Data Locks On to the Forbidden Signal
Plot Beats
The narrative micro-steps within this event
Data, surrounded by humming black boxes and a solitary keyboard, detects an anomalous radio signal—its repetitive structure defying natural origin— igniting the first fragile thread of connection to an unknown intelligence.
Data commands the computer to isolate and amplify the signal, overriding its limitation—the static resolves into a clear, repeating tonal pattern—marking the moment a whisper becomes a plea only he can hear.
Data silently waits, the weight of an unspoken question hanging in the air—this signal is not noise, not accident; it is a call, and he alone has answered it.
Who Was There
Characters present in this moment
Quietly anticipatory — an unemotional surface of calculation that conceals nascent curiosity and the first stirrings of attachment and moral engagement.
Data manipulates improvised filters and keys commands, queries the Computer, interprets diagnostics, and deliberately orders a com‑link lock and boost; he then physically settles back to wait, converting a diagnostic operation into covert contact.
- • Isolate and clarify the faint transmission to determine its origin and content.
- • Preserve and strengthen the fragile signal long enough for intelligible contact, despite protocol constraints.
- • The signal is worth preserving because it is artificially generated and therefore potentially meaningful.
- • Technical capability can and should be used to reveal unknown life or information, even if procedures are imperfectly aligned.
Neutral and procedural; no affect but its reports create a counterpoint to Data's emergent subjectivity and raise the procedural stakes.
The Enterprise Computer Voice supplies sensor readouts, diagnostic judgements, translator status, and confirms the com‑link lock and boost in an impersonal, procedural register, framing Data's actions within shipboard limits.
- • Accurately report sensor data and system capabilities to support crew decisions.
- • Enforce technical constraints by indicating when tools (like the universal translator) are unavailable.
- • Operational transparency is maintained by reporting diagnostics objectively.
- • System limits are factual constraints and should be clearly communicated to operators.
Objects Involved
Significant items in this scene
The improvisational stack of black boxes and filters is the hands‑on instrumentality through which Data teases the buried tonal pattern from noise. They function as both scientific tools and narrative props—embodying Data's willingness to circumvent standard equipment to reach something human in the static.
The compact keyboard is Data's immediate interface—each keystroke issues commands to the ship's systems and local hardware, allowing him to query the computer, request the translator, and order the com‑link lock and boost.
The com‑link is the channel Data elects to lock and boost to preserve the weak transmission; narratively it stands for the thin lifeline between two worlds and becomes the mechanism by which private, illicit contact becomes possible.
The universal translator is invoked by Data to decode the signal but fails due to insufficient signal strength; its failure converts a technical problem into dramatic impetus, forcing Data to improvise rather than rely on automatic translation.
Location Details
Places and their significance in this event
Data's private quarters function as the intimate, cluttered laboratory where an ostensibly technical exercise becomes an ethical incitement. The confined, humming space isolates Data from oversight, enabling him to convert institutional tools into a secretive, emotionally charged experiment.
Narrative Connections
How this event relates to others in the story
"Picard’s deliberate choice of an Earth horse—a symbol of ancestral authenticity—foreshadows Data’s own search for meaning through selective, intimate contact with Sarjenka. Both are isolating acts of seeking something 'real' in a synthetic universe, anchoring their parallel arcs of emotional longing."
"Picard’s deliberate choice of an Earth horse—a symbol of ancestral authenticity—foreshadows Data’s own search for meaning through selective, intimate contact with Sarjenka. Both are isolating acts of seeking something 'real' in a synthetic universe, anchoring their parallel arcs of emotional longing."
"Data's calm assurance that his sensors can detect artificial transmissions is the first textual clue that his obsession is not merely scientific curiosity—but spiritual. This moment lays the groundwork for his later choice to answer Sarjenka, revealing his machine nature is incapable of ignoring a cry for help."
"The detection of the anomalous signal initiates Data's secret correspondence, which becomes the emotional engine of the entire narrative. This act of receiving a whisper is the direct cause of his subsequent moral crisis, his confession to Picard, and eventual defiance."
Part of Larger Arcs
Key Dialogue
"DATA: "Computer, identify.""
"COMPUTER VOICE: "Sensors indicate low-level R.F. waves.""
"DATA: "Lock on com link and boost.""