Chapter Three; Frustror
Frustror. Verb. 1. Baffle, evade 2. Escape 3. Disappoint, deceive with false hope 4. Fail
Maddox made his way from his quarters to the lab. He rubbed his chest absently. It felt hard to breathe, as if the air was too thin. He wondered uneasily if he was getting ill. He would have to stay away from Sarah, if he got sick.
When he entered the lab he saw the two androids huddled together against the wall, as far from the door as possible. He scowled darkly. So, Data had removed Lore from the restraints. Well, he should know by now that he'll be punished for it. Maddox moved to the control panel and reached for the pain stick.
It wasn't there. Neither was the inhibitor.
He looked up at the androids. Data had risen to his feet, the pain stick in his hand. Lore was holding the inhibiting device in his fist, and he made sure Maddox was watching as he ground it to powder with his strong fingers.
"Data..." Maddox warned. The android shook his head.
"No, Bruce. You have no power over me. You will take us to the escape pods. We are leaving."
Maddox's eyes narrowed. "What lies has he told you? Lore doesn't care about you, not like I do!"
"Bruce, please. No more. We are going."
"I won't let you go, Data. Not after everything I've worked for."
"You see?" Hissed Lore. "Just like Father, all he cares about is his work! He doesn't care about us!"
"I have shut down life support, and locked down the control panels. If you wish to survive, you will take us to the escape pods." Data's voice was even, but Maddox could see his hand shaking as he gripped the pain stick. Maddox felt his heart thump painfully in his chest. No wonder he was finding it hard to breathe.
"No! No, Data, what about everyone else on this ship? You would be responsible for their deaths, it would be murder!"
"Take us to the escape pods and I will unlock the controls, then you may reinstate life support. Now, Bruce." Data gestured with the stick towards the door and Maddox took the chance and bolted.
He tore down the corridor towards his quarters, his chest heaving in the thin atmosphere, but before he was even half way a strong hand gripped the collar of his jacket and brought him to a jerking halt, choking as the fabric tightened against his throat. A mask was shoved over his face, the grip on his jacket loosened, and he sucked in a lung-full of fresh air.
Data had Lore in his other arm, gripping him around his chest. Lore's one arm was over his brother's shoulders, supporting his crippled body. Maddox looked into Data's eyes, and they were cold and distant.
"Please, Data!" He gasped. "My wife! She's pregnant!"
"He's lying!" Snarled Lore. "He'd say anything to save his miserable skin!"
"No, I swear it! Please, they'll die..." Data shook his head and dragged the cyberneticist down the corridor.
"If you take us to the escape pods, you can turn the life support systems back on." The android said coldly. Maddox gasped in the air flowing into the mask, and tried to drag together his addled thoughts.
"Data... Think of everything we've accomplished together..."
"Enough! Be quiet." Snapped the android, shaking him roughly. They had come to a junction where three corridors came together. "Which way?" Data questioned him. Maddox looked left then right, but before he could lead them on, a group of people piled around the corner of the left hand corridor. They were fully suited in Starfleet standard issue survival gear, and each was brandishing a phaser rifle.
"Please, help me, they've gone mad!" Maddox shouted through the mask. Data gripped the man's shoulder and rendered him unconscious, grabbing his limp body around the chest and holding him up in front of him as a human shield.
This was not part of the plan. He knew how long a human or Romulan could survive without the life support systems in operation, had gambled their lives for this chance, with only a few spare moments. He had no desire to see them die. And now they were here, the Enterprise's gallant security team, and it would ruin everything. They would take Lore from him, shut him down, dismantle him, without bothering to ask questions.
He could see only one way out.
Lieutenant Daniels stepped forwards, towards the bizarre trio. A man, Maddox presumably, now unconscious. An android, eyes blazing with rage, supporting the man. And another android, one arm gone, its legs dragging along the floor, its torso tucked under the arm of the able bodied android.
"Put them down, raise your hands!" He shouted through his breathing apparatus, gesturing with the phaser rifle. The android bared its teeth in a parody of a smile, and they were jagged broken shards, a vandalised graveyard of a mouth.
"I think not." It sneered, and pulled the human's limp body closer, hugging him to its chest.
"Put them down and identify yourself!" Daniels called.
"I am Lore." The android snarled. The android it was holding looked up at it sharply.
"What are you doing?" it snapped.
"Shut up!" The other growled, its eyes fixed on Daniels. The security chief felt a bead of sweat track down his back. Lore! He had never met the android before, thank God, but he had heard stories...
"Put them down and surrender!"
Lore laughed. "As if I would leave myself exposed! No, you are going to take us all together, or none at all. You want your precious Data," it spat the name, as if it tasted bitter, "you take me as well."
"Data, stop this, I will not allow..." The other android said.
"You will be silent, Data, or I will shut you down!" Lore shouted.
"Which one of you is Lieutenant Commander Data?" Barked Daniels.
"He is!" The androids chorused.
Daniels dredged up a fragment of information about the android's abilities, something he had heard once, the only way to tell them apart.
"You!" He pointed the rifle at the broken-mouthed android. "Use a verbal contraction!"
It sneered at him. "As if I would stoop to performing party tricks for you worthless bags of flesh!"
"I'm Lore!" Shouted the one-armed android. "He isn't! Can't, shan't, won't!"
"Can't, shan't, won't!" Barked the other android. "Such a stupid game! How many people do you want to die while you force me to jump through hoops?"
"Data, why are you doing this?" Cried the crippled android, squirming in the other's arm.
"Enough! We have to take them both, there's no time to lose." Daniels gestured to his team who, with rifles aimed, parted to escort the strange group to the shuttle latched to the side of the ship. As they approached the air lock, Daniels motioned to a screen.
"Turn the life support back on." He snapped, and Lore curled his lip at him. The android loosened its grip, trusting the other android to support itself with its one arm while Lore's fingers flew over the screen.
"There." Lore stepped away and was ushered into the shuttle, holding the two bodies close. The android's head swung from side to side, making sure that it wasn't being surrounded, that no-one was creeping up behind. It flattened itself against the wall of the shuttle, eyes darting and full of anger and hate. The journey back to the Enterprise was going to be an uncomfortable one.
Daniels had commed ahead and updated the crew of the Enterprise on the situation, and they were met with the barrels of phaser rifles as they exited the shuttle craft in the hanger bay. Data kept up the act, allowing himself and his two 'hostages' to be herded to a cell in the brig. He waited until the last possible moment before throwing Maddox out just before the force field activated. The man sprawled where he had landed, groaning softly as he began to come round. Two security personnel were on him like a flash, dragging him into an adjacent cell and calling for a med team to asses him. Data had overheard them discussing the sending of a second shuttle to round up the rest of the crew. He hoped that they had all survived. His calculations were rarely wrong, but the interruption of their escape had cost valuable time.
He allowed himself to relax, slumping to the floor of the cell and cradling Lore close, listening to the now familiar crackle and fizz of the force field. There were two security guards watching them, phaser rifles down but ready if they tried anything. The door to the brig opened and the medical team bustled in to help Maddox, talking softly about his condition. Lore ground his teeth. Never mind that he and his brother were lying here, one crippled and the other mad, both hurt and traumatized. Deal with the human who, at most, would be suffering from minor oxygen deprivation and slight bruising. The door opened again and Lore felt a shudder run through Data's body.
"Data!"
Data couldn't help the shock from showing on his face. Geordi had lost weight, hollows showed under his cheek bones, his dark skin ashen. He was unshaven, there were deep shadows under his eyes... His eyes! The most startling change of all. No longer milk-white with blindness, they glittered with the silver and electric blue of cybernetic implants.
The man came to a skidding halt in front of the cell, his eyes flicking back and forth between the two androids. "Data?" His brow creased in consternation.
The androids were in a sorry state. One of them was barely clothed, missing an arm, with twisted legs and patches of bioplast stripped from its body. The other seemed able bodied, but its shirt and trousers were riven and torn, its teeth were a jagged mess. It looked up at him, and his new eyes told him the truth. For the first time in his life, he saw Data as he truly appeared, saw the love shining in his golden eyes.
"We'll get you out, don't worry, he can't hurt you any more." Murmured Geordi, his eyes darting to Lore. Lore barked a mirthless laugh.
"I couldn't hurt him even if I wanted to, La Forge."
"Geordi..." Data whispered. To Lore it seemed that his brother's whole body was vibrating with tension, conflicted.
"Come on, get up, let's go." Geordi beckoned the guards over and they deactivated the force field, rifles at the ready. Data only shook his head, clutching Lore tightly to his chest.
"I cannot, Geordi. I know what will happen, and I will not allow it." He murmured.
"Wh... what are you talking about? Nothing's going to happen to you."
"Not to me, to Lore. He will be deactivated and dismantled."
"He's dangerous, Data! I don't know what he's told you, but you need to get away from him!" Geordi ran a hand through his unruly hair in his agitation. "God, Data, I... I've missed you so much! Please!"
Data shuddered, gasped a sob as he shook his head. "Do not make me choose."
Geordi's silver eyes flashed. "Make you... You're really choosing him over me? He's a murderer, he tried to kill you! You have to get away from him!"
"No, no, no, Geordi, I do not want to choose! I promised..."
The door to the brig slid open again and Captain Picard stalked into the room, closely followed by Riker and Daniels.
"Do we know which one is Data?" The captain barked, and Geordi nodded.
"Yeah, this is him. But he won't leave Lore." Geordi looked devastated, shattered, and Data's mind filled with anguish.
"Data, come away from him." Picard looked at the android. Data sobbed again, shook his head rapidly as twin golden yellow tears tracked down his cheeks.
Picard gritted his teeth. This, indeed, was an unexpected complication. That Data was traumatized there was no doubt, but they couldn't help him unless he left Lore. He felt the weight of his command settle on him once again, as he steeled himself. Sometimes, one had to be cruel, to be kind.
"Data, you are a Starfleet officer, and I am ordering you to leave the cell."
Lore felt Data's hand spasm as its grip loosened. "No, Data!" He growled. "You know what they'll do to me!"
Data's hand went to his head to clench a fistful of his own hair in agitation. His eyes were wide, his mouth hanging open.
"That's an order, Commander!" Picard barked, and Data stood like a puppet being drawn up by its strings. Bereft of his brother's support Lore slumped over sideways, jerking his arm out to latch his hand around Data's ankle.
"Don't, Data! You promised!" He snarled, his grip like a vise.
Do. As. You're. Told! He could follow orders Just be good Comply All this would be over, the fear and pain would stop Do as you're told, Data! Too much going on in his head and he wanted it to stop stop stop stop stop stop stop stop stop please please please stop stop
He jerked his leg free from Lore's grip and stepped out of the cell. Immediately the security guards were on the crippled android, flinging themselves onto him bodily and pinning him down. Lore shrieked in rage, kicking, elbowing and clawing, snapping at them when they came close enough to his face.
"He's too, strong, La Forge!" Shouted Daniels, hanging on to Lore's arm, his face grim. Geordi sighed and lifted something in his hand, and Data felt a wave of weakness wash through him. The inhibitor! Geordi had the device from the Jovis, and he was using it on them! Data's chest hitched as he drew a shuddering breath and dropped to his knees, his body suddenly too heavy for his hydraulics and servos to support. He heard Lore thrashing and cursing, and tuned his head to look at his brother, barely visible under the guards.
"You promised me, Data! Damn you, you promised!" Lore screamed, and Daniels jabbed a hand into the android's back. Lore's eyes went blank, and his body relaxed as he deactivated.
"No!" Data breathed. He turned, crawled on his hands and knees and hands and knees and handsandkneesandhandsandkneeskneesknees reaching out for his brother. From behind someone grabbed his arm, lifting him up, gripping his wrists above his head, chained and bound and dangling as Bruce prepared to punish him again, and the humans began disassembling his brother, and all Data could do was say 'No, no, no, no'.
"It's for the best, trust me." Said Geordi's voice, but how could he trust him, when he was suspended and crippled, weak and terrified? The security guards were talking to Maddox, and dimly Data heard Bruce wailing, weeping, "My wife! The baby! Please, God, no!" And that made no sense, because he had been so careful, and no-one should have died, it must be a mistake.
"Data, how long was the life support system offline?" That was the captain. Data's eyes were fixed in his head, staring as they dismembered his brother, placing his parts neatly on the bed. Data swallowed.
"Eight minutes, twelve..."
"Data, it was closer to an hour!" Geordi blurted.
Data shook his head, his eyes never leaving Lore. "No, that is not possible."
"Data... we think that Maddox tampered with your neural nets. We think that your internal chronometer may not be functioning correctly." Picard said softly.
"How long have you been gone?" Said Geordi.
"Three weeks, sixteen hours, forty-two..."
"It's been two and a half months, Data." Geordi hadn't released his grip on the android's wrists and he felt the shudder that ran through him, his body trembling with shock. Data's mouth opened and closed spasmodically, his eyes wide.
"Come on, we need to get you to engineering and get you fixed up..."
"No, no, no, no, no, no..."
"Data, come on." Someone said, and the security team stepped away from his brother's corpse and reactivated the force field, as if they were afraid he may escape. Data gulped in air in a hysterical gasp.
"I promised, I told him you would not do this, I said he could trust me, I could not protect him, I have killed him, I killed a woman and her child, I killed a child, nononononono..." Data's vocal synthesiser rendered the last as one long ululating monotone drone, and Geordi cringed. He switched the inhibitor off and pulled at Data's arms, trying to encourage him to his feet.
Data's head whirled. Someone was pulling his arms up, dragging him by the chains on his wrists to dangle helpless and horrified as Fajo prepared to assault him again, and Lore was screaming for them to punish him instead, but Lore was in pieces, and Data knew that it had been his hands that took him apart. His memories tangled with his emotions, the room was too hot, he couldn't breathe, there were too many people and they were all talking at once and he wanted it to stopstopstop because there was too much going on in his head in his headinhishead.
"Please, Data, please! Get up, we have to fix you, you're not well..." Geordi croaked, and suddenly Data stood, wrenching his arms from Geordi's grip. Without a word the android bolted, his incredible speed and agility taking him half way down the corridor before the humans had realized what had happened.
The phasers spat stunning bolts of energy at him and he dodged and wove, throwing himself into a turbolift and flattening himself against the wall. He was out and moving before the doors had even fully opened, flinging himself through the door of his quarters, not bothering with the lights. His fingers flew over the control panel, sealing the door. His chest was heaving, great sobbing breaths leaving his body as his mind flooded with emotions and memories. He stumbled across the room to fall back into a corner against the wall, as far from the door as possible. He tucked his knees to his chest and hugged himself, his face blank and eyes staring. Someone was hammering on the door, screaming his name, and other voices answered, shouting. It was a hideous cacophony, an assault on his ears, and Data disabled his auditory sensors. He felt the footsteps through the floor as they left his door, and he was alone. He could still smell the man's skin, the scent clinging to his wrists, so he disabled his olfactory receptors. The darkness wasn't enough, there was still too much information flowing into his mind, so he shut down his visual feed. He replayed the audio from the cell on Bruce's ship, the comforting static of the force field. He called up the tactile memory of his brother's warm body against his back and his fingers moved, tapping against his own arm as he stared straight ahead into the darkness.
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