Ard'rian Tests Data and Quietly Allies with Him
Plot Beats
The narrative micro-steps within this event
Ard'rian tests Data's reflexes by throwing an iron bar, then engages him in conversation, signaling her curiosity and potential alliance, contrasting Gosheven's hostility.
Ard'rian openly admires Data's capabilities, sparking tension with Gosheven, who belittles Data as a 'walking calculator,' further revealing generational and ideological conflicts.
Ard'rian offers her assistance to Data, signaling a pivotal shift as she becomes his ally against Gosheven's intransigence, setting up future collaboration.
Who Was There
Characters present in this moment
Enthusiastic and intrigued; quietly rebellious toward Gosheven's macho authority and genuinely excited by the prospect of connecting with something novel and useful for her community.
Ard'rian provokes the stalemate by throwing an iron bar at Data, then approaches him with eager technical questions, criticizes Gosheven's condescension, and offers her hand and practical help, initiating a private alliance.
- • Satisfy her technical curiosity about Data and cybernetic intelligence.
- • Provide practical assistance to an outsider who might help the colony survive.
- • Subtly undermine Gosheven's unilateral authority by aligning with a respected outsider.
- • Technical knowledge and practical action can improve the colony's prospects.
- • Gosheven's rigid pride may blind the community to pragmatic solutions.
- • An ally with unusual capabilities (Data) could be more valuable than loyalty to tradition.
Confident and defiant; mildly amused by novelty and skeptical of outside threats, masking an underlying need to preserve community identity and authority.
Gosheven supervises water testing with two workers, listens to Data's warning with calm amusement, refuses the evacuation order outright, and reacts with a teasing, paternalistic tone toward Ard'rian's fascination.
- • Maintain control over the colony and its decisions.
- • Protect the colony's claim to Tau Cygna Five and its hard-won achievements.
- • Keep potential disruptions (outsiders, evacuation) at bay.
- • The colony's century-long presence legitimizes their claim to the land.
- • External authorities and emissaries cannot be trusted to dictate local fate.
- • Demonstrations of capability (like Data's reflexes) are curiosities, not threats to his leadership.
Worried and unsettled; respects Gosheven but visibly shaken by the prospect of a lethal external threat.
Haritath calls attention to Data's arrival, listens to Data's warning with evident concern, exchanges a worried glance with Kentor, and remains a moderate presence between Gosheven and the emerging dissent.
- • Understand the credibility and seriousness of Data's warning.
- • Protect the well-being of the community without causing panic.
- • Support a pragmatic response if it becomes necessary.
- • Past radiation losses make evacuation a serious consideration.
- • Gosheven's leadership should be trusted but can be questioned in crisis.
- • Objective information (from Data) deserves careful attention.
Concerned and uncertain; his demeanour signals the beginnings of a shift toward pragmatism if presented with convincing evidence or alternatives.
Kentor stands with Gosheven and Haritath, listens to Data's report with visible concern, and exchanges looks that show growing uncertainty about Gosheven's absolute refusal to evacuate.
- • Assess the risk the Sheliak pose to the colony.
- • Seek a solution that preserves as many lives as possible.
- • Balance respect for Gosheven with the colony's survival needs.
- • The colony's survival is paramount and may require changing past assumptions.
- • Information from credible outsiders should weigh in community decisions.
- • Leadership should adapt when faced with existential risk." } }, { "agent_uuid": "agent_6eb51387b42d
- • event_uuid": "event_scene_9b14021bd32916a3_12
- • incarnation_identifier": null, "actor_name": null, "observed_status": "Represented here by the two workers and local bystanders, the Colonists test water, react with curiosity to Data's arrival, and demonstrate a quiet, watchful presence that frames the public stakes of the exchange.
- • observed_traits_at_event": [ "industrious
- • curious
- • deferential
- • anxious
Calm, professionally determined; briefly surprised by Gosheven's refusal but composed and receptive to human connection when Ard'rian engages him.
Data enters the pumping station, states his evacuation mission, catches Ard'rian's thrown iron bar with inhuman precision, inspects it clinically, answers technical questions, and accepts Ard'rian's offered assistance with a handshake.
- • Convey the urgency and necessity of evacuating the colony.
- • Collect local allies and information to bypass Gosheven's resistance.
- • Demonstrate capability and calm to win sympathy or practical help.
- • The Sheliak pose an existential threat that justifies evacuation.
- • Logical presentation and demonstration of competence will elicit cooperation.
- • A local interlocutor is necessary to influence collective decisions.
Objects Involved
Significant items in this scene
Ard'rian throws the hand-sized iron bar as a deliberate test of Data's reflexes; Data catches and inspects it, turning a simple tool into a catalyst for human-technological rapport and a visual demonstration of Data's nonhuman capabilities.
The colony ship Artemis is invoked in dialogue as the origin of the settlers and the reason they are on Tau Cygna Five; it functions narratively to justify the colonists' emotional claim to the land and to complicate Data's legal argument.
The colony aqueduct and its purifying pool form the physical locus for the confrontation: Gosheven supervises tests at the pool while Data delivers his evacuation warning, making the aqueduct both a literal achievement to defend and a visual argument for the colony's claim to the land.
Location Details
Places and their significance in this event
Septimis Minor is mentioned by Data as the Artemis' intended destination; the reference situates the colony's presence as accidental and serves as an expositional counterpoint to Gosheven's claim of rightful ownership.
Narrative Connections
How this event relates to others in the story
"Ard'rian's initial offer of assistance to Data creates the foundation for their growing relationship that culminates in the goodbye kiss."
"Ard'rian's initial offer of assistance to Data creates the foundation for their growing relationship that culminates in the goodbye kiss."
"Data's initial diplomatic approach to Gosheven escalates to direct confrontation when he stuns Gosheven's defenders and destroys the aqueduct."
"Data's initial diplomatic approach to Gosheven escalates to direct confrontation when he stuns Gosheven's defenders and destroys the aqueduct."
Key Dialogue
"DATA: My mission is to prepare this colony for evacuation."
"GOSHEVEN: We're not evacuating."
"ARD'RIAN: I'm Ard'rian McKenzie. Perhaps I can help you."