BY ANY OTHER NAME: Rojan and the cubes

[Mr. Laser Beam]

Rojan knew so little of humanity that I doubt he had any idea 'who' he was killing. I'm sure all humans looked exactly the same to him. The native Kelvan form has leathery skin and 100 tentacles, after all.

 

[Metryq]

The native Kelvan form has leathery skin and 100 tentacles, after all.

Leathery? Spock said only 100 limbs resembling tentacles. Although Kelinda might develop a fetish for leather.

The crushed polyhedron reminded me of the "dehydrated" crew in "The Omega Glory." I wonder if the Kelvins have a controlled effect something like the disease from Omega Four? The disease didn't reduce uniforms and other gear, though.

 

[ZapBrannigan]

What Rojan demonstrates is more like transporter technology. It isn't simply desiccating the victim by removing all the water. It is (as Metryq points out) also reducing clothes and boots.

I invoke transporter technology because the reduced objects seem to be data storage units-- but with no mechanism. The "cube" itself is the data, stored in the pattern of its molecules.

There must be a nearby storage place for the missing mass that makes up each person. That mass is later recalled and reassembled according to the data in the cube.

 

[Metryq]

Or maybe the "missing mass" is stored as pure energy (in the "projector" located in Engineering). I always figured the transporter as a derivative of phaser technology. The transportee is "disintegrated" in the chamber. Then a beam of energy projected at a planet is "molded" by the pattern stored in the transporter.

Perhaps the Kelvin technology is a super "Zip file." No buffer degradation, as with the transporter... unless someone uses your foam polyhedron to arrange flowers.

 

[Grant]

Each time I watch this episode, I carefully try to follow the cubes through the scene. I agree that the director/crew got it right - the female crew member's cube was destroyed.
I can't say what Rojan was thinking when deciding which to destroy, but the writer certainly did give it thought. In destroying the woman's cube, it gave a greater impact to the story - remember the context of the time.
As an aside, when watching the episode I often wonder did the restored crew member have a headache, or other assorted bumps and bruises from being tossed about while in a 'dehydrated' state?

I always thought the same thing, just being tossed to the ground would have probably knocked a few really tiny pieces off the block. How cool would it have been to have a few tiny holes in his shirt/pants and a couple of little bleeding spots on his skin?

 

[Timewalker]

Being tossed onto the grass while landing on the ''original'' one out of fourteen sides is defying the odds beyond belief. That indicates the restored position will automatically match the previous position of the restoree. Which is good for Shea, but bad for Chekov and Uhura if they are brought back away from their chairs.

So make sure that if they fall on their backsides, they're already on a mat of some kind.

 

[scotpens]

The native Kelvan form has leathery skin and 100 tentacles, after all.

Leathery? Spock said only 100 limbs resembling tentacles. Although Kelinda might develop a fetish for leather.

Barbara Bouchet in leather . . .

 

[Gov Kodos]

Even at the highest warp speed they could manage, it still took more than one Kelvan lifespan to get from one galaxy to the other. That's why they would need a generation ship.

I think Metryq meant, why didn't the Kelvans reduce themselves to cubes for long term travel, with their equipment set to automatically restore the crew once it reached our galaxy.

The savings in life support system resources and food would be simply vast.

It would, but maybe there isn't any automatic switch on their belt gadgets? In any case, risking the whole crew in such fragile forms wouldn't be a very smart move. It takes hardly any effort at all to crush those polyhedrons.

That's what egg cartons are for.

 

[Metryq]

Barbara Bouchet in leather . . .

Or maybe waffles. I'm sure Kelinda will want to try it all. More syrup, Rojan?

Imagine the Kelvin devices turning the entire crew into waffles. ("Tampopo" Trek)

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

Generic "leggo my Eggo" joke goes here.