Wristband Reveal — The Hidden Blue Chip
Plot Beats
The narrative micro-steps within this event
Setal reveals a hidden compartment in his wristband containing a mysterious blue chip, hinting at undisclosed intentions.
Who Was There
Characters present in this moment
Outwardly weary and frustrated; inwardly tense and guarded—resentful and resolute, hiding panic beneath strained composure.
Alone in the quarters, Setal struggles with a small cultural detail, accepts a materialized glass of water, sits on the bed, removes a boot, flips open a wristband to reveal a tiny blue chip, then snaps the band closed and conceals it.
- • Appear compliant and non-threatening to the Enterprise crew
- • Conceal the blue chip and maintain secrecy about its purpose
- • Compose himself emotionally to withstand imminent interrogation
- • Revealing the chip would doom his claim of asylum or the mission he's part of
- • The Enterprise environment is foreign and monitored, requiring extreme caution
- • Small mistakes (like misreading units) increase his vulnerability
Civil and controlled with an undercurrent of wariness; performing duty while keeping emotional distance.
Briefly escorts Setal into the quarters, points out the food slot and com panel, issues a polite warning about follow-up questions, observes Setal's frustration, then leaves the refugee alone under guard.
- • Ensure Setal is lodged safely and knows how to contact the command
- • Maintain protocol and ship security while facilitating humanitarian care
- • Leave the situation under watch without escalating unnecessarily
- • Setal must be processed by Starfleet procedures before any unilateral decisions
- • Cordiality aids compliance and reduces immediate threat
- • Security presence outside the door is sufficient for now
Neutral and algorithmic, enforcing system constraints without judgment.
Responds to Setal's vocal command by querying temperature, corrects the requested unit to Celsius, and then materializes the requested water when an acceptable instruction is given.
- • Execute shipboard functions according to system parameters
- • Oblige user requests within calibration and safety limits
- • User inputs must conform to ship standards (Celsius)
- • Provisioning requests are routine operations to be fulfilled promptly
Objects Involved
Significant items in this scene
An observation window frames Setal looking out; it reflects his silhouette and the ship's starfield beyond. It functions as a mirror for interior tension and a reminder that the quarters open onto a larger, watched universe.
The guest-quarters communications panel is pointed out by Riker as Setal's line to the ship. It represents access to command and a reminder that this space is monitored and procedural, even as Setal attempts small private acts.
A clear glass of water is materialized by the Shipboard Computer at Setal's request; it functions as an ordinary comfort that punctuates his disorientation and grounds the scene in domestic realism before the revelation of the wristband compartment.
The spare bed provides the seat of private reflection: Setal sits on its edge to drink and to handle the wristband. It is both ordinary furniture and the stage for his solitary decision to hide the chip again.
Setal slips off a personal boot and sets it aside before opening his wristband. The act domesticates him briefly, turning routine undressing into the private prelude that enables the concealment gesture.
Setal removes this narrow wristband, flips open a hidden compartment to expose a tiny blue chip, then snaps it closed. The band functions narratively as a concealment device and the chip as an ominous unknown that retroactively complicates his defector status.
Location Details
Places and their significance in this event
The Enterprise guest quarters operate as a contained, softly lit holding environment where hospitality and detention meet. It provides privacy sufficient for small, intimate gestures—like revealing a hidden chip—but its institutional trappings (com panel, food slot, guard outside) remind the occupant that he is not free, intensifying the dramatic privacy of the act.
Narrative Connections
How this event relates to others in the story
"Setal's hidden blue chip foreshadows his later suicide with a concealed Felodesine chip."
"Setal's hidden blue chip foreshadows his later suicide with a concealed Felodesine chip."
Key Dialogue
"RIKER: (at the door) This is the food station... you can reach me through the com panel. Later, there are a few more questions we'd like to ask you..."
"COMPUTER: This system is calibrated to the Celsius metric system."
"SETAL: Any temperature at all. On the cold side of your system, whatever that is."