とうとうエネルギー雲に戻ってきました。さて、ピカードは一体どうするのか？エネルギー体と ピカードが一体となっていることは明らかになりましたが。。。
登場人物
| Jean-Luc Picard: | エンタープライズＤ艦長 |
| William T. Riker: | 副長（「副長」は英語でnumber oneだそうです） |
| Deanna Troi: | カウンセラー（テレパスで、ライカーの元恋人） |
| Beverly Crusher: | 医療部長（艦で唯一、艦長に命令権限あり） |
| Data: | アンドロイド（科学主任で第二副長） |
| Tasha Yar: | セキュリティー・チーフ |
| Worf: | セキュリティー、副チーフ（後のシーズンで主任になります） |
| Geordi La Forge: | 技術チーフ（「機関部長」とも。恋多き青年です^^;） |
| R: | First officer's log, supplemental. On the orders of Captain Picard, we have returned to the vicinity of the energy pattern cloud. I'm personally convinced that something from this cloud now shares the captain's mind. But there seems to be nothing we can do, at least within regulations. |
| Ge: | We now appraoching the cloud, sir. |
| R: | Very well. Mr. La Forge. Bring us to within ten thousand kilometers and hold us there. |
| Ge: | Aye, sir. |
| R: | Shall we begin the scientific test you wanted, sir? |
| P: |
Oh, they are already underway. I have an announcement for the entire bridge. As many of you suspected, when our ship passed through the edge of this, it accidentally carried away a sentient being much like these energy patterns we are seeing here. Terrifying experience for any intelligent being. It's as if great claw reach down and scoop one of you from your home world, draw into the energy circuits of this vessel. It found it a way to you Worf, frantic at being taken from its home world. Unrecognizing you are sentient being, it pleaded for help, but in ways... you couldn't understand. Desperately going from person to person. And then discovering the computer intelligence in this ship's memory circuit. Oh! simplistic intelligence. But it furnished it enough, a slow this Enterprise thing and it captured it. And it very much regrets the accidental death of engineer Shingh. |
| De: | Captain, do you exist in combination with this entity? |
| R: | Is it in control of you, sir? |
| P: | Very soon after we had combined we learned much about each other. Passion for exploration for the unknown, we found we have similar dreams and it offered your captain a way to realize than beyond human expectations. |
| R: | Captain, I must speak to you privately now. |
| Da: | I understand. As an energy pattern, free of the limitations of the matter. He might travel anywhere at any velocity. |
| R: | Captain, do you hear me? |
| Da: | Sir. I see no way for you to journey with an energy form. |
| P: | Isn't there? |
| De: | He's planning to beam himself and the entity into that cloud. |
| P: | A transporting in(?) the packing of the captain into the matter. We will beam energy only, and we will become a combined energy pattern of our life forms. A resignation from this command and from starfleet has been appropriately recorded. |
| R: | I refuse to allow this, sir. |
| P: | How does this resignation threaten the ship or its crew in anyway? |
| Cr: | Captain Picard, you are now relieved of(?) the duty. I judge you to be disabled and mentally incapacitated. |
| R: | ?????? Red alert! Deprehend the captain! |
| Ta: | Where is he? This is blinding me. |
| Wo: | ??????????? |
| R: | Someone deprehend the captain. |