Picard Unmasks Fiction, Provokes Villainous Breakdown
Plot Beats
The narrative micro-steps within this event
Data’s alien nature fascinates and unsettles Redblock and Leech; Picard reveals their true origins, challenging the villains’ perceptions and planting seeds of doubt.
Picard and Data confront Redblock and Leech with the truth that they are fictional characters, undermining their reality and provoking Leech’s growing frustration and violent impulses.
Who Was There
Characters present in this moment
Grim resolve mixed with tactical calculation and determination to protect his crew.
Picard grimly backs away from the wall under threat, remains strategically composed, verbally engages Redblock and Leech, and ultimately claims possession of the mysterious 'item' to momentarily de-escalate violence.
- • Protect Beverly and crew from harm
- • Convince antagonists to negotiate rather than execute violence
- • Antagonists can be reasoned with if presented with leverage
- • Possession or promise of the 'item' is a critical bargaining chip
Calm and collected with a detached but purposeful intellectual curiosity.
Data calmly analyzes the situation, attempts to manipulate environmental controls, and directly confronts the antagonists by logically exposing their fictional origins, unsettling them.
- • Assist crew in controlling environment
- • Disrupt antagonists’ sense of reality to create leverage
- • Logical truths can unsettle emotional threats
- • Revealing their fictional nature can undermine antagonists’ confidence
Concerned and frustrated yet professionally focused on saving Whalen and protecting others.
Beverly tends to Whalen's apparently dying body while protesting the senselessness of violence; she attempts to maintain composure amidst threats and escalating danger.
- • Provide medical aid to Whalen
- • Prevent further violence against the crew
- • Violence is destructive and avoidable
- • Preserving life is paramount even in dire circumstances
Growing panic and rage, bordering on desperation and loss of control.
Felix Leech enters aggressively with his thug, threatens violence repeatedly, grows increasingly frantic and angry as Data exposes their fictional nature, ultimately threatening to kill Beverly and the crew.
- • Obtain the sought 'item' by any means
- • Intimidate and overpower the crew to assert control
- • Picard and crew are hiding the item
- • Violence is the fastest way to achieve objectives
Non-active; serves as a critical symbol of the consequences of violence.
Charles Whalen lies motionless in the room, gravely wounded and dying from a gunshot sustained earlier, his presence escalating the stakes and urgency of the confrontation.
- • N/A - incapacitated
Cool-headed but frustrated, feeling undermined and physically threatened.
Lieutenant McNary enters unknowingly, is quickly disarmed and roughly treated, voices skepticism and derision, warning Picard not to trust Redblock, but is subdued by the thug’s violence.
- • Warn Picard about Redblock's untrustworthiness
- • Survive the hostile encounter
- • Redblock is dangerous and untrustworthy
- • Direct confrontation is risky but necessary
Confident and amused with undertones of impatience and strategic calculation.
Cyrus Redblock commands the situation with imposing presence, alternating between civility and threat, controlling Leech's violent impulses, intrigued by Data’s android nature, and ultimately beginning a tense negotiation.
- • Acquire the mysterious 'item' at any cost
- • Maintain control over his volatile henchmen and the situation
- • Leech’s violence must be restrained for strategic gain
- • The 'item' holds significant value for their quest
Focused aggression with unquestioning loyalty to Redblock.
The thug enforces Redblock's will, disarms McNary, assaults and threatens Beverly, and maintains a violent presence to intimidate the crew.
- • Protect Redblock's interests
- • Suppress any resistance from the crew
- • Violence is an effective tool for control
- • Obedience ensures survival
Objects Involved
Significant items in this scene
Felix Leech wields his gun menacingly to threaten Picard, fatally shoot Whalen previously, and intimidate Beverly, amplifying the deadly tension of the confrontation.
Leech brandishes a slender stiletto, pressing it threateningly against Picard’s chest while slowly removing his shirt buttons to intimidate and escalate psychological threat.
The Dixon Hill Office Floor Lamp serves as the primary light source initially manipulated by Data to assist Beverly, its cord accidentally unplugged causing temporary darkness that heightens tension.
Cyrus Redblock uses a large white handkerchief to wipe his sweaty brow, revealing physical exertion and humanizing his imposing menace during the confrontation.
The lamp cord is inadvertently pulled from its socket, causing the floor lamp to go dark, intensifying the atmosphere and forcing Picard to restore lighting via wall switch.
The buttons on Picard’s shirt become a symbolic threat as Leech plucks them off slowly while wielding the stiletto, heightening Picard’s vulnerability and the scene’s tension.
Location Details
Places and their significance in this event
The Holodeck Dixon Hill San Francisco Simulation is the immersive setting that traps the crew in a 1941 noir environment where reality blurs, serving as a pressured stage for escalating violence and psychological confrontation.
Dixon Hill's Office Hallway functions as the entry point for the antagonists' sudden, unannounced intrusion, marking the fragile threshold between safe retreat and hostile reality.
Narrative Connections
How this event relates to others in the story
"The realization of lethal stakes causes Picard and Data to confront the invading Redblock gang, heightening danger and transforming the scenario into a fight for survival."
"The realization of lethal stakes causes Picard and Data to confront the invading Redblock gang, heightening danger and transforming the scenario into a fight for survival."
"The realization of lethal stakes causes Picard and Data to confront the invading Redblock gang, heightening danger and transforming the scenario into a fight for survival."
"Riker's confirmation of orbit and subsequent urgent reaction reflect rising external pressure that parallels the internal Holodeck crisis, linking dual narrative tensions."
Key Dialogue
"PICARD: He’s not from this world. None of us are."
"DATA: It is you who are imaginary characters derived from a work of fiction."
"LEECH: Shut up!! Let me shoot them, Mister Redblock. Let me kill them, one by one."
"PICARD: Redblock. I have the item."
"REDBLOCK: Put the gun down, Mister Leech."