Fabula
Object
Object

Cosmic Ray Burst

A sudden, high-energy surge of charged particles from space that sweeps past the starship, invisible yet unmistakable on sensor readouts. It registers as a sharp spike across diagnostics, briefly overwhelming transporter filters and medical screening circuitry. Crew exchange urgent readings and hypotheses as technicians trace the burst to a momentary systems disruption that correlates with a contaminated transport.
3 appearances

Significance

Acts as the proximate external cause for a disrupted transporter filter, providing a scientific explanation for the Andronesian encephalitis outbreak and igniting the ethical confrontation over destroying a patient. The burst converts a technical anomaly into a life-or-death dilemma, escalating tension and forcing radical responses from Anya and Starfleet personnel.

Appearances in the Narrative

When this object appears and how it's used

3 moments
S2E10 · The Dauphin
Contagion, Demand, and Anya's Violent Transmutation

The cosmic ray burst is invoked as the initiating plot device that momentarily overwhelmed ship systems and compromise of the transporter filter, providing causal legitimacy to Pulaski's diagnosis and framing the argument over technological reliability.

Before: A transient high-energy phenomenon in space, not present inside the ship but recorded on sensors as a past event.
After: Remains a past external cause referenced to explain the filter compromise; not an ongoing threat in the immediate sickbay scene.
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S2E10 · The Dauphin
Anya's Protocol-Breaking Metamorphosis

The cosmic ray burst is referenced by Pulaski as the precipitating external phenomenon that disrupted the transporter filter, thereby creating the medical emergency. It functions narratively as an external, impersonal antagonist that triggers the moral and physical conflict.

Before: A recent, transient energetic event that impacted the ship's transporter systems prior to the Sickbay scene.
After: Remains a past causative factor; its effects are being dealt with through diagnostics and containment but it does not have an ongoing physical presence in Sickbay.
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S3E1 · Evolution
Collision Course: The Fire Arc Looms

The Stellar Fire Arc functions as the active external hazard in this moment: a multi‑kilometer ribbon of plasma whose heat, electromagnetic interference, and physical presence convert a shipboard malfunction into an imminent collision threat. It is the visual antagonist that forces command priorities to shift from diagnostics to survival.

Before: Present in the ship's forward approach vector, coruscating and distorting sensor returns; already causing alarms and forcing evasive concern.
After: Dominant feature of the exterior tableau as the Enterprise points directly into it; collision/immediate interaction unresolved due to cut to black.
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