Object

USS Enterprise Class One Probe (Harmonic Resonator Conversion)

A cluster of compact, metallic Class One probes retrofitted for a desperate engineering gambit: roughly the size of a large drone, with streamlined hulls, reinforced sensor bays and newly mounted harmonic emitters designed to nest inside photon torpedo casings. Engineers rig tactile coupling ports and frequency tuning interfaces along each probe’s flank; the probes sit primed on the torpedo racks as Worf and Hildebrant outline wiring diagrams while Data and Riker stand over status consoles. The devices hum faintly when powered, their surfaces lacquered with temporary insulating plating and diagnostic stencils, ready to be remotely tuned from the bridge and launched toward Drema Four’s dilithium lattices.

2 appearances

Purpose

To serve as converted harmonic resonators—engineered to be housed in torpedo casings and remotely tuned to emit destructive frequencies intended to fracture and destabilize a planet’s dilithium lattice structure.

Significance

The probes become the physical instrument of an ethical turning point: the technical fix that forces Picard to authorize a Prime Directive compromise. They transform problem-solving into an irreversible act with moral consequences, catalyzing the episode’s central crisis and binding engineering action to character culpability.

Appearances in the Narrative

When this object appears and how it's used

2 moments

S2E15 · Pen Pals

Data's Forbidden Bond on the Bridge

The converted Class One probes / harmonic resonator system functions as the ticking external pressure — referenced indirectly through Worf's countdown and torpedo firing — turning the bridge's emotional crisis urgent and time-limited and motivating command decisions.

Before: Primed and mounted in torpedo casings, awaiting remote launch toward the planet's dilithium lattice.

After: Torpedoes are fired toward the resonator target as announced by Worf; the probes/harmonic systems are in transit or active as the bridge continues the operation.

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S2E15 · Pen Pals

Picard Makes Sarjenka the Mission

Although not physically shown, the converted Class One probes (harmonic resonator payloads) are the implied mission hardware driving the countdown. Their imminent launch creates the temporal pressure that frames the ethical crisis — the bridge's attention is split between the child and the probes' deployment via torpedoes.

Before: Primed and mounted in torpedo casings or racks, configured for resonator launch as part of the engineering gambit.

After: Committed to launch sequence — torpedoes are ordered fired and the probes are in the process of being delivered toward their target.

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