The Complication

Datalore - Part One

With the Captain joining the away team and their knowledge of what the Jarada could do, Tasha had insisted on taking it along as a precaution.

However, now that they had returned, she needed to check it back into the Security office.

"I'm just going to swing by the office," Tasha said, catching Data's hand on the way out of the lift.

"And then you would like to spend the evening with me?" Data asked hopefully.

"Yeah," Tasha assured him with a grin.

Data gave her a short nod and they parted ways.

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When he returned to his quarters, Data carefully removed his dress uniform and returned it to the garment reprocessor.

He opened his wardrobe and felt a rush of excitement.

With Captain Picard giving them the rest of the afternoon off, Data now had an extra six hours in his day for recreational pursuits.

And Data intended to take full advantage of that time.

Even though the mission to the Jarada had required concentration, a significant portion of his neural net had remained occupied with thoughts about his holodeck experience.

More importantly, he was fixated on how that experience impacted his own goal toward becoming human.

Data still considered his goal to become human his primary ambition. However, he was beginning to recognise that achieving that goal may take a different form.

It was true that he may not look precisely human or share in the same cultural experiences – but that didn't mean he was incapable of sharing in the 'human experience.' Data had a career. He had obtained an education and carved out a path for himself in Starfleet.

He had friends.

And Tasha.

More than anything he had a need to know that he was not alone in the universe.

Data wanted to experience a sense of belonging.

He suspected that was part of his desire to have a family. Thoughts of procreation had taken root in his system since his earliest days.

And he wanted to understand why he was found on Omicron Theta, who had created him, and for what purpose he was created.

Data was hopeful that he was not the only one of his kind in the universe.

Inside, Data suspected that he may never know the answers to all of those questions. The probability of discovering other android beings was unlikely.

In the back of his mind, Data was also leery.

He considered that he had been, perhaps, outcast from his people. In some ways, Data's nature seemed so contradictory to his own design. His strength, agility, and intelligence made him a formidable being. Yet, he was gentle by nature.

There were times Data wondered if he had been constructed as a weapon – even though his programming prevented him from having such malicious intentions.

Data realised that it may take years – decades or centuries even - for Data to find the answers he sought.

For the present, he was going to focus on continuing to enjoy and explore the aspects of humanity that he wanted to regardless of what anyone human, hologram, or otherwise thought.

During the Jarada mission, Data had resolved that he would not let one bad holodeck experience turn him away.

Data finished his note and pinned it to the garment on the hook that was attached to the wall.