THE MEMOIRS OF LORE

By Lessa and Takara Soong

Data.

I have begun to believe that all that is wrong with my life can be summed up with one word - Data.

I left the pile of perfectly working parts with our running down father on Terlina III three days ago. The chip is still doing some weird stuff, but...

I decided to start this personal log since I sure as hell don’t want to talk to the Pakleds. Some of the impulses I’ve been receiving from this chip are unnerving, so if I document them, maybe I will see a pattern. I’ve decided if the organics have a creator, he must have a pretty strange sense of humor and the Pakleds are one of his jokes. Maybe in that way (along with billions of others) I’m luckier than the organics. I know my creator. And now, Data does too. Wonder what the walking dullsville thought of dear old dad? Of course, I don’t think Often Wrong is thinking of much anymore. I wonder if Data buried him with a nice boring headstone, like the humans do? I can just see it. “Here lies Noonien Soong.”

I bet Data couldn’t even muster the creativity to add a few choice adjectives to dear old dad’s name. I think if I got started, I would never stop. Why Data wants to be more human, I will never understand.

As I look over this, I already note it seems disjointed, but that is how I feel so much of the time. I have no one. Data has no emotions yet he has a ship full of friends. How is that possible? If it weren’t for that freaky kid, Weasley, I could have had more time to find out what was so wonderful about my dear baby brother. Damn him! He gets me put together and then promptly beams me into space. What kind of brotherly love is that? Okay, so I poisoned him and shut him down. I wanted to have free reign of that monster of a ship. What was so bad about that?

A ship - that is what I need. That and to get away from these mealy-mouthed simpletons. I know my life will take a turn for the better if I can just get away from these guys. Hell, it can’t get any worse.

As things progress, I’m going to record it here, kind of like my life story.

So, I put down the PADD and made my way to the bridge of this rust bucket. I told Drakor I need to get away for a while, that I need a rest. He bought it so I didn’t have to break any of his bones to get at the scanners. I’ve been trying not to hurt any of these dorks since it saves me from having to run the ship myself.

Their computers do have a nice planetary database, but only because they stole it from someone else. I locate the planet Alexis IV. I couldn’t believe my optical sensors when I see it boasts a shipyard. It isn’t Utopia Planitia, but it will do. It will take three days for us to get there, but since I’ve convinced the morons they need supplies, and they do, it should be easy to keep them on course this time.

Of all the ships that had to find me, why did it have to be Pakleds? These idiots set course for Alis IV instead of Alexis IV. I made the course correction but not before it set back our arrival time to Alexis IV by a day. If I don’t get off this ship and away from these morons soon I’ll...let’s just say I won’t be very happy.

I hate having only these imbeciles to talk to. It gives me too much time to think. Damn that Data! Why does he get all the breaks? Fuck, what just happened? It felt like some type of power surge. I’m going to run a self-diagnostic. The last thing I need to have happen would be a malfunction with these half-wits the only ones around to fix me.

Well, this chip is really something. I still don’t know exactly what it’s doing to me but it was responsible for that brief surge I felt. I’m okay but I hope that’s not going to be a regular occurrence. It’s a little disconcerting.

At least the extra day has given me more time to research Alexis IV. I always like to know as much about a place as possible before I arrive. Gives me the upper hand when dealing with the locals. Alexis IV doesn’t seem to be too bad. Not exactly a vacation destination but at least the climate’s okay. Humanoid inhabitants, physiology very similar to humans. Some interesting characteristics but nothing too special. I don’t foresee any difficulties in achieving my objectives. Actually, it should be a piece of cake.

We have finally reached the Alexis System. Twenty-seven minutes, ten seconds and I’m free of these simpletons. Oh damn, I’m starting to sound like Data now.

I need fresh input. Yes, that may sound like my half alive brother, but it’s still true. We enter the planet’s detection grid and I take the comm to tell them we’re only here for supplies. I have to do a little begging, but I finally get permission to enter orbit. I nod at Rictor, but he just looks confused until I tell him to enter orbit, damnit!

“We need supplies, Lore. We are looking for supplies,” Rictor drones.

“Then enter the commands to enter orbit of the damn planet and we can beam down and GET the supplies!” I shout at him. I just barely resist the urge to bang my head against the nearest bulkhead.

Rictor tells his “friend” Milroy to enter orbit. I claim I need to rest until we get there. Understanding that an android doesn’t need sleep has proven to be beyond these guys, so they believe me. They don’t even bat an eye as I head for the transporter room.

I get there only to find that Shithead, I mean, Shilton has pulled the phase transition coils and pattern buffers. He’s trying to put a new coil back in, but has it upside down. Well, now I have something to do.

When I finally fix all that Shithead (I think that fits him better) fucked up, the Pakleds that are to beam down with me have arrived. So much for an easy getaway.

The area where I send us is very near a busy marketplace, but just on the edge so we don’t beam into another person. I lead the way into the market area and the mean streak in the Pakleds has materialized too. They’re plotting how they can trick someone into giving them supplies.

I head for a very congested section and just as easy as you please, I get lost in the crowd. I’m finally free and a complete unknown. I look around for a while, getting the feel of the place. I get some curious glances that, for the millionth time, makes me wonder what Often Wrong was drinking when he decided gold skin would be a good idea. I wonder if Data ever wondered about that too? I think of the reason Soong gave me and laugh a little. He was a piece of work, my old man.

After watching the natives as they watch me, I find a bar. I’ve heard the town bar is the place where all the local action centers, so I head inside. I hope the stories are true.

At first glance, the place is quiet, but I soon realized that it’s early in the day here and when evening comes, the place starts filling, the drinks are poured and the joint is hopping.

I listen to every word said by every person who comes in. I don’t have any local currency, so I am politely asked to leave before I hear anything I need.

It’s near dark, but the Pakleds are still here. I dodge them a few times, but follow. They have traded for currency and are heading to a stall. The market is about to close, since the sun is setting. Trying not to roll with laughter, I pickpocket one of my former shipmates and head, at a leisurely pace, back to the bar.

I have done nothing to any of their citizens...yet, but when I re-enter the bar and plop down enough money for a drink, I arouse the suspicions of the local lawman. He’s 1.93 meters tall, dark haired with a beard that runs from one ear, down his square jaw line and up to the other ear. He looks strong for a humanoid, not as strong as that lap dog of Picard’s, Worf, but strong. He ambles over to me as I make my way to a corner booth. He slides into the booth opposite me.

“What are you?” he asks, bluntly. He is as expressionless as my baby brother.

“Just a patron of the bar. Are you in authority here, sir?” I throw in the “sir”, just to keep him off-balance. I keep my tone calm and reasonable. Oddly, he doesn’t fall for it. I find myself strangely relieved - he’s not like a Pakled.

“I am. I have a nose for trouble and you have trouble written all over your yellow eyes. I ask again, what race are you? I’ve never seen your kind before and I don’t like mysteries.” He has a deep, commanding voice. Mine’s too high to sound that commanding, but I do have more strength to back it up.

“No mystery here, sir. I’m just new to your world and in need of a job. I heard there’s a shipyard nearby and I was hoping to find work there. I’m Lore, an android.” I make sure to pronounce android so my translator does not do the job. They say knowledge is power and I want the power in my hands, not his.

“Humph! I’ve never seen an Andorian before.” He got up from the booth and just stared at me for ten seconds. “Well, just you remember that I’ll be keeping an eye on you. One misstep and I’ll have you in custody before you even know what’s happened. Understand?”

“Yes, sir. I’m not here to cause any trouble. I’m just looking for a job.” I gave him my best innocent look but he didn’t buy it. I don’t know why Data can pull that look off but I can’t. The lawman left but not until after he tells me to be extra careful because Sethrin Shipyard is run by a “close, personal friend” of his. Yeah, like that’s supposed to scare me or something. I don’t care if his fucking mother runs the shipyard.

If I were organic I would have one hell of a headache right now. Listening to these people is as exciting as watching Data’s expressions change. I swear if I hear one more person say, “What did ya think of the cortak game” I will hurt someone. My luck to get here the day after their fucking team wins something. All they’ve talked about is cortak, cortak, cortak. I don’t know what the hell type of game cortak is but I already despise it. What a waste of a night. Then to top it off this jerkwater planet doesn’t allow their bars to stay open twenty-eight hours a day. At least the bartender was able to give me the name of a cheap place to stay. I’d rather not have to get a place right now but I’m sure that over-zealous lawman would pick me up for loitering or some such damn thing if I just walked around for the rest of the night.

The room I’ve got is a dump but it’ll do. Now that it’s morning, I can actually see the shipyard from my window. I think I’ll take a little walk over there later and check it out. Maybe I’ll get lucky and pick up some information I can use. If not, it’s back to the bar.

Well, I’ve found out that the people here are either night owls or just not morning people. I walked around the shipyard building for hours, asking questions of passersby, but I only received strange looks and “I don’t know” a million times for my trouble. Thinking about how Data would do this, I pasted a confused and helpless look on my face to ask an old guy this time. I’ll be damned if it didn’t work. I found out the woman who runs the yard is named Kissel Draymot and she’s in need of help in a bad way. It’s rumored her business has been suffering due to labor shortages caused by a competitor opening up on the other side of the planet.

Son of a bitch - and my mother really was a bitch - Data’s cluelessness paid off. I will have to use this face again if I need more information.

I spend the rest of the weekend taunting the local lawman. I discovered his name is Ren Willilock. I doubt he realizes I’m aware he’s following me, so I lead him on a merry chase all over town before I wander back to the bar at night.

“I have to hand it to you, Lore,” the barkeep tells me on Sunday evening. They don’t call it Sunday here, but what they call it is such a stupid name I can’t even think it without laughing my ass off. The barkeep is a blonde man, tall, but as thin as I’ve ever seen a humanoid. He looks like someone took bones and painted skin on them. I can’t see where he keeps his internal organs. Well, I can, but they must be small. His name is Chaz.

“You’ve been driving Ren crazy running around town for the last few days,” Chaz says with a wicked grin. I think I like him just for that grin.

There’s a man sitting a few feet from me who turned on his chair to face both Chaz and me at this comment. He gives me a grin, but I don’t like it as much as Chaz’s.

“He’s been bitching that you don’t seem to sleep,” this guy quips. He’s missing some of his teeth, I notice, but smiles anyway.

“Yeah, it’s been a while since we’ve had any excitement around here, so I think Ren’s been bored,” Chaz adds.

“Does he have some kind of thing going with the owner of the shipyard?” I ask. Both men look confused. “He told me she was a close, personal friend of his,” I add.

Chaz guffaws and the other guy snickers. “Sorry, Ren says that kind of thing all the time. He doesn’t know her well at all. She’s a quiet one, Draymot. He must have just been warning you to treat her right. You should though. I like you, Lore. I’ve seen nothing to give me reason not to. Widow Draymot has a good reputation around here, even if she is having troubles.”

“When was she widowed?” I ask.

“About three years ago,” the toothless wonder tells me. “Her husband was crushed under some ship part that fell on him. There was not much left to bury, I remember.”

“Well, then it sounds like she needs someone who can handle heavy lifting. I’m her man. You wait and see, I’ll be showing her how good I am first thing in the morning,” I assure them, smirking.

“Then that leaves you tonight to show me just how good you are.” We all turn to see the owner of this voice. I’ve seen this woman before and it’s been obvious she’s a whore, but what a body!

Her hair is pitch black and so are her eyes. Her skin is dark, but not like her hair. It’s a colour that I’ve seen on a few other people here, but it doesn’t look like this on them. Her name is Lis. She is curved in every place a humanoid female is supposed to be. I do have to hand it to my dear old dad, he did know how to write a sexual program. Even mine works just great. I wonder if Data even knows he has one?

Lis is wearing a white blouse, tied up just under her very full breasts. This leaves her midriff deliciously bare. She has on very short shorts that show her long legs and tight ass. I’m instantly hungry. Pakled women are even uglier than the males. I can’t see how anyone would want to fuck one - even a male Pakled.

Smirking at her, I run a hand over her exposed midriff. Her skin is invitingly soft, her own smirk, decidedly wicked. Damn, she’s hot.

“Let’s go sit. We have a few things to discuss first,” she whispered to me.

We sat at a booth and discussed her prices. She actually wanted 1,000 dalots for an hour but I was able to talk her down to 500. Even that’s too much for me to have to pay. Damn, she’s the one who should be paying me. Lis told me to follow her to the room she has at the bar. There’s a door by the end of the bar that opens into a corridor. Once you pass Chaz’s office and a storage area, the next door is Lis’ “office”. She tells me she has an arrangement with Chaz. She gets the room for her business and he gets a cut of what she makes and an occasional sample of her goods.

The room isn’t much smaller than the dump I’m in and it’s decorated just as tastefully. There’s a bed, two chairs, a small table and that’s it but then what else do you really need. She wanted her money upfront before we started.

We got undressed quickly after I handed over the money. Damn, it’s been too long since I’ve had sex. If Data hadn’t been keeping such close tabs on me on the Enterprise, I’m sure I could have nailed a few of Starfleet’s finest. As soon as we hit the bed, I had to take one of Lis’ tits in my mouth. I ran my tongue around her nipple. I could feel it getting harder with each lick I gave it. I ran my hand down over her stomach and between her legs. I don’t think she expected me to jam my fingers in her like I did because she let out a little cry of surprise. She was lubricated enough for me so I moved into position between her legs and introduced my cock to her pussy. Oh fuck, did it ever feel good to be pounding into a female again. It would have been better if I hadn’t had to control myself. If I fucked her using anything more than a level one program she would find out just how great I am. Don’t want her blabbing that all over the place and then have that son of a bitch Willilock asking questions. Even with just the level one program she seems to be having too good a time. Are the males of this planet that bad in the sac or is she that good an actress? Who cares? I got off and that’s all that matters. Got off quite a few times actually. Wanted to make sure I got my money’s worth.

When my time was up I got dressed and left her on the bed. I went out to the bar, had another drink and talked with Chaz a little more before heading to the dump. When Lis finally came back out, Chaz wanted to know what the hell I had done to her. He said he had never seen her come out of there smiling like that before. I couldn’t help laughing. If I play my cards right, I shouldn’t have to pay her the next time, if I decide I want to fuck her again.

Monday, or Slishin on this world, has finally come. I have been having breakfast at this little café just on the other side of the market place from the bar. I don’t want anyone to catch on that I’m an artificial life form and don’t need to eat, so I do this to throw off my buddy Ren.

Son of a bitch actually threw me off this morning by joining me for breakfast. He just sat down at my table like we were best friends. He asked a few questions about my past that I easily lied through my teeth about. I even threw in the fact that my father recently passed away to see if it would get me any sympathy. He just raised an eyebrow. I find that I just can’t help myself. I just like this guy all to pieces. I may have to tear him to pieces, literally, one day, but Ren sure as hell is fun to play mind games with.

Once I finished with my breakfast and Ren with his, I tell him that while I have thoroughly enjoyed his company, I must leave to find gainful employment. Ren narrows his eyes at me, but nods. We pay our bills and leave. I’m in front and he tails me at a discrete, but noticeable distance.

The shipyard is already in operation this morning, and I have a little trouble getting anyone’s attention to get directions on how to find Mrs. Draymot. After one near miss with my temper, I’m told she is in building three, checking inventory.

I find the correct building and enter. She is the only woman working here, but she’s still not easy to find. When I do find her, she is standing on a crate, bent to the waist into another crate and counting to herself. She’s whispering, but I can still hear her above the din in the warehouse.

“Mrs. Draymot?” I call to her from below. She is startled and I hear her gasp, but she takes a second to compose herself and I hear her sigh. She lifts her body to peer over the side of the crate to look at me. Her hair is a pale brown, just shy of blonde, but tucked under a cap and pulled back in a band. Her skin is just a simple peachy colour, but she has green eyes. They seem oddly out of place on this woman. She’s not very tall, all of 1.64 meters. She’s slim - too slim for her height, from what I can see. She’s not striking but in coveralls and that hat, few would be.

“Yes, I’m Kissel Draymot. Can I help you?” she asks politely. It must be my father’s influence, but I have always liked people who are polite. There I go, being like Data, again.

“I need a job, Mrs. Draymot and I was told you need strong backs,” I tell her.

She narrows her green eyes at me before turning to climb down the ladder she used to get on the crate. Once on solid ground, she walks over to me, looking me up and down. Shockingly, she’s not bowled over by the perfect specimen of artificial manhood before her.

“I’m very sorry, sir-”

“My name is Lore,” I tell her.

“I am sorry, Mr. Lore, but I need strong backs as you said and you don’t look very strong to me.”

“Lore is my first name and I am much stronger than I look, Mrs. Draymot.” I’m not ready to lay it on thick yet, so I say this evenly.

She is still not grabbing. I look to my left and spy a crate that doesn’t have another one under it, like the one she was counting. I walk over and lift one end of it, remembering to grunt a little with apparent effort. I can hear her gasp.

I have the job.

She led me to her office to fill out some forms before I could start. I had to be inventive to answer a few of the questions she asked. Another great thing about being an android – perfect memory. Makes it much easier to keep a story straight. The pay isn’t as bad as I was expecting, actually it’s pretty good considering the circumstances. I asked one of my new co-workers about this, assuming she had to pay the wage to keep employees from bolting to the competing shipyard. I was surprised to find out that she has always maintained a good pay scale no matter what financial shape the company is in. It would seem she has a social conscience and wants to make sure her employees and their families have enough to live on. I’m glad I found this out. She may be easier to manipulate by tugging at her heartstrings. Always nice to find a person’s weaknesses as soon as possible. I’ll have to see what else I can find out about her.

When we finished with the forms, she took me to meet the supervisor of the area I would be working in. They talked privately - well they thought it was private anyways - for a minute. Seems Vaasic - that’s the supervisor’s name, Vaasic Mosalev - was questioning the boss’ judgment in hiring me. She may be a little thing but she sure doesn’t back down. She just gave him this look and told him to train me and leave the hiring to her. Spunky when she has to be - I wasn't expecting that.

I’m not sure what to make of Vaasic yet. When he discovered I am stronger than I look, he seemed pleased but then it seemed to piss him off. I guess he didn’t like to admit the boss was right. Obviously it didn’t take long to “train” me. I know more about building and repairing a fucking ship than that ass will ever know. That seemed to piss him off too. At least the guys I’m working with are tolerable. Two of them, Kardec and Hausev, may actually be worthy enough to hang around with on occasion.

After finishing for the day, Kardec and Hausev asked me to join them at the bar. Since I was going to go there anyway I said okay. We had a couple of drinks before Lis made her way over to our table to see if she could drum up some business. Kardec and Hausev were both in and out of the back room quickly. Now I know why she had that smile. If that’s how much stamina the males on this planet have, I actually feel sorry for the females. I was going to go after Hausev but she told me she would get to me later. Don’t know what the hell that meant and I haven’t decided if I’ll stick around to find out.

It was 2800 when Lis walked with an exaggerated sway in her hips over to my table. The guys were chuckling, knowing it was my turn. What they didn’t know was why she was taking me for what would obviously be her last trick of the evening.

I decided to have a little fun with her first. Since we were sitting at a table, not a booth, I pushed my chair back a little and pulled Lis into my lap, throwing her off balance a little. She almost fell, but landed heavily on my knee instead. One hand caught her on the ass as she landed. Before she caught her breath, I moved my hand under her and squeezed her sexy ass. The short skirt she was wearing had flown up so my hand found skin and a hint of wispy thin panties.

“I see you’ve finally come to papa, Lis. Can I interpret this as you’re being ready for a rough ride now? Gotten your fill of the small game?” I said this so smoothly, she allowed herself to relax in the embrace of my one arm. My other hand was still under her, very busy.

The guys were whistling and cheering me on, but did not seem to believe I had reason to boast. “Maybe she decided to let you finish her off for the night. He’s just a little guy, so he shouldn’t take much, right Lis?” Kardec teased.

As Lis opened her mouth to reply, I unveiled my little surprise. I ripped through her panties and plunged four fingers into her wet from use pussy. My thumb, I let just quiver over her clit, vibrating. Lis’ words turned into a gulp and then a gasp. She pushed back into me and dropped her chin to her chest, moaning with abandon.

“I think, my brothers in arms, that Lis was saving the best for last. Don’t you agree, my little Lore whore?” I asked her, patronizingly.

All Lis could do was moan louder and nod. Giving Kardec and Hausav a conspiratorial smirk, I picked Lis up in my arms. I still had two fingers in her and the heel of my hand supported her ass. I finger fucked her for all to see as I carried her to her room. I kicked the door open, but did not break it. I fucked her until she passed out from exhaustion.

Damn, but that was fun!

When I came back in to the bar, Chaz was the only one left. He was finishing cleaning up when he saw me come in. I wished him a good night and he just shook his head and laughed.

“She still in there?” he asked me. I just smirked at him and he laughed again.

I started walking back to my place. When I was two meters from the main entrance to the dump I thought I’d say good night to ol’ Ren before going in. I waved to him and told him I was staying in for the rest of the night. He was pretty pissed off with me for that. He’d actually convinced himself I didn’t know he was still following me. Reminds me of a few Starfleet drones I’ve left in the dust.

By the end of the week, I’d established a bit of routine so the lawman wouldn’t have too hard a time following me. I go to work in the morning, to the bar after work and then back to the dump. Kardec and Hausav have been coming to the bar most nights too. They have proven to be entertaining and, after a few drinks, very informative. Kardec especially likes to share what he knows about both the shipyard and the boss. They talk about how much they want to fuck the boss. I don’t know why and, for some reason, that’s the only information they don’t want to share. I fucked Lis a few more times. I might have to look for a new whore soon. If Lis doesn’t start showing some imagination in the sac soon this is going to become old fast.

Broke routine on Saturday or Mafshin as they call it. The day before I heard the boss telling that asshole Vaasic she was going to need someone to come in the next day. Some project she needed to get done or something. When they finished talking I casually wandered over to them. I told Mrs. Draymot and Vaasic that if they ever needed someone to come in for a little overtime, I could use the money. It was hard not laughing at the looks on their faces. They were convinced it was a coincidence that I mentioned that just when they were looking for someone. Damn, I love being an android and not one of these weak-minded humanoids. I came in early to see what Mrs. Draymot wanted me to do. It was simply a matter of shifting a bunch of crates around to make room for new inventory that was coming in. It gave me the perfect opportunity to find out what all they have and what’s coming in. I also found a great area that should work nicely for my own little project. I love being productive.

I was heading back towards the boss’ office for my next task when I overheard the prim and proper, though hard working, lady cuss. Even after only a week here, I know this woman does not use this type of language. Wondering what had her so riled, I went into stealth mode and crept up on her. I discovered she was working on the financial reports. She turned off the viewscreen when she heard me, so I didn’t see many of the numbers.

I looked innocent and confused at her reaction and just asked for my next job. I did decide right there and then that Ren was going to get the slip tonight.

Once the boss released me, I went to the bar. I let Lis bounce her tits off as she fucked me for a while, but left early to “retire” for the evening. Ren was following at a greater distance, but he was still there. He would not see me when I left an hour later to break into the shipyard.

Breaking in was a piece of cake for me. Actually, it was too easy. I may have to speak to Mrs. Draymot about upgrading her security. It’s too loose. I practically breeze into her office as well. I sat down at her computer and pulled up the reports after cracking her password. That was very easy as well. Like most humanoids, she used an obvious password – “Sethrin” – the name of the shipyard. It was after I started to look at the financials when things took a little turn for me. In my experience, I have not run into many nice people. I discovered that while I thought our dear lonely young widow was keeping company with money she was siphoning out of the company, the reverse was true.

Sethrin Shipyard was losing money hand over fist and the widow was trying her best to plug the holey business with her own money. There were listings of transfers from her personal account to the payroll account the day before every payday for the last six months. She was paying almost everyone here out of her own pocket.

Digging deeper, I discovered just how hard this woman was working to keep this business afloat. She was plugging everything she had into the shipyard, but why? If she was wringing herself dry trying to pay everyone, why not just close it? I looked everywhere for clues to a big payload coming in, but found nothing. I got a signal from my security system in the pig sty that someone was trying to break into my room, so I closed up and high tailed it back “home”. I made it to my bed just in time for Ren to get through all my fail-safes and see me pretending to be asleep. I lifted up and just told him if he wanted to sleep with me that badly, all he had to do was ask.

Sunday I found myself at a loss. There were places in Mrs. Draymot’s reports where the program she was using was obviously causing errors in the calculations. I don’t know if she created this program, but whoever did, didn’t know a thing about writing a computer program. She needs to know about these bugs and fix them but I can’t exactly go up to her and tell her that, can I?

That is the first problem...the second is why the fuck do I care?

I’ve asked myself this forty-eight times today, but still don’t have an answer. Could this be the chip acting up again? I am curious as to why she’s hiding all this and not just axing half the labor pool or halfing everyone’s pay.

I went back to my room to think. I need to figure out some way to gain her confidence. If I can do that and slip in a few comments that lifting things isn’t the only thing I can do well, she might ask me to take a look at them. If I wait until just before the next payroll she might be feeling vulnerable enough to ask. I’ll have to think on this some more. I’m not sure if I can pull it off. Helping people isn’t exactly one of my strong suits. Where’s Data when I actually need him. Son of a bitch, what did I just say?! I think I better run a self-diagnostic. It’s bad enough that I want to help someone but wishing Data was here...there’s got to be a malfunction in my system somewhere.

Finished the diagnostic and, as usual, I’m perfect. Maybe this emotion chip is warping my priorities or something. At least it’s not acting up like before.

I decided to go over to the bar. I’ve got more questions that need answering and hopefully some drunken fool will be happy to provide the answers for a drink or two. If not, maybe I can pry something out of Chaz. I think he trusts me as much as he trusts anyone. Maybe Chaz isn’t as bright as I thought. I mean if he trusts me. I’m still curious why the guys want to fuck the boss. Maybe if she decides to trust me too, I’ll find out first hand. Damn, I crack myself up sometimes.

The bar wasn’t very busy when I got there. I sat at the bar to talk to Chaz for a while and I was able to find out some interesting information from him.

“That Colex Draymot was a sneaky son of a bitch, Lore.” Chaz was telling me about the late, apparently not so great, Mr. Draymot. “The shipyard has been in Kissel Draymot’s family for centuries. Everyone thought Colex Draymot was the perfect husband for the first three years of their marriage. No one knows what happened but the guy changed. He went from being a stand up guy to asshole practically overnight. He and Mrs. Draymot ran the shipyard together in those days. Then he started making decisions - crazy decisions. It was like he was trying to run the shipyard into the ground or something.” Chaz paused here for a few seconds and shook his head. “Kissel Draymot is a classy lady. She’d give a person her last dalot rather than see them do without. The story goes that one of the workers at the shipyard decided to repay her kindness by eliminating the biggest problem she had – Colex Draymot. Ren didn’t have any proof of this so it was ruled an accident. Mrs. Draymot has been working her butt off trying to repair the damage done by Colex. From what I've heard, she's almost back in the black. Hell, with the raises she gave everyone this year, she'd have to be."

I brainstormed about how to approach this woman for a few days before I hit on something almost by accident. I was working on a project at work, replacing out-of-date parts on a warp nacelle, when it was nearing the end of the workday. I didn’t really feel like going yet and this job shouldn’t be left like this, so I just kept working.

Asshole Vaasic came over to tell me it was time to go, but I told him I needed to finish this first. “We ain’t offering overtime today, Piss-eyes,” he warned me. “Time yourself out and leave.”

I jumped down from a height of five meters, landed right in front of him and just stared him in his beady eyes. “My name is Lore. If you prefer, you may call me Mr. Soong. If you ever call me anything other than those two, we will take this outside, off the clock and I will teach you just how to treat people with respect, right before I break your fucking neck.” I smirked at him for the last part. He did not seem impressed until I pushed him.

He sprawled on the cement floor three meters away and slid another two. “I told you I’m stronger than I look. Let me know when you want another demonstration.”

Leaving him on the floor, I punched out on the computer and went to Mrs. Draymot’s office. She always worked late so I knew I’d find her there. I knocked and went in at her signal. I told her I had already punched out, but needed to finish the work I was doing on the patrol ship’s nacelle. I told her I’d like to finish now if that was all right.

She looked uncertain. “Everyone is leaving...Lore, right?” she asked, unsure of my name.

“Yes ma’am. You’re staying though, correct?” I asked.

“Yes, but I can’t ask you to work for me without pay, Lore.”

“You’re not. I’m asking you if you will let me. I heard your late husband left you with a bit of a mess here, ma’am. I don’t know if you’ve got things worked out yet, but I want to help. You’re a good boss - fair, honest - I respect you. Let me help you how I can. I’m not like the others. I can work longer hours and not tire.” Okay, so maybe I was going a bit over the top, but she was a tough one.

Finally she sighed and pointed towards the door. She let me lead the way to where I was working and I showed her what I was doing. Once I was done, she turned to look at me, staring at me blankly, studying me. I just looked right back at her. My first inclination was to smirk. It took a great effort to just look back at her.

“All right, Lore. Come tell me when you’re finished. Be careful and don’t get hurt, understand?” She still looked unsure about letting me stay. She was chewing on her bottom lip as she walked away.

I worked for two more hours before she came back and called to me. “I’m just finishing with the clean up, ma’am,” I called to her. I repacked the tools and climbed down the ladder. I didn’t need to impress her with a show of strength.

“I’m heading home now so you have to go too,” she told me once I was on the ground.

“Okay. It’s late, ma’am,” I noted. She was still a young thing and not bad looking. Little and shy in some ways, but with lots of determination. Still, she could be in danger if she walked home by herself. Someone might try and see what’s under that hat. This gave me the perfect opportunity to gain her trust. “I should see you home.”

“Oh, no, you don’t need to do that, Lore. I walk home every night, I’ll be fine.” She was suddenly nervous.

I reasoned it was because she doesn’t trust me. Can’t say I blame her, but I needed her to for now. “I think I should, ma’am. You don’t have to worry about me, Mrs. Draymot. I come complete with my own security system.” I grinned when she gave me the expected questioning look. “Our local lawman, Ren Willilock, doesn’t trust me.” I led her towards the entrance. “He tails me wherever I go. He will follow us too, so you have no need to fear me. I’ll tell you a little secret, he thinks he fools me, but I always know he’s there. I’ll even point him out for you.”

She looked like she was wondering whether to run or laugh. She didn’t run but her laugh only could be seen in her green eyes. We walked in silence for a while, but after I told her where to look to see Ren, she actually grinned and her shoulders were less rigid.

“What race are you again, Lore?” she asked softly as we walked past the market district.

“Well, maybe I should tell you my other secret, but you have to promise not to tell my buddy following us. Will you promise?” I ask her, not able to hold back a little smirk. She nods slowly. “I’m not of any race, really. I am an android - a sentient machine.”

She looked stunned. “Is that possible? I know the Federation has been making great strides in artificial intelligence, but...you’re a machine?” This sure was one skeptical woman. She just didn’t trust anyone about anything.

“I really am. I’m just like a walking computer.” I don’t believe that for a second, but I hoped that would get her thinking about her financials. She did start thinking, but of questions about me. She asked about everything she could think of and I answered them all honestly. Data would have loved this assignment. It just made me feel like a fish out of water.

“Why is your skin gold then?” she asked. I had just explained how dear old dad made me in his image and that he was human.

“I asked him once. His answer was kind of lame but... He said on Earth, his home planet, gold was a precious metal and I was even more precious than gold, so he chose that colour.”

She grinned and laughed a bit. “You’re right, it was lame.”

“I told you,” I said, laughing out loud. We were nearing her house. “Well, since that’s your place and I don’t want Ren to think I’m planning to accost you, he and I will wait here and see that you get inside safely.”

She looked over to her home, back at me and past to where we both knew Ren hid in the shadows. With a nod, she turned to go. When she was at her door, she turned and waved. I waved back and waited until she was inside. I turned back and headed for my dump.

“Come out of the dark and talk to me, Ren. I feel chatty tonight,” I called to him. I knew he would have questions, figured I’d give him the chance to ask them while they were fresh in his mind.

“What were you doing with Mrs. Draymot? I don’t want you bothering her,” he growled at me.

“I was just making sure she got home safely. I worked late tonight. Thought between you and me, we should be able to keep her from harm’s way.”

“Humph, so you told her I was following you.”

“She doesn’t know me very well so I thought she would feel more comfortable to know her close, personal friend, Ren Willilock, was nearby.” It was hard not to laugh as I said this. He asked me a few more questions before walking away. I saw right away that after he walked ten meters in a different direction from me that he turned around to try to follow me some more. I decided to go wander around since Ren could use the exercise.

Ren followed me until I went in the bar. Well, he did come into the bar as well but rather than watching me he decided to visit with Lis instead. I’ll have to find out later if he asked her any questions about me. While I was getting my drink, I could see Kardec and Hausav were here. Both had obviously been here for a while judging by the empty glasses on the table. Well, that and Hausav appeared to have passed out.

“Lore, o’er o’er here, Lore. Come o’er here.” Kardec was waving his arms frantically trying to get my attention. Judging by his speech patterns and the stupid expression on his face, I knew Kardec would be joining his buddy shortly. If I wanted to get any information from him I would have to do it quickly. “Lore, have I ever toll ya that you’re one ‘ell of a guy. You are one ‘ell of a guy. You and Hausav are the bess friends a guy could have.” He looked like he was about to cry. This is so pathetic.

“You’re one hell of a guy too. Now finish your story, Kardec. I want to know the rest.”

“Story? Whaa story?”

“You just started to tell me why you and Hausav are so hot for Mrs. Draymot.”

“Oh, that story. Okay. I’ll have to star o’er ‘cause I don’ remember where I was.” He laughed. “Abau’ a pakral” - what they call a week - “before ol’ Coxel Draymot was splattered all o’er the yarr, he was in ‘ere tellin’ e’eryone in ‘ere that he never needed to fuck liddle Lis ‘cause his wife was a wil’ one. He said she had a bigger repi – repi - she would do stuff not even Lis would do. Tha’s why we wanna fuck ‘er.”

“You believed him?” From what I had heard about Colex Draymot he could lie almost as well as me. I know I don’t know her well but Mrs. Draymot just doesn’t look the type. Hell, I guess looks can be deceiving but that seems to be pushing it.

“’Ell ya, I believed him. He never did fuck around wit Lis.” Kardec looked around to see if anyone was nearby. He leaned over the table, motioning me to do the same. “Ya wanna know a secret? Ya hava promise not to tell anyone, okay.”

“Sure Kardec. You have my word I’ll never repeat this to anyone.”

“I know who dropped the load on ol’ Colex Draymot. It was Vaasic but he dinn’t do it to help Mrs. Draymot. He foun’ out Colex was takin’ parts and re-sellin’ them. He was settin’ Vaasic up to take the fall.” I wasn’t expecting to hear that. Kardec passed out after he told me that. I just stared at him for a minute and then left.

Even if Vaasic killed Colex for selfish reasons; he had gone up in my estimation. Any man, who can take care of himself like that is okay by me. He may have caused Mrs. Draymot some trouble, but he may have helped her in the long run. I’m just not sure which yet.

I decide to make a habit of working late off the clock and walking Mrs. Draymot home. She tried to refuse a few times, but I tell her Ren gets bored if I don’t keep him hopping. By the end of the week she’s calling to me that it’s time for “us” to head home. She may just walk with me in silence at times, but she does talk to me as well. She’s a bright woman and I do my best to keep her talking if she’s in the mood. She’s certainly much better company than Ren.

I decided she needs a few more hints about my bookkeeping skills. Actually, I decided she needs a hit over the head. “I’m gonna be straight with you, Mrs. Draymot. I’ve heard you’re having trouble digging out of the hole your husband dug for you. If you need help with the financials, remember, I’m a walking computer. Numbers are a second language, actually they are my first.” I laugh at this and shrug. I throw in Data’s sweet little innocent look. It takes her a while, but three days before payday, (and five days later) I’m with her in her office after hours and we are going over her financials. I have to pretend I’ve never seen them before, so I can’t just open them to the pages and point right to the blaring, to me, errors. I point them out to her, tell her the flaw in the program and work out the math with her on a PADD. She watches and I watch her as her jaw drops. What I’ve found isn’t much, but I have not been idle for the last few days either.

Her parts providers have been raising their prices on her, but I found out they are gouging her. They have worked out some kind of deal with her competitor, I tell her. She’s not so sure. Her family has done business with these people for so long, she trusts them. I tell her this is not a good idea anymore.

“So you intend to just swoop in here and take over? Is that it?” she asks me, looking nervous and sure she now has her reason for mistrust back.

“Damnit, woman, I’ve just fixed your program, found you a week’s pay for your whole employee list and shown you how to improve things so you don’t have to pull money from your own accounts to pay for it. What else‑“ She cut me off there.

“How do you know about that?” she asks, paling.

“I’m a computer. Logic is more a friend to me than to a Vulcan. I can see large enough deficits that I know have to be filled from somewhere. Are you stealing from someone, Mrs. Draymot?” I accuse her, coming across the small room at her.

“No,” she said forcefully. She backed away from me, looking fearful.

I’m not sure why, but my sexual program picked now to kick up. She’s looking at me like I’m going to hurt her and all I can think of is ripping the fabric from her body and finding out if the late Mr. Draymot was a lying SOB or if he told the truth.

I step towards her and I think she can see what I want in my eyes. She backs up until her back is to the wall, but I keep coming. Damn, I’m so hard, I haven’t even touched her and I’m so erect I could impale her fully dressed. Those green eyes are boring into me.

“What are you doing?” she asks, pleadingly.

“Taking,” I tell her. I reach for her at the neck and press her against me before I pull her in for the kill. She fights me, but she knows I’m stronger than her. She tries to push me away, but I just hold her tighter. She whimpers as I kiss her. I don’t want to hurt her, but I sure do want to fuck her. I move my mouth over hers, exploring, but she’s still fighting me. I can feel wetness on her face. I pull back to see she’s crying soundlessly.

“Don’t do this to me, please,” she shrieks.

“Damnit, woman, I just want to fuck you, not rape you.” I let her go, pushing her just a tiny bit to get her away from me. She dives for her comm and hits the quick button for the authorities. Ren is there in no time to cart me off to the detention area. I’m not functioning right. That must be it, because I don’t run, I don’t fight, I just stare at her, not sure why she’s doing this. I was trying to help her. Why is she doing this?

It seems good news travels fast here. I’d only been in this lovely cell for a half hour when Kardec and Hausav came for a visit. They had heard ol’ Ren talking about how he had been right about me from the beginning.

“What happened, Lore? Ren says you attacked Mrs. Draymot.” Hausav had this disappointed look in his eyes. This emotion chip is screwing around with me. It actually bothered me to see that look.

“I didn’t attack Mrs. Draymot. I tried to kiss her but she didn’t want to be kissed it turned out. It’s just a misunderstanding.” I shrugged. They seemed to believe me, which surprises me. I didn’t even have to use one of Data’s “forgive me” faces. I’ll have to save that one for the next time I see Mrs. Draymot, that is, if I see her again. Why does the possibility of not seeing her again bother me?

“You shouldn’t have done that, my friend.” Kardec just shook his head. “She was really burned by that motherfucker she was married to and I don’t just mean with the business. He was screwing around on her all the time. From the way he talked about her, it was obvious Colex only thought of her as a great fuck and a meal ticket. The other women – he would treat them the way he should have been treating her. The guy was definitely missing a ton of blue matter upstairs. He’s married to an incredible woman - hell, a woman most men in these parts would sell their soul to Vucalin for - and there he was fucking around on her. I don’t know if she’ll ever trust a man again after him. Yeah, trying to kiss her was not a good thing.”

“Damn, I wish I’d known that.” That was the truth. I would have tried to control myself better if I had known. Then again, with the way she was looking at me... “Will you guys do me a favour? Will you tell Mrs. Draymot I’d like to apologize to her? Ask her to come here so I can.” When they nodded their agreement, I felt relief. Now I just hope she comes.

Kardec came to see me the next day. He told me he and Hausav spoke to Mrs. Draymot. She told them she would think about my request. He also told me not to hold my breath.

I’ve been in this cell for three days now and Mrs. Draymot still hasn’t come. I’ve had a few visitors besides Hausav and Kardec. Chaz has come by and so has Lis. The one person I want to visit hasn’t. I wish she would give me another chance. I’ll have to figure out some way to get her to come here. At least I have lots of time to think.

I have been sitting here for four days, but I don’t care. I could just break out, but I don’t care. This chip may be ruining me, but I don’t care. I fucking wanted to help Mrs. Draymot and she doesn’t care.

It’s the evening of the fifth day when I hear two sets of footsteps coming my way. I’m expecting the guys - I can’t believe I actually have friends - but it’s not them. When Ren rounds the corner, I frown, but when I see that Kissel Draymot is following him, I jump to my feet. My cell is the kind with a force field and I also don’t want to frighten her again, so after a little display of excitement, I force myself to sit back down.

Ren comes close and tells me I have a visitor. I barely refrain from shouting “No shit, Sherlock.”

He lets Mrs. Draymot come forward, but only moves to the corner. I get angry since she looks nervous and his watching is not helping.

“Why don’t you make yourself useful and get the lady a chair?” I shout. Ren frowns but goes to get one. Once he places it before my cell, she sits and looks up at Ren.

“I’ll be fine, Mr. Willilock. Can you leave us alone, please?” She’s still so polite. Why did I grab her?

Once we’re alone, I can’t think of a thing to say, except for one. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to frighten you.” I’m giving her that sad look I gave my father when he was giving me that lame excuse for not fixing me. I meant it then and I mean it now.

“Why did you grab me?” she asks, softly. Her eyes, those green eyes, they seem to burn into my brain.

“I don’t know, exactly. Something about the way you were looking at me...a little like you are now. I just wanted...something came over me and I wanted to kiss you. I didn’t know,” I defended.

She stood up, looking angry. “You didn’t know what?”

“The guys, they came here and told me about how your husband was towards you. They said he mistreated you. If I’d known I would never have been like that with you.”

“So you’re like that with other women?” she threw back at me.

I stood up, but stayed where I was. “I’m not a nice guy, Mrs. Draymot. Nice and gentle is not in my nature.”

“Then why were you helping me? What’s in it for you?” She is no dummy.

“You want it all? Well, here it is. When I saw you trying to hide your financials, I was sure you were skimming money. I broke in to the yard and in to your office and looked over your reports. I found that I was wrong, but I also found those program errors.” She looked shocked, but didn’t interrupt. “I don’t meet honest people often. I wasn’t quite sure what to do. I decided that I had to let you know about the errors. I had to help you, but I’m not good at helping. So I fu- aah, messed it up and now I’m here.”

“You still haven’t said what’s in it for you. Was this all a set up? Are you working for Crayss Shipyard and hired to spy on me?” Well, here it is. I’ve blown it again. I try to kiss her just once and she hates me and thinks I’ve been sent to ruin her.

“I don’t work for anyone but you. I’d never heard of their shipyard until after you hired me and you can ask Ren, he’ll tell you I’ve never been outside of this township since I set foot on this planet.”

“I don’t think you’re working for me anymore, Lore,” she told me, looking like she had something bad tasting in her mouth.

“You’re gonna fire me? Damnit, I just kissed you. I’m not a spy or a rapist or anything else that you’re thinking. I told you, I wanted to help you, but I’m not good at it.” I was shouting now.

“You also have a violent temper, don’t you? I wanted to slap you across the face when you grabbed me, but I guess being a machine, it wouldn’t have hurt you, would it?” she asked, getting quite hot under the collar too.

“No,” I admit. She gives me this frightened look again.

“Can anything hurt you, Lore?” she asked, growing pale.

“Looking at me like you are, that hurts.” I can feel my bottom lip pout involuntarily. She comes up to the force field and stares at me. I feel compelled to move towards her. She stares at me with those green eyes penetrating again. “Don’t fire me, Mrs. Draymot, please,” I whisper.

She stands there, staring for thirty-eight more seconds. Then, without another word, she turns and walks away. Ren tells me later that she did not drop the charges and I have to serve my full time. My crime is assault and the penalty is seventeen days.

I just sigh, sit back down and return to my waiting.

The guys came over again to try to cheer me up. They told me what was happening at the shipyard. It would seem a few people miss my strength. I just wish Mrs. Draymot was one of those people. I’ve been thinking about her a lot. Mostly trying to figure out why I’m thinking about her so much and why I care what her opinion of me is.

Two more days passed when I see Ren approaching my cell carrying a chair. He sits it in front of the force field without saying a word. A minute later, Kissel Draymot enters. I stand up and move closer to the force field as she makes her way to the chair. After she sat down, she stared at me for what seemed like forever but it’s only seventeen seconds.

“Thank you for coming to see me again.” I smiled cautiously at her.

“I’m not sure why I’m here. I know you’re not a spy for Crayss Shipyard but I still don’t know what you are. You seem to be a massive contradiction and I don’t know what to make of you.” The expression on her face was almost blank. I wish I knew what she was thinking. I’d rather she yelled at me than look at me like that. If she would just show some type of emotion - the way she’s looking at me, it’s the same way Data looks at me.

“I don’t know what to make of me lately either. I wish I did.” I sighed as I pulled the chair in my cell over to the force field. I want to sit so she can look me in the eyes. I’ve heard it said that a person’s eyes speak volumes. Maybe she’ll see something in mine that will help her forgive me. “I wish there was some way I could make it up to you, to show you how sorry I really am.”

“I don’t think that’s possible now, Lore. I’m not sure I could believe anything you say so it’s best if you...” Her voice trailed off as she stared at me. My expression seemed to stop her from finishing her thought. “I-I should go now. I’ve got a lot of work to do.” She stands up and moves quickly away from the cell. I call out to her as she is leaving.

“Mrs. Draymot, please give me another chance. I won’t let you down, I swear.”

She stops briefly but doesn't look at me and then she’s gone.

I don’t know why, but I lost it there. I rip up everything in my cell. There’s not much here, so it doesn’t take long to demolish it all. I look over to see Ren standing on the other side of the force field, shocked and trying to puzzle me out. It’s the most emotion I’ve seen on his face in a while. I’m glad someone will show me some.

“I think it’s time we talked, Lore,” he announces. He’s still looking at the debris that used to be a cot and a chair.

“What the fuck do you want to talk about?” I sneer at him. I’m pissed and in no mood for games.

“Her.”

“I’m sure you’ve been listening. I can hear you move just out of sight. You’ve heard her say the same things I did, so what could you possibly not understand?” I bark this at him. Mrs. Draymot’s chair is still there, so he sits on it.

“Did you attack her or were you just coming on to her and it got out of hand? What really happened?” He has smoothed out his expression and once again wears his stone face. For some reason, it calms me. It’s familiar and it’s been several days since I’ve seen it. He’s been looking at me with contempt recently.

“I fucked up. I swear there was something in her eyes - she had this look...” I can’t say anymore, because nothing I’m thinking makes any sense. I want him to believe me. I need someone to believe me.

“You broke into her office?” he asks, still calm.

“Yes. You need to get her to upgrade her security significantly, Ren. If her competition does decide to spy on her, they could get inside that place without even trying. She’ll listen to you, you need to tell her.” I can’t believe what I’m saying, but it’s my voice saying it.

“Any suggestions on what she should change to?” he asks, blandly.

“You’re the lawman, isn’t that your area of expertise?” I ask. Something about his expression changes and he comes to his feet. He looks at me for another few second, nods and moves to go.

“I’ll tell her, Lore.”

Two days later Kardec and Hausav come back for a visit. They both look like the cat that ate the canary. As soon as the relief lawman is out of earshot, they start talking at once. They’re both trying to tell me the same thing and talk over each other, but I still can understand, with my superior memory and all...

As their garbled stories come together, I hear that Ren did indeed go see Mrs. Draymot. He went over her security with her for more than an hour and then he went with her to her office. Kardec told me he did his best to be near them as much as possible, hoping Ren would say something about me.

His efforts paid off and he overheard Ren tell her she should take me back at the yard. “He said he would keep a closer eye on you and make sure you didn’t get out of hand again,” Kardec said with a gleam in his eyes.

We chatted for a while and the guys seemed sure I would be back at work and joining them at the bar in no time. After they left and Ren came on duty to watch me, I asked him about what Mrs. Draymot said about me coming back to work.

“I have no idea, Lore. I haven’t spoken to the lady, but I would advise you to be on your best behavior should you talk to her.” Ren narrowed his eyes at me and just walked away.

He lied. Why did he lie to me? I could see his pulse rate was up and his respiration. The guys had been telling the truth, but Ren was lying about it. After two days of standing, Ren told me to clean up my mess and had me help him cart the refuse away and bring in a new cot and chair. I still wonder at him for not even yelling at me for tearing up the last ones.

“If you ever lay a hand on me like that again, I’ll have you thrown off this planet, is that clear?”

I jump to my feet at the sound of that voice. I was indulging in a little dreaming, so I was lying on the cot. “That is perfectly clear, ma’am,” I reply coming across to my side of the force field. She’s standing a few feet away, but moves closer when I do. It’s early in the morning and I’m surprised to see her here and not at the yard.

“It almost looked like you were sleeping. Why would you pretend that?” she asks, sounding timid again.

“I don’t sleep, but I can dream. I haven’t dreamt in a few weeks...it was something to do.” As I tell her this, she moves even closer, until she’s right in front of the force field. We’re only centimeters apart. Why does this affect me? What exactly is that chip doing to me?

“I will let you come back to work-“ She pauses here when she sees me grin. “Mr. Willilock will be watching you and you will work at half pay until I decide whether to let you stay.”

“Yes ma’am. When?” I ask. I try not to sound too eager.

“Now,” she tells me. Ren walked around the corner and deactivates the force field. He hands over the money I had on me. Mrs. Draymot leads the way and we all walk out of the detention center together.

I don’t know why but it felt so good to be walking through the gates of the shipyard again. Mrs. Draymot has moved me to a different area for now. For some reason, I miss joking around with the guys while I work but I’ll get over it. I like this new assignment’s location much better. It’s the area outside of Mrs. Draymot’s office. There’s still a lot of physical work involved but not like out back. Since she knows I’m an android I think she’s decided to put me where I can use more of my abilities and where she can keep an eye on me. When I went over to her office to thank her again for giving me another chance, I noticed the new security system wasn’t the only thing installed while I was gone. She saw me looking at the new comm next to her desk and told me it was a direct access link to my buddy Ren. I assured her she would never need to use it because of me.

I worked harder that day than I’ve ever worked before. If she was expecting me to work at half speed because of the half pay then she was in for a big surprise. I wish I knew why I want to please her so badly. I’ve been analyzing more of the procedures around here and I know there are a lot more things that can be done to save money without affecting quality or standards. I think I should wait a little before talking to her about that. I don’t think she would listen to me right now.

The guys came and got me at the end of the day. They wanted to go to the bar to celebrate my return. It feels good to have friends like this. When we arrived, the other regulars kept coming up to me, saying it was good to have me back. Chaz even said the place hadn’t been the same while I was gone. Lis sashayed up to me, grabbed my groin and said it was on the house tonight. I took her up on her offer at the end of the night but it was different this time. I got off just fine but it wasn’t as satisfying as it used to be.

That first week back, I don’t think I’ve ever worked so hard to please someone. That doesn’t really say much since I’ve never cared about pleasing anyone but me in the past. I must have looked like such an idiot when Mrs. Draymot said she had decided to keep me on at the shipyard as long as I behaved. I had the biggest, goofiest grin on my face. What the fuck is happening to me!?

It’s Friday, about twenty minutes to quitting time, when I hear a discrete cough coming from behind me. When I turn, I find Mrs. Draymot standing there. “Can I help you, ma’am?” I ask. Something about those eyes, again. She’s even smiling at me, but just slightly.

“Yes, Lore, I have a job for you that I need completed before you leave. Can you get it done?” she asks, innocently.

I take the work order from her and scan it. It’s not a difficult job, but it will take some time, about two hours, actually. I look back at her and I can see in those green eyes the knowledge she’s asking me to stay late without actually asking me.

“I can get it done,” I assure her.

“If you go over your time, I’ll pay you the normal rate so there’s no need to clock out.” She says this from over her shoulder as she walks back to her office.

The guys come by to get me, but I tell them I have to work late, but I’ll be by the bar later. Vaasic glares at me as he comes by. “You been told to stay, troublemaker?” he asks. I consider breaking his neck, but Mrs. Draymot is just meters away.

“Yes, he has, now see yourself home, Vaasic.” This comes for the boss, not me. Her tone is soft, but demanding. Vaasic leaves, but doesn’t look happy. This makes me very happy.

I’m working right in front of the boss’ office again. She’s let me out of her sight a few times since I came back, but this time, I’m right under her nose.

I pull a burnt out power cell and go to get its replacement. When I return, she’s sitting on the steps leading up to her office. She’s staring at me. She doesn’t look angry or frightened, so I go ahead and replace the power cell. In the next half hour, every time I look, she’s staring right back at me. I can’t figure out if this is good or bad, so I give up and walk over to her.

“Are you dissatisfied with my work, Mrs. Draymot?” I ask, trying to wipe some of the grime from my hands. She looks me dead in the eyes and narrows hers at me.

“Not in the slightest,” she tells me, calmly. She comes to a stand and looks me straight in the eyes. “I still can’t figure you out, Lore. Why are you still here?”

I can’t believe she’s asking me that. “You told me to get this done. You asked me to stay, sort of,” I defend.

“That’s not what I’m talking about. Why are you still working here, for me? I’m working you harder than anyone, I’m paying you half what everyone else makes and I watch you like a Pit’Kon Flyer. Why have you stayed? You could find work almost anywhere for even more than I paid you before.”

I wish she hadn’t asked that. Mostly because I have no fucking clue. “I don’t know. Do you find that entertaining? I could re-write your financial program for you in a hundredth of the time it would take anyone else. I can lift ten times what any man that works here can. I can find you twenty-three ways to save money and run things more efficiently, but I have no fu- idea why I’m still working here.”

“You were going to swear. Why did you stop?” she asks, tilting her head to look at me.

“I’m trying to be nice and not swear in front of you.” I explain with a grimace. I can think of a million lies to answer this and her previous question, but every time I open my mouth to say one of them, it won’t come out.

“You told me you weren’t a nice man,” she reminds me, like I forgot that.

“No, but I’m trying...”

“Why?” she asks.

“I don’t know.” Two in as many minutes. I hate this conversation.

“I find I’m curious about you, Lore. I want to understand you. If I’m going to understand you, you have to be yourself. But without the grabbing me, pushing me up against a wall and kissing me part.”

I sigh at her. “If you hadn’t fought me-“

“No, Lore. Never touch me that way again.” She says this firmly, but she doesn’t look afraid, just uncertain. I pout. I find myself wondering if there is any way I can still touch her at all. I take a step closer and her eyes are smiling, but she shakes her head. “I need that job completed, Lore. Once it’s done, you can walk me home.”

“You’re throwing me a fucking bone?” I ask, grimacing at her.

“For now. I still need to know more about you. For instance, how is it that you’re so strong?” She returns to her seat on the steps and I go back to work, but I explain the answers to her technical questions about me as I do. She seems fascinated and I, for some reason, am flattered. Maybe I should pull that chip out? Or maybe I should find a way to get that woman against another wall.

It didn’t take long to finish the job. Mrs. Draymot had done a little shopping on her break so I insisted she let me carry the bags for her. She smiled as she handed them to me. It’s the first time she has really smiled at me. When she visited me in the detention center she did smile once, sort of, but not like this. Her whole face lights up when she smiles and her eyes - those eyes sparkle even more. What is happening to me?!

It’s a great night to be walking. It’s warm but there is a slight breeze that makes it feel perfect. The moon’s shining in a way that makes the whole area look- Fuck, what type of sap am I turning into? Who cares about the breeze or what the fucking moon looks like. It does look nice though...oh damn!

We walked at a slower pace than we had before. It was nice.

“Where are you from, Lore?” She turned her head to look at me and the way the moonlight hit her face was intriguing.

“I was constructed at a science colony on Omicron Theta.” This conversation already scares me. How do I explain being disassembled and left on a shelf for all those years? Or how to explain floating in space for two years until the Pakleds found me? I can’t tell her the truth but for some reason, I don’t want to lie to her.

“Who constructed you?”

“His name was Noonien Soong. He was a brilliant cyberneticist, for a...he was brilliant.”

“What were you going to say? For a what?” She stopped as she asked me this. Why did I have to say that?

“For a human.” I sort of muttered this almost hoping she wouldn’t hear me.

“Oh, I see. You speak of him in past tense. Is he-” I cut off her question hoping if I answered quickly she would change the subject.

“He passed away a couple of months ago.”

“Oh, I’m sorry. Are you the only android he constructed?” I wish she would stop asking me these questions.

“I have a brother who was constructed after me. His name is Data. He’s in Starfleet.” Please don’t ask me anything more about them, please. Thankfully she didn’t but I think it was only because we had arrived at her home.

“Thank you for walking with me, Lore, and thank you for carrying my things.” When she reached over to take the bags from me, her hands lightly brushed against mine. A sensation I can’t describe coursed through my systems. She smiled at me again before she turned to go inside. That sensation was back. I stood there for fifty-three seconds after she had gone inside. I was going to go to the bar but I decided to just go home instead. I have to figure out what’s happening.

I spent the evening in contemplation, but by morning, I’m no closer to an answer. I actually think I have more mysteries. For example, the expression I’ve seen on Ren’s face lately - speculative, yet hopeful. What is he hoping for? He’s given up trying to hide from me as he follows, but still maintains a discrete distance. When I left the yard with Mrs. Draymot, he was waiting outside. He nodded at us as we passed him, but he caught my eye and gave me a slight grin. What the hell was that about?

It’s morning, but I don’t care about pretending I eat, so I go out and wander around town. I’m not sure why, but I keep passing Mrs. Draymot’s house. I keep hoping she will be coming out, but she doesn’t. After I pass the house for the tenth time, I give up, sit in a shadowed corner where I can still see, but she won’t see me, and wait.

“Why don’t you just go knock?” Ren asks me, seconds after I sit.

“I don’t even know why I’m here, why would I knock?” I reply, not bothering to keep the venom from my voice. My shadow leans against the wall beside me, also out of her view if she came out and looked.

Fate must be smiling on androids today, because just then she does come out. She must have used a back door since she just comes around from the back of the house with a shovel and a bag.

“Well, at least now we have something to watch,” Ren notes, with a soft chuckle. And watch we do. She is wearing a pair of pants that fit her slim frame tighter than the coveralls she wears at work. She still has that hat, but her shirt is short sleeved and actually shows a tiny bit of her cleavage. She is female after all.

“She’s so thin,” I comment, absently. I have no idea why I say this out loud.

“She lost a bit after her husband started fooling around on her. She’s always been small though,” Ren tells me.

“I’m glad the asshole is dead, but if he was alive, I’d kill him myself.” I look over to see Ren hasn’t even flinched at that. “You’d love to get me for something like that, wouldn’t you?” I ask him.

“I think I would have been busy watching someone else that day, Lore. I’m a busy man.” Ren looks down at me and gives me another one of those weird grins. “I think the lady needs help in her garden. Do you know anyone who would be interested in stepping out of the shadows and assisting her?”

I open my mouth to say I have no idea, but I know damn well he means me and I also know damn well I want to help her if it means being closer to her. I still don’t understand why the fuck I want to be closer to her, but I can’t deny it anymore. I sigh with resignation and give him a parting “smart ass” before I step into the light and walk toward the woman who has caused me such chaos.

Her house is a good size and is surrounded by a yellow painted fence chest high. I walk over and lean, resting my arms on it. I watch her, but she doesn’t notice as she kneels on the ground, pulling weeds.

“Good morning,” I say. I have to get her attention.

She gasps a little and looks up. She squints since the sun is behind me. “Lore? What are you doing here?” she asks. She’s smiling.

“You want the truth or the bad guy version?” I ask her, oddly nervous. One question, and I’m in trouble already.

“I think I want both this time.”

“Bad guy – just walking around, looking for trouble. Truth...” Damn, I don’t want to tell her this. “...wondering what my boss does on warm summer mornings.” I also wonder what she would look like waking up in her bed on warm summer mornings, but I manage to keep that to myself.

“I’m weeding and planting. If you’re not busy, come help me.” She points to her gate and I walk over and go inside. She shows me the weeds she’s pulling and tells me about what she wants to plant today. “So what do you think? Where would the prickle bushes look the best?”

“Do I look like a fucking gardener?” I wish I hadn’t said that once it’s out, but I did.

She is not disturbed though and smiles. She lifts a dirty finger and wipes some dirt on my nose, grinning at me. “Now you do,” she says with a chuckle. I can hear Ren laughing in the shadows.

I lift one of my own dirty fingers and streak her cheek with dirt. Damn, her skin is soft. Her eyes, she’s looking at me with that look in her eyes again. I find I can’t help but move closer to her. Why I’m moving closer, I don’t know, but she starts blushing and turns back to her weeding.

“I think we can line the north fence with the bushes and then plant the wisprys flowers by the porch.” She points at a tool, wanting me to hand it to her. I do and after a moment, I go back to my weeding. We work in silence for about fifteen minutes and in that time, I hear Ren whisper for me not to blow it just before he walks away. I wonder if he knows I heard him and what the hell he means.

“Do you see your brother much, Lore?” Mrs. Draymot asks, out of the blue and here I am, back in hot water.

“I saw him when our father died. The old man wanted to talk to us since there wouldn’t be another opportunity to ask him questions. Data and I don’t exactly see eye to eye. He’s good, I’m not.”

“You’re a good worker and a good weeder,” she teases. I grin at this. Why do I feel so nervous yet excited and all I’m doing is pulling shit out of the ground? “What makes you so bad, other than being a rough kisser?”

I blanch at this. “When I was first activated, the colonist didn’t like me. They feared me and I didn’t know why. I was strong, like I am now and I broke things and hurt people without meaning to. They told me I was bad, evil. They petitioned my father to make Data. Data doesn’t have emotions. I do, and after the way they treated me, I hated them. I have this chip now, my father installed it before he died, it’s makes me feel different. I’m not sure if the colonists were wrong, but maybe they wouldn’t still be right anymore.” I feel like a weight has lifted after saying that. I can’t tell her that the colonists were all killed because of me, but I know she can see the guilt written all over my face. I can feel it. It’s been buried deep down, but it’s been getting stronger since I tried to kiss Mrs. Draymot.

“Was the chip a patch of sorts? Something meant to correct a problem in your systems?” she asks softly.

“It was to fill in some blanks.” It’s not quite the truth, but not really a lie. “I’ve felt very different since getting it.”

“Like what?” she asks, putting a pile of weeds in a refuse bag.

“Well, I’ve never had friends before. The guys at work and some at the bar - they even visited me while I was in the detention center. I’ve never walked a woman home before either.” Her eyes met mine after this. I can feel that desire to throw her on the ground and kiss her until she’s screaming, but I don’t want to scare her. I want two things that seem diametrically opposed.

She puts her tools down and turns on her knees to face me. “Kiss me, Lore. Kiss me gently.”

Thrilled, I turn to face her too. I reach out to grab her, but stop myself. She said gently. I reach for her again, but abort the move to grab her by the neck. I try and try, but each time, it’s a grab I stop.

“You don’t know how to be gentle, do you?” she asks, surmising my difficulty. I shake my head in defeat. “I’ll show you,” she tells me with a grin. Lifting dirty hands to take either side of my face, she pulls me closer until our lips touch. I can’t move for fear I’ll do the wrong thing. She moves her lips lightly over mine and I’m awash in sensations.

She pulls back after a moment and smiles. Taking my left hand, she lifts it and puts it on her waist. She does the same with my right. She wraps her arms around my neck and kisses me again. I can do this. I have kissed a woman before, damnit. I can’t believe that I’m not erect, but I am filled to overflow with emotions. Many I’ve never felt before.

I finally do move. I remove her hat and gently pull the band from her hair. Her hair is more blonde than I expected. This time I mimic her movements and take her face in my hands to kiss her again. I could do this all day, I think.

“So, Lore, which do you prefer – gentle or rough?” She tilted her head slightly as she asked me.

“I have insufficient data to be able to make a conclusion at this time,” I replied softly. I gently pushed away a lock of hair from in front of her face before leaning in to kiss her again. Time seemed to be playing tricks on me. When our lips were joined, it felt like time had stood still but when she broke the kiss, my internal chronometer indicated five minutes, thirty-two seconds had passed but it seemed longer AND shorter than that to me. I’m not making any sense. None of this makes sense. What is it about this woman that affects me like this? She is completely opposite of every woman I’ve known, although, in the past, being with a woman was strictly recreational. Kissel Draymot is the first woman I’ve thought about in ways other than sex.

“Do you have sufficient data now?” Her words pulled me out of my thoughts.

“I think I have enough for one conclusion. I have concluded I really like kissing you.” I don’t know why I was embarrassed to admit that. Her smile brightened even more as she caressed my cheek.

“I think it’s time to finish weeding.” I’m sure I looked disappointed but I nodded my head and turned part of my attention back to the weeds. The desire I had to grab her and take her was now completely displaced with a desire to hold her and kiss her. I don’t want to fuck her. I want to make love with her. I know that isn’t going to happen today and for reasons I still don’t understand, that’s okay. I can wait. I wonder what Data would say if he saw me like this? I’m kneeling in a garden, dirt on my face, pulling weeds and smiling. I don’t think Data has ever seen me smile. Smirk – yes but not smile. But then I’ve never really had any reason to smile before.

“You’ve been asking all the questions but I want to know more about you, too.” I need to know more about her.

“What do you want to know?” She turned to look me in the eyes after she spoke.

“You’re a beautiful woman.” She blushed as I said this. “Why do you hide that behind the baggy coveralls and the hat?”

“I’m not. My late husband used to tell me just how unattractive I am. He said-“

I cut her off. I didn’t mean to grab her, but I had to stop her from saying those things. “He was a lying bastard. I even told Ren if the guy wasn’t already dead, I’d have killed him myself for the way he treated you.”

Her expression had changed when she was talking herself down, it changed again when I grabbed her, but she was not afraid of me this time. “You don’t know what he did or said. How do you know-” she starts to object, but I don’t let her say more. She is trying to pull away, but she’ll have to scream for Ren to get me off her.

“I know because I’m at least a hundred times smarter than he was and I say you’re beautiful.” I am not so gentle when I kiss her this time, but I’m not as rough as I was in her office. I can’t believe it, but she melts into me. Her lips part, inviting me in. I want to do nothing more in this world. I kiss her deeply for hours. I swear it’s hours, or maybe it’s only seconds. I pull back to find it was twelve minutes and she’s panting for breath.

“You need an injection of ego, Mrs. Draymot, and I’m fairly sure I have enough to give you.”

She sits back on her feet and laughs at this. “I’m sure you do. When were you talking to Mr. Willilock?”

I smirk at her. “Just before I walked over to talk to you. He followed me here like normal. Sometimes I call him out of his hiding place, sometimes he comes out on his own. Sometimes we talk.”

“You two talked a lot while you were in the detention center, didn’t you? He sure had a lot to say when he came to talk to me.” She has this glint in her eye, but she has more than my attention. I’m still curious about what my good buddy said about me to her. So I ask.

“What did he say that convinced you to let me have my job back?” I ask her. She returns to her digging. We’re making holes for the flowers. She asks about my talking to Ren about her security measures. I talked with him twice about it, the second time, in great detail to get his ass in gear. Mrs. Draymot tells me that the following day, Ren came to the yard and went over everything I told him about, but did not say how he knew until she was almost in a panic over how easy it was to break in. Ren then turned to her and told her he’d gotten all this from me.

“In my office, he told me I needed to give you another chance and to work out my problems with you. I didn’t want to hear that. I wanted to stay angry with you.” She finally looks over and seems timid again. “It was safer to be angry.”

“It was safer in that cell too, except when you came to visit. I wanted to break out of that cell. I don’t know why I didn’t.” Where is all of this coming from?

“You could have broken out, couldn’t you?” she asks.

“If I had fought, Ren wouldn’t have been able to take me there. I could have run after you called him, I could have stopped you from calling him. I couldn’t do any of it. This chip is having an affect on me that I don’t really understand.” I paused for a second. Something she said had me curious. “What problems was he referring to that you needed to work out with me?” I ask.

She laughs. “Maybe it had something to do with seeing you at the detention center every day,” she blushes.

I grimace. “You didn’t.” What is she talking about?

“Do you remember that mirror to the far right of the cell area?” she asks. I nod. It was over in an area I never went to. The exit was in the opposite direction. “It’s not a mirror. It’s a one-way window. I watched you for hours some days, others just for a little while. Mr. Willilock tried to get me to talk to you every day. Sometimes it actually worked.”

I was stunned by what she said. “Why were you watching me?”

“I asked myself that question so many times. Something pulled me there. I needed to know why you did what you did. Mr. Willilock had given me his opinion but I didn’t believe him.” She looked down at the holes and took a couple more scoops of dirt from one. I could hear her sigh softly.

“What did he say to you? Why didn’t you believe him? What did-” She placed her finger gently over my lips to quiet me.

“Too many questions at once, Lore. Slow down.” She sat down on the ground, legs bent, holding her knees against her chest. “Mr. Willilock said he thought you were attracted to me but didn’t know how to express it.” She looked embarrassed as she said this. I was dumbstruck. I just couldn’t believe Ren would tell her that.

“Why didn’t you believe him? Did you think that because I’m an android I don’t feel-” As the words came out of my mouth, they sounded so strange. Why the hell would she believe him. I wouldn’t have. I would have told him he was crazy. After all, I didn’t think I was capable of feeling attracted to someone but it looks like I was wrong.

“No, Lore.” She cut me off before I could finish my last question. “It’s me. I didn’t think anyone could possibly be attracted to me.” Damn, I hate that Colex Draymot.

“Mrs. Draymot-” She keeps interrupting me.

“Are you ever going to call me Kissel? I do prefer to be on a first name basis when I kiss a man.” She had a slight smirk on her face as she said this.

“Kissel, what made you change your mind about what Ren said?” I was still curious as to what he said to her when she was watching me. I still can’t believe that Ren spoke up about me.

“You did. Watching you and listening to you. I could hear some of your conversations with Mr. Willilock but I wasn’t intentionally eavesdropping. And the way you looked at me when you asked me not to fire you and give you another chance. You had this look in your eyes that I can’t describe.” If it was anything like the look in her eyes right now, I understand perfectly. I moved closer to her and lightly caressed her cheek. I then leaned in and kissed her again. I can’t seem to get enough of her kisses. They’re like a drug to me. The more I kiss her, the more I have to, need to kiss her. The sensations that course through my systems as her lips press against mine, our tongues dancing, are like nothing I’ve ever felt before - before I met her. I’m going to have to analyze these feelings again. Yes, I’m attracted to her but it’s more than that. Much more, I think. I have never cared about someone other than me before. How can I figure out what I’m feeling? I’ve got nothing to compare this to. She breaks the kiss and smiles at me.

“We’re never going to finish this gardening, are we?”

“Do I look like I give a fuck about gardening? I just wanted to be close to you. Remember me, bad guy with ulterior motives?”

“So you’ve stayed at half pay and even stayed in a cell you could have broken out of for me, huh - the unattractive, frumpy woman.”

“Yes, it seems that’s why.” I narrow my eyes at her over her choice of words.

“Then I guess I need to start paying you your proper wage again.” She makes no attempt to pick up a shovel or even move from my arms.

“And I have to go over some ways I discovered for you to save money. I’m glad you made the security upgrades, I was worried about that.”

She gives me a knowing grin. “You don’t like admitting that, do you? You’re a loner at heart, aren’t you?”

“Evil men usually are.” I tell her. “I spent over two years very alone. After that I was forced into the company of a ship full of Pakleds.”

“I’ve never heard of Pakleds.”

“You haven’t missed anything. They are the most boring, dull-witted, mean sons of bitches you could ever meet.” I look down at her. A question comes to mind, well, about thirty-six come to mind, but this one rises to the top. “Why is it you want me to be ‘myself’ even if ‘myself’ isn’t a nice guy? I cuss and you don’t flinch. I hold back and you look upset. Why?”

She looked at the ground for a moment in silence. “My late husband, when we first got together, he seemed to be holding back a lot, but he was so sweet, kind and flattering. We got married, but my father never did trust him. Dad owned the yard and wanted to leave it to me since my sister was never interested in it. Even before the wedding, Dad changed his will to stipulate that I could only inherit the yard if Colex was out of my life. The terms of his will had ownership go into a trust and I would be paid a small salary for running it. When Dad died and Colex heard the will, he began not holding back. He was violent, insulting, deceitful...”

“I guess that makes sense. Your late husband just wanted the yard, and was using you to get it. You may not like it, but I will try to be me with you. I still have a lot of questions, but-“

“I really do want to get this gardening done, Lore. We are not going to have time to reveal all of our secrets in one day. It’s hot already and it’s due to get hotter.”

“Go sit on the porch but tell me where you want these?” I instruct her. She shows me where she wants each bush and each flowering bulb. With an unsure look, she tells me she’s going inside for a drink. I decline her offer of one and get to work. At top speed, I dig all the holes and fill them with what she requested. I’m finished by the time she has taken three sips of her refreshment and, as dirty as can be, I come to sit next to her on the porch.

She freshened up while she was inside, but she doesn’t hesitate to touch me, as filthy as I am. I did get my face dirty, though, so I go to the side of the house and use the spigot to clean up some. When I come back to her side, she puts her drink down and takes my face in her hands.

“You did a wonderful job, ‘Mr. Gardener’.” I only have time to grimace at her before she kisses me. We remain clenched in an tight embrace, lips locked, breathing hard until a male cough that sounds suspiciously like this lawman I know, can be heard. Kissel and I look over to see Ren at her gate, but looking at the sky.

“Can we help you, Mr. Willilock,” the woman in my arms asks him politely.

“I’ve come for Lore, Mrs. Draymot. He owes me a favor from when he was staying in my detention center and it’s time I collected.”

“I see,” is all she says to him. She looks back at me and slowly withdraws from my arms. I can feel she’s embarrassed under Ren’s scrutiny, but not because of who holds her. I have no idea what the fuck Ren is babbling about, but I decide to go anyway.

“I still need to go over those things about work, Kissel,” I remind her. I say this so Ren can hear.

“Why don’t you come by tomorrow about this time. I don’t really want to go to the yard today. I’m not in the mood for that right now.” She grins at me. I nod and go to her gate, leaving with Ren. She waves at me from her porch. I find myself looking back at her until we turn a corner, blocking her from my view. I turn my attention to the lawman, noting we are not heading toward the detention center.

“You mind telling me what this is about, Ren?” I ask, irritated.

“Thought I should get you out of there before you got into trouble.”

“I was doing just fine,” I insist. Ren looks at me, but keeps up his measured pace.

“And I wanted to make sure you keep it that way for a whole day, Lore Soong.” Sometimes, Ren does expressionless better than Data. His eyes are filled with amusement right now, so this is not one of those times. I shake my head at him and chuckle. Hell, he’s probably right.

We head to the bar and Ren actually buys me my first drink. We sit at the bar, but Ren leaves after a little while. Kardec and Hausav come in and we take a booth. I feel great, but I don’t mention my activities of the morning and afternoon. I’m not sure why. Later in the evening, Ren has returned, but he sits at the bar alone. Lis comes over and takes Kardec and then Hausav back to her room with her. She comes for me much later, but as I rise to follow, a hand clamps down on my shoulder.

“Ladies and whores don’t mix, Lore. Think this over.” It’s Ren’s hand and his warning.

I took Ren’s advice. I did think it over. Everything I had been told about that late son of a bitch Colex Draymot replayed in my head. The way he treated Kissel, spoke about Kissel but mostly how he had fucked around on her. Kissel and I have only kissed but kissing her - damn, kissing her is incredible. I’d rather kiss Kissel once than fuck Lis a thousand times. I can’t fuck Lis. That would make me as bad as that son of a bitch was. I don’t want to hurt Kissel like he did. Fuck, this is all so new to me. Actually caring about someone other than me. Can I really do that? I turned to Lis and looked her in the eyes. I had no expression on my face as I spoke to her.

“Sorry, Lis, not anymore.” I sat back down at the booth. For the first time since meeting Kissel, I wasn’t the person most surprised by something I said. The incredulous looks on Hausav and Kardec’s faces were in stark contrast to the expression on Ren’s face. He gave me a slight smile, nodded his head at me and went back to the bar. Lis looked like she was struggling to find the right words.

“What do you mean – not anymore. Is it something I did or didn’t do?” She leaned down to try to kiss me but I raised my hand, stopping her. “Lore, why don’t you want to see me anymore? I don’t want to stop-” She had a pleading look in her eyes.

“Lis, please.” I interrupted her before she could say anything more. To me, fucking Lis was a brief diversion. Get in, get off, get out. Lis was making it sound like it had been more to her. I knew she was losing the best fuck she had ever had but she almost sounded like it meant something. “I can’t fuck you anymore - period.” I said bye to the guys and then headed over to the bar. I stood next to Ren but didn’t look at him.

“You made the right decision, Lore.” He said this as he looked down at his drink.

“Thanks for helping me stay out of trouble.” Damn, thanking someone - that’s something I haven’t done much of in my life.

“You don’t need to thank me, Lore. I just made a suggestion. You made the decision.” He took a gulp of his drink before turning to face me.

“Thanks for your suggestion then. Good night, Ren.” I started to walk away but stopped after taking a couple of steps. I slowly turned around, came back beside Ren, looking him right in the eyes. “I’m not Andorian, Ren.” I told him.

“I know that, Lore.”

“I’m an android.” I don’t know why I had to tell him that. No, that’s not true. I did know why. As hard as it is for me to accept, I respect Ren. It just didn’t feel right to not tell him the truth especially after what he’s done for me.

“I’m glad you came clean about that, Lore.” He nodded his head at me before turning his attention back to his drink. I left the bar and returned to my room. I had done the right thing. Probably for the first time but somehow I knew it wouldn’t be the last.

It’s been an eventful week, but I’ve not had the chance to activate my dream program during any of it. I decide with as, I can’t fucking believe I’m going to say this, but as happy as I am right now, my dreams should be great.

Okay, I wish I’d never gotten into bed now. My dreams were not great, mostly. I did dream of Kissel. That part was wonderful. We walked, talked and did a shit load of kissing. I think I must have directed the dream from going any further with her, since I want to do the real thing before I dream about it. I also had a dream about my father. He told me it was a shame he couldn’t have made two chips. He scolded me for stealing the chip from Data.

The last part of my dream was about Data.

I was angry with him for beaming me into space. I was jealous of him for having all those friends and fitting in on that ship of his. I was angry that our father wanted to fix him and not me.

My dream was of Data, sitting alone in that huge lounge on that ship. He looks out at the stars, but is not stirred by the beauty. He hears a group at another table. One person is telling a very funny joke, but Data does not grin at the overheard humor. A supernova sexy woman walks in and, being known to him, she waves and smiles, but Data is not aroused by the possibilities.

My brother feels nothing.

As long as I have his chip, he will continue to feel nothing.

I’ve condemned him to that.

I feel like shit now, but I still want to know what the fuck this thing does to me. I always keep tools with me, so I do some self-tampering. I discover I can turn the chip off and back on again. The first time I do it, I’m worried I won’t get it activated again, so turning it off is a little intimidating.

My curiosity wins out and through hours of study and turning the chip off and on, I work out just what this thing is doing to me. It’s not doing what it would do to Data, since the old man was right and he and I are different in how our circuits are laid out.

I discover that my ethical program is enhanced, my emotional state balanced and my hatred defused. There’s more to it than that, but to explain it here would even bore me. I don’t want to kill if it’s on. If it’s off, I do and I don’t want to see Kissel again or even stay on this planet. The feelings of dissatisfaction get stronger the longer the chip is off, so I don’t dare leave it off for a prolonged period.

All my research has left me with a dilemma. With the chip, I am normal. I’m fixed. I fit in and am making a home? I know without a doubt that if this chip is taken from me, I’ll go back to hating and killing and end up destroyed or taken apart again, most likely by Data’s hands. He will gain emotions in time to hate me.

If I keep the chip I can have, or try to have, Kissel. I have a job, friends. I wonder if I will get to where Ren will trust me and I can add him to that short list of friends? I like it here. I’m not sure I want to stay forever, but maybe for a while. I’m happy. I can’t believe this. This is so shitty. I’m finally happy for two seconds and I find a conscience, so I realize that I’m happy, but at my only brother’s expense.

I have to talk to someone about this. I may lose her in the process, but the logical choice is Kissel. When I show up at her door Sunday, I’m not nearly as sure as I thought I’d be.

It would appear I’m not very good at hiding my emotions. As soon as Kissel opened her door, the smile on her face disappeared and was replaced with a look of concern.

“Lore, what’s wrong?” She took my hand and pulled me inside. I pulled her close, wrapped my arms around her and held her tightly. I needed to hold her. It might be the last time I do. I needed to feel her arms around me. She looked up at me. She looked scared. I knew she wasn’t afraid of me, she was afraid of what I might say. I held her for another three minutes before I finally spoke.

“I need to talk to you about something.” She took my hand and led me to her couch. I tried to find the words to start but there is no nice way to tell her what I’ve done. I guess if she kicks me out that would solve one problem. I could find Data, tell him to take me apart and he would get his chip. I sat there resting my elbows on my knees, my face in my hands for almost five minutes. I finally lean back on the couch, turning my head towards her. She reaches for my hand and gives it a gentle squeeze.

“Take as long as you need, Lore. I’ll be right here when you’re ready.” She tried her best to give me a reassuring smile but I could still see that fear in her eyes. I took a deep breath and let it out slowly. It’s time to get this over with.

“Kissel, I have to tell you something. It’s bad.” That was an understatement. I’m responsible for hundreds of deaths, including my father’s, and stealing this chip meant for Data. If that isn’t fucking bad I don’t know what is.

“Go on, Lore. I’m listening.”

“I’ve told you about some of my past but I’ve left some things out. I’m a fucking monster, Kissel, or I was before I got this chip. I was so full of hate and anger. I only cared about me, how things affected me and I didn’t care how many people were hurt or killed because of that. This chip, it changed that. It fixed me but it doesn’t belong to me. My father made it for Data. I stole it, hurt my father and left him there to die.” I pause for a moment to look in Kissel’s eyes trying to get a hint of what she’s thinking. “I’m responsible for the deaths of the colonists on Omicron Theta. I told the Crystalline Entity where to find them. I was disassembled before it attacked but I was still responsible. Data found me, reassembled me and how do I thank him, I contact that damn Entity again. If Data hadn’t stopped me by beaming me into space, I would have been responsible for the deaths of every person on that starship, too. After two years of floating through space, the Pakleds found me. I had been aboard their ship for a little while when my father activated a homing beacon to bring Data to his lab on Terlina III. He didn’t know I had been reassembled until I walked through the door. While he was taking a nap, I deactivated Data, traded clothes with him and my father installed the chip in me. After having the chip for a little while I knew something was happening to me but I didn’t know what. It wasn’t until I discovered I can turn it off and on that I realized that with it on, I‘m fixed.” Kissel was so quiet and expressionless as I talked. It scared me. I wanted to know what she was thinking, what she was feeling about me.

“There’s more, isn’t there.” I nodded my head and continued.

“I don’t know what to do, Kissel. This chip belongs to my brother. He has no emotions without it. Part of me wants to give it back to him. I hate that I’ve taken away his only chance to have any fucking emotions.” I turned to look her in the eyes again and whispered. “But if I give it back to him, I’ll be that evil bastard again. I don’t want to be like that again.”

I take her hand in mine. Don’t pull away, don’t pull away, don’t pull away, I silently beg her. “I’ve never experienced so many of the things I have here. I have actual friends. People who fucking smile when they see me instead of run or scream.” I turn to face her more directly. “I’ve had sex, but I’ve never had-” How to explain this? I lift up our hands and give hers a gentle squeeze. “I like this. Without the chip, I would have never given you a second look or I just would have kept going in your office - screaming or no.” I feel the shame in that, but I can at least feel.

“I can’t fathom that Data has never even experienced this.” I give her hand a second squeeze, but she looks so pale. Here it is. I knew it. I will never shake my past and it’s ruined what I have with her. She’s terrified and wants me to leave, but is desperately thinking of a way to get me out of her house without my killing her. She now knows she harbors a murderer.

“You should contact him, Lore,” Kissel says softly. She slowly pulls her hand from mine and I feel frozen inside. It’s a good suggestion, though, but...

“He’s in Starfleet. He’ll race over here on that starship and take me in.”

“This is a non-aligned world, Lore. The Federation has no jurisdiction here. Talk to Ren. I’m sure he knows someone who can help you send your brother a message without giving away your location.”

“You hate me, don’t you?” I ask.

She finally looks me in the eyes. She looks forlorn. “I didn’t know any of this, Lore. It’s not easy to accept.” She touches the back of my hand with a finger. “I know you’ve changed a lot since you got here, but some things still have to happen first. It will take some time.”

I pout. I don’t want it to take time. I want her. “How long do you need? Do you think you can forgive me?” I ask. I want to know now if there’s no hope.

“It’s not a matter of my forgiving you, Lore. You have to work through this and forgive yourself. Speak with Data. I think he can help you with that. He may be the only one who can. There may be penance. If he asks it, you will have to pay. If you need to talk, I’ll be here.”

“But no kisses?” I ask, still pouting.

She grins and touches my face. She leans in and kisses me. It’s such a sweet kiss, but I somehow know it’s the last one I’ll get until I talk to Data. She asks if I still want to go to the yard and show her the changes. She says I don’t have to if I don’t want to. I can’t believe her selflessness. I’ve just confessed to being a fucking demon, but she’s putting my needs above hers even now.

We go to the yard. She is astounded at all the things I show her. She threatens to give me a raise and promote me, but I refuse. I want to be a help, not a burden. Maybe that can be part of my penance, I think to myself.

Talking to Ren will involve some admittance of my indiscretions as well. I feel like I have to bare my soul to everyone today.

Data.

I get away from him and I still can’t get away from him.

Ren tells me Chaz is the communications expert. Ren has a comm system, so Chaz lets his assistant take over at the bar and comes to the detention center with us. Between Chaz and me, we set it up to where it would even take my dear brother a week to trace this call.

Once the links are all established, Chaz and Ren leave me alone to face my past. Data has been told he has a communication. We couldn’t use my name so we used a fictitious one that will mean nothing to him, but it will get him to the comm.

I wait, plagued with doubt. Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea. What if the relay system does transmit its call letters? The screen change interrupts me.

The same face I see in the mirror is staring back at me. It’s almost expressionless, but for a little shock.

“Lore,” Data says, stunned. He looks ready to fight, and I can see him punching commands into a console.

“Don’t bother, my brother. I’ve taken precautions in this contact. Even you won’t be able to find the source.”

“What do you want?” He’s still entering commands. I bet he’s trying to see if I have a ship nearby.

“I’m far from you, brother. I’m nowhere near striking distance and I don’t want to strike. I just want to talk, Data.” I can’t be insulted that he looks doubtful. I’ve never just wanted to talk before and Data is not stupid.

“What did you wish to speak to me about, Lore?” He’s stopped entering commands now. He either realizes he can’t trace this communication or he already has.

“I have a problem - a big problem - and it affects you. I need you to tell me what to do and...I need your forgiveness, Data.” I practically whispered those last words although with Data it doesn’t make a difference. What’s the point of whispering around someone with superior hearing.

“My forgiveness?” Data’s expression is now one of great shock. I think I’ll be seeing a lot of that expression during this conversation.

“It’s the emotion chip, Data. The effect it has on me is different from what it would give you. Damn, this is hard to say. It’s changed me, my brother.” I paused trying to collect my thoughts. This is even harder than I thought it would be.

“How so?” I can see the mistrust in his eyes. I deserve it but it still hurts.

“Soon after father installed it in me, I could feel something was different about me. It was changing me, Data. I discovered I could turn it off and on so I decided to experiment. I needed to find out what it was doing.” I paused again, letting out a sigh. Data just looked at me, puzzled. “When the chip is turned on, it fixes me, Data. It’s strengthened my ethical program. It eliminates all of the anger and hatred I felt. I don’t want to hurt anyone anymore. My life has done a complete turnaround since I came to this planet. I have friends for the first time in my life. This will knock you over, Data, but I’m even building a friendship with the local law enforcement officer. And there’s someone else I’ve met – a woman - a good woman. She’s incredible, Data. I still haven’t figured out what my feelings for her mean, but I’ve never felt this way about anyone before.”

Data tried to say something but stopped each time. He had an incredulous look on his face. He was trying to process everything I was telling him, trying to reconcile it against the Lore he knew.

“You indicated this affects me, Lore. How so?”

“I’m feeling guilty, Data. This chip fixes me but I’ve deprived you of your only chance to experience emotions. If you want me to, I’ll turn myself in to you. You can disassemble me and take the chip but you would have to promise me that you will not reactivate me without it.”

“Why?” He was still having a hard time believing anything I was saying and I understood why perfectly.

“I don’t want to be that evil, lying fiend again, Data. I’ve done so many terrible things that I now regret. I don’t want to be like that ever again.”

“I need to think about what you have said, Lore. If I need to speak to you again, how can I contact you?” I wasn’t sure if he was asking me that so he could speak to me again or whether he was trying to find out where I am so he could take me into custody. I knew there was only one way I could answer his question. The only way that would show him that I have changed.

“I’m on Alexis IV, Data. Use that information however you wish. I won’t be leaving here now that I’ve told you. I don’t want to leave.”

He asked me a few questions about what I was doing on Alexis IV. I told him about working at the shipyard, about meeting Kissel. I answered every question he asked me - truthfully. Once the communication ended, I felt relieved. Now I just had to wait. Wait to see what Data would do.

I’ve been walking Kissel home every night now. She lets me kiss her once before I leave her, but she knows I’m still unresolved and frustrated at Data’s silence. I have visited Ren to scan comm traffic for signs that Data’s coming to take me in, but nothing so far.

I decided to tell my friends that I’m expecting a visit from my brother, who looks exactly like me. I tell everyone to help my brother if he asks for me or about me. I also emphasize to them to answer his questions truthfully.

Ren and I talk about security for Kissel. If I’m taken in and if Data shuts me down, I want Ren to look after her. I want him to be her close, personal friend in that case. Ren agrees. He doesn’t tail me anymore, he walks with me. We talk a lot now. I’ve even found out a little about my quiet friend. He is also a widower. He lost his wife on another planet and moved here to forget the past and the pain. He doesn’t say it that way, but I think I’ve become fucking intuitive.

ML_ASSTR