Fabula
Object
Object

Iconian Control Console

Central Iconian control console/array: a hulking alien command array of dark/matte fused alloys and filigreed circuitry, ringed by glyphic status lights and a central glasslike platen that projects flickering gateway imagery. Concentric control rings, tactile glyph-pads, inset holo-projectors and a mechanical timer/vocalization mechanism (uttering the hostile cadence "kandar more, kandar sete, kandar ne") pulse with unreadable runes while vents belch steam and the housing shudders under overload. The interface resists touch—forcing physical contests and delivering jolts that scramble sensors and positronic pathways—ultimately requiring a manual override to halt a dangerous countdown.
4 appearances

Purpose

To operate and regulate the Iconian gateway and associated launch/sequence systems—controlling power distribution, launch authorization, and the portal’s activation state.

Significance

A story-critical antagonist: the console embodies the Iconian program’s agency, physically imperils the away team, catalyzes the decision to deny the technology, and directly precipitates Picard’s sacrificial plunge through the unstable gate.

Appearances in the Narrative

When this object appears and how it's used

4 moments
S2E11 · Contagion
Blinded Data — Picard Chooses Denial

The Iconian control-room console is the active interface through which Data guides Picard: identifying rectangular and triangular screens, key colors, and lights. Picard must physically override this console to open doors and initiate probe launches, making it the fulcrum of the denial operation.

Before: Active and convulsing under Iconian program control, projecting lights and glyphs while resisting interference and rewriting connected systems.
After: Used by Picard (with Data's guidance) as the instrument for initiating an override/launch sequence intended to destroy the installation; left in a compromised state and set on course for denial.
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S2E11 · Contagion
Picard's Last Override

The Iconian control room console is the central interface Data and Picard use to identify the launch keys and to initiate the probe launch sequence. It functions as both the mechanism to complete the denial plan and as the locus of the Iconian Program's control—being directly interacted with and overridden under stress.

Before: Active and convulsing under Iconian Program control; responsive but dangerous and incompletely understood.
After: Keyed into the launch sequence; beginning the probe launch override that will cause a power backwash and overload (console remains active and unstable as the sequence proceeds).
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S2E11 · Contagion
Manual Override Against the Iconian Command

The central Iconian control console is the locus of Picard's override attempt: its rings, glyph-pads and platen are being manipulated physically as the interface fights back, transmitting forces and signals that convulse the room and drive the narrative danger.

Before: Operational and engaged in an ongoing activation sequence, projecting gateway imagery and running sequential processes.
After: Under physical strain and convulsing; still active and resisting human interference as Picard struggles at its surface.
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S2E11 · Contagion
Leap Through the Flickering Gate

The central control console emits sparks and is violently overloaded, its failures signaling system-wide collapse and creating immediate physical hazard that drives characters to act and prevents safe, deliberative solutions.

Before: Operating but critically overloaded; panels sparking and systems failing under strain.
After: Severely damaged and still sparking; functionally compromised and contributing to the chamber's instability.
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