Captain’s log: stardate 41153.7. Our destination is the planet Deneb IV. My orders are to investigate one Farpoint Station, recently constructed by the inhabitants of the planet, on the pretense of conducting an official tour in advance of a possible purchase by the Federation.We are making adequate time and expect to arrive as scheduled.

As we travel, I am acquainting myself with the command of a modern Galaxy-class starship. This will be my first command since— strike. Correction: This is my first command. The VTeegarden image on which my neural net was trained provided me a body of knowledge that has already served me well in this regard, though the starships I am familiar with through its memories are of a different breed than this mobile city of a vessel, somehow more agile and responsive than any other I recall despite its size and the nature of its crew.

Many of our personnel are recent Starfleet academy graduates, and we are operating with a somewhat reduced complement of officers. I have been informed that one Cato Armand, a young officer of some repute, awaits our arrival at Farpoint Station.

I now have only time and experience to tell me whether I, with both the increased and the diminished capacities of an android, will perform to the standard of the man whose mind I have inherited.