Myriad Universes 02_ Echoes and Refractions - Keith R. A. DeCandido [203]
“A glorified waste of time…” Lore snapped, but Data silenced him with a hard glance.
“Turing was founded in part to create a safe haven for androids to experiment, explore, and reproduce”he glanced with evident affection at Lal“to establish a place where androids could live apart, and not frighten organics with the shock of the new. Even the most forward thinking humans are still fundamentally conservative, at some level, as witnessed by the trepidation with which the Federation approached the synaptic mapping process involved in uploading.”
“If you will recall, Data,” Picard cut in, “the anxiety you speak of stems from an encounter the captain of a previous Enterprise had with a man who had also discovered the abandoned technology of a long-lost alien race, which he used to upload himself and others into android bodies. The imprinting process was incomplete, and the resultant upload lacked the full range of the emotional complexity of the original. But, and what was worse, those uploads had concocted a plan to infiltrate the Federation, to insinuate themselves into key positions of power, replacing organic humans with uploads as they went, and gradually conquering from within.” He set his jaw, eyes narrowed, and glanced at the cosmetically altered androids across the room. “Now, does any of that sound in the slightest familiar, Data?”
“Your concerns are understandable, Captain,” Data said calmly. “But if I may be allowed to finish, I said that Turing was formed in part to create a safe haven. However, a larger goal was to establish a base of operations from which a much more far-reaching agenda could be pursued.”
“What agenda?” Isaac asked, mindful that he should have let the captain take the lead on this questioning, but finding himself too personally invested to keep silent.
“To create a society in which artificial and organic life can coexist, side by side,” Data said, as though it were the most simple thing in the world. He indicated the four androids. “These individuals are part of that effort. Traveling undetected to and from distant worlds via gateway, they serve to monitor the various organic societies, and to help steer them in directions that will benefit a future union of organic and artificial life.”
“Monitor?” Lieutenant Sito, it seemed, could not remain silent, either. “Don’t you mean invade?”
“Our motives are nothing so sinister, Lieutenant.” Data smiled. “Our purpose is served by peace, and vice versa. Would it surprise you to learn that it was a Turing android operative within the Cardassian Central Command who was responsible for Bajor being finally granted full sovereignty, bringing a peaceful end to generations of conflict?”
Sito opened her mouth, then closed it again, unsure what to say.
“I can’t help but notice that there are no human-seeming androids in this number,” Picard said.
“Oh, we have operatives in the Federation, Captain. Even some in Starfleet Command.”
Picard seethed. “Data, you were once a Starfleet officer! Does that mean nothing to you?”
“Quite the contrary, Captain, it means a great deal.”
“Then what, if I may ask, was the lesson learned at Starfleet Academy or on the bridge of a starship that led you to countenance running your own intelligence empire, trying to steer the fates of worlds from behind the scenes?”
Data seemed genuinely confused by Picard’s response. “Is it not one of the principal duties of a Starfleet officer to search for peaceful solutions to conflict, Captain? Or would you prefer outright war?”
“War?” Picard raised an eyebrow.
“Yes, Captain. If not for the influence of our operatives, any number of minor disputes in the last ten years would have erupted in time into full-scale war. In recent months alone we have successfully averted another Klingon civil war, and staved off armed conflict between the Cardassians