Data walked back into his quarters and collapsed on his bed almost as if he felt exhausted. Spot walked up to him and tried to flatter him by cuddling up to his leg. He looked down at her, then without a word stood and went to the replicator.

"Feline supplement, number 25." he ordered and then put the bowl of cat food on the floor.

He went back to his bed to go on just sitting and staring ahead listlessly. Spot walked to the bowl of food, but after a smell of it, she turned and walked back to where Data was sitting.

He met her amber gaze with his own "I thought this was your favourite." he whispered.

Spot then sat back on her hind-legs and put her forepaws on his knee. Data watched her confused but finally gave in and put a gentle hand on her head. Spot leaned into his touch and made him pat her.

"I wonder how you're able to do this." he asked on a whisper feeling his heart warmed by his pet's display of love. He gathered her into his arms and let her soft purring flood his neural net with tranquillity.

And in that moment, all the emotions he had previously squeezed into a background process, suddenly emerged! He no longer needed to pay attention to anything around him, and his emotion-chip demanded all the freed up resources! He suddenly felt oddly tempted to let himself be completely consumed by his bittersweet memories of her, of them together. To do nothing but to simply exist and remember, and feel the absence she left in her wake, throbbing through his neural net.

...they shook hands in front of the holodeck "I'm Emma..."

"Emma Jones. Medical Officer. I know. I'm Data."

She seemed startled by the fact that he already had known who she was. They'd met the night before and played a game called tic-tac-toe - on the holodeck walls nonetheless!

"... the artificial intelligence?"

"Android, more precisely."

"...I thought you were human back when we played that silly game..." she replied - and she'd never looked at him in any other way! She always considered him what he aspired to be, instead of what he actually was, always seeing something more, something better in him. Something that for a while, he himself was afraid to consider himself. An equal, a partner for her.

How angry she seemed when she told him off in front of the holodeck for his lifeless performance during the rehearsals of Dreamland! They were having a real fight! - He never had a real fight with anybody before that. Retrospectively, it was a fascinating experience.

And that wasn't the only 'first' that day. He felt an insurmountable attraction toward her for the very first time he'd known her.

..."And I don't care if you like guys instead of girls!"

"I ...I am heterosexual."

She stopped in her rampage suddenly and found herself looking at his slightly parted lips "Oh..." she breathed and moved in to stand very close to him - he could feel her breath on his lips as she talked "Glad we cleared that one up..." she whispered as she looked from his eyes onto his lips and back again.

"Mu-Must you stand quite so close?" he stammered on a low voice.

"I'm very nearsighted." she replied without missing a beat, and as she spoke, he could feel her hot breath touching his lips.

He should have known that from that moment onwards, he'd have been lost, forever. But it took both of them more time to realize that. No matter how mightily they fought their attraction, they could never let go of each other completely after that very moment.

She was there when he was struggling with his memories of his abduction by the Borg. She was always there, no matter how hard he'd try to push her away. He kept asking himself, why? Why did she choose him? Among all the men on the ship who had no such baggage, who were... real man, not just a knock-off of a human. While she kept asking him why he chose, someone as sarcastic and pessimistic and disturbed as she was. Yes, they both had their fair share of doubts.

But last night! They opened up to one another in a way neither of them had ever done before! The physical manifestation of that amazing mental link was a night of unity that answered whatever remaining doubts they had... Oh, that night...

Why?! Why did the events have to take such a turn? Just a few days ago, he'd been the happiest creature in the universe! Why wasn't he able to make better decisions? Would he be able to if he didn't have his precious chip? Would it matter anymore, if Emma...

It was torture that he was not allowed to see her! His neural net was almost screaming from craving after her touch or the feel of her under his palm. He felt so empty inside, he never before had - even without emotions. How could emotions give him a sense of hollowness greater than the absence of emotions? How was this possible?

He looked around in his empty quarters. Emma's Dreamland dress was lying on the sofa. He turned his head to the shelf: there was his Sherlock Holmes hat. She liked that so much, she tried it on several times always checking herself in the mirror to a jocular effect. She liked to brush her hair in front of that mirror. He always loved the feel of her hair between his fingers and under his palm. He turned his head away and saw his drawers. Whatever few civilian clothes he possessed, he kept them there. She always liked to sleep in his under-shirts and boxers. He would scoop up behind her, inhale the fragrance of her hair and listen to her soft breathing. Hours and hours on. Time became fluid during the nights. Minutes and hours melted into each other, while he was doing nothing but simply marvelling at the feel of her in his arms.

He lay down on his back. Spot was startled by the sudden motion, but then adjusted herself into a scooping position on his chest. He held onto the bedsheets underneath him with his fists. What would he do if he never had a chance to lie in this bed together with Emma anymore?

"I need you so much!" he whispered to the silence "Please, come back to me! Please don't leave me alone!" he tightened his fists on the bedclothes and closed his eyes letting his tears roll down his temples "Please, forgive me for being so selfish!" he opened his eyes and stared at the ceiling desperate, crippled with fear.

The moment when he'd need to say goodbye to his loved ones, to Emma and all other members of his surrogate family was never very far away. He was immortal. They were not. He couldn't look forward to a termination of pain that the loss of his friends would cause. And he accepted that a long time ago. Not much later than he got his emotion-chip and realized the true gravity of the conversation he'd had with Geordi after they'd found his severed head near San Francisco. He didn't understand what it would involve to lose his friends then. But he did comprehend it after FEELING scared for his friends for the first time of his life. He realized then that he somehow had to accept the fact that he would lose everybody he ever loved sooner or later, one by one.

But he was not ready! He needed more time! More time to prepare himself! More time... to simply live and be happy with the woman... he came to love... Love. Was THIS love? Was this bittersweet throbbing of her absence through his mental pathways love? What if he never would have the chance to find out?

The doorchime suddenly interrupted his crippling reverie. He raised his head confused almost as if he was waken from one of his dream sequences. But he knew he was not sleeping.

"Who's it?" he asked on a lower voice than he intended.

"Earl Mils, Mr. Data. Could I talk to you for a moment?"

Data sat up startled - Spot rolling off his upper body with an irritated meow - and gazed around confused for a moment. Earl Mils... His eyes widened in realization: Mother! Whatever happened to his mother?! He thought Mr. Mils was with her! He searched his memory files and found that he hadn't seen them in Sickbay. He completely forgot about both of them. He quickly started a diagnostic thread in the background to find out how that was even possible and stood.

"Yes, please come in!" he said on a firmer voice. In the periphery of his vision, he could see his cat jumping up on the bed, and after some kneading, she lay back down with a bemused growl.

Earl stepped through the door and as it closed behind him, he glanced behind startled. He cleared his throat embarrassed and then looked at Data a little surprised. He hadn't seen him in his android form yet.

"Oh..." he made an unconscious motion toward the younger man with a fleeting smile "Yellow suits you well, Mr. Data." he remarked absently.

Data looked at him with a blank expression not knowing what exactly to answer to such a - compliment? He frowned slightly:

"What can I do for you, Mr. Mils?"

"Eh, yes..." Earl blinked a little distracted "Well... I came because of Juliana." he held up his hands almost as if in defence "Now, I know about Emma. And I understand if you want to be alone. However... your mother is also very upset. ...As I understand, it's because of what you told her in the mines." he gestured toward him again.

In that moment, Data was virtually hit by the realization how neglecting he'd been! He felt remorse washing over his neural net as he thought about how he had told his mother that she was an android, made her save all of them, and then simply abandoned her so he could lick his own wounds. She was left alone, suffering after a traumatizing realization, while he was filled with sorry for his own self so much so, that not even one singular processing thread was left for his own mother! He suddenly felt ashamed and knew he'd have blushed had he possessed the ability.

He looked into Earl's eyes full of concern "Have you talked to her about it?" he asked on a moved voice.

Earl shook his head "I wasn't able to talk to her about anything. I was treated in Sickbay for decompression sickness - and a few other conditions I wasn't even aware that I had. When I was released, I went to her quarters, of course, I had to find them first which was a considerable amount of time... but anyways, she wouldn't let me in. So I came to you. I'm sure, she would talk to you, Mr. Data."

Data nodded thoughtfully "You ...are concerned about her... because you and she have developed a certain affinity down on the planet. Is that perception correct, Mr. Mils?"

Earl gave him a firm nod "She's an extraordinary woman. Android or not..." his lips twitched upwards in an encouraging smile. Data stared at him surprised as he went on "Seems it goes in the family. My little bird developed a similar affinity towards yourself." as Data again didn't - couldn't - answer, Earl gazed away thoughtfully "She seemed so thoroughly happy, when she turned up on my doorstep a day ago. I don't know whether it's the more trusting society of the twenty-forth century or your own trusting character, but I've never seen her more positive, more optimistic about the future." he looked into Data's eyes "It's a huge thing for someone as tortured as Emma is, Mr. Data. And... no matter how things have turned out... I'm sincerely grateful for that."

And once again Data had no idea what to reply. He was still not able to decide how to feel about this man who was so similar to his own father, yet he had a quality of care that Noonian Soong's personality always lacked. But who was also presumably his mother's love interest, and someone very close to Emma as well. He couldn't deny to feel a certain amount of jealousy - if only he knew what he was jealous about. It was just too confusing, so he left a processing thread to find some sort of an explanation of his ambiguous feelings.

Earl nodded toward the door, sensing that he'd embarrassed Data "Let's check your mother."


Juliana Tainer - or more precisely the android who'd believed of herself that she'd been Juliana Tainer throughout her life - was sitting in front of her mirror in a bathrobe and brushed her long, gray hair. She'd taken a long shower that washed away the dirt and dust of the mines. She felt the touch of the water and sensed it to be first too warm. When she stepped out of the shower, she felt cold, felt goosebumps on her skin. The small bruises on her hands started to burn after the analgesic cream had been washed off, and some of them even started to seep some blood.

She felt all of these trivial sensations, saw her own blood - and just couldn't wrap her mind around the fact that she was not a human! But Data did not lie. Had he lied, she wouldn't have been able to carry Emma or pull the wires of the lift for 10000 meters!

Which one was her? The old lady with chronic back pain and a mild hypertension, with wrinkles around her eyes and gray hair? Or the sturdy android that carried 100 kilogramm stones? Who... WHAT was she?!

And what happened to the real Juliana? Was she dead? How did she die? Which of her memories were her own and which belonged to the real Juliana? Did Pran know? Who else knew about it if Data did? And most importantly why, oh, WHY hadn't he said one single word?!

She buried her face in her palms and sobbed as desperation engulfed her once again.

The doorchime suddenly interrupted her misery, and she moaned on a bitter voice "I've told you, go away, Earl! I don't want to see anyone!"

"It's me, Mother. Open the door." he heard Data's voice coming through the comlink, and she gazed ahead confused. What should she do? Should she ask these nagging questions? Or should she simply lock herself up in this room forever? Who knew what horror did her past hold?! What if it turns out that she was the very creature who killed the real Juliana just to take her place?

"Mother! I can use my security codes to override the lock on the door, but I'd like to avoid having to explain myself to security. Please!" his voice seemed strict - almost as if he was the parent and she the stubborn child.

She slowly stood and turned to the door "Come..." she uttered on a small voice, and Data stepped in through the door.

They looked into each other's eyes for a long moment, and Data felt his remorse growing by leaps and bounds seeing his mother's tears and distressed gaze.

He silently swore then, that from that moment on, he'd stop being so selfish, and he would eliminate all traces of ego from his emotions to be able to fully concentrate on his loved ones! And only to them!

"Mother..." he called to her softly, and she gazed away closing her eyes bitterly for a moment.

"Don't call me that." she whispered "It's a lie. It's always been a lie..." she told him on a breaking voice and collapsed on the sofa burying her face into her palms.

Data watched her for a moment longer unsure of what to do. He then decided to emulate the person whom he considered knowing most about comforting people: Deanna Troi. At situations like this, she'd always somehow try to touch him, maybe even embrace him, usually to a comforting effect. The way she just had outside of Sickbay.

He walked over to the couch and slowly sat down next to his mother. He then put a tentative hand on her back. A tremor ran through her body at the touch, but she didn't stop crying. He slid his hand to her shoulder and gently pulled her to him. Finally, she let herself be cuddled by him as her sobs rippled through her.

"Mother... you'll always be my mother... The only difference is that... we are more related than you might ever have thought..." he told to her on a silent voice, holding her gently in his arms.

At this, she seemed to calm a little. She slowly pulled away and resting her elbows on her knees, put her hands in front of her mouth. She gazed up at him with her tears still on her cheeks, and Data gently took her trembling hands into both of his.

Juliana's gaze drifted into nothing as she sniffled "How long have you known?" she asked on a faint voice.

"Almost from the very beginning. When you asked for help with your late husband to save Atrea." he answered on his usual silent voice.

She looked at him shocked "How did you learn about it? How could you tell?"

"There were signs." he replied recalling his memories of that year from his archives "Signs that could only have been noticed by me. The way you played the violin, the way you blinked." he seemed almost as if he was reading with his minds eye "Then there was the accident. And that made it certain."

Juliana watched him trying to recall her own memories "I broke my arm then."

"Yes." he nodded "We repaired the damage, but you'd stay unconscious. Then we found... we found a chip containing a message."

"A message?"

"From father." he replied, and Juliana gaped in disbelief.

"It was he..."

Data nodded "He constructed you. Just as he constructed me and Lore."

Juliana gaped at him shocked for a moment longer, then jumped up pulling her hands away and started to pace the room. Her face was bewildered, and she shook her head still in disbelief "Why?" she stopped and looked at Data demandingly "Why?! Why did he need to create an android looking EXACTLY like his wife? And not just looking! But feeling and thinking and..."

"Mother, I promise I'll tell you all I know." he caught her gaze and looked at her pleading "I've come to understand the story of your creation and father's reasons behind it quite well in the course of years. Because I wanted answers too. I managed to find most of them."

Juliana looked at him shocked for a moment longer then walked back to him and sat next to him. "I'm listening." she whispered and seemed to compose herself as much as it was possible.

Data took a deep breath and straightened his back. He gazed away as he recalled all that he'd find out in chronological order.

"This story starts sometime in 2337, on Omicron Theta, a year after my creation. You and father brought Lore and me up like brothers, but this is something you might remember better than I do. Lore was jealous of me, of the attention I received from both you and father, to the point that he managed to make contact with the Crystalline Entity and had it attack the colony." he looked at her absently "My memories of the events are rather vague. I received most of them with the emotion-chip. However, they are more like the journals of the colonists. Not real memories of my own, rather the facts, impressions of other people, not my own." he turned away again gazing ahead "The colony moved into the underground facility we later discovered with the Enterprise crew in 2364. Lore became so undisciplined that father finally dismantled him. However, he couldn't have known that Lore summoned the Crystalline entity again to finish what it'd started." he looked into her eyes with a meaningful expression "And this is where your memories start to be very different from the events that really took place on Omicron Theta."

Juliana stared at him stunned "How so?"

Data went on looking into her eyes "The entity attacked again, and you - more precisely, the human Juliana Soong got injured seriously. However, father was prepared for such an event. I believe... that he knew that your human counterpart would not survive those wounds, no matter what medical attention she received. But he already had a plan how to save his love. He put the unconscious Juliana into the life-pod. There was really no space left for me with her lying on two of the three seats. He wiped my memories leaving only the journals of the colonists intact and then took her away to Terlina Three. He then scanned the human Juliana's mind using synaptic scanning and managed to salvage her consciousness into a positronic matrix. That is your real birthday, the birthday of your current self... The human Juliana then... died a few days later."

Juliana gazed away again with the feeling that she was just unable to wrap her mind around all of this. But if what Data'd just told her was true, her greatest guilt, the one she barely could live with throughout all these years was actually not hers! She did NOT abandon Data on Omicron! Noonian did! She looked at Data feeling her heart drumming hard against her chest "Why? Why did he lie?! How could he make me feel guilty for long decades that I abandoned my son?!"

"I do not have facts about that, however... I speculate, he had no other choice. Please, understand. His first and foremost priority was to make you believe that you're a human. He went to the greatest lengths to achieve that. He needed to make sure that you'd never even question the events around your escape from Omicron. It was the best option, if you hadn't even dared to THINK about it! And it seems, he had no other means to achieve that but awaking guilt in you... I know it seems cruel to you... it did seem that to me... but indeed, it was maybe the only way to keep you from finding out what really happened there." he took a moment to go on "He was not less hard on me either. My memories wouldn't have had to be wiped out just before the entity attacked. I tried to find a good enough reason for it, but found none that would withstand scientific arguments. The only reason I can imagine is the fact that I knew that you were badly hurt. And as I was like a little child then, asking too much, and talking too much, he could never have made sure that I'd keep my mouth shut about your true nature. And he could not take that risk. So he just wiped it all out."

Juliana shook her head feeling a rage burning in her chest. "Noonian!" she shook her head again as her hands tightened into fists where they lay on her lap "How could you..." she whispered on a bitter voice "How could you..."

"I do believe that he felt remorse over how he manipulated all of us throughout his life. I believe he gave some of my memories back because of this remorse. And... you also have to consider his good intentions. He never wanted you to learn that you're an android. He wanted you to live as a human. And looking at your life, he achieved his goal, Mother."

Her eyes filled with tears again "But that life is just a lie! His lie to me! To all of whoever loved him!" she looked at him desperate "Data, you should have told me! You really thought I would want to live in a lie?" she broke down crying again and put her hands to her cheeks.

Data reached out and gently took her hands in his again. He searched her gaze, and when she finally looked at him through her tears, he went on "At first, it was not possible. He designed you to lose consciousness the moment your belief of your human nature was in danger. When you broke your arm, there was no reason for you to lose consciousness. However, had you been awake, you'd have seen that your arm is actually a cybernetic one. This was one of the ways father used to make sure that you'd never learn about your true nature."

Juliana frowned confused at this "But... in the mines, you told me, straight into my eyes, that I'm an... an..." her voice broke, and he squeezed her hands gently.

"Because I modified those settings." She gaped at him stunned as he went on "I argued that if there's another accident, and it happens in much less friendly surroundings, it would place you in grave danger. I argued that your safety was more important than what you believed. I didn't want you to fall into the wrong hands just because father was so adamant about keeping you away from reality." he bowed his head "In the mines... I had no other choice." he whispered then looked into her eyes with remorse clearly written all over his face "I'm so sorry, Mother! I took away from you what I've been coveting all my life. No matter the reason, no matter the circumstances, it was a crime against you! I hope some day you'll find it in your heart to forgive me."

"Data..." this time she squeezed his hands in hers, and they looked into each other's eyes again "You did the right thing." she whispered "I'm not angry at you." she reached out and gently stroked his cheek "My son..." new tears clouded her vision "I'm only angry at your father! ...I still can't believe what I really am..." her voice once again broke.

"Mother! What you did for all of us was more than anyone could ever have done!" he reached up for her hand still on his cheek and taking it to his lips, kissed it gratefully "You saved our lives! Nobody else could have done that!"

She took a shaky breath still finding it hard to believe. She looked into her son's eyes and saw that underneath the remorse, his eyes glinted with a new light.

He went on stroking her hands with his thumbs "There is one other thing, Mother. Father set a previously determined end to your life to emulate that of a human's death. However, this setting can also be modified! I've always lived my life with the knowledge that I'd lose all whom I ever loved, one by one. Because my life was without an end. But now, I can look forward to having you in my immortality! If you wish it so too!"

Juliana was hit by the proposition so much she suddenly felt dizzy. Eternal life?! She could have eternal life?!

But before she could reply, Data's combadge went off:

"Maddox to Data."

Data pushed the combadge with a sudden grim expression "Data here!"

"I'm finished with the preparations. We can begin at your earliest convenience."

"Understood, Sir. I'm on my way." Data replied on his most professional voice and then cut the comlink.

"Data..." Juliana stroked his shoulder knowing exactly what this Maddox was prepared to do to her son, but she just couldn't find the words to stop him!

He put his hands on her shoulders and looked at her with determined eyes "Do not worry, Mother. Please, do not worry about me!" he whispered, and leaning close to her, gave a gentle kiss on her forehead. "I have to go now." he told her silently, then let her go, stood and walked out.

Juliana watched him go with burning eyes, then turned her head to gaze out at the starry night. Here she was "blessed" with sudden immortality, strength and mental capacity. And she was not able to help her son. "Oh, Noonian... we brought a life into this universe... just to make him suffer..."

She then heard an embarrassed cough coming from the door and gazed up startled seeing Earl standing there.

"Data let me in." he explained and took another step towards her but stopped at her grim expression in the middle of the room "If you wish, I'll leave. I just... wanted to make sure you're provided for."

Juliana took her gaze away from him and just stared at her hands. It took Earl a whole minute to take up the courage and sit opposite her on the couch. But he didn't dare to touch her.

Juliana stared only at her hands. They began to tremble as she felt her chest be gripped by fear. But she had to ask the one thing she had on her mind ever since she'd learned...

"Are you not disgusted?" she whispered.

Earl stared at her in shock "Why?"

"Because you didn't ...spend the night with a woman. But with a machine..." she whispered. She swallowed hard and tried to blink back her tears.

He saw her struggling, and it tore at his old heart. He took her gently by the hands, leaned to her and kissed her on the lips for a short moment. When he let go, she gaped at him shocked at his reaction. He just smiled at her lovingly:

"Juliana... I did spend the night with a woman. And no matter what the world or even what she, herself thinks about herself... that fact did not change in a day! She's here sitting right next to me... And I hope she'll be sitting next to me for a long time."

In that terrible, terrible day, that was the very first moment, she felt, she would finally be able to come to terms with all that she'd learned about herself. Not that day, and not even the next one or the next. But one day. When she would be able to accept herself the way her son and love did.


A/N: In itself, Juliana's story is worth its own fanfiction, I suppose. Please, feel free to write it, unfortunately the boundaries of the present story do not allow me to make such a detour. I also need to note that the idea, that Juliana was unconscious in the life-pod, and there actually was no place for Data is coming from a comment under 'Inheritance' in Keith DeCandido's rewatch.

If you can find it in your heart, please, leave a review! :)