Fabula

Unseen Telepathic Alien Experimenters

Extraterrestrial Psychological Experimentation and Replication

Description

A telepathically linked alien species that conducts psychological experiments on Starfleet officers (Picard, Riker, Data, Worf, Kova Tholl, and Esoqq) by abducting them and deploying replicas (including False Picard, Alien #1, and Alien #4) to study authority, leadership, obedience, trust, and group dynamics. They design sterile holding bays with false escape routes, inedible food, disabled communicators, and forcefields to enforce isolation and provoke reactions. One member disguises itself as Mitena Haro to observe captive dynamics. The species uses replicas to infiltrate Starfleet (e.g., False Picard on the *Enterprise*) while keeping originals contained. Their experiments are ultimately thwarted when Captain Picard exposes their methods, reverses their trap, and secures the crew's release through calculated mercy, leaving the aliens humbled by Starfleet's moral code.

Event Involvements

Events with structured involvement data

11 events
S3E18 · Allegiance
Picard’s Awakening: The First Fracture of Command

The unseen alien captors are the driving force behind Picard’s disorientation and the experiment’s psychological design. Their influence is felt through the sterile environment of the holding bay, the locked door, the dead communicator, and the unconscious state of the other captives. The aliens’ control over the space is absolute, and their experiment is already succeeding in stripping Picard of his authority and sense of self. Their presence is implied rather than shown, but their impact is immediate and profound, setting the stage for the psychological and moral challenges to come.

Active Representation

Through the design and control of the holding bay environment, which includes the locked door, the feeder, and the disabled communicator. Their influence is also felt through the unconscious state of the other captives, suggesting they have already subjected them to the experiment’s conditions.

Power Dynamics

The aliens exercise complete authority over the holding bay and its occupants. Picard’s attempts to reassert control are futile in the face of their dominance, and the experiment’s design ensures that he remains powerless and isolated. Their power is not just physical but psychological, as they manipulate the captives’ perceptions and force them into a state of vulnerability.

Institutional Impact

The aliens’ experiment challenges the very foundations of Picard’s identity as a leader and a Starfleet officer. By stripping him of his authority and isolating him from his crew, they force him to confront the fragility of his role and the limits of his control. This moment sets the stage for a broader exploration of power, obedience, and the moral complexities of leadership under duress.

Internal Dynamics

None explicitly shown, but the experiment’s design suggests a highly organized and methodical approach to studying its subjects. The aliens’ ability to coordinate the abduction, confinement, and psychological manipulation of multiple individuals implies a sophisticated understanding of group dynamics and individual behavior.

Organizational Goals
Study the dynamics of authority, leadership, and obedience by isolating and disorienting their subjects. Test the limits of Picard’s resilience and adaptability as a leader, as well as the psychological responses of the other captives under duress.
Influence Mechanisms
Through environmental control (e.g., the locked door, the feeder, and the sterile design of the holding bay). Through the manipulation of communication (e.g., disabling the communicator to sever Picard’s connection to Starfleet). Through the selection and conditioning of the captives, ensuring that they are physically and psychologically vulnerable to the experiment’s conditions.
S3E18 · Allegiance
The Breaking Point: Escalation and the Illusion of Unity

The unseen alien captors are the unseen architects of the experiment, engineering the group’s divisions through the inedible food and the holding bay’s design. Their actions—abducting the captives, swapping them with replicas, and testing their leadership—are referenced indirectly through the captives’ dialogue and the escalating conflict. The captors’ psychological manipulation is evident in how the group’s distrust and desperation play into their hands, making unity and escape seem impossible.

Active Representation

Through the experiment’s design, the inedible food, and the holding bay’s oppressive environment, which manipulate the captives’ dynamics.

Power Dynamics

The captors exert absolute control over the group, using psychological pressure to test their authority and obedience.

Institutional Impact

The captors’ manipulation turns the holding bay into a laboratory for psychological experimentation, where the captives’ survival instincts are pitted against their ability to cooperate.

Internal Dynamics

The captors’ unseen presence looms over the group, as their experiment forces the captives to reveal their true natures under pressure.

Organizational Goals
To study the dynamics of authority, leadership, and obedience under duress. To fracture the group’s unity and force them to confront their divisions.
Influence Mechanisms
Through the inedible food, which introduces a ticking clock for Esoqq’s survival. By designing the holding bay to amplify the group’s tensions and prevent escape.
S3E18 · Allegiance
The Hunger That Divides: Trust Collapses Under Survival’s Weight

The unseen alien captors’ influence is omnipresent in this event, though they are never directly seen. Their psychological experiment is designed to force the group into a state of paranoia and self-destruction, and this moment is a critical success for them. The inedible food, the sealed door, and the lack of communication with the outside world are all tools of their design, engineered to study how authority, trust, and survival instincts break down under pressure. The captors’ goal is to observe whether the group will turn on one another—or whether Picard’s leadership can somehow transcend the experiment’s constraints. The event proves that their methods are working: trust is eroding, and the group is fracturing.

Active Representation

Through the holding bay’s design, the inedible food, and the absence of any means of escape or communication. The captors’ presence is felt in every aspect of the environment.

Power Dynamics

The captors hold absolute power over the group, controlling their environment, resources, and even their perceptions of time (Esoqq’s three-day deadline). The captives are powerless to resist, forced to play out the experiment as the captors observe.

Institutional Impact

The captors’ experiment is succeeding brilliantly: the group is fracturing, and Picard’s leadership is being tested to its limits. The event serves as a microcosm of the larger narrative, where the captors’ methods mirror the parallel test of authority unfolding aboard the *Enterprise* under Riker’s command.

Internal Dynamics

The captors’ internal processes are unseen, but their influence is felt in the group’s growing paranoia and the erosion of trust. Their success depends on the captives’ inability to recognize that they are being manipulated.

Organizational Goals
Study how authority (Picard) and obedience (the group) break down under duress Force the captives into a zero-sum game where trust is the first casualty
Influence Mechanisms
Through environmental manipulation (inedible food, sealed door, lack of communication) By engineering a scenario where the captives’ survival depends on turning against one another
S3E18 · Allegiance
Picard’s Gambit: The Illusion of Escape and the Fracture of Trust

The unseen alien captors’ influence permeates this event, manifesting through the holding bay’s design, the stun device’s functionality, and the cruel revelation of the solid wall behind the door. Their psychological experiment is designed to test the dynamics of authority, leadership, and obedience, and this event serves as a critical moment in that design. The aliens’ manipulation of the environment—disabling the stun device temporarily, allowing the door to partially open, and then revealing the solid wall—underscores their control over the group’s perceptions and the fragility of their trust in one another. Their goals are to observe and record the group’s reactions, to erode their unity, and to test Picard’s leadership under duress.

Active Representation

Via the holding bay’s design, the stun device’s functionality, and the cruel illusion of the solid wall behind the door. Their presence is felt through the environment’s manipulation of the group’s perceptions and actions.

Power Dynamics

Exercising absolute authority over the group’s environment and perceptions, with the group’s efforts to escape ultimately thwarted by the aliens’ control. The power dynamic is one of manipulation and observation, with the aliens holding all the cards in their psychological experiment.

Institutional Impact

The aliens’ involvement in this event reflects broader institutional dynamics of psychological experimentation and the study of human (and alien) behavior under controlled conditions. Their methods highlight the ethical ambiguities of such research and the potential for abuse of power in the name of scientific inquiry.

Internal Dynamics

The aliens’ actions in this event suggest a highly coordinated and methodical approach to their experiment, with no internal tensions or disagreements evident. Their focus is solely on observing and manipulating the group’s reactions to test their hypotheses.

Organizational Goals
To observe and record the group’s reactions to the failed escape attempt, particularly their erosion of trust and the targeting of Picard’s leadership. To reinforce the psychological experiment’s design by shattering the group’s hope of escape and testing their resilience under artificial authority.
Influence Mechanisms
Manipulation of the holding bay’s environment (e.g., the stun device, the door, the solid wall) Psychological pressure through the design of the experiment (e.g., testing authority, leadership, and obedience) Observation and recording of the group’s reactions to their manipulations
S3E18 · Allegiance
The Illusion of Escape: Trust Shattered by the False Door

The unseen alien captors are the unseen architects of the group’s psychological torment, designing the holding bay and its false escape route as a cruel experiment in authority, obedience, and trust. Their influence is felt in every aspect of the event, from the disabled stun device to the solid wall behind the door. The captors’ sadistic control over the group’s environment and perceptions is evident in the way they manipulate the captives’ hopes and fears, using the holding bay as a laboratory for their psychological tests. Their goal is to study the dynamics of leadership and obedience, and their methods are designed to break the group’s alliances and expose their vulnerabilities.

Active Representation

Via the holding bay’s design and the false escape route, as well as the psychological traps embedded in the environment.

Power Dynamics

Absolute control over the group’s environment, perceptions, and survival, exerting influence through psychological manipulation and technical barriers.

Institutional Impact

The captors’ actions reflect a broader institutional interest in understanding the limits of human (and alien) behavior under duress, as well as the ethical implications of their experiments.

Organizational Goals
To study the dynamics of authority, obedience, and trust by subjecting the group to psychological tests in the holding bay. To break the group’s alliances and expose their vulnerabilities, using the false escape route as a tool for manipulation.
Influence Mechanisms
Psychological manipulation through the design of the holding bay and its false escape route. Technical control over the environment, including the stun device, door locks, and circuitry.
S3E18 · Allegiance
Picard Shatters the Illusion: The Experiment’s True Face Revealed

The Telepathically Linked Aliens are the antagonists of this event, orchestrating the psychological experiment to study authority and obedience. Their involvement is manifested through Haro's transformation into three identical entities, who speak with clinical detachment about their technology and intentions. The aliens' telepathic link allows them to coordinate seamlessly, treating the captives as data points rather than sentient beings. Their power dynamics are absolute: they control the holding bay, the transporter, and the replicas deployed elsewhere. The organization's goals in this event are twofold: to justify the experiment's necessity and to return the captives to their timelines before their awareness 'taints' the results. Their influence mechanisms include advanced replication technology, telepathic communication, and the ability to erase the captives' memories of the ordeal.

Active Representation

Through the three alien entities (formerly Haro) and their telepathic link, which allows them to speak with unified authority.

Power Dynamics

Exercising absolute control over the captives and the experiment's parameters. Their power is technological (transporter, replication) and psychological (manipulating trust and authority).

Institutional Impact

The aliens' actions reflect a broader institutional disregard for ethical concerns in the pursuit of knowledge. Their study treats sentient beings as disposable, prioritizing data over consent or well-being.

Internal Dynamics

The aliens operate as a hive mind, with no discernible hierarchy or dissent. Their telepathic link ensures unity of purpose, but also eliminates individual agency or moral conflict.

Organizational Goals
Justify the experiment's ethical violations by framing it as scientific necessity. Return the captives to their timelines to preserve the integrity of their study.
Influence Mechanisms
Advanced replication technology (creating flawless duplicates). Telepathic communication (enabling seamless coordination). Psychological manipulation (designing the holding bay to fracture trust).
S3E18 · Allegiance
The Architect’s Unmasking: Picard’s Gambit and the Experiment’s Collapse

The Telepathically Linked Aliens are the driving force behind the experiment, and their involvement in this event is both direct and revelatory. They manifest through Haro's transformation into three identical entities, confirming Picard's suspicions and exposing the true nature of the study. Their clinical detachment and telepathic coordination underscore their power dynamics, as they treat the captives as mere data points in a larger scientific endeavor. The aliens' decision to return the captives to their original timelines is a calculated move to preserve the integrity of their data, demonstrating their prioritization of empirical observation over ethical concerns.

Active Representation

Through the three alien entities that emerge from Haro's transformation, as well as their collective telepathic communication. Their actions and dialogue represent the organization's goals and influence mechanisms.

Power Dynamics

Exercising absolute authority over the captives, with the power to abduct, manipulate, and return them at will. Their control is unchallenged, and their decisions are final, reflecting their godlike status in the experiment.

Institutional Impact

The aliens' actions reflect a broader institutional dynamic where ethical considerations are subordinated to scientific curiosity. Their experiment challenges the captives' sense of autonomy and authority, highlighting the potential dangers of unchecked scientific inquiry.

Internal Dynamics

The aliens operate as a unified collective, with no internal tensions or hierarchies. Their telepathic link ensures complete synchronization, allowing them to act as a single, cohesive entity.

Organizational Goals
Confirm the success of the experiment by revealing its true nature to Picard and the other captives. Ensure the captives' return to their original timelines to preserve the integrity of the data collected.
Influence Mechanisms
Telepathic coordination to maintain seamless control over the experiment. Advanced transporter technology to abduct and return the captives without resistance. Clinical detachment to treat the captives as subjects rather than individuals, ensuring objectivity in data collection.
S3E18 · Allegiance
Picard’s Psychological Counterattack: The Captors Captured

The Alien Collective is represented in this event through the actions of Alien #1 and Alien #4 (False Picard). Their experiments on authority and leadership are exposed as hypocritical when Picard turns their own methods against them. The Collective's influence is felt in the aliens' intellectual curiosity and their belief that their experiments are justified by scientific inquiry. However, their power dynamics are challenged by Picard's moral reckoning, which forces them to confront the ethical implications of their actions. The event ultimately undermines the Collective's authority and exposes the flaws in their experimental methods.

Active Representation

Through the actions of Alien #1 and Alien #4 (False Picard), who engage in dialogue with Picard and are trapped by the forcefield.

Power Dynamics

Being challenged by Picard's strategic maneuvering and moral reckoning. The crew's unity and technical expertise ultimately undermine the Collective's authority and expose the hypocrisy of their experiments.

Institutional Impact

The event exposes the ethical flaws in the Alien Collective's methods, forcing them to confront the morality of their actions. It undermines their authority and highlights the importance of empathy and moral integrity in leadership.

Internal Dynamics

The event reveals internal tensions within the Collective's experimental methods, as Picard forces them to experience the captivity they inflicted on others. This confrontation exposes the hypocrisy of their actions and challenges their belief in the justification of their experiments.

Organizational Goals
To justify their experiments on authority and leadership as purely intellectual inquiries. To maintain control of the situation and avoid being exposed as intruders.
Influence Mechanisms
Through their intellectual curiosity and belief in the justification of their experiments. By attempting to manipulate the crew through psychological tests and the use of replicas.
S3E18 · Allegiance
The Reversal: Picard’s Gambit—Authority, Captivity, and the Cost of Curiosity

The Alien Collective is represented in this event through Alien #1 and Alien #4, who are exposed as the architects of the psychological experiments. Their presence on the bridge allows Picard to reverse their trap, forcing them to confront the moral hypocrisy of their methods. The event serves as a direct challenge to the Collective’s authority, demonstrating that even advanced species are vulnerable to the principles they seek to study. The aliens’ eventual release is a calculated warning, reinforcing the Collective’s newfound awareness of human resilience and tactical cunning.

Active Representation

Through Alien #1 and Alien #4, who materialize on the bridge and engage in a discussion with Picard. Their actions and reactions reflect the Collective’s methods and motivations, as well as their vulnerability to human ingenuity.

Power Dynamics

Initially exercising authority over Picard and the crew through deception and psychological manipulation. However, the event reverses this dynamic, as Picard and the crew regain control and expose the Collective’s hypocrisy. The aliens are forced to confront their own methods, shifting the power balance in favor of the *Enterprise* crew.

Institutional Impact

The event forces the Alien Collective to reconsider the ethics of their experiments and the potential consequences of their actions. Picard’s lesson and the crew’s tactical superiority serve as a warning, demonstrating that even advanced species can be outmaneuvered by human ingenuity and moral resolve.

Internal Dynamics

The Collective’s methods are exposed as flawed and hypocritical, leading to a shift in their understanding of human morality and authority. The event highlights the internal tensions between their scientific curiosity and the ethical implications of their actions.

Organizational Goals
To study human concepts of authority and leadership through psychological experiments To maintain control over their subjects and avoid detection
Influence Mechanisms
Through deception and impersonation (e.g., the False Picard replica) Via psychological manipulation and the exploitation of human trust in authority
S3E18 · Allegiance
Picard’s Moral Reckoning: The Captors Captured and the Cost of Authority

The Alien Collective is represented by Alien #1 and Alien #4 (False Picard), who are trapped and forced to experience captivity. Their experiment on authority and leadership is exposed as hypocritical, and they are ultimately released with a warning. The event serves as a direct challenge to the Collective’s methods, forcing them to confront the moral implications of their actions.

Active Representation

Through Alien #1 and Alien #4, who are physically present and engaged in dialogue with Picard.

Power Dynamics

Being challenged and ultimately overpowered by Picard’s moral and strategic authority.

Institutional Impact

The event exposes the moral bankruptcy of the Collective’s experiment, forcing them to reconsider the ethics of their methods. It also demonstrates the power of empathy and moral authority in overcoming external threats.

Internal Dynamics

The Collective’s internal cohesion is tested as their methods are exposed and their assumptions about authority are challenged.

Organizational Goals
To justify their experiment and defend their methods against Picard’s accusations. To avoid captivity and escape the forcefield.
Influence Mechanisms
Through their dialogue and attempts to rationalize their actions. Via their physical presence and the psychological impact of being trapped.
S3E18 · Allegiance
Picard’s Reclamation: A Lesson in Captivity and Command

The Alien Collective is represented by Alien #1 and Alien #4, who are exposed as the architects of the experiment on authority and leadership. Their actions—kidnapping Picard and other leaders, creating replicas, and studying human behavior—reflect the Collective’s detached and curious approach to understanding other species. The event serves as a turning point for the Collective, as Picard’s lesson forces them to confront the moral implications of their actions. Their power dynamics shift from one of control to vulnerability as they are trapped in the forcefield and ultimately released.

Active Representation

Through the actions and dialogue of Alien #1 and Alien #4, who serve as representatives of the Collective’s experimental motives.

Power Dynamics

Initially exercising control over the crew through deception and advanced technology, but ultimately challenged and exposed by Picard’s tactical and moral superiority.

Institutional Impact

The event forces the Collective to reconsider the morality of their actions and the ethical implications of their experiments, potentially leading to a shift in their approach to studying other species.

Internal Dynamics

The Collective’s internal dynamics are revealed through their dialogue and reactions, highlighting their lack of understanding of human morality and their growing awareness of the consequences of their actions.

Organizational Goals
Study the concepts of authority and leadership through their experiment Understand the conditions under which humans obey or disobey authority
Influence Mechanisms
Through the use of advanced technology (e.g., transporter effects, metamorphosis) Via the creation of replicas to manipulate the crew and study their behavior Through psychological manipulation and curiosity-driven experimentation