2341, Starfleet Academy, San Francisco

He took in the sight. Beautiful. Or at least it would have been beautiful, at least he would have called it beautiful, but he could not. He could not label it so nor could he label anything else so. Humans could, aliens could, holograms could, but not he, not what he was.

So he settled for a description that he deemed proper. Functional. Adequate. As expected. He shook his head in a reflection of confusion and stepped out of the taxi. Drawing up his suitcase, he detected something different in the air, a feeling, a sense, a reading.

He thanked the driver, as he had been told to do, then lifted his suitcase and walked indifferently along the pier. He tried to take in all the different aspects of the atmosphere, but there were so many of them. New sensations and smells and scenery.

The bridge was bright red, painted the same glossy colour for hundreds of years. It had been a staple of the location for centuries and was recognised across the world, across the galaxy even.

Just in front of the horizon was the building that he had waited so long to see. The building that he had read about and heard about, but never actually seen for himself. So he padded on and on and finally reached his destination. Starfleet Academy.

Above his head numerous shuttlecraft flew to and fro, of both human and alien origin, shunting passengers from place to place. He lifted his head up to appreciate the spectacle before being ushered to the gates by some guards.

Dressed in Starfleet's red uniform, they seemed a little stupefied by his appearance and his being there but their training took hold of then.

"Name?" one of them asked.

"Data," he said firmly, neutrally.

The guards looked at each other. "Second name?"

Data seemed taken aback. "I only have the one."

"Origin?" the other guard enquired.

"I was constructed on the M-Class planetoid Omicron Theta, third in line from the Omicron star in the Omicron system," he said neutrally, his pitch and tone the same throughout. "I was found a year and seventeen days ago by Commander Lewis of the Starfleet exploration vessel Tripoli."

Taking advantage of the pause, the guard jumped in. "Sir, do you have a serial number?"

Data's eyes flicked back and forth. "Seven-niner-niner-tango-charlie-zero-zero."

The guard's eyes drifted down to his padd, which he regarded steadily for a time. "Ok, then," he said idly. "You are on the system."

"Take the door on your right," the other guard added. "There is an atrium where all new recruits meet."

"Thank you, gentlemen," Data said coolly. "But I have uploaded the blueprint of this institution to my neural net."

With that, he picked up his suitcase again, leaving the perplexed and slightly stupefied guards, then went on his way. As they had said, he went through the door and found himself in a large indoor courtyard, flanked by numerous electronic devices and noticeboards and posters. There were also photographs and holograms of many alien planets and surfaces, the majority of which were made up of phenomena in the Sol System. Data noted the Great Red Spot, a storm that was still ravaging Jupiter's surface after six hundred years. He also noted Enceladus' Tiger Stripes and the Carl Sagan Memorial Station on Mars.

Then his attention was taken when a high ranking Starfleet officer, whom Data perceived to be an admiral, came onto the stage in the far end of the room.

Data craned his neck, oblivious of the strange looks he was getting from the hundreds of other cadets in the room.

"Ladies and gentlemen, androgynous species," the admiral spoke loudly and clearly. "It is my pleasure to greet you as successful Starfleet applicants. We have hundreds of thousands of applicants from across the galaxy each year and only a few are successful. You are those few." He took a look around the room, his attention distracted for a moment for the peculiarly pale gentleman in the background. "This is not an easy undertaking, three years of intense training and teaching, rigorous physical assessments and tests. But you were chosen because you have the greatest of potentials. Listen to instructions and obey the rules, but socialise and enjoy your time here, for it is my belief that all of you will graduate and be assigned to some of the best ships in this galaxy." He bowed his head, received praise, stayed behind to talk a bit with some of the hopeful recruits.

After an hour or so, most of the cadets had vacated the atrium and were getting to know the ropes of the place.

The majority of them were trying to find their dorm rooms and were subsequently unpacking their things. All of the dormitories in the Academy were shared ones, two single beds, with a couple of wardrobes and drawers, and a computer terminal.

Data however, was not yet ready to investigate his dorm room. He was busying himself with learning about the vast number of Starfleet facts in the universe. The average distance that an Orion-Class ship could do. The energy efficiency of the twenty-third century vessel USS Enterprise. The ratio of male to female, human to alien employees of Starfleet.

To learn all of these facts, Data did not have to find them in the databases, nor did he have to look them up in a book or ask for them. He had them already in his mind, in his positronic brain.

There was an influx of students in the hallway where he was. He stood to the side, but still was not out of the way.

Dozens of overenthusiastic students came pouring through the doors and were pushing their way past him.

"Excuse me!" "Watch it!" "After you." Data heard quite a few remarks, both pleasant and not so. Nevertheless, he tried his best to steer clear.

One cadet seemed to not be paying that much attention, for he turned around to share a joke with his friend, then when he turned back, he was confronted with Data.

He stumbled backwards, having impacted quite hard. He reached up and massaged his bruised nose.

"I am sorry, sir," Data said politely, wondering what he could do to fix the issue.

The cadet stepped back and frowned. He rubbed his nose and made a face. "What are you? That shouldn't have hurt so much."

Data felt a relay in his neural net tell him something, but before he could translate it, the unfortunately clumsy cadet had returned to his friend, moaning about his injury.

Data traced his dark hair through the crowd until it was gone. When the students had left, he breathed a metaphorical sigh of relief and decided that it would be best if he lay low for a while. He knew that most, if not all, of the cadets had never seen anything quite like him before. Ignorance could be dangerous.

So he left the balcony and checked where he assigned quarters were. Having found what he wanted, he proceeded to the nearest lift. Again, he found himself on the receiving end of more than a few inquiring looks, but he simply gave the curious cadets a curt nod, waited for them to state their wanted floor number to the lift's computer, then did the same himself.

His was the last floor to be visited. He stepped off the lift and made his way to the proper room. He held his identification card to the sensor outside the door. The door opened and he went in.

He saw two beds and the rest of the standard cadet furniture, grey and white in colour.

"Hello," Data said genially, stepping in with his case.

The cadet lifted his head up and frowned at Data. He rubbed his chin and studied him. "Hi," he said quietly. He stood up. "Charles." He held out his hand.

Data registered the gesture and shook his hand. "I am Data."

"Data, eh?" Charles muttered. "Strange name. Where are you from?"

"Omicron Theta," he replied. "But my father was human."

Charles nodded. "Uh huh. I'm human, too." He grinned. "As you can probably guess. You know, Data, you don't really look human."

Data cocked his head and regarded him. "In what way?" he asked.

"Well, your skin for one," Charles began. "It's far too pale."

"Hmm," Data thought. "My father did approximate my appearance to that of humans."

Charles frowned and carried on with his unpacking. "Approximate, eh?" He laughed. "Sounds a bit eugenicsy to me."

"I see," Data said. "I think you misunderstand. I am not human, per se."

"Then what are you?" Charles asked. "Genetically engineered?"

"No," Data said bluntly. "I am an android."

Charles almost choked. "Android? No way! You are too human."

Data took that as a compliment. "Thank you, sir."

"Sir?" Charles repeated. "We're the same rank. Well, lack of rank."

Data nodded slowly. "Ah. It is inappropriate to address you as such. I apologise."

"There's no need to apologise," Charles said. He tucked some shoes under his bed. "So, how old are you?"

"Five," Data replied. "And yourself? I am sorry if I seem rude. I understand that it is rude to ask someone their age for humans, but this rule usually applies in old age."

Charles laughed. "Twenty-one," he said. "Oldest of four."

"Are you the only one of your siblings enrolling in Starfleet?" Data asked.

He shook his head. "No. My sister has, too. I don't know where she's got to though." He gestured to the door. "I'm sure she can't be far anyhow. I could probably find her."

Data gave a programmed smile of gratitude. "Thank you, sir- Charles, but I will have to busy myself with unpacking and otherwise preparing myself for life as a cadet."

Charles raised a subtle eyebrow but let it slide. "Of course." He slapped his thighs and stood up, stretching. "I'm going to go to the mess hall and see of I can find any of my mates."

Data nodded curtly. "I will try to finish this as quickly as possible, then all of my attention will be undivided."

Charles waved him goodbye then set off down the corridor, only to return mere moments late with a frown on his face. "You don't know where the mess hall is, do you?"

In thought, Data's eyes flicked from left to right. "Ah," he said. "Floor five. I believe the door is appropriately labelled."

"Thanks, Data," Charles said, before slipping off down the hallway.

As Data unpacked in the steady silence, he picked out a number of items. As an android, he had no clothes, no real possessions. Androids could not be sentimental. All he had brought with him were various uniforms, instruction manuals and computer tablets, as well as a few spare components to be used in case he suffered a malfunction. He set these things aside in his drawers, then hung the uniforms neatly in the wardrobe beside his bed.

Charles meanwhile had managed to find the mess hall, not without getting off the turbolift at the wrong floor. He was at present talking to a cadet called Joel, whom he had known at school.

"Never would have guessed," Joel sighed, smiling. "Me in Starfleet. It's mad, isn't it?"

Charles laughed and drank his drink. "No, I wouldn't call it mad."

Joel rolled his eyes. "How about crazy? Unbelievable?"

"Oh dear, Joel," Charles said, shaking his head. "You really need to learn to not put yourself down so much."

"I'm not, Charles," Joel said. "It's just such a shock. I never believed that my application would be successful. Wow."

"Let us just hope that you can stay in," Charles said with a grin.

"Good evening," a detached voice said pleasantly.

They turned around.

"Data, hi," Charles said, motioning him over.

Data hobbled over and held out his hand for Joel to shake. "Pleased to meet you."

Joel cast an unsure gaze at Charles. "What is this?" he whispered.

Charles took him aside. "Come on, Joel. He is my roommate."

"Really?" Joel raised an eyebrow. "Roommate? He is rather pale."

"I am an android," Data interjected.

"Of course you are," Joel said sarcastically.

"No, sir, you misunderstand. I am an android." Data waited for a reply.

"He looks more human than you," Charles chided Joel.

Joel elbowed him. He accepted Data's offer of a handshake. "Pleased to meet you."