late 14c., "first, original, first in order of time," from Old French prime and directly from Latin primus "first, the first, first part," figuratively "chief, principal; excellent, distinguished, noble" (source also of Italian and Spanish primo), from Proto-Italic *prismos, superlative of PIE *preis- "before," from root *per- (1) "forward," hence "in front of, before, first, chief."
The meaning "of fine quality, of the first excellence" is from c. 1400. The meaning "first in rank, degree, or importance" is from 1610s in English. Arithmetical sense (as in prime number, one indivisible without a remainder except by 1) is from 1560s; prime meridian "the meridian of the earth from which longitude is measured, that of Greenwich, England," is from 1878. Prime time originally (c. 1500) meant "spring time;" the broadcasting sense of "peak tuning-in period" is attested by 1961.
prime (n.)
"earliest canonical hour of the day" (6 a.m.), from Old English prim and Old French prime and directly from Medieval Latin prima "the first service," from Latin prima hora "the first hour" (of the Roman day), from Latin primus "first, the first, first part" (see prime (adj.)). (In classical Latin, the noun uses of the adjective meant "first part, beginning; leading place.")
By extension, "the first division of the day" 6 a.m. to 9 a.m. (early 13c.). The sense of "beginning of a period or course of events" is from late 14c. From the notion of "the period or condition of greatest vigor in life" (by 1530s) comes the specific sense "springtime of human life" (often meaning ages roughly 21 to 28) is from 1590s. Also from 1590s as "that which is best in quality, highest or most perfect state of anything." As "a prime number," by 1530s.
prime (v.)
"to fill, charge, load" (a weapon, before firing), 1510s, probably from prime (adj.). General sense of "perform the first operation on, prepare (something, especially wood, etc., for painting)" is from c. 1600. To prime a pump (1769) meant to pour water down the tube, which saturated the sucking mechanism and made it draw up water more readily.
Related: Primed; priming.
Genesis Chapter 4
And Adam knew Eve his wife; and she conceived, and bare Cain, and said, I have gotten a man from the LORD.
And she again bare his brother Abel. And Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground.
And in process of time it came to pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the LORD.
And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. And the LORD had respect unto Abel and to his offering:
But unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect. And Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell.
And the LORD said unto Cain, Why art thou wroth? and why is thy countenance fallen?
If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him.
And Cain talked with Abel his brother : and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother, and slew him.
And the LORD said unto Cain, Where is Abel thy brother? And he said, I know not: Am I my brother's keeper?
And he said, What hast thou done? the voice of thy brother's blood crieth unto me from the ground.
And now art thou cursed from the earth, which hath opened her mouth to receive thy brother's blood from thy hand;
When thou tillest the ground, it shall not henceforth yield unto thee her strength; a fugitive and a vagabond shalt thou be in the earth.
And Cain said unto the LORD, My punishment is greater than I can bear.
“Behold, Thou hast driven me out this day from the face of the earth; and from thy face shall I be hid; and I shall be a fugitive and a vagabond in the earth; and it shall come to pass, that every one that findeth me shall slay me.
And the LORD said unto him, Therefore whosoever slayeth Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold. And the LORD set a mark upon Cain, lest any finding him should kill him.
And Cain went out from the presence of the LORD, and dwelt in the land of Nod, on the east of Eden.
And Cain knew his wife; and she conceived, and bare Enoch: and he builded a city, and called the name of the city, after the name of his son, Enoch.
And unto Enoch was born Irad: and Irad begat Mehujael: and Mehujael begat Methusael: and Methusael begat Lamech.
And Lamech took unto him two wives: the name of the one was Adah, and the name of the other Zillah.
And Adah bare Jabal: he was the father of such as dwell in tents, and of such as have cattle.
And his brother's name was Jubal: he was the father of all such as handle the harp and organ.
And Zillah, she also bare Tubalcain, an instructer of every artificer in brass and iron: and the sister of Tubalcain was Naamah.
And Lamech said unto his wives, Adah and Zillah, Hear my voice; ye wives of Lamech, hearken unto my speech: for I have slain a man to my wounding, and a young man to my hurt.
If Cain shall be avenged sevenfold, truly Lamech seventy and sevenfold.
And Adam knew his wife again; and she bare a son, and called his name Seth: For God, said she, hath appointed me another seed instead of Abel, whom Cain slew.
And to Seth, to him also there was born a son; and he called his name Enos: then began men to call upon the name of the LORD.
"And Adam knew Eve his wife;
and she conceived, and bare Cain, and said,
“I have gotten a man from the Lord.”
This is after Adam and Eve have been chased out of the garden of Eden. What’s really cool about this—I really think that the Cain and Abel story is the most profound story I’ve ever read, especially given that you can tell it in 15 seconds. I won’t, because I tend not to tell stories in 15 seconds, as you may have noticed. But you can read the whole thing that quickly. It’s so densely packed that it’s actually unbelievable.
Ok, so the first thing is that Adam and Eve are not the first two human beings. Cain and Abel are the first two human beings. Adam and Eve were made by God, and they were born in paradise. It’s like, what kind of human beings are those? You don’t know any human beings like that.Human beings aren’t born in paradise and made by God. Human beings are born of other human beings. That’s the first thing. It’s post-fall. We’re out in history, now.We’re not in some archetypal beyond—although we are still, to some degree. Not to the degree that was the case with the story of Adam and Eve. We’ve already been thrown out of the garden; we’re already self-conscious; we’re already awake; we’re already covered; we’re already working. We’re full-fledged human beings. So you have the first two human beings: Cain and Abel; prototypical human beings.
What’s cool is that humanity enters history at the end of the story of Adam and Eve, and then the archetypal patterns for human behaviour are instantaneously presented.It’s absolutely mind boggling, and it’s not a very nice story. They’re hostile brothers. They’ve got their hands around each other’s throats, so to speak, or at least that’s the case in one direction. It’s a story of the first two human beings engaged in a fratricidal struggle, that ends in the death of the best one of them. That’s the story of human beings in history. If that doesn’t give you nightmares, you didn’t understand the damn story. Now, in these hostile brother stories, which are very, very common, often the older brother—Cain—has some advantages. He’s the older brother, and, in an agricultural community, the older brother generally inherited the land, and not the younger brothers. And the reason for that was, well, let’s say you have like eight sons, and you have enough land to support a bit of a family, and you divide among your eight sons, and they have eight sons, and they divide it among their eight sons. Soon, everyone has a little postage stamp that they can stand on and starve to death on. And so that just doesn’t work. You hand the land in a piece to the eldest son, and that’s just how it is. It’s tough luck for the rest of them, but at least they know they’re gonna have to go and make their own way. It’s not fair, but there’s no way of making it fair. Well, you might say the oldest son has an additional stake in the stability of the current hierarchy. He has more of a stake in the status quo. That makes him more of an emblematic representative of the status quo, and, perhaps, more likely to be blind in its favor. It’s something like that. That motif creeps up very frequently in the hostile brothers archetypal struggle. The story of Cain and Abel fits this pattern, because Cain is the one who won’t budge, and who won’t move. He’s stubborn. Whereas the younger son, who’s Abel, is often the one who’s more…Not so much of a revolutionary, but, perhaps, more of a balance between the revolutionary and the traditions, whereas the older son tends to be more traditionalist-authoritarian—in these metaphorical representations, at least. "And Adam knew Eve his wife; and she conceived, and bare Cain, and said, I have gotten a man from the Lord."
There’s the first human being: Cain. I told you that the Mesopotamians thought that mankind was made out of the blood of the worst demon that the great goddess of chaos could imagine. Well, the first human being is a murderer, and not only a murderer, but a murderer of his own brother. And so, you know, the Old Testament, that’s a hell of a harsh book. And you might think, well, maybe that’s a little bit too much to bear. And then you might think, yea, and maybe it’s true, too. So that’s something to think about.
Human beings are amazing creatures. To think about us as a plague on the planet is its own kind of bloody catastrophe—malevolent, low, quasi-genocidal metaphor. But that doesn’t mean that we aren’t without our problems. The fact that this book, that sits at the cornerstone of our culture, would present the first man as a murderer of his brother, is something that should really set you back on your heels.
“When you were young, you needed something you did not receive, and you will never receive it. And the proper attitude is mourning.” Mourning is the proper attitude, NOT BLAME. Mourning. And she says another thing, so wonderful. She says, “You know, when you came into the world, you brought this fantastic thing with you, coming from centuries and eons and you brought this amazing energy in from animal life, reptile life, other planets and everything. And this incredible energy you brought in, and your parents didn’t want it, they wanted a nice boy. They wanted a nice girl.”
You couldn’t believe it. That’s your first rejection. It’s preverbal. That’s why encounter groups won’t get to that. That’s your first rejection, and it’s profound. They didn’t want the energy you brought. They wanted a nice boy or a nice girl.
So when you’re small, you realise you can’t fight against that stuff your parents want a nice so you make up a kind of a false personality.T.S. Eliot wrote about that, The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock. You invent a false personality, and you survive. And then Alice Miller says,
“Now, please, you’ve got to forgive yourself for that, becauseyou did it TO SURVIVE, and you did the right thing. You did the right thing.” And the proof of it is that YOU’RE ALIVE RIGHT NOW.”
Quitting my day job and starting my life as a writer was a tremendous risk. It was A Fool’s Leap, A Shot in The Dark, but anything of any value in our lives – whether that be a career, a work of art, a relationship – will always start with such A Leap. And in order to be able to make it you have to put aside the fear of failingandthe desire of succeeding.”
~ Alan Moore.
God :
Enough! Both of you,
sit down. Sit down.
For all these years I've been plagued by what went wrong.
With all of your complexities, Lore,
your nuances, basic emotions seemed almost simple by comparison.
But the emotion turned, and twisted, became entangled with ambition.
Lore, if I had known you were no longer sitting in pieces on some distant shelf,
if I had known that I could simply press a button and bring you here,
I would have spent those years trying to make things right for you as well.
But all I knew of was Data.
So I worked long and hard, and now I believe I've succeeded.
This is why I brought you here, Data.
Basic emotions. Simple feelings, Data. Your feelings.
I've imagined how hard it's been for you,
living amongst beings so moved by emotion.
(Both androids stare at the tiny chip held in the tweezers)
Cain :
I don't have to imagine.
I know how hard it's been.
You'd be surprised, Data.
Feelings do funny things.
You may even learn to understand your evil brother.
To forgive him.
We will be more alike, Data,
you and I. You'll see.
I'm happy for you.
Abel :
I question your sincerity, Lore.
God :
Perhaps with this you'll learn to be more trusting, Data.
Your brother has had good reason to be bitter.
Abel :
But sir, Lore was responsible for —
God :
He wasn't given the chance that you and I were given, to live.
But now I'm sure he understands why I had to do what I had to do.
“...I began to think about Evil like, like a disease.
You know, that it goes from man to man or age to age.
Most of us walk around thinking we're incapable of any Acts of Evil and we are.
You know, we can stifle that momentary urge to kill or to hurt.
We have some kind of immunity to it.
But I think it's possible that there's...
An occurrence in somebody's life, a tragedy or a loss that leaves them vulnerable, hurts their Immunity to Evil,
and all of a sudden at that point in their lives when they're weakened —
They're open to Evil
and they can become Evil.”
“After The Navigator I wrote a book [Edge Of The Earth], started exploring more medieval imagery, and I came across engravings and so on that I hadn’t seen before.
One of them was of A Devil being cast out of someone’s mouth.
So on the plane over some of these images came to mind.
By the time I got to LA, I had a complete story.”
— Vincent Ward
MORTICOCCUS, The GOD-BACTERIUM designed to strip Earth’s Heroes of their POWERS, had no effect on a LIVING DEAD MAN.
And The Villains had been INOCULATED.
“The method, as they call it, though it was more so a germ-line procedure of singular meta-scientific complexity, had been given to them by the alien colonists as a quid pro quo. The Syndicate would help them to create a population of alien hybrids who would hide in plain sight, cloned from human ova and alien bio-material, so there would be a clone race immune to the effects of the black oil when the return to the planet began. For this, the Syndicate would be sequestered, granted a sort of immunity or asylum, given a place in the grander scheme.
They were the Vichy government to the German "Final Solution" :collaborationists whose motivation was simple, self-directed survival. These cloning operations were spread across the country, the cataloging and record-keeping done through a complex intra-institutional system that connected to every branch of government, from the Social Security Administration to the Department of Defense.
"The operation, under the working title "Purity Control," had been launched in 1948, its original conception the brainchild of German scientists given immunity themselves for war crimes, and allowed to continue the eugenic experiments that were Hitler's dark legacy.
The Syndicate had begun as a subset of a shadow intelligence agency whose original orders were to create plausible denial and an effective cover-up of Purity Control. But through 50 years, numerous U.S. and U.N. administrations, the principals began to wrest control, accumulating power and influence across international borders, such that - by 1990 - the operation ceased to have a member accountable to any one government and whose only orders would be taken from a man named Strughold, a German industrialist who had fled his homeland to northern Africa.
These men, whose knowledge and access provided control of a foreseeable future, had, in spite of this, everything to lose. Their secret work, the cloning preparations and the cataloging, constituted their greatest vulnerability: exposure. Their detection would ensure not just their own demise but a far-reaching dissolution of social and religious order around the globe.
To protect against this, The Syndicate employed methods of disinformation, using covert government programs that had been regrettably discovered, as a kind of smokescreen - a dodge or blind where the transgressions of Congress-accountable agencies served to hide their own more odious undertaking.
They had even at times used the UFO phenomenon to create a hysteria that science and the intelligentsia denounced, so completely, as to make belief in believers seem ridiculous and completely discreditable.
They had also, in a crisis, used a tool of The Colonists themselves - alien bounty hunters who policed the cloning operations and enforced rule on the countdown to colonization. A double-edged sword whose cold-blooded tactics had helped to stem a leak or threat, but who also kept a watch on The Syndicate.
A Threat in itself, as The Syndicate had something to hide that not even the colonists knew of : A Vaccine against The Black Oil, an inoculant against the substance in which the Alien Life Force was held - in fact, the very medium of The Life Force itself.
To guard this secret was perhaps even more critical than the truth of the existence of alien life, and of colonization. If The Syndicate's own secret vaccine were discovered, The Vaccine that would make themselves immune from the effects of The Black Oil, they would certainly be destroyed and the timetable for colonisation stepped up. They would protect this secret with their lives. They would kill to protect it, as it symbolized the only hope they had of avoiding enslavement when The Planet was overtaken.
That they had been able to, over decades, conduct their work on the vaccine undetected was the result of a code among the Syndicate members that put honor and the future above personal politics. But now this code was beginning to break down, an incipient scramble for power beginning to develop. A threat from within that doubled the threat from without:
from agents Mulder and Scully, and the X-files.
[Shuttlecraft]
Armus has slithered over the shuttlecraft, and Troi has found her communicator doesn't work
ARMUS [OC]:
Your friends have deserted you.
They're not coming back.
TROI:
You're wrong.
ARMUS [OC]:
I killed one of them.
TROI:
Yes. I know.
ARMUS [OC]:
How could you be in there
and know that?
TROI:
Ifelt her die.
ARMUS [OC]:
Do you want to know why I killed her?
TROI:
Your Answer would be meaningless.
That act had no reason.
ARMUS [OC]:
Exactly. It had no meaning.
I did it because I wanted to.
It amused me.
TROI:
No. You thought it would amuse you, but it didn't.
You felt no satisfaction.
ARMUS [OC]:
No. It was too easy.
TROI:
You wanted her to suffer.
You have a great need.
ARMUS [OC]:
I need nothing.
TROI:
Liar. End this. Let us go.
ARMUS [OC]:
Not yet.
TROI:
They won't give you What You Want.
ARMUS [OC]:
And what is that?
TROI:
To Break Their Spirit.
ARMUS :
Oh, is that what I want?
If breaking Their Spirit will amuse me,
then that's what I will have.
TROI:
Never.
[Observation lounge]
CRUSHER:
She didn't do anything.
Her phaser was lowered.
DATA:
She only wanted to get to Troi and Lieutenant Prieto.
RIKER:
There was nothing provocative about what she did.
CRUSHER:
She was killed in a brutal, senseless act.
PICARD:
Lieutenant Yar's death is very painful for all of us.
We will have to deal with it as best we can for now.
Until the shuttle crew is safely beamed aboard this ship,
our feelings will have to wait.
Is that understood?
Lieutenant Worf, you are now Acting Chief of Security.
WORF:
I will do my best, sir.
PICARD:
Doctor, what is the state of the shuttle crew?
CRUSHER:
We're still receiving faint life signs, but the sensor readings are fluctuating.
They may not be accurate.
DATA:
Armus is capable of creating undefined forcefields.
In effect, we are powerless to communicate or use the transporter unless it allows it.
PICARD:
A creature against whom we seem to have no defence.
Number One?
RIKER:
It's down on that planet waiting for us to come back.
It killed Tasha and it could have killed us, but it didn't.
Deanna and Ben are alive for a reason,
and it knows we're not going anywhere as long as they're still alive.
PICARD:
Are you saying it's attack on Yar was not arbitrary but part of some tactic?
RIKER:
The only way to find out is to go back down.
LAFORGE:
Commander, I may be able to see something in The Creature which might be helpful.
PICARD:
Agreed. Prepare your away team, Number One.
RIKER:
Lieutenant Worf?
WORF:
I will remain on The Ship.
The object here is not to engage the creature in battle.
The goal is the safe return of Counsellor Troi and Lieutenant Prieto.
I can best accomplish this at the Tactical Station.
PICARD:
Very good. Number One?
[Planet surface]
RIKER:
Enterprise.
PICARD [OC]:
Number One.
RIKER:
We're approaching The Shuttlecraft.
The Creature is covering it.
[Shuttlecraft]
ARMUS:
I lied to you. They came back.
TROI :
Let me Talk with Them.
ARMUS :
No.
TROI:
Why? Does The Thought of
My having contact with them
make you uneasy?
ARMUS :
No. Not being able to contact you,
not knowing if you are alive, makes them uneasy.
Can't you feel how worried they are?
TROI :
Yes. Yes, they are worried.
ARMUS :
They Care for You.
You must be very special.
TROI:
We are members of A Community.
We all Care for one another.
ARMUS :
Equally?
TROI :
You were reallysurprised they came back.
ARMUS :
Yes.
TROI:
Why? Because The Others did not?
ARMUS :
What Others?
TROI:
You can't hide The Emptiness from me.
The Others. The Ones Who Hurt You.
Who left you alone, rejected.
The Ones Who Make You SoAngry.
ARMUS :
What do you know of Them?
TROI:
Only what you tell me.
ARMUS :
I will tell you nothing.
TROI :
Not now. But soon.
[Bridge]
WORF:
Captain, look at this --
The force of the energy field around the shuttlecraft decreased for a few moments when The Creature was draped over it.
PICARD:
But not low enough to beam them out.
WORF:
Almost.
WESLEY:
It's approaching The Away Team now,
and the energy field over The Shuttlecraft is back to full intensity.
PICARD:
Chart it.
I want to see if there's A Pattern.
WORF:
Aye, sir.
[Planet surface]
(Armus rises from his slick)
ARMUS: She said you'd be back.
RIKER: Then she is alive.
ARMUS: For now. Why have you returned?
RIKER: We have no choice. We're here to negotiate for our team. What do you want?
ARMUS: Maybe I want nothing.
RIKER: Then you would have killed all of us.
ARMUS: I still might.
RIKER: What do you want? Tell me. Maybe we can reach an accommodation.
ARMUS: If I tell you, will you give it to me?
RIKER: I might. It depends.
CRUSHER: I am a doctor. I need to treat our injured friends.
ARMUS: Say please.
CRUSHER: Please.
ARMUS: You ask nicely. I will allow it. Wait! I've changed my mind. Talk to her from here.
CRUSHER: How? Troi, can you hear me?
[Shuttlecraft]
BEVERLY [OC]: Deanna, are you all right?
TROI: Beverly?
[Planet surface]
TROI [OC]: I can hear you.
CRUSHER: Are you all right?
[Shuttlecraft]
TROI: Yes.
[Planet surface]
CRUSHER: We've encountered some difficulty.
[Shuttlecraft]
TROI: I know.
[Planet surface]
RIKER: She needs our help.
ARMUS: So what.
CRUSHER: Our friends are suffering only a few metres away, yet you block our path. Why?
ARMUS: You are all ungrateful.
CRUSHER: What is he made of?
DATA: It did not register on the tricorder.
ARMUS: It? Does that mean I am not alive?
DATA: No. Clearly you are some kind of intelligent form.
ARMUS: But you said I did not register on your instrument. Perhaps your instruments are useless.
(Data's tricorder and phaser fly away, and Geordi's visor falls to the ground. He gropes to find it)
ARMUS: Don't help him.
RIKER: Data.
DATA: Half metre to the right, Geordi.
(Armus moves it again)
ARMUS: Aren't you going to lead him to his sight again, robot?
DATA: No. You will just move it again, and I will not help you hurt him.
ARMUS: Then give it to him. I will find something else to amuse me.
(The slick covers the shuttlecraft again)
[Shuttlecraft]
ARMUS [OC]: You said they wouldn't amuse me. You were right.
TROI: And the emptiness remains. You sound so alone.
ARMUS [OC]: I am alone.
TROI: Abandoned. Who deserted you?
ARMUS [OC]: Creatures whose beauty now dazzles all who see them. They would not exist without me.
TROI: You were together?
ARMUS [OC]: They perfected a means of bringing to the surface all that was evil and negative within. Erupting, spreading, connecting. In time it formed second skin, dank and vile.
TROI: You.
ARMUS :
Yes.
TROI:
They discarded you and left.
ARMUS :
And here I am.
TROI:
You have my pity.
Armus gets angry and shakes The Shuttlecraft
ARMUS :
Your Pity?
Save that for yourself.
[Planet surface]
The team are not watching when Armus leaves The Shuttlecraft and approaches them.
Riker is grabbed by an invisible force and dragged by the feet to the slick
RIKER:
Help! Data, something's got me!
ARMUS:
Touch him and he dies.
RIKER:
No! No, don't!
Riker disappears into the slick
DATA :
Enterprise?
[Bridge]
DATA :
Armus has enveloped Commander Riker.
PICARD:
I'm beaming you up.
[Planet surface]
ARMUS:
If any of you leave now,
he dies.
[Bridge]
ARMUS :
And so do The Survivors of the crash.
Riker's screaming face appears in the slick, and sinks away again
Captain's log, supplemental.
There is grave danger to the crew on Vagra Two.
My first officer is missing, attacked by this entity known as Armus.
[Bridge]
WORF:
Captain, perhaps you should look at this.
We have the chart of the energy field surrounding The Shuttle.
PICARD:
There are a great deal of fluctuations.
WORF:
Yes, but there is A Pattern.
Here is when it killed Lieutenant Yar,
and here is when it absorbed Commander Riker.
PICARD:
And here, here, where the energy is lowest?
WORF:
Both times it had enveloped The Shuttle.
PICARD:
It has something to do with Counsellor Troi.
Somehow when it's dealing with her,
the energy field is affected.
I want to Talk to Her.
I'm going to beam down.
Lieutenant Worf, you have the conn.
[Shuttlecraft]
Armus, and presumably Riker, are draped over The Craft again
TROI:
Imzadi! No!
Please, stop hurting him!
ARMUS :
He resists. If he would give himself over,
The Pain would diminish.
He struggles.
You should feel His Strength.
TROI:
I can.
ARMUS [OC]:
Should I let him go?
TROI:
You only ask to
Torment Me.
ARMUS :
Perhaps.
TROI:
How should I answer?
What can I offer except myself?
ARMUS [OC]:
And would you give yourself for him?
Would you give that much?
TROI:
Yes. Without hesitation.
ARMUS :
Just for him?
TROI:
No, not just for him.
I would do the same for any of the others.
Armus, you have me. Let them go.
ARMUS [OC]:
Perhaps.
Ah, another has arrived.
[Planet surface]
Picard is with The Team.
Armus slithers over to them
ARMUS:
You are The One in Charge?
PICARD: (to Data)
Is Commander Riker alive?
ARMUS:
Answer, Tin Man.
DATA:
I would guess that Death is no longer sufficient entertainment to alleviate its Boredom.
Therefore, Commander Riker is alive.
ARMUS:
Maybe.
Don't you want to ask me
What I Want?
PICARD:
No.
ARMUS:
Not even to protect Your Own Existence?
PICARD:
I want to see My People in The Shuttle.
ARMUS:
Entertain me.
Picard shakes his head
Then I will do it myself. You, Tin Man.
Data moves jerkily, and points his phaser at Beverly, then Picard
ARMUS:
Now Tell Me, How would you feel if you were
The Instrument of Death for Your Leader?
PICARD:
Don't Struggle, Data.
DATA:
I have no Control over
What You Do with The Phaser.
Therefore, I would not be
The Instrument of His Death.
ARMUS:
Perhaps killing The Doctor would engender more feeling?
DATA:
No, The Control is still yours.
ARMUS:
And what about you, Doctor? Are you Ready to Die?
Tell me you are not afraid.
CRUSHER:
I am afraid.
ARMUS:
Beg me to spare you.
CRUSHER:
No.
ARMUS:
One of you is going to die, and you, Doctor, get to choose.
You don't like that, do you?
CRUSHER:
Then I choose myself.
ARMUS:
No. You are going to Live.
One of them dies.
Data's arm swings around and ends pointing The Phaser at His Own Head
ARMUS:
Maybe this one. Though I would not call it Death,
since He is only A Device.
Tell me, Tin Man,
How Does it Feel to Face Your Own Extinction.
DATA:
Curious.
(The Phaser drops)
You are capable of great Sadism and Cruelty.
Interesting. No redeeming qualities.
ARMUS :
So What Do You Think?
DATA :
I Think You Should be Destroyed.
ARMUS :
A Moral Judgment from A Machine.
PICARD:
Data. Armus, we're finished Dealing with You.
ARMUS:
I have Your Man in here,
and the others in The Shuttle.
PICARD:
It doesn't matter.
We will no longer be a source of amusement.
ARMUS:
I can kill them.
PICARD:
Yes. You can.
But only I can command them.
They follow My Orders.
ARMUS:
Have them amuse me.
PICARD:
Only if you let me see My People on The Shuttle first.
I must see them.
ARMUS:
Not Possible.
PICARD:
Then Our Business with you is concluded.
ARMUS:
And you claim
You Care about Your Comrades.
PICARD:
I Care. Which is why I must see them.
ARMUS:
You want to see Your People?
Then, here. Look at this one.
Riker is tossed out of the slick, covered in oil
CRUSHER:
He's Alive. Don't move.
PICARD:
Is he all right?
CRUSHER:
All signs show normal.
RIKER:
So much frustration.
It had to get rid of me.
PICARD:
Now, let me see the others.
ARMUS:
No.
PICARD :
I will not allow My People to entertain you
until you do.
ARMUS:
They are incapable of entertaining me.
PICARD:
I want the four of you out of here.
Enterprise, beam up The Away Team immediately.
WORF :
Aye, sir.
PICARD:
They're no longer involved.
This is between You and Me.
ARMUS :
They may leave.
The Team are beamed away
PICARD:
Now.
ARMUS:
I want to leave This Place.
PICARD:
You want me to give you Transportation?
ARMUS:
For which I will Trade you Lives.
PICARD:
I must see my people in the shuttle.
ARMUS:
Will you give me what I want?
PICARD:
I have the means.
But first I must see My People.
ARMUS:
If you must.
[Shuttlecraft]
Armus transports Picard into the shuttlecraft
PICARD:
Troi, are you all right?
TROI:
Yes, but Ben is not.
PICARD:
He's Alive.
TROI:
Were you able to help Tasha?
PICARD:
No. Troi. Troi, We Must Talk.
I believe it's possible to outmanoeuvre This Creature, and beam you and Ben back up to The Ship.
We've been monitoring the energy field that surrounds The Shuttle.
When The Creature is Here, the field weakens.
Do you know why?
TROI:
The Creature is filled with Rage.
Undirected, unfocused Rage.
When He confronts it, His Guard goes down
because he's feeling it instead of suppressing it.
Acknowledging His Needs makes Him Vulnerable.
PICARD:
What caused The Rage?
TROI:
He was Left Here.
Abandoned.
[Bridge]
WORF :
The forcefield will have to drop below two point seven before we can beam them up.
[Planet surface]
Picard is brought back from the shuttlecraft
ARMUS:
Satisfied?
PICARD:
Yes.
ARMUS:
Then can we leave?
PICARD:
Where do you want to go?
Do you want to try to find Those Who Left You Here?
ARMUS:
She told you about Them.
PICARD:
How long have you been Here?
ARMUS:
Since They left. A very long time.
PICARD:
A long time to be alone.
ARMUS:
Save your Compassion. It's revolting.
You offer it like A Prize when in fact it's An Insult.
PICARD:
Because you feel unworthy.
ARMUS:
You overrate Your Gift.
You Humans are Puny, Weak.
PICARD:
But Our Spirit, it is indomitable.
ARMUS:
And still you die from a flake of my power.
PICARD:
A great poet once said,
'all spirits are enslaved that serve things evil'.
ARMUS:
You do not understand.
I do not serve Things Evil. I am Evil.
PICARD:
Oh, no, you are not.
ARMUS:
I am A Skin of Evil
left here by A Race of Titans who believed if they rid Themselves of me,
They would free the bonds of Destructiveness.
PICARD:
Yes. So Here You Are.
Feeding on Your Own Loneliness.
Consumed by Your Own Pain.
Believing Your Own Lies.
[Bridge]
WORF:
Set the computer.
When the energy level reaches two point six point two zero five, automatically beam up Troi and Prieto.
We'll do a parallel transport on The Captain.
WESLEY:
Yes, sir.
[Planet surface]
PICARD:
You say you are True Evil?
Shall I tell you what True Evil is?
It is to submit to you.
It is when we surrender Our Freedom, Our Dignity,
instead of defying you.
ARMUS:
I will kill you, and those in there.
PICARD:
But you will still be Here. In This Place.
For ever. Alone. Immortal.
[Bridge]
COMPUTER: (male)
Stand by for parallel transport.
WORF:
The energy level has dropped to two point six point three.
[Planet surface]
PICARD:
That's your real fear.
Never to Die.
Never again to be united with
Those Who Left You Here.
[Bridge]
WORF:
Energy field is two point six.
Computer beginning transport.
[Planet surface]
PICARD:
I'm not taking youanywhere.
Armus screams with rage as Picard is beamed away
Captain's log, stardate 41602.1.
The shuttlecraft has been destroyed to prevent any possibility of Armus leaving The Planet.
Vagra Two will be declared off limits.
But The Damage has been done.
One of the saddest duties I've ever had to perform is now ahead of me.
