Mirror in the Bay — Future Picard Discovered
Plot Beats
The narrative micro-steps within this event
The shuttle door opens, and Pulaski freezes at the sight of an unconscious Captain Picard slumped at the controls — the crew’s confusion explodes into visceral horror as they confront a living, breathing duplicate of their captain.
Riker confirms Picard is still on the bridge via comm, creating a deafening paradox: two captains, one ship, one timeline — the crew’s scientific certainty collapses as the impossible becomes undeniable.
Pulaski reveals the duplicate’s life signs are ‘out of phase’ — his heartbeat strong but rhythm fractured, his brain waves alien yet human — severing the crew’s hope for a medical explanation and deepening the mystery into metaphysical terror.
Troi confirms the duplicate is Jean-Luc Picard on a soul-level — not a copy, but a fractured echo — her inability to define the phenomenon turns medical mystery into existential crisis for the entire crew.
Who Was There
Characters present in this moment
Professional and controlled externally, concerned internally by the unprecedented physiological data and the ethical obligation to protect patient and ship.
Leads the immediate medical assessment of the unconscious duplicate Picard (P2), runs scans, reports anomalous cardiac and neural readings, refuses to attempt revival outside Sickbay, and organizes removal to secure medical facilities.
- • Obtain reliable medical diagnostics in a controlled environment (Sickbay) before intervention.
- • Protect the original Captain and crew by ensuring medical procedures follow protocol to avoid contamination or further anomalies.
- • Medical interventions must occur in appropriate facilities to be safe and effective.
- • Anomalous physiology (out-of-phase readings) requires careful containment and study, not immediate improvisational action.
Unconscious; implied prior terror or confusion but not actively displayed during the event.
Physically present as an unconscious duplicate slumped at the shuttle controls; gives no active responses but is the focal object of medical and empathic scrutiny and the narrative catalyst for the investigation.
- • As an unconscious participant, there are no active goals; narratively, to compel medical, empathic, and investigative actions from the crew.
- • Serve as the physical evidence that an existential/time anomaly exists.
- • N/A (unconscious).
- • N/A (unconscious).
Clinically focused and composed, converting confusion into a clear technical task list.
Approaches the damaged shuttle, attempts to access the onboard computer and logs, diagnoses both primary and reserve power as drained, and requests a hard connection to the Enterprise to bootstrap the shuttle systems for forensic retrieval.
- • Recover the shuttle's computer logs and telemetry to determine origin and timeline.
- • Restore or bridge power to the shuttle systems sufficiently to access stored data.
- • Technical evidence (logs, power traces) will reveal cause or chronology of the anomaly.
- • Systematic diagnostic procedure is the fastest route to usable answers.
Confused but controlled — visibly alert and ready to act if the situation turns hostile or requires security intervention.
Accompanies Riker into the bay, helps inspect incoming shuttles, stands by as security presence and asks pragmatic questions about how two identical shuttles could exist in the same space.
- • Ensure the shuttle and bay are secure and pose no immediate danger to the ship.
- • Assist command by providing concise observations and remaining prepared to enforce safety protocols.
- • Anomalies are potential security threats until proven otherwise.
- • Physical inspection and containment reduce risk to the ship.
Shocked and unsettled on the surface, shifting quickly toward urgent, practical control to convert confusion into actionable steps.
Reads the shuttle registration aloud, recognizes the impossible duplication, coordinates immediate response, notifies the Captain by com and remains on site to manage security and liaison with bridge and engineering.
- • Confirm and identify the anomaly (verify registration and duplicate shuttle).
- • Stabilize the situation by calling necessary specialists (Data, engineering) and coordinating security and bridge communication.
- • This is a technical anomaly that must be diagnosed through procedure and evidence.
- • Chain-of-command and rapid information flow are essential to prevent escalation.
Disturbed and unsettled by the empathic resonance; curious but careful about drawing premature conclusions.
Enters without summons to assess empathically, reports a disturbing identity echo linking the duplicate and the Captain, and advises waiting until the duplicate is conscious to clarify the psychological and metaphysical strangeness.
- • Provide an empathic read that might inform medical and command responses.
- • Wait for the duplicate to regain consciousness so she can better interpret the psychological connection.
- • Psychic empathic impressions can provide meaningful, immediate information about anomalous individuals.
- • Direct contact and observation of the patient will yield clearer insight than speculation.
Professional concern — focused on carrying out Pulaski's instructions quickly and carefully.
Assists Pulaski with opening the shuttle, helps with patient handling as Pulaski scans P2, and supports the team in preparing the duplicate for transfer to Sickbay.
- • Execute medical support tasks to get P2 to Sickbay safely.
- • Assist diagnostic procedures and maintain patient stability during transfer.
- • Following the chief medical officer's orders is essential to patient safety.
- • Rapid, but controlled response minimizes risk to patient and crew.
Objects Involved
Significant items in this scene
The shuttle's primary and reserve power systems are central to Data's forensic assessment: both systems have been drained, preventing internal diagnostics and forcing a connection to the Enterprise. Their drained state is evidence of catastrophic energy loss consistent with external damage.
The Shuttle Bay Two control panel is the operational interface used by a bay crewmember to attach a second tractor beam and transfer beam control so the incoming shuttle can be secured. It enables the physical retrieval that precedes discovery and investigation.
Location Details
Places and their significance in this event
The Main Bridge functions as origin and command hub: Picard and Data are summoned from here, the chain-of-command is enacted via coms, and decisions (send Data, send to Sickbay) are initiated. It supplies institutional authority that drives the immediate response.
Shuttle Bay Two is the primary physical stage where the anomalous shuttles are brought aboard, the duplicate Picard is discovered, medical assessment begins, and technical forensics are initiated. It concentrates technicians, command officers, and medical staff into a utilitarian crucible that turns routine retrieval into urgent investigation.
Shuttle Bay Two is the primary physical stage where the anomalous shuttles are brought aboard, the duplicate Picard is discovered, medical assessment begins, and technical forensics are initiated. It concentrates technicians, command officers, and medical staff into a utilitarian crucible that turns routine retrieval into urgent investigation.
The USS Enterprise as a whole provides institutional resources — tractor control, medical teams, and engineering expertise — and it is the entity threatened by the temporal anomaly. Decisions made in the bay reverberate to the ship's mission and safety.
Sickbay is invoked as the secure medical environment Pulaski insists on for any revival attempts and forensic neurological diagnostics; the duplicate is to be transferred there for controlled assessment and possible treatment.
Narrative Connections
How this event relates to others in the story
"Riker’s discovery of the duplicate shuttle registration (NCC-1701-D) directly causes the realization that there are two identical shuttles, which is confirmed when Picard on the bridge is contacted via com — shattering reality and triggering the temporal paradox at the core of the narrative."
"Riker’s discovery of the duplicate shuttle registration (NCC-1701-D) directly causes the realization that there are two identical shuttles, which is confirmed when Picard on the bridge is contacted via com — shattering reality and triggering the temporal paradox at the core of the narrative."
"Riker’s discovery of the duplicate shuttle registration (NCC-1701-D) directly causes the realization that there are two identical shuttles, which is confirmed when Picard on the bridge is contacted via com — shattering reality and triggering the temporal paradox at the core of the narrative."
"Riker’s discovery of the duplicate shuttle registration (NCC-1701-D) directly causes the realization that there are two identical shuttles, which is confirmed when Picard on the bridge is contacted via com — shattering reality and triggering the temporal paradox at the core of the narrative."
"The shock of discovering a duplicate shuttle echoes in Picard’s visceral confrontation with his unconscious duplicate. Both moments shatter physical and psychological certainty — one through mechanical duplication, the other through existential replication — linking the crew’s external crisis to Picard’s internal disintegration."
Themes This Exemplifies
Thematic resonance and meaning
Key Dialogue
"RIKER: "NCC one-seven-zero-one-D -- USS Enterprise, shuttle number five.""
"PULASKI: "The life signs are confusing. I get a strong heartbeat, but the rhythm is off.""
"TROI: "That person is you. What I mean, the person we are looking at is as much Jean‑Luc Picard as the person I am standing next to; beyond that there's very little of which I am sure.""