The Oppressor's Wrong Read Online Free Page B

understood. The database needed to be formatted as well.
    Abruptly Data snatched the padd from Muñiz’s hand. The young man stepped back.
    â€œWhoa,” Stevens said as he and Porter also moved away.
    â€œHow was I supposed to know the database needed to be formatted before I uploaded it? And it did upload. All of it,” Data said, his voice rising. “It is not my fault this program does not work. If anything is wrong, it will be with your calculations, not mine. And I certainly do not appreciate your pointing out my mistakes.”
    â€œData!”
    Daniels turned to see La Forge move quickly away from the warp core panels and almost jog to stand beside Data. This was the third time the ship’s chief engineer had called out to his friend.
    Data’s eyebrows were knitted together and his gold eyes were harsh. “No one was listening to me—”
    â€œNo, that would be me,” Barclay muttered beside Stevens.
    â€œâ€”when I said earlier the program looked to be too simple in its base language for the sensor array. Lieutenant Commander Travec even decided I was incapable of understanding something so simple. Just because I have emotions now, he thinks I am unqualified to make a logical assessment—”
    â€œData—”
    â€œâ€”but the application is slipshod and the entire idea is preposterous. The only way this can work is if
I
totally rewrite the protocols myself, because I can do it better and faster.”
    Daniels watched as Stevens leaned in close to Muñiz and muttered, “Tell us how you
really
feel.”
    O’Brien gave him a withering look.
    â€œData, that’s enough,” La Forge said. “Muñiz didn’t say you were responsible for anything. He was double-checking the information, not criticizing your work. And I’m sure these good people would be very happy if you didn’t criticize theirs. Data, we’re all on the same team, remember?”
    Daniels watched the android look from the padd back to La Forge. His eyes widened. “I did it again, did I not?”
    La Forge nodded. “Yeah, you did. But you lasted longer this time.”
    Data looked … crestfallen. That was the best word Daniels could think of to describe the expression on Data’s face. He was also aware there was something else—something between the two that had contributed to Data’s abrupt temper flare. Maybe the android was working on controlling it? He assumed La Forge was the only one with the patience to deal with Data during these periods as he seemed to have an excellent working relationship with the android.
    â€œSir,” Sage said, “even if he can rewrite the protocols, the base syntax still might not keep up with the
Enterprise’
s processing speed. We didn’t code any of it with holographic imaging—not anything that will work with this isolinear model. We might have to consider scrapping the whole program and starting from scratch if we’re going to integrate the program at all.”
    Daniels sighed. “Or I can just learn a new system—translate years of research.” Of course, that could take even longer than rewriting anything.
    Barclay cleared his throat. “Commander?”
    La Forge looked over at him. “What is it, Reg?”
    â€œI—I was going to say,” Barclay said, the tricorder and thermal patch still in his hands, “if Mr. Data can rewrite the protocols, we can still rig up a separate system in one of the holodecks—use the existing holoprotocols instead of fully rewriting the program—but k-keep the system rogue as Mr. Daniels suggested sothe regular speed of the isolinear matrix doesn’t redump the program. I—I thought we could then integrate the holodeck system into the main computer and sensor sweeps. It—it would be easy to just overlay the imaging matrix in stellar cartography for a higher pixel resolution without relying on