Object
Contagious Microorganism ('the bug')
A microscopic, fast-replicating pathogen referred to in the script as "this bug." Invisible without instrumentation, it triggers cellular breakdown and transmits via close contact and transporter patterns. It behaves unpredictably against standard containment—raising alarm, provoking clinical caution, and forcing technicians to treat air, surfaces, and pattern buffers as vectors. Mention of the organism stiffens crew resolve; Data models exposure risk while Geordi and O'Brien translate that risk into operational decisions.
1 appearances
Purpose
Acts as an infectious biological agent that infects and damages host organisms, creating a biohazard that requires quarantine, medical analysis, and special transport/containment procedures.
Significance
Operates as the episode's immediate existential threat, converting an abstract probability into a concrete moral and tactical dilemma. Its presence propels the central choice—who boards the transporter—and underwrites themes of duty versus risk, human vulnerability, and the limits of technology when confronted with living contagion.
Appearances in the Narrative
When this object appears and how it's used