Tell a TNG Story, a little at a time.

[Argus Skyhawk]

For 0.34 seconds Data's positronic brain considered whether ask the ambassador about his approval of this attack on the people, but decided to get down to business instead. "Sir, we have been instructed by Starfleet Command to find you and escort you to the Peace Conference on Laxos 4. Several parties have threatened war if you do not attend, and the talks are scheduled to begin in about eleven Earth hours."

The ambassador shook his head. "I am sorry my dear sirs, but I will not be attending the conference. There are more important matters at hand. Please, come in."

 

[Zameaze]

As they started to enter the Chyrkaugh, a blast propelled a large pillar from the structure into Worf, knocking him into the deep ceremonial pool twenty feet away. He was plunged head over heels into the dark, viscous waters. It had a strange effect on him--he was losing the confidence that he usually possessed--the confidence that he could overcome any problem which assailed him. He became panicky and he wanted to scream. The shame that this caused steeled him somewhat against whatever was affecting him, and before the waters poured their heavy blackness into the warrior’s lungs, he fought his way to the surface.

 

[TigerOfDarkness]

His head broke through the surface and coughing, he hauled himself out of the pool.
"Today is not a good day to swim" he muttered to himself. He looked around, his warrior senses and alertness gradually returning. There was no sign of Data or the ambassedor.

 

[Zameaze]

***
Meanwhile, back on the Enterprise, Captain Picard realized that Dinitus had trapped him inside his own mind. Picard was learning that he could not fight this entity directly by using his will to take back control of his body. So it was time to change his tactics--maybe to use his imagination.

Picard fantasized his brain as an almost infinite number of intersections of spider webs strands. He then pictured himself as extremely small and standing on a strand. The strands were as large to him as star ship corridors. At each intersection Picard saw a pastel green file cabinet filled with memories that, perhaps, he would find useful in defeating Dinitus and regaining control of his body.

Jean-Luc headed for the closest file cabinet. Opening it, he trembled. It was the memory of his giving up the piano as a child because he was terrified to perform in front of an audience. No, this showed a weakness that Dinitus might somehow use against him. Picard took out his phaser and incinerated it.

The phaser blast had attracted attention--a large white phagocyte with a pouch on its side was zigzagging toward him. Apparently, Dinitus could play this imagination game also. If Picard’s guess was right, it could be a deadly game.

 

[dervish]

"Sacre Bleu," he gasped as he leapt out of the way of the creature. Its fleshy membranes pulsated and shifted like some peverse fireworks display. Picard saw it extract a piece of silver from its jaw - a filament of hope!

Could it be that the phagocyte had inadvertently swallowed a crewman's communicator pin? Yes! It was clear.

Again the creature turned an made a dash for Picard's trembling legs across the deck floor. Picard pulled up his arm and made his neck taut with pressure. A single drop of perspiration emerged from his clean pate and slithered down his cheek and into his mouth. Picard's angry tongue lapped it up in a fit of pique.

But then a a thought struck him... If he could grab the communicator out of the creature's mouth would he suffer a contagion? Or could he use natural sweat t immunise himself?

With an uncanny sense of urgency he massaged his hands until the friendly bodily fluid came right out of his pores.

"Maintenant...," he uttered as he reached into its mouth...

 

[Argus Skyhawk]

***Momentary time-out from the story***
I think there has been a misunderstanding between Zameaze's post and Dervish's. My understanding of Zameaze's post is that the file cabinet with Picard's memories existed figuratively inside of Picard's brain, and the phagocyte--which dictionary.com defines as a cell that digests other particles--was a white blood cell or something similar that Dinitus sent to attack him inside his own mind. Am I wrong Zameaze? Anyway, I'm going to assume that Picard's confrontation with the phagocyte is happening figuratively inside his brain, although I find it a little tricky to visualize.
***Continue Story***

Inside the phagocyte's orifice he wrapped his hands around the communicator pin and snatched it out as the mouth began to close. Picard ducked behind the file cabinet.

Holding the pin, he realized what it actually was: the memory of a communication warning he had received from Admiral Andersen a few years ago, just before the Melquiz 9 mission. Andersen had warned him that certain natives of the Melquiz population could inhabit and control the minds of others. And he had told Picard how to fight back. Dinitus had tried to swallow that memory so that Picard would be helpless.

 

[Zameaze]

***Momentary time-out from the story***
.... My understanding of Zameaze's post is that the file cabinet with Picard's memories existed figuratively inside of Picard's brain.... Am I wrong Zameaze?

TIME OUT FROM THE STORY TO EXPLAIN MYSELF

You’re right, Argus. The idea is that an angry Picard, being somehow denied control of his own body by Dinitus, will not simply give up. All he has left to fight with are his mental abilities and his imagination (his will having already proved itself useless). He decides to try to regain control of his body by making a battleground of his own mind--a sort of holodeck with the safety protocols disabled. Picard hopes that by doing this, he can either kill Dinitus, or drive him out of his mind, hopefully without suffering a mental death trying. Will it work? We’ll see. But one thing for sure, if Picard cannot imagine it vividly, if he cannot make himself believe what he imagines, it certainly will not work.

Sorry I didn’t make the idea clear, but as Hemingway said, “The first draft of anything is shit.”

TIME IN

 

[TigerOfDarkness]

Back at the Chyrkaugh, Worf studied the scene. Broken masonary and torn wall decorations littered the floor. There was little sound, except a familiar faint voice in the background.
It sounded like Data saying "I believe it was Hemingway who said, “The first draft of anything is shit.”". An unusual remark for the android thought Worf, but at least he wasn't singing a Cole Porter number.

 

[Zameaze]

But at least he wasn’t singing a Cole Porter number echoed in Worf’s mind.
Worf put his head in his shaking hands. He knew that such a thought meant that something was still wrong with him--he was not a fan of humor.

“Data, uh…what do you…ah…mean by that Hemingway quote?” This tentative speech pattern was not like him. He dropped his head back into his hands.

“Nothing but what it states,” replied Data, “I was merely pointing out that if Ernest Hemingway felt that he could not get it right in the first draft, what can be expected of me--a mere human?”

Now Data is malfunctioning, thought Worf. We cannot be defeated like this, we cannot allow ourselves to be taken apart bit by bit, until we die with no honor at all!

***

“Yes,” yelled Picard as he triumphantly held the pin in front of him, this was the key to victory! But as he was thinking that, the phagocyte rammed the file cabinet into him. He flew backward, dropping the pin. Jean-Luc clutched at it, missed, and then watched in disbelief as it fell into the tangle below, disappearing into the darkness.
　
　
　

 

[Argus Skyhawk]

He needed that pin. Hesitating only an instant, Picard jumped after it. Corridors and a staircases representing countless neural connections zipped past him as he fell. In the distance he saw a flash of light reflecting off the pin. Basic physics would never allow him to catch up if he were falling in the real world, so Picard decided to correct that problem with his imagination; soon he was hurtling down toward it at a dizzying speed. He grabbed it, a moment before he landed with bone-crunching agony on a walkway not far from another green file cabinet.

His imaginary legs had multiple fractures and no longer seemed to work, but he could still move his right hand, and it was still clutching the pin. Lying awkwardly across the floor, he fixed the pin to his chest and tapped it. From the communicator came Admiral Andersen's words just as before, "When they inhabit a humanoid body, they are repelled by mechanical, mathematical thought patterns. The standard advice is for the victim to think a set of simple numbers repeatedly over and over. Such unnatural thinking is dificult for them to control."

The phagocyte landed with a loud SPLAT in the corridor several feet away, having apparently followed him down. Picard began to say, "One, two, three. One, two, three. One, two, three..."

 

[TigerOfDarkness]

The phagocyte morphed into a Cardassian, who began shouting "Five Lights, there are Five Lights, there are Five Lights...".

Picard grimaced as the memory tried to surface, but he fought it back and continued chanting "One, Two, Three, One, Two, Three,...", his voice becoming louder and louder.

The Cardassian began to shrink, getting smaller with each "One" Picard uttered. Soon it was just a small plastic action figure. Picard slammed his fist down on the toy, smashing it into several pieces.

Things became blurred and misty, the imaginary (but extreme) agony from Picard's pseudo injuries faded and as his eyesight cleared, he found he was still standing before Commander Riker.

Riker was still in the brig.

 

[Argus Skyhawk]

Riker, or at least whatever was using his body, looked at Picard with confusion. "Dinitus, what is wrong?"

Picard smiled. "Dinitus is gone. Riker, I know you're inside there. If you can hear me, listen carefully. I have some advice..."

***

Worf looked at the ceremonial pool, and swore he could feel energy emanating from it, clouding his mind, making it impossible to think properly. He backed away from it, and as he did so, he felt his thoughts grow more clear.

He saw the ambassador standing just through an open door in an adjacent room, speaking angrily with another purple man, apparently of the same race as himself. The ambassador growled, "Dinitus, what are you doing back here, and in the flesh? You and Laqinus had an assignment."

"I'm sorry, Ambassador, but my host knew how to reject me. I suspect Laqinus will be back soon as well."

 

[TigerOfDarkness]

Dinitus and the Ambassador turned towards Worf. "They have a strange hierarchy", said Dinitus. "See that one over there? He is far more powerful than their aged leader, yet he is a subordinate."
"I see." replied the Ambassador, clearly unhappy at the news. "They must have some form of morals and ethics - arbitrary ones I imagine. Every species and culture we've looked at in this region has these weird attributes!"

 

[Argus Skyhawk]

Worf glared at the Ambassador. "We are wasting time. We need to escort you to the conference, or there will be a war."

 

[TigerOfDarkness]

The ambassador and Dinitus stared at Worf, expressions of stunned disbelief on their faces (assuming their race's expressions corresponded with those of humans and klingons). Worf glared back.

Back on the Enterprise, Geordi announced that the sensors were back online.

 

[Argus Skyhawk]

"Have you located Commander Data, yet?" asked Picard.

"Yes, Captain," responded Geordi. "He's now with Commander Worf, and they are in the Chyrkaugh with the Ambassador near the Pool of Clarity."

 

[TigerOfDarkness]

"Right!" said Picard, "let's see if we can recover this mission from the state it's in".

"Away team, respond!" he ordered.

 

[Zameaze]

"Commander Worf," came the reply.

"Worf, I want the away team and the Ambassador back on the ship at once," ordered Picard.

“The Ambassador is reluctant to accompany us, Captain.” responded Worf.

“Work it out,” said Picard, “I’ll expect all of you back on the ship in twenty minutes--we have no more time for this nonsense. Picard out.”

Worf looked at Data. “Are you all right?”

“My self repair routines have finished repairing the damage from the blast, if that is what you are asking,” responded Data.

“Then can you suggest a way out of our current situation?”

“I may have a solution to this problem,” Data said, “This planet’s Envoy Code, section 42, states that in an emergency, any available citizen from the planet may be awarded ambassador status and may represent the planet with full authority.”

 

[Argus Skyhawk]

"Are you suggesting that any person we find on the street could be be our ambassador?"

"Yes," said Data. "However, it would have to be a person with knowledge of the existence of interstellar travel. Otherwise, we would be in violation of the Prime Directive. Most citizens of this world are unaware of life on other worlds, and those that are aware are sworn to secrecy."

Worf scowled. "So how do we find someone who knows what he should within twenty minutes?"

"We can ask Geordi to transport us to Ryncaull. It is a village in the mountains at the southern tip of the continent. The entire community has been trading goods with the Klingons for over two decades."

Worf slapped his communicator, and spoke quickly to LaForge. Moments later, he and Data dematerialized.

 

[TigerOfDarkness]

Picard called Deana into his ready room.

"Councellor", he begain "I am very concerned how we managed to mess up such a simple mission. I left the bridge to play in the holo-deck whilst the away team were on the planet. Am I unfit for duty?"

Deana paused - surprised by the Captain's question.

"Uh, what happened in the holo-deck?" she asked.

"Well, I'm not sure if this is relevant, but I ran a standard horse-riding simulation, then some 20th centuary actor rode up and started ranting about how someone called Pike or Pine or something had usurped his role. I should have ended the program or deleted the actor, but I couldn't".

This could be serious, thought Deana. "Why couldn't you stop the program?"

"I don't know - I was just unable to do anything but follow what was happening...". He frowned, "Then I was taken over by some alien consciousness as was Commander Riker and maybe others in the crew and I'm not doing anything about it!"