Picard stood, gave his tunic a sharp tug, and addressed the judge. "For my final witness I call Dr. Miranda Bouley."

Miranda rolled her eyes as if to suggest she expected what was coming next. She swaggered slightly as she took the stand.

"Dr. Bouley, how long have you worked with artificial intelligence?"

"Forty-nine years."

"And how long, on, specifically, the intelligence you incorporated into Justine Riley?"

"Nineteen years."

"And, as you showed with Ensign McClellan, you believe yourself capable of anticipating her words and actions?"

"Absolutely."

Picard nodded to Commander Riker, who brought him a thick briefcase. Picard opened it carefully, so that the contents were shielded from Miranda's view. "Dr. Bouley, I have here several paintings created by Ensign Riley, could you tell me the subjects of these paintings?"

Miranda stared incredulously.

"There are nine paintings. Please tell me the subject of each painting."

Miranda cleared her throat. "One is a painting of myself – I mean," she stammered quickly. "A self-portrait. A painting of Justine."

"No."

"Well, you know, there are so many different subjects –"

"Name one."

Miranda opened her mouth, but no sound came out. She gestured vaguely towards Picard. "You."

"No."

"It doesn't matter," Miranda said, "She's not programmed to paint."

"But she did." Picard began to pull the paintings, one by one, from the briefcase. Justine recognized them as the artwork she'd created with Data. Had he stolen them from her quarters? She glanced his way, angry, hurt… but the android was staring straight ahead.

Her paintings showed the warp engine, a series of birds across a landscape, a quiet, childish river beside a tree.

"Those – those aren't even any good!" Miranda said, indignant.

"Flawed?" Picard asked. "Fallible?"

"Technically lacking," Miranda said with a sneer. "I can update the next model."

"Ah, yes, models. Let's discuss how many models you've created."

Miranda's mouth snapped shut.

"How many?" Picard asked.

"Justine Riley is the three hundredth and seventy-fifth model I've created."

"And what happened to the others?"

"Not every model was fully functional. There was a continuum of abilities."

"And what happened to the models with diminished abilities?"

"They were non-viable."

"Non-viable?"

"They never spoke or interacted. They were 'dead.'"

"They were dead?"

"They were never alive. None of them were ever alive."

"Did you kill any of the models?"

"That's a stupid question! They were never alive to begin with."

"Then why do you refer to 'terminations' in your notebooks?"

Miranda set her jaw and spoke through clenched teeth. "I recycled the non-viable specimens for parts."

Justine felt the bile rise up in her throat. She gagged, under her breath. Riker began looking for something for her to vomit into.

"How?"

"What do you mean, 'how?'"

"You know exactly what I mean. How did you kill those girls?"

Miranda leaned forward, teeth bared. "They were not 'girls,' they were not anything until I created them. The non viable specimens were re-appropriated with phaser beams. You're trying to make this into some sick fantasy. It was science. And look at her, it worked. I can give a creature memory. I can make perfection."

"You did not. You said it yourself. The paintings are inferior."

"Because I made them that way! You short sighted, dramatic bureaucrat, you're not looking at the whole picture. I can replace entire industries with perfectly trained, perfectly compliant workers! Pilots that never make a mistake! Surgeons that NEVER lose a patient. Perfection!"

"Perfection? We all make mistakes. We should make mistakes, they make us who we are –"

"Yes I thought you were going to pull that, you little snot. We should learn from our mistakes? My creatures don't need to make those mistakes in the first place – the learning is already there. I create whole memories, I create whole minds."

"You sell yourself short, Dr. Bouley, you grow more than grow minds, you grow souls."

"Give me a break."

"What happened to J374?"

Miranda was silent.

"I asked you a question, Dr. Bouley, what happened to J374?"

"J374 was unstable."

"In what way?"

"Mentally."

"And how did you come to that conclusion?"

"It wouldn't stop screaming."

The courtroom was utterly silent.

"What happened to J374?"

"It was mentally. Ill. It didn't have the capacity for rational thought. It managed to steal a penknife from one of its caretakers and it slit its own jugular. It didn't know what it was doing."

"Where was J374 kept?"

"In a pen. It was mentally –"

"Mentally ill? Perhaps she was mentally ill from being kept in a –"

"Lab rats are kept in pens!" Miranda shouted.

"No! You kept people in pens!"

"I don't have to put up with this!" Miranda screamed. "I made her. I can make her again! And again! It's mine. MINE!" She turned a cold eye to Justine. Picard's dark premonition came a moment too late. Miranda licked her lips and spoke – "Activate code 43, authorized Miranda."