Lexie had only planned to stay in the Rec room with Chekov for a short period of time, to play him in a game of 3d chess however, she ended up playing five very long games against him, winning every time. The hours seemed to slowly pass by but, by the end of the fifth game a total of four hours had passed so, both herself and Chekov who had admitted defeat knowing full well he wasn't going to be able to win against her had decided to call it a night, since they both knew they could easily spend several more hours playing as they were both very competitive. Lexie had since returned to her quarters, she found that Delta had uploaded himself back into his robotic body and was having a rest, clearly he had worn himself out while inside Lexie's PADD.
She was just about to head off into the bathroom to change into her PJ's when an idea popped into her head, Lexie had promised Delta that she would take him around with her when she had learnt were the less crowded places on the ship were and she knew where one was. Lexie walked over to her desk and gently picked Delta up in her hands, he soon woke up and looked around frantically. "You're alright Delta, it's just me." Lexie said softly to him, her robotic friend soon settled down. "You startled me Lex." He told her as he looked up, "Sorry Delta." She replied. "Why did you pick me up?" He asked confused at his creator's action, it was very rare for her to pick him up while he was asleep. "I'm going to take you somewhere I think you'll like." She replied. Delta's eyes immediately brightened which was a clear sign to Lexie that he was very excited.
She had chosen to take Delta to the observation deck where she had sat with Scotty the night before, to allow her friend to look out at the stars. Lexie also knew that this particular observation deck would be quiet or even empty since it was located on a low deck, but also because most of the crew would be on duty therefore she wouldn't have to worry about anyone seeing Delta, which she didn't want to happen, Lexie didn't wish to think about what would happen to him if anyone did discover him, but she also knew that keeping him a secret wasn't going to be easy. She had contemplated telling Chekov about Delta when he was in her room earlier, but decided not to.
Lexie had Delta clutched tightly to her chest, to hide him from sight just in case anyone glanced her way as she walked the ships halls. She soon came to the observation deck; she flicked her eyes around the room to see that it was completely empty, much to her relief. Lexie made her way over to the window then looked down at Delta as she loosened her arms. "We're here Delta." She called quietly, Delta turned away from Lexie's chest towards the window and gasped in amazement at the sight that greeted him. Stars, hundreds of stars shining brightly across the galactic sky. "It's beautiful." He stated, Lexie smiled as she gently placed him down on the floor, then sat down herself. "You like it?" She asked, Delta nodded. Lexie giggled quietly, she loved seeing her friend happy.
Scotty had finished reading his technical journal and was once again hobbling around the Enterprise with the aid of his crutch, on his travels he had bumped into McCoy who gave him a good talking to, while glaring at him. Scotty promised the CMO that he hadn't gone down to Engineering nor would he be going, he told him that he was just going to sit in the observation deck for a little while, to look at the stars which McCoy agreed with. The doors to the observation deck slid open to allow Scotty entry, however, he stopped when he saw someone was already there, it was Lexie. Scotty felt his heart sink slightly, had she suffered from another nightmare? However, it was soon clear that wasn't the case as he could hear her laughing and talking to someone, but Scotty couldn't see anyone else not unless they were smaller than Keenser. He walked over to her but Lexie didn't seem to notice him until he tapped her on the shoulder.
Lexie span round, rising to her feet as she went, out the corner of her eye she saw Delta dart off to hide behind one of the chairs. "Mr Scott!" Lexie cried as she stood to attention which raised a few concerns, Scotty could tell almost instantly that she was trying to hide something. "At ease Lieutenant, who were you talking to?" He questioned, "No one Sir, I was talking to myself." Lexie quickly answered back which only added to Scotty's already existing suspicions. "I highly doubt that Lieutenant, who were you talking to?" Scotty asked again, slightly raising his voice. He never liked to yell at anyone nor did he ever like to use his authority, due to his rank he could have easily just ordered Lexie to tell him, however he couldn't bring himself to do it. Lexie felt her heart began to race; she opened and closed her mouth several times to answer, but no words came out. She wanted to lie, but deep down she knew that wasn't the right thing to do, Scotty may have seen Delta when he scurried off to hide, therefore there was nothing she could do but tell the truth.
Lexie sighed heavily as she turned her head away, "It's best if I show you Sir." She said as she made her way over to the chair and knelt next to it, then spoke softly to someone or something. "Come on, there's no point in hiding anymore, he knows that you're here." Lexie stood up a few seconds later, holding something in her arms but since she had her back to him Scotty couldn't see what it was. "You may want to take a seat Sir; this is going to be a bit of a shock." Scotty walked over to one of the chairs and took a seat as Lexie came over to join him, still with her back towards him. He was trying to figure out what Lexie wanted to show him, but when she did finally turn round, nothing could have prepared him for what he saw. Sitting perfectly still in Lexie's arms was a small silver robot, at first he believed it to be a toy, however what happened next turned that theory on its head.
"Hello." It said nervously, Scotty blinked a few times. "Mr Scott, this is Delta." Lexie said slowly as she sat in the chair opposite her Commanding Officer. "You have a robot?" He questioned, "Yes and no. You see Sir, Delta himself is just an advanced AI program, the robot body is just a way for him to move around freely." Scotty blinked his eyes before speaking, "Did you create him lassie?" He asked, Lexie nodded. "Yes Sir, after the death of my family I didn't have anyone. I had always been good with computer programs, AI, and robotics so I put my talents to good use and created Delta so I wouldn't feel so alone. He's my best friend and he goes everywhere with me." The was a long silence as Scotty just stared at Delta, Lexie was worrying about what the Engineer was going to say.
Scotty then lent forward with a hand out stretched. "It's nice to meet ya lad, I'm Scotty." Delta seemed nervous which was clear to Scotty and totally understandable. "Are you going to take me away?" Delta asked quickly, "Now why would I do that?" Scotty replied. Delta just stared at him along with Lexie, who was quite surprised at how Scotty was handling this, "Sure, it's probably against some sort of Star Fleet rule to have an AI robot on a Star Ship however, I don't see any problem with ya lad and I would hate to take you away from Lexie, since the two of you are so close." Both Lexie and Delta were in shock, "You mean you're not going to report him?" Lexie asked nervously. "Of course, I'm not lass, I'd hate to see what Star Fleet would do with him." Scotty replied, "Thankyou Scotty." "You're welcome but you should have told me about him before now, not everyone on the Enterprise would be as kind as me." Scotty said.
Lexie knew he was right. "I know, I should have told you earlier, I was just afraid that you would send him away." Scotty smiled; he understood her concern. Lexie then felt Delta move on her lap, she looked down to see that he had moved closer to Scotty, clearly he was not so afraid of him anymore. "Lex told me what happened during her first shift, are you alright?" He asked, Scotty smiled. "I'm alright lad, just hurt my ankle a wee bit." Scotty replied which made Delta happy. The little robot then turned back to face Lexie, "You told him about your family?" He questioned. "Yes I did." She answered. "When?" Delta asked, "The other night, I had a nightmare so I came to this observation deck to listen to my music box, Scotty had come here for a bit of down time, however he ended up comforting me." Lexie replied, Delta's mood had changed quickly. "You didn't wake me up?" Lexie picked him up and held him up to her face, "I didn't want to worry you Delta, that's all. I know I should have woken you and I'm sorry." She said softly, Delta smiled at her. "It's alright Lex, I'm glad that you found someone on the Enterprise that you can open up to." Lexie smiled in reply, Scotty had just been watching and he was now sure that keeping Delta on the Enterprise was a good idea.
The three of them sat in the observation deck for a while, until Lexie could see that Delta was growing tired so decided it was time to head back to her quarters, once again Scotty insisted on walking back with her. He said it was just in case anyone questioned why she was cradling a sleeping robot, thankfully no one was around so they made it all the way back to Lexie's quarters undisturbed. Lexie invited Scotty in, however he just stood next to the door and watched as Lexie walked over to her desk and gently placed Delta down. "Sleep well Delta, I'll be back shortly." She said sweetly as she crept quietly away, back towards Scotty. "Now then, I think it's about time you went to see the Doctor Scotty." She said with a small smile, "Why lass? I'm fine." He replied quickly.
"Your ankle is hurting you again, I could tell by the way you were hobbling down the halls on our way here." Lexie stated, Scotty couldn't understand how she had noticed but he knew she was right, his ankle had started hurting more. "Aye, you're right lass, I'll pop by sickbay on my way back to my quarters." Scotty said, but Lexie had other ideas, "Not a chance, I may have only been on this ship for two days however, I learn things very quickly and just by your interaction with McCoy earlier shows me that you are the type of person to ignore their own injuries." Scotty just stared blankly at her, "In other words, I'm walking you to sickbay to make sure you actually go." Lexie replied as she crossed her arms, Scotty wanted to argue but once again he knew she was right, so just followed his Lieutenant down to sickbay.
The two of them soon walked into sickbay to find it completely empty, "Doctor McCoy? You here?" Lexie called out. The was a long pause before she got a reply, "Of course I am, where else would I be dam it." McCoy answered as he walked out of his office, he was surprised to see Lexie standing in the centre of the room while Scotty had sat himself down on the edge of a biobed, his crutch lying next to him. "What happened?" He questioned as he folded his arms, "Nothing Doctor, Scotty's ankle is hurting him again." Lexie replied, since she knew that if Scotty had spoken he would just deny it. McCoy glanced over to the CEO, "I told you to come see me if the pain became too much, I can't believe one of your own officers had to escort you down here." McCoy yelled as he walked over to a nearby table, grabbing one of the capsules off it and inserted it into his weapon of choice, which of course was a hypo. He then headed to the biobed where the slightly embarrassed Scotsman was sat, Scotty looked like a school boy who was waiting to get scolded by the headmaster, which wasn't far from what was actually happening.
"Sleeve, now." McCoy barked. Scotty didn't need to be told twice, he quickly pulled up his sleeve to reveal his forearm. Normally McCoy would administer hypos into the top of peoples arms, however he knew that the CEO preferred to not have them there, apparently they made his arm go numb, McCoy wasn't too sure as to how true that was, but he never questioned it, as long as Scotty actually let him do it that's all he cared about. He jabbed the Engineer in the arm and injected the capsules contents slowly, Scotty felt his pain slowly but surely fade away. He looked up with a small smile on his face, "Thanks Doc." McCoy rolled his eyes as he removed the now empty capsule from his hypo and tossed it into the bin, "No problem Scotty, but from now on I want to see you come in here by your own free will, not because another officer has had to escort you down here." Scotty simply nodded in reply, he was still slightly embarrassed about the fact he had been marched down to sickbay by Lexie. McCoy thanked Lexie for bringing Scotty to see him and asked if she wouldn't mind walking him back to his quarters, just to make sure that he actually went there, which she agreed to do, since she didn't want to argue with the good doctor.