The Machine Demonstration — Riker Turns Data Off
Plot Beats
The narrative micro-steps within this event
RIKER interrogates identity and origin: under pointed questioning Data identifies himself as an android built by Doctor Noonien Soong, converting abstract identity into proof of human construction and raising the stakes of ownership.
RIKER extracts technical metrics and stages a demonstration: Data recites enormous memory and processing specs, then effortlessly bends a heavy plasteel bar (prosecution's exhibit A), magnifying the machine-like capabilities that the prosecution uses to argue property status.
Who Was There
Characters present in this moment
Impartial and procedural; maintains judicial distance while allowing evidence that she judges relevant.
Judge Phillipa Louvois presides, rules to allow the demonstrations and the removal of the hand, inspects exhibits herself, sustains and overrules objections according to relevance, and grants Picard's requested recess after Data is powered down.
- • Ensure the hearing adheres to legal standards of relevance and evidentiary procedure.
- • Adjudicate efficiently and maintain courtroom order.
- • That the legal question hinges on empirical, demonstrable evidence.
- • That the court's role is to hear relevant facts even if they are emotionally difficult." } }, { "agent_uuid": "agent_ec210c625bea
- • event_uuid": "event_scene_5a7f68fa9a6b5df3_37
- • incarnation_identifier": null, "actor_name": null, "observed_status": "Commander Maddox sits at the prosecution table to Riker's right, present as the scientific and procedural advocate for disassembly and examination, lending institutional credibility to the prosecution's approach.
- • observed_traits_at_event": [ "clinical
- • confident
- • focused
- • institutionally driven
Outraged and horrified; deeply protective and losing composure as the moral cost becomes visible, concluding he may not be able to win.
Captain Picard objects to stipulations being waived, demands records be read, attempts to block the relevance of the strength demonstration, and after Data is powered down reacts with stunned horror, requesting a recess.
- • Prevent the court from reducing Data to mere physical components through irrelevant demonstrations.
- • Defend Data's personhood and preserve his dignity before the court.
- • Data should be afforded the consideration due a person, not treated as property.
- • Strict adherence to fair legal procedure matters and can influence the outcome.
Calmly compliant and puzzled at certain human lines of questioning; then entirely inert and silent once powered down.
Data sits in the witness chair, answers technical questions with precision, complies with the bench (placing his hand on the scanner), bends the plasteel bar on command, allows his hand to be removed, and is then powered down when Riker flips the switch; he collapses inertly.
- • Answer the court's questions truthfully and precisely.
- • Comply with legal and procedural instructions presented during testimony.
- • That factual, technical testimony is the appropriate response in court.
- • That the judicial process will treat his testimony and person consistently and fairly.
Agonized and conflicted — outwardly professional and controlled while internally grief-stricken; tears betray deep sorrow and moral injury.
Commander Riker acts as prosecuting counsel: calls Data, elicits origin and technical specs, introduces demonstrative evidence, removes Data's hand, whispers 'I'm sorry,' then leans down and flips Data's power switch, visibly breaking down afterward.
- • Prove to the court, through demonstrable physical evidence, that Data is an engineered machine.
- • Secure a legal ruling that supports Starfleet's procedural and scientific interests (and thereby validate the prosecution's thesis).
- • Legal/empirical demonstrations will determine the outcome more than appeals to sentiment.
- • He can fulfill his duty even at the cost of personal relationships; the institution's definition of personhood must be legally established.
Impassive and mechanical; provides factual verification without judgment.
The Computer Voice performs procedural functions: calls the court to rise, verifies Data's identity and service record aloud, and resumes reading official decorations and assignments when prompted.
- • Accurately announce and verify official records and procedural prompts.
- • Maintain an authoritative, unbiased record of proceedings.
- • That procedural accuracy matters and must be maintained.
- • That data and record are the proper basis for court proceedings.
Objects Involved
Significant items in this scene
Data's off-switch, embedded along his dorsal column, is the literal instrument of the turning point: Riker leans down and depresses it, instantly terminating Data's functioning and converting courtroom argument into irreversible physical silence.
Data's detached hand is removed by Riker, offered to the judge for inspection as a tactile exhibit, then placed beside the motionless Data; it functions as visceral physical evidence that literalizes the prosecution's claim that Data is an assemblage of parts rather than a person.
The log record of Lore's construction is invoked by Riker to justify the removal of Data's hand and the physical demonstrations; it serves as documentary precedent and technical corroboration for the prosecution's claim about manufacture and design.
Location Details
Places and their significance in this event
The counsel table groups Picard and Data at the center and the prosecution to the right; it becomes the theater for argument, for the placement of exhibits (hand, records) and ultimately the surface next to which Data is left motionless.
The witness chair is the physical locus of Data's testimony: fitted with scanners, it frames his evidence as an object of technical interrogation and makes his body a site for legal scrutiny and later, physical violation when his hand is removed.
The high-tech Starfleet courtroom functions as the formal arena where scientific fact, legal procedure and personal loyalty collide; its amphitheater layout gathers a gallery and institutional witnesses, converting private moral questions into public precedent-setting spectacle.
Narrative Connections
How this event relates to others in the story
"Riker's vow during the fencing confrontation to do everything within the law presages and leads to his hard prosecutorial act in court—the removal of Data's hand and powering him down."
"Maddox's stated opposition to Data's Academy entry and his view of Data as non-sentient prefigure the prosecution's courtroom strategy to emphasize Data's manufactured origin and hardware."
"Maddox's stated opposition to Data's Academy entry and his view of Data as non-sentient prefigure the prosecution's courtroom strategy to emphasize Data's manufactured origin and hardware."
"Maddox's stated opposition to Data's Academy entry and his view of Data as non-sentient prefigure the prosecution's courtroom strategy to emphasize Data's manufactured origin and hardware."
"Riker powering Data down in court produces Picard's emotional collapse and need for counsel; Picard seeks Guinan immediately afterward, shaken and defeated."
"Riker powering Data down in court produces Picard's emotional collapse and need for counsel; Picard seeks Guinan immediately afterward, shaken and defeated."
"Riker powering Data down in court produces Picard's emotional collapse and need for counsel; Picard seeks Guinan immediately afterward, shaken and defeated."
"Riker's act of powering Data down haunts him and directly sets up the intimate reconciliation where Data reframes Riker's sacrifice and they repair their bond."
Themes This Exemplifies
Thematic resonance and meaning
Key Dialogue
"DATA: "An android.""
"RIKER: "Data is a physical representation of a dream, an idea conceived of by the mind of a man. His purpose? To serve human needs and interests. He is a collection of neural nets and heuristic algorithms... The hardware was built by a man.""
"RIKER: "And this man has turned him off. Pinocchio is broken, the strings are cut.""