The Most Toys: How dumb was Data?

[Death Ray]

I am Data, a super strong, super intelligent and super fast android. My kidnapper is Kivas Fajo, whose only defense against me is a force field that repels *only* my body.

Why do I not take off my shoe, throw it like a missile at Fajo's head with my deadly android accuracy, and, once he regains consciousness, continue to throw hard, injuring objects at him until he deactivates his force field, or else disable the apparatus generating it by likewise hitting it from a distance?

Pu me in coach. I'm ready.

 

[Timo]

Or, at the cusp moment in the airlock(!), just open that airlock with a well-placed phaser shot or a bit of musclework, instantly rendering Fajo helpless and subject to counter-blackmail without a need to actually kill him?

Fajo was putting a lot of faith in his security arrangements. Some may have involved invulnerable armor. Others were gambles on what Data would or would not do. Those gambles apparently paid off, so perhaps Fajo knew more about Data's ethical subroutines than the audience does?

Timo Saloniemi

 

[JirinPanthosa]

Yeah, there's really no reason Data couldn't have just thrown stuff at Fajo.

 

[Oddish]

Preferably large, heavy, bone smashing objects.

 

[Timo]

The thing is, Fajo only revealed the existence of protective measures when they became topical. His sleeves might have contained veritable quantum vaults of tricks in case the ones we know of failed. Heck, for all we know, he was also protected against his own Varon-T and was just playacting in the climax, preparing to laugh derisively at the android when the heroes suddenly arrived and ruined it all.

Did Data try assorted tricks and fail when we weren't looking? Or did he deduce the thing described above, and thus didn't bother?

Timo Saloniemi

 

[Tosk]

I don't recall any indication that Fajo's personal shield only works on Data.

"This is a proximity-actuated field. It impedes positron flow. It's very bad for the brainpaths in the long term."

He's not saying it only works on a positronic brain, he's just (vaguely) describing how it works, and also cautioning Data that it would be against his best interest to keep trying to get through it. (And that's assuming he's telling the truth. He might just be saying that so that Data stops bothering.)

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

Yeah, there's really no reason Data couldn't have just thrown stuff at Fajo.

If Data had done that, Fajo would probably have deactivated him.

And besides, Fajo surely knew Data's strength, and therefore would not leave any loose objects laying around in the first place.

 

[Timo]

Data could always throw a henchman at Fajo. Or make an object loose.

But regardless of whether Data failed to try, or tried and failed (off screen), he and we'd be in the same situation in the end: it didn't work, and possibly nothing would, not even the disruptor pistol. The point wouldn't be what specific methods Fajo could block. It would be whether Data was motivated to stop or to keep going. Ultimately, Data could reduce the ship to toothpicks by the means naturally available to him. But Fajo was counting on him not doing that.

His basic fallacy seemed damning enough, though. He assumed Data would not kill. What sort of an idiot makes that assumption about a soldier?

Timo Saloniemi

 

[WarpFactorZ]

I don't recall any indication that Fajo's personal shield only works on Data.

"This is a proximity-actuated field. It impedes positron flow. It's very bad for the brainpaths in the long term."

Since normal matter isn't made of positrons, then it's pretty useless against a piece of fresh fruit (or a pointed stick... and of course the tiger).

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[Mojochi]

A better question would be what sense would it make to be a guy running a ship of virtual slaves, who's gone to the trouble of having a personal shielding device, to protect himself from them all, but be dumb enough to have it so people could revolt by throwing junk at him?

How dumb would it also be to allow someone he has deliberately planned to hold in captivity, any kind of access to his ship's functions, like airlocks? Fajo has deliberately learned everything he can about how to fake the death of a Soong android, & then hold him in permanent captivity.

He already rules a ship of slaves, on an entire vessel he has set up to either hold them or discourage them from revolting, & which only he has the command codes to. It's plausible that since he knew the precise constituent elements of Data, that he also knew all of his specs, such that he could capture & hold him, that being his entire goal.

Nowhere is it ever said that Data is impossible to outmaneuver or imprison. The guy got beat in chess by the ship's therapist, & got held at bay by Mark Twain with an Old West revolver. He is not infallible

 

[Oddish]

The revolver could not have hurt Data. He took a full 50-shot slip from a 9mm submachine gun without even slowing down. He presumably had other reasons for being "held at bay".

 

[Mojochi]

The revolver could not have hurt Data. He took a full 50-shot slip from a 9mm submachine gun without even slowing down. He presumably had other reasons for being "held at bay".

Point being, he was outmaneuvered. Fajo, Roga Danar, Kolrami. It happens.

I don't recall any indication that Fajo's personal shield only works on Data.

"This is a proximity-actuated field. It impedes positron flow. It's very bad for the brainpaths in the long term."

He's not saying it only works on a positronic brain, he's just (vaguely) describing how it works, and also cautioning Data that it would be against his best interest to keep trying to get through it. (And that's assuming he's telling the truth. He might just be saying that so that Data stops bothering.

However, the general behavior of the rest of Fajo's subjects tends to support the claim that it is rather impenetrable, & harmful.

Since normal matter isn't made of positrons, then it's pretty useless against a piece of fresh fruit (or a pointed stick... and of course the tiger).

He didn't say that was the only thing it did though, just intimated that this was one aspect which could potentially injure specifically Data. Data's body isn't made of positrons either. The point of the comment was simply that continued attempts was potentially harmful to Data's Positronic Matrix. As for the rest of the forcefield's capabilities, one would presume it would be a rather pointless shield, if it only worked on Data coming after him with his bare hands.

 

[Qonundrum]

The revolver could not have hurt Data. He took a full 50-shot slip from a 9mm submachine gun without even slowing down. He presumably had other reasons for being "held at bay".

Not necessarily.

Scotty was unfazed and believing Kirk saved him before being told it was 90 years in the future in the ageist story from season 6. Then came the feature film where Scotty apparently sees Kirk fried by a big pink space ribbon going all zap brannigan on everything. Not to mention "No bloody A, B, C, or D." after the ship computer stated only five incarnations existed, since it was programmed to not include Archer's understandably forgettable edition or whatever proverbial spaghetti they want to fling at the wall because, while continuity was a thing, TNG didn't always stick to it to the hilt and by the mid-1990s they pretty much said "Oh sod this, we'll do it this way because here in the script room we're short on time and other realistic issues we can't control and with luck the actors will improve on this and to the point the audience won't need to become alcoholics to feel better about it in the end" anyway.

Another example would be Doctor Who's Daleks - which were killed off rather distinctly in their first story and given enough background that rendered every subsequent story to be impossible with the stated continuity, of which even their first reappearance's attempt to shoehorn itself in doesn't fully work. Now, where's the long island iced tea mixers?

 

[Vger23]

Way better writing and overall episode if he ripped someone’s head off and threw it like a missile at Fajo.

What is wrong with these writers? Let me write an episode. We’ll set things straight.

 

[Farscape One]

I think everyone is looking at the wrong things in this episode.

When Fajo throws the liquid at him, after he leaves, Data looks down at his dissolving uniform. That look of sadness and defeat on his face was heartbreaking.

He is also taking care of the creature in there, too. Giving her some food and doing that noise to keep it company. I think this is not only because of his respect for all living things, but he understands it's a captive just like him. Plus, as a scientist, he gets to observe what is almost certainly the last of her kind.

Data shows good strategy in planting the seeds of revolt with Varria when he tells her they are both captives. The point fully hits home when Fajo threatens to kill her if Data didn't sit in the chair.

Which brings me to another point... he didn't have to sit in that chair to save her. He did that because of two reasons. First, he gambled that would be the turning point for her, and it was. Second, he did it to save her life. He has an excellent moral code, possibly the most moral character in the franchise. He fundamentally respects all life, which makes the point of him firing that disruptor all the more hard hitting. Captivity of that sort would drive anyone to murder to get out. Data tried all available options, but in the end, it was a last resort.

In the end, this episode showed a lot of Data nuances that are easily overlooked, and a lot of that credit goes to Brent Spiner. Another showcase of Data's humanity.

My only wish was that he was beamed out after he actually shot Fajo. That would have been a goldmine to explore.

 

[Herbert]

Why do I not take off my shoe, throw it like a missile at Fajo's head with my deadly android accuracy, and, once he regains consciousness, continue to throw hard, injuring objects at him until he deactivates his force field, or else disable the apparatus generating it by likewise hitting it from a distance?

Because then we wouldn't have an episode.

 

[RichT]

I don't recall any indication that Fajo's personal shield only works on Data.

"This is a proximity-actuated field. It impedes positron flow. It's very bad for the brainpaths in the long term."

He's not saying it only works on a positronic brain, he's just (vaguely) describing how it works, and also cautioning Data that it would be against his best interest to keep trying to get through it. (And that's assuming he's telling the truth. He might just be saying that so that Data stops bothering.)

Exactly. He's telling Data what the field does to him specifically, but not that that's it's only function. In fact it seems much more logical that Fajo would have a personal field that repelled all forms of physical attacks, including thrown objects, rather than something that only affected Data.