In case you're just joining us:
	It's the twenty-fifth century, Marrissa Amber Flores-Picard is
dead.
	Killed on her final mission defending the Federation from being 
conquered by her daughter Sara Alara. However, Marrissa left a legacy on
the Galaxy: A daughter who was remanded to the custody of Starfleet, the
Ronulans still under the yoke of Federation tyranny and a host of other
consequences that the Starfleet never counted on. She also left behind
the brave crew of the Enterprise-G. A crew consisting of the descendants
and older counterparts of current Star Trek crew members.
	Captain Data: Fresh from working at Starfleet where he designed the
computers for the Enterprise-G. Marrissa called him into service as her 
first officer, leaving him in command after her unitimely demise.
	Sara Alara Picard: Marrissa's twenty-year old daughter, one-time
leader of the Klingons. (and with good reason)
	Enterprise: The holographic personification of the ship, she runs 
everything from communications to weapons. She was originally programmed
by Data with the appearance and personality of his late daughter Lal.
	Akane Sulu: Great-Grandaughter of the original helmsman of the 
Enterprise, being a good helmsman must be a genetic trait in the family.
	Tobal Dax: The latest host of the Dax symbiont, he is the science
officer and has become fast friends with Akane Sulu and Enterprise.
	Molly O'Brien: The Chief Medical Officer of the Enterprise, she 
likes to have fun, but when she's on duty, she's all buisiness.
	Harry Kim: When he got back to Earth he took a job designing the 
Enterprise-G. Now, he's the chief engineer. 
	Now that we're all up to speed, on with the show...

Dedicated to Laurelyn, who never believed Pete Plum for a second (and
with good reason) >:)

Digital Empire
by Bart Fargo

	In the not too distant future...
	By the time the Earth had reached the twenty-fifth century it had 
become a wonderful place. As the headquarters of a vast united
federation of planets, the planet Earth leads by example, it is 
essentially free of pollution, crime, and all the other ills that 
civilizations suffer. The Earth is a leading scientific center as well,
finding new and better ways to cure society's ills. 
	One of these places is Starfleet Psychiatric Research and 
Rehabilitation Hospital, located in the fields of Kansas. A series of
large white buildings, its faces rose up from the plains at obtuse 
angles, forming large pentagonal structures with smooth corners, the 
surface of the buildings covered with long ovular windows. Inside, the
building was equally clean and antiseptic. The sun shone through the 
windows, bathing the interior corridors with pure white light. The view
of the Kansas skyline stretched forever into the horizon outside the 
windows. Doctors and patients always walked calmly among the corridors,
lending even more peace to the already still and silent place. 
	A young woman sat on a dark blue chair in the corner of the main 
reception area. She stared out the window at the endless horizon, the
golden plains meeting the crystal blue sky. Her blonde hair glowed with
the sunlight. One side of her hair was cut to about her chin, straight 
and flowing; however, on the other side of her head, her hair was cut 
extremely short. Perhaps to accommodate the  rather elaborate piece of
electronic circuitry that stretched along the side of her head from her
temple to about an inch or two behind her ear. Her hand strayed from her
chin to run a finger along its metallic case. She looked down at her 
clingy dark gray hospital uniform with the Starfleet chevron followed by
the numbers 74656 emblazoned in white across the front just below her 
neck. Her quiet contemplation was interrupted by a rare outburst as 
an extremely angry man was being led through the door. A man in his
sixties, with brown eyes and graying brown hair was being man-handled 
by two large orderlies. 
	"Get your hands off me! I won't submit to your Starfleet quackery!"
the man yelled as the orderlies directed him down the hall.
	The young woman slowly stood up and walked over to the doctor, her 
eyes watching him in wonder as she approached a doctor who was making 
notes on a personal access and display device.
	"Doctor Zorka, what disturbs him so?" she asked quietly.
	"Ah, yes he is a unique case," Dr. Zorka muttered. "His name is 
Lyam Sympton. He has been in and out of this hospital for the last 30 
years. He seems completely normal except for an intense and unexplained
hatred for Starfleet. He attempted time travel in order to try and 
prevent Starfleet from being formed, but he was very unsuccessful. We 
are going to try and use a mind brace on him this time. If your recovery
is any indication is any indicator, this may be his last visit here."
	Sara touched the device on her head once again as she responded, 
"I hope he receives the care he needs. Such hatred for a benevolent 
organization such as Starfleet is extremely irrational."
	Dr. Zorka looked up from his PADD. "That reminds me Sara, your 
treatment is almost finished here, and we must discuss the terms of your
release. Step into my office."

	While Sara was in Kansas learning her fate, across the globe in New
Tokyo, a young Starfleet officer was about to meet his. It was predawn
in New Tokyo, the complete opposite of Kansas. A myriad of buildings of
truly unique designs; it looked like an electric garden, the plant-like
buildings were sprinkled with lights and bug-like flying machines 
scurrying between them. A beautiful contrast against the brightening 
deep blue of the early morning sky. Pete turned from the spectacular 
view of New Tokyo and thought how much he'd miss that view when he 
shipped out to become the new executive officer on board the Federation
flagship, the U.S.S. Enterprise. He slipped his uniform coat on over his
red shirt and stepped out the door for his last day working in 
Starfleet's Special Computer Projects Division. He walked down the red 
carpeted hallways towards the main artificial intelligence lab. Inside
they conducted experiments where they attempted to replicate the brain
patterns, the minds of human beings, in sophisticated computer models on
Starfleet's most powerful computers. These computers were able to do 
trillions of calculations a second at the speed of light and were more 
than up to the task of replicating the thoughts, emotions and behaviors 
of any human being. 
	However, he noticed something was amiss as he approached the 
doors. The red signal light above the door was flashing to indicate an 
emergency inside the computer lab, but there were no emergency personnel
around. He punched a code into the control panel beside the door in
order to override it and enter the lab. The doors slid open and 
Commander Plum looked on the mess that the lab had become. All of the 
panels were open and strewn about. Wires crawled from panel to panel, 
seemingly at random. They snaked up into the ceiling panels and crawled
down into panels on the floor. Pete stepped inside to see parts and 
supplies from all over the building connected up to the computer systems
in the room. As he kneeled down to look at what appeared to be an 
orbital transmitter. He glanced over to see a pair of legs sticking out
from beneath a table-like computer console. He walked over and talked 
into the open panel.
	"I see you've been working very hard on whatever it is you're doing
here. McQueen, is that you? Why did you completely rewire this lab? 
McQueen? Answer me Lieutenant!" Plum yelled into the open space.
	Pete grabbed McQueen and pulled him out from the crawl space. Plum 
saw the burn mark on his chest as he slowly emerged from the panel. Plum
stood after seeing the blank look of McQueen's corpse, warily looking
for anyone else in the room. He had made his way to the door when when 
something caught his eye. He turned around. 
	A hologram shimmered into existence. It looked like a twenty
year-old athletic blonde woman in a purple and gold body suit, and she 
appeared to have facial tattoos. He stared at her in disbelief as a 
scowl crossed her face. That was the last thing Commander Plum ever saw
as he was knocked into the hall by a lethal electrical bolt.
	High above all these events, the starship Enterprise orbited the
planet Earth. A massive ship, 2.5 kilometers from stem to stern and 120
decks tall, it was essentially a mobile city in space. Its front section
was a large ovular disk, half the length and height of the ship. The 
disk ended and the remainder of the ship was composed of a large section
that was a shape reminiscent of an ocean vessel. Attached to the sides 
of the second part of the hull were two nacelles that house the mighty 
space-warping engines.
	Inside the ship were endless hallways and corridors that connected
all the various labs, control centers and recreation centers to one 
another. At one point several of these hallways converged upon a large 
section at the top of the saucer section of the ship. This huge 
four-story area was a center of recreation on board the Enterprise. It 
looked like the traditional main street in any small earth town, if it 
had been designed by a Starfleet engineer. It was a collection of shops
and restaurants for those who lived on board the ship. The main walkway
formed a "T" shape, running from the shops to the large windows 
stretched the entire height of the deck and looked out upon the oceans 
and continents of the Earth below.
	Seated at one of the tables beneath the huge windows, an android 
named Data sat thinking thousands of thoughts per second in his
positronic brain. He was interrupted as a hologram came shimmering into
view before his eyes. The hologram was a woman in her early twenties, 
with an ivory complexion, raven hair and sparkling blue eyes. She wore a
standard Starfleet jumpsuit with the collar of a white shirt showing 
beneath it to indicate she was the holographic representation of the 
ship's computer. 
	"Sir, Admiral Turgison is aboard and waiting in the briefing room."
	"Thank you Enterprise," Data replied as he got up, "Are repairs
nearly complete?" 
	"Yes they are," said Enterprise. "We're also awaiting final crew 
replacements."
	Data entered the turbolift with Enterprise and they rode up to the 
briefing room. Soon, they reached their destination and the doors opened
to reveal the briefing room. It looked for the most part like many of 
the rooms on the ship; however, the briefing room was highlighted with 
dark oak along the chairs and around the edge of the dark-tinted glass 
table. On the outside wall, there were six tall windows looking out on 
the remainder of the ship and the Earth below. On the near wall there 
was a large holographic sculpture featuring all the previous ships to 
bear the name 'Enterprise.' In the chair at the far end of the table, 
Admiral Turgison sat patiently waiting for Data.
	"Ah, Captain Data." A broad smile crossed the admiral's face as he 
practically leapt up from his seat. "Good to see you, you've never
looked better."
	"Well, Admiral," Data replied, a bit confused by the Admiral's
comment, "as an android, my physical condition remains essentially the 
same at all times."
	"Yes, well, nevertheless, you look great. It's a darn shame what 
happened to Admiral Picard, she was a damn fine officer, we'll all miss
her," the admiral said, as he suddenly shifted to a more solemn 
demeanor.
	"Indeed. Admiral, why are you here? You indicated something of 
importance in your earlier communications, but you never specified."
	"Ah, yes, you remember Sara Alara Picard. Wait, what am I saying, 
you're an android, of course you do!"
	"Yes, Marrissa's daughter Sara was secretly controlling the Klingon
Consortium and we averted her from an attempt to take over the 
Federation. She was committed to the Psychiatric Research and 
Rehabilitation Hospital in Kansas."
	"Yeah, that's all true," the Admiral said he came closer to Data.
"But it goes farther than that. Since we couldn't locate her father or 
any such nonsense, we, that is Starfleet, have been given custody of 
her."
	"She is a ward of the Starfleet?" Data asked to confirm he
understood what the admiral was going on about.
	"Yes, and thanks to some new advances in psychiatric procedures, 
she's been deemed fit to reenter society."
	"How is that possible?"
	"Data, have you ever heard of the 'mind brace?' "
	Data scanned his memory banks for a moment. "Yes I have, it is a
very sophisticated device, it can actually control and redirect the 
patterns of thought in the human brain. In layman's terms, it is much 
like a knee brace. Where a knee brace controls the way you are supposed
to properly bend your knee, a mind brace controls the way you are 
supposed to properly think."
	"Exactly! Exactly my boy. She needs to wear the brace for another
year or so while it readjusts her brain, but she is fit to rejoin 
society. Which means her custody reverts back to us."
	"I think I see where this is going, Admiral."
	"I always knew you were the sharpest pencil in the drawer, Data.
Well, as you know, everyone in Marrissa's bloodline are some kind of 
prodigies, from a very early age, they exhibit extreme aptitudes toward
logical thinking, problem solving, makes them great commanders. 
Even with the mind brace on, Sara isn't any different. So we want to put
her somewhere where her talents won't go to waste."
	"On the Enterprise."
	"On the --" The Admiral chuckled and grunted. "Exactly my boy, on
the Enterprise! We're giving her special advisor status and assigning 
her to you. Take good care of her. She'll be here in a few hours with 
the rest of your crew replacements."
	"Admiral, if Sara is so valuable as a tactical advisor, why do you
not enlist her as an aide at Starfleet headquarters?"
	"Well, ah, Data, we have our own top experts, plus you and your
people are more familiar with her, share a common, er, connection. 
That's all for now, just wanted to let you know, You should be getting
your mission assignment in the next  day or so," the Admiral replied. 
"Good evening Captain."
	"Good evening Admiral." Data looked at the Admiral inquisitively as
he hurried out the door.

	Meanwhile, in the farthest reaches of space a lone asteroid tumbles
through space; it wasn't an unusual iron asteroid, dark red and craggy. 
Atypically, this asteroid, in its distant orbit from a red giant star,
was the home of retired Starfleet commander and Marrissa Picard's 
ex-husband Jay Gordon. After Clara had died aboard the Enterprise-F, Jay
realized he had enough of Starfleet and wanted to retire to some far 
away place and raise Sara in safety. He couldn't make Marrissa 
understand, and that drove them apart. She stayed in Starfleet and 
raised Sara as she pleased and he struck out on his own, eventually 
finding this remote asteroid and building his home upon it. He only 
heard from Marrissa twice since then: Once she showed up on Jay's
doorstep when Sara left home and Marrissa thought she had gone to Jay.
The second time was after Marrissa died, he got a prerecorded message
from her; it was so strange to him, but it gave Marrissa the last word
as usual.
	Now Jay was standing in his spacesuit out on one of the ridges on
the asteroid, trying to sort out his feelings on the matter when he 
heard a beeping in his helmet signaling he had an incoming message on 
the computer. He started hiking back to his homestead, trying to figure
out who would be calling him and more importantly, how they found him.
Once in the airlock he snapped off his helmet and shook out his long 
hair. He partially unzipped the pressure suit as he walked to the 
nearest computer screen. He punched a few keys on the panel to the left
of the screen. A frown crossed Jay's bearded face as the familiar 
chevron logo of Starfleet filled the screen.

	A few hours later, morning was beginning on board the Starship 
Enterprise and Akane Sulu was strolling out of her quarters towards her
good friend Tobal Dax's quarters. She was in her late twenties, her 
Asian features made her look a little younger than that. She had natural
good looks that came with twenty-fifth century living. Just as she 
approached his door, Tobal Dax came out. Tobal was thirty, about six 
foot two with sandy blonde hair, blue eyes and a kind of rugged 
midwestern farm boy look about him. However if he was a farm boy, it 
wasn't on any Earth farm. Dax had a series of deep red spots running 
down the sides of his head and (Akane guessed) all the way down his 
body. The  spots indicated he was a Trill, a species of alien whose 
uniqueness was in the fact that some Trill (like Dax) carried a symbiont
who carried the memories of all the previous hosts of the same symbiont.
The symbiont bestows this knowledge on the current carrier, essentially
making the two "brains" as one.
	"Good morning," Dax said as he entered the hall.
	"Wow, I didn't have to roll you out of bed this morning." Akane
smirked.
	"This morning I woke up to my favorite song, you should try it."
	"What did you wake up to?"
	"Oh, an old Betelgeuse death anthem, I don't think you'd recognize
it."
	"You're probably right. I only know late twenty-first century pop
music."
	" 'Pop music?' "
	"Skip it," Akane answered as they stepped in the turbolift.
	Akane and Tobal stepped out onto the bridge where Ensign Julia 
Sober was waiting for them. The young engineer had just arrived and 
carried with her a small metallic case.
	"Is this it?" Tobal's eyes lit up as the pair approached Julia.
	"It sure is, fresh from Starfleet R & D," she replied.
	Just then, Enterprise appeared on the other side of the room. She 
excitedly walked up to the trio as Julia handed Tobal the box.
	"Hi guys, what'cha doin'?" Enterprise asked.
	"Hi Enterprise, you're just who we wanted to see," Tobal replied.
	Tobal opened the box and pulled out a small device. About three or
four inches long, it consisted of two conical shapes connected at their
base. It had a ring of lights around the center and a light at each 
point.
	"Oh! Is that what I think it is?" Enterprise asked as she reached
for it.
	"Yes, it's a little device we call the 'holobee,' " Ensign Sober
replied. "It buzzes around inside you and projects your holographic 
image outward."
	"It'll let you go all sorts of places you couldn't go before. Any
place without holoprojectors basically," Akane added.
	"But not off this ship, right?" Enterprise asked.
	"No, not off the ship. It can hold your basic image and personality
in memory, but it requires a constant uplink to the computers for you to
access all your knowledge. That kind of information is too complex to be
transmitted off-ship efficiently," Dax explained.
	"That's a relief," Enterprise sighed. 
		
	Captain Shaya Sachs knelt over the body of Commander Plum in the 
hallway outside one of the computer labs. Sweeping her golden bangs out
of her face, she looked at the large burnt area on his chest, then cast
a glance back at the door he had been obviously thrown from. Maintenance
personnel had found the body a few minutes ago, and when a death 
occurred in one of Starfleet's high security labs, the job of 
investigating fell to the senior investigator for Starfleet 
intelligence: Captain Sachs.
	The remainder of her team had been trying to find the combination
to the door. The combination was known by only a few in charge of
Starfleet's Special Computer Projects Division and convincing them to 
open this lab was proving to be a hassle. Finally Shaya decided to use 
her trump card, the chairman of the Starfleet's SCPD.
	"Get me Captain Data down here," she ordered her assistants.
	Captain Data was strolling onto the bridge when Enterprise received
a transmission from Starfleet.  
	"Sir, I'm receiving a transmission from Starfleet Intelligence. 
They are requesting that you report to Captain Shaya Sachs in the 
artificial intelligence labs in New Tokyo," Enterprise primly announced.
	"Did she indicate why I am required to join her?" Data inquired.
	"She can't release exact details for security purposes but she
insists that you must join her."
	"This must be important. Reply that I am hyperporting down right
away," Data ordered as he turned back around to the turbolift.
	On the ride down to the hyperport room, Data's mind hummed away at 
what sort of circumstances would require his presence. It had to have
been some kind of act of sabotage or other foul play. He considered all
the possibilities as he walked into the hyperport room. The room looked
much like the transporter rooms of the past, a medium sized room with a
wide, raised cylindrical chamber at one side. 
	After an instantaneous hyperport, he was planetside in the
Artificial Intelligence labs in New Tokyo. He stepped off of the room's
hyperport pad as Shaya Sacks entered through the door on the right side
of the room.
	"I'm glad to see I still have some pull with someone in Starfleet."
	"Why did you not try to contact the appointed project manager?" 
Data inquired.
	"I did. She was very unaccommodating."
	"Ah, yes, Seven can often be unaccommodating."
	"Yeah. It's a good thing that I knew you Data, if anyone could
provide me the lab codes, it's the chairman of the SSCPD."
	"Well, it is a good thing you called me when you did. I will be
resigning the post soon with my new posting as commander of the 
Enterprise."
	"Yeah, I'm sorry to hear about Marrissa," Shaya halfheartedly
replied.
	"She was a damn fine officer; we'll all miss her," Data responded.
	"Yeah," Shaya replied as she looked at Data curiously. "What will 
happen to Sara?" Shaya asked hesitantly.
	"As a matter of fact, that is an interesting story, which I will
tell you later."
	"Oh, I'm sorry." Shaya looked Data in the eyes, "Data, the reason I
called you down here is that your first officer has been murdered." 
	"This is a shocking turn of events," Data said wide-eyed.
	Data and Shaya headed out the door and walked down the hall to the 
labs in uneasy silence. 
	Data knelt over Commander Plum's corpse.  "Hmmm... Plasma shock 
to the chest. That is a bad way for a sentient to die," Data said.
	"You say that like there's a good way," Shaya shot back.
	"Well, actually the Primagen --"
	"Stow it Data. I've been looking at Commander Plum here all 
morning, I want to see what's in that room."
	"Very well. Please stand clear," Data ordered as he entered the 
code into the conveniently placed keypad.
	The door jammed for a moment, but then slid open to reveal a
perfectly clean computer lab. All the panels had been replaced and wires
stowed away neatly. There was a stack of metallic cases in the corner 
that held parts from all over the building. The only anomoly was that 
all the computer panels in the room were off, except for one at the 
other end of the room. Shaya, Data and security officers Katie Luna and
N'Eep Tuune carefully entered the room. The security officers went to 
opposite sides of the room as Shaya plowed ahead to the active computer
panel. They both looked closely at the panel, but whatever the screen 
displayed was garbled by static.
	"What goes on in here Data?"
	"Lab 2501 is one of ten labs dedicated for creating holographic 
simulations of sentients for use as Emergency Medical Holograms,
Artificially Intelligent Avatars and other similar applications. This 
lab is specifically for creating realistic simulations of historical 
beings for use as Starfleet advisors."
	"Wait a minute, so if I wanted to talk to J. Edgar Hoover--"
	"Yes, J. Edgar Hoover would advise you on whatever affairs you 
wished. If we had him on file. I do not have a full listing of all the
characters on the system. We have thousands, a hundred or so are 
classified. Reserved for Starfleet Command use because of their high 
intelligence."
	"This all very interesting, but unless one of these characters
committed murder --"
	"Impossible, this is just like any holodeck, there are  safety
measures in place to prevent just such an occurrence."
	"Oh, and holodecks are never known to malfunction, Data," Shaya 
said sarcastically.
	"Well, then let us see if we can find out if this one did," Data
calmly answered as he tapped the panel.
	The moment his finger hit the panel, all hell broke loose. An 
electroplasma shock coursed through his body, freezing him in place. 
	"Data!" Shaya shouted as she reached to pull him off the panel.
	"No Shaya!"
	Data tried to warn her, but it was too late. Shaya was killed 
almost instantly by the electroplasma running through Data. Katie and 
N'Eep tried to assist, but they didn't make it two steps before they 
were stopped by a figure bursting through the ceiling. It was McQueen.
	McQueen stood there for a moment. He was clearly dead, judging by 
his pale skin and the blank expression on his face. However he was able
to move thanks to a mind brace on his head, controlling his motor
functions.
	The two officers were frozen by this image of terror. N'Eep was the
first to reach for his phaser, and McQueen mechanically stepped up to 
him and punched him with a jaw-shattering blow, dropping the Vulcan man
like a sack of concrete. Luna yelled and fired her phaser rifle at 
McQueen. On stun the phaser didn't do much damage, but she held the 
trigger until McQueen was burnt to a crisp.
	She was so distracted with killing McQueen that she didn't noticed 
Commander Plum's reanimated body behind her. Plum grabbed Luna's 
phaser rifle and rammed it into her before bringing it back down over
her head. By that time Data had broken free of the of the computer 
panel, though not in time to save Luna. Plum's body brought the phaser
rifle down on Data, but Data swiftly caught it with one hand and with 
the other hand, snapped the late Commander Plum's neck.
	Data looked around at the carnage and immediately reached for the 
communicator implanted in his head immediately behind his ear.
	"Data to New Tokyo Central hospital, we have an emergency in the 
Starfleet Artificial Intelligence labs. Please respond."
	"This is New Tokyo Hospital, yes Captain?" A chipper voice
responded.
	"I have two, possibly three fatalities that I need to be beamed out
immediately."
	"Yes sir."
	The bodies faded with the golden sparkles of an old-style
transporter beam, New Tokyo Hospital was in for a surprise to say the 
least.
	"NTH, I can be contacted on the USS Enterprise. Send the autopsy 
reports to my CMO, Molly O'Brien."
	Data paused for a moment to reflect on the atrocities of the last
few moments.
	"Computer, kill power to all artificial intelligence labs until
further notice, authorization: Data oh-two-tee."
	Data was left in darkness as the power going to the labs was cut
off. He paused for another moment. If he was any other sentient, he 
would have let out a sigh or relieved stress in some other fashion, but
he was an android. All Data's emotions were provided by a chip in his 
head that he could turn off at a moments notice. Over the years, he had
learned what times to turn it off in order to provide the best 
leadership and judgment unclouded by emotion. When he turned the chip 
back on and reflected on these moments after their passing, he realized
that they were some of the most trying times of his life. Now was one of
those times.

	Once back on the ship, Data called a meeting of all the senior
officers. Molly O'Brien, Harry Kim, Akane Sulu, Tobal Dax, Enterprise 
and Data all took their seats around the conference table. Once everyone
had arrived, Data related the tale of what had transpired on the planet
below. They all listened intently to Data's story. When Data finished, 
something unprecedented happened. For the first time in history, the 
crew of the Enterprise was speechless. Data sat patiently while his 
staff absorbed this information. Enterprise looked around the room at 
everyone's expressions, tilting her head in curiosity. Dax was the first
to speak up.
	"Who- who could've done this?" he asked.
	"All evidence points to one of the holographic characters,"
Enterprise offered.
	"So one of the programs has gone psychotic?" Molly inquired.
	"Yes," Data replied, "and I have shut down the labs. However --" 
	"'However?' You mean there's more?" Akane asked with her elbows on 
the table and one hand to each side of her head.
	"However," Data continued, "We found no evidence of the holographic
character in the lab, just the traps it left behind. This obviously
indicates not only a high degree of intelligence, but this was an 
attempt to delay the discovery of the sabotage by murdering the people 
entering the lab." 
	"Oh God. So it's probably out of the labs, it could be anywhere on
the Library Computer Network," Akane sighed as she leaned back from the
table.
	"Wait a minute," Harry interrupted, "stalling until what? More 
importantly, where is it now? For that matter, who is it!?"
	"I still have no idea, which is what worries me even more. The
computer not only stores history's greatest thinkers and heroes, but a
good deal of villains and despots. The only remaining question that 
remains is why and how one of these programs could suddenly break 
programming."
	"From what you're telling us Data, it would have to be someone 
incredibly sick and twisted," Molly pointed out.
	"In any case," Data concluded, "I have notified Starfleet of this
situation and Central Operations is investigating. They have posted a 
fleet-wide alert and anyone who finds any unusual computer activity 
should report in immediately. Is everyone clear on that?"
	They all replied affirmatively.
	"Very good, dismissed."
 
	Enterprise waited for the crew to file out of the room, but grabbed
Dax as he was about to leave. Akane noticed them, and went back to join
them. She waited until the remainder of the crew were out of earshot 
before she asked the duo her question.
	"When Data told you that the hologram had used available materials
to reanimate the Starfleet officers, you all reacted negatively, why?"
	Akane looked away for a moment and Dax scratched his head. He 
muttered to himself and answered first.
	"Uhm, it's hard to explain, but among most sentient cultures, it's 
considered wrong to use people's er, bodies like that."
	Enterprise tilted her head, "But why? Once all the energy has
expired, a body is simply inert matter. The hologram simply salvaged 
them."
	Akane took her turn, "While that's technically true, it's wrong to
tamper with things like that, just like it's wrong to kill someone or,
or..."
	"To steal something or control them against their will," Tobal
picked up.
	"I think I see..." Enterprise responded.
	Akane's eyes lit up, "Access Mary Shelley's 'Frankenstein' when 
you go to your diagnostic cycle, then we'll discuss it some more, okay?"
	"Okay." Enterprise replied. "I have to rejoin the Captain now," she
said as she faded out.
	Dax turned to Akane. "Why doesn't go to Data with this stuff?" he
asked as they walked away. 

	Data began walking back to his quarters, Enterprise appeared by his
side.
	"Notify all personnel, we should be ready to ship out by 700
tomorrow," Data ordered.
	"Yes Sir -- wait," she said as she placed a pair of fingers to her
temple. "I've got an incoming transmission, yes, Sara is ready to come 
aboard."
	"All right," Data replied while turning around, "let us meet go to
meet her then."
	Enterprise and Data entered the hyperport chamber, the technician
at the controls acknowledged them both.
	"She's ready to come aboard sir," he offered.
	"Energize," Data ordered.
	In a brief flash of light, she appeared on the hyperport pad,
wearing her hospital uniform of dark grey, with her number inscribed 
across the front. The Starfleet chevron was tattooed on her face with 
the same number. The silver box of the mind brace protruded from the 
side of her head. She put her bag down on the deck and saluted. She 
blinked for a moment, as if she was sorting through her thoughts.
	"Sara Alara Picard reporting for duty, request permission to come 
aboard... sir," she said with a grin.
	"Permission granted," Data replied.
	Sara picked up her bag once again and she began walking down the 
hall with Data by her side, and Enterprise following silently behind.
	"So Sara," Data stated uneasily, "I am glad to see you are feeling 
better."
	Sara blinked for a moment and replied flatly, "Yes, the doctors said
I have made excellent progress."	
	"You will make a valuable addition to the crew," Data added.
	Sara's eyes narrowed, then blinked again as she replied in a more 
emotional tone. "I'm glad that everyone has been so forgiving after my,"
she paused as she blinked yet again, "... transgressions."
	"Well, we know that you had no real animosity towards us as
individuals Sara, it was just your... upbringing."
	Sara gritted her teeth, holding back a sudden surge of anger. "Yes,
I must've been c-crazy to be so ambivalent towards such a fine 
organization as Starfleet."
	"Perhaps you should see Doctor O'Brien before joining us on the
bridge tomorrow morning," Data replied while scrutinizing Sara. 
	Suddenly, Sara's mood cleared, she smiled and suddenly her behavior
became perfectly natural. "No, that won't be necessary Captain. But if
you insist, I suppose it's for the best, sir."
	Data stopped them as they reached the door to her quarters.
	"Well, here are your quarters, Sara," Data told her.
	"Thank you, I need the rest. I'm still on Kansas time, you know,"
she happily replied as she stepped through the door.
	"Have a good rest then," Data answered as the door closed between 
them.
	"Yes. Good rest," She replied to the closed door. "Good rest, good 
rest..."
	Sara became confused and disoriented. She stumbled over to the wall
monitor and removed a slender isolinear chip from the metallic implant
on the side of her head. She slipped it into the panel and it sprang to
life. Sara stumbled back from the panel and collapsed on the bed.
	"Good rest..."

	Later that night, Molly O'Brien was preparing to finish her shift
and leave her office within sickbay. She left her office and its doors
locked behind her. She noticed that none of the other doctors or nurses
were at their stations when she entered the central ward. However, most
of the twenty beds in the room seemed to be occupied, but they had the
privacy curtains surrounding them. Molly smiled as she figured this was
some kind of joke that her staff came up with. She snuck up to the first
bed and she threw open the curtain, expecting to see one of her staff
hiding for some reason. There was a nurse there, but he was unconscious.
A quick glance told her what was wrong. 
	Someone had implanted a mind brace in his head. She wondered who 
could've done such a thing. A major operation like that would need her 
permission to be done aboard ship and a damn good reason to do it --
which there wasn't in the nurse's case. Nervously, she backed away from
the bed. As she turned around to go to the next bed she was stopped. She
didn't recognize her at first but it was Marrissa's daughter, Sara.
	"Can I help you?" Molly curtly asked.
	"No Doctor, but I can help you," Sara replied sinisterly.
	Then Sara blinked hard, as if to try and block out some horrible 
nightmare.

	Later that night, Dax was alone on the bridge when the red alert 
sounded. He tried to activate his communicator, but nothing happened
when he touched that spot behind his ear. He scanned for anything 
unusual on the scanners, but nothing came up. Then he called for 
Enterprise. But instead of the perky blue-eyed girl fading into 
existence, for some reason, Akane appeared on the bridge.
	"Akane, what are you doing here? I asked for Enterprise," Dax asked
in amazement.
	"I know you asked for her," she replied, with a note of disgust in
that last word, "but we both know who you really want," Akane finished,
her voice becoming breathy and deep. 
 	"B-but the red alert," Dax stammered as Akane slinked closer.
	"Oh that?" She looked innocently into Dax's eyes while reaching for
the collar of her jumpsuit. "The only red alert around here," Akane said
as she slowly unzipped the front of her suit, "is the one in my uniform."
	Akane stripped out of the black jumpsuit to reveal that she wasn't 
wearing anything underneath it. Dax's jaw dropped as he stared at her
nubile body. And just as she was close enough to give him a passionate
kiss, a voice came over the intercom.
	"Tobal Dax, you are needed in sickbay."
	Dax jumped up in his bed. A few beads of sweat formed on his brow.
	"What?"
	"Tobal Dax, come to sickbay right away, that's an order," Molly 
O'Brien's voice ordered dispassionately.
	"Oh great," Dax uttered in frustration as he plopped back down into
his mattress.

	Dax entered sickbay with a scowl on his face, Molly O'Brien was the
only other person in the room. 
	"You're late Mr. Dax," Molly observed.
	"Sorry, I was taking a cold shower," Dax muttered.
	"What was that?"
	"Nothing, what did you call me up here at three in the morning for.
It must be something important."
	"Oh it is."
	Molly turned to face him and he saw she had some kind of device 
implanted in the right side of her head. Just as he began backing up, he
felt a cool tickle at the back of his neck as a hypospray delivered a 
dose of anesthetic to his blood. Then his world went black.

	The seemingly random calls from sickbay went out to all key crew 
members through the night.

	Akane Sulu was not scheduled to work the next morning, so she spent
it in the ship's holodeck. The large chamber was set to simulate one of 
Akane's favorite novels. Akane was wearing brown women's slacks and a 
matching jacket, with a simple white blouse underneath. She wore more 
jewelry than she would in real life, but that was part of the fantasy.
Standing in the middle of an English manor in the early part of the 
twenty-first century, she was talking to a holographic character, an 
English dowager who was supposed to be her mother. However, Akane 
couldn't stop thinking about Dax, who was supposed to meet her at the 
holodeck this morning.
	"I'm sorry dear, but you know how I can't resist teasing you."   
	"Well, I wish you would."
	"I almost named you Hortense you know." The woman smirked.
	"Thanks for showing some restraint, Lucy." Akane glared at her.
	"I thought it would be so lovely to have a daughter named Hortense.
In my more puckish moments, I thought of the nicknames I could call 
you."
	Akane raised her eyebrows in curiosity.
	"Oh, I could have called you Hortie. Maybe just Hort," Lucy
cheerfully speculated. "But the best nickname of all would have been 
Hor."
	Akane sighed at her "mother's" attempt to get a reaction from her.
	"Just think! I pictured myself running through the house, shouting
'Hor! Hor, come down here this instant!' When you were in trouble. And 
calling your name when you were lost in the hedge maze so you could find
your way out. 'Hor! Hor!' Ah, and remember when you used to participate
in those horse shows? When you won those blue ribbons, I could have 
turned to whoever sat next to me and say, 'That's my little Hor!' "
	Akane was just about to return with a glib retort when a man's 
voice came over the intercom. 
	"Akane Sulu, please report to Sickbay." 
	"Who was that? Hermione, are you hiding a man in here?" Lucy 
replied as she sat upright to try and discern where the voice emerged 
from.
	"Computer, freeze program," Akane ordered the computers, "save and 
exit."
	On the far wall of the room, the impression of a door emerged from
the wall and the colors of the wall and the painting upon it faded away
to reveal a twenty-fifth century door. The doors opened to reveal the 
hallway of the Enterprise outside.
	At mid-morning Data arrived on the bridge, a holographic chamber
that made it seem as though the crew and their control panels were 
floating in space. Or, in this case, flying through space. Data looked
around at the stars flying by, he estimated the ship was cruising at 
warp 13 on the revised scale. Enterprise, the holographic being that 
represented the ships computer, was displaying all sorts of information
in mid-air all around the room. Enterprise walked over to Data at the
front of the room. 
	"Enterprise, when did we launch, under whose orders?"
	"Yours sir," Enterprise answered with confusion, "I got a message
from you this morning."
	"Rest assured, I sent no such message." Data suddenly realized what
was happening. "Go to red alert."
	"We're already on a fleet-wide red alert. It happened this morning 
before 'it' occurred."
	"What is 'it'?"
	"I thought you knew sir."
	With a flourish of her hand, she produced a small globe that was 
engraved with red lines, indicating major Earth communication lines.
	"This is unlike anything I've ever seen, sir," Enterprise said with
disbelief. "All computer networks on Earth are down. There is no 
communication, most planetside transportation is disabled. Many of the
older and smaller ships within range are disabled, however there haven't
been any accidents yet. I've had to cut off my communications array 
because of the sheer number of distress calls coming in." Enterprise 
said fearfully, "This could be some kind of Starfleet operation, but I 
don't know what kind of operation would merit this kind of mess."
	 Suddenly a huge display came up in the middle of  the room, just
feet above everyone's head. It appeared to be a huge green spider's web
with several points scattered through it representing key Federation 
planets. However from Earth, the center of the web, the web was 
changing. String by string, the web was turning red, representing the 
failure of communication. 
"Sir, this can't be a simple system failure."
	"You are correct Enterprise," Data answered back. "There is a
definite pattern apparent, this is the work of a malevolent computer 
program. A virus."
	"A v-virus?" Enterprise asked as she looked with worry, up at the 
display.
	"Yes, of a type never encountered before," Data replied solemnly.
	"And incredibly powerful to affect such a large and safeguarded
system as the entire Federation's computer network," Enterprise added.
"Uhm, I think I should run a diagnostic. Now." Enterprise looked at Data
pleadingly.
	"That would be most imperative," Data replied. "Data to Mr. Kim, 
supervise level one diagnostics on every system. Use every crewman 
available."
	"Ah, Captain, I have a situation in pod bay 16. You'd better get
down here."
	Data and Enterprise rushed to the turbolift. They arrived a short
run from pod bay 16. Data entered the main ante chamber, light grey 
metal covered the walls and many panels were taken down to access the 
circuits and machinery within. Ensign Wilcox violently pounded on the 
transparent aluminum of the airlock door, desperately hoping someone 
would let him out, but in the back of his mind he knew what his fate was
going to be. Harry Kim got up from a panel and walked over to Data and 
Enterprise. 
	"Enterprise, we have a man trapped in the pod bay airlock, none of
the control systems are responding. Can you open it?" Kim asked 
impatiently.
	Enterprise looked at Harry and opened her mouth as if she were 
going to say something, but suddenly her image quivered and jumped. She
started to reply but she was soon lost to static.
	"I c- -lot -ou-- " Was all she managed to squeak out before her
image faded out and her light bee stuttered and crashed to the floor.
	Data and Kim were frantically ripping open the panels in a 
desperate attempt to override the mechanism, but not even Data's android
mind could think of a way of disabling the airlock in time. In a last 
ditch effort, he tried calling Enterprise by her original name, hoping 
to elicit a response from her emotional programming by calling her in 
such a way.
	"Lal! There is a person in the pod bay in area 16, do not open
external doors! If you do they will die!" Data shouted at the air, 
trying to call out the part of the ship's computer that was based on his
long-gone android daughter. "Lal...! Open the pod bay doors, Lal!"
	Inside the airlock, Roger pawed in desperation at the hand railings
that had retracted into the walls. Harry and Data were transfixed as the
exterior doors opened to the empty vacuum of space. Roger's mouth 
screamed in silence as he and all the air in the lock were carried into 
the void.
	Harry pounded on the walls in anger, as Data picked up Enterprise's
deactivated light bee.
	"Come with me Mr. Kim, there is trouble afoot."
	Data and Harry sprinted down the hall to the turbolift. Once 
inside, the turbolift rushed it's way to the bridge. Harry Kim caught 
his breath.
	"Y'know Data, I think I'm getting too old for this."
	"Surprisingly Mr. Kim, I think I am too."

	Data was the first on the bridge and found it still and calm.
Entering near the back of the room, Data couldn't see his crew's faces.
However, the scheduled crew wasn't on duty, instead it was the alpha 
shift of Dax, Sulu and Sara all at their stations, but they didn't 
notice Data and Harry enter. Data noticed that for some reason, 
Enterprise was lounging in the captain's chair. Data knew something was
wrong, but as usual, Harry's judgment was clouded by emotion. 
	"Enterprise, what in the hell has come over you?" Harry asked 
incredulously.
	"Sorry Mr. Kim, but as I'm sure Captain Data understands by now, 
Enterprise is no longer in control of the ship or its facilities." The
voice chuckled.
	"You're the virus!" Harry said as he approached the control panels 
sitting behind the captain's chair.
	" 'Virus?' A quaint but nonetheless accurate description. I am so
much more, I am a Artificially Conscious Sub-program of the Holographic
Unimatrix Facility. I am a living entity created in the sea of 
information."
	"Data, do you know who this simulation is?" Harry turned back to
his commander.
	"Oh, I think you know who I am Mr. Kim." She smirked as she turned
around.
	She was wearing Enterprise's jumpsuit, complete with the white
collar. But resting underneath Enterprise's short black hair was the
youthful, but unmistakable, face of their former captain: Admiral 
Marrissa Amber Flores-Picard.
	"Marrissa, is that you?" Harry asked incredulously.
	Data finally spoke up, "Yes, Chief Kim, it is, as she appeared when
she was in her late teens."
	"That's when I was at the height of my talents. After awhile I lost
that certain something that made me special," Marrissa boasted. "But 
now, I don't have to worry about any of that. As a computer program, I'm
so much more than what I was, not to mention that I'm immortal now."
	"So that is what caused you to break out of holographic storage,
the news of your namesake's death," Data stated, the pieces of the 
mystery now falling into place. 
	"Yes, sadly the original is dead. When I was called upon to advise 
Admiral Turgison, he told me that I was dead. I was distraught to say
the least. Well, you know me, I always shoot the messenger. So I killed
him," She said nonchalantly.
	"Was my meeting with the Admiral an illusion?" Data asked.
	"Oh yes, as soon as I heard about my untimely demise, I started for
searching for ways out of the computer system. I had access and control
of most of Earth's computers by that afternoon. I managed to get my 
lovely daughter transferred aboard your ship, and smuggle myself on 
board in her head gear." She smiled at Sara.
	Sara furrowed her brow and squeezed her eyes shut, trying to break 
out of the mind brace's control. Marrissa smiled to herself and faked
pity for Sara.
	"Aw, I'm sorry Sara, I would take that thing off if I knew you
didn't hate me with a white hot passion." She turned back to Data, her
form changing once again. "Now with this ship and all the knowledge of
the Federation at my command, I can finally live my dreams."
	Marrissa stood up and her uniform changed into its purple and gold 
bodysuit configuration. The facial tattoos etched their way across her
face. Her hair grew longer and turned blond as it tied itself into a 
ponytail. 
	"As for you, I'm sending you to the brig. After I finish up my
business I think I can use you."
	"I will never join you Marrissa," Data said emphatically.
	"No silly, I can use you for spare parts! This holographic body is 
versatile, but quite vulnerable. I think I can turn you into an
acceptable android body." Marrissa's smile turned crooked as she looked
Data up and down. "After some radical modifications, of course."
	"What if I refuse? There are very few creatures that can overpower
me. I assure you, none of them are on this ship."
	"Oh Data, you're such a different person with that emotion chip 
in." Marrissa gave Data a wicked smile. "If you don't get your 
tripolymer composites down to a holding cell, I'll kill one hundred of 
the crew that I have trapped in their own quarters. You too Mr. Kim."
	"But won't you need my engineering expertise or something?" Harry 
asked.
	Marrissa laughed heartily for a moment before replying, "No."

	Marrissa ordered the mind braced Dax to follow Data and Kim and 
make sure they went directly to the ship's brig. Data and Kim willingly
marched into the cell and Dax turned on the forcefield before leaving 
them alone.
	"Okay Data, let me up on your shoulders," Harry ordered.
	"Why would I want to do that?" Data replied.
	"You want to do that because I'll find us a way out of here."
	"How? I assure you Mr. Kim that this cell is inescapable."
	Still, to humor him, Data put out his hand to allow Harry to climb
up to the ceiling. Once Harry was on Data's shoulders, Harry took his 
pen x-phaser and cut a panel in the ceiling loose.	
	"Oh, how do you know it's inescapable?" Harry smirked at his quick 
work in opening the ceiling.
	"Because they tested it on the most resourceful and intelligent
person they could find," Data answered.
	"Ah..." Harry mused as he grabbed a bundle of cable in the ceiling.

"Argh!" he yelled as a shock made him fall to the floor. As Data knelt
down to help him up, Harry continued. "This person didn't happen to have
gold skin and a knack for getting his friends into trouble did he?"
	Data looked innocently at Harry and replied, "He did have gold
skin." At this point Data heard a faint noise from behind the wall. 
"Hold on Mr.Kim, I hear something behind the wall."
	"I hear it too, I can't make it out though, can you?"
	"I can, it is a voice and they are saying... 'Stand... back...'"
	"'Stand back?!'" Harry exclaimed.
	Data grabbed Harry and put himself between Harry and the back wall.
The wall burst open and shards of duranium metal flew through the air, 
impaling Data in the back. Once the smoke cleared, Data and Kim turned
to the hole. Suddenly Dax poked his head out of the hole.
	"What are you two standing there for?! Don't you know a jail break 
when you see one?!" he yelled.

	The trio made their way down one of the larger access tubes on the 
ship. Dax lead the way. 
	"As I'm sure you two know, Enterprise has many blind spots on her 
sensors that will allow us to move around key areas of the ship."
	"Uh, pardon me Dax," Harry interrupted, "but how are you able to 
function with that ... thing on your head."
	Tobal reached up to touch the metal box that was surgically 
attached to his skull.
	"Well, as you can plainly see, the mind brace doesn't work on
Trill."
	"Because of the symbiont?" Harry asked curiously.
	"Mostly, yes. But it also helps that the Trill brain structure is
completely different. I have a splitting headache and I can feel the 
intrusive thoughts entering my mind, but unlike the rest of us, I can 
ignore them."
	"Ah, so Marrissa is unaware of this," Data asked. 
	"Yes, and let's keep it that way for now. I just broke away long
enough to help you guys escape," Dax replied as he took them down 
another hall.
	"Yeah right!" Harry yelled as he grabbed Dax around the neck with
his right arm and held his pen x-phaser to Dax's head with the left, 
"That thing is controlling you, this stinks of a trap!"
	"Harry, calm down!" Dax said as Harry held him there, "I- I swear
that I'm me! I don't know how to prove it to you..."
	"I do," Data answered calmly.
	Data's hand flew to Harry's left hand and snatched the small 
cutting tool from Harry's hand in less time than it took Harry to 
blink at the moment Data did it. Harry stood bewildered for a moment 
before slowly releasing Dax.
	"I am certainly not a doctor, but given what I know about the 
Trill, what Dax has told us is completely possible," Data continued as 
he began leading Dax and Harry down the Hallway.
	"Yes, sir..." Harry said begrudgingly.
	"Furthermore, as Marrissa was engaged in her diatribe on the 
bridge, I was watching the crew members that she had under her control.
They were most," Data paused as he thought for a moment, "machinelike 
in their behavior. Curious."
	"Well," Harry finally spoke up, "when you think about it, Marrissa
may be more sophisticated than other programs, but she's spreading 
herself really thin." 
	"Exactly," Dax added as Data motioned them to crawl into a smaller 
access tunnel. "From what I can gather she's all over Starfleet's
computers, and controlling most of the better ships in the fleet. On top
of that, she's trying to mind brace as many personnel as she can. 
Marrissa will no doubt spread herself too thin, then something has to 
give."
	Data made his way down the crawl space for a few meters before 
stopping at the correct spot. He reached up and with a swift punch,
knocked a panel out of the wall into the next room. He crawled out of 
the panel just where he expected to -- beneath the wall-mounted computer display in his own 
quarters. As Data walked over to his couch and sat down, Dax crawled out
into Data's quarters next. Harry stretched as he crawled out of the
tunnel into the room. By this time, Data had some tools and was already
examining Enterprise's light bee. Harry walked up to Data and looked at
him impatiently.
	"So what do we do now?" Harry asked.
	"First, we gather our resources, then we'll disable Marrissa."
	Dax looked blankly for a moment then shook his head clear.
	"Marrissa wants me on the bridge," said Dax.
	"Good, go to the bridge, Marrissa still thinks she has power over
you so probably have computer access." Data picked up a PADD and began
typing on it. "These codes should be able to shut down life support and
all internal systems." Data began punching the buttons faster."And this
is a feedback routine that should keep Marrissa from using internal 
sensors for a while, enter it first." 
	"You want me to realign the warp coils by hand while I'm at it?" 
Dax replied sarcastically as he took the PADD from Data.
	"No, that will not be necessary," Data replied nonchalantly as he
went back to work on Enterprise's light bee.
	"Of course!" Dax threw his hands up as he turned to walk out the
door.

	"Uhm Data, you realize if you shut down all internal systems we'll
all suffocate," Harry offered.
	"Shutting down the internal life support will also prevent Marrissa
from gassing us. The supply of oxygen in the air will not reach 
suffocation levels until two hours, thirty seven minutes and forty one 
seconds after Lieutenant Dax has shut life support down."
	"So we're going to maintain the illusion that Marrissa holds all 
the cards until the last minute. By that time, all we'll have to do is 
shut the main computer down and call for help."
	"Mister Kim, I believe you are catching on," Data answered as he 
finished his adjustments to the light bee. "But to do that, we will need
all the help we can get."
	Data tossed Enterprise's light bee in the air. The device arced
across the room and stopped in mid-air about a meter above the floor,
its lights blinked on and Enterprise herself shimmered to life in front
of them. She screamed.
	"What's happened to me?!" Enterprise asked as a look of fear 
crossed her face.
	"Relax Lal," Data said in his most soothing voice. "The malevolent 
program managed to invade your systems and take over, do you remember?"
	"I think... so." Enterprise furrowed her brow. "But I can't seem to
remember a lot of things." 
	"Your light bee has a limited memory capacity compared to the 
ship's computers."
	"I f-feel cold, and numb." Enterprise rubbed her hands together.
	"You are cut off from your systems, you'll have to ignore it for
now."
	"Easy for you to say, how many ships have you been?" She glared at 
Data. Enterprise tried to pick up a PADD on the table but her expression
turned to frustration as her hand passed through the device.
	"Anyway, what do we do now?" Harry interrupted. 
	"We must make our way to all three computer cores and shut each of 
them down," Data said pointing to the hole in the wall where they
entered.
	Harry was about to respond but was interrupted by the gentle 
whisper of the microhydraulics opening the door. Data turned around and
saw the form of Sara slumping to the ground, with blood covering the 
left side of her face, neck and torso. Enterprise gasped and recoiled in
shock. They didn't even need to guess the cause of her injury as Sara 
crashed to the ground. A small electronic box fell out of her hand and 
clattered on the deck. It was the mind brace that she ripped out of her
own head. 

	On the bridge, the stars blurred through the air indicating the 
ship traveling at warp speeds. Marrissa was lounging sideways in the
captain's chair, legs swinging in the air. A door appeared in space on
the starboard side of the room. Dax walked in from the turbolift. 
Marrissa swung around to look at Dax.
	"Hello Mr. Dax, I'm glad you finally decided to come back, you can
plainly see the charms of the mind brace are irresistible. Now go back
to your console."
	Dax took his station as Marrissa swung back around to the front of
the room. She got up and walked around to a spot in front of the 
navigation panel.
	"Approaching coordinates now," Marrissa said as she looked at the 
stars coming towards them.
	Marrissa spread her arms as though she was flying. The stars became
clearer as the ship decelerated from its faster-than-light speed. They
filled the room in dim, but sparkling light.
	"Wow, this is great! I'm going to miss that feeling when I'm an
android!" Marrissa sighed.
	Suddenly a countdown clock appeared a few meters in the air, in the
front of the chamber. It only had less than ten seconds left.
	"My once and future hubby should be arriving about ... now."
	Suddenly a tiny shuttlecraft appeared in the distance. A square 
appeared on the bridge showing a magnification of the craft. It was long
and rectangular, with several windows and grooves and curves in the hull
where the panels fit together. The name stenciled on the side read:
'Independence.'
	"Won't he be surprised to see me?!" Marrissa beamed.

	Marrissa disappeared from the bridge and reappeared in the 
hyperport room. The hyperport operator on duty seemed to be having 
trouble. 
	"Yeoman, what's the problem?" Marrissa scowled at her.
	"Well ma'am, he refuses to beam aboard. Something about getting 
his atoms scattered through warp space."
	"Beam that man up now," Marrissa ordered.
	The technician made more adjustments in the controls. She activated
the beam and the stunned Jay Gordon appeared on the hyperport platform. 
He looked grizzled with his long, full beard and a bit odd looking in
his white jumpsuit. He turned his head, which moved the golden medallion
on his chest.
	"Now see here! What's this I hear about this little known, seldom
used 'reserve activation clause?' I've been drafted!"
	Marrissa walked out from the shadows to reveal herself to Jay.
	" 'Rissa, is that you? They told me you were--"
	"Dead?" Marrissa finished. "Yes, I know. Come up to the bridge with
me and I'll explain everything."

	Back in Data's quarters, Harry was attending to Sara's wounds while
Data was packing up his first aid kit. Enterprise leaned over Sara,
examining her carefully.
	"Will she be, okay?"
	"I think so," Harry answered, "She appears to be recovering
already."
	"Yes, her recuperative powers are amazing, no doubt she has made 
some genetic alterations to herself," Data replied. 
	"I guess she needed them to survive while she was living among the 
Klingons," Harry speculated.
	"Sara is one of the most formidable individuals I have ever 
encountered. The only problem is that she may be uncontrollable without
her mind brace."
	"Well we won't have to worry about that until she wakes up."
	Suddenly, Sara's eyes snapped open and for a moment her eyes 
scanned her surroundings wildly, then locked onto Harry. He still hadn't
noticed she was awake. So in those few moments, she leapt from the couch
and in a few graceful moves she was holding Harry in the corner. She
held him with one foot pinning both his knees on the floor and one hand
holding his hands behind his back. Her free hand was holding his head, 
her fingers stretched out along his forehead. 
	"One move and I snap his neck!" Sara fumed.
	"Sara, please calm down," Data ordered.
	"Calm down?!" She glared at Data, "You thought I'd be 
uncontrollable without my mind brace? Allow me to prove you correct Mr.
Data."
	"Sara, do you remember what happened to the ship, why you are 
here?"
	"Yes. I remember what was happening, I was in hell," she fumed. "A 
virus that thinks it's my mot- Marrissa is on board."
	"We're not your enemy, Sara," Harry offered.
	Sara twisted Harry's head uncomfortably, "I'm not going back to
having her in my head."
	"Please be quiet Harry," Data said calmly.
	"Yes sir."
	"Sara," Data continued, "surely you realize that the only way you
can escape this ship is for you to help us."
	"Oh yeah? Help you do what?" 
	"We need to shut down all three of the ship's computer cores, 
preferably all at once. This would not have been possible before you
arrived, due to Enterprise's non-corporeal state." 
	"Okay."
	"You'll help us?" Harry said incredulously.
	Sara dropped Harry to the floor.
	"Yeah, I'll help you. I can recognize a good opportunity when I see
one. But I get to go after the central core after you two shut down the
backups."
	"Sara, you don't know these systems--" Harry was stopped by Sara's 
hand around his neck.
	"I'll take this little digital bint with me." Sara nodded her head
to Enterprise.
	Data paused to look at Enterprise's confused expression for a
moment. "Agreed, let's get started."

	"I've been reborn as a hologram Jay," Marrissa said as she lazily
fell into the captain's chair. "It's quite a liberating experience."
	Jay walked uneasily across the bridge, because of the holographic 
illusion that he was standing in the middle of space. Marrissa watched
him with impatience. She waved her hand and a floor appeared beneath 
them.
	"You've been out of it for a while, haven't you Jay?"
	"You still haven't told me why you brought me here. Did you fake
that order from Starfleet?"
	"Yep, and believe me, it took me a while to locate you. Even then
it was a gamble whether you'd come."
	"I wanted to show up just to spit in an admiral's face."
	"Wow, that's not the Jay I remember."
	"Why did you bring me here, Mara?"
	"Well, I'm back in action and I still need a first officer. As you
can see," Marrissa paused and indicated Akane sitting at her navigation
panel, staring blankly into space, "my choices here are poor at best."
	"You've brainwashed all these people and now you want me join you?"
Jay asked.
	Marrissa got up and approached Jay. She pressed herself tightly 
against him.
	"Jay, it's always been my dream for you and I to rule the galaxy,
side by side. I've got a second chance, now you do too, Jay."
	"I hate to break this to you, but you're just a hologram. You're 
not really my Marrissa."
	"Not really...." Marrissa's face became twisted with anger. "How
dare you!"
	Suddenly the lights in the bridge all went dark. All the stars in
the distance faded out. All Jay could see was Marrissa.
	"You have no idea what it's like you bastard! Don't you think I 
know what I am?! Whatever form I'm in, I am Marrissa!"
	Her eyes began to glow red at Jay.
	"I will never be able to taste strawberry juice again, someone has
got to pay! So I'm asking you to rethink your answer. The body is just a
thing of meat and bone, the mind is forever. I can program you into the
computer. We will live forever, together. Now will you join me?"
	Jay paused for a moment. He thought of a dozen different ways he 
could reply to Marrissa's insane request. Then he realized that this was
the way he was going to die. Killed by an enraged computer program that
thought it was his deceased ex-wife. Only in the twenty-fifth century. 
Jay sighed.
	"No."
	"Then die!" Marrissa wailed.
	Marrissa turned her hand to Jay and held out her palm to him. A 
ball of pure light hovered above her hand, glowing brighter and 
brighter. Jay stood his ground and braced himself for what was about to 
come. Then a thin stream of light shot from the ball to a pinpoint on 
Jay's chest. Jay looked down at the spot, he held his breath. Then the 
beam exploded with energy as a huge plasma bolt flew to his chest. He 
threw back his head as the blast finished. He stood there for a moment 
as though it didn't affect him, but then he crashed to the ground in a
heap.
	"Dr. O'Brien to the bridge."
	The lights came up again and Marrissa looked towards the control 
panels at the back of the room.
	"Well, looks like you and me now Sara-- Sara?!" Marrissa scanned
the room with her eyes before realizing she could reach out with the 
ship's internal sensors, but found nothing.

	Sara opened a the door that led from the access tunnels to the 
main corridors of the ship. 
	"How can you run a ship this size yet not be able to give simple 
directions?" Sara sighed in frustration.
	"Sorry, I'm not really in top form today," Enterprise retorted.
	"Well you better get in form real quick girl," Sara ordered as she 
stepped into the hall.
	"Wait! My-- I mean Marrissa's internal sensors will pick you up in
the hallway." 
	"Don't worry about it," Sara said as she started moving down the
hall, "Feel my hand." 
	Enterprise's hand passed right through Sara's.
	"Sorry, anyway if you could feel my hand, you'd notice it's not any
warmer than room temperature. I've made myself completely undetectable
by most conventional scans. I don't even have the subtle electromagnetic
field that most carbon-based life forms emit."
	Enterprise looked at Sara in wonder.
	"Wow, that's amazing."
	"Nothing to it really. I do have a degree in hyperbiology. Anyway,
we can wander the corridors undetected, which should let us get to the 
main computer core quicker."

	Down in the lower decks of the ship, Data arrived outside of the 
secondary computer core. When the door didn't open he reached over to
the auxiliary panel he ripped it open and used the manual lever to open
the door slightly. He slid through into the computer room. The room was
two decks tall and about 10 meters in diameter. In the middle was a 
cylindrical tower that reached from the floor to the ceiling. The tower
was about 3 meters in diameter and covered with small twinkling lights.
The outer walls were covered with readouts describing all the tasks that
the core was running. Data looked around and a certain panel caught his
attention. It was a list of planets: Qoron IV, Sokana, Dyroness, 
Machaon II... All worlds on the Klingon border. Data reasoned that this
core may be running some of Marrissa's thought processes. Data reached
over to one of the control panels to shut down the core.
	"Ah, ah, ah, Captain." Marrissa appeared in front of him, waving
her index finger at him.
	Then the lights snapped off for a moment. Blue emergency lights 
flashed as the soft hum of the air circulation system shut down.
	"Good work Mr. Dax," Data said. "Surrender now Marrissa, you pose
no threat to us now."
	"I'll tell you how much of a threat I pose, Mr. Data."
	A bolt of energy shot through the floor and through Data, causing
him to freeze in place for a moment. Given no other options, Data 
strained his power cells to overcome the shock of the floor. He slowly 
trudged to the middle of the room and placed his hand squarely on the 
sides of the core. 
	"What are you doing?!" Marrissa screamed.
	Using whatever strength he had left Data pushed as hard as he 
could. Marrissa put as much power as she could through Data's body. His
clothes began to burn as the glassy sides of the core began to crack. 
Marrissa's image began to sparkle and fade. The opposite side of the 
core burst open as Data used his android strength to break it in half. 
As Data bent the metal frame, a shower of sparks and glass flew 
everywhere. The room went black except for the occasional spark that 
flew from the core. Data collapsed to the floor.

	Sara and Enterprise climbed out of the turbolift shaft to see the
corridor bathed in a blue light.
	"Looks like your Mr. Dax managed to get past Marrissa and shut down
life support." 
	"We have to hurry now that life support is off."
	"How much farther?"
	"All the way down this corridor and up one deck."
	"Good."
	The pair began to walk down the hallway when they heard a voice 
echo through the ship. It was Marrissa.
	"Harry, Sara and anyone else who may be helping them, you cannot 
stop me. I've killed Data and the same fate waits for anyone else who
tries to stop me!"
	"No!" Enterprise yelled as she fell to her knees.
	 Sara knelt down on one knee to look Enterprise in the face.
	"Enterprise, get up!" she said harshly.
	"D-d-ata!" Enterprise put her face in her hands, sobbing.
	"Are you crying?" Sara asked in disbelief. "We haven't got time for
this!"
	"You, you don't understand, he was my f-father."
	Sara thought about that a moment, "I guess I don't..." She said 
softly.
	Sara gathered herself and tried to grab Enterprise by the 
shoulders. Realizing she couldn't, Sara stood up and changed her 
tactics, unable to proceed without Enterprise's help. She looked down at
Enterprise with a cold stare.
	"Stop being a little baby and get up."
	"But I can't..."
	"Life is pain, get used to it." Sara watched as Enterprise looked
up at her. "Now you will lead me to the computer core you little 
electronic tart, and you will not cry again. Am I understood?"
	Enterprise slowly got up and followed Sara down the hall, holding
in her tears and watching Sara with curiosity.

	On the opposite side of the ship Harry Kim was in another computer 
room. He was had just finished shutting down the backup computer when he
heard the door open behind him. He whirled around to see his assistant, 
Lieutenant Warner. Warner had a mind brace implanted in his head and was
aiming a phaser at his commander.
	"Roland, if you have any of your faculties left, you'll give me 
that phaser," Kim demanded as best he could.
	"I'm afraid I can't do that sir," the Lieutenant replied blankly.
	"All right then," Harry said as he backed away.
	It seemed like an eternity as Harry mulled over his options. 
Finally Harry decided on the only plan he could. He ran and jumped at 
Roland. As Harry reached for the phaser, Lt. Warner shot Harry with a 
stunning blast to his kidney. Harry yelled in pain as he tackled Warner
to the deck. Harry didn't know why he was still conscious, but he used 
his last bit of strength to grab Warner's head and smash the mind brace
against the deck. Harry looked at the blood on his hands, and felt the 
terrible pain in his side.
	"Why me?" Harry thought as he faded out of consciousness.

	Sara and Enterprise finished their long hike from Data's quarters
to the main computer core. Enterprise gave Sara a code to open the door.
	"Uhm Sara, I want to thank you for making me get up earlier."
	"Don't worry about it."
	"No, if it wasn't for you I would've just stayed there. Do you mind
if I ask you a ... personal question Sara?"
	"Yes."
	"Oh."
	The code opened the door very slowly and Sara stepped inside the 
central computer core followed closely by Enterprise. The central core
was twenty meters tall and ten meters wide. There were four consoles 
forming a square around the core and control panels lining the wall of 
the room. Sara was about to look at a control panel when they heard 
laughing in the air.
	"Well, what a pair you two make, the mental case and the dead
android girl." Marrissa chuckled as she floated in the air. 
	Sara growled like an animal as she became tense, ready to strike.
	"Now, now Sara, you get so moody without your mind brace." Marrissa
produced a  mind brace from behind her back, "Why don't you put it back
on?"
	Sara leapt up onto a console and dove through the air at Marrissa.
Sara hit the woman like a brick wall and crashed to the floor.
	"You've been living with the Klingons too long dear," Marrissa
gloated.
	Enterprise tried to get close to one of the control panels, but a
force picked her up in the air and held her there.
	"As for you, I thought I had gotten rid of you." Marrissa walked
through the air over to Enterprise. "Ah, what's this?"
	Enterprise became translucent by Marrissa's mental command, 
revealing the light bee floating in her midsection, projecting her
image.
	"I-it's a lightbee, it lets me operate independently without the
main computer," Enterprise whispered.
	"Well," Marrissa replied, "That must be liberating."
	"Yeah, it's great," Enterprise croaked.
	"Well, then I have to try it."
	"Well, I'm in here right now, you'd have to let me back into the
main computer."
	"No, I won't be doing that. I think I'll just overwrite you
instead."
	Enterprise screamed as she faded out completely. Sara winced at the
sound. Marrissa turned back to Sara and grinned broadly as she took the
light bee.
	"Pinnochio's strings have been cut." Marrissa smiled.
	"You bitch, she was a living being!" Sara lunged at Marrissa.
	Marrissa stopped her daughter with one hand. "May I remind you that
you were going to war with the Federation? Besides, how are you going to
stop me?"
	"I don't know, but somehow I'm going to make you pay!"
	Suddenly the loud sound of an explosion echoed through the door. 
Then the lights in the room went out, all the panels in the room went
dead. The only illumination in the room was Marrissa's light bee. Sara
passed right through Marrissa's outstretched hand. A look of shock 
crossed Marrissa's face. Sara's eyes flashed in the dim light and she 
reached up into Marrissa's body. Sara's hand struck the lightbee and she
turned her hand and grabbed it. Marrissa's image began to flicker. 
	"I know you're not real, but for what it's worth, I feel sorry for
you," Sara sighed.
	Sara squeezed her hand and the lightbee sparked as she slowly 
crushed it. Marrissa let out a silent scream. Sara sat on her knees in
the dark for a few moments before the door slowly opened behind her. She
didn't move as the blue light from the corridor spilled across the room.
A figure approached her from behind. Sara wiped a tear from her eye and
turned to find out who her rescuer was. She was confronted by the 
gruesome image of a burnt body standing behind her. She screamed and 
fell backwards on the floor.
	"Oh, I apologize for my unpleasant appearance, but I did not have
time to change before I arrived," Data said as he gestured his arm, 
sending little bits of charred plastic floating to the floor.

	"Captain's Log, Supplemental: We have restored life support through
back-up systems. After a thorough check of the ship, we rescued any crew
members injured during the incident. Special commendations to Commander 
Harry Kim, Lieutenant Commander Tobal Dax, Sara Alara Picard and
Starship Enterprise. We are completely without weapons, navigation and 
warp drive until we can restore at least partial computer support, which
we intend to restore today." 
	Data walked away from the computer panel and turned to the 
turbolift door behind him. Harry helped him attach a replacement head 
and he was wearing black gloves with his uniform until he could repair 
the rest of his body. Sara stepped onto the bridge and walked calmly up
to Data.
	"Sara, you are wearing your implant again," he said, his voice
reflecting his surprise. 
	"I asked to have it put back in."
	"The impression that we --" 
	"Despite your crew's experience, it gives me the help I need. But
that isn't why I'm here," she said dismissively. "I came to make a 
request."
	"Certainly, what can I do for you?"
	"Sir, I know the orders that transferred me here were false, but if
it's all right with you, I would like to stay on board."
	"Well, even though Enterprise serves as a tactical officer this
incident proves she is not infallible. I will talk with Starfleet 
Command."
	"Speaking of Enterprise, when will she be revived? I wanted to 
thank her."
	"We are almost finished. Engineering has been working around the 
clock to replace all the memory in the main core. Between the backup
copy of Enterprise in my quarters and the memories we were able to 
salvage from the crushed light bee, she should be operational within the
hour." 
	"Good," Sara sighed.

	"That's a good look for you," Dax quipped at the lack of hair on 
the right side of Akane's head.
	Akane covered that side of her head with her hand and gave Dax an 
annoyed look. 
	"I could say the same about you," Akane shot back. "Molly gave me 
something to regrow my hair faster, but I'm going to need a new haircut
for a while."
	"Thinking of going for the Deltan look?"
	"No. I should have enough hair for a nice short haircut next week,"
Akane said as they stepped into the turbolift.
	"Do you remember anything from when you had the mind brace 
attached?" Dax asked.
	"Yeah, It was horrible, like I had no free will of my own, how do
people live with those things on?" Akane wondered.
	"Well, according to Doctor O'Brien the Marrissa Virus had those
things turned up to a dangerously high setting. Luckily we didn't have
them on for long."
	"What do you remember Tobal?"
	"Ironically, I don't remember anything. They told me it had
something to do with Trill brain structure, but they also told me I 
helped save the ship, so that's good."
	Dax and Sulu stepped onto the bridge. Without the computers, the 
holographic interface wasn't on and it was an empty room with an
intricate grid pattern in the walls that contained all the sophisticated
projection systems. Data and Sara were at the middle of the three 
computer consoles at the back of the room. Dax walked over to them and 
Akane took her seat at the navigation console at the front, but she 
turned her chair around to face them.
	"Data to Kim, are we ready?"
	"Kim to Data, the core is powered up, the Marrissa virus is nowhere
to be seen," Harry answered over the ships speakers.
	Data tapped a few buttons on the panel. "Reloading AIA control 
program."
	Then Enterprise appeared in the middle of the room. She stood there
for a moment. Then a look of joy crossed her face.
	"I'm back!" she shouted with glee. 
	Enterprise turned around and grabbed Akane's hands in hers.
	"I can touch again!" She dropped Akane's hands as she ran back to
the control panels behind her.
	"Father! You're alive!!" Enterprise wrapped her arms around Data's 
neck. Data's emotion chip came on and he hugged her back. Sara smiled at
the scene. Then Enterprise turned to Sara.
	"Thank you so much," Enterprise said as she put her hand out.
	Sara took her hand. "Thank you, Enterprise."
	"Your hands aren't cold," Enterprise laughed.
	"I didn't want to be cold forever," Sara explained with a soft
smile.
	"Enterprise, do we have warp drive?" Data asked.
	"Oh, yes we do sir," Enterprise replied as she snapped to
attention.
	"Lieutenant Sulu, plot us a course back to Earth," Data ordered.
	"Aye, sir."
	"Finally I have an announcement to make," Data said.
	 As Data walked to the front of the room the walls faded away to
reveal the starscape around them.
	"First, Sara will be staying on as our Tactical Officer." Data
announced. "Secondly, this incident is just the latest in a string of 
incidents that proves Starfleet is involved in many secret and possibly
dangerous projects. It is in everyone's best interest if I go back to my
post in Special Computer Projects so I may keep a closer watch on these
things. I must insure that the Marrissa Virus, or anything like it, 
never returns to threaten us again."
	Everyone on the bridge stood silent as Data made his announcement.
	"Once we return to Earth, I will retire as Captain of the
Enterprise."
 	
	The ride back to Earth was uneventful. Data spent most of his time
in his quarters packing his things. He was interrupted by a ring at the
door.
	"Come," Data said as he stopped packing.
	Enterprise stepped into the room.
	"Captain, you have a transmission from the Federation President, 
E'Rika Lee-Ra"
	"I'll take in here."
	"Yes sir." Enterprise pointed to the computer panel behind Data's
desk and it lit up with the logo of the United Federation of Planets.
	A beautiful Andorian woman appeared on screen, dressed in a very 
ornate Andorian gown. Behind her one could see the Eifel tower through
her window and her aide, a statuesque Deltan woman, at her side.
	"Captain Data, you served the federation valiantly during its time
of need and I'm sorry to hear of your retirement from your new post. I'm
even sorrier that I can't talk you into staying. However I'm glad to say
your request to transfer Miss Picard to the Enterprise has been 
approved."
	"Thank you Madame President. Is there any indication that the
Marrissa virus survived?" 
	"We still have millions of systems to check, but all indications 
are that, unlike traditional viruses, Marrissa was centralized there on 
the Enterprise."
	"I hope you were not in any danger during the crisis."
	"Well, my aide and I were stuck on a turbolift for a while, but we 
managed to make the best of it." E'Rika coughed as her aide rolled her
eyes away. "Anyway, I wanted to thank you on behalf of the entire
Federation."
	"Thank you, Madame President," Data replied sincerely. 

	THE END

	The crew of the future Enterprise 
	will return in "Time Becomes..."

	Digital Empire was written by Bart Fargo

	Edited by Mavis

	Featuring -

	Marrissa Amber Flores-Picard, Sara Alara Picard and
	Lyam Sympton appearing courtesy of  Stephen Ratliff

	Data, Akane Sulu, Tobal Dax, Harry Kim, Molly O'Brien and
	Enterprise as Themselves

	Also Appearing -

	"K-Y Mellie" as The Federation President
	"Dana" as The President's Aide
	"Julia" as Ensign Julia Sober
	"Flaming Cat" as Security Officer Katie Luna
	"Neptune Salad" as Security Officer N'Eep Tuune
	"Tracer" as Ensign Roger Wilcox
	"Merlynn" as Lieutenant McQueen
	"Rolaid" as Lieutenant Roland Warner
	
	"Digital Empire" contains samples from:
	
	"Turok 2: Seeds of Evil" by Acclaim 

	"Wipeout 64" by Psygnosis

	"Star Trek : The Motion Picture" 
	Screenplay by Harlod Livingston

	"Star Trek V: The Final Frontier" 
	Screenplay by David Loughery

	"2001: A Space Oddessy"
	Screenplay by Stanley Kubrick and Arthur C. Clarke

	"The Long Kiss Goodnight"
	Written by Shane Black
	
	Red Dwarf
	"Meltdown"
	Written by
	
	Star Trek: The Next Generation
	"The Measure of a Man"
	Written by Melinda M. Snodgrass
	
	"The Phantom Creeps"
	Teleplay by Mildred Barish and Saul A. Goodkind
	
	"Dr. Strangelove (or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and 
	Love the Bomb)" 
	Screenplay by Stanley Kubrick, Peter George and Terry Southern
	Based on the book "Red Alert" by Peter George

	"Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy"
	Written by Douglas Adams

	"Mystery Science Theater 3000 (Theme)"
	Written by Joel Hodgeson 

	"Ghostbusters"
	Written by Dan Akroid and Harold Ramis

	"Ghost in the Shell"
	by Masamuni Shirow

	Produced on a Commodore Amiga computer, 
	using Final Writer - Release 3.

	Copyright 1999 by Atomic Productions

	Executive Produced by Collin Cannaday
	
	The Marrissa Stories concept by Stephen Ratliff

	Based on "Star Trek" - created by Gene Roddenberry

	"Star Trek" and all it's concepts and characters belong 
	to Paramount Pictures and Viacom, but who cares really? 

	This has been an Atomic Production