Star Trek: Picard (2020) s01e06 Episode Script

Previously on "Star Trek: Picard" Why do you need me? Because I'm an old man and you're a young one, and you're strong.
Will you bind your sword to my quest? I'm putting my life back together.
That's why I came all the way out here for you.
I don't think you understand just how much it sucked to be your kid.
Hey, baby, um, this is my mother, Raffaela.
She's just passing by.
Bruce, I have to know: does she have a sister? Yes.
Soji.
She's on the Artifact.
Not the captured Borg cube? Are you Tal Shiar? - No.
- If you were Tal Shiar, would you also answer no? Yes.
If I press her too hard, it might activate her, and then they'll both be dead.
That is the goal, you know.
- To kill them.
- Yes, all of them.
Which is something I can't do until we find out where she came from and where the rest of them are.
Daddy? Soji! You all right? Yeah.
Sorry.
Weird dream.
I-I keep having it.
Well, it sounded like a nightmare.
Want to tell me about it? Why? Because you care? Or because you're endlessly fascinated with the way my mind works? Do I have to choose? I want to know every little thing about you.
Even though you think I'm an imposter.
I never said that.
I do think you're full of secrets.
Hmm.
And Romulans love secrets.
You think everyone's hiding something.
Everyone is hiding something.
Whether they know it or not.
What are you hiding? Other than your job description.
Mm.
Your true name? My what? Romulans have a name for outsiders and a name for family, but your true name you save for the one you give your heart to.
You really do know a lot about us.
Your dream, was it a random creation of the brain or based on actual memory? Not really sure.
Perhaps your mother would have some insight.
Don't you talk to her every night? How do you know that? I hear things.
Narek.
Narek.
That's not my name.
The trauma Bruce sustained on Freecloud was significant.
Massive wounds to the head and chest gave way to internal bleeding.
The meds were enough to keep him stable, but his his heart just couldn't take it.
This is hard for you.
Harder than I could have imagined.
You said, um Bruce told you the other one's on the Artifact? Uh, yes.
He called her Soji.
What artifact? Maybe that's none of my business.
I should out-butt.
Oh, not at all, Elnor.
The Artifact is an abandoned Borg cube.
Borg? Like Seven of Nine? Uh, no.
Not like her at all.
Bruce said that he created Dahj and Soji to find out the truth behind the ban.
Why send her there? How do you even know she's still alive? We don't.
Which is why we have to get there as quickly as possible.
But you're not looking forward to it.
Looking forward to it? No.
No.
Not at all.
My last visit to a Borg cube was not voluntary.
They called you Locutus of Borg.
Injected you with nanoprobes.
Grafted you with synthetic parts.
Assimilated your mind with theirs.
Forgive me, the-the Borg are mandatory reading in my line of work.
It must have been awful.
But this cube is cut off from the rest of the collective.
They're outcasts.
Stranded.
And under Romulan control.
Maybe they've changed.
Changed? The Borg? They coolly assimilate entire civilizations, entire systems, in a matter of hours.
They don't change! They metastasize.
I'm sorry.
No need to apologize.
Excuse me.
He can't see you're also haunted by something you'd like to forget.
Was I in-butting? That time, yes.
Computer.
Search for the following keywords: the Artifact, treaty the Borg.
Hugh.
Sorry.
Did I wake you? Can't sleep? Why do you like it out here? In space? It's cold and empty and it wants to kill you.
How 'bout a drink? You and Maddox were pretty close, huh? You know, if you want to talk about it or tell me anything, I'm here.
I've never slept with the captain of anything before.
Well I-I recommend it.
What's wrong? I have a superpower.
I can sense mistakes while I'm making them.
That's not much of a superpower.
It's useless.
Sorry.
Hey.
It's okay.
Tell me what you're feeling.
Hollow.
Hopeless.
Lonely.
Afraid.
Is that gonna help at all? Maybe for a few hours anyway.
That's mine.
Give it back.
You'll break it.
I never understood your fascination with this toy.
It's not a toy.
It's a tool.
It helps me think.
The only thing it ever made me think of was smashing it open with a hammer to get the prize inside.
Oh, sister.
I'm making progress.
Are you? It's admirably well-concealed.
She dreams, a recurring dream.
She dreams? That's your progress? Why did he program her to dream? What function does it serve? And what does she dream of? The two of you growing old together? Making freakish little android babies? Do you dream of her, too? You are in love with her.
With it.
A program.
A machine.
Enough, Narek.
I'm taking control of this operation as of now.
Every piece of synthetic design serves a purpose.
Why give her dreams? Why give her nightmares? It's a malfunction, a bug.
It's exactly the opposite.
I'm listening.
Her neural pathways are auto-heuristic, always seeking and forming more efficient connections.
Every day, that capability must bump against clear evidence that she is not, as she believes, a human being.
That cognitive dissonance must go somewhere.
You're saying the robot girl has an unconscious? Yes.
And when she dreams, she's reconciling the two views of herself human and synthetic.
Bits of truth are trying to find their way to the surface.
It's not a malfunction.
It's a vulnerability.
If I can get her to tell me about her dreams, I can access her underlying engrams without triggering her self-defense subroutines.
The information is all in there.
She knows far more than she thinks she knows.
Including the location of their home world.
So now? Keep sharing her bed? Endlessly fidgeting with her until she pops open like that stupid box? The key to opening the tan zhekran is taking the time to understand what's keeping it closed.
Listen.
Feel.
Move each piece ever so slightly, and then, once you're sure Am I supposed to be impressed? Hmm.
Patience sister.
A quality you never had.
In a few hours, we'll be crossing out of the old neutral zone and into Romulan space, which puts us in breach of galactic treaty, but I'm fine with that, because I know that you have a plan for how to access a restricted Romulan research facility on a Borg cube crawling with Tal Shiar, without authorization.
Also, - without dying.
- I have been giving it some thought, and I believe that I was thinking we could pose as scientists.
Given my qualifications It won't work.
If the Romulans don't recognize me the moment that I set foot off this ship, the Borg will.
The collective do not forget one of their own.
The only safe way to access the cube is the Qowat Milat way, by being perfectly open.
That is the Qowat Milat way.
The obvious tension between you makes me uneasy.
There is an organization on the Artifact called "the Borg Reclamation Project".
It maintains its independence by treaty.
If I can get Federation diplomatic credentials as an envoy to the project, then the Romulans will be forced to let me meet with the director, or risk an incident with the Federation.
What if the director doesn't want to meet with you? I know him, and I think he will.
Remind me why the Federation would do this for you.
They are not doing it for me.
Okay, okay.
All right, just back off.
Back off.
Everybody just give me some space.
You want me to sweet-talk the Federation This is a bad idea.
then stand back and keep your mouths shut.
All right.
Computer.
Requesting subspace relay through Commnet 4, using my cr crypt cryptonym, to the following.
Commander Raffaela Musicker.
Emmy.
I knew I should've screened that call.
Oh, come on.
You can't get rid of me.
I know where all your bodies are buried.
Ancient history.
- What do you need? - Uh, ow.
What? So I only call you when I need something? Or when you're lit and feeling sentimental.
Well, listen, babe, I need some diplomatic credentials.
Not for me.
For Jean-Luc Picard.
Picard? You're working with him again? - Mm-hmm.
- Where is he going? - To the Artifact.
- Ha, ha.
Seriously, where is he going? No, they have this, uh, Borg Reclamation Project going.
I guess JL needs to meet with the director.
It's kind of a little personal mission he's on.
I wish I could help, Raffi, but this is one that I just can't do.
Access is for scientific research only.
Whole Romulan angle makes it a very dicey proposition.
The Romulans are in a 250-year bad mood.
It it would mean a lot to the admiral.
Like I said, I wish I could help.
Uh-huh.
No, no, I Hey, I understand.
It's-it's just, it might be a little awkward when we show up there in about three hours from now.
What?! - Sending my location.
- W-Wait.
Raffi! Who authorized you to even be out there? I mean, you know Picard.
Every part of that guy that's not ego is rampaging id.
Okay, you listen to me very carefully.
You turn around immediately.
Do not proceed.
It's too late.
If you go out there without permission, - it's technically an act of war.
- I know! I know.
And even if you guys deny involvement, the Romulans are never gonna buy it, right? I mean, Picard's so Federation, his face is still probably on the damn brochures.
Which is why I'm giving you this heads-up.
Look, we do this proper.
Diplomatic mission.
Official letter of credence.
I don't want to end up on the wrong side of a disruptor cannon, Emmy.
Hey, I mean, I'm still planning on drinking myself to death.
24 hours.
In and out.
And, Raffi, I'm saying this as an old friend never call me again.
Whoa, whoa, whoa.
I had the dream again last night.
I meant to ask my mom about it, but Yes? I fell asleep while I was talking to her.
Does that happen often? You fall asleep when you're talking to her? No.
Maybe.
I don't know.
What's wrong? Nothing.
Narek, what is it? On any Romulan facility, all incoming and outgoing transmissions are routinely monitored.
Now, obviously the concern here is to keep the Borg technology secure, but any kind of anomaly is automatically flagged.
Anomaly? What do you mean? I'm told that each call to your mother lasts for 70 seconds.
Every call, every day.
70 seconds exactly.
That's impossible.
I can show you the logs.
How long you known me, Chris? A while now.
I have a son.
Did you know that? Know a person for years and never meet their kid.
What does that say? He's grown.
Married.
About to have a kid of his own.
A little girl.
Nobody I'll ever know.
No one gets all of it right, Raf.
Hi.
Mom? Honey? Are you okay? What time is it there? Shouldn't you be at work? Mom, I-I never got to talk to you about that dream that I had last night.
Is Dad there? He's in his lab, but he asked not to be disturbed.
Mom Mom, I think I think there's something wrong with me.
There is.
You're working too hard.
If you don't need to be at work right away, why not lie down? No, Mom why not lie down? There is.
Mom.
If you don't have to be at work right away, why not lie down? "Per your urgent request, "Admiral Jean-Luc Picard is hereby granted "temporary credentials as the Federation's special envoy "to the Borg Reclamation Project.
"For a purpose consisting of and limited to meeting "with the project's executive director.
"The credentials are valid for Admiral Picard, and and shall not be renewed".
We have to stay on the ship.
I assume so.
You look disappointed.
No.
Relieved.
Hmm.
We haven't been cleared to land.
The Romulans have restricted you to specific beam-in coordinates.
Of course I'll come with you.
You heard.
- Me only.
- The pledge I made to you is stronger than some diplomatic credential.
You think I relish going alone? It's either alone or not at all.
I already hate this place.
Rios, I will keep communications open.
And no matter what, you do not leave this ship.
Is that clear? Probable age: 37 months.
What? No, no, no.
Probable age: 37 months.
Probable age: thirty Probable age: 37 months.
Probable age: 37 months.
37 months.
Probable age: 37 months.
Probable age: 37 months.
Hello? Let go! Let go of me! - No! - They don't want you to fall.
Hugh? I didn't believe it until now.
Welcome to the Borg Reclamation Project.
I don't know what you're doing here, - but I'll help you any way I can.
- Oh, I'll take a friendly face.
Coming back is hard.
I know.
This is the last place any of us would ever want to see again.
How can you stand it? Why would you choose to live here? Project needed a director.
At least as a citizen of the Federation, I can leave at any time.
Unlike all the other xBs on this cube.
xBs? Former Borg.
It's what we call ourselves.
Ah.
A new name can be the first step to a new identity.
I learned that on the Enterprise all those years ago.
This is not a Borg cube anymore.
It's the Artifact.
And you are Jean-Luc Picard, not Locutus.
All that is long behind you.
Thank you, Hugh.
You're right.
It was a very long time ago.
Tell me how I can help.
I-I'm looking for someone.
Um, appearance, human from Earth.
She may be engaged in some research here.
- H-Her name is Soji - Dr.
Soji Asha.
Yes.
I take it she's in serious danger.
What Wh-Why would you ask that? A hunch.
Something about her.
Something about you coming this far to this place.
And something about the dashing young Romulan spy who showed up two weeks ago, pretending not to be asking questions about her.
Can you take me to her now? Everything I own, Narek.
Nothing is older than three years.
None of it.
Photos.
Journal entries.
How do you explain this? I can't.
Somehow, everything in my life has just been fabricated.
I mean, my calls home.
My My mother, Narek.
How can my How can my mother not be Have you considered the possibility that someone may have implanted false memories in you? It's not unheard of.
I know it sounds mad, but say someone hoped to use you to obtain or find something for them here on the cube.
Altered your memories to conceal their purpose, even from you.
To find something? Narek, I'm scared.
I know.
I know.
I know.
I know.
And we are going to get to the bottom of this.
Together.
I may know a way to help you understand what is happening.
It's a traditional Romulan practice.
A form of meditation.
The Zhal Makh? I've-I've read about it.
I thought it was taboo to non-Romulans.
It is.
That's all the more reason we should try it.
Come on.
- What is this place? - Where our patients come to recover after the trauma of the reclamation procedure.
I would never have believed that assimilation could be undone on this scale.
And by Romulans, no less.
The outcomes are far from ideal.
What you're doing is good, Hugh.
There's no need for it to be perfect.
After all these years, you're showing what the Borg are, underneath.
They're victims.
Not monsters.
Still, we remain the most hated people in the galaxy.
Just as helpless and enslaved as before.
Only now our queen is a Romulan.
Thank you for showing me this.
No one could understand it better than you.
And a Picard who might advocate for free Borg now, that would be quite a thing, wouldn't it? And you did come all this way.
It seems Soji called in today.
Let's see if we can go find her for you.
Raffi.
Raf.
Raf.
Wake up.
Here, I got you coffee.
Also, you owe me two strips of latinum.
The twin's still alive.
- Bullshit.
- Fact.
Picard checked in.
I thought that was a safe bet.
Why? Because you're a terminal pessimist? N No.
Why keep her alive? The Tal Shiar killed Dahj.
They went after Maddox on Freecloud.
They know what she looks like.
They have to be onto her.
Why keep her alive? Well, they must need her for something.
What does the Tal Shiar need from a synth? Is this room free? She's with me.
Sorry about that.
First things first.
Remove your boots.
It's beautiful.
You asked the other day if I cared about you.
It's not that I didn't want to answer, it's just out there it feels too dangerous to show you.
Here I'm safe to show you my true self.
To be Vulnerable? Hrai Yan.
What? I My true name is Hrai Yan.
Do I start here? Yes.
The yut makh.
That means "closing", not "opening".
Because the journey along the path of the Zhal Makh is understood as a journey that always begins with the closing of the eyes.
A journey into the center of the mind's most intimate space, where deepest truths are hidden.
Your dreams.
I'm back where it always starts.
I hear the rain hit the window.
Daddy? Why do you call out for your father? Because I was scared.
Of what? The thunder? Were you afraid of thunder as a child? I-I don't know.
Eyes on the path.
How does it make you feel when your father doesn't respond? Lonely? Abandoned.
Good.
You're turning into lu shiar, Lifting the Eyes.
There's a window, yes? What's outside? I don't know.
I've never looked that way before.
Try.
I can't.
It's okay.
Try grounding yourself in details.
Tell me what you can feel.
Squoodgy's fur against my fingers.
My hair is cold.
I'm sweating.
Good.
Now, the key to the Zhal Makh is realizing that you're in control.
Your mind.
Your dreams.
You must feel free to explore in any way that you please.
Do you feel like you're in control? I don't see much.
Darkness.
Maybe trees.
- Trees? - But but I'm not sure.
Now, you're doing really well.
You're turning another corner.
Qlam wath.
The Unfolding.
I'm at the door to my father's workshop.
I can I can see him inside, but I can't see what he's working on.
- Why not? - The orchids.
I-I can never see past the orchids.
He's moving away now and I want to go inside, but when I try Soji! - Sorry, I.
.
- No, it's okay.
- Why-why do you wake up? - Because I'm scared.
- Of what? - I don't know, of-of getting in trouble.
I'm not supposed to be in there.
Soji, you're getting so close.
Beyond that door is exactly what you've been searching for.
Vri glam the Center.
Your unconscious is trying to tell you the truth, but you have to walk through it.
You have to believe that you can.
Can you do that? For me? I can try.
You're entering into rok han.
Dr.
Asha? Sectors 5-8 through 5-21 and all over-the-moon sectors are temporarily closed due to detected chronometric activity.
If you have entered any of the afflicted sectors - What's all this? - in the past 48 hours, please proceed to I believe she's close to discovering who she really is.
What do you mean? Who is she? There's no time.
You must find her, Hugh.
Please.
It says she's not on the cube.
That's not possible.
Unless someone has concealed her.
I am pushing the door now and I'm stepping inside.
I can see the orchids.
They're beautiful.
They're lit by a skylight.
My father loves them like they're his children.
Your father is-is going to shout at you, but this time, don't let him stop you.
Whatever happens, keep moving.
Soji! I see my father.
What does he look like? Oh, God, his face.
I can't see it.
I can never see it.
Oh, he's coming toward me.
Look behind the orchids now.
Okay.
Okay.
I'm looking behind the orchids.
What do you see? It's me.
It's me, but I'm in pieces.
I'm I'm a doll.
Look up through the skylight now.
What do you see? I see two red moons, dark as blood, and-and lightning, so much lightning.
Well done, little brother.
Narek, what does it mean? I need to identify a planet with two red moons and constant electrical storms.
What does it mean? It means you found home.
Look.
But I don't understand.
Why was I on the workbench? Don't worry.
You don't have to worry anymore.
No.
Why-why was he working on me? Because you're not real.
You never were.
Narek? Good-bye, Soji.
Narek.
Narek.
Narek? Narek? Narek.
Narek? Narek! Narek! Narek! Narek Narek.
No, no.
The radiation.
She's back online.
Where is she? It looks like she's between two levels.
It's wrong.
It's showing her moving way too fast.
She's been activated.
You-you must take me to her now! Employee badge 74983 stroke 2.
- Hostile? - Yes, extremely dangerous.
Straight ahead.
Locutus? Out of our way, please.
Soji? Do you know me? My name is Jean-Luc Picard.
I'm a friend of a friend of your father's.
And your sister came to see me, wanting my help, but I couldn't help her.
Please, Soji, let me help you.
- Do you know what's happening to me? - I do.
- Let me explain.
- Romulans! Lots of them.
Hugh, can you get us out of here? This way.
Come.
Come.
Please, trust me.
Please.
They are in some serious trouble.
And he's not responding.
Which way? Which way?! This is the queencell.
- I - Remember.
Even though you've never been here before.
- Yes.
- Same here.
It's all just there.
This one is from after your time A spatial trajector.
The Borg acquired the technology after assimilating Sikarians.
Its use was reserved for the Queen in the event of an emergency.
It has a theoretical range of 40,000 light-years.
Raffi, we found a way to get off the cube, but we have to go now.
Let's set a rendezvous.
Rendezvous? Where are you going? Nepenthe.
Rios, do you know it? Sure.
But how Just meet us there.
Where's the kid? Hands in the air.
Elnor, I told you to stay on the ship.
Yes.
I didn't listen.
Thank you.
More guards are coming.
I can hear them.
She's right.
We're almost at full power.
Go.
I'll try to keep them from tracing you.
Elnor, come.
This thing here can take us to a safer place.
I'll stay behind and cover your escape.
My blade is pledged to defend you.
Then I release you of the pledge.
I decline to be released.
- What are you doing? - Preparing to fight.
They're getting closer.
Hugh? It's ready.
Step through.
Elnor, I will not leave you behind again.
It fills me with joy to hear you say that.
Now go.
You came so far, they'll destroy her, Picard! Go! Come.
It will take a few minutes to shut everything down and hide this room again.
Can you hold them off for that long? I won't need a few minutes.
Stay behind me.
Drop your weapons.
Now do shut up and drop your swords.
Please, my friends, choose to live.
I'm in over my head.
You helped out Picard and synthetics' game.
When I left Earth, I had a plan, I had a ship, I even had a crew.
Now I've lost them all.
Now track their lot to a Borg cube full of Romulans.
They don't want us.
They want her.
This whole thing how do I know it's not another game? You can trust me.
Hello, Will.