Object
Alien Girl's Encoded Memories (chemical synaptic links)
A fragile, chemically encoded web of age-dependent synaptic links distributed across the alien girl's neural tissue: potentiated dendritic spines, neurotransmitter-filled clefts, receptor clusters, and short-lived biochemical gradients that register episodic contact with the Enterprise and Data. These molecular engrams appear as age-stamped chemical signatures on diagnostic readouts and are mapped by Pulaski's neurochemical scanners. They are time-layered, scattered nodes rather than a single vault, vulnerable to incomplete removal or collateral cognitive damage; clinicians handle them with surgical precision during the planned excision that erases targeted recollections.
1 appearances
Purpose
To store the child's episodic recollections and sensory impressions of encounters with the Enterprise and with Data, enabling retrieval of personal history and continuity of autobiographical identity.
Significance
These memories serve as the moral fulcrum of the episode: erasing them resolves immediate danger but inflicts ethical and emotional damage. The invasive removal converts compassionate protection into ritualized loss, affecting Data's sense of connection, testing Picard's authority, and leaving a cultural wound where experience and identity once resided.
Appearances in the Narrative
When this object appears and how it's used