PART A

Janeway: "Captain's log, stardate 50460.3. We've been investigating an inversion nebula for several of days; this phenomenon has never been seen in the Alpha Quadrant and is proving to something of a mystery to us here."

On the Bridge. Janeway: "According to Federation astro-theorists inversion nebulae are so unstable they're supposed to burn out in a few years but this one appears to be centuries old." Paris: "Maybe the theorists are wrong. After all, they never had a chance to look at the real thing." Chakotay, at the science station: "Not entirely wrong. These plasma strands we're approaching look ready to ignite." Janeway: "Tom, back us off 2,000 kilometres. That'll give us a safety margin." Paris: "Aye, Captain." Janeway: "Harry, set the sensors for full spectral scans, continuous sweep. If that nebula does flare up, I don't want to miss a beat." But Kim's mind has wandered. Janeway tells him sharply, "Mr Kim, I need your attention on the sensors." Kim: "Sorry, Captain. Full spectral scans. I'm on it."

	Janeway, about the nebula: "Astro-theory never predicted this would be so lovely. Beauty and mystery, a tantalising combination." Paris: "No argument here. Right, Tuvok?"
	Tuvok: "I am fully capable of appreciating this phenomenon without the extraneous sentimentality humans find so necessary."
	Chakotay: "Being moved by an emotion isn't always extraneous. Sometimes it's the whole point."

Tuvok is playing kal-toh in his quarters. door signal It is Kim. Tuvok: "Mr Kim, can I help you?" Kim: "Erm, that's kal-toh, isn't it, Vulcan chess?" Tuvok: "Kal-toh is to chess as chess is to tic-tac-toe." Kim: "I should've known. Er..." Tuvok: "What is on your mind, Ensign?" Kim: "Tuvok, I need your help. I want to eliminate emotions, like Vulcans do." Tuvok: "Mr Kim, it is a lifelong process." Kim: "I realise that, and I also know that Vulcans use certain techniques." Tuvok: "The t'an s'at, the intellectual deconstruction of emotional patterns." Kim: "I'm willing to learn." Tuvok: "May I ask why?" Kim: "I have feelings I don't want to have." Tuvok: "That would seem to be self-evident." Kim: "I'm in love and I don't want to be." Tuvok: "I see, and who is the object of your affections?" Kim: "Marayna." Tuvok: "I'm not aware of anyone on the ship with that name." Kim: "She's not a member of the crew. She's a character on a holodeck." Tuvok: "You're in love with a computer subroutine?" Kim: "That's the problem." Tuvok: "Interesting."

Tuvok completes the kal-toh puzzle.

Tuvok marches Kim to Holodeck 1.
Tuvok: "To see through an emotional complex is to rob it of its power. The first step is to identify the complex in which you have been caught."
Kim: "I told you, I'm in love."
Tuvok: "There are many kinds of love, Ensign. You must learn to differentiate. For example, you told me that you met this individual only a few days ago, yet you feel overwhelmed."
Kim: "I can't get her out of my mind, not for a second."
Tuvok: "Have you been able to sleep?"
Kim: "No."
Tuvok: "Have you eaten?"
Kim: "No."
Tuvok: "Does your daily routine seem somehow empty, perhaps even ludicrous."
Kim: "Yes!"
Tuvok: "You are experiencing shon'ha'lock, the "engulfment". It is the most intense and psychologically perilous form of eros. I believe humans call it love at first sight."

Kim: "But we're talking about a holodeck character!" Tuvok: "Irrelevant. The emotional complex in which you are trapped is the same, and so is the cure - logical deconstruction, followed by a regimen of meditative suppression. As I shall demonstrate." Tuvok activates the Holodeck controls by the door and the door opens.

In the Holodeck, Neelix is overseeing preparations for a social gathering that evening. He is directing a holographic character as she puts up a decoration. Neelix: "Ah, a little further to the left. Mmm, no. That's too much."

Kim: "Neelix. Have you seen Marayna?" Neelix to the holocharacter: "Ah, perfect." He turns to the newcomers. "Welcome, gentlemen. Just getting things ready for tonight's little get-together."

Kim: "I completely forgot - the luau." Neelix: "Polynesian style. I've done my research."

Neelix turns to Tuvok: "Er, Lieutenant Tuvok, you neglected to RSVP."

Tuvok: "That was not an oversight, I assure you."

Kim, looking round eagerly for Marayna: "Where's Marayna?"
Neelix: "Who?"
Kim: "She's part of this program."
Neelix: "Doesn't ring a bell."
Kim: "How could you miss her? She's tall, athletic, blonde."
Neelix: "Oh, one of the entertainment directors. I believe she's giving Kes a hydrosail lesson." He tells a Crewman who is assisting with the luau preparations: "No, no, not there; there." (pictured)
Kes and Marayna appear and join them.
Kes: "Harry, Tuvok, the lake is perfect today."
Marayna: "Hello, Harry."
Kim, self-consciously: "Hi, Marayna."

	Kes tells them the lake is perfect. Kes to Kim: "We were just talking about you." Kim: "You were?" Kes: "Marayna said what an excellent student you are." Kim: "She's a great instructor."
	Marayna to Tuvok: "Ready to get your ears wet?" Tuvok: "Vulcans do not hydrosail."
	Kes: "Lieutenant Tuvok prefers the solitude of his own quarters and a game of kal-toh." Kes then leaves to go back on duty. Marayna: "There's a volleyball game just started down on the sand." Tuvok: "Mr Kim and I would prefer some conversation.
	Marayna: "Alright." Kim finds himself unable to say anything as she takes him by the arm and leads him over to some chairs.
	Marayna thinks she damaged a tendon and places Kim's hand on it. He is unable to relax in her presence. "It's like a knot," says Kim stiffly to Tuvok. Tuvok: "I'm sure it is."

Marayna: "Are you two friends?" Simultaneously Kim says, "Yes." and Tuvok says, "No." Tuvok: "We are colleagues. I respect Mr Kim for his intelligence and integrity and I assume he holds me in the same regard." Marayna: "So Vulcans don't hydrosail and they don't have friends?" Tuvok: "We have fellowships and associations but without the emotional dimensions that humans experience." Marayna to Kim: "You and I are friends, aren't we?" Kim: "Er, yeah." Marayna: "Good." Chakotay via comms: "Chakotay to Tuvok and Kim. Report to the Bridge." Tuvok: "Acknowledged. We're on our way." Marayna: "There's a luau tonight. You're coming, aren't you, both of you?" Simultaneously Kim says, "Yes." and Tuvok says, "No." Marayna: "You've got to stop doing that." Kim cannot help looking behind himself at Marayna as he and Tuvok leave the Holodeck.

Tuvok and Kim walk down the corridor away from the Holodeck. Tuvok: "As I predicted, your responses were as formulaic as a mathematical equation."

Kim: "What do you mean?"
Tuvok: "Consider the expression on your face when Neelix did not recall Marayna - annoyance."
Kim: "That's not true."
Tuvok: "It is quite true. At that moment Neelix was functioning in Vulcan terms as the soolak, the third party who by his very lack of interest trivialises your own."
Kim: "I guess it really did bother me."
Tuvok: "The arrival of Kes then precipitated in you the k'ohnar, the feeling of being completely exposed."
Kim: "I was embarrassed. I was sure Kes would take one look at my face and know exactly what I was feeling."
Tuvok: "And when Marayna placed your hand on her stressed tendon-"
Kim: "Let's not even talk about that."
They enter the turbolift.
Tuvok to the computer: "Bridge." The turbolift starts on its way.
Kim: "It's all so predictable."
Tuvok: "That's just what I've been trying to get you to perceive. To the trained Vulcan intellect intense romantic love is nothing more than a set of sterotypical behaviours. Not having our discipline typically humans are swept along by the process until it ends."
Kim: "How does it end?"
Tuvok: "Either in conversion to a balanced, more stable relationship or in tragic circumstances."

Kim: "I can't have a balanced, stable relationship with a holodeck character. She could never feel for me what I feel for her." Tuvok: "Exactly. Logic dictates a single course of action - retreat." Kim: "To tell you the truth, I don't even like hydrosailing."

Thanks for the page set "Palm Island" and animated hula dancer to Tropical Nights.