Evolution story
Nanites escape Wesley 's lab and form a collective intelligence, threatening the Enterprise . Guest star Ken Jenkins as Dr. Paul Stubbs.
27 total · 4 choice · 9 major · 14 minor
| Theme | Level | Motivation |
|---|---|---|
| emergently intelligent being | choice | Nanites :: nanites |
| obsession | choice | Paul Stubbs :: Stubs |
| obsession with a life-dedicated project | choice | Paul Stubbs :: Stubs |
| speculative evolution | choice | A small number of simple, self-replicating nanomachines quickly evolved into a collectively intelligent being of some kind. |
| AI point of view | major | Nanites :: Nanites |
| AI rights | major | do the nanites have rights? Stubbs says no, but others beg to differ |
| alien point of view | major | The nanites were tiny little crystals who viewed humans as "ugly bags of mostly water". |
| artificial being | major | Wesley inadvertently created a race of robotic, self-replicating, self-aware microscopic life forms which came to be known as "nanites". |
| human vs. sentient machine | major | Enterprise crew vs. nanites |
| lesson in humility | major | Paul Stubbs :: Stubbs |