The Ties That Bind

This story and all themes and ideas contained in said story are the sole ownership of J.L. Scott. Any copyright infringements can be prosecuted in a court of law.

To borrow a phrase: Star Trek: The Next Generation no mine...no money, no sue, please?

Miranda cradled a porcelain figure in her hand. She couldn't remember what it was, but it was one of her favorites. Something she'd picked up at the old antique shop down the street from one of her housing complexes. She set it on a shelf and stood back to admire it. The bright white surface stood out against the darker colored books on the shelves around it.
Miranda sighed and glanced around the quarters again. They were spacious and well furnished, as befit the sister of the first officer, but luxury was nothing to her. Kyle Riker had, at least, not been stingy in her living allowances. Still, the rooms lacked something. They just weren't her style. There were no large windows letting the fragrant daylight in, the décor was all muted and her beloved antiques lent only a more somber feel to everything.
Never mind though. When Will dumped her, she would find something more her taste. Something with bright neon colors perhaps.
The door chimed. Miranda opened her mouth, then snapped it shut again. It was Will, she could tell. She hated that she could feel him so much better than she could anyone else. She was not a strong empath, but Will might as well have been an open book to her. It had to be a blood thing.
Instead of speaking, she hit the open button and quickly spun away again. She didn't figure she could go forever without talking to him, but it hadn't been forever yet. Besides, she really had nothing to say to him.
He glanced at the empty boxes.
"I see you've finished unpacking" he said. His emotions were less forceful now, but she could still feel the currents of betrayal coursing through him. And what right did he have to feel betrayed? He was the one their father had accepted, claimed, raised! He was the one who was the first officer on the Federation's flagship, with the friends and the happy life! Little mister perfect had to go and feel all betrayed because she existed! Well, it wasn't her fault and if it'd been up to her she would've chosen not to have been born too!
"Some interesting things here" he commented, studying one of her paintings. Miranda didn't say anything, she just looked at him. He looked back. There was no denying the family resemblance, and Miranda was at least glad he was a good looking sort of man. Even if she did hate him.
"My friend Deanna's invited us to dinner" he told her, and she could feel his relief and a hint of pleasure. Deanna. Councilor Troi. She had been the dark haired one, the one that seemed a bit odd...not quite human. Miranda was intrigued, though she tried to hide it.
She'd been quiet long enough for Will to get uncomfortable.
"I could wait for you to change" he said, glancing at the couch. So her outfit had bothered him. She'd intentionally worn the most provocative outfit she had, simply to disturb him. But they kept the temperature on this ship lower than she was used to and she was cold. She spun around and headed for the closet, firmly telling herself she was not complying to his wish, she was merely cold.
He stood immediately when she returned, this time in a long sleeved green wrap, and his lips curled up. He was good at making his fake smiles look real, Miranda noted, probably from practice at fancy parties with all the right people. She knew he was an ambitious man. Life father, like son.
The trip up a deck wasn't long, but he talked the whole time.
"I think you'll like Deanna" he told her, "She and I have been friends for a long time. We met on Betazed, she's half Betazoid. Her mother is actually the Daughter of the Fifth House"
Miranda nodded to herself. She knew there had been something alien about the woman. She had no idea what most Betazoids looked like, but they must be fairly human for her to pass so well. The thing about her mother meant nothing to Miranda.
Will pressed the button and the door opened right away. The short woman with the lustrous dark hair was there to greet them with a big smile, though hers seemed genuine.
"Hello, Will. Hello, Miranda. I'm glad you came" Miranda eyed the room as the door slid quickly closed behind her. There were the same soothing muted colors that must be the ship wide décor. Deanna had accented it with feminine touches, all adding to the comfortable ambiance. It was easy to tell a well-trained Councilor lived here, though Miranda wondered if the woman had done it consciously or not.
"Well, I hope you like spaghetti and meatballs" Deanna said, heading for the already prepared table, "It's one of my favorites" Miranda took the only available seat, the one right across from her brother, and stared down. There was a mess of pasta, red sauce and meat on her plate. She carefully poked at it.
"Don't tell me you've never had spaghetti before!" Will exclaimed. She looked up at him and shrugged. So what if she'd never had his weird food? Bet he'd never had Bolagarian Ka Dash pastries.
"You'll have to make it for us sometime" Deanna's voice said, but her mouth was busy chewing. Miranda's eyes widened, realizing she'd heard the comment in her head.
Oh no! It was getting worse! She'd finally just gotten used to feeling other people's emotions, now she was going to start hearing their thoughts too? What kind of freak was she?
"Miranda are you all right?" Deanna asked, out loud this time. Will was giving her an odd look.
/Haven't you ever spoken telepathically before?/ Deanna asked silently again. Miranda leapt out of her chair, wordlessly. It hadn't registered yet that these were comments directed at her, not private thoughts she'd picked up on. Her own wild terror was overriding everything, and she bolted.
"Miranda!" Will called after her but she was already gone.
"My god, Will!" Deanna breathed before he could get up to chase her, "She doesn't know!"

Miranda took the turbo lift down a few decks and then continued her mad dash through the corridors. She could barely see, she was moving so fast, and so when she ran right into someone, she fell straight over backwards. She lay on the floor for a few seconds, catching her breath, until a strange looking man with yellow eyes bent over her.
"Are you all right?" he asked.
"I'm fine" Miranda told him and let him help her up.
"I should take you to sickbay" he said, "You may have been injured"
"No, no. I'm fine. I'm just..." Miranda stopped and stared at him. There was something wrong about him. It wasn't just the extremely pale skin and odd eyes, it was as if he wasn't there, in her mind! He was an emotional blank spot.
"What are you?" she demanded, realizing she sounded a bit crude, but too fascinated to care.
"I am an android" he replied.
"A what?" she asked, relaxing.
"An artificial life form" he explained. Now that struck Miranda as odd.
"How can a life be artificial?"
"I was made by a man named Noonian Soong" he answered.
"And I was made by a man named Kyle, what's your point?" The man's head tilted.
"I was built of mechanical parts. I am not a biological life form" he said. Miranda rolled her eyes. People could be so dense sometimes.
"But you still classify yourself as alive, right?"
"Yes"
"Well, how can you fake being alive? You're either life, or you're an inanimate object. Even a tree is alive"
"An interesting position. My name is Data"
"I'm Miranda" she replied.
"Were you on your way somewhere, Miranda?" Data asked. Miranda shrugged.
"Not really" she said, and started following the odd man down the corridor.
An hour later found her finishing a cup of tea in his quarters. It was an odd set of rooms; he had converted the bedroom area into a sort of office with his own computer system in it. The rest of the apartment was decorated with taste, objects d'art sitting about everywhere. Data had been telling Miranda about his quest to become more human and some of the things he had recently learned. She was especially interested in his artwork, though she didn't mention it. She was actually in the process of studying a couple of his paintings when his door chimed.
"Excuse me" he said, (he was extremely polite) and went to answer the door. Miranda knew it the second he stepped in. He ruined the tranquility of Data's quarters.
"Data, I'm looking for a girl. She's..." Will stopped as soon as he looked up and noticed she was standing right there, "here. Miranda. I've been look for you everywhere. Are you all right?" Miranda chose to keep her silence, wishing he'd never found her. She shrugged at him.
"Miranda and I have been discussing her views on what defines life, particularly in respect to artificial life" Data told the Commander, who cocked a brow.
"Really" he said, "I didn't know she could actually speak"
"She is quite articulate" Data replied, completely missing the undercurrent. Will and Miranda stared at each other for a moment until Data realized this was one of those times a third party needed to interrupt the silence.
"Will Miranda be staying on the Enterprise?" he asked, realizing that he didn't know. Will broke their eye lock to look at Data.
"She didn't tell you?" Data cocked his head to the side. Will put on a big grin, one Miranda could see right through, and waved an arm at her.
"Data, meet Miranda Riker" he said, "My sister"