Star Trek: The Next Generation s02e03 Episode Script
Elementary, Dear Data
Captain's log, stardate 42286.
3.
We have arrived on station at coordinates 3629 by 584, three days early for our rendezvous with the USS Victory.
There is nothing to do now but hold this position and wait.
Computer command systems.
Yes, Commander? Is there a problem? Chief Engineer La Forge called, "urgent".
Of course.
He's over there with the Victory.
Geordi, I just had a strange conversation with your assistant.
Although it is three days until we rendezvous with the Victory She believes it has already arrived? Not the starship, my friend.
The original.
This is my gift to the Victory's Captain Zimbata.
Most unusual.
I served with him.
Sure wish he'd been in command of this Victory.
Wind and sail, that's the proper way to move a ship.
But your speciality is antimatter power, dilithium regulators.
That's exactly why this fascinates me, Data.
It's human nature to love what we don't have.
Simpler days, huh? Anyway, stringing this rigging has made me dream of handling sails This is not a computer simulation? The point in doing something like this is to make it by hand.
Geordi, your message said "urgent".
So it is.
While we're waiting, we have time for me to be Watson.
More properly, your Watson.
My Watson? I've shown you one of my dreams.
Let's go and share in one of yours.
That does seem only fair.
- Let no one touch this.
- Aye, sir.
Where can I reach you? He can be reached at 221B Baker Street.
Sir? Space, the final frontier.
These are the voyages of the Starship Enterprise.
Its continuing mission, to explore strange new worlds, .
.
to seek out new life and new civilisations, .
.
to boldly go where no one has gone before.
Computer, select at random a mystery by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle in which I will play Sherlock Holmes and Lt La Forge, Dr John Watson.
Program complete.
You may enter.
Excellent.
Look at all the detail.
So you say everything in here has some significance? Holmes collected nothing, no trinkets, no thoughts which were not specifically significant to him.
This? The emerald tie-pin.
Presented to Holmes by Queen Victoria after he solved the theft of the Bruce-Partington Plans.
Whitaker's Almanack, which gave Holmes the key to the secret code in The Valley of Fear.
The snuffbox of Wilhelm Gottslieg Siegesmann Van der Romstein.
Alright, Data.
You solve the cases and get all the gifts.
What do I do? Primarily as Dr Watson, you will keep a record of all I say and do.
For later publication.
And the famous Holmes violin, bought in a pawn shop in Tottenham Court Road for 55 shillings.
Which he considered to be a very good investment.
In the hands of some, the violin is a wondrous thing, equally capable of stirring the soul to the heights of bliss as to the depths of despair.
But Data, that's incredible.
How can you play it like that? Merely throwing myself into the part, Watson.
But in the hands of my friend, Mr.
Sherlock Holmes, the violin ceases to be a musical instrument at all and becomes Watson, we are about to have guests.
How could you? Please answer that.
Mustn't keep the Inspector waiting.
- Inspector? Who? - Lestrade, of course.
Holmes, are you there, man? Thank the Almighty you're available.
I'm in a deuce of a dilemma.
May I say your perturbation becomes you, Lestrade, and also affords me the opportunity to yet again serve Queen and country.
- Holmes really talked like that? - Absolutely.
We need your help, Holmes.
This gentleman here, the emissary of a foreign government, has been the victim of a most accidentally wicked crime.
Damn.
Haven't they invented the electric light by now? What, dear fellow? Pray continue, Inspector.
To put the matter simply, this man was accosted by gypsies intent on depriving him of his most valuable possessions.
In the process of picking his pockets, they also bagged a photograph this man was carrying.
Great Scott, the photograph! You will find that this emissary works not for, but against the King of Bohemia.
That photograph of the King and his mistress is to be used for blackmail.
Further, upon deeper reflection, you will deduce, as did l Computer, freeze program.
Exit.
Geordi? Where are you going, Geordi? I'm done.
But I was about to reveal that the "sir" is in fact What was the point in going to the holodeck? - To solve a Holmes mystery.
- Exactly.
But you've memorised them.
Once anyone speaks, you've got it solved so there's no mystery.
If there's no mystery, there's no game.
No game, no fun.
I'm not upset with you.
It's just we arrange the time to go to the holodeck, get the wardrobe, then boom, before we get started you jump to the end.
I was looking forward to the mystery.
I should have extended the sequence of events.
Oh, I'm not getting through.
The fun in the program, Data, was in the attempt to solve a mystery.
Is that not what we were doing? You're wasting your breath, Lieutenant.
Saying that to Data is asking a computer not to compute.
Am I so different from you, Doctor? Can you cease thinking on command? In medicine, I often face puzzles I do not know the answer to.
She's right.
You always know the answer.
To feel the thrill of victory, there must be possible failure.
Where's the victory if you can't possibly lose? Are you suggesting there is value in losing? Yes, that's the great teacher.
We humans learn more often from a failure or a mistake than we do from an easy success.
Not you.
You learn by rote.
All is memorisation and recitation.
Deductive reasoning is also one of Data's strengths.
Yes, and Holmes's, too.
But Holmes understood the human soul, the dark flecks that drive us, that turn the innocent into the evil.
That understanding is beyond Data.
Now you're just being unfair, Doctor.
I don't think so, Lieutenant.
Your artificial friend hasn't a prayer of solving a Holmes mystery he hasn't read.
- I have read them all.
- See? Maybe the computer could create one where you wouldn't know the outcome.
- As I said, he hasn't a prayer.
- I accept your challenge, Doctor.
Good for you.
We shall return to the holodeck.
I shall dare it to defeat me.
And you, madam, are invited to be a witness.
I wouldn't miss it.
Come, Watson.
There.
I've instructed the computer to give us a Holmes-type problem, but not one written specifically by Conan Doyle.
So this will be something new? Exactly.
Will that be sufficient, Doctor? We'll see.
Program complete.
You may enter.
Pies, pies.
Some are meat and some are sweet.
Very impressive.
- Your first visit to a holodeck? - With this level of sophistication.
How does it work? London was hundreds of square kilometres large.
This is no larger than the holodeck, so the computer places images of more distant perspective on the walls.
But you'd have to touch the wall to know it was there.
And it fools you in other ways.
I say, Holmes, where shall we head? The theatre? A concert perhaps? Stop him! Stop him! He stole my goods.
No.
It is a ruse.
This way.
- What's here, Data? - What are you doing? Tell us.
The youth was a ploy.
The real crime is here.
The intended victim is that man, Mr.
Jabez Wilson, employee of the Red-Headed League and dupe of some criminals.
I saw this plaque, "Home of the Red-Headed League", and this rope on the bell.
It enabled me to deduce that Mr.
Wilson was headed here to meet a most distasteful and untimely demise.
From this! Fraud.
You didn't deduce anything.
You just recognised elements from two different Holmes stories.
Reasoning.
From the general to the specific.
Is that not the very definition of deduction, the way Holmes worked? Variations on a theme.
Now do you see my point? All that he knows is in his memory banks.
Inspiration, original thought, all the true strength of Holmes, is not possible for our friend.
I'll give you credit for your vast knowledge, but your circuits would short out if you were confronted with a truly original mystery.
- It's elementary, dear Data.
- Wait a minute.
We'll see whose circuits short out.
- Computer, arch.
- Are you sure you want to do this? Better wilted laurels than none at all.
Computer, override previous program.
OK.
A program that definitely challenges Data.
With events he has no previous knowledge of.
Computer, in the Holmesian style, create a mystery to confound Data, with an opponent who has the ability to defeat him.
- Define parameters of program.
- What does that mean? - How far to take the game.
- You mean limiting your risk? No, the parameters will be whatever is necessary to meet the directive.
Create an adversary capable of defeating Data.
- What was that? - Lieutenant? An odd surge of power, sir.
It's gone now.
Interesting.
The same London, but slightly different.
Is something wrong, Professor? I I feel like a new man.
That dark fellow there used the word "arch", and then I wonder Arch.
- What have we here? - Computer standing by.
What are you? If you refer to the arch you ordered, it provides computer control.
Do you wish to input any commands? Not at this time.
It's dark magic, Moriarty! The best kind, I'm sure.
But I need information.
Data I mean, Holmes, old boy, what are we looking for? For whatever finds us, Watson.
- She has been abducted.
- Who has? The good Doctor.
I think she's hiding.
She's gonna lead you on a wild-goose chase and then tell everyone.
The Doctor has been carried away by two men.
One is tall.
The other is shorter, left-handed, and is employed in a laboratory.
How do you know that? One set of footfalls is widely spaced.
The other is evenly spaced, closer together.
Further, on the ground you can see the scrapes made by his left shoe as he twists behind, presumably to see if he is being followed.
Left-footed means left-handed.
The dark colourings of the scrapes are the leavings of natural rubber, a type of non-conductive sole used by researchers experimenting with electricity.
Finally, there can be no argument.
The game is afoot.
Come, Watson.
Hear that? What do those footfalls tell you, Watson? We're on the right track.
More particularly, that our opposition does consist of two men.
And that one of them is carrying the bound and gagged Dr Pulaski.
You know this because you read it in a Holmes story, right? Not at all.
We do not hear her steps, so the Doctor is probably being carried.
We do not hear cries for help, so she must be gagged.
Further, both sets of footfalls are heavy and masculine.
One man shuffles and stumbles in an irregular pattern.
Since the ground is level, we must conclude that Dr Pulaski is struggling with her captor, sporadically knocking him off stride.
Deduction.
Pure and simple.
Well, not that simple.
Footfalls! There they are again, Watson.
I dare say we have caught up nicely with our quarry.
There should be a doorway.
Yeah, come on.
Holmes! Thank God you're here.
Make way, please.
Make way for Sherlock Holmes.
It's murder, Holmes.
Murder most foul.
Well, Holmes, what do you say, man? I do not see how this connects with the doctor's disappearance.
Doctor? Dr Watson is right here.
Dr Pulaski.
But do not be concerned.
You have enough on your mind.
- She was with you? - If I may be of assistance.
As I take note of this dead man, I deduce that he was strangled.
The finger marks on his throat show this.
There are signs of struggle, so the murderer was a stranger who attacked him from behind.
- Is that correct, Holmes? - No.
Look at his shoes.
He's a convict released today from Dartmoor prison.
He spent the day in a tavern, consuming large amounts of gin, with his killer, who followed him to this very spot and waited over there until the victim slipped into a drunken stupor.
Then, out of fear, motivated only by self-protection, strangled him.
- There is your killer, Inspector.
- Seize her! When you check, I believe you will find that this poor soul is the victim's common-law wife, who has been dreading the release of this vile man.
She hardly has the strength to strangle a man this size.
Not with her hands, no.
But with this ! When used as a garrotte, these beads make a mark similar to fingerprints.
And, Watson, you will note on the victim's throat, the marks are too evenly spaced to have been made by human hands.
Astounding, Holmes.
Not really, Inspector.
And now, for strictly personal reasons, I must leave.
Come, Watson.
This murder does not connect with our case.
Come along.
Hurry it up.
Come on.
Data, wait.
If this murder is unconnected to Dr Pulaski, then the computer is running an independent program.
- Yes.
- Why? I do not know.
That is what puzzles me.
- So you don't know what'll happen? - No.
- Excellent.
Where to now? - We will find Dr Pulaski in here.
- How's that? - It is obvious.
Why is that correct? Isn't this a game of misdirection? - Not now.
He wants us to find him.
- Who does? The master criminal, the man Holmes could only defeat at the cost of his own life at Reichenbach Falls.
Our adversary, my dear Watson, is none other than Professor Moriarty himself.
Now this is getting interesting.
There's nothing here but barrels.
And a trail, which is so well marked, that obviously we are meant to follow it.
No, Data.
It's another dead end.
No, Watson, it's not a dead end at all.
Hello.
What's this? Can you see the scratches? The Doctor was right.
Finally we have a game worth playing.
The time for games is over.
Professor Moriarty, I presume.
How do you know? He's the one worthy opponent created by Conan Doyle.
And like a spider, I feel vibrations when anyone new chances into my web.
Welcome, my dear Holmes.
But not Holmes.
And Dr Watson.
But not Watson.
How does he know we're not who we appear to be? - Where is Dr Pulaski? - She's here.
She will have said nothing.
She has provided many answers.
Do you forget I am your equal? I have read her expressions.
What she has not said is as important as her words.
- Have you injured her? - I will, if necessary.
But my mind is crowded with images, thoughts I do not understand, yet cannot purge.
They plague me.
You and your associate look and act so oddly.
Yet though I have not seen the like of you, I am familiar with you both.
Very confusing.
I have felt new realities at the edge of my consciousness readying to break through.
Surely, Holmes, if that's who you are, you of all people appreciate what I mean.
Say nothing.
I know that there is a great power called Computer, wiser than the oracle at Delphi, a power which controls all of this, and to which we can speak.
Arch.
Data, this isn't right.
A hologram shouldn't be able to call the arch.
It has described a monstrous shape on which I am like a fly stuck on a turtle's back, adrift in emptiness.
What is this, Holmes? Data, wait.
Why does it frighten you, Holmes? Data.
Will you please tell me what's going on? Computer, exit! Computer, execute complete shutdown of the holodeck.
- Access denied.
- Explain.
Override protocol has been initiated.
The program didn't shut down.
We must see the Captain.
Wait.
What's on that paper? Why can't we shut down the holodeck? This.
This is impossible.
How can a character from - Who's got control of the computer? - He does.
Moriarty.
- Impossible.
I don't understand.
- Nor do l.
What about the Doctor? Is she alright in there? No.
She is in grave danger.
Computer, why wasn't the holodeck program terminated? The override protocol has been initiated.
- On whose authority? - Lt Geordi La Forge.
Me? Alright, tell me from the beginning exactly what happened.
Dr Pulaski and I had a discussion about whether Data could solve an original mystery.
Which the computer provided? - Yes, with a worthy opponent.
- Worthy of Holmes? My God.
I asked for a Holmes-type mystery with an opponent capable of defeating Data.
- That's got to be it.
- Merde.
Captain, I'm sorry.
I understand, Lieutenant.
Captain, this character, Moriarty, he called for the arch.
He did what? So he has access to the computer.
And perhaps our library files as well.
That information would be necessary to create a true adversary for me.
Theorise, Data.
What are his limits? He is still a fictional character, originally programmed with 19th-century knowledge.
Which now has access to - What does he need to use it? - Only time.
Sir, I can lead a security team to sweep the holodeck, and bring the Doctor out.
I believe that would place the Doctor at risk.
Our mortality fail-safe has probably been overridden.
- Computer, where is Dr Pulaski? - Dr Pulaski is on holodeck two.
- And her vital signs? - Strong and stable.
Captain, recommend we attempt to destroy the hologram generations themselves.
Is that possible, Geordi? I could split a particle beam out of the matter/antimatter chamber and ride it into the holodeck.
If accelerated sufficiently, that would wash away all present holographic constructs.
The London buildings, streets, people, all gone, including Moriarty.
Dr Pulaski? The beam will tear apart human flesh as well.
Captain, I'm sensing something from the holodeck.
It's as if a unifying force or single consciousness is trying to bring it all into focus.
There can be only one explanation.
In programming Moriarty to defeat me, not Holmes, he had to acquire something which I possess.
What, exactly? Consciousness, sir.
Without it he could not defeat me.
Computer, what happened? Altitude and stabilisation control of the Enterprise was momentarily transferred to holodeck two.
Data, you and I should return to the holodeck.
- I will change into my uniform.
- No.
I will change into a costume.
Uniforms might pose questions I don't want asked.
It seems that he feeds on knowledge.
Well, let's not give your nemesis any more information than we have to.
- How did you make the room shake? - I'm not sure.
Now, dear lady, will that be one lump or two? Lumps, Professor? What sort of lumps? - Milk, of course? - Why not? Mr.
Computer proposes the incredible thought that we are all travelling in a vessel of some sort.
Is that true? I don't know what you're talking about.
The scones are likewise a must.
This is really quite excellent.
Strange, it actually pleases me to hear you say that.
Very strange.
You're sounding very different from the Moriarty I've read about.
- You're not frightened of me? - No.
You should be.
Mr.
Computer, the arch, please.
A few more questions, Mr.
Computer.
I just can't seem to remember that last command.
Oh, well, sooner or later it'll all come to me.
But in the meantime, I will approach the problem from a familiar perspective.
There's no reason why I can't use knowledge from my world - to bring me closer to yours.
- I have no idea what you mean.
Of course you do.
The more you proclaim ignorance, the more I am on to you.
Your every silence speaks volumes.
If you know what I'm saying when I'm not saying anything, what do you need me for? Thank you for the tea and crumpets.
I guess I'll be going.
Where? Back to here? Yes.
Would you care to join me? In time.
In time I will leave all of this and join you out there.
Or is this where we both are right now? Right now, we are in London.
Tell me what you want from me, or allow me to leave.
I want nothing more than what the fisherman expects of the worm.
You, dear Doctor, will be the lure.
And this will be the hook for your Capt Jean-Luc Picard.
Who is that? How well you know.
- Nice suit.
- Thank you.
Captain, I will be standing by to assist you.
You'll be a big hit in London.
Computer, is the program still running? Affirmative.
You may enter.
Data, shall we go? Gentlemen.
Open.
We don't have much time.
He's getting more control.
Let's try to beat Moriarty by giving him everything he wants.
Obviously he's trying to alter the programming.
- Captain? - Tuppence.
Two pence.
Supposed to be good luck.
We may need some.
I'll take that coin, sir.
That's right, and any more you got.
- Excuse me.
- I don't think so.
I want money.
- That's right, I want it now.
- Data.
This hologram differs from any I've seen.
Could he injure you? It's more serious than that.
The mortality fail-safe has been circumvented.
He could've killed me.
Let it go, guv.
He's hurtin' me.
Data, let him go.
We will find Moriarty this way, sir.
The warehouse.
You alright? Yes, except for being crammed full of crumpets.
I'm a civilised abductor, Captain.
Civilised, but still dangerous.
- Bridge to holodeck control.
Worf.
- Here, sir.
- Status? Anything changed? - No, sir.
Moriarty, you were conjured up in an attempt to defeat Holmes here.
Once that attempt is concluded, your program has run its course.
Your existence is done.
Congratulations, Professor.
I capitulate to the better man.
Your victory, sir, is is well earned.
It's gone beyond that game, Mr.
Data.
Note I no longer call you Holmes.
Whatever I was when this began, I have grown.
I am understanding more and more.
I am able to use the power at my fingertips.
I can affect this vessel.
And I can inflict bodily harm on you, and on your Doctor.
Yes, you can do that, but you haven't.
You shook this ship to get my attention.
What is it you want? The same thing you want for yourself, to continue to exist.
If I destroy this vessel, can you say that it doesn't matter to you? Interesting pun, don't you think? For matter is what I am not.
The computer says I am made up only of energy.
That may not be entirely true, Professor.
This which we call the holodeck, uses a principle similar to a device called a transporter.
In the time we live, humans have discovered that energy and matter are interchangeable.
In the holodeck, energy is converted into matter.
Thus you have substance.
But only here.
And if I step off this holodeck? Then, Professor, you will cease to exist.
You are not alive.
As I said before, you are only A holographic image.
I know.
- But are you sure? - Yes.
Does he have life? He's a machine, but is that all he is? No.
He is more.
Exactly.
Is the definition of life cogito, ergo sum, I think, therefore I am? Yes, that is one possible definition.
It is the most important one.
And for me, the only one that matters.
You asked your computer to program a nefarious fictional character from 19th-century London, which is how I arrived.
But I am no longer that creation, that evil character.
I have changed.
I am alive.
And I am aware of my own consciousness.
Moriarty, my responsibility is this vessel and its crew.
I want my existence.
I want it out there, just as you have yours.
That may not be possible.
- Then you must murder me, Captain.
- I cannot give you what you want.
Because you cannot convert holodeck matter into a more permanent form.
Yes, that is so.
A pity.
What I have seen, .
.
what I have learned, .
.
fascinates me.
I do not want to die.
And I do not want to kill you.
Madam, I have enjoyed your company.
Computer, arch.
Cancel override protocol.
Return control of the holodeck to main computer.
My fate is in your hands.
As perhaps it always was.
- Bridge, this is the Captain.
- Cmdr Riker here, sir.
Number One, the situation is under control.
Aye, sir.
Moriarty, this vessel's computer has a vast memory capacity.
- I know.
- You won't be extinguished.
We will save this program.
Hopefully, in time, when we know enough, we will bring you back, able to leave the holodeck.
Perhaps we'll meet again, madam.
It could be a while.
Time won't pass for you, but I may be an old woman.
But I'll still fill you with crumpet, madam.
I detest long goodbyes.
You have the arch.
As you wish.
A short goodbye.
Computer, save the program of the character Moriarty, then discontinue.
Damaged? Yes, sir.
She cracked a spar when the Enterprise was shaken.
Otherwise, she weathered it quite nicely.
She's beautiful.
A wonderful testimony to simpler times.
Yes, sir.
Thank you, sir.
It's just that, I can't help thinking how What else might have happened because I misspoke a single word? Soon she'll be ship-shape and Bristol fashion.
"Bristol fashion", sir? It's an old navy phrase, meaning everything in perfect order.
Yes, sir.
As are we, Mr.
La Forge.
Yes, sir.
Captain, Starship Victory has arrived.
On my way, Number One.
3.
We have arrived on station at coordinates 3629 by 584, three days early for our rendezvous with the USS Victory.
There is nothing to do now but hold this position and wait.
Computer command systems.
Yes, Commander? Is there a problem? Chief Engineer La Forge called, "urgent".
Of course.
He's over there with the Victory.
Geordi, I just had a strange conversation with your assistant.
Although it is three days until we rendezvous with the Victory She believes it has already arrived? Not the starship, my friend.
The original.
This is my gift to the Victory's Captain Zimbata.
Most unusual.
I served with him.
Sure wish he'd been in command of this Victory.
Wind and sail, that's the proper way to move a ship.
But your speciality is antimatter power, dilithium regulators.
That's exactly why this fascinates me, Data.
It's human nature to love what we don't have.
Simpler days, huh? Anyway, stringing this rigging has made me dream of handling sails This is not a computer simulation? The point in doing something like this is to make it by hand.
Geordi, your message said "urgent".
So it is.
While we're waiting, we have time for me to be Watson.
More properly, your Watson.
My Watson? I've shown you one of my dreams.
Let's go and share in one of yours.
That does seem only fair.
- Let no one touch this.
- Aye, sir.
Where can I reach you? He can be reached at 221B Baker Street.
Sir? Space, the final frontier.
These are the voyages of the Starship Enterprise.
Its continuing mission, to explore strange new worlds, .
.
to seek out new life and new civilisations, .
.
to boldly go where no one has gone before.
Computer, select at random a mystery by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle in which I will play Sherlock Holmes and Lt La Forge, Dr John Watson.
Program complete.
You may enter.
Excellent.
Look at all the detail.
So you say everything in here has some significance? Holmes collected nothing, no trinkets, no thoughts which were not specifically significant to him.
This? The emerald tie-pin.
Presented to Holmes by Queen Victoria after he solved the theft of the Bruce-Partington Plans.
Whitaker's Almanack, which gave Holmes the key to the secret code in The Valley of Fear.
The snuffbox of Wilhelm Gottslieg Siegesmann Van der Romstein.
Alright, Data.
You solve the cases and get all the gifts.
What do I do? Primarily as Dr Watson, you will keep a record of all I say and do.
For later publication.
And the famous Holmes violin, bought in a pawn shop in Tottenham Court Road for 55 shillings.
Which he considered to be a very good investment.
In the hands of some, the violin is a wondrous thing, equally capable of stirring the soul to the heights of bliss as to the depths of despair.
But Data, that's incredible.
How can you play it like that? Merely throwing myself into the part, Watson.
But in the hands of my friend, Mr.
Sherlock Holmes, the violin ceases to be a musical instrument at all and becomes Watson, we are about to have guests.
How could you? Please answer that.
Mustn't keep the Inspector waiting.
- Inspector? Who? - Lestrade, of course.
Holmes, are you there, man? Thank the Almighty you're available.
I'm in a deuce of a dilemma.
May I say your perturbation becomes you, Lestrade, and also affords me the opportunity to yet again serve Queen and country.
- Holmes really talked like that? - Absolutely.
We need your help, Holmes.
This gentleman here, the emissary of a foreign government, has been the victim of a most accidentally wicked crime.
Damn.
Haven't they invented the electric light by now? What, dear fellow? Pray continue, Inspector.
To put the matter simply, this man was accosted by gypsies intent on depriving him of his most valuable possessions.
In the process of picking his pockets, they also bagged a photograph this man was carrying.
Great Scott, the photograph! You will find that this emissary works not for, but against the King of Bohemia.
That photograph of the King and his mistress is to be used for blackmail.
Further, upon deeper reflection, you will deduce, as did l Computer, freeze program.
Exit.
Geordi? Where are you going, Geordi? I'm done.
But I was about to reveal that the "sir" is in fact What was the point in going to the holodeck? - To solve a Holmes mystery.
- Exactly.
But you've memorised them.
Once anyone speaks, you've got it solved so there's no mystery.
If there's no mystery, there's no game.
No game, no fun.
I'm not upset with you.
It's just we arrange the time to go to the holodeck, get the wardrobe, then boom, before we get started you jump to the end.
I was looking forward to the mystery.
I should have extended the sequence of events.
Oh, I'm not getting through.
The fun in the program, Data, was in the attempt to solve a mystery.
Is that not what we were doing? You're wasting your breath, Lieutenant.
Saying that to Data is asking a computer not to compute.
Am I so different from you, Doctor? Can you cease thinking on command? In medicine, I often face puzzles I do not know the answer to.
She's right.
You always know the answer.
To feel the thrill of victory, there must be possible failure.
Where's the victory if you can't possibly lose? Are you suggesting there is value in losing? Yes, that's the great teacher.
We humans learn more often from a failure or a mistake than we do from an easy success.
Not you.
You learn by rote.
All is memorisation and recitation.
Deductive reasoning is also one of Data's strengths.
Yes, and Holmes's, too.
But Holmes understood the human soul, the dark flecks that drive us, that turn the innocent into the evil.
That understanding is beyond Data.
Now you're just being unfair, Doctor.
I don't think so, Lieutenant.
Your artificial friend hasn't a prayer of solving a Holmes mystery he hasn't read.
- I have read them all.
- See? Maybe the computer could create one where you wouldn't know the outcome.
- As I said, he hasn't a prayer.
- I accept your challenge, Doctor.
Good for you.
We shall return to the holodeck.
I shall dare it to defeat me.
And you, madam, are invited to be a witness.
I wouldn't miss it.
Come, Watson.
There.
I've instructed the computer to give us a Holmes-type problem, but not one written specifically by Conan Doyle.
So this will be something new? Exactly.
Will that be sufficient, Doctor? We'll see.
Program complete.
You may enter.
Pies, pies.
Some are meat and some are sweet.
Very impressive.
- Your first visit to a holodeck? - With this level of sophistication.
How does it work? London was hundreds of square kilometres large.
This is no larger than the holodeck, so the computer places images of more distant perspective on the walls.
But you'd have to touch the wall to know it was there.
And it fools you in other ways.
I say, Holmes, where shall we head? The theatre? A concert perhaps? Stop him! Stop him! He stole my goods.
No.
It is a ruse.
This way.
- What's here, Data? - What are you doing? Tell us.
The youth was a ploy.
The real crime is here.
The intended victim is that man, Mr.
Jabez Wilson, employee of the Red-Headed League and dupe of some criminals.
I saw this plaque, "Home of the Red-Headed League", and this rope on the bell.
It enabled me to deduce that Mr.
Wilson was headed here to meet a most distasteful and untimely demise.
From this! Fraud.
You didn't deduce anything.
You just recognised elements from two different Holmes stories.
Reasoning.
From the general to the specific.
Is that not the very definition of deduction, the way Holmes worked? Variations on a theme.
Now do you see my point? All that he knows is in his memory banks.
Inspiration, original thought, all the true strength of Holmes, is not possible for our friend.
I'll give you credit for your vast knowledge, but your circuits would short out if you were confronted with a truly original mystery.
- It's elementary, dear Data.
- Wait a minute.
We'll see whose circuits short out.
- Computer, arch.
- Are you sure you want to do this? Better wilted laurels than none at all.
Computer, override previous program.
OK.
A program that definitely challenges Data.
With events he has no previous knowledge of.
Computer, in the Holmesian style, create a mystery to confound Data, with an opponent who has the ability to defeat him.
- Define parameters of program.
- What does that mean? - How far to take the game.
- You mean limiting your risk? No, the parameters will be whatever is necessary to meet the directive.
Create an adversary capable of defeating Data.
- What was that? - Lieutenant? An odd surge of power, sir.
It's gone now.
Interesting.
The same London, but slightly different.
Is something wrong, Professor? I I feel like a new man.
That dark fellow there used the word "arch", and then I wonder Arch.
- What have we here? - Computer standing by.
What are you? If you refer to the arch you ordered, it provides computer control.
Do you wish to input any commands? Not at this time.
It's dark magic, Moriarty! The best kind, I'm sure.
But I need information.
Data I mean, Holmes, old boy, what are we looking for? For whatever finds us, Watson.
- She has been abducted.
- Who has? The good Doctor.
I think she's hiding.
She's gonna lead you on a wild-goose chase and then tell everyone.
The Doctor has been carried away by two men.
One is tall.
The other is shorter, left-handed, and is employed in a laboratory.
How do you know that? One set of footfalls is widely spaced.
The other is evenly spaced, closer together.
Further, on the ground you can see the scrapes made by his left shoe as he twists behind, presumably to see if he is being followed.
Left-footed means left-handed.
The dark colourings of the scrapes are the leavings of natural rubber, a type of non-conductive sole used by researchers experimenting with electricity.
Finally, there can be no argument.
The game is afoot.
Come, Watson.
Hear that? What do those footfalls tell you, Watson? We're on the right track.
More particularly, that our opposition does consist of two men.
And that one of them is carrying the bound and gagged Dr Pulaski.
You know this because you read it in a Holmes story, right? Not at all.
We do not hear her steps, so the Doctor is probably being carried.
We do not hear cries for help, so she must be gagged.
Further, both sets of footfalls are heavy and masculine.
One man shuffles and stumbles in an irregular pattern.
Since the ground is level, we must conclude that Dr Pulaski is struggling with her captor, sporadically knocking him off stride.
Deduction.
Pure and simple.
Well, not that simple.
Footfalls! There they are again, Watson.
I dare say we have caught up nicely with our quarry.
There should be a doorway.
Yeah, come on.
Holmes! Thank God you're here.
Make way, please.
Make way for Sherlock Holmes.
It's murder, Holmes.
Murder most foul.
Well, Holmes, what do you say, man? I do not see how this connects with the doctor's disappearance.
Doctor? Dr Watson is right here.
Dr Pulaski.
But do not be concerned.
You have enough on your mind.
- She was with you? - If I may be of assistance.
As I take note of this dead man, I deduce that he was strangled.
The finger marks on his throat show this.
There are signs of struggle, so the murderer was a stranger who attacked him from behind.
- Is that correct, Holmes? - No.
Look at his shoes.
He's a convict released today from Dartmoor prison.
He spent the day in a tavern, consuming large amounts of gin, with his killer, who followed him to this very spot and waited over there until the victim slipped into a drunken stupor.
Then, out of fear, motivated only by self-protection, strangled him.
- There is your killer, Inspector.
- Seize her! When you check, I believe you will find that this poor soul is the victim's common-law wife, who has been dreading the release of this vile man.
She hardly has the strength to strangle a man this size.
Not with her hands, no.
But with this ! When used as a garrotte, these beads make a mark similar to fingerprints.
And, Watson, you will note on the victim's throat, the marks are too evenly spaced to have been made by human hands.
Astounding, Holmes.
Not really, Inspector.
And now, for strictly personal reasons, I must leave.
Come, Watson.
This murder does not connect with our case.
Come along.
Hurry it up.
Come on.
Data, wait.
If this murder is unconnected to Dr Pulaski, then the computer is running an independent program.
- Yes.
- Why? I do not know.
That is what puzzles me.
- So you don't know what'll happen? - No.
- Excellent.
Where to now? - We will find Dr Pulaski in here.
- How's that? - It is obvious.
Why is that correct? Isn't this a game of misdirection? - Not now.
He wants us to find him.
- Who does? The master criminal, the man Holmes could only defeat at the cost of his own life at Reichenbach Falls.
Our adversary, my dear Watson, is none other than Professor Moriarty himself.
Now this is getting interesting.
There's nothing here but barrels.
And a trail, which is so well marked, that obviously we are meant to follow it.
No, Data.
It's another dead end.
No, Watson, it's not a dead end at all.
Hello.
What's this? Can you see the scratches? The Doctor was right.
Finally we have a game worth playing.
The time for games is over.
Professor Moriarty, I presume.
How do you know? He's the one worthy opponent created by Conan Doyle.
And like a spider, I feel vibrations when anyone new chances into my web.
Welcome, my dear Holmes.
But not Holmes.
And Dr Watson.
But not Watson.
How does he know we're not who we appear to be? - Where is Dr Pulaski? - She's here.
She will have said nothing.
She has provided many answers.
Do you forget I am your equal? I have read her expressions.
What she has not said is as important as her words.
- Have you injured her? - I will, if necessary.
But my mind is crowded with images, thoughts I do not understand, yet cannot purge.
They plague me.
You and your associate look and act so oddly.
Yet though I have not seen the like of you, I am familiar with you both.
Very confusing.
I have felt new realities at the edge of my consciousness readying to break through.
Surely, Holmes, if that's who you are, you of all people appreciate what I mean.
Say nothing.
I know that there is a great power called Computer, wiser than the oracle at Delphi, a power which controls all of this, and to which we can speak.
Arch.
Data, this isn't right.
A hologram shouldn't be able to call the arch.
It has described a monstrous shape on which I am like a fly stuck on a turtle's back, adrift in emptiness.
What is this, Holmes? Data, wait.
Why does it frighten you, Holmes? Data.
Will you please tell me what's going on? Computer, exit! Computer, execute complete shutdown of the holodeck.
- Access denied.
- Explain.
Override protocol has been initiated.
The program didn't shut down.
We must see the Captain.
Wait.
What's on that paper? Why can't we shut down the holodeck? This.
This is impossible.
How can a character from - Who's got control of the computer? - He does.
Moriarty.
- Impossible.
I don't understand.
- Nor do l.
What about the Doctor? Is she alright in there? No.
She is in grave danger.
Computer, why wasn't the holodeck program terminated? The override protocol has been initiated.
- On whose authority? - Lt Geordi La Forge.
Me? Alright, tell me from the beginning exactly what happened.
Dr Pulaski and I had a discussion about whether Data could solve an original mystery.
Which the computer provided? - Yes, with a worthy opponent.
- Worthy of Holmes? My God.
I asked for a Holmes-type mystery with an opponent capable of defeating Data.
- That's got to be it.
- Merde.
Captain, I'm sorry.
I understand, Lieutenant.
Captain, this character, Moriarty, he called for the arch.
He did what? So he has access to the computer.
And perhaps our library files as well.
That information would be necessary to create a true adversary for me.
Theorise, Data.
What are his limits? He is still a fictional character, originally programmed with 19th-century knowledge.
Which now has access to - What does he need to use it? - Only time.
Sir, I can lead a security team to sweep the holodeck, and bring the Doctor out.
I believe that would place the Doctor at risk.
Our mortality fail-safe has probably been overridden.
- Computer, where is Dr Pulaski? - Dr Pulaski is on holodeck two.
- And her vital signs? - Strong and stable.
Captain, recommend we attempt to destroy the hologram generations themselves.
Is that possible, Geordi? I could split a particle beam out of the matter/antimatter chamber and ride it into the holodeck.
If accelerated sufficiently, that would wash away all present holographic constructs.
The London buildings, streets, people, all gone, including Moriarty.
Dr Pulaski? The beam will tear apart human flesh as well.
Captain, I'm sensing something from the holodeck.
It's as if a unifying force or single consciousness is trying to bring it all into focus.
There can be only one explanation.
In programming Moriarty to defeat me, not Holmes, he had to acquire something which I possess.
What, exactly? Consciousness, sir.
Without it he could not defeat me.
Computer, what happened? Altitude and stabilisation control of the Enterprise was momentarily transferred to holodeck two.
Data, you and I should return to the holodeck.
- I will change into my uniform.
- No.
I will change into a costume.
Uniforms might pose questions I don't want asked.
It seems that he feeds on knowledge.
Well, let's not give your nemesis any more information than we have to.
- How did you make the room shake? - I'm not sure.
Now, dear lady, will that be one lump or two? Lumps, Professor? What sort of lumps? - Milk, of course? - Why not? Mr.
Computer proposes the incredible thought that we are all travelling in a vessel of some sort.
Is that true? I don't know what you're talking about.
The scones are likewise a must.
This is really quite excellent.
Strange, it actually pleases me to hear you say that.
Very strange.
You're sounding very different from the Moriarty I've read about.
- You're not frightened of me? - No.
You should be.
Mr.
Computer, the arch, please.
A few more questions, Mr.
Computer.
I just can't seem to remember that last command.
Oh, well, sooner or later it'll all come to me.
But in the meantime, I will approach the problem from a familiar perspective.
There's no reason why I can't use knowledge from my world - to bring me closer to yours.
- I have no idea what you mean.
Of course you do.
The more you proclaim ignorance, the more I am on to you.
Your every silence speaks volumes.
If you know what I'm saying when I'm not saying anything, what do you need me for? Thank you for the tea and crumpets.
I guess I'll be going.
Where? Back to here? Yes.
Would you care to join me? In time.
In time I will leave all of this and join you out there.
Or is this where we both are right now? Right now, we are in London.
Tell me what you want from me, or allow me to leave.
I want nothing more than what the fisherman expects of the worm.
You, dear Doctor, will be the lure.
And this will be the hook for your Capt Jean-Luc Picard.
Who is that? How well you know.
- Nice suit.
- Thank you.
Captain, I will be standing by to assist you.
You'll be a big hit in London.
Computer, is the program still running? Affirmative.
You may enter.
Data, shall we go? Gentlemen.
Open.
We don't have much time.
He's getting more control.
Let's try to beat Moriarty by giving him everything he wants.
Obviously he's trying to alter the programming.
- Captain? - Tuppence.
Two pence.
Supposed to be good luck.
We may need some.
I'll take that coin, sir.
That's right, and any more you got.
- Excuse me.
- I don't think so.
I want money.
- That's right, I want it now.
- Data.
This hologram differs from any I've seen.
Could he injure you? It's more serious than that.
The mortality fail-safe has been circumvented.
He could've killed me.
Let it go, guv.
He's hurtin' me.
Data, let him go.
We will find Moriarty this way, sir.
The warehouse.
You alright? Yes, except for being crammed full of crumpets.
I'm a civilised abductor, Captain.
Civilised, but still dangerous.
- Bridge to holodeck control.
Worf.
- Here, sir.
- Status? Anything changed? - No, sir.
Moriarty, you were conjured up in an attempt to defeat Holmes here.
Once that attempt is concluded, your program has run its course.
Your existence is done.
Congratulations, Professor.
I capitulate to the better man.
Your victory, sir, is is well earned.
It's gone beyond that game, Mr.
Data.
Note I no longer call you Holmes.
Whatever I was when this began, I have grown.
I am understanding more and more.
I am able to use the power at my fingertips.
I can affect this vessel.
And I can inflict bodily harm on you, and on your Doctor.
Yes, you can do that, but you haven't.
You shook this ship to get my attention.
What is it you want? The same thing you want for yourself, to continue to exist.
If I destroy this vessel, can you say that it doesn't matter to you? Interesting pun, don't you think? For matter is what I am not.
The computer says I am made up only of energy.
That may not be entirely true, Professor.
This which we call the holodeck, uses a principle similar to a device called a transporter.
In the time we live, humans have discovered that energy and matter are interchangeable.
In the holodeck, energy is converted into matter.
Thus you have substance.
But only here.
And if I step off this holodeck? Then, Professor, you will cease to exist.
You are not alive.
As I said before, you are only A holographic image.
I know.
- But are you sure? - Yes.
Does he have life? He's a machine, but is that all he is? No.
He is more.
Exactly.
Is the definition of life cogito, ergo sum, I think, therefore I am? Yes, that is one possible definition.
It is the most important one.
And for me, the only one that matters.
You asked your computer to program a nefarious fictional character from 19th-century London, which is how I arrived.
But I am no longer that creation, that evil character.
I have changed.
I am alive.
And I am aware of my own consciousness.
Moriarty, my responsibility is this vessel and its crew.
I want my existence.
I want it out there, just as you have yours.
That may not be possible.
- Then you must murder me, Captain.
- I cannot give you what you want.
Because you cannot convert holodeck matter into a more permanent form.
Yes, that is so.
A pity.
What I have seen, .
.
what I have learned, .
.
fascinates me.
I do not want to die.
And I do not want to kill you.
Madam, I have enjoyed your company.
Computer, arch.
Cancel override protocol.
Return control of the holodeck to main computer.
My fate is in your hands.
As perhaps it always was.
- Bridge, this is the Captain.
- Cmdr Riker here, sir.
Number One, the situation is under control.
Aye, sir.
Moriarty, this vessel's computer has a vast memory capacity.
- I know.
- You won't be extinguished.
We will save this program.
Hopefully, in time, when we know enough, we will bring you back, able to leave the holodeck.
Perhaps we'll meet again, madam.
It could be a while.
Time won't pass for you, but I may be an old woman.
But I'll still fill you with crumpet, madam.
I detest long goodbyes.
You have the arch.
As you wish.
A short goodbye.
Computer, save the program of the character Moriarty, then discontinue.
Damaged? Yes, sir.
She cracked a spar when the Enterprise was shaken.
Otherwise, she weathered it quite nicely.
She's beautiful.
A wonderful testimony to simpler times.
Yes, sir.
Thank you, sir.
It's just that, I can't help thinking how What else might have happened because I misspoke a single word? Soon she'll be ship-shape and Bristol fashion.
"Bristol fashion", sir? It's an old navy phrase, meaning everything in perfect order.
Yes, sir.
As are we, Mr.
La Forge.
Yes, sir.
Captain, Starship Victory has arrived.
On my way, Number One.