Star Trek: Deep Space Nine s07e10 Episode Script

- What if l say something dumb?|- Like what? - Like, ''How's your new leg?''|- He's probably expecting questions.
l don't want to say the wrong thing.
Maybe l shouldn't be there|when he arrives.
When he was in hospital,|he didn't answer my letters.
l'm only his stepmother.
He's going|through something so personal, maybe he only wants|his real family.
- You are real family.
|- That's right.
And you should both just relax.
Yes, Nog has lost a leg, but nothing you say will be worse|than what he's gone through.
Just be happy to see him|and tell him you love him.
They've docked.
Colonel, are you sure|this is the right transport? l checked the passenger list|this morning.
Here he comes.
Welcome back, Nog.
Thank you.
lt's good to be back.
- My orders, Captain.
|- Medical leave? - Sounds like an excuse to loaf around.
|- l prescribe plenty of hard work.
- Maybe he forged those orders.
|- l'm afraid they're genuine.
Ensign Nog has no duties|until further notice.
Except to attend a welcome home party|in the wardroom.
lf it's all the same to you, sir, l'm tired.
|l'd rather go to my quarters.
- ls that all right?|- Absolutely.
We can celebrate|once you've settled in.
- l can carry your bag.
|- l've got it.
lf you'll all excuse me.
Julian and Miles have become more|obsessed with their Alamo program.
l half expect Miles to start wearing|a coonskin cap to work.
Davy Crockett wore this cap made of|raccoon skin l know the program.
We've covered just about everything you missed while you were away.
ls there anything you want|to talk about? Not particularly.
- Here it comes.
|- What? The cane problem.
You're about to ask|why l need to walk with the cane since Dr Benbasset told you|my biosynthetic leg works perfectly.
He also told you the problem|is in my head.
That l'm crazy.
- He didn't say that.
|- lt's what he thinks.
What do you think?|Why do you need the cane? My leg hurts.
And if l put|my full weight on it, it hurts more.
So l have to limp and that means|l need to walk with a cane.
- That sounds reasonable to me.
|- Good.
Look,|can l be perfectly honest with you? l've spent the last three weeks|talking about my feelings with the counsellors on Starbase 235.
To tell you the truth,|l'm a little sick of it.
- l want to be left alone for a while.
|- l understand.
l think we've done enough for today.
l'll see you tomorrow.
- Computer, what time is it?|- The time is 932 hours.
He's been sleeping|over 18 hours a day and missed his last two physical|therapy appointments.
His counselling sessions|are going nowhere.
He's sick of talking about his feelings.
He's been under constant psychiatric|care for two months.
- What should do we do?|- l'm not sure.
- Our best bet is to watch and wait.
|- Not my first choice.
Sometimes a patient can guide|his own treatment.
Let's see what Nog does next.
Nog, l am trying to be understanding|and l want to be your friend, but enough is enough.
You've been|playing that song for three days.
l can't take it any more.
Aren't you going to say anything?|You've barely spoken to me.
Maybe l don't have anything to say.
l'm trying to help you, Nog,|but you're not making it easy.
You want to help me? Fine.
|Leave me alone.
All right.
OK.
But if you want to hear that song again,|go rent a holosuite.
Program is running.
|You may enter when ready.
Hi there, pallie.
|lt's good to see you.
- Vic Fontaine.
|- l know.
l'm Nog.
You're Rom's kid.
|He's really proud of you.
Always in here bragging about his son,|the soldier boy.
- What can l do for you?|- l want to hear ''l'll Be Seeing You''.
- Sure thing.
Any other requests?|- No.
Just ''l'll Be Seeing You''.
- Sounds like a special tune.
|- lt is.
lt helped me once|when l was unhappy.
What more can you ask from a song? ''l'll Be Seeing You'', from the top.
Doctor? - Yes?|- What is that? lt's a song l had Vic Fontaine|record for me.
- Vic?|- A character in a holosuite program.
l thought it might take our minds off|our troubles.
ls it bothering you? No.
lt's kind of nice.
Thank you.
Take five, fellas.
l know 15 arrangements of that song.
|You've heard them all.
- Which one's your favourite?|- The first.
Somehow l knew you were going|to say that.
- Julian played it for you, right?|- Right.
With him as a publicist,|l'd be bigger than Elvis.
- Who?|- Never mind.
So, how's the new leg? - You know about that?|- People talk.
lf you really want to know,|it hurts.
- Can they give you something?|- No.
They say it's all in my head.
My tricorder states, ''The pain receptors|in your leg aren't being stimulated.
''You must be imagining it''.
But l don't care what they say.
|lt hurts all the time.
- l believe you.
|- You're the only one.
So what else can l do for you?|Sing it again? No.
Good.
l was starting to get|a little sick of it myself.
- How about something else?|- No, l just want to go to bed.
- OK, kid.
Catch you later, huh?|- Yeah.
Something wrong? l don't want to go back to my quarters.
Actually,|l don't want to go back to my life.
Vic Where do you live? ln the program,|l mean.
Do you have a house? - l have a suite here in the hotel.
|- Do you have an extra room? - You want to stay with me tonight?|- Maybe more than just tonight.
Officially, l'm on medical leave.
|l can choose my rehabilitation facility.
You want to choose|a holosuite program? Why not? OK, kid.
From now on,|you're staying with me.
- Great.
|- Crazy.
My son is insane.
|He's a one-legged crazy man! - He is not crazy.
|- But he is living in a holosuite.
At first,|it struck me as a little peculiar.
But l began to think|that this might be a good sign.
How can hiding in one of Julian's|programs be a good sign? lt could be worse.
|lt could be the Alamo program.
- Or that secret agent program.
|- Or that stupid Viking program.
All right.
Are you sure|this is in Nog's best interests? No, l'm not sure.
But Nog might be subconsciously|seeking out his own form of therapy.
Sorry, but moving into a holosuite|isn't my idea of therapy.
- OK, it sounds a little odd.
|- lt sounds ridiculous.
Not really.
|l agree with Ezri on this one.
The mind has a natural instinct|for survival.
Nog's has chosen to take shelter|in the world of Vic Fontaine.
- We should see how this plays out.
|- Then someone should talk to Vic.
Make him aware of Nog's emotional|and physical condition.
l'll do it.
And who's going to be paying|for all this holosuite time? - l guess l am.
|- And it's very generous of you.
Keep me informed.
He's got some healing to do.
|l spotted that the moment he walked in.
- Do you have any questions?|- You sure he doesn't need the cane? l'm positive.
|lt's a psychological need.
Then l have some ideas|on how to wean him off the stick.
- But don't push it.
|- Do l seem pushy to you? No.
You know how to reach me|if you have any problems.
l got your number.
- Hey, kid.
|- Hey, Vic.
- Have you seen this movie?|- Oh, yeah.
l've heard that you're a low-down|Yankee liar.
Shane, look out! From these books,|l can't tell if l'm rich or poor.
- lt's not real money, Vic.
|- lt's real to me, kid.
The computer can put some money|in your account.
No, thanks.
l'll figure it out.
- l've got to be going on.
|- Why, Shane? - Didn't he just get shot?|- Yeah, he took one in the arm.
He's not bleeding.
He's not even in pain.
Noggles, take it easy.
|lt's only a movie.
Shane! Come back! - l like ''The Searchers'' better.
|- Who doesn't? - l gotta get ready for the show.
|- l thought we were hanging in.
Hanging out.
We are,|except l have a gig to do.
- Cancel it.
|- l can't.
lt would be unprofessional.
Besides, performing is my life.
l gotta get out there and swing|or l'm just another clyde in a tux.
- You coming to the show?|- Sure.
Good.
Then may l suggest you carry|something with a little more style? Now this is a cane.
lt's a replica of the one Errol Flynn|used to have.
lt's beautiful.
lt reminds me|of the grand nagus' staff.
Push that button|at the back of the head.
- Great! What's it for?|- A lady might need a light.
Be careful, it's fragile.
|lt might not hold your whole weight.
Actually, l don't need to put|my whole weight on it.
- Good.
Now let's get dressed.
|- Tuxedoes? You're catching on.
- Hi.
Nog, let me introduce you to|- Sit down in front! Sorry.
Nog, this is Kesha.
Kesha, Nog.
- Nice to meet you.
|- Welcome to Las Vegas.
Thank you.
You're too kind.
That's the response you get|when you pack the house with relatives.
- What have you been doing?|- Hanging out.
- Out of what?|- lt's an expression.
There's a lot of old Earth slang|in this program.
Right, Daddy-O? Right.
l'll get us some drinks.
|Kesha, what'll you have? - A Makara fizz.
|- They don't serve that here.
- What are you having?|- Martini.
Two olives.
- l'll have the same.
|- OK.
l'll be right back.
Jake says you're going to be|the first Ferengi captain in Starfleet.
- He also says you're quite a hero.
|- l'm not a hero.
Don't be so modest.
|Everyone on the station - l said l'm not a hero.
|- OK.
Which one?|You're wondering which leg it is.
- l wasn't wondering about that.
|- About what? About your You know My new leg? Can't you say it? No.
Yes.
l mean,|l'm not trying to say anything.
Then maybe you should just keep quiet.
- Here we go.
Three martinis.
|- l think we should leave, Jake.
- Sounds like a good idea.
|- What's going on? - l didn't mean to stare.
|- At what? What do you think? - l'm sorry if l made you uncomfortable.
|- Wonderful.
Goodbye.
- She said she was sorry.
|- l heard her.
Now you can go.
- Nog, what's wrong with you?|- l said get out.
- Nog|- Let me put it another way.
Break it up.
You all right? - Yeah, l'm fine.
|- And you, take a hike.
You don't start hitting customers.
|Get out before l throw you out.
- You're still up?|- Couldn't sleep.
Do you mind? - What a night.
|- l'm sorry about what happened.
Don't apologise to me.
- l'll settle things with Jake.
|- And his girl.
Absolutely.
Can l go back|to the club tomorrow night? - You can't hit the customers.
|- l promise it'll never happen again.
- What got into you, anyway?|- l don't know.
She started calling me a hero|and things went downhill from there.
She called you a hero? And for that|you slugged your best friend? Remind me never to give you|a compliment.
l'm beat.
|That's never happened to me.
- What?|- Being tired.
My program's never run this long.
People ask for a song,|sometimes a night on the town, but l never put in a full day.
- Maybe you should go to bed.
|- l got work to do.
lf l don't get these books in order, Uncle Sam will come down on me|like a ton of bricks.
Sounds like my uncle.
|ls there anything l can do? - Know anything about bookkeeping?|- l'm a Ferengi.
lt's in our blood.
- Be my guest.
|- Where's your computer? Right here.
lt's 1962.
|What do you want from me? - lt's all right.
l can do it this way.
|- l'm going to hit the sack.
- Can l ask you a question, Vic?|- Sure.
When you sleep, do you dream? Goodnight, kid.
Goodnight, Vic.
He doesn't realise that Frank|has printed in big, bold letters l'll finish the story later.
|Hi, doll face.
- Hi.
Where's Nog?|- Working on the receipts from '61.
He's a hell of an accountant.
He said|the government owes me money.
l need to talk to him.
- Can it wait?|- l'm afraid not.
ls Jake pressing charges? No.
But l think it's time|for Nog to leave the holosuite.
He likes it here.
OK, he lost his cool,|but it won't happen again.
Vic, he can't hide in here forever.
|He has to face reality sometime.
The kid's had too much reality.
|He's lost a leg, watched friends die.
We shouldn't push him.
|He needs time to heal.
No offence, but you're a hologram.
|l'm his counsellor.
l outrank you|and l feel it's time for him to go.
He's on medical leave.
According to regulations,|he can spend it wherever he chooses.
- How do you know that?|- l told him.
lf you force me to leave,|l'll resign my commission.
No one's talking about forcing|anyone to do anything.
Good.
|Because Vic and l have big plans.
We do? This place is a latinum mine|and you don't even know it.
ln my opinion,|it's time to expand the business.
- Nog, this is a holosuite.
|- Of course it's a holosuite.
But that doesn't mean|we can't build a new casino.
A new casino?|How much money do l have? lf you'll excuse us, counsellor.
|We have business to conduct.
Go easy on the garnishes.
People|don't want a fruit bowl in their glass.
We'll talk about this later.
l'll take care of them.
|Long time, no see.
Oh, Nog.
Right this way.
- So how are you?|- Couldn't be better.
We're making money.
l can hardly|keep up with all the profits.
- Those are holographic profits, right?|- Yeah.
So, what's new with you? - Well, Rom got a promotion.
|- Maintenance Engineer, First Class.
- That's great! Congratulations, Dad.
|- Thanks.
We should celebrate.
|We'll have a private party.
Actually, Chief O'Brien|threw him a party last night.
lt was a spur of the moment thing.
|No invitations.
l probably couldn't have gotten away.
|Last night was really busy.
A big player just walked in.
|Excuse me.
l need to go schmooze.
- OK.
See you later.
|- Bye.
- Hey.
l hope you're still talking to me.
|- Of course l am.
You've done a great job with him.
|He seems like a new man.
- He just needed a little time.
|- Heals all wounds, right? That cane was a great idea.
|l haven't seen him limp in days.
Yesterday, we saw the architect|who's designing the casino.
- He ran up a flight of stairs.
|- No kidding.
- Would l kid a kidder?|- So what's next for you two? We don't break ground|on the casino for a week so l thought we'd fly up to Tahoe.
Sammy's performing up there.
|l'll introduce the kid to him.
- Sammy's a friend of yours?|- We're tight.
You're going to get Sammy to convince|him it's time to leave the holosuite? - Well, no|- Forget it.
l should know better than to ask you|to give away your secrets.
What am l thinking? That this new|casino is anything more than a ploy? That you'd let him live out the rest|of his life in a holosuite? No, of course not.
The casino's just a ploy,|like you said.
- They'll be so glad to have him back.
|- Yeah.
- He is better, isn't he?|- He just needed a break from reality.
Now all that's left is to decide|when he's ready to go back.
But l'll leave that up to you.
|See you around.
See ya.
- Great set tonight, Vic.
|- Thanks.
Lots of familiar faces.
- Did l see Rom and Leeta?|- They came for a while.
How about moving the crap tables|to the south wing and expanding the slot machines|out into here? Good idea.
l'll think it over.
But we're meeting the architect|tomorrow morning.
Not any more.
|lt's time for you to go, kid.
lt's time to end the program.
But we've got work to do.
|We have a casino to build.
No we don't.
This is just a fantasy.
|lt's not real.
lt's real to me and it's real to you.
|And don't say it isn't.
You're right.
lt's very real to me.
But l'm a hologram, Nog.
|l'm not a person.
Until you came along, l'd never been on|for more than seven hours.
Now you're running all the time.
|lsn't it great? lt's incredible.
Since you've been here,|l've slept in a bed every night, had time to read the paper.
|l've had a life.
And l have to tell you,|it's a precious thing.
l had no idea|how much it means to just live.
Now l'm going to return the favour|and give you your life back.
But l don't want that life any more, Vic.
|l'm perfectly happy here.
What ''here''? There is no ''here''.
|Don't you get it? This is nowhere.
|lt's an illusion.
And so am l.
The only thing in this program|that is not an illusion is you.
OK.
You're right! But l'm not ready to go back yet.
|l need more time.
Let's just sleep on this|and talk about it tomorrow.
l hate to do this,|but you're not giving me a choice.
- Computerend program.
|- No, don't! - Hi, Nog.
|- Chief.
Something wrong? No.
l was running a diagnostic in ops and l noticed an anomaly in the|holosuite trans-illuminator circuits.
Sorry.
l'm having trouble getting|the Las Vegas program to run.
Vic's matrix is a little different than|your standard photokinetic hologram.
He can turn himself off.
lf he doesn't|want to appear, he doesn't.
- He has free will?|- l'm an engineer, not a philosopher.
All l know is that when Vic turns|himself off, he's off.
Ripping out the guts of the holosuite|won't change that.
- Anything else l can do for you?|- No.
- We all miss you in ops.
|- Yeah.
Now that the chief's told you|l'm smarter than the average bear, will you stop messing around? lf you turn the program back on.
What is it l'm not making clear|to you, Charlie? You gotta go.
Don't you get it?|l can't go out there.
Why not? l'm scared.
OK? l'm scared.
When the war began,|l wasn't happy or anything, but l was eager.
l wanted to test myself.
l wanted to prove l had what it took|to be a soldier.
l saw a lot of combat.
l saw a lot of people get hurt.
l saw a lot of people die.
But l didn't think anything|was going to happen to me.
Then suddenly Dr Bashir is telling me|he has to cut my leg off.
l couldn't believe it.
|l still can't believe it.
lf l can get shot,|if l can lose my leg, anything can happen to me, Vic.
l could die tomorrow.
l don't know if l'm ready to face that.
lf l stay here, at least l know|what the future is going to be like.
You stay here, you're going to die.
Not all at once, but little by little.
Eventually you'll become|as hollow as l am.
- You don't seem hollow to me.
|- l'm hollow as a snare drum.
l don't know what's going to happen|to you out there.
All l can tell you is that you've got|to play the cards life deals you.
Sometimes you win,|sometimes you lose.
But at least you're in the game.
Crazy.
- He seemed happy.
|- And he's stopped limping.
He's a new man.
|You should go see him.
l don't think l'll need to.
- Hi.
|- Hi.
- Are you OK?|- No.
But l will be.
Computer, run program Bashir '62.
- Hi, kid.
Nice threads.
|- Thanks.
- You back at work?|- Just a couple of hours a day.
- How's it feel?|- Different.
l feel older.
- Happens to the best of us.
|- l want to thank you for all you did.
That's not necessary.
You gave me a chance|to see what it's like to have a life.
You'll have that chance again.
|l've made arrangements to keep your program running|26 hours a day from now on.
- lt's my gift to you.
|- Kid, l don't know what to say.
Just put it there and tell me|you'll always save me a seat up front.
lt's a deal.
And you can take|that to the bank.
Gotta go.
Buying Jake and Kesha|dinner tonight.
- Try not to overturn the furniture.
|- l'll try.