PROTOTYPE
Episode 29
Part D

 

Torres regains consciousness to find herself lying on a work bench. It rises so that she can stand up and move away. As she sees her surroundings, which is the laboratory aboard the Pralor vessel, and she sees her captor, she demands: "What the hell is going on here?"

APU 3947: "This is where you will assist in the creation of the prototype." Torres: "I told you: I can't help you! Now return me to my ship." APU 3947: "That is not possible." She taps her combadge. combadge "Torres to Voyager."

APU 3947: "Your communication device has been deactivated." As she dives towards him, he seizes her. She struggles uselessly against his robotic strength. "I do not wish to injure you, B'Elanna." Torres, frustrated: "I helped you. I reactivated you. Why are you doing this?!" APU 3947: "We require additional Automated Units to prevent our extinction." Torres, furiously: "Captain Janeway won't let you get away with this!" APU 3947: "It would be inadvisable for your Captain to provoke us."

Voyager's bridge.
Kim: "Still no response, Captain."
Janeway: "Mr Tuvok, any luck penetrating their defence field?"
Tuvok: "Negative."
Janeway to Chakotay: "Commander, is there any sign that they're preparing to attack?"
Chakotay: "Their shielding is making it difficult to get clear readings. I can't even tell you what their weapons capabilities are."

Janeway: "Mr Tuvok, I don't want you to hit their ship, but I do want you to open a hole in their shielding, wide enough to transport through." Tuvok: "Understood." Janeway: "Mr Kim, match the targetting scanners to the co-ordinates of the phaser fire and stand by to beam B'Elanna back." Tuvok: "Phasers calibrated." Janeway: "Fire." Voyager fires forward starboard phasers at the Pralor ship. Tuvok: "Their field strength is down to 80%."

Janeway: "That's progress. Fire again." Tuvok does so.

Suddenly the Pralor ship opens fire with a series of rapid volleys which pound Voyager. Paris: "Initiating evasive pattern omega-six." Chakotay: "They're firing some sort of quantum resonance charges, Captain."

Tuvok: "Our aft shields are down to 53% and dropping."

Kim: "Re-routing power to aft shields." Tuvok: "Down to 24%." Paris: "Switching to evasive pattern theta-one."

Janeway: "Lieutenant Tuvok, load torpedo bays one through four and stand by to fire on my order."

In the Pralor laboratory, Torres and Automated Personnel Unit 3947 watch the attack on Voyager on a small monitor.

APU 3947: "Your Captain has made a tactical error by attacking us. Our weapons systems are substantially superior to yours. Your shields are failing. Your weapons pose no threat to us." Torres looks on, horrified.

Tuvok: "Aft shields have been penetrated."

Chakotay: "We've got to get out of here."

Janeway: "Agreed. We'll try to come back for B'Elanna later. Do it, Mr Paris: warp three."

Paris: "Propulsion systems are offline. We're dead in the water."

Tuvok: "Hull breach on deck 6." Kim: "Initiating emergency containment field." Tuvok: "Environmental control systems are failing. Oxygen levels on decks 3 through 7 have dropped to critical." Kim: "We've lost artificial gravity on deck 8." Chakotay: "Injury reports from all decks."

Torres: "You've got to stop this." APU 3947: "Your ship opened fire. We are programmed to defend ourselves." Torres: "They're helpless. Can't you see that?!" APU 3947: "Our enemies must be destroyed." Torres grows more frustrated and angry. "We are not your enemies!!"

APU 3947: "You are not my enemy, B'Elanna, but your Captain is, and your crew follows her commands." Torres: "Captain Janeway backed me when I wanted to reactivate you over the objections of our chief security officer. You wouldn't even be here if it weren't for her!" She realises it is pointless trying to argue or reason with the Automated Personnel Units. All the while she tries to do so, Voyager is suffering damage. She gives in. "Alright, if that's what it'll take to stop this, I'll do it. I'll build your damned prototype."

Chakotay: "We're losing life support, Captain."

Tuvok: "The robots have powered down their weapons systems."

Kim: "They're hailing us, Captain." Janeway: "On screen."

Torres' image appears on the viewscreen. "Captain, is everybody ok?" Janeway: "We'll be alright. What about you?" Torres: "I've agreed to help them build their prototype." Janeway, aghast. "Lieutenant?" Torres: "I know how you feel about this, Captain. I don't like it either. But if I don't do it, they'll destroy Voyager. What choice do I have?"

Automated Personnel Unit 3947 moves menacingly in front of her, his visage filling the viewscreen as contact ends.