10 Reasons Why Data Was A Dangerous Threat To The Enterprise

5. He's Constantly Making Notes On The Entire Crew

Data Star Trek
CBS

In an episode called “Data’s Day,” we get a rare glimpse into Data’s inner thoughts. In fact, the entire episode is narrated by Data’s inner monologue. So, what do we learn?

That Data is secretly resentful of and disgusted by, his meat-bound counterparts. Just kidding, Data harbors no ill-will towards the crew. He’s maybe too interested in them, though.

During the episode, we hear Data make observations about his colleagues. For example, Data makes the following note about Commander Riker:

“The tone of Commander Riker’s voice makes me suspect that he is not serious about finding Ambassador T’Pel charming. My experience suggests that in fact; he may mean the exact opposite of what he says.”

Sure, this is a harmless observation. But, Data has an infallible memory. This is little note, along with countless others, will be filed away somewhere in those hundred petabytes of Data’s memory.

Consider how you would feel if you found a file on your coworker’s desktop. And, in that file, were thousands of inane tidbits about you, and everyone in the office. Things like how you’re kind of a sarcastic prick who talks behind peoples’ back.

That’d be more than a little creepy.

Contributor
Contributor

John is a teacher and writer living in Texas. He spends far too much time watching Star Trek. Check out more if his work at artofnarrative.com