The Pilot: In Thy Image
Originally proposed by Alan Dean Foster, and written at a time when the characters for Phase II weren't clearly known (including references to "Lt. Vulcan" as Xon was yet to be named or cast), In Thy Image was changed and changed until it eventually became Star Trek: The Motion Picture. However, the core elements of the story remained the same, resulting in Foster getting a story credit for the film. This version was intended to be a single episode. Essentially the V'Ger probe became life as a machine intelligence "we of the Wah, servants of the god N'sa" (which was intended to be pronounced "en-sa" so as to not let viewers onto the NASA reference too early. The mission of the vessel was to return to Earth and wipe out all biological containments from the planet. However, in this version of the story there are robot duplicates of dangerous animals, and then duplicates of the crew. It ends up being McCoy who saves the day, as he creates a robot version with a bomb in it, and when the robots return to the Wan vessel, they take the bomb on board. This shows the superiority of organics over technology and the Wan back down. Note that in the treatment there was no "Wan" or "N'sa" reveal. It may have been intended that there would be a later follow up episode. Harold Livingston re-wrote the premise and produced the first script. In his version, elements which are more familiar to The Motion Picture become evident, such as the involvement of the Klingons at the start. The robot version of Ilia is the only one that remains from Foster's version, as we later see it in the film. In this version the Wan is renamed to Vejur and NASA is specifically referenced. The ending is the biggest difference between Livingston's version and the eventual film in the film, both Ilia and Decker are written out. In the Phase II version, they devise a plan where the Enterprise communicates with Vejur and convinces it to spare the citizens of Earth as they are in fact Vejur's creator. Vejur then refuses all further contact with the humans and leaves, after Ilia re-appears on the Enterprise.