Exploring Humanity (Data x Reader)

Chapter 11: Urgency

You were in Ten Forward sitting at a table. The golden-eyed stranger sat across from you, he was jovial and lively. You were peacefully talking to one another; each of you had a glass of lemonade in your hands. At the window you both sat near to, little white dots shined, and he would explain each cluster of stars and distant planets that passed by. The conversation was engaging, and it was tranquil.

Suddenly someone tall came through the doors at Ten Forward, and he looked furious. It was the same Marsh person you saw over a week and a half ago. He began to advance at your table and everyone in Ten Forward turned around to see what was going on. Marsh made a big scene accusing Data of the same things out of rage and revenge; it was all directed at him. Data stood up and remained calm. All the sudden, Marsh placed his hand on his side and pulled out a phaser pointing it right at you. He pressed the button to fire. The golden-eyed stranger swiftly stood in front of you and acted as a shield. He took the hit and was stunned. You saw him stiffly collapse on the ground right before you. The Marsh person left the room with a thunderous laugh. You quickly kneeled down to the golden-eyed man and you tried to shake him awake, but he wouldn't react. You saw parts of his circuits exposed as small smoke came out. You tried to lift him up with all of your might, but he was too heavy. You yelled for help. You had tears in your eyes, and you were going insane as you lifted his head onto your knees feeling helpless. Those around carried on with their conversations and simply ignored you.

Then the scene changed, and your eyes fluttered open. You woke up in your bed. It was another atrocious nightmare. You tried to catch your breath as you looked around and noticed saw all of your bed covers on the floor. You took your glass of water by your nightstand and chugged it down. You sat on the side of your bed and ran a hand across your forehead, you felt sweat. You had no idea if these dreams had any meaning, but you knew you've been deeply affected by the confrontation that happened a week and a half ago. You turned on your PADD and it displayed 04:30. Knowing that you wouldn't fall back asleep anymore, you decided to take a warm shower to try to relax. In order to forget the nightmares, you'd focus instead on your childhood back on Earth. You tried to see if you could remember any other memories of the past that you might've missed from the discussions. After the shower, you put on a robe.

You walked over to the food replicator and replicated yourself some toast and orange juice. Anxiety took over again, and you felt the need to call over Counselor Troi, but you knew she was resting at this time. So instead you decided to pace around your quarters, it always seemed to relax you.

'Calm down (Y/N), it was a dream. Nobody is hurt. Breathe. Relax.'

You slowly breathe in and out deeply as you looked down. After a minute, your heart rate went back down to normal, so you slowed down your pace. You sat back on the small table to resume your eating. You remembered that right across from you sat the golden-eyed stranger back when he would visit. You imagined him there with his hands clasped in front of him, head tilted to one side as he talked away answering your questions. You recalled his pleased expression whenever you hold him that you indeed remembered something he would mention. He was always thoughtful and gave you small compliments like, "I see you have attempted the puzzle I gave you yesterday, good work" or "You are improving well and making progress, excellent". Once you finished your meal, you stood again and paced around.

You then stopped by a small painting that you had on your wall right outside your bedroom. For some reason, you hadn't paid attention to it and you took a closer look. Captured on the square canvas was Earth. You could see the beautiful shades of blues, greens, and yellows as they represented the oceans and continents. A small glow encapsuled the planet as it represented the atmosphere, and the moon orbited brilliantly as it was attracted to the magnetic pull. In the background you noticed stars of various shapes. It was a dead-on representation of Earth, almost a photo. As you looked around at the unique stars, you reached to the bottom right hand corner and on it was the signature of the artist. It read, DATA on it along with the Stardate. Apparently this was given to you less than a year ago. Your hand went over his signature as you felt the texture. His image popped again in your mind.