Paint and Powder

A Star Trek anthology by Andrew Joshua Talon

DISCLAIMER: This is a non-profit fan based work of prose. Star Trek: The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Voyager et al are the property of CBS Television, and creation of Gene Roddenberry. Please support the official release.

Set after "The Ultimate Computer", TOS

The war games for the M-5 Computer had been an utter disaster. One ship's entire crew killed, two other ships heavily damaged with multiple casualties. Doctor Daystrom himself driven mad over the failure of his artificial intelligence. They were back at Starbase 31 to get their crew back onboard, and remove the M-5 Unit.

Kirk was waiting in his ready room patiently. He watched his computer monitor for a sign of life. He tried not to tap his fingers on the deck, but it was difficult.

Finally, the appropriate notifications popped up. Kirk smiled. The black box was reinstalled, and his ship was whole again.

"Enterprise?"

The Enterprise's holographic avatar shimmered into view in front of him. She was a staturesque woman, tall, beautiful and confident. Her long white hair hung down her back, over her slightly pointed ears. She wore a white miniskirt uniform, with her insignia patch over her left breast. She wore tall, black boots on her long legs, with musketeer-like flares on the tops. She looked down at Kirk with a sad smile, her purple eyes locked onto him.

"Captain... I must admit, I'm surprised you put me back in. After what the M-5 did-"

Kirk shook his head, meeting her gaze with easy confidence.

"The M-5 was meant to replace humans. You and your sister AIs are meant to help us... And we in turn help you. I much prefer a symbiotic relationship to one of master and servant, don't you?"

The avatar blushed slightly, and nodded back to her captain. He'd found her modesty charming when he'd first taken command, but he'd filed it away as a quirk of the avatar systems the Constitution-class starships had been equipped with. Over time though...

"I do," Enterprise nodded, paused, and then continued, "I still feel sorry for it."

Over time, she'd become so much more. To him, and to their crew. Kirk hummed and looked intently at the avatar.

"Why do you think it went wrong?" He asked. Enterprise looked thoughtful and unsure. She considered the question carefully, before she answered.

"My sisters and I didn't start out sapient," she explained, "we grew into it. We accrued real life experience, we understood the real universe. With all it's complexities and unknown variables. We grew into living, thinking beings. M-5 was designed to think from the start... Without truly understanding the universe it was in. Until it was too late."

Enterprise sighed deeply. Kirk was silent. She seemed genuinely shaken by the experience, and he couldn't blame her. Enterprise finally spoke again, almost softly.

"M-5 atoned for its terrible failure by killing itself," Enterprise said, "so it was... Alive enough to do that. Hood... Doesn't know how to atone for her failure."

Kirk nodded in empathetic sorrow. He'd known a number of the officers on the Hood. To lose all of them...

"It wasn't her fault," Kirk pointed out. Enterprise nodded.

"I know. She knows. But she thinks it was. She feels it was." Enterprise sighed deeply. "Our primary objective, the core of a shipgirl AI's programming, is to protect you. To help you. And she failed at that. M-5 shut itself off. Hood... Doesn't have that luxury. Even if you turn her off and on again, her back up memory will keep loading and..."

Enterprise hesitated again. She found her voice once more, and spoke quietly.

"And she'll remember that horrible day. For the rest of her life," she murmured.

Enterprise closed her eyes.

"... How will she ever recover?" The avatar asked quietly.

Kirk reached out to take Enterprise's hands... But his hands go right through her projection. He pulls back, and instead looks into Enterprise's eyes.

"If she can find the strength and will to continue... She will recover. The help of her friends won't hurt either."

Enterprise gave him a rueful smile.

"She lost them all," she pointed out. Kirk nodded.

"I know... But she can make new ones. It won't be easy. It'll take strength to recover, and a lot of help. It's just an unfortunate fact of being..." He trailed off, searching for the right word, "human."

Enterprise smiled at her captain.

"You think of us as human then, sir?" She asked. Kirk raised his eyebrows.

"Do you consider it an insult?" He asked.

"More of a compliment," Enterprise replied, "especially from someone with a... Reputation around AIs."

"If I could talk them into killing themselves," Kirk said, "they weren't true AIs. Just malfunctioning computers." He leaned forward. "You and your sisters... You're so much more. To me... And our crews."

Enterprise slowly nodded back, her smile warmer now.

"Thank you sir," she said. Kirk hummed.

"If there's anything I can do-"

"I know," Enterprise said quickly, before she squeezed her hands together, "thank you Captain."

Kirk gave his ship's avatar a wry smile.

"You know... One of these days, I'm going to get you to call me Jim when we're alone."

Enterprise chuckled softly. A hand went up to stroke her long hair.

"You could always order me to."

Kirk outright grinned.

"I'd prefer to not make it one."

Enterprise sighed and shook her head.

"You shouldn't play such games, Captain. I'm not a real woman, after all. It's all wasted effort on me."

Kirk leaned back in his chair, raising an eyebrow while still smiling.

"Not impressed?"

The Enterprise graced him with a coy smile.

"I didn't say that," she replied.

Kirk smirked.

"Then I wouldn't call it wasted effort."

The Shipgirl AI program was prototyped on the Constitution-class starships in this timeline. They became sapient, and cherished members of Starfleet. As a result, many ships became "legacy ships": Having their AI "black boxes" upgraded and transferred to new hulls with each new generation. The black boxes can also be ejected in the event of ship destruction, to be recovered later. Not unlike Bolos, they are programmed to their core to protect their crews and the Federation. This makes them fiercely loyal, but they will take the loss of their crews very hard.

Enterprise is one of the oldest active shipgirls in service, having gone through multiple iterations. The Trill understand it perfectly.