a new government came to power.
They decided
to abandon the plan.
They were afraid that I
might be discovered,
that it would lead to war.
Not quite the face you remember.
Not quite.
A lifetime of violence
will do that.
They broke my nose
my jaw...
but so much is the same.
The eyes...
Surely you recognize the eyes.
Yes.
Our eyes reflect our lives,
don't they?
And yours are so confident.
So I'm not as tall
as you expected.
Well, I had always hoped
I might hit two meters.
As had I.
How did you end up on Remus?
They sent me there to die.
How could a mere human
survive the dilithium mines?
Not that it mattered,
as I was no longer
part of their plans
against the Federation.
In those terrible depths
lived only the damned.
Together with the Reman slaves,
I was condemned
to an existence of unceasing
labor and starvation
under the brutal heel
of the Romulan guards.
Only the very strongest
had any hope of survival.
I was only a child
when they took me.
Then I didn't see the sun
or the stars again
for nearly ten years.
The only thing
the Romulan guards
hated more than the Remans
was me.
But one man took pity on me.
The man that became my Viceroy.
He protected me
from the cruelty of the guards
and taught me how to survive.
And in that dark place where
there was nothing of myself
I found my Reman brothers.
They showed me the only true
kindness I have ever known.
You're doing this
to liberate the Remans?
That is the single thought
behind everything I have done...
from building the Scimitar
at a secret base
to assembling my army
finally coming to Romulus
in force.
I knew they would never
give us our freedom.
I would have to take it.
And how many Romulans died
for your freedom?
Too many.
But the point is, that finally
the Empire is realizing
that there is a better way.
And that way is peace.
You don't trust me.
I have no reason to.
You have every reason.
If you had lived my life
and experienced
the suffering of my people
you would be standing
where I am.
And if you had lived my life,
you would understand
my responsibility
to the Federation.
I cannot allow
my personal feelings
to unduly influence
my decisions.
All I have are
my personal feelings.
I want to know
what it means to be human.
The Remans have given me
a future, but you can tell me
about my past.
I can tell you about my past.
Were we Picards always warriors?
I think of myself
as an explorer.
Well, were we always explorers?
I was the first Picard
to leave our solar system.
It caused quite a stir
in the family.
But...
I'd spent my youth...
Looking up at the stars dreaming
about what was up there.
About...
New worlds.
I'm trying to believe you,
Shinzon.
If there is one ideal
that the Federation
holds most dear
it is that all men...
all races can be united.
What better example
than a Starfleet captain
standing in the Romulan Senate.
Nothing would make me more proud
than to take your hand
in friendship...
in time... when that trust
has been earned.
Captain, we have had
an unauthorized access
into the main computer.
Source?
It's going to take some time
to figure that out, Captain.
The data stream was rerouted
through substations
all over the ship.
What programs were accessed?
Well...
that's what I can't figure out.
It's mostly just
basic stellar cartography.
Star charts, communications
protocols, some uplinks
from colony tracking stations.
It's not even
restricted material.
Nevertheless,
we must learn the source.
Keep me informed.
Captain, there's something else.
I was reviewing the sensor logs.
Look at this.
When the Scimitar de-cloaked
there was a momentary spike
in the tertiary EM band.
There.
You're not going
to believe this.
It's thalaron.
I thought thalaron radiation
was theoretical.
Which is why our initial
scans didn't pick it up,
but he's got it, Captain.
Thalaron research
was banned in the Federation
because of