JANEWAY: You want a confession, Doctor? All right. I’ve become romantically involved with a hologram. If that’s possible.
EMH: Tell me what happened.
JANEWAY: Well, you know the story. Girl meets boy, girl modifies boy’s subroutines
EMH: Did you have intimate relations?
JANEWAY: That’s none of your business. Let’s just say it was a memorable three days.
EMH: I don’t see the problem.
JANEWAY: Don’t you? Michael Sullivan is exactly my type. Attractive, intelligent. We share the same interests. And if there’s something I don’t like, I can simply change it.
EMH: I’ve noticed that humans usually try to change the people they fall in love with. What’s the difference?
JANEWAY: In this case, it works. We had a picnic by the lake yesterday afternoon. Michael drifted off to sleep. His head was lying on my shoulder and I remember thinking, this is close to perfect. Then he began to snore. Did I nudge him with my elbow hoping he’d roll over and stop? Did I whisper in his ear to wake him? No. Why bother? When I could simply access the computer and alter his vocal algorithms? And that’s exactly what I was about to do, when I realised that everything around me was an illusion, including him. So I left. I almost wrote him a note to say goodbye. Can you believe that, a Dear John letter to a hologram?
EMH: I understand your trepidation, but you’re the captain. You can’t have a relationship with a member of your crew. They’re all your subordinates. So where does that leave you? The occasional dalliance with a passing alien? Voyager could be in the Delta Quadrant for a very long time. A hologram may be the only logical alternative.
JANEWAY: He’s not real.
EMH: He’s as real as I am. Photons and forcefields, flesh and blood. It’s all the same as long as your feelings are real. He makes a joke, you laugh. Is that an illusion? He says something that makes you think. Does it matter how his molecules are aligned? Did it ever occur to you that it’s not just a question of whether or not he’s real?
JANEWAY: What do you mean?
EMH: I think you should stop trying to control every aspect of this relationship. Romance is born out of differences as well as similarities. Out of the unexpected, as well as the familiar.
JANEWAY: Maybe I just needed to be sure that he’d love me back.
EMH: But isn’t that the risk you always take, hologram or not? All I know is, Michael Sullivan was up in that tree shouting your name.
JANEWAY: I’ve never been afraid of taking risks.
EMH: Then perhaps, next time, you should just let him snore.
—
JANEWAY: Computer, is Fair Haven character Michael Sullivan still intact?
COMPUTER: Affirmative.
JANEWAY: Activate him. Hello.
MICHAEL: You disappeared on me, Katie. I woke up and you’d gone.
JANEWAY: I had some thinking to do.
MICHAEL: Are you done?
JANEWAY: Yes. I’m leaving Fair Haven.
MICHAEL: Why?
JANEWAY: Because.
MICHAEL: That’s not a very good reason.
JANEWAY: The situation is complicated.
MICHAEL: Another man?
JANEWAY: No.
MICHAEL: Your friends, they don’t approve of me?
JANEWAY: They think you’re charming.
MICHAEL: Are you not ready to settle down yet?
JANEWAY: I’m as ready as I’ll ever be.
MICHAEL: You’re not making any sense.
JANEWAY: No, I guess I’m not.
MICHAEL: I have a feeling that you won’t be forgetting us that easily, Fair Haven has that effect on people. But there’s one thing I want you to know. I love you, Katie.
JANEWAY: I might actually be passing this way in six or seven weeks. Maybe I’ll stop by the pub.
MICHAEL: See that you do.
(She kisses him.)
JANEWAY: Oh computer, end programme. Wait. I want to make one more modification to the character.
COMPUTER: Specify.
JANEWAY: Deny Kathryn Janeway any future access to his behavioural subroutines.
COMPUTER: Modification complete.
JANEWAY: Save programme.
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