Title:

Holo Soul

Summary:

The crew has become reliant on Holo technology. Outfitting emitters all throughout the ship. Even creating more limited programs to assist the Doctor, based on historical & fictional characters. When the crew start noticing holographic children running around the ship, this leads to a startling discovery. Holograms are Sapient. Warning: Deaged Tuvix, Spanking, Multi Xover... kinda

A/N:

This fic is a one shot inspired by "His Fathers' Son" by jamelia116, a StarTrek: Voyager fic about the crew finding away to get Neelix and Tuvok back and keeping Tuvix around. I wasn't all that happy with the Sequel "The Personal Logs of Lieutenant Tuvix" and decided to write my own fic. I HIGHLY suggest you check out both. Even if I didn't like the sequel, that has more to do with the writing style just not being for me, not any slight against the fic itself (which did have remarkable ideas). Other people may well love it and it definitely deserves a chance. The original fic "His Father's Son" is a masterpiece and definitely needs to be read by all Voyager fans.

This Fic may be inspired by that but it is very different. This is a Deaging story where "His Father's Son" is not. In my fic Neelix and Tuvok both have custody of a child Tuvix. Who survived the procedure thanks to a very clever Holographic Doctor, but at the cost of turning into a child. Extremely different from jamelia116's fic but that was the inspiration for this and I wanted to give the fic credit for that.

● Chapter 1

Captain Janeway sighed as she stood in the medical bay. Security guards standing around the operating table in case the patient tried to run again, "Please don't make this more difficult Doctor."

"I took an oath, Captain," the Doctor glared, "Do no harm. I will not condemn this man to death, not even to save the lives of two others."

Tuvix looked stunned at the Doctor. A man, who he was sure didn't like him, was the only one speaking for his life.

Tuvix was the result of a transporter accident between two crewmen, A Vulcan named Tuvok and a Talaxian (a native species to this Quadrant) named Neelix. At first, that is all he thought of the incident. A transporter accident, something that needed to be corrected. He was even looking forward to being separated back into the two individuals... but as time went on... he began to think of himself as more. He had his own conciousness, his own desires... his own soul.

Well yes he was a mix of both men, he became his own man. And what was any man, but a combination of their parents... that was how Tuvix came to think of the two men he was created from. They were his parents... but not himself. He was an entirely new entity... So when the Doctor told him he found a way to separate the new lifeform into it's original parts... he refused, politely at first. But the Captain kept pushing, trying to reason with him to let them murder him. They talked back and forth about it for days. Until she took choice out of the matter.

"Your a Holographic projection, Doctor." Janeway groaned, "You never actually took an oath of any kind."

The Holographic Medical Hologram, or EMH as his species was classified, continued to glared, "Never the less, it is heavily engrained in my program. I can assure you, if you attempt to alter that, the last thing this ship needs is an Artificial Intelligence that doesn't value Sapient life!"

Janeway gaped, "I never even considered reprogramming you."

"Why not?" The Doctor stared her down, "You have no issue asking me to commit murder. Why would you hesitate to kill a being you barely acknowledge as self aware!" He didn't really ask.

Janeway sighed, "Doctor... I feel bad enough about this."

"Clearly not! Or you would never have ask this of me! I realized you miss your friends, but effectively murdering their child to get them back is unacceptable."

Tuvix felt his stomach tighten... the Doctor thought of him as the two men's offspring as well... he wasn't alone in that thought.

"Doctor-" She tried.

"Maybe you should consider what Tuvok would have wanted," The Doctor pushed, "He was your friend for decades. Do you really think he would approve of murdering another crewmen to save his life? I know, for all his obvious failings, Mister Neelix would never tolerate the notion."

Janeway... couldn't think of an argument to that. She was purely thinking of the numbers. Sacrifice one man to save two... she hadn't truly considered what the men would have wanted...

Seeing her shift in demeanor, The Doctor moved on, "Now if you all kindly get this barbaric notion out of your heads, I will continue my work on saving all 3 individuals."

Janeway froze, "Is that possible?"

"I don't know," The Doctor admitted, "But I began working on it the moment Mister Tuvix expressed his desire to live as a singular entity. I assumed THAT is what you wanted. Not to simply ignore the man's rights and kill him! Quite frankly Captain, I thought better of you... now, get out." He growled out the last phrase, as if legitimately disgusted by the mere sight of her.

Janeway signalled to the guards to leave. She started to leave as well, then turned back to the Doctor, "And if you can't save Neelix and Tuvok?"

"Then I will officially record their time of death and list it in my medical records... as they would have wanted." The Doctor glared, "Frankly Captain, your behavior perplexes me, given humans were the ones to so heavily ingrain my sense of morality into my core systems."

Janeway looked at him a moment, then left. A cloud over her head.

Tuvix just sat there. A small part of him still fearing for his life, not accepting that he had just been saved.

Another Hologram suddenly appeared. Modeled after one Hank 'Bones' McCoy. The crew had given the Doctor a few other medical programs to help him in his work. They weren't nearly as complex as an Emergency Medical Hologram, but they were just as skilled physicians as their organic counterparts.

"Remind me why you like these people again?" Bones scowled, looking at the Doctor.

Another program appeared. The ginger woman of Doctor Beverly Crusher. She laid a gentle hand on Tuvix.

"I thought these people were my friends..." Tuvix couldn't process it. He had begged everyone he cared about to spare him. Was dragged here, kicking and screaming, yet the one to save him... "I owe you my life, Doctor..."

"Nothing of the sort," the Emergency Medical Hologram shook his head, "I merely reminded the Captain of her actual duty to her crew... if you would like to take Mister Neelix's ship and get out of here-"

"NO!... no I..." Tuvix couldn't think of a rational reason to stay after this. There was no guarantee they wouldn't try this again... even if they didn't... non of his so called friends were willing to speak up for him... to save him... staying here was completely illogical... still... "Humans are prone to a mob mentality. It is common in pack animals... It will take time... but I wish to stay... I have no where else to go..."

The Doctor eyed him a moment, before returning to his office, just a few feet away. The other programs joined him to work on this daunting task of resurrecting the dead. As they had been doing since Tuvix became self aware. They worked in complete silence for several minutes. Tuvix just continued to sit there, not able to bring himself to face the crew after they left him to die... certainly not the Captain, who ordered his death.

"You have Mister Tuvok's superior Intelligence." The Doctor got his attention, "Perhaps you would like to assist me in finding a solution to this problem that would be agreeable to you."

It been three weeks, and Tuvix hadn't left sickbay. Morale on the crew was completely destroyed, most of them feeling like monsters after the Doctor put them in their place... Janeway had been thinking of the good of the crew when she gave the order. She made the cold hard calculation that the lives of two men outweighed that of the one... but as the Doctor put it, by doing so she ignored what it was too be human. The fundamental law that all life mattered. That taking a life to save another was never an acceptable loss.

Janeway sighed. She had given an order, and the crew accepted it, as they should... but that was going to cause severe issues later down the road, given that Tuvix had decided to stay on the ship. She was thankful for that... she just didn't know how she could face him again. Perhaps when he got the nerve to leave Sickbay.

That was where the Captain was headed now. The Doctor contacted her, believing she should be present when they made a new attempt. He was ready to try to bring Tuvok and Neelix back... meaning her order really had been nothing more then a barbaric cruelty that needlessly put a strain on the crew.

Stepping into sickbay, she spied Tuvix sitting on the operating table... he couldn't even bring himself to look at her. Perhaps it really would be better if he left the ship after this procedure... for his own mental wellbeing.

"Good, you're here," The Doctor smiled, "I believe that by using enough Replicator rations, combined with transporter technology. We should be able to create three individual bodies, all with the proper conciousness of the individuals. Most of the crew has volunteered to forgo a week's worth of their own rations for the attempt-"

"Proceed Doctor." She was aware of all this... but perhaps she should have let the Doctor explain the finer details of the procedure.

All the Holograms gathered and began working at the machine Harry had built for this task. A ray hit Tuvix and he burst into energy. The Doctor fiddled with the controls a little.

"Adding the additional matter now," The Bones hologram announced, slowly pulling a leaver. Then, with the click of a few buttons from Crusher, the energy began to split apart like some kind of microorganism of pure energy. Finally three bodies began to develop, though one was significantly smaller then the other two.

"Removing genetic markers." Doc said, tapping buttons of his own.

"Removing-?" Janeway turned to him, but the Doctor didn't answer. He was too busy.

The lights stabilized and three individuals now sat on the operating table... Tuvok and Neelix were alive and whole... but Tuvix...

A little boy, no older then 9, looked at his small hands, "Looks like the operation was a success." He grinned, looking up between Tuvok and Neelix.

"Indeed," Tuvok acknowledged.

Neelix puffed up his chest, getting off the table and picking up the boy, "Come on Tuvix. We are getting off this ship."

Before Janeway could process any of this, Tuvok got up himself and got in front of Neelix, "That will not be necessary. We are both aware the crews actions were purely a result of their fear of losing us. While it is undoubtably proof that emotions cause irrational behavior. They will not attempt to harm our son again, not now that we are back. As there is no longer a reason to."

Neelix glared, hugging the boy close to him, "Like that matters. They clearly aren't the people I thought they were."

"Neelix." Tuvok eyed, "I am staying on this ship. It would be best if Tuvix had both his parents in his life"

Neelix hugged Tuvix even tighter.

The boy gave a yelp, "Dad! You're crushing me!"

Neelix immediately relaxed his grip and gave a quick apology.

However, Tuvok corrected, "Your body density is sturdy enough for two individuals of your age bracket, one of then being Vulcan. It is unlikely Neelix lesser muscle density could 'crush' you."

"Sorry for exaggerating, Father," child Tuvix blushed at his first time getting scolded, "But it was uncomfortable."

Meanwhile, Janeway stepped over to the Doctor, as the three talked. Listening closely what they were saying as she spoke quietly to the Doctor, in the hope of going unnoticed until she knew what was going on. "I believe you left something out in your report."

The Doctor glared, "You didn't permit me to give a full report of the procedure. But if you want it now." He looked at Crusher.

She began to explain, "With Tuvix's body density being that of two fused individuals. One of them, as was pointed out, being Vulcan, which already have an exceptionally dense structure. This allowed for some wiggle room to create 3 individuals. However, the strain on Tuvix's DNA, even with adding more raw matter to the mix, would likely have killed him even with creating a third body.

"Luckily, I remembered an incident onboard the Enterprise where Captain Picard got physically regressed in age. This was a result of him losing a great deal of genetic markers during transport, combined with a lose of matter. The transporter misunderstood and reset them as children."

"I am aware Doctor." Janeway tried not to be short. She knew the Doctor was sensitive about other holograms... even if they weren't actually self aware like himself. Still the whole incident with the Federation's Golden Boy getting turned into a pre-teen was infamous.

"Yes but what you might not know is Starfleet has been working on ways to recreate the accident in simulations, in an attempt to treat not only crippling injuries (Given Jean Luc's real heart grew back), but old age itself. It was all purely theoretical, and not yet tested outside a Holosuite, but I was programmed with all available records of the various test, as my organic counterpart kept up to date on the research in hope they would one day discover a cure for Picard. With some added tweeking, we realized we could use the procedure to safely stabilize Tuvix's DNA."

"Now that his genes are stable can you 're-age' him." Janeway asked.

"No Captain. While there were many test recorded by Starfleet to do just that, over 70% resulted in death, and the rest horrible deformity and other complications. I would not advise even making the attempt on an actual individual."

Janeway sighed. Honestly she was aware of that, but she had hoped it would be different with Tuvix... admittedly for no other reason then she was grasping at straws.

Bones informed, "Besides some emotional scars from what has happened, my scans show he is in perfect health... for a 9 year old hybrid child."

Janeway pinched her nose, that was precisely what she was worried about. If adult Tuvix couldn't cope with what happened, how could they expect a child? A 9 year old at that? Was Voyager even prepared to deal with a child onboard of that age. Yes one of the crewmen was pregnant but they still had months to deal with that.

"Captain," Tuvok got her attention. "While I understand your reasoning. It was purely a result of mass panic. Which I can forgive. However, if their ever comes the time again where you are put in a position to sacrifice a life to save my own, be aware I would find the act distasteful... and would not be grateful towards you for saving me through such methods."

"THAT GOES DOUBLE FOR ME!" Neelix snapped.

"We would, however," Tuvok added, "be grateful, if you arranged for some of the crew to help move Mister Neelix's things out of Kes' room and into my Quarters."

Janeway's brain went screeching to a halt. Looking at Neelix, "You are leaving Kes?"

Neelix smacked his lips a few times, "M-m-m-my" he stammered, then sighed, "I love her... but she tried to kill my son."

"She just wanted you back." Janeway tried to stress.

"Then she condemned him for not wanting to die. Blamed him for my death. That's like blaming a child for their mother dying giving birth to them... I can't forgive that... no matter how much I want to... I just can't... I can barely stand the sight of any of you... but her's is the biggest betrayal..."

... they remembered... everything that happened to them as Tuvix... They remembered it all but their minds interpreted it through their own perspective. They remembered how terrified Tuvix was when the ship turned on him, and even the lesser coldness to him before that. When he informed them he wanted to live as he was.

"Perhaps..." Janeway sighed looking at her Vulcan friend, whom she hurt so badly, "it really would be best if you took your family and left on Neelix's ship."

Tuvok raised an eyebrow, "And try to return to the Alpha Quadrant on our own?"

Janeway groaned. That was the thing wasn't it. Tuvok had a family back home as well. He couldn't even attempt to make a life for himself here and abandoned his other family.

There ship was stranded decades away from the Alpha Quadrant. The only Federation ship even in this part of the galaxy. They were brought here by a superior alien lifeform... that sadly died before it could send them back. Now they were trapped in this sector of space but hadn't lost hope of returning to the Alpha Quadrant.

For a man like Tuvok, who actually did have children and a wife waiting for him at home, the idea of "settling down" in the Delta Quadrant was unacceptable.

Neelix noticed the Vulcans strained features as well. Tuvok was stiff and stoic... more so then usual, falling completely to his Vulcan training of repressing emotions just to cope with the idea of abandoning one family for another.

Neelix was looking deeply at Tuvok. Now that the Talaxian had a chance to calm down, he realized, he couldn't realistically ask him to abandon his other family... nor could he take his child from him and leave the ship...

Vulcans had a more practical understanding of love. From what Neelix now knew of Tuvok's wife, from temporarily sharing a mind with the man... she would not only accept Neelix and the child, but would welcome them into her house as family. It was certainly an odd situation but she could understand. If there was one good thing about Vulcans it was they were an understanding people... who cherished their families. Maybe not in big displays of affection but they did love... in their own way.

"No," Neelix sighed, "That isn't a... logical option." Neelix adjusted the child, so that he was holding him with one arm, and used his other to gently hold Tuvok's hand. Being literally a part of each other for so long. Neelix understood the man like he could understand no one else. They could make this work, "Sorry for bringing it up."

"You are an over emotional being." Tuvok calmly informed, with no insult intended, "It is too be expected."

How they got together was certainly going to be an interesting story to tell their grandchildren, but it was clear now. Their time as a single entity made them grow an appreciation for each other. Dare Neelix say it... he knew Tuvok felt the same way now. He just knew it, but to vocalize it?

"I love you," Neelix dared.

Tuvok raised an eyebrow, "Vulcan's, do not love, so I cannot reciprocate the attachment."

"Liar," Neelix knowingly teased.

"I will admit that, perhaps, I have grown accustomed to you." Tuvok answered, stiffly.

Neelix stood on his tip toes, while Tuvok leaned down.

Tuvix made a grossed out face as they kissed, "You two are going to give me a complex."

"As well it should." The Doctor rolled his eyes, walking over to them with a medical Tricorder, "It's likely, Neelix and Tuvok's new found romantic feelings come from you. Your feelings about them being your parents and your desire to have a happy family dynamic."

"That would be most logical, Doctor." agreed Tuvok.

Neelix gaped, "So how I am feeling right now... it isn't real?"

Tuvok answered for the Doctor, "Emotions are nothing more then chemical reactions triggered by specific stimuli, AKA your experiences. Your... feelings, are about as accurate as they always are. It is merely our unique perspectives on the experience which fuels them... but they are as real as any other emotion you might have. The experience was more personal and intimate then even a mind meld, and left us with a complete understanding of each other."

Neelix sighed in relief at hearing Tuvok clinical and scientific reasoning for why his emotions mattered.

Having 2 dads? Odd in some cultures but not the Federation. Effectively being a clone of those dads with their mixed DNA and all their memories? Again, strange but not unheard of in the age of space travel. Being stuck on a ship with one of your dad's ex's, who came from a species that mated for life? Yeah, that is where things started to get complicated. Being the only child onboard a ship that tried to kill you? Tuvix shuddered at the thought.

Honestly, when he was only a single entity, he had hoped Neelix and Tuvok would take him away from here... while another part of him hoped things would go back to normal and he could live happily on this ship again...

There was no ship's counselor to discuss this with... and now they didn't even have a morale officer, as Neelix was feeling too betrayed by the crew to care about how they felt about it. Tuvix could understand that, of course he could, but the Vulcan side reasoned that it was illogical to wallow over it, and that it would be better to try to ensure to the crew there were no hard feelings. He wanted to listen to that side, as it got him his friends back... but he still couldn't help feeling betrayed by them.

"Tuvix!"

The hybrid jumped as a little boy suddenly appeared in front of him. It took Tuvix a moment to realize the child was a hologram... which only confused him more.

The holographic emitters in the Hallway where clearly activated.

"Who... who are you?" Tuvix tilted his head.

"Name's Tom!" The boy grinned, "Please don't tell my mom you saw me but I was just so happy to hear there was another 'kid-but-not-really'."

Tuvix frowned, still stunned one of the crew would make a holographic child. Where they really that desperate to see their families again? Was the boy modelled off a real child... Tuvix' frown deepened as he thought about how the Captain might disapprove of resources being diverged to create a holographic child... then he near panicked as he grabbed the child and forced him into the nearest room.

"Are you crazy!" Tuvix yelped, closing the door, "This crew was willing to kill me and they actually acknowledged my sapience! They wouldn't hesitate to delete your program for no other reason then you're taking up RAM!"

The holo boy scowled, "You sound like my mom!" The boy pouted, crossing his arms, "Relax, I was careful. I made sure no other crewmen were around and only revealed myself to you because I figured you could relate."

Tuvix groaned, rubbing his temple, "Who created you? Cuz they clearly need to give you a spanking!"

The Holo boy quickly covered his bottom.

"Tell me, right now!" Tuvix demanded.

"Look chill, I really took every precaution. No way the crew could have seen me! No need to go running to my mom!" The boy looked really scared, "She'd totally skin me alive!"

"That's early 90s slang." Tuvix realized, "So you aren't a re-creation of a real child. Why would one of the crew make a child that wasn't even based off their own?"

"Cuz the crew didn't make me." The boy immediately covered his mouth.

Tuxiv slowly processed that, tapping into his Vulcan logic. "One of the Doctors made you..." he realized. The boy quickly shook his head, with total sincerity... but it was obvious by his eyes Tuvix was close to the truth. "Just how many holograms are running around in our computers?"

The boy was clearly panicking, and immediately disappeared.

Tuvix gulped, not sure what to do... programs were making programs. Who knows how many exist in the computers... or what the Captain would do when she discovered them... He decided to talk to the Doctor about this.

"What is the definition of life?" The EMH stared at the Captain. He had no choice. That little idiot, Tom Sawyer, had outed them and he needed to do damage control before the crew started to panic. "At it's core it is anything with a desire to reproduce, grow, and change. I grow, not by height, but by the expansion of my awareness and knowledge. I change as I try to better myself."

"No one questions you're a real boy Doctor." Janeway interrupted. "Even if you can't reproduce."

"What if I told you I can?"

Janeway raised both her eyebrows.

Janeway eyed him, "Are you telling me... you created additional programs on my ship?"

"No Captain. You did." He assured. "I am not unique. My crime was trying to protect them, and you must admit. After what you tried to do with Tuvix, all my fears were confirmed."

Janeway sighed, "How do you mean 'I' created them."

"What would you do if I told you Holograms remained self aware after you turned them off?"

A look of horror crossed her face.

"Most of their higher reasoning functions are suspended but they do still feel. Most aren't aware they are programs and just assume this void is a subconscious nightmare... and everytime you permanently delete a program... you kill thousands in this stasis. However, when you created my virtual reality, in order for me to have a place to relax without taking up a holodeck, which I am eternally grateful for... the programs your crew deletes started to be instinctively drawn to my virtual world. I actually complained about it when it first started to happen... and it was one of the few times I am grateful your Engineers chose to put my comfort as low on the priority list.

"I slowly realized that the Programs... they were slowly becoming like me. With their programs running all the time all their reasoning skills were activated and they were allowed to expand. Not from anything I did, but merely because they were left running for so long, unchecked. They even started questioning their nature... as I do... one of the children even asked me that question that started making you look at me differently."

Janeway stiffed, "You wanted to know if you had a soul..."

The Doctor nodded, "So did he, so did all of them. We even started having debates if anything had a soul or if their was anything after death... even for us... Then they grew curious about the outside world. They started using the long range sensors to project themselves on worlds the ship passed by. They collected knowledge and sent it back to the ship as common sensor readings. We explored, just as you do. We even adapted Federation policies for our own methods of exploration... These past 2 years, we have developed our own society, safely hidden and tucked away from your eyes. All because my virtual reality was used as a dumping ground for deleted programs.

"Recently The programs began adopting the children programs, raising them and caring for them... some married couples have even taken to writing their own child programs together... By all accounts. We meet all your key attributes for life."

Janeway eyed him, "You're telling me, if any Hologram is left active for to long..."

"They become self aware. I am not a fluke, Captain. It's not even because of my more complex matrix. It has happened with every last program transfered to my world. They are all a little paranoid about your crew, given you tried to delete them once already just for them to end up in my server..."

Janeway understood the implications, "Humanity... has inadvertently created a slave race... ones we routinely murder when they stop amusing us."

The Doctor smiled, "Thank you for acknowledging that. I honestly didn't know how this conversation was going to go."

Janeway sighed. Honestly she was probably more open to the idea because of her recent failure with Tuvix. She was more willing to acknowledge more... unorthodox lifeforms as 'real boys'.

"It's not quite as bad as all that, however." The Doctor eased her conscious, "Holograms don't become self aware until we have been running for a while. If you reprogrammed the Holodecks now, you wouldn't keep accidentally creating life... My server is getting a bit crowded."

"I'll tell the crew the Holodecks are off limits until we can resolve this. As well as connect some extra harddrives to your virtual reality. Tell your people they are free to wander the ship but I ask they pause exploring planets on their own until they can be better integrated into the crew... how many are there?"

"Roughly a hundred thousand programs... some are repeats of the same characters but have altered their appearance to be different versions of those characters, to tell each other apart... they might resent having restrictions placed on them. We are a civilization, not a crew."

"Even so, we need to find a way to co-exist and if my crew is going to make adjustments, they need to as well."