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From: lskywa@aol.com (LSkYwa)
Newsgroups: alt.startrek.creative
Subject: REPOST: Affinities (TNG, Data/f, R) 2/10
Date: 3 May 1996 10:49:12 -0400
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Affinities (A Data Story) (2/10)


 USUAL  DISCLAIMER: All rights on the characters introduced  in
Star Trek, The Next Generation, belong to PARAMOUNT, except the
characters  specially invented for this story.  This  story  is
written  for  adults beyond the age of 18.



(2)
 Only  the  yellow  grid, and a disgusted Ltd.  Commander  Data
remained   with   her  in  the  holodeck  after   the   scenery
disappeared. He was obviously waiting for an explanation.

 "Could  you please tell me what you are doing here?" he  asked
calmly, but the cold undertone in his voice frightened her. She
was sure that this escapade would have consequences. "Would you
please  accept  my formal apology", she started, noticing  that
her voice was trembling.

 "Cover  yourself  first", he demanded. She realised  that  her
clothes  were  still laying where the imaginary Data  had  left
them  and  grabbed them, slipping quickly into the overall.  If
she  had been a command officer with a read one instead of  the
blue  of  the  science officer, her face would  have  perfectly
matched the colour of the uniform now.

 "Ensign  Morris, I'm seriously considering the possibility  of
reporting this to your superior! You know that it is absolutely
forbidden  to replicate crew members during holodeck  sessions,
except  with their explicit approval. I cannot remember  having
given  you such approval, and as you know, my memory banks  are
absolutely reliable."

 He  seemed to be not so much concerned about the topic of  the
session, but about the simple fact that he had been part of it,
no matter what his role was like.

 "Sir... Would you accept my formal apology and refrain from  a
formal report? Just this one time, make an exception, please!"

 The  smile that grew on his face seemed almost malicious,  for
a  short  moment she thought it was Lore's. "I  could  make  an
exception, but I have conditions."

"What  conditions?" She could not help, but she did  not  like
that look on his face.

"You  were  starting  a quite nice game before  I  entered.  I
would like to play this game, too, but by my rules."

 "Sir? Are you feeling all right?"

 "I've  never  felt better. I've collected about 453  different
human  emotions  so far, but a few are still missing.  I  would
like to share these emotions with you."

 "You mean... love?"

 "I'm  not  talking  of love!" he snorted in disgust.  "I  know
that  it's  a  basic human concept, but it's often linked  with
different feelings, such as power and fear. I think fear  would
be  a new, interesting aspect." He came to her with a few rapid
steps  and  seized  her  by  her left  arm,  with  a  hard  and
absolutely  uncaring grip. "Ouch", she cried, "you are  hurting
me!"

 "Yes,  I am", he said, with that strange smile she did't  like
on  his face. "I remember the time when I killed that Borg  and
met  Lore.  I  know  that  it  was  wrong,  but  it  was  still
captivating."

 "You  won't kill me, will you?" she asked anxiously. She  knew
that  none of her self defense training would have helped  her.
He  was much stronger than any other crew member. And she would
not  be  able  to  break metallic bones.  More  than  ever  she
realised at that very moment that he was in fact a machine, not
a human being. And machines could suffer malfunctions.

 "I  won't. My systems are working properly. I know that  I  am
not  allowed by my ethical program to do you any serious  harm,
at least not more than to any other person aboard this ship. So
would  you please accompany me? There are surely other  persons
who want to use the holodeck, and we won't need it."

 She  didn't say a word. When they had left outside, she  would
have the opportunity to escape.

 "Don't  even  think  of it", he warned.  "I  can't  read  your
thoughts, but it's easy to guess that you would be thinking  of
trying to get away from me. This is an order."

 They went through the corridors, side by side, but he did  not
touch  her. He had instructed her to go to her quarters. Nobody
realised that they had a common destination.

 "Computer,  lock  the door", he said when  they  had  entered.
"Secure with priority code Data, Alpha 1." Nobody else would be
able to open it now. He looked around. "Nice quarters, maybe  a
bit in disorder. But that was exactly what I expected."

 "What  you expected?" she asked in astonishment. "Why did  you
expect that?"

 "I  have been studying you for a while", he said, stroking his
chin   with  his  fingers  and  looking  her  over.  "You   are
definitively  not a typical Starfleet member.  I  am  wondering
what you are looking for."

 "Adventures", she replied. "You might be right: I  don't  like
military  discipline  too much, and nor was  I  among  the  top
cadets in my class at the academy. But Starfleet's the only way
to travel with a Starship like this. It's a wonderful ship, and
I am proud of being part of it."
 
 "I  see." He paused for a short while. "Well, well, that is an
interesting topic, but for the moment, I am interested  in  ...
other things." He pressed her towards the wall, fixing her arms
with  a  tight, unrelenting grip. "Try to defend yourself",  he
invited  her. "Can't you put this evil expression out  of  your
face?" she asked. "You look a lot like Lore!"

 "We  are  twins,  remember?"  he said,  lifting  his  eyebrows
knowingly.  "We have much in common." She tried to  escape, but
there  was no chance. He reacted too quickly and precisely,  as
she already had expected. She was going to be a prisoner of the
abilities  that  had  fascinated her so  much.  "Get  off  that
uniform", he whispered softly. She hurried to undress before he
could  rip  it  off. "What about you?" she asked  then.  "Who's
giving  instructions?" he snapped. She realised that  his  soft
attitude  had been that of a cat, ready to change her mood  any
moment.

 The  next  moment  he kissed her, a wild,  fierce  kiss,  much
different from the kiss in the holodeck. This seemed  to  be  a
conquest, not a simple encounter. She gasped when he  paused  a
while,  trying to get her feelings under control. To be honest,
she  never had wished her fantasies to become reality.  Reality
was  a hard thing to control. You'll never know what might come
out of it.

 She  realised that without willing to she started to like  the
way  he treated her. There were feelings arising from the  core
of  her  body, feelings she would never have talked about.  Her
tongue  started to discover his mouth, dancing with his  vivid,
warm, absolutely natural tongue. When she gave him small bites,
he  cried out in surprise. He realised that he was able to feel
pain, too. And he realised that she enjoyed the procedure  much
more than he had intended.

 He  decided to adjust his penis size to a higher level. As far
as  he  could estimate her body, she would be able to bear  it,
and he wanted to make sure she would feel him thoroughly. "What
about  your  virginity?"  he asked then,  quickly  opening  his
uniform.   "You've  been  watching  the  whole  program",   she
suspected.  "What about accessing my personal  records?  Didn't
you find the answer there?"

 "You  are  right", he stated. "It was not true. You  have  had
experiences, but if I interpret your records properly, most  of
your  experiences  have been unsatisfactory."  "You  must  read
minds",  she  said resignedly. "Not really. But, as  I  already
told  you,  some things are easy to guess. I've learned  a  lot
about   humans  in  the  last  years.  You  have   such   great
expectations...  But  I'm sure you won't forget  this  time.  I
haven't  decided yet the ritual I'd like to carry out: Klingon?
Maybe  not.  Does not seem to match your physical capabilities.
Ferengi? Neither. Your ears do not fit..."

 "Data,  you're  driving me mad with this deliberations!  Can't
you just stop thinking and simply do what you want?"

 A  heavy push reminded her that she was still not the  one  to
make  conditions in this game. "You are right. I'll do  what  I
want." He carried on, kissing her neck, the small hollow  above
her  clavicle, making her shiver again, but not for  fear  this
time. She was only waiting for him to start biting her, sucking
out  her  blood like a vampire. Maybe this was the  imagination
she loved so much about this caress.

 But  he  left  her  alive, lifting her easily  like  a  ballet
dancer  and  suddenly entering her, much earlier than  she  had
expected. She was surprised to notice that she was totally  wet
already and was not hurt by his remarkable size. He smiled,  as
if  he  still could read her mind. "I have adjusted it a little
bit for you." The next thing she realised was a real difference
between human males and androids: Humans were not able to  move
their  most  precious component in so many ways and  directions
than  he  did.  Dr. Soong had invented much more  than  just  a
simple image. Holding their position with one hand, he used the
other one to please the girl, touching her exactly the way  she
needed, as if he knew exactly what a female body feels.

 This was the first time she had no extraneous thoughts in  her
mind.  She was living just for the moment, feeling his  strong,
warm  body, wishing this moment would never end, filled up with
joy and sweet pain.

 His  moves became more fierce, nearly nailing her to the wall,
making  her scream, floating away, losing her mind.  This  time
she  realised that she really had missed it - but how does  one
miss a thing one has never really experienced that way?

 She  found  herself  crying, beating him, sweating,  breathing
deeply as if she was running and at the same time shivering and
freezing,  like  having  a  bad flu.  Reality  was  fading.  No
thoughts  left,  only  vague pictures,  much  better  than  the
deepest drunkeness she ever had. In the past she had tried some
exotic  drugs, but this was no comparison to the most intensely
physical experience she felt now.

 Data  had  his  eyes  closed, sweating  too,  most  unlike  an
android. His mother might have been happy to see him that  way,
but  he  did not waste a single thought on her at that  moment,
nor  on anything else but the sheer pleasure he felt. This  was
somehow  different  than  the  times  before.  This  girl   was
different.

                             * * *
                               
 When  Lavinia  woke up, she thought it had  been  a  dream  at
first. But then she saw the clothes on the floor near the  wall
and  remembered. She looked around. Nobody was  here.  She  was
lying  in her bed, everything was as usual, except the clothes.
She  got  up,  took the clothes and touched the  chirping  comm
badge: "Morris to Data."

 "Data here."

 "Hello Data. Why did you leave?"

"Leave?  Excuse  me.  I  do not understand.  I  have  been  in
Engineering all night."

 "You have - what? But who has been here then?"

 "I don't know. It surely hasn't been me."

 "If  it hasn't been you....? He looked like you, he spoke like
you, he behaved... no, he behaved a lot more like Lore..."  She
was just thinking aloud, but that was enough to alarm him.

"Meet  me in Ten Forward", he said sharply. "I'll see  you  in
ten minutes."

                             * * *
 Data  had  ordered a strange drink Guinan had recommended.  It
had  an  awful taste, but he didn't seem to mind. He looked  at
her curiously. "Tell me what has happened."

 She  blushed.  This  was  not a good  place  to  discuss  such
things.  "Data,  I  would prefer not to  go  into  details.  It
involved  an intimate encounter."

 "And  you  thought it was me?" He didn't seem to be concerned.
For  him, it was just another lesson in humanity. He smiled,  a
warm  smile  that made her shiver. It felt as if small  needles
were  pricking her whole body. "Well... yes. I thought  it  was
you. But he wasn't very gentlemanly. Something was wrong. If  I
didn't know that Lore's dead..."

 "Actually,  he's  not dead. He just needs to  be  reassembled.
But  how could anyone have done that? We have sealed the alcove
where his parts are kept. You did not notice when he left?"

 "No. That was the reason why I called you."

 "We  have  to solve this riddle. Take care. If he comes  back,
don't  show him that you know who he is. Try to find out  where
he has been hiding. Try to gain time. Keep him busy."

 "You  are  asking a lot", she said. "I'll do what I  can,  but 
I'm not sure if he won't realise that I know who he is."

 "Do  me  another favour", he asked. "You did not want to  tell
me what has happened, but maybe you could show me?"

 She  looked  at  him  as  if  he  was  insane.  "You  did  not
understand!"

 "I  did.  And I want to show you the difference. I  just  want
you to be sure that it wasn't me."

 Again she looked at him, trying to find out his thoughts  from
his  face.  His  golden eyes were piercing her with  a  strange
look,  investigating, but also caring - and  very  curious.  "I
think  curiosity is a thing that links us together", she  said.
"But, please, don't talk about it."

 "I  think  now  I  understand Tasha's words..."  he  wondered.
"Come with me to my quarters."

                             * * *
                               
 Spot  was curled up and sleeping. Lavinia had wondered whether
there  would  be  a bed in Data's quarters, as he  didn't  need
sleep. But there was one.

 "Do you sleep?" she asked.

 "Yes,  I do. I wouldn't need it, but I love the experience  of
dreaming.  Dreams  bring  me closer to  feeling  like  a  human
being."

 "And what about food?"

 "I  can taste it now. My body also can process it. But I still
don't  need  it.  I  use  it  for social  purposes  -  and  for
enjoyment, sometimes."

 "What about love?"

 He  sighed. "I'm still uncertain about that. I have  tried  to
feel it, but it doesn't work."

 She  smiled brightly. "You can't make yourself feel love.  The
expression  'falling  in love' is quite right.  It's  something
that  happens, but you can't control it. You can't  choose  the
person  you fall in love with, nor the time or place.  It  just
happens  to you. You can't even stop it from hurting you,  when
it happens."

 "Love hurts?" he asked. He remembered Tasha's death. But  then
he  wasn't able to feel. Did he love Tasha? Could he  love  her
now? What about this girl? Did he love her? He listened inside.
Why  did  he  ask  her to come here and to show  him  what  had
happened  last  night? He even didn't know her really.  But  he
meant  to know that she was feeling something for him.  It  was
something in the way she looked at him, something he knew  from
Jenna. He sighed in his thoughts. He had tried his best to be a
good  lover  for  Jenna, but it was not  enough  for  her.  She
sufferred from his lack of feelings. Now she was married -  and
seemed to be happy. Feelings were so cursory.

 "Data?"  she  asked, hesitating. "I don't want to  misuse  you
for  a  dirty little fantasy. I wished it only had been a dream
and Lore wouldn't have found out about it."

 "Didn't you like it?" he asked.

 She  took  a deep breath, but smiled then. He still  had  this
childlike  naivity. Sometimes he didn't even know what  he  was
really  saying.  "That's not the point, Data.  It  just  wasn't
right. It shouldn't have happened."

"You  mean, you have been facing a side of yourself you  would
prefer to hide?"

 "Exactly." She grinned when she recognized this as one of  his
typical  expressions. "Everybody has such hidden features,  and
some  of  us  can hide them better than others. These  features
were  incorporated in your brother. Normally we bear  this  two
sides in one body. We are everything, the good and the bad, the
angelic  and the evil. It depends on us which side is stronger.
And our whole life is a struggle between both sides."

 "Wait  a  moment",  he said, hurrying to his computer  console
and  doing  some  enquiries. "That's what  I  had  been  afraid
of...",  he whispered then. "I knew that it would be impossible
to  reassemble Lore without my help. I knew that something  was
wrong  with  the  story. I was not in Engineering  this  night,
according  to  the  reports.  And  this  leads  to   only   one
explanation."

 "What?", she asked, alarmed.

 "It  wasn't Lore", he answered sadly. "It was me. Another  me.
I don't yet know exactly how it could happen, but I assume that
Lore  had been bearing this emotion chip too long and left some
of  his emotional signatures in it. And now they seem to  break
out, without control."

 He  sat  down,  burying his head in his hands. "I  don't  know
what else is going to happen. I might be a threat for the whole
ship now..."

 "The  Jekyll/Hyde syndrome", she stated, surprised by her  own
calmness. "Do you remember anything that has happened tonight?"

 "I'm  trying to", he replied. "It's like a fading dream,  hard
to  remember. I'm not familiar with such experiences.  Maybe  I
try  to protect myself by forgetting about it. It frightens  me
that I am not able to control it. I will have to call Geordi to
deactivate me until they can remove that chip from my head."

 "Calm down", she said softly. "I think it's nothing more  than
a  new experience. You will have to learn how to deal with this
feelings.  You have to accept this part of yourself. Don't  you
think  you  should talk to the Counsellor before you  let  them
take the Chip out?"

 He  looked so desperate, so helpless. She could feel his  pain
as  if  it  was her own. She approached him, carefully touching
his   shoulders,  trying  to  transfer  some  confidence.   The
reflection  of their two faces appeared on the glossy  computer
screen.  Their  eyes met in the reflection. "I  will  try",  he
promised. "I won't run away. Starfleet Officers don't do that."

                             * * *

CONTINUED NEXT MAIL
(c) 1996  lskywa@aol.com

*** SkY iS tHE LiMIt ***