At 0800 she entered sick bay, her heart probably pounding was quickly as the Doctor's.

"Hello Irina, are you read to start?" he greeted her with a big grin.

Getting straight to the point, she thought.

"Yes, sure." She answered, typing at the console. "This time I think I will run your new subroutines separately from your matrix core on the main computer. This will use up a lot of memory and will be quite inefficient but it allows us to make quick changes. Later, we can still implement it in your matrix."

"Whatever you say, Chief Engineer" the Doctor smiled.

"So what exactly did you prepare?"

"Starting from the immunologic parameters I've created 26 possible chemical compositions of my own olfactory fingerprint."

"26?" Irina was surprised. "And all of this during one night?"

The Doctor nodded and was obviously very pleased with his own work.

"So, would you mind being my guinea pig?" The Doctor asked.

"Of course not" Irina answered and at least in this matter she was absolutely sincere. She was very curious what he had prepared.

"I think you'll need to stand a little closer" the Doctor said.

Irina felt like it was Christmas. She felt her heart racing when she stepped close to him. Very close. Her nose was only centimetres away from his bare neck and her breasts were almost touching his chest.

"Computer, start subroutine EMH omega 1-1"

"Beep-boop" sounded an affirmative beeping noise.

"Are you smelling anything?" the Doctor asked.

Irina took a deep breath but there was nothing.

"I am sorry, but, no. I can't smell anything."

"Oh." The Doctor said and although she couldn't see his face she could sense his disappointment.

"Let's try the next one."

"Alright", the Doctor started "for the next one I've tried a classical 24th century aftershave from earth. Computer, start subroutine EMH omega 1-2"

The sweet, artificial scent hit Irina like a slap in the face. It was nauseating.

"Eww" she stepped back and waved her hand in front of her nose "I know this perfume. It's horrible."

The Doctor sighed. "Okay, next one. Computer, start subroutine EMH omega 1-3"

The next scent was way more pleasant, it was a slight hint of a perfume she didn't know but it was definitely way less intrusive than the last one. However, she still was not convinced.

"This one smells nice."

"Great! Should we implement it?"

"No, I don't think so. It's very generic. It's pleasant but it's not you, if you know what I mean."

"Oh. I think I understand." The Doctor still was a little disappointed. "The next one is way more natural. I experimented a little with the parameters I took from Doctor Zimmermann. Computer, start subroutine EMH omega 1-4."

In the beginning, Irina didn't smell anything at all. She leaned a little closer to him, her nose almost touching his skin. And then it struck her like a bolt of lightning.

It wasn't even a distinctive smell. It was not something she could describe with words. Instead it was something instinctive and primal, something that rooted deeply in the fundaments of her human biology. It was as if this scent bypassed all of her higher brain functions and directly appealed to her reproductive drive. And her physiology reacted accordingly. She felt her heart race, her face flush and she noticed the familiar pulsating sensation in her loins.

"Irina?" the Doctor interrupted her thoughts. "Is something wrong?"

"N-no" she stammered "Nothing's wrong. This is just... wow."

"Is it good?"

"Oh yes, it is. If that doesn't catch Seven's attention then... I don't know what will."

The Doctor looked at her and noticed her flushed face.

"Are you sure you're alright? You look like you're having a fever."

"No, no" Irina answered with a defensive gesture "everything is fine."

"So you say we should implement this version into my holomatrix?"

"Yes, I think so. As long as you don't want to run any more tests."

He rubbed his chin thoughtfully.

"Well, judging from your reaction version 1-4 is the obvious choice. However, there is one aspect we haven't talked about yet."

"What do you mean?"

"Since you have been my guinea pig for these tests the results are clearly biased. What if you are attracted to this certain composition of immune factors but Seven isn't?"

"I- I guess that's a risk you'll have to take." Irina answered, relieved that he did not go into further detail about how she was attracted to his immunochemical markers. "Sometimes two people are just not... compatible. And there's nothing you can do about it."

He looked sceptical but eventually he nodded. "I guess you're right. You are the only one of us who has first-hand experience with this aspect of human biology. So I will have to trust your opinion."

It took her about two hours but in the end she was able to include the new subroutine into his holomatrix. Just in time, she thought. At the end of her shift she wanted to leave sick bay but saw the Doctor sitting at his computer, nervously drumming his fingers on the table.

"Hey Doc" she addressed him and he looked up at her tensely.

"What's the matter?"

"If you want to ask Seven out you should do that soon. The reception starts in a few minutes."

"I know, I know." He said but he didn't move.

Irina walked over to him and gently squeezed his shoulder.

"Doc, I know this is not easy. But if you don't try you will never know. And later you will always wonder what could have been if you had just found the courage to ask her out."

He sighed.

"You're right" he said and finally got up. "I will go and see her now. We'll meet at the reception later."

"Good luck, Doc."

"Thank you, Irina." When he was just about to leave he turned around. "Thank you for everything"

And then he was gone.

Irina left sick bay and headed towards her own quarters. She was torn. One part of her wished he would succeed and the other part wished him to fail. But in the end she knew that most importantly she wanted him to be happy. If Seven of Nine could give him what he desired then this was how it was supposed to be.