Fabula
S3E11 · The Hunted
S3E11
· The Hunted

Programmed Kinship and Solitude

In a quiet, intimate detention-cell exchange Data returns to speak with Roga Danar, who initially rebuffs him but then asks to talk. Data reveals his android nature and tentatively draws a parallel between their ‘programming.’ Danar violently rejects equivalence—insisting Angosian doctors engineered him and that his conditioning is immutable—yet admits a crushing loneliness and the constant question of whether he could be changed. The scene crystallizes the episode’s moral conflict about agency, culpability, and whether institutional conditioning can be undone, raising the stakes for how the crew and Picard will judge and respond to Danar.

Plot Beats

The narrative micro-steps within this event

4

Roga Danar initially rebuffs Data's presence but quickly relents, revealing his loneliness and desire for conversation.

defensiveness to vulnerability ['detention cell']

Roga notices Data's yellow eyes, leading Data to reveal his android nature and draw a parallel between their programmed existences.

curiosity to confrontation

Roga rejects Data's comparison, emphasizing the irreversible nature of his own conditioning by Angosian doctors.

defiance to despair

Data probes whether Roga's programming could be altered, prompting Roga to voice his perpetual anguish over the unchangeable nature of his condition.

inquiry to existential torment

Who Was There

Characters present in this moment

1
Data
Second Officer
 primary

Cautiously curious with an undercurrent of professional concern; calm and probing rather than judgmental.

Data approaches the cell, initiates and sustains a careful, analytical conversation. He discloses his android nature, frames a parallel about being 'programmed', asks whether Roga's conditioning is alterable, and refrains from decisive judgment.

Goals in this moment
  • • Establish rapport to learn whether Roga's conditioning can be altered
  • • Collect information relevant to the crew's moral and tactical decisions
  • • Test the limits of 'programming' as a conceptual bridge between android and engineered human
Active beliefs
  • • Programs (or conditioning) can be modified under the right circumstances
  • • Sentient entities merit investigation into their capacity for change before punitive action
  • • Comparisons between artificial and biological conditioning can illuminate moral choices
Character traits
analytical tentative curious empathetic in a clinical way
Follow Data's journey

Objects Involved

Significant items in this scene

1
Detention Cell Cot (Roga Danar's bunk)

Roga's bunk functions as the physical anchor of the scene: he sits (and at times lies) on it, using it as a small stage for withdrawal and confession. The bunk absorbs his gestures and posture shifts, signaling mood changes from defiance to vulnerability and providing a static contrast to Data's movement.

Before: Secured to the cell wall, with compressed bedding …
After: Remains bolted in place; Roga continues to occupy …
Before: Secured to the cell wall, with compressed bedding and evidence of recent use; Roga is reclining on it.
After: Remains bolted in place; Roga continues to occupy it, unchanged physically but emotionally altered by the exchange.

Location Details

Places and their significance in this event

1
Brig (USS Enterprise-D)

The high-security detention cell provides the cramped, clinical setting for the private exchange, its enforced containment and sterile atmosphere intensifying the moral intimacy of the conversation. The cell's institutional presence underscores the power imbalance and frames Roga's loneliness against systemic control.

Atmosphere Sparse, tense, and quietly oppressive—an intimate hush punctuated by clipped replies and the weight of …
Function Meeting place for a controlled, confidential exchange; it physically contains Roga while enabling a supervised …
Symbolism Represents institutional isolation and the permanent mark of state-engineered conditioning; the cell embodies both literal …
Access Heavily restricted to authorized crew and security personnel; monitored and controlled by ship protocols in …
Narrow berth with built-in bunk Sterile, overhead lighting creating stark visibility Close quarters that force conversational intimacy Audible hum/quiet of ship operations implied beyond the cell

Narrative Connections

How this event relates to others in the story

No narrative connections mapped yet

This event is currently isolated in the narrative graph

Key Dialogue

"DATA: "I am an android. You and I have something in common.""
"DATA: "My program can be altered and changed. Yours cannot?""
"ROGA: "Nor can I... and I ask the question every moment of every day.""