Gosheven's Show of Force: Data Silenced and Momentum Lost
Plot Beats
The narrative micro-steps within this event
Gosheven unexpectedly arrives, asserting his authority and confronting Data about his influence.
Gosheven uses an electronic prod to disable Data, asserting dominance and scattering the wavering colonists.
Who Was There
Characters present in this moment
Angry and urgent in response to Gosheven's violence, shifting quickly into focused, practical concern as she examines Data's circuitry and assesses his condition.
Backing Data's message and pressuring Kentor to take a stand; reacts instantly to the prod—rushing to Data, furious at Gosheven, and pulling an electronic scanner to check and attempt diagnostics on the fallen android.
- • Protect Data and preserve momentum for evacuation
- • Diagnose whether Data can be restarted and expose Gosheven's brutality
- • Technical competence and quick action can mitigate the crisis
- • Data's integrity and the information he provides are crucial to saving lives
From tentative optimism about a reasoned solution to anxiety and resignation when confronted by coercive authority.
A gathered public audience listening to Data and Ard'rian; initially impressed and curious, then cowed into silence and partial dispersal after Gosheven's display—several colonists move for the door, signaling the collapse of collective resolve.
- • Maintain safety and social cohesion within the settlement
- • Follow community leadership to avoid conflict
- • Consensus and leadership determine group action
- • Visible authority (Gosheven) is the safer heuristic than uncertain change
Unyielding and confrontational—confident that an overt show of power will reassert his leadership and suppress the evacuation movement.
Fills the doorway and silences opposition with a demonstration of force; approaches Data and slams a charged electronic prod against him, causing visible sparks and shutting Data down. He then addresses the group, ordering everyone to disperse and asserting his control before exiting.
- • Maintain personal authority and prevent the colony's mass evacuation
- • Intimidate dissenters into submission to preserve the community's established order
- • Preserving local control and tradition supersedes outside solutions
- • A decisive, even brutal, display will stop the spread of dissent
Resistant to outside interference initially; becomes surprised and alarmed when confronted with physical suppression of a Federation representative.
Voices a desire for independence and questions why evacuation is needed; reacts with shock and alarm when Data is prodded and falls—his skepticism shifts toward fear at the overt demonstration of control.
- • Preserve the colony's autonomy and way of life
- • Avoid unnecessary upheaval that might displace the community
- • Self-reliance and local governance are worth defending
- • External solutions (like Federation resettlement) could undermine local identity
Conflicted and then determined while deciding to support Ard'rian; afterwards, unsettled and alarmed by Gosheven's force but still aware of the need to lead by example.
Initially hesitant but resolves to support evacuation and asks how to persuade Gosheven; present during the confrontation and visibly affected—he makes a public decision earlier but is stunned and chastened when Data is disabled.
- • Convince respected leaders to back evacuation to sway the populace
- • Use his community standing to unify citizens behind a safer course
- • People follow those they respect, so persuading leaders is tactically vital
- • Collective safety requires someone with community legitimacy to act
Determined and composed while speaking; then abruptly nonresponsive and inert when powered down—his 'emotion' becomes absence, amplifying the violence of the act.
Calmly presenting factual, low-pressure arguments for Federation resettlement; after Gosheven's contact with the prod, Data's systems seize, his body stiffens and he falls inert, removing the primary voice of reason from the room.
- • Persuade the colonists to accept organized evacuation/resettlement
- • De-escalate community tensions through calm, factual explanation
- • Objective facts and noncoercive presentation will win voluntary consent
- • His presence and logic can influence communal decisions without force
Objects Involved
Significant items in this scene
Gosheven uses a compact electronic prod—bringing it into contact with Data's casing. The prod emits blue sparks, overloads or interrupts Data's systems, and forces an immediate shutdown. Narratively, the prod converts political disagreement into physical silencing, demonstrating the price of dissent.
Location Details
Places and their significance in this event
Ard'rian's cramped living room, ordinarily domestic, serves as a public forum and the physical stage for this confrontation. Its intimacy makes Gosheven's intrusion and the prod's violence feel especially invasive; the room functions as the site where communal debate is extinguished by a show of force.
Narrative Connections
How this event relates to others in the story
"Data and Ard'rian's mobilization against Gosheven leads directly to Gosheven's violent counterattack using the electronic prod."
"Data and Ard'rian's mobilization against Gosheven leads directly to Gosheven's violent counterattack using the electronic prod."
Themes This Exemplifies
Thematic resonance and meaning
Key Dialogue
"DATA: "I appear to be reversing that defeat.""
"GOSHEVEN: "I've killed no one. I've merely shut down a machine.""
"ARD'RIAN: "Damn you, Gosheven --""