Disclaimer: I do not own Star Trek: The Next Generation or any of the characters therein, no matter how much I might wish I did. Please don't sue me or steal my story. Thanks!

Note: Yesterday, I found myself daydreaming about daydreams and this was the result. I hope you enjoy it!

Data's Daydreams

By Rowena Zahnrei

Second Officer's Personal Log: Since discovering my dream program six weeks ago, I have begun to realize the benefits, and drawbacks, of possessing an active, unconscious mind. While I retain full awareness of my conscious thought processes, I have noted that when I am engaged in a highly routine task for an extended period, my focus divides and my attention sometimes begins to wander. The tedious scan or analysis is pushed to the edge of my conscious awareness and what I can only describe as my imagination takes hold, creating vision-like scenarios I have tentatively termed 'daydreams'…

"Commander Data, you have the bridge," Captain Picard said, breaking into the android's thoughts. "I'll see you in the morning."

"Aye, Captain," Data said, rising from his ops station. "Pleasant dreams, sir."

The captain nodded with a smile and headed for the turbolift. A few of the bridge crew joined him, stifling yawns, even as more rested officers arrived to begin the new shift.

Data waited until his internal chronometer read all zeros to announce, "Begin night watch," then settled into the central command chair, which he never failed to notice was more agreeably padded and ergonomically designed than his own…not that androids gave a thought to comfort.

The bridge lights dimmed by twenty percent, highlighting the cheerful, electronic glow of the bridge consoles. The hums and chirps of the ship's systems blended with the sounds of soft voices as the officers around him saw to their duties; an efficient and harmonious symbiosis of organic and artificial intelligences that touched something poetic in the android. As he used the chair's arm console to log the shift change, in the back of his mind, he began composing a trio of new sonnets to express those thoughts, while absently speculating if it was possible to effectively capture the playful dynamic of the ops console's blinking lights on a static canvas.

Data finished the log and sat back, his golden eyes drawn to the vast, sweeping starscape displayed on the main viewscreen.

Normally, when there was a lull in his duties, he would occupy himself by accessing the names, positions, planetary systems, and known histories of the stars he saw. He did that tonight, but as the familiar information scrolled through his brain, it somehow failed to captivate. Instead of focusing on the data, his mind became absorbed in the stark contrasts of space and the pleasing effects of the light distortions caused by the ship's warp field, which made the stars appear to stretch. As he stared, he could almost feel the smooth wooden brush between his fingers, see the stars as graceful streaks of white-gold paint across a black gesso canvas…

Data blinked.

Had the sensory stimuli of the night bridge always affected him this way? Would he have had such oddly sensual thoughts before the dream program activated?

Am I daydreaming now? he wondered. Can one 'daydream' at 'night'?

It would be inappropriate to pose such introspective questions to the crew around him, but any answer would require a wider experiential sampling than just himself. Data decided to add those questions to several others he'd been storing to ask his friend Geordi when they met for coffee in the morning.

I'm not sure if this is done. It feels done, but I think the idea could go further. If you liked this snippet, and if you're interested, I could write a few more little daydream stories. Just let me know! :)