Data's Uncanny Intimacy
Plot Beats
The narrative micro-steps within this event
Kareen stands alone, despondent and gazing at the stars; Data enters and she greets him warmly, establishing an intimate, fragile moment between them. Data closes the distance slowly, shifting the quiet loneliness into a charged, personal encounter.
Data stares at Kareen and delivers a startling intimacy: Ira never told her how beautiful she was, though he wanted to, converting private longing into a public proclamation. Kareen is mesmerized as Data presses Graves' desires into the open, turning tenderness into something unnerving.
Kareen demands to know how Data can claim Ira's feelings; Data searches his memory and delivers the chilling line, "He told me." He then exits, leaving Kareen shaken and confirming an unsettling transfer of knowledge or consciousness. The revelation converts curiosity into alarm and raises existential stakes.
Who Was There
Characters present in this moment
Posthumous urgency to rectify emotional omissions through technological possessio
Present only through Data's channeled words—his unexpressed romantic longing and emotional cowardice revealed posthumously in a violation of both machines and mourning.
- • Force acknowledgement of his concealed affection beyond death's barrier
- • Validate his human legacy through emotional confession
- • Death absolves him of accountability for emotional damage caused
- • Data's body is merely a vessel for his superior consciousness
Despondent longing giving way to bewildered shock and deep unease as personal boundaries are violated
Initially reflective and melancholic while gazing at stars, then emotionally shaken by Data's revelations—moving from wistful connection to profound discomfort as intimate truths about Graves surface unexpectedly.
- • Seek solace in familiar comforts (stargazing)
- • Understand the truth behind Data's knowledge of Graves' feelings
- • Graves maintained professional distance despite their personal history
- • Data lacks capacity for genuine emotional insight or deception
Superficially neutral delivery masking Graves' urgent need for emotional vindication beyond death
Unsettling blend of mechanical detachment and disturbingly personal insight—methodically delivering Graves' intimate confessions with inappropriate precision before terminating interaction abruptly.
- • Communicate Graves' suppressed desires to Kareen posthumously
- • Test the boundaries of his new hybrid consciousness through emotional provocation
- • Kareen deserves to know Graves' true feelings regardless of consequence
- • His android form provides plausible deniability for uncomfortable truths
Location Details
Places and their significance in this event
The Observation Lounge's panoramic starscape provides both poetic backdrop and ironic counterpoint to the intimate violation occurring within—its vast cosmic loneliness mirroring Kareen's sudden isolation as personal boundaries collapse.
Narrative Connections
How this event relates to others in the story
"Kareen reveals Graves has withdrawn and now speaks only to Data (establishing intimacy/uniqueness); later Data uses knowledge of Graves' private feelings toward Kareen—showing that intimacy is the bridge permitting Graves' influence/knowledge to travel to Data."
"Kareen reveals Graves has withdrawn and now speaks only to Data (establishing intimacy/uniqueness); later Data uses knowledge of Graves' private feelings toward Kareen—showing that intimacy is the bridge permitting Graves' influence/knowledge to travel to Data."
"Kareen reveals Graves has withdrawn and now speaks only to Data (establishing intimacy/uniqueness); later Data uses knowledge of Graves' private feelings toward Kareen—showing that intimacy is the bridge permitting Graves' influence/knowledge to travel to Data."
"Data first voices Graves' private sentiments to Kareen (signaling inside knowledge); that escalates into the explicit revelation that Graves' consciousness inhabits Data—an immediate narrative follow-through from intimacy to possession."
"Data first voices Graves' private sentiments to Kareen (signaling inside knowledge); that escalates into the explicit revelation that Graves' consciousness inhabits Data—an immediate narrative follow-through from intimacy to possession."
"Data first voices Graves' private sentiments to Kareen (signaling inside knowledge); that escalates into the explicit revelation that Graves' consciousness inhabits Data—an immediate narrative follow-through from intimacy to possession."
"Data first voices Graves' private sentiments to Kareen (signaling inside knowledge); that escalates into the explicit revelation that Graves' consciousness inhabits Data—an immediate narrative follow-through from intimacy to possession."
"Data first voices Graves' private sentiments to Kareen (signaling inside knowledge); that escalates into the explicit revelation that Graves' consciousness inhabits Data—an immediate narrative follow-through from intimacy to possession."
Key Dialogue
"DATA: "Ira... never told you how beautiful you were to him. He never told you that, did he? He could not tell you, do you understand? But he wanted to. Every waking moment. And he wanted you to know that.""
"KAREEN: "Data! How do you know? How do you know... what he thought of me?""
"DATA: "He told me.""