Kirk slowly opened his eyes, his whole body stung like hell, well the parts he could feel that is. He slowly sat up to see the others lying around, clearly he had been the first one to wake up. Kirk then took note of his surroundings, he was in a large cage but with energy bars rather than metal ones. Just then from beside him Kirk heard a groan, he turned to see McCoy slowly waking up. "You alright Bones?" He asked as he shuffled over to the waking Doctor, "Been better to be honest Jim, I didn't expect to be electrocuted when I agreed to come down here to look for the little guy." McCoy answered as he rubbed his head. "My god have I got one hell of a headache." McCoy muttered angrily to himself, it was then the two of them heard someone else slowly coming around. "Ow, my head." A Russian voice whimpered, "Welcome back Pavel." Kirk said with a small smile as he watched his young Navigator slowly sit up. "What happened?" He asked. McCoy put up one of his hands, "Trust me kid, you don't want to know." Chekov didn't bother arguing with the Doctor since he didn't seem to be in the best of moods, which was understandable in their current predicament. "Have Scotty and Lexie come round yet?" Asked Chekov, his Captain was about to answer when he heard the two Engineers slowly grumble as they both regain consciousness.
Quickly the three of them hurried over to them, Kirk went to Scotty while McCoy and Chekov went to Lexie. "How ya feeling Scotty?" Kirk asked as he helped his Chief to sit up, "Like I've got the universes worse hangover Sir." The Scotsman replied as he rubbed his eye. "Wait, Lexie!" Scotty quickly span round to see his young colleague being helped up by McCoy, a hand clutching her arm. "Let me see that arm." McCoy said as he pulled out his tricorder, Lexie removed her hand to reveal a phaser burn. "You'll live but you're just gonna have to put up with the pain, I didn't bring a hypo down with me." Lexie gave the Doctor a small smile, "Fine with me Doctor, can you at least use this to wrap it up." With her other hand, Lexie handed McCoy the handkerchief. McCoy took it from her and tied it around her wound, at least that way it was somewhat protected. "You alright lass?" Scotty asked concernedly, Lexie gave the Scotsman a soft smile before answering him. "I'm fine Scotty, but where are we?" Kirk stood up and wandered over to the electric bars to peer out of their prison.
Upon glancing around Kirk didn't feel any better, even though the room was gigantic it was brightly lit. The white light seemed to make the dull grey walls glow in a strange way, but on closer inspection Kirk noticed that there was nothing in the room, it appeared they were the only things in there. By this point McCoy had joined Kirk, "Doesn't look very welcoming does it Jim?" The Doctor stated. "It sure doesn't Bones, but there again nothing on this planet has looked that way." McCoy couldn't agree more, the planet didn't look very appealing from obit, then even worse when they first beamed down and add on the fact that there was what appeared to be an abandoned futuristic city hiding beneath its lifeless surface. Over all, Tencamaria had made it onto McCoy's 'Worse planets ever' list, along with his list of 'Places not to come back to.' Kirk then realised that he hadn't got his phaser. "Just brilliant, my phasers gone." It was then the two of them heard a voice call from across the room, "My apologies my good fellows, I wasn't aware the pair of you were awake, along with your friends. If I had known I would have come sooner." Kirk soon spotted a man walking towards the cage, his light blueish skin almost seemed to glisten in the white lights which shone down from the ceiling.
"Who are you?! Why did you attack us?!" Kirk yelled angrily, "Now, now, one question at a time." The man said. Kirk simply glared at him, "Then answer the first one!" "My name is Roman, one of this wonderful planets people." Kirk's glare grew in intensity. "Now answer my second question, why did you attack us? We're not here to harm you or anyone on this planet." Roman gave the Captain a smug smile, "Oh I know you're not here to do harm, believe me but I am curious as to what you are doing here? It has been years since any members of Star Fleet have stepped foot here." Kirk didn't really want to reveal their reason for being on the planet, but he knew he didn't really have a choice. "We're looking for one of our friends, a small silver robot with wings. A tracking chip installed within him led us here." Roman's smile only grew, "Well maybe I can help you, what would this robots name be?" Kirk glanced over his shoulder at Lexie, who gave him a light nod as if to say it was alright to reveal a name. "Delta, the robots name is Delta." Kirk said, "Arh yes, I think I've heard that name before." Roman replied. Almost instantly Lexie turned her head towards her Captain, "What do you mean?" Roman chuckled slightly as his smile only grew more.
Roman stood there, a hand firmly planted on his hip. "What I mean is that I have heard of a small robot like the one you described which had that name." Kirk clenched his fist tightly, "Do you know where he is?" "Yes, I do." Lexie jumped up so quickly that she scared Scotty and Chekov. "Please tell us where he is, like Captain Kirk said we only came here to find our friend. Once we have him back, we'll leave." Lexie pleaded, Roman gently nodded as he gestured for someone to join him. It soon became apparent it wasn't just one person, it was three. "These are my men. Adam, James, and Oscar. Gentlemen, our guests here are looking for a robot by the name of Delta." Lexie switched between the three men, by the looks which slowly appeared on their faces it was clear that something was amiss. "He wouldn't happen to have greenish eyes?" Asked one, Kirk nodded. "And a pair of wings." Another questioned, this time McCoy was the one to confirm it, then finally the last man asked. "Does he have a Delta symbol engraved on his shoulder, along with a gold heart on his chest." Lexie nodded quickly, "Yes, that's him! Do you know where he is?" Adam nodded. "We do, but how do you know him?" Lexie looked puzzled, Kirk had already said that they were Delta's friends so what more could she say.
"I'm the one who created him, besides you heard what my Captain said didn't you? He doesn't lie." Roman had been looking closely at Lexie, he knew he recognised her from somewhere. "Please excuse my friend Lexie, he's just being cautious that's all." Lexie blinked her eyes several times, did this man just refer to her by name. "What… What did you just call me?" So Roman repeated himself, but Lexie was still in amazement. "How do you know my name?" "Your little friend told me." Lexie's mouth opened slightly, while Roman giggled. "Oh I'm sorry, did I forget to mention that I've met your friend." Kirk seemed to growl at this strange man, "Yes you did fail to mention that part." Lexie felt her anger slowly rise, she wasn't in the mood for games and since she had put two and two together she was even more annoyed. "You're the ones who took Delta aren't you?!" Roman simply nodded as he waved his henchmen away, "Oh you do learn quickly don't you Lexie, yes we're the ones who took your little friend." Lexie was on the edge of completely losing her cool, even though she knew there was nothing she could do, not while she and the others were locked away in a cage, so all she could so was clench her fists tightly.
Lexie's eyes were staring directly at the blue skinned human, a flame of anger burning within them. "But why? Why would you take Delta? He's no threat to you! He's no threat to anyone!" She cried, Roman took a step closer to her. "Oh we know he's no threat to us, but he does intrigue us. Never in all my years have I seen such an advanced AI program, especially one created by a simple human, he would make a brilliant pet." Lexie felt her face slowly get redder, "A pet?! Did he really just call Delta a pet?!" She yelled inside her head. "Delta's not a bloody pet!" She yelled angrily. "Oh but he is my dear, that is once we made a few alterations." Roman replied smugly, Lexie was starting to really hate this guy. It was then it clicked in her mind what Roman had just said, "Alterations? Why would you alter something you claim is so advanced?" She asked, trying not to sound too smug. "Because he was a stubborn little brat who wouldn't obey his master!" Roman cried, clearly Lexie had wound him up a great deal. "Don't you dare call Delta a brat! Besides he doesn't take orders, not from me and not from anyone! He has free will." "To be correct my dear, Delta 'had' free will. Since he wouldn't obey, we simply made it so he had no choice but to."
Lexie felt her anger slightly subside for a moment, what did Roman mean by that. "I swear to god if you've hurt him I'll make you regret ever taking him!" Lexie yelled as her anger returned, she was so furious that she reached through the bars and grabbed Roman by the collar of his shirt, so tightly that her knuckles slowly turned white. "Listen here you blue skin monster! Wherever Delta is you better bring him here and he better be just how I last saw him!" Roman simply chuckled as he raised his hand, Kirk noticed something was in it, to Kirk it looked like some sort of taser. Roman pressed it against Lexie's hand, she screamed out in pain before falling backwards, thankfully into Chekov's arms since he had been sitting behind her. "Lexie!" Kirk cried as McCoy hurried to her side, "Electric shock." Muttered the Doctor. "Consider that a warning not to threaten me again, otherwise next time I won't be so light on my punishment." Stated Roman as he placed his weapon in his pocket before walking away, Kirk had plenty of things to say to that guy but didn't like the idea of getting tasered.
Scotty had taken off his red uniform shirt and had folded it up to form a small pillow, so Lexie's head could rest on it instead of the floor. McCoy scanned her over with his tricorder which he was surprised he still had, while Scotty sat close to her side. "Will she be alright?" The Scotsman asked nervously, "She'll be fine Scotty, her body will recover relatively quickly from that shock so she should wake up shortly." McCoy said reassuringly, he knew that Scotty was just worried since he cared a lot for the young Engineer. The two of them were really close after all, "I guess the only good thing is that we now know for definite that Delta is here." Kirk said with a nervous giggle, McCoy just glared at him. "Oh yes Jim, its brilliant. May I remind you that were currently locked inside a dam cage like rats!" Chekov diverted his eyes from Lexie to look at his Captain, "What do we do Sir?" Kirk began to slowly pace up and down. "You can stop that right now Jim! My head hurts enough without having to watch you drive yourself mad."
McCoy stated as he placed his tricorder away, Kirk instantly stopped, he didn't wish to annoy the Doctor. "What do you think they've done with Delta Jim?" Scotty asked, just by the fact he had called his Captain by his first name made it clear that Scotty was worried. "I don't really want to think about that to be honest Scotty, I just can't handle what they possibly could have done." Kirk replied sadly, he really didn't want to think about what Roman and his men have done to his digital crew member. "This is not how I envisioned this panning out if I'm honest." Kirk stated as he slowly walked over and sat next to McCoy, "I don't think any of us did Jim, we were all too focused on finding Delta." Kirk nodded. "But if I'm honest, we should have known something was going to go wrong. I mean, when does anything go right for us?" McCoy stared with a small smile, Kirk didn't bother replying since he know the Doctor was right. Scotty had his hand rested on Lexie's arm, he had never seen her so angry before, this only proved how much she cared for Delta. Scotty would be lying if he said that he wasn't angry himself because he was, Scotty was bloody fuming! He saw Delta as a close friend and as family.
Lexie opened her eyes, but she almost instantly knew that it wasn't in reality, she had just woken up within her own mind. She looked around however the only thing she could see was white, bright white. That was until a shadowy figure began to walk towards her, a figure Lexie didn't recognise. "Hello?" Lexie called, why she did that was a mystery it wasn't as if the thing was going to reply. The figure slowly got closer and closer but Lexie didn't move, she just stood still. Suddenly the figure's eyes began to glow crimson red, while a familiar but distorted voice called out. "Lexie…Help me…" Lexie felt an intense shiver run down her spine, "Delta?" She muttered. Lexie then heard another voice calling her name, she knew who it was, it was Scotty. "Lexie! Lexie, wake up lass!" Just then Lexie flung her eyes open and sat bolt up right and screamed. "DELTA!" She then felt a hand on her shoulder, "It's OK lass, you're alright." Scotty said calmly.
Lexie quickly turned to face him, a single tear running down her face. "What happened?" "Roman shocked you with a taser, how do you feel?" McCoy stated as he scanned her with his tricorder again, "I'm just a little sore but I'll be fine." Lexie replied before she turned to face Kirk. "My apologies Captain, I let my emotions get the better of me." Kirk smiled as he knelt down next to her, "It's alright Lexie, I understand completely." Lexie smiled back at him slightly. "Did you have a nightmare while you were out?" Chekov asked, "Why do you ask that?" "You screamed Delta's name." Stated McCoy. Lexie looked down at the ground, was that really a nightmare or just a vision? "I'm not sure if it was a nightmare, but I did see something scary. A shadowy figure with glowing red eyes, but its what it said which was the worst thing." Lexie said as she twiddled her thumbs, "What did it say?" Asked Scotty, "It said 'Lexie, help me' but it sounded like Delta, well it sort of did."
Before anyone could reply the bars to their prison vanished and Adam, James, and Oscar appeared, phasers in hand. Adam walked into the cage and pointed his phaser at Lexie, while Oscar and James kept theirs pointed at the others. "Get up! Now!" Adam yelled, Lexie just stared at him. "Why?" She questioned with a small smile, which was clearly the wrong thing to do since she now had a phaser shoved against her chest. "Because I said so, now get up or my finger might accidently pull this trigger." Lexie's smile faded quickly, "Well, since you put it that way." She was just about to get up when Scotty stood in front of her. "Just a minute there lad, she ain't going anywhere." James stepped forward and pointed his phaser at the Scotsman's head, "Say one more word and it may be your last." Scotty then felt something tap him on the hand, he glanced down to see it was Lexie, her soft smile had returned for a moment. "It's alright Scotty, I'll be fine. I don't want you to get hurt." She then slowly rose to her feet, "You're not going to hurt the others are you?" She asked. Adam gave her a smug smile, "Not yet no." That didn't fill Lexie with confidence as she was led out of the cage. As soon as she was out, along with Adam and his mates the bars reappeared, sealing the other members of the crew away from Lexie, who couldn't help but feel nervous. "Where are you going to take me?" She asked trying not to show fear, "Nowhere, the boss is coming to you. He has something to show you." Adam replied as he shifted his phaser to his other hand.
It was then when Lexie saw Roman walking back across the room, but he wasn't alone. Beside him walked an animatronic with a body of pure grey metal with black markings, but it was its eyes which Lexie noticed almost immediately. They were huge, almost the size of her hands and they glowed with a crimson red light, just like the ones in her vision or nightmare, Lexie still hadn't figured out which of the two it was, but she didn't have the time to contemplate that now. "Do you like him?" Asked Roman, "He's not my kind of animatronic and considering he attacked us then I guess the answer is no, I don't like him." Lexie replied quickly, not taking her eyes off Roman or his gigantic toy robot. "That's a shame you don't like him, he is your robot after all." Lexie's eyes widen and there was an audible gasp from the cage behind her, "What are you saying?" She muttered. Roman gestured over to the robot, "Why, this is Delta." Lexie felt her heart sink, she felt sick to her stomach. Could that really be Delta? Her sweet little digital companion?