Object

Deanna Troi's PADD (Debriefing Reference & Letter Delivery)

A palm‑sized Starfleet PADD with a matte bezel, bright touch display and faint edge wear from regular use. In the debriefing its screen presents terse notes and scrollable sector logs while characters tap and slide through entries; Riker leans over the glowing tablet to cite a line and press Setal on a sector number. Later the device functions as the delivery container/display tied to Jarok’s sealed correspondence, the tablet’s stark glow puncturing an already somber bedside.

5 appearances

Purpose

To store, display, and deliver shipboard documents and personal files for rapid reference and evidence presentation during interrogations and personnel procedures.

Significance

Serves as a forensic instrument and emotional conduit: it supplies the hard details Riker uses to fracture a defector’s story and materializes Jarok’s private, irrevocable message—linking procedural proof to the human cost at the center of the plot.

Appearances in the Narrative

When this object appears and how it's used

5 moments

S3E8 · The Price

O'Brien's Two Marriages

Troi uses the PADD as a clinical instrument: she calls up her schedule to propose and book another appointment, transforming O'Brien's verbal confession into a concrete therapeutic plan. The device functions narratively as the pivot from disclosure to obligation.

Before: Resting on Troi's desk, powered and available as a scheduling tool.

After: In active use and having been used to consult the schedule; remains on the desk with implied appointment entry made.

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S3E10 · The Defector

Interrogating the Defector: Proof vs. Plea

Riker consults a PADD as a procedural anchor: he reads and corrects details (sector number), uses it to structure questions, and it functions as the tangible record that frames his interrogation and prompts Setal's correction.

Before: In Riker's possession or readily accessible on the raised platform; powered and displaying notes.

After: Remains with Riker; continues to serve as his reference for follow-up verification steps.

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S3E10 · The Defector

Setal's Moral Gamble: A Plea for Belief

Riker consults a PADD intermittently to reference notes and sector assignments, using it as a procedural anchor to press Setal on specifics. The tablet frames the interrogation: it converts spoken accusations into verifiable data points to be checked against Setal's memory.

Before: In Riker's possession on the raised platform, displaying notes referenced during questioning.

After: Remains in Riker's possession; continues to serve as the factual touchstone for the interrogation.

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S3E10 · The Defector

Jarok's Suicide — The Human Cost of Deception

The PADD functions as the physical carrier of Jarok's sealed letter: Riker presents it to Picard, its glow and contents concretize the private, posthumous communication that transforms the tactical episode into a human plea.

Before: In Riker's possession containing a sealed letter addressed to Jarok's wife and daughter.

After: Transferred to Picard's possession; the letter remains sealed and is now command responsibility.

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S3E10 · The Defector

The Unsent Letter

Riker hands Picard a PADD containing Jarok's sealed letter to his wife and daughter; the device functions as the physical container and formal representation of Jarok's final message, its transfer signaling custody and the moral weight of what cannot now be delivered.

Before: In Riker's possession with the sealed letter stored on its display; glowing as a focal point in the somber room.

After: Given to Picard and acknowledged; presumably entered the ship's evidentiary and command log for retention and future reference.

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