Memory Gamma: The Crystalline Entity

A cold lab, stale air, and a wall of children’s drawings signal a mystery no tricorder can soothe: an entire colony erased without a trace. We follow the trail to a being that looks like a celestial snowflake and feeds like a storm—an immense crystalline lifeform that turns living worlds into power. Along the way, a door creaks open on Dr. Noonien Soong’s workshop, revealing not only the origins of Data, but the shadow of his brother, Lore, whose choices bend science into tragedy.

We dig into the science behind silicon-based organisms and crystalline biologies, from the Horta’s rock-dissolving metabolism to the Tholians’ lattice-bound radiation, and even laboratory systems where crystals move, split, and reform. The question isn’t whether such life can exist, but how we respond when it does. The crystalline entity forces a hard look at survival, intent, and the ethics of first contact. Is a predator evil if it lacks malice? Can we design deterrents and communication channels that respect life even when it threatens our own?

That moral line blurs when grief enters. Dr. Kyla Marr’s pursuit of answers and retribution collides with Data’s careful logic and Picard’s mandate to seek understanding. Together they find the entity’s antiproton trail and a way to speak through graviton pulses—only for vengeance to seize the moment and shatter a rare intelligence into drifting shards. The loss is more than tactical; it’s the silencing of a unique voice in the galaxy’s choir and a reminder that curiosity without restraint becomes conquest.

Join us as we unpack the science, the lore, and the consequences of choosing revenge over discovery. If this story moved you—or challenged how you think about alien life—follow the show, share it with a friend, and leave a review with your take on justice versus survival.

Episode Transcript

SPEAKER_00 (00:12):
Well to the memory library something worry now.

SPEAKER_01 (00:36):
Stale air filled their lungs as the Enterprise D
crew scanned the dimly lit room.
Strangely, the undergroundbunker echoed with the low hum
of machinery and laboratoryequipment, even though no living
being had treaded its floors inmore than twenty-five years.
As a matter of fact, outside thevarious Starfleet missions to
the surface, not a single livingthing had appeared on the once

(00:58):
flourishing world.
None of the Federationcolonists, no natural flora or
fauna, not even a microbe.
Nothing.
As the away team took stock ofthe mysterious laboratory, the
questions raised by itsdiscovery only grew more
numerous.
Even Lieutenant Commander Data,who had been discovered
unconscious on the surfacetwenty-six years before and

(01:20):
possessed the memories of allfour hundred and eleven
colonists, was at a loss toexplain what happened here on
Omicron Theta, let alone wherethey currently found themselves.
On one far wall hung the onlydiscernible decoration, breaking
up the utilitarian aesthetic ofa room obviously meant for
serious work.
The framed pictures wereobviously crude drawings,

(01:42):
crafted by various children ofthe colony.
They portrayed stick figures ofthemselves, their families,
fleeing from what can only bedescribed as an enormous
snowflake.
The strange contradictoryimagery would be amusing if it
weren't the last physical proofthat these innocent children
ever lived at all.

(02:14):
Earth may be a paradise today,but crime does still exist in
the universe.
Some mundane, some on a galacticscale.
This is a journal of the mostmemorable, most important crimes
in the Milky Way galaxy, and thecomplex beings who commit them.
To the few who survived theirencounters with it, the

(02:36):
crystalline entity seemedwondrous and mysterious, a near
mythical figure in its behaviorand physicality.
On a visceral level, seeing itdescend from the skies and raise
the surface of all that livedmust have screamed vengeful God.
From a purely scientificstandpoint, it seemed just as
baffling.
How could a sentient spacefaringbeing capable of entering warp

(02:59):
through some sort of naturalprocess evolved from crystal?
Well, you wanted to know, solet's get the dry stuff out of
the way.

SPEAKER_00 (03:22):
In addition, macroscopic single crystals are
usually identifiable by theirgeometrical shape, consisting of
flat faces with specificcharacteristic orientations.

SPEAKER_01 (03:32):
Though most life discovered in the galaxy is
structured similarly toterrestrial life, it's obviously
far from impossible that lifeforms could evolve from sources
that are traditionallyconsidered inorganic.
The silicon atom has been muchdiscussed as the basis for an
alternative biochemical systembecause silicon has many
chemical properties similar tothose of carbon and is in the

(03:53):
same group of the periodictable, the carbon group.
Like carbon, silicon can createmolecules that are sufficiently
large enough to carry biologicalinformation.
However, silicon has severaldrawbacks as an alternative to
carbon.
You see, silicon, unlike carbon,lacks the ability to form
chemical bonds with diversetypes of atoms as is necessary
for the chemical versatilityrequired for metabolism.

(04:15):
And yet this precise inabilityis what makes silicon less
susceptible to bond with allsorts of impurities from which
carbon is, in comparison, notshielded.
Elements creating organicfunctional groups with carbon
include hydrogen, oxygen,nitrogen, phosphorus, sulfur,
and metals such as iron,magnesium, zinc, and, of course,

(04:36):
copper.
There are categories ofcopper-based species such as
Vulcans, Romulans, Mentokins,and other proto-vulcan beings.
Silicon interacts with very fewother types of atoms, you see.
Moreover, where it does interactwith the other atoms, silicon
creates molecules that have beendescribed as monotonous compared
with the combinatorial universeof organic macromolecules.

(04:58):
This is because silicon atomsare much bigger, having a larger
mass and atomic radius.
They have a difficulty formingdouble bonds.
You see, the double-bondedcarbon is the part of the
carbonyl group, which isfundamental in carbon-based
bioorganic chemistry.
It has been suggested that somesilicon-based chemicals are more
stable than equivalenthydrocarbons in a sulfuric
acid-rich environment, as isfound in some extraterrestrial

(05:21):
locations.
The cosmic abundance of carbonto silicon is roughly 10 to 1.
Now, this may suggest a greatervariety in complex carbon
compounds throughout the cosmos,providing less of a foundation
on which to build silicon-basedbiologies, at least under the
conditions prevalent on thesurface of planets.
Also, even though Earth andother terrestrial planets are

(05:42):
exceptionally silicon-rich andcarbon-poor, terrestrial life is
carbon-based.
The fact that carbon is usedinstead of silicon seems to
suggest that silicon is poorlysuited for the biochemistry on
Class M planets.
This led to a centuries-longbelief that silicon-based life
was highly unlikely.

(06:02):
Well, discovering thesilicon-based horta pretty much
slapped contemporary science inthe face.
Horda did not evolve in anoxygen environment, and it
consumed mineral rock forbiochemical energy.
Unless we forget the tholians.
Though their isolationism hasleft us with very little
information on tholianphysiology, we do know that they
are, or at least partially,crystalline and silicone-based.

(06:26):
It's unclear, however, if thecrystal structures that make up
their bodies are generated as anexoskeleton, protecting maybe a
softer form, or if theythemselves are living crystal.
Much like the entity, Tholiansuse their body to transmit
various forms of radiation,using the crystal lattice as
some sort of resonance antenna.
But how could such a beingevolve?

(06:47):
Well, it's been known forcenturies that synthetic active
systems involving crystals canreproduce some features of
living systems.
But this field of study saw verylittle progress until the 23rd
century discovery of the horto.

SPEAKER_00 (07:00):
In an experiment from the early 21st century at
New York University, researcherscreated structures that when
exposed to light and fed bychemicals, they form crystals
that move, break apart, and formagain.
It was discovered that undercertain wavelengths of blue
light, the hematite conductelectricity.
When particles are submergedinto chemicals such as hydrogen

(07:22):
peroxide under that blue light,the chemical reactions catalyze
around exposed tips of eachparticle.
As the hydrogen peroxide breaksdown, the concentration
gradients formed the particlestravel down these aggregating
into crystals that also followthe gradients.

SPEAKER_01 (08:00):
Technically, living crystals, if only on a
microscopic level.
These are the building blocks oflife, as observed on numerous

(08:22):
newly formed planets.
Any one of these scenarios couldlead to the formation of complex
sentient life of crystallinemakeup.
And since silicon life formsdon't require oxygen atmospheres
to evolve, it's conceivable thatit could have evolved to enter
the vacuum of space.
Of course, the curiosity of theorigins of the crystalline
entity is academic.

(08:43):
To the colonists of OmicronTheta, its dazzling complex
beauty simply added to theabject terror of its destructive
power.
Fundamentally, the entity, oftenclassified as a cosmozoan, is a
living electromagneticcollector.
Like most living beings, itsdrive is simply to feed, in this

(09:04):
case, converting organic matterinto EM power.
Everything, including vegetationand bacteria, is completely
consumed and obliterated.
Bitreous matter was one of theonly traces of life left in the
entity's wake, as were elevatedlevels of hydrocarbons,
lanthanides, and nitrates.
That's all that would remain ofthe lives lost to its raising.

(09:27):
Out of context, feeding tosurvive is not really something
to judge, but the enormity andindiscriminate nature of its
feeding threatens the existenceof any living being in its path.
The incident at Omicron Thetawasn't due to random chance,
however, as the Enterprise crewwould soon discover.
The biggest revelation in thatforgotten laboratory was not the

(09:48):
aftermath of the crystallineentity, at least not
immediately.
Instead, it was that this wasthe personal workshop of
legendary cyberneticist Dr.
Nunion Sung, and along with theexistence of a second Tsun-type
android.
Commander Data had thoughthimself a unique being, the only
one of his kind in existence,but now his place in the

(10:10):
universe has changed with thereactivation of his older
brother, Lore.
The entirety of Lore's crimesare another story, but his
greatest sin would prove to bevicious, cruel, petty, and
senseless.
As an android, Lore was atriumph, an enormous step
forward in cybernetics.

(10:32):
Extremely advanced intellectualcapacity and physical skills,
surpassing the strength, speed,and intelligence of an average
humanoid.
And on top of that, he was theonly sentient android known to
exist.
So advanced was Lore'sprogramming that it included
complete emotionalactualization.
However, as he attempted tointegrate into the social

(10:54):
structure of the colony, hebegan displaying signs of
emotional instability andmalevolent tendencies, leading
Lore to see himself as superiorto humanoids.
Whether suffering the shock ofthe uncanny valley or due
completely to Lore's slowlytwisting personality, the
colonists grew to fear him.
Eventually demanding Sungdeactivated him.

(11:16):
In Lore's eyes, they were simplyjealous and resentful of his
abilities, seeing him as tooperfect.
Recognizing Lore's cruelty, Dr.
Sung reluctantly acquiesced anddismantled the android with hope
to one day repair what had gonewrong.
Lore was torn down and put awayon a shelf like broken
equipment, but not before hislast act of vindictive anger.

(11:39):
Somehow Lore had contacted thecrystalline entity as it passed
through the sector, alerting itto a fresh, new feeding ground.
It's doubtful Lore achievedactual dialogue with the entity,
but he sure got its attention.
So as not to give up on hispursuit of a functioning
positronic brain, Sung and hiswife brought Data into the
world.

(12:00):
Physically identical to Lore,but without the emotional matrix
that corrupted his oldersibling.
In an act of coincidentalforesight, Dr.
Sung helped Data's positronicpathways by scanning the neural
patterns and therefore,eventually, the memories of
every colonist on the planet.

SPEAKER_00 (12:18):
The positronic brain was a sophisticated computation
device capable of artificialsentience, created by Dr.
Nanian Sung, based on an ideafrom 20th-century science
fiction writer Isaac Asimov.
Each unit consisted of anartificial neural network
designed to imitate the humanoidbrain.
Due to the complexity of design,only six positronic brains have

(12:41):
ever been functionallyconstructed, all by Dr.
Soon.

SPEAKER_01 (12:46):
Following Lore's communiques in the year 2338,
the crystalline entity descendedupon Omicron Theta and raised
all life on the planet.
The colonists likely saw amoon-sized being clearly as it
entered the atmosphere, itsshimmering form filling the
colony with awe and wonder.
Both Lore and Data were leftbehind, neither aware of the

(13:08):
other.
But Data was subsequentlydiscovered on the surface by the
crew of the USS Tripoli.
Lore remained in Sung'slaboratory until 2364 when the
Enterprise rediscovered it andthe mystery of the crystalline
entity.
The ship's chief engineer,Commander Argyle, and the chief
medical officer, Dr.
Beverly Crusher, were successfulin reactivating Lore, but no one

(13:32):
had any inkling of themalevolence that hid behind
bright golden eyes.
Although initially presentinghimself as willing to please and
serve the Starfleet crew,sharing select information on

(13:53):
the lost colony, Lore wasquietly plotting.
He still demanded satisfactionfor his perceived slight by the
colonists, and now there was anandroid more beloved than he.
Eventually Lore deactivatedData, stole his uniform, and

(14:13):
took his place among the crew.
Lore once again summoned thecrystalline entity, intending to
sacrifice the crew of theEnterprise.
His instability was clear.
The shield to the Enterprisewould easily deflect the attacks
of the entity.
His plan had very little chanceof succeeding, and he seemed to
have no good plan beyond it.

(14:34):
Eventually, Lore was discovered,due to the idiosyncratic
differences between the twoandroids, such as Data's
inability to use contractions,which is baffling to me since
I've been using them since dayone.
After a thrilling phaser fight,Data eventually transported Lore
into open space.
Unsatisfied, the entity moved onto greener pastures, for lack of

(14:55):
a better phrase.
In 2368, the Enterprise crewoffered routine assistance to a
Federation colony on the remoteworld of Melonia 4.
They were the true adventurersand frontier folk yearning to
build a home from the ground up.
Before the ground could ever bebroken, however, the skies
filled with refracted light, thesun no longer visible due to the

(15:18):
entity's prismatic lattice.
With only minutes to seekshelter, Enterprise First
Officer William Riger andCommander Data led a desperate
evacuation into nearby caveswith nothing but hope that they
could survive.
Though not all made the escape,those who reached the caves were
shocked to hear the assault comeand go.

(15:40):
Within hours the entity hadconsumed every living thing on
Melonia 4, but somehow, those inhiding were spared.
Back aboard the Enterprise, Dataled an investigation of the
attack, joined by theFederation's foremost expert on
the crystalline entity, Dr.
Kyla Mar.
By 2368, Marr had studied atleast three different attack

(16:02):
sites, including one at 4LA 3.
There she developed an offensivemeasure by modifying photon
torpedoes to possibly destroythe entity.
Dr.
Marr had been a woman obsessed,spending every waking moment
studying the entity dedicated tomaking sense of her son's death
on Omicron Theta.
A death she blamed on Deta.

(16:25):
Lore had summoned the entity,and both he and Deta had
survived Omicron Theta.
Then Data helped the Melonia 4colonists become the only flesh
and blood beings ever to survivea feeding.
Was Deta the key?
Was he to blame as much as Lore?
Did Dr.
Mark truly believe Data was incollusion with the entity just

(16:47):
as his brother Lore had been?
The truth was, of course, theconspiracy began and ended with
Lore.
Dr.
Mar was projecting her ownsurvivor's guilt onto Data,
something that became very clearwhen Data shared her son's
memories with her in his voicefrom beyond the grave.
Eventually Mar began to warm upto Data after Captain Picard

(17:09):
commanded her to collaboratewith him in developing a way to
track the crystalline entity.
Together, they discovered thatthe creature left a residual
anti-proton trail as itjourneyed through space, the
shared effort opening her eyesto Data's good nature.
At the urging of Picard, Dr.
Marr dropped her demands to huntand kill the entity in hopes of

(17:30):
finding a way to communicatewith it.
Perhaps they could reason withit or lead it to a food source
that spared sentient lives.
Sadly, though, Dr.
Marr had no intention to sparethe entity from her revenge.
The Enterprise responded to adistress call from a freighter
called Calisco, but had no hopeof reaching them.

(17:52):
The freighter had minimalshielding and weaponry.
As soon as they gained theattention of the entity, their
fates were sealed.
The Enterprise crew could onlylisten, helplessly, to their
transmissions as all handsaboard were lost.
As they reached the entity, theEnterprise attempted to

(18:14):
establish a mode ofcommunication, emitting graviton
pulses like those they'dobserved from the entity before.
The gamble was fruitful as theentity reacted and responded in
turn.
Perhaps now they could negotiatea strategy that would guide it
away from population centers orcreate a harmless deterrent
based on their research.

(18:35):
Perhaps if it weren't for thefailings of Dr.
Kylo Mar.
Purposefully, coldly, and withmalice of forethought, Marr
generated a constant gravitonbeam that could not be broken.
The entity froze, paralyzed bythe attack.
Its dazzling lattice began toshake, vibrating furiously from

(18:56):
the quantum level up.
Before the Enterprise couldsever the beam, the crystalline
entity had shattered, sendingthe remains of what could very
well have been the only of itskind diffused into the cosmos.
Dr.
Mars' fragile psyche seemed tocollapse in on itself as she was
escorted to the brig byCommander Data.

(19:30):
The primary mission of Starfleetis to discover new life.
And the crystalline entity wasjust that.
No different than billions ofspecies across the galaxy.
The entity showed no malice, nocruelty, it simply fed to
survive.
Even sentient species have knownto feed on other sentient
beings.
The knowledge offered by itsexistence, a new understanding

(19:53):
of what intelligent life couldbe, of the evolution of the
universe, was lost forever byits death.
When all was said and done, thereal crime committed in this
affair was one of the oldest andmost tragic in history.
The human thirst for revenge.

SPEAKER_00 (20:23):
Star Trek and all related marks, logos, and
characters are solely owned byCBS Studios Inc.
This fan production is notendorsed by, sponsored by, nor
affiliated with CBS, ParamountPictures, or any other Star Trek
franchise, and is a noncommercial fan made film
intended for recreational use.
No commercial exhibition ordistribution is permitted.

(20:46):
No alleged independent rightswill be asserted against CBS or
Paramount Pictures.
Live long and prosper.