Uncovering Data’s Origins in the Colony Laboratory
Plot Beats
The narrative micro-steps within this event
The away team enters the sophisticated colony laboratory, with Riker scanning the space and identifying it as extremely well equipped, setting the stage for investigation.
Riker questions Data about memories stirred by the lab; Data shares vague impressions of functions tested here, hinting at the site’s significance to his origin.
Data reveals a series of children's drawings depicting a massive crystal formation causing fear, marking the first ominous symbol tied to the colony’s fate.
Data points out the scientist’s workbench as Doctor Soong’s workspace; Riker and the team connect Soong’s name to the positronic brain and his mysterious disappearance after failures.
Riker assigns the team to explore the lab and adjoining corridors, splitting tasks between the away team members to uncover more about the colony and Soong’s work.
Who Was There
Characters present in this moment
Alert and watchful, focused on ensuring the safety of the away team amid the eerie silence and desolation.
Lieutenant Natasha Yar leads the team's cautious entry into the colony laboratory with weapon drawn, conducts sensor scans confirming the absence of life, and communicates vital situational updates to Commander Riker.
- • To secure the laboratory environment for the team.
- • To provide accurate scans and timely communications to command.
- • That the laboratory is devoid of life but potentially harbors unknown dangers.
- • That security protocols must be strictly maintained despite the apparent emptiness.
Subdued curiosity mixed with cautious unease and a deep yearning for understanding his origins and possible family connection.
Data actively examines the laboratory environment with a mixture of analytical detachment and emotional curiosity, handling children’s drawings and the epidermal mold, while internally grappling with vague memories and the unsettling possibility of a sibling.
- • To piece together fragmented memories and understand the significance of the laboratory objects.
- • To explore the potential existence of another being like himself.
- • That the colony laboratory holds vital clues to his creation and identity.
- • That there may be a synthetic sibling linked to him, deepening his personal mystery.
Steely, focused on security and the tactical integrity of the team’s operations.
Lieutenant Worf stands guard at the rear of the team, accompanying Lieutenant Yar as they scout corridors beyond the main laboratory, maintaining professional alertness and readiness to respond to any threats.
- • To ensure the safety of the away team by monitoring potential external threats.
- • To gather intelligence on the layout and condition of the surrounding laboratory corridors.
- • That the environment may conceal hidden dangers or clues.
- • That maintaining security is paramount to the success of the mission.
Measured curiosity blended with cautious optimism, underscored by a growing awareness of the profound implications of their discoveries.
Commander Riker leads the investigation of the deserted colony laboratory, attentively examining the Soong workbench and the human-shaped epidermal mold while directing the team's movements and responding thoughtfully to Data's discoveries and questions.
- • To uncover the truth about Data's origins and the fate of the colony.
- • To manage and coordinate the away team's exploration effectively and safely.
- • That the laboratory holds key evidence concerning Data’s creation and the colony's history.
- • That Data’s identity and potential kinship require careful exploration and preservation of evidence.
Intense curiosity mingled with surprise and a professional sense of wonder at the implications of the discovery.
Geordi La Forge thoroughly inspects the laboratory equipment and discovers a concealed storage vault containing duplicate Data-like android parts, expressing surprise and scientific intrigue as he reveals the startling find to the team.
- • To uncover and analyze technological evidence related to Data’s origins.
- • To communicate findings clearly to the team to advance the investigation.
- • That the hidden vault contains crucial evidence about Data’s creation and possibly other androids.
- • That understanding these artifacts is essential to comprehending the larger mystery of the colony.
Objects Involved
Significant items in this scene
Children’s drawings pinned to the laboratory wall depict vivid images of a colossal crystalline formation, symbolically foreshadowing the colony’s doom and evoking a haunting sense of innocence lost. Data studies these drawings intently, recognizing a familiar yet ominous feeling they evoke.
Doctor Soong's workbench serves as a crucial investigative site where Riker focuses his attention, confirming the legendary scientist's presence through sophisticated cybernetic tools and schematics. It anchors the team's understanding of the scientific genius behind Data’s creation.
The hidden storage vault is uncovered by Geordi, revealing multiple duplicate android body parts—arms, torsos, and heads—identical to Data’s design. This chilling repository intensifies the mystery of potential synthetic siblings and the scope of Doctor Soong’s experiments.
The human-shaped epidermal mold is revealed when Riker opens the laboratory table, presenting a torso and head portion perfectly matching Data’s exterior. Data physically presses the mold against himself, confirming its role in crafting his synthetic skin and identity.
Location Details
Places and their significance in this event
The abandoned Omicron Theta colony laboratory functions as the central stage for the away team's critical investigation into Data's origins. Its advanced yet lifeless environment embodies the tragic fate of the colonists and the scientific ambitions of Doctor Soong, casting an eerie, haunted atmosphere over the discoveries.
Narrative Connections
How this event relates to others in the story
"Data’s fragmented memory of a sudden danger connects directly to the discovery of children’s drawings depicting a massive crystal, foreshadowing the colony's destruction by the crystalline entity."
"Data’s fragmented memory of a sudden danger connects directly to the discovery of children’s drawings depicting a massive crystal, foreshadowing the colony's destruction by the crystalline entity."
"Data’s fragmented memory of a sudden danger connects directly to the discovery of children’s drawings depicting a massive crystal, foreshadowing the colony's destruction by the crystalline entity."
"Data’s fragmented memory of a sudden danger connects directly to the discovery of children’s drawings depicting a massive crystal, foreshadowing the colony's destruction by the crystalline entity."
"The away team's discovery of barren, lifeless soil leads Geordi to find the hidden storage of android parts, revealing the backstory of the colony and Data’s origins."
"The away team's discovery of barren, lifeless soil leads Geordi to find the hidden storage of android parts, revealing the backstory of the colony and Data’s origins."
"The away team's discovery of barren, lifeless soil leads Geordi to find the hidden storage of android parts, revealing the backstory of the colony and Data’s origins."
"Discovery of multiple android parts in the colony leads to attempts to assemble the new android onboard, setting up the critical plot of Lore's emergence."
"Discovery of multiple android parts in the colony leads to attempts to assemble the new android onboard, setting up the critical plot of Lore's emergence."
"After finding the android parts, the narrative moves to the medical team preparing the new android, showing continuous progression of the assembly plotline."
"After finding the android parts, the narrative moves to the medical team preparing the new android, showing continuous progression of the assembly plotline."
"After finding the android parts, the narrative moves to the medical team preparing the new android, showing continuous progression of the assembly plotline."
Key Dialogue
"RIKER: The colony laboratory, I'd guess. Extremely well equipped."
"DATA: Only vague impressions of some of my functions being tested here, sir..."
"DATA: This pictures something that feels familiar, sir. And dangerous, although I have no idea what it represents. And that is all..."
"RIKER: Who? You can't mean Doctor Noonien Soong?"
"GEORDI: Doctor Noonien Soong, my friend, just happens to have been Earth's foremost robotics scientist!"
"RIKER: (eyes Data) Now we know he went off somewhere to try a second time."
"GEORDI: Data... it's you."
"RIKER: An epidermal mold, I'd guess. Made to give your exterior the desired finish."
"DATA: Commander, can this be another me? Or perhaps my brother?"
"RIKER: I honestly don't know, Data."
"DATA: He needs assembling."
"RIKER: He? Data, we don't know that this could become "alive.""
"DATA: It is of great interest to me to find out, sir. I never believed it possible I might have a link with some form like my own."