“Can you run it through our database excluding the additions?” Kim asked.
“Already on it.” When the process was complete, Drur said softly, “It’s Velth’s genome.”
“Did you include his in the crew list?” Kim asked.
“No, sir. I assumed you only wanted to include our current, you know, living crew members.”
“So, is it asking us a question or checking our math?” Glenn asked.
“Send our list again and, this time, include Velth in the set,” Kim suggested.
There was no visible response. Instead, the alien simply vanished from the viewscreen.
When Lieutenant Reg Barclay found Nancy Conlon in main engineering, it felt as if he was entering the room on any other day he had spent in the Delta Quadrant. Every station had power. They were without most of their organic engineers, but it was still nice to feel that things were returning to something resembling a routine.
Conlon stood with Ensign Unhai at the slipstream operations panel. As he approached, Conlon said, “Try it again.”
Barclay turned his attention toward a small rectangular module stationed just beside the slipstream generator. He recognized it at once, as it had been constructed shortly after the fleet’s mission had begun. Within the unit, a small pile of dust sat on a flat panel. At Conlon’s order, it vanished in a swirling transporter effect and was replaced by a small crystal.
“Well?” Conlon asked.
Unhai dutifully checked her data panel and replied, “Purity is sixty-seven percent.”
Conlon sighed deeply. “That’s better, but it won’t do.”
“We could try using a smaller sample,” Unhai suggested.
“This unit was designed to recrystallize benamite that had minor fractures,” Conlon replied. “Ours has been pulverized. I think we’re going to have to start over from scratch. I’ll get busy working on the new specifications. Please collect all of the test samples and return them to storage.”
“Aye, Chief,” Unhai said, and moved to retrieve the crystal.
“Good evening, Lieutenant,” Reg greeted her.
“Hey, Reg. Something I can help you with?”
“I was wondering if you intended to end your shift any time soon?” he asked.
Conlon checked the chronometer. “I should have signed out an hour ago,” she replied.
“If that is a yes, there is something I’d like to show you,” Reg said.
Conlon stared at Reg blankly until his cheeks began to redden. When it dawned on him how his statement could be taken, or mistaken, he added quickly, “I have created a test m-meh-matrix that requires your review.”
Conlon shook her head, worry lines creasing her brow. “I’m sorry. I didn’t hear, that is, I couldn’t process…”
Barclay tried again. “I understand. This way.”
Conlon alerted the engineers to her departure and followed Barclay down the corridor to his holographic lab. When they entered, he gestured for her to take a seat next to his behind the workstation. Just beyond it stood a circular platform with a waist-high transparent barrier.
“There are a few parameters I have yet to enter into the primary matrix. I wanted to get your input before we do our first test run,” Barclay said.
“That’s very thoughtful of you, Reg.”
“Okay, here we go.”
Seconds later, a hologram appeared on the platform. Physically, it was a perfect rendering of Conlon in uniform. Barclay glanced over to check Conlon’s response and saw her staring almost sadly at his creation.
“The physical presentation is really little more than a shell. We could alter any of the parameters quite easily.”
“Could I be taller?” Conlon asked.
Barclay complied by adding four centimeters in height to the display.
“No, that’s weird,” Conlon said immediately.
“I honestly believe you will be most comfortable if the hologram is as close as we can come to the physical version of yourself with which you are familiar,” Barclay said as he undid the fix.
“I agree, but just because, show me platinum-blond hair. I’ve always been curious but never had the nerve.”
Barclay complied.
“Yeah, no,” Conlon said.
“There are certain capabilities that you might find useful. For example, all holograms can control whether or not they exist in a solid or permeable form.”
“I don’t… what?” Conlon asked.
Barclay reached for a padd next to him and tossed it to the hologram. She caught it effortlessly, then threw it back. He then made a tweak to his panel and tossed the padd again. This time it went through the hologram, clattering onto the deck behind it.
“There might be times when it would be advantageous for you to be permeable. The Doctor has utilized this function frequently when his ship has come under attack.”
Conlon nodded. “Do it.”
“It’s done,” Barclay said, clearly pleased to have found a modification of which she approved.
“The one question the Doctor couldn’t really answer for me is how it would feel to be a hologram,” she said.
Barclay turned a compassionate face toward her. “The honest answer is that we won’t know until the transfer is complete. You have sensory memories that the Doctor will never acquire. That might add levels of complexity to your experiences he will never know.”
“Is there a chance the transfer will fail?” Conlon asked.
“There is always a chance,” Barclay conceded. “But the better prepared you are, the smaller the chances of rejection become. When the Doctor transferred Danara Pel to her holographic body, she found the experience so compelling, she was reluctant to return to her own body.”
“He also said it can’t be permanent. Do you know why?”
Barclay sighed. “It has to do with a holomatrix’s ability to store and retrieve data. We’re not creating a new brain for you. We can’t do that. Our main computer will function as this matrix’s processor and it does not work the same way organic matter does. Over time, your new experiences as a hologram will supersede your memories. You will become more accustomed to ‘thinking’ and processing as a hologram.”
“Meaning I will lose my humanity?”
“The Doctor is one of the most ‘human’ life-forms I have ever encountered,” Barclay said quickly. “But his nature will never be ours. For a long time, it will be a matter of very small degrees of degradation. But eventually, your understanding
