simultaneously choked and laughed, unable to swallow.

Data created a towel to mop up the coffee, "She is generating a witticism. I have only ever had the one penis and it was a permanent fixture." He looked back over at the holographer, then at Geordi, "Perhaps it would be best if T'Mera joins us here? I am not letting her leave the holostation, and since she is part Vulcan, she will hear us."

Geordi raised an eyebrow at that, "It's fine with me if she joins us, but why aren't you letting her leave?"

T'Mera stopped working, then pressed the buttons on her chair and rolled it to the table, to the left of where Data sat. "He's keeping me captive." She smiled and placed her right hand on Data's left arm. "If you don't want me to hear you, I can always turn on the dome of silence."

"That will not be necessary at this moment, t'hy'la." Data smiled and placed his right hand gently on top of her hand. He turned back to Geordi, "Six months and twenty-four days ago, I initiated a romantic relationship with Doctor Chipman. We are… a couple."

Geordi looked between the two, "Congratulations, then. Six months? But…"

T'Mera held up her implant-covered left arm, "My Borg hardware comes with some very strange abilities."

Data explained further, "Her implants were able to generate a virtual environment in which she and I could interact and communicate. Once she had surpassed seven out of the twelve conditions for a successful humanoid marriage, I asked her to formulate the romance with me."

Geordi looked at T'Mera with concern, "Captain Picard said you're dying."

T'Mera nodded, biting her lower lip, "I am. We don't know how much time I have left until the nanoprobes go after my central nervous system and brain."

"Which brings me to a favor I need to ask of you, Geordi." Data regarded the engineer, "You are here to help build my new body, but once I am an android again, I wish to build a body for T'Mera. After it has been finished, we will go to Terlina III and use my father's equipment to do a synaptic scan transfer."

Geordi blinked at his friend, "Are you sure about this, Data? Are you just making her into an android because she saved you, and now you want to save her?"

Data's face took on a sad expression, "While I wish I could say that I am doing this to save her, it would not be the truth. She has accepted her mortality, whereas I cannot." He turned and looked into T'Mera's dark eyes, "In essence, what I am doing is asking her to save metwice."

T'Mera smiled wistfully back at Data, looking back into the bright yellow eyes.

Geordi watched the two for a moment, then spoke, "I'll help you two, to the best of my ability."

T'Mera smiled at Geordi, "Thank you, Commander. I'll also be leaving a non-sentient hologram of myself, with instructions, in case I die before the scan can be completed. I do ask that my file transfer protocols be kept classified, though."

Geordi nodded, "That won't be a problem." He grinned at Data, "And here I thought you only liked blondes."

T'Mera began to laugh softly.

Data blinked and confusion spread across his facial features, "Odd. That was what T'Mera said, at first." He looked back at Geordi, "Jenna was blonde, but I was unaware that you knew of more."

Geordi looked down at the table for a moment, took a sip of his coffee, then gazed back up at Data, "You and I know each other really well. I saw how Ishara affected you, and I kind of figured something was up between you and Tasha. I just never said anything."

"Ah." Data replied. "It is still too small of a sample size to make statistical inferences as to any aesthetic preferences I might have to a woman, not to mention the central limit theorem- "

Geordi interjected, "It's okay, Data! I was joking." He then grinned, "You're definitely the Data I remember."

T'Mera let out a sigh of relief, "Thank goodness. I was worried that something with him might have changed from being stuck inside B-4. It's good to know he's coming through intact."

Geordi finished the remainder of his coffee, "And it's good to have my best friend back." He knitted his brows slightly, "So, why are you not letting Doctor Chipman leave the holostation?"

T'Mera leaned forward in the chair, "Please, call me T'Mera."

Data replied, "I do not wish to waste any of the moments we have, and this way, I can make certain that she is fine."

T'Mera smirked, "Even though there's not much I can do, as far as assembling an android body goes. But you know how it is... " She looked between the two men, then added, "They also servo who only stand and wait."

Geordi groaned and placed a hand over his face, then chuckled.

Data smiled, then patted T'Mera's right hand. "You will get used to her sense of humor, Geordi."

Geordi removed his hand from his face, then grinned, "If I could get used to your attempts at telling jokes, I can get used to hers. Well, I'm going to go settle into the quarters they've assigned me here. I just wanted to check in with you first. I'll be back soon."

Data dipped his head once to Geordi. "We will be here." After Geordi exited the holostation, Data returned to the nanofabrication area and T'Mera returned to her work.