Stardate 45397.3: Young Timothy is the only survivor of the research vessel S.S. Vico, which is found adrift in a black cluster. Timothy tells the Enterprise crew that an alien ship destroyed the Vico, but no evidence for this can be found. In the following time the boy develops a friendship to Data, whose unemotional behavior he starts to imitate, covering up his traumatic experience. Asked about the accident again, Timothy reveals that he touched a console, which he believes triggered the Vico's destruction. When the Enterprise is threatened by the same phenomenon and Timothy recalls what happened on the Vico prior to its destruction, Data realizes that the shields have to be lowered since they would only amplify the gravitational stress in the black cluster.

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