History Recap / StarTrekPicardS2E08Mercy

** Picard openly states he is a fully Earth-born human but Wells doesn't buy it.

Kore, back at the Soong residence, continues digging into her father's files, with the help of a gift from Q. She gets Dr. Soong to admit the truth: she was grown in a vat and has no mother. Furious, she walks outside... having taken the gift from Q, a vial of serum labeled "FREEDOM" that has cured her genetic condition. Dr. Soong, wallowing in misery, is contacted by Queen Jurati, who plays to his ego: we know what happens if Renée Picard flies the ''Shango'', but if she isn't, Earth will continue its path of ecological collapse... and the world will turn to the EvilutionaryBiologist and SocialDarwinist Dr. Soong to save them. Soong uses his connections with [[PrivateMilitaryContractors Spearhead Operations]] to hire a small group of mercenaries, and Queen Jurati begins to assimilate them.

Picard and Guinan are imprisoned by Agent Wells. He believes them to be extraterrestrials in possession of ClarkesThirdLaw-level technology. He has them locked up in a basement, off the books, and can make them disappear. Even worse, he has some corroborating evidence: the sarcastic rant Rios gave to ICE while he was their captive, as well as Rios's communicator from Teresa's clinic. Guinan is separated off and interrogated by a separate FBI agent: Q, who has finally responded to the summoning. He admits he's dying... and not with a bang, but a whimper. Nonetheless, he manages to give Guinan a vital clue: "Humans. Stuck in the past, all of them." This clue turns out to be the key for Picard, who digs into the Agent Wells's DarkAndTroubledPast: as a child, he stumbled upon some aliens who grabbed him by the head before being beamed out. Picard asks if the aliens weren't actually trying to mind-meld with him: the {{flashback}}, depicted on screen, corroborates his estimation that the aliens were Vulcans who were trying to [[LaserGuidedAmnesia remove the memory from the boy's head]]. Having gotten to the truth of Wells's past, Picard admits his own, and begs the agent for help. He may not get it -- Wells is fired at the end of the episode -- but Guinan consoles him by implying that she is, indeed, an extraterrestrial; and, whatever the case, the three are free to address their own concerns.

Kore, back at the Soong residence, continues digging into her father's files, with the help of a gift from Q. She gets Dr. Soong to admit the truth: she was grown in a vat and has no mother. Furious, she walks outside... having taken the gift from Q, a vial of serum labeled "FREEDOM" that has cured her genetic condition. Dr. Soong, wallowing in misery, is contacted by Queen Jurati, who plays to his ego: we know what happens if Renee Picard flies the ''Shango'', but if she isn't, Earth will continue its path of ecological collapse... and the world will turn to the EvilutionaryBiologist and SocialDarwinist Dr. Soong to save them. Soong uses his connections with [[PrivateMilitaryContractors Spearhead Operations]] to hire a small group of mercenaries, and Queen Jurati begins to assimilate them.

** The Borg Queen reveals the deviation in the timeline. In the prime timeline, Renee Picard and the Europa Mission find proof of alien life and a way to reverse climate change, leading to the eventual formation of the Federation. In the Confederation timeline, Adam Soong's work instead was used to head off Earth's devastation.

* SpottingTheThread: Guinan is able to expertly figure out this is an "off the books" operation given they're in a small office room without a working camera. Her bartender expertise also allows her to realize this is all personal for Wells.

** The Borg Queen reveals the deviation in the timeline. In the prime timeline, Renee Picard and the Europa Mission find proof of alien life, leading to the eventual formation of the Federation. In the Confederation timeline, Adam Soong's work instead was used to head off Earth's devastation.