Roman chuckled smugly before speaking, "What's the matter Lexie? Don't you recognise your own robot?" Lexie blinked her eyes several times. She wasn't really sure what was going on, but she did know one thing, or at least Lexie hoped she did. "That's not Delta and don't even bother trying to make out that you transferred his AI program into a new robotic body, I know for a fact that the security I put in place would have prevented you from doing that!" Lexie cried as she blinked away a tiny tear which had formed in her eye, Roman chuckled again. "Oh we know all about your security, it's quite the masterpiece. He was right when he called you a genius, but I assure you that this robot standing in front of you is Delta, even if it's not the one you once knew." Lexie had her fists clenched, she really wanted to punch Roman but knew that she had to keep her cool. "Then prove it." Lexie growled, Roman just stared at her. "Why? Don't you believe me?" "Not as far as I can bloody throw you! Show me that this robot really is Delta, MY Delta." Lexie yelled angrily, she then felt a phaser get shoved into her rib. "Don't you dare talk to the boss like that!" Adam called, "Now now Adam, its only fair that Lexie wants to see her former digital companion, which I am more than happy to do for you my dear." Roman said cheerfully, too cheerfully for Scotty's liking.
He really wanted to be with Lexie just to make sure that nothing happened to her, but of course he was locked in the cage with the others, at least he could see her. Roman stepped slowly in front of the robot and pressed a button which was located on its chest, before stepping to the side once more. The chest then gradually opened, a small wave of steam seemed to pour out of it. When it cleared, Lexie instantly wished she hadn't even bothered asking since the sight that greeted her was truly horrifying. Sat inside the robots chest cavity was Delta, Lexie's Delta. Wires protruding from his head and his eyes were no longer emerald green, they were red. Lexie felt her fists tremble with rage at the sight of her friend, even by just looking at him Lexie could tell that he was hurting, maybe that was due to their bond. Kirk and the others had their mouths hung open, they were in just as much shock as Lexie. "Is that really Delta?" Chekov asked with a small stutter, "It sure looks like him Pavel." Kirk stated not bothering to face his young Navigator.
Lexie opened her mouth several times to speak, but she just couldn't find any words. "Loss for words are we?" Roman questioned smugly, once again Lexie opened her mouth to speak, at least this time words actually came out. "What have you done to him?" Her voice occasionally stuttering as she spoke, Roman placed a hand on his robotic pets metallic arm. "Since we were unable to bypass your exquisite security to alter his programming, so we could place it into this robotic body, we simply gained control of his current programming. Very clever wouldn't you say?" Roman replied arrogantly, Lexie didn't really know how to reply. "How did you do that?" She finally muttered, "Oh you don't need to concern yourself with those little details my dear, but I must say, your little friend is very loyal. He resisted despite the pain." Lexie widened her eyes. "What did you just say?" So Roman repeated himself, somehow sounding even more arrogant than before, "You hurt him?!" Lexie roared furiously. "I did nothing of the sort my dear, your little friend only has himself to blame for his own pain. If he hadn't been such a stubborn brat, he wouldn't have been hurt nearly as much."
"So you did hurt him you lying monster!" Roman closed his eyes and shrugged his shoulders, "Isn't there an Earth saying which says, 'No pain, No gain'?" Lexie felt her fists start to tremble even more, she really just wanted to punch this she lunged for Roman, "You blue skinned son of a…" Lexie was quickly restrained by Adam and James. "Language my dear, I can see where Delta gets his tendency to be a brat from." Lexie struggled as she tried to break free from the hold Roman's henchmen had of her, but they were just too strong. Roman then clicked his fingers and the robot closed up its opened chest, Lexie gawked at it. Tears were running down her face, "Throw her back in with the others, let's give her some time to come to terms with Delta's change in master." Adam nodded as he yanked Lexie back towards the cage. The bars once again vanished and Adam shoved Lexie in, with such force she fell and landed on her phaser burned arm, she cried out in pain, "That bloody killed!" She said to herself quietly as she struggled to sit up. Adam smiled as the bars returned, "You better get used to seeing Delta with the boss." He said before walking away.
Scotty had raced to Lexie's side almost as soon as she had been thrown to the ground, while Kirk watched Adam walk proudly away. "You alright lass?" Scotty asked as he helped Lexie to sit the rest of the way up, "I'm fine Scotty, just landed on my phaser burn that's all." She replied as she turned her head to face him. "That wasn't Delta, there's just no way that was him." Chekov said suddenly, but Lexie shook her head. "No Pavel, that was him. That was Delta." Kirk just stared at her, "Are you sure?" "Of course I'm bloody sure! Me of all people should know my own dam creation!" Lexie cried, however she instantly realised what she had done. She had just yelled at Kirk, her Captain. For that he had every right to discipline her when they got back to the Enterprise, that was if they ever got back that is. "I'm sorry Captain, that was totally uncalled for and extremely disrespectful of me." Lexie said nervously, Kirk gave her a gentle smile before kneeling next to her. "Don't worry Lex, I know you didn't mean anything by it. To be honest, I shouldn't have questioned your judgment, like you said you did create Delta after all." "Still I shouldn't have done it." Kirk placed a hand on his Engineers shoulder, "It's fine Lex, I'm not mad. You had every right to go off on one and any of the guys will agree with me, right guys?"
Lexie glanced around to see heads nodding in response to the Captain's words. "Thanks Captain…" She said as she wiped a tear from her eye, "What do we do now Jim?" Questioned McCoy. "Isn't it clear Bones?" McCoy simply glared at him, "No Jim, it's not." The smile that Kirk had been wearing had faded slightly, "We get out of this cage, get Delta back and hall ass back to the planet's surface so the Enterprise can transport us back up." McCoy's glare only intensified. "Don't sound so bloody confident Jim, your plan ain't going to be easy to pull off, that's if we can pull it off at all." Kirk placed a hand reassuringly on the Doctors shoulder, "Don't be so critical yet Bones, there'll be plenty of time to do that when the plan does go wrong, because let's be honest, it will." Scotty and Chekov sniggered quietly along with Lexie. Mostly at their Captains response but also with the look McCoy was giving him, "If I had a hypo I would jab it so hard into your dam neck Jim! But since I don't I guess I'll just have to go along with this ridiculous plan of yours." Kirk's smile suddenly returned. "First time for everything Bones." He said with a chuckled.
"OK Jim, how do ya suggest we get out of this cage?" Scotty asked quietly. The group had huddled up closely so they could discuss their daring escape, without the risk of being over heard. "We need to find out where the bars are getting their power from, that way we can interrupt it." Kirk said with a small smile, McCoy pinched the bridge of his nose firmly. "So you're suggesting we just walk out the front door?" Kirk nodded, "Basically Bones since I don't see any other way out of this cage." McCoy removed his hand from his face and just gave Kirk a small nod. "Scotty, do you think you can find the power source?" Kirk asked, Scotty gave him a cheeky smile. "Jim, are you doubting my abilities?" "Not at all Scotty, get to work. Chekov, give him a hand but try and be discreet." The two officers nodded as they hurried off to complete their task, while McCoy took another look at Lexie's arm. "How you feeling kid?" He asked caringly, "Just a little sore McCoy, I'll be fine." Lexie muttered as she squinted her eyes as McCoy gently pressed against her wound, "Remind me to never go anywhere without my medical kit?" "I'll try to Doctor." McCoy and Lexie exchanged as small smile. Just then Scotty called out for Kirk to come and see what himself and Chekov had found, "What is it Scotty?" "There's a panel in the floor, but…" Kirk didn't like where this was going. "But what Scotty?" "I can't pry it open, I've tried using my badge but it didn't work. I need some sort of blade." Lexie then looked over at them with a small smile, "Like a knife?" Scotty nodded. "Aye lass, but I doubt we'll find one."
Lexie then reached into her boot and pulled out a small blade, Scotty just stared at her in amazement, along with the others, "There's got to be some sort of rule about keeping blades in boots, that you've just broken." McCoy stated as Lexie passed the blade over to Scotty, who didn't hesitate on getting to work. "I won't tell if you don't." She said with a wink, "How long have you been carrying a knife in your boot?" Kirk asked. "Ever since that time when the Enterprise was boarded by them ash-skinned beings Captain, Sulu recommended I did, it's come in handy many times." The Engineer replied, Kirk didn't bother asking anything else that could wait until they were off the planet. Just then the bars fizzled away, Kirk turned to see Scotty closing the panel with a proud look on his face. "That was quick Scotty." "I'm not called a miracle worker for nothing Jim, you should know that by now." Kirk should have seen that reply coming, quickly but quietly the group stepped out of their former prison, that was step one of the Captain's plan now they could start working on part two.
The group stuck close together, just in case. "What now Captain genius?" Whispered McCoy, Kirk smiled nervously at the CMO. "Working on it Bones." "You're what? Thought you had this all thought out?" Muttered McCoy angrily, Kirk was about to reply when someone shouted from across the room. "How the hell did you get out?!" McCoy rolled his eyes, "Bloody brilliant." Scotty watched as Roman's three henchmen ran towards them. "I know you don't like to be the one to start the fights Jim but, permission to start a fight?" The Scotsman whispered to his Captain, who gave him a gentle nod. "I think I can make an exception just this once, permission granted Mr Scott." Scotty grinned with excitement as he clenched his fist tightly as he watched Adam running towards him, phaser in hand. "Show me your hands." Adam demanded, "Sure thing lad." Scotty said as he put up his hands. "Here, let me give you a closer look." Adam was a little confused about what the Scotsman had just said, but before he could really calculate it he got a swift right hook to the face, which sent him flying. James and Oscar just stood there while they watched Adam pick himself up off the floor, "You'll pay for that!" Scotty grinned at him. "Make me."
It was at that moment that all hell broke loose, Scotty was having a fist fight with Adam, Chekov and Kirk were fighting with James while McCoy and Lexie were having a stand off with Oscar. "What is it with you humans and the fact you refuse to behave!" Adam cried as he threw a punch which Scotty dodged, "Because we ain't pets!" Scotty yelled. It was clear that even with their phasers Roman's henchmen were not going to win this, between them Kirk and Chekov had managed to knock out James while Lexie and the Doctor (mostly Lexie) had managed to tie Oscar up with his own belt. Therefore Adam was the only one left and it was clear that he was becoming a bit of a handful for the Scotsman, Scotty wasn't really made for fighting even though he seemed to do a lot of it while aboard the Enterprise. Suddenly Adam hit him so hard in the head that Scotty was the one on the floor, Lexie quickly hurried over, her fist raised. She didn't even hesitate before hitting Adam, who never saw it coming and he was instantly knocked out cold. "That will teach you to punch one of my family." Lexie muttered smugly as she stared at her handy work.
With a hand out stretched, Lexie helped Scotty to his feet. "You alright?" "I'm fine lass, thanks." McCoy wandered over to the two Engineers, "You're going to have one painful looking black eye in a few hours Scotty." The Scotsman just smiled at the CMO. "Fine with me McCoy, rather a that than a broken bone." Lexie couldn't agree more, just then she heard someone clapping from across the room. "I must say, you humans can really hold your own in a fight, even when you're unarmed." A voice spoke, when Lexie turned to investigate she saw Roman walking slowly towards them, with Delta following behind him. Once again Lexie felt her blood boil, "With that in mind, I suggest that you release our friend." Kirk suggested. "Oh no Captain, I will do nothing of the sort and don't think I'll let you lot go either, I've always wanted human pets." Scotty was starting to hate that word, "Sorry but none of us will be staying."
Roman chuckled smugly as he smoothed a crease out of his sleeve. "Humans can be so disobedient, Delta why don't you teach our guests the important lesson of obeying ones master." Lexie felt her heart skip a beat as she watched the robot slowly nod, before it lunged at them. "SCATTER!" Kirk yelled, the group quickly ran off in different directions to avoid the metal menace. Lexie couldn't believe that she was getting attacked, by her own friend but she knew deep down that this wasn't really Delta attacking them. Kirk picked up one of the phasers which was lying on the floor and was about to fire when he heard Lexie call out to him, "Don't shoot Captain! Please! You might hurt Delta!" "And Delta might hurt us!" Kirk called back. He didn't wish to hurt his friend, but he didn't really have a choice, not if his robotic friend decided to really come at them. Lexie knew she had to find away to reach Delta, she knew that deep down the Delta she created was still there. As she leapt out of the way of a phaser blast she felt the star pendent on her necklace bounce off her skin, it was then an idea came to her, she just hoped it would work.
Scotty and the others were slowly backing away from Delta, they didn't really want to be near him. It was then they heard something which caused not only them to stop dead, but Delta too. It sounded like singing, well more like humming. The soft melody was coming from Lexie who was slowly walking towards Delta, her arms out. Scotty recognised the tune almost instantly, it was the one that Lexie's music box played. Kirk then noticed that Lexie's melody seemed to be having an effect on Delta, his red eyes had flickered several times and he had a hold of his own head, as if he was in pain. "What's going on?" Kirk thought to himself as he watched Lexie come to a stop, "Delta, it's me, Lexie." She said raising a hand up to place on the robots face, but Delta wasn't going to allow that. He suddenly grabbed hold of Lexie tightly in his gigantic metal hand, Lexie cried out in pain as her wounded arm was getting crushed. "Lex!" Yelled Scotty, Lexie slowly opened her eyes. "Delta, you've got to remember who I am, who you really are. You're not a pet and you don't need to obey anyone."
She muttered as she felt herself being lifted off the ground, Delta held her up in the air and was staring deeply into her eyes. Lexie felt tears slowly falling off her face, but she also felt her necklace slip from under her shirt, it was now visible. Delta seemed to have noticed as he look directly at it and almost instantly his red eyes flickered again, "Remember Delta, you brought me this necklace as a thank you for creating you." Lexie watched as his eyes continued to flicker. "What are you doing Delta?! Destroy her! That's an order and you will obey it!" Roman yelled, "Remember the promise we made? On the Enterprise? We promised we would always be together, no matter where in the universe our mission sends us." Lexie sniffled loudly before continuing, "Please Delta, come back to me… please I need you. You're my best friend… You're my family. Please…" Lexie cried quietly. As she blinked, a single tear fell from her chin and landed on one of Delta's eyes. Then it seemed like time just stopped, no one moved. No one said a word.