Hallie Todd: Lal

The Offspring

Lal

Lt. Cmdr. Data: Lal. I am unable to correct the malfunction.
Lal: I know, Father.
Lt. Cmdr. Data: We must say goodbye now.
Lal: I feel...
Lt. Cmdr. Data: What do you feel, Lal?
Lal: ...I love you, Father.
Lt. Cmdr. Data: [after a pause] I wish I could feel it with you.
Lal: I will feel it for both of us. Thank you for my life. Flirting... Laughter... Painting, family... Female... Human.
[she dies]

Lal: I watch them, and I can do the things they do, but I will never feel the emotions. I'll never know love.
Lt. Cmdr. Data: It is a limitation we must learn to accept, Lal.
Lal: Then why do you still try to emulate humans? What purpose does it serve except to remind you that you are incomplete?
Lt. Cmdr. Data: I have asked myself that many times, as I have struggled to be more human. Until I realized, it is the struggle itself that is most important. We must strive to be more than we are, Lal. It does not matter that we will never reach our ultimate goal. The effort yields its own rewards.
Lal: You are wise, Father.
Lt. Cmdr. Data: It is the difference between knowledge and experience.

[the man and woman are kissing]
Lal: He's biting that female!
Guinan: No, he's not biting her. They're pressing lips; it's called kissing.
[the couple leaves]
Lal: Why are they leaving?
Guinan: Lal, there are some things your father's just gonna have to explain to you when he thinks you're ready.

Lal: Father - what is the significance of laughter?
Lt. Cmdr. Data: It is a human physiological response to humor.
Lal: Then, judging from their laughter, the children at school found my remarks humorous. So without understanding humor, I have somehow mastered it.
Lt. Cmdr. Data: [...] Lal.
Lal: Yes, Father?
Lt. Cmdr. Data: The children were not laughing with you, they were laughing *at* you.
Lal: Explain.
Lt. Cmdr. Data: One is meant kindly, the other is not.
Lal: Why would they wish to be unkind?
Lt. Cmdr. Data: Because you are different. Differences sometimes scare people. I have learned that some of them use humor to hide their fear.
Lal: I do not wish to be different.

Lal: Father says I would learn a great deal from working with someone as old as you.
Guinan: You're hired.

Lal: Father - what is my purpose?
Lt. Cmdr. Data: Purpose?
Lal: My function. My reason for being.
Lt. Cmdr. Data: That is a complex question, Lal. I can only begin to answer by telling you that our function is to contribute in a positive way to the world in which we live.

Lal: [her last words] Thank you for my life. - Flirting... Laughter... Painting, family... Female... Human.