That Thing Murdered One Of My Crewman (April 2, 2015)

(Photon torpedoes are fired, destroying the Woden.)
CHEKOV: Returning to original course and speed.
SPOCK: All systems report normal, Captain.
MCCOY: Normal? That thing's trying to tell us nothing has happened.
KIRK: Disengage this computer now.
DAYSTROM: There appears to be some defect in the control panel.
MCCOY: There certainly does. Your brilliant young computer just destroyed an ore freighter. In fact it went out of its way to destroy an ore freighter!
DAYSTROM: Fortunately it was only a robot ship.
KIRK: But it shouldn't have destroyed anything. There might just as easily have been a crew aboard that ship.
MCCOY: In which case you'd be guilty of murder.
KIRK: Bones. Disengage the computer. Lieutenant, contact Starfleet Command. Tell them we are breaking off M-5 tests and returning to the space station. Come along, Doctor Daystrom, M-5 is out of a job.
[Engineering]
KIRK: All right, Daystrom, let's turn this thing off.
(But as he approaches the unit, he is thrown sideways by a green forcefield.)
KIRK: Force field?
DAYSTROM: It's not my doing, Kirk.
SPOCK: I would say, Captain, that M-5 is not only capable of taking care of this ship, it is also capable of taking care of itself.
KIRK: You mean it's not going to let any of us turn it off.
Captain 's Log, stardate 4731.3. The M-5 multitronic unit has taken over total control of the Enterprise.
[Engineering]
KIRK: All right, Doctor, you built this thing. How do you propose to turn it off?
DAYSTROM: This exercise is a trial for M-5. A shakedown. We must expect minor difficulties, but I assure you they can be corrected.
KIRK: Correct it after you release control of my ship.
DAYSTROM: I can't.
SCOTT: Captain, I suggest we disconnect it at the source.
DAYSTROM: Give me a few moments with it.
KIRK: No! Stay here. All right, Scotty. Turn it off.
(Scott and an engineer get the device they use to attach M-5's power supply to the ship, and head over to the junction box. But as soon as the engineer steps in between M-5 and it's power, he is disintegrated.)
KIRK: That wasn't a minor difficulty. That wasn't a robot. That thing murdered one of my crewman and you tell me you can't turn it off?
DAYSTROM: It wasn't a deliberate act.
Category:Star Trek Fanfiction