Trivia and In-Jokes
About the Story:
I’ve been on a Star Trek: Voyager kick for a while. I was reading
some things on Wikipedia about the EMH and found out about the episode “Latent
Image”, when he experienced crippling guilt over the death of a crewmember and,
essentially, went crazy because of it. I watched the aforementioned episode and,
the end of it really touched me, when he was reading the book of poetry. He
sounded like he wanted to cry, plus he needed a hug. Now, AL couldn’t be on
Voyager, because she’s already on board the Enterprise. However,
that’s what the holodeck is for. I thought of the concept of the EMH deciding
that he needed someone who could understand what he was going through and ask
the computer to create someone like that. So, the computer created AL, because,
by then, she’s gone through Data and the emotion chip.
Story:
“In that book, which is my memory, on the first page of the chapter
that is the day when I first met you appear the words, ‘Here begins a new life.’
”: This is the last line taken from “Latent Image”, when the Doctor is
reading La Vita Nuova (“The New Life”) that Captain Janeway left for him.
Treatments for ocular ailments: There’s a drug in the Trek-verse called Retinax V. It’s actually for farsightedness. Captain Kirk is allergic to the stuff, hence why he had to wear reading glasses. AL is nearsighted (just like I am) and her glasses, due to something that happened in her past, actually give her better vision than normal, hence why she wears them even in the 24th century.
“Tell me your story again. Every detail.”: This is from Doctor Who, episode “Arc of Infinity”.
“Lieutenant Torres enhanced my emotional subroutines so I could experience an opera.”: The Doctor mentioned this in the Voyager episode, “Imperfection”.
Attacked on Amargosa Station: From Star Trek Generations.