Object
Neural filament lattice of Data's anterior cortex
A fragile, fist-sized bundle of hair-fine positronic and neural filaments: interwoven microconductors, bonding nodes and ultra-fine metallic and polymer strands encased in an anterior-cortex housing. The lattice gleams faintly under lab lights, its nodes humming as diagnostic rigs lock onto signal pathways. During the clandestine third crosslink transfer series, Data routes the lattice's output into a temporary transfer rig; engineers and physicians hover, Wesley watches with nervous curiosity, and Lal's first impulses spike into motion as duplicated filament patterns complete. Characters treat the assembly as both delicate hardware and the literal source of a newly animated mind, handling it with surgical caution and reverent urgency.
3 appearances
Purpose
To interconnect and transmit signals across Data's positronic neural architecture—serving as the core physical substrate for memory storage, processing pathways, and the anterior cortex's information routing—thereby enabling cognitive functions that researchers intend to map, dump, and replicate.
Significance
These filament links become the focal object of the episode's central conflict: their proposed removal transforms a scientific procedure into a juridical and ethical showdown over Data's personhood. They embody both the technical key to replicating artificial consciousness and the intimate vulnerability that forces characters to confront identity, ownership, and the limits of scientific ambition.
Appearances in the Narrative
When this object appears and how it's used