"Captain's Log, Stardate 50460.3." " We've been investigating an "inversion nebula"" "for several days." " This phenomenon has never been seen in the alpha Quadrant and is proving something of a mystery to us here." " According to Federation astro-theorists, inversion nebulae are so unstable, they're supposed to burn out within a few years, but... this one appears to be centuries old." " Maybe the theorists were wrong." " After all, they never had a chance to look at the real thing." " Not entirely wrong." " These plasma strands we're approaching" "look ready to ignite." " Tom, back us off 2,000 kilometers." " That'II give us a safety margin." " Aye, Captain." " Harry, set the sensors for full spectrum scans, continuous sweep." " If that nebula does flare up, I don't want to miss a beat." " Mr. Kim, I need your attention on the sensors." " Sorry, Captain." " full spectrum scans." " I'm on it." " Astro-theory never predicted this would be so lovely." " Beauty and mystery-- a tantalizing combination." " No argument here." " Right, Tuvok?" " I am fully capable of appreciating this phenomenon without the extraneous sentimentality humans find so necessary." " Being moved by an emotion isn't always extraneous." " Sometimes it's the whole point." " Enter." " Mr. Kim." " Can I help you?" " Um..." "That's kal-toh, isn't it?" " vulcan chess?" " Kal-toh is to chess as chess is to tic-tac-toe." " I should have known." " Uh..." "What is on your mind, Ensign?" " Tuvok, I need your help." " I want to eliminate emotions like VuIcans do." " Mr. Kim, it is a lifelong process." " I realize that, and I also know that VuIcans use certain techniques." " The t'san s'at-- the intellectual deconstruction of emotional patterns." " I'm willing to Iearn." " May I ask why?" " I have... feelings I don't want to have." " That would seem to be seIf-evident." " And what is the nature of those feelings?" " I..." "I'm in love and I don't want to be." " I see." " And who is the object of your affections?" " Her name is..." "Marayna." " I am not aware of anyone on the ship with that name." " She's not a member of the crew." " She's a character on the holodeck." " You're in love with a computer subroutine?" " That's the problem." " Interesting." " To see through an emotional complex is to rob it of its power." " The first step is to identify the complex in which you have been caught." " I told you, I'm in love." " There are many different kinds of love, Ensign." " You must learn to differentiate." " For exampIe, you told me that you met this individual only days ago, yet you feel overwhelmed." " I can't get her out of my mind, not for a second." " Have you been able to sleep?" " No." " Have you eaten?" " No." " Does your daily routine seem somehow empty?" " Perhaps even ludicrous?" " Yes!" " You are experiencing shon-ha'lock-- the engulfment." " It is the most intense and psychologically perilous form of eros." " I believe humans call it "Iove at first sight."" " But... we're talking about a holodeck character." " irrelevant." " The emotional complex in which you are trapped is the same and so is the cure-- logical deconstruction, followed by a regimen of meditative suppression as I shall demonstrate." " Uh, a little further to the Ieft." " No." " That's too much." " NeeIix." " Have you seen Marayna?" " Oh... perfect!" " welcome, gentlemen." " Just getting things ready for tonight's little get-together." " I completely forgot-- the luau." " PoIynesian-styIe." " I've done my research." " Uh, Lieutenant Tuvok, you neglected to RSVP." " That was not an oversight, I assure you." " Where is Marayna?" " Who?" " She's part of this program." " Doesn't ring a bell." " How could you miss her?" " She's tail, athletic, blond..." "Oh, one of the entertainment directors." " I believe she's giving Kes a hydrosaiI lesson." " Uh, no, no, not there." " There." " Harry." " Tuvok." " The lake is perfect today." " hello, Harry." " Hi, Marayna." " We were just talking about you." " You were?" " Marayna said what an excellent student you were." " She's a great instructor." " Ready to get your ears wet?" " VuIcans do not hydrosaiI." "Oh, why not?" " Lieutenant Tuvok prefers the solitude of his own quarters and a game of kal-toh" "I'm sure we can do better than that." " I'm going back on duty." " Thanks." " You're welcome." " There's a volleyball game starting down on the sand." " Mr. Kim and I would prefer some conversation." " would you care to join us?" " AII right." " I tried a reverse curl this morning." " I think I pulled a tendon." " feel that." " It's like a knot." " I'm sure it is." " Are you two friends?" " Yes." " No." " We're colleagues." " I respect Mr. Kim for his intelligence and his integrity and I assume he holds me in the same regard." " So, VuIcans don't hydrosaiI, and they don't have friends?" " We have fellowships and associations, but without the emotional dimension humans experience." " Hmm." " You and I are friends, aren't we?" " Um... yeah." " Good." " Chakotay to Tuvok and Kim." " Report to the Bridge." " acknowledged." " We're on our way." " There's a luau tonight." " You're coming, aren't you-- both of you?" " No." " Yes." " You've got to stop doing that." " Ensign." " As I predicted, your responses were as formulaic as a mathematical equation." " What do you mean?" " Consider the expression on your face when NeeIix did not recall Marayna-- annoyance." " That's not true." " It is quite true." " At that moment, NeeIix was functioning in vulcan terms, as the soo-lak-- the third party, who by his very lack of interest triviaIizes your own." " I guess it really did bother me." " And the arrival of Kes with Marayna then precipitated in you the k'oh-nar-- the feeling of being completely exposed." " I was embarrassed." " I was sure Kes would take one look at my face and know exactly what I was feeling." " And when Marayna placed your hand on her stressed tendon..." "Let's not even talk about that." " Bridge." " It's all so... predictable." " That's just what I've been trying to get you to perceive." " To the trained VuIcan intellect, intense romantic love is nothing more than a set of stereotypical behaviors." " Not having our discipline, typically, humans are swept along by the process until it ends." " How does it end?" " Either in conversion to a more balanced stable relationship or in tragic circumstances." " I can't have a balanced, stable relationship with a holodeck character." " Marayna's a computer program." " She could never feel for me what I feel for her." " exactly." " Logic dictates a single course of action-- retreat." " To tell you the truth..." "I don't even like hydrosaiIing." " The temperature's 5,000 degrees kelvin and rising." " Captain?" " We've located a plasma strand that looks like it's seconds from igniting." " If there is some kind of unknown process that's been keeping this nebula from going up like a torch, we're going to see it in action." " And if there isn't?" " I've got my hand on the controls." " We'II be out of here before it even touches our shields." " Captain, the temperature is 9,000 degrees kelvin." " I'm picking up a subatomic cascade reaction." " There she goes." " The plasma strand completely burned itself out." " Without causing a chain reaction in the nebula." " Harry, what put out the flames?" " Sensors show some kind of dampening effect between the strands, but I can't isolate it." " Like a firebreak in space." " If we understood how this happened, we might be able to find a new way to contain a warp core breach." " Or any plasma reaction." " It's an investigation worth pursuing." " Tom, it seems safe enough." " Take us in for short-range sensor scans." " Let's find out all we can about this phenomenon." " Aye, Captain." " I'II see all of you at Mr. NeeIix's Iuau." " I'm sure everyone will be attending." " Lieutenant, you look absolutely..." "tropical?" " More along the lines of "smashing."" " Thanks." " Of course, nothing can quite measure up with this shirt." " This is an exact re-creation of a 1962 big daddy-O surf speciaI-- an American classic." " I'd say you put just a little bit too much thought into that." " Now, that's where you're wrong." " Let's go." " I told Vorik we'd pick him up at 1600 hours." " And you know how VuIcan he gets when anybody is late." " Vorik?" " I thought we were meeting Harry." " Oh, he's not coming." " Why not?" " He said he was busy." " With what?" " I don't know." " Harry and I will meet you and Vorik at the luau." " You're pretty confident about your powers of persuasion." " Yes, I am." " Come in." " Surf's up, Mr. Kim." " Hi, Tom." " Harry, this is a luau." " You look like you're dressed for a funeral." " What are you doing?" " vulcan meditation." " What for?" " To suppress my emotions." " Is something wrong?" " Not really." " The... resort woman?" " What was her name?" " Marayna." " How did you know that?" " For two days now, every time I Iook for you, it's always, "He's in holodeck 1."" " And since you don't like hydrosaiIing," "I figured something was going on." " Am I that predictable?" " You sound like Tuvok." " Tuvok?" " He told you to do all this?" " logically, the best course is retreat." " Meditation helps." " Retreat-- a classic case of vulcan denial, if you ask me." " Come on, Harry." " We have all fallen for a holodeck character." " It happens." " You deal with it by staying with your normal routine not by hiding out in your quarters." " I'm not hiding out." " I'm deconstructing the emotional complex." " Okay." " Have fun." " No, wait." " Computer, standard illumination." " I'm getting tired of this anyway." " Computer, one Hawaiian shirt." " Specify parameters." " pineapple motif." " Greetings, Mr. VuIcan." " No, thank you." " I've done a great deal of ethnographic research on the polynesian cultures of Earth." " The flowered garland, or lei, is said to represent the flowering of love." " It's a marvelous tradition, don't you think?" " marvelous." " Oh... oh, my." " Did I program a centerpiece that big?" " Computer... open parameter adjustment file." " The life of a recreational hoIogram-- dining, dancing, nonrestrictive clothing..." "I see the allure." " Your turn." " Hmm." " Oh, thank you." " Tuvok." " I'm glad to see you here." " I would never disobey an order, Captain, no matter how burdensome." " There's a difference between an order and a suggestion." " The evening's young, Lieutenant." " Let's mingle." " VuIcans do not..." "Curious." " What's that?" " If you will excuse me." " A common error among novice players." " By placing the t'an on opposite sides of the kal-toh, you are attempting to introduce a spatial baIance-- a strategy that will most certainly faiI." "Why?" " Kal-toh is not about striving for balance." " It is about finding the seeds of order, even in the midst of profound chaos." " May I?" " please." " How beautiful." " Kal-toh is not about beauty." " I understand, but... it's still beautiful." " Did you learn to play on VuIcan?" " Yes." " From the age of five, I took lessons from a master." " I thought you might enjoy having an opponent." " playing alone must get a little predictable sometimes." " You are perceptive." " Yes, I am." " extremely so." " aloha, miss." " Thank you." " Sir?" " No, thank you." " You're the only one here not wearing a garland." " Given the decor, it seems somehow excessive." " I don't believe you." " I beg your pardon." " I think you're trying to isolate yourself and make a public protest at the same time." " explain." " You didn't want to be here in the first place." " Being the only one without a lei sets you apart from the others, allowing you to symbolically maintain your solitude." " And since everybody can see that you're the only one without a lei, you're letting them know that you'd rather be somewhere else." " Your logic is impeccable." " Thanks." " Mmm." " Thanks." " I am starving." " Oh, me, too." " Let's find us a spot." " This place is filling up fast." " I have already taken the liberty of reserving a table, Lieutenant, with a view of the lakeside." " You did express a fondness for that particular vista." " I did?" " Five days ago, in a conversation we had in Engineering regarding hoIodeck programs." " I guess maybe I did." " Good memory." " Of course." " well then, Ensign..." "let's go." " Harry." " What?" " Do you want to get something to eat, or not?" " I..." "I don't know." " Maybe this isn't a good idea." " Listen, I'm going back to my quarters." " Harry..." "Tom..." "Okay." " Okay." " I'II see you tomorrow." " I Iike the excitement of the water." " The danger... being tossed around... by the wind and the waves." " But at the same time, feeling like I'm in control." " The illusion of control." " That's exactly right." " Because no one can control the wind and the waves." " But for a few moments, when you're on the water and the ride is perfect the feeling is that you can." " Do you ever feel that?" " No." " Never?" " Don't you have an imagination?" " If, by imagination, you mean the ability to spontaneously generate images within my mind, then, yes, I have a highly developed imagination as do all of my race." " AII right, imagine this-- that you, with your logic and your reason, are skimming atop endless waves of emotion." " You believe you're in control, but you know the control is an illusion." " You believe that you understand the depths beneath you... but that, too, is an illusion." " I can see why Ensign Kim finds you compelling." " I can see why Harry admires... and respects you." " Because it's obvious that he does." " And... so do I." "I must return to my quarters." " please stay." " I've never met anyone like you." " I must admit I share that conclusion." " You are a unique individual." " Then stay." " It is late." " I must go." " Then come back tomorrow." " I'm sure the weather will hold." " No doubt." " please." " Perhaps." " Good night..." "Tuvok." " Good night, Marayna." " Computer, end resort program." " Captain's Log, supplemental." " We've completed sensor scans and confirmed our discovery of an unusual dampening field responsible for keeping this unstable nebula from going up in flames." " The field's origin is still a mystery." " The dampening field only seems to appear when one of the plasma strands ignites-- as if the fire itself initiates the field." " Which puts out the fire-- a feedback loop." " One that's preserved this nebula for hundreds of years." " Mr. Kim, do we have enough data on this dampening field to produce one artificially using the deflector dish?" " Harry?" " Do we have the data?" " Yes, Captain, but it'II take a while." " We'II have to simulate the process in the computer and then try to re-create it with the deflector dish." " probably a few weeks." " The project is yours, Ensign." " Tom, resume course for the alpha Quadrant-- warp 6." " Aye, Captain." " Captain, propulsion is not responding." " Bridge to Engineering." " B'EIanna, what's going on?" " I'm not sure, Captain." " We're trying to track the problem now." " acknowledged." " Harry, give B'EIanna a hand." " The nebula could be having an effect on the ship's systems." " That's a possibility we can't discount." " The warp drive is functioning within established tolerance levels." " Matter/antimatter containment is at recommended field strength." " The impulse engines are also..." "Within tolerance." " Yes." " Most likely, there's some kind of failure in the computer pathways." " Nothing's wrong with propulsion, but the commands from the helm just aren't getting there." " The warp drive seems okay." " impulse, too." " I think the problem must be somewhere else." " I think maybe..." "the helm's being blocked." " Like... some kind of failure in the computer pathways?" " Maybe." " I just said all that." " You're not listening, Harry." " I'II return to my station, Lieutenant." " I'm sorry." " I guess I've got a Iot on my mind." " Forget about her." " What did Tom say to you?" " Not a single word." " I saw the way you were looking at Marayna yesterday." " Hi." " My name's Harry "read-me-Iike-a-book" Kim." " It's not that bad." " apparently, it is." " I can't get her off my mind." " Input algorithm not accepted." " Why don't you take a break?" " I can handle it from here." " Thanks." " I'II be in my quarters if you need me." " Deck 3." " Computer, belay that order." " HoIodeck 1." " Computer, activate NeeIix resort program." " That program is currently running." " hello, Harry." " Enjoying yourselves?" " Now I know why you told me to keep off the holodeck." " Mr. Kim, you are misconstruing the nature of this situation." " Your jealousy is entirely insupportabIe." " Stop analyzing me." " I respected you, I trusted you and you did this right behind my back." " I have done nothing of the sort." " Then what do you call this?" " A game of kal-toh, which I am playing with a nonsentient computer subroutine." " Harry, I didn't intend to harm you and I didn't do anything wrong." " I'II accept that from her, Tuvok, but not from you." " You said to stay away from her." " You should have done the same." " You're implying a desire on my part that simply does not exist." " Marayna is an intriguing interactive hoIogram-- nothing more." " If you say so, Lieutenant." " Mr. Kim, I value our working relationship." " I would not allow a holodeck character to disrupt that." " I think it's a little late..." "Tuvok, Harry, please, stop arguing." " Computer, delete the Marayna subroutine." " Tuvok, what are you...?" " That's not going to help." " I never should have come to you in the first place." " I should have worked it out myself." " Let's try it again, Mr. Paris-- warp 6." " Course laid in." " Engage." " It would appear to me that we're not moving, Mr. Paris." " I don't understand it, Captain." " Any ideas, B'EIanna?" " Warp drive is still on Iine and helm control appears to be working, but the engines aren't responding." " It's possible we've got a computer malfunction, but I can't seem to localize it." " Let's run a IeveI-4 computer diagnostic, all systems." " Aye, Captain." " Captain, I just got aft thrusters to respond." " It's not much." " I'II take it, B'EIanna." " Tom, Iet's go." " At this speed, we'II be completely clear of the nebula by tomorrow." " Good enough." " Your move." " I think you'II find my game has improved." " How did you get here?" " simple." " I transferred myself from the holodeck to the Sick Bay, then used your physician's mobile emitter." " I deleted you from the holodeck." " But you only did that for Harry's benefit." " I know you wanted to keep seeing me." " I Iike Harry, but, uh... well, you're different." " You're not Iike anyone else." " Why have you come here..." "to my quarters?" " You're like a new world to me, Tuvok." " I want to know everything about you." " I didn't realize how lonely my existence was and I can't go back to the way things were, not without you." " Tuvok to Bridge." " Intruder alert." " Security team to my quarters." " No!" " Why did you do that?" "!" " Don't you want us to be together?" " Given your actions," "I have no choice but to consider you a potential threat to myself and to Voyager" "But you're wrong." " I would never do anything to harm you." " Make it stop!" " You have access to the ship's control systems?" " And I'II use them all if I have to." " You can't just delete me." " Where is this individual now?" " When security got to Tuvok's quarters, she downloaded herself back into the computer and onto the holodeck." " More to the point, what is she?" " Most likely a sentient computer program." " I checked the starfleet database." " This kind of thing has happened before." " The Enterprise-D under Picard was once taken over by a hoIo-character." " We studied that case at the Academy." " It gained control of the ship from inside the holodeck." " Marayna may well have done the same." " She was able to silence the intruder alert by an apparent act of will." " Does that mean she has the run of our entire computer system?" " She may." " Is it possible that she is the source of our mysterious malfunctions?" " It's certainly possible." " If Marayna's able to manipulate the ship's computer pathways, she could have disrupted propulsion, and then covered her tracks so we couldn't trace the cause." " But why?" " What's her motivation?" " I believe it has something to do with her feelings toward me." " In my quarters, she made reference to her loneliness and expressed her desire to continue our relationship." " But what does that have to do with knocking propulsion off-Iine?" " could she be trying to keep us near the nebula?" " This all started the day we got here." " That's when I first met her." " Maybe the nebula is somehow affecting the holodeck." " Giving rise to an intelligence that doesn't belong there." " It's possible." " In any case..." "I can't allow her to gain any further control over my ship." " Tuvok, Paris, Torres-- get down to HoIodeck 1." " I want this situation resolved one way or another." " She's locked us out of the program." " We'II be lucky if we can open the doors." " We're lucky." " Marayna may have opened the doors." " Caution is advised." " I'II try to access the inside control panel." " It's kind of creepy." " Marayna's attempting to re-create the setting of my previous encounter with her." " You really know how to pick them, Tuvok." " I got access to the holodeck computer." " I'm not reading anything unusual on the holodeck." " It seems to be working perfectly." " There's a subspace signal coming from outside of Voyager" "It's some kind of an uplink." " There's somebody on a ship out there tapping into the..." "B'EIanna!" " Shoot the control panel." " shield status?" " still holding, Captain, but the inertial dampeners are off-Iine." " Starboard shields are down to 80 percent." " What happened down there?" " Marayna attacked us and attempted to restrain me." " She has control over the holodeck characters." " But she's not actually on the holodeck." " I found an uplink and tracked it to the nebula." " She's on a hidden ship or a space station." " She's manipulating the holodeck from there." " She's been using the Marayna character like a puppet." " As an interface." " A way to move around Voyager to interact with us." " Tuvok, come back to me." " I'm waiting for you." " Harry, try to trace the uplink." " Find her." " Don't make this more difficult than it already is, Captain." " Are you responsible for the plasma fires?" " You're giving me no other choice but to force the issue." " What do you want?" " Tuvok." " I want Tuvok." " Let him come to the holodeck alone or I'II destroy your ship." " Tuvok." " You're back." " I had little choice." " We're alone now." " No one can see us or hear us." " We can do whatever we want." " You don't have to pretend anymore." " This is our world." " You've successfully lured me here by threatening the ship." " But any attempt to generate intimacy between us will not be successful." " I've isolated the source of the uplink signal." " Stand by to transport." " I understand your sense of duty, of loyalty to your Captain, but we have something stronger-- a connection that goes beyond duty and loyalty." " I know you want to be with me, Tuvok." " You must leave Voyager now and allow us to continue on our course." " I won't." " I suggest you reconsider or Captain Janeway will be forced to take action." " There's nothing she can do." " You're staying here with me." " She'II just have to accept that." " Energize." " Transporting to the source of the uplink." " Stop!" " shields are down to 47 percent." " shields are gone." " Try to hail Tuvok." " I can't, Captain." " Something's blocking the signal." " Marayna?" " Your ship is helpless." " If I ignite one more strand, the hull will faiI." "You are using the nebula as a weapon." " My nebula." " I will fire if necessary." " You're too late." " I've already set the ignition sequence." " only I can stop it." " Are you alone here... on this station... in this nebula?" " Yes." " It's my work." " I don't understand." " I keep the plasma fires from chain-reacting." " You are responsible for the dampening field we've been investigating." " That's correct." " I generate it from here to preserve the nebula, so that others from my home planet may enjoy its beauty." " I watch the ships when they pass by." " They don't even know I'm here." " You are..." "lonely." " By choice." " I prefer to be here... alone." " But you uplinked with our hoIodeck and created a character in order to interact with us." " To amuse myself." " I've done it before-- tapped into the computer of a passing alien vessel, examined all the little details of their lives." " But I never expected to find something as... diverting as your hoIodeck." " I never expected to find you." " You... are like nothing else I've ever encountered." " And I can't be without you." " Stay here with me and I will let your ship resume course." " If it is the only option," "I would willingly sacrifice myself to save my crewmates." " No, that's not enough." " You have to want to be with me." " If you truly understood who and what I am, you would know that I couId never return your affections." " But... you are more like me than-than you are like them." " I-I-I've seen the way you isolate yourself." " Even in a crowd of people, you're alone." " We should be together." " I must admit..." "I found our conversation stimulating, your insight and intelligence fresh and unexpected." " In other circumstances," "I would be willing to spend time in your company to continue to share knowledge and ideas, but I have a home and a spouse on VuIcan." " I have a mission, and colleagues who depend on me." " I do not have a complete understanding of emotions, but I believe that if you truly care for me, you will not pursue this course of action." " You may go." " Your communicator will function now." " Tuvok to Voyager" "Go ahead, Tuvok." " I am ready to return." " Stand by to beam me aboard." " Captain, ship's systems are coming back on Iine." " acknowledged, Tuvok." " Standing by." " Consider this:" "Your feelings toward me may be evidence of a deeper need... a more..." "profound loneliness than you are willing to admit." " Why don't you call for a replacement?" " Let another occupy this task." " Attempt for a time to live among your own kind." " logically, that would be the best thing to do." " Yes." " Perhaps I will." " Tuvok to Voyager" "Ready for transport." " But what about you, Tuvok?" " will you always be alone?" " Security Chief's Log, Stardate 5047 1.3." " The remaining damage to the ship was easily repaired and we soon left Marayna's nebula behind." " Voyager is back on course and I have resumed my normal routine." " Mr. Kim." " would you be interested in learning to play kal-toh?" " I thought kal-toh was beyond human understanding." " Not entirely." " Ensign..." "I failed to respect the complexity of your emotions." " I apologize for my lack of consideration." " Don't worry about it, Tuvok." " apology accepted." " Won't this take years to Iearn?" " It will, indeed." " May I join you?" " No." " No." " But... thank you."