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star trek - How did Tasha Yar know that she needed to make a hologram?


In the 23rd episode of Season 1 ("Skin of Evil"), Tasha Yar is



killed.




At the end of the episode, the main crew of the Enterprise attends a ceremony where a hologram of her addresses each attendee. It looks like this, to jog your memory:


enter image description here


Also, totally the Windows XP wallpaper, right?


Anyway, why did Tasha Yar record this message? She



died



suddenly and had no reason to expect this was going to happen.


Is this something people do in the Star Trek universe, much like people have wills?


Side question: Since the message addresses individuals, how did Tasha know who would be attending?




Answer



There are really two angles to consider on this:



  1. Tasha led a very hard life. She spoke at length through the series about what it was like to grow up. How she had to avoid what are delightfully called "Rape Gangs" as she matured. Not happy times. See this entry about her sister for more on that.

  2. Computers do a lot for people in ST without bothering to tell you.


What these come together to produce is this: Tasha, as part of her psyche, recorded messages to all the people she cared about. She probably updated them often. She isn't shown having any kind of a night-life, her quarters are decorated in a spartan fashion. She left a lot of people, like her sister, behind. Death would have been a constant part of her mindset.


Combine this, with the computer knowing who is present and not bothering to show messages to people who weren't, and you have your answer. Additionally, the Holodeck would be able to weave messages that are out of order into a sensible structure. It just filled in any gaps with probable expressions.


Probably, the computer unlocked and sent the other messages to those relevant people as well. Again, you just don't see it happen.


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