This fan fic story chronicles Lore's life prior to his initial encountered with Data.
Contains mild violence and sexual content

Journey to the Dark Side: A Lore Story, REDUX
Written by: S. Bell

Chapter Eight: Often Wrong Soong

Unfortunately, when Lore attempted to inform the colonists about the Crystalline Entity, his warnings weren't well received. They found it to be suspicious that the android was the sole, unscathed survivor of the horrific incident. They also feared that he was possibly setting up some sort of trap for the colony.

"Okay, so you're saying that a giant snowflake attacked and killed the pilot, Alexander and his assistant?" the Colonial Magistrate, Thomas Simms, asked sarcastically.

"Yes. That's exactly what happened. One minute they were sitting next to me, the next minute they were gone." Lore explained, to which the magistrate chuckled as he rolled his eyes in disbelief.

"And you think your life was spared because you were somehow able to… talk to it?" the magistrate chuckled, "Lore, I must say that's some imagination you've got there. However, you're going to have to come up with a more creative story than that in order to get out of the mess you're in."

"You mean, as creative as the story you told your wife when she suspected your infidelity?" Lore replied, to which the witnesses erupted with laughter as Danielle — the magistrate's wife — shot daggers at her husband with her eyes.

The magistrate's mind went wild as he wondered how Lore knew about his supposedly private affairs.

"I don't know what you're talking about. There must be a problem with your circuits."

"There's nothing wrong with my circuitry or my hearing." Lore chuckled, "If you can't recall your escapades, I'm sure Claudia, Gwendolyn or Rebecca would love to refresh your memory since they're the ones who've inspired your 'creativity' in the first place." he replied with an amused look on his face as he saw the magistrate become increasingly embarrassed. Lore then proceeded to speak in the voices of the three women and repeated some of the things he'd heard them say to the magistrate.

"Lore that's enough!" Dr. Soong firmly whispered.

"Lore, I'd very much like to speak to you after this session is adjourned." Danielle replied as she continued to cast devious stares at her husband, whose face had become beet-red.

"My lady," Lore replied with a wide grin, "I'd be happy to oblige."

"Danielle, I'm afraid that will not be possible. It might complicate the investigation." the magistrate interjected with a nervous chuckle as he glared angrily at Lore — who wore a satisfied smirk.

"And your life!" Danielle hissed at her husband.

"This meeting is not about marital issues. Please let's return to the matter at hand." the moderator replied.

The meeting went on for hours and the magistrate seemed intent on having Lore charged with the murders of the pilot, Alex and his assistant, even though their remnants were depleted beyond even DNA recognition. Lore suspected that the magistrate was doing this in retaliation of him exposing his extramarital affairs.

"I don't believe this!" Lore snapped as he shot up from his chair, "You're pinning this on me?!"

"All of the signs point to sabotage. The ship's instruments were badly damaged and we can't retrieve any information during the time the ship was allegedly attacked by some… crystal."

"Doesn't the fact that there was damage to the ship indicate the validity of Lore's story? Are you saying that you think Lore caused the damage himself?" Dr. Soong asked to which the magistrate frowned, "Please, Lore has a system that I'm sure has recorded the events in question, if you would just allow him to…"

"Good try Dr. Soong, but I don't trust anything that comes out of that android's mouth. We've already seen that he's capable of slander; he's attacked my marriage with unfounded claims." the magistrate replied.

"Are you calling me a liar?!" Lore asked angrily, but Dr. Soong put a hand on his shoulder to calm him.

"Lore wasn't built to lie. I am confident that he's telling the truth." Dr. Soong said in defense.

"Well, we're not so confident… Often Wrong!" One witness snapped, "How long will it be before he turns out like the others?! Don't forget, he's already tried to drown Alex once before!"

Dr. Soong's face scrunched up with anger, but before he could comment, Lore was already on the defensive.

"That was an accident!" Lore growled. Dr. Soong tried to quiet him, but Lore continued talking, "Which is more than I can say for most of the people in this colony! Do you know the kind of people you call 'neighbors'? Are you aware that you live among thieves, liars, adulterers and even murderers? No, I'm sure you don't, but if you do, you cover it up… conceal the truth to live in your delusional world of so-called peaceful coexistence. You're all pathetic; blindly following one person even if it leads you to your own destruction while attacking me and my creator in the process. The only thing that brings most of you together is corruption and the desire to destroy things you simply don't understand, in this case… me. So don't you dare sit there and pass judgment as if none of you have ever made mistakes!"

The moderator decided to adjourn the meeting since things began to get a little too heated from that point on. Dr. Soong and Lore returned to the lab. Juliana had gone out to retrieve some supplies.

"How many others were there?" Lore asked Dr. Soong.

"Lore, I'll need you to play the recording of what happened on the shuttle."

Lore felt a twinge of uneasiness when he realized that it would expose the unspoken truth about what happened to Alex. "Don't change the subject father! How many others were there? How many others did you make before me and where are they now?"

Dr. Soong sighed. "Lore, before you I attempted to create a properly functioning positronic brain, several times with no success. It took many grueling years before a successful brain was created, your brain." he explained with a smile.

"Is that why the colonists called you 'Often Wrong Soong'?" Lore asked and Dr. Soong pursed his lips angrily.

"Yes," Dr. Soong hissed, "but Lore, don't mention that name to me again. I don't like to hear it since it's a constant reminder of my failures."

"What happened to the 'failures'? Did you destroy them?"

"Lore, I had no choice but to deactivate them. They were incapable of functioning properly and terrible things started happening."

"The colonists feel the same way about me. Does that mean you'll deactivate me as well?" Lore asked harshly.

"Lore, you're being unfair. Those cases were different, you've done nothing wrong." Dr. Soong replied and Lore dropped his gaze from his father's eyes as he was overcome with guilt.

"Now Lore, I need to hear the recording."

"Father, you're tired. Perhaps I can play it for you later." Lore suggested.

"Lore, I'm fine!" Dr. Soong replied with mild annoyance and then he softened his voice, "I'm sorry son, this whole process is intense. Please, just play the recording."

Lore paused for a moment, took a deep breath and played the recording; however, to his surprise — and relief — everything that took place after the death of Alex's assistant had been lost. Dr. Soong examined Lore and discovered that there had been a power fluctuation in his system that had damaged the recording device.

Eventually, the colony decided that without significant evidence against Lore, he wouldn't face criminal charges — although this didn't stop the colony from ostracizing him even more than usual. It appeared that from that point on, most of the colonists were looking for any excuse to have him deactivated. During the weeks afterward, Lore tried to convince the magistrate that it was critical that they contact the entity or else it would come to destroy them. However, Lore's desperate petition fell on deaf ears and he was banned from initiating any form of electronic communication. One day, he defied the ruling and attempted to break into the communications system to send a message to the entity in order to stall for more time, but he was disabled by a phaser blast just after he successfully conveyed to the Crystal Entity that more time was needed. It took Dr. Soong a couple weeks to repair the damage that had been done to the circuitry. Eventually, Lore was once again operational and he was puzzled as to why the process had taken so long since Dr. Soong had previously repaired more serious damages in half that time, little did Lore know that his father was secretly constructing another android. However, Lore's mind was too preoccupied to push his father for an answer.

Shortly after his reactivation, Lore learned of Jacqueline's plans to leave the colony. Lore was devastated when he heard the news. For days, Lore did nothing but try to convince her to stay, but she had her mind set. Jacqueline's confusion and despair had become unbearable and she felt that leaving for a while would be the best way to clear her head. However, Lore would have none of it. He became desperate and refused to lose the only person who'd ever given him a chance. Jacqueline was the only person in the colony who believed in him and accepted him for who he was. She was always so kind and patient with him. She never set out to hurt or condemn him as so many others had done. Lore wanted her to know how much she meant to him, he became desperate in searching for a way to prove his love to her.