Breakdown on the Street (Closed)

[empirical_data]

The EMH was gone. The village's ability to bring people in and dismiss them was one that usually only sparked curiosity with his positronic brain. Perhaps being of some familiarity with an individual, even if they weren't personally acquainted, had inspired a completely different reaction than he had previously encountered in Haurvatat

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[not_ricky]

The figure slumped on the storefront steps looked familiar, so Mickey, despite needing to head to work soon, approached cautiously.

"Oh, man." He slipped his hands into the pockets of his hoodie and sat next to the android. "Didn't think you could cry. I mean..." Oof, clever move, Mickey. Bloke's upset about something and you're poking at him like you were some bloody Time Lord.

"Somethin' happen, mate?"

[empirical_data]

At Mickey's voice he wiped at his face with the back of his hand and drew in a careful breath.

"Someone from my universe left... and if I go I an going to be obliterated in an explosion." It was a little bit frightening, too. He hardly ever cried. He wasn't used to the way that his lower lip quivered with another noisy inhale, and he buried his face against his arm.

"My father made me fully functional," he responded in a tone the ebbed off into a squeak, muffled by the fabric of the tweed jacket he was wearing.

[not_ricky]

"Just cos they've left doesn't mean you're gonna go soon. I'm not a clever boffin or anythin', but I don't think the village works like that." He didn't think he sounded reassuring, but at least he was earnest. Sometimes that's what was needed, a bit of honesty.

"Can't you, you know, turn it off or something? If I could shut off feelin' bad sometimes, I think I would." Yeah, this from the bloke who'd fought off Cybermen in a parallel Earth and in Haurvatat. Tell the truth, he sometimes envied not having emotions.

[empirical_data]

"How do you believe that it works...? And yes, I can, though I will recall what was upsetting me when it is reactivated."

Another careful breath, and he tried to control himself. He no longer usually opted to turn off his emotion chip except in essential situations. But this hurt. It was uneasy and frightening.

He nodded slowly, and twitched a little. The anguished expression faded with almost eerie speed, and he stared out ahead of him blankly. Attention turned back to Mickey. "...Might I ask what a boffin is?"

[not_ricky]

"Well, yeah, I don't," sighed Mickey. "It's just faith makes me believe it, y'know? Can't really describe it. It's sort of like, when you go to sleep at night and know you're gonna wake up in the morning." But Data probably didn't sleep, so, bad analogy there. "Or when you know that the sun's gonna rise the next day." He shrugged. "It just happens."

The sudden switch-off of emotions, though expected, was still unnerving. The way Data's face went passive in an instant. A brief shudder ran down Mickey's spine, like ice down the back.

"Boffin? Just slang for scientist. Y'know, people in white labcoats, doin' experiments. Clever people like you or the Doctor."

[empirical_data]

Data's expressions remained flatter than usual. More like they had been when Mickey first encountered him. The moved just enough to give emphasis to his statements, or accent an inability to calculate an answer.

"Ah." He said with a slight nod. "It is difficult as a scientist to have what you would call faith. We treat facts rationally. I am unaware as to how one would even go about having faith."

[not_ricky]

"Guess faith's a completely irrational and human thing, huh?" Maybe. Sometimes it seemed like the Doctor had no bloody idea what he was doing either, but he acted like he did. That was a kind of faith.

How do you explain faith to somebody like Data?

"You trust stuff that you can prove, right? Stuff that happens over and over so you get used to it. I got faith you're not gonna end up attackin' me someday, cos I trust you. Guess you gotta trust the village not to bring you back to when you're gonna...kick off. Or figure out a way to escape to some other universe before you get dragged back to your own."

Yeah, that wasn't reassuring either. Mickey rubbed at his nose in frustration. "What's that thing?" he asked, nodding towards the small cylinder in Data's hand.

[empirical_data]

"I believe that I understand. I have had individuals in my life that have managed to perform tasks that were statistically very unlikely. In the future, I find myself being more sure that they will be able to manage situations that others would have deemed highly improbable."

His lips formed a thin line, and he clicked his head again, reactivating that emotion chip with a faint wince. It seemed appropriate that it would be activated if he were to tell Mickey this. "My programming has been affected before and I have harmed people close to me. I have no desire to actually do so, but it has happened. I suppose that I have faith that the people I have met here would try to correct the problem before destroying me as a simple piece of malfunctioning machinery."

He held up the program. "This is a holosuite program, but this one is educational. There are others used for recreation."

[not_ricky]

Mickey winced in sympathy when Data switched on his emotion chip. Couldn't be easy to do that, considering how hurt the android looked a few minutes ago. All that fear and hurt seeping through was a bit frightening to watch.

"If that ever happens, I won't let anybody lay a hand on you. That's a promise. You're not gonna get destroyed just cos you've got a kink or two in your programming. And hey, if you can't trust your friends, right?" He knocked his fist loosely on Data's shoulder, hoping the android knew that the gesture was supposed to be friendly.

Holosuite, sounded familiar. As a bartender, Mickey was privy to a lot of things in the village, overhearing conversations and starting up his own. He didn't need to explore to know what sort of things existed in Haurvatat. "Oh, yeah. Heard of that. It's virtual reality, yeah? Go into a room and then it changes to whatever you want?"

[empirical_data]

He did, at least, having crew that had given him similar gestures of affection. He made a light fist of his own though, and tried to reproduce the gesture; only going more slowly and it was a little awkward. He still hadn't quite got the hold of those minor human gestures. Perhaps if his father had gotten to spend the time on him that he initially had planned, his socialization would have progressed much more smoothly.

Instead, he just sort of imitated Mickey's friendly maneuver and managed a little bit of a smile. "Thank you. That is somewhat relieving. I was, actually, a little worried about that as well." At least he had made some sort of impact.

"It is a holographic environment that simulates a real environment in all aspects, without placing the participant in any sort of suit. I used to often use it with my friend Geordi LaForge frequently used the holodeck aboard the Enterprise."

[not_ricky]

Even if the return gesture seemed awkward, Mickey respected the effort Data put into it. Least he was trying. Wonder if they'd be able to graduate to a fist bump next?

"Worried? That you didn't have friends who'd stick up for you, you mean? I know the feeling. Took me a long time to adjust to that parallel Earth. Took even longer to trust the people there. And worse, gain their trust. 'Course, I guess that's prepared me for Haurvatat. This still isn't home."

He listened with some interest, thinking the whole thing sounded like a special kind of video game, even down to playing it with your friends. "What's it of? I mean, what sorta environment is it?"

[empirical_data]

"I have found myself in similar situations, though for not quite as an extended period of time. Unlike many here, I can never return home."

His gold eyes flicked to and fro thoughtfully, before training back on his friend. "Whatever program you wish to use. I usually used the Sherlock Holmes holonovel. He would be Watson, and I would be Holmes. There are many interactive programs available at Ten Forward."

[not_ricky]

"Figured this place could be kind of an afterlife for some people. Maybe even you, Data. That's where faith's tested the most for humans, isn't it? Believin' that there's someplace you go after you die?" He doubted there was a Heaven for androids or other mechanical beings, but maybe for Data, there might be an exception?

So it was like a videogame. Kinda like an RPG, pretending to be other people. "That's actually pretty cool. So you got to be Holmes. Was it exactly like the old stories or something completely different from Conan Doyle's stuff?"

[empirical_data]

There were several places in his universe that could be construed as an afterlife of sorts. The Continuum. The Nexus. It was a plausible concept. Even so, he didn't believe that he would feel content, knowing what else was out there.

"You can make request of the program to vary it, or simply participate in it as play and say the lines appropriate to your character. There are many holosuite programs in Ten Forward, most of which recreational or based off the native worlds and time periods of some of the residents of Haurvatat."

[not_ricky]

"Our native worlds?" Mickey had to laugh at that. Imagine anybody wanting to pretend being in his shoes. "Don't think you'll find my version of London as interestin' as Sherlock Holmes' London. Nothin' much happenin' in council estates excepting the normal day to day stuff. I had my mechanic's job, in between waiting about for the TARDIS to show up again. I kinda like it better in Haurvatat. Less boredom."

But Victorian London? The Doctor never brought him there. Well, why the bloody hell not? "Y'know, if you'd like, I'd be interested in having a look at your Holmes program." Cos it'd actually be kinda neat.

[empirical_data]

"I believe there is also programs set in the Prohibition era United States, as well as a variety of post-World War II Cold War spy programs." The android sounded a little eager as he described what was available, at least not as depressed as he was previously and more involved in the idea of costuming.