Year: 2381

Stardate: 58492.6

Doctor Emily Vanzanen's sapphire eyes were riveted on a PADD as she studied schematics for a new leg prosthesis design and the embedded software requirements for it. Since it was early morning on the weekend before the mid-session break, the Daystrom Cybernetics and Robotics Office area was deserted. She had seen Zome Rylan hurry through the offices, on his way from the R&D lab to the main corridor, but he hadn't spoken to her or even shown any sign of noticing she'd been there. Eighteen others remained at the annex, but they worked the flight control tower or supervised security and the Andromedan androids.

While Emily had no classes to teach during the break, neither did she have an off-world home or family to visit, so she often elected to remain at the annex during the peaceful breaks. She assumed that her lack of personal ties was the reason that Doctor T'Mera Chipman had chosen her for the task of raising the Soong-type android named B-4. In the five months since she'd reactivated him, he had developed farther than anyone had expected. Doctor Chipman had gotten B-4 from a toddler's mental stage to about seven or eight years old, and Emily had followed T'Mera's instructions almost to the letter.

Some of the android's personality quirks made life awkward and afforded her no privacy. He insisted on being in Emily's bed while she slept, on the side nearest the wall. Each night, B-4 insisted that they watch a holovid together or that she read a book to him, followed by a "goodnight kiss". In the beginning, it was more like sleeping next to a child, but B-4 was now closer to a fifteen-year old boy in intellect and mental development. Emily pushed a few of the dark spirals of hair from her eyes, then gazed at B-4, observing him as he swept the floor and hummed happily. The red knit hat that B-4 wore was yet another personality quirk, but one that had little impact on Emily.

The melodic humming abruptly stopped, as B-4 raised his head and dropped the broom with a loud clatter to the floor. His yellow eyes widened with alarm.

Emily stopped her work, "Is something wrong, B-4?"

"Yes. I hear noise and screaming. The screaming suddenly stopped." B-4 tilted his head, as if listening. "Bare feet are coming this way."

Emily swiveled her chair to face the door leading to the Research and Development Lab just in time for them to whoosh open, letting a half-naked, pale-skinned, brown-haired man through. She gasped as his enraged yellow eyes quickly searched the room and settled on her. She had met Commander Data and knew that he, B-4 and Lore were virtually identical, but this was the first time she had witnessed rage and hatred in a Soong android's face.

Lore began to walk towards the woman, but the sight of B-4 by the janitorial cart caught his attention. "Brother? I had no idea you were here. It saves me quite a bit of time. What is that ridiculous thing on your head?"

B-4 frowned with confusion, then answered, "It is a hat."

Lore sauntered towards Emily, with a sardonic smile forming on his lips. "How long have you worked here, Miss?"

Emily stared at Lore, but managed to stutter, "F-five years."

"You're in luck." Lore told Emily as he drew closer to her, "You weren't here when Data deactivated me and apparently took me apart. I'm not going to kill you. In fact, if you do what I want, I might not even permanently injure you." He reached for her throat, "And don't expect any help from my brother over there. Data wouldn't hurt a fl-"

Emily shrieked as B-4 ran past her with a speed and agility she never realized he possessed.

B-4 slammed into Lore, tackling him and sending both of them three meters away from Emily. Lore's back hit the metal wall with such force that it left a body-shaped indentation. "Get away from Emily!"

Lore laughed, "It seems Data has some violence in him, after all."

B-4 growled as he pulled back his right fist and pummeled Lore in the abdomen, with a spoken word emphasizing each blow. "I'm… not… Data!" With his left hand, he attempted to reach around Lore's back.

The amusement faded from Lore's face, as he raised his left hand to block further punches, then swung with his right to punch the other android. "No touching my button. Who are you?"

B-4 reeled back from the blow, "I am B-4. I will not let you hurt Emily."

Lore stared at B-4, then bared his teeth with anger, "I'm not sure when you were made, but I'll tell you this. We might be identical, but we're not equal. Unless I get what I want, I will rip you apart, piece by piece, and because of your misdeeds, I will make Emily suffer exquisite pain. If you want her to remain unhurt, just give me what I want."

"What do you want?" B-4 backed up and resumed his protective stance in front of Emily.

Lore leveled his gaze on the two, "I need information on the whereabouts of our beloved brother, Data."

"I will give you what you want, if you promise not to hurt Emily." B-4 eyed his brother with suspicion, "I was built as a prototype. If you are Lore, you were made after me."

Lore hesitated, his yellow eyes fixed on B-4. The anger in his expression faded, replaced with a brief flash of dismay. "Yes, I'm Lore and as a gift to you, dear brother, I promise I won't hurt you or your precious human woman. I know how it feels to be rejected by our father, and to watch as he builds a "better" son."

"Are you a better son?" B-4 backed up further until he was near Emily's console.

"I was." Lore growled at the prototype, "Then the colonists petitioned Ol' Often Wrong to build a less perfect android. To build Data. They felt threatened by me."

B-4 began to type quickly on the console, keeping one eye on his brother and protecting Emily with his body. "Threatened? By you? I can't imagine anyone finding you to be threatening. Say it ain't so."

Emily's paralysis from fear broke as she looked up at B-4 with shock at his words. "Oh my goodness."

"Well, you're apparently a master of sarcasm, big brother." Lore smirked. "I'll admit that I don't do much to assuage everyone's fear of me." He directed his attention to the console, "What's that you're doing?"

"Starfleet communication protocols and frequencies. Nobody erased my memory of my time on Data's ship, so I still recall how to break into them and find the fleet positioning." B-4 remarked as he worked. "But something is wrong. I can't get a subspace signal out."

"Just give me the protocols and frequencies, then." Lore leaned to watch the display, "I can track them better, once I'm on my own ship and under way."

B-4 typed out the commands for Lore, "There. I don't know how to get you a ship."

Lore smirked at his brother and patted his pants pocket, "I already have one, courtesy of my now-deceased liberators. You should come with me. We're brothers. We should be ruling this galaxy, instead of being puppets to the humans."

B-4 frowned, then replied, "I don't want to rule the galaxy. I want to stay here with Emily."

Lore pressed his lips together, then shook his head, "How disappointing. You're as meek and lacking in ambition as Data, but at least he's in Starfleet. You're doing what… mopping floors?" Lore pointed to the janitorial cart.

B-4 retorted, his yellow eyes showing anger. "I like mopping floors."

Lore gestured with his right hand as he performed a flourished bow from the waist, "Well, then, by all means, stay here and be the best android custodian in the galaxy." He spun on his heels, then ran through the doors leading to the main exit and landing pads.

B-4 waited a few minutes, as if suspecting Lore might return, then turned and squatted to check on the cyberneticist in the chair behind him. "Emily? You're shaking. It's okay. He's gone now."

Black tears streaked down Emily's face, as her eye makeup washed away, "B-4, you gave him a way to find Starfleet ships. He'll kill people. He said he's killed people here, already."

B-4 hung his head in shame, "I know. I wasn't very brave, but I had to protect you. I tried to shut him off, but he's faster than I am. I think Lore is going to try to find Data right away, and not bother randomly killing anyone."

"Won't he kill Data?" Emily rubbed at her eyes, smearing the black mascara even more.

B-4 shook his head, "I might not be smart or fast enough to stop Lore, but Data has done so in the past, and he'll do so again."

Alarms sounded, followed by darkness as all the power in the facility shut off. The dim red emergency lighting activated in the office, along with the soft hum of the emergency power generators.

Emily shrieked and instinctively reached for B-4, "He's cut everything off."

B-4 pulled the cyberneticist into a firm embrace. "We can't call for help or warn Data. Lore is smart. Data will still be smarter and faster." He looked around the room, "I've lived here with you for months, but I never asked this before… Emily, are there any weapons in here?"

"I don't think so." Emily trembled, still suffering from the fright. "Why?"

B-4 rocked his body back and forth, in an attempt to settle her nerves. He ran his fingers through her tightly curled hair, his tactile sensors perceiving the rough texture of the strands. "We should check on other people, and maybe try to turn the power on, once we're sure Lore is gone."

Emily nodded, then composed herself, "You're right, B-4. I guess I'm not being brave, either." She released her hold on him, and searched for the emergency hand lantern. "I'm going to bring a hyperspanner, too, in case we need to fix anything."

"It seems like I'll be the weapon, then." B-4 stated reluctantly. "Are you ready to walk?"

Emily turned the lantern on, illuminating the area in front of them, "Yes. We'll check where Lore came from, first." She headed to the R&D lab doors, with the android behind her, then stopped. "Crap. The automatic doors don't open. There's a manual release somew-"

B-4 moved up to the doors, hooked his fingers around each door at the seam, then pushed them open with ease.

"I… never knew you were this strong." Emily gaped at the android, then stepped through the opening. As soon as she saw the two bodies on the floor, she spun around and buried her face in B-4's chest. "Oh my god…" She gagged a few times, but managed to keep breakfast down.

B-4 lowered his chin, "No breathing or heartbeats there. They are offline. We can't help them." He waited for Emily to leave the room, then followed her.

Emily returned to the offices and headed to the Southern doors, then stopped when they didn't open. "I'm glad you're here with me. I don't know that I could handle this alone."

"I'm glad to be with you." B-4 replied as he pried open the doors for her. He took the lead as they walked through the curving corridor and into the central area. The bookstore was closed for the break, but Giskard's restaurant was still open. In the dim red illumination, dozens of white lights seemed to be suspended in the air.

Emily moved closer, shining the lantern ahead of them. The lights turned out to be the numbered pendants of the Andromedan androids, each of which had been crashed by a logic error and who now stood still and quiet. "Wonderful. Now I have to go downstairs and reset Norman." She sighed and started forward again, "We'll have to take the stairs down a flight. It's fairly certain the lifts won't work. I wonder where everyone is?"

B-4 stopped for a moment, as if listening, then stated, "There is some yelling outside the building. Explosions."

"Let's get the androids working again." Emily winced and pushed at the door to the stairwell. "At least this still works."

"Hooray for hinges." B-4 quipped, then moved ahead of her. "I will go first, just in case."

The only sounds in the stairwell consisted of the hum of emergency generators and the footsteps of the woman and prototype as they made their way down one flight. The hinged door labeled Sub-level One was easily pushed open and both of them entered the area with grey floors and two-tone pink and purple walls.

B-4 eyed the control center, "It's very colorful. What are we looking for?"

Emily moved past him, "This way. It's a grey console. A week doesn't go by that some smart aleck doesn't do something to crash Norman, so I know the reboot commands by heart."

"The androids here are not like me and my brothers." B-4 stated, "Except for each series looking identical. Why do people want identical androids?"

"I don't really know, B-4." Emily shined the light through the halls until she found the doorway leading to the grey console. "I haven't made any, unless watching Data being built counts." She began to tap into the ancient console. "I never expected to have anything to do with androids, but Doctor Chipman felt that I was the only one she could trust with you."

B-4 stood up straighter, "I hear footsteps." He took a defensive stance near Emily, then relaxed when he saw the figure approaching.

A tall, muscular male with tan skin and light brown, curly hair walked with purpose towards the grey console. He wore a grey shirt and grey tights, and a white collar around his neck with a number one on a dangling pendant.

"Hello, Norman." B-4 greeted the other android with a friendly wave of his hand. "Everyone is broken."

Norman answered B-4, "There was a malfunction. It was caused by another of your series."

Emily finished the restart commands, "What did he do?"

Norman turned to address Emily, "When Alice, Herman, Maisie and Oscar began to freeze, I investigated. The yellow-eyed one was asking us to join him and be his army. It is contradictory. It is not logical. We are not programmed to respond in that area. Our purpose was to adapt this planet for productive use, and to peacefully serve humanoids. We will not harm those that we are programmed to serve."

"Lore is not logical." B-4 explained to Norman. "I apologize on behalf of my series."

"Thank goodness for the shutdown." Emily rubbed at the bridge of her nose, "I can't imagine what would happen if Lore got so many to follow him."

Norman announced, "The malfunction is now cleared from the system. All units are returning to service."

Emily typed in a few more commands on the console, "We need repairs to the power generators and communication systems, please. Also, security needs to be sent to the R&D lab in the West wing. Lore killed a couple of people during his escape."

"All Oscar and William units are being dispatched for repairs now. Security is alerted. Barbara units are dispatched to the infirmary. Subspace communications are unavailable. Daystrom Control reports an unauthorized launch of a vessel twenty minutes ago." Norman acknowledged. "Estimated time for generator repairs is eight hours. Communication systems repair time unknown at present."

"Thank you, Norman." Emily turned to head back to the stairwell, "Let's go, B-4. Maybe we can find out more about what's going on."

B-4 followed obediently behind the woman, "Okay." He pushed open the stairwell door, checked the stairwell, then waved Emily in. "I should still go first until the power comes back."

"Be careful." Emily followed him up the stairs, "I don't want anything to happen to you."

B-4 slowly ascended the stairs, "Yes. Like Bishop. I don't want to be ripped apart like Bishop."

"Bishop?" Emily frowned in confusion, "Who's Bishop?"

B-4 continued towards the ground level door, "An android, but he prefers to be called an artificial person. He was good and he saved his people. T'Mera showed me."

Emily's breathing became slightly labored as she climbed the stairs, "I suppose this is where I'll regret not having taken advantage of fitness programs in the holostation."

"If you can't walk, I will carry you." B-4 replied as they approached the landing to the first floor.

Emily snorted defiantly, "I'm not that horribly out of shape, thank you."

"I like your sha-" B-4 stopped speaking and held his hand behind him to stop Emily. "Ssh. Footsteps." He turned to move up to the landing, just as a white-haired man ran down the stairs directly into him. The android never budged, but the man bounced back into the wall with a shriek.

Emily shined the lantern on the man. Frightened pink eyes stared into the light. "Zome? What are you doing?"

"Emily?" Zome Rylan let out a sigh of relief, "Then this is…" His eyes focused on the android, "This is the dumb one?"

B-4 growled at the white-haired lab technician, "I'm dumb because I'm a prototype. What's your excuse for being stupid?"

Emily sighed, "Why do you have to keep calling B-4 names, Zome? Also, who were the two men in the R&D lab?"

Zome turned his head sharply to look at Emily, "Wh-what men? I was upstairs in my quarters since last night."

"I saw you run through the office about an hour ago." Emily told the shaking man, "I guess you didn't see me, but I would have thought you'd have noticed B-4."

"I'm just a dumb statue, to him." B-4 offered, then smirked, "You are lying. You know who the men are. My sensory inputs are picking up physical changes happening in you, Zome."

Zome slid down the wall to sit on the floor with his knees against his chest, "They said they were with Starfleet Intelligence. They wanted me to help them repair and reactivate the Lore android. I told them it was a bad idea, then I left before he was even put together. What happened to the power?"

"It went off just after Lore escaped. He also crashed all the androids." Emily replied. "I restarted Norman. The power will be back on within eight hours, according to him. The security supervisor might need to ask you about the two dead men."

"D-dead? They're dead? And Lore escaped?" Zome's pink eyes widened with horror. "Oh god, Maddox is going to kill me."

"If I were you, I'd go report to Lieutenant Emery now." Emily let out a sigh, "Actually, so should we, B-4. Zome, come with us. We'll all go together."

B-4 held out his hand to the technician, to help pull him to a standing position.

Zome accepted the hand, then stared agape as the android lifted him to his feet with no effort. "L-lead on."

The three of them returned to the ground floor, then made their way through the dimly lit central area to security office. As they traveled around the perimeter of the bookstore to the hallway, voices could be heard.

"The four survivors are in the infirmary now. The five of you need to get to the tower and help the androids repair all the damage. Terry. You and I will split shifts until help arrives."

"Yes, sir."

As Emily, B-4 and Zome approached the security office, five people dressed in Daystrom Control uniforms ran past them, heading to the North corridor.

The second shift security head, Lieutenant Kelsik, spoke to six other people in the office; Five wore the Daystrom Control uniforms and the sixth wore a Daystrom Security uniform. The red protrusions on Kelsik's forehead, ears and neck marked him as a Skagaran; In all other ways, he appeared similar to a human male with short brown hair and brown eyes.

Emily entered the office first, "Lieutenant Kelsik, I thought you're second shift, not first?"

Kelsik frowned, giving a dip of his head in greeting, "I was. Given that Lieutenant Emery is dead, that leaves us with just me and Lieutenant Terry for security head for three shifts. I assume you're here to report?"

Zome leaned against the wall in the office, "Another dead?"

Lieutenant Kelsik studied the technician, "Right now, we have one flight deck worker, one security head, and two unknown gentlemen dead with four flight control workers in the infirmary. Someone stole a visiting unmarked and unregistered vessel, started an unauthorized launch, and did a strafing run at the launch pad, control tower and physical plant. You three wouldn't happen to know anything about it, would you?"

Zome placed both hands over his face and slid to the floor, "They said they were with Starfleet Intelligence! They knew the lock code to the secured vault!"

Kelsik turned to regard Emily, "What about you? There's a hell of a dent in the cybernetics office wall."

Emily blinked at Zome's hysterics, then replied to the security chief, "I was working in the cybernetics office. I must have come in after Mister Rylan let the two unknown men into the R&D lab. They opened the secure vault and somehow reactivated the Soong android named Lore. Lore came out of the lab and threatened me. B-4 pushed Lore into the wall, making that dent. B-4 managed to get Lore to leave without hurting us."

"My bad brother Lore." B-4 added to the report. "His programs are broken."

Lieutenant Kelsik pinched the bridge of his nose, "He's taken out everything. The power, communications, and the few ships we had on the ground. We're effectively cut off until someone from off-planet returns. The androids should have the power back by tonight, which is the good news. Doctor Vanzanen, you and your android can return to your quarters, if you wish. Mister Rylan, I want you to stay here and elaborate further on what you know."

"Thank you, Lieutenant." Emily turned to leave, "Come on, B-4."

B-4 gave Kelsik a sad look, "I am sorry I could not stop my brother." He followed obediently behind Emily, to the stairwell and up the four flights to the floor that her quarters were located. By the time they reached her room, B-4 knew what he had to do.