Gamemechanics of the Enterprise D

[Ragitsu]

On 11/1/2017 at 4:33 PM, Christopher said:

Episode 4: The last Outpost

 

This was the Episode in wich the Enigmatic Ferengy were revealed. It had some noticeable similarities to the setup of Arena (Kirk fighting the Gorn), but in TNG fashion the resolution was a lot less violent.

The Ferengi were apprently intended as the "Klingons of the next Generation". The established that Ferengi had really good hearing, for better or worse. They established them as "Yankee Traders in Space". They established them opressing their women. They established that a Dkora Marrauder was about equal to a Galaxy Class starship. they established them to be as devious as Romulans, while not total slouches in a fight. But despite all this the Ferengi simply fell flat as the "main Antagonist of TNG".

 

However this Episode did saw Geordi first time in Engineering, where he would stay pretty much the rest of the series (it is really intersting to see those Episodes where Geordi was not the Chief Engineer; as a result, Engineering is rarely shown).

It was aluded that the Enterprise normally had "reserve power for Months", but the energy drain from the Planet did affect the reserves as well.

Also the Guardian was pretty cool, even if he had only very little screentime.

 

I may have taken leave of my senses simply for saying this, but...i've come to realize that I appreciate the Season 1 pirate-trader portrayal of the Ferengi. Also, their energy whips are quite snazzy.

[Ragitsu]

On 10/8/2017 at 12:12 AM, Christopher said:

Holodeck:

 

It was played rather loosely how it worked. In practice it was mostly used to allow a "change of scenery" without needing a "planet of the week". Indeed one big feature was that they could carry their "planet of the week" around inside the ship, while at warp.

Mechanically it seems to be a combination of simple image projection, micro-detailed forcefields (Telekinesis with Images) for Characters and replication of actual props as nessesary (basically it is replicating behind hologram, until the detail was sufficiently to let the real props take over).

What was established well, was the high energy cost of the system. This was a leisure activity. Especially on Voyager where energy was limited, there was a rationing of replicator useage (you had to eat Nelix's cooking) and Holodock time. On Enterprise and similar ships in Federation space, they had much more power to spare.

 

There's also a rarely touched-upon broad RKA ability always lurking and often locked away in the background ("holodeck safeties off").

[SteveZilla]

3 minutes ago, Ragitsu said:

 

There's also a rarely touched-upon broad RKA ability always lurking and often locked away in the background ("holodeck safety off").

 

https://goo.gl/images/JiRzWv

[Christopher]

20 minutes ago, Ragitsu said:

Why no one ever explored the ability of a Galaxy Class' computer to create fully sentient/sapient holographic beings beyond the events of "Elementary, Dear Data" puzzles me to this day. All you need to do is ask the ship's computer to generate an adversary smart enough to beat (insert resident genius here) and...voila!...instant AI.

The Federation still has no Proper AI civil rights by Star Trek Online. So all you would do, is create another Slave.

 

Plus that AI was a Carpshoot and took over the Enterprise. Twice.

 

11 minutes ago, Ragitsu said:

 

There's also a rarely touched-upon broad RKA ability always lurking and often locked away in the background ("holodeck safeties off").

If it is realsied as EDM, of course the dimension can have RKA powers. I mean every dimension I know off has that game mechanic avalible.

 

Why do you think they keep saying "Phasers to stun"? Propably not because those things are on Stun normally. Or usually.

[Ragitsu]

13 minutes ago, Christopher said:

The Federation still has no Proper AI civil rights by Star Trek Online. So all you would do, is create another Slave.

 

Plus that AI was a Carpshoot and took over the Enterprise. Twice.

 

Despite Data, Lal and The Doctor/Voyager's EMH Mk 1 being widely known in the Federation? Data did serve on Starfleet's flagship for at least seven years and I can imagine Voyager became big news after returning from the Delta Quadrant. Oh well 8-^(.

By the way? Did you figure Moriarty did what he did because he just so happened to rebel against his (what he perceived to be unfair) confinement or because there was some traces left of his original programming (embodying a classic literary villain)? The "crapshoot" angle might be avoided if you choose a suitable character to bring to life/a newfound awareness.

 

13 minutes ago, Christopher said:

If it is realsied as EDM, of course the dimension can have RKA powers. I mean every dimension I know off has that game mechanic avalible.

 

Why do you think they keep saying "Phasers to stun"? Propably not because those things are on Stun normally. Or usually.

 

One can only hope that the holodeck resets the safeties to "ON" every time it is booted up. I'd hate to play through The Odyssey only to have Odysseus' arrow actually tickle my favorite kidney.

[Christopher]

11 minutes ago, Ragitsu said:

By the way? Did you figure Moriarty did what he did because he just so happened to rebel against his (what he perceived to be unfair) confinement or because there was some traces left of his original programming (embodying a classic literary villain)? The "crapshoot" angle might be avoided if you choose a suitable character to bring to life/a newfound awareness.

I need to rewatch the Episode to figure that out.

 

As for picking "a proper base personality": That is creating a docile slave. Wich is a salve none the less.

 

12 minutes ago, Ragitsu said:

One can only hope that the holodeck resets the safeties to "ON" every time it is booted up. I'd hate to play through The Odyssey only to have Odysseus' arrow actually tickle my favorite kidney.

If they were not on by default, why would they always mention it if they were off?

[massey]

3 hours ago, Ragitsu said:

Why no one ever explored the ability of a Galaxy Class' computer to create fully sentient/sapient holographic beings beyond the events of "Elementary, Dear Data" puzzles me to this day. All you need to do is ask the ship's computer to generate an adversary smart enough to beat (insert resident genius here) and...voila!...instant AI.

 

My explanation of this is that it's not really an AI.  It just seems that way.  Moriarty can pass the Turing Test, but so can your basic, run of the mill holodeck program.

 

Moriarty is an example of Geordi being stupid and basically giving the Enterprise a computer virus.  This is likely a problem with the ship's super-easy user interface.  It understands normal language and makes the best guess about what you want it to do.  The ship knew to place things in a Sherlock Holmes setting, even though Geordi didn't mention it specifically.  Through Geordi's imprecise use of language, he basically asked the computer to "devote enough resources to create an enemy capable of defeating Data, all other concerns secondary".  So it created a subroutine within itself to play the villain.

 

This is why Moriarty knows what the ship looks like.  It's why he's able to build a machine with a lever that rocks the ship.  Because he's the Enterprise's computer playing the role of "evil villain".  He turns off the safety protocols because otherwise he can't really beat Data.  The Enterprise crew never actually realize what they're facing.  They think of Moriarty as being sentient, but they're paying no attention to the man behind the curtain.  But he's just the computer's sock puppet.  Once they think they've "beaten" him, he lets them turn him off, and the computer just quits playing the game (until its reactivated later).  The crew never corrects that software bug because they never realize it is a software bug.  No other Galaxy class ship has a Commander Data, so nobody else has the same incident (human crewmembers are far easier to challenge with mystery novels).  They encounter Moriarty once more, and they beat him again, in character.  Again they don't realize they're just playing against the computer (who isn't sentient but can fake it really well when you think you're interacting with a fluke AI program).  The bug never gets patched, and then the Enterprise is destroyed in Star Trek Generations, so Moriarty doesn't reappear.

 

One reason Moriarty might have been so convincing, something that wouldn't be repeated on other Galaxy class ships, is because of Minuet.  When the Bynars steal the Enterprise, they program a holodeck hooker to seduce Riker.  They use a super-program that is way more lifelike and more convincing than normal holodeck programs.  Presumably, that level of high-end programming wouldn't have been present in other holodeck systems.

 

[Christopher]

52 minutes ago, massey said:

One reason Moriarty might have been so convincing, something that wouldn't be repeated on other Galaxy class ships, is because of Minuet.  When the Bynars steal the Enterprise, they program a holodeck hooker to seduce Riker.  They use a super-program that is way more lifelike and more convincing than normal holodeck programs.  Presumably, that level of high-end programming wouldn't have been present in other holodeck systems.

A hooker? That is disrespectfull of Women in that Century, the Actress and the Role being played.

 

The Bynar programming seems to ahve been a temporary buff. Minuet was reduced to a normal Holodeck Programm the moment the Bynar homeworld was rebooted. Riker tried in vain to restore her to the personality she was. All he was left with, was the empty shell.

 

1 hour ago, massey said:

This is why Moriarty knows what the ship looks like. 

The Moriarty hologamm will not be around before 2x03. And he re-apears in 6x12. So it takes a while before I will watch that Episode again.

He was created because Dr. Pulansky doubted that Data was a sentient being.

His behavior was beyond merely "a simulation". He behaved in the holodeck as a Sentient being would behave, even when nobody was looking (like asking the Computer for details, he any organic being would).

So by all information, it appears he was indeed a Sentient being.

[Christopher]

It is worth noting, that we do not see a lot of the Enterprise D's mission. This became very clear with 11001001. The mission that made them late and the one that forced them to leave early were both "offscreen".

There might be ocassional callbacks in later episodes (Bynar neural implants are mentioned later according to memory Alpha). But short of true 2+ part Episodes, there is always a clear "before" and "after" outside of Episode time.

 

Usually one seasons is a full year. Picard took command 2264. He lost it 2271 over Veridian 3.

7 years. That were split over 7 seasons.

[Christopher]

EP 15: Too Short a Season

 

45 years ago Commander Mark Jameson negotiated a Hostage Crisis on the Planet Mordan VI.

The following 40 years it was in a Civil war. Jameson was promoted to Admiral.

5 years ago the war ended and Governor Karnas still is the planetary leader

Now a hostage crisis happened. Terrorists capture the Federation Ambassador and his staff. The Governor is very specific that Admiral Jameson negotiate this one.

 

Picard is suspicious of this whole thing. Admiral Jamesons is a wheelchair bound old man. But when picking up Jameson, he does not give a convincign reason for this either. And once aboard,the first thing he declares that this "is my mission". While he does not claim command over the Enterprise, he does over the away team.

The Admiral theorises the Terrorist want weapons and think the Federation is more likely to provide them then the Governor.

 

However his health becomes a issue quickly: He gave Dr. Crusher 2 month old Medical Reprots, claiming they were 2 days old. But she quickly figured out the deception. They mention he has some physical disease. And Picard allows Dr. Crusher to be on the Bridge to care for the Admiral if nessesary. But it appears he is actually getting stronger.

We he walks voer the Bridge everyone is shocked. And Picard and Beverly alarmed, because it is "medically impossible". She is ordered to look into it.

And then his wive notices he looks "20 years younger". Then he has some attack and is moved to sickbay. Where Dr. Crusher finds unusual Chemicals. And the uncureable disease is no longer there.

 

When the Captain goes to ask the Admiral some questions, he looks 40 years younger then when he came aboard. And he admits that he subjected himself to a (highly dangerous) rejuvenation theraphy as far as 2 years back. The improovements were slow, but steady. He originally had enough for both him and his wive. But when this mission came up, he took both of hte doses.

Picard is still sceptical - why would he risk his live for this one mission?

 

Then he makes a call to Governor Karnac and it becomes clear: There are no terrorists. The Governor took the Ambassador Hostage. All just to get Jamerson to the planet. In resposne Jamerson ask to increase speed. And wants to change "negotiation" to "Armed Rescue Mission". He wants to avoid Negotiations now, using his "I command he away team" as leverage to force Picard into that course of action.

Meanwhile Dr. Crusher noticed that his body does not apper to be stabilizing on any age.

 

Jamesons is now Rikers age and he and Picard have a talk. Jamerson reveals whathappend 45 years ago:
Karnast had hostages. He demanded weapons. 2 previous negotiators were killed. So Jamerson gave him the weapons. And then gave the same weapons to his rivals. The end result was 40 years of civil war.

 

When it is time for the Away team, Jameson now looks like a young Ensign. Picard insists on joining the away team. Unfortuantely Jamesons 45 year old information leads them right into a ambush. When the Admiral has another body issue, picard evacuates the team.

 

Jamesons is willing to give himself. But it is hard to convince Karnas that the young Jameson is really the one he wants. But as he accepts it, Jamson dies due to de-aging going out of hand. The hostages are freed. The Admiral is burried on the planet. And now Karnac has to deal with his part of the guilt.

 

 

Noticeables:

- In general a Captain outranks a Admiral that is only visiting/guest aboard the ship. Even if he is given a mission, he is not even normally considred the "Mission Officer". Jameson had a special allowance to "always be considered Mission Officer on Diplomatic Assignments". And usually Admirals are only aboard for Missions.

- apparently Familiy quarters were not a thing 20-30 years ago.

- phasers have a "cut through" setting

- both sides in the phaser battle used cover, as much as was avalible

- phasers set to kill make a distinctive sound. Picard remarked "I heard that sound before".

- Picard was clear that the guilt was split between Jameson and Karnac. While Jameson provided the spark, Karnac had a lot of time in those 40 years to make peace rather then continue the war.

- Jamesons propably blamed himself worse the Picard and Karnac. He rescued 63 people back then, at the cost of millions of lives.

- a youth agent exists in Star Trek. This specific one is considered a myth. It is not normally given the outsiders, but Jamesons still had some Diplomatic clout. And even if given properly, there is a high mortaility rate. Taking 2 full doses at once was simply guaranteeing Jamesons demise. He was willing to die, to make it right.

[Christopher]

EP 16: When The Bough Breaks

 

Short: " Wesley Crusher must protect a group of kidnapped Enterprise-D children while Captain Picard fights for their release."

 

A thread of energy patterns leads to a System, rumored to hold Aldea (a cloaked space Atlantis). While Sensors show nothing, Deana can sense "thousands of minds". And then a planet decloaks.

 

There is a short communicator discussion. And it is clear they wanted to be found. Then two emisarries beam straight onto the bridge. While the shields are up. They insist their transport is the only way off planet, as the shield is still operational. They also mention they have been monitoring the ship for some time. Deana mentioned that something is definitley up. "They want something from us .Something that is so precious, they think we are not likely to part with it."

Then they offer a trade "technology for your children". When refused, they just abduct a number of children, including Wesley. He quickly becomes the "leader" of the children.

 

So the situation is similar to EP 7: Justice, just a more passive one. The Aldeans seem to have no offensive weapons. Not even a weaponisaiton of their transpoert. So there are no danger to the ship. However the stolen children do puts a lot of pressure on the crew. And hte shield has been "impenetrable for milennia". Also Picard has to deal with the parents, represented by Dr. Crusher.

 

The children are split up across "units". Wich seems to be a cross of family and skillgroup.

The youngest women who has taken care of the youngest child is suddenly unwilling to let her go into her unit.

Meanwhile the crew aboard notices ocasssional weakpoints in the shields, wich may allow a away team to get down. Picard lays out his plan:

Getting a away team down to knock out the powersource of the shield. Picard is clear that while he will feign negotiation, he has no illusions he can get teh children back that way. And he will only play along to make certain they do not just cloak their planet again.

 

Wesley is introduce to teh custodian, a comptuer running the menial labor side of the colony. And it becoems evident that the people have 0 knowledge on how to run or even repair their technology. Indeed it was the custodian that picked the children and assigned them to their units.

All the while, Wesley is trying to get some tactically usefull information. Like the powersource of the Custodian.

 

Picard is finalyl getting hailed. He tricks them to bring Dr. Crusher along on the negotiation by inventing a Starfleet Regulation. The Crushers trick them into getting a Medical Tricroder+ handscanner scan of the people. Unfortuantely the people down there get a bit desperate. As a "small show of force" they hit the enterprise with a energyx pulse that pushes it lightyears away. "3 days at Warp 9". And the make it clear that they are willing to push the enterprise as far away as the Voyager, if they do not get a agreement.

 

We learn a bit more how their "jobs" work. Apparently all their tools have neuro-emotial interfaces, that make "the thoughts of the wielder come true. After 3 days without contact the Enterpris comes back.

Meanwhile Dr. Crusher has analysed that byscan. it appears the entire civilsation is terminally ill. Some form of Chromosomal decay. The Aldeans claimed their infertiltiy was genetically caused, but Dr. Crusher can not rule out environmental causes either.

 

Meanwhile it becomes evident that all the children are getting homseick, despite having fun. Wesley starts organizing a children passive resistance. Dr. Cursher has found the solution - apparently they suffer from simple radiation poisioning, because their ozone layer is depleted.

Datas atempts to hack the Transporter system will take "a week" to complete. So they pick the more risky approach of sending a way team down. While Picard makes another round of "fake negotiations".

Wesley starts a Hungerstrike with the Children. Riker and Data beam down, just as Picard and Beverly do. Team R/D quickly finds the custodian. While they have no access, data finds a way to scramble it so "nobody can use it".

 

Finally they reveal what has happened: The shield itself attacks the ozone layer. The depletion of hte ozone layer resulted in radaition posioning. Wich resulted in sterility, among other issues. And it will affect teh childern just as well.

Their "scientists" apaprently could not figure that out, now knowing anything. The reliance on the custodian (wich is not a sentient computer anymore then the Enterprises) meant they forgot how everything worked. So they never figured out that it was something as simple as that.

In a show of force, Team R/D has disabeled the shield, scrambeled the Custodian and Picard is beaming the children back using the Enterprises transporters.

 

In the final scene they have given them the radiation treatment, re-seeded the Ozone layer and Pciard has to interact with one of the children. It is as akward as he predicted way back when meeting riker for the first time.

 

 

Noticeables:

- the Aldean Cloaking device was very impresive. It could cloak an entire planet. And given that those tend to have gravitational effects on System scale, that is not a easy thing. Not to mention the danger of someone just hitting the planets surface. And they said it "confused people for milennia".

- when dicussing the mater with the affected parents, Dr. Crusher mentioned "we all knew the risks when signing up on this ship"

- within their colony, the Aldeans used a different transport technology. It had no energy effect. Just people moving with a slight sound.

- Picard mentioend that the pushback beam could have "easily disintigrated the Enterprise"

- the enterprise can apparently "re-seed the Ozone layer". But in order for that to last, the Alteans have to keep their shield and cloak offline permanently.

- as the alteans themself did not know how to run their technology anymore, it will take them time to reverse-engineer all they knew with the help of the Federation

- it is unclear if the radiation treatment can acutally solve the infertility.

[Christopher]

EP 17: Home Soil

 

Short: " When the Enterprise-D visits an outpost in the process of terraforming a dead planet, they find the science team threatened by a mysterious new form of life. "

 

While on a Star Cluster survey mission, the Enterprise is asked by Starfleet to check in on a Terraforming outpost. Communications have been erractic.

The longer the initial communication with Commander Mandl lasts, the clear Deana feels that the chief has something to hide. And the more Picard wants to go down. In the end Picard forces the issue.

 

The away team of Riker, Geordi, Deana, Tasha and Data reaches the surface. The crew itself is a whole lot more friendly then their chief Mandl. Geord and Data start science talking about some issues with teh Hydro-landscaping They talk about this and that. And then one of the outpost crew is attacked and critically injured by a laser drill.

 

Data stays down and notices that it appears the laser "acted intentionally".  So they reactive it. Data is locked in and attacked. It does not work that well for the laser. However data notices that it was acting beyond merely simple "programmed" behavior. Almost as if a mind was controling it. Or as if some high level programmer had given it a compelx attack programm.

Picard considers this a murder + attempted murder case.

 

When beaming down again, Geodi and Data find something in one of hte shafts the laser had been working on. Inorganic, but accting like a lifeform. They beam it up, and it becomes clear: It looks like a lifeform. Except it is the first non-organic lifeform ever found.

 

Then the lifeform suddenly replicates while under observation. That clears it up: It is alive.

Dr. Crusher tries to put it into a  Quanratine field. That fails.

The nthe computer informs them of a communication attempt.

On Doctors orders, they evacuate the lab. But Picard now knows it is intelligent life. And it pretty much takes over the medical lab.

 

Picard forces the issue wth the Terraformers. They admit to having seen patterns. But between multiple assurances by the survey team "nothing alive" and hte years invested into the project already, they somehow managed to dismiss it.

Meanwhile the Labwide isolation seal is weakening. And everytime they try to reinforce it, the pwoer goes "somepalce else". And it could hit a critical system (like the nusery).

The lifeform finally communicates. It considers being at war with humanity, thanks to extened ignorance. And thanks to reproduction, the ones in the lab have enough power to disrupt the Enterprise from the inside.

They try to beam it out. But it resists.

They try to remove the air from the lab. The Environmental controls do not react. Showing them it has access to the Computers.

They finally find a weakness - it needs light to power itself. Riker manually takes control of the lights. Forcing it to talk. And Picard manages to broker a peace.

 

At the end, Picard places the planet under "indefinite Quarantine" and the terraformers are brought back to a Starbase.

 

 

The lifeform:

This lifeform was unlike anything ever encountered before. Inorganic, but capable of reproduction.

It reacted to human contact. Data asumed it might be reacting to the natural Bioelectric field emitted by humanoids. It's living space seemed to be "the idea depth to still get solar heat".

It's main source of energy was infrared light.

It had considerable abiltiy to project energy. 2 were able to defend against a lab-internal containment field. Even 2-8 had enough power to disrupt ship systems "near the lab". A small colony could take control of compuers and even resist a transporter beam.

It's primary living space was a odlly well defined layer of "saline water". They seemed to have been single brain cells, connected by being submerged into that layer. It is possible that the form taken on the Enterprise (a close colony and crystall) was not a usual form, but a specific adaptation.

Unfortunately the survey and terraforming crew did not realise that their hydroshaping was effectively killing that entire lifeform, by taking away their living space.

 

The Laser Drill attacks:

This was originally a simple indsutrial laser drill, but it had been reprogrammed or even actively controlle by the lifeform. Data noted a sophisticated programm or intelligence. Capable of adapting to and anticipating his tactics. According to Geordi, the fight was a close one.

The first attack was always a suprise attack. It is possible it did not had that high of a CV (especially if compared to Data). The dead human was surprised by it. It is likely the first attack disabeled him (stunned), and then it just attacked until "he stopped screaming or moving".

The damage was not very high. Needing a dozen hits to even kill a human. But that might also have been due to poor selection of target points on the human body (not understanding weakpoints of a human body like arteries, the brain, etc.).

 

Noticeables:

- a subsection of Starfleet Command is apparently "Terraform command"

- we learn a bit about post-gensis terraforming: It is a decade lasting process, wich usually starts with the selection of the process. The rule that the planet is "does not have life or is likely to develop life" still holds. If you add requirements like mass, orbit, day/night cycle, only a select few planets are eligible

- people on those terraforming outposts are considered "bold pioneers" by the Enterprise crew. Wich says something from people "boldly going where no one has gone before". And are proud of their job, considering "it the best in the Universe". They are also generally considered oddballs and obsessive

- the Hydro landscaping talk was not technobabble. I know for a fact that even our current day hydro-engieners have to deal with effects caused by high saline contents.

- the Enterprsie crew made certain to secure the room - like turning off the power - before even attempting to rescue him. Chances were low either way.

- after data had been attacked, they made sure to power down the whole facility. Even power for life support was provided from the Enterprise, to make certain they had full control of every joule

- the lifeform insisted earliest next contact would be in "about 3 centuries"

- "Life or not. Intelligent or not. My first responsibility is to safety of the ship" - picard after being informed they were at war

[Ragitsu]

How about the "Patrick Stewart Speech"? Is this outcome in a social encounter simply the result of buying high Persuasion?

[Christopher]

13 hours ago, Ragitsu said:

How about the "Patrick Stewart Speech"? Is this outcome in a social encounter simply the result of buying high Persuasion?

Usually that kind of speech is the result of the team working together.

He had such a moment in Episode 3. But there was no way for him to pull it off without the whole crew. Basically the crew provided a lot of circumstantial bonuses to the roll.

[Ragitsu]

On 1/2/2018 at 7:33 PM, Christopher said:

Noticeables:

 

- a subsection of Starfleet Command is apparently "Terraform command"

- we learn a bit about post-gensis terraforming: It is a decade lasting process, wich usually starts with the selection of the process. The rule that the planet is "does not have life or is likely to develop life" still holds. If you add requirements like mass, orbit, day/night cycle, only a select few planets are eligible

- people on those terraforming outposts are considered "bold pioneers" by the Enterprise crew. Wich says something from people "boldly going where no one has gone before". And are proud of their job, considering "it the best in the Universe". They are also generally considered oddballs and obsessive

- the Hydro landscaping talk was not technobabble. I know for a fact that even our current day hydro-engieners have to deal with effects caused by high saline contents.

- the Enterprsie crew made certain to secure the room - like turning off the power - before even attempting to rescue him. Chances were low either way.

- after data had been attacked, they made sure to power down the whole facility. Even power for life support was provided from the Enterprise, to make certain they had full control of every joule

- the lifeform insisted earliest next contact would be in "about 3 centuries"

- "Life or not. Intelligent or not. My first responsibility is to safety of the ship" - picard after being informed they were at war

 

But perhaps the most important takeaway was:

- Humans are "ugly giant bags of mostly water".

[Christopher]

41 minutes ago, Ragitsu said:

 

But perhaps the most important takeaway was:

- Humans are "ugly giant bags of mostly water".

So technically they never properly adressed Data, I guess?

 

Damn, even the totally new form of live discriminates against him

[Ragitsu]

Putting aside exceptions such as The Doctor and Moriarty (and possibly the "enlightened" folk of Fair Haven in ST: VOY), the degree to which holograms are sentient/sapient is often difficult to discern.

 

Take the holographic representation of Crell Moset from Star Trek: Voyager's episode "Nothing Human". Be warned that there are spoilers in the video below.

 

 

Is he passionately defending unethical medical practices because he as a newly formed digital entity developed a sense of self and therefore became invested in being important to others in the only way he knows how or because the files used as a basis for the hologram's personality include notes on the actual Crell Moset's vocal attempts to defy standards of civilized (at least by Starfleet's standards) medicine in the name of progress? Maybe there is an element of both interpretations at play here? Also, if he were "alive" in the sense of being a fully volitional AI, would he not likely object more strongly to being deleted? Would he not, in fact, beg to be kept in the ship's memory banks? Then again, it is entirely possible that the individual whom the program is based upon wasn't given to making such desperate emotional displays.

[Christopher]

1 hour ago, Ragitsu said:

Putting aside exceptions such as The Doctor and Moriarty (and possibly the "enlightened" folk of Fair Haven in ST: VOY, the degree to which holograms are sentient/sapient is often difficult to discern.

 

Take the holographic representation of Crell Moset from Star Trek: Voyager's episode "Nothing Human". Be warned that there are spoilers in the video below.

 

 

Is he passionately defending unethical medical practices because he as a newly formed digital entity developed a sense of self and therefore became invested in being important to others in the only way he knows how or because the files used as a basis for the hologram's personality include notes on the actual Crell Moset's vocal attempts to defy standards of civilized (at least by Starfleet's standards) medicine in the name of progress? Maybe there is an element of both interpretations at play here? Also, if he were "alive" in the sense of being a fully volitional AI, would he not likely object more strongly to being deleted? Would he not, in fact, beg to be kept in the ship's memory banks? Then again, it is entirely possible that the individual whom the program is based upon wasn't given to making such desperate emotional displays.

We do not know how much of this character was based on actuall records, how much of it the Holodeck "extrapolating" reactions and how much a general AI trying to stay alive. The behavior of the Hologram at least seems plausible, given all the information we have about Cardassians from the time of the Occupation.

A highly specialised non-general AI can be easily mistaked for a AGI in their field. And might even be far superior to a proper AGI.

 

Note that there was another case of a "Holodeck Simulation of reallife character" in TNG: Leah Brahms (http://memory-alpha.wikia.com/wiki/Leah_Brahms). And did not match the original well. Like missing that she was married and flirting with Geordi.

So the track record of the holodeck recreating real life persons is rather mixed.

[Christopher]

EP 18: Commng of Age

 

Short: "As Wesley Crusher faces the Starfleet Academy entrance exam on Relva VII, representatives from Starfleet Command conduct an exhaustive investigation into Captain Picard and the Enterprise-D crew. "

The short clearly establishes the A and B stories.

 

The Episode starts by introducing the Civilian Redshirt "Jake", apparently a aquantance of Ensign Crusher.  And Wesley speaking out his condolencs for the person failing some exam with "only 32 points". Possibly the Academy Entrance exam. Wesley beams down, while Picards "old Friend" Admiral Quinn and his Aide Dexter Remik beam aboard.

 

Remik is revealed to belong to the "Inspector Generals Office" and is to make a full evaluation of Enterprise. Quinn denies any requests what exactly is being looked for but orders full support from Picard. Even the "old Friend" card can not get him to divulge Information.

 

On the surfaces Wesley meets other "finalists". Apparently only one will be choosen, but each of them is exceptional to be even avalible for this process. The other candidates are: 1 Human, 1 Vulcan, 1 Benzite.

The evalutaor is "Tac Officer Chang".

Tehy will undergo largely Computerized Testing. The human (Oliana) is falling behind, but seems to get a attraction to Wesley.

 

Meanwhile Mr. Remik is making everyone on teh Bridge nervous. "Feeling guilty just being around". At first it appears his interest is in Riker, but it quickly turns out it is about "Discrepancies in Picards Logs".  He keeps mentioning previous Episodes, like the Traveller and Stargazer Indicents.

 

During a pause Wesley and Worf meet on teh Holodeck. They talk about the "psych test", that apparently every cadet candidate has to go through. "Confrontation with their greatest fear". Mr. Worf reveals that they do have a knack for figuring that out exactly, even for him (it was relying on others when his live is on the line).

 

Meanwhile "Jake" steals a shuttle. He has issues facing his father over his "failure" and is stealign a shuttle to "sign on to a civilian freighter". But the he messes up the controls and shuts down the engine. And starts dropping into the Atmosphere/Gravity well. Tractor Beam and Transporters both are not options. Picard develops a plan: Get enough speed to bounce him of hte atmosphere once the core has rest. It succeeds.

 

Wesley has a interesting test, regarding "Social Interaction with other Cultures". Thanks to him making a "Xeno/-Xenocultures roll", he knows that stopping appologizing and getting agressive is the only course out. And it works.

 

Remick continues to poke questions. Until Picard has enough and just asks Quinn. However he again says the investigation has to continue. But the report is due soon, this is really nessesary (despite being a strain on their Friendship), and that Picard was intended to receive the final report with Quinn together.

 

Wesley helps with some puzzle/spartial awareness test. It is revealed that he and the Benzite are the ones closest in score

 

Remmick revealse that "he tried his best, but did not find what the Admiral was looking for". Indeed when dismissed he points out that "his tour in the Investgiatve office is due in 6 months and he would like to serve on the Enterprise".

Admiral Quinn reveals that he feels a Conspiracy is forming. And askes Picard to become Commander of Starfleet Academy to "have his friends close".

 

Wesley makes his "psych Test". Picard is undecided. The Benzite makes the finals. But they are all encouraged to "come back next year". Apparently this whole thing was about the "Officer Training Programm".

Finally picard decides against going to the Academy. And all is back the way it was.

 

 

 

Noticeables:
- it is the first time I noticed it, but maybe "Acting Ensign Crusher" was added to have a plausible connection to the "non-Starfleet" people on the ship? Some counts say 400 Crew, 600 Civilians were on the ship. In this case is was a early looser of the "Officer Selection Programm".

- Dexter Remick and Admiral Quinn would re-appear in Conspiracy. Indeed this Epsideo basically laid the groundwork for it

- the age requirement for Starfleet Academy was 16 years

- Convincing Jake that "pointing the nose straight at the planet" was not easy. Neither Mr. Jake nor Remmick got the intention. And to actually convince Jake to do it, Picard had to play the "I am Captain Picard and I am giving you an Order" card for a circumstance bonus/2nd try.

- Admiral Quinn, Remmick, Picard and Riker clashed repeatedly over Authority. On the one hand, they were obligated to do their jobs and answer the questions. On the other hand, they butted over personal space and responsibility (particular how disruptive such a investigation is).

[Christopher]

EP 19: Heart of Glory

 

Short: "Worf's loyalties to Starfleet are tested when three fugitive Klingons come on board the Enterprise-D."

 

The Enterprise is ordered to investigate sightings of a possible Battle in the Romulan Neutral Zone. They do find signs of battle and a disabeled Cargo ship and have to board it to figure out if anyone is alive, due to radiation leaks and other issues. And the had to enter the Neutral Zone to even get that close. They are on high alert, due to chances that this is a Trap.

 

They introduce teh "Visual Acuity Transmiter". Wich basically just allows the Transmission of whatever Geordy sees with the Visor over short distances. This is apparently the first time Picard "sees the world as Geordi does" and he is quite impressed. But they really have to get on with the Investigation. While the ship is in the Neutral Zone.

They find 3 survivign Klingons. And escape narrowly as the ship explodes.

 

The 3 Klingons belong to the Klingon Defense Forces. Captain Korris, Lt. Konmel, and a nameless one that is heavily injured. They claim to have been attacked "by a Ferengi Ship with Klingon weaponry" that they barely managed to defeat by tricking it into lowering it's shields. Picard and Riker are equally suspicious, but even a Subspace Message for details to Starfleet Command will take 48 hours.

 

We have perhaps the first interaction between Worf and other Klingons. He indicates he is the "only Klingon serving on a Human Starfleet Vessel". They tease him to see if he is "still a Klingon". But the wounds of Nr. 3 are to bad and they are called in to witness him die. We witness Klingon Funeral Rituals.

Then they confess what really happened: Apparently they were unsatisfied with the whole "Peace/Alliance with the Federation". So the stole that freighter. What they destroyed was a actuall Klingon Cruiser send to get them back. Their goal is "to live like true Klingons". And apparently, recruit Worf.

 

Anotehr Klingon Cruiser appears. And they spill the same story that Worf had gotten. The Klingons demand extradiction. And Picard sends a security Team with Tasha leading it to contain them.

The result is a standoff: Tasha +4 officers vs 2 Klingons and a undecided Worf. The a motehr with a child appears from a Turbolift. The Klingosn pick up the Girl. Tasha asumes a Hostage situation, but it is defused by them just handing the child to Worf.

 

They are locked into a Holding Cell with 2 Yellowshirts standing guard.  Worf indicates they are due for the death sentence.  With allowance from Picard, Worf pleads for them to be given a "Honorable Death Exile" on some hostile nearby planet. But the Klingon Captain refuses. Yar is send to retreive them.

Meanwhile the klingons cobble together a weapon hidden is seperate parts on their person. They disable the forcefield holding them. The Guards manage to inform the bridge and stun one of them before being overwhelmed. Konmel and 1 Security officer are dead.

 

Korris goes to Engineering. And points his weapon on the Warpcore. He demands to only speak with Worf. Korris plan is to force Picard to give him and worf the Engineering section so they can "light up the galaxy", die ina Blaze of Glory, that sort of thing. Worf tries to talk him down. But when that fails, he shoots to kill. But he does give him full funeral rights. The Klingon captain is informed of this turnout. he offers worf that he can "join us after your tour of duty is complete". He respectfully declines.

 

 

Noticeables:

- Riker proposed the Saucer Seperation right way due to possible battle, but Picard choose against it

- The Romulans have been largely "inactive" for several decads at that time

- Visor data is pretty much unfiltered. The user has to learn to ignore the unwanted parts, as with normal hearing and sight

- Geordi can identify Data via a "Aura" around him, that apparently all androids have

- Tasha brought 4 people, as she was dealing with Klingon Warriors and fugitives. I guess the rule is: "Twice as many Yellowshirts as you have Klingons"?

- they totally glossed over the death of one Starfleet Security officer.

-- even loosing said officer did not let Picard accept a offer of help from the Klingons

- the Klingons did get a tour of the ship from Worf. Wich likely explains how Korris found engineering so quickly/got in that easily.

[Christopher]

EP 20: Arsenal of Freedom

 

Short: "Geordi La Forge leads the Enterprise-D into battle while Captain Picard and an away team are trapped on planet Minos, taking fire from a dangerous automated weapons system."

 

Setup:

Longrange scans had revealed that "all intelligent life" on the Planet Minos V had disapeared. Starfleet send in the "light Cruiser" USS Drake to investigate. After teh Drake reported it had arrived, it was not heard from again. Then they send the galaxy class ship called Enterprise.

Interestingly Riker knew the Captain (Rice). The description of him sounded a lot like "Kirk". Riker had actually been offered command of the Drake, but choose 1st officer on the Enterprise instead.

 

The people of Minos were apparently Weapons Merchants. But now they had disapeared. They remarked that "even in war, disease or natural disaster there should have been some survivors". Still the Enterprise got a hail from a automated message System, inviting them to go shopping.

Riker, Yar and Data beam down as away team to make certain no automated weapons are active. Tasha Insists on a small away team until they scouted the situation.

 

Data quickly notices their communications are being monitored, but he needs the Enterprise to figure out "from where". They found a piece of Tritanium alloy that is melted and some sort of gun. Both are "beyond Federation Technolgoy".

The Enterprise finds a energy source and Riker finds Captain Rice. He ask oddly specific questions about the away team, the Ship. The Enterprise mentions "there is no other life near you". Data Confirms it.  So Riker starts feeding him stuff about his ship being the "Lollipop".

The image of Rice vanishes. A Probe had been projecting it. It encases Riker in a energy field. Yar shoots it. But Riker is in Statis and can not be beamed up.

 

Picard chooses to go down with Dr. Crusher, against the objections of Counselor Troi. Down there Data Identified the divice. And he starts working on breaking the stasis. The Enterprise detects energy readings near the away team. But they are still largely surprised by the probe.

Beverly an Picard flee, the Probe give chase and they fall into a hole. Beverly is injured

 

Meanwhile Tasha notices that this probe can actually dodge. With Data together she can destory it. But their communicators are offline. As are the ones of Riker and Beverly. And they are seperated and can not find one another. But at least Data manages to free Riker.

The Enterprise notices that Riker is free and Geordies orders a beam up, but shield and deflectors suddenly turn on. And something appears on scanners. Fires. Vanishes. It keeps attacking from different directions.

And then Chief Engieneer Logan comes to be bridge and he demands the plan. When he does not like it, he demands command of the ship. La Forge rejects it and sends him back down. La Forge is determiend to at least disable the attacker for a moment, so he can beam back up the team. Logan wants to leave now. La Forge hopes Worf can figure out the attack pattern.

 

Riker, Yar and Data are still searching for the away team. When they are attacked by Probe Nr. 3. This time it also has a Energy Shield. They need 3 Phasers set to kill to catch it and break it's shield.

Meanwhile Beverly is loosing blood and they have no medical kit. She manages to find a suiteable clotting agent in local roots, after some basic tests (taste and color changing on human skin).

 

In Orbit, the combat has entered a lull. The attacker apparently content with simply forcing the shields to stay up. La Forge things he figured out a pattern and orders a maneuver. The enemy fires, but the prediction is wrong by more then 90°. And the defenses are failing. La Forge orders Logan to the Bridge and orders to Leave Orbit at Warp 5 for 28 seconds. Then he gives Logan Command ... of the Saucer Section.

Deana is taking a moment to speak with Geordi in the ready room. While he is handling the stress surprisingly well, she mentions that 2/3 of his Bridgecrew (the non-Worf part) are buckling and he needs to encourage them. They split and he makes a U-Turn back to Minos V.

 

Meanwhile Picard has figured out that there is no exit from where he and Beverly are. Beverly tries the "leave me if you have too", but Picard pretty much ignores that. Then he finds the Computer with the Automated Salesman. And learns the Enterprise is under attack. Apparently that is they way they "Demonstrate" their weapons. They quickly learn that the Projection is hardly "interactive". It can answer simple questions on the Weaponsystem, but not much else. Picard surmises that it had killed it's creators because they accidently turned it on.

 

With only 2 minutes till the next probe left, Riker + Team finally find Picard and Beverly. They can only exchange words. There is no way to get them out, even with time. However, Data manages to get down - by jumping. Data maanges to analyze it, but he can not find a away to disable it. It can not be set to "neutral" and attacking it's own power source would kill everyone off the groundteam.

Picard manages to turn off the ground part, by just "making the purchase".

 

Unfortunately the Stardrive Section is still under attack. La Forge pulls off something dangerous: Dive into the Atmosphere a high speed, so the aerodynamic heating reveals the enemies position and he can fire.

 

 

The Probes:

A number of automated probes engaged both the ground and space sides of the ship. Any of the Probes seemed shielded from even being detected, unless they entered Mission Mode (engaging the Iamge Emitter or weapon). And even then they kept reducing the forewarning time with each itteration. So they likely head a decent "Stealth" skill.

1st Ground Probe: This one was primarily about intelligence gathering. It projects the image of "someone the person will trust" and tries to extract as much information as possible. Then it encases the target in a stasis field to preserve it for "further Interrogration". The Stasis was breakable "if you know the right frequency, or via trial and error" and also had Transporter disrupting properties.

The Probe itself was apparently to dumb to even take a defensive action. Or maybe it did, but even with Dodge it's DCV was way below what it would need to avoid Tasha.

2nd Ground Probe: This one did not even try subterfuge. It just opened fire. However it was still hard to spot as even with Orbital Sensor Overwatch, they only had limited forewarning time. It ignored Picard and Crusher, once those were out of sight. When confronted with Yar, it dodge all direct attacks by her alone. However it did not seem to have a high SPD as it did not attack while being fired at and dodging. Simply one leading left and one right got one to connect. And then both focussed while it just sat there, doing nothing. Either it had poor defenses against a coordinted attack, what it did was closer to a "Dive for Cover" or the first hit at least stunned it.

Spaceprobe: Looking like a upscaled version of the ground Probes, it was much more advanced to begin with. It had a cloaking device and high action speed. It could only be detected shortly before firing. And it's shoots did considerable damage to the Enterprises Shields, wich is no easy feat. It reacted to being locked onto by phasers, by breaking the attack and fully recloaking. It had a advanced attack pattern, that could not be reliably predicted.

It also seemed to not be part of the groundbased System, as it contnued after the sale had been made. It likely was what destroyed the USS Drake.

3nd Ground Probe: This one added a shield to the model of Probe 2, and even shorter forewarning time. It did not have a improoved dodge protocoll, just the extra shield. The shield was tough enough that 3 phasers set to kill were needed to overcome it. It seemingly could not have it's shield and weapon active at the same time. Rules wise I would say the "Block" maneuver fit it very well for the shield, as would Armor in a Multipower with the weapon (it switches on as part of the aborted phase).

4th Ground Probe: They literally did not want to find out what this one could do. And Data could not alter the firing parameters on short notice without making it worse.

 

Neither of the Probes nor the salesman showed any sign of general intelligence. Even the Holodeck Characters from "the Big Goodbye" were more interactive/adaptive. While the ground attack probes were self improoving, it took quite some time (12 minutes) to get out a new model. However I can not tell if that was a intentional delay for sales purpose. Considering it's powersouce would have caused a massive explosion, it is save to asume that with a whole planet of "targets" it would produce a lot more units with a shorter itteration time.

The space probe was on a totally different level. It started with cloaking and a well developed attack pattern. However it was still dumb, just following the Enterprise into the Atmosphere.

 

 

Noticeables:
- The Drake class was never fully identified, but it sounded a lot like a Constituation class cruiser with a Kirk as Commander. It was so lowly classed, Riker could have become captain directly. And it's power definitely did not compare to a Galaxy Class ship.

- Datas first asumption on why the communicators were not working was "close passing weapons fire". That indicates those are somewhat fragile. However after the probes were turned off, those suddenly worked again. That indicates they were actually being jammed as part of the Demonstration or maybe as a side effect of the power source being active.

- Chief Engineer Logan outranked LaForge and had more experience. But LaForge was "in command", until releived by Riker or Captain Picard

- This was the first time Geordi was in command and he was handling it pretty well

- Data was not 100% certain he could survive a 12 meter fall unscathed.

- they used oddly long beams in this Episode. Normaly they fire short beam pulses from the Cobrahead Phasers. But this time the firings were close to 2 seconds each time. It could be jus the way to simulate them "aiming again for a 2nd shoot".

[Ragitsu]

What's odd is that, given the level of technology in the Star Trek universe, you'd expect to see more unmanned (autonomous) yet armed drones used in squad level combat with the myriad species we know of. However, this is rarely the case.

[Christopher]

5 hours ago, Ragitsu said:

What's odd is that, given the level of technology in the Star Trek universe, you'd expect to see more unmanned (autonomous) yet armed drones used in squad level combat with the myriad species we know of. However, this is rarely the case.

The Minos V drones actually provide a good example why not: Those people were literally wiped out by their own autonomous drones because some moron set them loose on their planet. It was too effective, too autonomous for their own good.

 

In TOS they tried their hand at having a computer run a Constituion class ship. It was nearly unbeatable allright. As it started klling federation ships.

[Christopher]

EP: 21 Symbiosis

 

As the bulk of the Story is on the Prime Directive aspects, not a lot of mechanical relevance happened. Still I noticed a few things:

 

1. At the start of the Episode, the Enterprsie is doing something dangerous: Close up scan of a star undergoing massive magnetic disturbances. Now just as a precaution, they do go to Yellow Alert before going in.

They go in under full shields, but between the magnetic interference and the X-Ray burts there is still leakage through the shield. Indeed the back consoles on the bridge are overloaded and become unuseable. They have to redirect shield power in engineering, whose consoles are showing similar signs of overload.

Now I want to repeat what I keep saying in other places: You do not put circuit breakers and overload protection into your bridge consoles. Or if you do, there is a battle-short mode while on yellow or red alert. The last thing they could have needed in that situation is core consoles like Navigation and Engineering failing just because the currents was 20%-50% out of ideal range. That could have literally cost them the ship and just from doing a carefull Icarus.

A well stocked Federation Flagship propably has the engineering crew and materials to do any minor post-crisis repairs resulting in using ballte shorts. And they went in there expecting trouble to begin with.

 

2. The Solar flares caused masssive intereference even away from the sun:

Communications were spotty.
The tractorbeam was not working even on short distance.

The Transporter only had a shoot at working after they linked the Enterprsie pad to the Freighter ones.

They later choose not to use the pad as the crew is less then able to follow basic instructions. The result is that only 4 of 6 people get rescued

 

3. A minor scuffle broke out. Both races have a "natural electric discharge". Damage shield seems to be a perfect fit based on what was shown. Tasha remarked it was "difficult to confiscate". And then started thinking about "How to defend against it", what it's limits are (how strong, what recharge rate, how it evolved). Of course "just in case". I guess it is the security officers curse.

 

4. After picard learned they carried a plague, he asked if the Transporter Biofilters had picekd it up/filtered it out. But due to solar flare intereference there was no reliable confirmation in the logs. Both the Biofilters might have failed picking it up, or the Logs actually writing down it was picked up and removed. So Picard declared "Medical Alert".

 

5. It did not take Dr. Crusher to figure out what Felicium actually was: A Drug.

There was a plague originally. Felicium cured it, but addicted all the patients. And then it was given to every newborn/propably made it's way across the blood barrier.

 

The Brekka/Onaran situation was interesting, especially for the crew:

Apparently Brekka never developed technologically. They had no local industry to speak off. They were entirely dependant on the Deliveries from Onaran, for the Medicine/Drug Felicium. And had been for 200 years. They grew quite decadent as a  result. They were also fully aware what it acutally was: They had the plague too, realized the addiction and quickly got off it. But never told the Onarans. And likely increased the addictiveness of Felicium

Onaran was simply a planet of (unaware) Drug Addicts. Their entire industry was focussed on producing the tradegoods. And as a society, they were barely functional. They literally did not know basic operations and maintenance of the ships their people had built propably 200 years ago. And the planetary Governor did not seem much more capable.
Legally, Picard had no say about the Trade Goods even if his ship held them. It was under "whatever legal framework applied to trade between your two planets".
And the Prime Directive even forbade him from just telling the Onarans: "You are just addicted. There is no more plague. Start getting drug therapy."

Dr. Crusher said she could easily "replicate a non-adictive substitute". But it was not possible for the same reason.
 

In the end Picard did the only thing he could do: Not give the Onaran the repalcement parts they needed to keep the freighters running for much longer on grounds of the Prime Directive.
Without the freighters, the Shipments would stop. And the addiction would simply burn itself out.

[Christopher]

EP 22: Skin of Evil

 

Aka "the one where they killed Tasha Yar." And made Worf acting head of Security, the role he would keep up to Generations/DS9

 

Start:

The Enterprise is not able to engage Warp due to routine maintenance but on rendevous course with Deana Trois shuttle. But then the stuttle is damaged and they can not get there in time. And when they do get there, they encoutner Armus - the skin of evil.

 

Armus abilities:

- Armus showed no ability to affect the Enterprise. It did disable and force crash a shuttlecraft in a specific spot, so it's energy output was propably around "small starship" level

- Armus showed did not communicate with the Enterprise in orbit. All conversation had to be done at face on the planet. However that might have simply been a choice by it

- Armus could block scanners, transporter signals and even coms while just near the shuttle. However for maximum effect it appeared it needed to cover the shuttlecraft and full attention

- It could effortlessly kill a human. While the attack did impart a ton of momentum, the main damage seems to have been direct brain damage. Again, it might have simply showed showmanship to throw someone around.

- it could not be harmed with hand weapons. Seemingly feeding of Phase energy. It was unclear if the ship phasers could have hurt it, as it was to close to the shuttle to even try

- It had telekinesis fine enough to easily take Datas Phaser and Tricorder, and rip Geordies visor of his face

- the Telekinesis was also strong enough to force move datas arm with phaser in hand. And Data's strenght is the best among the Enterprise crew.

- he could also teleport objects and even people. The kind that does not require the caster to move along, but not be voluntarily

- he registered on no tricorder scan or even geordies visor. There was no physical weakness they could exploit.

- however Deana Troi did get emotional readings on it

- Armus was only a skin deep blob on the surface/the shuttle. But it easily had enough material to form a humanoid body. Or actually swallow Riker, like a sort of Bag of Holding.

- there was noticeable fluctuations in it's jamming field. Strenghts increasing with causing terror. Weakness showing whever it got pyscho-analzed by Troi. So Picard decided to make it a mater between him and Armus and talk Armus into impotent rage

- in the end, the computer had been set up to automatically transport once possible. The shuttlecraft was destroyed with a Photon Torpedo from orbit "to prevent any chance of armus escaping". Nobody seems to think Armus actually died in that blast.

- to the best of everyones knowledge, Armus was simply the cast off negative emotions of some species. Left there eons ago. Alone.

 

Trivia:
This Episode ended with Yar's Funeral. Including her final words playing.

Also Geordi is still not chief engineer