The Ultimate Computer

Dr. Richard Daystrom, who developed the Duotronic Breakthrough in computer technology twenty five years ago, fears that he is regarded as a prodigy who has lost his touch. Obsessed with proving himself, Daystrom devises a method to use his own mental patterns to program his new M-5 computer and convinces Starfleet Command to test the M-5 by installing it on the U.S.S. Enterprise. Although Captain Kirk expresses reservations about the machine's presence, and the consequential reduction in the starship's crew, the tests appear successful at first. But when Commodore Robert Wesley leads a squad of four starships in practice maneuvers against the Enterprise, the M-5 takes over complete control of the starship and responds as though the attack is real, destroying the crew of the starship Excalibur. Dr. Daystrom suffers a nervous breakdown. Kirk, treating the M-5 like an errant child, forces the machine to realize what it has done. This enables Scotty and Spock to "pull the plug" on the machine, restoring the Enterprise to Captain Kirk's control.