Chapter 12

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"What do you think of my followers, Picard? Impressive, are they not?" Lore sauntered down from the high-rise, his footsteps heavy in lofty arrogance.

"I'm not particularly impressed." Picard spat the last word with distaste. "What you have done is teach these Borg to take joy in killing."

"You are wrong, Captain." Data spoke up again to defend Lore. "My brother and I serve a much higher purpose."

"Data," Deanna Troi stepped forward, shock evident on her face. "I can sense feelings in you."

"Yes. My brother has made that possible." He hissed at her in petulance.

"He gave you the emotion chip… the one Dr. Soong made for you?" Picard questioned. Was it possible that this was the source of Data's new disturbing behavior?

Lore scoffed at him. "No. I still have the emotion chip my father designed. I would not want to give it up. It's what has given me such a strong sense of family. An intense desire to reunite with my brother." His words softened slightly and he turned to observe Data's reaction. The twisted smirk he found on Data's face greatly amused him.

"What made you do it, Data? What made you decide to come here?"

"I am speaking to you, Picard. I will tell you all you need to know."

"You're controlling him. And you've corrupted the Borg." The words came as a slap of truth and Lore had to work to control his anger.

He smirked, masking his irritation. "You simply don't understand, do you? You have no idea what has happened here. How I've found my true calling. How the Borg found something to believe in."

"I would like to learn about that," Picard turned. "But I want Data to tell me."

Lore took a warning step towards the Captain. "I've already told you. I will tell you everything you need to know."

"How about that, Data? He won't even let you speak."

Data replied softly, reproachfully. "Do not try to drive a wedge between us, Captain. I am loyal to my brother."

"You see Picard? He's not your pawn anymore. I've helped him to break free. Just as I've helped them. Look at them. Look at what they've become. They're alive."

"Are you saying that you caused them to become individuals?" Troi asked him skeptically.

"No. You did that. You and your friends. All I did was clean up the mess you made when that Borg you befriended returned to his ship."

"Hugh interfaced with the others and transferred his sense of individuality to them. It nearly destroyed them."

"You see… without me they would have perished. When I stumbled upon their ship they were lost, disoriented. They had no idea how to function as individuals; they couldn't even navigate their own vessel! They had lost their sense of purpose. I gave them their purpose… and they gave me mine."

"The Borg aspire to the perfection my brother and I represent. Fully artificial life forms. We are their future."

"The reign of biological life forms is coming to an end. You, Picard, and those like you, are obsolete."

Lore nodded to the Borg and Data escorted the away team from the entrance hall.

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Data followed his fellow crew members into the holding cell where they were to be kept.

"Data you must realize that something has happened to you. The Data I knew would never have played a willing part into Lore's plans."

"I now realize that my life aboard the Enterprise was a waste." He snatched the commbadge from counselor Troi's uniform. "My quest to become human, misguided… An evolutionary step in the wrong direction."

"Data all I'm sensing from you is anger and hatred. Have you experienced any other emotions?" Deanna eyed him warily.

"There are no other emotions." He replied flatly.

Geordi's eyebrows knitted together. "Data… just because you haven't experienced certain emotions doesn't mean they don't exist. Lore is just feeding you the negative ones."

"Counselor Troi herself told me that feelings are neither positive nor negative. It is how we act on them that make them good or bad."

"Fine." Picard gave him a hard look. "What about the things Lore is proposing? What about the lives that have already been lost?"

Doubt flickered through Data for an instant and he responded with a rehearsed reply. "You simply do not understand." His voice was robotic. "In a quest such as ours, sacrifices must be made. It is regrettable, but the greater good must be served."

He nodded to Geordi. "Give me your visor."

"Why?"

Data snatched a phaser from one of the Borg. "If you do not cooperate then I will take it by force." Geordi sighed, removing the seeing device and handing it over hesitantly.

Data snatched it from his hand and stepped out of the cell.

"I am not your puppet anymore."

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Out in the hall, Data nearly shoved the Borg sentries from him, his footsteps falling fast and heavy on the floors. His hand clenched around the visor, nearly snapping it into two.

"There you are, brother!"

"Here is the visor you asked for. May I ask why you wanted it?" Data stood watching his brother with apprehension.

Lore shook his head. "I thought it might look good on me." He smirked and Data responded with an awkward silence. Lore's grin slurred into a grimace of content.

"Perhaps we should work on your sense of humor, brother…." He sobered. "Actually, I was thinking LaForge's implant might make him an ideal test subject for my experiment."

"All of the Borg you have experimented on so far have suffered extensive brain damage." Data had scanned though the reports of his last trial runs and now Lore suspected he was fearful for his former friend.

"Using the humans to perfect the procedure with prevent any further Borg deaths."

Data stared at him incredulously. Lore actually planned on killing the humans. Something flared inside him and the words spilled out of his mouth with a small, twisted smile. "I understand."

Crosis charged into the hall, dragging a fellow Borg along with him by the arm.

Lore glanced back and forth between them, his eyes narrowed, analyzing the commotion. "What it is?"

"This Borg has disconnected himself from the others. He would not let me hear his thoughts." He explained.

Lore sighed slowly. "I've asked you to stay linked to Crosis at all times. You know that don't you?"

"Yes."

"I know this must be difficult for you. How uncertain you must feel. All of these sensations are new. They can be frightening."

"Yes…. I have doubts."

"Of course you do! It's only natural. No one can blame you for that. But in order to shed those doubts, to keep fear and confusion away, I need you to remain linked to the others… so that their strength and their confidence can help you. I need you, Goval. I need your help to build a future for the Borg. I can't do it without you."

The speech was less for the benefit of the borg drones and more for Data. Lore turned to wink at his brother.

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In the afternoons, the planet-side heat was an unstoppable force, willing its victims to submit under its heavy weight. Lieutenant Worf wiped his brow with his sleeve, glancing at his tricorder in between the endless entanglement with the underbrush. Commander Riker was a few strides ahead of him, taking on the task of clearing a path.

"Still no sign of the structure."

"All this interference, it could be a hundred meters away and we still wouldn't know it…. This could take hours."

"Wait… I'm picking up a faint energy reading. Thermal energy… it could be human. They took this path." Worf trudged after his commanding officer, new hope flaring in his legs.

A few meters along the path, they spotted several Borg traveling in a group, ignorant of their position.

"Commander!" Worf whispered, motioning for Riker to follow a parallel path. From thin air, another group of Borg surrounded them, the threat attack looming with their weapons.

"Starfleet officers. Come with us." Riker look to Worf, bewildered.

They followed the group for about a kilometer as they trudged their way out of the woodland until the complex became visible on the east horizon. They were led into an underground cavern deep inside a matrix of tunnels. They passed a variety of Borg who turned to stare at them as they passed, a few even stepping out of the way.

"You..? What are you doing here?" Riker stared in awe the drone.

Hugh. Their Borg friend they had only known for a short period of time and never expected to see again. It was presumed that the collective would erase his memory and his sense of individuality, rendering him another lifeless Borg drone. And here he was, remembering them by name.

"Why are you here Commander Riker?" Hugh hissed, angrily. He had deep shadows under his eyes. Riker wondered if he had gotten any sleep, or if that was even possible in his current state. "Hasn't the crew of the Enterprise done enough damage already?"

"You blame us for what has happened to you?" Worf's nostrils flared in indignation.

"You were the ones who gave me a sense of individuality. You changed me and then sent me back to the collective. You must have known that change would be passed along to others."

"We knew it was a possibility."

"Then you have made it possible for Lore to dominate us."

"I cannot accept that. You are many, Lore is one. You could have stopped him."

"You don't understand the condition we were in when he found us. Before my experience on the Enterprise, the Borg were a single minded collective. Our thoughts were smooth and flowing, but after I returned, they began to change. They became uneven… discordant. For the first time, individuals had different idea about how to proceed. We couldn't function! Some fought… others shut themselves down, many starved to death!"

"And then Lore came along?" Riker asked with heavy skepticism.

"You cannot imagine what it is like to be so lost that you will listen to any voice that promises change–"

"Even if that voice insists on controlling you."

"That's what we wanted. Someone to show us the way out of confusion. Lore promised clarity and purpose. He seemed like a savior, with the promise of becoming a superior race. The idea of becoming fully artificial was compelling, we did everything he asked. After a while it became clear that Lore had no idea how to keep his promise. That's when he began to talk about the need for sacrifice. Before we realized it… this was the result."

Hugh loomed over several Borg, many of whom were motionless; other's mechanical appendages were twitching uncontrollable. Riker and Worf stared down at the morbid scene, one of the Borg tried reaching its hand up to try and grab at Worf uniform.

"This is the result of my experiences with the Enterprise. So you can see why I don't particularly welcome you presence here…" Hugh paused thoughtfully for a moment. "Tell me about my friend… Geordi."

Riker paused with a huff. "I wish I could. We think he may be held inside the compound."

"I cannot help you… I cannot risk our being discovered."

"Can you show us a way into the compound?" Riker asked gently.

The younger Borg nodded. "These caverns lead to tunnels which run beneath the compound."

"If you show us the layout of the complex, we may be able to perform a rescue mission."

Hugh nodded slowly, motioning for them to follow.

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"I don't understand. Why could Data take your visor?"

Geordi sighed. "Lore must have realized I could see a carrier wave that was radiating from him."

"Carrier wave? Is that how he's manipulating Data?"

"I think Lore had found a way to tap into the emotion chip from Dr. Soong and somehow he's using it to transmit part of that emotional program to Data."

Counselor Troi shook her head. "But the only emotions Data seems to feel are negative."

"Yeah, I'm sure that's intentional. But in order for Data to be affected by those emotions Lore would have had to disable Data's ethical program first."

"Is there a way we can reactivate it?"

"Maybe. If I can generate a phased cadion pulse at just the right frequency that would triggers Data's subsystems to reboot the program."

"And though Lore would still be feeding him negative emotion, at least Data might listen to us."

The force field vanished and Data stepped through avoiding eye contact with his former friends. He placed his hand under Geordi's arm, pulling him to his feet.

"Data," Picard's voice was urgent. "Where are you taking him?"

"That is not your concern." Geordi was guided from the cell.

"Wait! Let us talk to you!" Data's hand flashed out to the security panel and the force field was reestablished, leaving the two of them in silence.

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Data led Geordi to the same lab where Lore had once worked with his programming. Geordi was secured onto a cold aluminum rack and monitors were attached to his arms and temple. Data could hear his heart beating, as he left the room. He tried to imagine what it was like for Geordi to be in this position. Operating on his former friend made him extremely uncomfortable, but Lore had ordered it. He pushed his doubts aside, remembering the comment Lore had made about his lack of humor.

"Geordi." Picard's voice resounded from his vocal cords.

"Captain!" He heard boots falling heavy on the floor, growing nearer.

"We're getting out of here."

"Hurry, Data was just here… I think he went to get something."

"Oops. Too late." Data tried smiling, but he found none of the situation amusing. "My brother suggested I work on my sense of humor. What do you think?"

Geordi groaned. "I think it needs a little work." Data paused to consider his remark. He shrugged it off after a moment, picking up a tool from the metal stand.

"What's that?"

"I am attempting to neutralize your pain receptors."

"What are you going to do to me?"

"I am implanting nano-cortical fibers into your cerebrum. They are designed to learn your neural firing patterns. Once they are in place I will destroy the existing brain cells. We will see if the artificial neural net will be able to support your cognitive functions."

Geordi shook his head, panicking. "Data. Listen to me. Lore is controlling you. He's transmitting a carrier wave which is affecting your positronic matrix."

Data ignored him. "If the procedure is successful, your cognitive functions will be considerably improved."

"You don't care that he's manipulating you?"

"However, there is a sixty-percent chance you will not survive the procedure."

"…I don't much care for those odds."

"They are a cause for concern. However I still have Counselor Troi and Captain Picard. Odds are one of the procedures will be successful."

When Data finally returned Geordi to his cell, he found he could not keep his hands from shaking. Fuming, he left the three of them huddled together and went to search for his brother.

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Data found his brother reading from a monitor at from at his work station, completely unaware of his presence.

"Lore." He spoke quietly, darkly. Lore held up one finger for him to be patient.

In a flash of rage, Data unbolted the desk from the floor, sending metal scraps flying with a screech and a resounding crash. Lore sat back patiently in his chair, one eyebrow raised at his brother.

"What's the problem?"

"I- I cannot stand this." he hissed. "Them, this…" Lore watched him with an even expression as he stopped pacing, placing his hands on his hips for a moment.

A Borg stepped into the room hesitantly. "Is everything alright in here, sir?"

"Get out." Data nearly shouted. The Borg did not move an inch.

"We're fine. Please leave us." Lore responded patiently, ignoring his brother's tantrum.

The Borg retreated and Data let out a long sigh, his angry mask falling into an empty stare.

"What's troubling you, Data?"

"I spoke with them today. Geordi says that you are controlling me… that the transmission of emotions is adversely affecting my positronic matrix."

Lore stood, leaning towards Data in a show of intimidation. "I asked you not to speak with the humans. What did I say?" He shouted the last sentence. "They will feed you lies again and again if they are threatened. I told you they would try to manipulate you, didn't I? And that's what they've begun to do."

"I will not let it happen again, I swear."

Lore nodded, taking an equally long breath. "Data if you do not trust me… if you cannot follow orders… then you will have no place among what we've built here. Let that stand as your warning."

Data stood staring at him for a moment, his jaw ticking, before fleeing the room with Lore's eyes following after him as he did.