Verad

Verad was an unjoined Trill male who lived during the mid-24th century.
== History ==
=== Early life ===
Verad was a prospective candidate for hosting a Trill symbiont whose application was turned down by the Symbiosis Commission. Although initially unable to become an initiate, Verad had spent years trying to qualify for symbiosis, and bitterly resented being deprived of his ambition.
For a time, Verad worked as the communications clerk at the Federation consulate on Khefka IV. While stationed there, he visited an accommodation house where he met Mareel; the two fell in love and he took her with him to when he was recalled. ()
=== "Verad Dax" ===
Tired of his mediocre life, he decided to steal the Dax symbiont from Jadzia Dax and escape into the Gamma Quadrant. Accompanied by Mareel, having hired Klingon mercenaries T'Kar and Yeto to assist him – the crew had tricked Quark into providing them access to the station by claiming that they wanted to purchase some liquid data chains from him – he took control of the nearly-empty Deep Space 9, in 2370, during a plasma storm that required most of the crew to evacuate. Although Dax reminded him that the joining could cause psychological damage to him, Verad threatened to kill the crew if Dax refused, and she agreed to go through with the procedure knowing that it would kill her. Julian Bashir implanted the Dax symbiont within him. 
Claiming to now be "Verad Dax", Verad changed greatly after the joining: he became more confident, intelligent, and according to him, felt better than ever, but he also became distant towards Mareel and eventually planned to explore the Gamma Quadrant without her. He also tried to continue Dax's old friendship with Benjamin Sisko, treating Sisko as a friend as they warmly commiserated over some of Sisko's previous experiences with Curzon. Sisko terminated the friendship, however, when Verad refused to return Dax to Jadzia and thereby save her life. Verad 'defended' his decision of not returning the symbiont by claiming that it could be damaged with another rapid exchange of hosts.
After Sisko and the crew of Deep Space 9 regained control of the station, after Quark provided a distraction that allowed Bashir to knock one of the Klingons out and subsequently release Odo, the Dax symbiont was returned to Jadzia. The removal of the symbiont left Verad shattered, feeling strange and empty; Mareel, nevertheless assured Verad that he wasn't alone, and that she would always be with him. 
Following the symbiont's return to Jadzia, she explained that she remembered it all: "Everything he thought… everything he did… and it's so… sad. I guess he'll always be with me now…" ()
== Appendices ==
=== Background information ===
Verad was played by John Glover.
He was described in the script as "slight and nervous looking. Leopard-like spots on the side of his head identify him as a Trill." He was further described as "middle-aged, a little out of shape… nervous… and very, very scared. Verad averts his eyes. Whenever Verad talks, he avoids making eye contact." (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion - A Series Guide and Script Library)
Following the implantation of the Dax symbiont, Verad was then described as "a changed man. The differences are undeniable. There's a look of confident serenity on his face. He stands taller, carries himself better. The nervousness is gone and when he speaks, he now looks people straight in the eye." (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion - A Series Guide and Script Library, resources/scripts/424.txt)
Glover relished the psychological aspects of Verad's situation: "Those parts are actor's dreams. At the beginning he's so insecure about himself and has no self confidence, but wants that power so much - which is of course so so dangerous in a Human being. In coming up with the variations for the character, I tried to work in a very Human way. The fact that he trained all his life to receive the Dax was something I thought about. You know, the insecurity of the man and his needs to have it. And then of course that incredible concept that when [the symbiont] does enter you, you've got all these other lifelong experiences of all those other people. Basically I just tried to imagine what was given me. That's another reason I thought the part was so good, because it's so well written with so many active, playable things. There was that great scene with Avery [Brooks] where we're reminiscing and remembering out pasts, and he brings up the one guilt thing, where I realize what I did was so bad and so wrong. It was just so rich and chockfull of great Human things." (The Deep Space Log Book: A Second Season Companion, pp 20-21))
Glover ultimately enjoyed playing Verad and hoped to return: "I had a grand time. The whole Dax thing was wonderfully playable. We had to reshoot the last scene where they removed Dax from me because I looked dead. I hope that I can come back some day. Maybe I can escape from the insane asylum and come back next season." (The Deep Space Log Book: A Second Season Companion, p. 20))
=== Apocrypha ===
Verad appears in The Lives of Dax story "Reflections", attempting a black market operation of 'loaning' symbiotes to various Trill. 
He also appears as the antagonist in Star Trek: Divided We Fall, a crossover featuring the characters of and set around the time of . He attempts a coup against the 'oppressive' joined Trill 'dictatorship', committing suicide once his plans are thwarted. This story gives his full name as Verad Kalon.
===External links===
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