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It was date night, and it was Data’s turn to choose, so naturally they were in the holodeck, playing at being Sherlock Holmes and Watson. And it wasn’t that Geordi didn’t enjoy it – the mysteries were quite challenging now that the computer had gotten the hang of generating new ones without birthing an artificial intelligence by accident – but, as he always did on the holodeck, he felt a little on edge. He usually pushed it aside and had fun anyway, but tonight it was more difficult than usual. Maybe it was because they’d been spending so much time on the holodeck recently. Whatever it was, it was distracting him, and when Data asked: ‘Watson? Your opinion?’ he had to confess that he hadn’t even been listening.
‘Geordi?’ Data asked, breaking character in his concern for him. ‘Are you well?’
‘Yeah, Data… I’m just a little… distracted, is all.’
‘What is distracting you?’
Geordi sighed. Normally he didn’t like to talk about this stuff, but it was Data. If anyone would get it, he would.
‘It’s just… sometimes the holodeck gets me down a little,’ he said.
‘Why?’
‘Well… the holodeck might be impossible to tell from real life to the naked eye, but to my visor it’s a lot different. When I’m in the holodeck, it’s basically shadows of varying depth. It doesn’t look like the real world does, to me. And I try to get into the story anyway, but it’s hard for me to get immersed in a holographic setting. It’s like… being in a puppet theatre.’
‘Geordi… I am sorry. It did not occur to me that the holodeck might not be as satisfying for you as others find it.’
Geordi shrugged. ‘It’s OK. I still have fun in here, especially if there’s a story to play through, but sometimes I just get a little tired of it.’
Data nodded decisively. ‘Computer, end program.’
‘Oh, Data, it’s OK, we can…’
‘Baker Street will still be here next week,’ Data said firmly. ‘What would you like to do instead?’
They walked in the arboretum in the end, without bothering to change out of their holodeck clothes. They wound their way up and down the paths, admiring the plants, Geordi listening, beginning to feel less gloomy, as Data told him at length and with enthusiasm about an interesting stellar phenomenon he’d been studying that day. Geordi wrappeds his arm around Data’s underneath his cape as they walked. He liked the arboretum – it wasn’t that he was particularly interested in plants, but there was as much to see here for him as there was for anyone else – different temperatures and textures and cellular structures that his visor translated into a riot of colour.
After their walk, they went back to Geordi’s quarters. He discarded his visor on the shelf by the door as he entered and shrugged out of his jacket, and he was unbuttoning his waistcoat when he heard Data move across the floor towards him, and felt his cool hands loosening his necktie, slipping it over his head, opening the stiff collar to kiss his throat, unbuttoning his shirt a little so that there was space for his mouth to move slowly along his collarbone.
In return, Geordi slid his hands underneath Data’s cape and pushed it away, and there was a muffled thud as the heavy tweed hit the floor.
‘Are you trying to cheer me up?’ he asked, smiling.
‘Is my attempt effective?’ Data asked.
Geordi drew him closer. ‘It’s definitely starting to be…’
* * *
For a while after that, they didn’t visit the holodeck. Geordi didn’t often pick it on date night anyway, and Data stopped too. Geordi mentioned it once, worried that Data was missing out on one of his favourite activities for fear of hurting Geordi’s feelings, but Data insisted that he just wanted to try some different things for a while.
So they did – out of the routine of Ten Forward one week, the holodeck the next, they found new places to go. When the Enterprise was stationary, they booked out a shuttle and explored, or beamed down to whatever planet they were orbiting. In transit, they went to recitals and poetry readings, or went bowling, or watched one of the Parrises Squares matches that were always going on. It was nice to change things up a bit, Geordi thought.
One night, a few months since they’d last been to the holodeck, it was Data’s turn to choose again. He arrived at Geordi’s quarters in his deerstalker hat and cape.
‘The game is afoot, Watson!’ he announced.
He waited with visible anticipation as Geordi found his Watson costume – it’d been so long since he’d worn it that it was right at the back of the closet – and got changed.
‘Not that I mind,’ Geordi said, ‘and I’ve actually been kind of missing it, but… why tonight?’
‘All will become clear,’ said Data, in his Holmes voice.
He refused to be drawn as they strode down the corridors, his cape swishing behind him. At last they reached the doors of Holodeck Two, and as they opened, Data spread out his arms in a flourish.
‘Ta-da!’ he said.
Geordi had a half-second to wonder where he’d picked up that expression before he saw what was inside. It was 221B Baker Street, but it looked real. It looked as though it was a genuine, actual room, the way he’d see it if he was really there. Even Mrs Hudson, bustling in with a tray, was almost perfect, only a slight haze around her betraying the fact that she wasn’t as human as he was.
‘Data… how did you do all this?’ he asked.
‘It is incomplete,’ Data said apologetically. ‘I am afraid at present we cannot leave this room – I have not yet adapted the rest of the program, and it may take considerable time. But I wished to show you what progress I had made so far.’
‘Data…’ said Geordi, running back and forth across the room, examining everything, ‘this is incredible! I don’t… it didn’t even occur to me to think that this might be possible! How did you do it?’
‘In anticipation of that question, I have prepared a short presentation,’ said Data. ‘Please, sit down.’
So Geordi sat on Sherlock Holmes’ couch while his boyfriend gave a forty-minute talk with slides about exactly how he’d managed to modify the holodeck, and how he planned to refine the technique in order to allow more extensive use. Geordi felt almost giddy with love. It sounded as if Data had been giving almost every moment of free time to this project, and he hadn’t breathed a word until now.
‘Why did you choose tonight to tell me?’ Geordi asked. ‘Why not wait until the whole program was complete?’
Data always maintained that he didn’t experience embarrassment, but he did look a little… sheepish. ‘I… found myself distracted by anticipation of what your reaction would be,’ he admitted. ‘I decided that it would be best to show you the project, in order to ascertain that you would be appreciative.’
‘You got impatient to show it to me, huh?’ Geordi said.
‘I do not… I suppose you could express it that way.’
Geordi laughed. ‘Data, thank you. I love it. And I love you.’
Data smiled. ‘I am glad.’
‘So come on,’ said Geordi, taking off his jacket and rolling up the sleeves of his shirt. ‘We still have an hour and fifteen minutes in this holodeck… I bet we can get some work done on the project in that time!’
They worked side by side until their slot was over, and then they went back to Geordi’s quarters, and didn’t emerge until morning.