Trekkies United: Going Boldly

Matrix's somewhat shy smile broadened a little at that, and his eyes brightened noticeably. "Thank you; that means a lot, actually," he told her earnestly. It was often quite difficult for him to tell just how accurate to human behavior he was, well, behaving, and to hear that he was doing well was reassuring. He nodded. "Yes, the intertwining of time and space certainly makes things more difficult, I would imagine," he agreed. It didn't really affect his internal chronometer - though his perceptions of the passage of time did waver depending on how he was feeling, he was still able to tell exactly how much time had passed in any given span - but he knew that humans and other organic species didn't have such a thing. He brightened further as she mentioned her free time. "Actually, yes, I do," he said happily. "Do you have any plans?"

"well, no, actually. it takes me a while to get settled every time I have to move, and it's mostly the fault of others," she admitted, her blush still remaining. "I didn't...well, it's sad but I didn't really figure on having any friends to hang out with, so I was just going to try and relax with a book or something. I really don't like most holodeck simulations. for me, they're...just too fake. I know those people aren't real, you know? since I can feel others' emotions, I'm never able to forget that it's just a simulation." she shivered slightly. "it's... a bit unnerving."

Matrix blushed a little again, as well. "Yes... I didn't really count on having any friends, either," he told her a bit sadly. "And, to be honest, it's a bit difficult to entertain yourself when you're an android. I can read an entire book within just a few minutes, and most holodeck programs are too simple to complete. I just figured I would keep working in medical during my free hours - at least there was that option here. Things weren't so simple on Earth - you can't exactly take a biology course during all hours of the day." He paused, considering her last words. "Yes, I would imagine that would feel a bit... odd," he said. "My father had to deal with a similar problem before he received and was able to install his emotions chip - empaths and telepaths weren't able to read him, and some said he felt... hollow... to them." He paused, frowning slightly. "I am grateful that I never had to deal with such things."

"I'm grateful too." she finished her food with about 2 minutes to spare and set down her spoon. "although, being unable to read you might have still attracted me, since I'm fairly fed up with being influenced by others all the time." she shrugged, uncertain. "anyway...I don't know. do you have any ideas?" she bit her lip and said, "I'd love to hear some firsthand accounts of the Enterprise, if you don't mind sharing. you could talk about your father and the others who helped raise you. didn't you mention a betazoid among the crew?"

Matrix shrugged as well, equally as unsure. While he could see how being unable to read him could be a relief for her, he could also see how it could be unnerving. At her suggestion, he brightened again. "Oh, yes, of course," he told her cheerfully. "Deanna Troi is the Betazoid I mentioned. She's the ship's counselor, and is also half-human by her father. Then there's Geordi, my father's long-time best friend, who's a bit like an uncle to me, and Acara, their other good friend, who is a little like an aunt. Dr. Crusher taught me all I know about medicine, and Captain Picard is always a source of wisdom and advice if you need it..." He babbled on a bit about some of the other members of the crew, happy to talk about his family aboard the Enterprise and glad someone was interested enough to listen.

this time it was brianna who noticed more that the bell had sounded, and got up, listening to him babble cheerfully as she dumped her tray and led him to a lounge like area between their two sets of quarters. he was so easy to keep happy, like a fully sentient pet. she had been planning on asking more about this deanna troi woman, since she was much more like her than she had originally thought, but the first question out of her mouth was about the engineer geordi. she had heard of some of the advances that had come from the Enterprise, and surely he had to be responsible for some of them...?

Matrix only barely noticed as the bell sounded, though he realized more fully once Brianna got up. He got to his feet as well, following her as she led him down to the lounge and taking a seat as he continued talking. "Geordi - well, Lieutenant Commander La Forge - is a brilliant engineer," he told her as she asked more about him. "He's revolutionized several advances in warp drive and overall ship performance over the years, and has gotten the Enterprise out of countless dangerous situations. He's creative and quick-thinking, and extremely knowledgeable."

"wow, he sounds like quite an amazing man," brianna said, leaning forward in interest. "I would love to pick his brain and learn about all the things he's done." she turned a bit pink and clarified unnecessarily, "I really do like engineering, it's not just to get away from people! machines of all kinds fascinate me--er, I don't mean you, though, I don't think of you as a machine at all, you're a person, like me--" she should really stop talking and digging herself deeper...

Matrix's eyebrows rose as she began to dig herself a hole, the corners of his mouth twitching slightly. Finally, he held up a finger for silence, grinning at her amusedly. "You really need to stop doing that," he told her with a slight laugh. "I've told you, it doesn't bother me if I intrigue you - rather the opposite, actually - though it is nice to know you don't think of me any differently than a biological organism. Humans fascinate me, but that doesn't mean I view them as lesser beings - again, to the contrary. I admire humanity greatly. It is possible to acknowledge that someone is different and still respect them as an equal."

she turned a bit redder as he corrected her again about her assumptions that she had offended him. "sorry...it's just...not how I was raised. living in a rural area of earth, there really wasn't any diversity. I'm just not used to it, even after a year in academy I try to avoid talking to other species because I'm terrified I'll just put my foot in my mouth and offend someone really badly." she looked at her knees for a moment, by now her vibrant hair and cheeks seemed to be competing for how bright a shade of red they could be. "I don't ever want to offend anyone, but least of all you. I would absolutely hate to lose a friend when it's so hard to make them in the first place." she looked back up, meeting his bright green eyes with her black ones. "promise that if I ever do offend you, you'll tell me so I can fix it? and don't think you can cover it up, I'll know if you do."

(I thought her hair was black? xD Or did you decide you liked red better?)

Matrix nodded, giving her a softer smile. "I promise I will let you know," he said, "though I really don't think it will be necessary. Even people who are less than accepting of my differences do not really offend me, per se - mostly, it just saddens me." His smile dissolved as he thought about the cadet with the burned hand Brianna had brought to the medical bay earlier that day. He tried to shake it off, but the feelings of uncertainty lingered. Putting on another genuine if now slightly pained smile, he added, "It's nice to know that you consider me a friend already. I would be lying if I said the feeling wasn't mutual."

(oh yeah I did write black. hmm, well, it's probably best she looks less troi-like anyway )

she nodded, then quickly decided to change the subject, finally asking about the counselor he'd mentioned. "the ship's counselor, you said she was betazoid too, half with her father being human like me?" she looked hopeful about something. she literally worked in brianna's nightmare field and surely she wouldn't do that if she hadn't learned to control how her emotions interacted with those of others...? she needed to learn these secrets!

(Dangit now I've gotta rewrite my mental image Okay )

Matrix nodded, a little relieved she'd changed the subject. "Yes. Unlike you, she grew up on Betazed. Her father died when she was only seven." Seeing her hopeful look, he guessed that perhaps she was wondering about the counselor's empathic ability, and how she'd learned to control it. She had asked if he could investigate ways for her to reign in her abilities earlier in the day, after all, though he hadn't had time to do any research yet.

"oh, so she was raised there instead of earth," she scratched her chin, still leaning forward and not seeming to notice or mind the proximity. "that must have made a big difference in her upbringing, I can't imagine. my father was going to stay too, with my mother, but..." she stopped again, biting her lower lip and sitting up to look around. there was no one close to them in the lounge and she knew his ears were good enough that they wouldn't be overheard. "...my mother died in childbirth. dad says he nearly lost me too." she said this in the barest whisper so only matrix could hear, and no one else. she didn't want people knowing. it made them pity her and she hated it.

(Bleh, sorry, power outage. x_x')

Matrix was about to respond when she continued in the barest of whispers. His eyes lit with surprise, quickly followed by a frown of sympathy. "Oh... I'm sorry to hear that..." he murmured back quietly, realizing by her behavior that she didn't wish to be heard. Well, he supposed, in some slight way, he could understand, just a bit - he'd never had a mother, either, after all - but then again, his mother hadn't died. She'd never existed in the first place. It had to be much harder to know that one's mother had died, but you'd never gotten a chance to know her.

(that's okay, been ridiculously busy. today was a surprise "kidnapping" / game night)

"it's okay. it doesn't hurt, I never knew her. but sometimes I wonder how life would have been different..." she sighed and shrugged. "it's my dream to get to visit betazed one day. I don't know if I might even have family there still. my father never mentions any grandparents or other such relatives, and he doesn't have any living relatives himself. for all I know all the living family I have is him...but that seems unlikely, you know?" when she looked into matrix's emerald eyes once again, she finally realized how close she had gotten to him and straightened up with a blush and an embarrassed cough. "a-anyway...how about some lighter topics?"

(Well, game night sounds fun, but a "kidnapping" doesn't... xD)

As she was talking, Brianna had gradually leaned closer and closer to him, to the point where he was feeling slightly uncomfortable about it. He leaned back slightly, his emerald eyes unblinking and trained on her in bafflement. As she blushed and coughed in embarrassment, his puzzlement grew, as did his own embarrassment, his own cheeks turning slightly more gold. "Yes, that... would... probably be a good idea," he agreed awkwardly, trying to think of something, though nothing immediately came to mind. "Uuuumm… Well... I guess I could keep talking about the Enterprise, though I feel like I've done quite a bit of that already," he finally managed, frowning a little in skepticism. He wasn't sure if she would want to hear any more - he didn't want to talk about himself too much.

"well, how about you tell me about your father? and I can tell you more about mine," brianna suggested, tucking some of her hair behind one ear like a bit of a nervous tic. this time, she knew, she had made him uncomfortable. had it been her topic of conversation, or her unfortunate proximity? she never liked being that close to anyone! what had gotten into her just now? "you said his name was Data, right? is that why you have the name Matrix, so they're both math-related?"

Matrix nodded, swallowing. "Yes, Data. I'm not sure why my grandfather named him as such, though I'm sure it had a good deal to do with the fact that he is an android. As for me... well, my father let me choose my own name. I wanted to be just like him, even in appearance - it was all he could do just to persuade me to take a different eye color so others could tell us apart." He gave a slight laugh. "I called myself Matrix so it would follow a similar 'theme' to his name - Matrix, as in 'positronic matrix'."

"a positronic matrix?" she repeated the odd phrasing thoughtfully. "that's just a myth, isn't it? from all my study such a thing couldn't exist, or if it did it would never be stable...?" her thick eyebrows furrowed together over her black eyes. "so he looks just like you except eye color? what color are his eyes then?"

Matrix nodded. "For a long time, it was thought to be impossible, but Dr. Noonian Soong managed to bring his dream to life, quite literally. It took several failed tries, but finally, my father was created, and his positronic matrix was stable. Really, the two of us are quite lucky - even my father failed the first time he tried to create a child, and it was quite 'touch-and-go' for both of us for a while after our activations..." His eyes dimmed slightly with sadness, but he did his best to push it away, focusing instead on her final question. "My father's eyes are gold."

she looked down at his words and the sadness that came with them. "so you should have had an older sibling too?" she murmured softly, not so much a question as an observation. she didn't hear the soft chime indicating it would soon be time for lights-out, nor did she notice the other cadets getting up to leave the lounge area. she looked up at matrix again, imagining him with gold eyes instead, but...she really couldn't do it. those green eyes were his, and they suited him well, and my, they were pretty...

"Yes," Matrix affirmed in an equally soft tone. "My sister, Lal. Starfleet tried to take her away, as they did with me, and the resulting stress caused her to develop an emotional response, despite her not having an emotions chip. It caused a cascade failure of her neural net, and as hard as my father tried to save her, he could not, and... she died." He looked away sadly, only just then noticing that the lounge was very nearly empty, and the last few cadets present were getting up to leave. "I guess it's nearly time for us to head to quarters," he noted with surprise. "I did not notice the time was passing so quickly..."

she gave him a sad look and reached to pat his shoulder gently, thinking better of it at the last moment and getting distracted as she realized he was right, that everyone had left. "oh...I guess I didn't notice either. well...I'll see you in the morning. I don't know if your supervisor will let you treat me, or if she will insist on doing it herself, but it doesn't matter much to me. it's pretty unpleasant regardless..." she stood and offered a tiny smile. "you can join me for breakfast, but don't expect me to eat lunch. I'm usually pretty sick for the first 24 to 36 hours."

Matrix nodded, getting to his feet as well. "Breakfast sounds good, yeah," he agreed, returning the tiny smile. "And then I'll see you in the medical bay, though it's unfortunate that you have to come in the first place." He frowned slightly, wondering if there was anything he could do to make the experience more comfortable. Perhaps, though he didn't want to say anything and get her hopes up, so he put on another small smile, looking back up to her. "Well... goodnight."