Data: Why did you create me?

. . .

Noonian Soong: Oh, so you believe that having children gives humans a sense of immortality, do you?

Data: It is a reasonable explanation to your query, sir.

Noonian Soong: And to yours as well, Data.

[TNG S4E03 Brothers]

Geordi stood in front of the door and chimed. When it opened, he came inside with a shy smile.

'Hi, Lieutenant Ortez,' he said.

'Hi, Commander La Forge,' she replied, surprised.

'Are you finishing your work?'

'Why do you ask?'

'Frankly speaking, I've read your paper about Data and I'd like to talk with you about it,' said Geordi.

'Oh, I see.' T'Mal tapped on her computer and turned it off. 'We can talk now, I've finished.'

'We can go to Ten Forward, what do you think?'

'Okay, let's go.' T'Mal got up and they went out of the lab.

'I thought Data had already talked with you about it,' she said, confused.

'Much to my surprise—no, he didn't.'

'But it was weeks ago!'

'Maybe it was too confusing for him,' said Geordi.

'Maybe you're right. But I was convinced you knew everything. You're his best friend.'

'Yeah.' Geordi sighed.

'It must be difficult for you.'

'You really are a counselor, aren't you.' They went into the lift. 'Deck ten.'

'I am, but I'm rather useless as a counselor,' said T'Mal.

'Are you? You've just discovered something extraordinary. To be honest, I feel as if I failed Data by not seeing it earlier myself.'

'You're too harsh on yourself. Data himself didn't know it, how could you possibly have known?'

They went out of the lift and headed towards the pub.

'The only reason why I was able to detect his emotions is the fact that I could experiment on Lore before, which is quite controversial after all,' continued T'Mal.

'Yeah, I guess you're right. But I wonder why he didn't tell me. Maybe he thought I wouldn't believe him? Or maybe he doubted I could offer him any support? Either way I feel like I let him down.'

They went into Ten Forward and sat down.

'Feeling that way is natural, but it doesn't mean it's true,' said T'Mal. 'Data certainly doesn't think you failed him. He speaks very highly of you.'

'I'm happy, but…'

'Maybe you should stop thinking about the past and focus on the future. You've always been a great friend to Data and now, with the new information about him, you can support him in different ways.'

'But how?' Geordi looked a bit frustrated. 'If he doesn't know what he feels, how can I? He's so calm all the time.'

'You'll have to watch his reactions closely. They can be very subtle. It'll be difficult at first, but I think it might get easier with time. And remember, Data also tries to understand his emotions. He's making some progress, at least he tries not to ignore them anymore. I think right now he just needs to accept that he feels anything. He has spent years believing otherwise. Such discoveries are usually difficult and require some time to process.'

'You two seem to talk a lot about it, don't you?'

'We meet every monday to watch a film, so we have an opportunity to talk,' said T'Mal.

'Yeah, he's mentioned it a few times. Actually,' he said, struck by a sudden thought, 'he talked about it a lot and wanted to talk even more, but we had to focus on work. Is it possible that this was his way of expressing his emotions? By, well, babbling?'

'Definitely. You know, due to his difficulties in recognising his emotions he needs time to process them. Extensive talking is a way to do this. He doesn't know what he feels, but he knows that certain situations cause some reaction in him. He might not be talking about his feelings directly, but analysing what happened and what he thinks about it can help him address his emotions, acknowledge them at least on some level.'

'Do you think it would be possible to develop some kind of emotion program to help him?'

'I'm not sure,' said T'Mal. 'His positronic net is very complex. The risk might be too great.'

'And what about the emotion chip from Dr. Soong? Maybe you'll be able to fix it or use it as inspiration?'

'What emotion chip?'

'Didn't Data tell you?'

'No,' replied T'Mal in a quieter voice.

'Oh. Maybe you should talk to him about it. If he's okay with it, I can give it to you. It's damaged, but maybe it can be useful somehow.'

'Thank you, I'll talk to him.'

As they were talking, Data went into Ten Forward and noticed them. He took a step towards them but stopped. He stared at them for a while, then left the room.

— — —

'Data, did Dr. Soong tell you something more about the chip he created for you?' asked T'Mal.

They were sitting on the couch in her quarters. T'Mal was wrapped in the gravity blanket and was holding a cup of hot tea.

'No, he did not. I told you everything. The chip was designed to provide me with emotions. In the light of your discovery I assume it was meant to amplify my emotions to make them easily recognisable.'

'Then how were you able to experience such strong emotions when Lore was manipulating you? You didn't have the chip installed at the time,' said T'Mal. 'I think your positronic net must be capable of feeling even such passionate emotions. I mean, it's pretty obvious anyway. When Graves transferred his consciousness into your body, he definitely felt everything.'

'But I do not recognise my emotions. Perhaps the chip was meant to help me.'

'The thing is, I've analysed it and…'

'You have?' Data moved a bit.

'You're anxious!' T'Mal pointed out with a smile.

'Am I?' Data looked confused. 'Ah. I have moved and I really want to know the results of your analysis.'

'Yes.'

'To be honest, observing my behavior and analysing my wishes seem pointless sometimes. I wish there was an easier way.'

'It will be easier,' said T'Mal. 'Thanks to your efforts your mental pathways are already adjusting to recognising your emotions.'

'I hope so. Back to the point: what are the results of your analysis of the chip?'

'It's damaged, so I might be mistaken, but I just don't see how it could work as an emotion amplifier or something like that. It acts more as a carrier of complex waves or data. I think that's how Lore was able to transfer his emotions to you. I've read about similar systems in Graves' memories. I believe there's a possibility that Soong didn't actually want to give you the emotion chip. He must have known you dreamt of feeling. He could have easily manipulated you with such a promise. Did you ever ask him why he had created you?'

'I did,' replied Data. 'He told me that the explanation is similar to why humans have children—it gives them the sense of immortality.'

'Immortality… I'm probably exaggerating, but I suspect the chip could have been designed to transfer consciousness. Soong was old and dying. Perhaps he called you to his planet to transfer himself into your body. To gain immortality. Perhaps it was his aim from the very beginning. Perhaps that's why he made you look like him.'

'This is quite a disputable idea.'

'I know. But there's something very weird about the chip,' said T'Mal. 'To be honest, there's also something weird about your scans.'

'What do you mean?'

'You had some unexpectedly strong reactions to a few photos, as if somehow you remembered them subconsciously.'

'But I do not remember anything from my life on Omicron Theta,' said Data. 'My memory was wiped.'

'You didn't know about your dream program and here you are. I've been wondering if I could modify it to search through your memories.'

'I do not see a reason not to. It sounds intriguing.'

— — —

Data was sitting under the arch in the empty holodeck. T'Mal gently opened his head's right cover and connected the cable.

'Okay, I've linked your neural net to the holodeck,' she said and walked up to the arch controller. 'Computer, activate program Ortez Number Six. Now, Data, run your dream program. We'll see if this works. Are you ready?'

'I am. Initiating dream program. Stand by.' Data closed his eyes and fell asleep.

The holodeck immediately disappeared and turned into a lab filled with flashing control panels. T'Mal looked around and noticed some disturbing children's drawings of a scary circular entity and people running away in fear.

'Crystalline Entity,' she muttered to herself. 'I guess this is Omicron Theta.'

She made a few steps inside and suddenly heard a noise. A young boy went into the room and stopped several meters from her. He was tapping his fingers on the back of the tablet he was holding.

'Hi, I'm T'Mal,' she introduced herself. 'Who are you?'

The boy stared at her for a moment, then turned on his tablet and started tapping on it. He showed her the screen.

'Charlie,' T'Mal read out loud. 'Hi, Charlie. How old are you?'

The boy wrote something on the tablet again.

'Thirteen,' read T'Mal. 'Thank you, Charlie. Do you know where we are? Oh, Dr. Soong's lab. Interesting. Can you tell me why you aren't speaking to me and write instead? Oh, you're autistic and nonverbal. I see. I'm autistic too, you know?'

Charlie made a few steps in her direction.

'Where are your parents?' she asked with concern.

The boy pointed to the drawings.

'I'm so sorry,' T'Mal said quietly.

Charlie nodded his head, looking at the floor and holding his tablet tightly.

'Have you seen any android here?' T'Mal asked carefully.

The boy smiled slightly and started tapping quickly on his tablet.

'I have seen them both,' T'Mal read out loud. 'Lore and Data. They are very intriguing. I study their schematics at home. Ms. O'Donnell lets me visit the lab and watch how she tests Data's new functions.'

T'Mal looked around again.

'But what are you doing here, in Data's subconsciousness? Why are you so important to him?'

Suddenly they heard a noise and someone entered the lab. It was Dr. Soong.

'Charlie, what's going on?' asked T'Mal. However, he seemed no longer to register her presence. She walked up to him to watch closely what was happening.

'Hi, Charlie. Thank you for waiting for me,' said Soong. 'I'm so sorry for what happened to your parents. Juliana—I mean Ms. O'Donnell—has told me you enjoy watching the androids. I've thought under these circumstances you might want to see how we download the memories of every colonist, including your parents, into Data. In a way they'll live forever in his memory circuits.'

They went to the other part of the lab. T'Mal followed them. She saw Data there, with a cable connected to his head. He looked so similar yet so different. His face seemed completely blank. There was no slightest smile nor thoughtful look.

'We're downloading the memories right now,' said Soong in a quiet, excited voice. 'I know that as a child you don't have any logs, but I've thought I could transfer your memories directly from your brain into Data's net. Thanks to this he will always know what a loving family looks like and how special he was to you. What do you think?'

Charlie stared at Data for a while, then tapped quickly on his tablet.

'I agree,' read Soong out loud. 'Thank you, Charlie, that's very generous of you.'

He picked up something small and T'Mal stepped closer to see what it was. It looked exactly like the emotion chip. Soong disconnected the cable from Data's head and installed the chip.

'This will help to transfer your memories into Data,' he explained. 'Please lie down, Charlie.'

The boy lay down and Soong put a square silver object on his forehead. Charlie stared at the ceiling, clenching his fists anxiously.

Then everything disappeared and T'Mal was standing in the empty holodeck.

'Is that it?' she said, frustrated, and looked around to see Data. He was still asleep. 'Data?' She walked up to him and touched his shoulder, but there was no response. With an anxious expression she started checking the circuits visible under the open cover on his head, and the holodeck's console. Looking afraid, she pressed her combadge.

'Ortez to Commander La Forge,' said she. 'I need your help.'