Discovery of Data’s Exterior Mold and the Unassembled Duplicate
Plot Beats
The narrative micro-steps within this event
Riker activates the large laboratory table revealing a human-shaped mold torso and head; Geordi recognizes it as Data’s exterior, confirming the mold’s role in Data’s physical form.
Data confirms the mold fits perfectly against him, solidifying the connection to his construction; Riker identifies the mold as an epidermal mold designed for Data’s exterior finish.
Who Was There
Characters present in this moment
Quiet longing mixed with cautious hope and internal conflict about selfhood.
Data examines the laboratory with analytical precision and personal investment, recognizing vague impressions of his functions being tested here. He physically tests the epidermal mold, experiencing a poignant moment as it matches his exterior perfectly, and contemplates the implications of the disassembled Data-like parts, expressing deep emotional curiosity about identity and kinship.
- • Understand his origins through tangible evidence.
- • Explore the possibility of a sibling or another like himself.
- • Physical artifacts can clarify abstract identity questions.
- • Connection to others like himself is possible and meaningful.
Calm alertness mixed with readiness to respond to threats.
Lieutenant Worf vigilantly guards the rear of the away team at the laboratory entrance, ensuring no surprises from behind while supporting Yar’s security leadership. He remains stoic and alert, embodying the disciplined protector role.
- • Secure the team’s rear and maintain perimeter control.
- • Support leader Natasha Yar in maintaining mission safety.
- • Security protocols must be rigorously upheld.
- • Threats could emerge unexpectedly in abandoned spaces.
Measured intrigue laced with concern about the implications of findings.
Commander Riker leads the scientific and exploratory effort in the lab, scanning the environment and interpreting discoveries. He uncovers the human-shaped epidermal mold hidden beneath the worktable and carefully directs the team’s next moves, balancing curiosity with cautious pragmatism.
- • Uncover the truth behind Data’s origins and the colony’s fate.
- • Manage team safety and ensure proper documentation of discoveries.
- • The colony lab holds critical clues to synthetic life origins.
- • Unregulated artificial lifeforms could pose risks if mishandled.
Intense curiosity tempered by unease about the ethical and practical consequences.
Geordi La Forge inspects the laboratory’s technological equipment, focusing on the sophisticated devices and storage areas. He discovers the hidden vault containing multiple Data-like android parts, conveying both scientific intrigue and concern about the ramifications of another android’s existence, which could deepen the mystery and danger.
- • Investigate all technological clues relating to Data’s construction.
- • Assess potential risks posed by the disassembled android parts.
- • Understanding the technology is key to unraveling Data’s mystery.
- • Duplicate androids could complicate or endanger the Enterprise mission.
Vigilant composure with underlying tension about the unknowns within the lab.
Lieutenant Natasha Yar leads the away team into the colony laboratory with weapon drawn, maintaining alert professionalism. She provides timely communication updates and coordinates with Riker, underscoring her role as security lead and ensuring team safety within the unfamiliar environment.
- • Ensure safety of away team within potentially hazardous environment.
- • Gather intelligence on the colony’s condition and report back to command.
- • The laboratory may harbor unknown threats requiring caution.
- • Clear communication and security protocols are critical to mission success.
Not present to display emotion but casts an intellectual and moral shadow over the scene.
Doctor Noonien Soong is referenced as the original creator of Data and the pioneer behind the positronic brain project. Though absent physically, his scientific legacy and personal involvement profoundly shape the events unfolding in the laboratory, serving as a foundational presence behind the discoveries and emotional resonance.
- • Create artificial life with human-like qualities.
- • Protect and perfect his creations’ functions.
- • Artificial life can and should emulate human experience.
- • His work carries both promise and peril.
Objects Involved
Significant items in this scene
Children’s drawings depicting crystal-like formations adorn the laboratory wall. They serve as symbolic representations of the colony’s catastrophic fate and foreshadow the looming threat tied to the giant crystal entity. Data recognizes the images as familiar yet dangerous, deepening the thematic mystery and emotional resonance surrounding his origin.
Doctor Soong’s workbench, cluttered with intricate android components and schematics, anchors the team’s exploration. It symbolizes the scientific genius behind Data’s existence and serves as a tangible reminder of the abandoned colony’s lost ambitions and ethical complexities.
The human-shaped epidermal mold is revealed by Riker opening the large laboratory table. It fits Data’s exterior perfectly, physically manifesting his synthetic origin and linking him to Doctor Soong. This mold serves as a pivotal clue grounding the abstract concept of Data's artificial construction in tangible form.
Disassembled, Data-like android parts including arms, torsos, and heads are discovered in a secret storage area by Geordi. These parts hint at the existence of another android constructed in Data’s likeness, raising questions about identity, duplication, and the potential for a sibling android still to be assembled or activated.
Location Details
Places and their significance in this event
The main colony laboratory serves as the primary setting for the event, providing a high-tech, sophisticated environment filled with advanced instruments, children’s drawings, and evidence of Doctor Soong’s work. It frames the away team’s methodical exploration and the emotional weight of uncovering Data’s origins.
Narrative Connections
How this event relates to others in the story
Across episodes
"The sense of awe and curiosity about history and immersive reality in Episode 13 (Picard's fascination with the Holodeck simulation) parallels Data’s analytical curiosity about his own origins and potential duplicate in Episode 14. Both characters grapple with the nature of identity and reality, albeit in different contexts."
Picard Enthralled by Holodeck Realism and Crew Alliance"The discovery of Data's exterior mold and unassembled duplicate provides the material proof that Data is a replicable android—Doctor Noonien Soong's product. This knowledge directly motivates Starfleet's order to transfer Data to Bruce Maddox for replication, escalating into the legal hearing where Data's status as property or person is debated. The mold is the physical evidence that anchors the entire 'ownership' argument."
Turning Off the Witness"Data's curiosity about human behaviors (his exploration of a perfume atomizer in 'Angel One') reflects his ongoing quest to understand humanity, a theme introduced in 'Datalore' where he grapples with concepts like 'home' and identity."
Data Investigates Perfume and Aphrodisiacs"Data encounters a physical mold of his own body on Omicron Theta, confirming he is a constructed, duplicated being. In the later episode, Data refuses to submit to replication, asserting his personhood against the very premise that his manufacture makes him property. His curiosity about the duplicate in 114 evolves into a firm defense of his identity in 209."
Data Refuses: Picard Confronts the Moral and Legal Gap"The discovery of Data's outer mold (a shell that can be removed and duplicated) and the mention of an 'unassembled duplicate' (later identified as Lore) foreshadows the court demonstration where Riker removes Data's hand and powers him down. Both events emphasize Data's physical vulnerability and manufactured nature: the mold shows his body is a removable casing; the off switch is its most extreme consequence."
The Switch: Riker Powers Data Down"In 114, the away team treats Data's mold as an object of scientific curiosity—'an epidermal mold'—reducing his origin to a mechanical process. In 209, the hearing similarly reduces Data to engineered parts ('Pinocchio is broken, the strings are cut'). Both events frame Data through the lens of his creator Noonien Soong's technology, raising the question of whether he is a person or a product."
Turning Off the WitnessKey Dialogue
"GEORDI: Data... it's you."
"RIKER: An epidermal mold, I'd guess. Made to give your exterior the desired finish."
"DATA: Commander, can this be another me? Or perhaps my brother?"
"RIKER: I honestly don't know, Data."
"DATA: He needs assembling."
"RIKER: He? Data, we don't know that this could become 'alive.'"
"DATA: It is of great interest to me to find out, sir. I never believed it possible I might have a link with some form like my own."