ROLLERCOASTER

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The Great Escape

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One

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As ever, the last rays of evening sunlight blushed the bottom of the sparse, fluffy clouds pink and tangerine, and sent long shadows streaking across Wonderland's surface. As ever, a few stars shone in the blue twilight of the sky, and a warm summer breeze gently rustled the tree tops. Tasha took in a deep breath of pine-scented air, and exhaled it with a contented sigh.

'I don't feel like walking any more,' she announced, sitting down on the springy moss. 'Let's just stay here for a while.'

Data paused, declining to sit. 'I should leave.'

'What?' Tasha blinked up at him. 'Is it something I said?'

'No.'

Tasha shrugged. 'So why leave? We're both off duty, I've got the Holodeck booked for a whole hour…'

'I have a prior engagement with Counsellor Troi. I am already overdue for it by three minutes and…'

'With Deanna…?' Tasha frowned. 'Don't tell me you're having Counselling sessions.'

Data shook his head. 'I have agreed to play her at chess.'

Tasha arched her eyebrow. 'You told Deanna you'd play her at chess?'

'Yes.' Data faltered for a moment, then took the decision to sit down next to Tasha. 'Your reaction is most puzzling. Does it amuse you that Counsellor Troi enjoys chess?'

'No,' Tasha retorted, 'I'm just amazed that you've served with the woman for five years and not yet realised that she is the most evil chess opponent in the Universe.'

'Evil…?' echoed Data with a frown.

'Trust me, Data. You do not want to get into a game with her.'

'But I am capable of calculating the projected…'

'Even so, Data, your chances of beating her are negligible. Trust me. She's like a chess ninja. You think you're doing OK, and then… bam! Checkmate, outta nowhere.'

Data blinked down at his knees. 'I was not aware that she was so proficient…'

'That's because she Hustles.' Tasha smiled at him. 'Let me guess. There's a bet riding on it.'

'Only a tokenistic gesture that the loser must perform,' Data admitted.

'Well,' replied Tasha, 'whatever it is, I'm sure it can wait.' She paused for a moment. 'Data, I asked you here because there was something I wanted to talk to you about.'

Data nodded, levelly. 'Very well. Proceed.'

She giggled a little at his needless formality. 'We've been spending a lot of time together recently, haven't we, Data?'

'That is true.'

'I enjoy your company.'

Data nodded. 'I find you to be a most interesting companion.'

'It's not just that…' Tasha hugged her knees. 'I've been thinking a lot since the undercover mission on Romulus. Well… since before then, I suppose. Only, I keep seeing that moment with Sela's father over and over again…'

'There is no cause for you to dwell on the matter,' Data replied. 'The incident passed with no serious consequence, and as I stated before, I believe that there is no need for the details of what happened to be publicised…'

'I almost murdered an unarmed man,' Tasha reminded him, quietly, 'and you talked me out of it.'

'Does that distress you?'

'No,' Tasha breathed. 'Not any more. I could have destroyed my career – destroyed the essence of my morality, and you… you took my hand and you talked me out of it.' She glanced across at him. 'You're… you're good for me, Data. You're good for my heart.' She swallowed, glad that he did not interject but remained silent, waiting for her to continue. 'And I've got to thinking,' she added after a moment, 'that maybe, if I were to stop running away from facing up to certain realities… maybe I could be good for you too.'

'Tasha…' Data attempted, his expression set in confusion.

But Tasha was on a roll now, and didn't want to stop to answer any questions just yet. 'I'm not under any false illusions. I know it would require more patience and concentration than I've ever been able to put into any relationship before, but I just think… I just want to try. I want to try to give something back, and not just take all the time.' She stared at him. 'Do you know what I mean?'

Data shook his head apologetically. 'I do not.'

'What I'm trying to say is…' She faltered. 'What I'm trying to say… is…' She blinked. What was she trying to say? She'd completely lost her train of thought. Completely lost… lost…

She looked around herself. She was lost. What was this – a forest? What the Hell was she doing in the middle of a forest, with night drawing in? She turned back and looked at her companion. The pale man's expression matched her own confusion. A sudden wave of panic hit her, and she rose to her feet. She'd never seen that man before in her life. She was in the middle of the forest with a perfect stranger.

'Who are you?' she demanded.

The man continued to frown, and jerked his head as though trying to roll a marble around inside his skull. 'I do not know,' he admitted, with an air of mild surprise. He too rose to his feet. 'Who are you?'

She opened her mouth and paused. Her mind was simply blank. 'I…' she sheepishly replied, 'I don't know, either.'

'I do not believe that it is the normal status for two people to find themselves in a forest with no memory,' stated the stranger.

She smiled a little. 'You don't say.'

The man blinked. 'I just did.'

She giggled, in spite of the severity of the situation. 'Something's obviously wiped our memories. We must have been out here together and then…' she snapped her fingers. 'All gone.'

The man cocked his head. 'Why do you believe that we were here together when the amnesia struck?'

'Look at our clothes.' She pulled at her tunic a little. 'We're dressed exactly the same. That can hardly be a coincidence. Maybe we're soldiers, or police…'

'We could be escaping convicts, or laboratory experiments' chipped in the man.

'What makes you think that?'

The pale man shrugged his eyebrows a little. 'I am merely suggesting all possible options.'

'Well, you're not helping.' She swung her arms about herself, aimlessly. 'Whoever we are, I don't think it's a good idea for us to stay in these woods. We should try to find some civilisation; see if someone can get us to a hospital, perhaps.' She frowned. 'Maybe we're not alone. Maybe we can communicate with…'

She blinked. She and the man exchanged glances as an unspoken realisation passed between them. They had communicators! Of course!

The man was faster than her and tapped the comms badge on his chest before she could get to her own. Nothing happened. Since she was sure that one should announce oneself after touching the device, she tried tapping her own and calling 'Hello…?'

She tapped it again, still not entirely sure what to expect. 'Is anybody there…?'

'They appear not to be working,' the man told her. 'Perhaps whichever event wiped our memories has also disabled these devices.'

She nodded. 'At least we know we've got them, right? Maybe someone'll contact us soon. I still think we should get out of this forest.'

'Agreed.'

She looked around herself. 'But which way do we go?'

The man indicated off towards the setting sun. 'There is faint music issuing from that direction.'

She frowned. 'Really?' She couldn't hear a thing save for birdsong and the rustle of the leaves overhead.

The man nodded. 'It is probable that if we follow it, we shall find more people. Perhaps they will be able to offer us assistance.'

He began to stride off in the direction he had pointed, much faster than his strange gait should have allowed him to on such terrain. She paused for a moment and then, as some inbuilt reaction within her told her that the man could be trusted, followed him.

It took her some effort to catch up with him, which surprised her since she was obviously in good physical health and a speedy walker herself. Wordlessly, they soon settled into a stride that was more comfortable for her and they walked side-by-side whenever the path was thick enough.

She glanced at her companion as they walked. He was, she decided, very… odd. She knew that it was absurd to judge him to be peculiar when she had no frame of reference to compare him to, but still the description stuck in her mind. He was odd. Everything about him was odd – the way that he spoke, the way that he moved… and then there was his appearance. His skin was a deathly pallor compared to hers, and although his body was made up of a series of neat, straight lines, he had a face that didn't seem to fit together quite right. She had no idea whether she thought he was handsome or ugly. Maybe he was neither. Maybe he was both. But there was something else about him – as she studied him, no matter how odd she found him, she felt the sensation of a deep, instinctive bond with the man… more than that – an attraction. That was it. Perhaps, she mused to herself as they walked, she and the pale man were lovers. That would certainly explain their sojourn into the woods. Perhaps they'd even deliberately disconnected their communicators beforehand so as not to be disturbed.

They came to a steep incline and the man stopped to offer her a hand up. She politely refused his help, judging by her physical strength that she would be able to climb it easily herself, but offered him a warm smile of acknowledgment as she did so. He merely nodded, blankly. What if, she pondered, the man did not feel the same attraction as she did? What if she was locked in an unrequited love? She hoped that that wasn't the case. It sounded terribly sad to her.

She could hear the music that the pale man had spoken of now, and as she reached the top of the steep slope she found herself clear of the trees and able to see a funfair running across a road at the other end of a small meadow. She took a second to catch her breath, noticing that, strangely, the pale man appeared neither tired nor out of puff from the climb. Then, she began to cut across the wildflower-strewn meadow which separated them from the funfair.

'You know,' she added conversationally as she walked, 'if we are escaped lunatics or something, we're probably letting ourselves in for a world of trouble here.'

'I suspect that to be unlikely to be the case,' replied the man. 'I doubt that such people would be as equipped as we are. A more likely hypothesis would be that we are officials of sorts.'

'Perhaps,' she muttered. She wasn't entirely sure that she wanted to be an official of sorts. That would mean that people would turn to her for guidance and answers. At that moment in time she was perfectly content simply to be walking through a pretty meadow in the summer sunset with this strangely agreeable man.

He was still looking at her as they walked, as though waiting for her to make a further reply. She had none to make, but was suddenly struck with an impulsive feeling to make a physical display of togetherness with him. She decided to follow the impulse – if he refused her touch, at least she'd know where she stood. She wound an arm around his, so that they were linked at the crook of the elbow. He looked down at their entwined arms briefly, but made no complaint. She beamed. He met her smile a little awkwardly, and took her hand.

As they approached the funfair, she became aware that something about it was amiss. Her companion too squinted up at the too-tall attractions.

'Everything is approximately double size to us,' he noted.

She nodded at an oversized bearded man at the stall closest to them. 'So are the people. What do you suppose…?'

'I do not believe that we are infants,' reasoned the man, since we both appear to have reached sexual maturity…'

She liked hearing him say the word "sexual". The matter-of-fact tone in which he'd spoken it made it sound all the filthier and more inviting to her. She bit down a smile.

'It is possible,' he continued, 'that this is not the world of our origin. Perhaps we are aliens here.'

'But apart from the size,' she argued, 'these guys look exactly like us.' She shrugged. 'Maybe we're midgets.'

'But our uniforms…'

'Circus outfits,' she hazarded. 'Whatever we are, we're not going to work it out just standing around here. I'm going to ask for help.'

She walked up to the man at the stall.

'Step right up,' the stallholder was calling, 'step right up, hook a duck and win a prize. A fabulous prize every time. Roll up…'

She had to stand on tiptoe to reach the counter. 'Excuse me…'

The giant beamed down at her. 'Well hello there, Missy. Want to hook a duck? Win a prize for you or your Sweetie?'

'We're lost,' she explained. 'Our memories have been wiped. Has there been an accident or an explosion or… or something?'

'Prize every time,' added the giant.

'Has anybody at this funfair suffered amnesia recently?' she asked.

The man passed her a hook on the end of a large broomstick. 'Let you have a go for free, Missy, 'cause I like your disposition.'

'No,' she instisted, 'I don't want to hook a duck. I want… is there a medic on site, or a hospital nearby…?'

But the giant wasn't listening. 'Roll up,' he called into the street, 'roll up! Hook a duck and win a…'

She turned, frowning. The pale man had accosted a giant woman with a tray of toffee apples.

'Pardon me,' he asked her politely, 'but we appear to have suffered a misfortune…'

'Wanna toffee apple, Sweetheart? Only a penny.'

'Do you have any means of communication upon your person, Madam?' continued the pale man, 'or perhaps directions to the nearest town?'

'Here.' The woman handed down two of the sticky fruits. 'One for you and one for your little friend. You take care, now.' With that, the giantess ruffled his pristinely groomed hair with a sugary hand and strode away, calling her wares.

The pale, and now slightly caramelised man held out the second toffee apple for his companion as she approached. 'This appears to be for you,' he told her, with a slightly sheepish air.

She felt a little hungry, so she accepted the extended candy. 'This is all very strange.'

'Might they all have been subjected to amnesia?' the man asked.

'They're not acting like they have,' she replied. 'They're acting like… like they don't understand anything besides hooking ducks and buying candy. They're acting as if this funfair is their entire world, and anything beyond it is unimaginable. Add that to their size, and… I don't think these are real people at all.'

'They do have a certain… pre-programmed element to them,' the man contemplated. 'Perhaps this funfair is entirely automated, down to the staff.'

'Perhaps,' she agreed. 'Whatever it is, I don't think we're going to find any help here. We'd better just keep on walking.'

They took a narrow offshoot of the main road, which quickly lead them away from the funfair and onto a coastal trail. The pale man didn't seem to want his toffee apple, so she ate that as well. Even after she'd wiped the last of the sugar from her lips, he was still attempting to pick the caramel out of his hair. She laughed a little and stopped to help him. Again, he didn't protest as she ran her fingers through his hair, combing out the worst of the gunk.

'Do you…' She faltered, then plucked up the nerve to start again. 'Do you feel anything between us?'

The pale man blinked, moving his head as though to dislodge a cranial marble yet again. 'I do not understand.'

'I just…' She gnawed at her lip a little. 'I don't recognise you, but I feel as though I should.'

'As you suggested,' reasoned the man, 'there is a probability that we were companions before our memories were erased.'

'But there's more to it than that,' she added.

He made no reply, save to blink at her again.

Her hand still hadn't left his hair. She curled her fingers gently around the hair at the side of his head. She moved her mouth towards his a little, and, to her relief, he drew yet closer to her. Her fingertip found a thin, straight line running down towards his ear – a scar, she presumed… only, as she ran her finger down the scar tissue, her fingernail somehow slipped through it, and under his skin. She panicked, and pulled her hand away.

And a chunk of his scalp fell off.

'Augh!' She stepped back a little and gazed from the fallen chunk of scalp on the pathway up to the smooth chrome, twinkling with diodes on the side of the face where the hair and skin had previously been. Really, considering the circumstances, she felt that she should have been more shocked and horrified than she actually was. For some reason, after the initial surprise, the sight of the man's metal skull sparkling through the hole in his scalp didn't disturb her in the least.

The man gazed down at his hair, even less fazed than she. 'Oh,' was his only response. He picked up the scalp and gingerly brushed at the hole in his head with his fingertips.

'You're an android,' she breathed.

'It would appear so,' replied the android, calmly, as he reattached his hair. 'Does that distress you?'

She shook her head. 'Guess, whoever I am, I'm used to it. Those fairground giants were probably electronic too. Perhaps this whole world is full of androids.' She frowned suddenly and checked her own scalp, just in case. She felt nothing but hair, follicles and the odd scar which, on further inspection, turned out to be genuine scar tissue and nothing more. Even if the world was full of mechanical people, it would appear that she at least was biological.

The android started walking again, and she followed him.

'Does it distress you?' she asked.

'No,' replied the pale android, matter-of-factly. 'It does pose many new questions about myself and my place in this world, although the revelation has also, I believe, explained several discrepancies in the different ways that you and I respond to stimuli.'

They turned a corner, leaving behind a large outcrop of rock, which had been shielding their view of much of the coastline for some time. A large beach house suddenly came into sight, not far from where they walked. The windows of the house were full of cheerful yellow light, and a line of smoke wound out of the chimney. They exchanged glances.

'Perhaps,' added the android, 'the inhabitants of this domicile may be able to offer us assistance.'

They approached the house which, she noted with some relief, was a normal scale compared to their own size and attempted to knock at the door. The door, however, swung open of its own accord at the very first knock.

She froze, her fist still mid-knock. 'Hello…?'

The android stepped inside, cautiously. 'Is there anybody present?'

She joined him in the large, open living room. There was a certain something about the house; as with the android, she didn't recognise it as such, but she felt an automatic fondness for it, as though it was something very special to her. 'Guess there's nobody home.'

'In which case,' the android pondered, 'why are the lights on? And why has a fire been left to burn?'

She took in her surroundings. The android was right – all the lights in the living room were on, and a large wood fire was crackling merrily in the hearth. She could even smell a waft of fresh coffee issuing from the kitchen. 'Maybe the owners are in some kind of trouble,' she frowned, picking at a particularly pretty silk throw, draped over a plump, soft armchair, 'maybe they had to leave in a hurry, or…' She noticed the painting above the fireplace. 'Wait a minute…'

'A clue?' asked the android.

'I'll say.' She approached the painting, ran her finger over it and beamed delightedly. 'Look at this picture.'

The android regarded it from his position. 'It appears to be cubist in nature – possibly the representation of a man and a woman.'

'No "possibly" about it,' she retorted, her grin not fading. 'Look at it! This is us!'

The android blinked, stared at her, checked his reflection in a mirror and looked up at the painting again. 'That does appear to be the case.'

'We're the owners,' she breathed. 'This is our house. I knew it!'

'Would we have left an open fire burning for so long?' asked the android.

'We were probably only going out for a quick walk when our minds were wiped,' she answered absently, flitting merrily about the room's furniture and decorations. 'Would you just look at this place? Everything's so… perfect…'

'If we are merely a local couple,' added the android, 'and not soldiers or officials on duty, then why are we dressed in matching uniform?'

She shrugged, inspecting a vase. 'Maybe we're one of those annoying couples who always dress the same.'

'And you believe that we are definitely a romantic couple…?'

She turned to him. 'Don't you?'

'I do not know,' he admitted, 'since I have no memory prior to our being in the forest. I am aware that I have the capacity for sexual relations; however… if you are an organic sentient being, and I am an android…'

'So what?' she shrugged. 'Like I said before, this world could be teeming with biological people and androids living together in harmony. Marrying an android might be no greater a taboo than… I don't know, marrying somebody with different coloured hair to you.' She paused. 'Or maybe it is a taboo. Maybe that's why we live way out here on our own, by the sea. Maybe our love is forbidden.' She grinned again. Forbidden love sounded very exciting.

'Love…' echoed the android, emptily, then added; 'perhaps we are merely close companions.'

'I hope not,' she replied. 'Not considering the way I feel about you.'

The android frowned a little. 'How do you feel about me?'

Seriously – after they'd held hands, after that moment on the beach trail, he still didn't know? A part of her told herself not to push her luck – that this android was, as far as she knew, the only companion she had at the moment, and that she should not do anything that might ruin the relationship that they already had. This was not, however, what her impulses were telling her to do. She wanted to try. She desperately wanted to at least try. For a moment, it felt as though her self-control was trying to tell her something, but had forgotten what it wanted to say. But, she decided, this situation was full of too much doubt already. She wanted to make herself clear with this strange, electronic man, and she wanted to know exactly where she stood with him.

She brushed her hand up the length of his arm. He continued to regard her curiously, neither removing her hand nor reciprocating to her touch. She moved her hand up over his shoulder, resting it finally on the nape of his neck and leaning towards him a little. As he had done on the coastal trail before, he copied her action, closing the gap between them until their lips were almost brushing. Taking this as a positive sign, she pushed gently on the back of his neck, guiding his lips towards hers. It was a sweet, still kiss, with lips only gently parted… not, however, she mused, the sort of kiss one would give one's Grandmother… not that she could remember ever kissing her Grandmother or even, in fact whether she ever had one to kiss in the first place… She felt a pressure on the small of her back as he put an arm around her hips. His other hand echoed her own, and found the short hair at the back of her head. Further encouraged, she tried increasing the pressure on his lips and opening her mouth a little against his, and was surprised and delighted when he responded to her action by pushing his tongue between her parted teeth. The hand above her hips pulled her in towards him, pressing her crotch against his and tipping her slightly so that she had to struggle to maintain her balance. This guy, she concluded, was much, much stronger than he looked. She was forced to pull away, if only to catch her breath and regain her equilibrium.

'So you feel it too,' she gasped.

The android shook his head, blankly. 'I feel nothing.'

She felt as though her stomach had just plummeted to the floor. 'What?'

'I do not believe,' he added, apologetically, 'that I am capable of feeling sexual or emotional attraction.'

'But…' she protested, 'but you reciprocated…'

'Yes,' he agreed, plainly.

'Why? You can't tell me there were no… no urges behind the way you just kissed me.'

There was that marble-in-the-head movement again. 'I responded in the way that I judged to be… appropriate.'

Her stomach managed to drop even further. 'So all of that was just a matter of politeness to you?'

'I did not say that returning your actions of sexual initiation was an act of courtesy. Indeed, I believe that the polite response to an unwanted amorous approach would be to quickly and quietly decline the offer. However, it did not seem appropriate in this case to reject your advance, but to accept and encourage it, since your actions were not unwanted.'

'So…' she attempted, a little lost, 'you do want me? You were just acting on your impulses as much as I did?'

'After a fashion,' he replied. 'It seemed…' he paused, searching for the correct term, 'right… for me to kiss you.'

'It seemed right for me to kiss you, too,' she replied.

There was a brief silence between them, coloured by the crackling and popping of the fire.

After a moment, the android spoke. 'Do you wish to partake in sexual intercourse?'

'Do you?' she asked. 'I mean… does that seem right to you?'

'We are apparently co-habiting,' he replied, 'and the likelihood, given our situation and automatic reactions to one another, is that we are in a sexual relationship, which could potentially be damaged by our mutual memory loss. We are, it seems, at home, with no pressing objectives but to rediscover identities. I believe that exploring the physical element of our relationship would be an advantageous course of action at this point. Would you prefer to remove your apparel yourself or for me to do it for you?'

She sank into a soft armchair, quirking an eyebrow playfully. 'I love it when you talk dirty. Do you kiss your mother with that mouth?'

'I… do not know,' replied the android, bewildered. 'I do not even know whether I have a…'

She laughed. 'Shut up and come over here.'