DIRECTED BY
AIRED ON
February 21, 1994
RUNTIME
45 minutes
STARRING
VIEWS
198
LAST UPDATE
2024-09-11 20:30:09
PAGE VERSION
Version 1
LIKES
0
DISLIKES
0
SUMMARY
Stardate: 47615.2. The Enterprise is slowly transformed into an ancient alien temple when Data discovers an alien archive full of information about an ancient culture. Shortly after opening the archive, Data becomes possessed with several different personalities.
STORY
No story yet.
BEHIND THE SCENES
No trivia yet.
QUOTES
FILMING LOCATIONS
TOPICS
No topics yet.
REVIEWS
Excellent
Written by
Pike on 2018-05-20
★
★
★
★
Excellent
TRANSCRIPT
[Classroom]
(it is clay sculpture class)
TROI: (to a girl) That's very good. (to a boy) Well, that's very nice.
ERIC: No, it isn't. I just can't get it right. Do you think the wings are too big?
TROI: Not at all. Birds have wings of all sizes, Eric. And you shouldn't worry about making it look perfect.
ERIC: But Mrs Narsu said we should try to make our sculptures as realistic as possible.
TROI: She's right. It is important that you be able to make the clay take the shape you want it to have, but you're not supposed to be concentrating on technique today. I'm here to help you focus on the feelings you want to convey with your sculpture. For instance, what do you think about when you see a bird?
ERIC: Flying?
TROI: Fine. So, make your sculpture make me think of flying, too.
(She moves on to the big kid in the class)
TROI: How's it going, Data?
DATA: I have finished.
(it's a perfect PADD)
DATA: The dimensions are accurate to within one point three percent.
TROI: I'm sure they are. Data, you obviously don't have a trouble with realism, but you're here to work on your imagination. Maybe you should try something a little more abstract. Here. I want you to start a new piece. I'd like you to sculpt music.
DATA: Counsellor, music is a collection of acoustic vibrations. How can I reproduce a sound with clay?
TROI: Well, think of the effects that sounds have on people, the images that music brings to your mind, and then give it a form.
(he quickly forms a treble clef)
TROI: It's a start.
RIKER [OC]: Riker to Data. Please report to the Bridge.
DATA: Acknowledged, sir. On my way.
Captain's log, stardate 47615.2. We have encountered a rogue comet in sector one one five six. It is not native to this region of space, and there is no previous record of this object on any Federation charts.
[Bridge]
DATA: Based on its present trajectory, the comet appears to have originated in the D'Arsay system.
RIKER: That's over two sectors away.
DATA: That is correct, sir. This object has been en route for eighty seven million years.
RIKER: That's a long time alone in the dark.
PICARD: Begin a full sensor analysis, Mister Data, and log the findings with the Federation Astrophysical Survey.
DATA: Aye, sir. The comet's outer shell is composed primarily of gaseous hydrogen and helium surrounding an icy mantle. The inner core consists of heavier elements
(a bright light sweeps the Bridge)
PICARD: What was that?
DATA: There is distortion within the comet's inner core. I believed we experienced an intense sensor echo.
RIKER: Can you correct for it?
DATA: I am attempting to do so now, sir. I have compensated for the effect. Sensors are reconfigured for a low intensity sweep. We are still picking up some interference, but the distortion is manageable. At these settings, the scan will be complete in thirty nine hours.
[Troi's quarters]
CRUSHER: Worf says he's going to teach us some mok'bara throwing techniques today.
TROI: More like falling techniques. Last time we did that I was sore for a week.
CRUSHER: What's this?
(a three segment column with a rounded stone on top)
TROI: I have no idea. I've never seen it before.
CRUSHER: Maybe Will left it for you. A little present?
TROI: It's not quite his style.
CRUSHER: Then maybe it's a secret admirer.
TROI: That's an interesting thought
CRUSHER: Well, you'll figure it out later. Come on, we're going to be late.
(Troi and Crusher leave, and a compass rose appears on the top stone)
[Classroom]
TROI: (to a child) That's nice. Data, this is amazing. How did you come up with this?
(Data has made a half-face mask with a compass rose motif on the forehead)
DATA: I followed your advice, Counsellor. I used my imagination.
TROI: That's an understatement.
DATA: For some reason, as I was shaping the clay, the image of the mask was exceptionally clear in my mind. The design seemed to flow quite naturally.
TROI: Data, have you been in my quarters?
DATA: No, Counsellor.
TROI: Somebody left an object in my room. Some kind of artefact, and it has something very similar to this. And you don't know anything about it?
DATA: I do not.
ERIC: Excuse me, Counsellor. Can you help me with my terminal? It's not working right.
(the screen shows the mask and alien glyphs)
DATA: Perhaps we should investigate this matter further.
[Engineering]
RIKER: These symbols don't match anything in the Federation linguistic banks.
LAFORGE: Some kind of alien information has been downloaded into our computer core. I don't know how it's working, but it's reconfiguring our systems.
RIKER: How did it get in?
LAFORGE: I was able to trace its path from the replicators to the sensor array.
RIKER: The sensors? They've been scanning that comet for the past eighteen hours.
LAFORGE: Those energy readings from the comet's core, that sensor echo. We still don't know what's inside that thing.
RIKER: Maybe it's about time we found out. Could we use the phasers to melt down the shell of the comet?
LAFORGE: Yeah, a dispersed wide-field beam might do the trick. It wouldn't take long to come up with the firing parameters. What do you think, Data?
(Data is still staring at the screen)
LAFORGE: Data? What's wrong?
DATA: I believe I recognise these symbols.
RIKER: How?
DATA: I do not know.
LAFORGE: Do you think maybe your systems have been affected?
DATA: It is a possibility. I do not believe my systems are currently impaired, but I will run a full diagnostic to make certain.
RIKER: What do you think they mean?
DATA: Boundary. Border. Road. Companion. Message. Messenger.
(a golden sun-face fills the screen)
LAFORGE: What's that one?
DATA: Death.
[Bridge]
WORF: Captain, phasers are set for wide dispersal, ten percent maximum power. The beam will automatically terminate once the comet's core is reached.
PICARD: Very well, Mister Worf. Fire.
WORF: Phasers have terminated.
(and now we see a curiously elegant alien construction, several times the size of the Enterprise)
PICARD: Mister Data, what are we looking at? Is it a ship?
DATA: I do not know, sir. The object is nearly solid. It is composed primarily of fortanium and several unknown materials. It is over eighty seven million years old.
RIKER: That's older than the comet itself. Could someone from the D'Arsay system have built it?
PICARD: There are no technologically advanced cultures in that system now. But perhaps eighty seven million years ago, there were.
RIKER: Why would they want to hide something like that inside a comet?
PICARD: Possibly it accumulated those frozen gasses over time as it travelled through space.
LAFORGE: In any case, it's definitely responsible for the system anomalies we've been experiencing. They're using our sensor beam as a carrier wave to transmit information into our computers and replicators.
PICARD: But the question remains, why? What is its purpose?
DATA: Captain, I believe this object is an informational archive.
PICARD: Why do you say that, Mister Data?
DATA: I do not know. However, I seem to have an intuitive understanding of its function.
LAFORGE: Data, the internal structure of that thing is pretty complex, and it's got a repetitive node configuration which might suggest a database of some kind, but it could be practically anything. I don't see how you could know for sure what it is.
PICARD: Data, do you believe that you're in communication with that object?
DATA: It is a possibility, sir. I recommend we run a level one diagnostic of my positronic net immediately to determine if that is the case.
PICARD: Very well. Mister LaForge, give him a hand.
LAFORGE: Aye, sir.
RIKER: Do you think it's just trying to make contact with us?
PICARD: Yes, it's possible. But if that is an archive from some ancient civilisation, we should allow it to do so. But we must be careful. Mister Worf, will you keep an eye on the sensors. If the ship is in any danger, I want you to sever the connection immediately.
WORF: Aye, sir.
[Ready room]
(there is a collection of new artefacts on Picard's desk)
PICARD: Come.
RIKER: Captain?
PICARD: Yes, come in, Number One.
RIKER: We've confined the system corruption. It won't be spreading any further. But we still have alien symbols floating around on our computer. This is quite a collection you've assembled. I've seen these things all over the ship. They all look the same. Primitive and non-functional.
PICARD: Ceremonial, and deceptively primitive. Only an advanced technological society could have built that object out there. These artefacts played a ritualistic role in that society, I think.
RIKER: Do you think Data could be right? Could we have stumbled across some sort of alien library?
PICARD: Oh, yes, it's possible. And if so, this is a find of most enormous significance. That library seems designed to do so much more than simply store information. Who knows what we might learn from this?
RIKER: I keep seeing this design.
PICARD: Yes, this symbol seems to be of particular significance.
RIKER: What do you think it means?
PICARD: The concept of the four cardinal compass directions is quite common in many different cultures.
RIKER: The words that Data recognised in the computer, boundary, border, road, they were all arranged in this design.
PICARD: Well, perhaps the artefacts that all have this compass symbol belong to the same theme, movement. Finding a direction, travelling a path, crossing a boundary.
RIKER: And death? One of the symbols was death.
PICARD: The ultimate boundary.
PICARD: I've seen this symbol everywhere too, but much less prominently displayed. It's always in the background, smaller than the others.
(a straight line with a hemisphere below it showing a semicircle with radiant lines - half a sun? )
RIKER: What do you think it represents?
PICARD: I have no idea.
[Engineering]
LAFORGE: Lower synaptic functions are completely normal. Autonomous systems all check out.
DATA: I suggest we examine the memory subsystem next.
LAFORGE: All right. (Data twitches) Data, what's wrong?
DATA: I am not certain. I am experiencing a curious sensation.
LAFORGE: Well, what is it?
DATA: An impulse.
LAFORGE: Impulse? What kind of impulse?
DATA: I do not know.
LAFORGE: I'm going to check out your higher functions.
DATA: Geordi, what does it feel like when a person is losing his mind?
LAFORGE: Data, come on, you're scaring me now. What's going on?
DATA: I do not know. I am different.
LAFORGE: Well, you're going to be all right. You're with me, okay?
DATA: Okay.
LAFORGE: Listen, I'm going to disconnect you. (does so) What's going on?
(Data's circuitry has changed)
LAFORGE: Data.
(Data has the compass symbol on his forehead and a wicked grin)
DATA-IHAT: Masaka is waking.
(after the break, Data is sitting on the warp core as Picard enters. There is a symbol on his chest.)
LAFORGE: Captain
DATA-IHAT: Captain. I've been waiting for you. You should feel honoured. I don't usually wait for anyone.
PICARD: What is it you want?
DATA-IHAT: Masaka is waking.
PICARD: Are you Masaka?
DATA-IHAT: I am not Masaka. I am Ihat.
PICARD: What have you done to Commander Data?
DATA-IHAT: Commander Data? You mean the one who was here?
PICARD: Yes.
DATA-IHAT: He's gone. Who can say where?
PICARD: Picard to Counsellor Troi. Report to main Engineering immediately.
DATA-IHAT: Picard to Counsellor Troi. Report to main Engineering immediately.
PICARD: Ihat, this place you come from, is it a cultural archive of your species?
DATA-IHAT: I come from Masaka's city.
PICARD: Are there others like you there?
(Data goes to lie on the 'pool table')
DATA-IHAT: There are no others like me.
PICARD: Who is Masaka?
DATA-IHAT: You will find out.
PICARD: I would like to know Masaka, speak with her.
DATA-IHAT: Do you understand pain? Death? That is all you need to know of Masaka. It is what she is. Go. Leave this place before she finds you. It can be done. I did it.
(Troi enters)
DATA-IHAT: Masaka.
(Data kneels before her in fear, and when he looks up again, there is a different symbol on his chest)
DATA-VICTIM: I am yours. Every part of me is yours.
PICARD: We should confine him to quarters.
[Observation lounge]
(Pos net micrograph 289.25 on the wall monitor)
LAFORGE: This is a micrograph of what's happened to Data's positronic net. Now, as near as I can tell, these are behavioural nodes. I've counted fourteen so far. I think the archive is using Data to create different people within its culture much in the same way it used our replicators to create artefacts.
TROI: As a result, Data's real personality has been completely buried. In a sense, Data has the android equivalent of multiple personalities.
LAFORGE: The archive hasn't stopped yet. Data's positronic net is still being transformed. There's no telling how many more personalities might emerge.
PICARD: Geordi, I want you to continue to scan the archive. See if you can find some way to access it. And in the meantime, I'll see what I can learn from these people inside Data.
[Data's quarters]
PICARD: I'm not going to hurt you.
DATA-VICTIM: Only Masaka can hurt me. I am for her alone.
PICARD: I need to speak with Ihat. Do you understand? Ihat.
DATA-IHAT: Captain. That was a cruel joke you played on me. For a moment, a brief moment, I actually thought that woman was Masaka.
PICARD: Whoever took your place wasn't afraid of Masaka. He seemed eager for his fate.
DATA-IHAT: Pitiful, isn't it. You won't catch me humiliating myself for a woman even if she were a queen.
PICARD: Then Masaka is your queen?
DATA-IHAT: She's a lazy creature. She spends most of her time sleeping. The problem is, what she does when she's awake.
PICARD: Then should we try to keep her asleep?
DATA-IHAT: Try to stop the sun from climbing the sky? Only Korgano can do that, and he's not here.
PICARD: Where is he?
DATA-BOY: Help me. Please.
PICARD: What's wrong?
DATA-BOY: I'm afraid.
PICARD: Of what?
DATA-BOY: Of her.
PICARD: Masaka?
DATA-BOY: Her!
(the lights go out)
PICARD: Picard to Bridge.
[Bridge]
PICARD [OC]: Report.
RIKER: The archive just activated some kind of tractor beam, sir. We're not able to disengage it.
[Data's quarters]]
PICARD: Has there been any damage to the ship?
[Bridge]
RIKER: There was an emergency reported in Ten Forward. Mister Worf's on his way.
LAFORGE: Captain, there's some kind of energy pulse coming through the tractor beam.
[Data's quarters]
LAFORGE [OC]: It's overriding our control systems.
PICARD: I'll be right there.
DATA-BOY: (gripping Picard's wrist) Don't leave me.
PICARD: I won't leave you. Please, let go of me.
DATA-BOY: Does it hurt?
PICARD: Yes.
DATA-BOY: She's going to hurt us all.
(he lets go)
DATA-IHAT: Now you've done it, Captain. Masaka is awake.
[Ten Forward]
(it now contains tropical foliage and stone, and a large version of Troi's ornament with a sun image on it. Think lost Mayan ruins.)
TROI: Who's this?
PICARD: I'd say that that is Masaka. Ihat referred to her as a queen, and it's not unusual in ceremonial cultures to find royalty symbolised by a sun.
TROI: You said the personalities inside Data were in awe of her, even terrified.
PICARD: According to Data, the sun image is also a symbol for death.
(on the reverse of the obelisk)
PICARD: There it is again. The same U-shaped symbol, small and insignificant. Almost as if it's an afterthought.
LAFORGE: Captain, this is incredible. These artefacts weren't beamed over here from the archive. The matter here in Ten Forward has been transformed.
PICARD: Into living plants? How is that possible?
LAFORGE: I'm not sure. But bit by bit, this ship is being transformed.
WORF: We have been receiving reports from the rest of the ship. Part of deck twelve is now an aqueduct.
TROI: What are we being transformed into?
LAFORGE: I'm not sure I want to find out.
PICARD: I don't think we have a choice. We must destroy that archive. Mister Worf?
WORF: Sir, our weapon control systems are inoperative. However, we could reconfigure a photon torpedo for manual launch.
PICARD: Make it so.
(Worf and La Forge leave)
PICARD: There's so much here we could have learned. I really regret losing that opportunity.
[Engineering]
(a torpedo lies on the floor)
LAFORGE: Okay, I've locked in the targeting parameters. What's the phase alignment now?
WORF: Less than point seven percent.
LAFORGE: Good, that'll do it. I'm setting the yield at maximum.
(and the torpedo lights go out)
WORF: Sir, the onboard power systems are not functioning.
LAFORGE: Let's see what's going on here?
(the torpedo is full of snakes, Masaka is on the wall monitor and there are vines)
LAFORGE: Something tells me we'd better get out of here.
(flames stop them)
WORF: Engineering to Bridge. Emergency transport. Two to beam out.
[Bridge]
(it's dark and there are vines and stones here too)
RIKER: Maybe we'd better talk in here. The Observation Lounge has turned into a swamp.
PICARD: So, what's our status?
LAFORGE: Well, so far the archive has transformed about twenty percent of the ship. We've lost main propulsion and weapons systems in the process.
RIKER: What about communications, sensors, life support?
LAFORGE: We have communications, and limited sensor control. Life support seems to be unaffected.
CRUSHER: I've analysed the alien plant forms. They've developed from biological matter we have on the ship.
LAFORGE: The stone, the artefacts, are made in much the same way, extrapolating from the ship's own alloys.
CRUSHER: Apparently the archive can reorder and transform molecular structure including DNA into anything it wants.
PICARD: So it's using our ship, our alloys, our DNA, to create elements of its own culture.
TROI: But why is this happening? What does the archive hope to accomplish?
PICARD: Well, whatever the intent that lies behind its process, I'm not going to permit this ship to be turned into an alien city. Mister La Forge, do you have any ideas?
LAFORGE: We still haven't been able to cut off that beam, but I have managed to access the archive by sending an energy pulse back along their signal path. If I can locate the transformation programme, I might be able to control it.
PICARD: That's a good idea, but I feel that the answer lies there, with Masaka. We must find her, access her. Talk to her.
[Data's quarters]
(a dirt floor and a raised hearth in the middle)
PICARD: Hello.
DATA-ELDER: Difficult to stay warm. It's not warm enough, not for an old man.
PICARD: Tell me about Masaka.
DATA-ELDER: My daughter.
PICARD: Tell me, how can I talk to her?
DATA-ELDER: Children grow, forget their parents. Only Korgano can talk to Masaka.
PICARD: Korgano? Who is that?
(the fire flares)
DATA-IHAT: Well, aren't we the persistent one.
PICARD: Ihat.
DATA-IHAT: Is anyone else so charming?
PICARD: Masaka is taking over my ship.
DATA-IHAT: I told you she would.
PICARD: I want to talk with her but I understand that Korgano is the only one who can do that.
DATA-IHAT: Who told you that?
PICARD: An old man. Masaka's father.
DATA-IHAT: Oh, yes, yes. Legend has it she chopped him up and used his bones to make the world. Any wonder he doesn't like to talk about her?
PICARD: How can I find Korgano?
DATA-IHAT: I don't know. He's not chasing her anymore.
PICARD: Where has he gone?
DATA-IHAT: Stop asking me these questions. I was fast enough to get away from her once. I don't want her to find me again. I'll wind up on her sacrificial slab.
PICARD: Ihat, if she's looking for a sacrifice, she can take me. Perhaps then she'll stop looking for you.
DATA-IHAT: Well, there's an idea. Better you than me.
PICARD: Very well. What do we do.
DATA-IHAT: You must build Masaka's temple. The Queen's temple. That will get her attention.
PICARD: Very well. How do I do that?
DATA-IHAT: You need the sign. I could give it to you. So could the old man. But just try getting it out of him.
PICARD: Give me the sign.
DATA-IHAT: If she finds out, you can't imagine her rage. She lets people die of thirst. A terrible death. Sometimes she burns them alive. She is glorious.
PICARD: Ihat, the sign, give it to me.
DATA-IHAT: If she comes, you will take my place?
PICARD: Yes.
DATA-IHAT: All right. Quickly, give me your hand. A line, as the unending horizon. A curve as. She has found me.
PICARD: Masaka, show yourself. I will go with you.
DATA-IHAT: It seems I was not fast enough.
DATA-ELDER: So hard to stay warm. Are you one of my children? I can't remember anymore.
PICARD: I need your help. I need the sign for the temple. For Masaka's temple.
DATA-ELDER: It won't help you. Korgano no longer pursues her. Only he can stop her.
(Picard takes the old man's hand and draws in the dirt)
PICARD: A line as the unending horizon. A curve as? A line as the unending horizon. A curve
DATA-ELDER: As the rolling hillside. A point as a distant bird. A ray as the rising sun.
PICARD: Thank you.
DATA-ELDER: Now, come sit with me. Tend the fire.
DATA-BOY: I'm alone. No one left to help me. She's coming.
PICARD: Are all the others dead? Did Masaka kill them?
DATA-BOY: No. She sent them away. It will take them days to die.
(Data no longer has the symbols on him)
[Bridge]
(there's nowhere to sit now)
PICARD: Any progress, Mister La Forge?
LAFORGE: I think I've found the archive's transformation programme.
PICARD: Will it accept the symbol for Masaka's temple?
LAFORGE: I think so. I've isolated the program's input pathways. They're keyed to accept symbols. If I input this one, it should initiate the transformation process.
RIKER: And create the temple?
LAFORGE: I hope so. If this is the wrong symbol, it might turn the Enterprise into a big chunk of rock. No way to know for sure.
TROI: The question is, can we trust a personality from an alien archive that seems bent on taking us over?
PICARD: Ihat risked his life to show me that symbol, and Masaka killed him for doing it. I think we have to risk it.
[Corridor]
WORF: Captain. The entire deck has been cleared of personnel. We may proceed.
PICARD: Commander Riker, we're ready.
RIKER [OC]: Understood.
[Bridge]
RIKER: Initiate transformation.
LAFORGE: Inputting the symbol now.
[Corridor]
(and it changes into)
[Temple]
PICARD: This would seem that this is Masaka's temple.
WORF: There is no one else here.
(Troi scans the Maya-esque structure)
PICARD: Ihat said that if we created the temple, then it would get her attention. It may be some time before she shows herself.
(Troi goes up the steps to the throne)
WORF: How will she do that?
PICARD: I don't know.
TROI: Captain, take a look at this.
PICARD: This is the first time I've seen these two symbols paired. That could be significant. Look, there it is again, and again. And there again. This is obviously an important pairing. He isn't chasing her anymore.
TROI: Sir?
PICARD: Ihat said that someone named Korgano isn't chasing Masaka anymore. And the old man said, he pursues her no longer. In a sense, this small symbol might be seen to be chasing Masaka.
WORF: The symbol suggests antlers of some kind. Horns. Maybe it is meant to represent an animal.
TROI: Animals are worshipped in many cultures.
PICARD: That smaller symbol could represent Korgano. Both Ihat and the old man said that Korgano was the only one who could control Masaka. Many ritualistic cultures incorporate the idea of balance into their belief systems. Now, Masaka is a queen. A powerful, god-like figure. It's not unrealistic to believe that she might have a counterpart, a consort. Look around. See if you can find that horn-like symbol anywhere else.
[Data's quarters]]
(Data wakes and puts on his version of Masaka's mask)
[Corridor]
(Data knocks out the guards)
[Temple]
TROI: This is the most prominent instance of the horn symbol we've seen yet.
WORF: But now it appears as though Masaka's sun is chasing it.
TROI: The sun chasing an animal?
PICARD: Maybe it's simpler than that. Maybe their relationship is more like the sun and the moon.
WORF: I see. Masaka and Korgano switching positions. The sun setting and the moon rising.
PICARD: Exactly. Like two powerful rulers changing places in a continuous cycle.
TROI: And like the sun and the moon, only one of them can be in ascendance at any given time.
PICARD: If we can find Korgano in the archive and bring him out, then perhaps he could force Masaka to leave.
WORF: But would we be any better off with him?
PICARD: Ihat and the others didn't seem to be frightened of Korgano.
(the room shake)
TROI: Sir.
PICARD: Masaka.
(Data sits on the throne)
PICARD: Masaka, I am Captain Jean-Luc Picard of the Federation Starship
DATA-MASAKA: Go away.
PICARD: Please, hear us. Your archive is destroying
DATA-MASAKA: I do not hear you.
WORF: She will not even listen to us.
PICARD: Then we will have to find someone too whom she will listen.
[Bridge]
LAFORGE: I've found it, Captain. This is the only place in the archive where Korgano's moon symbol appears by itself, not linked with Masaka's.
PICARD: All right, Mister La Forge, I want you to access the transformation programme. And when you're ready, input the symbol.
RIKER: Isn't that a little risky?
TROI: We have no way idea what the result would be. The symbol might generate anything from Korgano's temple to Korgano himself.
PICARD: In one sense, Korgano is Masaka's nemesis. Whatever this symbol represents, it could be for us a means to control her. Now, if anyone has a better idea, I'd be happy to entertain it.
LAFORGE: I've accessed the programme, Captain.
PICARD: Initiate the transformation.
(a mask appears)
RIKER: Another mask.
PICARD: You know, we could be going about this all the wrong way. This is a very ritualistic culture based on symbol and myth. Perhaps we should try to confront them on those terms. If I could somehow incorporate myself in their ritual, then perhaps Masaka would listen to me.
RIKER: You're going to try to pose as Korgano?
TROI: Captain, we know so little about this culture and even less about Korgano. How would you convince Masaka that you're him?
PICARD: I'm really not certain, but there are similarities between this culture and others that I've studied. I would imagine I'm just going to improvise. Mister Worf, what's our status?
WORF: I estimate we have less than two hours before there is nothing left of the ship. At least, nothing we can recognise.
[Temple]
PICARD: Masaka.
(Picard takes his place to the left of the main throne)
DATA-MASAKA: Korgano.
PICARD: Are you surprised to see me?
DATA-MASAKA: I thought I had escaped you.
PICARD: You should know that is impossible.
DATA-MASAKA: You are a fine hunter but I am a powerful prey. You will never catch me.
PICARD: Do you want to be the prey forever?
DATA-MASAKA: I thought I was alone. I thought I would not have to share the sky with you.
PICARD: But without me you are not complete. I know you so well. You live for the chase, as do I. Will you not miss being the hunter, pursuing me, forcing me from the sky so that you can rise again?
DATA-MASAKA: You know me well, Korgano.
PICARD: I think that you are beginning to tire. It is difficult, brightening the sky forever.
DATA-MASAKA: I am getting sleepy. You always do that to me.
PICARD: So that you can wake with the dawn and begin the hunt again.
DATA-MASAKA: Let the hunt begin again. I am eager for that.
(Data falls asleep)
PICARD: As am I.
(and Picard mask glows and vanishes, then temple reverts to)
[Corridor]
RIKER [OC]: Riker to Picard. I don't know what you did, sir, but it looks like everything's back to normal.
PICARD: Acknowledged, Number One. Mister Data, are you all right?
DATA: I believe so, sir. I am not entirely certain what has happened. Have I been dreaming again?
PICARD: I'm afraid that will take some time to explain.
Captain's log, stardate 47618.4. Commander La Forge has managed to disable the alien transformation programme. Starfleet has dispatched an archaeological team to study the archive further.
[Ready room]
(Picard is holding Masaka's mask)
PICARD: But I don't understand. I thought all the alien artefacts had disappeared from the Enterprise.
DATA: That one was not created by the archive, sir. That is the clay mask I originally made. I have since painted it.
PICARD: A memento.
DATA: Yes, sir. Although I am relieved to be rid of those alien personalities, in a sense, I am now empty.
PICARD: I can imagine. Doctor Crusher told me that there were possibly dozens of personalities inside you.
DATA: I suspect the number was much greater. My impression is that there were thousands, of all ages and walks of life. It was a remarkable experience.
PICARD: Well, Data, you never may become fully human, but you've had an experience that transcends the human condition. You have been an entire civilisation.
2024-09-11 20:30:09 -
Pike:
Added the transcript.
