Trek It!
Page 26
Uh, Synth?
SYNTH
(off-screen)
Yes, Rudy?
RUDY
(stunned, staring)
Did you just lie to Ellen Ferris?
SYNTH
(still off-screen)
Why do you ask, Rudy?
RUDY
Your nose…
SYNTH
What about it, Rudy?
RUDY
(as camera begins slow sweep around from back of Synth’s head)
It’s GROWING.
Camera continues to dolly around SYNTH’s head, stopping on a closeup of his face, revealing his enlarged nose. It has elongated by about two inches.
***CUT TO STANDARD OPEN***
*****
ACT I
Exterior INFINITUDE; voice over (vo) CAPTAIN JEAN-LUC PHILIPPE
PHILIPPE
Captain’s Journal: The INFINITUDE is en route to a cluster of unexplored systems in Quadrant One-One-Six-Zed-Alpha. We will be investigating several Class-M planets which have been detected by frontier observatories…and we will also attempt to trace a series of radio signals which may originate from intelligent life in the quadrant.
As we set out to resolve the mystery of these signals, I find that one of my officers is involved in a mystery of his own…
INT.: A DIAGNOSTIC LAB IN ENGINEERING. SYNTH is seated, with cables attached to his head and a sensor array surrounding his face. RUDY is examining him and consulting a scanalyzer and other equipment. PHILIPPE, COMMANDER WILL HARBINGER AND DOCTOR ERIN MCNALLY are observing.
SYNTH’s nose is about an inch longer than it was at the end of the teaser.
RUDY
Well, it’s still growing, all right.
HARBINGER
At what rate, Rudy?
RUDY
About a centimeter every fifteen minutes. It’s a constant rate, anyway. It hasn’t changed since I started examining Synth.
HARBINGER
You said the condition’s confined to his nose?
RUDY
That’s right. There’s no abnormality anywhere else on his body.
MCNALLY
(staring thoughtfully at SYNTH)
Amazing. This reminds me of a story I heard when I was a little girl. It was about a puppet called “Pinocchio” who wanted to be a real boy, and whenever he told a lie, his nose grew.
SYNTH
That is interesting, Doctor. However, I told no lie. All compliments which I made regarding Ensign Ferris’ headwear were genuine. In fact, my programming discourages lying except in certain special circumstances…for example, when I am ordered by a superior officer not to tell the truth.
RUDY
It was a crazy coincidence, though. It seemed like you might be practicing the “little white lies” we were talking about…and right on cue, your nose got bigger.
SYNTH
I did not lie.
HARBINGER
You still don’t understand what’s causing this, Rudy?
RUDY
Not really, Commander. I understand some of what’s happening, but I don’t know what triggered the process or what’s prolonging it.
HARBINGER
What do you know so far, then?
RUDY
Well, the matter in Synth’s nose is spontaneously expanding. There’s a steady influx of subatomic particles – from where, I don’t know – and these particles are forming atoms, and these atoms are joining into molecules which precisely duplicate the synthetic molecules of Synth’s nose. Somehow, the new molecules are bonding with the original ones, increasing the mass of the nose. As if that wasn’t strange enough, the molecules are moving in an organized fashion, preserving the nose’s basic structure. There’s no radical distortion…just a lengthening of the original form.
PHILIPPE
Why is that strange?
RUDY
Well, it’s hard to believe that it’s happening to begin with…but it’s even harder to believe that a phenomenon originating at a subatomic level could result in such a specific and precise change. Aside from the extension, there are no irregularities in the shape of the nose. It’s as if something was…sculpting Synth’s features.
HARBINGER
What could be causing such an effect, though?
RUDY
I have no idea, Commander. Like I said, I can’t even tell where the subatomic particles are coming from. They just seem to…materialize out of nowhere. We can detect them when they appear, but we can’t trace their source.
HARBINGER
They have to be coming from somewhere, don’t they? Matter doesn’t just spontaneously form.
SYNTH
It is possible that these particles are being generated by accretions of particles which are even smaller…too small for our instruments to detect. It has been theorized that subatomic structure extends far beyond the range of even our most sensitive instruments…perhaps, even to infinity, with an infinite number of smaller and smaller particles nested within each atom.
RUDY
In which case, the new matter could be coming from just about anywhere. If it’s being formed by accumulations of
super-subatomic particles that we can’t detect, it would seem to materialize out of nowhere, just like it’s been doing…but we might never locate its source.
PHILIPPE
Do you have any theories about the source of this new matter, or what could be causing it to behave in this fashion?
RUDY
Not really. I’ve never seen anything like this before.
PHILIPPE
Could it be some sort of malfunction of Mr. Synth’s android body?
SYNTH
We have already discounted that possibility. Rudy and I have run every diagnostic available, several times, and we have detected no malfunction in any part of my body. Even if there were a malfunction, I do not believe that it could possibly produce this particular effect.
HARBINGER
What if it’s not a mechanical malfunction? Could the materials that you’re made of be unstable in some way? Could they change or decay for any reason?
SYNTH
Commander, the materials are changing…but for what reason, I cannot say. None of my components are inherently unstable. As for decay, that will happen. Parts will wear out…but not for a very long time, and not in this matter.
MCNALLY
Could some kind of radiation do this?
RUDY
I doubt it. If it’s radiation, it’s a type I’ve never encountered before.
MCNALLY
Maybe it’s some form of virus or disease organism, something that attacks and mutates molecular structures like Synth’s.
RUDY
Maybe…but it would have to be super-subatomic, or we’d have found some trace of it…in which case, we’re no further along, because I still have no way to detect anything on a super-subatomic level.
PHILIPPE
Maybe this is the work of Stargod.
HARBINGER
(surprised and angry)
Don’t tell me he’s paid you a visit again!
PHILIPPE
No, no. It’s just that this seems like something right out of his bag of tricks.
MCNALLY
It wouldn’t be like him not to pop in immediately to take credit for it, though.
PHILIPPE
That’s true, Doctor…but, perhaps some other intelligent and equally meddlesome lifeform is responsible. It certainly seems that this is no natural phenomenon. As Rudy said, it’s as if something…or someone…is sculpting Synth’s features.
HARBINGER
Well, I certainly hope it isn’t Stargod again.
PHILIPPE
As do I.
(pauses)
Rudy, does Synth’s condition pose any kind of threat to Mr. Synth himself or to anyone else?
RUDY
I honestly don’t know, Captain. Right now, the effect is confined to Synth’s
nose, and all it’s done is make the nose grow…but without more information about what’s causing it, we can’t predict what might happen next.
PHILIPPE
Mr. Synth, has this effect caused you any…discomfort yet?
SYNTH
No, sir…but I would have to say that it has been inconvenient. I have experienced a slight loss of mobility. Because I have not yet adjusted to my longer proboscis, I have tended to…bump into things more often.
RUDY
And bump into people. You almost took out Lieutenant Bell’s eye with that thing.
Everyone smirks, clears throats, stifles laughs.
PHILIPPE
Well then, since, aside from the… inconvenience…there seems to be no immediate threat, and since there seems to be nothing more that we can do without more information, Mr. Reneau, I want you to do everything you can to obtain that information.
RUDY
I really don’t know what else to try, Captain.
MCNALLY
How about if we try some scans in Medlab? Maybe we’ll have better luck with the equipment there if there’s a biological agent at work.
HARBINGER
I can check the teleporter biofilter records, see if there’s any chance that a contaminant got through the last time Synth was off-ship.
PHILIPPE
We should also step up security measures and sensor sweeps of the ship and surrounding quadrant. If some lifeform or force is behind this, I want to know what it is…and I want to be ready for whatever it might do next.
PHILIPPE heads out and HARBINGER follows.
MCNALLY
I’ll meet you in Medlab.
MCNALLY exits.
RUDY
Let’s try those diagnostics one more time, Synth. Maybe we missed something.
SYNTH
That is unlikely, given the number of times that we have already run every test.
RUDY
(sighs)
I know…but let’s give it a go anyway.
*****
ACT I, SCENE 2
INT. MEDLAB
MCNALLY is peering into some kind of scope. RUDY is looking over her shoulder.
MCNALLY
Damn. There’s nothing, Rudy…no sign of any kind of disease organism…nothing recognizable as one, anyway.
RUDY
So much for that theory.
MCNALLY
I can’t find any biological agent anywhere in Synth. In fact, there’s absolutely nothing there that shouldn’t be there…except the new matter in his nose…
RUDY
Which is identical to the original matter, except when it first forms.
MCNALLY
Right. I can see the subatomic particles appearing, then linking into atoms and molecules…but after that, the new matter mixes with the original, and the two are impossible to tell apart.
RUDY
What about the growth rate?
MCNALLY
Still the same. A centimeter every fifteen minutes.
RUDY
(disappointed)
Great. I was hoping for a slowdown.
SYNTH
(off-screen)
That is very interesting.
RUDY
What, Synth?
SYNTH is lying on a diagnostic bed. His nose is almost a foot long.
SYNTH
Growth. I find it very interesting. Most lifeforms grow physically in one way or another. Humans, for example, undergo an overall growth of their bodies from conception through adulthood…and certain parts of their bodies, such as the hair and nails, continually grow. As an android, I have never before experienced this. My synthetic components have never grown…until now.
RUDY
Synth, do you mean to tell me you’re actually enjoying this?
SYNTH
I can not enjoy, Rudy. I do, however, find it to be an interesting phenomenon.
(pauses)
I…am growing.
MCNALLY
Yes, you are, Synth…and at the rate you’re growing, eventually, you won’t be able to fit in my Medlab.
SYNTH
(thinks for a moment)
That is correct, Doctor. Eventually, I will not be able to fit on the Infinitude, either.
MCNALLY
That’s an…interesting image, Synth.
RUDY
Well, I’m out of ideas. I really don’t know what else we can try.
MCNALLY
I think it’s time for surgery, Rudy. We don’t understand what’s causing Synth’s condition, but at least it hasn’t spread to any other part of him…so we ought to remove the nose before the condition does spread.
RUDY
I agree. It’ll be easy enough, anyway.
The Medlab door opens, and HARBINGER and LIEUTENANT TORK enter.
HARBINGER
I didn’t find anything unusual in the biofilter logs. If Synth did pick something up somewhere and brought it back with him, there’s no trace of it coming through the teleporter.
TORK
Sensor sweeps have detected nothing, either. There are no anomalies aboard ship or in surrounding space.
HARBINGER
Have you come up with anything?
RUDY
No, sir. We haven’t had any luck at all.
MCNALLY
We’ve just decided to remove Synth’s nose. So long as there’s any chance of the condition spreading, I think it’s best if we separate and isolate the affected part.
HARBINGER
Agreed. There’s no use in further risking Mr. Synth.
RUDY
Okay, then. Doctor, I’ll remove it. You get it right into a quarantine field.
MCNALLY
Right.
RUDY and MCNALLY move to get tools and set up the quarantine field.
SYNTH
(off-screen)
Rudy?
RUDY
(turning)
What, Synth?
SYNTH
I think that something is happen…
(he goes dead)
SYNTH lies slack on the diagnostic table. His nose is surrounded by a faint silvery glow.
HARBINGER
Synth? Synth?
RUDY grabs a scanalyzer and steps toward SYNTH, watching the readouts.
RUDY
He’s been completely deactivated. All of his systems have shut down.
HARBINGER
Why? What happened?
RUDY
I don’t know. According to the scanalyzer, the effect in his nose is unchanged and still hasn’t spread. I’m not picking up anything new… not even that glow. It just isn’t showing up on the scanalyzer.
HARBINGER
We can all see it. It’s visible light. It has to show up.
RUDY
Well, it hasn’t. According to the readouts, there’s nothing there.
MCNALLY
It’s expanding. It’s getting brighter, too.
Suddenly, everyone gasps and clutches their heads. They wince, stagger, moan under the influence of terrible headaches.
HARBINGER
(in pain)
Rudy! What’s happening?
RUDY
(struggling to read scanalyzer)
According to the scanalyzer, nothing!
TORK
Nothing? My head feels as if it is about to split open!
HARBINGER
Everybody out of here! Move!
(he activates his communi-link, a communications badge on the left shoulder of his uniform)
Teleporter room! Lock in on Mr. Synth in Medlab! Beam him directly to a containment cell on my mark!
MCNALLY
(gazing at Synth)
James, look!
The glow around SYNTH’s nose flares brightly, then leaps up and away from him; his nose returns to normal. The glow is now brighter than ever; it splits into two spheres of silvery energy which hover over SYNTH for an instant. The sphe
res then swoop and flash about the room, diving in and out of equipment and furniture; they fly through RUDY, MCNALLY, and HARBINGER in turn.
Finally, the spheres disappear into two diagnostic beds. The beds flare…and when the brilliant light fades, the beds are gone. In their place stand two humans – a black male with a trim beard and a white female with red hair. The male wears a red Astrofleet uniform; the female wears the same blue outfit that MCNALLY wears.
The crew in Medlab stop wincing and staggering. They all gape at the newcomers.
NEWCOMERS
(in unison)
Hello.
*****
ACT II
INT. MEDLAB
Now that the fireworks have subsided, the two newcomers stand and gaze at their surroundings. They are both beaming with childlike delight and wonder.