Fabula
Object
Object

Company Control Signal Box

A compact metallic device repurposed from the Company’s operational hardware (later identified as part of the Garm sequencing rig) used to transmit synchronizing commands to the Garm force field. Its surface is worn from frequent handling (with Terileptil command symbols in some contexts), featuring a single recessed switch and a visible power indicator that flickers when active. Characters grasp it under threat of violence, its absence sparking immediate suspicion about lost control. When smashed, fragments scatter across the bridge deck, confirming its role as the lynchpin for the Garm’s enslavement and the core of Terminus’s failing controls.
4 appearances

Appearances in the Narrative

When this object appears and how it's used

4 moments
S20E16 · Terminus Part 4
Eirak uncovers the stolen signal box

The missing metallic device, stolen from the Garm’s summoning rig, becomes the focal point of Eirak’s rage. Its absence triggers a storm of accusations and fear, exposing the device’s pivotal role in maintaining the Garm’s obedient programming—now direly compromised. Eirak’s desperate demand for its return underscores the device’s critical function in the station’s control systems.

Before: The Garm summoning device was secured within the stockyard’s control array, under the apparent supervision of the Vanir overseers.
After: The device is now absent, its location unknown, prompting Eirak’s violent outburst and sparking immediate uncertainty among the Company’s hierarchy.
View full event
S20E16 · Terminus Part 4
Doctor and Kari battle to activate the engine

The Doctor smashes the Company Control Signal Box on the bridge floor, shattering its casing and ending the enslavement of the Garm. The box’s destruction severs Terminus’s dependence on the Company’s control systems.

Before: Operational control device linking the Garm’s duty to Company protocols.
After: Bent, broken fragments scattered across the bridge deck, rendered inoperative.
View full event
S20E16 · Terminus Part 4
Doctor frees the Garm by destroying control box

The Garm’s signal box is seized by the Doctor, lifted overhead, and driven into the deck plates until it shatters into fragments, severing all control the Company exerted over the spectral enforcer.

Before: Compact metal device with a single recessed switch and flickering power indicator, bolted near the controls
After: Reduced to scattered wreckage across the bridge, its circuits dead and its control function eliminated
View full event
S20E16 · Terminus Part 4
Doctor interrupts power struggle with engine damage

Eirak emphasizes the loss of the signal box as both a tactical and political catastrophe, its absence stripping the Vanir of control over the Garm enforcers and undermining Eirak’s authority. The object’s missing status becomes the immediate cause for his confrontation with Valgard.

Before: Missing from its expected location, unpowered and absent from Eirak’s grasp
After: No physical change; remains missing but now reframed as part of a larger crisis
View full event