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| - Activate a protective barrier that affects nearby enemies' synaptic systems, stunning and damaging them at point-blank range.Usable While ControlledPower Interactions : Dazed enemies take additional damage.Damage Role : Increases all damage by 50% until the hit counter resets.
- The neutralizer was stored in a theater which contained a single chair where the patient sat, and the neutralizer's beam emitter was positioned directly above the chair. A windowed alcove which was connected to the emitter room contained the neutralizer's controls, where the operator would control the device as well as observe the patient's reactions. The neutralizer was designed to induce an increase in neural conductivity in a patient's brain, which in turn would see an increase in the number of cross-connections made in the brain. At a certain point, the increase cross-connections would result in the disappearance of information stored in the patient's brain. Initially, Dr. Adams and his team thought this treatment would help his patients cope with their most troublesome thoughts and desires, however, Adams soon realized that he could use this technique to implant thoughts into the minds of those who had been subjected to the neutralizer. Once activated, the neutralizer would create a profound sense of loneliness in the patient. Anything that was said to the patient would become their own thoughts. The effectiveness varied upon a number of conditions such as the number of times the procedure was repeated, the volume of the beam, or the patient's strength of will. Long term or repeated exposure to the neutralizer could induce mental illness or synaptic damage. In 2266, Dr. Adams began to use the neutralizer to conduct horrific experiments on both patients and staff and turned them into "zombies". When the USS Enterprise visited the colony on a routine supply mission, Dr. Simon Van Gelder, an assistant of Adams' who had been subjected to the neutralizer, managed to escape up to the starship. When Captain James T. Kirk and Dr. Helen Noel beamed down to the colony to investigate, Adams managed to use the neutralizer on Kirk, but long-term exposure was prevented when Dr. Noel managed to temporarily shut down the colony's power systems. The Enterprise crew managed to secure the colony, but not before Adams was killed from exposure to the neutralizer. Following this incident, the neutralizer was dismantled by Dr. Simon Van Gelder after he was rehabilitated and made head of the colony. (TOS episode & novelization: Dagger of the Mind)
- Operation of the device was straightforward. One control turned the device on and off, and another selected the intensity of the beam. The therapist could communicate with the patient through a microphone. The remainder of the control panel consisted of status indicator lamps. The neural neutralizer was somewhat effective as a means of implanting suggestions. It created in the patient a profound sense of loneliness, also described as an "emptiness". Anything said to the patient while he was in this state would become his own thoughts. The effectiveness varied according to the complexity of the suggestion, the number of times it had been repeated, the volume of the beam, the strength of the patient's will, and the degree to which the suggestion was opposed by his own desires. Long term or repeated exposure could produce profound mental illness and synaptic damage. Additionally, the "emptying" effect could be immediately lethal; Dr. Tristan Adams was killed by accidental, unsupervised exposure to the beam. In 2266, Dr. Adams began to conduct unauthorized and unethical experiments upon inmates and staff alike. When the USS Enterprise visited the Tantalus colony in that year, Adams' assistant Simon Van Gelder had been made severely ill by exposure. Adams later used the device on Kirk, and might have injured him severely had not Dr. Helen Noel managed to interrupt the power long enough for Enterprise crewmen to beam down and secure the colony. Dr. Van Gelder subsequently dismantled and destroyed the neural neutralizer. (TOS: "Dagger of the Mind" ) In early drafts of "Dagger of the Mind", a machine containing colored lights was used to hypnotize the patient in a lengthy scene. This developed into the neural neutralizer established in the final version of the episode. (The Star Trek Compendium, 4th ed., p. 41) In the final draft script of "Dagger of the Mind", the neural neutralizer was also once called a "neural potentiator device".
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