While Data protests his capture, Fajo tries to convince him he’s better off. A sceptical Data attempts to retaliate by performing a flying clothesline on Fajo, but his personal forcefield protects him from all forms of Android-based attack. Fajo shows Data to the chair he’ll be sitting in for the remainder of his life, but he remains defiant, preferring to stand.

One of Fajo’s lackeys, Varria, comes to ask Data to change his clothes. She urges Data to comply with Fajo, pointing out that anyone who disagrees with their master is punished. A lot. Data points out that she’s as captive as he is, demonstrating that his psychobabble routine has remained intact. That was an insight worthy of Deanna Troi.

Back on the Enterprise, Geordi and Wesley are looting Data’s quarters and dividing up his stuff (“Oh, a deck of cards, Riker can have that. I’ll just keep any money we find.”) and then Geordi reports to Picard about what went wrong. Basically, he’s convinced nothing went wrong, but Picard tells him to get himself together and concentrate on delivering the plot devices they collected earlier.

Back on Fajo’s ship, he’s becoming annoyed by Data’s refusal to co-operate. He pours acid on his uniform so that Data has to change clothes. Data retaliates by pretending to be a mannequin when Fajo invites his fellow collector over to see him. It’s all very undignified. Fajo eventually threatens to shoot data with a rare, illegal weapon if he doesn’t comply. Data calls his bluff, so Fajo threatens to kill Varria instead. This convinces Data to comply, because of the first law of robotics.

When the Enterprise reaches its destination, they discover the Hytritium they delivered was only necessary because someone spiked the planet with Tricyanate. Technobabble aside, this means they’ve been tricked! Together with La Forge’s hunch that things aren’t as they seem, they realise Fajo has probably kidnapped Data and warp off to find him.