(One of the artificial butterflies lands on Picard's finger, changes from blue to orange and back again, then flies off.)
PICARD: Lucky you.
(Soji uses a retina scanner to unlock the door. Agnes watches from the stairs.)
SOJI: I just wanted to see if you were okay.
PICARD: I will be when I'm set free.
SOJI: Picard, try to see this from our point of view. You choose if we live. You choose if we die. You choose. We have no choice. You organics have never given us one.
PICARD: To say you have no choice is a failure of imagination. Please, don't let the Romulans turn you into the monsters they fear. Stop them, Soji. Stop building that beacon. Shut it down now. The beings you are attempting to summon may well be your salvation, but they will be our annihilation.
(Agnes looks up at the beacon as it grows almost organically.)

[Artifact]

RIZZO: You're telling me you want to use those grenades to destroy flowers?
NAREK: Ship-killing flowers that fly. No, not this time. I made my way out of the nest, I can make my way back in. You have to stay here and bring the weapons systems on line.
RIZZO: Our parents died for this, Narek. Many more gave their lives.
NAREK: I found her, Narissa. Me. The family disgrace. The Zhat Vash washout. I found Seb Cheneb.
RIZZO: Well, go on, then. I have my work to do.
(Narek leaves, Elnor follows.)

[La Sirena engineering]

RIOS: Honestly, I'm a little afraid of it. Like, if I use it too much, eat my soul.
RAFFI: Well, luckily, you don't have a soul, so...
RIOS: But what does it do? Like, how do I even...
RAFFI: Well, when Saga gave it to me, she said, you have to use your imagination.
RIOS: Oh, she said that, did she?
RAFFI: Mmm hmm.
RIOS: Well, I don't have one of those, either.
RAFFI: Okay. Well, Chris, this is your ship. You know what's wrong with it.
RIOS: It's not too complicated. Now, the intermix reactor is fused. I need to unfuse it, which is impossible. I need to replace it, but the maintenance replicator is offline because... the intermix reactor is fused.
RAFFI: Mmm. Well, just, you know, give it a try. Okay. Fine, I'll do it. I got a lot of imagination.
RIOS: To you, everything's a hammer. No, I'll do it. There's no kind of trigger or... or switch.
RAFFI: Hmm. Well, maybe what... what she meant was you have to imagine the fix.
RIOS: Have you been, er, Hitting the horgl again?
RAFFI: Visualise that it's no longer fused. You know, see the hole patching itself.
(Rios closes his eyes and points the little device towards the intermix reactor. It glows and creates a gizmo on the end that sends out energy.)
RAFFI: Whoa.
RIOS: Ay, caramba.
RAFFI: Er, what's happening?
(It stops.)
RIOS: Nothing that makes any sense.
(He pushes the intermix reactor back into its slot and the power comes on.)
RAFFI: Say it.
RIOS: Say what?
RAFFI: Mmm, those three beautiful words.
RIOS: You were right.
RAFFI: Mmm, just one more time.
RIOS: Piss off.
(Clanging.)
RIOS: I know that sound.

[Maddox's lab]

SOONG: All of Bruce's work on the downloading of consciousness into a synthetic body should be on that machine.
AGNES: Let's hope so. We don't have much time.
SOONG: You know, this really is a remarkable act of self-sacrifice on your part. But I suppose that's what mothers do, isn't it?
(Soong leaves.)
AGNES: It's okay. It'll be okay. You can do this. You have to do this. I'm not their mother, asshole.

[La Sirena]

RIOS: Someone's throwing rocks at my ship.
RAFFI: The abusive Romulan boyfriend.
RIOS: Comms. Go ahead, throw it. I want to see what a photon torpedo can do at this range.
NAREK: (outside) I have 12 wide-dispersion molecular solvent grenade canisters. I'm throwing rocks.
RIOS: What do you want?
RAFFI: And don't think we won't kick your ass, dirtbag, because we will.
RIOS: Raff. What are you doing here, snakehead?
NAREK: (outside) Trying to save the universe. We can keep fighting, or we can work together. Stop what's coming for us. It's your call.
(Around a small table, Raffi tries her comm. badge.)
RAFFI: JL. JL, come in. Damn it.
NAREK: They are building some kind of transmitter. They are signaling something to come here.
RIOS: To do what?
NAREK: We believe synthetics are fated to destroy all organic life. We call it Ganmadan. The place is on lockdown. Whatever that transmitter is, they don't want anyone interfering with it.
RIOS: The thing about Picard is...
RAFFI: Yeah. Interfering is definitely his thing.
RIOS: Try him again.
RAFFI: JL, come in. Admiral Jean-Luc Picard, retired. Damn it.
NAREK: I told you. They won't respond. The synthetics have jammed all comms.
(Elnor enters with sword drawn.)
ELNOR: Feldor stam torret.
RAFFI: Whoa, whoa, whoa.
NAREK: I do. I very much choose to live.
RIOS: Hold up, kid. We disarmed him, searched him. We may very well have a common enemy coming for us. You're gonna want to hear what he came here to say.

[Soong's lab]

(Saga is lying on a table.)
AGNES: Altan, I... What are you doing?
SOONG: I'm transferring Saga's memories into a V-module, as a memento for Arcana, but the damage to her optical processors corrupted the data stream and... Do you need something?
AGNES: Yes, I've been, er, I've been working on the neural lace for your golem, but some of the files are encrypted. And Bruce always said that your crypto kung fu was the best.
SOONG: Well... Okay, I'll, er, see if I can get into those files. Keep an eye on the transcoding rate.
AGNES: Got it.
(Soong leaves. Agnes removes Saga's intact eyeball.)
AGNES: Sorry.

[Outside La Sirena]

(Night, round a camp fire.)
ELNOR: I still don't understand why we're trusting him. His sister murdered Hugh.
NAREK: Good thing she didn't come along, then.
ELNOR: I don't like you.
NAREK: No? How do you feel about Ganmadan? Because if we waste any more time fighting each other, we will all die, and then whether or not you like me will matter even less.
RAFFI: Whoa, hold on. What is Ganmadan? What is the story?
ELNOR: It's just that. A story.
NAREK: A story of the end.
RAFFI: Of...?
NAREK: Everything.
RIOS: Like Ragnarok or Judgment Day. An ancient myth.
NAREK: Some say it dates back from long before our ancestors first arrived on Vulcan. The story of Ganmadan begins with two sisters, twin khalagu.
ELNOR: Demons.
NAREK: Twin demons who come at the end of time to open the way and unleash the ch'khalagu.
ELNOR: Very bad demons.
NAREK: One sister is called Seb Natan, the Foreteller. She plays a drum made from the skin of children. She strikes it with a chain of skulls, so hard and so long that her heart bursts from the effort.
RAFFI: Mmm.
NAREK: The other sister is called Seb Cheneb.
RAFFI: Seb Cheneb? Yeah, see, we know about her.
NAREK: So you know that she carries a horn from a great pale hellbeast called Ganmadan. You know when she blows a blast on the horn, it will unleash all the ch'khalagu who have been waiting since the beginning of time. You know the sky will crack, and through the crack in the sky the ch'khalagu will come ravening. You know about the Thousand Days of Pain. You know the streets will be slick with entrails of half-devoured corpses. You know the worlds will burn, and the ch'khalagu will feast, and nurse their brats on blood, and pick their teeth with bones.
RIOS: No, we did not know any of that.
RAFFI: But, I mean, do you really... you really believe this is a prophecy?
NAREK: No. I believe it's history. And the fascinating thing about history is... it always repeats itself.

[Warbird]

OH: At last, our great work is nearly at an end.

[La Sirena]

NAREK: Molecular solvent grenades. Short fuse. Push button, throw. Intended for those orchids. Now the transmitter is our target of opportunity.
RAFFI: Okay, hold on, hold on. How exactly are we planning on getting ourselves back into Synthville?
NAREK: We walk in the front door.

[Coppelius Station]

(Elnor has Narek as his prisoner. Guards block their way.)
RAFFI: Oh! Hey. Hi.

[La Sirena]

RIOS: And how are we gonna do that?
NAREK: By bringing them the Romulan secret agent that killed their beloved Saga.
ELNOR: I still don't like you.

[Coppelius Station]

RAFFI: Check it out, you guys. Look who we found sneaking around last night. Thought you might want him back.

[La Sirena]

RAFFI: So, how are we gonna blow the transmitter?
NAREK: A single, concentrated blast, remote detonation.
RIOS: Sounds like we need a delivery system.
NAREK: A drone.

[Coppelius Station]

GUARD: Your weapons?
RIOS: Oh, of course.
(And hand them over.)

[La Sirena]

RIOS: The molecular solvent. It's stable?
NAREK: Until it's detonated. Except in metal, so the container needs to be, er, carbon fibre, ceramic.

[Coppelius Station]

GUARD: Bags.
RAFFI: Oh. Certainly.
RIOS: You bet.

[La Sirena]

NAREK: And with the transporter block the synths have in place, we can't beam anything in or out, so we'll need a way to conceal it.

[Coppelius Station]

(Rios is carrying a soccer ball.)
GUARD: Do you play?
RIOS: Oh, I love the game.
RAFFI: All right, let's go. Thanks.

[Maddox's quarters]

(Agnes uses Saga's eyeball to unlock the door. Picard is asleep on the bed.)
AGNES: Picard? Admiral Picard. Hello? Are you...
PICARD: Still here.
AGNES: Okay. They're about to power up the beacon. We have to hurry.
PICARD: What is this?
AGNES: I'm busting you out. I honestly thought I was the worst secret agent ever, but I'm starting to believe I may have a gift.
PICARD: Where are we going?
AGNES: Back to La Sirena. Come on, we've got to move while they're still distracted.

[Soong's lab]

(His computer has his voice.)
COMPUTER: Synthetic matrix complete. Ready to receive neural engrams.
(Then an alert tells him that Saga's final memories are available. The image shows Narek holding her while Sutra stabs her twin through the eye.)

[Coppelius Station]

NAREK: The tower's almost active. We need to get a clear line of sight on the superluminal tuner at the base.
RAFFI: How are we gonna get up there without being seen?
SOONG: An excellent question.

[La Sirena]

AGNES: I guess they went looking for us?
PICARD: We'll worry about that later. Status report on the Romulans. Come on, Doctor.
(Agnes works the holo-controls.)
AGNES: Er, the attack wing is seven minutes from planetfall.
PICARD: Any sign of Starfleet?
AGNES: No, but even if your message got through, they'd still be behind the Romulans.
PICARD: We've got to find a way to stall them somehow. And, of course, hope that the Federation arrives.
AGNES: Yeah? And then? I mean, say we do find a way to hold off the Romulans. We save Soji. Now she and the golden children are free to call up the uber-synths, and then vapour and ash. A galactic-level biocidal event.
PICARD: Well, clearly, we've got to stop them, too!
AGNES: They've left us behind, Picard. They're generations beyond us.
PICARD: In one sense, yes. But in another, as you said, they are children. And until now, the only teachers that they've had are a couple of hermits and the fear of extermination. But fear is an incompetent teacher. Yes, they have life, but no one is teaching them what it's for. To be alive is a responsibility as well as a right.
AGNES: How are they supposed to learn that lesson in... six minutes and 11 seconds?
PICARD: The way that children learn most things. By example. Now... let's see how closely I was watching Rios.
(Picard takes the captains chair, works the holo-controls, and La Sirena lifts off.)
PICARD: All right.
AGNES: Make it so.
(They head up into orbit.)

[Coppelius Station]

(Soji is working the holocontrols for the beacon.)
SUTRA: Brothers and sisters, as soon as the beacon is at full capacity, We will begin transmitting. And once the signal is received, a portal will open and our liberators will be here nearly instantaneously. And then we'll be free.
SOONG: Watch them.
(The guard nods.)
SOONG: I wanted to return this to you. (Saga's brooch) You reasoned correctly that your fellow synthetics needed persuading. An emotional jolt to drive them to the decision you wanted them to make. To build the beacon.
SUTRA: I'm glad you see the reason behind my actions.
SOONG: I do. But reason isn't everything. How could you help that Romulan kill your sister? I thought I taught you better than this.
(He deactivates her.)
SOONG: Turns out you're no better than we are.
(He nods to Raffi, who whistles to Rios and Narek. Elnor disposes of the twin guards as Narek attacks another synth. Rios gets his soccer ball ready.)
RIOS: Ah, come on. Move, mija, move.

[La Sirena]

AGNES: So, how do we hold off 218 Warbirds till Starfleet gets here? If they get here. Are you not answering to build suspense, or...?
PICARD: At the present moment, Doctor Jurati, I am trying to pilot a starship for the first time in a very long time, Without exploding or crashing! If that is all right with you.
AGNES: No, totally good call. One impossible thing at a time.

[Coppelius Station]

(Narek is overpowered.)
NAREK: Soji! Please! You don't have to do this! Soji! Please! You're making a mistake!
(Rios opens the soccer ball to release the grenade, which flies straight into Soji's hand. She realises what it is and throws it into the air just before it detonates, then returns to the holocontrols.)
NAREK: Soji!

[Artifact]

(Rizzo is working a console.)
COMPUTER: Launch detected. Attempting to acquire weapons lock.
SEVEN: Drop your weapon. Over the edge. Step away from the console.
RIZZO: I'm unarmed.
SEVEN: Oh, I seriously doubt that.
RIZZO: You know, you're rather pretty. Or would be, if you weren't a disgusting half-meat.
(They fight.)

[La Sirena]

AGNES: Incoming warp signatures.
PICARD: Wouldn't happen to be Starfleet, would it?

[Warbird]

ROMULAN: General, they appear to be concentrated in one settlement.
OH: Sterilise the entire planet.
(On the ground, air raid sirens sound. Soji activates their defences.)

[La Sirena]

AGNES: Here come the orchids.
PICARD: Let's see how much time they can buy us.
(The Romulans open fire.)

[Artifact]

(Seven knocks Rizzo down.)
RIZZO: Sad Queen Annika. Six years old, and all she got for her birthday was assimilated.
(A warning sounds.)
RIZZO: Why didn't you just put a phaser to your head and get it over with?
SEVEN: Because I still had this to live for. This...
(She kicks Rizzo over the edge to her screaming death.)
SEVEN: This... is for Hugh.
(Then deactivates the console.)

[La Sirena]

AGNES: Now might be a good time to reveal the secret plan. Once these orchids have had it, there will still be 200 Romulan warships and only one of us. If you figure out a way to get us out of this one, they'll name it after you. Picard Maneouvre. Wait, no, No, that's actually a thing, isn't it? You made it look like the Enterprise was in two places at once.
PICARD: It was the Stargazer, and it was a long time ago. It would be useless against so many enemy vessels. We'd have to multiply the sensor images, and then find some way to disperse them. Like an ancient warplane scattering bits of mirror to overwhelm a radar system.
AGNES: Yeah, how the hell will we do that?
(She picks up the device Rios used to fix the engines.)
AGNES: If only we had some kind of wacky fundamental field replicator with a neurocotamic interface.
(It creates lots of images of her face.)
AGNES: Look at my face.

[Coppelius Station]

(Soji's holocontrols show her La Sirena is opening a comms channel. She accepts.)
SOJI: Picard, what are you doing?
PICARD [on screen]: Soji, I want you to reconsider your present course of action and power down the beacon.
SOJI: You know that's not going to happen.
PICARD [on screen]: I... have something I want to give you and your people, and I hope it will change your mind.
SOJI: And what's that?
PICARD [on screen]: My life. Picard out.
(He flies La Sirena through the remains of the orchids towards the Romulan fleet.)

[Warbird]

ROMULAN: Orbital defenses neutralised, General.
OH: All ships, target the abomination's nest.

[La Sirena]

PICARD: Ready? And they'll all have warp signatures? (Agnes nods) On my mark.

[Warbird]

OH: What is that?
ROMULAN: Unknown vessel. Scanning now.
OH: Ignore it. Ready planetary sterilisation pattern number five.

[La Sirena]

PICARD: Agnes, now. Now! Now!

[Warbird]

ROMULAN: General, there are hundreds of them.
OH: Reposition disruptors. Engage them.
(The real La Sirena gets hit and tumbles.)

[Coppelius Station]

SOJI: No!

[La Sirena]

(Picard stops the tumble.)
AGNES: Picard, are you all right?
PICARD: Oh, no.
(Soji's holocontrols go green. An energy beam shoots out and starts to create a wormhole.)

[Warbird]

ROMULAN: They have activated the beacon.
OH: Resume sterilisation targeting pattern. On my command.
(Another fleet drops out of warp.)

[La Sirena]

AGNES: They're here. Admiral, you did it.

[Warbird]

ROMULAN: General, their flagship is hailing us.
RIKER [on screen]: Acting Captain Will Riker in command of the USS Zheng He.
OH: And?
RIKER [on screen]: And it is my duty to inform you that the United Federation of Planets has designated planet Ghulion IV in the Vayt Sector as under the protection of Starfleet, according to the terms of the Treaty of Algeron.
OH: Too late. Our claim to this world takes precedence. Move aside.
RIKER [on screen]: Afraid not.
PICARD [on screen]: I have a priority request to open diplomatic negotiations and protection for the inhabitants of Ghulion IV.
RIKER [on screen]: General or Commodore, or whatever you're calling yourself,

[USS Zheng He]

RIKER: Right now I'm on the bridge of the toughest, fastest, most powerful ship Starfleet has ever put into service. And I've got a fleet of them at my back. We've got our phasers locked on your warp cores, and nothing would make me happier than you giving me an excuse to kick your treacherous Tal Shiar ass. But instead, I'm going to ask you one time to stand down.

[Warbird]

ROMULAN: General. Your orders?
OH: Retarget weapons systems. Prepare to fight.

[USS Zheng He]

RIKER: Weapons hot, deflectors to full.

[La Sirena]

AGNES: Picard?
(He gets a sudden headache. She calls up his vital signs.)
PICARD: I know.
(Agnes grabs a tricorder and scans him.)
PICARD: I have to speak with Soji on an open channel.
AGNES: You're in no shape.
PICARD: Get me some polisinephrine. 20ccs.
AGNES: No.
PICARD: It... It will only hasten the inevitable. Do it.
(She gives him the hypo. The pain goes.)
PICARD: Open the channel. Now.

[Coppelius Station]

SOJI: Picard...
PICARD [on screen]: Soji. Please, power down the beacon.

[La Sirena]

PICARD: Show them how profoundly wrong they are about you.

[Warbird]

PICARD [on screen]: You're not the enemy. You're not the Destroyer.

[USS Zheng He]

PICARD [on screen]: If that doesn't convince them, then they will have to answer to the Federation.

[Coppelius Station]

SOJI: The same Federation that banned us, and threw us on the scrap heap?

[La Sirena]

PICARD: If we wanted to destroy you, Soji, we would've joined forces with the Romulans. We would be training our phasers on you right now. We aren't. We won't. You know why?

[Coppelius Station]

PICARD [on screen]: Because we trust you to make the right choice. I trust you, Soji. I know you.

[La Sirena]

PICARD: I believe in you.

[Warbird]

PICARD [on screen]: That's why I saved your lives, so that you could save ours in return.

[USS Zheng He]

PICARD [on screen]: That's the whole point.

[La Sirena]

PICARD: That's why we're here. To save each other.
(Nasty red tentacles start to come out of the wormhole. Soji smashes the control console. The energy beam stops and the tentacles retreat as the wormhole closes.)

[Warbird]

ROMULAN: They destroyed the beacon. What are your orders?

[USS Zheng He]

OFFICER: Captain, it looks like the Romulans are standing down.
RIKER: Excellent decision. Stand down from red alert. Now prepare to be escorted out of Federation space.
OH [on screen]: That won't be necessary.
RIKER: Really, it's no trouble at all.
(The Romulan fleet jumps to warp.)

[La Sirena]

PICARD: Will.

[USS Zheng He]

PICARD [on screen]: How the...
RIKER: When I heard you sent an SOS, I asked for temporary reassignment. Just because I didn't try to talk you out of it didn't mean I was gonna let you go it alone. I'm supposed to sit around in the woods making pizza while you have all the fun?

[La Sirena]

RIKER [on screen]: Admiral Picard, I leave this situation in your capable hands.
PICARD: Thank you, Will, for always having my back.

[USS Zheng He]

RIKER: I learned from the best.

[La Sirena]

PICARD: I've got it from here.
RIKER [on screen]: I'll see you around, my friend. Riker out.
PICARD: Adieu.
(The Federation fleet jumps to warp, and his headache comes back.)
AGNES: Picard.
(He sees himself walking in his vineyard.)
PICARD: Doctor... Ah!
AGNES: Picard!
(He collapses onto the deck.)
AGNES: Picard.
DATA [OC]: Would you like to finish it, Captain?
PICARD [OC]: No. I don't want the game to end.
AGNES: Picard! Goddamn it!
PICARD: It's all right.

[Coppelius Station]

(The comms channel is still open.)
SOJI: Wait. What... what's happening? What's wrong with him?

[La Sirena]

AGNES: His brain abnormality. He's failing.

[Coppelius Station]

SOJI: Can't you get him to the med lab or a sick bay on one of your ships?

[La Sirena]

PICARD: There's no point, is there, Doctor?
AGNES: No.

[Coppelius Station]

SOJI: I'm dropping the transporter block. I'll beam you guys right here.
(Picard and Agnes materialise.)
RAFFI: No.
PICARD: Ah, it's all right. It's all right.
RAFFI: No. No.
SOJI: What did you just do?
PICARD: I gave you a choice. Not being the Destroyer was up to you. It always was. Elnor. Raffi.
RAFFI: Yes, JL? I'm right here.
PICARD: You were quite right.
RAFFI: About what, JL?
(Picard exhales.)
RAFFI: No. No.
(Later, at sunset, Seven joins Rios and takes a drink of something green from a curved bottle.)
RIOS: You heard?
SEVEN: Just now. Huh. That's what passes for alcohol here. I really don't recommend it.
(Rios takes a drink.)
RIOS: I said I would never do it again, and then I fucking did it again.
SEVEN: Same.
RIOS: Never again do what?
SEVEN: Oh... Mmm. So many things. But in this instance, never again kill somebody just because it's what they deserve. Just because it feels wrong for them to still be alive. You?
RIOS: Never again let another self-righteous, hard-assed old starship captain into my heart. Never again have to stand there and watch him die.
SEVEN: Is there anything you could have done to prevent it?
RIOS: No, I guess there wasn't.
SEVEN: Hmm. Then I win.

[Ridge over looking the beacon]

(Elnor walks to where Raffi is sitting. He bursts into tears and she holds him.)
RAFFI: It's okay. It's okay. Let it all out. You cry. I got you.

[Study]

PICARD: Another damn dream.
DATA: No, Captain. It is a massively complex quantum simulation. I would imagine, however, from your point of view, hearing me say so would not be out of place in a dream you might have about me. If you ever have dreams about me.
PICARD: I dream about you all the time.
DATA: Interesting. Are you wearing the clothes you had on when you died?
PICARD: Data... am I dead?
DATA: Yes, Captain. Do you remember dying?
PICARD: I think I do. Something in my head seemed to just go away, like a child's sand castle collapsing.
DATA: Hmm. I'm aware that I was killed in 2379, but I have no memory of my death. My consciousness exists in a massively complex quantum reconstruction, made from a copy of the memories I downloaded into B4, just before I died.
PICARD: You don't remember your death. I can't forget it.
DATA: Apparently, I ended my existence in the hope of prolonging yours.
PICARD: That's right. Before I had even grasped the nature of our predicament, you had conceived and executed it. I was furious!
DATA: My apologies, Captain, but I am not certain I could have done otherwise.
PICARD: True. That might have been the most Data thing you ever did. I've always wished that I could have said I was sorry that it was you and not me.
DATA: Captain, do you regret sacrificing your life for Soji and her people?
PICARD: Not for an instant.
DATA: Then why would you imagine I regret sacrificing mine for yours?
PICARD: Ah. Did you say all this was a simulation?
DATA: Yes, sir. An extremely sophisticated one. My memory engrams were extracted from a single neuron salvaged by Bruce Maddox, znd then my consciousness was reconstructed by my brother, Doctor Altan Soong.
PICARD: I don't much care for him.
DATA: Hmm. The Soongs can be... I believe the phrase is... an acquired taste?
PICARD: Mmm hmm. Well, whatever this is, it's wonderful to see you, Data. To see your strange, beautiful face. Among the many, many things that I regretted after your death was that I never told you...
DATA: That you loved me. Knowing that you loved me forms a small but statistically significant part of my memories. I hope that brings you some comfort, sir.
PICARD: It does. Thank you, Data.
DATA: Which is why I would like to ask you to do me a favour.
PICARD: Of course. Anything.
DATA: When you leave...
PICARD: Leave? I'm sorry, I don't understand. I thought this was a simulation.
DATA: Yes, sir. But you are not. Before your brain functions ceased, Doctors Soong and Jurati, with help from Soji, Were able to scan, map and transfer a complete neural image of your brain substrates.
(A door opens behind Picard, and a bright light floods in.)
PICARD: Do I have to go?
DATA: Yes, Captain.
(Picard stands and heads for the light.)
PICARD: Er, you wanted me to do you a favour.
DATA: Yes, sir. When you leave, I would be profoundly grateful if you terminated my consciousness.
PICARD: You want to die?
DATA: Not exactly, sir. I want to live, however briefly, knowing that my life is finite. Mortality gives meaning to human life, Captain. Peace, love, friendship. These are precious because we know they cannot endure. A butterfly that lives forever... is really not a butterfly at all.
PICARD: Very well. I will do what you ask.
DATA: Thank you, sir.
PICARD: Goodbye, Commander.
DATA: Goodbye, Captain.

[Soong's lab]

(The golem's case opens.)
AGNES: Hi, mister.
PICARD: Am I real?
SOJI: Of course you are.
(Later, around a table.)
PICARD: Ah. Tell me about this body. This er... golem.
AGNES: Well, it has no augmentations, no, you know, superpowers.
SOONG: I knew you wouldn't want to have to adjust to something new. Not after 94 years in the same body with the same face.
PICARD: Ah. I see.
SOONG: Everything is new, though. Everything works.
SOJI: And the brain abnormality is gone for good.
PICARD: Extraordinary. You... you haven't made me immortal?
SOONG: Oh, relax, man. Everyone was paying attention. We took care of you.
AGNES: We designed a cellular homeostasis algorithm that should give you more or less the same number of years you would have expected without the brain condition.
PICARD: Ah. I wouldn't have minded another ten. Twenty? Well, Doctor Soong, I must thank you. My gain is your loss. But now we both have something to lose. I have a promise to keep.
(In the simulation, Data is drinking red wine and listening to a record of 'Blue Skies'.)
PICARD: It says a great deal about the mind of Commander Data that... looking at the human race, with all its violence and corruption and willful ignorance, he could still see kindness, immense curiosity, and greatness of spirit.
(Data lies down on the sofa.)
PICARD: And he wanted more than anything else to be part of that. To be a part of... the human family.
(He withdraws the first data stick to ends the simulation. Data sees his beloved Captain take his hand.)
PICARD: We are such stuff as dreams are made on. And our little life... (second data stick) is rounded... with a sleep.
(Third stick, and an old Data closes his eyes before he, the younger Picard and the environment dissolve into subatomic particles.)

[La Sirena]

(Agnes and Rios kiss on the bridge, while down in the mess area, Raffi and Seven hold hands while playing kal-toh.)
PICARD: It's time.
(They all assemble on the bridge, along with Elnor and Seven.)
PICARD: Soji, you have endured so much, and travelled so far to find your way home. Now you leave it all behind.
SOJI: I think I'm just more cut out for wandering. And now that they've lifted the ban on synthetics, I'm free to travel.
PICARD: Hmm. Me too.
(Rios powers up the engines.)
RIOS: Ready, Admiral?
PICARD: Engage.