RP for
haughty_alpha
What: Data discusses Lore with Avon.
When: After discovering Lore was present within the village, and he attacked the Fifth Doctor.
Warnings and Notes: Relating to Lore Plot at
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The covers creased in as Data sat on the side of the bed, once again watching Avon contentedly sleep and trying to draw comfort from it. Though this time, he only found anguish and worry.
Data had been, in the blink of an eye, completely invalidated and proven untrustworthy. All of his hard work to prove that he wasn't simply a machine, that he'd risen above his parts and that other machines could as well, undone by a man that wore his face.
He'd debated considering him a brother, for a while. Lore had done nothing but betray him and wound him. But the simple fact was that, even with B-4, there was only two Soong-Type androids that could have been considered functional. Lore and Data. And one could not always choose their family, just as any human would know.
But this human laying there, this very important human, needed to know just what a danger that brother meant. That he had to be suspicious of his own fiancee.
Gently, Data put a cool hand on Avon's shoulder and leaned in. "Please wake up, Avon, I have something I need to talk to you about."
Comments
"He used to tease me about my interest in the sciences. The other children at school thought I was strange, so my brother simply refused to talk to me in public - he always referred to me as 'the freak' or 'the embarrassment'. I was forever conducting little experiments...I set the sitting room curtains on fire once. And dissected a dead rat on my parents' bed. I didn't kill the rat, you understand, I merely found it in the rubbish disposal area outside our accommodation complex, and was curious about how it worked. My parents were not pleased, as you can imagine. They thought there might be something wrong with me. But my brother wouldn't have that; he insisted I was curious rather than destructive, that I hadn't meant any harm. He said I was a genius, and the family must make allowances because I would make them all a lot of money one day, pull them out of the gutter. Frankly I can't remember now whether I intended any harm or not, but it pleased me to know that my brother would stand up for me, despite all his teasing. He made it clear that day that he was proud of his weird little brother, after all."
He gnawed his lip for a moment, gaze distant. "But of course, that wasn't enough when the time came for me to leave. He never forgave me for abandoning our family."
"I am sorry that you did not get to know him better," he said, shifting to rest his hand against Avon's chance. Against his strong pulse.
"I would have liked to have met your family... I have also sometimes contemplated attempting to return to your universe, to finish what you would have been unable to. Do you know what happened to your parents?"
He tilted his head. "You have?" Something about the idea sent a prickle down his back. "Why would you want to do that?"
He shrugged. "I tried to find information about them, later in my life, but there was little to find. People like them slip through the cracks. I imagine they met the fate of most Deltas...they lived, they worked too hard, they died young and poor. My parents were not like me. They were honest people. I sometimes wonder how my brother and I turned out the way we did. Frustration, I suppose. We both thought we were better than the lives we had been born into - deserved better."
He squeezed Data's hand. "You want to put everything right. It's admirable, but the unpleasantness of my universe isn't your problem. Frankly, it isn't mine anymore, either."
"I now... wish I knew what happened that first night after you left. He must have been somehow aware of my circumstances."
Avon pursed his lips. "He has an accomplice, I suspect. And I have a feeling I might know who it is. There is only one person in the village I know for sure wishes us both harm."
Data worried. He immediately suspected Travis, as Travis was the only one who didn't like either of them notably. But he had hoped that Travis was working on redeeming himself.
Especially as Glitch had become so fond of him.
Because Data was right; he needed proof. And he needed to know where Lore was. If Avon's hunch was correct, Travis could provide both pieces of information.