The Sky's the Limit - Marco Palmieri [123]
“She has repeatedly demonstrated an unreasonable hostility toward me,” Data replied. “She reacts badly to my attempts to provide information, clarify issues under discussion, or correct oversights and errors in her work. It has proved an impediment to a smooth working relationship between us.”
“I see. And why do you suppose that is?”
“Perhaps it is a result of the prejudice I have often encountered from organic beings. However, her attitude seems to have infected the rest of her staff as well.”
“You took the assignment despite this personal difficulty.”
“Of course, Counselor, or we would not be here. Geordi and I reviewed the doctor’s research and found it valid. And he agreed with me that it was important to ensure that Captain Picard’s breakthrough with the Tamarians did not go to waste. At the time, I assumed the doctor would be professional enough to work efficiently with us despite the minor tension I noted at our initial meeting.”
Deanna tilted her head. “But the tension wasn’t just on her end, was it?”
“No, it was not. I found her hostility somewhat…hurtful. I had done nothing to deserve it.”
“Did you ask her what the source of her problem was?”
“I did. She accused me of being condescending and arrogant, of being a ‘control freak’ and a ‘show-off.’ ” Data sounded confused by that.
“You don’t think that was valid?” Deanna asked him.
“I behaved the same way I always have, Counselor—seeking to provide the most accurate information possible for the benefit of all parties.”
“Which sometimes meant correcting her mistakes.”
“Only in the interest of providing her with more accurate knowledge for the good of the project,” Data insisted. It was odd to sense defensiveness in him. “I was trying to help her, and she irrationally responded to it as an attack.”
“And how did that make you feel?” It was just as odd to be asking that, the most routine of a counselor’s questions, in a session with Data. Deanna was still feeling her way when it came to counseling the newly emotional android. The old strategies she’d devised for him were no longer valid, but she had to guard against the assumption that he could be treated like any humanoid. There were still differences, most of all the sheer novelty of his emotions.
“Surprised. Confused. Hurt. Irritated. Frustrated.”
“Angry?”
“Increasingly so, Counselor.”
“Yet when you had your outburst of anger, it was directed at Geordi.”
Data fidgeted. “Yes, it was.”
“Tell me what happened.”
“We had been working on the computations for modifying my emotion chip with Tamarian cognitive parameters. Specifically, we were debating how to modify my self-diagnostic protocols to accommodate a diminished sense of ego identity. I had just gained an insight in how to proceed and was attempting to explain it to Geordi.”
“Attempting?”
He frowned. “Yes. He was slow to comprehend the ideas I was expressing. To be fair, the computations were very involved. I suppose I could have been more patient with him. But you must understand, Counselor…given the speed at which my mind functions, it can be frustrating to wait for others to catch up. That is something I am still learning to cope with.”
“But you weren’t coping with it effectively the day this happened.”
“I fear not.”
“No! No, Geordi, you are not listening. If you simply reverse the polarity of—”
“No, Data, you aren’t listening! Modifying the recursive filters like that would never work. It would create a dangerous feedback loop.”
“I have already explained how to compensate for that. Why are you fighting me on this, Geordi?”
Data could see Geordi struggling to rein in his anger. He had found that the VISOR over Geordi’s eyes did not appreciably hamper his ability to read the man’s expressions, perhaps due to their long friendship. “I’m not fighting anything, Data. I just don’t like being talked down to, that’s all.”
That came as a surprise to Data. “You sound like Borges.”
“Yeah, well, maybe she has a point, did you think of that? Frankly, ever since