Subject: USS Grail: 'Last Look Back' - Sisters Under The Skin Part 2

USS Grail: 'Last Look Back' - Sisters Under the Skin Part 2

by

Lt (jg) Eve Mallory (Chief Science Officer)

&

Lt. Commander Janice Hargen (Chief Engineer)

Location: Science Lab 4 & Eve Mallory's Personal Quarters

"Curious, if I were organic, yes." Eve replied. "But I'm not."

She turned. "Computer, download Personal File: Mallory

zero zero one and display on main screen."

[Acknowledged]

The large screen on the far wall lit up with data. Eve turned

back to Janice. "That's what I am."

Janice stepped forward to read the screen. At first, she

didn't know what she was looking at. The pages upon

pages of technical schematics astounded her. Without

a word, she began scrolling through the display. All her

exhaustion melted from her. Everything disappeared...

she didn't even realize Eve was still standing there

anymore.

*My God,* she thought incredulously. *This is.. amazing

... completely astounding.* She was in awe. Her eyes

flicked from one diagram to the next, continuously

memorizing and analyzing everything. It was fantastic.

Janice staggered suddenly, gripping the terminal. The

meaning of all these schematics suddenly came to her.

The display froze, its constant scrolling down halted.

"You... you aren't human." It was all Janice could manage

to say. Her head was spinning. She was in shock.

"The Official term is Replicant," Eve replied. "And I am

human, just not the same as you or anyone else." The

note of bitterness was plain in her voice. She *really*

didn't like the look of Hargen. The woman seemed to be

about to pass out.

"My God... all this time..." Janice murmured. She

lowered her head, her long hair tumbling down her

shoulders. The room was spinning around her. She

squeezed her eyes shut, trying to control it. There was

so much to think about. So much she didn't realize that

she should have.

Again, she was hit by a realization. It almost knocked

her to the floor. She had finally found a kindred spirit.

Someone that was like her. Almost. But someone that

knew what it felt like to be so... different. Her throat

closed up on her. She couldn't breathe. Through her

whole life, she had been alone. No one to empathize

with her. She had spent her life... jealous of everyone

else, everyone who didn't realize what they had. Just a

single, 'I know how you feel.' It would have made Janice

the happiest person in the universe. And now she

thought she had found it.

Janice looked up at Eve and ran a hand through her

tangled hair. "I..." She didn't know how to say it. She

took a deep breath. *Actions speak louder than words.*

"Eve, this is where I hid the positronic network." With

a quick jerk of her wrist, the flap on the side of her head

pulled open, revealing the complex circuitry of her mind.

Her android mind.

-------

Eve blinked in astonishment. Of all the possible

explanations, this was the one that simply hadn't occured

to her. Hargen was an Android. And obviously

considerably more advanced than the Data or Lore

models she'd read up on. But that still left the most

obvious question unanswered....

"Your're an android," She said after a moment, frowning.

"Well why didn't you just *say* so, instead of all this

secrecy, for god's sake?" She shook her head. "Why send

Lirzinji'kav out of the room?"

Janice blinked. "Because I hate what I am. I don't want to

be looked upon as a... freak. To be tested upon and be a

guinea pig for the rest of my life. To have people treat me

any differently than they would if I was one of them. If I

had a flesh and blood heart in me rather than a... stone cold

one." Janice's words were so bitter, so harsh that it brought

tears to her own eyes. She turned away, determined not to let

Eve see her upset.

Eve stared at the woman in front of her. That last comment

had stunned her; it could have been her during those long

three months at the hands of Starfleet Science.

But it still didn't make any sense. Why would Janice care one

way or another what was done to her? She was built in a

lab, her functions tested to see if they were correct. Unless

she'd been fitted with an emotion chip like Commander Data

and it had done this to her. Perhaps she was part of a new

series of android built to pass for human even from each

other or themselves. But that didn't explain her reaction or

her attempt to keep her status a secret.

"Janice," she said gently, reaching out to put one hand

on her shoulder. "I must be missing something here, so

I'm hoping you can help me understand."

Janice turned, her eyes were bright with tears. Another

surprise. "What?" she murmured.

Eve guided her to a chair. "Sit down, you look like you're

about to..." She paused, then shrugged "... pass out for

want of a better term."

Hargen sat down in the chair with a sigh, and slumped in the

seat. She didn't want to seem so weak and tired in front of Eve,

but she couldn't fight it anymore. It was too exhausting to

even stand. She did, however, manage to stop the flow of

tears that ran down her face. It was the least she could do.

"All right," Eve said crouching down so she could look into

Janice's face. "You say you don't want to be looked at as a

freak, or a test subject." She smiled. "I can understand that;

I just spent three months being poked and prodded by

Starfleet Science." She closed her eyes for a moment. "They

even tested my sexual responses." Her voice cracked on the

last word, and she struggled for control. "But you're an

android; there's nothing unusual about that. From what I

understand, The Federation Flagship has one as it's

second officer, and I wouldn't be surprised if there aren't

one on each ship soon. Why would anyone think you

were a freak, or lock you up in some lab for testing?"

"Because that's what they did to my sister." Janice's answer

was pure and clear in the still room. She stood and walked

away from Eve. She didn't want her to see the emotions she

felt towards Kaya. Some of them weren't proper for one to

feel towards her half-sister. Like anger and hatred. She

cleared her throat and continued.

"Ensign Kaya, now serving aboard the USS Defender as

Chief of Security. Pathetic waste of her talents, if you ask

me. I believe she was just promoted to Lt(jg) in fact. It's a

wonder how." Her voice was filled with sarcasm and scorn.

"Kaya was taken away from Dr. Reginald Mandan... our...

father..." Her voice choked on the last word before she could

get control of herself again. "Not much of a father to lie to

his daughter," she murmured distractedly. The anger she was

feeling gave her the energy to leisurely walk around the room.

"Once she was completed, Starfleet got thier grubby hands

on her and put her into testing. They tested everything -

formed her into the perfect little Starfleet officer they wanted

her to be. They wouldn't let her see anyone but thier little

lackeys, and Mandan for certain repairs. The few times I did

get to see her, she was just so insanely perfect and sweet it

drove me nuts. I don't want to let Starfleet turn me into her.

I'm my own person. I swear, the only time she did assert

anything she wanted to do was when she went into security

instead of engineering or science, like everyone wanted her to

do. A stupid decision anyway."

Janice shrugged and finally turned back to Eve. "I don't want

anyone to change who I am. It's not up to them. And I want

to get the same opportunities other people get. Not to have

people hate to serve under me because I'm a machine. You

mentioned that the flagship had an android as a second officer.

LtComm Data, you were right. But he once commanded a ship

under extreme circumstances. I researched it, curious as to

what happened. There was close to a mutiny. Who would

want to serve under a machine? I have the respect of my

officers - I refuse to lose it now. I worked to hard to get it in

the first place." Janice's voice, which had begun quietly and

bitterly was now strong and full of conviction.

Eve listened to Janice, watching her as she paced about the

room. She was thinking hard. Janice's story was highly probable,

but it raised questions. Dr Mandan had obviously created

Janice secretly after Starfleet took away his first android. And

he'd just as obviously done one hell of a job, surpassing Soong's

work by a whole order of magnitude. Janice felt and looked

real, her emotions were real, and for goodness sake, her tears

were real. She also seemed to feel tiredness and exhaustion,

as her current behaviour suggested. A suspicion began to dawn.

Was Janice Hargen as free from influence as she believed she

was? Her 'sister' may have made her own choices, but had

Janice.

But now was not the time to ask that question. Perhaps later,

when Janice was more rested, and not so upset.

"Janice, "She asked quietly. "Did you always know you were

an android? Because I have never seen or heard of any android

who could feel tiredness, or emotion or felt as completly human

as you do."

Janice shook her head. "I didn't find out till Starfleet Academy."

She swallowed and tears swam in her eyes. "There was an

accident, and..." She stopped, unable to continue.

Eve came up to her and squeezed her shoulder. "It must have

been a shock." Remembering how it had felt when she'd

discovered where, when and what, aboard the Nova. Shock

was one word for it.

"Understatement," Janice replied with a shaky smile.

"Same here," Eve said. "Both times."

Janice looked up. "What do you mean?" Her eyes were

swimming with the exhaustion she was feeling, but she

wasn't so exhausted she hadn't caught that last comment.

Eve shook her head. "If you weren't an Android, I'd say you

were tired, exhausted and running on adrenalin. You need

some R & R, Janice, and I think you know it." She smiled.

"When you are rested, we can have a long talk about

anything and everything, OK?" She squeezed the other

woman's shoulder again. "Just remember, you aren't alone

any more. Neither of us are." Her voice wavered on the last

sentence, and there was a note of disbelief and supressed

happiness in it.

Janice was only able to stare at Eve in shock. *It's true.

I've finally found someone who understands.* Her lower lip

trembled, despite her best efforts to control it. "God, thank

you, Eve," she whispered, the tears running freely down her

cheeks now. Without even realizing it, she enveloped the

other woman in a hug, making her arms shake with emotion.

"Just one thing." Eve said. "Do you have a file with your

tech specs? It'll save me pestering you with a ton of

questions." She saw the look on Janice's face. "I promise you

I won't reveal it to anyone, OK? And I'll talk to Lirzinji'kav as

well, make sure that he doesn't tell anyone."

Janice wasn't sure what to say. She had never entrusted

anyone with the isolinear chip that contained her specs.

Never. She stared at Eve, searching her eyes. She finally

decided that she had found what she was searching for in

her eyes and reached into her own positronic network,

removing the chip. Her hand was shaking as she stared at

the hated chip for several long seconds before handing it

over to Eve, trembling. Not a word did she say. She had to

trust someone. Finally.

"Now go get that rest. I'll be around when you want to

talk; I don't need sleep."

Janice nodded, unable to say anything else. She laid an

arm on Eve's and turned to leave, trying to steel herself for

the next part of her day. There was to be no rest for her,

no matter how reasonable it sounded. She still had a meeting

with Epic, two ships to repair, and a cloaking device to

integrate. She prayed she could make it through. The

discoveries that she had made today had changed her life

irreversably. She was no longer alone in the universe. She

had someone.

--------

Eve watched the doors hiss closed, and flopped back into

one of the chairs, staring down at the chip in her hand.

She'd have to put this somewhere safe. And she knew

just the place.

Back in her quarters, she opened her small luggage chest,

and pulled out a small box, with a thumb-print lock on it. She

opened it, put the chip inside, and closed it again, activating

the lock. It would be safe there. Now to talk with Lirzinji'kav

about keeping quiet about the whole situation.

"Computer, locate Ensign Lirzinji'kav." She asked, removing

her ruined jacket and putting on a new one. The old one lay

in a crumpled heap on the floor.

[Ensign Lirzinji'kav is in the computer core]

Mallory left her quarters, heading for the turbo-lift.

<>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>><<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<>

Jason Cleaver & Vivian Salib

Lieutenant (jg) Eve Mallory

Chief Science Officer: USS Grail

argo@easynet.co.uk / ICQ Number: #4194684

A bus station is where a bus stops. A train station is

where a train stops. On my desk I have a work station...

"Great, she's a toaster oven. Can we go now?"