The Android Race ---------------- (WWW page addition created with the help of "The Star Trek Encyclopedia") Android - A synthetic person, possessing human features; an artificial life form. History of Androids in Star Trek: --------------------------------- Planet of Exo III: Centuries ago an android race of servents was created. Over time, the people of Exo III attempted to deactivate the androids, out of fear. These people, called the "Old Ones", were unsuccessful and killed by the androids. Years later (2266), Dr. Roger Korby discovered the remains of the android technology. Korby found a way to transfer his consciousness into an android body. The transfer was successful and Dr. Korby lived until the android body was destroyed. The Makers: A group of beings from the Andromeda Galaxy, called "the Makers", populated an outpost in the Milky Way with androids. Around 2267, Harry Mudd landed on this planet and was adopted by the android population as "Lord Mudd". They subsequently named the planet Mudd. The only wish they refused to grant Mudd was his freedom. It is unknown what happened to Harry Mudd and this race of androids after the ENTERPRISE left the planet. Rayna Kapec: In 2239, the planet Holberg 917G, was purchased by a human named Flint. Flint was an extraordinary human being, nearly immortal. He had been born in 3834 B.C. In order for him to have companionship that would live as long as him, Flint created an android woman named Rayna Kapec. Rayna fell in love with James Kirk, but then, seing that she was hurting Flint, she died. After which, Flint discovered that he was dying also. Soong-type Androids ------------------- Dr. Noonien Soong: Brilliant cyberneticist, known as Earth's foremost robotics scientist. His greatest achievement was his creation of the positronic brain. On the Omicron Theta colony, he created the android Lore. Lore was activated around 2336, and had human emotions. But, the colonists felt threatened by Lore and he was deactivated. Dr. Soong then created Data. Data was almost identical to Lore, except Data had no emotions. In 2365, Dr. Bruce Maddox, a noted cyberneticist and student of Dr. Soong's works, attempted to legally force Data into being dismantled. Maddox claimed that Data was Starfleet's property and wished to learn enough about Data's construction to build more Soong-type androids. Judge Advocate General Phillipa Louvois ruled that Data was a sentient being and left Maddox's request up to Data. Although Data refused, he continued to aid Dr. Maddox in other ways. Androids in "alt.holoworld.rpg" ------------------------------- Bios appear in order of graduation from Starfleet Academy ************************************************************************* >>>>>>>>>>>>> ACADEMY FILE # 37x-5gs-3779.053 <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< >>>>Classified Grade 3<<<< Name: Link Rank: Lieutenant Commander (O-4) Ht./Wt.: 1.83m (6'0")/100kg (220lbs) Hair: Short, Brown Eyes: Blue Age: 18 Earth years Other: Link is a caucasian male. Education: Graduated from Starfleet Academy at the top of his class. Expert on gaseous anomalies and Nebulas. Link graduated as a science officer. Race: Soong-type Android. Family: Little is known of his family, other than Captain Data of Starfleet. Captain Data was in command of the USS INTEGRITY when it disappeared 18 years ago, while cataloguing nebular gaseous anomalies. Link owns a dalmatian named Styx. Place of Birth: Mr. Link apparently became self-activated at Captain Data's Starfleet Academy lab. He may or may not have been completed at the time of Captain Data's disappearence, and subsequent activation. Hobbies: Cooking. Although Link does not require food, he seems to "enjoy" cooking for others. Comments: Link has unique abilities that give him obvious advantages, both mentally and physically. He was very efficient during Academy tactical drills (ground, ship and fleet tactics), giving precise "by the book" solutions. Although it should be noted that he lacked imagination in his solutions. This is believed to be as a result of his lack of emotions. His abilities make him a natural candidate for the OPS position. He showed promise as a possible security/tactical officer, but focused on sciences. - Initial File Prepared by Admiral Shane Marshall, Starfeet Academy. Service Record -------------- Stardate - Event ------------------ 61210.0000 - Graduated from Starfleet Academy. 61219.2110 - Started training at ALB with Ens. Jettero Tyce and Ens. John Trachen under Cmdr. Charles Bennson. 70111.0038 - Completed training at ALB. 70112.1500 - Assigned to USS SARACEN NCC-1492 (newly commissioned Galaxy-class starship) as Chief Science Officer. * Ensign Link was offered the posting of Chief Science Officer at Starbase GAMMA, but chose a posting on an exploratory vessel. 70319.2245 - Promoted to Lieutenant, junior grade; promoted to Operations Officer and Second Officer of the USS SARACEN. 70522.1400 - Promoted to Lieutenant Commander and First Officer of the USS SARACEN. >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> End File<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< NRPG Stuff---> The Story ------------------------ About 20 years ago (in this timeline) Data, a Captain, took a one year sabbatical in order to pursue the possibility of creating another Soong-type android; another offspring. He worked at the Academy Labs on creating a stable positronic brain. He was able to use his experience with Lal, as well as, the using the Lore and Julianna Soong androids as models. He feared a repeat of Lal's death so he planned to develop a slower, controlled, positronic pathway creation model. After a year of testing, Data was to go on a three month scientific mission cataloguing nebular gaseous anomalies. During his absence, the fully functional android, which Data named Link, was left in the lab unactivated, while a multitude of diagnostic testing ran. Captain Data's ship disappeared a month later and Link became self-activated three months after that, in the lab. Not only did no one know about his creation, nobody has been able to explain his self activation. Data created Link without emotions. But Link has it within his programing to gain emotions at a certain developmental stages. These "emotions" will be manifested in a gradual process. *Link is not a Data copy-cat, he is a seperate and altogether different being. He differs in appearance, programming and goals.* He believes that his programming is not complete and only his father can finish him. (Obviously there are similarities but Link should not be given limits based on what Data would or would not do) Respecfully submitted, Lieutenant Commander Link Executive Officer USS SARACEN NCC-1492 Kyle Giardino e-mail: umgiard0@cc.umanitoba.ca *************************************************************************** Player: Sam M. Edwards e-mail: S.M.Edwards@sms.ed.ac.uk (which is equivalent to 9463498@mull.sms.ed.ac.uk) Name: Joanna Houston Race: Android Age: Chronologically 14 years. Sex: Female construction History: Joanna was created and activated in a Starfleet laboratory under the direction of cybernetics' reknowned Dr.Bruce Maddox. Her design is very similar to the Soongh-type androids Data and Link. Her appearance is quite human, in fact it was decided that a human name would be appropriate. After activation Joanna was trained in human interaction, with use of a holodeck at first, then with real people. After a number of tests, she was found to have all the qualities necessary to enter Starfleet Academy. Although she has no emotional response as yet, she has been declared sentient. She excelled in almost all subjects. Understandably she found it difficult to study for a career in Counselling. Her career options are otherwise quite open, though it might be understood if some people have apprehensions about an android doctor! Appearance: Blue eyes, long ruddy-orange hair, 6ft slim build. Actual weight is 18st although this reflects a higher-density composition than humans. She possesses an early-20s human female appearance. Skin is lightly tanned. Family: The closest Joanna has to a family are her creator (Dr.Maddox), Captain Data (who is missing), and Link (whom she is yet to meet). Marital: single Children: none Spouse: none Beliefs: Has yet to reach the stage where she can have beliefs of her own, however can understand and implement the concept in question (sometimes a little blindly). Quirks: Joanna has an inability to use contractions. Partly this is for security purposes. She also has a deactivation switch, although it is likely to be removed later in her existence. Her physical abilities are comparable to others of her kind i.e. Data and Link. Annoyances: possibly incapable of becoming annoyed. Hobbies: Joanna fills her spare time with an extensive range of activities. She does however have a particular interest in sculpting. Traditions: She does usually celebrate her activation date (6th May) as being an equivalent to human birthdays. Academy experiences: A lot of material was simply downloaded into her memory. She has been highly commended by the instructors whom she trained with, for her incredible adaptability and learning capacity. Due to the sentience ruling, she is officially her own property and not Starfleet's. Starfleet fully expected her to be, and now they are debating the moral issues - should they create more androids or keep waiting in case there is a flaw in their 'prototype'. Notes: An Soongh-type android is capable of quite superhuman feats of strength, speed, intelligence, etc. Does not require sleep although Data did have the capacity to dream. A small intake of organics is required occasionally. Joanna would be capable of working for weeks on end, constantly on duty, but it is anticipated that time would be allowed for other activities. Even with the discovery of notes made by Soongh that contained previously unknown information, and the work Data did to create Link, Maddox was still working virtually blind. He predicts that Joanna's evolution will take the same path as that of Data/Link, but that path is invariably unknown. Starfleet record: SD 70303 - Assigned to USS Krakatoa as CEO I just thought I'd add that Houston's been having problems with a particular aspect of her programming. Essentially she has an equivalent to the moral that prevents most people from sleeping with just about everybody in sight. Only thing is, hers is a bit too tough on the possible candidates. Like it narrows it down to zero :) But she's seen Maddox about it and he's edited it a little. It'll still need some work over the next few months to get rid of the non-essential stuff, but Counselor Smith (USS KRAKATOA) has a plan of action. He's got Joanna to write down the rules in English so that he can examine them and suggest improvements. Makes for an interesting storyline. Sam M. Edwards Ensign Joanna Houston, CEO USS KRAKATOA *************************************************************************** >> Biographical Data File >> Subject: Thorn, Ensign >> File begins... Name: Thorn Rank: Ensign Heigth: 6'4" Weight: 210lb Hair: Blonde Eyes: Grey Race: Android Gender: Male History: Developed by a science team under LtCmdr Jarek of Federation Scientific Research Group Nine, Thorn is an experiment. By giving him the appearance of a normal human, Jarek and his staff intended to determine the effect, negative or otherwise, of an android's appearance on his fellow officers. However, this project has drawn much criticism among the more xenophobic elements of the Federation's scientific community. Objectors feel that androids must be easily-identifiable, to prevent them from developing psychoses such as `Biological Switch Syndrome', the symptoms of which are that the android would believe itself to be human and therefore would no longer obey its in-built directive to guard human life at the cost of its own if necessary. Jarek's team disregarded these objections, principally on the grounds that BSS was purely hypothetical, and proceeded with the development of Thorn. As a further facet of the experiment, he entered Thorn at Star Fleet Academy under the name of Adam Thorn, and with the help of contacts in the Personnel Division he created a fictitious background which indicated that Thorn was indeed human. Appropriate data was added to Thorn's memory, but an attempt to synthesise true emotions was not deemed a necessary part of the process. Instead, Jarek and his team painstakingly analysed typical gestures and facial responses associated with human emotions, and Thorn was then programmed to `go through the motions'. The deception was remarkably effective. This part of the experiment was cancelled by order of Star Fleet security, who became suspicious when Thorn consistently achieved 100% scores in all of the Academy's tests. After an investigation, the truth was revealed and Jarek was forced to reveal Thorn's true identity and background. Jarek removed all references to this period from Thorn's memory, believing that it could lead to psychological problems later. As a result of this, Thorn has no memory of his first year at the Academy, and believes that he was entered directly into the second year phase of training due to his android nature. The automated human responses were also removed as a concession to Jarek's critics, who condemned them as `making a mockery of humanity itself'. Jarek did not consider Thorn to be fully sentient until his period at the Academy had ended, a similar phenomenon to that which can make a parent reluctant to allow a child to leave home or to make crucial decisions. However, Star Fleet ruled that Thorn was to be considered an intelligent being, a decision which Jarek was not wholly satisfied with, since he wished to study Thorn's development further. Jarek was forbidden to further alter or modify Thorn's behaviour by a Federation injunction, and Jarek has since been reassigned to another project at Research Group Nine. Physiology: Without a medical scan, it would be impossible to differentiate between Thorn and a human on the basis of appearance. However, careful observation of mannerisms and speech patterns would provide a clue as to what lies beneath the surface - his movements are too exact and too precise, and his speech too calculated and level to be biological. Thorn's exterior is entirely artificial, even though it feels `real' to the touch. It has greater endurance than human flesh, but when damaged it does not just `grow back' - it requires repair, the tools and materials for which are easy to replicate. Internally, Thorn is more like a typical android, excelling human norms in strength and speed, and requiring no sleep, sustenance or even oxygen. Jarek made full use of the most recent technology when building his `child', and Thorn is as physically powerful as ever an android was, if not more so. Service Record: As mentioned above, Thorn's scores at the Academy were outstanding, as one would expect of an artificial being who was designed and built to fulfil the tasks the Academy teaches. Pending holodeck training, he will be fully qualified to serve on a starship as science officer, chief engineer, operations officer, tactical officer, flight control officer, navigator or even security officer. Due to his data-processing and analysis abilities, a position in science or engineering would be the logical choice. >> File ends. >> Downloaded: SDate 70403 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ >> Addendum >> Star Fleet Academy Counselling Division >> Confidential Report: Thorn, Ensign Why is it always me who gets the weird ones? In four years as Assistant Counsellor at this Academy, I've dealt with over two hundred Vulcans, a handful of Klingons, a Romulan or two and even a Tholian. Just when I was ready for a break from all these aliens, in walked Cadet Adam Thorn. At last, I thought, a human. Wrongo... Well, perhaps that isn't fair. Thorn was fairly close to human in his first year. He simulated human gestures, he smiled, he laughed at jokes, and he even seemed to get annoyed when his dorm-mates filled his boots with cream. But it turned out to be an act, programmed responses, and when Thorn returned at the start of the second year he was a fully-fledged android. In fact, from what I've read, Thorn is the android's android. If Vulcans die and get reincarnated, they probably come back like Thorn, for he has no time for emotions. Exactly why Star Fleet in their wisdom thought he needed a counsellor is beyond me. He seems to be completely in harmony with himself and what he is, in a way that makes me jealous. I wish I didn't care about my height, or what colour eyes I have, or... Of course this lack of emotions does tend to make Thorn see everything very much in black and white. This caused problems in simulations in which the cadet was required to make a moral decision. While Thorn's solutions to these problems were acceptable according to regulations, they could be perceived as... well, a bit pragmatic. Although technically it would be inappropriate to say that Thorn is passionate about anything, he does have one trait which, in a human, could be described as approaching obsession: He is insatiably curious. This could well be a result of being `brain-burned' by LtCmdr Jarek, but I can't say for sure. Whatever the cause, that Thorn has a deep thirst for knowledge of all kinds is undeniable. In his free time at the Academy, he was usually to be found discussing ancient history with the Vulcan students, or exploring a strange planet in the holodeck, or something equally weird. I have even heard that he used to return to the holodeck after a simulation and run through just about every possible course of action just to see what would have happened if he'd done things differently. Strange. One final note: About his name, Thorn told me that Jarek chose it as an acronym for "T'ekh Harodh Ov Radomi N'uran". Apparently, it's Ancient Vulcan, dating from before the Romulan split, and means "Cloaked One With Hidden Vigour". Now I may only be a psychoanalyst, but even I can see the connection... -Lieutenant Mike Connor, Assistant Counsellor, Star Fleet Academy >> Addendum ends. >> Downloaded: SDate 70403 ********************************************************************** < Bio of Shelter > Name : Shelter Official name : NFN NMI Shelter Height : 1.90 metres Weight : 85 kg Appearance : Short black hair, gold eyes and skin Race : Soong-type android Age : Activated Stardate 70203 Home Planet : Earth Creator : Karl van Hoorn Education : Programmed at Starfleet Acadamy Ultimate storage capacity : Seven hundred quadrillion bits Total linear computational speed : Fifty-five trillion operations per second Hobbys : Shelter tends his creators pets, a nosebear (Nasua nasua) named Napoleon and a capibara (Hydrochoerus hydrochoeridea) named Carlos Alberto. Shelter was created by French computer-expert Karl van Hoorn, who tried to build him as a "security-version" of the android Data, using information he got from Natasha Yar, a close friend of Noonian Soongs teacher. Because of the security reasons (a light, manoevrable android) Shelter has less storage capacity and no emotions, Van Hoorn thought the emotions could have a negative effect on someoe during a combat-situatoin. Just after Shelters activation Van Hoorn died, and after having accesed Van Hoorns data-banks Shelter decided to report at Starfleet Acadamy, where he was re-programmed. Shelter knows there are other androids in Starfleet and considers them family, because of their resemblance. - Starfleet report on Shelter - Shelter scored perfect at security and tactics, good at science and medical. His lack of emotions makes him a poor counsellor concerning Starfleet personnel. Posting as security-officer recommended. **********************************************************************