Object

Sim-5 Transponder Tracking System

A compact, rack-mounted avionics unit with a slim metal housing, cabling into the cockpit and a narrow panel of status lights. Not shown in detail but named aloud; the device reads as mundane, functional aircraft equipment. Crew treat it as routine while Toby cites its existence and presumed operation during a heated refusal to power down consumer electronics.

2 appearances

Appearances in the Narrative

When this object appears and how it's used

2 moments

S1E1 · Pilot

Cabin Defiance — Toby's Last Dig Before Crisis

The Sim-5 Transponder tracking system is invoked in Toby's technical rebuttal to the crew's safety claim; it is referenced to undermine the idea that consumer electronics could impair navigation, functioning as rhetorical evidence in his argument.

Before: Installed and operational as part of the aircraft's avionics (referenced, not manipulated).

After: Unaffected and still presumed operational; its invocation serves only to frame Toby's disbelief, not to change system status.

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S1E1 · Pilot

In-Flight Alert: POTUS in a Bicycle Accident

The Sim-5 Transponder tracking system is invoked by Toby as technical justification that modern avionics should be immune to consumer electronics interference; the device is not physically handled but serves rhetorically to contest the flight attendant's enforcement.

Before: Operational as part of the aircraft's avionics, unremarked by most onboard.

After: Remains operational and untested; referenced but not impacted by the exchange.

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