From the notes of Doctor Leonard McCoy

Re: Noonien Singh Recording, Session 3

Noonien Singh and the other genetically engineered children left their home without looking back in any fashion, metaphorical or physical. He led them first to Lahore, where they stayed for several months. They stole what they needed to survive and did little to affect the political or societal happenings of the city. During the day, they stayed in a compound previously abandoned; they went out only in the cover of darkness. The time in the compound allowed Noonien to organize them and draw up a plan; they would go into the world in pairs, two per world power, to take control of that place. The plan was to be as unnoticeable as possible. First, they would find their way into whatever school or family was best suited for political climbing. Then, they would mold the global narrative into one that hid their acquaintance- no one could know that they were making a concerted effort. And once they had control of the narrative of power, the beliefs of people, taking over national governments was child's play.

As soon as they had money and connections enough to travel, they left Lahore in pairs. Noonien traveled first to southeast Asia, where he worked in close cooperation with the augment children in France and Britain to destabilize several countries. Once all was in chaos, he arranged for the installment of leaders he favored. Even as this was happening, he coordinated the European destabilization of Middle Eastern countries and the creation of new conflicts with the rest of the world. While the world was distracted with conflicts which seemed to be between sects of Muslims and between south Asian peoples, he personally traveled to troubled regions occupied by the People's Republic of China and arranged bombings and demonstrations, stirring discontent everywhere he went and making sure that nothing could lead back to him. The death toll of the havoc he personally orchestrated was greater than any typhoon or earthquake- but the death toll of that tangentially related to his actions was unimaginable.

African nations were easily tipped into chaos just as they were beginning to recover from brutal European imperialism. Nations in both North and South America were divided upon artificial 'left' and 'right' definitions. Old animosities in Asia were fanned from embers to flames. At the end of the 1980s, the Khan's own hand-picked leaders were in control of most of the earth. He began implementing policies from the top-down, some of which were very unpopular amongst his followers. Universal and free public education, support for medical research and advancements, and environmental protection measures angered most of his own people. Merciless enforcement of laws, forced sterilization of humans with violent tendencies, and public use of the death penalty angered all of his subjects. His own people began conspiring to kill him; on two occasions, they almost succeeded.

Those yet loyal to him nearly began a third world war using space-based weapons against those who opposed him. But he ordered them to stay their hand; the weapons would have damaged the earth's ozone layer, a sin he felt was unforgivable. Instead, he covertly sent human assassins armed with polonium poison to each of the traitors- and with waterborne retroviruses, engineered to alter human DNA.

Disgusted with the unwillingness of his own people to understand compassion and the intolerance of humanity for what they perceived to be tyranny, in 1996 he gathered the last eighty-three of his loyal followers in the deserts of New Mexico, their point of escape. They entered into a crude, early form of cryosleep, where most of them remain at the time of this recording; Noonien loaded them onto the SS Botany Bay and left the earth behind to its own failures. The navigation program was given orders to prevent damage to the ship, but no destination was given.

Noonien returned to his cell silently, his mind somewhere else. He did not eat that evening or read, or listen to music, as he often did. The doctor visited to check on him late in the evening; he found the tyrant sitting and staring into nothing. Sensing that it was not time for a conversation, he completed his business and left with a polite but awkward, "Good night."

An hour later, the door opened and another visitor entered. Hikaru Sulu entered, bowed politely, and sat in front of the glass.

For a long time, neither of them spoke.

"Please accept my deepest respect," Sulu said at last.

Noonien looked up, confused for a moment. "Explain."

"Your devotion to your people, even as they turned as a rabid dog turns, was inspiring. Even if I did not agree with all of your goals, you were playing the longest game that has ever been played, and you were true to the people around you. I hope to be as true as that."

Already narrow blue eyes narrowed further. "Aim higher. At the very least, kill less people, and you'll already have done better than I did."

Sulu smiled wryly. "Everybody dies."

"Tell that to the lives I prevented," Noonien snarked.

"You did it so we wouldn't have to. You are our grandfather, in that way. You shaped us and made us better, even though it hurt." He stood and bowed again. "Please accept my respect. Grandfather."

Noonien bowed in return by reflex, but wasn't certain he was able to accept. Had he been so effective?

Sulu left without further conversation, leaving the former Khan alone with his thoughts.

Sorry this took so long. No doubt, everyone has forgotten the first three chapters already. I'll work as quickly as possible on the next couple of chapters.