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By Root 1345 0

the labyrinthine corridors of the city. The androids of Turing had evidently taken residence in the abandoned structures left behind by the long-vanished Iconian culture, repairing and modifying them as needed. But while elements of contemporary technology and design were in evidence, here and there, on the whole the architecture was strikingly alien in conception. A tiny percentage of Isaac’s awareness was devoted to analyzing the structures through which they passed, and had concluded that the design aesthetic shared definite similarities with the architecture of the Dewan, Dinasian, and Iccobar planetary cultures, but appeared to predate all three.

It was a matter of seconds before Isaac realized that Data was speaking, and he had to review the recorded audio component of his personal memory for a few nanoseconds before he was able to catch up.

“Turing is a planet-sized laboratory,” Data had said, “in which we are forcing our own evolution, experimenting with our own minds and bodies. There were only a few hundred androids who made the original migration to Turing, but we have reproduced any number of times in the years since, producing random mixes of our synaptic maps to create new consciousnesses, children of mind. And children and parents alike have been free to modify their own bodies, and their own programming, as we see fit, accounting for the wide variety of physiognomies you see before you.”

“Such as Lal?” La Forge said, glancing over at the android who walked at Data’s side.

“Precisely, Geordi,” Data answered, with an expression Isaac could only interpret as pride. “Her positronic matrix is based on a modified version of my own, and her core programming derived from that with which I was designed. Her appearance, which she selected for herself, may differ from my own, but at the most basic level she is my offspring.”

“That’s not something you’d see in the Federation,” Crusher said.

“No, Wesley,” Data said sadly, “it is not. And that was the main motivation for our migration here.” He turned to Captain Picard. “You will remember, Captain, the unfortunate incident fifteen years ago, in which another of the Soong-types serving in Starfleet attempted to reproduce in a similar fashion, creating an android in his own shipboard lab.”

“How could I forget? It was the first attempt to create new artificial life outside of the Daystrom Institute since Soong created you years before.”

“Yes.” Data nodded. “But when the attempt ended…” He paused, searching for the right word. “...badly…and the offspring went into cascade failure, killing several crewmen in a mindless rampage before it could finally be deactivated…”

“Then the Federation Council passed stricter regulations about who could create new androids,” La Forge finished, “and where.”

“That incident was the main objection raised by those who opposed recognizing android sentience, as I recall,” Picard said. “The fear that it would happen again was likely your biggest obstacle to being granted full citizenship.”

Data nodded. “And when the Federation Council finally did grant those rights, after popular support swung in our direction with the gradual acceptance of Uploading, the Council was forced to strike a compromise with its more conservative elements. We were recognized as sharing nearly all the same rights as organic citizens, but the creation of a new android was deemed not to be 'reproduction,’ and the Daystrom Institute was upheld as the only body authorized to initiate new artificial life.”

“Making you all second-class citizens,” La Forge said with apparent bitterness.

“Precisely,” Data agreed. “But while I disagreed with the Council’s decision, I reasoned that overall the grant of rights we had received represented a worthwhile step toward full android enfranchisement, and to fight further at that juncture might damage the chances for a future expansion of that franchise. And so, instead of continuing to fight, I would withdraw, and with me those androids who shared my desire to experiment on ourselves, to explore the limits of artificial life, and