Object
Book of Sonnets (Picard's Gift to Data)
A small, well-thumbed volume of human sonnets—paperback or clothbound, compact enough to fit inside an android travel case. Edges show light wear; the cover bears no grand heraldry, only the quiet dignity of a personal keepsake. Picard produces the book in open court, holding it like testimony; Data refers to it as a gifted memento. The item is handled reverently, gestures around it shift the courtroom's tone from technicality to intimacy.
3 appearances
Purpose
To collect and preserve sonnets for private reading and reflection; functions as a personal literary memento within an individual's possessions.
Significance
Acts as a deeply personal artifact that exposes Data's interior life; the bookmarked sonnet becomes a narrative clue and provocation in Maddox's confrontation, converting a private keepsake into evidentiary and emotional leverage that crystallizes the stakes around Data's resignation and potential disassembly.
Appearances in the Narrative
When this object appears and how it's used