The history of the Borg. Well, the only history that matters ... the ending. How it always ends for you. A lone Borgslayer, a united Federation, they come for you-- for your top-shelf, overreaching, Icarus-worthy arrogance.
If prattling on is your choice of weapon, I can wait. You can't be sad forever.
Do the math. In this or any other universe, you always lose. That's why you fight so hard. You live with the death knell of your species across infinite timelines. You fear loss, just like we do. You long for what we all long for. Connection... longevity, discovery. Only you offer it without choice. I'm saying... what if we ask for it? You and I.
Finally, the semblance of a point.
The galaxy is filled with lives that need saving. One of them is lying at your feet right now.
You'd have a cohort pulled from the dying? Recruit from derelict ships? Flotsam of space? You'd have us collect scraps?
And offer second chances. What if we take this ship and build a better Borg? A real collective based not on assimilation but salvation. Think about it: a Borg collective that embraces the uniqueness of its members.
You ask us to embrace weakness.
I'm positing that what you've written off as weakness is actually strength. Cooperation.
Your proposal is absurd. But not entirely un-intriguing.
Imagine, members who would fight harder for what they chose. Who would lose no battles because they made no enemies. Who would not be discarded and replaced. Attachments could grow and deepen. Like Seven. Didn't you love her once, too? And wasn't she the best of what we could be? Somebody who used her Borg half to serve the best of her humanity. Let's build a universe of Sevens. Let's start with this one.
There are moments in time we wish we could travel back to. Memories. Pieces of life better lived in reverse. In those moments, tragic endings might rewind into joyful beginnings. Moments of loss into those of gains. I remember now, in a cloudy moment of extreme melancholy, my mother hung herself here in this place. And for all I've lived, all I've seen and done, I suppose this is the moment I've kept myself from remembering, this moment I am so powerless to reverse. My mother was ill, I'm told, but I only ever thought she was inspired. That night, my father had locked her into her room for her own safety. Perhaps for mine, as well. But she begged me to help her, told me how much she needed me, how much she needed my help. And this is the part I've spent my whole life trying not to remember. I thought I was saving her. So, after he fell asleep, I let her out, you see. If only I had left that door closed, she might have become an old woman. I used to imagine seeing her older, offering me a cup of tea and asking for a chat. This skeleton key migrated all over the house. I wish, that day, it hadn't ended up in my hand. I loved her. Desperately.
Love can be a source of great grief and immense pain. Of tremendous guilt. A reason to run from ourselves or away from each other. Love can be a curse. But always and completely it's a gift.
Tallinn (dying): I know something now. The secrets we keep. All the reasons we never tell someone we love them. They're worthless.
Tallinn (referring first to Jean-Luc Picards mother Yvette Picard and then to Renee Picard in her last words): Sweet Picard. Your guilt must have saved planets by now. Countless lives in trade for the one you couldn't. I got to tell her. Maybe she'll remember me... and know that she was worth all of it. You helped me give that to her. Absolve yourself, or the only life left unsaved will be your own. Her eyes... they were so beautiful.
KSKore Soong
I swear to God, if this is another one of your games, Q...
WCWesley Crusher
No. No, no. I assure you, we are very different. Hello, Kore.
KSKore Soong
... and you are?
WCWesley Crusher
That's a... very long and... very complicated story.
KSKore Soong
Honestly, I've got nothing pressing.
WCWesley Crusher
Okay... A long time ago, I was known as Wesley Crusher. But now, I am a Traveler of all of space and time.
KSKore Soong
[pauses, then laughs] You're kidding, right?
WCWesley Crusher
The last time I told a joke, I inadvertently changed a century's worth of history, so I work really hard to not be misunderstood.
KSKore Soong
That's... a lot.
WCWesley Crusher
You have no idea. My colleagues and I... we dispatch those we call 'Supervisors', to help ensure the proper flow of time. See, the universe is... essentially a grand tapestry. It is flawless. It is fraglie, it is exquisite. Yet it is somehow always a thread's pull away from total annihilation. A star is born, but a ship is lost. A new species thrives, but a civilization collapses. Knowing when to step in... that's the tricky part. And so, my colleagues and I... we watch. We protect everything.
WCWesley Crusher
Tell me about it. Two paths are before you. The first one leads to a perfectly normal life.
KSKore Soong
Wait, is this... a recruitment speech?
WCWesley Crusher
I'm not done. The second... that path leads to everything else. And it offers a chance to give your life purpose and meaning. But I cannot guarantee your safety. [Kore considers] Okay, that's it. That was the recruitment speech.
KSKore Soong
I've never been safe.
WCWesley Crusher
[offers Kore his hand] Welcome to the Travelers. [Kore takes Wesley's hand and the two teleport away]
Bravo. Destiny left for the little boy you will be in the future to find.
[Jean-Luc enters the observatory to find Q, sitting in a chair; he joins Q]
You considered destroying it, didn't you? Well, let me ask: if that key is not there for the boy to find, does he grow up with his mother? Does the shame instantly lift? But you accepted your fate. You accepted you. You chose the Jean-Luc you are. You absolved yourself. And because you choose him, perhaps now he will be worthy enough for someone else to choose. And maybe this time, he will even give him the chance to be loved. I told you this was about forgiveness, Jean-Luc. Yours.
Well, isn't that the eternal question? Know thyself.
There's been so much loss. So much death.
Well, maybe not all of it. But Tallinn always dies in every timeline. This is the only one in which she meets Renée.
I ask you once again: why?
...me? From the very beginning, for over thirty years, why me?
I am moving on. In your parlance, I am dying.
Alone. I am dying alone. I do not want that for you. Humans, your griefs, your pains fix you to moments in the past long gone. You're like butterflies with your wings pinned. My old friend, forever the boy who, with an errant turn of a skeleton key, broke the universe and his own heart. No more. You are now unshackled from the past. As I leave, I leave you free.
But... why does all this matter? Is something going to happen, for which I will be required?
Must it always have galactic import? Universal stakes? Celestial upheaval? Isn't one life enough? You ask me why it matters. It matters to me. [Q gets out of his chair and approaches Jean-Luc] You matter to me. Even Gods have favorites, Jean-Luc, and you've always been one of mine.
[Rios has decided to remain in 2024]
Most unexpected. Perhaps now, there will be some... surplus energy? Call it a surprise. A gift. Farewell, Mon Capitaine. It's time for me to go.
But not alone. Isn't that the point of all this? [Jean-Luc hugs Q]
See you out there. [Jean-Luc lets Q go, Q snaps his fingers to send them back]
Guinan's hawking souvenirs now?
BBartender
Ugh, it's for Frontier Day.
How come you have so many Enterprise-Ds?
BBartender
Oh, the fat ones? No one wants those.
You better leave the bottle. [Jean-Luc Picard joins Riker at the bar] You hear that, Jean-Luc? "No one wants the fat ones." That's "Galaxy-class" to you, young lady.
[The Shrike has just hailed the Titan]
Good afternoon! I believe it is afternoon in the Sol System. [chuckles] I am Captain Vadic, and you are... Captain Liam Shaw.
That's me. Is it important for you to know that I was having a nice morning before all of this?
[joyfully] Ooh, that's lovely to hear! Given your official psychological profile with Starfleet, I'm so glad that you remained... er... functional?
You have been causing us some concern, Captain. State your business!
[gleeful] Oh, my. Admiral Jean-Luc Picard, in the synthetic flesh. You're harboring one Jack Crusher. He's broken a number of laws, both inside and outside Federation space. There is a sizeable bounty on his head. And we are taking him.
[looks at Jack, and then back to Vadic] I hate to inform you, but Starfleet does not negotiate with bounty hunters.
[laugh] I see you're having difficulty understanding the situation! May I remind you that you are outside your jurisdiction? But, so you may have clarification, I'll lower my shields so that you can scan my ship.
MMMatthew Mura
Their shields are lowering.
MMMatthew Mura
Forty isolytic burst warheads. Eighty-eight plasma torpedoes. Two hundred and thirty-six photon torpedoes. Eighteen antimatter missiles. Twenty pulse wave. Thirty series five-
MMMatthew Mura
And something... loaded in primary position in the bay, sir. Technology unknown.
You have one hour to hand over Jack Crusher. Turn your back to run, and the only way you'll see the shot that kills you will be through the hole in your proverbial chest. Until then: enjoy this parting demonstration of my intentions. [Vadic cuts the transmission]
[The Shrike has just hit the Titan with the SS Eleos]
SLSydney LaForge
She threw a ship at us. Sir.
It broke through our shields, Captain, hit with enough force that shrapnel tore the hull on Deck 11.
How is that even possible?
SLSydney LaForge
Reverse tractor beam with anti-gravitational polarity phasing. Basically, blunt force trauma. If my father taught me anything, there's no law of physics that can't be either weaponized or broken by another law of physics.
