Daystrom Android M-5-10

Daystrom Android M-5-10, also commonly referred to as Data, was an advanced AI system used as a security system aboard Daystrom Station. It was a hybrid created from the final work produced by Altan Soong, and primarily contained the personalities of Data and Lore, though elements of B-4, Lal, and Soong himself were also present as memory data.

Biography[]

Early designs[]

Soong had begun working on the golem following the lifting of the ban on synthetics, intending it for a different purpose than the one he had initially constructed for himself. Soong had intended for the golem to become a new consciousness from its constituent personalities, alongside the 'wisdom and true Human aesthetic of age'. However, he died before he could finish working on it, and it, alongside all of Soong's work, was taken by Starfleet. The golem was stored at Daystrom Station, repurposed as the station's security system. Though Soong had succeeded in implementing the previous androids' personalities and memories into the golem, he had not been able to integrate them together, resulting in the personalities being 'at odds' with each other inside the golem. Hoping that the Lore and Data personalities would successfully integrate, but also fearing that Lore would completely consume Data, Soong constructed a partition to keep the two personalities separate. As a consequence, both Data and Lore fought for dominance within the golem. (PIC: "Dominion")

Retrieved by the USS Titan-A[]

The golem was rescued from Daystrom Station by William T. Riker, Worf and Raffaela Musiker during their break-in attempt at the station to find out what the Changelings stole. He was beamed back to the USS Titan-A, where he was taken to the ship's sickbay. He was activated by Geordi La Forge, and upon awakening recognized both Geordi and Jean-Luc Picard. Picard asked him about what was stolen from the Station. The golem showed signs of instability as he transitioned through personalities. At one point, Lore took over, then B-4, and then Soong. After the Data personality took control, he was able to confirm what was stolen from Daystrom Station by accessing the Station's manifest records and broadcasting a hologram of it from his eyes: Picard's Human remains. (PIC: "The Bounty")

The golem was placed into stasis while Alandra La Forge and Geordi La Forge worked to figure out what was wrong with it. Upon discovering the partition separating Data and Lore, Geordi brought Picard in and Picard attempted to ask Data why Vadic had stolen his body. The android switched between Data and Lore mid-sentence, with Lore interrupting Data's explanations to insult Picard, referring to him as "old" and articulating that he was unable to "control my revulsion at your ancient face". Despite this, Data was able to tell Picard that Soong had conducted an investigation into Picard's Irumodic Syndrome, concluding that while there was an "anomalous form" inside Picard that had called his diagnosis of Irumodic Syndrome into question. Before Data could explain further, Lore took control once again to continue insulting Picard. Data once again wrested control from Lore, imploring Picard to help him. Unable to bear witnessing Data's anguish, Picard had Geordi return the android into stasis mode. Picard asked if they could save Data by erasing Lore, but Geordi informed him that the android was infinitely more complex than Data's old body, referring to it as "more art than engineering". Geordi suggested he could use the USS Titan-A's computer to analyze the barrier and restore Data, but warned that if he lifted the partition separating Data and Lore, Lore could prevail and delete Data permanently.

Following the plan to lure Vadic to the Titan, Geordi plugged the android into the Titan's systems. Once again, Lore took control of the android and seized control over the Titan, locking Geordi out of Engineering. Geordi attempted to appeal to Data's memories of friendship to encourage him to overcome Lore, something Lore remarked was "very powerful". Lore stated that he wanted what Geordi wanted for his family, and what the Changelings wanted – "Survival. It's Human nature, pal." Lore, stating that he intended to "level the playing field", then took control of the ship's security systems, lowering the force fields and allowing Vadic to escape confinement, as well as separating Sidney La Forge and Jack Crusher. An angry Geordi demanded that Lore let Sidney go free, and emotionally attempted to appeal to Data again. Data once again took control of the android, opened the door to engineering and deactivated the force field separating Jack and Sidney. The android was still in engineering when Vadic stormed the bridge and took control of the Titan. (PIC: "Dominion")

As part of the plan to retake control of the Titan from Vadic, Jack, Beverly, and Picard asked Geordi to reconnect the android to the Titan's computer. Geordi explained that the risk was too great, since Data and Lore were still battling for control over it. Picard reminded Geordi of the partition between the two personalities that prevented Lore from erasing Data, and suggested that if they lowered it, they could "reverse" it so that Data would erase Lore instead. Geordi pointed out that Data's ethical subroutines prevented him from taking another life of any kind. Sidney told Geordi that they were out of options, and Geordi agreed, though it would take time to lower the partition. Inside the android, Lore noted that the partition was being lowered in the hopes that Data would overpower Lore and gain control of the Titan, but instead told Data that it would instead only hasten Data's end. As the partition lowered, Lore noted that Data was reminiscing, and stating that in his mind, Data would find "mightier things, symbols of power, conquest", while mocking Data for collecting "trinkets" such as a pipe from the Sherlock Holmes holodeck adventures Data had experienced. Data explained that the trinkets were his memories, "the only sensible measure of the worth of a life". The partition lowered, and Lore took the pipe from Data, mocking him for not even being able to feel enough to enjoy those memories. Data began to flicker out of existence as Lore's personality overwrote his own in the android, Lore telling him that he was overpowering him "as I always could" – "Evolution, my dear Watson."

Lore continued the process of erasing Data, writing his own code to do so. Inside the android, Data had begun to hand his memories over to Lore directly – including a deck of cards that he had used during the hours he spent playing poker with the crew of the USS Enterprise-D. Lore questioned why Data was giving him these, and Data answered that Lore had nothing, while Data had everything. The final memory Data handed over to Lore was his memory of Spot – whom Data acknowledged that, despite being a "simple creature", had managed to teach Data how to love. Lore took the memory, and erased the final traces of Data from the android. Lore gloated over his victory, only to feel the effects of deletion himself as Data came back into being, his personality completely overriding Lore's within the android. Data had deduced that Lore would not be able to resist taking his memories as trophies. He had taken the things that had made Data who he was, and as such, the two personalities had become "one". Lore had become Data. The brothers said goodbye to one another as Lore's personality was finally overridden with that of Data.

Data restored[]

Awakening victorious from within the android, Data accessed the ship's systems and re-enabled communications, allowing the crew to inform Riker, aboard the shuttlecraft Emerson, that the Titan had been seized by Vadic. Data then broadcasted to the entirety of the Titan that he was "initiating an immediate shift change", retaking control of the Titan from Vadic.

Following Vadic's ejection and the destruction of the Shrike, Data expressed that he hoped that Picard and the others would see the old Data they once knew. For better or worse, Data was changed. Jokingly, he remarked that he was "clearly older". Data continued that it had always been his desire to "know the totality of the Human experience", remembering that he had already "tasted death" but he was experiencing something new – including the ability to feel something as mundane as a crick in the neck. (PIC: "Et in Arcadia Ego, Part 2", "Surrender") Data was disconnected from the Titan, and he expressed the belief that they were "good" here now. Geordi pointed out he had used a contraction. Data countered that he didn't (again using a contraction), before Geordi realized that Data was joking. It was one of many new changes for him; he was Data, but also Lore, B-4, and all else that Altan Soong programmed into this new body. Geordi inquired how Data felt, and Data answered "I feel… I feel." Geordi expressed that he hoped that Data could sense how happy he was to have Data back, and Data responded that, despite his many changes, the one thing that would remain forever constant was his gratitude for Geordi's friendship. After Data got redressed into a current Starfleet uniform, Geordi brought him in to the Titan's conference room to meet with the rest of the Enterprise crew, announcing him as "the newest version of a very old friend", with an "upgrade", as noted by Riker. Data stated that he was mostly the same, but with a bit of "computational joie de vivre". Picard reminded Data of the last time they spoke and his wish to experience death, and hoped that Data being there hadn't betrayed that wish. Data responded that they hadn't, that "I know that me is resting peacefully. But this me… this me would rather be no place else in the universe." As Data sat down, the crew reminded themselves that Changelings had infiltrated Starfleet, that what they had planned for Frontier Day involved something that had been extracted from Jean-Luc Picard's original body. Data interjected, stating that everything being discussed was "factual information that ignores an… an emotional truth" – that, whatever was being planned centered around Jack Crusher. (PIC: "Surrender")

Borg takeover[]

Data helped to discover that the Borg were behind these events, having genetically altered Picard when he was Locutus of Borg with the alteration having been inherited by Jack. The Changelings spread this altered DNA through Starfleet's transporter system, allowing them to assimilate everyone under the age of 25 who used the transporter system and take over Starfleet. When La Forge was about to run off to search for his daughters Sidney and Alandra as they were right within that age range, Data stopped him, stating that they could do nothing for the moment and that they needed a plan.

As the Titan-A and her crew were assimilated by the Borg, Data joined the rest of the Enterprise command crew in fleeing in a maintenance shuttle while Seven and Raffaela Musiker remained behind. La Forge led the crew to the Fleet Museum where La Forge had secretly spent twenty years rebuilding the USS Enterprise-D, causing Data to get choked up upon seeing the ship once again. With the Enterprise being immune to the Borg takeover, the crew pressed her back into service with Data resuming his old post. (PIC: "Võx")

Data was able to locate a Borg cube in Jupiter's Great Red Spot but, much to his frustration, Picard left Data behind on the ship rather than allowing him to join the away team onto the cube. After the beacon was located at the very heart of the cube, Data insisted that he had a gut feeling that he could fly the Enterprise there despite La Forge's insistence that no pilot or computer could do it. Data convinced La Forge to let him try and he successfully flew the Enterprise through cube's superstructure, experiencing a great deal of enjoyment in the process which a confused Deanna Troi was able to sense due to Data's organic nature. After Data reached the beacon, he and La Forge realized that its destruction would set off a chain reaction that would destroy the cube as well. With no other choice, Beverly Crusher destroyed the beacon, but Data was unable to lock onto the away team due to interference from first the beacon and then the shockwave. Telepathically sensing Riker's location, Deanna took over piloting and managed to rescue the away team and Jack Crusher before the Borg cube was destroyed, ending the threat of the Borg once and for all and stopping the assimilation of Starfleet. (PIC: "The Last Generation")

Adapting to his new state[]

Data subsequently struggled to adapt to his new organic body and all of the emotions that came with it. Data rather neurotically sought counseling from an increasingly frustrated Deanna Troi who was more interested in finding a vacation destination for herself and Riker instead. Data came to believe that being Human was just as difficult as the desire to be Human and something infinitely more complex than he'd ever considered. However, when Riker asked how Data was doing, Data stated that he was "okay." Once Data was gone, an amused Riker asked his wife if Data was still crazy.

A year later, Data joined the rest of the Enterprise command crew at 10 Forward Avenue where he enjoyed a drink and attempted – and failed – to once again finish a lewd joke. After Picard made a speech, the Enterprise command crew played poker together. (PIC: "The Last Generation")

Appendices[]

Appearances[]

Background information[]

Daystrom Android M-5-10 was played by Brent Spiner.