Post by magicmuggle01 on Dec 24, 2018 10:36:54 GMT
The Enterprise finds an ancient interstellar probe from Earth, missing for 265 years, which has somehow mutated into a powerful and intelligent machine bent on sterilizing entire populations that do not meet its standards of perfection.
Summary
The USS Enterprise is en route to the Malurian star system, investigating a distress call. Lieutenant Uhura has received no response to hails on any frequency, even after Captain Kirk reminds her of a Federation science team transmitter from Doctor Manway. However, Spock's sensor data contains tragic news: although there should be over four billion Malurians there are absolutely no readings of life anywhere in the system. As Kirk and Spock speculate about what could have caused the eradication of life in such a short time, a large bolt of energy comes out of nowhere. Kirk orders red alert, and the object violently impacts upon the Enterprise's shields.
Act One
The entire crew is hurled around, and when things stabilize, Kirk orders Uhura to inform Starfleet of the apparent disappearance and the attack. Spock reports that the shields will stand only three more such impacts, as they have been reduced by 20%. The Enterprise's shields continue to be battered by repeated attacks. Finally, after the shields are completely gone and a photon torpedo in response has been completely absorbed, Kirk orders Uhura to hail the very small object Spock has identified as the source of attack. The object stops its assault and tries to respond to the hail with an old-style binary code. The crew has some difficulty translating, but eventually succeeds. The object identifies itself as Nomad, and its mission as "non-hostile."
As it is only a fraction over one meter in length Kirk has it beamed aboard, if only to prevent it from firing on the ship again. It introduces itself and Kirk remembers the launch of a probe named Nomad in the early 2000s, and Spock says it was reported destroyed with no more in the series.
Later it is revealed that the object had stopped its assault when it heard Kirk's name, somehow believing that Kirk is its creator.
Act Two
"He's dead, Jim."
Nomad wastes no time investigating the ship, with only Kirk's orders preventing it from having free rein. Knowing how powerful it is, and that it stated it was programmed to destroy "biological infestation," Kirk orders two security guards to watch it at all times, but Nomad is able to evade them. Furthermore, it seems highly logically-minded and gets confused whenever it encounters something illogical; when it hears Uhura singing "Beyond Antares" on the bridge from the auxiliary control room, it leaves Lieutenant Singh, who was watching it, and goes to investigate.
Meanwhile, Kirk and Spock check the computer on Nomad's creation and launch. Originally, Nomad was built by Jackson Roykirk for a deep-space extraterrestrial contact mission early in the 21st century, in the year 2002, but was lost in a meteor shower, where it was presumed destroyed. Somehow, it got a directive to kill, and must have killed the Malurians.
Nomad arrives on the bridge to question Uhura, and it is unsatisfied with her explanation of the song's function and wipes her memory. Scott, seeing this, attempts to save Uhura from the probe, but is thrown clear of Nomad, landing near the viewscreen. Upon Dr. McCoy's examination of Scott, he declares him dead, to Kirk's shock.
Act Three
Just after Scott's death, Nomad announces to Kirk if he wishes to have the Enterprise's chief engineer "repaired". Kirk immediately replies in the affirmative, although McCoy tells him that Scott must be revived soon. Spock has detailed files on Human physiology brought up at his station, which Nomad scans. McCoy then leads Nomad to sickbay, where the probe instantly revives Scott, who is baffled as to why everyone is looking down at him on a bio-bed. Kirk also orders Nomad to help Uhura, but Nomad says it is not possible. McCoy and Nurse Chapel proceed to re-educate her using the computer.
This event proves disconcerting to Kirk, who then orders Nomad to be guarded and analyzed by Spock. After the analysis and a background check on Nomad in the ship's data banks, Spock gets enough details through a mind meld with the probe to fill in the blanks. After the meteor collision, Nomad was disoriented and wandered through space until coming into contact with Tan Ru, an alien probe whose mission was to collect and sterilize soil samples, presumably as a prelude to colonization. The two melded into this new Nomad, combining their technology and missions into one extremely powerful probe bent on sterilizing any imperfect lifeforms it encountered, using its own perceptions of perfection (i.e. itself) as a measuring stick. As such, it destroyed all life in the Malurian star system but because its original programming was damaged and corrupted in the merger, it erroneously equates Kirk with its creator, not realizing that the two are different people and its creator has been, in fact, dead for centuries.
While Kirk and Spock are gone, Nomad leaves the confined area and decides to improve the efficiency of engineering, taking the Enterprise eventually to warp 10 in the process. Kirk arrives and forces it to stop. Unfortunately, the mind meld and an unintentional admittance from Kirk confirms to Nomad that its creator is an imperfect biological entity, and with that knowledge, it leaves on Kirk's order to contemplate the new data with two security officers. They deduce it will not obey for long and eventually sterilize Earth.
Act Four
En route, Nomad instead escapes, killing the two guards, and goes to sickbay to scan Kirk's personnel file. McCoy finds Nurse Chapel has been attacked, and signals Kirk and Spock to come to sickbay. They realize Nomad is gathering the information they feared. Furthermore, Scott informs them from the bridge that Nomad has turned off all life support on the ship.
With little time left, Kirk comes to recognize Nomad's refabricated mission and takes a gamble to confront it again before it returns to Earth to "sterilize" the planet's population. Through a questioning to Nomad on its prime directive in engineering, Kirk confirms his suspicions that it must execute it with no exceptions, and then reveals that he indeed is not Nomad's creator. He explains that Nomad had mistaken himself for Roykirk who is long dead, the two men's names being similar, and as such Nomad has committed an error; furthermore, it has compounded that error with two more, specifically failing to realize its mistake and failing to immediately execute its prime directive as a result. This causes Nomad to lock up in an irreversible logic loop, its stubborn belief that it is perfect conflicting with the realization that it is in error. Capitalizing on the weakened Nomad, Spock and Kirk manage to get it to the transporter room with anti-gravs and have Scott beam it out into space just as it executes its prime function on itself. The explosion is detected near the Enterprise and Nomad is no more.
Later, on the bridge, Spock commends Kirk on his dazzling display of logic that allowed them to defeat Nomad. McCoy enters through the turbolift and reports that Uhura is now reading at a college level and should be able to return to duty within the week. Spock laments the loss of Nomad, noting that it was a "remarkable instrument." Kirk jokingly wonders what Spock is so upset about, given that the machine considered Kirk to be its "mother". "You saw what it did for Scott. What a doctor it would have made. My son, the doctor. Kind of gets you right here, doesn't it?" Kirk says while pointing to his heart.
Log entries
"Captain's log, stardate 3541.9. The presence of Nomad aboard my ship has become nightmarish. Now, it apparently means to return to Earth. Once there, it would automatically destroy all life."
Memorable quotes
"This is our point of origin, the star we know as Sol."
"You are from the third planet?"
"Yes."
"A planet with one large natural satellite?"
"Yes."
"The planet is called Earth?"
"Yes."
- Kirk and Nomad, on the location of the planet Earth in Sector 001
"This is one of your units, creator?"
"Yes, he is."
"It functions irrationally."
- Nomad and Kirk, on the "unit" McCoy
"Spock, Bones. Come with – us."
- Kirk, referring to Nomad
"That unit is a woman."
"A mass of conflicting impulses."
- Spock and Nomad, on the "unit" Uhura
"This unit is different. It is well-ordered."
- Nomad, on the "unit" Spock
"A man is not just a biological unit that you can patch together."
- McCoy, after Nomad heals Scott
"The ball is bl-u-ee. Bl-u-ey. Bluey?"
- Uhura, as she relearns English
"The creation of perfection is no error."
- Nomad, refuting Kirk's claim that its creation was an error
"You are the Creator."
"You're wrong! Jackson Roykirk, your creator, is dead! You have mistaken me for him, you are in error! You did not discover your mistake, you have made two errors. You are flawed and imperfect. And you have not corrected by sterilization, you have made three errors!"
- Nomad, sent into a logic feedback loop by Kirk
"My congratulations, captain. A dazzling display of logic."
"You didn't think I had it in me, did you, Spock?"
"No, sir."
- Spock and Kirk, on Nomad's induced self-destruction by Kirk
"It's not easy to lose a bright and promising son… my son – the doctor."
- Kirk, whose "son – the doctor" brought Scott back to life, about Nomad
Summary
The USS Enterprise is en route to the Malurian star system, investigating a distress call. Lieutenant Uhura has received no response to hails on any frequency, even after Captain Kirk reminds her of a Federation science team transmitter from Doctor Manway. However, Spock's sensor data contains tragic news: although there should be over four billion Malurians there are absolutely no readings of life anywhere in the system. As Kirk and Spock speculate about what could have caused the eradication of life in such a short time, a large bolt of energy comes out of nowhere. Kirk orders red alert, and the object violently impacts upon the Enterprise's shields.
Act One
The entire crew is hurled around, and when things stabilize, Kirk orders Uhura to inform Starfleet of the apparent disappearance and the attack. Spock reports that the shields will stand only three more such impacts, as they have been reduced by 20%. The Enterprise's shields continue to be battered by repeated attacks. Finally, after the shields are completely gone and a photon torpedo in response has been completely absorbed, Kirk orders Uhura to hail the very small object Spock has identified as the source of attack. The object stops its assault and tries to respond to the hail with an old-style binary code. The crew has some difficulty translating, but eventually succeeds. The object identifies itself as Nomad, and its mission as "non-hostile."
As it is only a fraction over one meter in length Kirk has it beamed aboard, if only to prevent it from firing on the ship again. It introduces itself and Kirk remembers the launch of a probe named Nomad in the early 2000s, and Spock says it was reported destroyed with no more in the series.
Later it is revealed that the object had stopped its assault when it heard Kirk's name, somehow believing that Kirk is its creator.
Act Two
"He's dead, Jim."
Nomad wastes no time investigating the ship, with only Kirk's orders preventing it from having free rein. Knowing how powerful it is, and that it stated it was programmed to destroy "biological infestation," Kirk orders two security guards to watch it at all times, but Nomad is able to evade them. Furthermore, it seems highly logically-minded and gets confused whenever it encounters something illogical; when it hears Uhura singing "Beyond Antares" on the bridge from the auxiliary control room, it leaves Lieutenant Singh, who was watching it, and goes to investigate.
Meanwhile, Kirk and Spock check the computer on Nomad's creation and launch. Originally, Nomad was built by Jackson Roykirk for a deep-space extraterrestrial contact mission early in the 21st century, in the year 2002, but was lost in a meteor shower, where it was presumed destroyed. Somehow, it got a directive to kill, and must have killed the Malurians.
Nomad arrives on the bridge to question Uhura, and it is unsatisfied with her explanation of the song's function and wipes her memory. Scott, seeing this, attempts to save Uhura from the probe, but is thrown clear of Nomad, landing near the viewscreen. Upon Dr. McCoy's examination of Scott, he declares him dead, to Kirk's shock.
Act Three
Just after Scott's death, Nomad announces to Kirk if he wishes to have the Enterprise's chief engineer "repaired". Kirk immediately replies in the affirmative, although McCoy tells him that Scott must be revived soon. Spock has detailed files on Human physiology brought up at his station, which Nomad scans. McCoy then leads Nomad to sickbay, where the probe instantly revives Scott, who is baffled as to why everyone is looking down at him on a bio-bed. Kirk also orders Nomad to help Uhura, but Nomad says it is not possible. McCoy and Nurse Chapel proceed to re-educate her using the computer.
This event proves disconcerting to Kirk, who then orders Nomad to be guarded and analyzed by Spock. After the analysis and a background check on Nomad in the ship's data banks, Spock gets enough details through a mind meld with the probe to fill in the blanks. After the meteor collision, Nomad was disoriented and wandered through space until coming into contact with Tan Ru, an alien probe whose mission was to collect and sterilize soil samples, presumably as a prelude to colonization. The two melded into this new Nomad, combining their technology and missions into one extremely powerful probe bent on sterilizing any imperfect lifeforms it encountered, using its own perceptions of perfection (i.e. itself) as a measuring stick. As such, it destroyed all life in the Malurian star system but because its original programming was damaged and corrupted in the merger, it erroneously equates Kirk with its creator, not realizing that the two are different people and its creator has been, in fact, dead for centuries.
While Kirk and Spock are gone, Nomad leaves the confined area and decides to improve the efficiency of engineering, taking the Enterprise eventually to warp 10 in the process. Kirk arrives and forces it to stop. Unfortunately, the mind meld and an unintentional admittance from Kirk confirms to Nomad that its creator is an imperfect biological entity, and with that knowledge, it leaves on Kirk's order to contemplate the new data with two security officers. They deduce it will not obey for long and eventually sterilize Earth.
Act Four
En route, Nomad instead escapes, killing the two guards, and goes to sickbay to scan Kirk's personnel file. McCoy finds Nurse Chapel has been attacked, and signals Kirk and Spock to come to sickbay. They realize Nomad is gathering the information they feared. Furthermore, Scott informs them from the bridge that Nomad has turned off all life support on the ship.
With little time left, Kirk comes to recognize Nomad's refabricated mission and takes a gamble to confront it again before it returns to Earth to "sterilize" the planet's population. Through a questioning to Nomad on its prime directive in engineering, Kirk confirms his suspicions that it must execute it with no exceptions, and then reveals that he indeed is not Nomad's creator. He explains that Nomad had mistaken himself for Roykirk who is long dead, the two men's names being similar, and as such Nomad has committed an error; furthermore, it has compounded that error with two more, specifically failing to realize its mistake and failing to immediately execute its prime directive as a result. This causes Nomad to lock up in an irreversible logic loop, its stubborn belief that it is perfect conflicting with the realization that it is in error. Capitalizing on the weakened Nomad, Spock and Kirk manage to get it to the transporter room with anti-gravs and have Scott beam it out into space just as it executes its prime function on itself. The explosion is detected near the Enterprise and Nomad is no more.
Later, on the bridge, Spock commends Kirk on his dazzling display of logic that allowed them to defeat Nomad. McCoy enters through the turbolift and reports that Uhura is now reading at a college level and should be able to return to duty within the week. Spock laments the loss of Nomad, noting that it was a "remarkable instrument." Kirk jokingly wonders what Spock is so upset about, given that the machine considered Kirk to be its "mother". "You saw what it did for Scott. What a doctor it would have made. My son, the doctor. Kind of gets you right here, doesn't it?" Kirk says while pointing to his heart.
Log entries
"Captain's log, stardate 3541.9. The presence of Nomad aboard my ship has become nightmarish. Now, it apparently means to return to Earth. Once there, it would automatically destroy all life."
Memorable quotes
"This is our point of origin, the star we know as Sol."
"You are from the third planet?"
"Yes."
"A planet with one large natural satellite?"
"Yes."
"The planet is called Earth?"
"Yes."
- Kirk and Nomad, on the location of the planet Earth in Sector 001
"This is one of your units, creator?"
"Yes, he is."
"It functions irrationally."
- Nomad and Kirk, on the "unit" McCoy
"Spock, Bones. Come with – us."
- Kirk, referring to Nomad
"That unit is a woman."
"A mass of conflicting impulses."
- Spock and Nomad, on the "unit" Uhura
"This unit is different. It is well-ordered."
- Nomad, on the "unit" Spock
"A man is not just a biological unit that you can patch together."
- McCoy, after Nomad heals Scott
"The ball is bl-u-ee. Bl-u-ey. Bluey?"
- Uhura, as she relearns English
"The creation of perfection is no error."
- Nomad, refuting Kirk's claim that its creation was an error
"You are the Creator."
"You're wrong! Jackson Roykirk, your creator, is dead! You have mistaken me for him, you are in error! You did not discover your mistake, you have made two errors. You are flawed and imperfect. And you have not corrected by sterilization, you have made three errors!"
- Nomad, sent into a logic feedback loop by Kirk
"My congratulations, captain. A dazzling display of logic."
"You didn't think I had it in me, did you, Spock?"
"No, sir."
- Spock and Kirk, on Nomad's induced self-destruction by Kirk
"It's not easy to lose a bright and promising son… my son – the doctor."
- Kirk, whose "son – the doctor" brought Scott back to life, about Nomad
