RP for haughty_alpha

[empirical_data]

Who: Data | Kerr Avon | The Seventh Doctor
What: The Doctor uses his TARDIS to allow Avon into Data's mind, and not only save him but see how much Data cares for him.
When: At the end of Lore Plot.
Warnings and Notes: Continued from here...

Data had finally gotten to a particular leather clad android on his dreamscape, a strange piston churning away in the exposed portion of it's head.

Seeing the man at odds like that was a bit disconcerting, unsettling, and again he was left to wonder why. The other 'androids', rational embodiment of his failing memory in his subconscious, worked at reconstructing the broken "village". All of it one continuous symbolism for the damage Lore's machine had done to him. It had nearly collapsed his systems. The destroyed village his net. The android citizens his memories. The cool weather the difficulty his power systems were having keeping up.

This android was a symbol of someone that he couldn't quite remember yet, but somehow knew he needed to. He settled cross-legged in the rubble, pulling his upper half into his lap so he could tend to the damage. Gold eyes remained intent on the individual, expression only flickering when bits of memory burgeoned up.

And then the android woke, pulled away, and stood. Data was left with a mixture of elation and horror, noting the very organic looking arm left laying not far off to the side, and he put his hands over his head. Pale fingers dug into his hair. Eyes clenched shut, every mechanical muscle tensing.

He needed to fix more of the androids. He couldn't right then. Not with that horror fresh in his mind.

~*~*~

After taking Lucy to the clinic, Seven had returned to the TARDIS, knowing that he'd left his friend right then. And he'd sat there, sticking near the ill android, knowing most of the technicians in the village were preoccupied with the unfortunate victims of the assault.

It was what his former self would have wanted.

When he noticed some disturbance in Data's net on his monitor, he decided to go and retrieve the man that had meant the most to the android. He wasn't aware of his condition yet, but when he couldn't find the man in his room, he made his way to the clinic unaware of the extent that Lore had made him suffer (and even if Avon was unsettled by the Borg, the Doctor had enough experience with invasive nanobots and Cybermen to make educated guesses on how to deal with the situation).

Comments

[empirical_data]

He did feel it, and it surprised him. Not quite like his own, more organic. Human. He could feel it though, and even with this hateful form he could focus on that and not what he had to do.

"He makes me the most uncomfortable..." he admitted, though he began to work on it.

The further he went, the more memories he recalled. This man throwing acid at him to get him to change into something he found more appealing (or else be naked). Him threatening to kill people to keep Data obedient. Showing him off like a prized possession. Punishing him for disobeying...

Then there was hate. The one man Data truly did hate, even when he didn't understand what hate was. The one he was willing to kill had the Enterprise not interfered...

[haughty-alpha.livejournal.com]

Avon had been wrong...this was hatred, and he wondered what this man could possibly have done to make Data react that way.

"Who was he?" he asked, softly.

[empirical_data]

He shut his eyes, attempting to reign in that emotion before he refused to finish the work at hand.

"His name was Kivas Fajo. He wished to add me to his collection of rare and unique items... No other person has treated me more like a person than this individual. I nearly killed him for vaporizing the only individual who had been kind to me during my incarceration."

[haughty-alpha.livejournal.com]

Avon's jaw tightened at the thought of Data being kept in a presentation cabinet, like an automaton in a museum. "You almost killed someone out of - anger? Vengeance? I didn't know that. Under the circumstances it was entirely understandable." Avon would have done it without a second thought. "But you stopped yourself?"

[empirical_data]

"I did not. I was beamed out while the disruptor was firing... And then I lied to my Commander and said firing had not been my intention."

He was ashamed of this. Deeply so, and it was a strain to keep working on this memory. "You once asked me if I ever expressed a need for violence beyond the need to defend myself. I confirmed this to be five times... This is the one time that I actively wanted an individual dead."

[haughty-alpha.livejournal.com]

"I see," Avon said, quietly. For once he was lost for words. Eventually he said, "I understand why you wanted to kill him. He kept you in a cage, Data, and he killed someone important to you. There's nothing to be ashamed of."

[empirical_data]

"I find that it is... I did not even have typical emotions. I should not have allowed myself to be driven to that point." Still, with some effort he managed to fix Fajo, who stood and walked off to join the others.

There, he was sustainably repairing. Even with those memories, he was going to have his chance to get away. To make new ones.

[haughty-alpha.livejournal.com]

"Everyone has a breaking point," Avon said, softly. "It's human, Data."

He watched the Fajo-android walk away, sliding his arm around Data's shoulders. "Is it over?" he asked. "Are you all right?"

[empirical_data]

"...I believe I will be..." he looked up at the sky overhead, now a lot clearer, his memory of the Enterprise casting a shadow over some of the buildings.

Probably the only way Avon would ever really see it. Then again, Data would never see the Scorpio or the Liberator. "And you?"

[haughty-alpha.livejournal.com]

Avon looked up at the ship too, studying it for a long moment. Then he turned to Data with a grin. "I'm always all right," he said. As long as Data was safe, it might actually be true.