Erratic Simulation — When the Trap Refuses Logic

In the holodeck drafting room Geordi runs iterative escape simulations with a holographic Leah Brahms to find a safe vector through the Promellian asteroid trap. An initial adjustment yields a successful run, but when Geordi repeats the exact inputs the computer inexplicably fails — a lethal radiation beam freezes the model. The calm computer announcement of 'deflector shield failure' and a twenty-six minute fatal countdown reframes the problem: this is not an optimization error but an inconsistent variable in the ancient trap. The scene serves as a turning point, forcing Geordi to accept that algorithmic certainty has been undermined and setting up the later, radical human-led gambit to shut systems down and rely on intuition and timing.