as I was shaping the clay,
the image of the mask
was exceptionally clear in my mind.
The design seemed to flow naturally.
Have you been in my quarters?
No, Counsellor.
Someone left an object in my room.
Some kind of artefact.
It has something very similar
to this.
You don't know anything?
I do not.
Excuse me, Counsellor.
Can you help me with my terminal?
It's not working right.
Perhaps we should investigate
this matter further.
The symbols don't match anything
in the linguistics banks.
Some alien information has been
downloaded into our computer core.
I don't know how,
but it's reconfiguring our systems.
- How did it get in?
- I traced it to the sensor array.
The sensors?
They've been scanning
that comet for 18 hours.
Those energy readings from the comet.
That sensor echo.
- We don't know what's inside.
- It's time we found out.
Could we use phasers to melt down
the shell of the comet?
A dispersed wide-field beam
might do the trick.
We'll work out the firing parameters.
What do you think, Data?
What's wrong?
I believe I recognise these symbols.
- How?
- I do not know.
You think your systems
have been affected?
It is a possibility.
I do not believe my systems
are impaired.
But I will run a full diagnostic
to make certain.
What do you think they mean?
Boundary.
Border.
Road.
Companion.
Message.
Messenger.
What's that one?
Death.
Captain, phasers are set for wide
dispersal. Ten percent maximum power.
The beam will terminate
once the core is reached.
Very well, Mr Worf.
Fire.
Phasers have terminated.
Mr Data, what are we looking at?
Is it a ship?
I do not know, sir.
The object is nearly solid.
It is composed primarily of fortanium
and several unknown materials.
It is over 87 million years old.
That's older than the comet.
Could someone
from the system have built it?
There are no technologically
advanced cultures in that system now.
But perhaps,
87 million years ago, there were.
Why would they hide something
like that inside a comet?
Possibly, it accumulated
those frozen gases
over time
as it travelled through space.
In any case, it's responsible
for our system anomalies.
They're using our sensor beam
to transmit information
into our computers and replicators.
But the question remains,
what is its purpose?
Captain, I believe this object
is an informational archive.
- Why do you say that?
- I do not know.
However, I seem to have an intuitive
understanding of its function.
Data, the internal structure
is pretty complex.
Its repetitive node configuration
might suggest a database.
But it could be anything.
I don't see how you can know
for sure what it is.
Do you believe you are
in communication with that object?
It is a possibility, sir.
I recommend a level-one
diagnostic of my positronic net
to determine if that is the case.
Very well.
Mr La Forge, give him a hand.
Do you think
it's just making contact?
It's possible. But if that is an
archive from an ancient civilisation,
we should allow it to do so.
But we must be careful.
Mr Worf, keep an eye on the sensors.
Any danger, sever the connection.
Aye, sir.
Come.
- Captain?
- Come in, Number One.
We've confined the system corruption.
It won't spread any further.
But we still have alien symbols
floating around on our computer.
This is quite a collection.
I've seen these all over the ship.
They all look the same.
Primitive and non-functional.
Ceremonial
and deceptively primitive.
Only an advanced society could have
built that object out there.
These artefacts played a ritualistic
role in that society, I think.
Do you think Data could be right?
Could this be some alien library?
It's possible. If so, it's a find
of enormous significance.
That library seems designed to do
so much more than store information.
Who knows
what we might learn from this?
I keep seeing this design.
It is of particular significance.
What could it mean?
The concept of