The USS Nemo approached a hypergiant star. "As you have requested captain, I found the biggest star within range," Imra rolled her eyes.
"That is one big-ass star," Mon nodded.
"When will it go supernova?" Ol asked excitedly.
"Not for a hundred years, maybe two hundred," Imra replied.
"That would be one hell of an explosion. I wonder if I can trigger it," Mon said ambitously. "I want to move in closer."
"The hull is approaching eleven hundred degrees. It would be unsafe to move any closer," Imra shot down.
"Weak sauce," Mon said disappointed in his ship.
"We may not be able to go closer but someone else has," Ol detected. "They're twenty thousand kilometers closer than we are."
"Space is big. That means they're only a hair closer to the star than us. Can we see it?" Mon asked. The visual screen showed the alien vessel moving away from the star. "Hail them," Mon ordered Laurel.
"The interference is heavy. Try audio only," Laurel suggested.
"This is Captain Mon-El of the USS Nemo. I assume you have detected us," Mon said coyly.
"Captain Drennick, where do you come from?" he asked.
"The Sol system and you?" Mon said vaguely.
"We come from a system called Vissia, twenty-five light years from here. We saw you come yesterday. We assume you're here to study the hypergiant," Drennick said pleasantly.
"My species has never seen one up close," Mon said, still playing coy.
"It is quite a sight. Have you analyzed its rate of nuclear synthesis?" Drennick asked.
"Shit," Mon muttered. "No, we unfortunately do not have that technology," Mon said hoping to not tip them off that the Nemo was actually a warship meant mainly for conquering and plundering.
"If you don't mind, I can help modify your sensors," Drennick said naively.
"Thank you. What would you like in return?" Mon asked.
"You could invite us onto your ship. Meeting new species and cultures is one of our primary goals," Drennick said.
"It's the same for us as well," Mon said smirkingly. "We would be honored if you would join us for dinner."
"We look forward to it," Drennick said and then signed off.
"Those poor bastards. Shall we begin charging weapons?" Eltro asked.
"Their ship is roughly twice as large as ours and heavily armored," Imra pointed out.
"If we attack, they may send a warning signal to their homeworld. Let us wine and dine them, learn about their culture, and then let them go. Then, we can decide what to do with them," Mon decided. "In the meantime, we are all harmless well-meaning human explorers."
The Nemo docked with the Vissian ship near the hypergiant. Mon had dinner with Captain Drennick who was still oblivious to Mon's true nature. "We have been using trinesium for our hulls for centuries. It's able to withstand eighteen thousand degrees. Our pod is able to withstand even more as it has twice the shielding," Drennick said.
"Interesting," Mon said wide-eyed, seeing a military application to this.
"Your technology will evolve over time. The important thing is that you're explorers," Drennick said.
"Right," Mon nodded.
"I intend to take the pod into the hydrogen layer of the hypergiant. I would be pleased if you could join me," Drennick offered.
"Just the two of us, for multiple days, in a cramped pod. Well, okay then," Mon agreed.
In the mess hall, Eltro was trying to score with two blond Vissians by giving them a chocolate sundae. He was, however, fucking it up by describing it too much and how to eat it. "Eat the cherry first," Eltro instructed.
"Why?" one of them asked. "Is it tradition?"
"More like common sense so you don't accidentally eat the cherry while you're eating it. You take the stem off before you eat it. Holy shit," Eltro said as one of them took the cherry and ate it whole.
"Introduce me, wing-man," Ol said as he arrived.
"This is Ol, our tactical officer," Eltro introduced. He then turned to Ol privately. "I had these two broads first," he protested.
"The chief engineer and his wife are over there. Why don't you talk about nailing and screwing?" Ol suggested.
"They're all yours," Eltro relented and walked over to another table. "I'm told you're the chief engineer."
"Please, sit down," the chief engineer offered. "I am Rio and this is my wife, Calla."
"You like the food?" Eltro asked.
"Yes, very much," Calla said with false sincerity.
"I hope you one day sample some of our food. It's quite spicey," Rio said.
"Looking forward to it. I'd also like to see your engine room," Eltro said smoothly.
"Of course," Rio said naively.
"And what is this thing?" Eltro asked of the third person at the table who looked neither male nor female.
"This is our cogenitor. It has no name. We use it to have a baby," Calla explained.
"Okay," Eltro said totally confused.
"We recommend you get vaccinated before you arrive on our ship," Rio suggested.
"Sure thing," Eltro agreed.
Eltro went to have a chat with Brainiac 5 on the matter. "Sup with these cogenitors?"
"Not all species have just two sexes," Brainiac 5 said condescendingly.
"So, this whatever is some kind of third sex? And it is involved in the impregnation process?" Eltro asked.
"Precisely," Brainiac 5 replied.
"I'm pretty knowledgeable on how it works between two sexes. I mean, my porn collection is pretty thick but how does it work in this case?" Eltro asked.
"The cogenitor has a penis but no testicles, thus infertile at birth. The male Vissian has a penis and fertile testicles. However, the male Vissian is impotent. So, a congenitor is required to make impregnation possible," Brainiac 5 explained.
"Still not following," Eltro admitted.
"The male Vissian can only get a proper erection when their prostate gland has been properly stimulated. And an erection is necessary to deliver sperm to the female," Brainiac 5 said obviously.
"Yeah, I get that but what is the role of the cogenitor in all this?" Eltro asked confused.
"The cogenitor penetrates the male Vissian's anus with its penis, thus stimulating the male Vissian's prostate gland, thus giving him an erection, and thus allowing for impregnation," Brainiac 5 said finally.
"Wait...what the fuck?" Eltro thought he misheard.
"I have pictures and video," Brainiac 5 offered, about to turn on a video screen.
"I'll pass...but email them to me so I can review them in my quarters for private study," Eltro requested.
"Of course," Brainiac 5 nodded.
Eltro then walked out of Sickbay with the most awkward boner.
Mon went with Captain Drennick on a mission to get closer to the star. The two made small chat on human authors with Mon pretending to be human. Normally, Mon wouldn't care about science crap but the size and luminosity of the hypergiant was giving him the greatest of hardons.
Meanwhile, Eltro met with Rio in the engineer room onboard the Vissian ship. "The anti-matter stream is compressed and redirected into the core," Rio said of his warp core.
"So, you don't need magnetic confinement?" Eltro asked amazed.
"No...silly," Rio smiled condescendingly.
"You know, on Earth, where I'm from, there are only two sexes," Eltro brought up.
"That's true of most worlds," Vissian allowed.
"I don't mean to pry but what's their deal?" Eltro asked.
"A cogenitor is only needed when a couple wants to have a child. They're only three percent of our population and as it happens, only three percent of Vissians want children at any given time. Nature has a way of being super-easy, barely an inconvenience for us," Ria explained.
"Is the one I met the only one on your ship?" Eltro asked curiously.
"Yes. Once we're done with it, I doubt we will need it again until we come home," Ria said nonchalantly. "Would you like to take a look at our plasma converters?"
"Sure," Eltro said, shaken and a little stirred. "So, does this thing live with you in your quarters?"
"In the closet, yes," Ria replied.
"What does it do when you're not...fucking?" Eltro asked bluntly.
"It eats, sleeps, there's not much else to do but fucking," Ria said. "Why so curious?"
"It's just not in my list of categories in my giant porn collection," Eltro explained.
"You'll find that in our reactor, we have two hundred naturally occurring elements," Ria bragged.
"That sounds like bullshit," Eltro doubted.
"I understand you have only discovered nighty-two. I realize this must be unnerving for you," Ria allowed.
"Actually, it's the least surprising thing you've told me but I'm keeping an open mind," Eltro assured him.
Mon came back to his quarters to pack for another mission. Imra was with him as he did. "Three days is a long time being cramped with one other person, especially one you just met."
"You trying to imply something?" Mon asked knowingly. "Just because we both jerk off at the same time to a hypergiant star doesn't make it queer. You're in charge of movies while I'm gone."
"Yes, Sir," Imra rolled her eyes.
Imra then went to engineering and found Eltro working on the warp engine with new Vissian technology. "The captain is leaving for three days. Supposedly, I'm in charge now," she informed him. "Transfer these movies to the Vissian database."
"Comic book movies?" Eltro noted.
"It's the captain's wish," Imra said flatly.
"You know, the chief engineer and his wife are trying to make a baby," Eltro brought up.
"How interesting," Imra said dismissively.
"They have a cogenitor. They treat it like a pet. Kept in its room, no reading, no writing, not even a name. Even a dog has a name," Eltro said.
"You're not to interfere with their culture without authorization which I am not giving you," Imra shot down. "Your apprehension is unfounded. Many species use three sexes for reproduction."
"Do all of those races treat their third sex like shit?" Eltro wondered.
"The Empress and Titan Command want a productive relationship with this species. Don't fuck it up by sharing your opinions," Imra ordered.
Eltro entered Sick Bay to make a fuss. "It just isn't right. It's sodomy, isn't it?"
"If it's the only way for them to naturally conceive children, it lacks the intent and consequence of sodomy even if the act appears to be the same," Brainiac 5 replied.
"You scanned them when they came onboard, right? Is the cogenitor...retarded? Eltro asked bluntly.
"I didn't take any neural scans but to answer your question, generally yes," Brainiac 5 replied. "They have the same capacity to learn as a toddler. However, I did not scan this specific cogenitor."
"Can I scan it?" Eltro asked.
"Knock yourself out," Brainiac 5 said, handing him the device.
Meanwhile, Ol was trying to score with a Vissian woman by fascinating her with various cheeses. However, she wasn't into his cheese collection. Rather, she was more interested in his gun collection. Violating all sorts of protocols by both sides, Ol and the woman went over the weapons armory of both ships. At the same time, Mon was with Drennick on the pod.
"You're an older gentleman. Have a wife and kids?" Mon asked.
"I do but they're not on this mission," Drennick replied.
"How was the first impregnation of your wife?" Mon asked curiously.
"It was hell, took five years with a cogenitor. Hopefully, you'll never have to live this, yourself. But I was damned if I wasn't going to have a male heir so I did the only thing I could. For five years, I let the cogenitor penetrate me in the only place where it would work...my ass. Five long years, up my ass. Now, I finally have a son. Someday, he'll have to sacrifice the indignity just as I had to," Drennick said reflectively.
"So...I've been watching you," Mon said with a creepy stare. There was an awkward silence between them. "I want to play with your controls."
"By all means," Drennick relented.
Mon took the controls and dived the pod into the star like a total maniac. "Holy shit," Drennick said wide-eyed. Mon piloted the pod like a boss to a stable orbit. "You obviously have a lot of experience."
"A little," Mon downplayed. "I see a flare over there. I'm going to go right to it."
Eltro had a chat with Rio in the engineering room. After talking about engineering crap, Eltro excused himself to go to the mess hall. Instead, he went straight for Rio's quarters and rang the doorbell a few times. The cogenitor opened the door and gave him a blank look. Eltro eyed the spacious apartment Rio had been given. "God damn," he said stunned. His own quarters were a small room.
"They not here," the cogenitor told him.
"I came to see you," Eltro replied.
"Why?" the cogenitor asked.
"Take this and read this shit," Eltro said, handing it a datapad.
"I don't understand. What is this? What is reading?" the cogenitor asked confused.
"Just push this button," Eltro instructed.
After several tries, the cogenitor pushed the right button to launch an ebook. "Now, see the letters. Press the letters and it will read those letters to you," Eltro instructed.
"Not right to read and think. You should not be here," the cogenitor said apprehensively.
"Look, you're just as capable as they are, just as smart as they are," Eltro told it.
"I got a big brain," the cogenitor smiled.
"I think you've got a fine brain," Eltro agreed.
"They just need me to make children," the cogenitor said resignedly.
"That's not true. You're meant for greater things than fucking a man in the ass so he gets an erection," Eltro told it. "You could have a name."
"A name?" the cogenitor wondered.
"Why shouldn't you have custody of the child that is born? You're just as critical to the process as they are," Eltro said.
"I no raise baby, I not smart," the cogenitor shook its head.
"Look, just read this shit and prove to the galaxy having one additional chromosome doesn't make you retarded," Eltro said, handing the datapad back to it.
Mon continued his tour with Drennick getting dangerously low to the star's surface while Ol gave the Vissian woman a tour of the torpedo room, sharing all sorts of classified information to impress her. Ol and the woman entered a small room that hosted one of the laser canons. They proceeded to make out and have sex in the Insane way.
Meanwhile, Eltro held a blank stare as the cogenitor struggled to reach even a word. "Holy shit," Eltro said under his breath.
"Reading make me happy," the cogenitor smiled.
"You do PT on your world? Swim in the oceans, climb mountains?" Eltro asked.
"I like climb mountain," the cogenitor said thoughtfully.
"That's the right attitude. Now, I'm going to the mess hall to clean out your stores. You keep reading," Eltro said.
"I want name. I'll be...Jack," the cogenitor decided.
"Jack, it is," Eltro said, conflicted with how he felt about the androgynous-looking person.
Mon continued to navigate through the hypergiant flares, Ol continued to have sex with the Vissian woman, and Eltro brought Simple Jack to the Nemo to give it a tour of the place.
"I not seen these things," Simple Jack said as they toured the engine room. Eltro then had Simple Jack watch his porn collection in his quarters. He tried to teach Simple Jack Chinese Checkers only to fail miserably.
"I should get back," Simple Jack said anxiously.
"No, you're staying right here," Eltro ordered.
Eltro was chewed out by Imra for undermining Vissian relations. "I have been told you're no longer welcome on the Vissian ship after you kidnapped their one and only cogenitor," Imra informed him.
"Good thing I got all the information I need about their engine room," Eltro said dismissively.
"Why did you take their cogenitor?" Imra demanded.
"I wanted to fuck an exotic creature," Eltro said, not taking her seriously.
"Its sexual well-being is not your concern," Imra told him off.
"What about my needs?" Eltro asked.
"What else did you do aside from unauthorized copulation?" Imra asked.
"I tried to get it to read. When that didn't work, I tried to teach it how to play Chinese Checkers. When that failed, we watched my porn collection," Eltro admitted.
"It would appear you're doing everything possible to undermine the empress' wishes," Imra said.
"At first it was intentional, now it's just for fun," Eltro mocked.
"First contact is important to the empress. You may have damaged this one completely," Imra scolded.
"Yeah, I don't give a shit," Eltro said and walked out.
Mon eventually arrived at the Nemo, met up with Imra, and summoned Eltro to his quarters to supposedly chew him out. "Where is the thing?" Mon asked.
"In my quarters," Eltro replied.
"How long ago did this happen?" Mon asked.
"Last night after supper," Eltro replied.
"We should return it to the Vissians immediately," Imra advised.
"I simply did what you would do," Eltro said to Mon.
"Would you excuse us?" Mon requested. Mon waited for Imra to leave the room knowing full well she would know what they were saying with her telepathic abilities. "I expected no less from my chief engineer, well done. Did you score?"
"This time, it was able to experience the pleasure of being the one penetrated," Eltro smiled.
"Really swung for the fences, huh?" Mon said, giving nothing away.
"Yeah, it was an intense experience, you know. I just did the work. I watched it, spent time with it, and observed it. Watched all the retarded stuff it did," Eltro said.
"I always found mere observation to be a tad rudimentary. Sometimes, we got to dig deeper, to mine the emotions of the target so we can diagram the source of it," Mon said.
"Yeah, exactly, captain," Eltro nodded. "You know, there were times when I was doing Jack that I actually felt retarded, like really retarded."
"Damn," Mon said sympathetically.
"In a weird way, I had to sort of just free myself up to believe that it was okay to be stupid or dumb," Eltro continued.
"To be a moron," Mon nodded.
"Yeah," Eltro agreed.
"To be moronical," Mon clarified.
"Exactly, to be a moron," Eltro said, not catching on to Mon's approach.
"An imbecile," Mon added. "Like the dumbest motherfucker that ever lived."
"When I was having sex with...," Eltro said becoming confused.
"You're an Insane officer. You can't afford to fuck a retarded being as smart as you are," Mon scolded, suddenly changing tone. "It's like working with mercury. It's high science. It's an art form. Everybody knows you don't go full retard."
"What do you mean?" Eltro asked hurt.
"Was Simple Jack counting cards, charming world leaders, winning ping-pong tournaments, and being a war hero?" Mon questioned.
"No," Eltro admitted.
"That's what I thought," Mon shook his head. "You went full retard. Never go full retard. Ask anyone. Do you think you can brag about this conquest? No. You're empty-handed."
"What are we going to do now?" Eltro asked subdued.
"We're going to follow the Prime Directive to tell other alien cultures what to do," Mon replied. "Come with me."
Mon and Eltro entered Eltro's quarters and met with Simple Jack. "Until this situation is resolved, you're staying here in these cramped quarters," Mon said.
"I must go back. They be mad and I be punished and no good for me," Simple Jack said anxiously.
"It's our place to give you rights and to enforce your rights with extreme violence. You have the right to free speech, to assembly, to and from religion, to petition your chain of command for grievances, and to possess a firearm," Mon told Simple Jack and gave it a pistol.
"I free to go back?" Simple Jack asked.
"No," Mon said flatly.
Mon had a meeting with Drennick, Rio, and Calla who were understandably pissed off. "The friendship we built over two days is more than some accomplish in years," Drennick began. "Certainly, we can resolve this."
"I'm going to give the cogenitor asylum," Mon said bluntly.
"I seriously doubt this cogenitor knows what your engineer is suggesting," Drennick said dismissively.
"On my world, even retarded people have rights," Mon said even though he had no part in that constitution and actively undermined it.
"Why are we debating this? The cogenitor belongs to us or are you suggesting we abandon our plans to have a child?" Rio asked outraged.
"Do you have any idea how long we have waited for a cogenitor?" Calla asked.
"No," Mon said obviously. "You act like this thing is a sex slave or something."
"You have no right to judge us," Rio said pissed off, standing up in anger. "You know nothing about our culture. What if your cook were to ask us for asylum?"
"I honestly wouldn't give a shit," Mon replied.
"I apologize but as you can see it's easy to misunderstand someone when you know nothing about their culture," Rio said defensively.
"What I'm seeing is you using a significant portion of your population as sex slaves and these sex slaves are not allowed any freedoms whatsoever. You are a race of sex traffickers, slavers, and you exploit retarded people to ensure your own survival. Is there anything incorrect in my characterization?" Mon asked.
"We're in no rush to leave. Consider what we have said," Drennick said gently and then left with the other two.
In Eltro's quarters, Simple Jack listened to some heavy metal. "I like music," it said happily.
Mon then entered and the music was turned off. "I'm giving you asylum. Instead of your fancy quarters back on the Vissian ship, you get Eltro's shitty quarters," Mon told it.
"I don't wanna make them mad. I wanna go back," Simple Jack protested.
"I don't give a shit. You're my political pawn now," Mon decided.
Distressed, Simple Jack suddenly took its pistol and shot itself in the head. Mon and Eltro simply eyed the body with some dismay. "Well...shit," Mon muttered.
"What do we do now?" Eltro wondered.
"Begin docking procedures. I've had a change of heart and we're going to give them back their cogenitor," Mon replied.
Mon and Imra had a chat on the situation before the attack in his quarters. "You wanted to see me?" Mon asked casually.
"The cogenitor died on this ship, suicide, no-less," Imra began.
"You think I'm at fault? I'm responsible?" Mon asked unconcernedly.
"Damn straight and a child that won't be conceived due to your shenanigans. You never face any repercussions for your actions or that of your crew. You've always been impulsive. Perhaps this incident will teach you a lesson," Imra said forcefully.
"Fat chance," Mon stared her down.
"You have no business interfering with other alien cultures, but you couldn't help yourselves. You thought you were doing the right thing. I might agree if this were Earth or Titan but it's not. This is deep space, a person is dead, a person that would have been alive had we not made first contact. I guess I just haven't been very successful as an adviser, or a representative of my people. If I had, you would have thought slightly harder about this," Imra scolded.
"First, I won't ever take responsibility for suicide unless I'm blackmailing someone into it. That's their decision, not mine. Second, we're not just a mere science vessel with an all-human crew. We're superheroes with a fleet and an army of drones. We don't have to negotiate or play nice to keep the spice flowing like you have had to do for countless generations. Finally, it's never about what is wrong or right but what is Insane. You best remember that, Titan," Mon told her off.
"I wish to be dismissed from your service," Imra said resolvedly.
"Denied," Mon said quickly and then softened his expression. "We're about to sack the Vissian ship. If you want to reduce bloodshed on both sides, telepathically force them to surrender and fall asleep in their quarters."
Fooled by Mon's promise to release the cogenitor, the Vissian ship docked with Nemo. As soon as they did, Mon and his space marines sacked the ship and forced the crew into their quarters. Mon then addressed his Insane officers and Imra except for Ol who was still having sex with the Vissian armorer which, coincidentally, made sacking the ship easier.
"Take control of communications, download all of their data, and begin the process to reverse engineer all their shit," Mon ordered them. "Send a priority message to Earth."
Rome-Earth
Pope Barney addressed his cardinals on a pressing matter of the day. "Is sodomy licit as foreplay to arouse either sex in the process of reproduction that is open to life?"
The Cardinals seemed rather stumped by this. "So long as they're not wearing a condom as such are intrinsically evil," Cardinal Lucio said.
"The reason condoms are intrinsically evil is that they frustrate the reproductive process, not, in themselves," Cardinal Marcus replied.
"And they create a barrier between the flesh of husband and wife," Cardinal Lucio pointed out.
"But the type of flesh we're talking about is up someone's ass," Cardinal Marcus said obviously. "Isn't a condom to prevent disease the lesser of two evils?"
"We don't work in the arena of lesser evils. We make declarations and God sorts it out in this life or the next," Pope Barney said, ending the debate. "Not all techniques to reproduce can be licit. Sodomy is unnecessary when some medical procedures and drugs can fix the problem. And when all else fails, one can pray. I will also remind you all that sodomy also covers the mouth, ear, nose...,"
Kara then entered the Great Hall. "Am I interrupting?" she asked smartly.
"Not at all," Pope Barney allowed.
"Mon is asking for an invasion force against Vissia for being a civilization of sex slavers that oppress retarded people," Kara said.
"We will pray for them here. Your invasion force may go forth and evangelize these people," Pope Barney allowed.
On the Vissian ship, the Nemo crew tore it apart for anything useful. "Are all the Vissian crew in their quarters asleep?" Mon asked Imra.
"As you requested," Imra replied.
"Good, everyone move out!" he said to those around him. Upon arriving on the Nemo bridge, Mon turned to Dax. "Undock us," he ordered. Once they were undocked, Ol and the Vissian woman he was hanging out with were brought to the bridge.
"What's your name?" Mon demanded of her.
"Veylo," she said nervously.
"Ruler of Vissia, input the correct yield on the torpedo to get through your ship's hull," Mon ordered.
She reluctantly went to a control panel and inputted the calculations as Mon and Ol watched. After she was done, Mon turned to Imra who gave him a nod indicating Veylo was not being deceptive. "Fire," Mon ordered Ol.
A lone torpedo from the Nemo hit the Vissian ship completely destroying it and its entire crew. "So much for creating an interspecies incident," Mon said to Imra. She merely shook her head dismayed. "It would appear we still have the element of surprise. Take us to Vissia," he ordered.
Vissia
Upon arriving at Vissia, the planet was lightly defended. "Ol, you fucked this Vissian woman while on duty and shared with her classified material about our weaponry. For that, you get the chair while we go down to the planet," Mon scolded
"Shit," Ol sighed.
Mon then teleported Imra, Eltro, Laurel, Dax, and Brainiac 5 down to the planet. Vissian military forces quickly scrambled to get to their location. Mon raised two fingers and annihilated them in a shockwave blast that created a crater below his feet. The Vissian leadership then cautiously approached.
"We are a world of scientists and explorers," they protested.
"All of the cogenitors are to be removed from their assigned families and placed in camps for processing," Mon ordered.
"But we need them to reproduce," the leader protested.
"I will give you the formula to maintain an erection for no more than four hours and surgical techniques for a permanent solution," Brainiac 5 offered.
"Amazing," the leader said stunned. "We will no longer need cogenitors now. We will terminate them in the womb before they are born."
"Yeah, that isn't happening," Mon rebuked.
The Imperial fleet then arrived with Athena-class destroyers filling the skies. The destroyers landed outside the city areas, opened a large ramp, and poured out tens of thousands of drones. Kara led an army of drones toward a sample of cogenitors who had been "liberated." "You're free. And freedom is beautiful. And, you know, it'll take time to restore chaos and order - order out of chaos. But we will," Kara promised them.
Author's Notes: This episode made the original Enterprise episode easier and harder when it came to this issue. On one hand, it really shouldn't have mattered if the cogenitor was intelligent or not. It really is sex slavery and sex trafficking on a planet-wide scale while condemning a significant portion of the population of any opportunity. On the other hand, Enterprise has a weak hand to play here as the Federation is quite weak and not imperial in nature. It was, however, silly for the asylum decision to rest purely on the captain. As for the chief engineer in both cases, I put zero blame on him for the suicide. It may have been deeply unprofessional but we all have to make that moral decision of right and wrong in these cases. It rubbed me the wrong way that the captain made the wrong decision and then blasted his chief engineer for the obvious repercussions that would follow. As with most AOS episodes, it may be possible you sympathize with the Insane while being shocked and appalled by their attitudes on things. Or, maybe you just find them to be total villains.