Star Trek The Next Generation
Object

Iconian Automated Probe

A compact, inscrutable automated probe of Iconian manufacture: matte, seamless plating with no visible seams, roughly the size of a shuttle sensor buoy. It emits faint subspace telemetry and inscrutable code pulses that infiltrate external computer architectures. Detected only by anomalous system logs and cascading life‑support failures, the probe registers as an external automated system rewriting ship routines. Riker reports the signatures; Picard treats it as the mission’s locus of danger and retrieval target.
2 appearances

Purpose

To autonomously probe, access, and modify target computational and environmental systems—serving as a remote Iconian instrument for reconnaissance, retrieval, or overwriting of shipboard controls.

Significance

Functions as the causal engine driving the crisis: its suspected system‑override explains failing life support and forces Picard to volunteer for a high‑risk retrieval, transferring command to Riker and raising the episode’s moral and tactical stakes.

Appearances in the Narrative

When this object appears and how it's used

2 moments
S2E11 · Contagion (Star Trek: The Next Generation)
Yamato Probe Playback — Mission Reframed

The Yamato spherical probe appears on-screen as the central forensic clue: a translucent shell with a blue gel core that emits crackling energy. Data classifies it as a scanner/transmitter, and its image converts the situation from an attack to a technological puzzle.

Before: Physically present at a planet's surface in the Yamato footage, inertly captured by Varley before the Yamato's loss.
After: Represented as recorded visual evidence on the Enterprise; its physical state in situ remains unknown, prompting the mission decision to investigate its origin.
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S2E11 · Contagion (Star Trek: The Next Generation)
Assuming the Yamato's Course — A Deliberate Risk

The Yamato spherical probe appears in the playback as an active clue—its crackling energy and scanner/transmitter qualities focus the crew’s investigation and provide the primary causal mystery driving Picard’s order to pursue.

Before: Physically present near a planet and recorded in the Yamato's log; not in Enterprise possession.
After: Remains only as imagery and data on the Enterprise Main Viewer; its physical whereabouts remain at the recorded coordinates.
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