Immortal Coil - Jeffrey Lang [92]
Data was pleased by Vaslovik’s obvious wonder and the slight edge of pride in his voice. He guessed that Vaslovik … or Flint … or Akharin … or any of his other persona had been many things in their lives—feared, revered, admired—but probably not liked. He did not appear to Data to be a man to whom friendship came easily.
“The one thing we hadn’t counted on,” Vaslovik continued, “was her emotional response to you.”
“Or mine to her?” Data asked, feeling an edge of anger entering his voice. He suddenly became conscious that he did not enjoy feeling like he had been part of one of Vaslovik’s ongoing experiments.
But to Data’s surprise Vaslovik seemed to be aware of his transgressions. “I regret the deception,” he said. “But, like you, Rhea is a special, unique entity and she is also the child of my mind, as you were of Soong’s. I would do anything to protect her and to give her every chance to live. Whether you see it this way or not, you have to recognize that you represented the best protection we could ask for, and, though I hadn’t planned it, her first taste of humanity.” Vaslovik shook his head and smiled. “You can never entirely predict what children will do. You can only guide and hope for the best. Now I realize, Data, that you are the best I could have hoped for.”
Data was embarrassed again—this time by Vaslovik’s frank appraisal—and began to worry about the whiplash-inducing emotional changes.
“In a way,” Vaslovik continued, ruminating, “this is all about protection, about safety. I’ll share a secret with you, Data, one you may find useful someday: when humans are young, they want the universe to be a just place. But when you become a parent, you’ll want the universe to be a safe place.”
“Justice and safety are not incompatible concepts, Dr. Vaslovik,” Data said. “And I have been a parent.”
“I’m sorry, Data,” he said. “Of course you have, so you understand what I’m saying …”
“Not entirely,” he admitted. “I did not have emotions then, and though I have been experiencing some unexpected feelings concerning Lal and others since my emotion chip was installed, these thoughts were not among them. I will consider what you have said later, when I have time. But, sir, you will forgive me: this is not the time. I feel I must know more about your plans. What is your next step?”
“Properly speaking, I do not have a next step,” Vaslovik admitted. “Though I feel sure I will have to defend this place soon, either against Starfleet or the androids who attacked my lab.”
“Starfleet is not your enemy, Professor,” Data said. “They have always treated me fairly.”
“They have treated you fairly while you were an anomaly,” Vaslovik asserted. “They could afford to be magnanimous before, but now that they know that it is possible to mass produce androids, how long do you think it will be before others like Rhea are created?”
“But artificial life forms have rights under the law,” Data said. “Captain Picard’s defense of me …”
“… was a very fine piece of work, but times change. Laws change. Look at what happened to the exocomps.”
“I do not understand what you mean, Dr. Vaslovik. They were granted status as sentient beings.”
“But would they have if you hadn’t been there to point out the obvious?”
Data hesitated. “Perhaps not,” he admitted. “At least, not so quickly. Eventually …”
“Eventually, more of them would have died,” Vaslovik said. “And in a state of slavery.” He looked around the room. “They helped me build this station.”
“So, you bartered for their services?”
Vaslovik shrugged. “I would have let them live with me for free, but the truth is they don’t enjoy being idle. It’s not in their nature … though I’ve noted that some of the younger ones are more inclined to be indolent.” He laughed. “Youth! Some things never change.”
Data smiled. He would scarcely have believed that an organic being could understand a biosynthetic so well, but he was beginning to see that Vaslovik was exceptional in many regards. But then he gave voice to a thought he had been concealing, both from Vaslovik, and also from