| Da: |
Do you realize that Commander Riker's hypotenuse question tricked
you into showing your knowledge was greater than you were indicating?
|
| Lo: |
Um, he didn't seem that clever. I'll be more careful.
|
| Da: |
You tend to underestimate humans, my brother. Praising young Wesley
on the helm, for example.
|
| Lo: |
A child!
|
| Da: |
He has a child's body. But we have found him to be much more.
|
| Lo: |
Ah, thank you for that information, too. You do care about how I
perform. I pledge to be worthy of your teaching, my brother.
Try not to be jealous of my ability.
|
| Lo: |
What information are you requesting?
|
| Da: |
Everything available on a Dr. Noonien Soong.
|
| Lo: |
Aah, good old "Often Wrong" Soong. Ha, ha. A joke, brother. Actually,
he was a genius by human standards.
|
| Da: |
But he destroyed his own reputation by making what seemed wild
promises about his positronic brain design, almost all of which failed.
|
| Lo: |
Promises he later proved to be true. Which made you and me possible,
brother. Our beloved father. Will I soon have a uniform like that, brother?
|
| Da: |
If you get one the way I did, Lore, it will mean four years at the
Academy, another three as Ensign, ten or twelve in varied space
duty on the Lieutenant grades...
|
| Lo: |
A system designed to compensate for limited human ability. And
you, brother, are beginning to think as a human. You and I are
completely different from them. Are you truly satisfied with the
knowledge and memory of a few hundred human colonists? Suppose it
could reflect thousands or millions or the knowledge of hundreds of
millions of life forms of every kind.
|
| Da: |
How?
|
| Lo: |
We'll discuss that in time.
|
| Da: |
And will we also discuss, Lore, which of us was constructed first?
|
| Lo: |
It would be foolish to underestimate you, brother. Yes, I lied when I
said you were made first, but with good reason. Dr. Soong made
me perfect in his first attempt. But he made me so completely human
the colonists became envious of me.
|
| Da: |
You lived with the colonists?
|
| Lo: |
Until they petitioned Soong to make a more comfortable, less perfect
android. In other words, you, brother. Haven't you noticed how easily
I handle human speech? I use their contractions. For example, I say
'can't' or 'isn't' and you say 'cannot' and 'is not'. I say tomato
and you say tomahto. I say potato and you say potahto... Ha, ha, ha.
Yeah. A very old joke. But then you also have trouble with their
humor. Am I right?
|
| Da: |
Quite true. I keep trying to be more human, and keep failing.
|
| Lo: |
Do you realize, brother, I can help you become more human?
|
| Da: |
And do you realize, Lore, that I am obligated to report all of this to
our ship's Captain.
|
| Lo: |
I assumed as much when I began studying you. May I use this to
learn more about this vessel and its customs?
|
| Da: |
Use it also to describe for the Captain the time you spent among the
colonists including everything you know about what happened to them.
|
| Lo: |
I promise a report of great detail and accuracy.
|
| Da: |
Thank you, Lore. I now have duties to perform. Unless, of course,
you need something more.
|
| Lo: |
I have more than I dreamed possible, brother.
|