A personal video call slips backward in Topaz station's queue as higher-priority requests arrive. The growing wait threatens to carry the call beyond the officer's available time before duty. He abandons the video connection and sends a short written message to his parents instead. The much smaller data packet goes through within seconds. Faster-than-light communication leaves ordinary capacity and priority problems in place.
Notable Point · 47:59-49:15
Priority traffic pushes personal calls out of Topaz's communications queue
Even with faster-than-light communications, the fictional station has insufficient capacity for every call.