One of the things that struck me during a recent re-watch of TNG is how much I have enjoyed all things about Pulaski. Great character. Stellar actress. Some of the conflict did seem a bit forced, from time to time, but overall, I really thought her inclusion in the crew was positive.
The development of the relationship between Pulaski and Data all throughout Season 2 was one of my favorite themes from Star Trek, harkening back to the logic/emotion debates of Spock and Bones. One missed opportunity I imagine could have been a really interesting set of character moments at the trial for Data’s soul in Measure of a Man.
My suggestion is that Geordi should have been brought in as a witness to establish Data's technical nature (rather than Data defining himself.) The other shift would be to have Pulaski brought in to testify against Data to establish that he was not alive.
All of this would be done with Maddox prosecuting the case himself. You lose the drama of having Riker as a crew member conflicted between duty and friendship, but you shift that role to Pulaski. And her recognition that she truly had become friends with this machine would have been really emotional and moving.
So...I took the script, tweaked it to shift the roles as I described (and added a few touches of my own). Here is what I came up with:
MADDOX: Computer, please enter into the record and read aloud the material specifications of Lieutenant Commander Data.
COMPUTER: Lieutenant Commander Data is composed of 24.6 kilograms of molybdenum-cobalt alloys and 1.3 kilograms of bioplast sheeting with a skull composed of cortenide and duranium.
MADDOX: Your honour, I call Lieutenant Geordi LaForge.
(LaForge goes to the witness chair and puts his hand on a scanner on the table.)
COMPUTER: Verify. Lieutenant Geordi LaForge. Current assignment, USS Enterprise. Chief Engineer
MADDOX: Lt. LaForge, in your capacity as Chief Engineer of the USS Enterprise, is it in your purview to understand all technical components of the Enterprise and to ensure that they are functioning within Starfleet regulations and specifications?
LAFORGE: Yes, sir.
MADDOX: And do you maintain Lieutenant Commander Data in this capacity.
LAFORGE: (A bit uncomfortable) Well, I do what I can to keep Data, uh, Lieutenant Commander Data at top performance. But much of his functioning is well beyond typical Starfleet standards. He is more of an expert on himself than I am.
MADDOX: But there is no one in Starfleet…perhaps excepting Commander Data and myself, who is more knowledgeable regarding Data’s functions and capabilities.
LAFORGE: Yes, I suppose that’s true.
MADDOX: Thank you, Lieutenant. What is Data?
LAFORGE: Sir?
MADDOX: What is it?
LAFORGE: He is the Second Officer of the USS. Enterprise.
MADDOX: No…let me be more clear. WHAT is it, not WHO is it?
La Forge: (He pauses as he begins to understand Maddox’s question.) Oh, I see. (He pauses.) He is an android.
MADDOX: Which is?
LAFORGE: Well, I suppose it boils down to an automaton made to resemble a human being.
MADDOX: Automaton. Made. By whom?
LAFORGE: Doctor Noonien Soong.
MADDOX: And he was?
LAFORGE: Commander Maddox. You know better than I that Doctor Soong was the Federation’s foremost authority in cybernetics.
MADDOX: More basic than that. Again…WHAT was he, not WHO?
LOUVOIS: Commander Maddox, do you wish to cross examine?
MADDOX: I have no questions, Your Honour.
LOUVOIS: Thank you. You may step down.
(Data returns to his seat.)
PICARD: I call to the stand Doctor Katherine PULASKI.
MADDOX: Objection. Lieutenant Commander Data is not alive. What possible relevance would a medical opinion be on these proceedings?
PICARD: They are at the very core of your argument. You say he is not alive and thus, he has no rights. I disagree.
LOUVOIS: I’ll allow it. But keep it to the facts of the case.
PICARD: Understood. (Picard presses his comm. link.) Doctor, we are ready for your testimony.
(Over the comm.) Pulaski: Yes, sir. I’ll just be a moment.
(Doctor Pulaski enters the room and sits in the witness chair. She puts her hand on a scanner on the table.)
COMPUTER: Verify, Commander Katherine Pulaski, MD. Expertise in Linear Viral Propagation, Ocular Prosthesis, Cardiac Sustainment and Replacement, Bio-molecular Regeneration and Memory Engram Manipulation, Current Assignment: USS Enterprise, Chief Medical Officer
PICARD: Doctor, in your professional opinion, is Lieutenant Commander Data a sentient being?
PULASKI: (She pauses to consider the question. She thinks of her observations of Data since her arrival on the Enterprise) No. In my professional opinion, Data is not sentient.
PICARD: Doctor, would you enlighten us? What is required for sentience?
PULASKI: Intelligence, self-awareness, consciousness.
PICARD: Can you prove to the court that I am sentient?
PULASKI: Well, you certainly satisfy the definition of sentience.
PICARD: So I am sentient, but Data is not?
PULASKI: That's right.
PICARD: Why? Why am I sentient?
PULASKI: Well, you’re self-aware.
PICARD: Ah, that's the second of your criteria. Let's deal with the first, intelligence. Is Commander Data intelligent?
PULASKI: Yes. It has the ability to learn and understand, and to cope with new situations.
PICARD: Like this hearing.
PULASKI: Yes.
PICARD: What about self-awareness. What does that mean? Why am I self-aware?
PULASKI: Because you are conscious of your existence and actions. You are aware of yourself and your own ego.
(Picard turns his attention to Data.)
PICARD: Commander Data, what are you doing now?
DATA: I am taking part in a legal hearing to determine my rights and status. Am I a person or property?
PICARD: And what's at stake?
DATA: My right to choose. Perhaps my very life.
PICARD: My rights. My status. My right to choose. My life. He seems reasonably self-aware to me. Do you agree, Doctor?
PULASKI: Yes. Yes, I do.
PICARD: Do you like Commander Data?
PULASKI: (She pauses to consider this. A subtle smile creeps to her face. She confidently responds.) Yes. Very much so. In my short time on the Enterprise, he has become a welcome companion and a dear friend.
MADDOX: Objection! This is absurd!
PHILIPA: Jean Luc, do you have a point?
PICARD: Doctor. What is Lt. Commander Data?
PULASKI: A machine.
PICARD: Is he? Are you sure?
PULASKI: Yes.
PICARD: You see, he's met two of your three criteria for sentience, so what if he meets the third. Consciousness…in even the smallest degree. What is he then?
The development of the relationship between Pulaski and Data all throughout Season 2 was one of my favorite themes from Star Trek, harkening back to the logic/emotion debates of Spock and Bones. One missed opportunity I imagine could have been a really interesting set of character moments at the trial for Data’s soul in Measure of a Man.
 |
| The completely underrated Dr. Pulaski |
All of this would be done with Maddox prosecuting the case himself. You lose the drama of having Riker as a crew member conflicted between duty and friendship, but you shift that role to Pulaski. And her recognition that she truly had become friends with this machine would have been really emotional and moving.
So...I took the script, tweaked it to shift the roles as I described (and added a few touches of my own). Here is what I came up with:
***************************************************
LOUVOIS: This hearing, convened on Stardate 42527.4, is to determine the legal status of the android known as Data. The office of the Judge Advocate General has rendered a finding of property, the defense has challenged. Commander Maddox?
MADDOX: Computer, please enter into the record and read aloud the material specifications of Lieutenant Commander Data.
COMPUTER: Lieutenant Commander Data is composed of 24.6 kilograms of molybdenum-cobalt alloys and 1.3 kilograms of bioplast sheeting with a skull composed of cortenide and duranium.
MADDOX: Your honour, I call Lieutenant Geordi LaForge.
(LaForge goes to the witness chair and puts his hand on a scanner on the table.)
COMPUTER: Verify. Lieutenant Geordi LaForge. Current assignment, USS Enterprise. Chief Engineer
MADDOX: Lt. LaForge, in your capacity as Chief Engineer of the USS Enterprise, is it in your purview to understand all technical components of the Enterprise and to ensure that they are functioning within Starfleet regulations and specifications?
LAFORGE: Yes, sir.
MADDOX: And do you maintain Lieutenant Commander Data in this capacity.
LAFORGE: (A bit uncomfortable) Well, I do what I can to keep Data, uh, Lieutenant Commander Data at top performance. But much of his functioning is well beyond typical Starfleet standards. He is more of an expert on himself than I am.
MADDOX: But there is no one in Starfleet…perhaps excepting Commander Data and myself, who is more knowledgeable regarding Data’s functions and capabilities.
LAFORGE: Yes, I suppose that’s true.
MADDOX: Thank you, Lieutenant. What is Data?
LAFORGE: Sir?
MADDOX: What is it?
LAFORGE: He is the Second Officer of the USS. Enterprise.
MADDOX: No…let me be more clear. WHAT is it, not WHO is it?
La Forge: (He pauses as he begins to understand Maddox’s question.) Oh, I see. (He pauses.) He is an android.
MADDOX: Which is?
LAFORGE: Well, I suppose it boils down to an automaton made to resemble a human being.
MADDOX: Automaton. Made. By whom?
LAFORGE: Doctor Noonien Soong.
MADDOX: And he was?
LAFORGE: Commander Maddox. You know better than I that Doctor Soong was the Federation’s foremost authority in cybernetics.
MADDOX: More basic than that. Again…WHAT was he, not WHO?
LAFORGE: (Fully understanding now.) Doctor Soong…was human.
MADDOX: Thank you. Chief. What, to your knowledge, is the capacity of Lt. Cmdr. Data’s memory, and how fast can it access information?
LAFORGE: He has an estimated ultimate storage capacity of over eight hundred quadrillion bits. We’ve documented his total linear computational speed to be as high as sixty trillion operations per second.
MADDOX: I have no further questions.
PICARD: Thank you, Lieutenant. You are excused.
(LaForge stands up and walks toward the exit. He stops at Data and pats him on the shoulder.)
LAFORGE: You’re gonna be fine.
DATA: Thank you, Geordi, for your expression of optimism.
(Geordi leaves the courtroom.)
MADDOX: Your Honour, I offer in evidence prosecution's exhibit A, Lieutenant Commander Data.
PICARD: Objection! Data is not a thing!
LOUVOIS: That is what this hearing will determine, will it not?
PICARD: Well, at least, let the record reflect his outstanding record of service.
LOUVOIS: Agreed.
PICARD: Computer, enter into the record and read aloud the service record of Lieutenant Commander Data.
COMPUTER: Lieutenant Commander Data. Current assignment, USS Enterprise. Starfleet Command Decoration for Valour and Gallantry, Medal of Honour with Clusters, Legion of Honour, the Star Cross.
MADDOX: May I proceed?
LOUVOIS: Jean Luc?
PICARD: Please, do so.
MADDOX. Thank you. As Exhibit B, I offer a rod of par-steel. Tensile strength, forty kilobars. Commander, would you bend that?
PICARD: Objection! There are many life forms possessed of mega strength. These issues are not relevant to this hearing.
LOUVOIS: I'm afraid I can't agree, Captain. Proceed with you demonstration, Commander.
(Data easily bends the heavy rod neatly into a U shape.)
MADDOX: I request to be allowed to remove the Commander's hand for your inspection.
PICARD: Objec… (changes his mind) It doesn't matter. Objection withdrawn.
LOUVOIS: Proceed, Commander.
MADDOX: Thank you, sir.
(Maddox twists and pulls off Data's left forearm and hand.)
MADDOX: The Commander is a physical representation of a dream, an idea conceived of by the mind of a man. A brilliant man. It's purpose is to serve human needs and interests. It is a collection of neural nets and heuristic algorithms. It’s responses dictated by an elaborate software program written by a man. It’s hardware built by a man. And now. And now…a man will shut it off.
(A flick of the hidden off switch, and Data slumps across the table)
MADDOX: Pinocchio is broken. Its strings have been cut.
(A horrified silence descends)
PICARD: I request a recess.
LOUVOIS: Granted.
MADDOX: Thank you. Chief. What, to your knowledge, is the capacity of Lt. Cmdr. Data’s memory, and how fast can it access information?
LAFORGE: He has an estimated ultimate storage capacity of over eight hundred quadrillion bits. We’ve documented his total linear computational speed to be as high as sixty trillion operations per second.
MADDOX: I have no further questions.
PICARD: Thank you, Lieutenant. You are excused.
(LaForge stands up and walks toward the exit. He stops at Data and pats him on the shoulder.)
LAFORGE: You’re gonna be fine.
DATA: Thank you, Geordi, for your expression of optimism.
(Geordi leaves the courtroom.)
MADDOX: Your Honour, I offer in evidence prosecution's exhibit A, Lieutenant Commander Data.
PICARD: Objection! Data is not a thing!
LOUVOIS: That is what this hearing will determine, will it not?
PICARD: Well, at least, let the record reflect his outstanding record of service.
LOUVOIS: Agreed.
PICARD: Computer, enter into the record and read aloud the service record of Lieutenant Commander Data.
COMPUTER: Lieutenant Commander Data. Current assignment, USS Enterprise. Starfleet Command Decoration for Valour and Gallantry, Medal of Honour with Clusters, Legion of Honour, the Star Cross.
MADDOX: May I proceed?
LOUVOIS: Jean Luc?
PICARD: Please, do so.
MADDOX. Thank you. As Exhibit B, I offer a rod of par-steel. Tensile strength, forty kilobars. Commander, would you bend that?
PICARD: Objection! There are many life forms possessed of mega strength. These issues are not relevant to this hearing.
LOUVOIS: I'm afraid I can't agree, Captain. Proceed with you demonstration, Commander.
(Data easily bends the heavy rod neatly into a U shape.)
MADDOX: I request to be allowed to remove the Commander's hand for your inspection.
PICARD: Objec… (changes his mind) It doesn't matter. Objection withdrawn.
LOUVOIS: Proceed, Commander.
MADDOX: Thank you, sir.
(Maddox twists and pulls off Data's left forearm and hand.)
MADDOX: The Commander is a physical representation of a dream, an idea conceived of by the mind of a man. A brilliant man. It's purpose is to serve human needs and interests. It is a collection of neural nets and heuristic algorithms. It’s responses dictated by an elaborate software program written by a man. It’s hardware built by a man. And now. And now…a man will shut it off.
(A flick of the hidden off switch, and Data slumps across the table)
MADDOX: Pinocchio is broken. Its strings have been cut.
(A horrified silence descends)
PICARD: I request a recess.
LOUVOIS: Granted.
[Ten forward]
(There is only one customer present, sitting at the bar.)
GUINAN: Do you mean his argument was that good?
PICARD: Maddox's presentation was devastating. He almost convinced me.
GUINAN: You've got the harder argument. No one, even Data is disputing that he is a machine.
PICARD: That's true.
GUINAN: You're worried about what's going to happen to him?
PICARD: I've had to send people on far more dangerous missions.
GUINAN: Then this should work out fine. Maddox could get lucky and create a whole army of Datas…all very valuable.
PICARD: Oh, yes. No doubt.
GUINAN: He's proved his value to you.
PICARD: In ways that I cannot even begin to calculate.
GUINAN: And now he's about to be ruled the property of Starfleet. That should increase his value.
PICARD: In what way?
GUINAN: Well, consider that in the history of many worlds there have always been disposable creatures. They do the dirty work. They do the work that no one else wants to do because it's too difficult, or too hazardous. And an army of Datas, all disposable, you don't have to think about their welfare, you don't think about how they feel. Whole generations of disposable people.
PICARD: You're talking about slavery.
GUINAN: I think that's a little harsh.
PICARD: I don't think that's a little harsh. I think that's the truth. But that's a truth we have obscured behind a comfortable, easy euphemism. Property. But that's not the issue at all, is it?
[Courtroom]
PICARD: Commander Maddox has dramatically demonstrated to this court that Lieutenant Commander Data is a machine. Do we deny that? No. Because it is not relevant.
We, too, are machines, just machines of a different type. Commander Maddox has also reminded us that Lieutenant Commander Data was created by a human. Do we deny that? No. Again it is not relevant. Children are created from the building blocks of their parents' DNA. Are they property? I call Lieutenant Commander Data to the stand.
(Data goes to the witness chair and puts his hand on a scanner on the table)
COMPUTER: Verify. Lieutenant Commander Data. Current assignment, USS Enterprise. Starfleet Command Decoration for Valour and…
MADDOX: Objection, your honour. We've heard all this.
LOUVOIS: Sustained. Captain, please proceed with your questions.
(Picard has Data's case with him. Picard opens it.)
PICARD: What are these?
DATA: My medals.
PICARD: Why do you pack them? What logical purpose do they serve?
DATA: I do not know, sir. I suppose none. I just wanted them. Is that vanity?
PICARD: And this?
(He holds up a book.)
DATA: A gift from you, sir.
PICARD: You value it?
DATA: Yes, sir.
PICARD: Why?
DATA: It is a reminder of friendship and service.
(Picard activates the hologram of Tasha.)
PICARD: And this? You have no other portraits of your fellow crew members. Why this person?
DATA: I would prefer not to answer that question, sir. I gave my word.
PICARD: Under the circumstances, I don't think Tasha would mind.
DATA: She was special to me, sir. We were…intimate.
(Louvois sits up)
PICARD: Thank you, Commander. I have no further questions for this witness.(There is only one customer present, sitting at the bar.)
GUINAN: Do you mean his argument was that good?
PICARD: Maddox's presentation was devastating. He almost convinced me.
GUINAN: You've got the harder argument. No one, even Data is disputing that he is a machine.
PICARD: That's true.
GUINAN: You're worried about what's going to happen to him?
PICARD: I've had to send people on far more dangerous missions.
GUINAN: Then this should work out fine. Maddox could get lucky and create a whole army of Datas…all very valuable.
PICARD: Oh, yes. No doubt.
GUINAN: He's proved his value to you.
PICARD: In ways that I cannot even begin to calculate.
GUINAN: And now he's about to be ruled the property of Starfleet. That should increase his value.
PICARD: In what way?
GUINAN: Well, consider that in the history of many worlds there have always been disposable creatures. They do the dirty work. They do the work that no one else wants to do because it's too difficult, or too hazardous. And an army of Datas, all disposable, you don't have to think about their welfare, you don't think about how they feel. Whole generations of disposable people.
PICARD: You're talking about slavery.
GUINAN: I think that's a little harsh.
PICARD: I don't think that's a little harsh. I think that's the truth. But that's a truth we have obscured behind a comfortable, easy euphemism. Property. But that's not the issue at all, is it?
[Courtroom]
PICARD: Commander Maddox has dramatically demonstrated to this court that Lieutenant Commander Data is a machine. Do we deny that? No. Because it is not relevant.
We, too, are machines, just machines of a different type. Commander Maddox has also reminded us that Lieutenant Commander Data was created by a human. Do we deny that? No. Again it is not relevant. Children are created from the building blocks of their parents' DNA. Are they property? I call Lieutenant Commander Data to the stand.
(Data goes to the witness chair and puts his hand on a scanner on the table)
COMPUTER: Verify. Lieutenant Commander Data. Current assignment, USS Enterprise. Starfleet Command Decoration for Valour and…
MADDOX: Objection, your honour. We've heard all this.
LOUVOIS: Sustained. Captain, please proceed with your questions.
(Picard has Data's case with him. Picard opens it.)
PICARD: What are these?
DATA: My medals.
PICARD: Why do you pack them? What logical purpose do they serve?
DATA: I do not know, sir. I suppose none. I just wanted them. Is that vanity?
PICARD: And this?
(He holds up a book.)
DATA: A gift from you, sir.
PICARD: You value it?
DATA: Yes, sir.
PICARD: Why?
DATA: It is a reminder of friendship and service.
(Picard activates the hologram of Tasha.)
PICARD: And this? You have no other portraits of your fellow crew members. Why this person?
DATA: I would prefer not to answer that question, sir. I gave my word.
PICARD: Under the circumstances, I don't think Tasha would mind.
DATA: She was special to me, sir. We were…intimate.
(Louvois sits up)
LOUVOIS: Commander Maddox, do you wish to cross examine?
MADDOX: I have no questions, Your Honour.
LOUVOIS: Thank you. You may step down.
(Data returns to his seat.)
PICARD: I call to the stand Doctor Katherine PULASKI.
MADDOX: Objection. Lieutenant Commander Data is not alive. What possible relevance would a medical opinion be on these proceedings?
PICARD: They are at the very core of your argument. You say he is not alive and thus, he has no rights. I disagree.
LOUVOIS: I’ll allow it. But keep it to the facts of the case.
PICARD: Understood. (Picard presses his comm. link.) Doctor, we are ready for your testimony.
(Over the comm.) Pulaski: Yes, sir. I’ll just be a moment.
(Doctor Pulaski enters the room and sits in the witness chair. She puts her hand on a scanner on the table.)
COMPUTER: Verify, Commander Katherine Pulaski, MD. Expertise in Linear Viral Propagation, Ocular Prosthesis, Cardiac Sustainment and Replacement, Bio-molecular Regeneration and Memory Engram Manipulation, Current Assignment: USS Enterprise, Chief Medical Officer
PICARD: Doctor, in your professional opinion, is Lieutenant Commander Data a sentient being?
PULASKI: (She pauses to consider the question. She thinks of her observations of Data since her arrival on the Enterprise) No. In my professional opinion, Data is not sentient.
PICARD: Doctor, would you enlighten us? What is required for sentience?
PULASKI: Intelligence, self-awareness, consciousness.
PICARD: Can you prove to the court that I am sentient?
PULASKI: Well, you certainly satisfy the definition of sentience.
PICARD: So I am sentient, but Data is not?
PULASKI: That's right.
PICARD: Why? Why am I sentient?
PULASKI: Well, you’re self-aware.
PICARD: Ah, that's the second of your criteria. Let's deal with the first, intelligence. Is Commander Data intelligent?
PULASKI: Yes. It has the ability to learn and understand, and to cope with new situations.
PICARD: Like this hearing.
PULASKI: Yes.
PICARD: What about self-awareness. What does that mean? Why am I self-aware?
PULASKI: Because you are conscious of your existence and actions. You are aware of yourself and your own ego.
(Picard turns his attention to Data.)
PICARD: Commander Data, what are you doing now?
DATA: I am taking part in a legal hearing to determine my rights and status. Am I a person or property?
PICARD: And what's at stake?
DATA: My right to choose. Perhaps my very life.
PICARD: My rights. My status. My right to choose. My life. He seems reasonably self-aware to me. Do you agree, Doctor?
PULASKI: Yes. Yes, I do.
PICARD: Do you like Commander Data?
PULASKI: (She pauses to consider this. A subtle smile creeps to her face. She confidently responds.) Yes. Very much so. In my short time on the Enterprise, he has become a welcome companion and a dear friend.
MADDOX: Objection! This is absurd!
PHILIPA: Jean Luc, do you have a point?
PICARD: Doctor. What is Lt. Commander Data?
PULASKI: A machine.
PICARD: Is he? Are you sure?
PULASKI: Yes.
PICARD: You see, he's met two of your three criteria for sentience, so what if he meets the third. Consciousness…in even the smallest degree. What is he then?
PULASKI: I suppose when I think of it that way...I really don't know.
PICARD: Well, I don’t know either.
PICARD: Well, I don’t know either.
(to Maddox) Do you?
(to Louvois) Do you?
Well, that's the question you have to answer. Lt. Cmdr Data is a marvelous feat of Engineering and programming. He is a marvel and Commander Maddox now proposes to dismantle him.
MADDOX: So that I can learn from it and construct more!
PICARD: How many more?
MADDOX: As many as are needed. Hundreds, thousands if necessary. There is no limit.
PICARD: A single Data, and forgive me, Commander, is a curiosity. A wonder, even. But thousands of Datas. Isn't that becoming a race? And won't we be judged by how we treat that race?
Your Honour, the courtroom is a crucible. In it we burn away irrelevancies until we are left with a pure product, the truth for all time.
Now, sooner or later, this man or others like him will succeed in replicating Commander Data. And the decision you reach here today will determine how we will regard this creation of our genius. It will reveal the kind of a people we are, what he is destined to be. It will reach far beyond this courtroom and this one android. It could significantly redefine the boundaries of personal liberty and freedom, expanding them for some, savagely curtailing them for others.
Are you prepared to condemn him and all who come after him to servitude and slavery? Your Honour, Starfleet was founded to seek out new life. Well, there it sits! Waiting.
You wanted a chance to make law. Well, make it a good one.
(A silence fills the courtroom as Picard sits down.)
PHILIPA: Thank you, Doctor. With Captain Picard’s concurrence, I believe you are excused.
PICARD: Yes, of course. Thank you, Doctor. (He reflects for a moment.) Thank you.
(Pulaksi rises from her seat. She begins to leave the room and pauses at Data. She nods at him and he returns the nod. She leaves the room.)
LOUVOIS: It sits there looking at me, and I don't know what it is.
This case has dealt with metaphysics, with questions best left to saints and philosophers. I'm neither competent nor qualified to answer those. I've got to make a ruling, to try to speak to the future.
Is Data a machine? Yes. Is he the property of Starfleet? No.
We have all been dancing around the basic issue. Does Data have a soul? I don't know that he has. I don't know that I have. But I have got to give him the freedom to explore that question himself.
It is the ruling of this court that Lieutenant Commander Data has the freedom to choose.
(Data walks over to Maddox)
DATA: I formally refuse to undergo your procedure.
MADDOX: I will cancel that transfer order.
DATA: Thank you. And, Commander, continue your work. When you are ready, I will still be here. I find some of what you propose…intriguing.
(Data leaves.)
MADDOX: He's remarkable.
LOUVOIS: You didn't call him it.
(Maddox leaves.)
LOUVOIS: You see? Sometimes it does work.
PICARD: Dinner?
LOUVOIS: You’re buying.
[Ten Forward]
DATA: Doctor, there is a celebration on the Holodeck.
PULASKI: I have no right to be there.
DATA: I do not understand.
PULASKI: Data...because of my testimony, Maddox came that close to winning.
DATA: Yes, Doctor.
PULASKI: It almost cost you your life!
DATA: Is it not true that had you failed to testify, Captain Louvois would have ruled summarily against me?
PULASKI: Yes, I suppose.
DATA: That action injured you, and saved me. I will not forget it.
PULASKI: You're a wise man, my friend.
DATA: Not yet, Doctor. But with the help of you and my other friends, I will be.
Well, that's the question you have to answer. Lt. Cmdr Data is a marvelous feat of Engineering and programming. He is a marvel and Commander Maddox now proposes to dismantle him.
MADDOX: So that I can learn from it and construct more!
PICARD: How many more?
MADDOX: As many as are needed. Hundreds, thousands if necessary. There is no limit.
PICARD: A single Data, and forgive me, Commander, is a curiosity. A wonder, even. But thousands of Datas. Isn't that becoming a race? And won't we be judged by how we treat that race?
Your Honour, the courtroom is a crucible. In it we burn away irrelevancies until we are left with a pure product, the truth for all time.
Now, sooner or later, this man or others like him will succeed in replicating Commander Data. And the decision you reach here today will determine how we will regard this creation of our genius. It will reveal the kind of a people we are, what he is destined to be. It will reach far beyond this courtroom and this one android. It could significantly redefine the boundaries of personal liberty and freedom, expanding them for some, savagely curtailing them for others.
Are you prepared to condemn him and all who come after him to servitude and slavery? Your Honour, Starfleet was founded to seek out new life. Well, there it sits! Waiting.
You wanted a chance to make law. Well, make it a good one.
(A silence fills the courtroom as Picard sits down.)
PHILIPA: Thank you, Doctor. With Captain Picard’s concurrence, I believe you are excused.
PICARD: Yes, of course. Thank you, Doctor. (He reflects for a moment.) Thank you.
(Pulaksi rises from her seat. She begins to leave the room and pauses at Data. She nods at him and he returns the nod. She leaves the room.)
LOUVOIS: It sits there looking at me, and I don't know what it is.
This case has dealt with metaphysics, with questions best left to saints and philosophers. I'm neither competent nor qualified to answer those. I've got to make a ruling, to try to speak to the future.
Is Data a machine? Yes. Is he the property of Starfleet? No.
We have all been dancing around the basic issue. Does Data have a soul? I don't know that he has. I don't know that I have. But I have got to give him the freedom to explore that question himself.
It is the ruling of this court that Lieutenant Commander Data has the freedom to choose.
(Data walks over to Maddox)
DATA: I formally refuse to undergo your procedure.
MADDOX: I will cancel that transfer order.
DATA: Thank you. And, Commander, continue your work. When you are ready, I will still be here. I find some of what you propose…intriguing.
(Data leaves.)
MADDOX: He's remarkable.
LOUVOIS: You didn't call him it.
(Maddox leaves.)
LOUVOIS: You see? Sometimes it does work.
PICARD: Dinner?
LOUVOIS: You’re buying.
[Ten Forward]
DATA: Doctor, there is a celebration on the Holodeck.
PULASKI: I have no right to be there.
DATA: I do not understand.
PULASKI: Data...because of my testimony, Maddox came that close to winning.
DATA: Yes, Doctor.
PULASKI: It almost cost you your life!
DATA: Is it not true that had you failed to testify, Captain Louvois would have ruled summarily against me?
PULASKI: Yes, I suppose.
DATA: That action injured you, and saved me. I will not forget it.
PULASKI: You're a wise man, my friend.
DATA: Not yet, Doctor. But with the help of you and my other friends, I will be.
(She smiles at him. Together, they walk out into the corridor headed to the party. The door closes behind them.)
(Exterior shot of Enterprise and THE END.)
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