ladies and gentlemen and invited tran gendered species.  in my study of terran and betazoid conjugal rites i have discovered it is traditional to present the "happy couple" with a gift. given commander riker's affection for archaic musical forms i have elected to present the following as my gift in honor of their conjugation.
if you please, mister band leader, a-one and a-two and.
"blue skies, smiling at me, nothing but blue skies do i see. blue birds, singing a song, nothing but blue birds all day long. never saw the sun shining so bright, never saw things going so right"
to happy endings.
sir. i noticed an interesting confluence of emotion at the wedding. i am familiar with the human concept of tears through laughter and its inverse, laughter through tears, but i could not help wondering about the human capacity for expressing both pleasure and sadness simultaneously.
and you were particularly aware of this feeling because commander riker will be leaving to assume command of the titan?
and this makes you "sad"?
that is because you have a familiarity with them. you can predict specific reactions and behavior and are comfortable in that knowledge.
the choices i made have led me here as well. this is the only home i have ever known. i cannot foresee a reason for leaving.
if i were.  i believe my memory engrams would sense the absence of your specific reactions and behavior. i would "miss you."
to new worlds.
since positronic signatures have only been known to emanate from androids such as myself, it is logical to theorize that there is an android such as myself on kolarus iii.
i thought only me, myself and lore.
isolated pockets of humanoids. it appears to be a pre-warp civilization at an early stage of industrial development.
the closest signature is two kilometers to the west.  that direction, sir.
i will always be baffled by the human predilection for piloting vehicles at unsafe velocities.
over that rise, sir.  half a kilometer.
it appears to be.  .  an arm.
like me, it has been designed with modular power sources.
the next signature is one kilometer to the south.
the final signature is approximately 300 meters up that incline.
ten meters.
i think it unlikely you will need your phaser to recover the cranial unit. of course, it could bite you.
the resemblance is.  striking.
you are not looking at yourself. you are looking at me.
i would like to pick you up now. may i do that?
fascinating.
commander!
thank you.
he is very observant.
this is not an appropriate time for a conversation.
because the captain has to concentrate on piloting the vehicle.
sorry, sir.
our eyes are identical, doctor.
do you have a name, sir?
can you tell me how you came to be on the planet where we found you?
yes, please continue.
do you know who i am?
no. my name is data.  i am your brother.
as you can see the habitable half of remus is always in darkness because, like mercury, one side always faces the sun. due to the extreme temperatures on that half of their world, the remans live on the dark side of the planet.
almost nothing is known about the reman homeworld, although intelligence scans have proven the existence of dilithium mining and heavy weapons construction.
the remans themselves are considered an undesirable caste in the hierarchy of the empire.
starfleet intelligence was only able to provide a partial account of his military record. we can infer he is relatively young and a capable commander. he fought seventeen major engagements in the war. all successful. beyond that, we know nothing.
at present he serves no useful function. dr. soong created us to become active and useful members of society. i do not believe he would have wanted the b-9 to live out his life in his present state.
captain picard agrees that the b-9 was probably designed with the same self-actualization parameters as myself. if my memory engrams are successfully integrated into his positronic matrix, he should have all my abilities.
i feel nothing, geordi. it is my belief that with my memory engrams he will be able to function as a more complete individual.
yes.
do you know where you are?
can you remember our father?
do you know the name of the captain of this vessel?
is that your final answer?
what purpose does this serve?
dr. soong must have found it unnecessary in later versions.
no, i do not mind.
but i believe he will prove incapable of performing higher functions.
i am not.
no, remain with commander la forge. he is going to try to make you well.
captain.
doctor, will you excuse us for a moment? geordi, please come with me.
data to captain picard. geordi and i have identified the source of the unauthorized computer access. and, i believe, we have also discovered an opportunity to gain a tactical advantage.
sorry, sir. i thought it added a touch of reality to the performance.
my mission was a success, sir. i have discovered the source of the thalaron radiation.
he believes he has our communications protocols. but they will give him inaccurate locations for all starfleet vessels.
move, puny human animal.
aye, sir.  this way.
this entire ship is, essentially, a flying thalaron generator. all its power relays lead to that device.
it would appear so.
geordi equipped me with the prototype for the emergency transport unit. i recommend you use it to return to the enterprise.
yes, sir.
there is a shuttlebay 948 meters from our current location.
this way, sir!
it seems to have an encrypted security system.
they are trying to override the access codes. reman is really a most complex language with pictographs representing certain verb roots and --
according to the ship's manifest they are scorpion-class attack fliers.
port thrusters, sir. would you like me to drive?
affirmative, sir. negative, sir. they have instigated security overrides and erected a force field around the external portals.
do you think this is a wise course of action?
ready, captain.
no, i have only activated your cognitive and communication subroutines.
because you are dangerous.
you have been programmed to gather information that can be used against this ship.
i know.
do you know anything about shinzon's plans against the federation?
do you have any knowledge of the tactical abilities of his ship?
no. i must deactivate you.
indefinitely.
a long time, brother.
at our current velocity we will arrive at sector 3274 in approximately 40 minutes.
of you?
i do not agree. although you share the same genetic structure, the events of your life have created unique individual.
he would deny a "human" connection is possible. he considers himself entirely reman.
no, sir, it is not possible. the b-9 is physically identical to me, although his neural pathways are not as advanced. but even if they were, he would not be me.
i aspire, sir. to be better than i am. the b-9 does not. nor does shinzon.
we are passing through the bassen rift. the projections will return when we have cleared it.
yes, sir. the rift effects all long-range communications --
we are losing dorsal shields --
aft shields are down to forty percent.
forward shields are down to ten percent.
we have lost structural integrity on decks twelve through seventeen, sections four through ten.
captain, we have lost ventral shielding on deck twenty nine.
the scimitar's shields are still at seventy percent. it would make no difference, sir.
we are being hailed.
sir, allow me to go. you are needed here.
sir.
counsellor troi, please assume command. geordi, if you will come with me.
what is our approximate distance?
thank you.
thank you, geordi. deactivate the field.
goodbye.