Is Data being patronised?

^ And Data was not 'pregnant' in the sense of having a life form growing inside him which his body had to sustain and which could have affected his on-duty performance in the process (thus giving rise to military regulations about informing one's superiors).

Lal, being an artificial creation, could be switched off and stored at any time until Data completed his work. Without any effect whatsoever on Data's systems.

 

Hm...I wonder how Data might have reacted if he'd been ordered to deactivate Lal, though.

 

Data did ask Picard whether he should deactivate the unit.
I guess Data might have been alright about it, for some time at least. Or he was just testing Picard..?

 

I can see Data having been more alright with it at the beginning of the episode than he would have been closer to the end of the episode.

 

As the master of a semi-military vessel, Captain Picard should have been informed. The Enterprise isn't a cruise ship or a hotel in the sky. Its crewmen have responsibilities. Those responsible for keeping the ship running smoothly would need to be forewarned about offspring as a matter of course, for resource and personnel management.

 

Except that clearly that is not the case when it comes to Starfleet. Data specifically says that he followed all Starfleet regulations to the best of his ability. (As would generally be expected of him.)

 

Picard's reaction is also particularly understandable considering the success rate with previous Soong-type androids. Of the two known to exist at that point, half were crazy, evil nutjobs responsible for the destruction of a whole planet's population and the attempted murder of Picard's entire crew.

 

Coulda fooled me!

 

Really. Have you -seen- the bridge?

 

After watching the episode yesterday, my impression about Picard's reaction is that he was extremely worried Starfleet would take away Data's child - which almost happened.
Even if I understand his worries, that was probably not a valid reason to demand explanations from Data, though. After all, if he ever ended up raising a child with a female mate, would he have to ask Picard's permission to become a step-father ?

 

The amount of tech gone awry and stuff like the borg means Data really should have informed Picard.

 

And every trip to the holodeck should have to go through a three-step approval procedure.

 

Huh ? What's the link between Lal and the Borgs ?? I am puzzled.