doctor, i must confess i am uncertain as to why pushing someone into freezing, shark- infested water is amusing. ah. sensors show five life signs aboard the station, captain. is she still angry? i was attempting to. get in the spirit of things. i thought it would be humorous. it has occurred to me on several occasions. but i believe this may be the appropriate time. that is true. however, i believe my growth as an artificial life form has reached an impasse. for thirty-four years i have endeavored to become more "human" - to grow beyond my original programming. and yet i am still unable to grasp such a simple concept as humor. this emotion chip is the only answer. agreed. i believe the beverage has provoked an emotional response. i am uncertain. i have had little experience with emotions. i am unable to articulate the sensation. yes. that is it. i hate it. yes. i hate this! it is revolting! please. i get it. i get it. when you said to commander riker. "the clown can stay, but the ferengi in the gorilla suit has to go." during the farpoint mission. we were on the bridge and you told a joke. that was the punch line. i know. i just got it. it was very funny. there appears to be a dampening field in operation. i cannot scan beyond the bulkhead. it appears to be a magnetically sealed. i believe i can reverse the polarity by attenuating my axial servo. "open sesame." you could say i have a. magnetic personality. no, geordi. i have not. it is most unusual. i am sorry. but i cannot stop myself. i think something is wrong. i believe the emotional chip has overloaded my positronic relays. please don't hurt me. i. cannot, sir. i believe i am. afraid. i am quite. preoccupied with concern about geordi. i hope so, sir. according to our information, the ribbon is a conflux of temporal energy which travels through our galaxy every thirty-nine point one years sorry, captain. the ribbon has already entered the galaxy. it will pass through this sector in approximately thirty-one hours. the star's destruction has had numerous astro-physical effects within this sector. however, none of them appear to have a connection to the energy ribbon. it will take a few moments for the computer to compile the information. no, sir. i am finding it difficult to concentrate. i believe i am overwhelmed with feelings of. remorse and regret concerning my actions on the observatory. i wanted to save geordi. i tried. but i experienced something i did not expect. i believe it was fear. but i did not deal with it, sir. i let it prevent me from helping my friend. does that make me a coward? guilt. it is a most unpleasant feeling. according to our current information, the destruction of the amargosa star has had the following effects in this sector: gamma emissions have increased by five percent. the starship bozeman was forced to make a course correction. a research project on gorik four was halted due to increased neutrino particles. ambient magnetic fields have decreased by -- the destruction of the amargosa star has altered the gravitational forces throughout the sector. any ship passing through this region will have to make a minor course correction. this is its current position. i do not wish to remove the chip, sir. although these emotions are proving difficult to deal with. i cannot imagine going back to a life without them. i have taken an important step toward becoming truly human. if i were to turn back now. i would like to continue in my duties, sir. i believe so. i believe so. our records show that every ship which has approached the ribbon has either been destroyed or severely damaged. yes, sir. there are two in the veridian system. it should be noted, sir, that the collapse of the veridian star would produce a shock wave similar to the one we observed at amargosa. veridian three is uninhabited. but veridian four supports a pre- industrial humanoid society. approximately two hundred thirty million. i was hoping you would ask me to do that, captain. i just love to scan for life forms. "life forms. tiny little life forms. where are the life forms --" sorry, sir. there is too much interference in the planet's ionosphere for an accurate reading. approximately forty-seven minutes, sir. sir, i am detecting an anomalous subspace reading in main engineering. it may be -- hull breach on decks thirty-one through thirty-five. perhaps. yes! if we sent a low-level ionic pulse, it might reset the coil and engage the cloaking systems. no problem. i have accessed their coil frequency. initiating ionic pulse. yes!! one minute to warp core breach. separation complete. ten seconds to warp core breach. oh, shit. i have rerouted auxiliary power to the lateral thrusters. i'm attempting to level our descent. spot. i am very happy to find you, spot. i am not sure, counselor. i am happy to see spot. and yet i am crying. my emotional program must be malfunctioning again.