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You Can't Fight a Tidal Wave	By : madradena Category: Star Trek > The Next Generation Views: 1693 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own ST:TNG nor Dreamland, nor the characters from either. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 13
- 14
- 15
He is waking slowly in his own bed. The sun is shining delightfully on him, and He feels a soft body next to his, the feeling makes him smile.
"Are you awake?" He asks on a low voice.
"Mhhmmm..."
"Don't turn over!" He asks her and chuckles in wonder "I don't think I can say this to your face. I know it sounds corny but... I've never felt this way before..."
"I'm sitting on top of the world!" he starts singing cheerfully. "Just rollin' along, just rollin' along
I'm quittin' the blues of the world
Just singin' a song, just singin' a song
Glory, Hallelujah, I just phoned the parson
"Hey, Par, get ready to call"
Just like Humpty Dumpty
I'm gettin' ready to fall
I'm sitting on top of the world
Just rollin' along, oh, rollin' along"
"You know what I mean?" He asks finally looking over to the girl. And to his complete dismay, a stranger replies:
"I couldn't agree with you more!"
Yelling out, He falls off the bed: "Who are you?! Wha-What's going on here?!"
"Don't play coy with me, lover boy, you didn't have any problem last night!" she tells him taunting.
"Last night?"
"Mmhmm"
"A-am I hallucinating?" he asks completely stunned.
"I don't think so..."
Then suddenly, they hear a third voice - the voice of his real love:
"Wake up, wake up, wake up, sleepy head!" She sings.
"Oh, no..."
"Get up, get up, get out of bed..."
"No, no, no! Don't come in!"
It's too late, She steps inside and sees the stranger collect her bag. She gaps at them in disbelief.
The stranger smiles at him: "Thanks for this well time, pally!" then turns to her "Sugar! You have a terrific guy here!" and off she goes.
"Yeah, I thought so..." She answers, voice breaking.
"I-I just woke up, and there she was..." He tried to explain, but it's plain that it's hopeless.
She turns and walks out on him. He catches her up in the living room:
"Baby, please! Please! Say you forgive me! Say anything!" He is desperate, and as She turns, seeing her tearfilled eyes, He knows that all is lost.
"I'll never forget you..." she starts to sing on a low voice.
"I'll never forget you.
I'll never forget how we promised one day,
To love one another forever that way.
We said we'd never say, 'Good-bye.'
But that was long ago.
Now you've forgotten, I know.
No use to wonder why.
Let's say farewell with a sigh.
Let love die.
But we'll go on living,
Our own way of living.
So you take the high road and I'll take the low.
It's time that we parted,
It's much better so.
But kiss me as you go.
Good-bye."
She finishes, and silence descends on them before She tells him: "See you around..."
"Yeah..." He breaths as He watches the door closing behind her "This is a NIGHTMARE!" He says and the word reverberates in the air for a few seconds.
Beverly watched them acting out the scene still with padds in their hands to read the script from (except for Data, who didn't need such an aid). Sonya's acting became visibly more enthusiastic, while Data and Emma seemed to be somehow uncomfortable with each other. It was nothing serious, probably someone who'd see them for the first time wouldn't even notice. But she could see that something was slightly out of place.
"...Sugar, you have a terrific guy here!" Sonya read, and Emma saw that she looked at her with a satisfied grin as she walked out. Yeah, you've managed to execute the biggest revenge ever: to seduce the love of my CHARACTER in a PLAY! Score! - Ah, how much she wanted to actually utter the words! She felt she had to bite her tongue off...
She looked up at Data "Yeah, I thought so..." her voice was thin, barely above a whisper.
Beverly called out: "Em, nobody will hear you! Speak up a little! You should be sad, but still be heard."
"Sure, sorry." she told Bev and turned back to Data with the same lost expression she had before "Yeah, I thought so..."
"Better..." Beverly mumbled - but still not quite right.
Emma walked out to the living room part of the set, Data looked after her taken aback - he was supposed to say one more sentence before her walking out on him.
Beverly massaged her forehead annoyed "Em..." Emma turned "Would you wait until Data finishes his line?"
"Ahssshiit!" Emma put her face in her palm for a moment "I'm so sorry." Beverly had to stifle a laugh at this as Emma walked back to stand opposite Data.
"I thought so..." she said again without any feeling, only giving him his cue.
Data was taken aback by this for a moment then answered on the same flat tone "I just woke up and there she was."
Beverly rolled her eyes "Guys, come on!" she climbed up on the stage "What's with you today?" she turned to Data "You will lose her, be a bit more desperate about it."
"Yes, Doctor. I will make another attempt."
"No, let's start from the beginning of the prose part. Sonya..." Bev looked back at the seats, where Sonya was sitting with a small smile on her lips.
"Sure!" she jumped up on the stage. Emma walked out with a painful expression, and they started again. This time, they managed to get to the end of it without any glitches, but their performance was flat and lifeless, and Beverly had the impression that Emma kept staring at her padd even when she didn't need to, just to avoid looking up at Data. Data, on the other hand, went back to his wordless contribution from the beginning of the rehearsal process. And she knew that they were not going anywhere that day, though they had over an hour more left of the session, it these two wouldn't resolve their problems.
"Alright, guys, let's just call it an afternoon." she called.
"Ohthankgooood..." Emma breathed looking up at the ceiling.
"Why? The scene is far from perfect." Sonya put in "Shouldn't we develop it fully?"
"Yes, Sonya, however I have a patient to check on in sickbay." Bev lied smiling kindly, and Emma was grateful for it. She was aware that her red-head friend was essentially saving HER butt today. She was a mess...
"Oh..." Sonya nodded seemingly disappointed.
Bev looked over at Data and Emma: "Maybe you could practise the dancing parts we had so far, so the time wouldn't be lost. Okay?" she asked smiling like a match-maker.
Emma's relief turned into a cramp in her stomach as she looked over at Data. She was surprised to see that he looked at her with an unsure expression as well.
"Yes, doctor." he answered finally on his usual silent tone.
Bev put her arms around Sonya's shoulder: "I wanted to ask something about the outfits you were designing..." she started, and Emma and Data heard their voices until the door closed behind them.
They remained alone. Emma was waiting for the ground to open up under her - in fact was praying for it.
"Computer," she heard Data's voice "Start waltz, please." they had one longer piece of music to which they usually practised waltzing, and the computer complied knowing already which piece of music he meant.
He stepped up to her from the side and held his hand out. She looked at his hand and put hers into his palm. They started dancing, but she was just not able to look up into his eyes.
After a few minutes of tense dancing, he finally got the courage to start a conversation: "May I ask you a question of a personal nature?"
The cramp in Emma's stomach tightened even more up: "Sure." she tried to sound as nonchalant as she could.
"Why are you not looking up at me?"
She raised her head sharply at this gaping. His expression was... only curious - maybe a little worried.
She bowed her head again: "Ah... I... Because I'm ...I'm very ashamed of myself..." she admitted on a dry whisper. She glanced up at him again, and this time, she saw confusion on his features. She again turned her head down "Because of last night..."
She stepped out of his arms, and he let her. They stood a good meter from each other as Emma put her hands over her face: "It's all hazy you know... I have memories of... Oh my god, did I actually lie down on your floor?" she asked peering out from behind her palms.
"Yes." he answered simply.
"Oh gooood... And I ate a sandwich from the floor, and I kept messing around in your stuff and... Do you actually have an orange cat? Or I just hallucinated that one?" she looked at him suddenly unsure.
"Spot." he nodded.
She sighed and shook her head putting her face back in her palms. She did have memories of some other activities as well, among which almost kissing him on the lips was one that most vividly came to mind. When she was drunk, her hunting instinct always took the better of her. And she remembered telling him... Ohgoood....
She went on on a thin voice: "And I told you things that, oh please just forget it, I'm so sorry... I swear this will never happen again."
"I am incapable to forget." he told her on a flat tone.
She took her hands from her face and looked at him pleading. "Okay, then just... can you just pretend that it never happened?"
Data gazed away as he remembered another woman telling him that something intimate that had indeed transpired between the two of them, did not happen, meaning that they have to forget it, and pretend that the events never took place. At that time, he was just confused. Looking back at the events, when he finally had emotions, it actually hurt. Humans had a strange way of doing and saying things that they actually did not want to do or say. And most of the time, they were unaware of the capacity of damage they could cause with this kind of behaviour.
"You mean that you never actually meant your words." he concluded. Emma's jaw dropped. She was just lost for words at this. He went on looking ahead with a listless expression: "It is not you who has to apologize, Ms. Jones. I am the one to blame for your feeling ashamed of yourself. You confided me with an intimate confession expressing an attraction obviously caused by your confused state of being. And I did not react in the way a responsible man should in such a situation. I almost abused your vulnerable state causing you now to feel ashamed. I understand that..."
But Emma stepped to him and grabbed his upper arms: "Stop this! Stop right now!" she told him on a low but firm voice. Data looked at her confused, and she felt a catch in her throat all of a sudden as she looked straight into his eyes. "I-I am ashamed because I managed to make an ass of myself yesterday. I got drunk, and if I get drunk... I act like an idiot." she told him shaking her head angry with herself "And I'm telling you to forget it, because it's not how I want you to think of me. ...Exactly because I meant every freaking word I uttered last night." There it was. She was completely honest ...and exposed and scared and ashamed... she took a slow step away from him letting him go and bowed her head feeling her cheeks burn from shame - and of excitement.
Data watched her a moment longer processing the information - trying to apply the offered explanation to the previous situation he was reminded to by this current one, and deciding that he needed more time to get to a conclusion about it. Then he realized that judging from Emma's posture and body language, this confession must have been a very hard one for her to make. He was looking for a way to disembarrass her, but after contemplating a verbal reassurance, he decided that this was a time he could use his observation that acts always had a more profound effect on humans than words.
He stepped up to her and placing his hands gently on her shoulders, he leaned close to her face and gave her a kiss on the cheek mimicking her actions of the previous night. Then let her go, took one step back and waited for her reaction.
Emma gaped up at him for a long moment then frowned confused: "What was that for?" she asked on a faint voice.
"Yesterday, you did the same thing. I merely attempted to express the same emotion that you have stated to be behind your act of the previous night by emulating the same behaviour." he explained, then as he saw that she just stood there petrified looking at him dumbfounded, he went on "I like you." And it was true. Among the scale of emotions she triggered from irritation to attraction, he realized he somehow got to like her... He found no logic in it, so he just played it on his chip's illogical ways of generating emotions, seemingly almost random at times.
He then frowned for a brief moment comparing the two acts of affection "I seemed to fail in producing the same sound you made, when you conducted the same act of affection yesterday."
And it broke the ice for Emma. She couldn't help but laugh at this. Then smiled at him gently "You mean the smacking sound?"
"Yes." he nodded "How do you produce that?"
Emma laughed again then shrugged: "You just round your lips like this..." she showed "and make the sound."
Data frowned "Like this?" he tried to imitate what she did, but failed rather spectacularly with a funny grimace on his face.
Emma laughed "No! You have to..." she stepped over to him and held his lips between her fingers gently pressing the two sides together. She laughed again seeing his expression then let him go, and this time, he laughed with her. She gaped at this amazed:
"No way! Deadpan is laughing! And nobody is here to witness this?! I can't believe it!" she told him still chuckling.
He frowned confused: "I thought since you told me that you like me, you would stop calling me names." he told her on a slightly hurt voice.
She smiled guiltily: "You cannot turn chalk into cheese... at least not in a day." then took his hand in hers firmly while putting her other arm around his neck in the classic dancing position "And besides, since you cannot seem to shake off that odd habit of calling me on my last name, I would like to point out that it drives me to nuts probably as much as my calling you names does you." she told him as he put his arm around her, and they started to dance again.
"I prefer the more formal style of language, Ms. Jones." he explained and span her around then took her into his arms again.
"Yeah, I noticed. No 'gonna', 'wanna', not even a 'can't'."
"I prefer to use no verbal contractions. I sometimes am unsure that whatever I need to communicate will be comprehensible for humans, so I want to do my best at avoiding misunderstandings. Formal language helps in guaranteeing that."
"Mmmhhmmm... do you call anybody on the first name at all?"
"Yes. My best friend, Geordi. ...And my cat."
"That doesn't count! She doesn't have a last name!"
"That is correct... So it is Geordi then."
Another spin, and this time, when he took her into his arms again, she snuggled closer: "I suppose it would be a bit more comfortable to play lovers, if you could cut back on the formalities a bit. Don't you think?"
Data looked at her confused: "Since playing a character has nothing to do with how I feel or think about you in real life, I do not see how our real life verbal interactions could help in developing the relationship between our characters."
Emma gaped at this stunned "Data!" she stopped dancing again "How can you say such a thing?" she asked on a reprimanding voice, but didn't step out of his embrace. He looked at her startled fearing that he just said something terrible without realizing it. She shook her head confused and held onto him tighter: "We have chemistry, Deadpan, don't you realize it? Don't you feel it? In every one of our movements, every touch, every look. Why do you think we click in the scenes?" she smiled almost tenderly "It's sweet and pure. And even if neither of us wants to act upon it ever, the attraction is there. You just told me... and I told you last night." then the confused expression returned "And you are telling me you don't use that in building your character?"
"I-I... that would warrant that I use my emotions for creating the character. However... when I did that, you were the one pointing out to me that my performance was lifeless. So I changed my strategy and fell back to my skills of creating a character before I had emotions."
"Before you had emotions?"
"I utilized my emotion-chip only two years ago."
Emma blinked for a few moments to digest this information then looked back at him again with questions in her eyes: "So what do you do instead?" she asked silently.
"I research similar characters and combine and emulate their behaviour."
"I see..." she slowly let him go, and he watched her walking slowly lazily around the stage. He suddenly became aware of a tight grip in his chest feeling terribly unsure of himself. What was she thinking about? Was she angry at him? Was she disappointed?
She then stopped at the foot of the bed and turned back to him: "Acting is so much more than just emulating behaviour or mimicking gestures. Technique is a great thing, you are right, you can pretend to be anything. I could break down and sob real tears for you right here. Out of technique similar to what you use. But acting, real acting is not that, Deadpan! Imagine it like... The characters are like empty shells. You have to fill them with who you are. With your emotions, your experiences, your desires, your dreams, your whole being. And most of all: your imagination. And something new, something great will be born."
"You are talking about method acting."
"Not exactly." she shook her head stepping back to him "I prefer using my imagination together with all of who I am. And that is not the exact definition of method acting. Method acting draws only on life-experiences. But you cannot know all life-experiences, now can you? How do you play dead, if you have never been dead before?" she went on slowly circling him "Your performance might have been lifeless because you had no real-life experiences to tap into. Alright. That's not a sin!" she looked at him finally completing her circle around him "What you can do here is to work with what you have." she took his hand suddenly seemingly very determined and pulled him over to the bed.
"Take the last scene as an example. You have never been caught 'in flagranti' before. Fine. But you can imagine it, can't you? You never had a real hard, heart-breaking break up before that would tear your soul and body apart. But you can imagine that as well, can you not?" she looked at him searching his eyes.
"I-I suppose..." he stammered suddenly embarrassed, though he didn't quite understand why.
She smiled "I show you! and then suddenly reached out to bring his face down to hers. After an initial wave of surprise, he responded without much consideration by sliding his arms around her waist as she talked "You are attracted to me in real life, right? Imagine..." she took a shaky breath as she held his face in her palms and slowly stroked his cheeks with her thumbs "Imagine you just had me. It was mind-blowing." she whispered and gently touched her nose to his blowing on his parted lips "It was everything you ever imagined to be the best night of your entire life. You can imagine that, right?" she asked now on a whisper gazing into his eyes.
He swallowed hard and was desperately trying to put all of the sensations her touch and words were creating out of his mind, so he could pay full attention to what she was explaining. But her soft body was pressed tightly against his, her voice was sultry in his ears, her mouth was less then an inch away, her breath was on his lips, and she held his face so gently but so firmly - and he knew she was experiencing the same powerful sensations.
"I... I want to kiss you right now..." he blurted out in a sigh.
She smiled "Yeah me too." she breathed and leaned her head backwards with a sigh exposing the skin of her neck.
He was not able to think straight anymore. The majority of his resources were consumed by his sexuality program, and his conscious thought-processes once again faded into background. He lowered his lips to her skin and kissed her throat as he held her firmly against him. She sucked in a breath at the sensation, and her hands came up to the back of his head, her fingers tangled into his hair as she held his head to her. She raised her head slowly as he kissed his way from her throat to her ear slowly. Her eyes closed instinctively, and he gently took her earlobe between his lips and grazed it with his lower teeth. "Ah..." she moaned in pleasure. Then he released her earlobe and gently caressed the curve of her ear with the tip of his nose. Her eyes flew open at this just to close on their own accord again. It was the most sensual thing she had ever... oh...
She then suddenly pushed him away and stepped out of his embrace. He took a step toward her shocked, but she didn't let him touch her again, took two more steps away from him until her back was at the wall. She was gasping with desire, and he felt his heart was racing in his chest: come back! please! he wanted to beg her but just didn't seem to be able to form the words themselves.
"It's bad, isn't it?" she asked on a husky, shaking voice.
Data just stood there confused only gaping at her.
"We both want it, and now it's taken away. You may not touch me. Ever again. It's over. No matter how wonderful it was. It's gone." she explained, and it took him another moment to start to comprehend what she was doing. So this is how a real break up felt!
She said her line this time flawlessly, on a heart-broken voice: "Yeah, I thought so."
He took a reluctant step towards her wanting nothing but to touch her: "I-I just woke up and there she was..." he heard his own voice saying his line on a hopeless whisper.
Her eyes filled with tears, and she strode out to the living room. He ran after her and caught her at the door. He turned her to him, and this time his face reflected pure desperation: "Baby, please! Please! Say you forgive me! Say anything!" he begged. But as he saw her tears rolling down her cheeks, he slowly let her go.
"I'll never forget you..." Emma whispered the first line of her song. Then silence descended over them for a long moment.
Emma was the first to get a grip on reality. She wiped her tears and smiled up at him wistfully still under the influence of their scene: "I guess..." she said on a small voice "...I guess you now get my point."
Data nodded his assent but still did not feel capable of speaking. He had done a LOT of scenes with or without emotions in his life. But never ever had it been so powerful. So real. Never ever had it made such an all-consuming impact on him. As if he was actually living that one desperate moment his character had to go through!
"I suppose I managed to impress you." she smiled now a bit calmer then turned and started to walk out "Come on, Deadpan, let's have something to eat!"
He followed her without a question, he was so utterly preoccupied, he was almost in a trance-like state. They walked on the corridor next to each other in silence, then stepped into the turbolift.
"Deck 10." she called when the doors closed, and this was the point where Data's mind defogged enough to realize where they were going.
"Belay that order, Computer." he called, and she looked at him questioningly.
He shook his head "I do not wish to go to Ten Forward." he seemed somehow lost to Emma.
She frowned confused "Do you have any place else in mind?"
My quarters. Your quarters. Neither of the options seemed right enough to voice it aloud. He did not want to meet anybody. At least not anybody else. He again felt like being alone. Only this time, being alone with Emma sounded the closest to his desires. If he had at least one processing thread that displayed a remnant of his clarity of thought, he would have been shocked by the desires she triggered in him. His sexuality program was still claiming most of his resources, and he was still not finished with analysing the scene they had just performed. He looked at her desperate for a moment then bowed his head.
Emma gazed at him and took him gently by the wrist. He locked his gaze with hers confused, and she stroked his wrist gently with her thumb the same way she did when he had that horrible flashback.
"It's okay. You don't have to explain anything." she told him smiling gently. He blinked at her as if waking from a dream. "If you want to go home, it's alright."
"I want to... go home with you!" he blurted suddenly. His mind was flooded with memories of her. The feel of her in his arms. The feel of her skin under his lips. The feel of her breath on his lips. Her taste in his mouth.
She looked at him stunned, and the next moment, he crushed her in a tight embrace. He kissed her neck burying his face in her long hair and inhaled her fragrance deeply. All his senses filled with her, and he didn't think he could let her go.
She sighed in pleasure at the feel of his lips again on her skin, and she instinctively returned the tight embrace. She stroked his hair tenderly. Then slowly, gently took his face in her palms and pushed him away just enough to look into his eyes.
He was only looking at her lips, and he bent down to kiss her on the mouth, but she put her thumbs on his lips and stopped him:
"No!... No, please don't!" she whispered breathlessly. Then slowly moved her thumbs away and stroked his cheek. She could very well see that he was overwhelmed by all of the sudden sensations they felt in the holodeck. His gaze seemed unfocused and a shudder ran through him as she held him so close. She bowed her head enough to rest her forehead on his and closed her eyes. It was not easy to let him go. But she had to. This was not right.
"Yesterday..." she started slowly, her voice was still only above a whisper "You told me something, remember? ... You told me, you don't want a relationship. Is it not true any more?"
He raised his head an inch to look into her eyes. He had no idea what to answer. He needed to bring his conscious thoughts in the foreground to find a proper response. But right at the moment, the only thoughts that had any meaning in his mind were all about how she felt in his arms or under his lips.
She smiled knowingly: "I know. It's alright." she whispered, and she couldn't resist to comb her fingers through his hair once more "I... I don't want a relationship either." she told him silently.
Neither of them knew how they got themselves to let go of each other. But they did. They stood there in silence, opposite one another, only half a meter apart, looking straight into each other's eyes.
She sighed grimly: "It's ...it's just not the right time. For either of us..." she shook her head apologetically.
"You are married." it suddenly dawned on him. How could he have forgotten THAT?!
She nodded "I'm married." then shook her head trying to explain "It's not that I'm still in love with him or anything. It's... It's been over for years now. It's only a legal thing... The divorce has already been filed, I'm just waiting for the court to say it's legally over too. But... I won't lie to you, Data, it's an ugly story. My husband is..." she shook her head and gazed down helplessly. Before he could act upon the urge to hold her again, she looked back up at him "I-I don't want you to get involved. And you don't want to get involved either. You have your own issues. And you have your reasons for not wanting a relationship."
Data shook his head as slowly the grip of his urges loosened a tiny bit on his mind and body, and he finally managed to straighten some of his thoughts. "I am sorry." he said silently. He meant it. But had no idea why exactly.
Emma stepped up to him and smiled at him lovingly: "Oh, come on, Deadpan! Don't be silly." she whispered and tucked her hands into her pockets to keep herself from touching him. "If somebody is to blame, it's me. I'm the one with experience. I'm the one who is married. I'm the one seducing you, not the other way around! It's just... " she chuckled a bit regretfully "If you knew just how attractive a guy you are, you would probably be over your third marriage and a hundred one-nighters by now. You have... you have sex-appeal." she smiled up at him a delightful smile.
He shook his head confused and tried to clarify her misbelief: "My 'sex-appeal' is not my merit. My father made me in his own image. If you find me 'attractive', it is really him who deserves the credit."
She smiled stunned at his completely non-existent self-confidence: "Yeah... this is part of your charms..." she murmured only to herself. Then took a long liberating breath "Look." she shrugged "The chemistry we have... is great! We can make a very authentic performance with the help of it. But... let's try not to over-complicate this, okay? It would do no good to anybody." she shrugged again "I love dancing with you, and I like playing with you on stage too. Can we somehow stick to that?"
Data finally got a grip and managed to run her reasoning through his logical thought-processing units. And he found that she was completely correct. In every part of her reasoning. Her point about abiding by their original setup of being castmates only, concurred with his wishes also. Then why did his emotion-chip generate a stifling pain and a feeling of loss on listening to her words?
It was too confusing! Its prompting him to tell her that he wanted her despite the fact of her being married was scary! He was not a person who would act like this! Where was his ethical programming? Where was his clarity of thought?! And then there were their physical interactions... If he recalled just a fleeting memory of anything that had happened between the two of them, his sexuality program took over his will and made him do things he could never have imagined to do! It was just too much to handle! Enough of this! his thoughts shouted - I want my control back! I want it back! and he finally cocked his head, and turned his chip off!
It was gone. Instantly. All of it. Nothing remained, only her reasoning and his wish to be left alone. Confusion, bodily needs, and the desire to be loved was all gone! He had an understanding of all of it of course, and was aware of what was taking place between the two of them only a moment ago, but he was finally not under the pressure of all of this! With the chip offline, his sexuality program returned to be one of the many background processes he had. It was only under the chip's influence that it took such a huge role in his everyday life. Otherwise, if he did not consciously thought of it, he didn't even notice its presence.
It all happened in exactly one micro-second. Emma never had the chance to notice anything of it.
"Yes." he replied, and Emma had a strange, uncanny sensation listening to his voice "I would like that as well." he told her. His face unreadable.
"I'm really sorry, if I've hurt you with any of this." Emma said on a low voice. He seemed so strange.
"You have not hurt me, Ms. Jones. But I am grateful for your concern. I also hope that my unbecoming behaviour has not caused you pain. And I also hope it did not damage our relation as fellow cast members." his voice lacked all color, all emotions.
Emma looked even more confused, but she just couldn't quite put her finger on what was wrong: "Right." she whispered "No, you have not caused me pain. I'm fine with all of this. If you are."
"Perfectly fine, Ms. Jones." he nodded and turned towards the door "Deck 10, Deck 2." he called, and they got under way.
They got to her destination, and as the doors slid open, she turned to him: "See you tomorrow, Deadpan." she told him smiling gently and couldn't stop herself from touching his arm.
"See you, Ms. Jones." he told her a little flinching away from her touch. And she was gone.
And there was nothing! Nothing! Her touch didn't create that rush of sexual urges in his mind and body this time. He could think straight. He was himself again. He walked back to his quarters.
Spot was meowing desperately at her plate.
"No, Spot, you had your portion for one day. No more food today. Doctor's orders!" he told her and patting her briefly on the back, he just sat down at his desk. The cat followed him and tried to climb up into his lap. But this time, he resisted: "No, Spot, no climbing up. Be a good cat and go play with your yarn." After some failed attempts at persuading him, Spot finally gave up and went back to the sleeping area. Data's lips curved upward in a small smile. Things WERE a lot easier like this.
There was one final test he had to make. He closed his eyes and imagined the face of the Borg Queen. It appeared, but no other memories came with it as it usually happened. It was just a memory, not something that had any control over his life.
He opened his eyes and made a decision "I will not turn it on. Ever again!" he whispered to the silence.
A/N: Dialogs in Italics are from Dreamland
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You Can't Fight a Tidal Wave