ROLLERCOASTER

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Interference

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Two

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Things were going well for Lore.

Well… technically, not everything was going "well" as such; there were still the same old problems with the experiments, but hey-ho and fiddle-dee-dee, it was only Borg drones. Expendable, trusting drones, so aching for a leader that they'd gladly follow him to the bitter, painful end.

Well… maybe not all of them. But that was just a little glitch that he was sure would soon be ironed out. All great groundbreakers had their teething troubles. Everything was going to be fine – especially now that he had Data on his side. Data was such a gift. Every single time he ran into his little brother he was astonished at how malleable the other android always was. And he had no doubt that those idiots from the Enterprise would come looking for their lost crewmate, and then the happy funtimes would really begin.

This was going to be a blast!

A Borg drone stopped him. The drone seemed anxious… Hell, they were always anxious; suddenly having a concept of self and being separated from the Hive, what insect wouldn't be? It was to Lore as if somebody had given a handful of ants basic sentience, an out-of-date map and a bindle full of breadcrumbs, and sent them out to seek their fortune in the big, wide universe. Would you be calm and placid if you were full of formic acid?

'Yes?' he asked the drone.

He was never sure what to call them. Blah-blah Of Blah-blah – wasn't that how they distinguished themselves from the other drones when they were part of the Collective? He wasn't going to start remembering all of those; it was ridiculous. Were they starting to come up with names for themselves like that Whatsisname – the defector? Were the ones sticking with him expecting him to name them all? Because that sounded too much like hard work, and besides, what was the point?

'The latest experiment,' explained the drone, meekly. 'It is failing.'

Maybe he should just give them all the same name. Maybe he should call them all Lesley. Or Terry.

'That's such a shame,' he condoled softly, inwardly discarding "Terry", and contemplating the merits of "Jeff". 'I'm sure we'll get it right next time. I have faith in you.'

'It…' the drone faltered. 'It wants to speak with you.'

What the Hell?

'Beg pardon?' Lore politely smiled.

'The… the failed project.'

'If the experiment truly was a failure,' Lore reminded the drone, sweetly, 'then it would surely be in no fit state to make demands of my valuable time.'

'Perhaps you should see,' the drone told Lore, nervously. 'The subject says that it's important.'

Lore huffed a little. 'Fine. Perhaps if it's still conscious there'll be something worth salvaging. Tell me you've at least secured it.'

'In a solitary cell,' the drone assured him, and led the way.

-x-

The Borg drone was slumped in the corner of a cell. It was obviously dying, but taking its sweet time about it. The drone was muttering to itself – gibberish, it seemed to Lore.

The drone posed no threat to him, he knew, but still he kept his distance in the cell. He'd listen to what – if anything – this lobotomised creature had to say, but that was all.

The drone that had led him to the cell waited with him, watching him like a patient hound.

'You can go,' he told his escort, and the drone hurried off.

Lore leaned against the far wall of the cell. 'Well. You've got me here. This had better be good.'

The failed experiment looked up at him, slowly, thick needles still protruding from its skull. 'Resistance is futile.'

'Oh,' nodded Lore, breezily. 'That's original. Did you come up with that little adage yourself?'

'We are Borg,' the drone continued, emptily. 'You will be assimilated. Resistance is…'

'…Futile. Yes. I know. You already mentioned that part.' Lore rolled his eyes. 'If you're trying to panic me that you're connecting back to the Collective, don't bother. Even if you could, they wouldn't have you back. You're nothing but a diseased cell. It's over. You're just remembering the old days, aren't you – harking back to the old termite hill.'

'The situation was misjudged,' the drone added, 'the situation will be rectified.'

Lore pushed himself away from the wall. 'Well, this has been nice, but I think I'll leave you to reminisce.'

'You can't keep him,' the drone added, sharply.

Lore stopped, and smiled at the crazed wretch. 'Can't keep who?'

'She won't allow it. She wants him. You can't have him.'

Lore folded his arms in amusement. This was finally starting to get interesting. 'And who is this "she"?'

'He was able to infiltrate us,' the drone continued, 'briefly command us; inconvenience us. She was impressed. The situation was misjudged – he can be useful. The situation will be rectified. She will have him. You can't keep him.'

'You're talking about my brother, aren't you?'

'She will not have you,' added the drone. 'You cannot be controlled.'

Lore held his hands up, merrily. 'Guilty as charged.'

'You are of no use. You will be destroyed.'

'I thought you said I'd be assimilated.'

'Resistance is futile.'

Lore sighed. 'Is that it, then? Is that what you brought me here to say? A vague warning about some female who wants to take my little brother away from all of this?'

'Resistance is futile.'

'OK. I think we're done here.' He nodded at the experiment with the grin of somebody delivering a patronising greeting to a senile invalid. 'Thank you so much for the gibbered half-warning. I'll be on my guard for possessive females seeking to assimilate-slash-destroy me. All right?'

'We are Borg.'

'All right,' beamed Lore. He turned to leave. 'I'm going now. If you have anything more coherent to say, then let me know. Have a simply wonderful day.'

-x-

The sun was too bright on this world, Tasha decided. Things weren't exactly going well, and barely being able to see through the bright glare didn't exactly make matters much better.

She should have been there for Data. She should have paid better attention to him as his obsession over that momentary flash of anger had grown. She'd just been so busy trying to deal with the drone they had captured and the implications of the Borg's new method of attack… she had ignored him, and now he was gone.

He was gone and here she was; separated accidentally from her group, alone with only her guilt to keep her company. The Captain, Geordi and Deanna had been forced to push ahead without her. She hoped that they hadn't walked into any trouble without the protection of a Security officer. Would they have fared better had she not hastily tried to descend a slope too steep and unsteady, and got herself caught in a resulting rockslide, thus parting her from the little group? She didn't know. She couldn't even try to get in contact with them now – her uniform had caught of a jagged outcrop as she'd slithered to relative safety and torn at the shoulder, ripping off her Comms badge. She could only guess at its location now – most likely under several tonnes of fallen rock. She felt bad about that, of course, but she felt worse still about having let down Data.

Had it truly been that she had just been too busy to help him, back before he'd left? When he'd mentioned that he'd experienced anger, she had silently panicked. Of course, since he'd discovered that Dr Soong had made him an emotion chip she'd known that for him to ever feel any emotion was technically possible, but it was different to be faced with it in practice. Nobody had known what Data's lurch of anger had meant, least of all, the android himself. She had been forced to face the possibility that he was beginning to naturally alter his programming in order to allow for emotions, as his daughter had done before him.

She hadn't told anybody, but the concept of that had terrified her. It was one thing him not loving her because he was incapable of love, but what if he could love, but still didn't love her? Or, what if he did love her? What would she do then?

She had found herself dreading either outcome, so she had busied herself with her work and avoided giving him any personal or emotional guidance… not, she noted, that he had approached her for any. Besides, she added to herself as she darted from the cover of one rocky outcrop to another, the likes of Geordi LaForge and Deanna Troi hadn't been able to prevent Data's flight with their advice – what made her think that she could have changed anything…?

She heard fast footfall up ahead, and hunkered down, her fingers tight around her phaser. A small group were approaching at speed… around three or four people, she guessed from the footsteps. She held her breath as two Borg drones hurried past. There was a brief pause before a third also passed by, its concentration turned behind it. Tasha concluded that this third drone must be guarding the rear. She waited until their footsteps had faded into nothing, then waited for some time more before darting out again into the open.

She stopped dead in her tracks.

Somebody was still there – less than 20 metres away, peering down a stony crevasse. And not just anybody. She swallowed dryly, silently raising her weapon and aiming at him.

'Data.'

Data span around, saw the phaser and raised his hands, as though startled.

'Tasha…?'

Tasha shook her head in disappointment. 'What are you doing here, Data?'

'I heard a human heartbeat,' Data explained. 'I was attempting to locate the exact source…'

'I meant,' replied Tasha, 'why did you leave us? Why fall in with the Borg?'

'They...' Data faltered, seemingly confused, like a child befuddled by narcotics. 'They promised me further emotions. They promised that everything would be explained…'

'And did they deliver?'

Data frowned, open mouthed and bewildered.

'They're manipulating you,' Tasha told him. 'It's you they've been after from the moment they attacked us. They want to use you for something, Data.'

'Why are you here?'

Tasha managed a small smile. 'To rescue you, Dummy. The Captain pulled out all the stops for you. He even came down here himself.'

Data paused, ruminating this, then slumped slightly. 'For me?'

'We'd do anything for you, Data,' Tasha assured him, her phaser still trained on him nonetheless. 'You're more than just a crewmate. You're practically family. We…'

Tasha noticed, a moment too late, that Data's arms were falling a little too close to the phaser at his belt for comfort. Before she could even draw breath to utter a warning, his eyes had flicked up and his hand flashed to his side.

'Don't…'

But his phaser was already drawn and raised. He aimed and fired…

She was still standing. She was still alive. There was no way the android could have missed her by accident. There was a heavy thud behind her. She turned her head just in time to see a second approaching drone be hit by Data's phaser fire and fall near to where the android had just shot down its companion. The third member of the party was still close at hand, making a bee-line for Tasha. She fired, but the drone kept coming. Suddenly, Data was right at her side, pushing past her to meet the approaching scout head on. With an inhuman swiftness, Data bounded to grab the Borg's head with one hand, while keeping the other hand on the drone's throat. Without breaking the fast rhythm of his movements, he swept the drone's head back. There was a crack, and the drone fell limp, its head dangling grotesquely from its neck.

'What…?' she breathed.

'You are correct,' Data informed her, his face set in concentration. 'I have moments of lucidity… now is one of them. It is possible that seeing you has helped in that matter. I am being controlled.' He looked up. 'We have to leave. My close proximity to the Borg facilitates their dominion over me. Besides which, it is not safe here for you.'

Tasha nodded, holstering her phaser. 'We'll have to find the others. I don't have my Comms badge.' She indicated to Data's odd apparel. 'What happened to your uniform?'

Data looked down at his clothes. 'They made me remove it.'

'What do they want with you, Data?'

'I do not know.' Data paused, taking a deep breath. 'I am… frightened.'

'You and me both.' She squeezed his hand. 'Come on. Let's go.'

Data didn't budge. Nor did he release her hand. 'Tasha.'

'We have to go, Data!'

'They have given me emotions,' Data explained. 'Seeing you here…' He bit his lip. 'You told me that you loved me.'

'Now's not the time,' begged Tasha, stepping closer towards him.

Data reached out his free hand and gently brushed his fingertips down the side of he face. 'Tasha…?'

She took another step towards him, so that their noses were mere centimetres from one another. They locked eyes.

No. This was all wrong. His eyes were all wrong.

She leaped back like a spooked cat. 'You're not Data!'

"Data" rolled his eyes away from her and threw his hands above his head in a childlike display of annoyance, addressing the heavens as he did so.

'Ruining my fun!'

'Lore.' Tasha shuddered. 'Dare I ask how far you were willing to take that charade?'

'We were going to escape and everything,' grumbled Lore. 'I was going to tell you that I loved you, we were going to make plans for a cosy little log cabin filled with android babies someplace and then I was going to rip your head off and drop-kick it into a vat of acid.'

'Where, exactly, were you going to find a handy vat of acid?'

'Don't question my plan, Yar,' Lore snapped. 'Might not have panned out the way I wanted, but at least I strung you out long enough to get your weapon off you.'

Tasha frowned. Her phaser was still on her belt.

'You haven't got my…'

Lore's hand was a pale blur as it lashed out and snatched the phaser from her person. He raised his eyebrows at her with an affected innocence as he spun both weapons in his hands.

'I'm sorry, I didn't quite catch that.'

Tasha just sighed. 'So, I take it from your behaviour that you know about Data and me.'

'Yep.' Lore shrugged. 'Although I wasn't expecting it to make you any more observant. I mean, last time I masqueraded as my little brother in front of your nose, you didn't take the blindest bit of notice, and you'd already started fucking him by then.' He smiled, imitating polite curiosity. 'Hadn't you?'

Tasha ignored Lore, casting her eyes down to the three fallen drones.

'You're their leader,' she breathed. 'They were running back to protect you from me. You killed your own men, just so you could have a couple of minutes of fun with me.'

'Worth it,' beamed Lore.

'You're a maniac!'

'I know you are,' nodded Lore, 'but what am I?'

Tasha eyed Lore. 'You're going to tell the others that I killed them, aren't you?'

'They bravely gave their lives to defend their leader from a crazed human,' Lore replied, sincerely, 'and I will gratefully remember their sacrifices until the end of my days.'

'Really?' Tasha asked, arching her eyebrow. She pointed at the drone whose spine the android had snapped. 'You're going to tell them that I broke a Borg's neck with my bare hands?'

'No.' Lore adjusted the setting on his phaser and fired at the body, obliterating it. 'You managed to atomise that one before I was able to disarm you.'

'I see,' replied Tasha, furiously forcing her outward demeanour to remain as calm as possible. 'Is Data all right, at least?'

'How sweet of you to affect concern,' Lore smiled. 'Yes. He's never been better.' He paused. 'Your Captain, on the other hand, is in a spot of bother, I'm afraid. As is Blindy McWarpDrive and the bothersome Betazoid. Can you believe they just sauntered right into my HQ? Aren't they just the silliest?'

Tasha scowled. 'What have you done to them?'

'Nothing,' Lore told her, merrily. 'Yet. You can ask them yourself if you like – you'll be joining them very soon.'

Tasha watched him, warily. 'I don't exactly have a choice here, do I?'

'You can walk back with me like a civilised person,' replied the android, plainly, 'or I can break your spinal column leaving you permanently paralysed from the neck down, and carry you. Ladies' choice.'

-x-

'In a way,' announced Lore suddenly, as they approached the strange, conspicuous building that was evidently his headquarters, 'I'm glad that you went for the walking option. Not that I wouldn't have enjoyed crippling you, but I think carrying you across the threshold would have had certain implications that neither of us would have been particularly comfortable with.'

'I can't see you as the type to sweep a girl off her feet.'

'Convinced you for a while back there, though,' Lore replied.

'For all of about five seconds,' snorted Tasha.

'Forty-five point six seven three seconds,' Lore corrected. 'Rounded up, that is.'

Tasha stared at him, aghast at the Data-like tone of his statement.

Lore grinned. 'Does it surprise you that I can do that? Plenty of things my brother can do that I can do too.' He paused. 'And you can stop wondering whether that was a reference to what you think it is right this instant.'

'Believe me. I wasn't.'

'Bet you couldn't believe your luck when your away team stumbled upon a second android, could you?'

'Shut up,' muttered Tasha.

'Dearest diary,' continued Lore, aping Tasha's voice, 'whoop-de-doo, there's two of them, now! Oh, the possibilities! Love, Tasha.'

'It was never like that.'

'But we look exactly the same.'

'Looks have nothing to do with how I feel about Data. Seriously, Lore, don't trouble yourself with the concept that I have ever found you attractive.'

Lore pulled a clownishly morose face. 'I think my heart just broke. Oh. Wait. That's right – I don't have one.' He paused. 'I'm just… morbidly fascinated, I suppose.'

'In your brother's sex life?'

Lore shrugged. 'Well, it's quite the idiosyncrasy for him to have one in the first place. Why we were even given the ability to do that sort of thing is beyond me. I mean, it's revolting. I deactivated my sexual functions a long time ago. Just in case. You never know who might want to take advantage.'

'I just watched you perform basic origami with a Borg's spinal column,' Tasha retorted. 'How do you suppose anybody could "take advantage" of you?'

'My brother's no less fast or strong than I am,' Lore replied, 'and he's taken advantage of all the time.'

Tasha snorted. 'By you, you mean.'

'Don't play the sweet, concerned lover with me, Yar. I've been warned about what you're after – about your plan.'

'What's that supposed to mean?'

Lore turned to face Tasha. 'I've been advised that you're particularly possessive over my brother.'

Tasha frowned. 'He told you that?'

'No, he didn't. This warning came from another source.'

'I don't understand.'

'You're determined that I can't keep him,' quoted Lore, 'you think he can be useful – you want to have him and destroy me…?'

'Of course I want Data back,' Tasha replied. 'We all do. We can all see that he must have been twisted somehow by you to so much as be here. We want to help him because we care about him…'

'The situation was misjudged,' continued Lore, 'the situation will be rectified…?'

'What are you talking about?'

Lore tilted his head back a little, regarding her. 'Maybe it's not you, after all. I thought it was just its interpretation that made it all sound so objective – so… Borgy. But it isn't you it was talking about, is it? You don't have a clue what I'm saying, do you?'

'Not the faintest,' Tasha admitted.

'Hmm.' Lore smiled. 'Well, well. There's an interesting development.'

'Now you're just revelling in knowing something I don't.'

'Commander Yar; if you had any notion of all the things I know which you don't, it would break your poor little meaty brain.' He paused. 'Still, I'm feeling generous today – that, or I've decided that the more you know about this little twist, the more it'll upset you. I'll let you work that one out.'

'What are you going to do to me?'

'Nothing,' Lore replied, innocently. 'I just think that you might benefit from a slight alteration in accommodation arrangements. I was just going to throw you in with the rest of your party from Starfleet, but you've changed my mind.'

'So, who's my new roommate?'

Lore let out a short, excited giggle. 'I'm putting you in with The Oracle.'