I know the intent was that Data tried to kill Fajo and lied about it, but I've never been able to believe that, because the episode failed to sell its premise. The intent was that Data was left with no possible option for restraining Fajo non-lethally and thus attempted to kill him. But I could immediately see a non-lethal option the writers overlooked. Data couldn't get close enough to Fajo to restrain him because of the interference field generated by the box on Fajo's belt. And the disruptor Data had was extremely lethal with no stun setting. But the way the box was positioned on Fajo's belt meant it was sticking a bit out to Fajo's side from Data's POV. So given Data's precise aim, he could have just grazed the force field box with the disruptor beam, knocked out the interference field, and then restrained Fajo with a judo hold or a carotid block or something.
And if I was smart enough to see that option, then surely Data, who's far smarter and more perceptive, would've seen it too. So what I have to believe is that Data was about to do just that, and was genuinely surprised that the disruptor had fired early, or maybe forgot he'd fired due to some interference between the disruptor and the transporter beam. I just can't accept the validity of the intended premise, because of the way that box was positioned. If the director had just spotted that problem and positioned the box on the center of Fajo's belt, say, so that Data didn't have a clear shot, then the premise would've worked as intended. Or if they'd established that shooting the box with the disruptor would've made it explode lethally, or something.
It's always disappointing when a writer tries to force characters into a situation with no way out and then you see an obvious way out that they missed.
We can assume therefore that the Varon-T disruptor offers no possibility of such a grazing option. As you say, Data would have realized that option in a fraction of a second,
if it were available. Ergo, it isn't available.
Unpacking this further, concluding that the grazing option isn't available could mean also that the risks don't justify the rewards. For example, let us first grant that Data firing center mass at Fajo implies a 100% certainty of Fajo being disintegrated in a gruesome manner. Now, suppose further that an attempt of the grazing shot has only a 10% probability of success, that 80% of the time Fajo will be disintegrated (gruesomely) anyway, or die from an exploding force-field projector (which incidentally might also damage or destroy Data), and that 10% of the time Fajo gets the upper hand back and recaptures Data. If Fajo would kill just two people in the future, if he weren't stopped, then that means that the expected number of people who die should Data attempt the grazing shot equals (at a minimum, since we're not counting the possibility of Data getting destroyed from an exploding force field projector) .8*1 + .1*2 + .1*0, which equals 1. In such circumstances, Data could not expect to save life by attempting the grazing shot. If Fajo would kill more (and why wouldn't he, given the opportunity), and/or if Data could get destroyed by the force-field projector blowing up when grazed by the lethal disruptor beam, it's even worse. In such circumstances, mathematically, the only way to save life is to shoot to kill. Data would be able to calculate this.
I mean, you have to be suspicious of a claim that a non-lethal option exists that involves the firing of a lethal weapon. Shooting the chandelier down from the ceiling is rarely played seriously; the absurdity of the scenario, the ridiculous improbability that it would succeed, indicates comedy instead.
---
Getting back to the question of the OP, is Data's reply, "I do not feel pleasure. I am only an android" also a lie (of omission or otherwise)? Perhaps, but perhaps not. One interpretation is that Data
assumes that he does not feel pleasure because he is an android. I don't think we know exactly how the emotion chip works, whether it adds functionality so much as unlocks it.
One of the through-lines of Vulcan behavior is that, contrary to popular belief, Vulcans do feel emotions. They just don't acknowledge them, show them, or allow them to influence their behavior.
And how would Data know anyway whether he feels emotions? Sure, the emotion chip offers a contrast, but since he's technically different from Lore, Data is a one-of-a-kind machine. Lal even developed emotion as an emergent property. What's Data's baseline? How do we and how does he know for certain that what's going on in that positronic brain of his doesn't involve his feeling things?
So, yeah, perhaps this is Data selling himself short, because he knows he's still a wooden puppet and not a real boy.
---
I just wanted to add that Saul Rubinek is outstanding in this role. Heck, he's outstanding in everything I've seen him in. I've seen only a sample of his work, but he really shines in
Person of Interest and in the Jesse Stone films.
Amusing.
