In the Star Trek pilot episode The Cage, Captain Christopher Pike has been captured by the Talosians. They have placed him in an underground cell, and forced him to relive the attack on Rigel 7. This time, instead of fighting for his crew, his task was to protect Vena, the woman who appeared on the surface of Talos 4, only to disappear with the illusory scientists conjured up by the Talosians. Still, he killed the Kaylar warrior to protect this woman who may be an illusion too.
Now she has joined him in his cell, and urges him repeatedly to choose another dream and let her live it with him. After the painful memory dredged up by the Talosians, after being forced to kill a sentient life form for her, one can imagine the responses that flood Captain Pike’s mind. Instead, he focuses upon escaping. To do that, he must know about his captors. After repeated urging, she tells him something of Talosian history.
According to Vena, warfare drove the surviving Talosians underground thousands of years ago. There, they concentrated on developing their mental powers. But in time, they found they had fallen into a trap of their own devising. Their dreams become more important than reality. Consequently, they gave up travel, building, and creating, content to just sit, living and reliving other lives. Today’s Talosians live vicariously off the imagined and remembered adventures wished up by descendants of species captured long ago, when their ancestors dared to travel the galaxy.
If Vena is real, then she aided the Talosians in capturing him. Obviously, the Talosians will expect Pike to breed with her, to insure a constant, unending supply of dreams unique to the human species. Disgusted, he tells Vena: you aren’t real. Moments later, Vena collapses. Don’t punish me, she screams before she disappears, leaving behind only the dress made of the same type of metal fabric as the robes worn by the Talosians. Pike looks into the corridor, sees a Talosian hurry away. While he is still angry with her, but pain she experienced shakes him.
What is one to make of Pike’s captors? While their ancestors created this underground biosphere, present-day Talosians have forgotten how to repair the machinery that sustains it. Plugged into their captives’ minds, they dream away their existence.
Do you find yourself falling into patterns, doing the same things every day? While routines add structure and value to our lives, there is always the danger of thoughtless obedience to the routine, like a slave following the dictates of his owner. In such a rut, the joy of participating in those beloved activities starts to fade. Surrounded by earthen walls, all you can see is the path pounded down by your footsteps.
Are you living out your life as fully as possible? Are you accomplishing everything you wish to? Or is there more that you not only could, but should do? Activity for its own sake is meaningless. But then again, so is activity driven merely by routine.
Now she has joined him in his cell, and urges him repeatedly to choose another dream and let her live it with him. After the painful memory dredged up by the Talosians, after being forced to kill a sentient life form for her, one can imagine the responses that flood Captain Pike’s mind. Instead, he focuses upon escaping. To do that, he must know about his captors. After repeated urging, she tells him something of Talosian history.
According to Vena, warfare drove the surviving Talosians underground thousands of years ago. There, they concentrated on developing their mental powers. But in time, they found they had fallen into a trap of their own devising. Their dreams become more important than reality. Consequently, they gave up travel, building, and creating, content to just sit, living and reliving other lives. Today’s Talosians live vicariously off the imagined and remembered adventures wished up by descendants of species captured long ago, when their ancestors dared to travel the galaxy.
If Vena is real, then she aided the Talosians in capturing him. Obviously, the Talosians will expect Pike to breed with her, to insure a constant, unending supply of dreams unique to the human species. Disgusted, he tells Vena: you aren’t real. Moments later, Vena collapses. Don’t punish me, she screams before she disappears, leaving behind only the dress made of the same type of metal fabric as the robes worn by the Talosians. Pike looks into the corridor, sees a Talosian hurry away. While he is still angry with her, but pain she experienced shakes him.
What is one to make of Pike’s captors? While their ancestors created this underground biosphere, present-day Talosians have forgotten how to repair the machinery that sustains it. Plugged into their captives’ minds, they dream away their existence.
Do you find yourself falling into patterns, doing the same things every day? While routines add structure and value to our lives, there is always the danger of thoughtless obedience to the routine, like a slave following the dictates of his owner. In such a rut, the joy of participating in those beloved activities starts to fade. Surrounded by earthen walls, all you can see is the path pounded down by your footsteps.
Are you living out your life as fully as possible? Are you accomplishing everything you wish to? Or is there more that you not only could, but should do? Activity for its own sake is meaningless. But then again, so is activity driven merely by routine.
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