Spoilers Star Trek: Prodigy 1x17 - "Ghost in the Machine"

[Deks]

This event happened in the past, the 2360’s I think with the Enterprise having less advanced security features and procedures. Surely Starfleet security improved how command codes are distributed and shared in the preceding time before this weeks episode. Is Dal locked out of *full* access of the ship with only low level command codes or does he have full command access thus full control of the Protostar as a standard Captain of a Starfleet vessel would? Does the living construct have more control of the ship than Dal, thus making this device the true captain of the ship? We will never know unless Dal takes the Protostar somewhere remote and away from civilisation (in particular a way from the Romulan sun) and tries to initiate auto destruct in order to save the Federation and the Romulans. Dal does not need to die in the explosion he can use an escape pod or get beamed out just in time. The living construct can not just stay on the ship forever, someone needs to get rid of it and I think that Dal should as he is the Captain. There are plenty of places in the galaxy where he could take the ship if the explosion was going to be big…. Just out of the way of any planets with life on. The explosion would probably only be big though if it was in a sun like with a trilithium device.

I don't think that Data taking over the Galaxy class back in 2360-ies is a bad example... plus he's an Android capable of mimicking other people's voices with absolute precision - it really wouldn't have been difficult for someone like him to commandeer a really secure vessel.

Sure, encryption would have improved in 20 years, but so would have measures for breaking through them (probably).
Also, the Vau'N'AKat who initially hacked/corrupted the Protostar are from about half a century in the future (when measuring from 2383). They were familiar with more advanced SF ships and technology and in their interactions with UFP since then probably managed to advance their own to get extremely close to SF's (much like Humanity managed to almost catch up to nearly other species in the AQ with the NX-01 and having only 90 years since first contact - the Vau'N'AKat were ahead of Humanity on the technological curve during their first contact, so its reasonable to think that they would be able to get similar ideas like humanity did from just observing SF tech).

Anyway, in regards to the level of access Dal has... I suppose its possible that Dal has full access to the ship like any other captain would have.. but its also equally possible his access is somewhat limited by default... or, limited in the sense of his own lack of knowledge of inner workings of a SF ship and its full capabilities).

As for whether the living construct has more access than Dal... it did not. At least not initially.
Now that Dal gave his command codes to holo Janeway, the living construct is able to operate the ship independently through her.

Gwyn also gave holo-Janeway upgrades in episode 9 - aka the ability to have solid form and combat opponents, and she was protected against her father's tampering (since she is fluent in Vau'N'AKat and other languages, advanced tech from the future, and other ship operations, it stands to reason she would be able to give holo-Janeway these protections).

I suspect the construct by itself didn't have the means to do what it was programmed to do seeing how the flesh and blood Vau'N'AKat wanted to operate the ship and bring it to SF to destroy it (at least that was the original intent).
But as we saw, Chakotay and his crew managed to break from captivity and reprogrammed the Protostar to leave back through the anomaly on its own.

Its possible that Chakotay managed to do something to the ship when he programmed it to leave Solum without any biological input (only on automation) and this may have corrupted Vau'N'AKat code to a degree (or forced it to adapt to infect holo Janeway) and subsequently it left the door open for the kids to gain access to the ship and reprogram command level access.

 

[Tuskin38]

Actually, NO!!!!!! Keep the construct AWAY from supernovas.

Do not do this!!!! It might destroy Romulus! I forgot about that.

That still isn't for several years. Plus I doubt they'd do that on a kid's show.

Felt like a filler episode. Hopefully next week picks up.

It advanced the plot, it's not a filler episode.

 

[Akiraprise]

It advanced the plot

I will agree. It did. Barely. In the last 3 minutes.
Not saying it was total dreck but VADM Janeway was literally attacked and knocked unconscious by this seasons mortal enemy in the last episode. This week: holodeck shenanigans! Yay.

 

[Timofnine]

I wouldn’t assume that blowing up the ship would destroy this nasty piece of future technology, though.

Then perhaps he needs to fly it in to a black hole/quantum singularity.

ah! By the 70s the captain could activate the self-destruct with no second authorisation or codes! By the 25th century a retired admiral could blow up someone else’s ship all on his own!

It’s too easy to blow up ships then, they need to put more failsafes in to place.

By the way, I wonder what the original purpose of the construct was and how come it’s so advanced. In the flashback last week it’s referred as “the last of our constructs”, implying there used to be more.

It could be a relic from millennia ago when the Vau N'Akat or whoever inhabited their planet first had a battle with another ancient off world civilisation which is now consigned to legend and mythology rather than them believing it anything extraterrestrial involving aliens. Because this is the last of the Living Constructs it probably means that the Vau N'Akat can not actually build these weapons themselves or at least no longer have the means to. Also, these devices could not have been used as weapons in the Vau N'Akat civil war itself as they are too destructive and would have destroyed their homeworld and no one would have won the conflict. This raises the question of what exactly did they use the previous Living Constructs for if this is indeed their last one? They do seem *too* powerful to use in a planetary civil war? The Living Construct appears to be designed for use against other off world species, but the Vau N'Akat thought that they were the only species, so again perhaps they did not even build it. The Vau N'Akat could have used previous Living Constructs against incoming asteroids or even fired them in to their own sun to keep it burning? The last Living Construct may have brought peace to their planet as they knew that the Vau N'Akat could not use this weapon against each other when the civil war got bad and it seemed like their last resort. The Vau N'Akat could have treated this ancient tech as ‘weapons of the gods’. The galactic events that led to the creation of the Living Constructs could have possibly taken place around the same time period of the Preservers and Progenitors. In the galaxy a long time ago, there may have been the first ever war which used weapons of mass destruction. The species might have wiped themselves out in this war but their tech could have survived, such as Iconian Gates, Doomsday Machines and the Stone of Gol etc. The Living Construct could be another super weapon left over from this era. But it might not just be a weapon any more… it could be some form of Vajra. A weapon of ultimate destruction, but when the Vajra is not a weapon it is a symbol of keeping the peace because everyone knows how dangerous it is to use - perhaps Dal (or someone) will seal the Living Construct closed somehow in a similar way as to how the Vajra from Indian traditions was sealed closed and turned in to a peaceful sceptre. I don’t think that it would be good for Dal to carry it around on the Protostar just in case it gets set off again, but surely there is a big galactic vault somewhere like in Indiana Jones where they are keeping the Ark of the Covenant? They can box it up and put the Living Construct inside there if it is not safe to blow it up. It should fit in one of those wooden pellet boxes.

 

[The Wormhole]

Sometimes I think Star Trek just doesn't make sense.

I think that all the time. That's part of Star Trek's charm.

 

[cooleddie74]

Trek is like a drug trip in Earth Sciences class in junior high school. And I wouldn't have it any other way.

 

[Timofnine]

That still isn't for several years. Plus I doubt they'd do that on a kid's show.

I know, but the Living Construct could have been a slow burner. They might have originally been designed to keep the Vau N'Akat sun burning for example because it was cooling down. The Living Construct may originally have been designed for a different kind of sun to that of the Romulan’s which is why they should keep them apart, just in case. Instead of keeping the Romulan sun burning it might cause it to eventually go nova after a few years of instability. Of course, the Living Construct is programmed to destroy the Federation at the moment with some almost god like tech. So best for them to keep it away from both the Romulan’s *and* the Federation just in case.

 

[DaveyNY]

By the way, I wonder what the original purpose of the construct was and how come it’s so advanced. In the flashback last week it’s referred as “the last of our constructs”, implying there used to be more.

They must have made the constructs during their years of civil war to use against each other.
At the point that the Protostar arrived their world was in complete ruin due to their use.
There was apparently just one left.

 

[Timofnine]

They made multiple constructs to send out because they weren't sure how to get any one, to the exact past time period necessary to eliminate Star Fleet.
They had no control over where the wormhole sent each construct, so they essentially were firing their 'weapons' blindly.

And the resulting destruction throughout the four quadrants destroyed the galaxy as we know it. This would have been a bit like The Burn in Star Trek: Discovery but worse. The Vau N'Akat might have inadvertently deposited Living Constructs through such wormholes in to the suns of all major powers in the galaxy in this scenario, or at the least given others the means in which to do so.

 

[DaveyNY]

And the resulting destruction throughout the four quadrants destroyed the galaxy as we know it. This would have been a bit like The Burn in Star Trek: Discovery but worse. The Vau N'Akat might have inadvertently deposited Living Constructs through such wormholes in to the suns of all major powers in the galaxy in this scenario, or at the least given others the means in which to do so.

I went back and rewatched that particular part of the episode.
I misremembered the events and had to change my post.

They didn't send out more Constructs, they just sent out their remaining starships with one crew member and a dreadnok after the Protostar disappeared.

As far as we know, only the Diviner and the Vindicator were able to actually survive the trip back in time.

 

[Timofnine]

They must have made the constructs during their years of civil war.

They seem too powerful to use in a planetary civil war. We know at the very least that even just one of them can destroy Starfleet and/or the Federation. This is also the last Living Construct with the indication being that they cannot build more having had a finite number to begin with.

*EDIT*
Also, there is no indication that the destruction on the Vau N'Akat homeworld was caused by the Living Construct, or was this specified? It could have been just destruction from civil war using standard tech.

 

[Tuskin38]

And the resulting destruction throughout the four quadrants destroyed the galaxy as we know it. This would have been a bit like The Burn in Star Trek: Discovery but worse. The Vau N'Akat might have inadvertently deposited Living Constructs through such wormholes in to the suns of all major powers in the galaxy in this scenario, or at the least given others the means in which to do so.

You have a wild imagination.

 

[DaveyNY]

They seem too powerful to use in a planetary civil war. We know at the very least that even just one of them can destroy Starfleet and/or the Federation. This is also the last Living Construct with the indication being that they cannot build more having had a finite number to begin with.

*EDIT*
Also, there is no indication that the destruction on the Vau N'Akat homeworld was caused by the Living Construct, or was this specified? It could have been just destruction from civil war using standard tech.

They obviously reworked the last construct to be able to destroy all of Star Fleet.
The original intent of what the constructs were able to do is an unknown, but it is very apparent they were created as weapons to be used during their civil wars.

 

[Tuskin38]

Looks like the Protostar didn't exit the Romulan Space on the same side it entered, it cut straight through Romulan Space towards the Sol System
https://twitter.com/gaghyogi49/status/1601672349052346368

 

[Timofnine]

They obviously reworked the last construct to be able to destroy all of Star Fleet.
The original intent of what the constructs were able to do it an unknown.

What constitutes the Living Construct destroying all of Starfleet? Is this in a literal sense? Starfleet defend the Federation and have ships and tech on most member planets. By the Living Construct destroying all of this, the Federation (if not destroyed along with Starfleet) would have been left vulnerable and open to other species taking advantage of this vulnerability. The Romulans would have probably launched a full scale assault in to Federation space with the destruction of Starfleet with nothing left to defend its member planets.

 

[DaveyNY]

What constitutes the Living Construct destroying all of Starfleet? Is this in a literal sense? Starfleet defend the Federation and have ships and tech on most member planets. By the Living Construct destroying all of this, the Federation (if not destroyed along with Starfleet) would have been left vulnerable and open to other species taking advantage of this vulnerability. The Romulans would have probably launched a full scale assault in to Federation space with the destruction of Starfleet with nothing left to defend its member planets.

Your conflating the Vau N'Akat's immense desire to get rid of Star Fleet and the Federation, with them actually caring about what happens after they are gone.

They only care about avoiding their first contact with a Star Fleet ship and determined that it would take eliminating it all to do so.

 

[Timofnine]

Your conflating the Vau N'Akat's immense desire to get rid of Star Fleet and the Federation, with them actually caring about what happens after they are gone.

They only care about avoiding their first contact with a Star Fleet ship and determined that it would take eliminating it all to do so.

Oh right, I thought that the Vau N'Akat sent out the Living Construct on the Protostar as revenge because Starfleet would not help them out in their civil war? Sorry, this toon has too much for me to remember sometimes and I get a bit muddled.

*EDIT*
I forgot that they sent the Protostar back in time like the Borg did with the sphere in First Contact. But how would preventing First Contact stop the civil war, unless Starfleet started it and that is what the revenge was for? The outcome of the civil war would have been the same even if the Prometheus class ship would not have visited the Vau N’Akat? Why not just send the Protostar in to the current Starfleet/Federation?

 

[DaveyNY]

Oh right, I thought that the Vau N'Akat sent out the Living Construct on the Protostar as revenge because Starfleet would not help them out in their civil war? Sorry, this toon has too much for me to remember sometimes and I get a bit muddled.

That is certainly a major impetus for their hatred, but their actual plan was designed around just eliminating Star Fleet and the Federation completely.

 

[Timofnine]

That is certainly a major impetus for their hatred, but their actual plan was designed around just eliminating Star Fleet and the Federation completely.

But this would have left a massive power vacuum in the Alpha and Beta Quadrants which could have been exploited. Or was this a part of the revenge plan? Could another Delta Quadrant species be involved manipulating things from behind the scenes? The Vau N’Akat could have approached another species who had a grudge against the Federation from when the USS Voyager was there. This could all be the prelude to a Vaadwaur invasion. Is the Vau N’Akat homeworld anywhere near Vaadwaur space?

**EDIT**
Could be the Kazon, we have already seen them involved.

 

[DaveyNY]

I'm pretty sure they didn't give a chit about any of that.

Folks who are really pissed off, very rarely think beyond what might happen after their vengeance is accomplished.