Hoping to further his creator's work and perpetuate his species, Data creates an android named Lal, who receives Data's programming through neural transfers. Although Picard is apprehensive about Starfleet's reaction to the unauthorized experiment, he allows Data to continue his research. Allowed to select its own appearance, Lal chooses the form of a human female. As she becomes increasingly capable of perception and feeling, Data enrolls Lal in school so that she can assimilate human behavior. When the android has difficulty fitting in with the children, Guinan agrees to let her work in Ten Forward, where she can supervise Lal's socialization process, and where Lal can study many different kinds of people. Meanwhile, Starfleet Admiral Haftel learns of Data's creation and informs Picard that he wants to transfer Lal to a research station where he can more closely monitor her progress. When Picard refuses, citing Lal and Data's mutual need to remain together for full developmental growth, Haftel gets permission to come aboard the U.S.S. Enterprise to observe Lal and is empowered to remove her from the ship if he is dissatisfied by what he sees. Despite all evidence to the contrary, Haftel is convinced that a bar is an unacceptable environment for Lal and orders her removed from Ten Forward.
