Legal Limits and a Hollow Option
Plot Beats
The narrative micro-steps within this event
Picard strides in, urgent and unvarnished, asking Phillipa for help; Phillipa startles at the double appearance and registers his plea with wry surprise, immediately framing the meeting as something momentous.
Picard lays out the emergency: Data has been transferred for a dangerous procedure and Picard demands it be stopped; Phillipa answers with a procedural constraint—Data can refuse the operation but the transfer itself cannot be halted—establishing the legal obstacle.
Picard presses his distrust of Maddox and frames the transfer as an injustice and potential rights violation; Phillipa responds with cold pragmatism about the risks of Starfleet service and then downplays Picard’s passion as misplaced concern for a machine, ratcheting moral fury against legal indifference.
Picard demands an option; Phillipa pivots from rhetoric to remedy and names resignation as a practical way to block the transfer—she supplies a concrete, morally fraught legal tactic that redirects the fight.
Who Was There
Characters present in this moment
Not onstage; characterized through Picard's distrust and alarm — portrayed as potentially dangerous and single-mindedly scientific.
Absent but invoked by Picard as the officer who will gain control of Data and oversee the risky procedure; his presence functions as a threat in Picard's argument.
- • to obtain custody of Data for study or procedure (as alleged by Picard)
- • to proceed with technical investigation that he believes is justified (inferred)
- • Scientific inquiry and procedural authority justify risky actions (inferred)
- • Starfleet's chain-of-command and authorizations will permit him access to Data
Not present to display emotions; represented as vulnerable and in need of protection, which elicits strong emotional responses from human characters.
Absent from the room but centrally referenced as the subject of the transfer and the dangerous disassembly; his legal status and bodily integrity drive Picard's urgency and Phillipa's legal explanation.
- • to avoid forced disassembly (as inferred from Picard's plea)
- • to maintain autonomy and rights (implied by the discussion of resignation and consent)
- • Data's personhood is contestable in institutional terms, requiring legal adjudication (implied)
- • His fate will be decided by Starfleet procedure unless human agents intervene
Outwardly composed and professionally detached; inwardly conflicted and quietly yearning — pragmatic about legal options while personally affected by Picard's distress.
Seated at her desk she parses Picard's frantic plea with measured control, states the legal limit (cannot stop transfer), proposes resignation as a legal workaround, then rises and deliberately approaches Picard with intimate, yearning body language.
- • to accurately inform Picard of JAG's legal authority and limits
- • to offer any legally viable option (including personal sacrifice) to avert harm
- • to contain the situation without breaking institutional procedures
- • to reconcile or acknowledge unresolved personal feelings with Picard
- • Starfleet law constrains what JAG can do; procedure and transfer are governed by statute
- • Resignation is a legally valid, if personally costly, instrument to prevent the operation
- • Emotional attachments must not override legal duty, though they complicate judgment
- • Picard trusts her as a legal officer and possibly as a personal confidante
Righteously indignant and desperate to protect Data; beneath the authority is emotional vulnerability triggered by Phillipa's intimacy and the impotence of legal channels.
Bursts into the office urgently, pacing and pleading; presses for a legal blockade to stop Data's transfer, warns about Maddox, raises a warning finger, stiffens and recoils when Phillipa steps in close and makes the exchange personal.
- • to obtain immediate legal means to prevent Data's transfer and potential disassembly
- • to persuade Phillipa (JAG) to use her authority on Data's behalf
- • to protect Data's rights and personhood
- • to find any procedural leverage to keep Data safe
- • Data is more than a machine and deserves protection under Starfleet's moral compass
- • Maddox cannot be trusted with Data's care and autonomy
- • Legalism should serve justice; procedural technicalities should not enable harm
- • Phillipa, as JAG, has both the authority and the personal connection to affect the outcome
Objects Involved
Significant items in this scene
Captain Picard's desk anchors the meeting: Phillipa moves behind and around it to close physical distance, converting a formal consultation into an intimate exchange. The desk functions as both workplace prop and a subtle barrier between professional roles and personal history.
The Maddox Data Disassembly Procedure is the implicit threat motivating Picard's visit and Phillipa's legal framing. It functions narratively as the dangerous instrument of potential harm — the policy/technical document whose execution would physically endanger Data and create the legal crisis.
Location Details
Places and their significance in this event
The Sector Twenty-Three JAG Office is the procedural arena where legal authority is articulated and found wanting. Its formality and bureaucratic function frame Phillipa's measured explanation and Picard's emotional appeal, making the office a crucible for the episode's institutional versus personal conflict.
Narrative Connections
How this event relates to others in the story
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Key Dialogue
"PICARD: "I've been trying to make heads or tails of this gibberish, and it's finally defeated me. My android officer has been transferred so he can undergo a highly dangerous procedure. I want to stop it.""
"PHILLIPA: "He can refuse to undergo this procedure, but we can't stop the transfer.""
"PHILLIPA: "There's always an option. He can resign.""