Stardate: 58517.9

"You see an asteroid and make a wish… You think that carpe diem means seize the fish… All these silly things you do… they don't matter cuz our love is true…" B-4 sang as he mopped part of the floor at the cybernetics office of the Daystrom Institute Annex on Galor IV.

Bruce Maddox put the finishing touches on a few reports, paying little attention to the musical android cleaning the room, but looked up from his work when the doors to the hallway opened and a vice admiral walked through them. Bruce stood at his desk, "Good afternoon, Admiral Haftel."

"At ease." Admiral Anthony Haftel walked over to Maddox's desk, then stopped and frowned, looking at B-4.

"Maybe we ain't done much learnin', but it's for you that I'm yearnin'..." B-4 spotted the admiral, let go of the mop, did a quick salute with his right hand to his forehead, then grabbed the falling mop handle in mid-air and continued cleaning the floor, "Take my hand and don't you bother… cuz you and me, we got each other…"

"This is your idea of improvement, Maddox?" Admiral Haftel shook his head, then faced the man at the desk.

Maddox stood up, "He's passed his most recent tests, Admiral. Intellectually and emotionally, he's now equivalent to an eighteen year old human male. I'm not sure what you're referring to."

"He's singing and mopping the floor." Haftel pointed at the android, "Not to mention he's wearing a hat indoors, when he shouldn't even be cold. And what's that in his pocket?"

Doctor Maddox let out a short sigh, then answered, "That's his stuffed tribble. It's his favorite toy."

"All these aberrations don't concern you?" Haftel's clear blue eyes stared at Maddox with intensity.

"They aren't aberrations, Admiral." Maddox explained. "It's not uncommon for a Soong-type android to have personality quirks and odd hobbies. Out of the three of them, B-4 is actually the most stable, in my opinion."

"Have you been following controlled procedures?" Haftel folded his arms across his chest, regarding Maddox with a scowl.

"Of course, Admiral." Maddox kept his voice even, "Doctor Chipman's instructions are being followed to the letter. B-4 has been cared for, educated, and has been brought up in a very controlled environment, including your requirement for isolation from the general public."

Admiral Haftel glanced at the singing android, then over at the dent in the wall, "Commander Data can be a very dangerous individual when he wants to be. The Lore android… well, I suppose I don't have to remind you about what happened with that one."

"No, you don't." Doctor Maddox replied, following the Admiral's gaze. "In all fairness, there were two men from Starfleet Intelligence who were responsible for Lore's escape. He didn't just magically put himself back together, reactivate himself and open the vault. He's also in Doctor Chipman's custody, for the time being. B-4 isn't much like them, Admiral. His processors are slower, since he's a prototype. I never expected to get him back in working condition, much less to have him get to this level of development. He's a bonus."

"He's what I'm here for." Haftel turned his gaze back to Maddox, "It's been decided that B-4 is going to be summoned to an informal hearing to determine his sentience and any possible dangers he might represent to the Federation."

The singing abruptly stopped and B-4 remained still.

Admiral Haftel continued, "The board will consist of myself, you, Ferguson Davis and Aysu Elenon and will have Staff Captain Phillipa Louvois presiding, as she is also going to be the one presiding over the Lore case." He lowered his voice, "Does the B-4 have emotions? I don't want there to be any chance of cascade failure from an overwrought android."

Doctor Maddox nodded in reply, "B-4 does have emotions, although I think he's at a level that he should be able to handle the situation."

B-4 placed the mop back in its holder in the pail, then walked over to stand at Maddox's side. "What's at stake in the situation?"

Admiral Haftel blinked in surprise, "Our conversation doesn't concern you."

B-4 raised an eyebrow, "Oh? I'm sorry. I didn't realize there was someone else named B-4 anywhere. I guess this means I don't have to worry about going to a hearing."

Doctor Maddox placed a hand on B-4's shoulder, "It's an informal hearing. Nothing to worry about."

Haftel rolled his eyes, "Why are these androids always so adversarial?"

"If you have a problem with one android, maybe it's them. If you have a problem with all androids, maybe it's you?" B-4 offered the admiral. "I wasn't trying to be adversarial. I just want to know what's going on, since your conversation was most definitely about me. I have questions."

"What sort of questions?" Haftel centered his attention on the android near him.

B-4 began to rattle off the questions, "Will I be leaving this place? Will I be separated from Emily or can she come to the hearing with me? What are the possible outcomes of the hearing? Will I be deactivated because of it? What is going to happen at a hearing?"

Haftel's expression seemed to soften, "There will be five people sitting down with you and asking you a variety of questions, B-4. It'll be held here, so you don't have to leave. Right now, you're considered the property of Doctor Chipman. If you're found to be sentient, then you'll be declared a citizen of the United Federation of Planets. There are no plans to deactivate you, if you remain non-violent. If the hearing board allows it, Doctor Vanzanen can attend with you."

B-4's eyes oscillated slowly, then he nodded, "If no one is threatening Emily, I will not be violent. I also think I'm past the time of cascade failure. I thought the greatest dangers are within the first few formative months?"

"Generally, that is so." The admiral replied to B-4. "So you won't put up any fuss about attending the hearing, then?"

B-4 shook his head, "No fuss, then. Thank you for the information." He turned to head back to the janitorial cart.

"B-4?" Haftel called to the android.

B-4 stopped walking and turned to look back at the admiral, "Yes?"

"Why are you mopping the floor?" Admiral Haftel seemed to study the android's face.

B-4 pursed his lips, "Because Zome Rylan spilled his drink, again. He tends to be clumsy, so this is a common occurrence. I really don't mind mopping and sweeping, but if he keeps calling me names, I swear I'm going to give him a parsteel necklace until he learns how to be nice." He returned to the cart and resumed cleaning and singing. "We left for Risa in your freighter... The crystal chamber's running dry... We blew a gasket on the warp drive... And now we have no way to fly…"

The admiral watched and listened for a moment, then told Maddox, "You're right. It's quite a change from how he was when he was found. He almost seems like a human."

Doctor Maddox spoke quietly, despite knowing that B-4 could easily hear them, "You don't have to worry about him. He's definitely not an M-5 in the making."

The doors from the lab whooshed open and Zome Rylan entered the office area. "Hello, Doctor Maddox… Admiral." He gave a brief wave to B-4, "Hey, Dopey! Lecture's over, so Emily's on her way."

B-4 placed the mop back in its holder, "What did you call me, Zome?"

"Dopey." Zome answered, then followed with, "Oh, sorry. It means stupid… dumb… non-intelligent… I forgot about your limited vocabulary, B-slow."

Exasperation spread across B-4's face, "All right, that's it." He reached into his cart and pulled out a thick metal bar, "I warned you twenty-two times, and I think that suffices."

Zome's pink eyes went wide with panic, "Crap!" and he sprinted through the sliding doors leading to the main hallway.

B-4 sprinted for the same doors in a straight line, clearing desks with the casual ease of an accomplished hurdler. In a matter of seconds, he was gone.

Admiral Haftel stared in shock for a moment, then turned to Maddox, "Does that happen often?"

Maddox blinked in astonishment, then shook his head, "The name-calling is fairly common, but this is the first time B-4 has done more than ask Zome not to do it. It's been going on since we got B-4 from Doctor Chipman."

Admiral Haftel's eyebrows knit together slightly, "Am I to understand that the android has endured five months of someone calling him derogatory names?"

"That's correct, Admiral." Maddox answered, "It's part of the instructions we were given by Doctor Chipman. It's actually an important part of development for an artificial neural net to learn how to handle suboptimal relationships and how to gauge the unacceptable behavior of humanoids."

The admiral looked back at the doors, "He's got the strength of ten men. He could kill that young man."

Maddox rubbed his chin, "I doubt he'll hurt Zome. He's got the same ethical and moral programming that Commander Data has. I guess we'll find out how dangerous he is in short form."

B-4 returned to the office area, with both hands empty, the left side of his mouth turned up a slight bit and his eyelids very slightly lowered, then made his way back to the cart through the aisles between desks. He picked up the mop and started cleaning the next area, beginning another song, "Last night I took you home, and we began to hmmm mmm mmmm... You were such a hmmmmm hmmm hmmm hmmm hmmm only seventeen… Mmm Hmm mmm pick up the soap... "

Emily Vanzanen entered the offices from the lab area, "Oh! Admiral Haftel! Hello." She raised an eyebrow, "B-4, I thought I told you that song is a bit too bawdy for the office?"

B-4 beamed at Emily, his lips forming a full, toothy smile, "But Emily, how can that be, when the majority of the words are a hum? It is intriguing to me that humans will use their imagination to fill in the omitted parts of the song with dirty lyrics. The nuances of nonverbal communication are quite entertaining."

"Fine, B-4. Have it your way. I have a dirty mind." Emily walked to her desk and placed her lecture materials in one of the drawers. "I wish I were more creative, so I could get back at T'Mera for teaching you that song."

Admiral Haftel shook his head in amusement, "Speaking of Doctor Chipman, why isn't she the one overseeing B-4?"

Maddox placed his hands behind him, to lean on his desk, "At the time, she was dying, and it wasn't certain whether Commander Data would be able to transfer her consciousness into an android body. He succeeded, but now they're both on the Enterprise. Everyone involved felt it was in B-4's best interests to remain here, rather than join them on the flagship."

"What's her purpose on the Enterprise?" Haftel frowned in confusion.

B-4 spoke up, "Data loves her and she loves him. I don't mind being here, instead of with them."

Admiral Haftel raised an eyebrow, "Androids can fall in love?"

Doctor Maddox nodded, "Data fell head over heels in love. The Soong-type androids are capable of it. Doctor Chipman has every confidence in Doctor Vanzanen and this office, as far as raising B-4 is concerned."

B-4's expression turned to worry, "Am I going to get in trouble at the hearing because I just did something bad?"

Emily stood upright, "What hearing? And what did you do that was bad, B-4?"

B-4 winced, then hung his head, "I wrapped a bar of parsteel around Zome's neck, after he called me Dopey. It won't hurt him. It'll just be inconvenient until he either apologizes to me or has the other androids remove it."

Emily widened her eyes, "Can the other ones remove it?"

B-4 shrugged noncommittally, "I don't know, but I guess we'll find out."

Admiral Haftel answered the android's question, "No, B-4, you won't get in trouble for a prank here at the office. That falls under Doctor Maddox's authority. The hearing is to learn more about you."

Emily pressed her lips together, "You lost your temper, but it could have been worse."

"I know what I did was wrong." B-4 remained contrite, "I won't do it again. How come he never learns not to call me names? Is there no way to change aberrant human programming?"

"It's called cognitive behavioral therapy, B-4." Emily replied and bent slightly to look up at his face, "That's a good idea. We'll send him to therapy."

B-4 lifted his head, "Then I will control myself." He eyed Emily, then asked, "Are you going to take away my holostation time?"

Emily rubbed her chin as if deliberating, "Hmmm. Well, you know you did something wrong…" She looked over at B-4, who managed to look repentant, "You seem to regret losing your temper…" Golden eyes stared back at her with anticipation. "I guess I don't have to punish you, but don't let it happen again."

B-4 nodded happily, "I won't do it again. Thank you, Emily."

Admiral Haftel continued speaking to Maddox, "The arrangements are made to have the hearing partially holographic, because Captain Louvois is on her way to rendezvous with the Enterprise. I'll let you know the day and time."

Maddox acknowledged the admiral with a nod of his head, "All right, sir. We'll have B-4 ready when he's needed."

The admiral turned and walked through the doors leading to the hallway, dodging to the right as Zome Rylan returned.

The doors shut behind Zome, and he continued to his desk. "B-4, I'm calling a truce."

B-4's eyes oscillated a few times, then he replied, "Okay." He turned back to Emily, "Can I go play in the holostation, now?"

Emily patted B-4's back, "Go ahead. I'll come get you later."

B-4 opened one of the drawers in Emily's desk and sorted through the isolinear rods, then grabbed one. "Adventures of Star Rider!" He grinned and departed with all due speed through the doors to the south hallway.

Doctor Maddox watched the scene with amusement, "He's definitely a teenager."

"Speaking of that…" Zome Rylan rubbed his neck and furrowed his eyebrows, "I'm done with the bad example stuff. It took two of the other androids to get that bar unwrapped."

Maddox sat down in his chair, "B-4's probably developed enough not to need it anymore, but I'll double-check with T'Mera. If she says he still needs it, we'll get someone else to do it. I think you've played the part long enough."

Zome sat down at his desk and started his own work, "He's developed pretty fast. Soon, B-4 will be grown and fly the nest. I bet you're looking forward to that day, Emily. All that free time, and you'll get your quarters back to yourself."

Emily felt her breath catch, followed by a wave of melancholy. She responded with a mirthless chuckle, "Oh. Yes. I'm looking forward to it." She let the words trail off, then stared at her display for a while, until the feeling passed.