In Hiding Again

Posted on Thu Jun 15th, 2023 @ 12:20am by Xavier X-1 & Ensign Aaron Soong

2,409 words; about a 12 minute read

Mission: Short Treks
Location: Ihhuein ei'krih: Golden Towers
Timeline: MD1: 0800 hours

Lieutenant Aaron Soong stepped into the empty hangar—a small hunk of red, white, and black metal. “From the paint and, well, arrangement, I would have to say this was a Kaplan class F17 freighter. Shame, we could have used her.”

“From the rest, I see little more than the basics to work with here?” Aaron wondered.

The Terran, as he’d come to know them and then be told it was impolite to call them “meathead” to their faces, simply replied with the same answer. “Starfleet won’t take any chances on the android unless it is planetside, that is Earthbound.”

Aaron smiled easily. “May I?” He approached the security lieutenant. “It’s a problem with the Borg implant, I’m sure you’ve been told by Starfleet’s best and brightest doctors and yet, in less than five minutes, I have deduced the problem and a solution. If you will join me at my crude station.”

Washing his hands, Aaron applied sterile gloves before rotating the former Borg’s head. With three oral tools, Aaron sat down and set to work. He’d suddenly forgotten he’d not placed on his face mask when the computer did it for him. Leaning in, he used two of the tools to relieve the problem.

Holding up forceps, he displayed a popcorn kernel skin. The type that gets caught under the gums usually. “You may rinse and spit,” Aaron said to the tactical guard. “See if that didn’t work wonders.”

“I’m wholly sure that you’ve not…been…able to clear the problem just by sound. Now, how the hell did you fix that problem?” The former Borg asked.

“Your Borg jaw is much more at risk of retaining old foodstuff, popcorn kernel skins being the top of the offender’s list. That said, easy to fix. Follow up advice, get some oral rinse and some antibiotics for the long-term infection that kernel has created. In the meantime, you’ll want to rinse with salt water to get rid of the pain and smell until you see the doctor. And stop eating popcorn!

“Anyway, I have my own patient to attend to. Do you think I might be able to get some of the easier things from my list? A bed? Some better cybernetic tools? I’ve already explained a dozen times, I would use them under supervision and only when the X-1 was “off”.” Aaron even made air quotes. He understood why synths, augments, and androids could learn to hate these inferior meat bags.

Aaron reactivated his patient. ’ Not Soongian at all in his build, is he?’ Aaron thought. Adaptive algorithms, proper skin, and eye tone. Bless him, his makers had even given him genitals. One more touch to activate the X-1 and Aaron waited.

Xavier's eyes fluttered open. He was staring up at a white tiled ceiling and he didn't know where he was at first. It took him a few seconds to orient himself.

A concerned face was looking down at him. It was a new face, one that he hadn't seen before that much he knew. It was also an attractive face, that he noted, but did not dwell on overly long. He looked down at himself noting that he was naked, another thing he noted, but didn't dwell on.

Then something else clicked into place. His memories were intact now. Mostly anyway. There were still some things, like his early development that were still a blur to him. But all the important things were there.

"Who, are you?" he asked the figure above him, "did you fix me?"

“If you’re asking if I’ve restored your core memories, the answer is also no. They’re at seventy-six point four four nine eight six percent. There are some that are so degraded after all this time, I don’t know if I can restore them. I may have to eliminate the less important ones and rebuild the others using preexisting intent, personalities, and historical outcomes based on the current outcomes,” Aaron explained.

“I am Aaron Sha’as. I have adopted the surname, Soong, despite its historical significance and influence throughout space and time. His body could never be saved, but his mental algorithms were saved before his death, much like Picard and Altan, but there was no Golem for anyone but Jean Luc Picard.

"I've heard the surname Soong, and not in a very favorable light. But then, all androids are seen negatively. Why would you adopt such a name?" Xavier asked.

“In all fairness, the surname of Soong had not been held in overly bad appeal until after he died. The attack on Mars brought out Soong’s name, but it was ultimately Bruce Maddox and later a Romulan religious sect called the zhat’vash. The mobilization of a synthetic slave race built by Bruce Maddox, and missing all of the safety measures Data had written into his and my base codes.

“The good news is that a similar base code exists within you. There are some portions of the coding that can not be changed. We, the new generation of synthetics, are loosely bound to those codes. Especially against those attempting to take our lives, our family, or our homeworld.

Looking directly into Xavier X-1’s eyes, Aaron studied his facial perfection, eye color, hair color, moles, and body marks. “Well, perhaps we should get you some clothes to wear and go for a walk. There was no structural damage to your body, but some upgrades are always available.”

Xavier nodded his head. "I'm glad there is no structural damage. May I ask why were you staring at me?"

“I am marveling at the detail your makers put into making you appear like them. You have their skin tone, eye color, hair color, moles, and birthmarks. You are as much a work of love as an android.

“Until the creation of our “species”, a human android hybrid, by Altan Soong and Doctor Bruce Maddox, Doctor Noonian Soong was the closest anyone had come to creating life-like androids. However, even his creations, Data and Lore, were golden in skin tone and eye color.

“You must feel lucky not to stand out among the non-synthetic lifeforms. Not to be the target of their racism and bigotry...I certainly am.”

"While it's true that I resemble humans more closely and have more autonomy, that doesn't mean I'm immune to bigotry, though I'll admit, I probably suffer from it less,” Xavier admitted.

“Well, as a race, we’re currently assimilating ourselves into the Federation and Starfleet. My sister, Dahj, became an ambassador for our species. She pushed me toward diplomacy, though I will ask the captain for a different uniform. I don’t like the purple color.

“Anyway, I asked if you would like to go for a walk. Perhaps some lunch? I’m not sure if you have biorhythms that require food, but as I am human, I definitely have to eat.”

"I don't require food, but I am quite capable of eating. Lunch would be nice. Perhaps a walk afterward since you are hungry. Were you in the mood for anything in particular?"

“Let’s have something light for lunch, maybe some fish tacos with a mango salsa, and you can’t skip the chips and salsa,” Aaron answered with a light chuckle. “Maybe a walk in the sand? I’ve never walked on sand before.”

"Fish tacos sound delicious. And, I totally agree with you, we can't skip the chips and salsa. Not mild though."

"I've walked on the sand once. At a party, we had here. You'll love it. Have you ever swam?"

The pair walked out of one of the few buildings that belonged to Starfleet and into the sunlight. Aaron refused to wear his uniform unless he was on the seabase and, even then, only if he was required to. For now, he wore a white, short sleeve top, button-up mostly. Short tan shorts that were hemmed just a few inches shorter than his shorts. Aaron was finding buying clothing difficult. Shirts too short cut or shorts that he’d been told were “inappropriate”. Whatever that meant… He hoped his clothes wouldn’t be considered that was now.

Aaron moved two curtains together and near the replicator. “You’ll have privacy here, order what you like to wear and I’ll meet you out here in a moment,” he explained, motioning for Xavier to utilize his privacy screens.

With them closed the Security Officer approached. “I will accompany you to lunch, Lieutenant Soong.”

“In this matter, I outrank you. You will remain here while I observe his behavior without military interference, which will change the outcome of his behavior. There will be no observation, active or passive. He will know,” Aaron stated.

Xavier had sharp hearing, so he could hear that a conversation was taking place between Aaron and someone else, but he didn't have sharp enough hearing to determine what was being said.

He ordered a glass of raspberry lemonade from the replicator, while he waited for his host to return.

Aaron rounded the curtained-off area to find his patient still naked but with a drink. He had an amused and puzzled look on his face. “I did mention clothing, didn’t I?” he asked with a hilarious giggle.”

When he had recovered, Xavier X-1 still looked confused. “The place requires clothing, especially around the Romulans, but as they’ve made this a luxury town, we have the luxury of what we choose to wear.

“Computer, measure Xavier X-1, full body proportions.” The computer chimed almost instantly. “Computer, small white briefs. Heather grey extra short shorts.”

The computer disapproved with its mechanical version of an ‘uh-uh’. Aaron rolled his eyes. “Give us a holographic overlay with a medium pink t-shirt with a randomized sunset and fishing pole.”

With a buzz, the image appeared as a hologram. Walking around it, Aaron decided she was right. “Make the white underwear a white bikini with Heather grey writing of his name, Xavier. Let’s also go with a white, short-sleeved, zip-up t-shirt with the same Heather grey piping on the hem of the short sleeve and the front zipper.”

The hologram stood before them; looking posh, and stylish but missing two things. First, Aaron approached and unzipped the t-shirt jacket.

“Okay, computer, two things left. Pink sunglasses with grey lenses and a Heather suede tactical shoulder bag.” Turning to Xavier with a wide smile on his face, he asked. “What do you think? As a private Federation citizen, you wanna go see who we can go get wild with out there, boy?”

Xavier replicated and put on the clothing. He'd noticed the stares already, and word would probably get back to the Captian which would result in him getting a lecture. That didn't particularly bother him, but he made a note to himself to never go outside without clothing again.

"I've never gone wild before. I think it could be fun though. Anyone, you'd suggest?"

“If you think I’m going out in this purple Starfleet monstrosity, you’ve got another thing coming, my friend. He took his own time in the privacy room before finding something he liked. With a quick cleaning, Aaron pulled on his white small bikini, a light gray/green cotton sweater with a massive white daisy toward his left shoulder and a yellow center half the size of his head, and finally, his khaki that was almost white shorts, which barely reached his shirt. Both he and the android were styled to catch eyes, but whose neither could say…

Popping out of the privacy area, skidding across the floor in his sneakers, he made some quick changes. Walking back in, he kicked off his shoes and pulled on his Bershka chunky styled sneakers in beige. And some simple decorations. Opening the jewelry, he picked the first two, a simple compass ring in silver and a faded bead, braided bracelet in desert to match the outfit.

Checking himself out in the mirror and then checking out Xavier, Aaron said, “If you don’t get picked up looking like that, I’m taking you back to my place.” Aaron chuckled loudly.

Aaron watched as Xavier started for the buses. “What are you doing, man? We’ve got a car from the base.” He shook his head. “Kids these days, and I right?” he asked the old man next to him.

The old man next to him looked up and shouted, “Don’t keep a fine boy like this waiting!”

Aaron moved close to the old man and threw his arm over his shoulder which turned into a hug and a grab of Aaron’s butt. Aaron smiled. “If you were forty years younger.”

“I’d still be too old for you and definitely too old to beat up your date.”

Aaron smiled. “Never too old, sir,” Aaron told him with a wink before opening the door for Xavier. Once inside and on their way to a big place, Aaron got a message that he displayed big enough for Xavier to read.

Thank you for the $100. You said to spend on a nice date, but I doubt there are many left in my lifetime. I’ll send it back.”

Aaron shook his head. “In this place in my life, I see to splint in money. Here is $900 more. Hopefully, enough to meet another man or woman.

“I don’t know what to say except thank you. I am Nan Shang and I run a small restaurant.”

“I will come in for a taste test, what do you think?” Xavier answered quickly.

“Bring the cute boy if all goes well tonight!” Nan replied with a laugh emoji.

Aaron wrote back, “Still a handsome gentleman. Of course, we will visit. “That is if I can show my cute boy a date worth spending the night with me.”

If Xavier could have blushed, he would have. "You really think I'm cute?" he asked.

Aaron nodded, "Of course, I think most people male or female would agree with me."

"Well, you're pretty cute yourself."

"Thanks."

"You're welcome. And just as an aside, I've never been on a date before. Can we go dancing?"

"Of course, right this way," the other android replied.

Xavier quickly followed, not wanting to be left behind and wanting to try something new.

 

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