to know me.
Cyalodin.
Self-inflicted.
[Tape Recorder Rewinding]
Must destroy ourselves!
Alien upon us,
the enemy from within.
The enemy!
All this ...
self-inflicted.
Mass suicide.
[Children's Voices Shouting]
You missed me.
I did not.
Uh-huh.
Hi.
Who are you?
Kirk of the star ship
Enterprise.
I'm Tommy Starnes.
Uh, this is Mary,
Steve, Ray, and Don.
Come on.
Play with us.
Come on.
" Ring around the rosy "
" Pockets full of posy "
" Ashes, ashes "
" All fall down! "
Ha ha ha!
Ha ha ha!
" Ring around the rosy "
" Pockets full of posy "
" Ashes, ashes "
" All fall down! "
Ha ha ha!
Ha ha ha!
Space -- the final frontier.
These are the voyages
of the star ship Enterprise.
Its five-year mission --
to explore
strange new worlds,
to seek out new life
and new civilizations,
to boldly go where
no man has gone before.
Captain 's Log :
supplementary.
We have buried the members of
the Starnes exploration party.
Everyone has been
deeply affected
by what has happened here ...
with some important
exceptions.
Let's go and play.
Come on!
Let's go!
- I'm gonna get you!
- I'm gonna get you!
[Kirk]
No sign of grief.
No, Jim.
No indication of any kind.
Or of fear.
They seem completely
secure and unafraid.
You insist their behaviour
indicates traumatic shock?
I don't insist, Jim,
but I can't dismiss
the possibility.
A child suppresses the fact
that both parents are dead?
I can't believe it.
Humans have
an amazing capacity
for believing
what they choose
and excluding
that which is painful.
Not to this extent.
It's incredible.
What those children saw
is incredible.
The way
those deaths occurred,
any reaction is possible
including
lacunar amnesia.
That's my diagnosis.
Until specific tests
can be made,
it remains that.
I'll be guided by that opinion,
Doctor, for the present.
What about
questioning them?
Not until the fabric
of the traumatization weakens
or you come up with another
explanation for their behaviour.
Forcing them to see
this experience now
could cause
permanent damage.
Accepted, Doctor.
Careful.
I'm - I'm sorry,
Captain Kirk.
Children.
Children,
listen to me.
It's time
to go up to the ship.
Oh, not yet.
But -- But we're just
beginning to have fun.
Not now.
I'm sorry.
I'm sorry.
Go up with
the doctor.
Come on.
It's time to be going.
Whatever happened here ...
is locked up
inside those children.
The attack on
Professor Starnes' party
must surely have
been unprovoked.
Attack?
Mass suicide is
what it seems to be.
I stand corrected,
Captain.
"Induced" would be
a more precise term.
Induced
by an outside force.
Such as?
The release of bacteria.
Or a helpless
mental depression ...
and a state
of suicidal anxiety ...
could have been
chemically induced.
What would make
the children immune?
I do not know,
but it is possible.
Then the children
would have been exempted
by conscious design.
A valid assumption,
I would say.
And their present behaviour
explained by
a fear of punishment.
Or the promise
of reward.
An attack
by an unknown assailant ...
on an uninhabited planet.
This planet
is uninhabited, Mr. Spock,
to the best
of our information?
At present, yes.
[Tricorder Signals]
Odd.
Getting a reading?
There seems to be
some disturbance
coming from that cave.
Picking up
any life-forms, Mr. Spock?
Definitely
not humanoid, Captain.
Impossible to make any
specific identification.
The readings
do not correlate
with any known
information.
Oh, that's strange.
That's ... very strange.
I'm getting a feeling
of anxiety in this place.
It doesn't sound
very scientific,
does it?
But it's strongest
right here.
I'm not aware
of it, Captain.
Maybe that's what's registering
on your tricorder.
I'm not familiar
with anxiety,
but I wasn't aware it could
be registered on sensors.
No.
Of course, that's --
That's me.
That's me.
But what's
causing your ...
tricorder to