The Way is Up

The days were short on this planet, the twin suns setting in opposite directions creating a pink halo all around the horizon. The stars were visible through the great gaping blue hole above. Most would find it beautiful, but after nearly two years drifting in space, Lore had had about all he wanted of stars. That was years ago, but the memory was as fresh as ever to the android. A very long, repetitive memory.

As soon as the suns had vanished from view a wind kicked up, blowing the desert sands into their faces. Lore shut off his breathing apparatus; sand was nigh impossible to get out of his systems. His brother, however, was not so lucky. Switching between the digital voice modulator and the voicebox synthesizer was exceedingly difficult for him so he'd made do with a heavy scarf covering the lower half of his face. He squinted into the wind, trying to shield eyes that lacked the protective lenses that the later models enjoyed.

"Why are we on this planet anyway?" Lore groused, walking beside his brother, "It deviates from our course, and at least the company from that last trader ship was tolerable."

Myth glared at him from sand-crusted eyes. "They have good ships here, and are not familiar with androids. We can use that to our advantage."

"Not Federation, I'll wager. We'll need currency of some kind."

"I do not have any."

"Well, there goes your ingenious idea. Unless you plan to steal one?"

"We are androids; we will use that to our advantage. Must I repeat myself? You are the one with the superior brain."

"So we're stealing one."

"I have never known humans to give starships away."

Lore couldn't help but smirk at that.

The city was rustic in relation to the small starcraft that even in the night dotted the skies with lights. Lamps lit every road for a people all too used to long nights and citizens were still active in the city center. The buildings helped to block the wind and Myth pulled down his scarf to get a proper breath. Lore drew back his hood and took a better look around.

The lamps were a warm orange that added color to their pale skin and would help blend them into the crowds. A port of minor repute, the citizens of the city paid little attention to strangers, but the androids remained wary, especially as said crowds grew thicker and the lights brighter.

Myth was relieved when he found the establishment he was looking for, or at least something like relief. He was still not too certain how to behave around humans and their allies, his recent sentience allowing him limited experience among them as a self-aware being. The Enterprise had been his first time among humans that he could remember, before that was the recordings of a machine that knew only its survival programming among the Romulans and then the Remans. He tried transposing an emotion for those days from Data's memories, and found "terrifying" a good one, though he still couldn't quite comprehend it.

Doctor Soong was gone; there would be no more emotion chips for his remaining wayward sons.

Lore had known emotion at one time, and the loss of it was noticeable even to Myth. But it was a preferred loss in Myth's view, as Lore was unstable but manageable, at least for now. True emotion could easily overload the tenuous link he maintained with his brother. When that broke, he was certain he would be on his own again. If Lore didn't try to kill him, of course.

The two androids approached the door of the run-down building. Loud shouts and music emanated from within and Lore concluded it to be a place of social gathering, probably a bar. Myth stopped in the doorway, thinking, before he turned to his brother.

"Actually, you will remain here."

"Excuse me? I believe I have the most experience when it comes to dealing with humans."

"Indeed, I do not doubt that, but I also do not trust you. Remember, I managed well enough on my own for nearly a year gathering your parts." He turned and entered the building before Lore could formulate a replay, letting the door slam in his face.

Lore cursed. It was a human reaction, but one that had satisfying results at times and so Lore had no compunctions in emulating it. He pulled his hood back over his head, drawn low, and slumped against the wall in wait. It had taken effort not to follow the upstart inside, to even now walk away and try to rid himself of this humiliation. Myth was inferior to him, the prototype, his positronic net nowhere near as developed. It took most of his brain power just to keep his functions running! Not to mention ungrateful. Lore had named him, and in that sense, given him the identity he had craved. But Myth had Data's memories, and so while he'd never met Lore, he knew him in a way, and had attached this damn link to him when he'd been reassembled.

But another part of Lore whispered for patience. It would only be a matter of time before Myth saw the futility in this fools' quest and, as promised, severed the link for good and let Lore free to live his renewed life as he saw fit. Indeed a part of him was grateful himself, if not to Myth specifically then simply to the situation, otherwise he'd still be scraps in a Federation lab. His last memory was of Data deactivating him.

Not too much time passed before Myth returned, two eager-looking humans behind him.

"These gentlemen have a ship for sale," he explained to Lore without preamble, "you will look it over while I conduct negotiations."

Lore nodded and fell in step behind the small group. If Myth did have one redeeming quality it was his method of "negotiation." It was a tactic they'd used before, Lore would prime the ship while Myth dealt with the humans. His brother's ethical programming wasn't quite up to par either, it seemed.

The ship was not overly impressive, small and bare of comforts, but it was fast and built for long distances. Just what they needed. Lore tapped at the console absently as they left the atmosphere, humming a little ditty to himself. Myth stuck his head in and held up a crude but powerful plasma rifle for Lore to see.

"Look what they decided to throw in for us," he said with a small grin that borderlined stupid.

Lore took note of the holes burned into Myth's clothes from said rifle. While his brother was good at slapping humans around if necessary, he preferred just to make off with their weapons. They'd gained quite a collection over time. Lore laid in the coordinates while Myth set the weapon aside and then sat beside him. He unwound the scarf from his head and, for whatever reason, smacked Lore in the face with it. Lore glowered at him.

"Cheer up, little brother," Myth said uncharacteristically, "our journey draws to a close."

"Now comes the hard part."

That sobered Myth quickly and he nodded. "Yes, but it will be worth it."

Lore sighed in annoyance. "You do know how utterly useless this is, right? Look, two outta three isn't so bad, especially when you consider our lifestyles."

"We are practically immortal, Lore, we should not have to suffer losses." Myth looked out into the stars that became all the clearer with each passing second, his mind scanning memories that weren't his own. "You said you loved him, do you remember that?"

"Desperate words for the sake of survival!" Lore snapped, "I don't recall him considering my immortality when he deactivated me, or shut you off without intent of activating you again!"

Myth was silent for so long that Lore thought he'd finished and settled back for the long ride.

Until Myth finally said, "Can you really blame him?"

Lore got up and went to the back to double check the small weapons array. They'd probably need it.

A/N: A random idea I came up with. I have no knowledge of Star Trek canon after Nemesis so I apologize for errors on that end. This is supposed to just be a prologue, but we'll see where it goes. I'm not too sure I captured Lore's voice right. Critisism is always welcome and thank you for reading.