NX looked out the window at the stars, her attention wandering from star to star as she tried to map them out in her mind. "Care for some company?" Janeway walked up to her resting a hand on NX's shoulder only to be shrugged off.
"No." She continued to look out the window, her face twisting with a look of annoyance. "I'm waiting for my father, he's in sickbay again." She turned her chin up catching Janeway's reflection in the window. Slowly NX looked back to Janeway and studied her for a moment. She wasn't walking away. "Don't you have a daughter of your own to look after?"
Janeway nodded her head. "Well, yes I do but she's with her father right now, besides you looked like you needed someone to talk to."
NX nodded her head in agreement. "You are right, I do. I'll speak with my father once he is out of sickbay." NX pulled her hands behind her back and looked back at Janeway noticing the captain had already been doing the same. "Why do you look so much like me?" NX asked fixing her eyes at Janeway with a very grown up look on her face.
"Well, you are my daughter after all, or..." She stopped for a moment, calling her a copy or a clone of Amelia didn't seem fair. She didn't seem to have the same personality as Amelia, at least what personality she knew Amelia had. Her daughter was more playful, friendly, liked to smile. NX was more serious and strict.
"You are wrong captain, I am not your daughter, I am an imitation of your daughter. A poor one from what your Q has said, a lesser copy."
"Well that was rude of him." She gave her a little smile. "You are not just a copy NX. You are an individual, you know something natural occurs similar to you, not quite the time difference but there is such a thing as identical twins, not very common where two babies are born who are completely genetically identical but they are not the same person. They develop separate personalities, different likes and dislikes."
"But I was not born, I was created in a lab." NX pointed out.
"Should that matter?"
"So why do I look like you?" NX asked again.
"You are, genetically my daughter, it's understandable that you would look like me. Amelia looks like me."
NX turned back to window. "I look like Amelia, just like Amelia, Amelia looks like you because you are her mother. I know a great deal about genetics, I helped work in my fathers lab with him. I also observed the conversation Q had with him, his explanation for my powers. My father constructed my genetic codes and you gave your genetic codes to Amelia, and Amelia gave me her powers and Q gave Amelia her powers. So then it is to my understanding that Amelia is my mother and not you." NX looked back to Kathryn. "So you are wrong Captain Janeway, you are still not my mother." The girl let out a little sigh. "I always wanted to know who my mother was. I guess I'm just, disappointed. Father has always told me what I am, he never lied to me about where I came from. On my home world, on my fathers home world I was the only one like me, on Voyager I'm not, I'm a shadow of Amelia."
Janeway crouched down a little so she was more at NX's height. "Then don't be her shadow." Perhaps NX was more like Amelia than she had thought. When Janeway had met Captain Amelia she had been obsessed with being just like the legendary Captain Kathryn Janeway. Never able to 'live up' to the expectation she thought everyone expected of her. Resting her hands on both of NX's shoulders Janeway looked her in the eye. "Just be you." Janeway looked out the window herself now. "Maybe you would enjoy the astrometrics lab if you enjoy stars. At least until your father comes back."
NX narrowed her eyes and looked at Janeway, she didn't trust the woman that much honestly. Not because Janeway had given NX a reason to not trust her, she just knew her father was going to dump her here. Leave her in the care of these strangers and this Janeway. He had pushed her all her short life to be curious of Janeway and Q but NX had never cared much about people who were almost fictional to her until yesterday. "Captain Janeway, are you taking interest in me only because my father is leaving me in your care or because we appear to share genetic similarities?"
Janeway looked the girl over again, she acted rather mature for her age. "I like to get to know all the members of my crew. Since it seems you are going to become apart of this crew it's a good idea to know you better."
"So, it has nothing to do with a maternal attachment then?" Janeway couldn't help but feel like she was being tested.
"It might play a part." NX lifted her chin and gave a little nod of her head as she went over the captains answer.
"Interesting." NX finally commented before reaching her hand out to grab the Captains. "Show me the astrometrics lab then?" Janeway wasn't the expert on children but she knew NX was not a normal child outside of the obvious. Being a replica of her daughter and a mortal who possessed some Q powers. She was rather nervous taking the girls hand in her own and leading her down to asterometrics. Even though Seven wasn't keen on children at least Seven had the dry personality to deal with a child who's personality seemed rather, dry in it's own right.
Once in astrometrics NX seemed rather excited to look over the data they had collected on their trip. Seven pointed out many of the anomalies they had encountered and their high risks, the danger the captain had put the ship and crew in for the sake of human curiosity and for the first time NX said something that actually surprised Janeway. "Sometimes Seven you must take a risk to expand your views. Understanding the universe is primary to any scientist or explorer."
"And you consider yourself an explorer NX117." Seven had no problem calling her by her 'designation'. Janeway herself wondered why the Vidiian never had given her a proper name in the 11 months he had looked after her but Seven never questioned the child's designation. Borg did not have names, it made sense that neither would a being created in a lab.
"I have been an explorer and a scientist since the day I was born." NX smiled and looked over the data taken from one of the nebula's near Krenim territory. "Father said I was always curious about everything and always trying to leave the lab. I wanted to see the rest of the world I was born on, I wanted to see the stars beyond my head, I wanted to go outside. Now that I am out I never want to go back, I want to keep exploring, keep learning, keep seeing everything."
"You sound like the captain." Seven commented holding her hands behind her back and pulling out a negative reaction from the girl. Her eyes flashing over to Seven and then to the PADD in her hands. Despite her obvious dislike for being compared to the captain NX finally relaxed and let a brief smile slip by.
"What is she like?" NX looked behind her to make sure the captain wasn't coming back any time soon.
"Why do you want to know?"
"I guess..." Nx paused looking back down at the PADD then back to Seven. "I suppose it's because we share a genetic similarities." She screened down on the PADD "It might help me understand better who I am then, if I know more about where I came from." Perhaps she was as curious about Captain Janeway as the Captain was curious about her. Her next question however proved their was someone she was even more curious about. "What about Amelia? What is she like? Do you think I would be allowed to meet her?"
"I do not see why not." Seven responded. "If you are to spend the rest of our journey back to earth on Voyager you will have to coexist with Amelia just like the rest of us."
"I don't, want to coexist with Amelia..." She paused looking back to Seven. "I want her to like me."
"Then that shall be easy, she is a baby, easy to please. You can be very successful in making her like you with strange voices or unusual faces."
NX didn't seem highly amused by the joke, of course she didn't realize Seven had been completely sincere about her answer either. "I meant, make her like me beyond a simple joke or gag." NX glanced back to her PADD. "If I am copied from her then we must be alike somehow." Setting the PADD down NX turned to Seven in full and placed her hands behind her back. "Janeway told me to think of her as my mother, but I don't think of her as my mother. I think of Amelia as my mother."
Seven raised a brow. "That must be uncomfortable for you, since Amelia is younger than you are."
"But she has existed longer than I have and it was from her that they grew me." NX lowered her head. "But perhaps I can try to change my views and see Amelia as a sister. I waited my whole lifetime to meet her, I just, I want her to like me."
