Fabula
Object
Object

Wesley Crusher's Tractor Beam Repulsor Device

A compact, jury‑rigged apparatus cobbled into the Enterprise’s tractor beam circuitry: braided conduits, a handful of reseated isolinear chips, and a patched tactile control plate that glows faintly under strain. Small enough to be manhandled at a console yet hardwired into the ship’s lead‑force activator, it emits a harsh, pulsed blue energy when engaged. Wesley grips the unit’s controls, fingers moving with urgent precision as sparks and status lights spike around him.
5 appearances

Purpose

To reverse or redirect tractor‑beam power into a focused repulsor pulse capable of physically pushing a tethered ship or hazardous debris away from the Enterprise, buying time for engines to come online.

Significance

Functions as the episode’s decisive improvised lifeline: a youthful, clever gambit that turns impending catastrophe into narrow survival. The device crystallizes themes of ingenuity and teamwork, foregrounds Wesley’s technical daring, and exposes crew vulnerability by materially enabling the final rescue.

Appearances in the Narrative

When this object appears and how it's used

5 moments
S2E22 · Shades of Gray
Endorphins Feed the Vine — Pulaski Reprograms the Stimulator

The compact, jury-rigged stimulator ('the device') is engaged by Pulaski: she manipulates its controls to change the differential current pattern and then activates it. Functionally it translates Pulaski's clinical decision into an immediate alteration of the patient's neural input, making it the tactical instrument of the pivot from probing to intervention.

Before: Assembled and connected at the Sickbay console, idle but configured for experimental neural stimulation.
After: Activated — emitting the prescribed differential current pattern intended to alter the host's neurochemical output.
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S2E22 · Shades of Gray
Repellent Frequency Test — Pulaski Reprograms the Stimulator

The compact stimulator device (represented by the canonical, jury‑rigged apparatus) is physically manipulated by Pulaski: she alters its differential current pattern via the controls and activates it, turning it from a diagnostic tool into an experimental countermeasure aimed directly at the organism's neurochemical sensitivities.

Before: Prepared and within reach of the medical team; controls set to prior parameters while clinicians discuss hypotheses.
After: Activated — emitting a modified differential current pattern as Pulaski initiates the experimental treatment; now the active agent in the clinical test.
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S2E22 · Shades of Gray
Last-Resort Neural Shock

A compact, jury‑rigged apparatus—repurposed as an experimental neural stimulator—is prepared and activated by Pulaski to deliver a high‑current zap through Riker's nervous system. Functionally it is the instrument of the gamble, converting Pulaski's procedure into an immediate, violent intervention intended to halt the organism's growth.

Before: Assembled and positioned at Pulaski's hands, powered and ready for activation—calibrated for an experimental high‑current pulse.
After: Activated and delivering current; physically unchanged in the short term but functionally expended as it transmits the shock and remains connected for observation.
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S2E22 · Shades of Gray
Engineering Scramble — Data Races, Riker Falls

Wesley's Tractor Beam Repulsor Device (jury‑rigged) functions as the improvisational channel for rerouting power into a repulser beam. Wesley manipulates its controls to reverse power leads and push force through the Tsiolkovsky, creating the mechanical nudge that saves the Enterprise.

Before: Patched into tractor/force activator circuitry, under strain and emitting pulsed energy when engaged.
After: Actively engaged and successfully used to direct repulser force; remains scorched and stressed but operational for the duration of the escape.
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S2E22 · Shades of Gray
Repulser Gambit — Last‑Second Engineering Rescue

Wesley's improvised use of the repulsor/tractor interface reverses power leads through the force activator to create a hard repulser push against the Tsiolkovsky. The device (jury‑rigged into the tractor/repulser system) is the practical tool that physically shifts the tethered ship and buys the seconds Data needs.

Before: Connected into engineering control circuits but not actively producing the decisive repulser output; in a compromised, patched state.
After: Actively engaged to deliver a repulser shove; after the maneuver its output has been expended to alter Tsiolkovsky’s trajectory (device remains in use as engines regain control).
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