Holodeck Injury Forces Immediate Shutdown
Plot Beats
The narrative micro-steps within this event
Annette arrives in Sickbay with a broken leg after a holodeck accident, revealing the first tangible consequence of the ship's system failures.
Beverly Crusher immediately shuts down all holodecks, recognizing the systemic danger posed by the malfunctioning systems.
Who Was There
Characters present in this moment
Shaken and in pain but outwardly upbeat and communicative when comforted.
Annette is the injured patient: she describes the slope collapsing, endures examination and a brief procedure for a small fracture, accepts offered comfort, and volunteers that Wesley nearly joined the trip, which shifts Beverly's concern from clinical to personal.
- • Receive competent medical care and pain relief.
- • Explain what happened to whoever can help prevent repeats.
- • Reassure friends and staff that she'll be okay.
- • The holodeck malfunction was unexpected and surprising.
- • Wesley's not being there likely spared him injury.
- • Medical staff will take care of her quickly.
Shaken and apologetic, but focused on ensuring Annette gets care and that command understands the circumstances.
Eric escorts and supports Annette into Sickbay, reports succinctly that the accident occurred on the holodeck and that they tried to grab Wesley on the way, and shows visible shock and concern while remaining helpful.
- • Ensure Annette receives immediate medical attention.
- • Convey the facts of the accident to medical staff.
- • Explain Wesley's near-involvement to dissipate assumptions of his culpability.
- • This was an accidental malfunction rather than deliberate harm.
- • Medical and engineering authorities need accurate information to act.
- • Wesley's current assignments have changed his social availability.
Professional and controlled on the surface, with an undercurrent of maternal alarm and private concern about Wesley's safety.
Dr. Beverly Crusher performs a rapid clinical triage on Annette's fractured leg, slams the Sickbay com panel to order holodecks closed by her authority, speaks in controlled clinical tones, and hides personal concern about Wesley beneath professional command.
- • Stabilize and treat Annette's injury quickly and effectively.
- • Contain any broader hazard by ordering holodecks closed.
- • Obtain information about the cause and protect other crew from harm.
- • Medical authority and quick orders can prevent escalation of onboard incidents.
- • Holodecks should be safe; a failure indicates a serious systems problem.
- • Wesley's absence from the accident may indicate growing isolation or risk to him.
Startled by the idea that a holodeck injured someone, but quickly composed and nurturing while performing necessary tasks.
The Sickbay nurse helps place Annette on the exam table, reminds Beverly that holodecks are supposed to prevent injuries, hands Beverly a diagnostic instrument, and offers hot chocolate to calm the injured girl and companion.
- • Stabilize and comfort the patient immediately.
- • Support the doctor with instruments and practical assistance.
- • Provide small comforts to reduce patient distress and gather clinical cooperation.
- • Holodeck safety protocols normally prevent physical injury.
- • Immediate, calm medical action reduces complications.
- • Small comforts (like hot chocolate) help patients cooperate during triage.
Objects Involved
Significant items in this scene
The Sickbay com panel is physically struck by Beverly to open a secure channel to Engineering; it functions as the authoritative conduit that turns a bedside medical judgment into an operational order to close all holodecks, bridging clinical assessment and ship operations.
A handheld diagnostic instrument is passed from the nurse to Beverly, used to inspect Annette's fracture; it anchors the clinical moment, allowing Beverly to make a quick assessment that justifies the wider operational order.
A steaming cup of hot chocolate is offered by the nurse as a small comfort to Annette and Eric; narratively it humanizes the medical triage and provides a momentary thawing of shock amid clinical urgency.
Location Details
Places and their significance in this event
Main Engineering is the operational endpoint of Beverly's com call; functionally it must implement the holodeck shutdown and begin diagnostics. Though off-screen, it is implied and activated by the medical order, moving the problem from bedside to systems control.
Sickbay (the lab-adjacent treatment space) serves as the immediate triage room where the holodeck accident's human cost is made concrete; its cramped clinical surfaces, scanners, and exam couch focus action into diagnosis, comfort, and command decisions that ripple outward to operations.
The Holodeck is identified as the origin of the injury — a simulated slope whose safety interlocks appear to have failed. In this event the holodeck shifts from recreational refuge to hazardous locus, implicating core ship systems in a tangible personnel threat.
Narrative Connections
How this event relates to others in the story
No narrative connections mapped yet
This event is currently isolated in the narrative graph
Key Dialogue
"ERIC: We had a little accident on the Holodeck...."
"NURSE: On the Holodeck... but it's programmed to prevent injuries..."
"BEVERLY: Engineering, this is Doctor Crusher. The Holodecks are to be closed by my order until further notice."