Remus

[Romulan Senate chamber]

SHINZON: 

The Romulans had somehow gained possession of your DNA 

and I had been created, and when I was ready 

they were going to replace you with me. 

Put a Romulan agent 

at the heart of Starfleet. 

It was a bold plan.

PICARD: 

What happened?

SHINZON: 

As happens frequently here on Romulus, 

a new government came to power. 

They decided to abandon the plan. 

They were afraid that I might be discovered and that it would lead to war. 

...Not quite the face you remember.

PICARD: 

Not quite.

SHINZON: 

A lifetime of violence will do that. 

They broke my nose, my jaw. 

...But so much is the same. 

The eyes, surely you recognise the eyes.

PICARD: 

Yes.

SHINZON: 

Our eyes reflect our lives, don't they? 

And yours, so confident!

PICARD: 

…so I'm not as tall as you expected?

SHINZON: 

I had always hoped I would be two metres.

PICARD: 

As had I.

PICARD: 

How did you end up on Remus?

SHINZON: 

They sent me there to die. 

How could a mere human survive the dilithium mines? 

Not that it mattered, as I was no longer part of their plans against the Federation. 

In those terrible depths lived only The Damned. 

Together with the Reman slaves I was condemned to an existence of unceasing labour and starvation under the brutal heel of the Romulan guards. 

Only The Very Strongest had any Hope of Survival. 

I was only a child when they took me.

Then I didn't see the sun or stars again for nearly ten years. 

The only thing the Romulan guards hated more than the Remans... 

...was me. 

But one man took pity on me. 

The Man that became My Viceroy. 

He protected me from the cruelty of the guards. 

He taught me How to Survive.

And in that dark place where there was nothing of myself, 

I found my Reman brothers.

They showed me the only True Kindness I had ever known.

PICARD: 

You're doing this to liberate The Remans.

SHINZON: 

That is the single thought behind everything I have done. 

From building the Scimitar at a secret base to assembling my army. Finally coming to Romulus in force. 

I knew they would never give us Our Freedom — I would have to take it!

PICARD: 

But how many Romulans died for Your Freedom?

SHINZON: 

…Too many. But The Point is, finally 

The Empire is realising there is a better way. 

And that way is Peace. 

...You Don't Trust Me.

PICARD: 

I have no reason to.

SHINZON: 

You have every reason. 

If you had Lived My Life 

and experienced 

The Suffering of My People, 

You'd Be Standing Where I am.

PICARD: 

If you had lived My Life, you would understand 

My Responsibility to The Federation. 

I cannot allow My Personal Feelings to unduly influence My Decisions.

SHINZON: 

All I have are my personal feelings. 

I want to know what it means to be Human. 

The Remans have given me a future. You can tell me about my past.

PICARD: 

I can tell you about my past.

SHINZON: 

Were we Picards always warriors?

PICARD: 

I think of myself as an explorer.

SHINZON: 

Well, were we always explorers?

PICARD: 

I was the first Picard to leave our solar system. 

It caused quite a stir in the family, but I'd spent my youth...

SHINZON: 

...looking up at the stars, dreaming about what was up there, about...

PICARD: 

..new worlds. .

...I'm trying to believe you, Shinzon. 

...If there is one ideal the Federation holds most dear is that all men, all races, can be united. 

...What better example. 

A Starfleet Captain standing in the Romulan Senate. 

...Nothing would make me more proud than to take your hand in friendship. 

In time, when that trust has been earned.