Data's Moral Calculus
Plot Beats
The narrative micro-steps within this event
Data expresses moral confusion about the Ansata's methods, prompting Picard to acknowledge the complexity of their situation.
Data cites historical examples where terrorism succeeded, challenging Picard's moral stance.
Picard reaffirms the Federation's rejection of violence, but Data's questioning leaves the ethical dilemma unresolved.
Who Was There
Characters present in this moment
Composed and authoritative on the surface; privately unsettled by the moral complexity but determined to uphold a non‑violent posture.
Picard stands by Data, listens to the technical proposal, asks a tactical follow-up, then accepts Data's moral questioning and answers with a firm ethical stance that locates the debate in human history rather than offering a policy prescription.
- • Assess the technical feasibility of tracking Ansata via the echogram.
- • Reassert a principled, non‑violent stance and prevent the bridge from collapsing into expedient moral relativism.
- • Violence cannot be institutionally condoned as a method for political change.
- • Command responsibility includes setting ethical boundaries even under operational pressure.
Calmly inquisitive with intellectual unease — an android's clinical confusion that carries the weight of moral probing.
Data operates at Science One, delivering a technical proposal (magnetospheric echogram) and then pivots into philosophical interrogation, citing historical rebellions and directly questioning moral limits of violence.
- • Obtain a workable technical method to track Ansata (set up the echogram and trace their power source).
- • Resolve his cognitive dissonance about Ansata's tactics by testing moral hypotheses with Picard.
- • Historical precedent matters: past outcomes can inform the ethical evaluation of political violence.
- • Rational analysis can and should be applied to moral problems, and inconsistencies should be exposed through questioning.
Objects Involved
Significant items in this scene
The local artificial power source is invoked implicitly as the target the echogram could help locate; it functions as the inferred endpoint of the technical hunt for Ansata infrastructure.
The magnetospheric faint echogram is named as the investigative tool Data proposes to monitor Ansata dimensional jumps; narratively it serves as the bridge between technical possibility and strategic decision‑making.
The Science One console is the physical hub where Data presents sensor data and proposes the magnetospheric echogram; it anchors the technical portion of the exchange and visually reinforces the shift from instrumentation to ethics.
Location Details
Places and their significance in this event
The Main Bridge (Science One/Aft Science Station) functions as the operational and symbolic stage for the exchange: it's where data becomes policy, where technical assessment collides with command ethics, and where crew bearing responsibility must confront moral ambiguity.
Narrative Connections
How this event relates to others in the story
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Part of Larger Arcs
Key Dialogue
"DATA: "The dimensional jump creates a subspace pressure modulation, Captain. By setting up a magnetosphere faint echogram that can monitor each of their movements, we may be able to collect enough data to trace their power source.""
"DATA: "Then, would it be accurate to say that terrorism is acceptable when the options for peaceful settlement have been foreclosed?""
"PICARD: "These are questions that mankind has been struggling with since creation. I am afraid your confusion, Data... is only human.""