Object

Dixon Hill Secretary's Telephone

A period‑styled, corded desk telephone with a glossy dark handset cradled on a small base; rotary-style cues and a compact footprint evoke classic noir offices. The secretary lifts the receiver, places and hangs up a curt call while repeating the phrase 'Pay the tailor,' the phone's clipped clicks and a polite mechanical chime puncturing banter and redirecting attention. The device shows light wear from routine use and functions as an immediately reachable prop on the reception desk that characters manipulate to stage brief, performative communications.

2 appearances

Purpose

To place and receive voice calls from the reception desk within the Dixon Hill holonovel; used by the secretary to simulate external communication and punctuate dialogue.

Significance

Serves as a tactile cue and comic beat: the secretary's repeated call ('Pay the tailor') triggers Picard's small ritual and anchors his full immersion into the Dixon Hill fantasy, while also puncturing and resetting the scene's social dynamics when other characters arrive.

Appearances in the Narrative

When this object appears and how it's used

2 moments

S2E19 · Manhunt

Noir Respite — Pay the Tailor, Stall the Landlord

The period-styled desk telephone is lifted by the secretary to accept and then dismiss/offhand the calls; it conveys off-stage pressures (tailor/landlord) into the holodeck world and is used to comic effect when she hangs up after mocking the idea of payment.

Before: Resting on the reception desk, ready to be answered.

After: Placed back on the desk after the secretary finishes the brief, performative phone exchange.

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S2E19 · Manhunt

Lwaxana Declares an 'Alternate Plan'

The period-styled telephone is lifted, used to simulate contact with the tailor and landlord, and hung up as part of the secretary's comic routine; the device turns off-stage obligations into an on-stage beat that interrupts Picard's escape.

Before: On the reception desk, idle and within reach.

After: Placed back on the desk; the call was hung up and the device remains unchanged but narratively active.

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