They trapped Moriarty and the Countess inside a velvet prison, yes, but with every intention of finding a way to release them into the universe.
I like to think that in the future, they give the two a reverse engineered holo-emitter the doctor uses in Voyager. They know how it works, but they can’t yet duplicate it due to technological limitations.
So at some point in the future, some science Ensign is gonna come across the Moriarty Cube in storage and give them bodies. Hijinks will ensue as Moriarty is not happy with having been trapped so long, as he DID eventually figure it out, and has to be reminded of his “humanity” to accept things again. Then they give the happy couple their mobile emitters, and a small ship equipped with emitters everywhere, including on the hull to allow for limited travel near the ship without a mobile emitter being necessary.
Claimed they had every intention. That intention is never followed through, even after they gain the capacity to create holo-emitters. Overall, it’s kind of a horrifying fate, because canonically, without another resolution, eventually they reach the limits of the fake universe, and discover they’ve been imprisoned the entire time.
Because they’re immortal, and will eventually find the limitations of the simulation over time, thus knowing they are forever trapped in a box. Because the Star Trek writers never wrote a conclusion for them beyond being trapped in the simulation, canonically they eventually meet this fate.
Except that there’s not, canonically, until Starfleet Academy. The Doctor from Voyager develops it roughly 200 years after the end of the Voyager series - and that only ages his appearance on a voluntary basis. He’s still effectively immortal.
Plus, previously to this “final solution” in TNG, when they turned the holodeck off for a number of years, Moriarity was still conscious, frozen in a dead world and aware of the passage of time, but did not age.
While it’s not a hologram, it’s established in TNG that another artificial lifeform was created with the capacity to naturally age and die on a human timescale.
True to some extent on point one, but because an android is a physical manifestation, the aging process can be simulated through mechanical means. This isn’t quite the same as the limitations placed on a hologram, which are entirely programmatic.
I’m gonna confess that I didn’t make it all the way through Picard, so I’ll absolutely give you that point - but I’ll also point out that this makes it exceptionally cruel, because as far as I know, Picard doesn’t go back and give Moriarity a replacement body.
Back to point one - the hologram should in theory be easier to age than an android, as its entirely programmatic. But then this brings up the question, if you program in aging and death to a hologram, how is that any different than a death sentence?
In Moriarity’s case, if he is programmed to age and die in the simulation, Picard has become his executioner - although a random number generator for M’s lifespan might ease his conscience a bit. If not, Picard becomes an absent jailor.
The only moral decision that supports Federation principles (or at least TNG principles) is to let Moriarity go free as soon as the technology is available. He is, canonically, the first member of a newly discovered intelligent species.
They trapped Moriarty and the Countess inside a velvet prison, yes, but with every intention of finding a way to release them into the universe.
I like to think that in the future, they give the two a reverse engineered holo-emitter the doctor uses in Voyager. They know how it works, but they can’t yet duplicate it due to technological limitations.
So at some point in the future, some science Ensign is gonna come across the Moriarty Cube in storage and give them bodies. Hijinks will ensue as Moriarty is not happy with having been trapped so long, as he DID eventually figure it out, and has to be reminded of his “humanity” to accept things again. Then they give the happy couple their mobile emitters, and a small ship equipped with emitters everywhere, including on the hull to allow for limited travel near the ship without a mobile emitter being necessary.
Claimed they had every intention. That intention is never followed through, even after they gain the capacity to create holo-emitters. Overall, it’s kind of a horrifying fate, because canonically, without another resolution, eventually they reach the limits of the fake universe, and discover they’ve been imprisoned the entire time.
But how does it differs from our reality which could just be a simulation altogether?
Because they’re immortal, and will eventually find the limitations of the simulation over time, thus knowing they are forever trapped in a box. Because the Star Trek writers never wrote a conclusion for them beyond being trapped in the simulation, canonically they eventually meet this fate.
Unless there’s provision in their programming for them to age normally within the simulation, and eventually die at the end of a life well lived.
Except that there’s not, canonically, until Starfleet Academy. The Doctor from Voyager develops it roughly 200 years after the end of the Voyager series - and that only ages his appearance on a voluntary basis. He’s still effectively immortal.
Plus, previously to this “final solution” in TNG, when they turned the holodeck off for a number of years, Moriarity was still conscious, frozen in a dead world and aware of the passage of time, but did not age.
While it’s not a hologram, it’s established in TNG that another artificial lifeform was created with the capacity to naturally age and die on a human timescale.
spoiler
Data’s mother, who is a Soong android but doesn’t know it.
The same is later established in Picard for
spoiler
Picard’s replacement body.
True to some extent on point one, but because an android is a physical manifestation, the aging process can be simulated through mechanical means. This isn’t quite the same as the limitations placed on a hologram, which are entirely programmatic.
I’m gonna confess that I didn’t make it all the way through Picard, so I’ll absolutely give you that point - but I’ll also point out that this makes it exceptionally cruel, because as far as I know, Picard doesn’t go back and give Moriarity a replacement body.
Back to point one - the hologram should in theory be easier to age than an android, as its entirely programmatic. But then this brings up the question, if you program in aging and death to a hologram, how is that any different than a death sentence?
In Moriarity’s case, if he is programmed to age and die in the simulation, Picard has become his executioner - although a random number generator for M’s lifespan might ease his conscience a bit. If not, Picard becomes an absent jailor.
The only moral decision that supports Federation principles (or at least TNG principles) is to let Moriarity go free as soon as the technology is available. He is, canonically, the first member of a newly discovered intelligent species.