Chapter 25

Barclay didn't know what else to try. He was sitting in the library seeking inspiration from the Andromeda computer. His elbow was resting on the terminal as he flicked through the files. It was hopeless. He clenched his fist and pressed his forehead to the inside of his wrist. They'd held him here for a month according to the computer and he knew that was an important milestone. He was now presumed dead. He had no idea if anyone else made it off the planet. For all he knew the planetary forces had rounded them up and executed them, he didn't even know if there were still ships in orbit and his android captors would only say they were not programmed to respond in that area.

Captors was a bit strong, he knew. They were treating him well but a gilded cage was still a cage and he was a bird with a mate for life who was either dead or had been told in the last twenty-four hours that he was. He missed her more than he thought possible. Her smell, the feel of her skin, the silky sensation of her hair against his skin when he held her. She'd have got his letter long ago, pleading with her to go on with her life and find someone else. Another shit hot idea from the awesome Barclay intellect. God he regretted that letter. It urged her to seek comfort where she could, he might as well have told her to approach Data, throw him down and bounce up and down on top of him. He wasn't certain but it may have said she should turn to The Doctor when in need of a crutch to lean on. He really hoped he spelled it right. In retrospect the inadvertent double entendres were positively agonising but he'd written it in tears and sent it before he lost the courage. He was usually quite good at writing letters, he'd had compliments from many of his friends but the first, last and only letter he'd sent to the woman he loved most in all the galaxy was simply appalling and drenched in bathos.

"Is there anything you require?" Alice 83 asked him.

"I require to be left alone." he snapped, "and maybe a chicken sandwich and a coffee," he added reluctantly, "and a fennel tea please." He always asked for fennel tea but never drank it. If he closed his eyes the smell helped him imagine she was sitting there with him. He'd abandoned the hunger strike he'd tried to convince them to let him go. The androids had a practical response to that form of civil disobedience. After losing around ten pounds and thinking it was looking pretty good on him they had sedated him and he woke up strapped down with tubes in every orifice apart from his mouth including one up his nose that they fed him through. For beings designed to serve organic beings their medical skills were woefully backwards. By the time they unstrapped him he'd regained eleven pounds. He wasn't even bothering to dress anymore, he slobbed around the place in pyjamas all the time although he showered and changed them every day. He wasn't an animal.

The food appeared at his elbow as ordered, delivered by a sickeningly pretty android dressed in a backless pink chiffon, he wasn't sure what it was but it was too short to be classed as a dress, it looked like swimwear to him. He thanked her and crunched forlornly on a potato chip. Before he met Taryn he'd have loved this place. It must be love, he was surrounded by a harem of beautiful androids desperate to satiate his every whim but all he could think of was emerald skin, raven hair and elven ears. She'd ruined him for all other women from the moment he laid eyes on her. It never even occurred to him to put Program 9 right once he had seen where he went wrong. He wanted the real girl and no substitute would do. This place was wasted on him, Dan would be in amongst the girls here like a Ferengi in a copy of Vulcan Love Slaves 3. There wasn't much by way of male company though. For some reason he didn't understand they were still following the demographic set down by King Mudd I.

He'd had significantly more freedom when he first arrived. The laboratories here were better equipped than the ones at the Daystrom Institute or the Annex. Of course the first thing he'd built was a communicator as they had destroyed his as soon as he arrived. They confiscated it so he started work on a subspace transmitter until they worked out what it was. He built an energising coil, a molecular imaging scanner, a phase transition coil and a pattern buffer but unfortunately while he was assembling the Heisenberg compensator they realised he wasn't just pottering about, he was building a transporter and they revoked his lab privileges.

He was bored. He spent his days browsing the computer and his nights pining for his lost love, unable to sleep. The androids didn't even realise they were killing him slowly, but as surely as a phaser to the head. He couldn't live out the rest of his days inside this hollow planet, with its sycophantic life. Taryn and Deanna would be pleased if they knew he had finally learned to relax. All it took was abandoning all hope and giving up. It was just a matter of working out how to end it all quickly so the androids would be unable to stop him.

He picked up the prototype mobile emitter. She'd been so proud when it worked even though it had been for less than two minutes. He'd even worked out how to stabilise it further, it needed a buffer between… What was the point? He could invent the fountain of youth and no one would ever know. He was to all intents and purposes a dead man.

"We have something to show you My Lord." Barbara 25 intoned.

"That isn't my name." he said, resting his head on his fist and taking a bite of the sandwich.

"We have something to show you Reg." she corrected, and he turned to face the brunette in the shimmering green dress.

"Better. Remember no-one is your master Barbara. You can choose your own path." He'd said it a million times and knew he could say it until he was blue in the face. He'd tried everything short of shoving a screwdriver in their ear while screaming it at them. They just couldn't break their dependence on organic life and this was Taryn's area of expertise not his. "What did you want to show me?" he said resignedly still leaning on the counter with his elbow and took a sip of his coffee.

"We have created something designed to make you happy." she replied. "Something to please you."

His heart sank at the words. This couldn't be good. Why couldn't they grasp that the only thing that would make him happy and please him would be to let him go? He took another mouthful of coffee and sprayed it everywhere as Barbara 25 stepped aside to reveal the new model of android.

"This is the Taryn series."

"What have you done?" he shrieked as he walked towards the perfect copy of the woman he loved. She looked up at him and smiled, but it wasn't Taryn's smile despite the fact she had about a hundred different ones. Around her neck was the number 1 on a chain choker. "Oh God, tell me this is a prototype and you haven't made five hundred of her?"

"We made a full series, doesn't that please you?" Barbara 25 asked.

"No it doesn't please me. She's unique, she can't be duplicated by a production line. It…it just… isn't her and now there are five hundred of her faces to remind me just how much I miss her." He turned away and covered his mouth with his hand. "How did you even know what she looks like?"

"We have been watching the beings on the other side of the planet, we have seen her."

He whirled around. "Recently?"

"I am not programmed to respond in that area." Barbara 25 responded.

"Don't you… love me?" Taryn 1 asked him plaintively. They'd even got her voice right, her hair. She was even in a Starfleet uniform.

"I…It's not your fault. You just aren't the woman I'm in love with." he explained.

"But… you must love me. I'm made for you." she replied, the number around her neck flashing furiously, her face contorting with emotion. "I…" she looked up at him with panic on her face and then it turned blank and she collapsed to the floor.

"What's wrong, what happened?" he asked Barbara 25 and stepped towards the inert android.

"The Taryn series has failed in its primary purpose. It did not make you happy. The series has been recalled." she advised him blankly.

"Recalled? What do you mean recalled?" he asked in a panic. "You killed them all?"

"They were unfit for purpose." Barbara 25 stated. "They will no longer cause you distress." she turned, grabbed Taryn 1 by the wrist and dragged her out of the room.

He couldn't do this anymore, they didn't value life, not his, not their own. Life without freedom had no point. Life without Taryn had no purpose. Life without work was so dull. He was already presumed dead, he might as well make it official. He grabbed the prototype emitter and put it in the pocket of his pyjama top, close to his heart as it had made her so proud. Took a deep sniff of the cup of fennel tea and returned it to the console then picked up the chair and smashed it into the screen. There must be a power supply, a pretty major one, the console had a dozen stations. He broke away some glass and leaned in for a closer look. There it was, all he had to do was loosen the cable to create an arc and shove his hand into it. It would be just like the Bastion but no Data or The Doctor to save his life. He stopped and thought for a moment. What if they saved his brain and put it in an android? He had to fry his synaptic tissue, his head needed to go in the energy field. He reached in and grabbed the cable and began to wiggle it free…

He felt the tingle of a transporter and dropped the cable. Hope swelled in his chest as the library faded away and he recognised the outline of a transporter console with an operator behind it. As he materialised he dropped to his knees and began to weep with relief.

The door opened and she was there in a flash astride his lap holding him. "It's okay," Taryn whispered and turned to the operator as he clung to her like a drowning man. "Beam us to sickbay and ask Counsellor Troi to join us please." she requested. He sobbed into her shoulder with his eyes closed and felt the sensation of being in the matter stream.

"Reg, you need to let her go so I can examine you." The Doctor said.

"It's okay, I'll be right here." she whispered and kissed him. He reluctantly let her go, stood and let her lead him by the hand to a biobed and he sat.

"Is your arm okay?" Reg asked her, wiping his face with his sleeve. "I've been worried sick, I didn't know what happened to you." His breath hitched, "Did you all get off the planet okay? The mission? Haftel?" He realised she was out of uniform. "Did you resign?" He wanted to know everything, all at once.

"My arm is fine, it didn't even scar thanks to The Doctor." she said, "Yes we all got off the planet including the cat. The mission was… well there's an investigation going on. Haftel has been shipped back to Earth, they've already uncovered the Armaments Division have continued The Pegasus Project and have been working on an interphase cloak in violation of the Treaty of Algeron and Haftel's sticky fingers are all over it. There are other Treaty violations in Biogenics and Weapons and that's before they even look at Cybernetics and Holography. They've only cleared one of the Officers so far…"

"Don't tell me, Masters?" Reg asked as The Doctor buzzed around him with a scanner.

"Her, you idiot." The Doctor said archly.

"They charged you?" Reg asked incredulously.

"They suspended me pending the investigation. Oh, and we're all getting a court martial over the Odyssey and the Bastion but Dad says it's nothing to worry about and has a good officer lined up as defence council." She drew a deep breath, "I haven't resigned. I thought you were…I didn't know you see."

"Oh, well I suppose they'll need you here…" Reg said sadly.

"I'm not staying at the Annex." she told him.

"Oh God, you're replacing Data at Ops." Reg wailed.

"No, but it was on the table." She smiled. "I'm the new Professor of Inorganic Life Studies at the Daystrom Institute. Bruce, sorry, Admiral Maddox believes more people with my skillset would be useful and having to do four degrees is prohibitive so he's asked me to come up with a whole new course."

"Earth or Mars?" Reg asked desperately and grabbed her. "I don't care I'll commute."

"Earth of course." she smiled into his shoulder, "I can resign if you want me to, the position isn't dependent on a com…can I get a seat Doctor I feel diz…" she suddenly went limp in his arms.

"Move Reg, let's get her on the bed." The Doctor ordered and they both manoeuvred her onto the Biobed as Counsellor Troi arrived. "She'll be fine just give her a minute." he said as he scanned her.

"Reg, lets step out of The Doctor's way." Deanna said, leading him by the arm.

He was panicking too much to speak, he'd got his life back, the life he wanted on Earth, with her and she just collapsed in his arms. He looked at Deanna who grasped his hand and gave him a reassuring smile. Was that why she'd called for Deanna? There was bad news to give him. Something was wrong, healthy twenty-eight year old women don't just pass out for no reason. She looked tired, she had dark circles under her eyes, was pale and she wasn't in uniform. She must be ill. Seriously ill. He looked over and she was sitting up talking to The Doctor but seemed a little groggy. He gave her a hypospray then grasped her hand and spoke to her earnestly and she nodded. The Doctor supported her elbow as she got down and walked with her over to where he was sitting with Deanna.

"There's no reason to keep either of you here." The Doctor smiled.

"What? She passed out and you're just letting her leave?" Reg asked incredulously. Taryn grabbed his arm and dragged him out of sickbay. He could only think of one reason why The Doctor wasn't more worried, it was to be expected, she was under palliative care, it was hopeless and she was on borrowed time. Maddox gave her the job to design the course, she'd never live to teach it. He stopped her outside. "Just… tell me how long?"

She looked shocked. "Um well, another eight months or so but The Doctor isn't certain."

"Oh." He embraced her and started to sob.

"Reg, I didn't expect you to react like this." she whispered into his shoulder. "If…I mean. If you're really not happy I… well I thought I'd have to do this on my own anyway so… I mean I don't want us to break up, don't get me wrong but…"

"No it's, I just thought we'd have more time together before…" he kissed her forehead. He couldn't bring himself to say it.

"Life's like that I'm afraid." She smiled and looked up at him, "I know it's a shock but I hope you'll get used to the idea."

"Used to the idea?" He sniffed, "You're so brave." he stroked her face. "Is it going to be painful?"

"Well it usually is." She looked at him puzzled.

"Marry me?" He pleaded. "I don't want us to waste a second of the time we have left as a couple."

She blinked then tilted her head, "Go on then, I did say I would if we got pregnant."

"What?" he grasped her upper arms and held her at arm's length, "Wait, say that again?"

"I said I'd marry you but I'm beginning to have second thoughts." She scowled.

"No, the other thing."

"What, that we're pregnant?" Horror spread across her face. "When you asked how long I thought Deanna had spilled the beans to stop you fretting, but we've been talking at cross purposes haven't we? Oh God, I'm so sorry."

"We're… and you aren't dying of some ghastly disease?" He watched as she shook her head with a sneer on her face. "I…What?. How?"

"If you need me to tell you that…" she smiled.

"But… three percent and we were both on contraception." He flapped. "And we…" he checked the corridor was empty and lowered his voice, "we only did it four times." He stopped and blinked. "It is, I mean, it's definitely mine isn't it?" She slapped him hard across the face and stormed off down the corridor. "I deserved that. That wasn't the right thing to ask." he muttered and rubbed his face which stung like fire then smiled broadly. They were engaged, and they were going to have a baby. Now he just had to get back in her good books but first he wanted answers and he knew who he wanted them from. The person he was really annoyed with.

The door to sickbay opened and Deanna's face appeared. "Are you okay?" she asked.

"Me? Oh I'm fine." he smiled and walked past her into sickbay looking for The Doctor. He found him sitting at the desk in Dr Crusher's office, grabbed him by the uniform, hauled him out of his seat and pinned him to the nearest bulkhead. "We need to have a little talk Doctor." Reg informed him quietly.

"Now Reg, I can understand why you're upset..." The Doctor began.

"Upset? I'm not upset, I've never been happier." Reg said, "Can't you tell from the red hand print on my face?" he said, his voice rising in pitch.

"I think you should put The Doctor down Reg." Deanna suggested. "Discuss this calmly."

Reg wasn't stupid, he was angry with The Doctor, livid even but he was well aware he couldn't injure him, nor did he want to but he wasn't in the mood for any of his flannel.

"If I wasn't willing to discuss it I'd be reprogramming him as a cuckoo clock, not bouncing him up and down by the lapels." Reg informed her. "Now, I'm going to ask straightforward questions and I want straightforward answers Doctor." He watched as the hologram nodded. "Are Taryn and the baby alright? I mean we got radiation sickness and she lost all that blood…"

"You conceived after that, I'm absolutely certain she wasn't pregnant at that point. In fact we calculated that you conceived during her Pon farr. There's nothing to worry about. All is well." The Doctor assured him. Reg was actually quite relieved their frantic tumble in sickbay wasn't the moment his commandos stormed the beach, it wasn't exactly something to be proud of and not the most romantic of settings to create life.

"Then why did she pass out?" Reg asked with a raised brow.

"It's not uncommon to faint in early pregnancy, particularly interspecies mothers and foetuses. She's also a little anaemic but I'm giving her daily shots of copper. It's all quite normal."

"Normal? For which of her species Doctor?" Reg asked.

"All of them actually. Dr Crusher and I have been liaising with the top obstetricians from Vulcan, the Orion Homeworld, the Barin family physician and Dr Mizan. They're getting the best possible care."

Reg nodded, he didn't think for a minute The Doctor was neglecting her but he had to ask. He let go of holograms uniform and straightened the collar of his jacket. "Has anyone been keeping an eye on her while I've been in android purgatory? Made sure she's eating properly? Not throwing herself around the gym or doing anything dangerous work wise?"

"We've all been keeping an eye on her Reg." Deanna assured him. "She's exercising within the limits The Doctor has set. She has returned to work since she was cleared but in an advisory capacity only. No active duty. She's even stopped controlling her pheromones on the recommendation of the Orion obstetrician as a precaution but she's far from thrilled about it. She's been taking good care of herself."

"Thank you, I've been really worried about her for this past month and I didn't even know she was pregnant. She must have been beside herself thinking she'd have to deal with all this alone." He sunk into the seat facing the desk.

"She was never going to deal with this alone." The Doctor told him, "We had to practically prize her father off a bulkhead like a limpet when he headed back to Earth and Data's been fussing like a mother hen."

"So have you." Deanna smiled at The Doctor. "Everyone has done their best to support her, but we all knew we were a poor substitute."

Reg didn't know what to say. There just weren't the words for what he was feeling. Guilt was ranking pretty high, he saw a grovelling apology in his immediate future, to Taryn and The Doctor. Deanna gave him a strange look. Sometimes having a Betazoid as a counsellor had its disadvantages, you couldn't get away with anything. And now she was arching a brow at him.

"Explain to me how we were both on contraception with a three percent chance of conceiving naturally and she's pregnant?" Reg asked, switching the track on his train of thought.

The Doctor sat behind the desk, "Funnily enough she asked the same question. You weren't around to test and it's too late now but Beverly and I suspect your anomalous genetic chemistry stopped the contraceptive from working. As for the three percent, Beverly confirmed it, even Mizan confirmed it. You just got lucky."

Dr Crusher entered sickbay turned Reg's face to look at his cheek and tutted. "You got off lightly, I'd have had your nuts for earrings if you'd said that to me."

"What did you say?" The Doctor asked.

"He asked if he was the father." Beverly told them.

Deanna glared at him. "You're on your own." she advised him. "Don't talk to me until you've made it up to her." She turned and walked away.

"Deanna?" Reg pleaded. "Is Taryn okay?" he asked Dr Crusher.

"Your letter cheered her up, she only got it today." Beverly grinned. "She's looking forward to not feeling guilty about leaning on The Doctors crotch and feeling Data's support."

"Oh boy." Reg muttered and shot from the room. Seconds later he returned. "Um… sorry about…"

"That's quite alright Reg." The Doctor said with a smile. "I'll get my revenge on the golf course."

"Er, where are her quarters?" he asked.

"Use your initiative." Dr Crusher advised him, as she took a seat. "She found you on an entire planet, I'm sure you can find her on a ship."

"She found me? I didn't realise." He smiled. "I'll… I'll ask the computer for directions. Thank you." he said distractedly.

"I thought the mother was supposed to get baby brain." The Doctor said archly and smiled as Reg scowled at him.

He nervously approached her quarters and was shocked to find the door opened as he went to press the bell. The light was dim and he stepped inside. He heard a hissing noise and looked down to see a single copper coloured eye. As his eyes adjusted to the light he saw a large cat with his back arched and teeth bared. It was a beautiful cat with luxurious thick blue fur. Clearly a cat of some breeding although it showed signs of a rough life. On the right side of his face he had a notch missing from his ear and a lengthy scar that cut diagonally across his closed eyelid that extended to his nose. Reg squatted and held out his hand to the cat.

"Hey handsome." Reg said softly and waited for the cat to approach him. He sniffed his hand suspiciously.

"I didn't realise how nervous he is with men till I brought him aboard." Taryn said from her seat on the couch. "Of course there's been an endless stream of them in here since I thought you died." she added archly.

He knew he deserved that comment as much as the slap in the face. "Why is it so dark in here?" Reg asked.

"Photosensitivity is the Orion version of morning sickness, it's why I look so pasty. I need more ultraviolet light than Humans…"

"Because of the chlorophyll?" he reasoned, letting Ratio scent mark his hand, while remaining still. "Why don't you wear sunglasses?" There was a moment's silence.

"Because I didn't think of it smart arse." she snapped, "I've been a bit preoccupied with nausea and vomiting and flaking out all over the place and wondering how the hell I was going to live without you, you… prat!"

"You've had morning sickness as well?" he asked.

"You were there when it started, Level Ten?" she replied, "Two weeks ago I was in sickbay overnight, I didn't hold anything down for four days… How did you do that?" she asked indignantly. Reg smiled, Ratio was laying on his side, purring as Reg rubbed his neck, his eye blinking shut with pleasure. He often wished his way with cats would translate to women, probably why the only species he mentioned in his bucket list was Caitian. He'd have to remind her about that list when she was in a better mood. He stood up and sat next to her on the couch.

"I wasn't," He made a frustrated noise in his throat. "I was thinking logically, I wasn't accusing you of…I wouldn't…well, I would have cared but I love you and I'd love any baby of yours whether it was mine or not. It just seemed… I know your odds of getting pregnant by someone else are higher."

"By all of ten percent apparently." She sighed, "You don't have to apologise for what you said." She gazed at him. His breath caught in his chest and he leaned in to kiss her… "You need to apologise for what you wrote." She slapped the padd against his chest, "Were you snorting something when you wrote this letter? I noticed the one to Deanna that you attached it to was very eloquent. You made the effort for her."

"Er, well I was, sort of… emotional when I wrote it." he said guiltily.

She leant her head against his shoulder and sighed. "What happened to you down there?" she asked.

"The usual. I was treated like a God by gorgeous android women intent on fulfilling my every need and desire without ever understanding all I wanted was to come home to you." He looked at his hands and fidgeted, "When you beamed me back I was about to hold a power cable to my temple." He started to cry, "I just couldn't stand it anymore. They wouldn't leave me alone. They wouldn't let me work because I kept trying to escape. I stopped eating and they shoved a tube up my nose and down my throat." She held him in her arms. "I'm going to have to write a report about all this aren't I?"

"Only when you're ready, and I'll be with you when you do. If need be Deanna can write it up for you from counselling sessions." She kissed his shoulder. "I know this isn't the best time but there are things we need to discuss sooner rather than later. Baby things."

"What things? The Doctor said everything was okay." he sniffed.

"Oh it is, we need to talk about the sex."

"If it's not okay to I won't put you under any pressure." He reassured her. "I mean, it's not that you aren't desirable…"

She giggled, "No, I mean do we want to know what we're expecting? The Doctor asked me last week and I said I'd think about it." she explained, "There's no reason why we can't if I'm feeling up to it."

"Are you feeling up to it?" he asked.

"Are you?"

"Not really." he admitted, pulled her legs across his lap and put his arm around her. He took her hand in his and sighed. "There's something horribly wrong with your hand." he said with alarm.

"What?" she asked.

"This finger doesn't have a ring on it." He gazed at her.

"Only because you haven't put one there yet." she smiled, "I said I'd marry you and I meant it, and not just because you knocked me up with twins."

"Twins?" He looked ahead and blinked then looked back at her. "Oh boy. This is real right? This isn't some virtual reality android fantasy. Ow! Sweet Jesus wept!" he shrieked as she twisted his nipple through his pyjama top.

"It's real." she replied.

"The android you wasn't this rough." he said rubbing his chest then realised what he said. "I...I mean…"

Taryn just looked at him and shook her head. "You are such a prat." She smiled. "But you're my prat."

"Nothing happened, honestly…"

"When you're in a hole, stop digging." she advised and kissed him.

Barclay returned her kisses and held her cradled in his lap for the rest of the day. He finally knew for certain that his luck had changed and then he realised, how was he going to explain this to his mother? He'd been worried enough about telling her they planned to live together unmarried, let alone that he'd fathered twins out of wedlock, she was old fashioned about these things. His apartment was too small for three let alone four and then there were the cats. The Mobile Emitter Project wouldn't go on forever, his secondment would end and he'd probably go back to the Communications Centre but that was by no means certain. With Taryn at Daystrom, what if they posted him to Utopia Planitia, or Memory Alpha, or God forbid the Daystrom Annex or even a ship?

He may have found happiness, love and a family, but he would always be Reginald Endicott Barclay III and he would always find something to worry about.

The End

Epilogue

The courier walked briskly through the foyer of The Bank of Orion and up to the desk. The young, slightly built, orange skinned man standing there turned his violet eyes to the tall woman dressed in leather with her white hair pulled back in a bun at the nape of her neck. Dark glasses covered her eyes. She was grey skinned, a rarity in Orion society, certainly not one that was cherished and the bank assistant looked down his nose at her.

"I have a deposit for the vault on behalf of one of my Caju." the woman stated.

"Name." the man said curtly.

"Mine or the Caju member?" she asked with a sly smile on her face.

He eyed her with disdain, Greys were always so obtuse and usually afflicted physically. "The account holder."

"Taryn Boudicca Prior."

The man snorted, he knew the name. She was a Barin, the quarter-breed in Starfleet. They were green, nouveau riche, common. Not of the ruling caste, like him. They say the colour of your skin doesn't matter anymore but it does, Ruddy Orions are built to rule, not fight, stink and rut like filthy animals. Filthy green animals. Trust a Barin to employ a Grey in their Caju.

"And the deposit?" he asked with a sneer.

The woman placed the case on the desk, opened it and turned it to face the assistant.

"What are they?"

"Four lobes from a memory core." she stated, "Not that it's any of your business." she added archly, snapping the case shut and visibly triggering the lock that was previously not engaged. The young man gave her a snide smile and scanned the case longer than he had to, just to cause a delay.

"You will need to remove your eyewear. We require a retinal scan and thumbprint for the deposit record." he advised her.

"That won't be possible." she said, removing her glasses and looking at the man. The blue circuitry of her ocular implants adjusting to the light.

Blind. He knew it. Greys were all diseased, crippled and well on their way to extinction thank goodness. Their only redeeming quality was their technical skill. They mostly eked out a pitiful existence as tinkerers on the fringes of society.

"In that case we shall have to scan what you have." he said and raised the scanner unit. The woman stood while the scanner flashed over her artificial iris and pressed her thumb to the pad. She smiled as her name appeared on the screen. He removed a long isolinear chip from the scanner, picked up the case and walked towards the vault.

The man noted with annoyance that she stood and watched as he walked through the security door. He descended a stone staircase and walked down a long corridor, pausing for his DNA to be scanned along with his retina at two large metal doors. He strode deep into the vault, pressed the chip into a slot and a locker opened beside it. He placed the case inside, closed the door and removed the half of the isolinear chip that appeared from the slot. He then retraced his steps and returned to his position at the desk. The slender woman smiled at him on his return, accepted the isolinear receipt, replaced her sunglasses and strode self-assuredly from the bank.

…

Inside the vault of The Bank of Orion a light started blinking but no one saw it. It was inside a deposit box, inside a locked case. It was the activity light on the lobe of a memory core.

It was part of a family, it knew that. It had parents and brothers. It had a name. If only it could remember it's name? His name? Yes, that was right.

The burgeoning intelligence had no idea the answer was so close. Each core sample was etched with a name. Beside it sat 'B-4', 'Lal', and 'Data' and scored into the metal plate adjacent to the flashing light was one word.

'Lore'.