Star Trek: The Motion Picture Technology and Modernization Quotes

How we cite our quotes: All quotations are from Star Trek: The Motion Picture.

Quote #1

ILIA: I've been programmed by V'Ger to observe and record normal functioning of the carbon-based units infesting U.S.S. Enterprise.

Note Robo-Ilia's word choice here: the crew is "infesting" the Enterprise. That's the way we talk about bugs or diseases. Ew. Right of the bat, it's clear that V'Ger is not a fan of biology.

Quote #2

DECKER: What does that mean?

ILIA: When my examination is complete, all carbon units will be reduced to data patterns.

Do you think the lives of you and everyone you've ever known could be squeezed into "data patterns"? We don't think so. Regardless, V'Ger is only able to think in terms of data.

Quote #3

SPOCK: I am seeing images of planets, moons, stars, whole galaxies all stored in here. It could be a record of V'Ger's entire journey.

When Spock goes solo into the deepest recesses of V'Ger, he's taken on a holographic tour of its long journey across the universe. In many ways, this is the identity that it has constructed for itself, which isn't all that different from the way that we humans do it. It's all about your experiences.