The Android’s Silent Rebellion: Fajo’s Humiliation and Data’s Unbreakable Will
Plot Beats
The narrative micro-steps within this event
Fajo confronts Data in his den, demanding compliance after the android's previous display of resistance, and Data remains defiant, refusing to obey Fajo's orders.
Who Was There
Characters present in this moment
Humiliated, seething with rage, and desperate to reassert control—his fragility exposed by Data’s silent defiance.
Fajo hosts Palor Toff in his den, initially gleeful at the prospect of showcasing Data as his latest acquisition. His irritation grows as Data refuses to comply, standing motionless and unresponsive. Fajo’s rage boils over when Data’s protective force field activates, causing the android to collapse. Left seething, Fajo leans down and threatens Data, declaring their relationship will ‘change’—a thinly veiled admission of his loss of control.
- • To force Data to comply and perform as a ‘sentient artifact’ for Toff’s amusement.
- • To salvage his reputation and authority after Data’s passive resistance undermines him.
- • Ownership of rare artifacts (including sentient beings) validates his status and power.
- • Defiance must be crushed immediately to maintain control over his collection.
Subtly triumphant beneath a veneer of stoic indifference; internally, a quiet victory over Fajo’s control.
Data stands motionless and unresponsive in Fajo’s den, dressed in the clothes provided by Fajo. His passive resistance—frozen posture, unblinking stare—triggers Fajo’s rage, leading to the activation of his protective force field. As he collapses to the floor with a metallic clank, Data’s subtle raised eyebrow after Fajo and Toff exit reveals his calculated defiance. His silence becomes his most potent weapon, exposing Fajo’s fragility and reinforcing his own autonomy.
- • To resist Fajo’s attempts to assert dominance and reduce him to an object.
- • To expose Fajo’s insecurity and delusions of ownership in front of Toff.
- • Sentient beings cannot be owned or controlled against their will.
- • Passive resistance can be as effective as overt defiance in undermining an oppressor’s authority.
Amused and superior, deriving entertainment from Fajo’s embarrassment and Data’s silent rebellion.
Toff enters Fajo’s den as a patronizing, well-tailored buyer, initially dismissive of Data’s sentience. He mocks Fajo’s claim that Data is unique, calling him a ‘mannequin’ and amused by Fajo’s mounting frustration. Toff’s sexual innuendo toward Varria as they exit underscores his detached superiority, leaving Fajo humiliated and Data’s defiance unchallenged.
- • To undermine Fajo’s credibility as a collector by questioning the authenticity of his ‘acquisitions.’
- • To assert his own sophistication and taste by dismissing Fajo’s prized ‘toy’ as unremarkable.
- • True rarity and value are objective, not subjective—Fajo’s collection is a farce.
- • Sentience in an artifact is a gimmick, not a genuine trait worth admiring.
Conflict between loyalty to Fajo and admiration for Data’s resistance; fearful of Toff’s advances and Fajo’s potential wrath.
Varria stands in the background during the confrontation, reacting with subtle admiration to Data’s passive resistance. She covers for Fajo when Toff questions Data’s sentience, but her respectful subtext (‘A most unusual one’) betrays her internal conflict. Taken aside by Toff, she is the target of his sexual innuendo before they exit together—her fate foreshadowed by Fajo’s later murderous intent.
- • To avoid openly challenging Fajo while subtly acknowledging Data’s autonomy.
- • To survive the power dynamics in Fajo’s den without drawing his ire.
- • Fajo’s obsession with control is unsustainable and dangerous.
- • Data’s defiance, though passive, is a legitimate form of resistance.
Objects Involved
Significant items in this scene
The chair in Fajo’s den symbolizes submission and objectification, a physical manifestation of Fajo’s desire to reduce Data to a mere exhibit in his collection. Though Data refuses to sit, the chair looms as a silent threat—a reminder of Fajo’s delusion that he can *place* the android like any other artifact. Its presence underscores the power struggle: Fajo demands compliance, Data asserts his autonomy, and the chair becomes a battleground for their clashing wills.
Data’s defensive aura is an involuntary, protective mechanism that activates when Fajo’s rage causes him to lunge too close. The aura repels Fajo, toppling Data backward onto the floor with a metallic clank. This moment is both a physical and symbolic victory for Data: his body, though forced into submission, *fights back* through its own design, undermining Fajo’s delusion of total control. The aura’s activation is a silent rebuke, reinforcing Data’s inherent autonomy.
Fajo’s aura device is the physical manifestation of his brutality, a compact control mechanism designed to override Data’s autonomy. When Fajo’s rage triggers its activation, the device forces Data into a sudden, rigid shutdown, causing him to collapse like a discarded mannequin. The device’s use marks the escalation from psychological manipulation to outright violence, exposing Fajo’s inability to maintain control through persuasion alone.
The civilian clothes provided by Fajo are a tool of dehumanization, stripping Data of his Starfleet identity and reducing him to a ‘toy’ in Fajo’s collection. Data’s refusal to engage while wearing them—standing motionless, eyes frozen—turns the clothes into a symbol of his resistance. The outfit, meant to assert Fajo’s control, instead highlights the absurdity of his attempt to ‘dress’ a sentient being like a mannequin.
Location Details
Places and their significance in this event
Fajo’s den aboard the *Jovis* is a claustrophobic, opulent prison where artifacts—including Data—are displayed as trophies of Fajo’s wealth and taste. The space is designed to intimidate and assert dominance, with locked doors, proximity fields, and gilded displays that reinforce Fajo’s delusion of ownership. During this event, the den becomes a stage for psychological warfare, where Data’s passive resistance and Fajo’s escalating rage collide. The air is thick with tension, the artifacts serving as silent witnesses to Fajo’s humiliation.
Organizations Involved
Institutional presence and influence
Fajo’s Collection is the institutionalized manifestation of his obsession with ownership and rarity. In this event, the ‘collection’ is directly challenged by Data’s defiance, which exposes the absurdity of treating a sentient being as an inanimate object. Fajo’s desperate attempts to assert control—through clothing, threats, and the aura device—reveal the collection’s fragility, as Data’s autonomy cannot be suppressed. The organization’s power dynamics are laid bare: Fajo’s authority is performative, dependent on the compliance of his ‘artifacts,’ and his humiliation in front of Toff undermines the collection’s prestige.
Narrative Connections
How this event relates to others in the story
"Geordi's discovery of Data's incomplete transmission directly leads to Picard and Riker suspecting foul play and shifting the focus to finding Data, rather than mourning his death."
"Geordi's discovery of Data's incomplete transmission directly leads to Picard and Riker suspecting foul play and shifting the focus to finding Data, rather than mourning his death."
"Geordi's discovery of Data's incomplete transmission directly leads to Picard and Riker suspecting foul play and shifting the focus to finding Data, rather than mourning his death."
"Geordi's discovery of Data's incomplete transmission directly leads to Picard and Riker suspecting foul play and shifting the focus to finding Data, rather than mourning his death."
"Geordi's disbelief over Data's death, due to Data's competence, motivates him to find evidence, and leads to his realization of Data's incomplete final communication, driving the plot forward."
"Geordi's disbelief over Data's death, due to Data's competence, motivates him to find evidence, and leads to his realization of Data's incomplete final communication, driving the plot forward."
"Geordi's disbelief over Data's death, due to Data's competence, motivates him to find evidence, and leads to his realization of Data's incomplete final communication, driving the plot forward."
"Data asserts that he feels no pleasure on the detaining of Kajo. Echoing Troi's concern for Worf in taking on a role left by Data, the Enterprise seems to be missing Data's presence more strongly now that he is back, creating an emotional echo."
"Data asserts that he feels no pleasure on the detaining of Kajo. Echoing Troi's concern for Worf in taking on a role left by Data, the Enterprise seems to be missing Data's presence more strongly now that he is back, creating an emotional echo."
"Geordi's discovery of Data's incomplete transmission directly leads to Picard and Riker suspecting foul play and shifting the focus to finding Data, rather than mourning his death."
"Geordi's discovery of Data's incomplete transmission directly leads to Picard and Riker suspecting foul play and shifting the focus to finding Data, rather than mourning his death."
"Geordi's discovery of Data's incomplete transmission directly leads to Picard and Riker suspecting foul play and shifting the focus to finding Data, rather than mourning his death."
"Geordi's discovery of Data's incomplete transmission directly leads to Picard and Riker suspecting foul play and shifting the focus to finding Data, rather than mourning his death."
Key Dialogue
"{speaker: FAJO, dialogue: I am not amused. I demand you behave normally. Dammit, I know you can hear me!}"
"{speaker: TOFF, dialogue: Well, someone certainly has played a game on you, Fajo.}"
"{speaker: DATA (to himself, unspoken but implied by his raised eyebrow), dialogue: [You cannot break me. This is only the beginning.]}"