Saturday 1 October 2022
The Chris Carter Effect
Sunday 13 June 2021
Pure, Concentrated 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.
[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:
I felt 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 really surprised 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 So Angry.
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 you anywhere.
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.