Emergence (TNG episode)
Encyclopedia
"Emergence" is the 175th episode
of the science fiction
television series Star Trek: The Next Generation
.
shows signs it is developing an artificial intelligence
.
is once again working on his acting
, portraying Prospero
from Shakespeare's play The Tempest on the holodeck
. Without warning, a train
, the Orient Express
from another program, roars through the holodeck.
Elsewhere on the ship, a planetary survey is in progress, and Captain Picard
gives the order to move to the next sector when the Enterprise
suddenly goes into warp. Just as suddenly, the engines stop by themselves.
Geordi La Forge
discovers a theta flux distortion had been building up on the ship, and concludes that had the Enterprise not gone into warp precisely when it did, the ship would have been destroyed.
Data theorizes that the Enterprise sensors picked up the distortion and triggered a safety feature, one that is not known to have been part of the ship's design. Investigating some, Geordi and Data discover a strange node that now interconnects many Enterprise systems, including the sensors and propulsion. Searching more, they discover nodes like it all over the Enterprise, all protected by small force fields.
Suspecting sabotage, Commander Riker
, Data, and Worf
head to the holodeck where many of the nodes converge, to try to disconnect them. They discover the holodeck is activated, and when they enter, find themselves on board the Orient Express, along with characters from other programs.
Data tries to access the holodeck systems to turn the program off, but is stopped by the train conductor. The conductor tells Data to go up to the train's engine, and when the engineer protests, a gangster holodeck character shoots him in the back. The conductor then pulls a cord, and suddenly the Enterprise again jumps into warp.
Leaving the holodeck, Data discovers the nodes have multiplied and are now connecting most of the ship's systems, with the exception of the main computer. He also observes that the structure of the nodes resembles that of a primitive brain, and concludes the Enterprise is forming its own intelligence. Since the key to understanding it seems to be in the holodeck, Counselor Troi
goes in to gather information, with Data and Worf in tow.
Troi talks to the gangster, who is holding a brick he took from the engineer. He tells her that he has to get the brick to Keystone City, and when he gets off at that stop Troi and Worf follow him. Data tries to access the holodeck circuitry through a manhole, using his android strength to fend off a taxicab which is tasked with protecting the circuits.
The gangster proceeds to a brick wall with one brick missing, and puts the brick in. At that moment, a power surge kicks in a cargo bay - and when Geordi goes to investigate, he finds an object there in the process of being formed, atom by atom. Data attempts to depolarize the circuits under the manhole, but when he does the ship and holodeck begin shaking violently and Data has to stop.
The three leave the holodeck and meet the rest of the crew, and Troi explains that the programs running in the holodeck are acting out metaphors of creation. Picard suggests playing the holodeck scenario through to see where it leads. Data, Worf, and Troi return to the holodeck train, and this time tell the conductor they are headed to Vertiform City, which they had learned was the train's eventual destination.
The Enterprise arrives at a white dwarf
star and begins automatically extracting vertion particles from it. The strange object in the bay begins growing very quickly and becoming more complex, becoming some kind of lifeform. But, when the star runs out of vertions, the lifeform has difficulty maintaining its energy, and the holodeck characters have a shocked response. The conductor pulls on the emergency brake, derailing the train, but causing a shipwide power shutdown across the Enterprise.
Geordi tells Picard that without more vertions soon, the lifeform being created on the holodeck will die. The train heads to New Vertiform City, and the Enterprise jumps to Warp 9. The Enterprise diverts power from life support to propulsion, which will begin to affect the crew within two hours.
Data convinces the conductor that he knows a shorter route to New Vertiform City, and gains access to the engine. He brings the ship to a nearby nebula
, and Geordi gets the nebula to produce huge amounts of vertirons using a modified torpedo. The train passengers celebrate their arrival at the end of the line and then the program ends. The nodes deactivate all over the ship and the new lifeform, finally complete, rises in the cargo bay and leaves the Enterprise.
With all systems now restored, Data and Picard discuss the incident and speculate about the entity that had been born from the Enterprise. Data queries how Picard could have been confident that the emergent creature would not be dangerous. Picard states he believes the new lifeform will be benign, since its psyche arose not only from the ship's systems but from the crew's personal journals, mission logs, and other such sources; believing that the crew's experiences with the Enterprise have been honourable, Picard trusts that "the sum of those experiences will be the same".
Episode
An episode is a part of a dramatic work such as a serial television or radio program. An episode is a part of a sequence of a body of work, akin to a chapter of a book. The term sometimes applies to works based on other forms of mass media as well, as in Star Wars...
of the science fiction
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
television series Star Trek: The Next Generation
Star Trek: The Next Generation
Star Trek: The Next Generation is an American science fiction television series created by Gene Roddenberry as part of the Star Trek franchise. Roddenberry, Rick Berman, and Michael Piller served as executive producers at different times throughout the production...
.
Overview
The EnterpriseUSS Enterprise (NCC-1701-D)
The USS Enterprise is a 24th century starship in the Star Trek fictional universe and the principal setting of the Star Trek: The Next Generation television series...
shows signs it is developing an artificial intelligence
Artificial intelligence
Artificial intelligence is the intelligence of machines and the branch of computer science that aims to create it. AI textbooks define the field as "the study and design of intelligent agents" where an intelligent agent is a system that perceives its environment and takes actions that maximize its...
.
Plot
Lieutenant Commander DataData (Star Trek)
Lieutenant Commander Data is a character in the fictional Star Trek universe portrayed by actor Brent Spiner. He appears in the television series Star Trek: The Next Generation and the feature films Star Trek Generations, Star Trek: First Contact, Star Trek: Insurrection, and Star Trek...
is once again working on his acting
Acting
Acting is the work of an actor or actress, which is a person in theatre, television, film, or any other storytelling medium who tells the story by portraying a character and, usually, speaking or singing the written text or play....
, portraying Prospero
Prospero
Prospero is the protagonist in The Tempest, a play by William Shakespeare.- The Tempest :Prospero is the rightful Duke of Milan, who was put to sea on "a rotten carcass of a butt [boat]" to die by his usurping brother, Antonio, twelve years before the play begins. Prospero and Miranda survived,...
from Shakespeare's play The Tempest on the holodeck
Holodeck
A holodeck, in the fictional Star Trek universe, is a simulated reality facility located on starships and starbases. The first use of a "holodeck" by that name in the Star Trek universe was in the pilot episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation, "Encounter at Farpoint", although a conceptually...
. Without warning, a train
Train
A train is a connected series of vehicles for rail transport that move along a track to transport cargo or passengers from one place to another place. The track usually consists of two rails, but might also be a monorail or maglev guideway.Propulsion for the train is provided by a separate...
, the Orient Express
Orient Express
The Orient Express is the name of a long-distance passenger train service originally operated by the Compagnie Internationale des Wagons-Lits. It ran from 1883 to 2009 and is not to be confused with the Venice-Simplon Orient Express train service, which continues to run.The route and rolling stock...
from another program, roars through the holodeck.
Elsewhere on the ship, a planetary survey is in progress, and Captain Picard
Jean-Luc Picard
Captain Jean-Luc Picard is a Star Trek character portrayed by Patrick Stewart. He appears in the television series Star Trek: The Next Generation and the feature films Star Trek Generations, Star Trek: First Contact, Star Trek: Insurrection, and Star Trek Nemesis...
gives the order to move to the next sector when the Enterprise
USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-D)
The USS Enterprise is a 24th century starship in the Star Trek fictional universe and the principal setting of the Star Trek: The Next Generation television series...
suddenly goes into warp. Just as suddenly, the engines stop by themselves.
Geordi La Forge
Geordi La Forge
Lieutenant Commander Geordi La Forge is a regular character in the television series Star Trek: The Next Generation and its feature films, played by LeVar Burton...
discovers a theta flux distortion had been building up on the ship, and concludes that had the Enterprise not gone into warp precisely when it did, the ship would have been destroyed.
Data theorizes that the Enterprise sensors picked up the distortion and triggered a safety feature, one that is not known to have been part of the ship's design. Investigating some, Geordi and Data discover a strange node that now interconnects many Enterprise systems, including the sensors and propulsion. Searching more, they discover nodes like it all over the Enterprise, all protected by small force fields.
Suspecting sabotage, Commander Riker
William Riker
William Thomas Riker, played by Jonathan Frakes, is a fictional character in the Star Trek universe primarily appearing as a main character in Star Trek: The Next Generation...
, Data, and Worf
Worf
Worf, played by Michael Dorn, is a main character in Star Trek: The Next Generation and in seasons four to seven of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. He also appears in the films based on The Next Generation. Worf is the first Klingon main character to appear in Star Trek, and has appeared in more Star...
head to the holodeck where many of the nodes converge, to try to disconnect them. They discover the holodeck is activated, and when they enter, find themselves on board the Orient Express, along with characters from other programs.
Data tries to access the holodeck systems to turn the program off, but is stopped by the train conductor. The conductor tells Data to go up to the train's engine, and when the engineer protests, a gangster holodeck character shoots him in the back. The conductor then pulls a cord, and suddenly the Enterprise again jumps into warp.
Leaving the holodeck, Data discovers the nodes have multiplied and are now connecting most of the ship's systems, with the exception of the main computer. He also observes that the structure of the nodes resembles that of a primitive brain, and concludes the Enterprise is forming its own intelligence. Since the key to understanding it seems to be in the holodeck, Counselor Troi
Deanna Troi
Commander Deanna Troi is a main character in the science-fiction television series Star Trek: The Next Generation and related TV series and films, portrayed by actress Marina Sirtis. Troi is half-human, half-Betazoid and has the psionic ability to sense emotions. She serves as the ship's counselor...
goes in to gather information, with Data and Worf in tow.
Troi talks to the gangster, who is holding a brick he took from the engineer. He tells her that he has to get the brick to Keystone City, and when he gets off at that stop Troi and Worf follow him. Data tries to access the holodeck circuitry through a manhole, using his android strength to fend off a taxicab which is tasked with protecting the circuits.
The gangster proceeds to a brick wall with one brick missing, and puts the brick in. At that moment, a power surge kicks in a cargo bay - and when Geordi goes to investigate, he finds an object there in the process of being formed, atom by atom. Data attempts to depolarize the circuits under the manhole, but when he does the ship and holodeck begin shaking violently and Data has to stop.
The three leave the holodeck and meet the rest of the crew, and Troi explains that the programs running in the holodeck are acting out metaphors of creation. Picard suggests playing the holodeck scenario through to see where it leads. Data, Worf, and Troi return to the holodeck train, and this time tell the conductor they are headed to Vertiform City, which they had learned was the train's eventual destination.
The Enterprise arrives at a white dwarf
White dwarf
A white dwarf, also called a degenerate dwarf, is a small star composed mostly of electron-degenerate matter. They are very dense; a white dwarf's mass is comparable to that of the Sun and its volume is comparable to that of the Earth. Its faint luminosity comes from the emission of stored...
star and begins automatically extracting vertion particles from it. The strange object in the bay begins growing very quickly and becoming more complex, becoming some kind of lifeform. But, when the star runs out of vertions, the lifeform has difficulty maintaining its energy, and the holodeck characters have a shocked response. The conductor pulls on the emergency brake, derailing the train, but causing a shipwide power shutdown across the Enterprise.
Geordi tells Picard that without more vertions soon, the lifeform being created on the holodeck will die. The train heads to New Vertiform City, and the Enterprise jumps to Warp 9. The Enterprise diverts power from life support to propulsion, which will begin to affect the crew within two hours.
Data convinces the conductor that he knows a shorter route to New Vertiform City, and gains access to the engine. He brings the ship to a nearby nebula
Nebula
A nebula is an interstellar cloud of dust, hydrogen gas, helium gas and other ionized gases...
, and Geordi gets the nebula to produce huge amounts of vertirons using a modified torpedo. The train passengers celebrate their arrival at the end of the line and then the program ends. The nodes deactivate all over the ship and the new lifeform, finally complete, rises in the cargo bay and leaves the Enterprise.
With all systems now restored, Data and Picard discuss the incident and speculate about the entity that had been born from the Enterprise. Data queries how Picard could have been confident that the emergent creature would not be dangerous. Picard states he believes the new lifeform will be benign, since its psyche arose not only from the ship's systems but from the crew's personal journals, mission logs, and other such sources; believing that the crew's experiences with the Enterprise have been honourable, Picard trusts that "the sum of those experiences will be the same".