Triggers: Mentions of violence and sexual situations

Omicron Theta

Stardate: 13660.4

Annoyance colored Doctor Soong's voice as he stared at his newest creation. "Lore?"

Lore managed to answer, in between chuckles, "Yes, Father?"

"Stop laughing, pick him up off the floor and see if he can stand." Soong grabbed a tool from the table.

"Of course, Father." Lore curbed his urge to laugh, then placed his hands under the new android's armpits. With ease, he lifted his doppelganger and attempted to stand him upright, face to face. "He's swaying. If I let go, he's going to fall again."

Soong shuffled over to the twin androids, "Blasted hydrostatic systems. Keep holding him up. I'll have to recalibrate his fluidic equilibrium circuits. They might need to be hand tuned."

Lore grinned broadly as he continued to hold his newly activated brother, "You know what they say, Father. You can tune a piano, but you can't tuna android."

Juliana chuckled softly, "Oh, Lore." She ceased the laughter after Soong threw her an angry glare.

Soong scowled as he cut a few holes in the bioplast covering the new android's legs, back and neck. "Since this is going to be Lore without emotions, I'll call him Data. Just the information and facts without any feeling to them."

"If you base it on what he does well, shouldn't you call him Prone?" Lore raised his eyebrows and gave Soong a toothy grin.

Soong growled as he worked on Data. "That's enough, Lore. I'll get him working, eventually."

"A joke, Father." Lore continued, as he held Data up by the armpits. "What about this one? If you can't get his motor skills and equilibrium working, we could put four wheels on his stomach and just pull him along the floor with a long rope."

"Lore…" Soong's voice dripped with annoyance, "Enough, already." He let out a sigh, then began to talk to himself. "I don't understand this. The gyroscopes are working perfectly. His proprioceptive feedback system is operating…"

Lore looked into Data's innocent face, "Our eyes are identical."

"Fascinating." Data stared back into Lore's eyes. "Who are you?"

The left side of Lore's mouth rose as he replied. "You may call me Lore. I am your brother."

Both sides of Data's mouth lifted in the slightest smile combined with astonishment.

Stardate: 13664.9

"Lore, let go of him." Soong's hoarse voice broke the current bit of silence.

Lore let go of Data, removing his hands from his brother's torso. To his surprise, Data remained standing. "I think that did the trick, Father."

Data smiled as he looked back and forth between Lore and Doctor Soong. "I am upright."

Soong frowned, "Why the hell are you smiling, Data?"

The grin vanished from Data's lips, replaced by a neutral expression, "I don't know."

Lore smirked, "Maybe he was emulating me."

Soong held up the small tool in his hand as he gestured, "All right. Let's try this, again. Maybe a different test. Data, access Little Teapot."

"Accessing." Data replied, then began to sing, "I'm a little teapot, short and stout…"

Lore grumbled, "How come he can get song cadence right and I can't?"

"Shhhh, Lore!" Soong admonished.

"This is my handle…" Data placed his right hand on his hip, with his elbow angled out. "This is my spout…" As Data extended his left arm, he teetered, toppled over and landed on the floor with a thump.

Lore moved forward, then bent to pick Data up, "That wasn't bad. He remained standing for a good eight point two seconds, that time."

Doctor Soong sighed, put the tool on a nearby table, then headed to the bedroom, "I'm going to take a nap. Just put him back in the chair, Lore."

"Of course, Father." Lore carried his brother to the reclined chair and deposited him in it.

Data tilted his head, "Are you leaving, brother?"

"I'm due at the communications lab. I now have duties to perform." Lore answered as he turned to leave, "But don't worry. I'll be back for dinner."

Data smiled at Lore, then relaxed his face into a blank expression.

Lore chuckled as he exited the living quarters and headed towards the main corridor of the underground bunker.

Stardate: 13660.7

Lore carried Data to the central table in the Soongs' living quarters and carefully settled his brother into one of the chairs. "Here. Put this arm here, and use it to brace yourself." He helped get the other android into position. Once Data was stable, Lore retrieved the two liquid-filled, steel cups from the counter.

Juliana brought two dinner plates to the table and set one at her place and the other in front of Doctor Soong. "There you are, Noonian."

Soong looked down at the plate of food, "It looks good. Give my compliments to the replicator."

Juliana clucked her tongue, "Oh, Noonian." and set about getting the drinks for herself and Doctor Soong.

Lore seated himself across from Data, then picked up his steel cup and sipped the viscous, light grey liquid within.

Data's eyes darted from Lore to the Soongs as they began to consume their meal.

Lore caught Data's attention, then pointed to his cup. He demonstrated the process in gradual movements, reaching for the cup, stretching out the fingers of his hand and then circling his fingers around the cup into a firm grip. He used a measured pace to show the exact curve from the table to his mouth, then placed the cup's rim on top of his lower lip. After tipping the cup, Lore tilted his head back and drank some of the nutrient suspension.

Data watched with rapt interest, then looked at the steel cup in front of him. He wrapped his right hand around the cup, opened his mouth, lifted the cup in an arc towards his face… and miscalculated by twelve centimeters. The light grey liquid splashed onto his forehead, then slowly ran down the right side of his face.

"Oh, for heaven's sake." Juliana stopped eating, moved her chair closer to Data, picked up his napkin and began to clean the syrup-like liquid off his face and chest.

"I think some of it managed to get into his mouth." Lore offered helpfully.

Juliana smiled, "It's like having a one hundred kilogram baby."

Soong scowled as he observed the androids, "Julie, I think I'm going to call Edwin in on this. I've adjusted Data's equilibrium, spatial orientation servos, and his fluidic subsystem regulator. I'm stumped."

"All right, dear." Juliana replied as she finished mopping up Data's spilled drink.

Lore repeated the drinking demonstration, and downed more of his nutrient suspension.

Data reached for the cup with his left hand, lifted it to his mouth, successfully poured liquid into his mouth and set the cup back on the table. The unswallowed liquid dribbled out of his mouth, down his chin and onto his lap.

Juliana stopped eating once more, and this time used her own napkin to wipe up the spilled liquid. "Oh dear."

Lore let out a burst of laughter. "We could put his meal in the same type of device used to feed human infants. Imagine a bottle-fed android."

Soong muttered, "I'm glad someone around here is having a good time."

Data's turned his head to the right to stare at Doctor Soong. "Did I do something wrong?"

Lore shook his head, "No, Data. It'll be all right." He began to snicker, "We'll help you with your drinking problem."

Data stared at Lore, then opened his mouth and let out a series of loud, high-pitched staccato sounds in an attempt to imitate Lore's laugh. His face returned to a neutral expression and he remained quiet while the rest of the family finished their meal.

Stardate: 13679.3

Most of Data's bioplast sheets lay draped over hangers, as Doctor Soong and Edwin Matagaro spent the better part of a week checking and recalibrating gyroscopes, servos, and sensor pads. Doctor Soong's mood progressed from annoyed to disconsolate, and he berated anyone who happened to be in the cybernetics lab. After a few days of attempting to help and only getting scolded, Juliana withdrew and returned to her geological interests. Lore's job of holding Data erect had been taken over by the android alcove, which allowed the scientists to access and analyze most of Data's body.

Lore leaned against a wall, watching the two men as they labored over the shiny, metallic body. The diagnostic red and green lights blinked and flashed, indicating the various processors and packets racing through Data's pathways. "If you can't get him working, he could always double as a winter solstice holiday decoration."

"Lore!" Soong shouted, "If you're just going to stand there and be a comedian, go away. We're trying to work."

Lore feigned contrition, "A joke, Father. I'll keep quiet."

Matagaro stopped working and rubbed at his eyes. "Unstable gait control system components all check out. What about the elastic actuators?"

Soong shook his head, "Each one is operating as it should. Did you check the force sensors on the substrate interfaces?"

"Twice." Matagaro answered, then ran a hand through his blonde hair. "Everything is working, including the feedback control loop, torque adjustment systems and the balancing controller."

"Then why is Data still falling?" Soong moved away from the alcove, then let himself fall back into the nearest chair.

Matagaro tossed his tools into the nearby toolbox with a clatter. "At this point, I'd bet anything that it's a software problem."

"How can it be a software problem?" Soong glared at Matagaro, "All we did was remove the emotional subroutines from Lore's build."

"I'm telling you it's a software problem." Matagaro reiterated, closed his toolbox and stood, "You and Lucien are going to have search for the control connections you missed. Sorry. It's all I can do for you."

"On behalf of my ill-mannered father, I want to thank you, Doctor Matagaro, for all your hard work." Lore beamed at the cyberneticist.

Matagaro gave a nod of acknowledgement to Lore. "You're welcome. Take care." He grabbed the handle of his toolbox and left the laboratory.

Lore regarded Doctor Soong for a moment, "Really, Father. If you keep this up, the other colonists might send out another petition to have you deactivated, instead of me." He turned and sauntered out of the cybernetics lab, leaving the irate cyberneticist alone with the inactive Data.

Stardate: 13684.7

Source: Surveillance Footage Only

An extra computer had been brought into the cybernetics lab, as Doctor Soong and Doctor Lucien attempted to track down the trouble causing Data's motor skills malfunctions and sensory processing issues. Soong replaced Data's bioplast and the android reclined in the chair near the programming workstations. A large, rolling table covered with large binders had been placed near the workstation.

Lucien pointed to something in the handwritten notes in a brown binder, "What's all this here?"

Soong leaned over to see, "Oh. Back in late 2334, Ira Graves showed me his theories on synaptic scan transfers. Based on his work, I figured out a way to translate it to run on the submicron matrix of a positronic brain. You remember all that, when Graves was asking everyone to submit a scan?"

Lucien nodded and continued skimming the notes, "That was shortly after my family and I settled here. I remember contributing a scan to the research. Most of my family did."

Soong returned to his scrutiny of Data's software build, "Well, I realized that if I used those, it would reduce the risk of cascade failure, because the neural pathways would be predetermined by the scans."

"Oh." Lucien flipped the page as he spoke, "So you used one of the scans for the androids?"

Soong answered curtly, "I used all of them."

Lucien stopped reading, then just stared straight ahead into an unseen distance. After a moment of silence, he asked, "And you still want all that in Data, but without emotions?"

Soong grunted in affirmation, "Yes."

Lucien removed his glasses and pinched the bridge of his nose. "How about only using the temporal lobes, then? The essence of memory but without the emotions associated with them?" He placed the glasses back on his face.

"We'd have to make a new build." Soong frowned and turned to look at Lucien, who had returned to poring over the binders. "I suppose we can minimize the time it takes to make a new build by cut and pasting what worked before, once the temporal scans are complete."

"I think I figured out what's causing the issues with coordination and sensory processing." Lucien pointed out a few handwritten lines in the gigantic black binder, "Sensory input levels are tied to the emotion generation subroutines. I understand why you did that, because senses and emotions do have a connection in humans, but that means Data won't be able to process sensory information correctly. He's missing a feedback signal to the automatic gain control."

Soong peered over at the notes, "Well, crap. We'll have to figure out some kind of workaround." He rubbed his chin, "Hmm, but it could become a problem, later, if I want him to have emotions, again. We can comment out some of the emotional programming, especially anger and ambition."

Lucien leaned his right elbow on the table's surface, "So, we're going to do a clean wipe, lay down temporal scans, slap Lore's build on top of that, and then remove emotional generation subroutines, while somehow having them run just long enough to relay sensory and motor function information, and then we'll add triggers and locks to enable what you determine to be important at a later time?"

Soong grinned, "Exactly! I knew you'd understand my methods."

Lucien began typing on his PADD, "Well, then, I better start disabling the emotion generation and try to do a workaround for the sensory logic. It's going to take a while. Do you mind if I make some changes to the self-correcting subroutine, to make it more efficient?"

Doctor Soong shook his head, "Sure, why not. Since we still have Lore, we can experiment as much as we want on Data, and see how it affects him. After Data is exactly how we need him to be, then we can get back to Lore and fix him, using what we learned while programming Data. In fact, the best thing to do at that point would be to wipe Lore's processors and just copy Data's build to Lore's positronic matrix."

Stardate: 13765.7

Lore waited at Juliana's side, while Doctor Soong and Ed Lucien put the finishing touches on a deactivated Data. He resisted the urge to joke, as both Soong and Lucien had become extremely ill-tempered over the course of the month.

Doctor Soong removed the cable from the side of Data's head, then inserted a small tool in Data's mouth and turned a node in rear left of the android's mouth clockwise. A series of soft clicks emitted and Soong moved to the rear right of the mouth, turning the tool counter-clockwise with similar clicks. A node in the front of Data's mouth was adjusted counter-clockwise, and the lifeless gold eyes widened with consciousness as Data sat up in an abrupt motion.

Doctor Soong stepped back, "Happy birthday."

Data ignored Doctor Soong and pushed himself out of the chair without speaking. The android's body teetered for a moment, but remained upright.

"Data?" Doctor Soong addressed the android, "Does your internal chronometer tell you today's date?"

Data answered in a dull monotone, "Yes." then proceeded to stumble towards one of the tool-covered tables. He reached to inspect one of the tools, pushing the rest to the floor. He stared at the reflective surface of the tool for a few moments.

"Oh, this is a real improvement." Lore chuckled, then stuck his tongue into the side of his right cheek. "No inflection to his speech and no facial expressions, at all. At least he can walk on his own."

Data dropped the tool in his hand and lurched towards Lore. "You have my voice."

"No." Lore pursed his lips, "You have my voice. I was the first."

Data tilted his head to the left, wobbling as he did so. "Who are you?"

"You may call me Lore." Lore responded, "I am your brother."

"Brother." Data imitated, then seemed to lose interest. He staggered towards the door to the corridor, nearly knocking Doctor Soong over. "Move."

Juliana let out a sigh, "He can't stay this way, Noonian. He's downright rude."

Soong called over to the android, "Data, get back here."

If Data heard the cyberneticist, he showed no cognizance, and careened straight into the wall. He lifted his left hand, as if confused by the barrier, and continued to attempt to pass through it without success.

Ed Lucien shook his head, then opened the black binder and placed his PADD next to it, "Back to the drawing board."

"Lore!" Soong barked, "Go turn off your brother and put him back in the chair."

"Yes, dear Father." Lore grinned as he sauntered over to Data, then depressed the switch in the other android's back. He held his left arm at the ready, as Data's body twitched, went limp and started to fall. Lore caught his brother and swept him up in a cradle carry, then walked to the programming workstation. With ease, he deposited the inert android in the recumbent chair. "Will you need my further help, or may I go?"

"You can go, Lore." Doctor Soong joined Lucien at the table, "Let's go through this again, Ed…"

Stardate: 13824.8

Lore carried a large basket in his right hand as he and Evelynn entered the cybernetics lab. They passed the area where Doctor Soong and Ed Lucien were continuing in their struggle to adjust Data's software.

Juliana stood next to the blue reclining chair that Data's body was resting upon, but she moved to greet the two. "Hello Evelynn. What have you got there, Lore?"

Lore held the basket out to Juliana, "The wild berries have ripened, so Evelynn and I picked some to bring to you, Mother."

"Why, thank you, Lore and Evelynn." Juliana smiled and accepted the basket. "I can replicate some whipped cream to top these, and everyone can take a nice break." She walked to the replicator and began dividing the fresh berries into bowls with whipped cream.

Lucien grimaced and muttered, "Sure… now he's a calm, berry-picking android."

"If it helps, Doctor Lucien…" Lore displayed his phony smile for the man, "The reason I didn't threaten anyone today is that there was no one out in the wilderness. Your efforts to build my replacement are probably still warranted."

Evelynn elbowed Lore, then swore under her breath and rubbed her arm. "You're supposed to behave."

Lore's fake smile faded, replaced with humility. "I'll behave."

Doctor Soong picked up a tool, then hunched over Data, activating the inert android. "All right. Let's see how it went, this time." He stood back, then waited until the empty yellow eyes became alert and aware. "Happy birthday."

Data sat up in a swift motion, "I am accessing." He pushed himself out of the chair and got to his feet.

Doctor Soong clapped his hands together, "Excellent. So far, so good. Data, does your internal chronometer tell you today's date?"

"Stardate one-three-eight-two-four point eight." Data answered in a monotone as he surveyed the cybernetics laboratory. "Earth equivalent date is November first, 2336. Omicron Theta colony is currently in its summer season." His intent stare fixed on Lore.

Lore smirked at his brother, "Welcome back, dear brother."

Data tilted his head, although he remained without facial expression, "Inquiry: Who are you?"

Lore's smile disappeared, "You may call me Lore. I am your brother." He turned an accusing glare toward the scientists, "Did you wipe his memory again?"

"We had to." Soong answered as he moved towards Data. "This is a new build. Can't leave the old memories there. I don't want his behavior to get settled in, until he's functioning properly."

Juliana set down four bowls of berries with cream and spoons on a cleared table, "Lore, will you be eating with us?"

Lore looked at Evelynn for a moment, then replied, "I think I will, Mother."

"All right." Juliana returned to the replicator to make another bowl. "Data's still standing. That's a good sign." She gestured with a wave, "Noonian, Ed, come take a break. You can make him sing Little Teapot later."

Lore grabbed a stool and set it next to the table. "Evelynn, you can sit here."

"Thank you, Lore." Evelynn smiled and sat down on the stool. "I've never seen an android get activated, before."

Lore leaned down to whisper, "This time, it's boring. You should have been here when he kept falling over." He grabbed another stool for himself and sat down to join the others.

Silence descended as the humans began to eat. Lore glanced to his right, at Evelynn, then to his far left, at Doctor Soong, and the far right, to Juliana. Doctor Lucien was seated across from Lore and Evelynn, with his back to Data and the programming workstation. Lore looked past Doctor Lucien, to watch Data. Everything seemed calm, so Lore lifted a spoonful of berries to his lips, slipped them inside his mouth and chewed.

The sound of cloth being ripped broke the tranquility, as Data tore the jumpsuit from his body and dropped shreds of fabric to the floor until he stood naked.

Evelynn choked on her mouthful of berries, then recovered. "Oh my god, he's…"

Lore gently patted Evelynn's back, "Do you need water?"

"I'm fine, Lore." Evelynn shook her head. "I just wasn't expecting a show with our snack."

Juliana lifted her right hand to her lips in amusement, "Oh dear."

Soong glared at Doctor Lucien, "Great. Just great, Ed."

Doctor Lucien twisted to look behind him. "That's… different."

Data moved to observe his body in a reflective surface. "Most interesting." He turned to address the people at the table, "What is the purpose for the seemingly useless appendages between my legs?"

Soong scrambled to his feet and moved to check the android, "You don't have access to your sexuality programming?"

"Negative." Data replied flatly.

"Damn." Soong frowned, then looked at Ed Lucien, "Now what's gone wrong?"

Doctor Lucien quickly finished his bowl of berries, then returned to the table with the binders and PADDs, "Did you tie that to the emotional programming, as well?"

Soong nodded, "Uh, I think so. Yes, I believe I did. I want his sexuality program to run correctly."

"And we get to unravel even more lines of your code." Lucien declared as he opened one of the binders. "How's his balance?"

Soong pushed on Data, but the android remained standing. "Much better, this time. He adjusted his own torque to keep from falling."

As the two scientists went to work, Evelynn whispered to Lore, "They made him anatomically correct."

Lore whispered back, "I know. I am, too."

Evelynn blinked, "So, you have the same finely-chiseled musculature and, um…" She leaned to whisper to him, "Nicely hung?"

"Do you want my excess berries?" Lore changed the subject, "I don't eat as much as a human. Believe it or not, this is the best Data's been, so far."

"If you're not going to eat them, sure." Evelynn accepted the extra berries along with the sudden subject switch, "It's almost like seeing a different side of you, Lore."

A wry smile spread across Lore's lips. "He's me without emotions."

Evelynn finished the berries, then smiled at Juliana, "Thank you for your hospitality."

"You're quite welcome, Evelynn." Juliana replied, her eyes glancing briefly to the bracelet on Evelynn's wrist. "Are you and Lore going to the communication lab next?"

Evelynn nodded, "I am. I want to check on Missy. She hasn't been feeling well."

Lore stood up, "I'll go, too. Data's able to stand on his own, so I won't be needed to carry him." He waited for Evelynn to stand, then walked with her to the main door. As he passed through the automatic doors, he glanced back at Data for a second, then exited into the corridor.

Stardate: 13932.9

An enraged Lore stormed out of the security center, through the communications lab and down the main corridor to the cybernetics lab. He arrived in time to hear part of the conversation between Doctor Soong and Kila Marr.

"Kila, I appreciate your concerns." Doctor Soong leaned against one of the stools at the programming workstation, "It's too late for Lore. But Data won't have the same problems. Without emotion, people can say anything to him or even abuse him and he won't retaliate. Without ambition, he won't have any reason to compete with anyone or try to hurt them. This time, I believe we've fixed his rudeness. He'll get along with people, won't feel a need to assert himself, and he won't be envious or vengeful like Lore."

"I'm trying to tell you that his politeness and lack of emotion might be a bit too severe." Marr replied, then stopped as Lore entered.

"Father!" Lore shouted, giving Kila Marr the briefest nod of acknowledgement. "What did you two do to Data? He's just allowing children to assault and abuse him."

Kila Marr pressed her lips together in an angry smirk, "I came to complain about what Data's letting the teenagers do to him."

Doctor Soong alternated his attention between Lore and Marr, "I don't understand."

Lore approached Doctor Soong until he was in the cyberneticist's face, "Data's doing anything anyone tells him to do and he's not defending himself. They throw rocks at him, kick him, tug on his body parts..."

Doctor Soong shrugged, "They can't hurt him."

"That's not the point!" Lore threw his hands up in the air, turned away from Doctor Soong and gave Kila Marr an imploring glare.

"Lore's right." Kila Marr resumed speaking. "It's bad enough that Data walks around naked, but he's allowing the teens to do anything to him… or with him. I can't imagine you created Data to serve as a sex education mannequin."

Doctor Soong rubbed his chin, "Hmm, at least his sexuality programming is working. I was worried it wouldn't…"

Lore's jaw dropped, "All right. That's it. I'm going out to retrieve him. I don't care if I get in trouble for not having an escort." Before either human could respond, Lore was gone from the lab. The path from the bunker to the sports arena was clear as he continued a swift pace to the West. As he approached the group of children surrounding the nude figure of Data, a few of the children noticed Lore and ran to the North path, back to town.

"Get away from him!" Lore bellowed as he closed the distance between himself and the kids. He knocked over several of the children as he pushed his way through the crowd. Cries and shouts of pain and surprise followed in Lore's wake.

Benny Detoronto jumped back, then pointed to Lore. "Data! Stop Lore! You have to protect us, since we're humans and we're small."

"Of course, Master Benny." Data's unemotional voice replied to the child as he turned to intercept Lore.

"Little man, I am going to twist your head off of your neck." Lore kept his own voice steady as he threatened the child, "Data, get out of the way."

"I'm programmed to protect humans, brother." Data stated, then held up his left arm. "Cease your approach."

Lore could see the runaway children returning with Tom Handy in tow, but he continued to move, "You truly don't care, do you, Data? None of the indignities matter to you. You're happy to be their puppet… their toy… and now, their pawn."

"I'm incapable of experiencing happiness." Data informed his brother. "This is your final warning to cease your approach."

Lore snorted and continued walking forward, "No." He reached an arm out towards Benny Detoronto.

Data lunged at Lore, and the two androids grappled as the children started to shout excitedly. A flurry of blows followed, and within a matter of minutes, Data pinned Lore to the ground.

Lore blinked up at his brother in surprise, "I lost the fight against you."

"'Course you lost." Tom Handy waddled over to the two androids, then addressed Lore, "I don't blame you, though. You didn't make yourself, didn't ask to be made. Often Wrong Soong put you together with cobbled-up, substandard parts. They put all the best parts into that new one. Not even a few years old and you're already obsolete, monster." Handy pointed to the Eastern path, "Data, take Lore back to the bunker. He's not allowed to wander around by himself."

"Of course, Master Handy." Data reached around Lore's torso and lifted him, then began to walk, with Lore's feet making grooves in the dirt. "I'll take Lore back to the bunker. He's not supposed to be wandering alone."

Tom Handy called after the two androids, "And put some damned clothes on!" As Data began to carry Lore away, Tom turned his attention to the injured children nearby. "Come on. Let's get the bunch of you to the infirmary."

Lore stared back at the group of humans with seething rage, but put up no resistance to Data as the younger android dragged him back to the underground facility.

Stardate: 14048.2

Source: Surveillance Footage Only

Doctors Soong and Lucien sat in their customary spots at the programming workstation, both haggard from working on Data's next build. Binders and PADDs remained scattered over the table's surface, and a pile of dishes, mugs and utensils occupied a smaller, nearby table.

"I can't win." Soong grumbled to Lucien, "They complain that Lore's too human, and now I'm getting complaints that Data's not expressive, that he runs around naked and that he's too obedient."

"I've narrowed down the causes." Lucien pointed to something on his PADD. "It's stemming from blocking the generation of emotions. Your positronic brain design depends on them, Soong. Without any emotions, he has no shame, so no need to put clothing on. I've adjusted his level of compliance for the time being, so he's not doing every little thing everyone asks him to do."

"But now he's rude, again." Soong held out his hand for the PADD. "He's snotty, but at least he's more like an android."

"You want him to be able to learn and think for himself, right? He can't do that if he follows every command he's given." Lucien frowned, "Unfortunately, his interactions with people also depends on being able to read emotions in others and emulate some. Since he can't do that, he's either too rude or too polite." He shoved the PADD at Soong and pulled a binder over. "Let me see the circuit design again." He flipped through several pages, then stopped to read.

Soong took the PADD and pored over it in silence for next ten minutes.

Lucien closed his eyes and let himself flop back in a slouch on the chair. After a moment, he reached for the binder near him and returned to his relaxed position. "I'm looking at the specs, right now, Soong, and it gives me an idea."

Soong perked up, "Oh? Let's hear it."

Lucien lifted his legs to rest them on an unoccupied space on the table, "The way we've been going about removing Data's emotions and ambitions means we're having to rewrite all the motivational programming from scratch. That's why we have all these unintended side effects with him."

Soong nodded, "And?"

"What's this thing here?" Lucien pointed to the schematics, "What's this in the center of this particular circuit diagram?"

Soong scooted over to peer over Lucien's shoulder, "The central emotional subprocessor."

Lucien pressed his lips together, "What if we put in a blocking system there?"

"If we did that…" Soong paused in thought, then continued, "Data might still generate emotions…" His blue eyes widened as realization hit him, "But he wouldn't feel it consciously. He wouldn't even be able to register that he's having emotions, which would be the equivalent of not having them."

"Right." Lucien gave Soong a self-satisfied grin, "We can replace the chip Lore has with one that diminishes or even extinguishes the emotions. Then, if you planned to let him have emotions, you'd just need to swap it out for a chip that amplifies whatever he generates."

"Lucien, I could kiss you." Soong cackled, "If we do it the way you're suggesting, then I can install the dreaming program in him for when he's ready to trigger that."

"Don't kiss me." Lucien retorted, "And don't get too excited until we see if it works. I'll still have to write some translation subroutines for his motivations. I don't think you want him to have zero ambition or emotion, otherwise he'll never do anything. Instead of ambition, he could have aspirations. Instead of desires, he could have wishes."

"What should we replace anger and hatred with?" Soong asked as he took the schematics binder from Lucien.

Lucien shrugged, "Annoyance?"

"That'll work." Soong began to jot down notes on a new piece of paper, "I think we're onto something."

Stardate: 58540.1

Enterprise Holodeck Four

"Computer, pause program." Captain Louvois' voice interrupted the holographic presentation. "It's been three hours. I'm calling a short recess, to give people a chance to eat and rest. We'll reconvene in one hour."

As the lights returned to normal, everyone remained silent. Captain Picard and Doctor Crusher rose to their feet and walked past the guards, with Captain Louvois following a moment later. Counselor Veluna hesitated, turning to observe Lore and then Data. After the pause, she remained quiet and exited the holodeck.

T'Mera watched the two silent android brothers for a moment, then reached for the container on her console. She opened the lid, withdrew a single worm and popped it into her mouth. As she chewed the gum, she closed the lid and placed the canister on her workstation.

"What flavor is it, t'hy'la?" Data inquired.

T'Mera reached out her left hand to Data, "Peanut butter and grape jelly."

Data extended his right hand, grasping hers. "Intriguing."

"Not what you expected, dear brother?" Lore slouched in his chair, gazing at the couple from across the table.

"It was not what I expected, although I was aware of some of the issues I had experienced in my childhood." Data replied in a reserved tone. "I did not realize there had been so much trial and error involved in my creation. While some aspects of my upbringing are humorous, others are…" He paused, while his eyes oscillated. "I am having difficulty in quantifying the emotion I experienced while observing the presentation. Horrifying? Appalling? Yes, perhaps I am appalled."

Lore raised an eyebrow at his brother, "You didn't shut off your emotions?"

"No, Lore." Data offered his brother a slight smile. "You lived it. The least I can do for you is to allow myself to feel, so that I can understand my evil brother."

Lore reached both arms behind his head, interlacing his fingers together as he leaned back and smirked, "Now, Data, that's no way to talk about B-4."