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.
**********************************************************************
(
geocities.com/holoworldfleet)