I was a
character in
Star Trek TNG. As I walked through the door to my own quarters, I was informed that I was urgently needed to beam aboard a nearby alien ship to act as a
diplomat. "Very well", I thought, as I sat down in a chair that was hooked up to a
transporter.
When I arrived in the other ship, a creature that looked like a dog appeared before me. I knew, however, that it was a sentient alien, and that it was hostile. The alien immediately leapt at me, and I tried to fight back. During the battle, I suddenly recalled that that particular species had a weak spot on their forehead. I started to rub the alien on its weak spot, quickly making it unconscious. I ran out of the room, where I encountered more of the same creatures, which I rendered harmless the same way as with the first one.
I went further downstairs to the decks below, and noticed that the ship didn't look like a spaceship at all -- rather, it looked like an ordinary house, with wooden stairs, wallpaper on the walls, and doors with handles. As I reached the ground floor, I was startled to see a door that seemingly led out into a garden, with green grass and blue skies. I went out on the terrace, and realized that it had to be a simulation. I was dead certain that I was in a space ship, but the garden had to be the dog-aliens' version of the holodeck. I said "Let it rain!" to the computer, and soon, the blue skies turned grey, and the rain started pouring. I said "Stop the rain!", and the garden quickly returned to its previous state.
I knew somehow that the computer was programmed to not answer any questions from me directly, but I was determined to exploit it so that I could find out whatever I wanted about the aliens and the ship. I tried with a test question: "If I am human, let a little yellow bird fly over my head.". And true enough, a small bird the size and colour of a canary appeared out of nothing. I tried with a second question: " If I am not human, let a little blue bird fly over my head." Which, according to my expectations, doesn't happen.
I order the computer to let the yellow bird fly away. I start thinking that I may be able to make the computer reveal the information that I need, for instance by ordering it to create a bird with a piece of paper in its beak, on which is written the information that I need. But before I can open my mouth, a little sky-blue bird flies in from nowhere, and starts pecking my face frantically. As the dream begins to fade, I ponder the significance of what has just happened. The blue bird was what was going to appear if I were not human. Did making the yellow bird disappear somehow make me inhuman?