Commodification of Sentience
The narrative repeatedly treats Data as a resource to be inventoried, demonstrated, and appropriated for research. Maddox's language of 'disassembly', Nakamura's strategic framing, and Phillipa's procedural rulings convert personhood into property. This theme explores the ethical dangers of reducing sentient beings to data points or prototypes—showing how scientific ambition, institutional convenience, and bureaucratic language conspire to normalize commodification until contested by moral testimony.
Events Exemplifying This Theme
Admiral Nakamura's visit quickly shifts from ceremonial to coercive: after a polite, performative tour of the bridge he casually installs Commander Maddox as the ship's new 'mission specialist' for the …
On the Enterprise bridge Commander Maddox coldly converts philosophical opposition into a practical threat: he reminds Data he opposed his Academy entry and then bluntly announces, "I'm going to disassemble …
After Admiral Nakamura's brusque announcement of Data's transfer, Picard summons Data to the ready room and tries to persuade him to volunteer for the procedure to nullify the transfer. Data …
In a high-stakes hearing to determine whether Data is property or a person, Picard demands Data's full Starfleet record be read aloud to humanize him while Riker methodically builds a …
In open court Riker stages a clinical, devastating demonstration to prove Data is property: after extracting technical testimony and bending a plasteel bar, he removes Data's hand for inspection and, …
In Granger's office the Mariposan origin and crisis are laid bare: a society born from five survivors turned to cloning, outlawed sexual reproduction through drugs and laws, and now faces …
In a sterile, clinical lab two Mariposan surgeons puncture the unconscious chests of Commander Riker and Dr. Pulaski with long, needle-like instruments while attendant clone nurses steady the bodies. The …
In the Observation Lounge a fraught negotiation collapses into raw leverage and an unwilling bargain. Granger's cultural snobbery and revulsion at the Bringloidi collide with Danilo's blunt pride and Pulaski's …
In a raw, decisive bargaining session in the Observation Lounge, Pulaski drops a medical deadline: Mariposa's clone line is collapsing and survival now requires radical sociobiological change. Picard leverages Riker's …