Merry Christmas.
I hope you enjoy this little present, a scene from Star Trek TNG "Genesis." I don't own Star Trek.
Waking up a New Man.
Jean-Luc Picard had been sitting in the cramped confines of the Jeffries Tube, watching the slumbering form in front of him. Picard had seen many things during his long career as a Starfleet officer, but he had never imagined or even guessed that one day he would come back to his ship and discover his entire crew and everyone on board the Enterprise would be de-evolved into prehistoric lifeforms because of a genetic virus.
Picard, like many humans of the 24th century, had prejudices towards genetics despite knowing it had many applications that could help people. In fact, and although he hated to admit it, Picard could imagine humans who were genetically enhanced when the situation called for it. But thanks to the Eugenics Wars where the human race had made the mistake of taking genetics so far, so many prejudices had been set in stone about genetics.
As much as Picard hated to admit it, this incident might be a further nail in the genetics coffin as far as he was concerned even if he doubted it was intentional.
But after finding Deanna in her quarters in a room as hot and as moist as a swamp, submerged in her bathtub while she was an amphibian, to finding Will in his Ready Room looking like a caveman, to Nurse Ogawa looking like a chimpanzee, Picard only hoped nothing like this happened again. But he knew that for a long time, he would be suffering nightmares after seeing Mr Barclay with multiple eyes, surrounded by lines of webbing trying to draw in flies.
But the worst nightmare he would have from this mess while he was infected with the Intron virus himself would be being chased by the prehistoric version of his chief of security. It was so odd to see a Proto-Klingon; the Klingons did have archaeologists and palaeontologists, but for a species who liked to know about their distant past, the Klingons' general knowledge of their prehistory was sadly limited. In many ways, the Klingons knowledge of their prehistory was similar to how much humanity itself knew of the dinosaurs during their late 20th century. That wasn't a surprise - the Klingons were more focused on legends and myths of ancient warriors, to around the time of Kahless.
So this was a rare opportunity for the archaeologist in Picard to study a Proto-Klingon; he had no idea how long it would be before Data's cure began to affect Worf and the rest of the crew, so he had to work fast. With his eyes, he was able to make notes of the armoured exoskeleton that covered his Klingon officers' body like the carapace of a beetle or the shell of a turtle. Clearly, the exoskeleton was needed for protection on Qo'Nos' during its prehistory since there would be predators who were no doubt powerful enough to overpower the early Klingons. Or maybe it was similar to how animals like the rhinoceros occasionally used their massive horns to fight amongst each other to take a mate?
Worf's hands were pincers, so he would be capable of grasping objects in them. Perhaps food? Picard wondered just how strong those pincers were, were they meant for hand to hand combat in the same manner scorpions used their own pincers? And what about the liquid Worf had sprayed on him? Picard was amazed that Proto-Klingons were toxic, or had the means to be toxic. He felt as he had done when he'd been younger when he had discovered that Baleen whales were related to earlier cetaceans that were fiercer and more dangerous, but in this case it was possible and likely Qo'Nos had been so hostile evolution itself had been an arms race; one species was toxic and another race had to develop similar abilities, that way they'd have a better chance of immunity to the other toxins. It could even be because the Klingons had been trying to hunt a special lifeform that their brute strength alone could not overcome, so they had developed both intelligence and poison to attack them.
Picard regretted the fact he would never know. With the cure being spread through the air, he had no idea how long it would take before Worf was back to his usual self.
His mind turned over to the rest of his crew.
Data had said that a great many transformations would come from the Intron virus, and that was certainly true. He could certainly understand a Proto-Human for Will, and an ape for Nurse Ogawa, but an amphibious lifeform for Deanna and a spider for Mr Barclay were something else. From an archaeologists' perspective, Picard was just sorry he couldn't learn a bit more about the primitive behaviour of some of those lifeforms, though he had been nervous ever since Data had informed him he himself was infected.
In a way, Picard was a little bit surprised he would transform into an early primate similar to a lemur (According to Data), but there were downsides. But as he sat in the Jeffries Tube watching Worf, he could feel his heart rate return to normal (Part of him wondered if he would still have had the prosthetic heart in his chest which he'd had there since his fight with the Nausicaans so long ago, but truthfully he wasn't sure if it mattered), and those feelings of fear and panic which he had been feeling gradually ever since he and Data had returned to the Enterprise after spending three full days chasing a stray photon torpedo gradually vanished.
As time passed, the visible effects of the cure began to become apparent.
Picard had a good view of his security officers' form as he lay sleeping after being electrocuted, and he could see the armoured plates gradually begin to vanish after being given the chance to make an appearance in this century after millions of years of being locked away inside modern Klingon bodies.
As the carapace disappeared, Picard saw for himself just how much of the primitive Klingons' had influenced the modern day Klingon, especially around the head. Worf's ridged skull remained the same even if the armoured caprice vanished from view, sinking into the skin as the latent introns were sealed once more, leaving Worf with his dark complexion and his ridged head. Hair that had been missing began to sprout from his head and soon grew back.
After what seemed like ages, Worf began to stir.
The Klingon raised his head, looking blearily around, and Picard wondered if the electric shock Worf had just received had stunned him more than he'd thought.
"Captain?" Worf asked, confused as she was clearly wondering why he was in the Jeffries tube with his captain only a few feet away, huddled in a corner.
Picard didn't move, and he wondered if there was a residual effect of nearly being turned into a primate who was always afraid. He knew it was Worf in front of him, the Klingon officer who had served the ship loyally for nearly seven years. He couldn't explain it, he had felt himself return to normal.
"Where am I?"
"You're in the Jeffries Tube, Mr Worf," Picard replied before he realised the question was rhetorical since Worf would know where he was by now. "How much do you remember?"
Worf looked down with a frown, taking in his tattered uniform which was usually neat and efficient. "I….remember being in Dea- Counsellor Troi's quarters, and I remember suddenly….. wanting her. I bit her on the cheek, but when I saw the sight of blood trickling down her face…. I could not believe what I had just done."
That made sense. Picard knew Worf; he would never actively try to hurt any member of the crew.
"I quickly called for her to be taken to sickbay and I surrendered myself to security, but when we were in sickbay…. I felt….. different," Worf frowned as if he were trying to think of the right words of how to best describe what had happened to him.
Picard sighed, knowing no words could actually help the Klingon.
"And then….. everything seemed to become a blur," Worf went on. "I remember being chased through the ship, and as I went through the ship, I felt myself becoming very powerful."
Picard wondered if Worf had even felt terror at the sight of his hands becoming pincers, but then he decided it didn't matter. He would find out more when the crew began to recover, repair the ships' computer and he could review the visual records to find out the events that had taken place.
"Captain, what has happened? Why am I here, and why are you hunched up like that?" Worf asked, looking at him with his rapidly recovering fierce look.
Picard cursed as he realised that although Worf had clearly recovered, he had not moved from his hunched up posture. "You were de-evolved, Worf," Picard explained, deciding to explain to his officer about what had happened - Worf was going to find out anyway, so there was no point hiding it. "All of the crew were. A genetic virus swept through the Enterprise, regressing everyone back until they became prehistoric creatures. You became a prehistoric Klingon, and you chased me into the Jeffries Tubes."
Worf's expression became more and more horrified. "I chased you?"
"Yes, but it is not your fault, Worf," Picard said as reassuringly as he could while he tried his hardest to push the residual fear he could still feel even while it was fading; it wouldn't help in this case. "It's just one of those things. Just be thankful you've woken up as a new man."
What do you think?