Holodeck Duet — Pinocchio and Prejudice
Plot Beats
The narrative micro-steps within this event
Riker probes Data's record and assumes his rank is honorary; Data corrects him with full Starfleet credentials.
Riker confronts the 'machine' label and admits it troubles him; Data tags the reaction as human prejudice.
Riker challenges whether Data sees himself as superior; Data admits advantages yet longs to be human.
Riker christens him 'Pinocchio,' explains the joke when it sails past, and caps the exchange by calling Data an interesting companion.
Who Was There
Characters present in this moment
Soberly earnest and mildly puzzled by human social cues; expresses a quiet, genuine longing to be human while maintaining logical clarity.
Data lies in the grass practicing whistling, responds with precise, literal observations about human ability, accepts the away team invitation with formal assent, and answers direct questions about his nature with candid honesty and expressed longing.
- • Demonstrate willingness and adequacy for the away mission
- • Gather and provide factual information about his background
- • Test and learn human behaviors (practicing the whistle)
- • Clarify his own status to reduce ambiguity
- • Honest, literal answers are the correct social approach
- • Human emotional responses are understandable data for him
- • Being superior in certain functions does not preclude desire for human experience
- • Prejudice is a recognizable human pattern that can be named and observed
Neutral and functional; no affect but drives immediate physical access to the location.
The USS Enterprise Computer Voice authorizes and opens the holodeck program, providing the procedural prompt that allows Riker to enter the Parkland and initiate the encounter; otherwise remains silent during the interpersonal exchange.
- • Grant access to the requested holodeck program
- • Maintain procedural clarity for shipboard operations
- • System prompts should be concise and unambiguous
- • Program access is governed by standard invocation protocols
Cordially curious with an undercurrent of discomfort; outwardly amused but privately unsettled by the idea of working with an android.
Riker arrives into the holodeck parkland, follows a flawed whistle, recovers from a near‑fall on stepping stones, initiates conversation, probes Data's status, and ultimately offers him a place on the away team while revealing personal unease.
- • Recruit a competent team member for an away mission
- • Gauge Data's capabilities and temperament
- • Manage his own reaction to Data's non‑human status
- • Establish rapport to ensure team cohesion
- • Starfleet personnel records and precedent are reliable indicators of suitability
- • Being human carries moral or experiential value that technology lacks
- • Command decisions require both competence and trustworthiness
- • Social nicknames and teasing can bridge distance between people
Objects Involved
Significant items in this scene
The cluster of stepping stones provides the crossing Riker uses to reach the glen; their uneven spacing forces a misstep that humanizes Riker physically and rhythmically, punctuating the scene with a tactile beat that precedes the emotionally revealing conversation.
A single river‑worn stone in the holodeck stream causes Riker to misstep while crossing, creating a brief physical vulnerability that softens his posture and leads him to inspect the environment; the stone stages an intimate, humanizing moment before the dialogue begins.
Location Details
Places and their significance in this event
The Woodland Glen serves as the private nook where Riker discovers Data; its intimacy concentrates the exchange, making Data's vulnerability literal (lying in grass) and allowing Riker space to ask probing questions away from the formalities of the ship.
The holodeck's shallow stream functions as both obstacle and choreography—its sound masks the whistle until Riker nears, the water necessitates careful stepping, and it punctuates the physical comedy of Riker's misstep before the emotional exchange.
The broad holodeck Parkland provides the initial sense of wide, natural space that contrasts with the ship's confines; it functions as the scene's framing device, making the encounter feel private, uncanny, and safe enough for candid conversation while still being a constructed environment.
Narrative Connections
How this event relates to others in the story
No narrative connections mapped yet
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Key Dialogue
"DATA: Marvelous how easily humans do that, sir. I still need much practice."
"DATA: Understood, sir. Prejudice is very human."
"DATA: I am superior in many ways. But I would gladly give it up to be human."