STAR TREK: DEEP SPACE NINE
"Playing God"
#40512-437
Story by
Jim Trombetta
Teleplay by
Jim Trombetta
and
Michael Piller
Directed by
David Livingston
THE WRITING CREDITS MAY NOT BE FINAL AND SHOULD NOT BE USED
FOR PUBLICITY OR ADVERTISING PURPOSES WITHOUT FIRST CHECKING
WITH THE TELEVISION LEGAL DEPARTMENT.
Copyright 1993 Paramount Pictures Corporation. All Rights
Reserved. This script is not for publication or
reproduction. No one is authorized to dispose of same. If
lost or destroyed, please notify the Script Department.
Return to Script Department FINAL DRAFT
PARAMOUNT PICTURES CORPORATION
December 17, 1993
STAR TREK: DS9 - "Playing God" - 12/17/93 - CAST
STAR TREK: DEEP SPACE NINE
"Playing God"
CAST
SISKO ARJIN
KIRA TRAJOK
ODO KLINGON HOST
QUARK CARDASSIAN OFFICER
BASHIR FERENGIS
DAX
O'BRIEN
JAKE
COMPUTER VOICE
Non-Speaking Non-Speaking
N.D. SUPERNUMERARIES
STAR TREK: DS9 - "Playing God" - 12/17/93 - SETS
STAR TREK: DEEP SPACE NINE
"Playing God"
SETS
INTERIORS EXTERIORS
DEEP SPACE NINE DEEP SPACE NINE
AIRLOCK
COMMANDER'S OFFICE GAMMA QUADRANT
CORRIDOR
DAX'S QUARTERS RUNABOUT
OPS
PROMENADE/SECOND LEVEL WORMHOLE
QUARK'S
RUNABOUT
SCIENCE LAB
SISKO'S QUARTERS
TURBOLIFT
STAR TREK: DS9 - "Playing God" - 12/17/93 - PRONUNCIATION
STAR TREK: DEEP-SPACE NINE
"Playing God"
PRONUNCIATION GUIDE
ARJIN AHR-jihn
BAJOR BAY-jor
CALONDIA kahl-AHN-dee-uh
CARDASSIAN car-DASS-ee-en
FRENCHOTTE FRENSH-aht
GALEO-MANADA gah-LAY-oh mah-NAH-dah
GEDANA geh-DAY-nuh
INITIATE in-IHSH-ee-uht
LELA LEE-luh
MARDAH MAHR-duh
RACHT RAHKT
TRAJOK TRAY-jahk
VERTIRON VUHR-tih-rahn
VOLE VOL
DEEP SPACE: "Playing God" - 12/17/93 - TEASER 1.
STAR TREK: DEEP SPACE NINE
"Playing God"
TEASER
FADE IN:
1 EXT. SPACE - DEEP SPACE NINE (OPTICAL)
A personnel transport arriving.
2 INT. AIRLOCK
As the door opens and several passengers disembark... among
the group arriving is BASHIR and a young Trill man in his
early twenties, ARJIN. Both have shoulder bags. Moving
with them into the corridor toward the Turbolift...
BASHIR
If there's anything I can do for you
while you're here...
ARJIN
(overlapping)
Oh, you've already been helpful.
Just hearing about Dax makes me feel
a little less nervous about the whole
thing...
BASHIR
Really, there's no reason to be
nervous... Jadzia will be a wonderful
host... well, that is, she is a
wonderful host in a Trill manner of
speaking... and I'm sure you'll learn
a great deal from her...
ARJIN
She sounds very different from the
other Dax's I've heard about...
BASHIR
In what fashion?
DEEP SPACE: "Playing God" - REV. 01/05/94 - TEASER 2.
2 CONTINUED:
ARJIN
(tight laugh)
Let me put it this way -- when I was
told that Jadzia Dax had been
designated my field docent, I asked
for reassignment...
BASHIR
You're joking... why?
ARJIN
Because Dax is known for breaking
initiates...
BASHIR
Breaking them?
ARJIN
(acknowledges)
I've looked up the records... over
the past two hundred years, Dax has
personally eliminated forty-seven
host candidates from the program...
Bashir reacts as the Turbolift doors open and they go in...
3 INT. TURBOLIFT - CONTINUOUS
As they ENTER...
ARJIN
I suppose it's too late to introduce
myself to her...
BASHIR
Too late? I doubt it. Jadzia's a
night owl... Computer, locate
Lieutenant Dax.
COMPUTER VOICE
Lieutenant Dax is on level seven,
section five...
BASHIR
(smiles to himself)
Ah. Of course! Then take us to
level seven, section five...
(the doors close)
That's the computer's way of saying
she's in Quark's.
OFF Arjin's curious reaction...
DEEP SPACE: "Playing God" - 12/17/93 - TEASER 3.
4 INT. PROMENADE
It's late. All shops closed. Very little traffic. As the
Turbolift doors open and they exit... Moving with them toward
Quark's... mid-conversation...
ARJIN
... Over five thousand candidates
qualify for the training program
each year... only three hundred
symbionts are available on the
average. It doesn't take much for
one of us to get knocked out of
consideration. The administrators
only want hosts who are...
From inside Quark's, they hear and react to whoops and
hollers.
5 INT. QUARK'S AFTER HOURS - CONTINUOUS
as they ENTER... on Arjin's face as he reacts to the sight
of --
6 ANGLE - DAX
leaping up from her chair at the Tongo table with victory,
collecting her winnings...
ARJIN
(continuing)
... the best and the brightest...
QUARK and the other Ferengi around the table yell at one
another for errors they accuse each other of making... all
overlapping --
DEEP SPACE: "Playing God" - 12/17/93 - TEASER 4.
FERENGI DAX
(ad lib to Quark) It's the ears... every time
You should have Evaded... he's going to Acquire, he
the play was clearly scratches his left ear...
to Evade... you're the right here, look...
worst Tongo player in (she tickles his
the quadrant... to lose left ear with a
to a female no less... finger, he swats
how could you risk so her playfully away,
much... a good sport)
(continues)
QUARK
Don't play with my ears unless
you're serious about it...
She laughs and slaps him lightly in mock indignation and as
they all laugh...
7 ANGLE - ARJIN AND BASHIR
watching, not impressed with this first image of Dax...
BASHIR
Jadzia, you have a guest...
She looks over at the sound of Bashir's voice, reacts, puzzled
for an instant, then seeing the Trill spots... she's not at
all embarrassed... smiles, as they come over...
DAX
Oh. You're not supposed to be here
until tomorrow.
ARJIN
Yes, Ma'am... I... caught a transport
from Starbase Forty-One a day early...
BASHIR
We found ourselves sitting next to
each other on the way... I've told
Arjin all about you...
(re: the game)
Well, not quite all about you...
He smiles at her, nods goodbye to Arjin and EXITS.
QUARK
Do you play Tongo, Arjin?
ARJIN
Ton--tongo? Nossir.
DEEP SPACE: "Playing God" - 12/17/93 - TEASER 5.
7 CONTINUED:
QUARK
Then, you'll have to leave, Arjin.
The risk's to you, Lieutenant...
DAX
(overlapping)
Shame on you, Quark. Where are your
manners... this is a Trill initiate
you're speaking to. Of course, he
doesn't play Tongo.
QUARK
(exaggerated)
I beg your pardon.
DAX
(brightly)
So, we'll have to teach him.
QUARK
(sensing profits)
Actually, it is very easy to learn...
how much money did you bring with
you... give the young fellow a seat.
(to a Ferengi)
You... out!
ARJIN
It was a very long trip... I think
perhaps...
DAX
Of course, you're tired... I'll take
you to your quarters. Roll me away,
fellas...
FERENGIS AD LIB
You can't roll away now! You just
won! You're way ahead of us! This
isn't fair!
DAX
(calling back)
Sore losers.
As they EXIT, on Arjin's rather overwhelmed expression...
FADE OUT.
END OF TEASER
DEEP SPACE: "Playing God" - 12/17/93 - ACT ONE 6.
ACT ONE
FADE IN:
(NOTE: Episode credits fall over opening scenes.)
8 EXT. SPACE - DEEP SPACE NINE (OPTICAL)
9 INT. CORRIDOR
The next morning. Arjin moves cautiously down, looking for
Dax's quarters... finds it and hits the chime... after a
beat, the door opens to reveal a very alien man (TRAJOK)
with an athletic build... Arjin reacts, startled...
TRAJOK
(gruff)
Yes?
ARJIN
Oh. I'm sorry. I thought... this
was Lieutenant Dax's quarters...
TRAJOK
She's in the shower.
ARJIN
(embarrassed)
Oh. Well. In that case...
TRAJOK
Is she expecting you?
ARJIN
Yes. My name is Arjin. She told me
to be here at...
DAX (O.S.)
Is that Arjin?
She looks out from the back room, dressed only in a towel...
Arjin is uncomfortable...
DAX
You're early again, Arjin. We'll
have to work on that...
ARJIN
I can come back...
DEEP SPACE: "Playing God" - REV. 12/22/93 - ACT ONE 7.
9A INT. DAX'S QUARTERS (OPTICAL)
DAX
Don't be silly. Come in. Sit down.
I'll only be a minute. It always
takes me a little longer to get ready
as a female...
He ENTERS...
TRAJOK
I have to go. I've got to be at
Calondia Four by tomorrow...
DAX
When's my rematch?
TRAJOK
I'll be back next week.
DAX
It was fun. Brutal but fun.
She slaps him on the butt affectionately. Arjin works hard
to not be any part of this.
DAX
Safe trip.
The Alien EXITS... she moves behind the wall... most of her
dialogue is from O.C... and it's important to note that to
someone like Arjin, everything in this relationship is a
test... every response is a pitfall... and yet at the same
time, he rather disapproves of her at this point... so it's
a real tightrope he's walking...
DAX
The replicator makes a decent citrus
blend...
ARJIN
Thanks, I already had something to
eat.
DAX
Would you get me a Black Hole?
ARJIN
A what?
DEEP SPACE: "Playing God" - 12/17/93 - ACT ONE 7A.
9A CONTINUED:
DAX
Black Hole. It's a Ferengi drink.
A bartender I've known for a hundred
years introduced it to Curzon... or
was it Lela... well, it was ages
ago...
DEEP SPACE: "Playing God" - 12/17/93 - ACT ONE 8.
9A CONTINUED: (2)
Arjin has moved to the replicator...
ARJIN
Black Hole.
The replicator gives him the drink... and he takes it toward
the other room, uncertain if he should walk around the corner
to her... during the action --
DAX
(beat)
Am I sore. Did you ever wrestle
Galeo-Manada style, Arjin?
ARJIN
(slowly realizing)
Wrestle... ?
DAX
You should. It's a great way to
start a day. I'll set you up with
Trajok next week. He's a great coach.
He decides not to turn the corner... awkwardly --
ARJIN
(I'm ready with the
drink)
O-kay.
She looks out curiously... has made some progress... is in a
robe now... her hair is almost done... she comes out and
takes the drink... takes a deep sip... sighs...
DAX
Better.
She sits down, casually crossing her legs at the ankles and
putting them on a coffee table...
DAX
So, you don't play Tongo and you
don't wrestle... what are we going
to do while you're here... ?
Just a little attitude with this -- he actually tries to put
it in the form of a joke:
ARJIN
I was under the impression that field
training consisted of...
Cordial, but stopping him in his tracks --
DEEP SPACE: "Playing God" - REV. 12/22/93 - ACT ONE 9.
9A CONTINUED: (3)
DAX
I know all about field training.
Jadzia just went through it a few
years ago...
ARJIN
Yes, Ma'am.
DAX
Arjin, if you truly want to become a
Trill host someday, you'll never
call me ma'am again...
ARJIN
Yes -- Lieutenant.
DAX
Why don't you just try "Jadzia"...
ARJIN
(uncomfortable)
If you think that's appropriate.
Dax finishes her Black Hole.
DAX
Oh, I'm sure it isn't appropriate at
all. But then, I hate to be
"appropriate."
She smiles thinly, jumps up and goes back to finish getting
ready... we stay a beat on Arjin's lost expression...
10 INT. OPS - CLOSE ON O'BRIEN
as he crawls into an open circuitry panel holding a palm
beacon in one hand, a phaser in the other. He bumps his
head in the darkness and grunts in pain. He squints for a
moment, then, frustrated:
O'BRIEN
Nothing!
11 WIDER
to reveal KIRA scanning the panel with a tricorder... Her
readings lead her to an adjacent panel.
KIRA
Over here, Chief.
DEEP SPACE: "Playing God" - 01/03/94 - ACT ONE 10.
11 CONTINUED:
O'Brien quickly crawls over to the other panel and deftly
removes the access door. (Note: some systems in Ops should
be down.)
O'BRIEN
(entering the panel)
All right, come to papa.
12 ON SISKO
as he emerges from his office and notices O'Brien's behind
disappearing into the open panel. Curious, he descends the
steps and approaches Kira, who is intently monitoring her
tricorder.
SISKO
Major?
KIRA
Voles, sir --
SISKO
Voles?
KIRA
A Cardassian legacy.
O'BRIEN
They weren't bothering us until we
started moving into areas of the
station they've been using as hiding
places... now they're spreading out
everywhere...
O'Brien hands Sisko a segment of cable conduit. Sisko
examines the conduit, gnawed half-through by rodent-like
teeth.
DEEP SPACE: "Playing God" - REV. 12/22/93 - ACT ONE 11.
O'BRIEN
Apparently they're attracted to
electromagnetic fields.
As O'Brien crawls back under the console:
O'BRIEN
Give me a hand, will you, Major?
13 ANGLE TO INCLUDE
Dax and Arjin stepping off the Turbolift.
SISKO
(with humor)
Phasers on stun, Mister O'Brien. I
want those voles taken alive.
DAX
Benjamin, I'd like you to meet Arjin,
the host candidate I told you about.
(to Arjin)
Commander Benjamin Sisko.
As they shake hands...
14 ANGLE - KIRA AND O'BRIEN
All that's visible of them is their rear ends, side by side,
as they rummage beneath the console...
DAX
(pointing, continuing
"introductions")
And that's our first officer Major
Kira... Chief Engineer O'Brien...
conducting...
(to Sisko)
Repairs?
SISKO
Chasing Cardassian voles.
DAX
(mostly to herself)
Really? I've never seen a Cardassian
Vole.
KIRA
(handing her the phaser)
Be my guest.
She goes on her knees and joins the hunt...
DEEP SPACE: "Playing God" - 12/17/93 - ACT ONE 12.
14 CONTINUED:
SISKO
(enjoying this)
So you're the one who picked the
black marble...
ARJIN
Sir?
SISKO
Field training with Dax used to be
the nightmare of the initiate corps...
DAX
(O.S.)
That was Curzon...
The react as they hear a zap!
DAX
(rising)
Gotcha!
Kira, O'Brien emerge as does Dax from an open panel and stand
up, proudly dangling by its corkscrew tail a stunned
Cardassian vole: the Alpha Quadrant's nominee for ugliest
creature in the galaxy. Off Arjin's expression...
HARD CUT TO:
15 EXT. SPACE - RUNABOUT (OPTICAL)
zooms into the wormhole.
16 INT. RUNABOUT (OPTICAL)
looking through the front window at the light show... Dax
and Arjin are at the front controls...
17 ON DAX AND ARJIN
And it may be worth noting that throughout all this Dax is
just Dax... she's not putting on any tutorial poses or doing
anything with the purpose of seeing how he'll react... she's
just casual and charming...
DAX
Spectacular, isn't it...
DEEP SPACE: "Playing God" - 12/17/93 - ACT ONE 13.
17 CONTINUED:
ARJIN
Amazing.
17A EXT. SPACE - RUNABOUT (OPTICAL)
They exit the wormhole.
17B INT. RUNABOUT
DAX
Computer, play something by
Frenchotte.
A Ravel sort of piano music begins...
ARJIN
(never heard of him)
Frenchotte?
DAX
Self-exiled Romulan. I collect
forgotten composers. Feel like taking
the controls?
ARJIN
I've never flown a Federation runabout
before.
DAX
These things practically fly
themselves. You have third level
flight experience, don't you...
ARJIN
Actually, I just finished fifth level
last month...
He takes the controls... taps in some instructions...
DAX
Fifth! I didn't finish the third
level until...
(trying to remember)
ARJIN
Your last year of training...
DEEP SPACE: "Playing God" - 12/17/93 - ACT ONE 13A.
17B CONTINUED:
DAX
(dry, amused)
You've been studying up on me, Arjin.
I guess I can't blame you... I did
the same thing when I found who my
field docent was going to be.
DEEP SPACE: "Playing God" - REV. 12/21/93 - ACT ONE 14.
17B CONTINUED: (2)
ARJIN
(beat)
How'd you feel when you heard it was
going to be Curzon Dax?
DAX
(beat)
Nauseous might be the best
description.
ARJIN
I suppose it wouldn't be fair to
give me a few tips...
DAX
Tips?
ARJIN
(a tight joke)
On how you managed to impress him.
DAX
(sighs)
Let's get one thing straight. I'm
not Curzon or Lela or any of the
others. I'm Jadzia Dax. Jadzia is
only three years older than you are.
You're her first initiate. To be
honest, in a lot of ways, I still
feel like an initiate myself. I can
remember the pressure of the
competition when Jadzia was going
through it and I'm not going to make
it difficult for you. You don't
have to impress me. Okay?
ARJIN
(not entirely convinced)
Okay.
DAX
Okay.
ARJIN
(beat)
So how did you.
(off her look)
Impress him.
DEEP SPACE: "Playing God" - REV. 12/22/93 - ACT ONE 15.
17B CONTINUED: (3)
DAX
(evenly)
I didn't. Curzon recommended that
my initiate period be terminated.
Arjin gives a surprised reaction... a moment later, there's
a huge shock wave and the ship goes out of control...
DAX
I've got it! Engaging manual
stabilizers.
The ship stabilizes...
DAX
Shutting down all engines. Computer,
analyze stability loss.
COMPUTER VOICE
Stability loss was due to an impact
by a subspace interphase pocket...
Arjin stands, begins to check readouts on rear panels...
DAX
Nature of interphase pocket...
COMPUTER VOICE
Unknown.
DAX
Damage report...
COMPUTER VOICE
Starboard nacelle nonfunctional...
maximum available power fifty
percent...
ARJIN
(checking readouts)
Jadzia... you'd better take a look
at this...
As she moves over to take a look --
DEEP SPACE: "Playing God" - 12/17/93 - ACT FIVE 16.
18 ANGLE (OPTICAL)
to see the nacelle on the monitor... and a glowing softball-
sized mass of protoplasm has become caught in the nacelle...
DAX
Looks like we snagged something from
that subspace pocket. Computer,
identify mass on the starboard
nacelle...
COMPUTER VOICE
Unknown.
On their reactions...
FADE OUT.
END OF ACT ONE
DEEP SPACE: "Playing God" - 12/17/93 - ACT TWO 17.
ACT TWO
FADE IN:
19 EXT. SPACE - DEEP SPACE NINE (OPTICAL)
Re-establishing.
20 INT. OPS
Kira stands before a monitor, viewing a series of station
schematics one after another. O'Brien stands next to her,
pressing panels on a console. Various N.D.s as needed.
O'BRIEN
Maybe we could create some kind of
EM pathway along the inner hull that
would lure them into a trap...
KIRA
How can you do that without shutting
down all the other power systems...
O'BRIEN
(sighs)
I can't... and it would take days to
round them all up... we'd have to
evacuate the station...
(beat)
The only other thing I've come up
with is a directional sonic
generator...
O'Brien picks up a device like a shotgun mic ... shakes his
head, unhappy at the option...
O'BRIEN
I can adjust it to a frequency that'll
be uncomfortable to their ears and
drive them out of hiding one at a
time... but at that rate, I'll be
doing it for the rest of my tour of
duty...
Quark has arrived on the Turbolift... he tosses a dead vole
in a plastic bag on top of the console...
QUARK
It ran right across a Dabo table.
DEEP SPACE: "Playing God" - 12/17/93 - ACT TWO 18.
20 CONTINUED:
KIRA
How'd it die? Get into your food?
QUARK
(gives Kira a look)
As landlords, you're responsible for
this... I expect vermin control or
I'm going to...
KIRA
Leave? Please say "leave." I'd trade
you for a Cardassian vole any day.
She moves away, had enough of him...
QUARK
(to O'Brien)
The girl insists on fighting her
latent attraction to me.
(beat)
What are you going to do about
these pests, O'Brien...
O'Brien already has his tricorder out and is tracking down
more vole movements... he has the sonic generator in the
other hand... pointing it away from Quark for the moment...
O'BRIEN
Relax, Quark... we're trying something
new that ought to make the voles beg
for mercy...
QUARK
What is it?
As he swings around toward Quark...
O'BRIEN
A sonic...
Now the generator is pointing at Quark who immediately covers
up his ears and doubles over, squealing in agony...
QUARK
Stop! Stop!
O'Brien quickly complies and sets down the device.
O'BRIEN
Are you all right?
DEEP SPACE: "Playing God" - REV. 01/03/94 - ACT TWO 19.
20 CONTINUED: (2)
Quark looks blankly at O'Brien.
QUARK
... What?
KIRA
(off panels, urgent)
Chief, the Mekong just came back
through the wormhole... they're
showing damage...
O'Brien moves quickly to his station... Sisko ENTERS from
his office having already seen the same readings... Quark
puts his fingers in his ears and rubs as he EXITS...
SISKO
Open a channel, Major... put them on
the screen...
21 ANGLE - INCLUDE THE VIEWSCREEN (OPTICAL)
Dax and Arjin appear on the screen.
SISKO
(continuing)
Are you all right, Dax?
DAX
Our power reserves are gone... we
could use a tow.
Sisko looks to O'Brien who nods he's already on it...
SISKO
What happened?
DAX
Not exactly sure. But we picked up
some kind of subspace seaweed on our
starboard nacelle... we couldn't get
rid of it without causing further
damage...
O'BRIEN
You can cut your engines, Lieutenant.
We'll bring you in to pad "D"...
DEEP SPACE: "Playing God" - REV. 12/21/93 - ACT TWO 20.
21 CONTINUED:
Dax presses some panels... cutting her engines...
DAX
Set up a containment chamber in the
Science Lab for me, would you Chief?
When we get this thing untangled,
I'd like to study it under controlled
conditions...
O'BRIEN
(acknowledges)
Give us a couple of hours...
DAX
Morning'll be fine. That'll give
Arjin and me a little time to
recoup...
O'BRIEN
Acknowledged.
SISKO
Stop by and fill me in later.
22 INT. RUNABOUT - CONTINUOUS
DAX
(acknowledges)
Mekong out.
She hits a panel and the monitors go blank... we sense the
movement of the ship moving into docking position... she
rises to exit...
DAX
Come on... I'll take you to
dinner...
As he rises to follow her, off his curious expression...
23 INT. PROMENADE
At the Klingon sushi kiosk... the KLINGON HOST is touring
with his instrument singing a Klingon song that is joyful by
Klingon standards... the kind of song Nelson Eddy would have
sung to Jeanette MacDonald if they had been Klingons...
KLINGON HOST
Ak'la bel-la doo-oo-oo-oo...
Bel-la ak'la doo-oo-oo-oo...
La suhm... La suhm...
L'kahtra... La suhm...
DEEP SPACE: "Playing God" - 12/17/93 - ACT TWO 21.
23 CONTINUED:
He pauses by Dax and Arjin's table, encouraging with his
eyes for Dax to join him for the last line in harmony...
KLINGON HOST & DAX
Ak'la bel-la doo-oo-oo-oo!
They finish with a laugh and scattered applause... Arjin is
rather embarrassed by it all... it isn't helped when the
Klingon slaps Arjin on the back with glee...
KLINGON HOST
(to Arjin)
She taught that to me... can you
believe it... a Klingon song I'd
never heard...
ARJIN
(suffering the
indignity with a
trace of attitude)
She... collects lost composers.
KLINGON HOST
(A new boyfriend?)
Ak un lach'tel?
DAX
(no, no, my student)
Doko... doko... un Koliay Trill...
KLINGON HOST
(to Arjin)
Don't get any ideas. She's mine!
He laughs, walking away...
DAX
You haven't touched your racht.
ARJIN
No, I have. It's... interesting...
DAX
You've been moving it around your
plate to make it look like you've
touched it.
ARJIN
I didn't have to move it... it moved
itself.
DEEP SPACE: "Playing God" - 12/17/93 - ACT TWO 22.
23 CONTINUED: (2)
DAX
Arjin, if this didn't appeal to you,
why didn't you say something?
ARJIN
(smiles, uncomfortably,
shrugs)
It's all right. I wasn't very hungry
anyway.
DAX
Speak up for yourself while you're
here, okay?
ARJIN
(earnest, but a false
ring)
I'll make a concerted effort.
Dax studies him a beat. At this point Dax is not
particularly impressed with Arjin... she has nothing against
him but she doesn't like that vague superior attitude he
occasionally lets slip through... he hasn't offered any
distinctive qualities to her... he's playing it safe... she
decides to casually probe a little deeper... she eats as
the scene continues.
DAX
Who sponsored you for the program?
ARJIN
My father.
DAX
Was he Joined?
ARJIN
No, but he always had great ambitions
for his children. He was a pilot
instructor at the Gedana post for
forty years. He died last year.
DAX
(sympathy noted)
I see where you got your flight
skills...
DEEP SPACE: "Playing God" - 12/17/93 - ACT TWO 23.
23 CONTINUED: (3)
ARJIN
(acknowledges)
My sister was always his choice for
Joining... but after she was accepted
into the program, she ran off and
got married. My father never spoke
to her again. On the day he died,
he turned to me and said -- "I'm
counting on you"...
(sad laugh)
His last words to me.
DAX
Did he want you to enter Starfleet
after Joining? Put your flight
training to good use?
ARJIN
Honestly, he couldn't care less what
I did afterwards as long as I became
Joined. That was his only goal.
DAX
And what about your goals?
ARJIN
(smiles)
There are so many possibilities when
you're Joined. I'm not sure what
I'd do yet... I figure I'd get a lot
of guidance from the symbiont...
wouldn't you say?
Dax studies him, vaguely disturbed... she nods thoughtfully...
DAX
The symbiont's influence is very
strong, Arjin... but you're the
host... you've got to be strong enough
to balance that influence with your
own instincts.
DEEP SPACE: "Playing God" - REV. 12/22/93 - ACT TWO 24.
23 CONTINUED: (4)
DAX
If you can't, the symbiont will
overwhelm your personality.
Arjin reacts, wondering if he misplayed that exchange...
24 INT. OPS
O'Brien's talking to a CARDASSIAN OFFICER on the Viewscreen...
Sisko is working at his desk in his office...
CARDASSIAN OFFICER
(with veiled pleasure)
Oh, they are a nuisance, aren't
they...
O'BRIEN
(who hates to be asking
a Cardassian for
anything)
I was just hoping you'd found some
way to deal with them...
Dax ENTERS, carrying a long gift-wrapped box... her mind is
deep in thought...
CARDASSIAN OFFICER
Federation technology isn't up to
the task, eh... ?
O'BRIEN
(I don't need this)
Look, I just thought in the interests
of good relations, you might...
CARDASSIAN OFFICER
You've got the station. You've got
the voles. By the way, their mating
season begins in about six weeks...
O'BRIEN
(barely controlled,
sarcastic)
Thanks for your help.
CARDASSIAN OFFICER
The Federation could always withdraw
from Bajor...
DEEP SPACE: "Playing God" - REV. 12/22/93 - ACT TWO 25.
24 CONTINUED:
O'Brien cuts the transmission... Dax hands him the long,
gift-wrapped box...
O'BRIEN
What's this?
DAX
Got me. It's from Julian. He called
it the solution you've been looking
for.
She moves toward Sisko's office. O'Brien quickly opens the
box and pulls out a flute a la pied piper... reading the
card...
O'BRIEN
"It worked in Hamlin." Very funny.
She smiles, moves into Sisko's office.
25 INT. COMMANDER'S OFFICE
As she ENTERS, he is studying a 24th century chessboard with
a game in progress.
SISKO
Your move.
(she sits)
Your "seaweed" has been safely
transported to the Science Lab...
DAX
Did you take a look at it?
SISKO
(nods)
What do you think?
(implied: of it)
DAX
We did as much analysis on the
runabout as we could... none of the
matter would scan... we'll do more
tests tomorrow...
SISKO
(nods, a beat)
How'd your initiate come through the
experience?
DAX
(with reservations
attached)
Fine. He's a good pilot...
DEEP SPACE: "Playing God" - 12/17/93 - ACT TWO 26.
25 CONTINUED:
SISKO
Uh oh.
DAX
What.
SISKO
I know that look.
DAX
What look.
SISKO
That look, old man. The one that
says "this one isn't going to make
it."
DAX
(defensive)
Not because of me.
SISKO
But you have your doubts.
DAX
I... have my doubts.
SISKO
What's his problem?
DAX
(picking up steam as
she goes along)
I'm not sure what he brings as a
host... how he'll advance the symbiont
to the next level... frankly,
Benjamin, he's more than a little
arrogant -- okay, for a Trill, that's
to be expected -- but he's riding
his father's ambitions and doesn't
have any idea what he'd do with a
symbiont if he got one.
SISKO
Have you confronted him?
DAX
(defensive)
It's not my job to confront him.
DEEP SPACE: "Playing God" - 12/17/93 - ACT TWO 27.
25 CONTINUED: (2)
SISKO
(come on, Dax)
Isn't it?
DAX
(too earnest)
My job is to show him what it's like
to function as a Joined Trill. And
that's all. I can show you the
guidelines. They're very clear.
Beat. A long stare from Sisko challenges her.
DAX
Who am I to confront him?
SISKO
(simply)
You're Dax.
DAX
Yes. But I'm not Curzon Dax. And I
won't do to him what Curzon did to
me...
SISKO
(softly)
So, what are you going to do?
(beat)
This kid has to measure up soon or
he'll never be chosen. True?
She nods silently.
SISKO
So, you're not doing him any favors
by avoiding a confrontation, are
you?
(a long beat)
Curzon was tough. Maybe even abusive
in his own charming way. But he
always demanded the highest standards
of excellence from these host
candidates...
DAX
You don't know what he did to me.
SISKO
I know that you made it through the
program.
DEEP SPACE: "Playing God" - 12/17/93 - ACT TWO 28.
25 CONTINUED: (3)
DAX
No thanks to him.
SISKO
Are you sure?
Off her look...
26 INT. SCIENCE LAB
Looking at the containment area... we can see the glowing
protoplasm hovering in a constant forcefield... we can hear
critters scurrying around...
26A ANGLE - COUNTER - INSIDE THE CONTAINED AREA
(OPTICAL)
See a glimpse of a vole scurrying in
front of the forcefield... hear a
fritz... the forcefield fails... the
protoplasm drops to the counter and
BREACHES appear in the protoplasm
with bright light pouring out... the
BREACHES tear open wider and the
light spills out consuming the
protoplasm...
26B ANGLE - OUTSIDE THE CONTAINED AREA
Suddenly fills with Spielberg light and on that ominous note --
FADE OUT.
END OF ACT TWO
DEEP SPACE: "Playing God" - 12/17/93 - ACT THREE 29.
ACT THREE
FADE IN:
27 EXT. SPACE - DEEP SPACE NINE (OPTICAL)
28 INT. SCIENCE LAB (VPB)
O'Brien comes out of a wall panel... Sisko is with Dax and
Arjin looking into the bright light...
O'BRIEN
Voles ate through the security field
energy lines...
SISKO
(angry)
So, nothing is secure on this station
any more...
O'Brien feels personally responsible, shrugs an embarrassed
acknowledgement...
SISKO
(to Dax)
Any reason to believe there's an
imminent threat from this?
DAX
Not as far as I can tell. But I
can't tell you a lot yet.
SISKO
(nods)
I want to know what we're dealing
with as soon as possible. I'll
schedule a briefing for fourteen
hundred hours...
(Dax acknowledges,
continuing to O'Brien
as they EXIT)
And take those phasers off stun,
Chief. No more Mister Nice Guy.
They're out.
DAX
How's your astrophysics profile,
Arjin...
DEEP SPACE: "Playing God" - 12/17/93 - ACT THREE 30.
28 CONTINUED:
ARJIN
It's one of my better subjects.
Maybe that's why they sent me to
work with you...
DAX
Set up a gravimetric microprobe for
me... I need to calibrate the energy
profile...
She moves to the side as he works on setting up the
gravimetric microprobe by the window to the contained area...
(NOTE: I feel the need for this physical action because the
scene is so long.) He hesitates before continuing to speak...
ARJIN
Jadzia... I felt that... last night...
maybe I didn't express myself well...
about my own goals...
DAX
I think you expressed yourself very
clearly.
ARJIN
I just didn't want you to think I
hadn't set any goals for post-
Joining... I have thought about
Starfleet... with my flight
training... it would be a perfect...
DAX
(low key interruption,
as she works)
Starfleet is a career... a pilot is
a job... what does that have to do
with being Joined...
ARJIN
(confused)
I'm not sure I understand.
DAX
(not harsh, always
working)
No, I don't think you do.
DEEP SPACE: "Playing God" - 12/17/93 - ACT THREE 31.
28 CONTINUED: (2)
ARJIN
(beat, suddenly on
the defensive: what's
that supposed to
mean?)
I'm sorry?
DAX
(casual)
I think you're telling me what I
want to hear.
ARJIN
(smiles, incredulous,
she's changing the
rules on me)
That's not true.
DAX
I think you went to your quarters
last night... tossed and turned in
bed because you knew some of the
things you'd said concerned me...
and now you're trying to fix it.
ARJIN
I'm... I'm just trying to... to
clarify...
DAX
(low key)
I know what it's like. I've tossed
and turned myself. Please don't
insult me by denying it.
He's clearly shaken by this exchange... finishes what he's
doing... with a dry mouth --
ARJIN
I'm finished.
DAX
Let's run a phase variant analysis...
She rises... and they move to a set of consoles... on the
way --
DAX
I'm worried about you, Arjin.
ARJIN
Worried?
DEEP SPACE: "Playing God" - 12/17/93 - ACT THREE 32.
28 CONTINUED: (3)
DAX
(tough for her, said
calmly, in measured
phrases)
I'm worried you're not preparing
yourself to be joined.
Arjin can't believe he's hearing this... and he's getting
angry because he sees his whole life slipping away from him...
he's trying desperately to stay controlled...
ARJIN
(still incredulous)
That's it? A day and a half and
you've made up your mind...
Shutting himself up before he goes too far.
DAX
(calmly)
I didn't say that.
Dax begins to set panels...
DAX
(continuing)
Look, you've gotten this far by
anticipating every demand of the
program and performing beyond
everyone's expectations, am I right?
ARJIN
I'd like to think that's true.
DAX
And I'm telling you that from this
point on -- that's not going to be
good enough.
Arjin reacts, asking himself if that's not good, what is?
The computer bleeps... results appear on the monitors... Dax
studies them.
DAX
(continuing, curious)
Highly structured but it doesn't
seem to conform to any of our physical
laws... computer, run a spectral
line profile analysis...
DEEP SPACE: "Playing God" - 12/17/93 - ACT THREE 33.
28 CONTINUED: (4)
COMPUTER VOICE
Spectral analysis will take
approximately seven minutes.
Arjin is still desperately into himself... and the nature of
the fierce competition just pushes him over the line -- but
still low key --
ARJIN
Just to... "speak up for myself"...
I have to say I'm feeling... a little
betrayed... here... I mean, after
your impassioned "I-am-Jadzia, fellow
initiate" speech in the runabout...
DAX
I understand why you feel that way.
But this isn't about me. This is
about the standards for Trill hosts.
The opportunity is too rare and too
important to waste on the wrong
candidate.
The term lingers in the air a long beat and it is crushing
him.
ARJIN
(controlled)
And in your mind, I'm a wrong
candidate.
DAX
(sighs, a beat)
I don't know that yet. But I felt
it only... fair... to tell you that
I am... worried about you.
ARJIN
(quietly)
I see.
And he can't restrain himself any longer.
ARJIN
I should have known this... I should
have realized this... you're Dax.
(beat)
Standards for Trill hosts?
DEEP SPACE: "Playing God" - REV. 12/22/93 - ACT THREE 34.
28 CONTINUED: (5)
ARJIN (Cont'd)
(chuckles mournfully)
That's really incredible coming from
you. Because I've never seen any
host in my life who is as far below
those standards as you are... ma'am.
No wonder Curzon Dax tried to
terminate your training.
And he EXITS. OFF her reaction...
29 EXT. SPACE - DEEP SPACE NINE (OPTICAL)
Time passage.
30 INT. OPS
At the table. Sisko, O'Brien, Dax, Kira, Bashir.
DAX
I was finally able to read the EM
flux... there are high plasma
concentrations... and a rapidly
expanding mass...
Reactions.
SISKO
How rapidly...
DAX
(anticipating the
security implications)
The energy buildup is already
straining the containment chamber.
But here's the kicker: the mass
periodically undergoes phased
expansion and grows in spurts...
it's a very specific growth pattern
that the computer recognized...
KIRA
Recognized as what?
DAX
The expansion patterns of a universe.
DEEP SPACE: "Playing God" - REV. 12/22/93 - ACT THREE 35.
30 CONTINUED:
KIRA
What?
O'BRIEN
A universe?
DAX
(acknowledges)
What we have here, Benjamin, is a
proto-universe in its earliest stages
of formation. Unfortunately, as it
grows, it's displacing our own
universe.
The ramifications of her report weigh on Sisko...
SISKO
Can we get it back where it came
from?
DAX
This is not the subspace "seaweed"
we started with. This is an energy
mass with properties that don't
conform to our own laws of nature.
I have no idea what might happen if
we tried to move it, let alone take
it back into the wormhole. Even if
we get there, the wormhole's vertiron
nodes could interact with the energy
fluctuations of the proto-universe
and cause a devastating reaction.
It could threaten this whole system.
BASHIR
(realizing)
And if we don't do anything, it'll
eventually obliterate this system
and beyond...
Dax acknowledges...
O'BRIEN
Can't we contain it somehow...
DAX
Not without destroying it.
DEEP SPACE: "Playing God" - REV. 12/22/93 - ACT THREE 36.
30 CONTINUED: (2)
KIRA
Under these circumstances, that sounds
like a pretty good option to me.
DAX
We can create a forcefield that will
contain it... if we suppress it long
enough, the feedback pressure should
create an implosive wave. It would
self-destruct.
SISKO
How long before the next phase of
expansion?
DAX
About three hours. The collateral
shock waves will probably destroy
the lab...
SISKO
Can we get this containment field
ready by then?
O'BRIEN
Yessir.
Sisko makes the tough decision with a nod. O'Brien and Dax
move into action immediately...
SISKO
(to Kira)
Have Odo evacuate section fourteen.
Kira acknowledges... lingering a beat on Sisko...
DEEP SPACE: "Playing God" - 12/17/93 - ACT THREE 37.
31 INT. QUARK'S
As men have done for ages, Arjin has taken his sorrows to
the nearest bartender... he drinks long and hard from a glass
and lets the liquid burn his throat on the way down... our
bartender studies him a short distance away, and as bartenders
have done for ages, moves with a bottle to the rescue...
QUARK
Another?
ARJIN
Keep pouring until I drown.
QUARK
Sounds pretty serious.
ARJIN
Serious? No. I just threw my whole
life out a porthole. Nothing serious.
QUARK
There isn't a problem in the world
that can't be fixed by the right
holosuite program.
ARJIN
(ignoring that, into
his own thing)
Never trust a Trill, Quark.
QUARK
Why not?
ARJIN
They're... two-faced.
QUARK
Does that go for all Trills or just
for the ones with the worm?
ARJIN
Any worm named Dax.
QUARK
(understanding now)
She break your heart, son?
ARJIN
What?
DEEP SPACE: "Playing God" - REV. 01/04/94 - ACT THREE 38.
31 CONTINUED:
QUARK
Mine too. And Bashir's in here every
other day crying in his synthale
over her. The Promenade is littered
with the bodies of the men she's...
ARJIN
(overlapping)
It wasn't my heart she broke. It
was me. My career. My life.
QUARK
Wait a minute -- is this about all
that "initiate" stuff?
ARJIN
(acknowledges)
She told me I "wasn't preparing myself
to Join."
QUARK
With the worm? So, that's her
opinion. What's that worth, anyhow?
ARJIN
A bad recommendation from your field
docent and you can forget it.
Quark pours. Wanting to help --
QUARK
Listen, son. When I was a young
man, no older than you, I had an
apprentice position with the District
Sub-Nagus. I licked his boots like
you couldn't believe. He loved me.
I was his golden boy... I was on a
fast track to the top of the Ferengi
business world... and then it all
fell apart...
ARJIN
How?
QUARK
Rule of Acquisition One-twelve.
DEEP SPACE: "Playing God" - REV. 01/12/94 - ACT THREE 39.
31 CONTINUED: (2)
QUARK (Cont'd)
"Never have sex with the boss's
sister." I was fired, broke. It was
quite a setback to my ambitions.
ARJIN
How'd you recover?
QUARK
Never did. Look at me -- tending
bar out here in Wormhole Junction
while the big boys fly past me at
warp speed. You only get one shot
at the latinum stairway and if you
miss it, you miss it. Welcome to
the club, son.
ARJIN
Thanks.
QUARK
Glad I could help.
He moves to another customer as Arjin feels even worse than
before...
31A INT. SCIENCE LAB (OPTICAL)
Close on the throbbing energy mass inside the chamber...
pulling back to find a couple of Starfleet engineers putting
equipment into place (or perhaps simply setting small blinkies
along the ceiling or floor) in preparation for establishing
the forcefield... moving again to find Dax still studying
the readouts on a monitor...
31B CLOSE ON THE MONITOR (OPTICAL)
as a bewildering series of numbers and scientific symbols
flash by...
31C DAX
reacts curiously to something she sees... presses some panels,
her face even more curious...
DAX
Computer, confirm the localized
entropy decrease in the energy mass.
DEEP SPACE: "Playing God" - REV. 01/12/94 - ACT THREE 39A.
31C CONTINUED:
COMPUTER VOICE
Confirmed.
DAX
How much have the readings decreased
in the last hour?
COMPUTER VOICE
Localized entropy readings have
decreased twelve percent during the
last fifty-eight minutes...
Dax leans back, dumbfounded by these results...
DAX
(to herself)
This can't be right. The whole
thermodynamic structure would have
to be changing.
A beat. She leans forward again. Presses some panels.
DAX
Activate a quantometer probe.
A bleep tells us it has.
DAX
Verify filter calibration.
COMPUTER VOICE
Filter calibration verified.
DAX
Set energy flux resolution to point
one microdyne.
Another bleep confirms it.
DAX
Begin high resolution energy scans.
31D THE MONITOR (OPTICAL)
shows an Okudagram we don't have to understand.
31E DAX - EXTREME CLOSEUP
studies it... shakes her head, disbelieving...
DEEP SPACE: "Playing God" - REV. 01/12/94 - ACT THREE 39B.
31E CONTINUED:
DAX
There could be a malfunction in the
sensors... computer, run a self-
diagnostic and check quantometer
calibration.
COMPUTER VOICE
Calibration is locked and normal.
Diagnostic underway.
DAX
Are there any feedback anomalies in
the dynametric array?
COMPUTER VOICE
Negative.
DAX
(hard to believe)
What's the feedback reading?
COMPUTER VOICE
Feedback reading is zero.
(beat, several computer
bleeps)
Diagnostic complete. Sensors are
functioning normally.
Dax is stunned by what she sees on the monitor. Takes a
deep breath.
32 INT. OPS
O'Brien is in the pit making preparations... Sisko and Kira
are looking at monitor reports...
ODO'S COM VOICE
Odo to Sisko...
SISKO
Yes, Odo...
ODO'S COM VOICE
Section fourteen has been evacuated.
SISKO
Acknowledged. Mister O'Brien... ?
O'BRIEN
Just finishing up, Commander...
He moves from the pit back to his station...
DEEP SPACE: "Playing God" - REV. 12/22/93 - ACT THREE 40.
32 CONTINUED:
SISKO
Sisko to Dax. We're preparing to
establish the containment field...
I'd like you out of the lab during
this...
But Dax is arriving on the Turbolift... carrying a PADD...
DAX
I'm already out, Benjamin... but I'm
not sure you're going to want to do
this now...
SISKO
Why not?
DAX
I've found indications of life in
the proto-universe.
Off reactions...
FADE OUT.
END OF ACT THREE
DEEP SPACE: "Playing God" - REV. 12/22/93 - ACT FOUR 41.
ACT FOUR
FADE IN:
33 INT. OPS (VPB)
Minutes later... Bashir and ODO have joined the scene...
DAX
... non-random thermodynamics...
(new graphic)
... irregular power consumption. The
computer's confirmed it, these are
lifesigns...
KIRA
Wait a minute... single cell microbes
are lifeforms too... but Doctor Bashir
has a hypospray that will kill them...
to say nothing of the Voles...
DAX
Kira, we could very well be dealing
with intelligent life.
KIRA
How is that possible... you told us
this proto-universe was just formed...
BASHIR
Oh, it's quite possible. We may
have only experienced hours since
this universe was formed... but we
have no way of knowing how fast time
is moving for them. Theoretically,
billions of years might have passed...
ODO
(remarkable)
An entire evolution of a species
might have taken place in the last
few hours.
BASHIR
It's possible.
O'BRIEN'S COM VOICE
O'Brien to Sisko
DEEP SPACE: "Playing God" - REV. 12/22/93 - ACT FOUR 42.
33 CONTINUED:
SISKO
Go ahead, Chief.
INTERCUT:
33A INT. SCIENCE LAB
O'Brien and a couple of N.D. Supernumeraries are preparing
to implement the forcefield.
O'BRIEN
(urgent)
Commander, if we're going to implement
that containment field, we've got to
do it now. In two minutes, this
thing is going to expand...
Sisko takes a long beat... no, not this fast...
SISKO'S COM VOICE
Get your people out of there, Chief.
We're not going to put up the
containment field...
O'BRIEN
Aye, sir.
They move to EXIT the Lab...
33B INT. OPS
Reactions. Kira disagrees with the decision.
KIRA
Commander, this is only going to
delay the inevitable...
SISKO
(overlapping)
Take us to yellow alert, Major.
Move repair crews into position...
34 INT. SCIENCE LAB (OPTICAL)
Pushing in on the even brighter light coming out of the
containment chamber... HEARING the creaking of metal, then
BLAM -- whiteout...
DEEP SPACE: "Playing God" - REV. 12/22/93 - ACT FOUR 42A.
35 EXT. SPACE - DEEP SPACE NINE (OPTICAL)
The hull outside the Science Lab is breached by the explosion --
shining bright light into the surrounding space...
36 INT. OPS
As before... red alert lights come on as:
COMPUTER VOICE
Warning. Hull Breach. Level Twenty-
two, Section Fourteen.
SISKO
(to com)
Sisko to O'Brien. Seal off Section
Fourteen, move your repair crews
in...
DEEP SPACE: "Playing God" - REV. 12/22/93 - ACT FOUR 43.
36 CONTINUED:
O'BRIEN'S COM VOICE
Aye, sir...
SISKO
How long before the next expansion...
DAX
Roughly five hours...
SISKO
How much will it expand?
DAX
About three hundred percent. We'd
lose a whole section of the station.
By tomorrow, the station will be
gone.
BASHIR
We could beam it into space, give us
some more time to come up with a
solution.
KIRA
We already have a solution and the
longer we wait the harder it will be
to implement it. I'm sorry but this
is us or them. We have to destroy
it.
ODO
You can't just wipe out a
civilization... we would be committing
mass murder.
KIRA
(can't anyone see
this but me?)
It's like stepping on ants, Odo.
ODO
I don't step on ants, Major.
(beat)
Just because we don't understand a
lifeform doesn't mean we can destroy
it.
KIRA
Do you have a better idea? Does
anyone?
DEEP SPACE: "Playing God" - REV. 12/22/93 - ACT FOUR 44.
36 CONTINUED: (2)
No one does. Sisko takes it all in. It weighs heavily
on him.
SISKO
I'll give you my decision in an hour.
A beat as they look at each other. He EXITS, thoughtfully,
to the Turbolift.
37 EXT. SPACE - DEEP SPACE NINE (OPTICAL)
The breach still in place.
SISKO (V.O.)
Personal log. Supplemental. One
hour. One hour to make a decision
that could mean the life or death of
a civilization. Or the end to our
own.
38 INT. PROMENADE - SECOND LEVEL
As Sisko looks out to space thoughtfully... moves to the
rail and watches the people go by...
SISKO (V.O.)
My mind keeps going back to the
Borg... how I despised their...
indifference as they tried to
exterminate us. And I have to ask
myself... would I be any different
if I destroyed another universe to
preserve my own?
Deep in thought, he walks on...
39 INT. SISKO'S QUARTERS
Sisko ENTERS... JAKE is sitting at the computer, playing a
computer game...
SISKO
Hey.
JAKE
Hi, Dad. What're you doing back so
early?
DEEP SPACE: "Playing God" - 12/17/93 - ACT FOUR 45.
39 CONTINUED:
SISKO
Just wanted to see you.
Jake looks at him curiously... looks back at the screen, a
guilty look on his face...
JAKE
He told you, didn't he.
SISKO
Told me what.
JAKE
Chief O'Brien. Darn it, he promised.
SISKO
If you have something you want to
tell me, let's hear it.
Jake turns off the monitor.
JAKE
I love her, Dad.
Covering his stunned reaction --
SISKO
Okay.
JAKE
She's everything I ever wanted in a
woman.
SISKO
I'm sure she's a wonderful girl...
JAKE
She's not a girl... she's a woman...
she doesn't like to be called a
girl... everybody calls her that and
she hates it... she wants to be
something better than that...
DEEP SPACE: "Playing God" - REV. 12/22/93 - ACT FOUR 46.
39 CONTINUED: (2)
SISKO
(lost)
Than what... ?
JAKE
Than a Dabo girl.
SISKO
You're in love with a Dabo girl?
JAKE
Wait a minute, you said Chief O'Brien
told you...
SISKO
No, I didn't. Who is she... how old
is she, Jake...
JAKE
Oh, jeez...
(sighs)
I wanted to tell you, but I was sure
you'd never understand...
SISKO
So now you're hiding things from
me...
JAKE
You would have understood?
SISKO
Of course not!
Jake looks at him, "See? What was I supposed to do?"
SISKO
It's Mardah, isn't it... the one
you've been tutoring in entomology.
DEEP SPACE: "Playing God" - REV. 12/22/93 - ACT FOUR 47.
39 CONTINUED: (3)
JAKE
I really want you to meet her, Dad.
SISKO
I really want to meet her.
JAKE
Can I invite her to dinner tonight?
SISKO
(beat, as the real
problems he's facing
are reawakened)
Not tonight. But soon.
JAKE
Thanks, Dad. You'll love her.
He runs out to tell her the "good" news... on Sisko's reaction
as he forces his mind back to the reality of the decision
that confronts him... and how that decision may affect all
the lives of the people he loves and the people they shouldn't
love but do...
40 INT. QUARK'S
Arjin is still where we last saw him, studying the bubbles
in his ale... with the intense stare of a medium reading a
crystal ball...
DAX (O.S.)
What's so interesting in there?
As he looks up, moving to reveal Dax sitting next to him...
ARJIN
(a dour smile)
I can see my future.
DAX
I wouldn't trust a bottle of synthale
to tell you the future.
DEEP SPACE: "Playing God" - 12/17/93 - ACT FOUR 48.
40 CONTINUED:
ARJIN
Let's get this over with, okay?
Just use a sharp blade so I won't
feel it.
DAX
You don't know me as well as you
think you do. I'm sure you looked
at all the training profiles... but
that doesn't tell you who Jadzia
really was before she was joined.
Let me tell you about her. Jadzia
was the quietest, shyest, most
withdrawn young woman you've ever
known. Brilliant, top grades... and
not a clue to what life was about.
She hadn't lived outside the program.
And it didn't matter because she was
sailing through... until she met
Curzon Dax. Curzon sized her up in
twenty seconds... and made the next
two weeks the most miserable of her
life. She cried herself to sleep
every night. She hated him for it.
But after the field training was
over and she learned about his
recommendation to terminate her from
the program... she went back a
different woman. She found her voice
and reapplied. She tore through the
program with a passion, a vengeance.
And in the end, the administrators
chose her for Joining.
ARJIN
How did you wind up with the Dax
symbiont?
DAX
(personally triumphant)
When I learned Curzon was dying, I
requested the Dax symbiont.
ARJIN
And Curzon didn't object?
DEEP SPACE: "Playing God" - REV. 12/22/93 - ACT FOUR 49.
40 CONTINUED: (2)
DAX
No. And I've never been sure why...
except as I've come to know Curzon's
dark sense of humor... I have a
feeling the irony might have appealed
to him.
Arjin smiles for the first time in a long time.
DAX
Jadzia Dax is not Curzon Dax... but
I am Dax... and I'm slowly coming to
terms with what that means. Sometimes
it means gambling or wrestling.
Sometimes it means waking up an
initiate before he slides into the
middle of the pack and gets
overlooked.
ARJIN
You're giving me another chance?
DAX
You're the only one who can give
yourself another chance. You can't
simply do this anymore to meet other
people's expectations... not your
father's, not your teachers', not
mine. You've got to discover what
Arjin wants... out of life and out
of Joining.
Sisko ENTERS... moves to Dax... with the decision...
SISKO
We'll try to take it back through
the wormhole... How soon can you be
ready?
DAX
(reacts)
I'd want to be sure we have a
containment field that would block
out the vertiron node radiation as
we pass through it... maybe two
hours...
SISKO
Better get started.
She acknowledges. Sisko EXITS... she turns to Arjin...
DEEP SPACE: "Playing God" - REV. 12/22/93 - ACT FOUR 49A.
40 CONTINUED: (3)
DAX
Wouldn't hurt to have a level five
pilot along.
Arjin is filled with renewed confidence. Smiles as they
EXIT together.
FADE OUT.
END OF ACT FOUR
DEEP SPACE: "Playing God" - REV. 12/22/93 - ACT FIVE 50.
ACT FIVE
FADE IN:
A41 EXT. SPACE - DEEP SPACE NINE (OPTICAL)
Shuttle waiting off the outer ring.
41 INT. OPS
Kira, O'Brien... Sisko ENTERS from his office...
SISKO
Chief... ?
O'BRIEN
The containment field is in place
and holding, sir... but I'd like to
run a practical test on the vertiron
integrity...
SISKO
"Like to" or "need to"... that thing
expands again in a little over an
hour...
O'BRIEN
(sighs)
This is the strongest forcefield I
know how to construct, sir... but a
test would at least tell us our odds
of getting it through the wormhole
intact...
SISKO
I'm not playing the odds today.
Sisko to Rio Grande... your status...
INTERCUT:
42 INT. RUNABOUT
Dax and Arjin at the controls...
DAX
Systems check complete... auxiliary
power to shields... I'd say we're
packed and ready, Benjamin...
MUCH INTERCUTTING:
DEEP SPACE: "Playing God" - REV. 12/22/93 - ACT FIVE 50A.
43 INT. OPS/RUNABOUT
SISKO
(to O'Brien)
Ready transporter.
O'BRIEN
(acknowledges)
Locking on to the containment
field...
SISKO
Energize...
43A ANGLE - THE RUNABOUT TRANSPORTER PAD (OPTICAL)
The containment field with the bright energy mass inside
phases in and out...
DAX
Chief... we're getting a phase
variation here...
O'BRIEN
Stand by. The energy fluctuations
are driving the transporter crazy.
The transporter finally locks in...
DAX
We've got it now.
DEEP SPACE: "Playing God" - REV. 12/22/93 - ACT FIVE 51.
43A CONTINUED:
O'BRIEN
(checking panels)
Switching your transporter to secure
mode. Readings are stable.
SISKO
When you're ready, Dax.
DAX
Take us out gently, Arjin.
ARJIN
Firing thrusters.
44 EXT. SPACE - DEEP SPACE NINE (OPTICAL)
As the runabout begins to move slowly away from the station...
45 INT. OPS
O'BRIEN
Energy readings from the containment
field are holding...
INTERCUTTING:
DEEP SPACE: "Playing God" - 12/17/93 - ACT FIVE 52.
46 INT. RUNABOUT
DAX
Take us to fifty KPH...
ARJIN
Confirmed... Seventeen seconds to
the wormhole...
DAX
Hold at fifty KPH...
47 INT. OPS (OPTICAL)
O'BRIEN
Ten seconds to the wormhole.
KIRA
Reading higher levels of neutrino
activity...
O'BRIEN
Five...
The wormhole explodes onto the viewscreen as the runabout
reaches it...
48 INT. RUNABOUT
DAX
A short cross to the other side and
we're home free. Rio Grande to Ops...
com links will terminate in five
seconds. See you later.
49 INT. OPS (OPTICAL)
As the ship goes into the wormhole and it closes.
KIRA
Acknowledged, Rio Grande.
(as transmission ends,
to herself)
May the prophets guide you.
50 EXT. WORMHOLE - RUNABOUT (OPTICAL)
going through...
DEEP SPACE: "Playing God" - 12/17/93 - ACT FIVE 53.
51 INT. RUNABOUT (OPTICAL)
There's an immediate reaction from the containment field...
it's fritzing, fluttering... Dax sees it, reacts, gets up,
goes to a rear panel to take readings...
DAX
(urgent)
Containment field stability is down
to eighty-five percent... every time
we pass through a vertiron node,
there's resonance leakage from the
energy mass...
ARJIN
In twenty seconds, we'll be out of
here...
DAX
We'll never make it. Field stability
is down to sixty-five percent and
falling. We've got to kill our
forward acceleration. Now!
ARJIN
All engines stop.
Blue light pours through the windows as they slow down...
the field continues to crackle...
DAX
Thirty-eight percent stability...
still falling... twenty-six percent...
ARJIN
Computer, thrusters on reverse...
two second burst...
The thrusters pop on for two seconds... ending all forward
motion...
ARJIN
All stop.
DAX
It's stabilizing... The containment
field is at twenty-seven percent...
twenty-six... holding.
She breathes a sigh of relief.
DEEP SPACE: "Playing God" - REV. 12/22/93 - ACT FIVE 54.
52 EXT. WORMHOLE - RUNABOUT (OPTICAL)
virtually still inside the wormhole... without motion, we
can see hundreds of light yellow nodes surrounding them:
these are vertiron nodes... and they create for the runabout
an incredible minefield to traverse...
53 INT. RUNABOUT
Blue light pouring in.
ARJIN
Now what.
Dax moves back to her seat... taking readings...
DAX
Well, we can't stay here. In forty-
two minutes, that energy mass
expands... and once it intersects
with one of those vertiron nodes,
they'll feel the result on the
Cardassian homeworld...
ARJIN
But the containment field is so weak
now, it'll fail as soon as we start
to move again...
DAX
(beat, a plan emerging)
I guess we'll just have to let it
fail.
ARJIN
(reacts)
Let it fail? But you said it yourself --
if we pass through even one of those
vertiron nodes without the containment
field, the energy mass will explode...
DAX
Then, we'll have to avoid them...
ARJIN
(reacts)
You're talking about precision flying
through a wormhole... it's never
been done...
Sitting down.
DEEP SPACE: "Playing God" - REV. 12/22/93 - ACT FIVE 55.
53 CONTINUED:
DAX
Until now.
ARJIN
Jadzia...
DAX
I'm a level three pilot. You're
level five. I'll do it if I have
to. But I don't have time to argue...
Arjin looks at her... shakes his head with acceptance...
ARJIN
Watch the conn readouts... I'll try
to keep at least fifty meters away
from any node...
DAX
(pressing panels)
Understood. Computer, calibrate
internal scanners to detect vertiron
radiation in the cabin... activate
sonic indicators.
A slow, repeating pulse TONE begins (24th century sonar)...
DAX
(reading)
Vertiron levels are well within safe
limits...
ARJIN
We'll start with one short thruster
blast and coast through... that'll
protect the containment field a few
extra seconds...
DAX
Thrusters ready.
ARJIN
I'm taking the inertial dampers off
line... it'll be a rougher ride but
I'll have a little more response
time...
(beat, deep breath)
Fire thrusters.
DEEP SPACE: "Playing God" - 12/17/93 - ACT FIVE 55A.
54 EXT. WORMHOLE - RUNABOUT (OPTICAL)
thrusters fire for an instant and then shut off -- the ship
inches forward...
55 INT. RUNABOUT
Very, very bumpy without the dampeners in effect... the pulse
tone gets slightly more rapid...
DEEP SPACE: "Playing God" - REV. 12/22/93 - ACT FIVE 56.
55 CONTINUED:
DAX
Velocity is forty meters per second.
COMPUTER VOICE
Warning. Containment field at ten
percent.
DAX
Sixty seconds to Gamma...
56 ANGLE (OPTICAL)
Past their heads to see the intimidating field of vertiron
nodes. The pulse tone get more rapid...
DAX
Node to starboard... bearing oh-three-
seven mark seven.
ARJIN
Firing starboard thruster...
57 EXT. WORMHOLE - RUNABOUT (OPTICAL)
As the starboard thruster fires and the ship gently adjusts
course... moving by a large node...
58 INT. RUNABOUT (OPTICAL)
The pulse tone slows down notably...
COMPUTER VOICE
Warning. Containment field has
collapsed.
ARJIN
No more margin for error...
DAX
Forty-five seconds to Gamma.
(seeing)
Node to port, bearing zero-three-
zero mark three-five-one...
ARJIN
I've got it...
The pulse tone quickens significantly...
DEEP SPACE: "Playing God" - REV. 12/22/93 - ACT FIVE 56A.
59 EXT. WORMHOLE - RUNABOUT (OPTICAL)
The port thruster fires... and the ship barely passes the
node safely...
DEEP SPACE: "Playing God" - REV. 12/21/93 - ACT FIVE 57.
60 INT. RUNABOUT
Massive shaking now... the pulse tones return to the previous
level...
DAX
(looking at sensors)
Thirty-five seconds to Gamma.
Vertiron levels are still okay...
ARJIN
(reacts to what he
sees ahead)
Jadzia... look at this...
She looks up through the window reacts as she sees --
60A OVER THEIR SHOULDER (OPTICAL)
to see an intimidating, seemingly impenetrable stretch of
vertiron nodes facing them... like icebergs blocking the
Titanic...
ARJIN
We'll never get through it...
60B RESUME
Dax feverishly pressing panels, checking scanners...
DAX
Reading a passage... adjust heading
to one three one mark four-seven...
ARJIN
Confirmed.
DAX
The sensors say it's directly ahead...
ARJIN
I don't see it...
The pulse gets steadily faster and faster...
60C OVER THEIR SHOULDER (OPTICAL)
On a collision course with the vertiron nodes...
DAX
Hold your course.
DEEP SPACE: "Playing God" - REV. 12/22/93 - ACT FIVE 57A.
60C CONTINUED:
ARJIN
I don't see it.
Suddenly, a slight break in the blockade... a hole...
ARJIN
(continuing)
I see it!
60D RESUME
ARJIN
It's less than seventeen meters
across...
DAX
The ship is only fourteen meters
wide... you've got over two meters
to work with...
The pulses come faster than ever...
60E EXT. WORMHOLE - RUNABOUT (OPTICAL)
goes into the small passage...
60F INT. RUNABOUT (OPTICAL)
And the pulses are going crazy now...
DAX
(checking)
Vertiron levels are red-lining...
The energy mass flares behind them, she looks quickly back,
then back to the job...
DAX
Five seconds to Gamma...
61 EXT. SPACE - GAMMA QUADRANT (OPTICAL)
As the wormhole opens and spits out the runabout...
DEEP SPACE: "Playing God" - 12/17/93 - ACT FIVE 57B.
62 INT. RUNABOUT
As it calms down... and they relax...
DAX
This is going to look very good on
your initiate record, Arjin.
Arjin smiles weakly...
DAX
(continuing)
Now, lets get this thing back where
it belongs.
63 EXT. SPACE - RUNABOUT (OPTICAL)
as it engages engines and zooms into space...
64 EXT. SPACE - DEEP SPACE NINE (OPTICAL)
65 INT. PROMENADE
Arjin and Dax walk to the airlock gateway... Arjin's
leaving, he has his shoulder bag, pausing...
ARJIN
There's one thing I want to do before
I go... and that's to apologize for
the things I said to you in the Lab.
DEEP SPACE: "Playing God" - 12/17/93 - ACT FIVE 58.
65 CONTINUED:
DAX
(forgiving)
That was the first time you were
really being honest with me.
ARJIN
Somehow, I always expected that
Joining would make any Trill...
(struggling)
... complete, serene, wise beyond her
years...
DAX
(dry)
And I'm none of those things...
ARJIN
What I mean is...
(beat, struggling)
... you're nothing like I expected...
DAX
I'm nothing like I expected either...
(beat)
Life after life, with each new
personality stampeding around in
your head... you get desires that
scare you, dreams that used to belong
to someone else.
(beat)
I wouldn't recommend it for
everyone... but in time I might
recommend it for you. When you're
ready.
ARJIN
I know what I have to do.
She nods, smiles... he reaches out to shake her hand... but
she kisses him on the cheek.
DAX
Good luck.
He EXITS into the gate... and she turns and smiles to
herself...
DAX
(affirmed)
I am not Curzon.
DEEP SPACE: "Playing God" - REV. 12/22/93 - ACT FIVE 59.
65 CONTINUED: (2)
She smiles to herself and as she goes into Quark's --
FADE OUT.
END OF ACT FIVE
THE END