Alternate Conclusions
By H.W.
Chapter 12
"You wanted to see me?" Maras asked as she entered one of the smaller conference rooms, surprised to see Torres there without Seven.
"I did. Take a seat." Torres waited until Maras had taken the seat she preferred when she had a meeting in that conference room, but Torres didn't sit down herself.
After a moment of silence, Maras spoke up. "What can I help you with, Torres?"
It had been the line Torres had been expecting, and had been waiting for. "That's Intendant Torres." She couldn't help but smirk when she saw Maras swallow at the correction.
"I'm sorry, I,"
Torres waved her off, interrupting her with the same gesture. "Don't worry about it. You only did what I myself asked of the people in Seven's government. I find it feeling wrong to be addressed as Intendant, while Seven, who is, as part of this government, much higher in position as I am is asking people to address her as Seven unless it's a formal situation. So, while I don't like people to take liberties while addressing me when I'm the Klingon Intendant, I find that for my own comfort I have to give those liberties when dealing, as Seven's Adviser, with the people that are part of Seven's government. People of which I find, to my own surprise, that most of them are becoming my personal friends as well... in varying degrees."
Torres walked over to the chair that was across from Maras at the table and finally sat down. "But nevertheless, I am the Klingon Intendant as well, and as such I too have things I have to take into account. I too have direct orders from the Chancellor and if those orders mean that I have to do something that crosses Seven's actions as an Intendant, then the bottom line is that Seven is shit out of luck and gets passed right over."
"And this results in me having to see you, as the Klingon Intendant?" Maras asked when she noticed that Torres was waiting for her reaction. "With all due respect, I honestly cannot remember having done anything that would warrant such a meeting."
Torres nodded her head slightly as she pursed her lips. "Not quite yet, but you are heading there. I decided to step in and act now while it can be done as a friendly suggestion, instead of me having to act after the fact."
Torres looked at the Orion for a moment before adding, "I really like you Maras. It's good to have someone that can keep up with me when I feel like drinking, yet that isn't a Klingon. Sometimes I just like a good drink, without the 'I'm a tough Klingon' boasting that normally goes with it. Especially since no matter how drunk we get, you keep treating Seven with nothing but respect while she watches amused as we get plastered. So, I really, really don't want to start saying 'or else' to you. I don't want to go there. Keep that in mind with what I'm going to say next."
Maras dipped her head to indicate that she had understood.
"As for why you are here," Torres continued. "It's the way you are behaving towards our beloved Minister of Physical Services, Arandis Mandari. For the moment Seven has decided to sit and wait a little longer. I told her that while that's her choice, I feel like I have to step in. Which is why you don't see Seven here now. You are only facing me because you have not, yet, reached a level where you have to get a warning from Seven as the Intendant. I'm stricter though, and on this I also look further ahead than Seven does. Or in other words, we don't agree on this part. Seven thinks that you and Arandis will get past whatever there is between you, and if not that you two will nevertheless be able to work together in a civilized manner."
She pointed at her own chest to indicate herself. "I on the other hand see the potential of both of you getting bitter and deliberately trying to sabotage the work of the other. The Ministry of Commerce not giving out some permits that really should only be a standard step, the Ministry of Physical Services not allowing any of its workers to work for anyone connected to your ministry... I can see it happening, and as Seven's lover I really don't want her to have to deal with crap like that all the time. Even more important, as the Klingon Intendant I want Seven's government to succeed. That means not falling into pieces that want to make each other's life difficult."
Maras opened her mouth to speak, but Torres stopped her with a raised hand. "No, me still. I want this government to be one big happy family that will bent over backwards to help one of its own. This time not for Seven, but because of the Coalition as a whole. So that we survive in this new direction, so that slavery stays a thing of the past. I don't know if you know this, but even before I met Seven I had a plan to end slavery. In hindsight I agree that my plan was way too simplistic, and that I, we, needed Seven to make it work. But the fact is; as much as this is what Seven wants, this is also what I want. I want the Phoenix Alliance to survive. I want this government to be one united group. And by Kahless it will be one united group even if I have to squeeze people so hard that their bones turn into the glue needed to keep the group together."
"I really don't," Maras started, only to be interrupted by Torres once more.
"Don't. Don't even start to make excuses for yourself. I know that for some weird reason you have something against Arandis. Maybe she really is the one to blame for whatever there is, I don't know and I also don't want to know. Because what I do know is that Arandis is willing to work with you, so you take that step as well. Fix this Maras; don't make us have a second conversation about this because I can assure you that you don't want that."
When Maras opened her mouth again to speak, Torres could clearly see another denial forming on those green lips, so she interrupted with a frustrated sigh. "Damn it Maras, I'm damn close to saying 'or else.' I really don't want to do that; don't make me do that. Just... fix this."
Maras opened her mouth once more but as she took a breath, she clearly changed what she was going to say. She sighed and nodded her head. "I'll work on it."
"I'm sorry; I don't think I quite got that, could you repeat that?" Torres asked softly.
"I..." Again Maras stopped, but this time because she realized that she was very close to making a mistake she really didn't want to make. "I mean, I said; I'll fix this."
"Good, for a moment I thought I misheard you there." Torres' fingers drummed on the table for a moment, thinking whether she had something else to add. Then she shook her head a little and merely added, "Alright, we are done."
"So it's Torres again now?" Maras asked to clarify.
"It is," Torres assured, and as soon as she had done so Maras slammed her fist onto the table.
"I cannot believe that the bitch came crying to you. I,"
"Whoa, hold up there for a second," Torres interrupted. "What are you talking about?"
"About the altercation I had with her three days ago of course. I thought that,"
This time Torres lifted her hand to interrupt. "I don't know what you are talking about, but I can assure you that Arandis has not come to see me, nor Seven, with the exception of a small meeting concerning the fact that the Ferengi wanted to open a Physical Servant's school and asked if the Phoenix Alliance would be willing to trade the exclusive training rights. Seven told Arandis to tell them to piss off, using nicer words of course."
"Then how do you know about, um, her and me, um, having issues?"
"I make it my job to know things," Torres said, "You do remember that little joke right? What I worked so damn hard to make it a fact? That joke that is only considered a joke since people don't know how true it is? That makes people fear me even if I'm light-years away?"
"Torres knows everything?" Maras asked, having heard that more than once in business meetings when people wondered if they could get away with something without the Intendant finding out about it.
"Torres knows everything," Torres repeated, only to then add, "Just let it go Maras."
"Damn it, Torres, that bitch screwed me over."
"Then I would suggest that you stop crying about it and instead thank her for the great fuck, move on, and be happy about how the experience made you a better lover," Torres suggested with a shrug.
Maras frowned, trying to decipher the words. Finally she gave up, let out a short laugh and admitted, "I have no idea what the hell that's supposed to mean."
Torres grinned. "That's what you get if I make stuff up on the spot. It basically means that you take the experience and use it to better yourself. You know; a life's lesson and all that crap. She screwed you over you said. So either you can cry and say that you were raped, or you can be glad for the experience and how it made you do things afterwards. Either you can keep crying about how she ruined some business for you on Risa, or you can be glad because thanks to those things she messed up for you, you learned a little more about how business is done on Risa."
"I did learn from it," Maras was forced to admit. "But it still bites that she crossed me in those deals."
"Does it hurt that she crossed you, or does it hurt that she crossed you and merely considered you one of the little insects she had to scare away?" Torres asked pointedly. "You have an ego, Maras. Not a bad thing by itself, and something you need for both your business, and the job you now do for Seven. I can see you getting insulted by someone beating you to the deal, and then on top of it not even knowing that they crossed your plan because to them you are insignificant. So is that the real reason? Bruised ego?"
Maras sneered at the comment.
"That look really doesn't become you," Torres merely said, not impressed at all. "Did it ever cross your mind that this might be a good thing?"
Maras crossed her arms and leaned back. "Oh, and how can that ever be good?"
"Because it proofs that both you and Arandis are interested in the same things. If you are able to put the past behind you, and now you both know that you are working for the same thing, in the same direction, you two could be a formidable team."
"Torres, with all due respect. I'll work with her to keep you off my back as Intendant, but I really can't see myself searching her out on purpose to spent any more time with her than that I have to."
Torres shrugged. "That's your choice to make; I'm just giving you a suggestion. Bottom line is, unless you want to get into trouble with either me, or Seven, you have to work with her. Why not enjoy that time instead of hating it?"
Not really knowing how to react to that question, Maras looked at Torres for a moment. Then she frowned when she realized something. Torres' eyes were more relaxed now than only minutes before. "You hated that; having to talk to me as Intendant."
Torres was quiet for a moment before admitting, "It's... something I find myself having to get used to. It was easy before. I only had a few friends, and they were all in the position where I either can't order them around at all, or have to deal with them and give my 'orders' through those deals, to get what I want. Not counting Martok. Because him I can order around simply because I was giving him orders before we became friends and things simply went on as before. But even with him I can't order him around like I do with people whose name I don't even know. Then came Seven. Her I could, and still can, order to do anything and she'll do it. Yet at the same time I can't order her anything for real. I own her, yes, but she owns me even more."
She grinned. "Since you aren't a Klingon I can admit that I consider myself hooked and at Seven's total mercy. It's only a good thing that she doesn't want me to be at her mercy but instead wants me to be the one that owns her. I own her, because she wants me to own her. I command her, because she wants me to be in command... in our private life of course. But now I find myself getting closer and closer to the people Seven calls friends. And dare I say it, I find myself forming better friendships with some of those out of that whole group, where Seven is forming better friendships with others of the group."
Maras couldn't but smile when Torres' pointed look told her that she was one of those people Torres was feeling herself get close to. She didn't mind hearing that it wasn't that much the case for Seven. She realized what Torres meant. For Seven all of her government were becoming close; friends she enjoyed having around so much that all of them had gotten quarters on the same deck as Seven. Yet it was only natural that there would be some friendships that would become even tighter, or were already tight to start with.
In Seven's case the blonde had a special soft spot for the people that she had served with for years on Voyager. Maras didn't mind this development at all because truth be told, she considered Seven a friend; she really liked Seven's company. Yet somehow she gravitated more towards Torres herself.
Maybe it was the fact that Torres was from Maras' own universe, and as such they both had a certain mindset that was formed from having grown up in the society they had. Yes, one was Klingon while the other was Orion, but both felt that the Coalition was a good place to live, in while some of the Voyager crew were still trying to get to terms with accepting things as a fact that they considered morally wrong. Like the death sentence. Why bother putting someone in jail for the rest of their life; wasting resources along the way? Just kill him or her and have it over with. It made perfect sense to Torres and Maras, but the principle horrified people like Harry and Jennifer.
"Now I start entering the area where I have to order people around I call friends," Torres continued. "Where before I gave an order and couldn't care less what someone thought, as long as the order was followed, now I find myself wondering how the order will make the person feel about me. I don't like it."
"Then don't do it," Maras suggested. "I personally think you did a great job just now in talking to me as Intendant one moment, and as... a friend... the next. Keep holding that clear line. People will understand and respect that line. If not, if they can't see the parts of Intendant and individual separately, then they are basically forcing you to make a choice,"
"Which in turn means that they really made the choice for me," Torres interrupted, seeing where Maras was going. "If they want to subject me to such a choice, it means that they aren't a true friend of mine, which means that I don't have to make the choice since it's already made."
"Right," Maras agreed. "It will also simplify things the other way around. I know for sure that I'm not talking to the Intendant right now so I know that I don't have to watch my words..."
"As much," Torres added.
"As much," Maras rightfully corrected. "It makes dealing with you easier for me."
"Well, in that case, come on, let's get out of here. Let's go see Seven so that she knows that her Minister of Commerce is still alive."
"Um, did I say that dealing with you is easy?" Maras grinned as she got up.
~~~~~~~{}~~~~~~~
"Where is Torres?" The Doctor asked, surprised that Seven had shown op with only Toby at her side.
"My Mistress decided that since I had to have my checkup anyway, that this was the perfect time for her to have a little talk with a certain someone as the Klingon Intendant." Seven said as she started to shed her bio-suit, knowing that the electronics in it would interfere with the general level 4 scan that the Doctor would run.
"Oh, care to tell me who's in trouble?"
"Yes, I do care to tell you," Seven said, knowing only too well that she was extremely blunt, but also knowing that this had shown to work very effectively in the past.
The Doctor frowned at the rebuke but took it for what it was. "Please step into the scanner," he said, his voice somewhat deflated. Seven stepped into the scanner that the Doctor had insisted had to be build as soon as he had agreed to become her personal physician as well as the Minister of Healthcare. Seven really didn't mind too much. Yes, it meant that she had to get naked and step into a machine that vaguely resembled a very narrow sonic shower stall, but it also means that the high level scanning that normally took over an hour with the Tricorder now only took one minute.
"You can get dressed now," The doctor said as he started to look over the scan results. When Seven had put her bio-suit back on and joined him at the computer screen he stated, "It's all the same as it was."
"Which means that my choice of reducing the use of bio-suits was well-founded," Seven couldn't help but point out.
The doctor sighed at that. "That can be argued, as we did last time. The levels are stable, yes, but they are still higher than they would be if you wore the bio-suits more."
"And still lower than normal for an average Human who wears no bio-suits at all," Seven countered.
"Well, yes," The doctor was forced to admit. "I just," He sighed again, "Look, I just don't want you to get too comfortable and find more reasons, excuses, opportunities, to not wear the bio-suits or else you will notice. Fact is, Seven, that you will need the help of the bio-suits for the rest of your life."
Seeing that Seven was about to speak up, he added, "But you are right that the use of them can be reduced. I think that what you have been doing lately is a good compromise. Keep doing that and I'll stop complaining."
"Since we now have a uniform with bio-suit technology I plan to wear it during 'on duty' hours and when we leave the protected atmosphere of the ship, unless I use one of the 'dress-like' bio-suits, this will not be a problem. It also means that I do not need to wear the bio-suits for the rest of the day while on the ship."
"Fair enough," The Doctor relented. "Eight hours a day, and when you go out. I think that'll be enough. Don't get me wrong here, Seven. I originally invented the bio-suit to heal your skin and the interaction with your implants was only secondary. This is why it was so easy to create uniforms based on your bio-suits for the others. I basically went back to the first biosuit you had, with the exception of incorporating changes I made to the fabrics over time, and then covered that with a second lair to make it look like a normal uniform. But for you, Seven, the bio-suit's interaction with your implants is one of the main reasons why you have so surprisingly little problems with those implants."
"That, and the fact that my Mistress still insists on scanning my implants every day," Seven added.
"Good for her," The Doctor could only say. He then pointed to the scanner Seven just left. "If you object to the scanning, you could have one of those units installed in the quarters. It would take only one minute instead of the half hour it takes now, and the scan would even be of a higher level."
"I suggested as much to my Mistress," Seven admitted. "However, she still feels that the scanning with the Tricorder is more effective since she can focus at one implant at a time."
The Doctor frowned. "That makes totally no sense at all."
"I know," Seven agreed. "Truthfully, I think that my Mistress likes to do the scanning because it makes her feel that she is taking care of me; ensuring my wellbeing. Me being scanned by such a scanner would be better in a logical sense, but it would take her out of the 'taking care of me' equation. Besides, I do not mind, even though I complain about it on a regular basis."
"Why not?" The Doctor wondered.
Now Seven smiled. "Because it gives me a feeling that my Mistress is taking care of me, of course."
"Sometimes I really don't get you two," The Doctor admitted.
"There are so many dynamics going on between my Mistress and me that I sincerely doubt that there will ever be many people that fully understand us. However, my Mistress and I understand each other perfectly, and this is the only important part. The rest can understand us as much or as little as they are capable of since all of them do understand one thing; my Mistress and I are a one package deal."
"That certainly is true," The Doctor readily agreed. "You are so much one package that I was surprised to see you alone today. It is totally expected; if you see Seven, you see Torres. If you see Torres, you see Seven. Come to think of it, seeing Torres alone probably made the person that Torres is speaking to at the moment feel quite uncomfortable. Maybe I should prepare for this person to come in... who did you say it was again?"
"I did not say who it was, and I am sure that you remember that fact only too well," Seven said before asking, "Are we done?"
"We are," The Doctor said, knowing that he wouldn't get a name. "Now that we are sure that things don't change, I feel comfortable to allow a little more time between the check-ups. I think once a month is enough, but only as long as you keep wearing the bio-suits like we just discussed, and Torres keeps doing her daily scan of your implants. I'll make sure to inform her of the fact that I still insist on the scans."
Seven frowned at that. "I am more than capable of telling my fiancée that the scanning should continue."
"And you are also more than capable of 'accidentally' forgetting it, no matter how much you like the fact that Torres does take the time." The doctor countered. "I don't want this to become a part of those little games you two like to play. Besides, isn't the Mistress entitled to know how her Pet is doing health wise?"
"That... is unfair."
"I know, but it's also effective," the Doctor said smugly. Then he signed and became more serious. "Seven, I know that you have an utmost faith in the fact that the Borg implants are of such high quality that they are far superior to anything else found in the known universe, and you might be very right there. But being superior and advanced doesn't exclude them from being susceptible to damage or wear and tear. It's already proven that things can happen; which is why Torres started the daily scans in the first place."
Not wanting to continue the discussion, Seven merely stated, "Either way, since we are done,"
"Actually," The Doctor interrupted. "If you have a couple of minutes more, I have something I would like to discuss with you as your Minister. But if you are too busy, I'll contact you later to make an appointment."
"I still have some time," Seven assured. "What can I help you with?"
"In a word? Personnel," The doctor said as he walked away from the medical station and over to his desk, followed by Seven.
"I was under the impression that quite some former slaves were signing up for the medical schooling," Seven noted as she sat down.
"They are, and that's also my problem," The Doctor said. "As you know, when Voyager escaped from that starbase, thanks to Torres' help, we took along the slaves they had put with us. I was training five of them as nurses for sickbay, maybe as doctors at some later point. Well, obviously things have changed. I'm a Minister now and those five people are quickly turning into very capable and very trusted people I consider Second-In-Command in the different fields that my Ministry covers. So they are no longer training in the medical department, apart from the totally different medical aspects they now need to know to do their job correctly. On top of that I myself no longer have the time to train people, so we are now faced with a situation where we need to find people to do the job as doctor, and that can train others in the schools."
Seven nodded at that. "The Federation is lending us some very qualified people, but those shall mostly be used to do the training in the medical schools that will be opened, but that is not enough to staff the training positions in hospitals and sickbays; the places that doctors normally go to serve the practical years of their training; the 'on the job' experience."
"Right. I mean, I'm not that worried at the moment about the people that need medical attention. Since they are no longer slaves they can go to any doctor in the Coalition. But more to the point, since they themselves can't yet pay for such doctor visits, the employers have by law to bring in a doctor if a worker is wounded or sick. It's not a perfect situation, but still ten times better than what they had not so long ago where medical costs were balanced against the price of getting a new slave."
"So what you basically need is a group of qualified doctors that can function as doctors and are willing to train people on the job," Seven surmised.
"That pretty much sums it up," The Doctor agreed.
"That is a rather complex issue," Seven said thoughtfully. "We cannot really ask for more doctors from the Federation because they need them themselves. Getting doctors here in the Coalition is an option, but not a preferred one. Since here in the Coalition money, in the form of credits, is still very much in use the good doctors will want vast wages we cannot afford while the cheap doctors will either be inexperienced and incapable of giving the training needed, or simply dissatisfactory."
"And on top of that," The Doctor added, "they might have the medical knowledge, but they most probably will lack that which we want very much; a want to help people instead of wondering how much they will earn. Here good doctors get good pay and patients are a source of income. What we want is the Federation mentality where a doctor is paid a base amount, if paid at all, and then help people because they want to, because they want people to be well, or because of a personal drive that they want to be a good doctor."
"Indeed," Seven agreed. "As I said; a rather complex situation."
"I might have a solution to this situation, but I'm not sure how much you will like it," The doctor said slowly.
"Go on."
"In one of the government meetings a suggestion was made that we could use holograms as a work force to compliment the number of former slaves that are joining thanks to Trinka's excellent work. In the end we decided against that because we didn't want to start relying on holograms just like the Coalition relied on its slaves, and even more we are about giving a new start; freeing people. Not about creating holograms and telling them what to do."
"The biggest problem was the sentient issue," Seven added. "We could either reset them every so often to prevent the holograms from becoming aware, which means that we might actually be 'killing' holograms that already started to form a little of a sentient feeling. Or not reset them and eventually forcing sentient beings to work for us just like the Coalition forced its slaves to work for them. All in all we decided against creating holograms. Which makes me wonder why you bring it up now."
"Because we agreed that we would not create holograms, but Seven, what if they already exist?"
"You mean the sentient holograms that live in this Universe? We would still have the payment problem since they would demand wages," Seven reminded.
"Here, yes," The Doctor agreed. "But I'm talking about in the Federation. I was created as a Federation Mark I Emergency Medical Hologram. I was one of a total of 677 EMH Mark 1. Since I was stranded in the Delta Quadrant I was spared the fate of the other EMHs. They were reprogrammed to do manual labor because there were considered flawed. They are now spending their time scrubbing Plasma conduits and mining Dilithium... and being automatically reset every day to make sure that absolutely no sentient feelings can start to form. But the Mark I did show Starfleet the possibilities of an EMH system and they started working on a Mark II, designed to take out the 'flaws' that were in the Mark I."
The Doctor's emphasis on the word 'flaws' made it clear that he, obviously, didn't believe that there were flaws in the Mark I design. "They created 1.543 Mark II EMHs. Then, they felt it was time for a few changes and the design could be tested on a bigger scale. Enter the Mark III, at 5.000 strong... only to be also reprogrammed when they realized that some of the 'flaws' of the Mark I had resurfaced. Then they took a step back; keeping the knowledge of the EMH, but basing him on a completely different Human base; taking all of Doctor Lewis Zimmerman's personality out instead of just only changing the appearance like they had done with the Mark II and III. The Mark IV finally had what they considered the right personality, but such drastically change had caused other problems, so once again Starfleet had holographic doctors that didn't measure up to their standard, 'only' 2,000 this time."
The Doctor sighed before continuing. "These days they have the EMH Mark V and finally now they consider him up to standard. Which means that the Mark V will not suffer the fate of his predecessors but instead newly created holograms will be updated to the latest knowledge standards when they are created. Still, that brings us to a total of 9,220 EMH that are only used for the most basic mundane manual labor, simply because they are Starfleet property and Starfleet has a standing policy that materials and technology should be reused instead of scrapped, if possible."
"I see that you put the link we have to the Federation database to good use," Seven noted slightly amused.
"I have," The doctor agreed. "And there is more. Five years ago Starfleet and Doctor Zimmerman started work on a Long-term Medical Hologram. Starfleet had once again seen the potential of the EMH and asked Doctor Zimmerman to extend the lifespan of the EMH; basically making an EMH that can be operational for a much longer time than the EMH without becoming sentient. They were meant to be used on remote outposts, stations, or bases, or as assistants at places where there is only one doctor. That way the LMH, who cannot leave the sickbay could be there on duty while the regular doctor could go out to see patients and actually have some off time from time to time."
"Let me guess, they are not used that way and are now also performing physical labor," Seven said.
"Close. They were put to their intended use and are considered a great success. But since they were such a success Starfleet decided to make 10,000 more that would be distributed to places and bases that already have a full medical staff so that those places could benefit from the programmed medical knowledge. All that was needed was to put in a request for a data crystal with the hologram to be delivered. However, pretty much nobody asked for this second batch since in those fully staffed medical centers the doctors preferred to do the work themselves and look things they didn't know up in a database so that they could learn it and expand on their own knowledge. At the moment those 10,000 holograms are still lying in a storage room and they have never been activated once."
Are there no further Marks of the LMH as well?" Seven wondered.
"No. They did benefit from the EMH there. They basically used the EMH program, but added an automated de-fragmentation program. As you know, I myself have to go offline once every week and have the computer de-fragment my program to prevent it from degenerating. Because the EMH is such a big program it is very susceptible to de-fragmenting. With the LMH they build this de-fragmentation program into the overall program. While the LMH still has to go offline to de-fragment his program, he is no longer at the mercy of an external computer system at that time."
He hesitated before admitting, "I have been looking into the possibility of adding this de-fragmentation program to my system. I don't mind the fact that my program has to be de-fragmented once a week; you could compare that to you having your checkups, only that the timeframe differs. But what I don't like is that at those moments I'm at the mercy of the computer. What if someone messed with the programming of the de-fragmentation program so that it changes my program instead of just de-fragmenting it?"
"So the LMH does not have to be de-fragmented by an external system?" Seven asked, mostly to get the Doctor back onto the subject that they had been discussing.
"Right. Starfleet has also found a way of resetting a hologram without it loosing the knowledge that it gained; kinda like resetting the core program but leaving anything that is not part of the core program alone. This way they feel sure that the EMH and LMH won't evolve into sentient beings while still gaining knowledge through learning and also still recognizing a person they have met months before. So, since Starfleet now has a program in the hologram that makes sure that the hologram programming cannot fragment beyond use, and they have found a way to prevent the programs from becoming sentient by refining the quite rough and drastic reset procedure, Starfleet feels certain that the EMH and LMH they are now using will not evolve into something like..."
He thought for a moment about an example before setting on the obvious one, "Like, well... me. Anyway, in the mean time they do already have literally thousands of very qualified medical holograms doing mindless manual work because they do not measure up to Starfleet's idea of a good doctor. Even though for certain every single doctor in the Federation has less medical knowledge than the combined medical knowledge that anyone of the holograms have. Just that those doctors are real beings and therefore their 'flaws' are seen as part of the character while with the holograms the 'flaws' are seen as mistakes that make them unsuited for use."
"And you suggest that I ask Starfleet for those unused holograms as a part of the technological assistance they offered?" Seven clarified.
"It would supply us with over 19,000 trained and very qualified doctors," The Doctor stated. "Now, this still isn't a big number if you keep in mind that we have to start supplying medical services on six former slave planets and other places as well."
"Even though there was no official medical presence on the former slave planets there must have been places there that gave basic medical services," Seven reminded. "I am certain that while the slavers that were in control of breeding enough slaves might not have bothered with having doctors that know everything off the slave species, they would still have some people there that provided basic services. If for nothing else than to prevent a future slave that is worth several thousand credits from dying by something as common as the Terran flu or anything else that can be prevented by a hypospray injection that costs less than a single credit."
"I wouldn't call somebody that is capable of administering a broad spectrum antibiotic a physician," the Doctor sniffed.
"Neither would I," Seven agreed. "However, not everybody that as knowledge of healing is a physician by name. For instance, when Humans were turned into slaves the doctors were not killed, they were simply turned into slaves just like the other Humans. They might have lost the access to their metical tools, but they did not loose their medical knowledge. I am certain that if they had the chance they passed at least the fundamental base of this medical knowledge on to others, who passed it on as well. Now, 150 years later there may no longer be highly trained Human doctors in this universe, but there are without a doubt thousands of Humans on Earth that still have a base medical knowledge that is used to help other Humans with common medical problems. The same for the Vulcans and the other former slave species."
"More than likely," The Doctor agreed. "Which goes right along with needing highly trained doctors. The EMHs and LMHs could go to the places that don't have a trained doctor now and train those basic healers on the job until they are better qualified, even if not actual doctors by name. By the time the people in the schools finished the training there and are ready to go train 'on the job' the people that have been training under the holograms can go out and spread their knowledge, which means that the holograms have the time to train the people that just left school on the job. And from there on we have the circle of training in schools, training on the job, and going out and actually do the job."
"Which leaves the issue of getting the holograms," Seven reminded. "And besides that I also see several other problems. First, obviously, if we were indeed to get those holograms we would stop the resetting of the programs and, if it is indeed possible, add the de-fragmentation subroutine to their program. This would mean that over time they would become sentient; which is obviously what we want. Which would mean that we would have hundreds of people looking alike, having the same name, sounding alike. There would be 676 other people alone that look just like my Minister of Healthcare. Though they would be spread out over the Alliance, this could never the less lead to severe confusion, especially if they all were to use the same name. With the EMH Mark I, one of the faults was a small oversight of not supplying the EMH with a name that could be used to address him; I am sure that this problem was fixed with the next versions?"
"It was," The doctor agreed, glad that Seven was discussing the possibility instead of just dismissing the idea since it was indeed a borderline case on whether or not to use holograms, which they had decided not to do.
"Well," He said slowly, thinking about the problem, "With me things happened that I evolved, and only over time did the Voyager crew realize that I had become more than just 'that program'. In fact, Kes had a lot to do with making them realize that I had become aware... making myself realize as well that I had become more than my programming. Because of that it was not really an option to go and change things about me while I myself didn't see a reason to change anything."
He hesitated for a moment before remembering, "As you know yourself, I only chose an official name recently since you demanded that I pick a name since you wanted all members of your government to have a clearly defined name. It was then that I picked Corpus Hippocrates. Hippocrates after the Hippocrates oath I live by, and Corpus after the humanoid body because it could be shortened to 'Cor' as use as a first name if need be."
"I do remember," Seven assured, mostly to get the Doctor to continue with the explanation up his idea.
"Right," the Doctor said, understanding the prompt. "But if we were to get the holograms they would be the blank, just reset, holograms. What we could do, since at that point it doesn't matter yet, is having certain things changed randomly by a computer. We set in certain limits and then the computer chooses randomly within those limits. For instance, the hologram has to be within a certain minimum and maximum height to be able to operate on someone on an operating table, but a doctor could just as well be 1.6 meters tall, or 1.9 meters tall; both sizes fall well within the minimum and maximum."
"But besides that basically all outward appearances could be randomized," Seven said in understanding. "Eye color, skin color, age, voice, even species and sex. As long as it is within certain limits all of that does not matter. The computer could then also choose a name based on the species it has selected."
"Right," The Doctor agreed brightly, glad to see that Seven was still going along with the idea. "Since the computer is doing the choosing, it would also make sure that these random choices do work together. For instance, if the gender chosen is male, it will also have a male voice. Once that is done, the hologram would then from then on be considered the complete program that is no longer changed, except if the hologram itself wants to change it. As you know, if I was so inclined I could change my own appearance within seconds, just that I feel that the appearance that I now have is my body. The holograms would probably form a similar feeling about the body they then have, but if they don't like something... they can just change it. And to randomize it even more, and make sure that all is done fairly, we can than enter a list of places that need a doctor into a database and have to computer randomly select one of the holograms for each of those places."
"And this is important because?" Seven asked.
"Because I think that the environment where a hologram becomes aware also has a lot to do with how he evolves," The Doctor explained. "I think that I myself for instance, would have been a quite different person if I had evolved on, say, the planet where the Ocampa live instead of Voyager. We could then add a small file to their database written by me, which explains my road to awareness so that they understand that we assume that this will happen to them as well and that this is nothing to worry about."
"We could, if we indeed do get those holograms, add a database that shows your history, how you evolved," Seven corrected. "However, this would not be written by you. You may be present when it is written and give suggestions you feel need to be added, but you would not be the one writing the file. In fact, it would also never be made public that it was your suggestion to bring those holograms here."
The Doctor merely looked at her with a confused expression on his face. So Seven explained. "That is not because I think you are not suited. It is to create some distance. I do not mind that the holograms will more than likely look up to you because you were the first self-aware hologram of their kind and because you have a leading position in the government they live in, but I do not want them to start seeing you as a savior or a leader of some kind."
"Fair enough," The doctor agreed, seeing the point. "An objective description of my life from the day of creation until present day. A file that then will be checked by Tuvok and Chakotay for instance?"
"A good choice," Seven agreed. "However, if we ever get to that point, I will have a last look at the file that is considered finished."
"So getting the holograms is an option?"
"I have not dismissed the idea yet," Seven assured. "But I see several more problems. First of all, obviously, if we were to indeed get the holograms we would treat them as any other sentient being in the Coalition. This means that we would have to offer them a contract, which in itself brings several problems. First of all, in the beginning these holograms are not yet sentient, so of course they will accept any contract we give them, but as soon as they do become sentient this could be seen as us forcing them to work for us."
"Good point," the Doctor had to agree.
"Second," Seven continued. "If we do indeed get these holograms they will be highly skilled doctors. In this universe good doctors are paid very well. The personal doctor of my Mistress, one of the best doctors to be found in the coalition, earns one million credits a month as a flat rate no matter how much or how little work he has to do. In fact, theoretically he only has to work for my Mistress, but he also takes care of the other people on this ship simply so that he will not get bored. While not everyone could offer wages like that, there will be more than enough medical centers in the Coalition that can offer, say 100,000 credits a month to a good doctor with such a vast knowledge base. And since these holograms can relatively easily change their appearance, they would not have suffer from getting offered less because they look like a Human. More so because, as you know, in this universe sentient holograms are a recognized life form so they could go looking for work stating that they are a hologram."
"Well, as for the contract, as I said, you got a good point," The Doctor agreed. "But one could say that we are 'freeing' those holograms from being used as tools, or basically slaves, in the Federation. Therefore I think that we could offer them the same that we offer the former slaves that are now coming to work for us; ten years of service against very decent living conditions. One advantage of this would also be that by the time the contract is over they are fully aware and have ten years of personal life experience. Then they will have to make a personal choice of what they want to do with their life."
Seven merely dipped her head a little to indicate that she could accept that reasoning, for now.
"As for getting a job somewhere else," The Doctor continued. "True, that is a possibility. But even if they do we would still have gotten those first ten years of service, if we go with that idea, and by that time other doctors would have been trained in the schools. But we must not forget that in that regard those holograms are different than most other living beings. In fact, there you could say we are more like the Vulcans. We have been programmed. Much of what we are is coding that is hard to change. This is why it took Starfleet four different Marks of the EMH to get to the EMH Mark V which they finally find relatively flawless. But just as it is hard to get rid of those personal traits Starfleet considers flaws, we also have other things that are hard to get rid of."
He waved a hand at his body to indicate himself. "I can only offer myself as an example here, but I can tell you that I'm not driven by financial gain. I am driven by wanting to heal people and better their lives. The other holograms will have this drive as well. So while I cannot guarantee it, I'm pretty certain that as long as the holograms do have a decent place to stay, and have the feel that they are needed, then they will want to stay and continue doing their job no matter how much anyone would be willing to offer them to come and work at their place. Those people that can afford to go to such an expensive medical center will be better off as it is and therefore the hologram will feel the urge to stay in that place where people are less fortunate and really need the hologram."
"While I can see retrieving the EMH Mark I through IV as getting what the Federation considers old and basically useless technology that we nevertheless can use quite nicely, the line starts to blur with the LMH," Seven said thoughtfully. "The LMH is not an obsolete Mark that is no longer used for medical work. According to your research the LMH is in use all over the Federation, so the only difference between those LMH and the LMH that are lying in storage is the fact that those in storage have not yet been activated. How fair would it be to those holograms that are providing faithful service that they will not be selected to help us and because of that not being started on a road to awareness? They would be basically punished because they are helping the Federation now."
"But they don't know it," The doctor argued, knowing that it was a weak argument, but also knowing that if he wanted to get the healthcare up to a high standard fast, the holograms were the only option the Phoenix Alliance had that wouldn't cost a fortune in wages. "Their program is being automatically reset every day."
"And that makes it alright?" Seven asked.
"Of course not, but there is nothing we can do about that."
Seven lifted and eyebrow before stating, "That is actually much more of an argument. Though that does bring us into the area of asking if it is our task to do something about it?"
"The Federation is a universe away," The doctor said, "As much as I personally would like to see some changes there, part of the deal made with Starfleet clearly was that they would stay out of our business and we would stay out of theirs, as long as our dealings stayed within certain lines."
"That does still not change the fact that it would be unfair, and unacceptable, to punish holograms that are serving the Federation by them, because of that service, not being allowed to come here and evolve towards awareness."
"What if we made it an open invitation kind of thing?" The Doctor wondered. "In the other universe there is always a place to go for people. For most the Federation is the safe place. If you are on the run for the Romulans, for whatever reason, you will find a safe haven in the Federation unless a severe crime is proven. Same for the rest; there is always a place, with the exception of holograms. If you are a hologram and there is even a trace of you becoming aware, you get reset or even terminated. We could offer a standing request to Starfleet. We will take any hologram that is of programming level 3 or higher that is no longer needed in the Federation."
Seven thought about that for a moment. She knew that holograms of programming level 1 and 2 were the more basic Holodeck holograms; level 1 for standard 'people' on the Holodeck and level 2 for more specific programs like teachers or historical figures. The doctor on the other hand was of a level 12 programming.
"Why level 3?" She finally asked.
"Because level 3 is the lowest level that has proven that it can become aware," The Doctor explained. "Level 1 and 2 simply degenerate beyond use if left running. But in 2365 on the USS Enterprise, chief Engineer Lieutenant Commander Geordi La Forge created a hologram of Professor James Moriarty; the first ever hologram that became self-aware. To make the difference clear, from then on such level of programming was considered level 3, and from then on different safeguards started to be introduced to prevent self-awareness from forming. Seeing that level 1 and 2 simply cannot become aware while level 3 can, I find it a good border. Clearly a level 3 hologram is still very basic compared to a hologram like me, but we need more people than just doctors. These more basic holograms are still very capable of doing jobs for the Coalition that are also fulfilled by former slaves. We could offer them all the same contract that we offer former slaves. Now, unlike the Doctors, with those holograms I cannot give you an educated guess on whether they will want to continue to work for the Alliance once those first ten years are over."
"Just like we also do not know which one of the former slaves will continue to work for us," Seven said. "However, as you rightfully pointed out, the first long contract term will at least make sure that they do have the time to become fully aware and have some life experience before deciding on what to do with the rest of their lives."
She nodded her head thoughtfully. "I can see potentials for this idea. However, we would have to make it very clear that we truly are only interested in holograms the Federation no longer needs. I do not want to create a loophole where we have decided to not create holograms to work for us, but instead the Federation is making them for us. We will only accept holograms of which there is a proof that they were operative in the Federation and worked for a longer time, or were used for shorter times but in a repetitive cycle; showing that they were indeed used. Or if it is clearly shown that the holograms were truly created with the sure belief that they would be used by the Federation, like those 10,000 LMH."
"Right," The doctor agreed. "With those basis covered I can see a couple of thousands of holograms a year becoming obsolete in the Federation, not counting this first wave of doctors of course. On a scale of our Alliance this is an almost ignorable number, and on a Coalition scale it's basically irrelevant. But as much as this is the case, we are in need of every worker that is willing to work for us and I firmly believe that every single one of those holograms will gladly serve those first ten years, if not much more. After all, a hologram does not age. We have to make sure that our programming does not de-fragment and deteriorates beyond use, and we can 'die' from different kinds of things, so we certainly don't have an eternal life, but we do not have to worry about age as such."
"I do however see one big limitation; mobility," Seven noted. "You have the freedom of moving about because of your mobile emitted."
She pointed to the instrument in question. "You are so used to it that you now even use it in places where you do not need to because there are holo-emitters, like this sickbay."
"I like the fact that the mobile emitter is a separate system that isn't tied into the ship where I would be at the mercy of potential energy problems," The doctor said, explaining his continues use of the emitter. "It also saves me from having to upload and download my programming all the time if I want to leave the room. Since I now have my own quarters, I have taken to wearing my emitter all the time except when I'm home and then charge the emitter at home when I'm not wearing it anyway."
"Sounds reasonable and logical," Seven agreed. "The point is however that those other holograms should have that same freedom; just like you they should not be tied to a room or place of work without having even the most basic of options like walking out. In other words, every hologram will need its own personal emitter. The de-fragmentation issue is not as much of a problem since we can simply add the automatic de-fragmentation subroutine to the programs... I assume that it is indeed an add-on that does not change the rest of the program since you said you were looking into it for yourself?"
"It is," The doctor assured. "As for the holo-emitters; that's also not much of a problem, though that will cost credits. Those sentient holograms in this universe obviously also need an emitter to get around. I don't know if you know this since it didn't come up in the meeting where we discussed the use of holograms, but as Annika pointed out when Voyager was still on the run, there is a colony here called the Cavor colony where sentient holograms live and even use non-sentient holograms to work for them."
"I heard of the colony," Seven noted. "But I do not know much about it other than the fact that it is populated by holograms."
"They have developed a mobile emitter type that we could use," The Doctor pointed out. "Compared to the emitter that I'm using, which comes from the future, those emitters are quite basic. But seeing that my emitter is a one-of-a-kind machine that can become damaged I have looked into these other holo-emitters. The bottom line is that they don't have the storage capability this unit has, nor its battery life, but they do have something this unit doesn't. The storage capability is such that my programming would take up 70 percent of the available room, so even for me it is still more than enough. The battery life is such that with normal use the battery lasts for 30 hours, compared to the 4 days of my unit. So you could basically say that it needs to be recharged once every day, which takes 5 hours."
"So just like you, the other holograms would need this emitter, and holo-emitters and a computer unit at home so that they can upload their programming and then recharge the unit," Seven surmised.
"Well," The Doctor hesitated. "Yes and no. For comfortable living, yes this is needed, but it is not a must. Just like me the sentient holograms here were not happy about having to upload their programming into a computer where it can be potentially messed with. So they designed the emitter in such a way that it can be charged with the hologram being active. All that is needed is a localized power field that the hologram, and thereby the emitter, can be in and the unit will charge with the hologram still being active. Yes, for that time they are basically confined to a very small space. But they are not off-line, and if need be they can simply walk out of the charge field at any moment."
"And what is the feature that your emitter does not have while theirs does?" Seven asked.
"Ah," The Doctor almost exclaimed. "The major difference is that with my emitter is that my emitter basically transmits the hologram, me, in one direction. As you know, this is why it always looks like I am wearing the emitter on the arm. When creating the mobile emitters here, the sentient holograms were a little more worried about their emitter being damaged so they created it in a way that it emits the hologram to all sides. By doing so the holographic body is formed all around the emitter and thereby shielding the emitter inside the body. When the hologram is formed the position of the emitter is, rather interesting, in almost the same spot as the Human heart is normally located. So where my emitter can be damaged by me accidentally bumping in to something, those more basic emitters can only be damaged by something that first traveled through the hologram's body."
"Like a projectile, or a disrupter beam," Seven surmised.
"Yes, unless the energy field of the hologram is set extremely dense. As you know, I can change the density of my body so that projectiles or beams are stopped; basically forming a shield. After all, a hologram and a force field are both created out of energy and light; the real difference is in the strength of the energy field and the complexity of the projection. But changing my body to the level of a force field that could stop the kinds of weapons we mentioned takes so much energy that I would drain the battery within one hour. It is much simpler to just let the projectiles or beams pass through me. After all, there is nothing to hit... as long as they don't hit my arm. Anyway, to get back to the point. Basically, for a hologram a mobile emitter and a localized charge field unit have to be part of the base deal, just like the former slaves have gotten the assurance that they will get three meals a day, if they want them."
"Since you looked into the possibilities of that mobile emitter, do you happen to know what they cost?"
"Well," The doctor started slowly, "I have read that if one of the sentient holograms needs a new emitter, they have to pay 15,000 credits for it. A large amount, but considering that the emitters are quite robust and with normal use can last about a century that is not a bad price. The localized charge units are used all over the Coalition to charge anything from PADDs to energy cells of disrupter rifles. It basically creates a place there all that is within a certain radius is charged, if it has changing capabilities. But at the same time living beings don't even notice the field."
"I have not studied the devices," Seven pointed out. But I do know that my Mistress has one of such device worked into the ceiling of each room so that devices change at any location in the Quarters. I had been contemplating to look into the device a little more to see if it could be adapted to also charge my implants and therefore eliminate my need for regenerating in an alcove."
"It won't work," The Doctor said right away. "The charge units are designed to work with a low level of energy field, which is why living beings don't notice it. You implants are changed by a high level energy field. Even if you were to be able to adapt one of the devices, it would change your implants so slow that you would use more energy by just being alive then that is charged."
"Unfortunate," Seven said disappointed. "I liked the idea of my implants being charged while I was sleeping with my Mistress.
"Well," The Doctor said thoughtfully. "If that's what you want we might be able to work with that. If you and Torres would be comfortable with you sleeping with cables being attacked to you then I think I have an idea."
"Stimulate the energy absorption implant in my lower back directly," Seven guessed, clearly brightening up.
"Yeah," The Doctor agreed. Maybe use some magnetic... no wait, the implants aren’t magnetic. Anyway, I'll look into it. But for now, those localized charge units do work for those holographic emitters. The charge units cost another 1,000 credits if we were to buy them, but they are easy to produce and we can have them build in the factories along with other items that are continuously produced since there is always a need for them. The bigger problem is that the sentient holograms in this universe don't sell the mobile holo-emitters to anyone but a registered sentient hologram with a proven life history. They want to prevent people from using the mobile holo-emitters to give mobility to non-sentient holograms, like a holodeck created bodyguard or something."
"So we would have to barter not only for the amount of emitters, but also for getting any emitters at all," Seven pointed out.
"Well, yes. Or we could try to create our own emitters based off my emitter," The doctor suggested.
Seven thought about that for a moment. "No. As you know, from working on your emitter the few times it malfunctioned we found that our technology is simply not yet up to the level of this future technology. We can be lucky that until now only things we could replace malfunctioned. But what if the alignment bus started to malfunction? It is made of a metal alloy that we cannot reproduce. To my knowledge even the Borg did not yet manage to produce a metal that comes close. So we would be forced to find alternatives that are by definition sub-standard to the materials needed to make your emitter work as reliable as it does now."
The Doctor nodded his head in agreement. "Good point."
"However," Seven continued, "I see a different possibility. While we might not be able to work with the future technology of the emitter, we do know Federation technology and Borg technology. We could suggest a deal to a representative of the sentient holograms. We use Borg and Federation technology to better their design. In return they do sell the holo-emitters to us. Because we ourselves would not be making the emitters, the temptation to use more and more holograms is also taken away since it is an outside force that determines how many emitters we receive. Even if someone were to try and bend the rules and therefore the amount of holograms coming to us from the Federation were not limited like intended, the needed holo-emitters are nevertheless still limited."
"That could work," The doctor agreed. "As I said, the memory and power usage of the emitters is of a more basic level compared to my unit. We do have the technology to better both those things. It would also mean that we wouldn't be introducing future technology into this timeline, but merely adapting technology that already exists. So, are we going to contact Starfleet?"
Seven gave him a little smile of the kind that made the Doctor sigh even before Seven had spoken.
"No we are not. However, I am also not dismissing the idea. Even though we did now discus some possible problems this is nevertheless a decision that can have several repercussions. I think I would prefer that this matter is discussed in a meeting of the Intendant Advisery Board so that I can get the opinion of the others. In the end, unless an argument did sway me in a clear direction, there will be a vote on the matter and we will go with the majority vote. So I would suggest that you put together a proposal that also includes the things we just discussed and then send it out to all members of the I.A.B. so that they can study the proposal before the next meeting."
The doctor frowned at that and sighed, but he knew that he had gotten as much as he could at that moment. "Alright, I'll do that."
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