A/N: Thank you all for your support of this story! Seriously, you lot have been giving me LYFE.
Holy shitsnacks Batman I can't begin to tell you how excited I am to announce that "The Complication" will be turning into a series in the future – there will be sequels to this story once we get through this fic!
But we've still quite a long way to go before we finish this installment!
We're going to play a wee bit with the canon but I'm trying to keep it in line with the general plot of the show. So, you may run across a few scenes where you think to yourself "wait a tick, 'a' happened before 'b' in the show."
Aye, you're right – it just worked better for this story to make a few tweaks.
I want to express my deep gratitude to Lady_Lore for agreeing to team up with me on telling this story. Her accompanying story "The Complication – Missing Scenes" is available now!
Tasha, Data, and Commander Riker were standing in Captain Picard's Ready Room. They had lost subspace communication a little over an hour ago. Thus far, the engineering techs had been unable to restore it. They were running behind schedule to deliver the Antican and Selay delegations to Parliament and the electrical malfunctions were beginning to increase in frequency.
"Alright, your theories on this sudden vulnerability in our systems?" Picard asked as he stepped from his desk.
His three officers exchanged a glance. They had all reached the same conclusion, but Data was the first to speak it aloud.
"If the Enterprise were really this fragile Sir, she never would have left space dock. Therefore, her system's failures are not endemic to the ship but are the result of the actions of an unknown adversary," Data explained.
"We have a saboteur aboard," Riker summarised.
"I believe I said that," Data stated as his brow furrowed.
Tasha suppressed a grin as she watched her lover's confused face. She shook the thought from her mind immediately, the Enterprise was under threat and she could not dismiss that danger.
"The question is who?" Picard asked before adding, "I can't believe it is one of our own people."
"Agreed. It must be someone from one of the alien delegations," Riker said concurring with the Captain's assessment.
"If the Ferengi could have bought or bribed even one of them, that's all they'd need," Tasha said.
Following their initial encounter with them, Data had heavily researched the Ferengi and shared his findings with Tasha. She had concluded they could most certainly be a threat and had set to studying their tactics and patterns.
"Ferengi contacts have been detected on both Selay and Antica, Sir," Data added.
Silence fell onto the group. Captain Picard and his three officers knew that an allegation against either delegation could have disastrous political consequences.
"Can any of you suggest any other suspects?" Picard asked rhetorically.
Riker grinned broadly.
"You're sounding like a private eye, Sir," he said gently teasing the Captain.
"Inquiry, 'private eye'?" Data questioned.
Picard decided he would field that one.
"A private consulting investigator, Data. One who solves crimes," Picard tried to explain as he walked back behind his desk.
The Captain sat down as Data accessed his information banks for additional details. It took him 1.74 seconds to analyse nearly six hundred years of history on the profession. As his positronic brain quickly assessed everything from Pinkertons to ancient parabolic microphones, Data discovered that these 'P.I.s' were also a subject of fascination. Decades of film, literature, and theatre had captivated audiences with stories of these characters.
"Hmmm," Data said as his eyebrows shot up and down quickly. "A most interesting occupation."
Tasha made a mental note of his keen interest in the subject. If they made it out of this mission alive, she would have to add some detective stories to their reading list.
"In the world of fact, probably not. But in the world of literature criminal detection can be a fascinating exercise," Picard explained as he sat back in his chair.
The Captain couldn't hide the twinkle in his eye as he introduced his friend to the thrill of detective stories.
"The immortal Sherlock Holmes would have an interesting view of our mystery, I believe," Picard noted.
"I'm afraid we will have to find our solution without history's greatest consulting detective," Riker replied with a grin.
Something in Data sparked an idea. He couldn't quite place the sensation but there was a rush of excitement that flooded his body. It was like the feeling of eager anticipation he had experienced when Tasha would read to him.
An urge to unravel this mystery had overtaken his neural net.
Tasha watched as his eyes flitted back and forth. He cocked his head to speak but remained silent. His head twitched again before she saw the corner of his mouth rise slightly into a small smirk of satisfaction.
"Lieutenant Yar, do you have any further thoughts on which delegation might be responsible?" Riker asked.
Tasha shook her head.
"We've had some issues with both of them, Sir. We will increase the security around their quarters and conduct a level two security sweep. I hate to say it, but I think we may need to wait for them to make their next move," Tasha said as she assessed the situation.
"Make it so," Picard ordered.
Riker returned to the Bridge and Data joined Tasha on the turbolift. She was headed down to the main security office to divide up the teams for the sweep. Data was headed off to his quarters to review the results of the latest ship wide trace scan on the power fluctuations.
"So, are you going to tell me what you're up to?" Tasha asked.
"My scan to trace the power fluctuations is now complete and I am going to review the results," he said simply.
"C'mon, Data. You know what I mean," Tasha said.
"I do not understand," Data replied truthfully.
"The private eye stuff," Tasha explained. "I could see your brain was working a light year a minute back there!"
Data reached up and touched the sides of his head.
"I do not believe my brain is exposed," he said as a worried look overtook his features.
"It's an expression, Data. It means that I could see you were in deep thought. And it looked like you were enjoying it," she clarified.
"Ah! Yes, I find this Sherlock Holmes character most intriguing," Data said as his eyes lit up.
"That's great, baby," Tasha said as she gave his hand a small squeeze.
Data's newfound feelings had allowed him to slowly start exploring his favourite pursuits in a new light. It wasn't just Tasha's stories that helped him to experience sensations. Music could drive him to tears. His landscape paintings made him feel serene. Even smells could illicit an emotional response.
As the turbolift came to a stop, Tasha turned back to him.
"I'll be reviewing the information at my workstation should you require my assistance," Data stated.
"Alright then, good luck Sherlock," she said with a wink as she stepped out into the corridor.
Data had only intended to glance at the Sherlock Holmes stories.
He had fed the results of his scan into a simulation programme to try and predict where the power fluctuations would occur next. Since it would take about three minutes for the computer to run all possible scenarios, Data decided to use the time to look at this Sherlock Holmes character.
That had a been a mistake.
As soon as Data began to read through the history of the character, he found himself overwhelmed with joy. Something drew him to Holmes. He could see parallels between the fictional detective and himself. He felt a sense of familiarity. He also felt compelled to emulate the great detective.
Data had never before been so fascinated with someone in this way.
Although he would consult literary characters for inspiration in understanding and guidance to learn human behaviour, there was something about Holmes that drew him in.
Data had immediately set about replicating a pipe not unlike that of the great Holmes. He knew that humans often relied on stimulants as they believed it helped them concentrate and work harder. Captain Picard had his tea. Commander Riker was fond of snacking on pistachios. Deanna had her chocolate.
He wanted to test if the use of this pipe and the synthesised tobacco would have an impact on his functioning.
As he began to puff away at his pipe, he felt pleased with himself. He neither liked nor disliked the flavour. It was aromatic. His tongue tasted notes of molasses.
"Riker to Data," his combadge pinged.
Data pulled the pipe out of his mouth and acknowledged the First Officer.
"Lieutenant Worf was conducting a security sweep in Engineering. He just found Lieutenant Singh, dead," Riker stated. "Lieutenant Yar is going to question the Anticans. I'm heading down to the same conversation with the Selay. Meet us in the Observation Lounge in a half hour."
"Acknowledged," Data said as he tapped his combadge to respond.
Placing the pipe back into his mouth, Data leaned back into his chair and began to puff away furiously.
"The plot thickens," he said aloud.
Tasha caught up with Commander Riker in the corridor as he was leaving the Selay delegation. She had just completed questioning the Anticans about their whereabouts during the time of Lieutenant Singh's death. It was clear the Anticans were hiding something but with no evidence, she knew that making a direct accusation at this point would be fruitless.
"Well, the Selay are certainly pointing fingers at the Anticans," Riker said as the stepped onto the turbolift.
"I am beyond frustrated with both of these delegations," Tasha confessed.
"You and me both," Riker agreed as they made their way to the Observation Lounge.
At the very least, the ship had managed to regain warp power and was now back on course to Parliament. The sooner, the better in Tasha's opinion. She wanted both delegates off the Enterprise and that moment couldn't come soon enough.
Stepping through to the Observation Lounge, Tasha was shocked to see Data sitting at the table puffing on an antique pipe. He seemed lost in thought as he stared at the wall. Something about the way he was sitting was very casual. His arm was resting comfortable on the armrest and the other was propped up holding his pipe.
Large puffs of smoke rolled off the end and filled the room with the smell of the burning tobacco.
He listened patiently as they explained how their interviews with the two delegations had gone.
"One thing is clear – almost all of the peace delegates answered our questions with lies," Tasha said to summarise the encounter.
Something wasn't sitting right with her about this situation.
"Imprecise Lieutenant," Data said smugly without looking at her.
Tasha put her hands on her hips. Data cocked his head dramatically.
"They omitted certain truths which in itself tells us something," he said with a very uncharacteristic air of superiority.
"We can learn something from nondisclosure?" she replied sarcastically.
Data smirked and then scoffed loudly.
"Indubitably my good woman," he replied before biting down loudly on the calabash pipe in his hand.
A part of her found this charming. The other half of her wanted to smack that smug look off his face.
Commander Riker watched with amusement as he observed this new, self-assured version of Data cock an eyebrow suggestively at the Chief of Security. He thought to himself it was probably a good thing the pair were together because otherwise Tasha Yar would have quickly put anyone else like that in his place.
He could tell she was frustrated but Riker wasn't about to stop Pinocchio from playing detective.
Tasha shook her head at Riker.
"Sherlock Holmes," Riker grinned.
Data went on to explain that in the last half hour he had studied every case in detail. He had memorised the complete works of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, related works, and Holmesian deduction.
Tasha crossed her arms. They really didn't have time to be playing detective.
"As Holmes would have pointed out, during the time in question something was afoot," Data said dramatically.
"Afoot?" She asked dryly.
Riker laughed.
Data went on to explain that the delegations had in fact left their quarters. He tapped the computer screen with his pipe for added effect as he detailed where the sensors had picked up on the various delegates passing through security checkpoints.
Tasha was going to have a serious discussion with her security team after this. It was not acceptable that these delegations had managed to slip past the teams stationed to ensure that exactly that sort of thing didn't happen.
Data flipped the screen around to show them the breaches before turning it back quickly with an atypical flair. He crossed his legs and leaned back in the chair.
Unfortunately, the sensors could only detect that they had left their secure area. It didn't actually show where the delegations had gotten to after passing the checkpoint. However, Data had followed up on a hunch to cross reference any supply requisitions that had been made by the delegations.
As he paced about the room blowing smoke everywhere, he explained to Tasha and Riker that both the Selay and Anticans had acquired some minor medical supplies upon their return to the secured area. It was obvious there had been some kind of dust-up between the two groups.
"Which leaves us with only one conclusion," Riker said, agreeing with Data's analysis.
"Exactly!" Data exclaimed as he stopped pacing and whipped around to point dramatically.
An inspired look flashed across Data's face as proceeded to explain his big reveal.
"That they were too engaged in their own affairs to have disabled the ship and murdered the engineer," he concluded.
He dropped his hand and inhaled loudly.
"Given the choice, they would rather kill each other than any of us," Data said.
He wiggled his head in an arrogant fashion much in the same way he'd seen Commander Riker sometimes after a big win at their poker nights.
"It's elementary my dear Riker," Data added.
He brought the pipe back to his mouth. Placing his hand behind his back, he turned away from them and stared off as if he were in deep thought.
Tasha and Riker stood stunned.
"Sir," Data added quickly as he came to the realisation that he was perhaps being a wee melodramatic.
They were back to square one for the investigation. With both delegations eliminated as possible suspects, it meant they needed to take a second look at the crew and their families. Tasha and Data were in the Observation Lounge pouring through personnel records looking for anyone that had recently travelled to or from the ship.
They were still working on the assumption that this had to be Ferengi sabotage. Data's research had pinpointed they were known to disable ships with the goal of having the ship abandoned so they Ferengi may move in and claim it.
They had narrowed down a list of 38 people that had returned to the Enterprise recently.
"The Diaz, Thompson, and Wu families were on holiday to planets with no known Ferengi associations," Data said as he removed them from the suspect pool.
"These eight officers took a shuttle to rendezvous with the USS Oakland for a joint training exercise. There's no way they could have made contact with the Ferengi undetected," Tasha said as she removed another six names from the list.
"Ensign Jacobs and his wife returned from Earth. He was at the Academy for a lecture," Data said, knocking another suspect off the chart.
"And the four-man crew that returned the week before had come from Teseritca III. The planet is incapable of supporting human or Ferengi life. They've been in an enclosed observation chamber for six weeks studying an extremophile bacteria that live in the hydrothermal vents at temperatures that exceed-" Data trailed off as he noticed Tasha was giving him a look.
"Which is unimportant at the moment," he said.
They had whittled their list down to 12 people when a thought suddenly occurred to Tasha.
"Why not just shut the ship down immediately? It doesn't make sense to randomly disable our functions like this," Tasha thought aloud.
Data considered the thought.
"I mean if the goal is to get us to abandon the ship there's a lot more effective ways to do so," Tasha theorised.
She was right. If the goal of these malfunctions were to get the Federation to abandon it, the Ferengi certainly had more efficient and faster methods to do so. Their research had shown they had employed toxic gasses using airborne delivery methods, simulated warp core breaches, and even kidnappings.
The power fluctuations and timing didn't match the Ferengi modus operandi.
"An astute observation," Data said. "Additionally, I have detected no Ferengi activity within 18 hours of our location. They would need to be close if their goal were to assume control."
"It's time to rethink our original theory about the Ferengi. This is something else," Tasha said.
"Agreed, my good woman," Data replied.
"Ok that's gotta stop," Tasha said half-jokingly.
Data sat upright and pulled the pipe out of his mouth. His demeanour changed immediately.
"I am sorry, Tasha. I am attempting to emulate Sherlock Holmes, it was not meant to break our agreement on public acknowledgements of affection," he said in his normal, polite voice.
Tasha chuckled.
"It's fine, Data. Just cool it a bit with the Holmes, eh?" Tasha said.
Data cocked his head to the side as he considered her words.
"Ah! I see, the combination of Holmes' neurotic obsessive personality and high intelligence could be construed as showmanship," he said as realised what she was getting at.
He gave her a small nod in acknowledgement. He put the pipe out and they resumed their work.
A short while later, Data and Tasha joined the other senior officers in the Captain's Ready Room. Doctor Crusher and Counsellor Troi had made a startling discovery after conducting hypnotic therapy sessions with both Worf and Doctor Crusher.
Tasha felt uneasy as she learned Worf and Doctor Crusher had both had their minds invaded by some kind of lifeform.
"I believe something invaded them," Deanna described to the Captain.
"It seems the only possible conclusion," Doctor Crusher added.
Her research had found no physical evidence of anything that could have caused the blackout both she and Worf had experienced.
"Data," Picard began to say but paused as Data placed the pipe in his mouth.
"Let's proceed without the pipe," Picard asked in a firm, but polite tone.
Deanna bit her lip to keep from grinning. Doctor Crusher put her head down to hide her smile. They were all getting a kick out of Data's antics.
Data followed the Captain's request and placed the pipe down on the desk where he wouldn't be tempted by it.
"I ask you that you take it as incontrovertible that it cannot be a family member or one of the crew," Data said.
"Yes, very unlikely," Picard nodded as he agreed with that statement.
"Our investigation has turned up no viable suspects," Tasha went on. "In fact, we don't think this has anything to do with the Ferengi at all."
"We've eliminated both the delegates and the ship's regular compliment," Data explained.
Captain Picard was unsure where Data was headed next.
"Data, what are you suggesting?" Picard asked, hoping for clarification.
Data nodded and took a step toward the desk. He began to reach for the pipe but thought better of it after catching Tasha's eyes.
Now is not the time. She said to him internally.
Thankfully, he picked up on the suggestion and stepped back.
"I am referring to the great detective's credo, Sir," Data said, trying his best not to sound arrogant.
Picard inhaled. Tasha could tell that he was being kind in humouring him, but the Captain's patience was starting to wear thin.
"I quote 'we must fall back on the old axiom that when other contingencies fail whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth'," Data concluded stoically.
Tasha smiled at him. When he wasn't being cocky, his Holmes impersonation was quite becoming.
Picard looked shell shocked as he turned to Deanna and Doctor Crusher for an explanation.
"Well then," he said, adjusting his shirt. "Let's get to work on finding whatever this lifeform is."
An hour later, Data and Tasha had been summoned to Commander Riker's quarters for a meeting with the other senior officers.
Shortly after returning to the Bridge the Enterprise had experienced a loss of helm control and navigation. After dropping to impulse power as a safety precaution, Captain Picard had mysteriously ordered Geordi to turn the ship around and head back to the strange energy cloud they had encountered shortly before picking up the Selay delegation.
Mysteriously, helm control had suddenly been returned. Captain Picard had continued to exhibit odd behaviour and Geordi had reported that he'd seen the same kind of energy surge touch the captain that he'd witnessed before Worf's blackout.
"A mere change of direction hardly justifies mutiny," Data stated.
Something felt strange to him. Data had always been counted on to be the voice of reason in situations like this. His emotionlessness was a strength that allowed him to view the situation with a truly neutral perspective.
But at the moment, he was feeling a mixture of sentiments about the situation. Data was concerned for Captain Picard, the situation between the delegations and the danger from the entity left him feeling unsure, and it seemed to be his artificial pulse was working more rapidly to cool his system.
Deanna was worried. She had sensed a strange duality coming from the Captain.
"I sense that he could become dangerous," Deanna said as she tried to explain to the other officers.
At times it was difficult to put words to what she could perceive.
"If he's dangerous, if," Riker said as he turned away to look out of the window.
"Then he would have to be relieved of command which you could do Doctor but its boco trouble if you're wrong," Geordi finished for him.
That's why they had all been summoned. It would require them all to agree in order to do so. They knew if their suspicions were incorrect, they would all face mutiny charges.
Data, working hard to suppress his emotions, pointed out to the group that at the moment their fears were pure speculation. While the Captain's actions had been strange, they had done nothing to place the Enterprise or her crew in any danger.
"Well, I would argue that any further delay in delivering the Anticans and Selay to Parliament is a danger," Tasha said as she crossed arms in annoyance.
As if on cue, Tasha's combadge pinged.
"This O'Brien to Lieutenant Yar."
"Go ahead, Chief," Tasha said, tapping the badge in response.
"We've got a problem down on the Engineering deck," O'Brien said. "The Anticans and Selay are demanding to see the Captain. I need security backup outside of-"
O'Brien stopped suddenly and wasn't responding.
"Yar to Ulster, send two security teams to the Engineering deck. Be advised both delegations are hostile," Tasha ordered.
"Get this under control, Lieutenant," Riker said with a nod as Tasha excused herself to join the security team.
She caught Data's eye on the way as if to give him a look that read 'I'm fine. This is my job.'
He had no doubts about her abilities, but that didn't exempt him from feeling concern every time she walked into danger.
Upon further discussion, the team had agreed they would proceed with caution around the Captain. Doctor Crusher's suggestion that they recommend a series of tests for the Captain was met with resistance from Jean-Luc. Riker and Crusher had faced the worst of it.
In the hours remaining to return to the energy cloud, Picard had ordered Doctor Crusher to conduct complete examinations on all the senior officers.
"I will undergo the test but I fail to see the relevance," Data said to the Doctor.
She had been calling all the senior officers in one by one for their exams. She had just completed her exams of Counsellor Troi and Commander Riker. As Beverly had suspected, they were in perfect health.
"I know, Data. But it's the Captain's orders," Doctor Crusher said as she shared his assessment that a medical exam of his Android body was pointless.
She began to scan Data with her tricorder and attached the pads to his forehead, chest, and arm.
"I will say though, I still find it fascinating that your positronic brain and functioning can be monitored using our equipment," she said as she began to gather readings on his synthesised pulse and brain activity.
Data smiled nervously. There was something very human about being able to be 'read' by human diagnostic technology.
"Doctor, what is the second screen? That did not register when we have previously conducted these examinations," Data asked as he looked at the computer screen with great curiosity.
Doctor Crusher had conducted these exams before. The machines had been capable of reading his synthesised pulse, positronic brain activity, internal temperature, and scan for traces of any disease or foreign element in his biofluids.
He had never before registered on the neural analyser.
It was a device that combined EEG, EKG, the pulmonary scanner, and brain activity to read emotion. It represented various emotional reactions on separate pulsating graphs. Red represented anger, yellow was joy or amusement, anxiety or fear were black, disgust was green, blue was sadness, desire was represented by pink, and purple showed confusion.
Doctor Crusher looked back and forth between Data and the screen.
"It's reading your emotions," Doctor Crusher said in disbelief.
She shook her head. Beverly stopped scanning Data and started scanning the connections on the equipment.
"I know, I know," she said. "That's impossible because you don't feel emotion. Something must be wrong with the equipment."
"I believe your equipment is functioning within normal parameters," Data said.
Doctor Crusher stopped scanning and looked at him strangely.
"What are you saying, Data?" she asked.
He was unsure how to proceed. Aside from Tasha and Geordi, he had not disclosed his newfound emotions to the rest of the crew. Part of what held him back was a fear of not understanding how these new sensations were possible. Another part of him was equally concerned that this discovery could lead to his being reassigned back to Starfleet for research and development.
Data had never told anyone what he had experienced in his first few years of life. Many in Starfleet had treated him as a piece of equipment rather than a person. The worst of them had no regard for him, his modesty, dignity, or wellbeing.
He didn't enjoy being poked, prodded, or tested on. He had never been able to describe it, but now he would call it an invasion of his privacy.
The neural analyser was reading spiked activity in its black and green readings.
"Data?" Doctor Crusher asked as she placed a hand on his shoulder.
"I have been experiencing emotional responses for some time. They have grown in intensity and frequency," Data said quietly.
Doctor Crusher looked wide-eyed at the android. Data anticipated her fear.
"This has occurred entirely separate from our encounter with the entity that invaded you and Lieutenant Worf," Data explained. "Although I have been unable to pinpoint the source of this change, I can assure you that it had no relation to our current situation, Doctor."
She nodded.
"Is this examination making you uncomfortable?" she asked as she continued to monitor the screen.
"Yes," Data said simply. "I do not enjoy being examined as it elicits certain memories that I find displeasing."
Doctor Crusher set down her tricorder and apologised.
"I had no idea Data, I'm sorry," she said as she moved to disconnect the equipment.
Data grabbed her hand and stopped her.
"This is alright," he said pointing at the readings coming from the neural analyser. "I would like to experiment with this."
"Of course," Doctor Crusher said in understanding.
Data closed his eyes and Doctor Crusher watched as the black and green that represented fear and disgust began to return to base levels. She noticed the yellow began to register higher.
"What are you thinking about now, Mr Data?" she asked.
"My friends," he replied softly.
Doctor Crusher gave his shoulder a squeeze.
Suddenly the doors to Sickbay opened. Tasha and Ensign Jeffords were carrying Miles O'Brien. He'd been through quite a ringer. Chief had a large cut on the side of his face and looked like his arm had been twisted.
"Get him on the table over here," Doctor Crusher said as she pointed to the table next to Data.
"What happened?" Data asked.
"There was a fight between the delegations. Based on the wound, it looks like an Antican weapon but of course they blame the Selay," Tasha said as she helped lift Miles onto the exam table.
Data's artificial cooling system began to beat faster. He was worried about Miles. He also couldn't shake the thought that it could have been Tasha. He couldn't turn around fully because of the equipment.
After Miles was on the table, Tasha stepped back toward him.
"I'm fine," she said in a low voice near his ear.
Data breathed a sigh of relief.
Doctor Crusher had managed to seal the wound, but it would take a second treatment with the skin regenerator before it would be fully healed. She sedated Chief O'Brien and assured Tasha he'd be back and fit for duty the next day.
"Hang in there Chief," Tasha said as she gave Miles's hand a small squeeze of reassurance.
"Since you're already here, would it be alright to conduct your examination Tasha?" Doctor Crusher asked.
She instructed Tasha to sit down on the exam table across from Data and began to hook up a second set of monitoring machines that were connected to a separate screen.
Doctor Crusher ran her tricorder over Tasha to gather some additional scans and launched into the standard Starfleet questionnaire.
"Your heart rate and blood pressure look good," Doctor Crusher said as she marked those questions off.
"Good, I thought the Anticans and Selay might drive me to a heart attack," Tasha said sarcastically.
"In the past 30 days have you experienced any changes to your vision or hearing?" the Doctor went on.
"No," Tasha replied honestly.
"And have you experienced any recent injuries or illnesses?" Doctor Crusher asked.
Tasha shook her head.
"Any unexplained pain?" the Doctor said, moving on to the next question.
Tasha shook her head again.
"Have you consumed any food or drink in the last twenty-four hours and if so when?" Crusher asked her.
"Yeah, I had some fruit for breakfast, a sandwich about six hours ago for lunch, and some tea about an hour ago," Tasha explained.
"And have you engaged in sexual activity in the last twenty-four hours and if so when?" Doctor Crusher asked.
Tasha paused. It was a routine question as part of the survey and one that she'd answered a million times before for the Doctor. But she couldn't help making eye contact with Data as he smiled.
Tasha cleared her throat and was relieved Doctor Crusher couldn't see Data's expression behind her.
"Yes," Tasha replied. "Um, about sixteen hours ago."
"In that case I'd like to schedule a follow up exam with you. You're coming up on a year since your last physical," Doctor Crusher said as she input the information from Tasha's scans.
Tasha took a glance at Data's screen and could see the pink tracker had increased in frequency. He followed her gaze and smiled brightly at the screen as he recalled their earlier encounter in his new bedroom.
She pursed her lips, and he got the hint to settle down.
"Are these questions typically part of a routine medical examination?" Data asked the Doctor.
Doctor Crusher turned back to him and explained that yes, the questionnaire was standard operating procedure.
"Then why did you not ask me to complete the questionnaire?" Data inquired.
"I thought, given your earlier discomfort and the fact that you're well-" she trailed off with a shrug.
"I see," he replied feeling a little dejected.
His earlier trepidation based on his early days in Starfleet had vanished. Tasha was sitting across from him undergoing the same examination.
Doctor Crusher was a friend.
Data knew he could trust her.
"I am sorry for my earlier reaction. You are a professional and I trust in your abilities, Doctor," Data said.
Doctor Crusher glanced at the screen and noticed that Data's emotions had returned to a neutral base level.
Seeing he was sufficiently comfortable, she decided to humour him.
"Alright Mr Data, have you experienced any recent injuries, illnesses, or pain?" Doctor Crusher asked.
"No, Doctor," Data replied.
He couldn't explain it, but it felt incredibly good to be treated the same as the other staff members.
"In the last twenty-four hours have you consumed any food or drink? If so, what did you consume and when?" Crusher asked her.
"I have consumed two glasses consisting of four ounces of synthesized whiskey seventeen hours and eight minutes ago. I also consumed an oatmeal based cereal dish at 13:00 and nine white grapes at 13:41," he said with a grin.
"Data, why are you…um…eating? Are you capable of tasting these foods?" Doctor Crusher asked as she began to run several additional scans around his mouth and abdomen.
"Yes, I have come to find that the experience of is taste is invigorating," Data stated.
"That's wonderful!" Beverly smiled as she input the information into Data's medical exam.
"Yes!" Data said laughing.
"And have you engaged in sexual activity in the last twenty-four hours and if so when?" Doctor Crusher asked as she continued through the questionnaire.
"Yes. About sixteen hours ago," Data replied, still laughing.
Doctor Crusher looked up at him.
Any human would have missed the subtle, nearly imperceptible widening of her eyes in shock.
But Data's android optical receptors had caught it.
Suddenly, he stopped laughing.
Data's face fell as he realised what he had just done.
Beverly wasn't judging him, but the sexual health of each crewmember was her responsibility. She had never conducted a sexual health exam on Data because she had presumed he was either incapable or uninterested in the activity.
She chastised herself internally for thinking that.
He was an anatomically correct android so complete in his assembly he had a synthesized pulse.
He was also on a desperate quest to be human.
Of course he would engage in sexual activity.
"Then I would also like to schedule a follow up exam with you," Doctor Crusher said, noting his record.
Data nodded in understanding.
"Thank you, Mr Data. That completes your questionnaire," Doctor Crusher replied professionally.
Data had made eye contact with Tasha over Doctor Crusher's shoulder and couldn't tell if she was bothered by the turn of events. Glancing at her readings there was a slight increase in her anxiety but also in her joy.
He turned back to Tasha and studied her as she sat back on the table, hands stretched back, legs swinging off the edge.
"Well then I think I have what I need from the two of you," Doctor Crusher said as she unhooked the scanners.
Tasha jumped off the table and left along with Data.
Once they were in the turbolift, Data ordered it to stop.
"I am sorry," Data said as he turned to her.
"It's alright," Tasha replied quickly.
"But Doctor Crusher will likely deduce that-" he started to say but Tasha cut it off.
"Enough, Sherlock!" she said as she swatted at him playfully.
Data's head twitched as he processed her response. Her voice did not align with her body language.
Was this frustration or mock frustration? He considered.
"Come here," Tasha said as reached up and gave him a quick peck on the cheek.
Mock frustration! Data sighed with relief.
"Computer, resume," Tasha ordered, and they made their way to the Bridge.