door chimes
Come in.
How are things
in the land of the living?
I thought you might be lonely.
No one sees you except Data.
Lonely?
I can hear everything
that everyone on this ship thinks
and no one besides you seems to be missing my charming...
You want them to dislike you.
Why?
Because I'm not a nice man.
Okay, okay.
'Cause they scare me.
There are too many minds.
I can't shut them out.
Never could learn.
All their loves
their hates, their fears
their needs.
It's like a tide
that never ebbs.
I could drown.
I remember.
You understood-- at least a little--
how I felt.
I see you finally found a place to fit in
people to care about.
And you're still looking.
And then there's Ghorusda.
I have enough doubt in my reliability
without having to listen to Riker's and Picard's.
What happened there?
I thought everyone knew.
No.
What happened to
Maybe I got too involved with the Ghorusdans
with their point of view.
It happens to me.
I wanted everyone to get along.
I could have warned Darson more forcefully.
So, after that, you ran away.
The last I heard
you were the only Federation delegate assigned to Chandra V.
Oh, beautiful creatures, the Chandrans.
Their minds are glacial.
They have a lovely three-day ritual
for saying "hello."
Peaceful, untroubled people.
Unlike humanoids?
Well...
except for your friend, Data.
I like him.
He's...
restful.
I believe your impression of Data is probably unique.
(
Yeah?
Well, having to get to know someone, just once
has its appeal.
I mean, talking to them
instead of getting it all at once, up here
whether I want it or not.
But you accepted this mission.
You could have stayed on Chandra V.
You willingly came aboard a ship
with over a thousand people.
How could I not?
Think of it, Dee.
This intelligence that swims naked through space
like a fish in the sea
totally alien, mysterious
not like us at all.
Ancient...
and alone.
So lonely...
for so long.
How can you know that?
Tam?
You're in contact with it...
with Tin Man, aren't you?
No.
Well...
yes, a little
but not quite on a conscious level.
We're light-years away.
That's impossible, even for you.
Impossible for me.
Maybe not impossible for Tin Man.