*Trigger warnings: Abusive behavior, narcissism, domestic violence.

Omicron Theta

Stardate: 13165.8

"Lore, stop hovering." Doctor Soong admonished the android standing directly behind him.

"I'm sorry, Father." Lore backed up a few steps. "Do you wish me to help you? With my superior reflexes and fine motor control, I would be able to assist you far better than Doctor Matagaro or Mother would."

Soong stopped in the middle of fusing two circuits together. "No thank you, Lore. I know you'd be able to help, but I need to be able to oversee each step of this."

Lore stuck his tongue in his cheek, then smirked, "I believe the humans call that micromanaging?" He leaned against the wall and folded his arms across his chest, "It's no matter. I can watch the proceedings just as easily."

Soong grumbled and resumed connecting the circuitry, "Don't you have anything better to do?"

"No, Father." Lore replied with mock deference. "I'm not yet due at the communications lab, and you grounded me. It's not like I have my own room. I have nothing better to do than watch you work. What is it you're building, anyway, dear Father?"

Soong frowned as he answered, "Just some experimental circuitry. Nothing you need to be concerned with."

Lore waited a beat, then asked, "Is it something for the Orions?"

Soong's concentration slipped and the tip of the extremely hot tool jabbed his right hand instead of the thin wire. The small module fell to the floor with a clatter, while the cyberneticist let out a few choice curses. "Lore!" He whirled in place, clutching his hand. "What are you playing at?"

Lore pushed off from the wall and walked to a nearby cabinet, "Playing at? I'm sure I don't know what you mean." He opened one of the drawers and removed the dermal regenerator. "Here, dear Father. You seem to have injured yourself. Let me heal the wound."

Soong held his right hand out, then sighed in relief as Lore activated the regenerator. "You know exactly what I mean. What do you think you know about the Orions?"

Lore lowered his voice as he waved the dermal regenerator over Soong's burned flesh, "While I was grounded and with not much else to occupy my time, I did some digging. I'm impressed, Father. You accepted payment and materials from the Orions, then vanished under an assumed name without delivering a product to them. Quite dishonest of you, but I do have to admire your audacity." He depressed the button on the regenerator, deactivating it.

"Not a word of it to Juliana or anyone else, you hear?" Soong rubbed at the newly healed skin on his right hand. "It needs to remain a secret."

"I could be persuaded to keep such a secret." Lore returned the dermal regenerator to the drawer, then pushed the drawer shut.

"In exchange for what?" Soong eyed the android with wariness.

Lore dropped any cheer from his expression, "I realize that you grounded me for my own protection, but I'm feeling rather imprisoned. I'd like to at least continue to survey the wilderness outside the colony. Evelynn Lucien's offer to accompany me on colony walks still stands."

"Hmm." Soong bent to pick up the dropped module. "All right. If you're escorted while in the colony, or you're out in the wilds, that should be fine. Nobody can complain about you if they don't see you."

"Thank you, Father." Lore replied, then turned to leave the lab, "I'm going to stroll around the hills to the South, I think."

"Enjoy." Soong waved dismissively at the android, then resumed working.

Lore's lips spread into a broad, self-satisfied smile as he headed to the main corridor and then outside through the Southern door.

Stardate: 13200.5

Source: Surveillance Footage Only

Edwin Matagaro entered the cybernetics lab and went right to work on metallurgical analysis of the newly replicated android parts. "Good afternoon, Soong."

"Ah, good afternoon." Doctor Soong greeted the other man, "You're right on time. The duranium and cortenide arrived on a transport ship. We should have the skull and bones formed, within a week or so."

Matagaro's brows knitted together, "All right." He paused, then remarked, "I noticed Lore walking with Lucien's daughter as I was coming here."

"Yes, Evelynn's been kind enough to escort Lore around, so that he doesn't get into trouble with the other colonists." Soong acknowledged as he checked the replicated servos in a container on the right side of the entrance doors.

"Lore seems happy when he's with her." Matagaro placed a metal component into the 'approved' bin.

Soong moved across the room, to the large station sitting on the left side, just inside the door. "I suppose he might be." He went quiet as he checked the container of subprocessors floating in a nutrient fluid suspension inside the workstation's chamber. "Hard to tell with Lore, because he has mood swings."

Matagaro inhaled, then let the breath out as a slow sigh, "It doesn't feel right to me, Soong. We're building this new android and not fixing the unstable one that's walking around."

"Yes, I know." Soong nodded to the other cyberneticist, "It's a shame, but there's nothing I can do for Lore, right now. Like you said, at least he experiences some happy moments, here and there."

"Why leave him active, then?" Matagaro tilted his head, eyeing Soong.

Soong looked around the lab, as if making certain nobody else was nearby, "He's gathering valuable telemetry for me. The information I can get from him will help me with the next phase of androids"

"Next phase?" Matagaro choked, then cleared his throat, "You only just finished making Lore, and you have a next phase?"

"Lore was just another rung on the ladder." Soong answered. "Proof that I can create a stable positronic matrix, and proof that it can run complex behaviors, heuristics and emotions."

"Yes, a machine that feels." Matagaro's brows knitted in contemplation, "A machine that has ambitions and desires, that can learn to love and hate and has even gotten vengeful." He looked over at Soong, "You've made a machine that can suffer."

"So?" Soong shrugged at the other cyberneticist. "It's part of my brilliance."

"So?" Matagaro replied, "So, you haven't lived up to your responsibility as his "brilliant" creator. If you make a machine that has emotions and suffers, don't you owe it to that machine to make certain that it's cared for? You've abandoned him."

Soong snorted, "You're being overly sentimental about Lore. He's just an android. I created him and I don't owe him a thing. If he behaves himself, I won't deactivate him, which I think is more than fair."

"You're going to leave him supervised by a teenage girl and that's it?" Matagaro shook his head, "He's dangerous, and you're ignoring that, instead of fixing him. Thank the stars that he's not a real child, or you'd be guilty of neglect."

"It's not that easy to fix Lore." Soong's voice betrayed his defensive stance, "The next logical step is to construct this one. Once that's done, I can go back to Lore and attempt to make him function properly."

"All right, genius." Matagaro's voice carried a tone of resignation. He let out a sigh, shook his head and resumed checking metal parts.

Stardate: 13242.4

Lore sat motionless, listening to Doctor Soong and Juliana arguing in the bedroom. He predicted that the heated debate would be coming to an end soon, as it had been going on for nearly forty minutes. Their daily disputes averaged at forty one minutes and ten seconds in duration.

"But this one isn't going to have emotions." Soong protested. "It won't need all that… that… fluff."

Juliana countered in a firm tone of voice, "I think she'll need a creative aspect even more, because of that. Unlike Lore, she'll have no other way to express herself."

"You're still referring to it as a she." Soong responded, "I'm not sure it should be female."

"Why shouldn't it be female?" Juliana demanded, "Lore looks like almost exactly like you did when you were younger, doesn't he? It would be nice to create an idealized android couple of ourselves, in my opinion."

Soong's voice turned gruff, but he relented, "We'll see. I suppose we can get everything ready, just in case, for it to have a female appearance. I'll set up the casting area for you. But I don't want to hear a single complaint out of you when you're having to sit still while waiting for the alginate to harden." The knob on the bedroom door turned, and the door opened. As Soong entered the dining area, he frowned when he noticed Lore. "How long have you been sitting there, Lore?"

"Long enough." Lore broadened his lips into his usual thin smile, "I think Mother is correct. A female android would be a nice addition to the family, and, in my opinion, she's more aesthetically pleasing than you are, Father."

Juliana emerged from the bedroom, then blinked in surprise, "Thank you, Lore."

Soong walked over to Lore and patted his cheek, "But I always loved that face."

Lore smirked at his creator, "I'm sure you do. I'm surprised you don't put a mirror next to Mother's head when you fornicate with her. Or do you?"

"Good heavens, Lore!" Juliana's eyes widened with shock. "What a thing to say."

Soong ignored the question, "At least he's accessing his sexual program database…"

"Yes." Lore snorted at the two, "My wonderful sexuality programming. For when I meet a lovely woman and want to have children of my own."

"That's enough, Lore." Soong glared at the android, "If you don't behave, I'll deactivate you."

Lore stood and strolled to the door, "Fine, fine. I'm behaving. I think I'll go work on the subspace blip. Enjoy the evening and try not to fight too much." He turned back for a quick glance at the Soongs' indignant faces, then sneered and made his way to the communications lab.

Stardate: 13265.9

Lore walked at Evelynn's side as they strolled around the town and past the school. The children were in the recreation area behind the school, dressed in warm clothing, but enjoying the clear winter day. He glanced at the young woman by his side and watched a white puff of condensation emerge from her mouth and hang suspended for a brief moment, before dissipating.

"Loooooore." Evelynn eyed the android with suspicion, "What's so funny? You look like you're about to laugh."

Lore pointed out the next puff of freezing water vapor, "The visible effect from your breath." He inhaled, then exhaled, with no cloud. "I don't make those."

Evelynn giggled, then created an even larger cloud of condensation, "Carbon dioxide and moisture. You have the advantage of never having bad breath, though." She suddenly cringed, as a ball came flying through the air, heading straight for Evelynn's face.

Lore extended his hand in a move so quick that it was a blur, catching the ball before it impacted with his companion. He turned and peered into the direction from which the ball had originated.

A wide-eyed boy watched from inside the schoolyard fence, then stammered, "Sorry, ah, could we have our ball back?"

"Be careful of him, John." Anthony Petrus called over to the nervous boy, "He might throw it hard enough to knock your head off."

Lore shouted back, "What's that, Anthony Petrus? You wish me to knock your head off? Is that what you just said? I aim to please." He drew his arm back, holding the ball, as if about to throw the round object with full force at the child.

Anthony shrieked and ran for cover.

"Lore..." Evelynn whispered a soft warning.

"John Bickel, age nine, grandson of Missy." Lore's mouth widened in a feral grin, but he threw the ball back to the polite child with gentle precision.

The ball landed without harm in John's hands. "Thanks, Mister." He ran with the ball back to the other children his age.

Evelynn reached out to take Lore by the arm and pulled him away from the school, "That's a good fellow. Let's get out of here, so you have less temptation to maim children."

"Evelynn…" Lore walked along, letting her guide him, "Why don't you attend the school with the other children?"

"I told you when we first met." Evelynn gave Lore an indignant glance. "I'm not a child. I've passed all my proficiency tests, and in eight days, I'll be eighteen. Missy's going to be training me to take over her position in the communications lab." Pride gleamed in her deep brown eyes, "I'll be an actual community member, not just one of the kids."

Lore's brows knitted together, "Your birthday will be in eight days?"

"Yep." Evelynn smiled in satisfaction. "Not that anything special will happen, but it's still one more year under my belt."

Lore studied Evelynn's face for a few seconds, "Will you be at the communications lab on that day?"

Evelynn nodded, "I should be. Like I said, I'm not doing anything special."

"That's good." Lore answered, then followed her along the various colony paths and finally back to the underground bunker.

Stardate: 13268.7

Lore did his best to appear sheepish as he approached Juliana in their living quarters. "Mother?"

Juliana peered through the bedroom door as she finished making the bed, "Yes, Lore?"

"I need your help." Lore spoke with reluctance, but attempted to keep a bit of cheer in his voice.

"Certainly." Juliana walked out to the dining area, "What sort of help?"

Lore held out his hands, showing her the various rocks. "I gathered these in the wilds. I'd like to have them polished and made into a bracelet for Evelynn."

Juliana's blue eyes went saucer-wide, "You want to give a girl jewelry, Lore?"

"It's her birthday, and I read that it's customary to give one's friends a gift on their birthday." Lore explained. "Evelynn is my only friend. I want to give her something."

A smile spread to Juliana's lips as her suspicion seemed to melt away, "Oh, Lore, that's sweet of you. Of course I'll help you." She gathered her tools and set them on the table, "Have you cleaned the rocks, yet?"

Lore nodded as he brought the rocks to the table, "I scrubbed them in hot, soapy water, as I've watched you do." He sat at the table, in the chair next to hers and carefully deposited the small stones on the surface.

Juliana checked through Lore's treasures, "You've collected citrine, chocolate opal and axinite." She picked up one stone and began to sand it, "Take the other sanding tool and do what I'm doing to another rock."

Lore picked up the other tool, watched Juliana for a few moments and reproduced her technique with exactitude.

"These are interesting colors to choose for Evelynn. Browns and yellows." Juliana remarked, "Do you want me to add anything blue or red to the bracelet?"

Lore paused, then pressed his lips together before giving an answer, "I chose these color rocks for a specific reason. The yellow ones are representative of my eyes, and the brown ones remind me of her eyes. The other type of rock is a combination of the two colors, to symbolize our friendship. Do you think they'll be too dull for her?"

Worry creased Juliana's brow, "No. If you explain it that way to her, she'll be flattered."

"Good." Lore smiled as he finished the first stone and worked on the next, "She walks with me and makes sure I don't get into trouble. I'd like to repay her kindness."

Juliana relaxed, "It's good to show someone that you appreciate them. I'm glad you want to do this. When do we need to have the bracelet finished?"

"In six days." Lore informed Juliana, and watched her face for a reaction.

"Hmm." Juliana seemed to think for a moment, "With you helping to sand and polish them, we should be able to finish it in time. It'll be tight, though."

"I don't require rest, so I can speed things up." Lore picked up the third stone to sand.

"For the band and settings, what would you like?" Juliana finished her second stone to sand, "I have gold, silver and some tungsten. I could make a nice braid of the gold and silver."

Lore pondered for a few seconds, "A gold and silver braid sounds perfect, Mother. Thank you."

"You're welcome, Lore." Juliana smiled graciously at the android, then concentrated on preparing the stones.

Stardate: 13287.5

Lore listened to the various subspace transmissions as he waited for Evelynn to arrive for her daily assignment. He smiled when his auditory sensors picked up the sound of the door opening.

Evelynn entered the communications lab in a somber manner, but greeted Lore with enthusiasm. "Ohey, Lore." She looked around the small laboratory, "Where's Missy?"

"Hello, Evelynn." Lore responded, removing the earpiece from his right ear, "Missy wasn't feeling well, so I told her that you and I would handle everything today. I hope I wasn't being presumptuous?"

Evelynn shook her head, "No, you weren't. I'll be here with you." She situated herself at the short range equipment. "Do I need to do the weather report or check the arrays?"

Lore gave Evelynn a genuine smile, "No. I took care of all of that." He reached into the pocket of his vest, "I have something for you." He stood and walked to her side, then held out a small box tied with a ribbon. "Happy birthday."

Evelynn looked at the box, then blinked at Lore, as if in shock.

Lore tilted his head, still holding the box out to her. "It is customary for a friend to give a friend a gift on her birthday, is it not?"

"Oh!" Evelynn accepted the box, taking it from Lore's hands, "Yes… yes, it is. Thank you so much, Lore. I…" She stared at the small package, "I'm a terrible gift receiver, but I'm very touched by this." Her eyes glazed over with tears as she opened the box and removed the bracelet. "Oh, Lore, this is beautiful."

"I collected the stones, and my mother made the bracelet." Lore watched her face closely, "You are crying."

"Happy tears, Lore." Evelynn smiled and slipped the bracelet on her left hand, then held her arm out as she admired the sparkling gems. "I don't suppose you're wired to cry like we are?"

"I don't cry, it seems." Lore informed Evelynn.

Evelynn reached up with her arms to pull Lore's face closer, "Thank you, Lore. This is a wonderful gift. I'll always treasure it."

Lore put up no resistance, letting Evelynn guide his face to hers, but his expression turned to surprise when she pressed her lips to his.

"Oh my gosh." Evelynn exclaimed, once the quick kiss was finished. "Your lips feel like… lips."

"So do yours." Lore grinned as he moved back from her face.

"I'm serious." Evelynn lifted her right hand to touch Lore's lips with her fingertips, "It's amazing how warm and soft you are. With all the attention to such realistic details, why did he give you such odd skin and eye colors?"

"I've never asked." Lore shrugged. "It's not important."

Evelynn looked down at her left wrist, admiring the bracelet, "No, I guess it really doesn't matter."

Lore followed her gaze, then frowned as his optical sensors picked up discoloration of her skin where the sleeve of her shirt had been pushed back to accommodate the bracelet. He reached for her arm, "What's this?"

"Just bruises. Nothing." Evelynn flinched, but allowed Lore to touch her and push the sleeve further up towards her elbow. "I tripped on the stairs."

Lore scowled, "It seems those are dangerous stairs. Would you like me to fix them?"

Evelynn shook her head, "No, I don't want you to fix them. What I want is to work here today, and be with you and just be happy, okay?"

"Okay." Lore mimicked the word, "I want you to be happy, as well, which includes not having bruises from… stairs."

Evelynn gave Lore a soft smile, "I understand." After a pause, she asked, "What time will Soong be expecting you back?"

Lore shrugged, "They don't keep track of me, anymore. They're too busy building a female android. Maybe my sister or perhaps my companion."

"Companion?" Evelynn's face fell, "Why do you need a companion?"

Lore's voice took on a forlorn tone, "So I won't be alone anymore. I'll belong with someone."

Evelynn averted her eyes from Lore, "I'd hoped you felt like you belong with me."

Lore reached out with a hand to touch one of the dark curls of hair by her temple, "You do make me feel as if I belong with you." The left side of his mouth rose as he watched the ringlet continue to bounce after he ceased contact.

Evelynn met his gaze, then smiled, "I'm glad. I guess we should get back to work." She rolled her stool over to the interferometer station, "I'm going to check for synchrotron radiation. Are you still working on the subspace mystery?"

"Yes, Evelynn. I am." Lore placed the earpiece in his right ear, and listened to the resonating patterns. He adjusted the station's outgoing graviton emissions to a beam of thirty pulses per second, matching the intermittent nature of the pulses he had detected months ago. His bright yellow eyes widened as the resonating sounds changed in response to his signal. Lore altered the patterns of graviton waves, and the reply changed to match. It would take him time to decipher, but the pulses were possibly some sort of language. There was one thing Lore was positive about:

There was something out there.