You worked on IBM, Mark. You’re supposed to have antibodies for this kind of crap.
+1 for the Star Trek reference!!
— Abhik 
Aww, and I was hoping for a “The Prisoner” joke as well…
+1 for the Star Trek reference!!
1984.
“You will enjoy no privilege of rank, no privilege of person.”
— cooper
+1 for the Star Trek reference!!1984.
No, Star Trek. Chain of Command Part II, to be exist.
Sigh.
O’Brien held up his left hand, its back towards Winston, with the thumb hidden and the four fingers extended.
‘How many fingers am I holding up, Winston?’
‘Four.’
‘And if the party says that it is not four but five — then how many?’
‘Four.’
The word ended in a gasp of pain. The needle of the dial had shot up to fifty-five. The sweat had sprung out all over Winston’s body. The air tore into his lungs and issued again in deep groans which even by clenching his teeth he could not stop. O’Brien watched him, the four fingers still extended. He drew back the lever. This time the pain was only slightly eased.
‘How many fingers, Winston?’
‘Four.’
The needle went up to sixty.
‘How many fingers, Winston?’
‘Four! Four! What else can I say? Four!’
The needle must have risen again, but he did not look at it. The heavy, stern face and the four fingers filled his vision. The fingers stood up before his eyes like pillars, enormous, blurry, and seeming to vibrate, but unmistakably four.
‘How many fingers, Winston?’
‘Four! Stop it, stop it! How can you go on? Four! Four!’
‘How many fingers, Winston?’
‘Five! Five! Five!’
‘No, Winston, that is no use. You are lying. You still think there are four. How many fingers, please?’
‘Four! five! Four! Anything you like. Only stop it, stop the pain!’
Jacques: Right, but Mark’s phrasing is a clear allusion to the Star Trek episode. Certainly the episode drew inspiration from that part of 1984, but Mark’s “There. Are. Four. Receipts!” is structurally identical to Picard’s statement that “There. Are. Four. Lights!”, so I think it’s first-and-foremost a Trek reference.
You can read the whole thing here.
The (justifiably famous) ‘fingers’ scene (of which I gave an excerpt, above) is in Part 3, Chapter 2.
As much as I admire Star Trek TNG (and that episode, in particular), I’m just flabbergasted.
Sorry. Our comments passed in the aether.
I”ll concede the phraseology is a little closer to Picard’s in the Star Trek episode than to Winston Smith’s in 1984.
But (I think you’ll agree) the whole Star Trek scene (including Picard’s admission to Troy, at the end, that he actually thought he saw five lights) is an homage to 1984.
That’s a fair point. And yes, I’ve read 1984, and it is justifiably classic. I just wasn’t sure this post was supposed to reference it directly. (It certainly does so indirectly, at the least.)
As an aside, I think Picard’s remark to Troy is definitely the best part of that episode. The whole thing becomes so much more meaningful when you realize that he really couldn’t hold out….
Agreed.
I still think, though, that Mark’s experience with the Expense Reporting System sounds a little more like this:
‘And why do you imagine that we bring people to this place?’
‘To make them confess.’
‘No, that is not the reason. Try again.’
‘To punish them.’
‘No!’ exclaimed O’Brien. His voice had changed extraordinarily, and his face had suddenly become both stern and animated. ‘No! Not merely to extract your confession, not to punish you. Shall I tell you why we have brought you here? To cure you! To make you sane! Will you understand, Winston, that no one whom we bring to this place ever leaves our hands uncured?
So, Jacques, you think that
THERE. ARE. FOUR. RECEIPTS!
sounds more like
‘No!’ exclaimed O’Brien. His voice had changed extraordinarily, and his face had suddenly become both stern and animated. ‘No! Not merely to extract your confession, not to punish you. Shall I tell you why we have brought you here? To cure you! To make you sane! Will you understand, Winston, that no one whom we bring to this place ever leaves our hands uncured?
than
THERE — ARE — FOUR — LIGHTS!
??
You can count me in on being “flabbergasted”, too.
— Lanny Heidbreder
And yes, I know that I am comparing the antagonist’s words against the victim’s; I was merely comparing the last, most vehement part of each quote. At any rate, making sense doesn’t seem to be part of this conversation.
— Lanny Heidbreder
http://www.voyager.cz/tng/epizody/137chainofcommandiitrans.htm
> But I’ve told you, I believe you. I didn’t ask you about Minos Korva.
> I asked how many lights you see.
> There are four lights.
> I don’t understand how you can be so mistaken.
— Anonymous
What the FUCK are you people arguing about?! This is the internet; we don’t do that here.
— Mark
> What the FUCK are you people arguing about?!
Hah, indeed.
— Ryan
What the fuck indeed!