Object

Data's Quarters Keyboard

A compact, desk‑scale keyboard at Data's personal workstation in his quarters: low‑profile matte keys with precise tactile response and faint backlighting, mounted on a cluttered surface of filters and black boxes. Data taps the keys with mechanical exactness; each keystroke issues a command, the input panel blinking as it locks onto and boosts a weak transmission.

1 appearances

Purpose

Provide manual command entry for Data's personal workstation—entering diagnostic commands, initiating com‑link locks, and controlling signal‑processing routines.

Significance

Functions as the physical instrument that allows Data to isolate and secure the forbidden signal, catalyzing his illicit emotional correspondence and raising the episode's central moral and procedural stakes.

Appearances in the Narrative

When this object appears and how it's used

1 moments

S2E15 · Pen Pals

Data Locks On to the Forbidden Signal

The compact keyboard is Data's immediate interface—each keystroke issues commands to the ship's systems and local hardware, allowing him to query the computer, request the translator, and order the com‑link lock and boost.

Before: Situated on Data's cluttered work surface, ready for input and under his precise, mechanical control.

After: Remains on the desk after Data issues commands and settles back; it has served its purpose as the tactile bridge between Data and the ship's software.

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