"This system is pretty low on the underlying conditions that tend to make that happen. It varies a lot. Over near what was Cardassian space, or maybe still is the politics of that are in flux, there's a whole region, a couple dozen light years across called The Badlands that are basically impassable unless you're in a small maneuverable ship and you feel like living dangerously.

"Most phenomena we see aren't that persistent, that big or that severe but they still happen often enough that they're an active field of study. And when they happen near places people live it can be a big problem."

"And that didn't show up where I'm from..." because it was easier to not include it.  Of course.

"Are they harmful to ships too?  Or just to unshielded planets?"

Daisy looks slightly embarrassed for a moment. "They can absolutely be a danger to ships. In part because most ships don't travel about with their shields at full strength all the time, but also sometimes these effects will bypass shields or react badly to them.

"There's a whole database of these incidents and some of them sadly are based on logs of ships that got destroyed. They're also the suspected cause behind at least some of the Starfleet ships that have mysteriously disappeared without a trace. Ships whose transponders wink out and when follow-ups are sent we can't find any evidence of what happened at their last known positions.

"The ship I was on was sent to one of those follow-ups once. It's rare but that still means it happens every year or two with a fleet as big as ours. Once an entire taskforce disappeared, that time at least we managed to collect some evidence of whatever it was that happened and there's still an active effort to try to understand whether they were destroyed or if they somehow got sent or taken elsewhere. And if there's any way for us to rescue or support them."

Okay, this is how space is here -  And then the end distracts him.

"Sent elsewhere?  Are you thinking somewhere else in this galaxy, or this universe, or... elsewhere?"

"There are documented cases of strange phenomena catapulting starships thousands of lightyears and in a few very rare cases to other galaxies entirely. There are also known to be non-spatially connected regions. What you might call other universes or for smaller ones subspace pockets. There are documented cases of ships being transported to those as well."

"Documented?  So... they got back?"

"Some of them, yes. Others were able to get messages back but..."

"Lieutenant McEdwards, you have a priority transmission from the Enterprise. Would you like to accept?"

"Well that was faster than I expected. Maybe I shouldn't have expected more time. Computer, add a viewscreen large enough for easy viewing by both of us and accept the transmission."

A viewscreen shimmers into existence, for a brief moment there's some sort of logo involving a field of stars on the screen before being replaced by an image of a man with strangely yellow skin. He's wearing a similar uniform to Daisy except yellow and with more pips at his collar.

"Lieutenant McEdwards. I've read your report. I take it this is Jerach?"

"Jerach, meet Commander Data. Data, meet Jerach."

"I am pleased to make your acquaintance Jerach. Are you satisfied with your current circumstances?"

"Commander!"

Jerach gives a genuine surprised smile - he hadn't been expecting to see Data already!  He reflexively brings his hand up for the formal salute, freezes for a moment as he suddenly remembers he's not in any chain of command now, and then a moment later decides it's less awkward to give the salute than to freeze halfway.

(Does Starfleet even have a salute?  He didn't see Lieutenant McEdwards (that's her name!) give one, but then she said she's already written off her career...)

"I'm pleased to see you - McEdwards told me about you.  For myself... Being satisfied is a hard thing so soon after... arriving here.  But there's nothing uncomfortable except -" he gestures at his own body "- the obvious."

"Based on the report and my experience, my first guess would be that you mean your current state of being unable to leave the holodeck. Is that accurate?"

"Wasn't really thinking of that.  Though, yeah, that's a problem too.  But... no need to answer, but what was your body like in your first memories?"

He phrases it with a rueful shrug.  Surely Data would remember the same transition he's going through, if he had one anything like this.

"My earliest memories were erased by my creators. The earliest memories I possess are from after I was recovered by Starfleet from Omicron Theta. I have no memories of having a body different from the one I presently occupy."

"Ah.  I'm sorry."

Though, on second thought, maybe it is nicer for him?

"Well, I do.  I was a normal human, on a ship in a galaxy -"  How does he sum up his home?  "- different from this one we're in now."

"Ah, yes the report did suggest that the transition was rather abrupt. I expect that was quite distressing. Lieutenant McEdwards should have had a counselor on hand to ease you through it. And the broader ethical implications of your creation will certainly need to be reviewed. Your opinion will be taken into account during that evaluation."

Jerach nods briefly.  "I'm glad you have a process for this."  He glances at Lieutenant McEdwards - how is she taking this?

"I can hardly criticize anyone for causing me to come into existence.  The circumstances of the transition weren't good, but - I'm not sure of any way they really would've been good?"  He shrugs.  "Though... perhaps when I'm more at home here, I'll have other ideas."

Lieutenant McEdwards is mostly remaining stoic; this isn't anything she wasn't expecting. She's a little anxious about what's coming but also a bit relieved that all the responsibility for correcting Jerach's misunderstandings isn't on her anymore.

"I take a similar stance with respect to my creators' more questionable choices. I am glad you are in a stable enough position that you prefer to exist.

"As far as improving on the method used to create you, I would be happy to help you read through Lieutenant McEdwards report and research notes if you would find that helpful, though perhaps a counselor would be better suited to that."

"I wasn't thinking of that -"  Jerach freezes.  He's used to freezing perfectly still - it's sometimes helpful in zero-gravity - but he's even more unsettlingly still than he's used to.  He shivers just to feel less unsettling.

"I wouldn't think of changing my entire home universe -" He stops abruptly.  "- even though from here I guess it should be the same as changing any other program - but, well, I do prefer to exist, and thinking of something that would've changed me into someone else..."  He looks at Data for a bit.  "Have you talked with others who don't prefer it?"

"In the early days after my activation I was not receiving useful guidance from those around me, in effect I was inventing myself and several times I came close to suffering a cascade collapse of my neural net. While going through that process, I considered recording notes and resetting myself in the hopes that a future iteration would see more success.

"Given the capabilities of Federation medicine it's rare for people to reach the point of contemplating suicide but I have been with people as they go through severe crisis events, often during or after particularly stressful missions and they have sometimes expressed such thoughts."

"Oh, I meant other -" He pauses; what word sounds right to him?  "- people like us."

Still, he bows his head.  Could he reset himself if he wants?  He doesn't know.  And he doesn't want to know - not because he feels tempted to take it, but because it just feels far too strange.  He's never heard of any drug doing that to humans before, and if he can do it to himself now...

Well, he's got to get used to more strangeness like that.  Still, perhaps not now.

"What happened to your creators?"

"One of them died in the attack on the Omicron Theta colony. The other escaped secretly and then after a series of events was killed by another android he created named Lore. Lore has since been deactivated permanently."