"Darkness Visible"
Proceedings of a Court of Inquiry
Assembled aboard Federation starship Enterprise (in transit)
On Stardate 45721
By order of Captain Jean-Luc Picard, Starfleet (commanding)
For the purpose of investigating and reporting on the circumstances attending the death of Junior Lieutenant Damiano Corso, Starfleet, aboard Federation starship Enterprise on Stardate 45719.
President
Commander William T. Riker, Starfleet
Members
Lieutenant Selar, MD, Starfleet
Ensign Ro Laren, Starfleet
The Court having assembled pursuant to order, proceed to
View the body and take evidence.
1st Witness
Ensign Elizabeth Woodhouse, Starfleet, being duly called and sworn states:
I am a Security Officer on the Federation starship Enterprise. I was on duty at 1010 hours on Stardate 45719 when I received a complaint about someone overstaying their time in Holodeck A. I went to the holodeck, and interviewed Crewman Helen Karras. The crewman said she had reserved the holodeck for 1000 hours, but someone else was inside, and was refusing to answer the door.
I logged the complaint and checked with the ship’s computer. The computer confirmed that Karras had reserved Holodeck A at that hour. It also confirmed that the holodeck was in use, by Junior Lieutenant Corso.
I tried to contact the Lieutenant, but received no reply. Using my security override code, I told the computer to end the program and open the door to the holodeck.
When the door opened, I saw what looked like blood on the deck, inside. Then I saw what looked like a dead body. I called from the doorway but got no response. I conducted a tricorder scan but got no life signs. So I closed the holodeck door and alerted the Chief of Security.
Q. You said in your incident report that you noticed a strange smell.
A. Yes, sir. The holodeck smelled like sulfur—like something had been rotting in there.
(Signed) Elizabeth Woodhouse
2nd Witness
Lieutenant Worf, Starfleet, being called and duly sworn states:
I am the Chief of Security on the Federation starship Enterprise. I was on the Bridge at 1020 hours on Stardate 45719 when I received an emergency call from Ensign Woodhouse, informing me that there was a dead body in Holodeck A. I told her to guard the scene, ordered additional security teams to that part of the ship, called for an emergency medical team, and went to investigate.
When I arrived at the scene, I found that the area had been sealed off with force fields. My security teams were in position, and the emergency medical team was standing by. Ensign Woodhouse told that she had been responding to a complaint that someone was overstaying their scheduled time in the holodeck. She had seen the body from the holodeck doorway, after using her security override code to open the door. I told her to stand back, went over to the holodeck, and opened the door.
I saw the body at once. It was scattered across the holodeck, in pieces. There was blood on the deck, and on the bulkheads. I stayed outside, to avoid contaminating the scene.
I used a tricorder to scan the holodeck and confirm Ensign Woodhouse’s report. Finding no signs of life, I dismissed the emergency medical team, ordered a forensic-science team to Holodeck A, and told them to follow standard procedure: document the scene, then transport the body to Sickbay. I then contacted Captain Picard, and informed him of the situation.
Q. What have you learned from your forensic analysis?
A. The blood in the holodeck came from just one person: Junior Lieutenant Damiano Corso.
Q. Did you check the holodeck security logs?
A. Yes. Lieutenant Corso had reserved Holodeck A for an hour, beginning at 0900 hours. He entered the holodeck at that time. There is no record of anybody entering or leaving the holodeck until Ensign Woodhouse opened the door at 1015 hours.
Q. Is it possible to enter or exit the holodeck without that fact being recorded in the security logs?
A. The intruder would have to be highly skilled in defeating starship security systems. But, yes, it is possible. Any security system can be circumvented. However, I examined the doorlock, and found no evidence of tampering.
Q. Did Lieutenant Corso have any enemies?
A. None that I have been able to find. I am still investigating.
Q. What was the nature of the Lieutenant’s holodeck program?
A. I am still investigating that. Lieutenant Corso wrote the program himself. It seems to be some kind of historical holonovel.
Q. Did you notice the smell that Ensign Woodhouse mentioned?
A. Yes. It was the smell of decay—of death.
(Signed) Worf, Son of Mogh
3rd Witness
Commander Beverly Crusher, MD, Starfleet, being called and duly sworn states:
I am the Chief Medical Officer on the Federation starship Enterprise. I have identified the body as that of Junior Lieutenant Damiano Corso, Starfleet. I was present and on duty when Lieutenant Corso was transported to Sickbay on Stardate 45719 at 1045 hours. I examined the Lieutenant at that time, and pronounced him dead on arrival.
Lieutenant Corso had been decapitated and partially dismembered. His body arrived in four pieces. His head, right arm, and left leg had been torn from the rest of his body. I can’t say what caused these injuries. They resemble the sorts of injuries that occur when a person is caught in a piece of heavy machinery.
In my opinion, the cause of death was decapitation—though any one of those three injuries could have been fatal. The Lieutenant’s body had bled out before it was transported to Sickbay. Tests indicate that the Lieutenant had been dead for about an hour before his body was examined at the scene.
Upon further examination, I found numerous other wounds that appeared to be bite and claw marks. I have not been able to identify the cause of these wounds. The bite marks, in particular, do not resemble those left by any animal in the Federation medical database. In my opinion, these wounds were not the cause of death.
Q. Was the Lieutenant’s body decayed? Had it suffered some kind of accelerated decay that might explain the smell in the holodeck?
A. No. Aside from its injuries, it was in the state one would expect an hour after death, in a shipboard environment. The Lieutenant’s body had been partly disemboweled, and was discharging fecal matter from its large intestine. In my opinion, that was likely the source of the smell.
(Signed) Beverly Crusher
4th Witness
Lieutenant-Commander Geordi La Forge, Starfleet, being called and duly sworn states:
I’m the Chief Engineer on the Federation starship Enterprise. I was on duty in Engineering at 1025 hours on Stardate 45719 when I received a call from Captain Picard informing me that someone had been found dead inside Holodeck A. I asked the Captain if the death was an accident. The Captain said it was too soon to tell. He ordered me to report to the holodeck with an engineering team, to carry out an inspection.
I assembled an engineering team and reported to the holodeck. The area was sealed off with force fields and guarded by security personnel. Lieutenant Worf was in charge. He informed me that my inspection would have to wait until the forensic-science team had completed its investigation. While we waited, we discussed what might have happened. Lieutenant Worf said he wasn’t ruling out anything.
When forensics was done, I was allowed into the holodeck, with my team, and we began our inspection. As far as we could determine, the holodeck was in perfect working order. We couldn’t find any problems with either the hardware or the software. The test program ran without any discernible problems. We found no evidence of sabotage.
I checked the holodeck logs. Lieutenant Corso told the computer to run a program called Kingdom of Shadows at 0900 hours. The program ran without any problems until about 0930 hours, when some kind of anomaly occurred. This anomaly lasted for about five minutes, after which the program started running normally once again. It continued to run until 1015 hours, when Ensign Woodhouse used her security override code to shut it down.
Lieutenant Corso seems to have died some time between 0930 and 0935 hours, when the anomaly was occurring in Holodeck A. I’ve checked the visual logs. From what I can see, the Lieutenant was alive before the anomaly began, and was dead once the anomaly passed.
So far, I haven’t been able to determine the nature of the anomaly. The visual logs for that period of time have been scrambled. I’ve tried running the Lieutenant’s holoprogram on a test system, and it runs without any problems.
Q. Were the holodeck safeties engaged?
A. According to the log, the holodeck safeties were engaged the whole time that Lieutenant Corso’s program was running, including the anomalous period.
Q. Is it possible to disengage the holodeck safeties without triggering the alarm, or having this fact recorded in the log?
A. Yes. A skilled holoprogrammer could do that.
Q. In your opinion, was Lieutenant Corso skilled enough to do that?
A. I honestly don’t know.
Q. Did you notice a strange smell in the holodeck when you were conducting your inspection?
A. No. The forensic-science team had cleaned up before we were allowed to enter.
Q. Other witnesses have testified that they noticed a strange smell in the holodeck. Could this smell have been the result of a holodeck malfunction?
A. I don’t see how. Any particulate holodeck matter in the air should have disintegrated once the program was turned off. And like I said, there was nothing wrong with any of the hardware. Nothing was burnt or melted.
(Signed) Geordi La Forge
(The court adjourns to give the Chief of Security and the Chief Engineer additional time to complete their investigations)
(The court having reassembled pursuant to order aboard Federation starship Enterprise on Stardate 45723 proceeds to take further evidence)
2nd Witness (Lieutenant Worf) recalled:
I have investigated Lieutenant Corso’s background. The Lieutenant has served aboard the Enterprise since it was commissioned. His fitness reports are good, but not outstanding. His commanding officers have nothing negative to say about him. He was promoted to Junior Lieutenant just this year, on Stardate 45265.
According to reports, the Lieutenant kept mostly to himself when off-duty. His only recreation was holoprogramming. He was a member of the ship’s Creative Writing Society. I suggest that the Court interview the Society’s current president for more details.
As far as I have been able to determine, the Lieutenant was neither liked nor disliked by his shipmates. He had no enemies, personal or professional. I have not been able to find anyone who might have had a motive to kill him.
5th Witness
Ensign Thomas Thorn, Starfleet, being called and duly sworn states:
I am a junior Sciences officer on the Federation starship Enterprise. I am a member of the Enterprise Creative Writing Society. I was elected President of this Society on Stardate 45151.
Lieutenant Corso has been a member of the Society for as long as I can remember. I have been told that he was a member before I came on board. I would say he was neither popular nor unpopular. He was nice enough, but we all thought he was a little strange.
I know about the program Kingdom of Shadows. The Lieutenant showed it to the Society earlier this year. He’d been working on it for a long time. It was a fantasy story, or maybe a horror story, set on Earth, in the Kingdom of France during the Late Middle Ages. The main character was a magician who fought with other magicians to secretly take over the kingdom.
Damiano was obsessed with historical accuracy. He’d done a lot of research. It was a very realistic program. Even the magic was realistic, he said. All the magical spells and ceremonies in the program followed the instructions in medieval European grimoires—books of black magic.
I didn’t really like the program. It was too dark for me. It was full of demons, and blood, and violence. I mostly write love stories. Some of the Society members liked it, and wanted to try it, but Damiano said it wasn’t finished. He was looking for one last book, for the novel’s final ceremony, when the main character would summon the Devil himself.
The Society’s last meeting was on Stardate 45712, after our visit to Earth. The Lieutenant was very excited. He said he’d found a scan of the book he was looking for. It was called—something in Greek. I don’t remember. He said it meant ‘Invocation of Darkness.’ He said he would be finishing the story soon. He said that he’d showed the first few chapters to a publisher, and they were interested.
That was the last time I saw him or spoke to him. I don’t know anyone who would want to harm him. He didn’t seem depressed, or even unhappy. Like I said—he was looking forward to finishing his holonovel, and getting it published.
(Signed) Thomas Thorn, Starfleet
4th Witness (Lieutenant-Commander La Forge) recalled:
I’ve completed my examination of the holodeck’s visual logs. I produce these logs here.
Now, remember: Lieutenant Corso entered the holodeck at 0900 hours. Computer: play from time index 00:10:00.
Computer: pause. That’s Lieutenant Corso, wearing the robe. According to his notes, he’s performing what’s known as a ‘Black Mass,’ taken from a book called the—uh—Delomelanicon . The woman is a hologram—Lieutenant Corso is the only real person on the holodeck throughout this recording. The language is Latin.
Computer: fast forward to time index 00:20:00, and play from there.
More chanting in Latin. He drinks the blood. Okay—this is where the anomaly begins
Computer: pause.
That’s all. The snow lasts for another two minutes. Then the visual log resumes, until Ensign Woodhouse uses her security code to end the program and open the holodeck’s doors at 1015 hours. See, here—Lieutenant Corso is clearly visible from time-index 00:35:00 to time-index 01:15:00, lying dead on the deck.
Q. So what happened? What did we just see?
A. According to Lieutenant Corso’s notes, if these black-magical ceremonies are performed correctly, then a demon will appear, and give the magician what he wants—money, sex, the king’s favour—whatever. If the rituals are not performed correctly, then most of the time, the demon just doesn’t appear. But there’s a chance that the demon will appear, and attack the magician, instead of obeying him.
I looked at some of these demons, when I ran the program on a test system. They’re pretty frightening. If the holodeck safeties were disengaged, they would be able to cause the sorts of injuries described by Dr. Crusher in her testimony. And that ceremony was supposed to summon the most dangerous and powerful demon of all—the Devil himself.
I think Lieutenant Corso ran the program, deactivated the holodeck safeties, tried to perform the ceremony from memory, and made some kind of mistake. Then the program’s Devil appeared, attacked him, and killed him.
Q. Why would he deactivate the safeties?
A. To make it as real as possible: the greater the risk, the greater the thrill. Counsellor Troi says this is common among holo-addicts. They develop a tolerance for simulated danger, and start running more and more dangerous programs.
Q. Until they overdose.
A. That’s one way to put it. Yes.
Q. What was the cause of all that interference?
A. I’m still not sure. It might have been just bad programming. That would also explain why he couldn’t end the program when it went wrong. Some parts of that program don’t even make sense. It looks like Lieutenant Corso took passages from that book he found, on Earth, and tried to incorporate them into the holomatrix, like subroutines.
Q. What language was that other voice speaking?
A. It’s not in the Federation database. Probably just randomly-generated nonsense.
OPINION
The Court having carefully considered the evidence brought before it is of the opinion that the deceased, Junior Lieutenant Damiano Corso, Starfleet, died aboard Federation starship Enterprise on Stardate 45719, of decapitation, following a misadventure on the holodeck.
(Signed) William T. Riker
(Signed) Selar
(Signed) Ro Laren
OPINION OF THE CONVENING AUTHORITY
I concur in the opinion of the Court.
(Signed) Jean-Luc Picard
Captain, Starfleet
Stardate 45724
THE END
(Historical Note: These events take place during season Five of Star Trek: The Next Generation, after “The First Duty” but before “Cost of Living”)
Proceedings of a Court of Inquiry
Assembled aboard Federation starship Enterprise (in transit)
On Stardate 45721
By order of Captain Jean-Luc Picard, Starfleet (commanding)
For the purpose of investigating and reporting on the circumstances attending the death of Junior Lieutenant Damiano Corso, Starfleet, aboard Federation starship Enterprise on Stardate 45719.
President
Commander William T. Riker, Starfleet
Members
Lieutenant Selar, MD, Starfleet
Ensign Ro Laren, Starfleet
The Court having assembled pursuant to order, proceed to
View the body and take evidence.
1st Witness
Ensign Elizabeth Woodhouse, Starfleet, being duly called and sworn states:
I am a Security Officer on the Federation starship Enterprise. I was on duty at 1010 hours on Stardate 45719 when I received a complaint about someone overstaying their time in Holodeck A. I went to the holodeck, and interviewed Crewman Helen Karras. The crewman said she had reserved the holodeck for 1000 hours, but someone else was inside, and was refusing to answer the door.
I logged the complaint and checked with the ship’s computer. The computer confirmed that Karras had reserved Holodeck A at that hour. It also confirmed that the holodeck was in use, by Junior Lieutenant Corso.
I tried to contact the Lieutenant, but received no reply. Using my security override code, I told the computer to end the program and open the door to the holodeck.
When the door opened, I saw what looked like blood on the deck, inside. Then I saw what looked like a dead body. I called from the doorway but got no response. I conducted a tricorder scan but got no life signs. So I closed the holodeck door and alerted the Chief of Security.
Q. You said in your incident report that you noticed a strange smell.
A. Yes, sir. The holodeck smelled like sulfur—like something had been rotting in there.
(Signed) Elizabeth Woodhouse
2nd Witness
Lieutenant Worf, Starfleet, being called and duly sworn states:
I am the Chief of Security on the Federation starship Enterprise. I was on the Bridge at 1020 hours on Stardate 45719 when I received an emergency call from Ensign Woodhouse, informing me that there was a dead body in Holodeck A. I told her to guard the scene, ordered additional security teams to that part of the ship, called for an emergency medical team, and went to investigate.
When I arrived at the scene, I found that the area had been sealed off with force fields. My security teams were in position, and the emergency medical team was standing by. Ensign Woodhouse told that she had been responding to a complaint that someone was overstaying their scheduled time in the holodeck. She had seen the body from the holodeck doorway, after using her security override code to open the door. I told her to stand back, went over to the holodeck, and opened the door.
I saw the body at once. It was scattered across the holodeck, in pieces. There was blood on the deck, and on the bulkheads. I stayed outside, to avoid contaminating the scene.
I used a tricorder to scan the holodeck and confirm Ensign Woodhouse’s report. Finding no signs of life, I dismissed the emergency medical team, ordered a forensic-science team to Holodeck A, and told them to follow standard procedure: document the scene, then transport the body to Sickbay. I then contacted Captain Picard, and informed him of the situation.
Q. What have you learned from your forensic analysis?
A. The blood in the holodeck came from just one person: Junior Lieutenant Damiano Corso.
Q. Did you check the holodeck security logs?
A. Yes. Lieutenant Corso had reserved Holodeck A for an hour, beginning at 0900 hours. He entered the holodeck at that time. There is no record of anybody entering or leaving the holodeck until Ensign Woodhouse opened the door at 1015 hours.
Q. Is it possible to enter or exit the holodeck without that fact being recorded in the security logs?
A. The intruder would have to be highly skilled in defeating starship security systems. But, yes, it is possible. Any security system can be circumvented. However, I examined the doorlock, and found no evidence of tampering.
Q. Did Lieutenant Corso have any enemies?
A. None that I have been able to find. I am still investigating.
Q. What was the nature of the Lieutenant’s holodeck program?
A. I am still investigating that. Lieutenant Corso wrote the program himself. It seems to be some kind of historical holonovel.
Q. Did you notice the smell that Ensign Woodhouse mentioned?
A. Yes. It was the smell of decay—of death.
(Signed) Worf, Son of Mogh
3rd Witness
Commander Beverly Crusher, MD, Starfleet, being called and duly sworn states:
I am the Chief Medical Officer on the Federation starship Enterprise. I have identified the body as that of Junior Lieutenant Damiano Corso, Starfleet. I was present and on duty when Lieutenant Corso was transported to Sickbay on Stardate 45719 at 1045 hours. I examined the Lieutenant at that time, and pronounced him dead on arrival.
Lieutenant Corso had been decapitated and partially dismembered. His body arrived in four pieces. His head, right arm, and left leg had been torn from the rest of his body. I can’t say what caused these injuries. They resemble the sorts of injuries that occur when a person is caught in a piece of heavy machinery.
In my opinion, the cause of death was decapitation—though any one of those three injuries could have been fatal. The Lieutenant’s body had bled out before it was transported to Sickbay. Tests indicate that the Lieutenant had been dead for about an hour before his body was examined at the scene.
Upon further examination, I found numerous other wounds that appeared to be bite and claw marks. I have not been able to identify the cause of these wounds. The bite marks, in particular, do not resemble those left by any animal in the Federation medical database. In my opinion, these wounds were not the cause of death.
Q. Was the Lieutenant’s body decayed? Had it suffered some kind of accelerated decay that might explain the smell in the holodeck?
A. No. Aside from its injuries, it was in the state one would expect an hour after death, in a shipboard environment. The Lieutenant’s body had been partly disemboweled, and was discharging fecal matter from its large intestine. In my opinion, that was likely the source of the smell.
(Signed) Beverly Crusher
4th Witness
Lieutenant-Commander Geordi La Forge, Starfleet, being called and duly sworn states:
I’m the Chief Engineer on the Federation starship Enterprise. I was on duty in Engineering at 1025 hours on Stardate 45719 when I received a call from Captain Picard informing me that someone had been found dead inside Holodeck A. I asked the Captain if the death was an accident. The Captain said it was too soon to tell. He ordered me to report to the holodeck with an engineering team, to carry out an inspection.
I assembled an engineering team and reported to the holodeck. The area was sealed off with force fields and guarded by security personnel. Lieutenant Worf was in charge. He informed me that my inspection would have to wait until the forensic-science team had completed its investigation. While we waited, we discussed what might have happened. Lieutenant Worf said he wasn’t ruling out anything.
When forensics was done, I was allowed into the holodeck, with my team, and we began our inspection. As far as we could determine, the holodeck was in perfect working order. We couldn’t find any problems with either the hardware or the software. The test program ran without any discernible problems. We found no evidence of sabotage.
I checked the holodeck logs. Lieutenant Corso told the computer to run a program called Kingdom of Shadows at 0900 hours. The program ran without any problems until about 0930 hours, when some kind of anomaly occurred. This anomaly lasted for about five minutes, after which the program started running normally once again. It continued to run until 1015 hours, when Ensign Woodhouse used her security override code to shut it down.
Lieutenant Corso seems to have died some time between 0930 and 0935 hours, when the anomaly was occurring in Holodeck A. I’ve checked the visual logs. From what I can see, the Lieutenant was alive before the anomaly began, and was dead once the anomaly passed.
So far, I haven’t been able to determine the nature of the anomaly. The visual logs for that period of time have been scrambled. I’ve tried running the Lieutenant’s holoprogram on a test system, and it runs without any problems.
Q. Were the holodeck safeties engaged?
A. According to the log, the holodeck safeties were engaged the whole time that Lieutenant Corso’s program was running, including the anomalous period.
Q. Is it possible to disengage the holodeck safeties without triggering the alarm, or having this fact recorded in the log?
A. Yes. A skilled holoprogrammer could do that.
Q. In your opinion, was Lieutenant Corso skilled enough to do that?
A. I honestly don’t know.
Q. Did you notice a strange smell in the holodeck when you were conducting your inspection?
A. No. The forensic-science team had cleaned up before we were allowed to enter.
Q. Other witnesses have testified that they noticed a strange smell in the holodeck. Could this smell have been the result of a holodeck malfunction?
A. I don’t see how. Any particulate holodeck matter in the air should have disintegrated once the program was turned off. And like I said, there was nothing wrong with any of the hardware. Nothing was burnt or melted.
(Signed) Geordi La Forge
(The court adjourns to give the Chief of Security and the Chief Engineer additional time to complete their investigations)
(The court having reassembled pursuant to order aboard Federation starship Enterprise on Stardate 45723 proceeds to take further evidence)
2nd Witness (Lieutenant Worf) recalled:
I have investigated Lieutenant Corso’s background. The Lieutenant has served aboard the Enterprise since it was commissioned. His fitness reports are good, but not outstanding. His commanding officers have nothing negative to say about him. He was promoted to Junior Lieutenant just this year, on Stardate 45265.
According to reports, the Lieutenant kept mostly to himself when off-duty. His only recreation was holoprogramming. He was a member of the ship’s Creative Writing Society. I suggest that the Court interview the Society’s current president for more details.
As far as I have been able to determine, the Lieutenant was neither liked nor disliked by his shipmates. He had no enemies, personal or professional. I have not been able to find anyone who might have had a motive to kill him.
5th Witness
Ensign Thomas Thorn, Starfleet, being called and duly sworn states:
I am a junior Sciences officer on the Federation starship Enterprise. I am a member of the Enterprise Creative Writing Society. I was elected President of this Society on Stardate 45151.
Lieutenant Corso has been a member of the Society for as long as I can remember. I have been told that he was a member before I came on board. I would say he was neither popular nor unpopular. He was nice enough, but we all thought he was a little strange.
I know about the program Kingdom of Shadows. The Lieutenant showed it to the Society earlier this year. He’d been working on it for a long time. It was a fantasy story, or maybe a horror story, set on Earth, in the Kingdom of France during the Late Middle Ages. The main character was a magician who fought with other magicians to secretly take over the kingdom.
Damiano was obsessed with historical accuracy. He’d done a lot of research. It was a very realistic program. Even the magic was realistic, he said. All the magical spells and ceremonies in the program followed the instructions in medieval European grimoires—books of black magic.
I didn’t really like the program. It was too dark for me. It was full of demons, and blood, and violence. I mostly write love stories. Some of the Society members liked it, and wanted to try it, but Damiano said it wasn’t finished. He was looking for one last book, for the novel’s final ceremony, when the main character would summon the Devil himself.
The Society’s last meeting was on Stardate 45712, after our visit to Earth. The Lieutenant was very excited. He said he’d found a scan of the book he was looking for. It was called—something in Greek. I don’t remember. He said it meant ‘Invocation of Darkness.’ He said he would be finishing the story soon. He said that he’d showed the first few chapters to a publisher, and they were interested.
That was the last time I saw him or spoke to him. I don’t know anyone who would want to harm him. He didn’t seem depressed, or even unhappy. Like I said—he was looking forward to finishing his holonovel, and getting it published.
(Signed) Thomas Thorn, Starfleet
4th Witness (Lieutenant-Commander La Forge) recalled:
I’ve completed my examination of the holodeck’s visual logs. I produce these logs here.
Now, remember: Lieutenant Corso entered the holodeck at 0900 hours. Computer: play from time index 00:10:00.
Computer: pause. That’s Lieutenant Corso, wearing the robe. According to his notes, he’s performing what’s known as a ‘Black Mass,’ taken from a book called the—uh—Delomelanicon . The woman is a hologram—Lieutenant Corso is the only real person on the holodeck throughout this recording. The language is Latin.
Computer: fast forward to time index 00:20:00, and play from there.
More chanting in Latin. He drinks the blood. Okay—this is where the anomaly begins
Computer: pause.
That’s all. The snow lasts for another two minutes. Then the visual log resumes, until Ensign Woodhouse uses her security code to end the program and open the holodeck’s doors at 1015 hours. See, here—Lieutenant Corso is clearly visible from time-index 00:35:00 to time-index 01:15:00, lying dead on the deck.
Q. So what happened? What did we just see?
A. According to Lieutenant Corso’s notes, if these black-magical ceremonies are performed correctly, then a demon will appear, and give the magician what he wants—money, sex, the king’s favour—whatever. If the rituals are not performed correctly, then most of the time, the demon just doesn’t appear. But there’s a chance that the demon will appear, and attack the magician, instead of obeying him.
I looked at some of these demons, when I ran the program on a test system. They’re pretty frightening. If the holodeck safeties were disengaged, they would be able to cause the sorts of injuries described by Dr. Crusher in her testimony. And that ceremony was supposed to summon the most dangerous and powerful demon of all—the Devil himself.
I think Lieutenant Corso ran the program, deactivated the holodeck safeties, tried to perform the ceremony from memory, and made some kind of mistake. Then the program’s Devil appeared, attacked him, and killed him.
Q. Why would he deactivate the safeties?
A. To make it as real as possible: the greater the risk, the greater the thrill. Counsellor Troi says this is common among holo-addicts. They develop a tolerance for simulated danger, and start running more and more dangerous programs.
Q. Until they overdose.
A. That’s one way to put it. Yes.
Q. What was the cause of all that interference?
A. I’m still not sure. It might have been just bad programming. That would also explain why he couldn’t end the program when it went wrong. Some parts of that program don’t even make sense. It looks like Lieutenant Corso took passages from that book he found, on Earth, and tried to incorporate them into the holomatrix, like subroutines.
Q. What language was that other voice speaking?
A. It’s not in the Federation database. Probably just randomly-generated nonsense.
OPINION
The Court having carefully considered the evidence brought before it is of the opinion that the deceased, Junior Lieutenant Damiano Corso, Starfleet, died aboard Federation starship Enterprise on Stardate 45719, of decapitation, following a misadventure on the holodeck.
(Signed) William T. Riker
(Signed) Selar
(Signed) Ro Laren
OPINION OF THE CONVENING AUTHORITY
I concur in the opinion of the Court.
(Signed) Jean-Luc Picard
Captain, Starfleet
Stardate 45724
THE END
(Historical Note: These events take place during season Five of Star Trek: The Next Generation, after “The First Duty” but before “Cost of Living”)
for each correct answer.
.
