Object

Main Engineering Pool Table Console Diagnostic Button

A **specific control button embedded in the engineering console atop the Main Engineering Pool Table**. Unlike the pool table itself, this button has a **dedicated function**: activating diagnostic projections of contaminants. It is a **critical plot device** in *Hollow Pursuits* (S3E21), interacting with Picard, Barclay, and the Enterprise computer.

3 appearances

Purpose

Activates screen display of chemical substance lists for diagnostic review

Significance

Enables the data display that validates Barclay's contagion theory, transforming crew doubt into focused action on internal sabotage and prompting Geordi's update to Picard

Appearances in the Narrative

When this object appears and how it's used

3 moments

S3E21 · Hollow Pursuits

The Unseen Carrier: Barclay’s Intuition Breaks the Code

The Main Engineering Pool Table Button serves as a critical interface, triggering the display of the five suspect substances on the nearby screen. Geordi touches it to project Jakmanite, Selgninaem, Lucrovexitrin, Saltzgadum, and Invidium, allowing the crew to study their molecular structures. Its activation punctuates the moment of transition from broad speculation to focused analysis, symbolizing the crew’s shift from despair to action.

Before: Inactive, part of the pool table’s standard interface, awaiting input.

After: Activated, displaying the molecular structures and enabling the crew’s elimination process.

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S3E21 · Hollow Pursuits

The Crew as the Carrier: Barclay’s Radical Hypothesis

The Main Engineering Pool Table Button is the interface Geordi uses to trigger the display of the five suspect substances. Its activation—‘Geordi touches the pool table button’—is a small but pivotal action, as it sets in motion the elimination process that leads to the identification of Saltzgadum and Invidium. The button’s mundane function (controlling a pool table) contrasts with its high-stakes role in this moment, highlighting the improvisational nature of the crew’s problem-solving under pressure.

Before: Inactive, part of the pool table’s control panel.

After: Activated, triggering the display of the substance list.

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S3E21 · Hollow Pursuits

Barclay’s Breakthrough: The Unseen Carrier

The Main Engineering Pool Table Button serves as the interface that triggers the display of the five candidate substances on the Engineering Station Substance Analysis Display. Geordi touches it with deliberate urgency, his finger pressing firmly as the crew’s desperation mounts. The button’s activation is a small but symbolic moment—it marks the crew’s shift from broad speculation to targeted analysis, as they narrow their focus from 15,525 possibilities to a manageable list. Its functionality is mundane, but its narrative role is significant, as it represents the crew’s collective pivot toward Barclay’s theory.

Before: Inactive; the button is part of the pool table’s control panel, unused until Geordi queries the computer for substances.

After: Activated; the button is pressed, and the screen displays the molecular structures, advancing the investigation.

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