- [about the Borg encountered on Ohniaka III]
- Commander William T. Riker: They were fast, aggressive, almost vicious. It was more like fighting Klingons than...
- [realizes]
- Commander William T. Riker: ... Borg.
- [to Worf]
- Commander William T. Riker: No offense.
- Lieutenant Worf: None taken.
- Captain Jean-Luc Picard: Data!
- Counselor Deanna Troi: That's not Data.
- Captain Jean-Luc Picard: What?
- Lore: You should listen to her, Captain. She's way ahead of you.
- Captain Jean-Luc Picard: Lore!
- Lore: Right! But I am not alone.
- [Data stands next to Lore]
- Lt. Cmdr. Data: The sons of Soong have joined together; and together... we will *destroy* the Federation!
- Commander William T. Riker: Data? Data, are you all right?
- Lt. Cmdr. Data: Yes, sir.
- Commander William T. Riker: What happened?
- Lt. Cmdr. Data: I got angry...
- Captain Jean-Luc Picard: He was here in this room, Will. I could have rid the Federation of a mortal threat, and I let him go.
- Commander William T. Riker: Sending Hugh back to the Borg was a very risky... a very dangerous choice. But it was the moral thing to do.
- Captain Jean-Luc Picard: Well, it may turn out that the moral thing to do was not the right thing to do.
- Crosis: You'd do anything to feel that way again, even if it meant killing someone?
- Lt. Cmdr. Data: No. That would not be ethical.
- Crosis: You don't sound very sure of yourself. Is your ethical program functioning? Data? Do you have a friend?
- Lt. Cmdr. Data: Yes. His name is Geordi.
- Crosis: If it meant that you could feel emotions again - the way you did on Ohniaka III - would you kill your friend? Would you kill Geordi?
- Lt. Cmdr. Data: Yes... I would.
- Counselor Deanna Troi: I don't think that an exploration of anger need necessarily lead to hatred or malice.
- Lt. Cmdr. Data: But what if it does, Counselor? What if those are the only emotions I am capable of experiencing? Would that not make me a bad person?
- Counselor Deanna Troi: We've served together for a long time; and I think I've come to know you pretty well. I have to believe, if you ever reach your goal of becoming human... you won't become a bad one.
- [the New Berlin Colony has sent out a false alarm, mistaking a Ferengi trading ship for a potential aggressor]
- Captain Jean-Luc Picard: Mr. Worf, acknowledge the signal from New Berlin, and transmit another copy of Starfleet's ship recognition protocols, and tell them to read it this time!
- Prof. Stephen Hawking: I raise 50.
- Isaac Newton: Blast! I fold.
- Lt. Cmdr. Data: I fold as well.
- Albert Einstein: The uncertainty principle will not help you now, Stephen. Hmm? All the quantum fluctuations in the universe will not change the cards in your hand. I call. You are bluffing and you will lose!
- Prof. Stephen Hawking: Wrong again, Albert.
- [presents a hand of four 7s]
- Albert Einstein: Vell.
- Isaac Newton: I invented physics. The day that apple fell on my head was the most momentous day in the history of science.
- Prof. Stephen Hawking: Not the apple story again.
- Lt. Cmdr. Data: That story is generally considered to be apocryphal.
- Isaac Newton: [insulted] What? How dare you!
- Albert Einstein: [working out how much the next bet in the game is] Now, let's see, where were we? Yes, you raised Mr. Data four. Which means that, erm, the bet is seven... to me?
- Isaac Newton: [frustrated] The bet is ten. Can't you do simple arithmetic?
- [Data has tried with various methods to evoke different emotions in himself, without success]
- Counselor Deanna Troi: I'm curious. Why're you ignoring the one emotion you've already experienced? Why aren't you trying to make yourself angry again?
- Lt. Cmdr. Data: Anger is a negative emotion. I wanted to concentrate on something more positive.
- Counselor Deanna Troi: Data - feelings aren't positive and negative. They simply exist. It's what we do with those feelings that becomes good or bad.
- Lt. Cmdr. Data: [on his 'other' emotion] It was just after I had killed the Borg. I looked down at his body... I felt something.
- Counselor Deanna Troi: If you had to give this... feeling a name - what would you call it?
- Lt. Cmdr. Data: I believe... it was... pleasure...
- Tayar: [analyzing his opposition] Artificial life form. Starfleet rank: Lieutenant Commander. Name: Data.
- Crosis: How did it feel to get angry? Did it give you pleasure?
- Lt. Cmdr. Data: It would be unethical to take pleasure in another being's death.
- Crosis: You didn't answer my question. Did it feel good to kill?
- Lt. Cmdr. Data: Yes...
- Crosis: If it is unethical to take pleasure from another being's death, you must be a very unethical person.
- [Picard is on his way on an away mission, leaving a skeleton crew aboard the Enterprise]
- Doctor Beverly Crusher: Good luck, Jean-Luc.
- Captain Jean-Luc Picard: Good luck - "Captain"!
- Captain Jean-Luc Picard: What is your designation?
- Crosis: I do not have a designation. My name is Crosis.
- Captain Jean-Luc Picard: Crosis? How did you get that name?
- Crosis: It was given to me by the One.
- Captain Jean-Luc Picard: Who is that?
- Crosis: The One who will destroy you.
- [first lines]
- Prof. Stephen Hawking: ...But then I said, "In that frame of reference, the perihelion of Mercury would have precessed in the opposite direction."
- Albert Einstein: [laughs] That is a great story.
- Lt. Cmdr. Data: Quite amusing, Dr. Hawking.
- [Isaac Newton doesn't seem to get the joke]
- Lt. Cmdr. Data: You see, Sir Isaac, the joke depends on an understanding of the relativistic curvature of space-time. If two non-inertial reference frames are in relative motion...
- Isaac Newton: Do not patronise me, sir. I invented physics.
- Lt. Cmdr. Data: Geordi, I believe I have experienced my first emotion.
- Lt. Commander Geordi La Forge: No offense, Data, but how would you know a flash of anger from some odd kind of power surge?
- Lt. Cmdr. Data: You are correct in that I have no frame of reference to confirm my hypothesis. In fact, I am unable to provide a verbal description of the experience. Perhaps you could describe how it feels to be angry. I could then use that as a reference.
- Lt. Commander Geordi La Forge: Yeah, okay. Well, when I feel angry, first I uh, first I feel... hostile.
- Lt. Cmdr. Data: Could you describe feeling hostile?
- Lt. Commander Geordi La Forge: Well yeah, it's like feeling... beligerent, combative.
- Lt. Cmdr. Data: Could you describe feeling angry without referring to other feelings?
- Lt. Commander Geordi La Forge: No, I... I guess I can't. I just... feel angry.
- Lt. Cmdr. Data: That was my experience as well. I simply... felt angry.
- Lt. Cmdr. Data: Perhaps I have evolved to the point where emotions are within my grasp. Perhaps I will experience other emotions as time goes by.
- Lt. Commander Geordi La Forge: Well, I hope you're right. I'd hate to think that anger is all you're capable of feeling.
- Admiral Alynna Nechayev: Captain, I've read the report you submitted to Admiral Brooks last year... regarding the Borg you named Hugh. And I've been trying to figure out why you let him go.
- Captain Jean-Luc Picard: I thought I made my reasons clear.
- Admiral Alynna Nechayev: As I understand it, you found an injured Borg at a crash site, brought it aboard the Enterprise. Studied it. Analysed it. And then eventually, found a way to send it back to the Borg with a program that would have destroyed the entire Collective once and for all. But instead, you nursed the Borg back to health, treated it like a guest, gave it a name and then sent it home. Why?
- Captain Jean-Luc Picard: Once Hugh was separated from the Borg Collective he began to grow and evolve into something other than an automaton. He became a person. When that happened, I felt I had no choice but to respect his rights as an individual.
- Admiral Alynna Nechayev: Of course you had a choice. You could have taken the opportunity to rid the Federation of a mortal enemy. One that has killed tens of thousands of innocent people and may kill even more.
- Captain Jean-Luc Picard: No-one is more aware of the danger than I am. But I am also bound by my oath and my conscience to uphold certain principles. And I will not sacrifice them in order to...
- Admiral Alynna Nechayev: [interrupting] Your priority is to safeguard the lives of Federation citizens. Not to wrestle with your conscience. Now I want to make it clear, that if you have a similar opportunity in the future... an opportunity to destroy the Borg... you are under orders to take advantage of it. Is that understood?
- Captain Jean-Luc Picard: [rising from his desk] Yes sir.
- [Nechayev leaves without saying another word]
- Lt. Cmdr. Data: For the past six hours, I have attempted to produce an emotional response by subjecting myself to various stimuli.
- Counselor Troi: Like what?
- Lt. Cmdr. Data: I listened to several operas known to be uplifting, I watched three holodeck programmes designed to be humorous and I made four attempts to induce sexual desire by subjecting myself to erotic imagery.
- Counselor Troi: What happened?
- Lt. Cmdr. Data: Nothing.