Communications Cut — Trapped in The Royale Lobby
Plot Beats
The narrative micro-steps within this event
Riker, Data, and Worf materialize into the garish lobby of The Royale, overwhelmed by sensory overload—the blaring slot machines, chaotic casino noise, and indifferent crowds—while Riker immediately attempts to contact the Enterprise, confirming their isolation as the communicator fails.
Riker’s desperate hail to the Enterprise cuts through the Casino’s din but yields only silence, his forced composure cracking as he realizes the communicator’s failure is absolute—their connection to the outside world is severed, and the realization of entrapment begins to coil like a noose.
Who Was There
Characters present in this moment
Detached professionalism — performing without awareness of the anomaly's implications for the visitors.
The lounge pianist continues to play unobtrusively, providing background music that normalizes the space and deepens the away team's sense of dislocation by contrast with their alarm.
- • Maintain the atmosphere of the lobby through continuous performance.
- • Blend into the ambient fabric of the setting, contributing to the illusion of normalcy.
- • This is a routine environment where my role is to provide music, not to intervene.
- • If patrons are present and unaffected, everything is as it should be.
Stunned and disoriented — curiosity curdling into unease as they realize the lobby's indifference masks an abnormal constraint.
The three stunned strangers stand motionless on the scarlet carpet, eyes tracking the casino floor's lights and sound; their incredulous presence emphasizes civilian bewilderment and the surreal normalcy around them.
- • Make sense of their sudden placement in an unfamiliar environment.
- • Seek obvious exits or help from hotel staff without provoking alarm.
- • This must be some mistake or practical joke that will be resolved quickly.
- • Other people (staff/patrons) will notice and help if something is wrong.
Calmly curious — clinical observation with an undercurrent of urgency as he senses incongruity but remains methodical.
Data steps out of the revolving door and joins the other two visitors, standing observant on the scarlet carpet while surveying the lobby's layout and ambient activity without panic, registering sensory input as data.
- • Assess the environment and record sensory/forensic data to determine origin and hazards.
- • Support Riker and provide analytical input for immediate tactical decisions.
- • The environment can be understood through systematic scanning and observation.
- • Objective data will reveal whether the structure is natural, artificial, or dangerous.
Concerned and alert — outwardly controlled but internally quickening as the failure to contact command reframes the situation as a containment problem.
Riker stands with the other two stunned civilians, physically touches his commbadge and attempts to hail the Enterprise, then reports aloud that the link is dead — his action transforms bafflement into command-driven urgency.
- • Re-establish communication with the Enterprise to regain command support and situational awareness.
- • Quickly determine whether the team is physically isolated and what local options exist for exit.
- • External Starfleet support is critical for options and safety.
- • If the comms fail, the team must assume self-reliance and act promptly to secure an exit.
Objects Involved
Significant items in this scene
The blackjack tables are described as part of the modest casino area, serving as visual and functional set dressing that conveys a busy, populated venue and reinforces the illusion of normal life within a synthetic enclosure.
A slot machine's jackpot sound punctuates the scene, its metallic chime and clinking coin noise both masking and highlighting the failure of the commlink — providing diegetic noise that deepens the uncanny normalcy of the construct.
The Royale revolving door is the literal threshold through which Data enters, signifying arrival into the construct. Its slow, human-scale rotation frames the transition from void/space to an interior that now imprisons the visitors psychologically and physically.
Roulette wheels spin in the casino area, contributing continuous motion and sound that saturate the environment, emphasizing the lobby's self-contained, performative life and masking its artificial constraint.
Riker's communicator is pressed and activated to hail the Enterprise; it functions as the expected tether to command, but it returns silence — narratively converting a tool of connection into proof of isolation and escalating stakes.
Location Details
Places and their significance in this event
The Royale lobby elevator area anchors the described space—elevators and a front desk are physical landmarks the team notes while assessing escape options. The elevator bank implies vertical access and thus a possible route to areas where life signs or exits might exist.
Narrative Connections
How this event relates to others in the story
"The failed attempt to escape through the revolving door confirms the reality established by the communicator's failure—solidifying that the hotel transcends physics, not just technology, and entry is a one-way contract with the fiction."
"The sensory overload of The Royale upon arrival is mirrored in the final escape: the fabricated noise of the casino fades as the void returns, closing the emotional arc from confusion to clarity through silence."
"The sensory overload of The Royale upon arrival is mirrored in the final escape: the fabricated noise of the casino fades as the void returns, closing the emotional arc from confusion to clarity through silence."
Key Dialogue
"RIKER: "Riker to Enterprise. We have entered the structure. We're not getting through.""