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Lieutenant Commander Data (thirdcriterion) wrote in marinanova,
@ 2014-09-27 23:36:00

Entry tags:

data, deanna troi, duo maxwell, tieria erde

day 290 [ open video | closed action ]
[ video ]

[ Since Data's been affected, he's aware that he didn't receive a greeting message this morning. He therefore suspects that others may not have received such a message either - and those who have lost memories as opposed to gaining them, as he has, may be confused about their situation. So here he is, addressing the inmates - those who are in a position to notice may pick up on the fact that he's a bit more subdued than usual. ]

Greetings. I believe that those who have been affected by today's temporal disruption may be disoriented as to their present situation. Typically, new arrivals in the facility are greeted by a message explaining what has happened, but that does not appear to be the case today.

You are in a place known as the MarinaNova Asylum, having been brought here by as-yet undetermined means, under the supposition that we are being rehabilitated for crimes we have allegedly committed. There are two wardens who are generally responsible for managing the population, known as Conscienti and Veridical. You may speak with them at the kiosk in the center of the facility, in Sector 0. It does not presently appear that we have received any new arrivals today, but that our preexisting population has been afflicted in a way which alters the point in their timeline up to which they have experienced.

[ He tilts his head slightly then, considering that an adequate introduction, hopefully without being too overwhelming. ]

My name is Data; I am an inmate as you are. However, if there are any inquiries with which I can assist you, I will happily endeavor to do so.

[ closed action ]

[ At the end of the day, Data returns to the apartment - he had once shared it with a number of crewmates, what is now years ago by his perception, but currently it is home to only Deanna Troi and himself.

He is quiet as he enters, finally done with handling the confusion of the day, and seats himself to quietly reflect on the thoughts that have been the passive background to his active processes all days - the last moments he had experienced prior to what seems to have been his re-arrival here, the last moments of his life. ]

[ ooc: Please pretend this was posted much earlier in the day thank you v much ♥ ]

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counselled
2014-09-28 03:56 am UTC (link)

[ deanna saw data's message. it was interesting to listen to and to figure out. if it means what she thinks it means, though, then he must have experienced the opposite of what a lot of people have today. that is, maybe he's gained memories instead of lost them. this could be good or bad depending on how many memories he now has.

and she can't decide whether she wants to find out or not. it's a subject she's been avoiding for good reason. however, if this change is permanent...

she spends her day in the office, just in case anyone needs her, and she stays a little late. by the time she's quietly pushing open the door, data's already inside and she spots him easily. she offers a tired smile as she closes the door, hoping not to disturb him, but not wanting to leave without at least saying hello. ]

Data. Is everything all right?

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thirdcriterion
2014-09-29 03:09 am UTC (link)

[ The answer, of course, is no. Everything is definitely not all right, but there's also nothing that can be done about any of it. It's the only option that will save the ship, the Captain, the crew, and it's a choice he's already made. An action he was already completing when he'd been snatched back here, just as the phaser beam hit. It's not the choice that he's doubting now, but the interruption of his acting upon it has forced him into reflection he hadn't anticipated.

And now he's here. He's perfectly functional, has duties to perform, friends. This is another life, one he'd been unable to access his knowledge of, but now it's all come back to him as if the files in his memory banks had just been unencrypted. He's had the time it took to reintegrate them, and now he's come to understand that. He's here. Alive.

So, of course, he's not certain exactly how to answer Deanna's question. He's not actually certain of her exact chronological point, only that it had previously been more advanced than his own. Perhaps that's still the case with a smaller margin. Perhaps she knows his fate already.

He looks up toward her, brows arched along with the rather soft expression on his face. After a moment, there is a light twitch of a frown as he shakes his head. ]

I do not know.

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counselled
2014-09-29 05:46 am UTC (link)

[ if there's one thing deanna troi absolutely cannot do, it's ignore a friend in need. she's someone who listens and gives advice and no matter her personal hesitation, she can't ignore data right now. she can't ignore him at any time, but especially when he seems so troubled.

instead, she takes a seat nearby, settling in to fix him with the look of a concerned friend, not just a concerned counselor. ]

Would you like to talk about it?

[ she does know his fate. she's known it since she arrived here and it's been difficult every day to imagine him going back to that someday. as much as she would like to return them both to their proper times and places, she's been enjoying every moment they have here because she doesn't know when this friend will be taken away again. ]

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thirdcriterion
2014-10-06 02:13 pm UTC (link)

[ He hesitates there for just a moment - before he shares the details of his exact chronological point, he'd prefer to confirm that she's aware of it.

But he does give a small nod before he responds. ]

My chronological point appears to have been affected. I now possess memories up to stardate 56844.9.

[ ooc: I just spent a super long time looking for the stardate of the END of Nemesis but apparently that just does not exist XD SO PRETEND HE'S ANDROID ACCURATE OF COURSE ahahaha <3 ]

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counselled
2014-10-06 10:24 pm UTC (link)

[ she knows that stardate. it's not quite the same as hers -- how could it be? -- but it sure does put some things into perspective. she takes a slow breath and lets it out before she responds. ]

I think you're only just behind me now, Data.

[ and now she's faced with that burning question again, which she chooses to ask in as direct a way as she can without actually mentioning his death. ]

Do those memories encompass everything possible about that day?

[ word choice entirely purposeful. if he knows what happens to him, he'll understand what she means. if he doesn't, he'll answer with what he can. either way, she'll know for sure soon. ]

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thirdcriterion
2014-10-08 01:50 am UTC (link)

[ The purposeful word choice is, of course, noted. Given the knowledge he now possesses, the meaning behind it is more than clear. He looks down for just a fraction of a second, before raising his gaze to meet hers. The significance in his words is only underscored in his eyes. ]

I believe that the point in time from which I have been taken is the last chronological point at which it would be possible to do so.

[ As in... someone just fired a phaser. ]

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counselled
2014-10-08 02:07 am UTC (link)

[ tears prick her eyes in that moment as he speaks, not just for the realization that one of her closest friends finally knows what he should never have had to find out, but also for that same friend whose friendship she'd lost in their universe, in her time, the friend whose presence here has always been enjoyed and never taken for granted. right now, she's holding back tears of sorrow for a future without him, a future he will never see. ]

Then you know what we've been hiding for so long.

[ captain picard, commander riker, and counselor troi have all been holding back on the future. they'd all taken great pains to keep certain things to themselves. data never should have learned this.

and yet it is somewhat like a weight has been lifted. now she can speak freely without worry. ]

I am so sorry, Data. I never wanted you to have to bear this burden.

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thirdcriterion
2014-10-14 02:05 am UTC (link)

[ He nods, a gradual movement, as he glances downward. There is a burden to it, simply the immediacy with which his fate awaits him when he's returned to the timeline, but over the course of the day he's worked into a quiet but somber acceptance. He had never objected to the thought of dying, to having mortality to link him more closely to humanity, but the circumstances, the suddenness - it's all a bit much to absorb. ]

It is... challenging to integrate this awareness.

[ He pauses slightly there. ]

Though... I do not question the choice that I made. I did not in the time before I fired the phaser, and I do not now.

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counselled
2014-10-15 04:00 am UTC (link)

[ it usually is a lot to deal with and that just makes him even more human, more like that which he always aspired to be. ]

Facing death usually is. [ it's also hard to speak so simply of it, but there it is, out in the open. ]

I know you don't. [ the others only regret that anyone had to be lost at all. it would've been the same pain for a different person if captain picard had been the one who was lost instead. ] None of us will ever forget you or what you brought to our lives.

[ she certainly won't, nor will she forget watching the explosion, crying on will's shoulder after telling him "it's data," or the toast in his memory by the bridge crew. ]

I've been very glad to have this time here with you, Data, and I know Commander Riker and Captain Picard did as well.

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thirdcriterion
2014-10-15 08:34 pm UTC (link)

[ He manages to give a small, weak smile in response, and nods. ]

As I recall from what I perceive to be my previous stay, it does explain some curious responses my presence initially seemed to elicit. I had anticipated that there was a possibility something may happen to me.

[ Lest anyone ever forget how perceptive he is. ]

But I am also grateful for that time, and for your presence now. Even with the assistance of the emotion chip, I still do not believe I can adequately convey what the acceptance and friendship I have known as a member of the Enterprise crew has meant to me.

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counselled
2014-10-19 03:48 am UTC (link)

[ sometimes data is far too perceptive. ] I know we all tried very hard not to give you that idea, but it was... difficult. The wound was still fresh for me, personally, and I know Commander Riker felt the same. [ likely so did captain picard. ]

I think that's part of being human, the ability to feel something so strongly yet feel you don't quite have the words for it. I feel the same way towards you. I'm only sorry we couldn't find another solution, one where no one was in danger of being lost.

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thirdcriterion
2014-11-02 05:42 pm UTC (link)

I cannot fault any of you for your responses - and you were indeed successful in preventing my gaining knowledge of my fate.

It is a most... frustrating experience to not be able to satisfactorily communicate one's thoughts. But I have found that with emotional subjects, there is often no precise way to convey a private, subjective experience.

[ And then he gives it a moment of consideration... and offers a small smile. Not of happiness, but of acceptance and, perhaps, comfort. ]

There was no other way, and that is not the fault of any member of our crew. I would certainly prefer to have had more time to spend with those for whom I care, to share in the remainder of your lifetimes, but my potential lifespan has often been yet another dividing aspect of my nature. Even if my systems were to eventually become fully degraded, that likely would have not occurred for at least several centuries. In a way, perhaps I am now as close to being human as could have ever been possible.

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counselled
2014-11-11 02:11 am UTC (link)

[ she understands everything he's saying. any one of them might feel the same. still, a part of her will always hate that it was necessary, that shinzon won in the way that meant one of them had to die to stop him.

perhaps it's a personal bias, but she hates the fact that shinzon won at all.

her smile is small as well, tainted with unshed tears. ] But you are human, Data. You've become as human as any of the rest of us. Your humanity has grown so much in the short time that I've known you. I can't imagine you as anything else now.

[ being human is so much more than limitations of one's body. it's an introspective aspect, a personality aspect, an aspect of one's entire being. as far as deanna is concerned, data has reached a level of humanity that some humans never reach. she truly believes his goal has been reached and she will argue it into the ground with anyone who disagrees. ]

I've been so glad to see you here. Every day is a day I hold onto, one more day I have with a close friend. I suppose now you can join in the difficulty of both wishing to find a way to escape here and return and hoping to have more time here with our friends.

[ with their friends and with each other. deanna gets to return to a life where data is gone and that's one of the hardest things for her to reconcile. losing him once was hard enough. losing him again will be very, very difficult to bear. ]

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	[ video ] devine_braid 2014-09-30 04:02 pm UTC (link)
	Are you sick or something? [Duo frowned at the video.] We're not all gonna look like that from bein' here, are we? (Reply to this) (Thread)

	[ video ] thirdcriterion 2014-10-06 02:15 pm UTC (link)
	[ At the initial question, he's just confused for a moment, brow furrowing as he tilts his head slightly. The second query dispels the expression, as his head ticks back upright. ] Ah-- no, I am not unwell. I am an android. This is my normal appearance. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	Re: [ video ] devine_braid 2014-10-07 10:00 pm UTC (link)
	Woah, really? An android? That's so cool! (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	thirdcriterion 2014-10-14 12:55 am UTC (link)
	[ He gives a slight incline of a nod. ] Yes, really. As initially stated, my name is Data. [ And a small tilt of his head - ] Do you believe you have initially arrived today? (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

devine_braid
2014-10-22 06:38 am UTC (link)

Right. I'm Duo.

Yanno... I've never actually talked to a robot before.

Well, I have. But it didn't talk back.

[Mostly. Duo had moments where he felt a little like Deathscythe was talking back, but he generally didn't share that with others. After all, it would just be plain weird.]

Well, yeah. I mean, I'd remember a place like this. It's kinda like a colony, but underwater. And a lot fancier than any one I've been on. Or could afford to be on.

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	[ voice ] trial_by_veda 2014-09-30 06:06 pm UTC (link)
	Has anyone ever gotten out? (Reply to this) (Thread)

	[ voice ] thirdcriterion 2014-10-06 02:17 pm UTC (link)
	At present, there is no known incident of an inmate successfully escaping. Those who were once incarcerated and are no longer present are claimed, by the wardens, to be lost in the 'dimensional stabilizer.' We have not yet been able to determine whether that is accurate. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	Re: [ voice ] trial_by_veda 2014-10-07 10:01 pm UTC (link)
	That sounds like an attempt to keep information from us. It's likely they escaped and the Wardens don't want to admit there's a flaw in their system. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	Re: [ voice ] thirdcriterion 2014-10-14 01:14 am UTC (link)
	That would be the immediately apparent suspicion, though none of those who have subsequently returned appear to retain any knowledge of how they left. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	Re: [ voice ] trial_by_veda 2014-10-22 06:28 am UTC (link)
	Interesting. It's as if memories are tampered with upon recapture. [Funny how that worked, when Tieria didn't even realize at the moment that he was currently a victim of one of those memory/temporal glitches and that he should recognize Data and Marina.] (Reply to this) (Parent)