Post by magicmuggle01 on Apr 17, 2019 9:15:12 GMT
A transporter accident replaces the characters in Bashir's secret agent holosuite program with the physical forms of the station's senior staff.
Summary
Bashir pops the cork
A glass screen shatters as a man with a patch over one eye is hurled backwards through it. On the other side of the screen, Doctor Bashir stands casually, dressed in a tuxedo, and walks back toward his female companion, Caprice. She smiles as she hands him a bottle of champagne, but she has a troubled look on her face.
Bashir looks at the bottle and sees the reflection of the other man, who is attempting to sneak up on him. With nothing else to use for a weapon, Bashir turns around quickly and uncorks the bottle, using the cork as a projectile to render the other man unconscious. He turns to Caprice and the two embrace, but they are interrupted by clapping from elsewhere in the room.
It is Elim Garak, who has broken into the holosuite because he is curious to know what Bashir is doing. Garak notes that Bashir has been visiting the holosuite repeatedly ever since he received his new holo-program and yet the doctor has not told anyone what the program is. Despite Bashir's protests, Garak uses his usual charm and tactfulness to convince the doctor to allow him to stay and observe. However, he notes that Bashir's companion has just left. The doctor is obviously not amused, but Garak assures him they will have a wonderful time together. Garak then tells Bashir "After all, what could possibly go wrong?"
Act One
As Garak and Bashir enter the doctor's fictional apartment in Hong Kong, Garak takes in the decor of 1964 Earth before they are joined by Bashir's valet, Mona Luvsitt. She reveals that behind one of Bashir's walls is an assortment of firearms; between this and the lavish surroundings, Garak surmises that Bashir is playing some kind of rich playboy. On the contrary, Bashir says, he is a spy: a top-class secret agent whose clothing, equipment, lodgings, and adoring female companions are all provided to him by a grateful government. Garak remarks wryly that he (who really has been a spy) must have joined the wrong intelligence service.
Meanwhile, Sisko, Kira, Worf, Dax, and Miles O'Brien return from a conference only to discover their runabout has been sabotaged. The USS Orinoco is about to explode, so Eddington beams them out. Unfortunately, the explosion comes during the transport, and as the crew materialize a bright flash forces station crew to avert their eyes. Only smoke remains, and Eddington is stunned.
Act Two
Eddington rushes down to evaluate the next move, and Odo arrives to understand what's going on. The primary energizing coils were overloaded, but the crew members' patterns are still stuck in the transporter buffer. Given the immense amount of space required to store neural information and the fact that the buffer will soon lose coherence and the signatures with it, Eddington orders the computer to wipe all memory necessary in order to save the patterns; consequently, all power on the station goes out while the crew members are somewhere on the station, but he and Odo have no idea where they are.
At the same time, in the holosuite (which is still active despite the power loss), Mona dresses Garak in appropriate attire for the 1960s. But shortly thereafter, the bar in Bashir's apartment turns itself 180 degrees to reveal a bed with a scantily-clad Major Kira on it. Bashir thinks Kira and Garak have conspired to ridicule him, but Garak is just as surprised as he is. Speaking with a thick Russian accent, Kira identifies herself as Colonel Anastasia Komananov, and soon Bashir and Garak realize the image of Komananov, a character from Bashir's holonovel, has been replaced with one of Kira. However, the computer claims the parameters for the character are normal and refuses to pause the program. Bashir contacts Ops to find out what has happened, but as Eddington explains about the transporter accident, Odo recognizes Kira's voice and realizes the images of the missing crew members must have been stored in the holosuite's memory. Odo and Eddington warn him not to stop the holo-program or call up the exit, as it might result in the loss of the images – and thus the crew.
O'Brien as Falcon
Komananov explains the mission she and Bashir are supposed to be working on; a number of unusual earthquakes have occurred of late, and the government has concluded that the quakes are artificial. When Garak begins to explain that it is not difficult to manufacture such a quake, Bashir silences him, given the period they are supposed to be in. The assignment is to find out who is causing the quakes, and the only clue is the recent kidnapping of someone named Professor Honey Bare. When Komananov shows Bashir a picture of the professor, it is in fact Dax. Bashir communicates to Garak that they need to ensure that Honey Bare stays alive as if she dies, the computer will remove her from the program and unintentionally erase Dax's pattern. Komananov is about to explain further when the door opens to reveal Mona, who collapses with a knife in her back. She is followed by O'Brien – who is now Falcon, the man with the patch whom Bashir knocked out previously – and two other armed men.
Act Three
Komananov asks Falcon for one last kiss with Bashir, and Falcon accepts. As they kiss, she tells Bashir to remove her earring; it's a bomb. He does so, and the bomb knocks out Falcon. Garak, Bashir and Komananov proceed to knock out Falcon's henchmen. Komananov nearly kills O'Brien, but Bashir stops her. This makes Komananov question his motives, as Falcon has been trying to kill Bashir for nine years. Bashir notices that Garak's mouth is bleeding after the fight, and they realize that the safety mechanisms on the holosuite have been disabled, and that in addition to keeping the five crewmembers' patterns alive in the story, Garak and Bashir must take care to protect their own lives as well. Komananov then proceeds with the mission. She reveals that Hippocrates Noah has been kidnapping the world's best minds for the past six months, and that he had met each one at a club in Paris. Komananov, Bashir and Garak set out to visit the club.
Meanwhile, Odo and Eddington go to the holosuite with Quark and Rom to determine the nature of the crew's integration. Rom has made significant modifications, but Eddington is able to confirm the crew's physical patterns. However, their neural energy cannot be stored there. Quark supposes multiple other systems on the station have been used to do that, as it requires an immense amount of energy.
In the Club, the trio first find Duchamps, who has a striking similarity to Worf. Bashir claims that he is one of the world's leading geologists, and inquires about Dr. Noah and the scientists. Duchamps says that he can arrange a meeting, but only for 5,000,000 francs. Bashir requests a game of cards to win the money from him. Meanwhile, Odo, in Ops reveals that a Cardassian separatist group is responsible for the destruction of the Orinoco. Eddington announces that the neural patterns of all five officers were stored in the rest of the computer memory. They decide to use the Defiant to reassemble the neural and physical patterns of the five victims, though Rom says he needs to modify the system to interface with the ship. Meanwhile, Bashir has won the money in a game of baccarat, and asks to meet with Dr. Noah. Duchamps knocks the trio out with a puff of toxic cigar smoke. When they awaken, a man is ready for them. He introduces himself as Hippocrates Noah, but looks exactly like Benjamin Sisko.
Act Four
Bashir then notices that the room they are in is atop Mt. Everest. Dr. Noah decides to test Bashir's geological knowledge by showing him one of his artifacts. When Bashir identifies the various stones, Noah then announces his plan, while also revealing a hidden control panel and Professor Bare, with Dax's appearance. He reveals he has placed massive underground lasers in strategic positions, and that he plans to activate them all at once, shrinking the earth, killing all of its inhabitants, and forcing the oceans to cover the entire globe, except the highest point on earth, his complex on Mt. Everest. He then announces that Bashir won't be joining him, and calls for Falcon, who has just been employed by him.
On the Defiant, Rom has successfully managed to complete the modifications to allow the holosuite to interface with the Defiant transporters, but it will take another hour.
Falcon straps Bashir and Garak to one of the giant lasers, but says that Komananov will be used as breeding stock for the second Human race. Dr. Noah activates the countdown sequence and leaves.
Act Five
Once he is gone, Garak almost ends the program, but Bashir stops him. Finally, Honey Bare shows up, and Bashir charms her into coming close enough to steal the key to their restraints, freeing himself and Garak.
Bashir says they have to get back to the control room: according to the program's storyline, one of the two female leads – Anastasia/Kira or Honey/Jadzia – is supposed to end up with the hero, while the other one dies. They have to prevent that from happening to either of them. Garak objects, saying that the odds are against them and it is time to quit. Bashir is appalled, and a heated argument ensues: Garak says that if Bashir was a real spy, and not an overgrown child play-acting at one, he'd understand that there are times when it's better to save oneself than risk one's life against impossible odds. Garak starts to address the computer, but Bashir aims his backup gun at him, reminding him that if he calls for the exit, he may stop the program and kill Sisko and the others. Garak tells Bashir to face reality: he is not a hero, he only likes to pretend to be one, which is why he doesn't have the guts to pull the trigger. Garak starts to call for the exit again – and Bashir pulls the trigger.
Garak goes down with a flesh wound in his neck. Taken aback, he says that Bashir came awfully close to killing him. Bashir coolly asks him, "what makes you think I wasn't trying?" Impressed, Garak voices no further objections as Bashir leads him back to the control room.
Bashir and Garak hold Noah and his henchmen at gunpoint, until Duchamps arrives and disarms them. However, Julian receives a com signal from Eddington: he is going to try rematerializing the patterns in about two minutes. After hearing the signal, Noah decides to kill Bashir. However, Bashir pretends to surrender, believing that Noah has the right idea after all. Noah does not believe a word of it, but Bashir gives a lengthy speech, imitating the conversation that he and Garak had earlier. Noah is still not convinced, so Bashir then does the unthinkable – he activates Noah's machine, destroying all life on the (holographic) Earth. Noah is stunned and unsure what to do next – the program obviously didn't have a script that allowed his plan to actually succeed. Deciding, just to relieve his uncertainty, that he will kill Bashir anyway, he starts to aim his gun... when Rom activates the transporter and rematerializes Sisko, Kira, O'Brien, Worf and Dax. O'Brien is appalled at Rom's modifications to the Defiant, not knowing that they saved his life.
Back in the holosuite, Garak congratulates Bashir on his ingenious "solution" – saving the day by destroying the world. The Cardassian has gained a new respect for his Human friend, and proposes that they meet again inside the program for their next lunch meeting.
Memorable quotes
"A lot of kick for a '45 Dom."
- Bashir, after he shoots Falcon with the cork from the champagne bottle
"Thank you, Mr...Mr..."
"Bashir. Julian Bashir."
- Caprice and Bashir
"If I were in your shoes, I'd grab a bottle of champagne and shoot me!"
- Garak
"We're going to have a wonderful time, Doctor; after all, what could possibly go wrong?"
- Garak
"I work for one of the nation-states of this era, Great Britain, which is battling various other nations in what is called the Cold War. This apartment, my clothes, weapons, even my valet were provided to me by my government."
"I think I joined the wrong intelligence service."
-Bashir and Garak
"Where's the core memory interface?"
"Oh. It's right behind the spatula."
"The spatula?"
"It's made of a copper-ytterbium composite... the perfect plasma conductor!"
- Michael Eddington and Rom, while inspecting Quark's jury-rigged holosuite computers
"We are building a new future here, a new beginning for mankind. A new chapter in Human history will open... right here, on my island."
"Island?"
"Forgive me. Sometimes I do get ahead of myself. Allow me to explain."
- Hippocrates Noah and Julian Bashir, on a slope of Mount Everest
"Kiss the girl, get the key. They never taught me that in the Obsidian Order."
- Garak
"I am afraid I don't believe you'll pull that trigger."
"I wouldn't be so sure about that."
"It's time to face reality, Doctor. You're a man who dreams of being a hero because you know, deep down, that you're not. I'm no hero either, but I do know how to make a choice, and I'm choosing to save myself."
- Garak and Bashir as Bashir threatens to shoot Garak if he tries to exit the holosuite
"You'll be fine. It's just a flesh wound."
"That was awfully close. What if you'd killed me?"
"What makes you think I wasn't trying?"
"Doctor, I do believe there's hope for you yet."
- Bashir and Garak, after Bashir shoots Garak
"It's working just as you planned! You've done it, doctor."
"Yes. But somehow, I didn't expect to win."
- Falcon and Hippocrates Noah; after Bashir destroys the world
"Interesting, you saved the day by destroying the world."
"I bet they didn't teach you that in the Obsidian Order."
- Garak and Bashir
"There comes a time when a house has been so damaged by termites that you must not only kill the termites, but demolish the house and build again!"
- Hippocrates Noah, explaining his reasons for destroying the world
Summary
Bashir pops the cork
A glass screen shatters as a man with a patch over one eye is hurled backwards through it. On the other side of the screen, Doctor Bashir stands casually, dressed in a tuxedo, and walks back toward his female companion, Caprice. She smiles as she hands him a bottle of champagne, but she has a troubled look on her face.
Bashir looks at the bottle and sees the reflection of the other man, who is attempting to sneak up on him. With nothing else to use for a weapon, Bashir turns around quickly and uncorks the bottle, using the cork as a projectile to render the other man unconscious. He turns to Caprice and the two embrace, but they are interrupted by clapping from elsewhere in the room.
It is Elim Garak, who has broken into the holosuite because he is curious to know what Bashir is doing. Garak notes that Bashir has been visiting the holosuite repeatedly ever since he received his new holo-program and yet the doctor has not told anyone what the program is. Despite Bashir's protests, Garak uses his usual charm and tactfulness to convince the doctor to allow him to stay and observe. However, he notes that Bashir's companion has just left. The doctor is obviously not amused, but Garak assures him they will have a wonderful time together. Garak then tells Bashir "After all, what could possibly go wrong?"
Act One
As Garak and Bashir enter the doctor's fictional apartment in Hong Kong, Garak takes in the decor of 1964 Earth before they are joined by Bashir's valet, Mona Luvsitt. She reveals that behind one of Bashir's walls is an assortment of firearms; between this and the lavish surroundings, Garak surmises that Bashir is playing some kind of rich playboy. On the contrary, Bashir says, he is a spy: a top-class secret agent whose clothing, equipment, lodgings, and adoring female companions are all provided to him by a grateful government. Garak remarks wryly that he (who really has been a spy) must have joined the wrong intelligence service.
Meanwhile, Sisko, Kira, Worf, Dax, and Miles O'Brien return from a conference only to discover their runabout has been sabotaged. The USS Orinoco is about to explode, so Eddington beams them out. Unfortunately, the explosion comes during the transport, and as the crew materialize a bright flash forces station crew to avert their eyes. Only smoke remains, and Eddington is stunned.
Act Two
Eddington rushes down to evaluate the next move, and Odo arrives to understand what's going on. The primary energizing coils were overloaded, but the crew members' patterns are still stuck in the transporter buffer. Given the immense amount of space required to store neural information and the fact that the buffer will soon lose coherence and the signatures with it, Eddington orders the computer to wipe all memory necessary in order to save the patterns; consequently, all power on the station goes out while the crew members are somewhere on the station, but he and Odo have no idea where they are.
At the same time, in the holosuite (which is still active despite the power loss), Mona dresses Garak in appropriate attire for the 1960s. But shortly thereafter, the bar in Bashir's apartment turns itself 180 degrees to reveal a bed with a scantily-clad Major Kira on it. Bashir thinks Kira and Garak have conspired to ridicule him, but Garak is just as surprised as he is. Speaking with a thick Russian accent, Kira identifies herself as Colonel Anastasia Komananov, and soon Bashir and Garak realize the image of Komananov, a character from Bashir's holonovel, has been replaced with one of Kira. However, the computer claims the parameters for the character are normal and refuses to pause the program. Bashir contacts Ops to find out what has happened, but as Eddington explains about the transporter accident, Odo recognizes Kira's voice and realizes the images of the missing crew members must have been stored in the holosuite's memory. Odo and Eddington warn him not to stop the holo-program or call up the exit, as it might result in the loss of the images – and thus the crew.
O'Brien as Falcon
Komananov explains the mission she and Bashir are supposed to be working on; a number of unusual earthquakes have occurred of late, and the government has concluded that the quakes are artificial. When Garak begins to explain that it is not difficult to manufacture such a quake, Bashir silences him, given the period they are supposed to be in. The assignment is to find out who is causing the quakes, and the only clue is the recent kidnapping of someone named Professor Honey Bare. When Komananov shows Bashir a picture of the professor, it is in fact Dax. Bashir communicates to Garak that they need to ensure that Honey Bare stays alive as if she dies, the computer will remove her from the program and unintentionally erase Dax's pattern. Komananov is about to explain further when the door opens to reveal Mona, who collapses with a knife in her back. She is followed by O'Brien – who is now Falcon, the man with the patch whom Bashir knocked out previously – and two other armed men.
Act Three
Komananov asks Falcon for one last kiss with Bashir, and Falcon accepts. As they kiss, she tells Bashir to remove her earring; it's a bomb. He does so, and the bomb knocks out Falcon. Garak, Bashir and Komananov proceed to knock out Falcon's henchmen. Komananov nearly kills O'Brien, but Bashir stops her. This makes Komananov question his motives, as Falcon has been trying to kill Bashir for nine years. Bashir notices that Garak's mouth is bleeding after the fight, and they realize that the safety mechanisms on the holosuite have been disabled, and that in addition to keeping the five crewmembers' patterns alive in the story, Garak and Bashir must take care to protect their own lives as well. Komananov then proceeds with the mission. She reveals that Hippocrates Noah has been kidnapping the world's best minds for the past six months, and that he had met each one at a club in Paris. Komananov, Bashir and Garak set out to visit the club.
Meanwhile, Odo and Eddington go to the holosuite with Quark and Rom to determine the nature of the crew's integration. Rom has made significant modifications, but Eddington is able to confirm the crew's physical patterns. However, their neural energy cannot be stored there. Quark supposes multiple other systems on the station have been used to do that, as it requires an immense amount of energy.
In the Club, the trio first find Duchamps, who has a striking similarity to Worf. Bashir claims that he is one of the world's leading geologists, and inquires about Dr. Noah and the scientists. Duchamps says that he can arrange a meeting, but only for 5,000,000 francs. Bashir requests a game of cards to win the money from him. Meanwhile, Odo, in Ops reveals that a Cardassian separatist group is responsible for the destruction of the Orinoco. Eddington announces that the neural patterns of all five officers were stored in the rest of the computer memory. They decide to use the Defiant to reassemble the neural and physical patterns of the five victims, though Rom says he needs to modify the system to interface with the ship. Meanwhile, Bashir has won the money in a game of baccarat, and asks to meet with Dr. Noah. Duchamps knocks the trio out with a puff of toxic cigar smoke. When they awaken, a man is ready for them. He introduces himself as Hippocrates Noah, but looks exactly like Benjamin Sisko.
Act Four
Bashir then notices that the room they are in is atop Mt. Everest. Dr. Noah decides to test Bashir's geological knowledge by showing him one of his artifacts. When Bashir identifies the various stones, Noah then announces his plan, while also revealing a hidden control panel and Professor Bare, with Dax's appearance. He reveals he has placed massive underground lasers in strategic positions, and that he plans to activate them all at once, shrinking the earth, killing all of its inhabitants, and forcing the oceans to cover the entire globe, except the highest point on earth, his complex on Mt. Everest. He then announces that Bashir won't be joining him, and calls for Falcon, who has just been employed by him.
On the Defiant, Rom has successfully managed to complete the modifications to allow the holosuite to interface with the Defiant transporters, but it will take another hour.
Falcon straps Bashir and Garak to one of the giant lasers, but says that Komananov will be used as breeding stock for the second Human race. Dr. Noah activates the countdown sequence and leaves.
Act Five
Once he is gone, Garak almost ends the program, but Bashir stops him. Finally, Honey Bare shows up, and Bashir charms her into coming close enough to steal the key to their restraints, freeing himself and Garak.
Bashir says they have to get back to the control room: according to the program's storyline, one of the two female leads – Anastasia/Kira or Honey/Jadzia – is supposed to end up with the hero, while the other one dies. They have to prevent that from happening to either of them. Garak objects, saying that the odds are against them and it is time to quit. Bashir is appalled, and a heated argument ensues: Garak says that if Bashir was a real spy, and not an overgrown child play-acting at one, he'd understand that there are times when it's better to save oneself than risk one's life against impossible odds. Garak starts to address the computer, but Bashir aims his backup gun at him, reminding him that if he calls for the exit, he may stop the program and kill Sisko and the others. Garak tells Bashir to face reality: he is not a hero, he only likes to pretend to be one, which is why he doesn't have the guts to pull the trigger. Garak starts to call for the exit again – and Bashir pulls the trigger.
Garak goes down with a flesh wound in his neck. Taken aback, he says that Bashir came awfully close to killing him. Bashir coolly asks him, "what makes you think I wasn't trying?" Impressed, Garak voices no further objections as Bashir leads him back to the control room.
Bashir and Garak hold Noah and his henchmen at gunpoint, until Duchamps arrives and disarms them. However, Julian receives a com signal from Eddington: he is going to try rematerializing the patterns in about two minutes. After hearing the signal, Noah decides to kill Bashir. However, Bashir pretends to surrender, believing that Noah has the right idea after all. Noah does not believe a word of it, but Bashir gives a lengthy speech, imitating the conversation that he and Garak had earlier. Noah is still not convinced, so Bashir then does the unthinkable – he activates Noah's machine, destroying all life on the (holographic) Earth. Noah is stunned and unsure what to do next – the program obviously didn't have a script that allowed his plan to actually succeed. Deciding, just to relieve his uncertainty, that he will kill Bashir anyway, he starts to aim his gun... when Rom activates the transporter and rematerializes Sisko, Kira, O'Brien, Worf and Dax. O'Brien is appalled at Rom's modifications to the Defiant, not knowing that they saved his life.
Back in the holosuite, Garak congratulates Bashir on his ingenious "solution" – saving the day by destroying the world. The Cardassian has gained a new respect for his Human friend, and proposes that they meet again inside the program for their next lunch meeting.
Memorable quotes
"A lot of kick for a '45 Dom."
- Bashir, after he shoots Falcon with the cork from the champagne bottle
"Thank you, Mr...Mr..."
"Bashir. Julian Bashir."
- Caprice and Bashir
"If I were in your shoes, I'd grab a bottle of champagne and shoot me!"
- Garak
"We're going to have a wonderful time, Doctor; after all, what could possibly go wrong?"
- Garak
"I work for one of the nation-states of this era, Great Britain, which is battling various other nations in what is called the Cold War. This apartment, my clothes, weapons, even my valet were provided to me by my government."
"I think I joined the wrong intelligence service."
-Bashir and Garak
"Where's the core memory interface?"
"Oh. It's right behind the spatula."
"The spatula?"
"It's made of a copper-ytterbium composite... the perfect plasma conductor!"
- Michael Eddington and Rom, while inspecting Quark's jury-rigged holosuite computers
"We are building a new future here, a new beginning for mankind. A new chapter in Human history will open... right here, on my island."
"Island?"
"Forgive me. Sometimes I do get ahead of myself. Allow me to explain."
- Hippocrates Noah and Julian Bashir, on a slope of Mount Everest
"Kiss the girl, get the key. They never taught me that in the Obsidian Order."
- Garak
"I am afraid I don't believe you'll pull that trigger."
"I wouldn't be so sure about that."
"It's time to face reality, Doctor. You're a man who dreams of being a hero because you know, deep down, that you're not. I'm no hero either, but I do know how to make a choice, and I'm choosing to save myself."
- Garak and Bashir as Bashir threatens to shoot Garak if he tries to exit the holosuite
"You'll be fine. It's just a flesh wound."
"That was awfully close. What if you'd killed me?"
"What makes you think I wasn't trying?"
"Doctor, I do believe there's hope for you yet."
- Bashir and Garak, after Bashir shoots Garak
"It's working just as you planned! You've done it, doctor."
"Yes. But somehow, I didn't expect to win."
- Falcon and Hippocrates Noah; after Bashir destroys the world
"Interesting, you saved the day by destroying the world."
"I bet they didn't teach you that in the Obsidian Order."
- Garak and Bashir
"There comes a time when a house has been so damaged by termites that you must not only kill the termites, but demolish the house and build again!"
- Hippocrates Noah, explaining his reasons for destroying the world
