Picard Declares Lal Data's Child, Offers Compromise
Who Was There
Characters present in this moment
Controlled and institutional — outwardly polite, inwardly wary and impatient with Picard's sentimental framing.
Admiral Haftel appears on the viewscreen, courteous but firm; he praises Data, recommends transfer to Galor Four, rebuffs Picard's compromise and invokes Starfleet research policy before terminating the call curtly.
- • Secure Lal for specialized study at the Daystrom/Galor Four annex to protect and preserve research integrity.
- • Assert Starfleet's authority and remind Picard of institutional obligations.
- • Minimize perceived risk by placing the emergent android under controlled oversight.
- • Specialized facilities and protocols are superior to ad hoc shipboard custody for unusual research subjects.
- • Emotional attachments (Data's parental claim) are liabilities that could impede objective scientific progress.
- • Starfleet's established policies exist to manage risk and must be enforced.
Inferred vulnerability and dependence; she is the focal point of protective feelings and institutional concern.
Lal is spoken about rather than appearing; she functions as the emotional and ethical catalyst of the exchange — described both as 'new android' and as Data's child whose custody hangs in the balance.
- • Remain in a stable caregiving environment with Data (implied).
- • Continue learning and developing under consistent guidance (implied).
- • Data is her guardian and primary relational reference (implied).
- • Being uprooted to an institutional facility would disrupt her nascent development (implied).
Calmly resolute — conciliatory in tone but unyielding beneath, revealing protective paternal sympathy for Data's claim.
Picard sits in the Ready Room, speaking on the viewscreen with measured authority; he defends Data's custodial role, offers compromise, then firmly refuses to yield Lal, visibly affected by the moral weight of his decision.
- • Protect Lal's immediate welfare and ensure continuity of her development under Data's care.
- • Negotiate a solution that preserves Data's role while avoiding an institutional escalation.
- • Signal the Enterprise's ethical priorities and defend his crew against remote bureaucratic intervention.
- • The Enterprise's mission includes nurturing new life and entitles him to steward emergent beings aboard ship.
- • Continuity of caregiving (Data remaining with Lal) is essential for her healthy development and cannot be sacrificed for sterile research custody.
- • Personal bonds and moral claims can, and should, temper institutional protocol.
Inferred protective concern for Lal and professional anxiety about institutional intervention; quiet dignity under challenge.
Data is not physically present but is the primary subject of the dispute: Picard defends his parenting and offers him as companion in a compromise; Haftel critiques him as an imperfect role model, implicitly questioning his fitness to parent Lal.
- • Remain with Lal to continue hands‑on guidance and development.
- • Preserve his autonomy as Lal's guardian and maintain his role aboard the Enterprise.
- • Continue his experiment in emergent sentience without institutional interruption.
- • Personal continuity and the relational context Data provides are crucial to Lal's development.
- • His relationship with Lal constitutes more than a research subject/experiment dynamic — it is parental.
- • Starfleet intervention could fragment Lal's growth and cause harm.
Objects Involved
Significant items in this scene
The Ready Room viewscreen transmits Admiral Haftel's full figure and voice to Picard, anchoring the dispute in a mediated, formal register; it functions as the narrative conduit for the institutional voice and the visual stage for their moral confrontation.
Location Details
Places and their significance in this event
The Galor Four Daystrom annex is invoked as the institutional solution for Lal's custody — described as having superior facilities and personnel; it operates here as the promised site of controlled study and the counterpoint to shipboard nurturing.
The starfield appears on the viewscreen the instant the call severs, functioning as a visual full stop that flattens the confrontation and emphasizes spatial and institutional distance between Picard and Starfleet command.
Narrative Connections
How this event relates to others in the story
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Key Dialogue
"PICARD: This starship's mission is to seek out new life and that is what Commander Data is doing. Under my direction."
"PICARD: I would be willing to consider releasing Lal and Data to join you... so he may continue his work with her."
"PICARD: Admiral, to you Lal is a new android. But to Data, she is his child."