abstract
| - The D'Arsay archive was a spaceborne data-storage facility launched by the D'Arsay over 87 million years prior to the 24th century. Made of fortanium and other minerals, it contained records of artifacts and thousands of personalities from myths within the D'Arsay culture. It had the capability of scanning foreign computer systems and imparting its data while re-programming it to exhibit its records. It also had a tractor beam. After launch, it spent 87 million years drifting in space for over two sectors and eventually was located in sector 1156. It had accumulated minerals over time, completely obscuring its structure and making it appear as a comet. The USS Enterprise-D discovered the comet in 2370. After scanning the starship, it began to use the replicators on board to change parts of the vessel into different mythical settings contained within the records in the archive. These settings were from a drama involving Masaka, a sun goddess, and involved locations such as an aqueduct, a temple, and a swamp. The archive also altered Data's programming, giving him personalities of key mythical figures, such as a terrified D'Arsay boy, a person named Ihat, an elderly man who portrayed Masaka's father, a victim of Masaka, and Masaka herself. Furthermore, the program turned the internal mechanism of a photon torpedo into snakes and turned engineering into an inferno. Captain Jean-Luc Picard sought to remedy this by playing along in the myth, using the persona of Korgano, another mythical figure, to persuade Masaka, and in turn the archive, to restore Data as well as the Enterprise-D to their normal states. Following the incident, the archive was placed under study by a Starfleet archaeological team. (TNG: "Masks" )
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