Geordi's Nudge, Wesley's Retreat
Plot Beats
The narrative micro-steps within this event
Geordi brusquely tells Wesley to go talk to the girl, offering a blunt opening line, while framing the moment as both a personal push and a dismissal from duty.
Wesley hesitates, seeks specific counsel on what to say, receives terse answers, and, feeling discouraged and insecure, turns and exits — his youthful longing unresolved and deferred.
Who Was There
Characters present in this moment
Surface excitement and infatuation quickly giving way to embarrassment and acute insecurity; his confidence collapses when faced with Geordi's bluntness.
Wesley stands on the lower catwalk, daydreaming; he fumbles with a fiber‑optic probe, drops it, then mis‑sets a dial that triggers a resonant‑field warning. Embarrassed, he solicits scripted social lines from Geordi, then withdraws, discouraged and self‑conscious.
- • Complete the diagnostic task at the Deuterium Control Conduit without further error.
- • Find the courage and right words to approach the visiting girl he admires.
- • Gain approval or concrete coaching from an older mentor (Geordi).
- • If he can be given the right words or script, he'll succeed socially.
- • His feelings for the girl are unmistakable and should be acted upon.
- • He relies on senior crew (Geordi) for both technical authority and personal guidance.
Amused and mildly exasperated — genuinely concerned for safety but unwilling to coddle Wesley's romantic uncertainty; his humor masks professional annoyance.
Geordi monitors console diagnostics, calls Wesley repeatedly, rushes to the catwalk when a warning sounds, then shifts to blunt mentorship—diagnosing the distraction, scolding lightly, and issuing a terse, practical instruction to get Wesley out of engineering.
- • Restore and preserve Engineering's safe, operational status by removing the distraction.
- • Defuse Wesley's infatuation enough to ensure no further operational errors occur.
- • Provide quick, practical directive so Wesley takes action rather than lingering.
- • Distraction from adolescence routinely causes avoidable errors and must be corrected quickly.
- • Direct, unsentimental advice is more effective for this situation than platitudes or coaching.
- • Wesley will respond better to blunt orders than prolonged moralizing.
Neutral and mechanical — functions solely as a conduit for critical technical information without judgement.
The ship's computer announces quantitative engine diagnostics and immediately broadcasts a resonant‑field warning when the probe is misconfigured, providing the clinical trigger that forces Geordi's intervention.
- • Deliver accurate, time‑sensitive diagnostic data to crew.
- • Enforce safety protocols by issuing audible warnings when thresholds are breached.
- • Real‑time sensor data must be reported immediately to prevent system damage.
- • Audible warnings are necessary to prompt human intervention in hazardous situations.
Location Details
Places and their significance in this event
The aft turbolift is referenced as the immediate route of escape/action: Geordi tells Wesley to 'take the lift' to go speak to the visitor, making the lift a promised direction for social initiative and exit from the professional sphere.
The Deuterium Control Conduit is the technical system Wesley probes; his mis‑set causes the resonant field alarm, establishing the conduit as the immediate source of the procedural danger and dramatic catalyst for Geordi's reprimand.
The lower catwalk is the precise spot where Wesley daydreams and nearly drops the instrument; its vertiginous position amplifies the risk of the dropped probe and frames Wesley's emotional imbalance as physically precarious.
Narrative Connections
How this event relates to others in the story
"Wesley's distraction in Engineering (nearly dropping the probe) follows from his transporter infatuation — his fixation consistently undermines duty across scenes."
"Wesley's distraction in Engineering (nearly dropping the probe) follows from his transporter infatuation — his fixation consistently undermines duty across scenes."
"Wesley's distraction in Engineering (nearly dropping the probe) follows from his transporter infatuation — his fixation consistently undermines duty across scenes."
"Wesley's distraction in Engineering (nearly dropping the probe) follows from his transporter infatuation — his fixation consistently undermines duty across scenes."
"Wesley's self-awareness after the transporter meeting (checking his reflection) flows into later gushing to Geordi — the transporter encounter consistently alters Wesley's behavior and focus across scenes."
"Wesley's self-awareness after the transporter meeting (checking his reflection) flows into later gushing to Geordi — the transporter encounter consistently alters Wesley's behavior and focus across scenes."
Key Dialogue
"GEORDI: I see the way you're looking."
"GEORDI: You said she's "perfect. Go. You're no use here for now. Go talk to her. Take the lift.""
"GEORDI: Just say "Hi. I'm Wesley Crusher. I'd like to talk to you.""