Object

Desiccated Occupant Remains (Shriveled Forms)

A set of unidentified human remains—notably desiccated/shriveled—discovered during the investigation into a twentieth‑century Earth construct in the TNG episode "The Royale." The fragments were treated as tangible evidence aboard the Enterprise, prompting sensor scans and archival searches and shifting priorities from rescue to identification. The remains are handled indirectly via sensor readouts and procedural commands rather than prolonged physical examination on the bridge.

3 appearances

Purpose

To serve as physical evidence used to identify a possible victim and to trigger forensic or identity-scanning procedures.

Significance

Functions as a forensic clue that shifts the investigation from accident to deliberate removal: the inconsistent condition of these remains (some opened and emptied, some destroyed, others left intact) crystallizes suspicion of an intelligent actor and escalates the crew's mission urgency and hypotheses about the derelict's history.

Appearances in the Narrative

When this object appears and how it's used

3 moments

S1E26 · STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION — The Neutral Zone

Selective Extractions — The Plucked Crypts

Desiccated occupant remains within several niches function as contrasting evidence — shriveled, browned corpses versus preserved individuals — and their disturbed or missing state signals selective removal or destruction by an external agent.

Before: Tucked into multiple crypts in shrunken, desiccated condition; some intact, some partially destroyed.

After: Some remains are identified as removed or destroyed; those left intact are catalogued as evidence of varied treatment among occupants.

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S2E12 · The Royale

Richey Revelation and Severed Comms

The recovered human remains function as the inciting forensic clue: Riker reports their discovery, prompting identity-scanning requests and redirecting Enterprise efforts from pure rescue to historical identification and investigation of the construct's origin.

Before: Located by the away team within the Royale construct and known to the away team but not yet identified in ship records.

After: Referenced on the bridge as the subject of an identity scan request and correlated (via partial database retrieval) to Colonel Stephen Richey in ship archives.

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S2E12 · The Royale

Static and the Charybdis: Bridge Communications Collapse

The human remains recovered by the away team are the trigger for an identity scan request; they pivot the bridge's attention from mere rescue logistics to forensic identification and historical linkage, catalyzing the search for Colonel Richey in ship and terrestrial records.

Before: Located by the away team inside the Royale; not yet fully analyzed or identified.

After: Subject of an initiated identity scan request; identified in bridge records as possibly matching Colonel Stephen Richey (pending confirmation).

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