Practice! w/ TL

[ol_yellow_eyes]

Lieutenant Commander Data walks to his quarters on the Enterprise, having just been relieved of night-shift duty. He plans to spend his time off entertaining his cat, Spot, and perhaps studying up on the works of William Shakespeare (again).

When the door to his room opens, however, it is not his room at all.

It is a bar.

Is this some sort of malfunction? Perhaps the holodeck has somehow gone haywire and remotely projected this image into his quarters. But the holodeck's technology should not be capable of that...

He considers closing the door, but he notices the presence of several life forms in the bar, and remembers the primary mission of the Enterprise. The captain would be very displeased with him if he did not take the time to study this place, and try to make contact with the beings he finds there.

So the android walks into the bar, his pale yellow eyes mechanically and curiously flickering about his surroundings.

Comments

[findsthesun]

Legolas is by the bar, with a hunk of fresh bread in his hands. He tilts his head at the--humanoid who walks in.

"What type of creature is it that you are, sir?" he asks, tearing a piece off the bread (it's smell is strong, and yeasty-hot).

[ol-yellow-eyes.livejournal.com]

Data's eyes go immediately to the person who addresses him. He walks over to him politely and answers, "I am an android. May I return the question by asking what it is you are? You are unlike any life form I have ever seen."

Data looks him over again, noticing his height, his bright eyes, and the primitive weapon at his side. He is certainly humanoid, but not human-- even his voice carries different frequencies than that of any human.

"May I also ask, what is your name?" he adds, as an afterthought.

[findsthesun]

"I am an Elf, of the Firstborn of Arda," Legolas replies, easily, "called Legolas, or Greenleaf by the Men of Lake Town. And yours?"

He has never heard of an 'android'.

[ol-yellow-eyes.livejournal.com]

Elf... Arda... Legolas... None of these words match any entry in Data's memory bank. So unfortunately, besides this person's name this gives Data no useful information. He wishes suddenly that he had his tricorder.

"My name is Lieutenant Commander Data, Second Officer of the starship U.S.S. Enterprise." he replies, with a quick nod of his head. "Mr. Legolas. Could you tell me more about this place? I seem to have arrived here by accident."

[findsthesun]

Neither does Legolas recognize much of that, beyond noting in means he is likely involved in his world's military.

Legolas laughs, brightly. "'Legolas,' only, please; I do not use the Mannish honorifics for myself. Apparently," he glances around Milliways, briefly, extending a illustrating hand, "this is a tavern outside of the circles of the worlds, known as Milliways. People from various worlds can come here, yet return to their own homes without crossing into another world."

He shrugs, slight and graceful, "I do not claim to understand its workings, but we are caught at the edge of the destruction of at least one world, protected and made to observe it. The window on its destruction is to your right."

Legolas does not, in fact, look there himself. He avoids it as much as possible.

[ol-yellow-eyes.livejournal.com]

Data looks towards the mentioned window, and is greeted with the familiar sight of stars and galaxies. Currently, he does not see any of the destruction that Legolas mentions... He is silent for a moment, and his eyes flicker back and forth as he processes the new information.

Another world... Data has visited many worlds, but none have appeared in his quarters before. Perhaps it is more like another dimension, some sort of rift in the time-space continuum...

He continues to ponder this, but then looks up suddenly, realizing that he has not spoken for a while. He considers asking more about the physics involved, but remembers that the elf mentioned a possible lack of understanding about its workings, so he decides to drop the subject.

"Thank you, Legolas. I appreciate your assistance." he says finally, then glances at the bar. It looks much like the one at Ten Forward on the Enterprise. "May I join you?" he asks, gesturing towards the seat next to Legolas.

[findsthesun]

"You may," Legolas says, and smiles at him. "They do not charge for the first drink, if you would wish to order one."

He eats the chunk of bread he tore off from the whole--not delicately, but gracefully.

[ol-yellow-eyes.livejournal.com]

Data sits down, considering the suggestion. He has no need of a drink, but perhaps it is usual to order one... On the other hand, it seems they use money in this place, and he has none. Perhaps it would be best to save the free drink for another time.

"No thank you," he tries, watching Legolas for any strange reaction.

[findsthesun]

Legolas nods. "Are androids a common race in your world?"

[ol-yellow-eyes.livejournal.com]

"No they are not," he responds, immediately. "I am only one of two known androids in our galaxy, both created by the same man." He pauses, noticing subtle confusion in Legolas's bright eyes. "Have you never heard of androids?"

[findsthesun]

"No," Legolas responds, easily, "there is no such race in my world, that I have heard tell of."

[ol-yellow-eyes.livejournal.com]

"Androids are not a race, exactly..." Data hesitates for a moment, wondering if the elf wants him to explain. He remembers the primitive weapon at Legolas's side and wonders if he would even be able to describe himself in a way that the elf would understand.

Asking is often the best choice. "Would you like me to explain to you what I am?"

[findsthesun]

"As best you can, if you would," Legolas says, tilting his head. "There are many creatures I have not been acquainted with before I came here, and they seem to each have an interesting history."

[ol-yellow-eyes.livejournal.com]

"Webster's 24th-Century Dict--" Data stops himself, realizing that the words might be confusing to his companion. He corrects himself, using a simpler generalization. "Where I come from, an android can be defined as an automaton made to resemble a human being. In other words, I am a machine, a computer that was programmed to think and behave like a man."

He pauses again to ask, "Is this confusing to you? Judging by your weapon, I would guess that the technology of your world is not as advanced as that of mine. Perhaps you do not know what I mean when I use words such as 'computer' and 'programmed.' If there is anything that you would like me to clarify, please feel free to ask questions. I will try to explain to the best of my ability."

Data stops speaking finally, unaware (as usual) that he is on the verge of babbling.