The First Healing and the Unleashed Storm: John’s Powers Erupt in Public
Plot Beats
The narrative micro-steps within this event
A crewman lies choking on the ground. John touches the crewman, and a Color Wash eliminates the choking, as Beverly watches with growing awe.
John touches a wall panel, initiating a Color Wash that spreads throughout the corridor.
Who Was There
Characters present in this moment
Overwhelmed and horrified—his initial relief at healing the crewman is swiftly replaced by panic as his power spirals out of control, threatening the ship and those he has come to care for.
John Doe, driven by an instinctive urge to heal, kneels beside the choking crewman and presses his palm to the crewman’s chest. A Color Wash erupts from his hand, dissolving the toxin and restoring the crewman’s breath in an instant. His body trembles with the effort, and as he stumbles away, his hand brushes the corridor wall panel. The Color Wash surges uncontrollably, spreading through the ship’s systems like wildfire. John’s expression is a mix of exhaustion and horror as he realizes the extent of his loss of control.
- • To heal the choking crewman, driven by an innate desire to alleviate suffering.
- • To regain control over his powers before they cause irreparable damage to the *Enterprise* and its crew.
- • That his healing abilities are a gift meant to protect others, even if they come at a personal cost.
- • That he is fundamentally different from those around him, and that his evolution is both a burden and a responsibility he must bear alone.
Awe-struck fascination giving way to creeping dread—her initial wonder at John’s healing power is overshadowed by the realization that his abilities are a double-edged sword, capable of both salvation and destruction.
Beverly Crusher rushes to the choking crewman’s side, tricorder in hand, her medical instincts overriding her initial shock. She scans the crewman’s vitals, her expression shifting from professional urgency to stunned awe as John Doe’s Color Wash heals the crewman instantaneously. Her awe quickly curdles into dread as John’s uncontrolled power surges through the corridor, threatening the ship. She stands frozen, her grip tightening on the tricorder as the implications of John’s instability sink in.
- • To stabilize the choking crewman and assess his condition using her medical expertise.
- • To understand and contain John Doe’s rapidly escalating powers before they cause further harm to the *Enterprise*.
- • That John Doe’s abilities, while extraordinary, must be studied and controlled to prevent unintended consequences.
- • That her role as Chief Medical Officer requires her to prioritize the safety of the crew and the ship above all else, even if it means confronting John’s instability.
Terrified and desperate as he chokes, then overwhelmingly relieved and disoriented as he is healed—his emotions are a whirlwind of fear, gratitude, and confusion in the span of seconds.
The unidentified crewman lies on the ground, choking violently as the Zalkonian toxin constricts his throat. His face is flushed, his hands clutching at his neck in a desperate, futile attempt to breathe. John Doe’s Color Wash washes over him, and in an instant, the toxin dissolves, his breathing normalizes, and he gasps for air, his body slack with relief. He remains on the ground, disoriented but alive, as the chaos of John’s uncontrolled power unfolds around him.
- • To survive the toxin’s effects and regain his breath.
- • To understand what has just happened to him, though he is too disoriented to fully process it in the moment.
- • That he is at the mercy of forces beyond his control, both the toxin and John Doe’s healing power.
- • That his survival is a miracle, though he cannot yet comprehend its true nature.
Objects Involved
Significant items in this scene
Beverly Crusher’s medical tricorder is a critical tool in this moment, used to scan the choking crewman’s vitals and assess the severity of his condition. The tricorder’s readouts would typically guide her next steps, but its diagnostic capabilities are rendered obsolete by John Doe’s instantaneous healing. As the **Color Wash** surges through the corridor, the tricorder’s display flickers erratically, reflecting the instability of John’s power and the ship’s systems. The tricorder symbolizes the limits of conventional medicine in the face of the extraordinary, and its malfunction underscores the chaos unfolding around Beverly.
The corridor wall panel serves as an unintended catalyst for the **Color Wash**’s uncontrolled eruption. As John Doe stumbles away from the healed crewman, his hand brushes the panel, and the energy surges through it, spreading rapidly and disrupting the ship’s systems. The panel is a mundane object transformed into a conduit for chaos, symbolizing how even the most ordinary elements can become dangerous when exposed to John’s unstable power. Its role in this event underscores the fragility of the *Enterprise*’s systems and the unpredictable nature of John’s evolution.
The **Color Wash** is the focal point of this event, manifesting first as a healing force that dissolves the Zalkonian toxin in the crewman’s body and restores his breath. However, its true nature is revealed as John loses control: the **Color Wash** erupts from his hand, spreading uncontrollably through the corridor wall panel and surging through the ship’s systems. It is both a miracle and a menace, a duality that encapsulates John Doe’s own conflicted nature. The **Color Wash** is not merely a visual spectacle but a narrative device that forces the characters—and the audience—to confront the consequences of unchecked power.
Location Details
Places and their significance in this event
The corridor near the aft turbolift bank on Deck 10 of the *Enterprise* is a confined, claustrophobic space that amplifies the tension of this event. It is here that the crewman collapses, choking, and where John Doe’s healing—and subsequent loss of control—unfolds. The narrow walls and flickering lights create a sense of urgency and danger, as if the very structure of the ship is under threat. The corridor is no longer a mere passageway but a battleground where the fate of the *Enterprise* hangs in the balance, its systems flickering in response to John’s uncontrolled power.
Organizations Involved
Institutional presence and influence
The crew of the *Enterprise* is indirectly but critically involved in this event, as the choking crewman is a victim of the Zalkonian bio-weapon attack and a beneficiary of John Doe’s healing. However, the uncontrolled surge of the **Color Wash** threatens the entire ship and its systems, putting the crew’s safety—and their ability to fulfill their duties—at risk. This event forces the crew to confront the reality that John Doe’s presence is not just a medical curiosity but a potential existential threat to the *Enterprise* itself.
Narrative Connections
How this event relates to others in the story
"Sunad's attack on the Enterprise, causing throat constriction, necessitates John using his healing power on a wider scale, further revealing his abilities."
"Sunad's attack on the Enterprise, causing throat constriction, necessitates John using his healing power on a wider scale, further revealing his abilities."
Key Dialogue
"*(Beverly, breathless, to John as the crewman gasps for air)* **BEVERLY:** "John… what did you just—?" *(Her voice trails off, not in accusation, but in something closer to reverence—and fear.)"
"*(John, voice strained, as the Color Wash spreads uncontrollably)* **JOHN:** "I can’t… I can’t stop it." *(A whisper, not to Beverly, but to himself—a confession of his own terror. The words hang in the air as the corridor trembles around them.)"
"*(Beverly, sharp, as the ship’s alarms blare)* **BEVERLY:** "John, *look at me*. You have to *focus*—or this ship is lost." *(The line is a pivot: no longer a doctor’s plea, but a commander’s order. The dynamic between them shifts forever in this moment.)"