Arrival (OTA)
Perhaps his final decision is what leaned Data closer to man than machine.
At one time he'd claimed that destroying himself or allowing someone to destroy or dismantle him would deprive the universe of something unique. In creating him, Dr. Soong was fulfilling a generational family desire to create the perfect human. His self perception was that he was a construct; a carefully constructed piece of technology that was the culmination of all of the scientist's dreams after disappointing failures.
He didn't quite fulfill Noonien Soong's dream until he made his choice to sacrifice himself to destroy the Scimitar. He advanced from being the fantastic vision of a eccentric scientist to being a man who died for his friends.
Despite the feeling of fear that welled into him from that emotion chip (making him react much like it did with humans, his artificial pulse racing and his breath quick) sheer determination to do what he had to do to save everyone- to save his brother, the rest of the crew, Geordi, and Picard- had him aiming his phaser toward the thalaron generator. There were no illusions of being rewarded in an afterlife for his act of generosity. There was only the knowledge that he was about to save those that he cared about and that he had left a copy of his memories, the last bits of who he was, in a suitable location.
The last thing he saw was white... bright light that overloaded his visual sensors. That last observation shouldn't have been followed by a single analysis, any thought, any impulse.
Landing against cement and staring up at the sky... well... should have come as welcome surprise, and he would have been more surprised by it were his emotion chip functioning. Gold eyes blinked, and Data sat up rather stiffly, looked around with oddly quick movements, and rose to his feet. This wasn't his first encounter with being displaced by some temporal anomaly, though he had expected to be destroyed by the explosion of the Scimitar. Surviving would be a far preferable result. He wasn't satisfied nor dissatisfied with his continued existence, but emotion wasn't high on his list of priorities at the moment.
Ah, his emotion chip wasn't working. It must have malfunctioned during the explosion. He looked around at what appeared to be a 20th century Earth village, and he reached for his tricorder.
[(Usual slowtime.)]
At one time he'd claimed that destroying himself or allowing someone to destroy or dismantle him would deprive the universe of something unique. In creating him, Dr. Soong was fulfilling a generational family desire to create the perfect human. His self perception was that he was a construct; a carefully constructed piece of technology that was the culmination of all of the scientist's dreams after disappointing failures.
He didn't quite fulfill Noonien Soong's dream until he made his choice to sacrifice himself to destroy the Scimitar. He advanced from being the fantastic vision of a eccentric scientist to being a man who died for his friends.
Despite the feeling of fear that welled into him from that emotion chip (making him react much like it did with humans, his artificial pulse racing and his breath quick) sheer determination to do what he had to do to save everyone- to save his brother, the rest of the crew, Geordi, and Picard- had him aiming his phaser toward the thalaron generator. There were no illusions of being rewarded in an afterlife for his act of generosity. There was only the knowledge that he was about to save those that he cared about and that he had left a copy of his memories, the last bits of who he was, in a suitable location.
The last thing he saw was white... bright light that overloaded his visual sensors. That last observation shouldn't have been followed by a single analysis, any thought, any impulse.
Landing against cement and staring up at the sky... well... should have come as welcome surprise, and he would have been more surprised by it were his emotion chip functioning. Gold eyes blinked, and Data sat up rather stiffly, looked around with oddly quick movements, and rose to his feet. This wasn't his first encounter with being displaced by some temporal anomaly, though he had expected to be destroyed by the explosion of the Scimitar. Surviving would be a far preferable result. He wasn't satisfied nor dissatisfied with his continued existence, but emotion wasn't high on his list of priorities at the moment.
Ah, his emotion chip wasn't working. It must have malfunctioned during the explosion. He looked around at what appeared to be a 20th century Earth village, and he reached for his tricorder.
[(Usual slowtime.)]