The Quality of Life ( episode ) Data discovers a group of robots that he believes qualify as lifeforms . Summary . Teaser . Riker , Worf , La Forge , and Crusher are playing poker , and the small talk drifts towards beard s as , with La Forge recently deciding to grow his , all the men are sporting one . Crusher comments on her superstitious distrust of bearded men and decides on an unusual stake . If she wins the next hand , all the men will have to shave off their beards ; if one of them win , she becomes a brunette . After La Forge lays down an aggressive bet to open the hand , Crusher calls his bet immediately , which draws a very nervous call from Riker , but La Forge assures the first officer he has this ; but it ' s as far as they get though , as Captain Picard summons them to the bridge , which greatly disappoints the doctor . The arrives at Tyrus VIIa to evaluate a Particle Fountain Project for possible use on Carema III . While Lieutenant Commander La Forge is talking with the project lead , Doctor Farallon , a malfunction occurs in one of the station ' s power grid s . Dr . Farallon uses this opportunity to show Commander La Forge another project she has been working on , an exocomp : adaptive tools used for maintenance purposes . The exocomp is sent into an access tunnel , and repairs the malfunction very quickly , preventing a shutdown of the station ' s core which would have taken four months to return to its power level again . Act One . Lieutenant Commander Data meets La Forge and Dr . Farallon as they beam aboard the " Enterprise " . With them is an exocomp . In engineering , Dr . Farallon explains how she modified a common industrial servo mechanism over the course of several years to create the exocomps , giving them both the ability to replicate tools to effect repairs and a capacity to learn similar to that used by Data . In contrast to the ingenious nature of the exocomps , however , the particle fountain is behind schedule and over budget , and Picard is not very sympathetic . Dr . Farallon proposes putting the exocomps to work on the project to help accelerate progress . With Data ' s and La Forge ' s approval , Picard approves . On the station , Data successfully completes fourteen separate tasks in less than an hour with help from the exocomp . Data estimates that the same tasks would have taken two engineers over nine hours . The exocomp is then sent into an access tunnel to seal a plasma conduit . However , the exocomp returns without finishing its task , and when Dr . Farallon tries to send it back into the access tunnel , it blocks her commands and overloads her control pad . A few seconds later the plasma conduit explodes . If the exocomp had gone back into the access tunnel , it would have been destroyed . Act Two . After bringing the exocomp back to the " Enterprise " for analysis , Data and La Forge discover that the exocomp had shut down and that the interface circuitry which connected the exocomp to the control pad was completely burned out . Further investigation reveals that the number of new circuit pathways has increased by 632 percent . Dr . Farallon explains that sometimes an exocomp randomly generates large numbers of new pathways , which ultimately leads to a total shutdown . When this happens the exocomp becomes totally useless and has to be erased and reprogrammed all over again . Data mentions that the new pathways do not appear to interfere with the original circuitry , but Farallon is giving up . Frustrated , she leaves and La Forge , feeling sorry , comments that somehow the exocomp seemed to know that the conduit would explode and therefore it had to leave the access tunnel . Because this remark implies some form of self - preservation motive , Data takes it upon himself to perform a level one diagnostic on the exocomp in his quarters . The diagnostic reveals that the command module is now working normally . When checking the exocomp ' s sensor logs it turns out that the exocomp itself had burned out its own command interface circuitry , and then ran a self - repair program on the same circuitry two hours later when it was safely on the " Enterprise " . Meanwhile , La Forge finds Farallon in Ten Forward and informs her engineering teams are assigned to help in place of the exocomps . He stays to cheer her up , saying he respects her work . She becomes confident that the project will eventually succeed . Data ' s discovery prompts him to discuss the definition of life ( particularly as it pertains to himself ) with Doctor Crusher , who herself is unable to give him a definite , conclusive response , stating that after she had grappled with the same question from a young Wesley , she had realized that scientists and philosophers have been struggling to answer this question for many centuries . The best answer she came up with was that it was not specific actions that defined life , but the struggle to maintain life , such as self - preservation . Still , the conversation allows Data to come to a significant moral decision , even though Crusher believes she hasn ' t really helped Data . On the planet , La Forge is managing the engineering teams . Data beams aboard the station and asks Dr . Farallon to stop using the exocomps – he has reason to believe they are alive . Act Three . Data calls for a meeting of the senior staff in the observation lounge in order to discuss his theory that the exocomps are a lifeform . Dr . Farallon attends only reluctantly . Data supports his theory by stating that the exocomp they sent into the tunnel earlier responded by deliberately burning out its control interface – in essence , refusing to obey an instruction it knew would send it to its destruction . However , only two hours later when it was on board the " Enterprise " and no longer in danger , it repaired itself . This demonstrated awareness of environment . Counselor Troi notes that Dr . Farallon is extremely reluctant to accept the idea that the exocomps are lifeforms ; she just keeps trying to rationalize her belief . Picard argues that if the possibility exists that these exocomps are a lifeform , then that possibility must be examined as it is the primary mandate of Starfleet and the " Enterprise " . Thus , in order to test Data ' s theory , a simulation is created in which an exocomp has to repair a small conduit breach in a Jefferies tube in which a plasma cascade failure is simulated by means of a transient overload signal . Unseen by the crew inside the Jefferies tube , the exocomp is carrying out the repair when it detects the plasma overload and begins to leave . . . only to stop , turn back and after a long moment , resumes the repair . Having not exited the Jefferies tube before the plasma overload simulation would have destroyed it , it is declared to have failed , and Data can ' t understand why . Data performs thirty - four additional tests and all tests have the same outcome : every single time the exocomp decides to complete the repairs instead of evacuating , and returns to Data when commanded by him so he could reset . However , on the 35th test , Doctor Crusher is talking to Data so he neglects to recall the machine . Even so , the exocomp returns automatically and Data notices it has created a different tool than when it entered the tube . In the previous tests , the exocomp was recalled when the simulated plasma overload occurred . When Data checks the sensor log s this time , he discovers that the new tool had been used to deactivate the overload signal . The exocomp had actually known the whole time that the signal was false and that it was in no danger ; it had completed the repair " and " taken the opportunity to rectify the false signal – a clear sign of intelligence . As Crusher puts it , " " The exocomp didn ' t " fail " the test ; it " saw right through it " . " Act Four . Work is resumed on the station but while the captain is examining the project the particle stream begins to experience fluctuations and radiation slowly leaks into the station . Dr . Farallon and her staff are beamed to the " Enterprise " , but La Forge and Picard remain on the station trying to save a member of the doctor ' s staff named Takenta , who is killed in an explosion despite their efforts to save him . By the time the pair tries to beam back to the " Enterprise " the radiation levels on the station are too high for the ship ' s transporter to get a particle lock on La Forge and Picard . La Forge erects a temporary force field to hold the radiation at bay , but he knows that it is a temporary solution at best . Back aboard the " Enterprise " , Data projects that radiation levels in the station will be fatal within twenty two minutes even with the force field in place . When the particle fountain reaches a critical stage , Commander Riker asks for ideas . Worf suggests sending a shuttlecraft , which Dr . Farallon says would take too long , and Riker asks about using a photon torpedo to disrupt the particle matter stream , but Data explains it would take at least 65 minutes to do the proper , careful adjustments . Dr . Farallon states that she can reconfigure the exocomps so their power cells explode when beamed into the stream , which would only take a couple of minutes . However , due to their survival instincts , the command pathways would have to be disconnected . Data strongly opposes sending what he considers lifeforms to their deaths , but Riker , while he respects Data ' s opinion , doesn ' t have an alternative and approves the plan . When Chief Kelso reports to the bridge that the transporter controls suddenly go dead , Data reveals that he has locked out the controls , preventing the exocomps from being beamed out . Act Five . In the observation lounge , Riker issues a direct order to release the transporter lock , but Data stands firm and will not do so , even if it means a court martial . He argues that sacrificing one lifeform for another is not justified , and based on his own experiences , he must believe that , like himself , the exocomps are alive – and therefore have the right to live . Data volunteers to beam over and fix the problem , allowing La Forge and Picard to return . Riker refuses as he knows that at such high levels , the radiation would ionize Data ' s positronic matrix , killing him . However , Data points out that since he has the power to choose , he is within his rights to sacrifice himself ; the exocomps don ' t have such rights . This gives Riker an idea ; he proposes to " ask " the exocomps if they are willing to perform this mission , which Data finds acceptable . With their command pathways reconnected , the exocomps do not shut down after being given their instructions . Instead , they change the commands Data had entered , replicate power tap s and alter the transporter coordinates to inside the station core instead of in space near the matter stream . Data realizes that , based on their own vast experience aboard the station , they have developed an alternative plan . Riker lets the changes stand , and the exocomps are transported inside . La Forge observes that the exocomps are using their power taps to attune to the particle stream ' s resonance frequency , so he and Picard use the consoles available to them to assist as best they can . The exocomps succeed , allowing them to distort the frequency . This opens a window for Kelso to beam La Forge and Picard back to the ship . He then tries to beam back the exocomps , but only two could be transported back - realizing that the particle stream had to remain distorted for the transport to succeed , the third exocomp sacrificed itself so that the other two could be rescued . When the " Enterprise " departs , Dr . Farallon decides to study the exocomps as intelligent beings rather than as tools to be exploited , and the captain agrees to reexamine the project in a couple of years and make a new recommendation to Starfleet . Once she leaves , Data has a word with Picard , wishing to explain why he was willing to endanger two friend ' s lives " for several small machines . " Picard understands Data ' s decision had to have been extremely difficult . Data explains that , a few years ago , Picard himself had made a passionate case that helped establish Data ' s own status as a lifeform . In this scenario , Data had chosen to champion the exocomps for the same reasons . Picard understands , and he notes , " " It was the most Human decision you have ever made . " " Memorable quotes . " " I have always been a little suspicious of men in beards . " " " " My beard is not an affectation ! " " " " Doctor , if you wish to master the " bat ' leth " sword you must learn to strike and avoid in the same motion . " " " " I almost got in under your guard , Worf . " " " " Almost . " " " " Doctor . . . are you injured ? " " " " Only my pride , Data . . . " " " " Doctor , what is the definition of life ? " " " " . . . That is a " big " question . " " " " Tricorders aren ' t alive . " " " " Neither " are " exocomps ! " " " " Data , you ' re claiming that this exocomp may be alive because it demonstrated survival instincts , right ? " " " " Yes . " " " " Then why don ' t we just threaten its survival again and see what happens ? " " " " Make it so . " " " " There is a big difference between Data and a tool . " " " " Doctor , there is a big difference between you and a virus , but both are alive . " " " " The transporter is " not " malfunctioning ; I have locked out the controls . " " " " When my own status as a living being was in question , you fought to protect my rights . And for that I will always be grateful . The exocomps had no such advocate . If I had not acted on their behalf , they would have been destroyed . I could not allow that to happen sir . " " " " Of course you couldn ' t . It was the most Human decision you ' ve ever made . " " Links and references . References . access tunnel ; animal ; anthropomorphism ; antimatter flow converter ; artificial lifeform ; axionic chip network ; " bat ' leth " ; beard ; bone ; boridium ; boridium power cell ; boridium power converter ; brunette ; bulkhead ; Carema III ; chemical reaction ; circuit pathway ; command pathway ; control pad ; ; crystal ; deflector field ; depression ; diagnostic ; emergency shut down routine ; energy ; exocomp ; fashion able ; fashion statement ; field generator ; field ionization effect ; fire ; food ; force field ; fracture ; hypothesis ; insubordination ; interlink sequencer ; ionic damper ; kilogram ; life ; lift capacity ; main particle impeller ; make - up ; meter ; microfracture ; microreplication system ; mode stabilizer ; molecular fuser ; ; s ; nail polish ; painting ; Particle Fountain Project ; philosopher ; photon torpedo ; plant ; plasma conduit ; poker ; positronic network ; power converter ; power tap ; radiation field ; razor ; reaction chamber ; red alert ; right ; scientist ; shaving ; shuttlecraft ; signal fragmentation ; ; Starfleet ; Starfleet regulations ; stream density ; suicide ; tea ; transient overload signal ; transporter pad ; tricorder ; trombone ; Tyran ; Tyran system ; Tyrus VII ; Tyrus VIIa