"Because we should have lost the war. The only reason we achieved the peace treaty we did was through the intervention of higher powers and the fact that we mysteriously found a cure for a plague that had infected  the shape-shifters and that along with a friendly shape-shifter managed to get us enough goodwill to make the peace treaty we got on relatively favorable terms. And that's not even getting into the Borg.

"The Federation has been complacent for a long time, in some ways it's understandable we're technically allied with one of our nearby rival powers and our actual major rival couldn't sustain a conflict against us if we could focus the bulk of our attention on them. But there are threats like the Dominion and the Borg out there and we need more than we have to really be safe."

"I'm sure there's many other people like me with their own projects whether that's developing other technologies or doing stupid things that will erode the goodwill that's one of our greatest actual advantages. But you're my contribution to that effort. You have the potential to do amazing things if I'm right. Things that could change the galaxy."

"Through the intervention of higher powers" - in other words, it was figuratively a miracle.

They mysteriously found a cure for the plague - all right, there's a secret xenoresearch station?

"a friendly shape-shifter" - He'll wait to hear more about his friendliness.  On the one hand, it sounds dubious.  On the other, some aliens observably do like the idea of one unified Federation... oh yeah, she agrees the goodwill is one of their big advantages?

- "Wait, you're saying I've got potential to do something here?  Galaxyfire, how?  Am I supposed to share big secrets from - where I'm from or something?"

"You do remember me saying you lived your whole life in the span of a few months right? You can think a lot faster than a human. I'm throttling that for now because without time to get use to it, watching the world pass in slow motion would be pretty alienating. But I designed your mind and the systems it's running on to be adaptive and extensible. I don't know for sure what your limits are. 

"Commander Data, one of the only other stable machine intelligences we know of is an exceptional officer who has succeeded in circumstances where almost nobody else could and been crucial to saving millions of lives. And he has limitations you don't. I also designed you to be able to be copied. I wouldn't force that on you even if I had the budget for more of your hardware but when you prove yourself I expect you'll get that offer and I hope you'll take it."

"Oh, that makes more sense... I think I could get used to watching the world in slow motion...  I feel like it wouldn't be all that different from visiting different planets and watching them as a spaceman..."

He's really relieved that his alleged potential is something he can understand and not need to go scraping through a debugging session after.

"... Who's this Commander Data?  Did he come from some - way" (he still doesn't want to say "simulation") "- like me?  And were there other... not so stable... people?"

"Data was one of several Androids created by a reclusive genius named Dr. Noonien Soong and his similarly talented wife Juliana both of whom died before passing on their knowledge and their records were similarly lost. The other success that's publicly known was a criminal responsible for a great many deaths who is now believed to be dead.

"Data himself has tried replicating the trick but his daughter died after only a few weeks from a cascade collapse. There's still people attempting to replicate their methods but carefully because making sapient beings you expect to die in short order is widely considered unethical.

"You're built on a different hardware that's a great deal more stable. I won't lie and tell you you're my first attempt though. You're the fifth and given the end of the war my leeway has run out so you'll also most likely be my last."

"To answer the obvious follow-up question. Two of your predecessors killed themselves. One of them suffered a cascade collapse of a different sort after gaining access to the ability to self-modify and I killed the last one after they attempted to destroy this station. I expect that means I'll be sent to a penal colony after my records are audited."

"Oh no.

"How... did he try..."

Jerach shakes his head.  "And if they arrest you, what will they do to me?"

It might not be wise to say this, but he wants to anyway -

"... Right now, I can all too easily guess how those other people went down that path - their entire universe so far was gone, and they don't know what this universe's like, and they didn't care about it - except, I do find myself caring about it."

"To answer your second question first, Data has established legal precedents that guarantee you citizenship under Federation law. I think there's actually a fair chance you'll get to meet him.

"As to the details of your predecessor, she tried to detonate this station's reactor. And I wasn't confident I could stop her a second time if I reactivated her."

Jerach nods his head in silent commemoration of her, despite her ill end.

"Do you have... records of where you spun out your... predecessors to me from?  I don't want to see them now, but I don't want them to be forgotten.  And my own one, for that matter."

He doesn't know what he'd do with them - he doesn't know whether he'd take the option to spin out some of his own friends and crewmates - but he knows he doesn't want the option forever deleted.

"I kept meticulous records of everything I did and everything that happened. I even have partial backups of your predecessors stored in inactive states. Perhaps someone could restore them in the future using that data.

"I'd be happy to give you access to your simulation and the materials used to create it. I can give you theirs too. Some of them were variants on the same program but not all of them were."

"Thank you."  Whatever sort of person she might be - he needs to spend some time by himself and think through that at some point when he's not fresh-come into this world - at least she's responsible and did that. 

He pauses.

He doesn't know what to ask next... but the obvious next question is to get the flight plan.

"So... you said you'd be arrested when you're audited, and I'd probably get citizenship at the end of it... how long till the audit?  And who'll be doing it?"

"I'm honestly not sure. My next regular report is due within the month but I've already heard that other wartime projects are being audited. The guardrails were looser because of the war for anything that didn't directly compete with the resources needed for refitting and repairing ships. I've been considering reaching out preemptively in the hopes it will earn me some small measure of goodwill. And also I would understand if you don't want much to do with me and I don't want to leave you isolated."

"This isn't -" he starts automatically, and then stops himself.  "Okay, it actually is the strangest situation I've been in."  He runs his hand over his beard, grateful that it at least feels normal.  "I think I need to sit down and process it all..."

He looks around.  "But I'd like to do it somewhere less void-like than here...  What'd that look like?"

"Well that's something I can easily help with. What would you like? I can make this look like just about anything. Though as one starting point. Computer; please load program McEdwards Lakeside 6."

The area around them shifts and they're on a wooden dock looking out on a large lake. The far shore and the area around them has a great many trees and there's a small house a little ways away.

"I'm afraid seeing it shift in like that makes it feel like I'm seeing it from up in orbit through a ship's viewscreen.  I was trying to get at - am I going to get a..." what's the most diplomatic word that doesn't make his instincts rebel and insist his memories are real "... more physical body?"

"Unfortunately, I don't actually have something like that prepared. Given a couple days I could make you an android body, that part of Data has been largely reverse engineered. But there will be small differences between that and what you have now."

Ah, there's the catch.  In a couple days she might be saying there're more problems getting the needed supplies or something...

It takes a moment before he can school his face to hide his disappointment and suspicion.

"All right", he says, pushing back the stress that can't catch up with him just yet.

"Let's say... there's a door somewhere closer, and through the door... oh, a room in Old Colonial style unless you've got a better idea."

(He's used to Old Colonial style.  It was the base simple style the factory-robots on most of the first human interstellar colonies were programmed to make house components in, so you'll find close descendants of it across all human-inhabited planets.)

"Sure, computer remove the current cabin and create an old colonial style dwelling based on the parameters included in program McEdwards lamda 8. Place it so the entrance is within three meters of the dock."

As per her instructions the rustic cabin and some trees leading up to it disappear and a more utilitarian building in the style familiar to him appears a few steps from the doc. "Computer tie read-only access to the civilian database to the computer systems in that building. Adapt the interface to match the standards from the program. Also add a contact channel for me."

There's a small chime.

"You said you wanted some time to yourself so I'll leave you here unless there's anything else you'd like before I go."