1452 – Author, Author | Snore Trek Voyager S7 E20

Episode 1452 – Author, Author | Snore Trek Voyager S7 E20

 

SCOOTER: Friends beyond the binary, ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, it’s time for the podcaster who’s here to take you on a…we're going on a sleepy trek, which ‘trek’ never sounds….trek like a walk, but more of a meander, but we’ll be talking about an episode of Star Trek, and it should be…oh, a voyage. I guess we could say we're going on a voyage. We'll be voyagers together tonight off to dreamland, whether you're a Voyager fan of you're a fan of voyages or you’re just looking for a distraction. Welcome to Sleep With Me, by the way. If you're new, you're coming back for a visit, or you've been here all along or anywhere in-between, I’m really glad you're here. I’m here to kinda try to do my best to keep you company, take your mind off of stuff, see if I could help you fall asleep, and strive to bring you sleepy joy and delight in the deep, dark night, and just try to help you out so you could get some comfort or some ease or you could drift off into dreamland.

 

Now, the show is a bit different. It’s normally a little bit silly. I guess it’s kinda silly. I like saying Voyager. Or there’s…I don't know where…I think it was maybe in the Canada Pavilion in Epcot Center there was a band with the- French voyages or however you say it. I think that’s pretty close. I mean, at least for me, it’s about as close as you'll get, a band with that in there. Then there’s a fantastic voyage. But yeah, I’m here…we’ll be on a hour-long voyage together with…full of meanders. So yeah, the show…I guess that’s one thing that’s different. Many podcasts go on meanders, and a lot of times it’s unintentional, and in this show it’s both…it’s intentionally unintentional and unintentionally intentional. That could be another Broad…I think that would be a Bob Fosse-style number, the dancing to Intentionally Unintentional and Unintentionally Intentional. It could be a really good…I don't know, should we use that?

 

I don't think we could close out before the intermission with that, but maybe we could, because it’s set…yeah, 'cause it’s setting forth the inevitable conclusion of Act 2 or Act 3. I guess if it’s…are we in a three-act structure or a two-act structure? I mean, I’m in my third or fourth act of my…but intentionally unintentional, it definitely has a ring to it. Unintentional…intentionally unintentional sounds better than unintentionally intentional. Has a nice…it’s nice and syllabic. Intentionally unintentional…how come…? That’s always a question; I say, how come that sounds better than the reverse, and how come no one gives compliments, like you're very syllabical? I love how they…you say I’m…no, no, syllabical. That’s not a word. Yeah it is. You have wonderful…you're actually a word. I’m speaking to you. I don't know if you knew that. Intentionally unintentional…and you're wonderfully syllabic. It’s just my pronunciation is a bit syllabic, not S-L-O-B…not slobic.

 

So, it’s just…my pronunciation could be sloppy. I’m just…that’s one of my…I think 'cause I’m trying to put people to sleep. But anyway, holy cow, this is…I already forgot this is the very beginning of the podcast, not even the intro. So, I’m glad you're here. Whatever brought you here, I hope I can help you out. What we got coming up is support because paying for the show for most people is optional, then a long, meandering intro meant to ease you into bedtime and help you wind down, and then about twenty-five minutes from now we’ll be covering an episode of I believe Star Trek Voyager, but I haven't recorded the episode yet. So, I’m glad you're here. You are so welcome here. I really hope we can help you out. I yearn and strive. I really hope I can help you fall asleep. If this podcast changes your life on a regular basis and you want to be a part of this thing 'cause you'd miss the show if it was gone, you want to be a part of it for you and everybody else that listens, you could support a sponsor or support the show directly. So, this message is for you.

 

Intro: Hey, are you up all night tossing, turning, mind racing? Trouble getting to sleep? Trouble staying asleep? Well, welcome. This is Sleep With Me, the podcast that puts you to sleep. We do it with a bedtime story. Alls you need to do is get in bed, turn out the lights, and press Play. I’m gonna do the rest. What I’m going to attempt to do is create a safe place where you could set aside whatever’s keeping you awake. That could be thoughts on your mind, thoughts about the past, the present, the future, thoughts that are just coming up at bedtime, thoughts…you say, is there a better…could we discuss this at another time? Or where did…where did you even come from? One thing I’ve learned, not to already go off topic again this early, is that kind of tonal shift where normally my…I would say, where you even…where’d you even come from one way? But as I’ve made the show, and only sometimes, can I have that wonderful side of the tonal…hey, where’d you even come from?

 

Huh. You're a thought…like with a little bit of kindness, a little bit of amusement, a little bit of curiosity, but also a preference that I say…'cause…could we…is there any chance we could cover this tomorrow? Most of the time it’s a no. No, no, no, this is really important right now. Okay, alright. So, even that pause is kind of in that same thing. That’s kinda…I don't know if that makes sense. It makes sense to me and it’s only something I’ve learned through making the show and hearing from all the people that listen. So, it could be thoughts, it could be feelings about those thoughts or feelings that are just there, also feelings making an appearance. They, too…they do…they never tend to be a duo. They come in much more of an octo or a septo or a septa, because they make multiple appearances. I say, I didn't even know…do my thoughts and feelings need to be combined in only prime numbers? Also, I have a lot of thoughts and feelings about prime numbers. But they are prime.

 

Oh boy, are you primed, primed for bedtime, even though you say, hey, could we…? Let me…but that’s what this show does, keep you company and take your mind off of stuff, where those prime number feelings and thoughts…you really are prime here. Holy cow. So glad you're here. Thoughts, feelings, physical sensations, changes in time, temperature, routine, you could be going through something, you could be getting over something, you could be in the middle of something. Whatever it is, I’m here to keep you company and take your mind off of it so you could fall asleep versus putting you to sleep.

 

But the reason I run through some of that stuff is so you get a sense you're in good company, that you're with other people who know I call it the deep, dark night for a reason, who have experienced non-positive time with getting to sleep, staying asleep, falling asleep, waking up, that you're with other people that share your feelings about bedtime or are closely aligned with them, or who want to foster this sense of caring for whatever it is that’s keeping you awake, because I’ve been there and a lot of other people have been there, including people around the world listening to me right now with you who have been…who came here through a similar reason that brought you here, and some of those listeners have been listening to the show for a long time, or they listen to a lot of episodes, and they are in their bed or winding down somewhere and they are thinking fondly of you.

 

They're sending you caring, they're rooting for you, and they're hoping this podcast can help you like it helped them. They're sending their kindness across the deep, dark night, and there’s other listeners who are receiving this kindness along with you, if you're open to it. You don't even have to. You could let it…this is the one podcast where you could be like a rubber…any kind…you say, no, I’d prefer if that kind just bounce…right now I’m not ready for it. Let it bounce off me. This…I mean, I don't want to brag, but I think this is one of the few places that would foster…oh yeah, you don't even have to accept our kindness. You could let it reflect off you and you could pick it up later if you want to. It’ll be there. It’s shelf…like, if it bounces off you on the floor…it’s floor stable because it’s neither a solid nor a plasma nor a gas nor a liquid. It’s kind of…it’s totally…it’s resilient. We're glad you're here because we’ve been there or someplace similar, and we get it. That’s it.

 

You can…if you stick around, the show helps you out, you could be on both of those sides. You could be sending the kindness and receiving it at the same time or saying, maybe later. I’m not really open to kindness right now or any of that other stuff. I say, that’s totally fine. You're…this show is built on a foundation of that. Comes from the deepest part of me. I say, no, I’d prefer not…this…I prefer if you don't smile at me. Please, what if I just watch your kindness from not quite a mile, but close? Like a hundred yards. I’ll be a hundred yards from the party and I’ll be enjoy…don't worry, I’ll be enjoying myself. That’s kinda what my insides are like sometimes. So, I’m glad you're here, and the way this show works beyond that, beyond us believing…me believing you deserve a good night's sleep, you deserve enough rest so your life is more manageable tomorrow and on a regular basis.

 

You deserve a bedtime you don't have to dread, that you could look forward to or at least feel neutral about, and…yeah, this podcast could be a part of that for you, because that’s why we make it. The way it works is I send my voice across the deep, dark night. I use lulling, soothing, creaky, dulcet tones, pointless meanders, and superfluous tangents, I go off topic, I get mixed up, I forget what I was talking about, and then I go…yeah, I talk about superfluously sentimental…? Oh no, it was something else. Intangibly inconsequential? No, it wasn't that, either. But whatever it was, I go off topic, I get mixed up, my voice is not traditionally soothing, and this show is very, very different. I already mentioned it. But when you get here, whatever brought you here, if it was a search or you found the show by accident or a recommendation, you're probably skeptical and doubtful and you probably had some sort of reasonable expectation of what a sleep podcast is, and this show kinda defies the logic in that way.

 

It is a bit incomprehensible at first, and that’s normal, right? Why wouldn't you be skeptical if you've had trouble sleeping and you tried a bunch of other stuff, you paid for a bunch of other stuff, you had things that worked for you for two nights and then never worked again, if you're like me, or you thought you had it covered and then it came back. Like, why wouldn't you be doubtful that this podcast could help you? Then if you expected a sleep podcast to be reasonable, right…? Well, I thought you were gonna…you know, I thought it was gonna be like this. That is a reasonable expectation. This show is very different because I’ve just found that this show, over…what we’ve learned over the years is it works in a different way, and I’ll explain some of that, but it does take getting used to. It does take two or three tries for most listeners to decide, oh, wait a second, the first time I listened I…yeah, it was not what I expected. I don't think I liked it.

 

I wasn't sure about you, either. Then on the second try I was like, huh, I don't know, this is…there is something about…and then the third time I fell asleep. Now, there are people that get it right away, and then there’s people that the show never…it’s not for you, right? That could be…you could already know that right now or you might be on your second, third, fourth try, and you're like, nah, this is just not gonna work, and that’s okay, too. I have a website set up just for you, sleepwithmepodcast.com/nothankyou, and that has other sleep podcasts and sleepy stuff on there so you could still find something that will help you out. You just answer a couple of questions. It’ll take you to a list of other sleep podcasts and sleepy stuff, so try that. But otherwise give it two or three tries. See how it goes. This is a podcast that you don't listen to directly. You kinda listen or you kinda just barely listen.

 

It’s like a TV on in the other room or a show streaming under your pillow or elevated background noise or a lecture or a seminar or a class or a presentation, something that you just can't even stay awake to even if you wanted to, but you could also listen to. But the thing is you don't have to listen. So, it’s kinda like a out-of-focus picture you could look at, or clouds or trees and the wind blowing in the trees. There’s something nice about it, but it’s a kind of non-specific nice. There’s something engaging about it, but it’s kinda like a broader, loose engagement, sand passing through your hands, nice water between your toes. But yeah, that also takes some getting used to. I don't know, I always…when I was a kid it was…those times I could hear a TV in the house or a cabin in particular that we stayed at a couple times when I was a kid…and I could hear the TV but it wasn't so loud it was distracting.

 

But I knew my grandma and my parents were watching tennis or something, and it was soothing to me. So, something like that. It’s also…this is a sleep podcast that’s been around for thirteen years, but it’s not meant to put you to sleep. There is no pressure to fall asleep with this show. I’m gonna be here over an hour so you don't have to think about…I gotta be asleep in twenty minutes? No, I’ll be here…that there’s people listening who can't sleep at all or who need a break during the day or need something to listen to while they're at work or they wake up and they need something. I’m here to the very end for them and for you, or if you're in one of those groups, I’m here for you. I’ll be here for the whole show whether you're awake or asleep, to the very end to keep you company and take your mind off of stuff, to be your friend.

 

That’s my job, to be your bore-friend, your bore-bae, your bore-sib, your boreman, your Boris Borelaf, your borebie, your boreman, your chairman of the boreds, your best bore-friend f’eva, to just hang out with you and talk for your benefit if you need to listen to me or you need to…me to be here or you want to just listen like I’m at a mumble. That’s what the bore-friend’s here…that didn't even…that wasn't even a sentence. But, I mean, that’s…partial sentences are one of my…I don't even know. Do I have a French…? I wish I had a French phrase for that. But yeah, I don't. But yeah, that’s discovery. I got even my Trek mixed up. Anyway, I’m here to just hang out with you like a bud. So, that’s what a bore-friend does. The only other thing I like to run through is the structure of the show, 'cause the show is structured very specifically to benefit the maximum amount of people it can, but it is adjustable. So, I’ll just run through that.

 

In case you're new, you also have a expectation of how the show might be structured, and it might be different. So, the show starts off with a greeting; friends beyond the binary, ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, then I say a bunch of other stuff to set the mood, so you feel seen and welcomed in, you know that I’m striving to bring you sleepy joy and delight, or sleepy jelight, and that I might not get there, but that’s my intention, and to help you fall asleep so you say, okay, I should check that show out. Then there’s support so that paying for the show is optional, so if you're new or you can't support the show or you're not…you don't want to support the show or you only listen when you're going through a tough time for a couple months, that paying for it is optional, but it’s not restrictive. The show is out here for you. So, that’s what the support about…is about, and then there’s a long, meandering intro separate from the support, which is a show within a show.

 

Takes me fifteen to twenty-five to thirty minutes to get through the intro, and every intro is different so that it follows a familiar structure every time but it’s fresh. So, it’s like the time we hang out, you know I’m gonna try to explain what the podcast is as you…if you become a regular listener, but you know I’m gonna get off topic and get mixed up in a new way every time or a new version of a new way every time, so that you have this familiar thing that’s…also has variety, because, I don't know, that’s just one of the things…when I talked about whatever brought you here, everything else around sleep got repetitive and then stopped working for me. That can even happen now, and then I have to kinda change things up. So, every intro is different, but every intro is not designed to put you to sleep. If, for some reason, you fall asleep fast, please consider supporting the show, because there’s no other way…it’s one of the few paradoxes of making a sleep podcast.

 

But most listeners are winding down while they listen to the intro. They're getting ready for bed, they're in bed getting comfortable, they're petting their pets, they're doing some other chill activity, and they're getting eased into bedtime. So, the intro is part of that wind down, to give you a buffer between being awake and asleep, and to help carry you off into dreamland, kinda to be, I don't know, like a transition, but it’s also like a sleepover before we go to sleep. Everybody’s hanging out together at a distance. I don't know, it just gives you a nice way to ease into bedtime. If you decide you like the show but you don't like the intros, we have a version of the podcast with stories called Bedtime Stories from Sleep With Me. You could find it in any podcast app, and…or if you don't like the ads or you want more story-only stuff or more stuff, you could get that at Sleep With Me+. But for most people this is like our wind-down time together.

 

Then there will be support, then we’ll talk about…tonight we’ll talk about a episode of Star Trek, and we do it in a very intangible way. I don't know, a bleak way. So, you may find you really like these episodes. Then we put out a variety of different stuff so that there’s always something a little bit different for you so you could see what you like, so as you become a regular listener and you get preferences, there’s so much out there that you could build playlists of what works best for you, or you could just listen to stuff as it comes out. All told, I’ll be here for about a hour, and I’m really glad you're here. I work really hard. I yearn and strive. We really want to help you fall asleep. It takes a team of people to make this show, and we all love making it because we know it helps so many people. If you want to be a part of that, right, the podcast has made your life better and you would miss it if it was gone, it’s made your life incredibly better and you want it around for you and for everybody else, here’s the ways you could be a part of this thing and help us keep it going.

 

Alright everybody, this is Scoots, and this is another episode of Snore Trek, I guess. Sleep with TNG originally is what we started, but now it’s Snore Trek. In this kinda season of episodes, we’ve been covering kinda something influenced by holodeck stuff that’s intrigued me for so long. Then as I was working on last year…the Get Besos season, the whole idea…Data’s experience and then Moriarty’s experience…and this all came from a curiosity of like, what if or what happened to the Moriarty drive? Which is not super important if you're new or you're not listening. It’s just this idea of sentient beings or digital sentient beings or quantum sentient beings and Data’s personhood in the past, and was Data the caretaker of this drive? What is going…? Is Moriarty…this simulation of Moriarty in this particular episode of TNG way, way back…who then got placed in a drive where kinda his…he would create his own world, almost, or it was a limitless world or almost near-limitless world.

 

All of those things kinda intrigued me, and it’s not just me, because when you look at this breadth of work through…the original Trek episode we covered, and then Grapes of Khan, and then through the lens of all these different people participating in the Star Trek universe and creating it and writing it and enjoying it…or as a passerby, which for most of the time, I was. As a kid I went to Star Trek movies, and Khan was a big one for me. But it wasn't until the Mystery Bard and I talked about TNG that it really became…The Next Generation. Then I started really enjoying it. But this was more about…I don't know, it was just…I guess it was a bit of a rabbit hole, and then I kind of was seeing all these different episodes, and an endless amount of them. Last episode kinda touched on who might try to be in control of this drive, even though we didn't talk about it in the episode 'cause we were talking about the episode. I know there was just a movie about this on one of the services.

 

But this particular episode is another series I just…I may have seen in passing, one or two episodes, but I’m not familiar with it at all. In fact, I’m even…and I know there’s a lot of big fans of it, and…again, Deep Space Nine, and then this is Voyager…have kinda called to me. I’ll probably return to them in my free time, and then maybe we’ll return to them again. It is important, though, if you just happen to be listening to this and you're a Trek superfan, a Sleep With Me Trek superfan, to support the show in general, not just for the specific TNG content. But let me know that you like the TNG content. That’s okay if you only listen to the TNG content and you come and go. The free podcast is probably best for you. But yeah, sometimes people are like, I’ll only support the show when you do TNG content. That kinda hampers our ability to even make the TNG content on a regular basis.

 

But if you're a ongoing supporter of the show and your favorite stuff is TNG and you kinda let me know, that makes it a little bit easier, 'cause all of our planning and planning of resources is longer-term, 'cause we make episodes kinda pretty far out. But I do like…but it’s important to support the show if you really love these episodes, because they are a little bit less…the audience is very specific, even though I think these are very sleepy. I’ll also say that if you're a Voyager fan, you may want to skip this episode, because I am totally unfamiliar with this series. Deep Space Nine…I think I had read stuff about it, and maybe I covered it in some other way in the past. I had a base level of familiarity.

 

The only things I know about Voyager is the shape of the ship and Captain Janeway, and that’s pretty much it, other than that this…the Doctor from this episode, which he was the star of the episode, he I think made an appearance in a movie or something, but I’m not…that I covered, but I don't…that’s as far as it goes, and that there’s someone on the ship that was in a movie that I just rewatched, a kinda class…I mean, to me a classic film about a comet. I’m like, man…I was rewatching it and I was like…so, anyway. Okay, so I’m gonna cover the episode, but pretty tangentially again. This is Season 7, Episode 20, Author, Author. But I will be referring to crew members in a general sense 'cause I don't…I mean, I learned a little bit about this episode, and this is another really good self-contained episode. You don't really have to know anything to really get a lot out of it. Again, much like Measure of a Man with Data, this is a powerful episode that starts — I think what we could safely assume — is a change, a big change. So, let’s get going here.

 

So, the episode opens I think — well, I’m not sure — on the holodeck. There’s a lot of questions I don't have answers to. The Doctor is doing…at first I thought, is this how every episode opens? But this is a cool open, and the Doctor’s kinda using…is this purple prose? It says, yeah, in the beginning there was darkness, an emptiness of a matrix waiting for the light. Then a single photon flares into existence, then another. Soon thousands more. Then we're watching that happen on the screen. So, it is like watching a painting or construction or 3D printing via photons, and maybe this is how things are created through the holodeck and the replicator, 'cause we start to see someone appear. Optitronic pathways connect. Subroutines emerge from the stuff. A holographic consciousness is born. So, he’s a holographic being with consciousness. He’s wearing a leisure jacket or a…is that a paisley robe? Like a paisley robe or relaxing jacket or pajama jacket. I guess it’s a robe. He sits down.

 

He’s talking again about potential and challenges. He picks up a feathered pen, sits at a desk. He’s right-handed, and he’s writing in the first page of a blank book. He also has a pipe nearby, and talking about the great potential he will fulfill. Then in uniform but much different body language…like, his…the smoking-jacket-writer character was very serious. But then he comes on, the Doctor in uniform with the teal top Starfleet uniform. He comes in. He’s smiling in kind of gleeful or joyous…is how I’d describe him, or pleased with his creative work, 'cause he says, save revisions. Open Chapter One. He smiles again, looks back and forth, like a big, big smile. Then the show opens. So, we have the opening of the show, and we’ll get past that just 'cause we want to get to the…this episode’s gonna be longer than…and the first thing we see in the version I’m watching, 2:31 seconds in is the Voyager coming towards us, and it’s Captain's Log 5…oh boy, Captain's Log…let me rewind here.

 

Captain's Log 54732.3. It looks like the ship number is NCC-7455656? 74656, approximately, as it moves over the left-hand side of our screen, slows down. Now, oh boy, does this…so, this is what’s cool and not intentional. I didn't know it would be this deep. Okay, 'cause one of the choices I made was to do more general episodes around these themes versus Barclay only. ‘Cause originally it was like, well, Reg Barclay could be one of the people involved in this whole drive, but that ended up…I ended up taking it in a different direction with…'cause Barclay didn't appear — I don't think so — in the Besos episode. But we get a immediate nod, which is cool, I think, cool for the fans, for the creators, and then for us discovering this. Captain Janeway, Commander Janeway says, we're finally ready to being Operation Watson. We kind of…oh boy, we pan across to the bridge or Engineering. Let me see. They have the deflector ready. They got…they're picking up a phase tachyon beam.

 

So, it’s…Engineering is mustard-orange, I guess. So, we have two members of Engineering and then two people with the maroonish-red. They're triaxelating and coding. They bring it up on screen. It’s fuzzy at first. It’s Reginald Barclay, Lieutenant Barclay at Starfleet Command, which to someone like me is immediate good news, even though I kinda knew during my research, but that was like a year ago, right, that Barclay was…had recovered. I had to follow a similar path to Barclay and recover from something that I couldn't not do even though it wasn't good for me. Actually, just like Barclay, it caused me a lot of non-positive experiences. But it’s Barclay and then someone else familiar. Who is this? They're trying to get a message. I’m on it. It’s Captain Janeway. It’s a pleasure to talk to you in person. It’s the admiral. They're in San Francisco, Barclay and the admiral. This is…established the first transatlantic comm link. So, this is a big deal, a place in the history books.

 

So, I don't know for Voyager if this is their first regular contact, but it kinda seems like they're setting something up, which we do see in this genre at other times. So, it’s really well done. Yeah, and he says, yeah, I can't take all the credit. Harry and Seven suggest bouncing off the quantum singularity. It’s gonna be a Daystrom Prize. No time for small talk. We only get eleven minutes a day. Eleven minutes are better than none. So, great job, Reg. He’s already like…he’s still channelling his inner Reg Barclay, so…yeah, gotta work with your thing. One other thing…oh, Mr. Barclay’s got a small gift for you, you and your crew. We're gonna send it over. It’s an image from McKinley Station of Earth, of North America. There’s not too much cloud cover. South America is covered, and everyone is almost teary-eyed. Quite a view. Thanks, Reg. Okay, then we go to how they're gonna each get…they have eleven minutes a day, right, that they can…they're voyaging somewhere far away, obviously.

 

So, they're gonna get eleven minutes a day. So, they have kind of a lottery. 146 isolinear…sequentially-numbered isolinear chips. I don't know if that part’s important. They have…they're gonna have a drawing of that. Each ship…you get three minutes of comm time for your loved ones. So, I guess maybe they get three people a day. Someone’s got their mom’s birthday coming up. It’d be a great present. [Inaudible] everyone else is calling. Somebody’s gonna call their sister. Janeway’s gonna call her mother. Who is the Doctor gonna call? Barclay or Zimmerman? No, I don't know. So, they start drawing them. Somebody gets number 6. 130…so, he’s gonna miss the…his mom’s birthday. The Doctor got number 1. Tuvok is the person handing them out. People talk about trading and…'cause I want to talk to my mother. Wish I could help. But the Doctor has an important call to make. But another character gives…says, I could trade with you. I’m not in a hurry.

 

Okay, then we have the Doctor communicating with a blue man, not from Blue Man Group, but from some sort of publishing group, talking about the positive reviews the Doctor’s gonna get. Modern-day Tolstoy. Seven is listening in. Six of Seven, I think. The Doctor says, well, this is only a working draft. I’m still gonna do revisions. Then the blue man…the blue publisher says, okay, quickly, though. We gotta get this book out. He says, so, tell me, what did you think of the characters? Real, compelling, forgot they were holograms. But, I don't know, I was trying to sense if this person was being genuine or not about their compliments. It’s tough to tell. The Doctor says, who’s your favorite? Oh, I like Lieutenant Blank. Then the call ends. Time expired. The Doctor says, you could have let him finish. She says, well, I believe you got enough props out of that. So, he’s like, oh, man. Then he’s whistling. He goes into some sort of working room. Did you talk to Reg? No, I was talking to my publisher.

 

Do they publish the Dixon Hill series, which is also…? That was…it’s another callback to the…that was who Picard was. At least I remember that. I mean, maybe even incorrectly. Well, they're about to publish my work, a holo-novel or what…holographic narrative. The other guy says, congrats. So, what’s it about? He says, it’s the adventures of an intrepid Doctor. Sounds like fun. I never thought…that guy also is a writer. Hey, maybe…I’ve got my stuff I’m working on; Captain Proton. The Doctor says, well, this is sophisticated. He says, what do you mean, Captain Photon’s not sophisticated? But then he says, no, don't worry, I’ll tell him. I’ll think about it. The guy says, well, can I try it? He goes, well, it’s not quite ready yet. Oh, please, come on, let me try it. He goes, okay, yeah, I could use your opinion on it. You're a fellow author. I’ll cover…actually, I’ll cover the rest of your shift if you go. So, they work together somewhere. What’s it called? Photons Be Free. Photons Be Free. He’s like, catchy.

 

Which reminds me of…it kinda sounds like a old…the original Epcot Center. There was Fun to be Free, which I think was in the World of Motion. But Photons Be Free would be a good…I don't know which pavilion. There was in Disneyland before…well before my time the thing where you got miniaturized. Then they had that in the body, but that was a little bit different narrative than the Wonders of Life Pavilion. Which I still wonder, why…? You know what I wonder? I wa-wa-wonder, why did they ever close the Wonders of Life Pavilion? I still can't…I still…I don't know. I’m like, when…why did they close that? But yeah, so, what was I…? Did I ever cover that? I should do a episode about that at some point, too. But anyway…okay, so…oh, Photons Be Free. I can just hear it in the Disney melody, ride…the old Epcot Center ride melody singing.

 

I don't know if that was post Sherman Brothers or it was still the Sherman Brothers were writing those songs, but…I mean, you’d have to change it from Fun to be…it’d have to be a different song, 'cause they already had Fun to be Free, to be on the move. But I’m sure they could have came up with it. I don't know what…maybe Photons of Imagining. Maybe you could let photons loose. Again, I doubt anybody from…but I did…I do have an entire reimagining of the figment ride, which I’m like 99% certain would be effective at achieving the purpose…a figment about the imagine…whatever, journey…it’d be a new journey into the imagination. So, you could reach out. I may have even done a episode about it, but…that I don't remember, but I have a…you wouldn't even have to…you could use the current ride vehicles and we’d just re…again, so, I’d try to save you money. Anyway, back to the discovery. Okay, so this dude heads out. We learn his name eventually.

 

I have it written down, but…okay, so it starts…we start with the beginning again of this writer writing, the kinda…whatever you do at the beginning of the book. But not really, 'cause he’s…then he says, ah, welcome, 'cause it’s interactive. You made an excellent choice. You're about to take part in a thrilling first-person narrative. You'll take on the role of a medical hologram on the starship Vortex. Vortex? There’s an anomaly, so you're going light years across the galaxy, and you gotta uphold your standards. But the crew is not friendly to photons. By the way, this is a ride, so you gotta make sure you're ready. Now let me acknowledge Lewis Zimmerman, creator of my holomatrix. Made it possible for me. So, that’d be another rabbit hole we could go down, the Lewis Zimmerman rabbit hole, much like the Daystrom Institute and everything like that. But…then the other guy is like, how…? I think he has a French name, maybe. We’ll figure it out. But he says, how long is this introduction?

 

Skip to the…9:04. It’s less than a Sleep With Me introduction. In fact, it’s at least 50% less than a Sleep With Me introduction. Skip to the first chapter, he says. Here’s another thing; just putting pitches out there while people are sleeping, there’s a lot of new Star Trek shows. How about a little subplot with Sleep…? I could do a Sleep With Me…a holo Sleep With Me. I mean, I might even write that as a song for that, Holo Sleep With Me. But this would be Holo Sleep With Me. Photons could be free there. Chapter One: A Helper is Born. So, then the guy becomes the Doctor. He’s looking at resonance level. They're like, hey, we need some caretaking here. Can you come into this caretaking room? You got it. How can I help? Can you figure out how we can help these people? Oh, sure. That’s my job. Yeah, this person needs some helping, and this one needs more helping. Okay, so you take that person over to the next room. I’ll help there. Then they bring someone else in.

 

He’s also made changes to the characters’ looks, I think, slightly. So, then this character meets himself, but he has a moustache. So, in the holo-novel he has a moustache. He says, how can I help? Nothing. Let me just scan you. Okay, you need to lie down for a while and get some rest. I have to go. Marseilles is his name. Yeah, I knew it was French, or French-esque, like a French city or region. But…oh, okay, so he says, no, no, no, you gotta help this guy rest now. He says, well, that’s not how resting works. I gotta…I'll go help other people while he rests. He goes, but that’s the way resting works. You have to rest over time. Time takes time. This guy’s like, I don't even know…listen, hologram, get to work. Speed up the resting period. He goes, but I’m…that’s not a holographic capability. Then Captain Janeway comes and she says, what’s going on? He says, this hologram’s not speeding time up. She says, I need you to speed up time for my helmsman, Marseilles.

 

He goes, well, I have other work I need to do while he rests. She says, hey, whatever, the other people you're supposed to help, we’ll have them off…unloaded to a place…another care station. There’s one right here. So, you could get to work right now on this person resting, hologram. He says, but I’m not…it kinda goes to commercial 'cause he’s like, but I gotta…he’s gotta rest. They say, yeah, have him rest now, immediately, hologram. He says…so, then they go to commercial on a good acting face, you know? Okay, so then they're at a cafe on the ship. This guy, Marseilles, he’s…he does seem charismatic, and he’s holding court with two other crew members who are laughing. I believe later in the episode…one of the characters is his wife. I’m seeing that she’s wearing a ring. So, he’s holding court for his wife and maybe his…I don't know if this guy’s his bestie or what. There’s also apples available. Interesting; they have bowls of apples.

 

I wonder if you replicate that a bowl at a time or an apple at a time in the replicator. Then I also wonder…I'm sure this is…maybe it’s been covered — I would assume so — that…is there farmers markets or a compare…? Like, how good is the replication? Because…not that…I don't have anything…again, I don't got anything against replicators, okay? I would love to have…by the way, if there…if you want to give me one…but I’m just curious as a person that thinks in meanders. Not that there has to be a difference between a real apple and a perfectly-replicated apple, but that would be a whole niche thing. Well, I don't eat replicated food, you know. So, just curious. But he’s holding court telling them about the thing and how wild it was, but that it takes place on the ship, but just everybody has a different name. Krymble, Tori, Marseilles. That’s creative. Doctor thinks it’s a masterpiece. I don't know what to tell him. They all start worrying about themselves.

 

This is gonna be embarrassing for us in the ship. We don't refer to holograms as holograms. We're polite to them, and we don't demand that people rest. Everyone knows you gotta rest and time takes time. We better talk to the captain. She says, are you sure you're not jealous or taking it personally? You were the holodeck writer. Me, jealous? He says. Come…I mean, maybe a little bit, but…why don't you try…? Then he says, okay, why don't you all try the program? Which, Tuvok or whatever, he says, huh, interesting. So then we get another thing. Someone comes in for their…to meet for the careperson, and then Marseilles comes in. He says, it’s Marseilles. So, Marseilles’s wife is the one participating in the holo-novel now. So, he comes in and he says to her, who’s the Doctor now, hey, you gotta get down to check on this plasma stuff. We got plasma stuff downstairs. But meanwhile there’s something else going on. Then he’s not nice to her.

 

He goes, you can't just leave…holograms have to have a mobile emitter. She goes, oh yeah. It’s a giant, heavy backpack. He goes, come on, get your backpack and go check on the plasma. She goes, I gotta carry this giant backpack around? Yeah, that’s your mobile emitter. Didn't you read the manual or anything? Come on. She goes, this is fifty kilos. He’s like, you're lucky to go out and clean up some plasma. Come on. So, she heads out. She looks for this plasma that’s gotta get cleaned up on a different part of the ship. The people are talking about dilithium matrixes and Ferengi garbage and trying…she goes, is there any plasma around? I was supposed to vacuum it up. They say, you're not allowed in Engineering. She goes, well, I got sent down here to clean up plasma. They say, well, it doesn't matter. You're not allowed here. She goes, but I’m here to clean up the plasma. They go…well, they sent me down here to clean up the plasma.

 

She goes, your auditory subroutines are malfunctioning. You can't…I can't believe your matrix is totally not helpful. She goes, you know what? I’m your shipmate. It’d be nice to be polite. She goes, no, you're not a shipmate. You're a program. So, can you get back to work in your office? She says something about a spanner, which is kinda like a bigger, square screwdriver. But then she goes and there’s some hand-holding going on. Marseilles and another officer are holding hands. She goes, interesting. You sent me out so you could hold hands with one another, huh? And a tonsil…and the guy goes, I’m just gonna…I'm gonna have you forget about it. We realize this guy is up to something. Then we have captain Jane…then there’s a new chapter. Tuvok’s now the Doctor. I think that’s his name. Janeway is talking to him, and she goes, I’ve been doing an inventory of your holomatrix. Fifty gigaquads of memories, music, daydreams, and your heart pitter-pattering, ten gigaquads of that.

 

She goes, these are extracurricular subroutines. They aren't necessary. He goes…she goes, do you have anything to say? He goes, yeah, I think…yeah, I do have something to say. These…you might think they're trivial, but they make me a better Doctor, a better person. She goes, but you're a subroutine, not a person. Just 'cause you act like a person and look like a person doesn't mean you have personhood. Tulok…oh, Tulok…or, Tuvok; I think Tulok here. They say, take the EMH to the hololab. Get rid of these subroutines. Another one of the guys has a goatee when I don't think he has a goatee. Okay, then they go into the next chapter, and another one of the engineers is there. They get on the elevator. He gets on the elevator with himself and the guy with the goatee. Then he says, should we tinker with his matrix or what? He goes, we need him. He’s supposed to be helpful for us in this quadrant.

 

I don't know if we should reprogram him. What if he doesn't work right after that? That guy doesn't like how his character’s…the thing. Then Six of Seven comes. She says, I’ll escort him. She’s wearing a blinking necklace. Three of Eight she is there. They say, you're too sympathetic to this holomatrix, so step aside. She says, oh, okay, I’ll step aside. So, they all step out of the elevator, and she does…she’s got this wrist thing that she uses. She does a dance-off and she says, Doctor, hit the road. But he doesn't get far 'cause there’s the forcefields. So, then they say, alright, we're escorting you to remove your subroutines. Then Janeway is the one doing it. So, they have Seven of Eight or Three of Eight or whatever, and Janeway, and Janeway’s talking to Janeway as the Doctor. Gonna be decompiled, and we’ll only…we're gonna put you in deep sleep unless you need…unless we need you. Then Seven of Eight says, but he has a right to update his programming and stay on.

 

One day the EMH will be…they’ll be seen as sentient, intelligent individuals with a passion for life. Come on. Just 'cause we're thousands of light years from home, one day…this is part of the song. Photons will be free. She says, nice speech. Decompile. Then Janeway’s looking at Janeway, and of course she doesn't like the fictional Janeway 'cause she’s a little stern. Then we get the wrap-up, like the post-script of the novel from the author again. Like all elements of fiction, it has truth, but this is not real. These are fictional characters. This is about what it’s like to be a hologram in a non-hologram world of organics. Janeway says, I gotta talk to the Doctor. Report to my Ready Room. We go to commercial. We come back and he says, what do you want me to say? This is fictional. It’s not the Voyager. It’s the Vortex. They say, come on, the characters are exactly like us. They look like us. He goes, yeah, 'cause I had to write what I know. It’s just coincidental, really. Don't take it personally.

 

They say, but it’s the same ship and story as ours. It’s real. He goes, well, what am I gonna do, write something that I don't know? So, this is about the Voyager or not? No, it’s the Vortex, larger than life. Nothing like our crew. None of you have done things the characters did. Janeway says, yeah, it’s imaginative, but conceivable that it would confuse regular people, and they would think it’s faction…and they go, what about that mobile emitter backpack? He goes, that’s a metaphor, man. That’s what it feels like to be me carrying around you guys on my back, burdens I live with every day. I have to take my emitter, even though it’s small, wherever I go. It’s like that letter in the color of scarlet but different. Janeway goes, no, it’s not. That’s liberating. He goes, you might see it that way, but I don't see it that way. She goes, are you trying to tell us something through the story? Is this how you see yourself? He goes, either you can…he goes, do you know what’s going on in the Alpha Quadrant?

 

EMH Marks 1s? They're like me but they have to work, and not in a professional manner; scrubbing conduits and mining dilithium. Yeah, so read between the lines if it’s possible. Vedex song, occupation of Bajor…Janeway says, I get it, but think about how this makes people feel that are portrayed as characters that are similar to them. He’s not taking it. He says, oh, I’m sorry that…he goes, but this is…I'm expressing myself, and if you don't like it, I gotta deal with it. So be it. He heads off. Then we get another kinda B-plot. The guy’s talking to his mom for her birthday and his dad’s there. She’s a teacher’s mom. She goes, hey, can you do something for my class about what it’s like to command a starship? Seven of Eight’s listening in. He says, oh, I’m not a commander. She goes, but in your letters you talk about being in command. He goes, well, one time I touched the controls. Twice a week I’m on the night shift. She goes, oh, well, we're just so proud of you. Are you gonna get a promotion?

 

It’s gotta be hard to have somebody listening in. I would definitely put it in the comment box; hey, is there a way not to listen in to my calls? Mom…he says…she says, I’m gonna send Captain Janeway a letter. He goes, mom, please, no. So, very cute and realistic. Solar flare messing the beam up…and mom…he’s trying to tell his mom not to send a letter. She’s saying she’s going to. They lose the signal and he’s like, I can't believe this. I still had a minute and a half left. She goes, well, two months from now you'll have another call. Then he says, you don't get it either, huh? You're about as…he goes, 'cause you don't have anybody…why don't you try calling somebody? Okay, then we got the Doctor’s log. Talks about the decision. Now he’s not popular anymore, but I’m not compromising. Final revisions…then I’m gonna submit the manuscript. So, then he goes in to do some revisions. He says, run the program.

 

Marseilles is there instead of him, and he’s rewritten it to mess with the Doctor, which is not very kind. He says, oh yeah, you're gonna…so, he’s doing a snarky version of it where it’s about him being the assistant on the starship Voyer. You have to assist this guy who’s not nice and over the top, and…patience is a virtue, though. He goes, so it’s…I guess his name’s Paris. So, Marseilles is…makes sense. So, then he has a portrayal of the Doctor and Seven of Eight, that they're holding hands, and the Doctor has a lot of rules. He’s like, you need to stick to the rules. I need to go golfing. Then he says, okay, One of Three instead of Seven of Eight. I’m Two of Three. Oh, and the Doctor even has snarky jokes. So, it’s a really unflattering portrayal of him, and from my experience, not what he’s like. He says, okay, let’s put your…you gotta…we gotta do it…he goes, we're gonna use aromatherapy on this one. She has the same blinking necklace. I wonder if she always has that.

 

I don't know anything about it, so that’s interesting to try to learn. The Doctor’s like, I can't believe this. Then he goes to Paris, Marseilles. He says, I can't believe this. I’m gonna tell on you. He goes, oh, tell on me about what? He goes, you reprogrammed my holo-novel without permission, a hackneyed narrative. He goes, that was a work of art. It took me months to make. He goes, relax, man, I saved it. It’s a backup. I’m just trying to make a point. What’s your point? You're not subtle. So, they're going back and forth. Says, you're like a Ferengi dance-off. He goes, this is not…he goes, I don't like how I was portrayed. The guy goes, oh, it wasn't you. It was a character similar to you but over the top. So, how does…? So, this is again this thing of like, when people are like, oh, well, if you're unhappy with me, I’m gonna be unhappy with you, kinda thing. But the real thing of the Doctor saying, if you could see past everything, you could see what my novel’s really about, but they can't see past…the forest for the trees or the trees for the forest.

 

Then Paris, Marseilles, says, are you sure I’m not like my character? Is that how you really see me? He goes, no, you're a new, married man about to have a child. I don't think you're like your character. You got a lot of responsibilities. The guy says, I think you think I’m a joke. It’s Theta 15; that’s where the program is, backed up. Then the Doctor’s thoughtful. They go to a ad break. They're both somewhat thoughtful at the end of it. So, then he’s looking, thinking, then Tuvok comes in. Says, hey, I gotta talk to you. By the way, I’ve been writing a cookbook and…Cooking with Neelix. So, maybe his name’s Neelix? It’s a holo-cookbook. Could you get me with your publisher during my comm link? The guy goes, you're looking for writing tips? There’s plenty of know-it-alls on this ship. The guy goes, I liked your novel. I really liked the content. Yeah, a rousing adventure, important message. The Doctor says, yeah.

 

This is like his good…really good interpersonal work, 'cause he goes, yeah, I thought the crew would be happy. He goes, yeah, you're gonna reach a wide audience. Maybe don't care about your shipmates. Well, they're my friends. Yeah, I don't want to…well, maybe…there’s a Talaxian expression; when the road before you splits in two, take the third path. He goes, what does that mean? He goes, maybe make some adjustments. Don't do it all-or-nothing. More subtle. Not the Voyager and not the Voyager. He goes, don't change the theme. He goes, but that would be a lot of work, and I have to have a final draft tomorrow. Then the guy says, why don't you use my time to ask for an extension? So, this is just a little bit past the midpoint. Actually, at the…so, he asks for an extension. The publisher’s like, but this is so good. He goes, yeah, but a little too good. Publisher says, I don't think it’s necessary. He says, yeah, no, I’m gonna rewrite it. I got friends here. The publisher goes, okay.

 

So, then he tells everybody, don't worry, I decided to rewrite it, full rewrite. My publisher’s gonna hold it. People are still unhappy, but then they say, yeah, no, we get it. Thank you for taking our feelings into account. How long is this gonna take? Art can't be rushed. Take your time, Doctor. Okay, and then he talks to Paris, Marseilles. He apologizes to him. He says, hey, you want to help me rewrite it? Yeah, yeah, maybe. The guy goes, well, I’m just into that other…I write in a different style. He goes, yeah, a lower-brow style, but you could help me still. Then we see Paris, Marseilles and his wife. She’s trying to decide if she wants to speak with her father, who she hasn’t spoken to in a long time. She goes, I was already supposed to talk to my cousin with my talk time. He says, why don't you wait a couple weeks to talk to your father? She goes, I wouldn't even know what to say. Then he goes, well, let him do the talking.

 

So, then he’s talking to her father and he’s like, holy cow, you're gonna have a baby, huh? It’s awkward, very awkward, and the husband’s there. Then, yeah, we're thinking about…we’ve been thinking about names. Huh, your mom would have liked the name you picked out. I was on Kessik IV a few months ago. Drove by our old house. They have thirty seconds left. She says, listen, dad, I got less than a minute. You actually have less than half a minute. Why are you calling me? What’s the big deal? He goes, yeah, it’s been a while but I know I can't change things now, but I wanted to start changing things 'cause your ship was…we didn't know where it was for a long time. So, I’m not expecting…time takes time, they say, and the third path…they say, okay, times up. She goes, okay, I’ll send you a letter. He smiles and then it goes out.

 

But then Seven of Eight’s kinda developing this deeper understanding of this longing to communicate with loved ones, which at first — which I can relate — she thought it was a bit trivial. Then we're in San Francisco at the Communications Research Center. Reg Barclay and the admiral are talking about this holo-novel that’s…takes place on the Discovery, or a ship like it. It’s very popular. The admiral says, I don't appreciate your affinity for holo stuff. He goes, well…he goes, this isn't a flattering portrayal of the Voyager. The admiral goes, wait a second, what? So, then on the next time the comms are up, the admiral wants to talk to Janeway. Dubious privilege of a novel written by your EMH. I’m surprised you allowed him to publish it. She goes, he didn't. He’s making revisions. It wasn't scheduled to be published. Well, it has been. Mr. Barclay says it’s thousands of holo suites. It’s popular. So, then they have to have a meeting. Oh no, then they meet with the publisher.

 

He says, I told you not to…recall every copy and issue a public apology. The publisher says, nah. Janeway says, yeah, no, you do need to do that. Authors have rights. He goes, not in this case, actually. The Doctor’s a hologram. He says, so? He goes, well, holograms don't have publishing rights, actually. Janeway looks at him, looks at him…this is kinda the issue with my voice and the style of the show now, you know? So, trying to figure that out. But then they go back, and he meets with a Vulcan that’s a expert, I think, on this kind of stuff. He says, huh, well, technically he’s right, but we could say this is…we could try to have Starfleet request it gets recalled. But they say, well, that’s not perfectly honest, so…they say, but it’s not nice. They have…it’s fiction, so we can't do that, but we could try. But what about the Doctor? The Doctor says, but this is about the crew and their feelings. She goes, I don't know. I think it’s your reputation.

 

You published this, you wrote it, so you have the right…I'm not gonna let the publisher says you weren’t in the act of creation. Publishing gives you the copyright. So, they do another Captain's Log. They're having arbitration and…so he can control his artistic creation, but they have to do nine minutes a day. It takes three days, about. So, first they have the opening thing. The Doctor should be able to control his publishing. Well, it was published by a EMH. Well, there is something called Toby the Targ that wrote something. They go, okay, so can you say the Doctor created this? Yeah, but the replicator created this cup of coffee. That’s what the publisher says. So, should the replicator decide whether I can drink it or not? The Vulcan says, intriguing, but that’s not composing music, painting landscapes, or doing delicate work. Can you do any of that stuff? Do you publish respected original works of literature? The guy says, yeah. Okay, so this holo-novel is such a work?

 

Well, some aspects are derivative, but mostly. Has there ever been another work written about a hologram trying to get through this stuff? Not that I know of. Okay, so it is an original work. I guess. Then they say, Section 7 Gamma of 12 defines a artist a person who creates an original artistic work. So, he’s an artist. I don't want to quote Phish, but an artist he may be, so he gets all the rights accorded an artist. Then the arbiter, which always reminds me of StarCraft, too, goes, well, there’s a flaw in your logic, 'cause officially artistic work must be by a person. EMHs have not been granted personhood, and we gotta stop for the day, Barclay says. So, we’ll meet tomorrow. Reg is…or the Doctor’s a little frowny. Goes, what do you think? I’m sorry, this is frustrating. He goes, yeah, well, imagine I’ve…I'm being equivocated with a replicator. Oh, so Tuvok is the actual…the Vulcan. Okay. Goes, okay, so if he can't, then the contract doesn't work, then.

 

He goes, if he’s…can’t enter into an agreement, a replicator can't, either. Janeway says, no, we're proving his personhood. That’s what we're gonna do. We're gonna tell your story, your real-life story, and we're gonna have other people tell it. So, then the crew tells the story of all that he’s done and become and how they’ve changed, including helping others and holding hands, self-expression, guidance, and changing attitudes and actions, and wanting to learn and grow and be more capable. Okay. Yeah, it could be modified, the arbiter says. No, he has a desire to be more than he is, just like any other person. Then Barclay argues, yeah, I mean, I don't know. He looked at Zimmerman like his father and he wanted to show his father what he’d become so his father would be proud of me, and his father was. Then Janeway says, and he doesn't always listen, either, so that shows that he’s imperfect. He goes, well, it’s not admirable. She goes, no, it’s human if you don't listen all the time.

 

He was programmed to listen 100% of the time and that he’s capable of thinking for himself again shows agency. So, I’d have to say this is pretty clear. We went through this with android, whatever, proto-brains or whatever they have, positronic matrixes. So, let’s expand the definition. This is an…space is a place where we evolve beyond our limited capacities. Seven years ago I didn't know the EMH could be a valued member of our crew and my friend. Doctor is a person. So, it’s simple, simple as I can say it, so listen up. So, you got…that’s the only conclusion you can make. Pretty simple. The arbiter takes a breath. He goes, okay, I need two days to think about this. We get a series of shots of faces, then we see the Voyager. Or, the Voyager, right? Okay, then we have…Seven of Eight gives her chip to the guy to sing to his mom. Three minutes of comm time tomorrow. If you want to finish your conversation with your mom, that’s fine. He goes, oh no, I overreacted. I wasn't nice to you.

 

She goes, well, I understand why you were. She goes, but I’ve been watching the crew and their family interactions, and I could see how meaningful it is. He says, well, this…even though this is a B plot, it’s a A plot for us, huh? She goes, yeah. He goes, why don't you take this chip back and contact someone you could be close to or you are close to? She goes, unfortunately my parents joined the Borg. She goes, but my father does have a sister, Irene Hansen. He goes, well, give Irene a call. I guess technically she’s your aunt, eh? So, she calls Irene, who’s beside herself. I’m so happy to hear from you. She’s got plants. It’s funny 'cause she says, well, I was also waiting. She goes, you seem great. She goes, I met you when you were six. You were very strong-minded. I spent a weekend with you. You were not pleased with me. She goes, this was quite an experience. Such…I love it. You were like a kid. She goes, that must have been very inconvenient for you.

 

She goes, oh, I coaxed you out with some strawberry tarts. She goes, oh yeah, I’m fond of strawberries. I didn't realize I ate them as a child. Oh, you loved strawberries. She goes, you even knew if they were ripe or not. She goes, oh, I’m sorry that I was so precocious. She goes, precocious is a good thing. I’m glad you reached out to me, Annika. It’s so good to connect with you. We have some kind of melting feelings there. We get Discovery again. The arbiter is laying out the…he says, okay, yeah, here’s the thing, the Doctor does have a lot of humanity; intelligent, creativity, ambition, fallibility. These are just…are they real or simulated is the question? I don't know. I don't know who this actor is, but he has a great voice. He was on other shows. He goes, okay, but this issue is important. It’s not gonna go away, but I don't know if I’m the right person to make the definitive decision on this.

 

However, it’s not…he isn't…this is outside of the norm, so while I can't make a ruling on personhood, I can say that he’s an artist, and that a artist has a right to control their work. So, I’m recalling the holo-novels ‘til they're rewritten. There’s thank-yous all around, and smiles and relief. She goes, this is great. You got the first thing for holo-people. A holo-victory, he says. Thousands of people already watched it. So, are you still mad at me 'cause I made parodies of all of you? She goes, you gotta find another publisher, Doctor. You can do just about anything you set your mind to. Then we see another ship travelling, the Federal Dilithium Processing Facility, Alpha Quadrant, four months later. These other versions of him are telling each other, hey, there’s a holo-novel out there about us, published by one of us. You gotta watch it. 47 Beta is the program. What is it? Photons Be Free. It’s provocative. It’s cool. Check it out.

 

So, then another…they're all having to work with this dilithium stuff, and they don't even have overalls on. So, that’s how we end it. It was a pretty good episode, and a lot of good questions. I didn't even realize the questions that kind of connected with Sleep With Me, 'cause even right now there’s…even at Sleep With Me+ I see the companies with their e-mails. I’m like, are they trying to….? And people have reached out to me; hey, would you want to work with me? I’ve created a fake version of you. It’s like, yeah, no. So anyway, sleep well. This is real Scoots and I’m really glad to be here with you tonight, and really happy to explore all these new things together and return to the things you love and help you drift off into dreamland. Thanks. Goodnight.

 

[End of recording]

Transcription performed by LeahTranscribes

Snore Trek

 

History of the Sleepover

https://www.headcountcoffee.com/blogs/american-frontiers/when-sleepovers-became-a-childhood-rite-of-bonding?srsltid=AfmBOorWOkOKgMCCbkhwLYBW4AXhO07Gm1CL2f8zqXOX20knAdr0LUC7

https://news.azpm.org/s/96988-explore-the-secret-history-of-sleepovers/

https://daily.jstor.org/slumber-parties-and-folklore/

 

Star Trek: Voyager

https://redshirtsalwaysdie.com/2021/02/15/review-star-trek-voyager/

https://the80sand90s.com/articles/voyager-sucks

https://intrepidvoyager.wordpress.com/2009/02/26/10-reasons-why-star-trek-voyager-is-the-best/

 

Star Trek: Voyager S7 E19

https://www.jammersreviews.com/st-voy/s7/author.php

https://them0vieblog.com/2019/06/19/star-trek-voyager-author-author-review/

https://reactormag.com/star-trek-voyager-rewatch-author-author/

 

AI Authorship Debate

https://www.skadden.com/insights/publications/2025/03/appellate-court-affirms-human-authorship

https://ial.uk.com/us-supreme-court-ai-case/

https://www.copyright.gov/ai/

 

DOWN TO BUSINESS

Going on a sleepy trek

I guess we could say we’re going on a voyage

I like saying “Voyager”

Intentionally Unintentional

That’s a Bob Fosse-style number right there

Are we in a 3 or 4 act structure?

Nice and syllabic

 

PLUGS

Sleep With Me Plus; SleepPhones; Story Only Feed; Emily Tat Artwork; Crisis Textline

 

SPONSORS

Helix Sleep; Zocdoc; AquaTru

 

INTRO

Could we discuss this at another time, Thoughts?

Wonderful side of the tonal

Where’d you even come from?

They tend to come in octo or septo configurations

My thoughts and feelings can only be configured in prime numbers

Prime Number Feelings and Thoughts

Getting a sense you’re in good company

Let this kindness reflect off of you if you don’t want it

This kindness if floor-stable

I’d prefer to enjoy the party from 100 yards away

What did I say before?

Superfluously Sentimental?

Intangibly Consequential?

It’s normal to be skeptical of this

sleepwithmepodcast.com/nothankyou 

A non-specific nice

Overhearing a TV on in a childhood cabin

No pressure to fall asleep with this show

I want to be your borefriend

Sleepy Jelight

Repetition and Variety

It’s like a sleepover before we go to sleep

Our wind down time together

Talking about Star Trek: Voyager in a very oblique way

 

STORY

Another episode of Snore Trek

This season has been influenced by, er, holodeck stuff

I’ve had some curiosity about this stuff for a while

I explored this in Get Besos too

Digital Sentient Beings, in other words

What happened to the Moriarty Drive?

Khan was a big one for me as a child

The origins of Snore Trek

We could really use your support if you like the show

Direct, ongoing support makes the TNG content possible

Our planning is pretty long-term

The Doctor is the star of this episode

I don’t have much exposure to this series, but I’m excited

S7 E20 “Author, Author”

A really good self-contained episode

This is a cool opening

Is the doctor using purple prose?

We’re watching the construction of an image

3D printing via protons

Is this how things are created in the holodeck?

Holographic Consciousness is born

Wearing a leisure jacket that might be paisley

I guess it’s a robe

Picking up a feathered pen

Writing the page of a book

In uniform, with a much different body language

He’s much more gleeful in his uniform

Then the show opens

The Voyager comes towards us

Let me rewind for that Captain’s Log

I wanted to do more than just Barclay episodes

Commander Janeway

Finally ready to begin Operation: Watson

Picking up a phase tachyon beam

I guess engineering is mustard orange?

They hail…Reginald Barclay!

I recently learned that Barclay has recovered

Barclay, himself, caused me a lot of non-positive experiences

Barclay and Janeway talk

Establishing the first transatlantic comm link

Is this our first regular contact?

We only get 11 minutes a day

11 minutes are better than none

Mr. Barclay has a smaller gift for you and your crew

An image of Earth

So they get 11 minutes a day where they can communicate

There’s some kind of lottery

Each shipmate gets 3 minutes of comm time for their loved one

Who will the doctor call?

The Doctor got #1

People consider trading slots

Doctor communicates with a blue man

6 of 7 (?) is listening in

The Doctor’s book is gonna be a hit

The blue man publisher is kind of genuine

The Dixon Hill series

They’re gonna publish the Doctor’s holographic narrative novel

The adventures of an intrepid doctor

This is a “sophisticated” novel

Someone offers to read the Doctor’s novel

Photons, Be Free!

This would’ve been a good EPCOT exhibit

Why did they ever close the Wonders of Life Pavillion?
Have I ever covered that? I should

A new journey into imagination

Let me know if I already did an episode about this

The shipmate takes on the holonovel

A thrilling first-person narrative

A medical hologram on the starship…Vortex

The Louis Zimmerman Rabbit Hole

How long is this introduction?

Hey Star Trek, what’s it gonna take for you to let me do an official holo-SWM story?

Chapter 1: A Resident is Born

Triaging with help

He’s slightly changed the characters’ looks

This character meets a mustachioed version of himself

His name is Marseille

He’s gotta rest now!

But I have other work to do while he rests

That’s not how resting works

Time takes time

You can’t speed up the resting period

Captain Janeway tells your hologram self to speed the rest up

Going to commercial on a good acting face

On a cafe on the ship

Marseille holds court

I think one of the other characters is Marseille’s wife

Do you replicate a bowl of apples a bowl at a time or an apple at a time?

How good is the replication?

Do some people refuse to eat replicated food?

He’s concerned about the holonovel

They don’t want to be perceived this way

Is Marseille just jealous because he’s also a holonovel writer?

They should try it out

Someone else tries it out

Marseille’s wife participates

Holo-Marseille is hard on this person, too

This backpack is 50 kilos, that’s too heavy

She has to go clean up plasma

A real Kafka-esque situation

She sees Marseille and someone else holding hands in the holonovel

Now it’s Tulak as Doctor talking to Captain Janeway

The holo matrix has 50 gigaquads of unnecessary data

The general vibe is people being hard on this holodoctor

Outside of the simulation, they wonder if they should tinker with the doctor’s programming?

6 of 7 

She’ll escort the doctor, but they accuse her of being too sympathetic to the holodoctor

Doctor, hit the road!

Janeway is talking to Janeway as the doctor

Janeway doesn’t like the fictional Janeway

The wrap-up from the author

This is fiction, but this is what it’s like to be a hologram in a world of organics

Janeway talks with the Doctor

It’s just fiction!

Write what you know

This is about the Vortex, not the Voyager!

It’s a metaphor!

What are you trying to say, Doc?

What does he owe to the people that are semi-portrayed?

He doesn’t care

The B plot

The guy talks to his mom for her birthday

He has to admit to her that he’s not the commander

There should be a way to make sure they don’t listen in on your calls

Mom, please don’t send a letter to Captain Janeway

He snaps at 7 of 9

The Doc is not compromising

He makes some final revisions to the program

Marseille has rewritten the program to mess with the Doctor

The Doctor in this holonovel version is quite a jerk

Oh, I guess his real name is Paris. So Marseille is his pseudonym

A really unflattering portrayal of Doc

Doc is furious with Marseille for editing his holonovel

If you’re unhappy with me, I’m going to be unhappy with you

Doc tries to tell him that he doesn’t think of Marseille that way

They’re both thoughtful at the end of this

Tulak is writing a holo-cookbook

Could Doc connect him with his publisher?

Tulak liked the novel

When the road splits in two, take the 3rd path

Don’t go all or nothing, just go more subtle

Tulak says he can use his phone time to ask for an extension

Doc asks to do a rewrite to make it more subtle

People are still unhappy but thankful

He apologizes to Paris/Marseille

Paris’s wife is deciding if she wants to talk to her father

It’s an awkward conversation

Dad wants to start changing things

Time takes time

7 of 8 is learning a deeper understanding of the desire to speak with loved ones

Cut to San Francisco

Barclay and a coworker are talking about the Doc’s holonovel

The admiral learns that the Doc wrote a novel about the voyager

The novel was actually published!

The publisher published it anyway, and it’s popular

Authors have rights!

Not in this case, the doctor is a hologram

Holograms don’t have rights

They meet with a Vulcan legal expert

Technically he doesn’t have rights

They have an arbitration so Doc can control his creation

9 minutes a day

Is this an original work?

EMHs have not been granted personhood

Doc is a little frowny

Doc is getting equivocated with a replicator

We’re gonna prove his personhood!

The crew give testimonials for the Doctor and all that he’s done

A desire to learn and grow

He’s shown agency beyond his programming

Evolving beyond our limited capacities

The doctor is a person

The arbitrator needs 2 days to think about it

7 of 8 gives her chip to the guy so he can speak to his mom

He apologizes for snapping to her

7 of 8 has an aunt that she can speak with

Aunt Irene has so many plants

Irene remembers her as a strong-willed kid

She calls 7 of 8 Annika

Some melting hearts

The arbitrator’s decision

Is Doc’s humanity real or simulated?

He can’t make a ruling on personhood

But Doc is an artist

And an artist has the right to control his work

The first holo-victory

Doc can do anything he sets his mind to

Cut to other versions of Doc talking about the novel about them

Spreading the word amongst holodoctors

There’s lots of good questions

I’ve had companies reaching out to me, saying they’ve created a fake version of me

Anyway…

Thanks for being here

 

SUMMARY:

Episode: 1452

Title: Author, Author | Snore Trek Voyager S7 E20

Plugs: Sleep With Me Plus; SleepPhones; Story Only Feed; Emily Tat Artwork; Crisis Textline

Sponsors: Helix Sleep; Zocdoc; AquaTru

Notable Language:

• Wonderful side of the tonal
• Prime Number Feelings and Thoughts
• Floor-Stable Kindness
• Superfluously Sentimental
• Intangibly Consequential
• Intentionally Unintentional
• Non-Specific Nice
• Sleepy Jelight
• Purple Prose
• The Louis Zimmerman Rabbit Hole

 

Notable Culture:

• Star Trek: Voyager

• • sleepwithmepodcast.com/nothankyou 

• Get Besos

• Photons, Be Free!
• EPCOT
• Sherman Brothers

 

Notable Talking Points:

• Could we discuss this at another time, Thoughts?
• Wonderful side of the tonal
• Where’d you even come from?
• They tend to come in octo or septo configurations
• My thoughts and feelings can only be configured in prime numbers
• Prime Number Feelings and Thoughts
• Getting a sense you’re in good company
• Let this kindness reflect off of you if you don’t want it
• This kindness if floor-stable
• I’d prefer to enjoy the party from 100 yards away
• What did I say before?
• Superfluously Sentimental?
• Intangibly Consequential?
• It’s normal to be skeptical of this
• sleepwithmepodcast.com/nothankyou 
• A non-specific nice
• Overhearing a TV on in a childhood cabin
• No pressure to fall asleep with this show
• I want to be your borefriend
• Sleepy Jelight
• Repetition and Variety
• It’s like a sleepover before we go to sleep
• Our wind down time together
• Talking about Star Trek: Voyager in a very oblique way
• Another episode of Snore Trek
• This season has been influenced by, er, holodeck stuff
• I’ve had some curiosity about this stuff for a while
• I explored this in Get Besos too
• Digital Sentient Beings, in other words
• What happened to the Moriarty Drive?
• Khan was a big one for me as a child
• The origins of Snore Trek
• We could really use your support if you like the show
• Direct, ongoing support makes the TNG content possible
• Our planning is pretty long-term
• The Doctor is the star of this episode
• I don’t have much exposure to this series, but I’m excited
• S7 E20 “Author, Author”
• A really good self-contained episode
• This is a cool opening
• Is the doctor using purple prose?
• We’re watching the construction of an image
• 3D printing via protons
• Is this how things are created in the holodeck?
• Holographic Consciousness is born
• Wearing a leisure jacket that might be paisley
• I guess it’s a robe
• Picking up a feathered pen
• Writing the page of a book
• In uniform, with a much different body language
• He’s much more gleeful in his uniform
• Then the show opens
• The Voyager comes towards us
• Let me rewind for that Captain’s Log
• I wanted to do more than just Barclay episodes
• Commander Janeway
• Finally ready to begin Operation: Watson
• Picking up a phase tachyon beam
• I guess engineering is mustard orange?
• They hail…Reginald Barclay!
• I recently learned that Barclay has recovered
• Barclay, himself, caused me a lot of non-positive experiences
• Barclay and Janeway talk
• Establishing the first transatlantic comm link
• Is this our first regular contact?
• We only get 11 minutes a day
• 11 minutes are better than none
• Mr. Barclay has a smaller gift for you and your crew
• An image of Earth
• So they get 11 minutes a day where they can communicate
• There’s some kind of lottery
• Each shipmate gets 3 minutes of comm time for their loved one
• Who will the doctor call?
• The Doctor got #1
• People consider trading slots
• Doctor communicates with a blue man
• 6 of 7 (?) is listening in
• The Doctor’s book is gonna be a hit
• The blue man publisher is kind of genuine
• The Dixon Hill series
• They’re gonna publish the Doctor’s holographic narrative novel
• The adventures of an intrepid doctor
• This is a “sophisticated” novel
• Someone offers to read the Doctor’s novel
• Photons, Be Free!
• This would’ve been a good EPCOT exhibit
• Why did they ever close the Wonders of Life Pavillion?
  Have I ever covered that? I should
• A new journey into imagination
• Let me know if I already did an episode about this
• The shipmate takes on the holonovel
• A thrilling first-person narrative
• A medical hologram on the starship…Vortex
• The Louis Zimmerman Rabbit Hole
• How long is this introduction?
• Hey Star Trek, what’s it gonna take for you to let me do an official holo-SWM story?
• Chapter 1: A Resident is Born
• Triaging with help
• He’s slightly changed the characters’ looks
• This character meets a mustachioed version of himself
• His name is Marseille
• He’s gotta rest now!
• But I have other work to do while he rests
• That’s not how resting works
• Time takes time
• You can’t speed up the resting period
• Captain Janeway tells your hologram self to speed the rest up
• Going to commercial on a good acting face
• On a cafe on the ship
• Marseille holds court
• I think one of the other characters is Marseille’s wife
• Do you replicate a bowl of apples a bowl at a time or an apple at a time?
• How good is the replication?
• Do some people refuse to eat replicated food?
• He’s concerned about the holonovel
• They don’t want to be perceived this way
• Is Marseille just jealous because he’s also a holonovel writer?
• They should try it out
• Someone else tries it out
• Marseille’s wife participates
• Holo-Marseille is hard on this person, too
• This backpack is 50 kilos, that’s too heavy
• She has to go clean up plasma
• A real Kafka-esque situation
• She sees Marseille and someone else holding hands in the holonovel
• Now it’s Tulak as Doctor talking to Captain Janeway
• The holo matrix has 50 gigaquads of unnecessary data
• The general vibe is people being hard on this holodoctor
• Outside of the simulation, they wonder if they should tinker with the doctor’s programming?
• 6 of 7 
• She’ll escort the doctor, but they accuse her of being too sympathetic to the holodoctor
• Doctor, hit the road!
• Janeway is talking to Janeway as the doctor
• Janeway doesn’t like the fictional Janeway
• The wrap-up from the author
• This is fiction, but this is what it’s like to be a hologram in a world of organics
• Janeway talks with the Doctor
• It’s just fiction!
• Write what you know
• This is about the Vortex, not the Voyager!
• It’s a metaphor!
• What are you trying to say, Doc?
• What does he owe to the people that are semi-portrayed?
• He doesn’t care
• The B plot
• The guy talks to his mom for her birthday
• He has to admit to her that he’s not the commander
• There should be a way to make sure they don’t listen in on your calls
• Mom, please don’t send a letter to Captain Janeway
• He snaps at 7 of 9
• The Doc is not compromising
• He makes some final revisions to the program
• Marseille has rewritten the program to mess with the Doctor
• The Doctor in this holonovel version is quite a jerk
• Oh, I guess his real name is Paris. So Marseille is his pseudonym
• A really unflattering portrayal of Doc
• Doc is furious with Marseille for editing his holonovel
• If you’re unhappy with me, I’m going to be unhappy with you
• Doc tries to tell him that he doesn’t think of Marseille that way
• They’re both thoughtful at the end of this
• Tulak is writing a holo-cookbook
• Could Doc connect him with his publisher?
• Tulak liked the novel
• When the road splits in two, take the 3rd path
• Don’t go all or nothing, just go more subtle
• Tulak says he can use his phone time to ask for an extension
• Doc asks to do a rewrite to make it more subtle
• People are still unhappy but thankful
• He apologizes to Paris/Marseille
• Paris’s wife is deciding if she wants to talk to her father
• It’s an awkward conversation
• Dad wants to start changing things
• Time takes time
• 7 of 8 is learning a deeper understanding of the desire to speak with loved ones
• Cut to San Francisco
• Barclay and a coworker are talking about the Doc’s holonovel
• The admiral learns that the Doc wrote a novel about the voyager
• The novel was actually published!
• The publisher published it anyway, and it’s popular
• Authors have rights!
• Not in this case, the doctor is a hologram
• Holograms don’t have rights
• They meet with a Vulcan legal expert
• Technically he doesn’t have rights
• They have an arbitration so Doc can control his creation
• 9 minutes a day
• Is this an original work?
• EMHs have not been granted personhood
• Doc is a little frowny
• Doc is getting equivocated with a replicator
• We’re gonna prove his personhood!
• The crew give testimonials for the Doctor and all that he’s done
• A desire to learn and grow
• He’s shown agency beyond his programming
• Evolving beyond our limited capacities
• The doctor is a person
• The arbitrator needs 2 days to think about it
• 7 of 8 gives her chip to the guy so he can speak to his mom
• He apologizes for snapping to her
• 7 of 8 has an aunt that she can speak with
• Aunt Irene has so many plants
• Irene remembers her as a strong-willed kid
• She calls 7 of 8 Annika
• Some melting hearts
• The arbitrator’s decision
• Is Doc’s humanity real or simulated?
• He can’t make a ruling on personhood
• But Doc is an artist
• And an artist has the right to control his work
• The first holo-victory
• Doc can do anything he sets his mind to
• Cut to other versions of Doc talking about the novel about them
• Spreading the word amongst holodoctors
• There’s lots of good questions
• I’ve had companies reaching out to me, saying they’ve created a fake version of me
• Anyway…
• Thanks for being here