~ Epilogue ~

-six years had passed since the events on Omicron Theta. Noonien Soong was dead. Juliana Soong was dead although no one knew it but for a few members of the crew of the USS Enterprise. An android Juliana eventually had left Noonien, remarried and was living out her life on Atrea IV. Lore had been re-assembled and disassembled. The pain and anger he had experienced had changed him to the point where he was virtually unrecognizable to anyone who had known him during his time with Kendra. Data, having been repaired but with no memories of his previous life, had been left on Omicron Theta when the planet came under attack by the Crystalline Entity. He reactivated when found by the crew of the USS Tripoli. Along with no memories of his own, he also had no emotions and he would not have emotions again for another thirty-five years. Data had joined Starfleet and was now happily the second officer aboard the Enterprise-E. He had very limited knowledge of life on Omicron Theta. The personal logs and journals of the colonists had been downloaded into his memory but there was no mention of him in any of them. His “mother” provided him with a few glimpses into that time when the Enterprise-D had been sent to Atrea IV to help avert a natural disaster. Nothing, though, could have prepared Data for the information he had received while attending a science conference on Pacifica.

When Data had returned from the conference, he had immediately gone to Captain Picard to request he be relieved from his next two duty shifts. He had some personal business that needed his urgent attention, he explained. He then went straight to his quarters, secured the door and sat down at his computer terminal to review the contents of a message he had received from a retired chemist he had met at the Pacifica conference. The message had contained the personal logs and correspondence of a young cyberneticist whose work he was unfamiliar with as well as a plea for him to contact the elderly doctor after he had viewed them, which he did. He then sat for two hours fifty-four minutes going over the information he had been given. Finally, he knew he had to speak to someone about what he had learned.

“Data to Counselor Troi,” he said, after tapping his comm badge.

“Troi, here. What can I do for you, Data?” the voice replied.

“I am in need of your guidance regarding a personal matter. If you are available, would you please come to my quarters.”

“I’ll be right there, Data. Troi out.” Deanna Troi rushed to her friend’s quarters. She knew this had to be very important for Data to ask her to come there. He had never asked her to come to his quarters to discuss a problem before. He would always make an appointment to see her in her office. When she rang the door chimes to his quarters, Data immediately granted her access but secured the door again once she was inside.

“Please sit down, Counselor. I hope you can forgive me for taking you away from your activities. I am very much in need of your counsel as I have been given information regarding my past that is not what I expected.”

Data proceeded to tell Deanna how the science conference on Pacifica had started out like any other conference. It was not until after a ceremony honoring the lifetime achievements of a renowned chemist named Dr. Marla Reison that Data discovered this conference would be like none he had ever attended. Dr. Reison had asked to meet with him after the ceremony. He did not know why but had felt honored to receive the invitation.

“What did Dr. Reison want to see you about?” the counselor asked.

“She began to tell me about her daughter, Dr. Kendra Reison. I did not understand why until she explained that Kendra, Dr. Reison had been quite insistent that I call her daughter Kendra, had worked with my father on Omicron Theta until her death,” Data started.

“Was she killed by the Crystalline Entity?” Troi inquired.

“No. Her death was due to an electrical shock. Dr. Reison said it was the reason why I have no memories of my time on Omicron Theta. She had been repairing me when an electrical current was discharged from a diagnostic computer, going through her body into me. My memory engrams were all destroyed. My father repaired me but when the repairs were complete I had no memories of my own...and no emotions.”

“Data, she told you you had emotions when you were created?” Troi gasped.

“Yes,” he answered. “She then told me she wanted to send me the correspondence Kendra had sent to her and her late husband as well as Kendra’s personal logs. She said she had never watched the personal logs, that she could not bring herself to do so.”

“Did she tell you why she wanted you to have these, Data?”

“She is dying. She is afraid when she dies no one will remember Kendra and that thought is worse to her than her own death.” Data paused for a moment. “I have watched everything Dr. Reison sent me and I have since spoken to her again. It has been a very upsetting experience, to say the least, as what I have discovered contradicts everything I had believed to be true, especially about Lore.”

“Lore? How is Lore involved in this? I thought he had been disassembled before you were created.”

“So had I. According to Dr. Reison, Lore was not disassembled until after Kendra’s death. Her death had affected him so deeply...the pain and anger...changed him. He had been in love with her. When I watched Kendra’s logs, she indicated Lore and I had been extremely close. We were real brothers yet I have no memory of those times.” Data paused again. “When I joined Starfleet, I believed Geordi was the first person to accept me for who I am, but Kendra was the first ever to accept me. She was my teacher, my friend, my lover yet I have no memories of her.”

“Data, may I see some of the entries in the logs? All of this is so unbelievable. It may help me to better understand if I could see them.”

“Of course, Counselor. There are many portions I wish to keep private though, if you do not mind.”

The counselor agreed so Data pulled a chair around his desk so they could watch together. The first thing Deanna noticed was how beautiful and full of life this young woman had been. Data played portions of several log entries, stopping them when they became too personal. He also shared two pieces of correspondence Kendra had sent her parents. The first had been sent two weeks after her arrival. She had wanted to introduce her parents to her two favorite men. Deanna gasped when the smiling images of Data and Lore appeared on the monitor. The second piece of correspondence had been sent less than an hour before her death. Lore’s image was on the screen with Kendra as she appeared to be sitting on his lap while she told her parents she was going to be leaving Omicron Theta with Lore. They were going to come to Pacifica for a visit. The way they looked at each other it was very obvious they were in love.

Both Data and Deanna were silent for several minutes after viewing the entries.

“Data, do you believe and accept this information to be the truth?” Deanna broke the silence to ask.

“Yes, I do,” he responded. “I am very grateful Dr. Reison shared them with me. I feel I have been given a part of my life back.”

“When I arrived you told me you were very upset by what you had learned. Why are you upset?”

“I am upset for two reasons. The first reason being I was robbed of so many wonderful memories, of relationships that were very dear to me. Thirty-six years ago I lost someone who was very special to me but I am only now able to mourn her loss.”

Deanna could see the pain Data was feeling. This was only the second time she had seen tears flow from his eyes but the first time had been tears of joy.

“Data, it is understandable that you are feeling this pain, not just for losing Kendra but for all that you lost when you were damaged. I want you to come see me tomorrow so we can start grief counseling. I think it will help you to deal with your losses.”

Data nodded. “Thank you for coming, Counselor. I needed to talk but now I feel the need to be alone.”

“Of course, Data.” Deanna stood up and began to leave Data’s quarters. She was almost to his door when she stopped suddenly and turned back to Data. “Data, you said there were two reasons you were upset but you didn’t tell me what the second was.”

Data took a deep breath before speaking. “Kendra’s death had been ruled accidental when, in fact, it was not. I was told the identity of the person who was responsible for Kendra’s death and my damage. Dr. Reison did not tell me how she came about this information but I believe it to be true.” He paused for a moment. When he resumed speaking his voice was filled with more anger and disgust than Deanna had ever heard. “My mother murdered Kendra.”