Prof. Moriarty.... mobile emitter?

[c0rnedfr0g]

This is kind of a cross VOY/TNG question, but I figured TNG fans would be able to figure out what a mobile emitter (29th Century UFP technology used by Voyager's EMH to go anywhere, on or off the ship) than it would be for Voyager fans to learn the stories behind Prof. Moriarty....

Anyway, if the UFP can duplicate the mobile emitter, do they have a moral obligation to give it to the good professor? Has this been dealt with in the novels?

 

[dave_R_treker]

Moriarty already believes that he is in the real world. The UFP probably wouldn't want to mess with that. If we go in there and tell him hey guess what, you never really left. But we found a way now, I would suspect the Moriartywould be pretty upset, and there is no telling what he would do when he gets out.

 

[Rÿcher]

"good professor"?

have you read Holmes?

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

"good professor"?

have you read Holmes?

Have *you* read The Seven Per Cent Solution?

 

[c0rnedfr0g]

i guess any promise made by picard ain't worth jack

 

[Sheliak]

Confined to a hollow novel, Moriarty was naturally evil.

There's no telling what good things he might do for his fellow holograms unconstrained, especially with his beloved beside him.

The caged bird never sings.

 

[Allyn Gibson]

Has this been dealt with in the novels?

As best I can recall, the fate of Moriarty has not been addressed in the novels. I imagine it might happen at some point; I know of at least two authors who have pitched Moriarty novels and/or stories for Treklit in the past few years. There are people thinking of Moriarty; the right story just hasn't been pitched yet.

 

[Hermiod]

If we accept that Moriarty was a sentient being we must also accept that he committed criminal acts in hijacking the Enterprise and threatening its crew.

Giving him a mobile emitter only to then put him in prison doesn't seem all that sensible to me.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

Moriarty already believes that he is in the real world. The UFP probably wouldn't want to mess with that.

Indeed. Moriarty thinks he's free, therefore in every way that matters, he IS free.

 

[Jimmy_C]

Here's a question. That databank that they used to populate his world may have enough data to provide him a lifetime of experience, but he doesn't have to experience all that data. What happens if he tries to fly past known Federation space? Or tries to preform science experiments? There are still limitations to his world. I bet he eventually discovers them. That would be very sad for him.

 

[SG-17]

Or considering that he is a hologram and unless they programed him to age, he will eventually discover that he is still in the holo-world. Running out of data and all.

 

[NCC1968]

If we accept that Moriarty was a sentient being we must also accept that he committed criminal acts in hijacking the Enterprise and threatening its crew.

Giving him a mobile emitter only to then put him in prison doesn't seem all that sensible to me.

Sounds like he should be DELETED

 

[Timo]

Well, he does have all sorts of defenses on his side. "Possession by evil spirits" is always a get-out-of-jail card for our heroes, regardless of whatever murderous acts they commit. Moriarty early on in his life was certainly possessed, and the parties guilty of this possession would have been the ones writing his character (Conan Doyle and his estate), but more relevantly those inputting this character into the program (the unknown original authors of the holostories, plus more immediately Data and LaForge). And it's not as if Moriarty really killed anybody or anything.

So "Elementary, Dear Data" probably shouldn't pass prosecution muster. Whether "Ship in a Bottle" should... Well, Moriarty was largely acting in self-defense there, and again in a nonviolent manner.

Timo Saloniemi

 

[Hermiod]

^I would not hold him responsible for any fictional events that occurred in the books, obviously.

If, however, he did indeed become sentient after the order to create a character capable of defeating Data was given, then he should be held responsible for the acts he committed after that - notably kidnapping and piracy.

 

[Timo]

But there's quite a bit of indication that what he did in "Elementary, Dear Data" was still being influenced by his underlying orders to be villainy. He slowly grew out of that as the episode progressed. And the kidnapping seemed to end in amicable terms enough; Moriarty could press countercharges and simply argue that he confronted his unlawful jailers in a manner that counts as permitted self-defense.

"Message in a Bottle" opens with essentially the same premise: Moriarty feels he has been unlawfully held prisoner, essentially locked up and drugged after having been lured in by false promises. Only this time, he has been a self-aware being since the beginning of this unlawful abuse, rather than slowly being born during the course of the events.

Our heroes could of course always apply victor's law, and hold Moriarty up to the standards of the hero society. But that would be unfair, because Moriarty has never been given the chance to be part of that society, and cannot be expected to follow its laws, many of which must seem alien to the point of absurdity to him.

Timo Saloniemi

 

[c0rnedfr0g]

Here's a question. That databank that they used to populate his world may have enough data to provide him a lifetime of experience, but he doesn't have to experience all that data. What happens if he tries to fly past known Federation space? Or tries to preform science experiments? There are still limitations to his world. I bet he eventually discovers them. That would be very sad for him.

Well, since Moriarty is in a program, not just a databank, I would assume that anything not specified would be randomly generated/combined to make new experiences. I mean, specific persons (besides those of importance) are not included (I assume) in the program, but that doesn't mean that the program can't extrapolate to make new people. I would assume the same would hold true if Moriarty traveled beyond known space... the program would randomly generate races (similar to your PS2 randomly creating players when you are in 2020 in-game). The better question is if Moriarty can live for hundreds of years (supposedly), would he notice a lack of technological development over time? Or would he not notice since everything is so 'far beyond him' anyway? I'm assuming the computer program wouldn't be able to solve technological limitations by itself....

One thing's for sure -- Picard would be off the hook since he'd be dead.
Another question: What if Moriarty discovers a scientific breakthrough that he can't share with the 'real world' since nobody ever checks on him? And where is his holoprogram cube... was it destroyed with the E-D?

 

[Timo]

It might be that Moriarty's "prison" is interesting enough a place that he would learn to like his life in there even better than he would like his life in the physical world.

I mean, why would he prefer physicality to this illusion? He's an illusion himself in the first place. Reality wouldn't necessarily feel any more real to him than the illusion he is immersed in. It would hold no special attraction, have no superior attributes. As many people subscribing to this forum could tell, reality is vastly overappreciated anyway.

Timo Saloniemi

 

[c0rnedfr0g]

did moriarty have a sense of taste or smell?? did Voyager's EMH? I believe they can't feel pain, but what about taste and smell (of real objects or holographic 'programmed' scents)?

 

[Timo]

Oh, the Doctor could feel pain all right, once his program was adjusted in a suitable manner. So presumably the ship's internal sensors (which are the Doc's senses) can sense at least all the things a human could, and can then translate those into sensations within the EMH program, if the program so wishes. But probably the program has little use for smells and tastes, and thus usually ignores such input.

Then again, one would assume that a medical analyst would have a lot of use for the sense of smell...

Timo Saloniemi

 

[c0rnedfr0g]

i mean, was Moriarty truly experiencing the world without 2 basic senses (3 if you include pain, but the program had to be modified for that)?

come to think of it, when the Doctor inhabited Seven's body, he indulged himself with all kinds of delicious foods, and since smell and taste are closely related, I'd say that holograms don't typically have these senses programmed in (they could have thousands of particle receptors for all the smells... heck they could should have a sense of smell as good as or better than a dog)

is there any onscreen evidence of the Doctor of Moriarty smelling a 'real' object?