For hours, Heva carefully distributed the elements of the Arimur Plague into separate emission canisters. So this was how the virus was introduced, by casting it out while in the atmosphere by way of an exhaust valve at the rear of the ship. It was delivered in such small amounts, yet it proved to be so lethal. All Lore had Heva do for him thus far was separating supplies of the compound into the canisters to be saved unless needed. This seemed so menial compared to what he could have had her do. The purpose he described for her capture was becoming more and more transparent. There was something hidden beneath the surface and during the hours Heva sat there in that dark storage room aiding in a quest that she originally dedicated herself to stopping, she reeled over what it was Lore could be hiding from her. One thing was for sure, she was not there to help put his plan for domination in motion. Her mind tired and overflowing, Heva sat back from her unwanted labor to gaze thoughtfully ahead. Part of her was still determined to find means of escape. Another side of her mind darkened with paranoid thoughts of hopelessness. There was a chance she would be killed here. She could very possibly never see her captain, her colleagues, or Data ever again. The fear that engulfed her heart at these possibilities grew tears which began to flow uncontrollably while she sat up against the wall. Her hands clasped over her mouth to silence the sobs that scraped at her throat for escape. Now more than ever she needed to try her best to be strong in the face of danger. If Lore should hear her and discover her at her weakest point, her chances would fall lower than they presently stood.
After letting herself go for a short while Heva drew in a deep, shaky breath to calm herself down. She wiped her eyes and looked forward. Among the hopelessness and dread stood her natural instinct to be brave. She stood and held her hands behind her back and furrowed her brow. She began to attempt to quell her frightened thoughts with contemplation of her situation and a means to escape if there was a method at all. Everything about this freighter was primitive; aged to a point where none of the technology was useful to aide in creating a communication device. There was a shuttle bay with several shuttles. However since her and Lore were the only ones aboard, Lore could easily discover her attempts and attack her after she tried to leave the ship with the updated weapon systems.
As though sensing the subject of Heva's thoughts, Lore entered the room putting a halt to her plotting. He examined the three canisters that Heva had been filling, nodding in approval. "Done with the perfection I would expect from an officer such as yourself. Your dedication to duty has proven worthy. You may rest now. We won't need anymore of these unless your superiors fail to meet my demands." He held a hand out to Heva, offering to lead her out. Heva ignored it and left the room, heading toward her quarters. Lore followed briskly all the way to her door. He stood behind her, shadowing her until she turned to face him. "Is there something you require further? Or am I finished with menial tasks for now?" Heva asked through gritted teeth. Lore only looked into her eyes with a penetrating stare. He moved forward slightly and ran two of his fingers through her hair. She pulled away and glared at him, hatred boiling her blood. Lore kept his hand in the air near her head and continued to look at her as though she were a subject of experimentation. "You puzzle me, Commander. My dear brother, so flawed and unable to reach his full potential as a superior being is the soul receiver of your romantic affections. Yet knowing that you may never see him again and being in the presence of a more perfect and much more deserving version of your beloved, you recoil with disgust and disapproval."
"What makes you think for one moment that you would get any kind of positive contact from me after the way you've treated me, after the threats you've voiced, or after capturing me in the first place?" Heva snapped, repulsed. "I am everything Data is and more." Lore argued, stepping forward. Heva backed into the wall, trapped while Lore placed his hands against the wall on either side of her head. The distance between them gradually decreased until his face was so close to hers she would have been able to feel the breath upon her skin if he possessed any. "I could give you so much more than he could, Heva. His sole motivation is his duty, which could never be overcome by an intimate relationship. But I, I can set that aside and give you things that no other man could." "If ever there was a better example of what a man is not, you could easily take its place. Data is more a true man than anyone I've ever known and nothing will change my opinion of that." Heva hissed coldly at Lore, whose face remained constant with a look of frustrated determination. He sighed, bowed his head and went on with his half of the debate. "Data is not a man. He is a puppet, a machine programmed to become something he will never truly be. I know that you will argue that I am no different. However, I have achieved the combining of both emotion and logic without flaw. I have the capacity or separate myself from one thing and focus on another just as humans do. Data only wishes to serve and grow as an officer. He says that his wish is to be human, yet the only truly human things he has accomplished are centered around his existence as an officer aboard the Enterprise." "How would you know what he's accomplished, having only been close to him so few times in your life?"
"Does it matter? We're brothers, I know him better than you ever could because I am him. I am his equal." "You are nothing but a broken jumble of wires envious of a being he could never possibly be like. You can sit there and claim to be the perfect brother but no matter how hard you try to impress me with your similar appearance to the man I love and your so called flawlessness I remain loyal to Data." Lore's face contorted into a gruesome sneer and he leaned in closer until his nose lightly tapped against hers. He let his eyes bore into hers like knives, relishing the small drop of fear that began to spread inside of her pupils.
One of his hands slid across the wall to hold the side of her head gently while his other remained pressed against the cold surface of the corridor wall. "I am more than what I seem. I could do things to you that only appear in your darkest nightmares, or I could curl your toes with pleasures beyond your set expectations. I can be anything you want me to be. Your actions will let me know how I should be for you. If you are rude and defiant like you have been…" the hand resting against her head snatched a fistful of her hair and pulled her head back. He kept his nose against hers and followed it back until it seemed like he was on top of her. She didn't make a sound, just gazed as thought hypnotized into his cold and lifeless eyes. "…if you are the way you've been so far, I will snap your neck in half and kill Data along with the rest of the crew of the Enterprise. But if you are compliant and respectful…" Lore released the tight hold he had on her hair. Heva's head bowed and her breath trembled in and out of her lungs in swift, quick flows. She slid down to the floor, Lore following close behind her to kneel. He took her face in his hands and she looked back up at him.
"If you obey the things I tell you to do and treat me with respect, I will not only let them live, but I will give you all of the things I've promised you. Power, riches, all of the things the Federation could never give you. I will give you invincibility, immortality, and anything else your heart desires." his voice slowly lowered to a whisper, as though there was some hidden being among them that he wanted to keep this a secret from. Heva lightly pushed Lore away from her so that she could stand.
She faced the door and it opened for her, but all she did was stand there in front of it. Lore laid a careful hand on her shoulder and pressed his lips against her cheek. He then slid himself back so that his cheek grazed against hers and let his mouth rest against her ear. "You don't have to go back to the Enterprise. Everything you'll ever need is here with me. I could make your life worth something. Everyone will know who you are and give you the recognition you deserve. All of the dark elements of your past and the worries of your present will fade away and your life will truly begin to mean something. All you have to do is stay with me while I carry out my plans to improve the future. Think about it Heva."
He pressed his hand to her other cheek and kissed the side of her head then walked away down the hall. Heva stared after him until he disappeared then walked into her quarters and sat on her bed. Things were already not the way they should, but something just didn't seem right here either. Lore had delivered his message and had her working on new supplies of the virus to use to persuade the Federation into handing power over to him but her suspicions that Lore wanted something more or that his motivations weren't completely clear began to grow. Whatever it was, Heva wasn't willing to sit around and find out later. She laid back on her pillow and decided to wait until the night hours when Lore would take the ship off of auto pilot and occupy himself at the helm, leaving his quarters empty and vulnerable.