Requiem for Methuselah ( episode ) While the " Enterprise " searches for the rare cure to a deadly disease , the landing party is confronted by a reclusive man who is willing to kill to preserve his privacy . Summary . Teaser . Its crew suffering from the deadly Rigelian fever , the pays an emergency call on a supposedly barren planet , Holberg 917G , to gather ryetalyn , a rare element that is the key ingredient of the antidote . Beam ing down to the planet , Kirk , McCoy , and Spock are attacked by a hovering robot called M - 4 . An old man , Flint , arrives to halt the robot ' s attack , but insists to Kirk that the landing party leave at once or die . Act One . Kirk asks Flint to reconsider but Flint still refuses . As a result , Kirk flips open his communicator orders that Scott have the " Enterprise " lock phaser s onto their coordinates . When the situation seems completely hopeless , Flint relents and gives Kirk two hours to obtain the ryetalyn . Flint orders M - 4 to gather the ryetalyn . In the meantime , Flint invites the landing party to his impressive home . At Flint ' s home , the landing party find what appears to be authentic but undiscovered specimens of Earth art , such as a score by Brahms and paintings by Leonardo da Vinci . They also come across a Gutenberg Bible and several works of Reginald Pollack . When M - 4 returns with the ryetalyn , Kirk prepares to beam back up to the ship but ultimately accepts Flint ' s offer to process the rare element . It was at this time that Flint introduces his beautiful , highly intelligent , but ultimately enigmatic ward named Rayna , whose beauty immediately attracts Kirk ' s attention . Act Two . Flint introduces Rayna to McCoy and Spock . Her first time encountering a Vulcan , she wishes to discuss field density with him at a later time . Flint explains that Rayna ' s parents were in his employ and died in an accident . They placed her in his custody and has been with him ever since . She explains that the landing party are the only men she has ever seen , which McCoy replies , " " the misfortune of men everywhere and our privilege . " " Flint seems to encourage encounters between Kirk and Rayna , such as having them play billiard s or having them dance while Spock plays his piano . Kirk recalls to Flint that he had said something earlier about savagery and wonders when was the last time Flint had visited Earth . Flint tells him that Kirk will probably say that it is no longer cruel but he notes that the " Enterprise " itself is " " bristling " " with weapons and its mission is to colonize , exploit , and destroy if necessary . Kirk replies that their missions are peaceful and their weapons are used strictly for defense . He notes that if they were truly barbarians , they would not have asked for the ryetalyn , they would have simply taken it . He recalls that Flint ' s own introduction to the landing party lacked a certain benevolence when they arrived . Kirk is becoming closer to Rayna while they play a game of billiards , and while she teaches him some pointers on the game , Kirk tells Flint that to be Human is to be complex , the species cannot avoid ugliness from within or without . Meanwhile , McCoy returns with the report while Kirk and Rayna are dancing . He reports that the ryetalyn contains irillium in quantities sufficient enough to render the antidote useless . Flint offers to go with M - 4 and collect more samples and to screen them himself . He offers to let McCoy join him . Later , Kirk enters Flint ' s laboratory . He is looking around when Rayna enters . He walks over to her and notes that the room became lonely without her . She tells him that loneliness is " " a thirst . A flower dying in the desert , " " something Flint had said to her earlier . Kirk does not understand what she is talking about and asks what is behind a closed door in the lab . Rayna does not know , as Flint has told her she is never to enter it . Kirk asks why she is here then , and she tells him she often comes to this place when she is troubled . Kirk asks why she is troubled and also if she is happy here with Flint . She says Flint is the kindest man in the galaxy , but if so , Kirk wonders , why is she troubled ? As Kirk leans in to give her a kiss , M - 4 arrives and prepares to attack him . Act Three . Rayna orders the mechanism to stop , but it does not . Just as it prepares to fire on Kirk , Spock enters and vaporizes it with his phaser . Later , Flint tells Kirk that the robot was programmed to defend the house and its occupants ; it did not anticipate Kirk looking around in the lab . However , another M - 4 unit arrives in Flint ' s living room . He states that it is too useful a device to be without . Flint notes that Kirk should be thankful that he did not attack him , as he has twice the captain ' s strength . but Kirk remarks that , as Flint had said earlier , it would be an interesting test of power . Rayna is pleased that Kirk did not die in the incident and Flint states that death , when unnecessary , is tragic . He orders that Kirk wait in his study , " " patiently , safely , " " while McCoy analyzes the quality of the ryetalyn in the lab . He reminds Kirk that his defense systems operate automatically and not always in accordance with his wishes . As Flint and Rayna leave , Kirk and Spock realize Flint loves Rayna and is exhibiting jealousy towards Kirk . However , Kirk points out that Flint seemed to want Rayna and Kirk to participate in activities together , which Spock notes seems to defy male logic as he understands it . Kirk contacts the " Enterprise " and asks for a status on the progression of the Rigelian fever . Scott tells him that the fever has infected nearly everyone on board and they are now operating with a skeleton crew . Kirk also asks for the report on a computer search on both Flint and Rayna . Uhura informs him that there is absolutely no past records of Flint , and later , of Rayna . Kirk and Spock realize that Flint wishes for them to linger for reasons unknown . In another room , Rayna and Flint are watching Kirk and Spock . Rayna tells him that she could not have summoned M - 4 , as she was not frightened . She believes Flint had sent the robot there to kill Kirk , which he vehemently denies . He asks her to say her farewells before Kirk leaves . Rayna sees Kirk again , and the captain tells Spock he will see him in the lab later . She tells Kirk that she has come to say goodbye , but he does not want to . He kisses her , asks her to leave with him and leave Flint . Shortly after , Rayna runs away when Kirk tells her she loves him , not Flint . Later , in Flint ' s lab , Kirk meets up with McCoy and Spock . They discover Flint has been hiding the processed ryetalyn behind a closed door . In their search for the antidote , they enter a room containing earlier versions of Rayna ; she is an android . Act Four . Flint then arrives and reveals his other secret ; he is an ancient immortal , born almost four millennia before Christ , in 3834 BC . Over the course of his long lifetime , Flint has taken on many names , such as Brahms and da Vinci . Eventually , he acquired enough wealth to purchase Holberg 917G and work on a perfect , ultimate – and equally immortal – woman . Kirk had provided the final step in her creation , stirring her emotions to life . Now , Flint prepares to put Kirk and the " Enterprise " in suspension for a thousand years or more , as Rayna ' s emotions turn to him . Despite Flint ' s intent to keep her creation a secret , Rayna enters the room and learns the truth , forcing Flint to release the ship . Flint and Kirk fight over Rayna , stopped only by the emergence of Rayna ' s emotions . However , her new feelings and suddenly having to choose between Flint and Kirk overwhelm her , and she shuts down . Back aboard ship , the plague is stopped and Kirk finally falls asleep in his quarters after ruefully reflecting on what had happened . McCoy enters and informs Spock that the full tricorder readings on Flint indicate he is aging and will eventually die of natural causes . By leaving Earth , he had sacrificed his immortality . After commenting about love and Spock ' s eschewing of that emotion , the doctor looks at Kirk and wishes he could forget Rayna . As McCoy leaves , Spock moves over to his sleeping captain , places one hand on Kirk ' s temple , and whispers , " " Forget " " . Memorable quotes . " " If you do not leave voluntarily , I have the power to force you to leave – or kill you where you stand . " " " " Are you a student of history , sir ? " " " " I am . " " " " What is loneliness ? " " " " It is thirst . It is a flower dying in the desert . " " " " Do you think the two of us can handle a drunk Vulcan ? " " " " Flint is my teacher . You are the only other men I ' ve ever seen . " " " " The misfortune of men everywhere . And our privilege . " " " " To be Human is to be complex . You can ' t avoid a little ugliness from within and from without . " " " " I have married a hundred times , Captain . Selected , loved , cherished . Caressed a smoothness , inhaled a brief fragrance . Then age , death , the taste of dust . " " < nowiki > < / nowiki > " " At her age , I rather enjoyed errors with no noticeable damage . " " " " I know death better than any man . I have tossed enemies into his grasp . And I know mercy . Your crew is not dead , but suspended . " " " " Stay out of this ! We ' re fighting over a woman ! " " " " No , you ' re not . For she is not . " " " " She ' s Human . Down to the last blood cell , she ' s Human . Down to the last thought , hope , aspiration , emotion , she ' s Human . The Human spirit is free . " " " " I was not Human . Now I love . I love . " " " " The joys of love made her Human . And the agonies of love destroyed her . " " " " A very old and lonely man . And a young and lonely man . We put on a pretty poor show , didn ' t we ? " " " " You see , I feel sorrier for you than I do for him because you ' ll never know the things that love can drive a man to . The ecstasies , the miseries , the broken rules , the desperate chances , the glorious failures , the glorious victories . All of these things you ' ll never know simply because the word love isn ' t written into your book . " " " " Forget . " " Links and references . References . 1st millennium BC ; 2239 ; 4th millennium BC ; Abramson ; Alpha Centauri system ; Akharin ; Alexander the Great ; " Angel Playing the Violin " ; " Angel with Lute " ; android ; antitoxin ; BC ; Bible ; billiards ; " Bones " ; Brack ; ; bubonic plague ; ; canvas ; Centauri VII ; chess ; chess master ; " Creation " ; Constantinople ; " Dance in Tehuantepec " ; ; Earth ; epidemic ; Europe ; Federation ; Federation legal banks ; Flint ; Flint ' s wives ; ; gardener ; ; guardian ; Holberg 917G ; housekeeper ; ink ; irillium ; Kapec ' s parents ; kilometer ; ; legal ward ; logic ; M - 4 ; Marcus II ; Melozzo da Forlí ; Merlin ; Mesopotamia ; Methuselah ; Milky Way Galaxy ; Moses ; Omega system ; oxcart ; piano ; pigment ; Rayna 14 ; Rayna 15 ; Rayna 16 ; recluse ; ; Rigelian fever ; ; robot ; ryetalyn ; Saurian brandy ; screens ; sewer ; ; Socrates ; Solomon ; Starfleet Command ; Sten ; sub - dimensional physics ; Taranullus ; toast ; trespassing ; tricorder ; under the wire ; Vulcan mind meld Unreferenced material . 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