Dear Johnny Fanboy,

I was recently watching Season 2 of Star Trek: The Next Generation and was wondering if you could answer something for me.

In the episode Elementary, Dear Data, can you explain why Professor Moriarty insists on calling the computer "Mr Computer"? When he first talks to the holodeck arch, the computer answers him in its usual female voice. So why does Moriarty address it as a male?

Also, it is established that Moriarty is able to see and summon the arch because of the parameters Geordi feeds into the program: to create an adversary capable of defeating Data. But Moriarty actually notices the arch before Geordi has made this change to the program - how come?

Amanda Hughes

Johnny Fanboy replies:

Perhaps the answer to the first part of your question lies in Moriarty's 19th-century values. He might have difficulty getting his Victorian mentality around the concept that such a powerful entity as the Enterprise computer could belong to the "fairer sex". So maybe he just assumes that "Mr Computer" is an effeminate-sounding male.

Alternatively, maybe Moriarty thinks that the female voice belongs solely to the arch, and that the computer, which produces the arch at his command, is a separate entity, one that he can speak to but that never speaks to him directly. In other words, he may not realise that the arch's voice is also that of the computer.

As for Moriarty noticing the arch before the program has been amended, he may simply have assumed that Geordi was talking to thin air, which would look strange enough in itself. After the computer has altered his perceptions, his memory of the event could have been changed accordingly, which would explain how he is able to recall Geordi summoning the arch.

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