Picard’s Desperate Plea and the Deadly Portal Reveal
Plot Beats
The narrative micro-steps within this event
Picard passionately pleads with Redblock to get Whalen to Sickbay by fixing their computer, sparking confusion in Redblock who doesn't understand the concept of a computer.
Data interrupts with a detailed, technical explanation of a computer, irritating Leech, who demands to kill Data out of frustration.
Who Was There
Characters present in this moment
Urgent and resolute with cautious optimism, masking underlying tension and fatigue from prolonged captivity.
Captain Picard passionately pleads with Redblock to fix the computer and allow the wounded Whalen's transfer to Sickbay, simultaneously eyeing the exit portal as a possible escape route. He strategically negotiates safe passage for Redblock and Leech, balancing caution with resolve.
- • Secure medical aid for the wounded Whalen
- • Negotiate a safe passage to escape the simulation
- • Maintain control over escalating violence
- • Preserve crew survival
- • The exit portal is the key to their escape
- • Redblock and Leech can be reasoned with despite their menace
Calm and methodical, underpinned by a protective vigilance toward his human crewmates.
Data provides a precise, technical explanation of a computer to Redblock, highlighting the cultural and knowledge gap. He identifies the reappearance of the exit portal and acts decisively by neutralizing the thug's pistol and physically subduing him, protecting the crew.
- • Explain technology to bridge understanding
- • Locate and indicate the exit portal
- • Protect Picard and crew from violent threat
- • Maintain order amid chaos
- • Knowledge and logic can influence foes
- • Physical intervention is necessary to prevent violence
Concentrated and determined, balancing anxiety with emerging professional responsibility.
Wesley Crusher is working intently outside the holodeck during the sudden glitch that transports the group to the snowy alien landscape and back, his focus underscoring the external technical efforts to regain control and assist the trapped crew inside.
- • Diagnose and repair holodeck malfunction
- • Support trapped crew’s safe extraction
- • Maintain operational stability on the bridge
- • Technical expertise can restore order
- • Crew safety depends on swift repair
A volatile mix of irritation and terror, masking shaky confidence but driven by fear and aggression.
Leech grows increasingly hostile and irritated by Data’s explanation, expressing a desire to kill him. He trembles in fear during the sudden holodeck glitch into the snowy alien landscape, revealing vulnerability beneath aggression. Later, he nervously laughs with the others before cautiously following Redblock through the portal.
- • Eliminate Data who frustrates him
- • Survive the glitch and the negotiation
- • Follow Redblock’s lead for safety
- • Maintain control over situation through intimidation
- • Data is a threat
- • Escape through portal is essential for survival
Amused and dangerously confident, masking underlying greed and readiness to resort to violence.
Redblock is intrigued and amused by the concept of a computer and the two-way exit portal. His gleeful laughter reveals a menacing confidence. He commands his thug to prepare to kill Picard and the crew after their departure, showing cold ruthlessness.
- • Understand and exploit the exit portal
- • Maintain control over his henchmen
- • Eliminate Picard and crew after securing escape
- • Obtain the mysterious item
- • The exit portal can be used for their advantage
- • Violence is a viable tool to secure dominance
Aggressive readiness, quickly shifting to surprise and defeat upon being overpowered.
The thug carries a large pistol aimed at Picard as ordered by Redblock. When Data pinches the pistol’s muzzle closed, the thug reacts aggressively but is quickly physically subdued by Data, rendering him incapable of violent action.
- • Obey Redblock’s orders to threaten and kill
- • Maintain armed intimidation
- • Retain position of power within group
- • Lethal force is necessary to control enemies
- • Backing down is not an option
Objects Involved
Significant items in this scene
The thug’s large pistol functions as a tangible symbol of lethal threat and control, being aggressively aimed at Picard. Data neutralizes it by pinching the muzzle closed, effectively disarming the immediate danger and marking a pivotal moment where violence is checked.
Location Details
Places and their significance in this event
Dixon Hill’s Office serves as the primary setting where the tense negotiation unfolds, embodying the fragile boundary between the noir simulation and reality. The office acts as a confined stage for confrontation, negotiation, and violent threat, heightening the claustrophobic suspense.
The snowy alien landscape is a violent holodeck glitch that forcibly transports all present to a brutal, howling frozen environment, serving as a terrifying interlude that exposes the instability of the holodeck’s reality and shakes the confidence of the antagonists.
Narrative Connections
How this event relates to others in the story
"Wesley's Holodeck repair triggers a violent environmental glitch, impacting the trapped crew and revealing the precariousness of their rescue attempt."
"Redblock and Leech's decision to step through the Holodeck exit portal out of greed directly causes their dematerialization and death, showing the fatal boundary between fiction and reality."
Key Dialogue
"PICARD: If we can find the way of getting him to our Sickbay by fixing our computer --"
"REDBLOCK: Computer? I do not know this word."
"DATA: A mechanical or electronic apparatus capable of carrying out repetitious and highly complex mathematical operations at high speed."
"LEECH: Enough! Let me kill him. He's beginning to irritate me."
"REDBLOCK: Remarkable. Is this a two-way passage? Can one enter your world and return to this one simply by stepping through?"
"PICARD: Yes. Allow us to help Mister Whalen, and we'll return with the item."
"REDBLOCK: By God, sir, you are a scamp! To think that I would wait here..."
"REDBLOCK: Stand back, Mister Hill. I would shoot you myself, but I don't want to rob my assistant of his greatest pleasure."
"REDBLOCK: After we've gone, kill them all. Make sure no one ever finds the bodies."