Chapter 6
Warning Shots by Thievery Corporation (The Cosmic Game 2005)
Lore froze on the transporter pad of his once-familiar ship. For a moment, he thought he had rematerialized somewhere else and the adrenaline compound rushing through his bio-systems had caught him off guard. Chuckling at himself, he plopped down in front of the navigation panel on the tiny bridge of his vessel. Lore began flipping switches on the controls of his ship, taking it out of orbit with a smirk still plastered to his face. The impulse engines of his battered ship lagged against the magnetic field of the planet.
He gasped as his systems malfunctioned again, ripping him from his temporary distraction. The grin slid from his face and real panic gripped him. What the hell? His father must have been right about the chip's compatibility with his systems. Lore rested his chin on his chest, his hands folded tightly on the back of his neck. His breathing slowed to a stop without him noticing and he curled up around his torso, choking on dry sobs as though he were having some kind of seizure. A wave of shock hit him again when he remembered the sight of Dr. Soong lying in a crumpled heap, covered in papers flying in all directions. He laughed, remembering each tiny detail in perfect clarity and struggled to push the memory from his thoughts. Maybe there was a way to end this. His twisted mind was only becoming more tangled and it was becoming difficult to distinguish between reality and memories. Lore did not want to end his life, he wanted help. But he also did not want to run the risk of Data finding the emotion chip. Lore would disappear from his brother's reach, taking Dr. Soong's evil with him. Reaching out, he punched in the coordinates for the Bajoran wormhole.
Lore struggled with his internal workings as the emotion chip began destroying his systems one at a time, driving him delirious. Every blink of his eyes brought an uncomfortable flash of light, so he resolved to keep his eyes shut. Trying to slow his pulse, he resumed his breathing and shut his systems down into a more manageable state.
The first thing that met Lore's consciousness was the sound of quiet murmuring drifting through the darkness from all around him. He tried to sit up but instantly discovered that his body was being held down by restraints. He gently tested their limits, trying not to attract any more attention to himself than what he already had. When he finally opened his eyes the murmuring ceased. There was a pause before one of the men spoke to him slowly, cautiously.
"Android." Lore rolled his eyes. "For what purpose have you invaded Lemnan territory?" Lemnan? Lore thought for a moment. His navigation systems…. He remembered trying to pilot through the Raan star cluster but his ship's navigation systems had gone out along with helm control.
"Invaded?" Lore shook his head. "I was only passing through the system."
One of the more slight scientists leaned over and whispered in her neighbor's ear. Lore was able to pick up the words with his sensitive hearing. "You had better contact Dakkar Internal Security, I believe Commander Ilyn will know how to handle this more effectively than us."
Without another word, they turned to leave and Lore watched them go. He already had begun to plan several escape plots, none of which involved pleading for release. The thick steely door slid back into its place leisurely, begging him to try and break through.
In one swift motion, Lore reached his hand around, breaking through the small inverters which powered the force field cuffs restraining him to the sterile table. He sat up and snapped through similar models wrapped around his waist and ankles. In less than two-point-nine seconds he had freed himself, though noting with irritation that they had rendered him nude. Sadly, this was not the first time Lore had awoke to find himself naked under someone else's supervision.
His motions across the room tripped a security alarm and Lore was made aware of the two guards rushing through the entrance of the lab. Taking out two officers was easy enough but Lore was still running blind. The Lemnan people were somewhat advanced for a remote civilization but their security protocols were rather negligent as they placed so much faith in their own isolation. Lore did not doubt that he would be able to find an escape. His mind was in overdrive as he dressed himself in one of the officer's tactical uniforms but abruptly he froze and noted that something was different; something inside his mind. He ran a quick diagnostic on himself and realized… Data's emotion chip was missing. Interesting. Lore wondered how they knew how to remove it or that it was even there. He began to wonder how much they knew about him and whether or not they would try to use it to their advantage.
Out in the hallway, Lore slipped the polarized visor over his eyes, shielding the most obtrusive aspect of his appearance. Even without his pale gold skin, Lore's eyes would have been a dead giveaway to any officers patrolling the halls. He began making his way towards what he believed was a transport terminal. Pivoting around a corner, he ran headlong into a group of about twenty security officers. Using the blunt of the phaser rifle, he bashed it over the helmet of one while firing off several shots. In a blaze of red phaser fire, Lore took several shots to his central processor and, again, lost consciousness.
Jamaal's eyes were closed against the white light which gently fell down her face from its highest point in the sky. Her palms rested on her ankles and her breathing was slowed nearly to a halt. Columns etched with runes from the Old Books surrounded the marble steps which descended into a large rectangular pit where tan-colored sand lay warming in the sun. She sat on a platform which was elevated above the sand. The space above her was open to sky and the sun beat down at a ninety degree angle; it was exactly mid-day.
Every morning, Jamaal would come here as a part of her studies. Only the most intensely trained in religion would practice such a ritual and despite her daily agenda, Jamaal still came to meditate. She would try to remember why she had accepted the responsibilities as High Priestess and hold true to those foundations. She would ponder her own existence and try to appreciate the forces which governed life on their planet.
Her culture's religion was centered around their sun. The sun was the reason why life existed the way it did. Everything had come together so perfectly and even the tiniest change in the creation of her world would have altered everything. All of these things she learned of when she was not much more than a child. Though she had never known her biological parents she had only the highest respect for the man she called 'father'. He had also been an influencing factor for her to continue her education. He had passed away when she was only twenty, leaving her to her own responsibilities. A quiet chirp interrupted her thoughts and she opened her eyes against the light. She knew it would be Commander Ilyn. Rising swiftly, she padded through the warm sand in her bare feet.
"What do you need Commander?" Her voice sounded tired, like she had been woken up in the middle of her sleep, but Jamaal was curious enough as to the reason for the disturbance. Only Commander Ilyn would have something important enough to interrupt Jamaal while she was in her reverie.
"Sir, the Idhaman cybernetics facility has discovered a refugee. It's the android. One of our military scouts discovered him while conducting a routine inspection near the Raan star cluster."
Android..? "Lore." She already knew who Ilyn was referring to. "I will be returning to my office shortly, please join me."
Jamaal had only been gone about half an hour and her padd had received over a hundred new communications. The most disruptive were those in response to discovering Lore. The first time he had wandered into their star system and crashed his vessel, Jamaal had done as much as she could to mask the situation. This time, the entire scientific community of Idham was involved and there was not much she could do to salvage the situation.
A distinct sense of déjà vu washed over Lore as he sat, hands clasped left over right, in an interrogation room with a secured force field entrance. He had been waiting for over thirty-one hours and no one had yet bothered to tell him where he was. Boredom washed over him in waves but before he could begin to grow frustrated once again, the force field hissed out of place and then back again. Lore watched as the same woman he encountered during his last visit haphazardly tossed her padd onto the metallic table with an audible clatter and pulled out a chair for herself.
She sat flipping through documents on the tablet for what seemed like forever.
"Who- who are you?" She asked, as though she genuinely had no idea.
"My name is Lore." She raised her eyebrows and Lore only watched her, feeling somewhat confused. "Haven't we already been through this before?"
"Yes. And we would not have to go through it a second time if I believed you the first time." Jamaal took a deep breath, her patience growing thin. "So I'll ask you again. Who are you?"
"I have already answered this." Lore stared blankly, masking his own irritation.
"Alright, fine. Why are you here? Again?"
"I have already told you that I'm a fugitive. I have no home to return to."
"Which is why you tried, so violently, to escape? A dozen trained officers were seriously injured."
"…It's just my nature." She nodded. That she understood. For a moment, they sat staring at one another. She knew that he believed he was telling the truth, though none of it added up in her book.
"Lore, you will be shipped back to Dakkar. I trust you know how to stay out of trouble for at least that long." Before he could respond, she stood and left him alone.
Lore was finally released, but he learned that his ship was completely obliterated in the Raan star-cluster. Unsure of how to proceed, he requested to meet Jamaal out in one of the bazaars which were so commonplace in her civilization.
"You know, on my way out of the facility… I couldn't help but notice so many supply ships docked out in the hangers. It also looks like you're building new additions to the fleet. Tell me, you're not planning on doing a little space exploration, are you?" He grinned and she only returned with a small, sad smile.
"Quite the contrary. No, actually Lore, I need to know from you. Do you wish to remain here?" She paused for a few long moments. "We can return you to your home but you see, we're closing our borders, our solar system. If you wish to leave then I would advise you to leave quickly… But of course if you wish to remain, you may remain. The choice is obviously yours… Lore."
"I- I'm not certain." Lore was a fugitive in the Federation. Lemnan offered a sanctuary which no others could provide. Lore also loved to explore… the Raan star cluster was, after all, inside of the Lemnan border. He would be free to explore the large star system without fear of capture or detainment. But was Lore ready to close the gateway between himself and his brother? Data was all he had left of his family now… could he so easily throw him aside as though he were meaningless? Lore watched as Jamaal bounded up the steps to a small, outdoor amphitheater.
"May I think on it for a while?" She turned and nodded.
In an attempt to ease the uncomfortable silence, she gestured to a large instrument which was set in the middle of the large open space. Lore sat down at the seat and stretched his arms out over the keys, striking them in a self-conscious manner.
"They said they removed a piece of hardware from your positronic brain."
"Yes, it was my brother's emotion chip. He can't feel emotion the way I can."
"You have a brother?" She faced him expecting an answer. He did not look up but only nodded, unsmiling. "Forgive me, I'm still getting used to the fact that you are a machine."
"Yes, well the emotion chip was maladapted to my systems and caused cognitive failure."
She nodded. "You know, you play quite well for someone who has never seen this instrument before in their life."
"It reminds me of Earth's piano. Though the design and the layout of the keys are different, the sound is nearly the same." Though Lore had a tuned ear, it had been far too long since he had practiced any kind of music. The notes rang out, resonating through the upper levels of the music hall.
Each one of the keys pulled back a hammer which struck four thin, hollowed-out wires. The wires were wrapped in copper filaments and strung together in four different widths. Each note created a brusque sound, which was amplified against the sound board and then echoed out of the open gate. Each key was extended out from the panel on a thin silver finger which widened at the tip and the playing keys were laid out in three rows stacked on top of each other, so as to make it easier to jump from octave to octave or to play in simultaneous chords.
She sat next to him and stretched out her arms.
"It's called a syndhl. I don't personally play, but I am something of a music enthusiast."
She paused in her dabbling on the keys for a moment and allowed Lore to try it out again. He tried his best to transpose one of his favorite classical works by Schubert into the notes of the syndhl, but was still unsure as to the organization pattern of the keys, so he let his mind wander. He played crisp high notes which were then complemented by the dark, bitter chords on the deeper end of the instrument in contrasting melodies. The two ends of the spectrum complemented each other in way that caused the tones to amplify each other in some kind of emotional spiral. Lore's thoughts were transcribed into the notes of his music. Jamaal gently pressed her palms over Lore's hands and stopped his playing. He met her eyes, and for a moment he swore that he saw something stirring beneath that veil.
A comm station was displaying a small fleet's movements around the border of the Lemnan star system. The lieutenant on duty kept up a constant vigil, fearful that the border would be infiltrated at any given moment. Around and around they circled; each ship on its own unique path. Occasionally, one ship would pause to examine an anomaly around the exterior of the border. They were searching for a way in, testing the shield's strength. He knew this kind of security tactic would not hold forever. There were gaps, ways inside and it was only a matter of time before they found one.
As if reading his thoughts, the comm panel exhibited a flashing warning light in an incomplete section of the border. One of the power stations seemed to have malfunctioned and was now destroyed, leaving several of the surrounding filaments vulnerable.
"Commander!" The young lieutenant turned sharply, anxiety warping his normally smiling face.
"Yes, Lieutenant?"
"The shielding systems are suffering cascade failure in this sector." He pointed to a region on his monitor. "The warships are converging in that area… Our scout ships are relaying messages that their fleet has penetrated our borders."
"Advise them to rendezvous with the rest of our fleet at once." Ilyn's voice was as harsh as a whip and the boy masked a flinch, swallowing back his apprehension.
"Yessir."
As the ships made their way further into the system, they began taking down more of the shield outposts, cutting vital strands in the border's web. The gaps grew like runs in stockings until the openings were wide enough to bring a fleet through. Commander Ilyn glared at the screen as though it was the source of the attempts to undermine her entire civilization. Turning away from the comm panel, she called Jamaal on her communicator.