The Sky's the Limit - Marco Palmieri [122]
Borges gave him an impatient look, supporting his hypothesis. He was finding her much less attractive. “Like I said,” she told him, “the problems arise from our different brain structures. We can scan the activity of the Tamarian brain and deduce some things about how it works, but we can’t fully understand their way of thinking unless we can approach it from the inside. We need someone who can think like a Tamarian but then come back to thinking our way and report his insights in terms—”
“So you need a cerebral shape-shifter.” Data chuckled, but broke off as he realized that, as usual, nobody else thought his joke was particularly amusing. He sighed.
“Sort of,” Borges said. “And, uh, you’ve just demonstrated why you qualify.”
He frowned. “Because of my emotion chip?”
“Exactly. Emotion is a cognitive process, one you didn’t have before. And it isn’t just something that’s superimposed on your previous, unemotional thought process. It’s something that affects the way you think, the way you perceive and experience the world, on a fundamental level. That chip has transformed the way your brain works. And if it did it once—”
He anticipated her meaning. “It can do it again. You propose to modify my emotion chip in order to simulate Tamarian cognitive processes in my own brain.”
“Exactly. You’d be able to communicate with them on their own terms, gain insights we never could otherwise.”
“It is an intriguing proposal,” he said, though he kept to himself the fact that he found it intimidating as well. “However, it is clearly flawed. Once I were…’reset’…to my normal cognitive mode, I might no longer understand those insights.”
“I have considered that, thank you,” she replied, biting off the words. “But you’d still have the direct experience, and at least that could help you formulate better analogies. When you get right down to it, we all think in analogies. We understand our experiences by comparing them to the precedents in our minds. The difference between us and the Tamarians is largely a matter of degree.”
Data’s unease compelled him to move, so he began pacing as he considered her proposal. In the past, he could have completed a risk-benefit analysis in milliseconds. When he had “paused to think,” it had largely been an affectation to reassure his humanoid listeners that his statements were not offered in haste. These days, he found he needed time to process his emotional reactions and had more difficulty perceiving a clear course of action.
In this case, he found Borges’s proposal worth contemplating but was not sure he had faith in her judgment. “My concern,” he said at length, “is that we still understand relatively little about the functioning of the emotion chip. I am not sure it would be viable to modify its function and then restore it to its previous state.”
“My experts have reviewed its specifications, and I’m confident it could work.”
“You cannot know that for sure.”
“There’s never any certainty,” she replied. “But the risk is minor. Captain Dathon was willing to give his life to achieve communication, you know.”
“Doctor,” Picard interposed, silencing her. “Data…as important as this project is to me, I would not ask you to place yourself at risk for it. And I’m not your commanding officer at the moment. However, I would suggest that you review Doctor Borges’s proposal with Commander La Forge and assess its feasibility. Geordi knows your emotion chip and your other systems as well as any man alive.”
“Aside from myself, of course.” Data nodded. “Very well. I will discuss it with him.” He turned to Borges. “And if I do agree to this proposal, I will request that Commander La Forge be in charge of the actual modifications.”
“Of course. We’d be glad to have him on the team.” She studied him. “I really believe this can work, Commander. We just have to work together to pull it off.” She extended a hand.
He shook it briefly, without enthusiasm. “We shall see, Doctor.”