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STARFLEET PERSONNEL FILE -- Data
Played By: Brent Spiner
Rank: Lieutenant Commander
Current assignment: Second officer/science officer,
U.S.S. Enterprise, NCC-1701/E
Full Name: Data
Date of birth: Permanently re-activated Feb. 2, 2338
(initial activation unknown)
Place of birth: Omicron Theta science colony
Parents: Created by Dr. Noonien Soong and
Dr. Juliana O'Donnell Soong Tainer
Education: Starfleet Academy, 2341-45
Marital status: Single
Children: One, deceased
Quarters: Formerly, Enterprise-D: Deck 2/Room 3653
Service Awards:
Starfleet Command Decoration for Valor
Starfleet Command Decoration for Gallantry
Medal of Honor, with Clusters
Legion of Honor
The Starcross
Starfleet Career Summary
2348 -- Promoted to lieutenant (junior grade)
2364 -- Named as operations officer and second officer
on
U.S.S. Enterprise, under Capt. Jean-Luc Picard
2365 -- JAG inquiry at Starbase 173 denied any Starfleet
property interest, upholding sentient individual rights
2368 -- Temporarily in command of U.S.S. Sutherland, detected
Romulan interference in Klingon civil war
2372 -- Transferred with remainder of Picard's senior staff
to Sovereign-class U.S.S. Enterprise
2373 -- During attempt to repair Borg temporal sabotage
with Earth first contact, kidnapped and resisted assimilation
by Borg to prevent capture of vessel and loss of timeline integrity
Psychological Profile:
Report of Ship's Counselor Deanna Troi
Although the outlook did not pick up steam until his Enterprise
posting after 26 years of existence, Data has quite simply wished
to be more human and experience as much of that condition's depths
and shadows as his adaptive programming can approximate - with
experiments in everything from art, acting, and poetry to keeping
a pet cat Spot and imitating humanisms ranging from laughter,
sneezing and whistling to dance, facial hair grooming and bedtime
routines. Even with that goal, Data turned down a chance to be
human offered by Q in 2364, quoting Shakespeare's "To thine own
self be true," but inched closer to his goal with the discovery
of an "emotions chip" created by his builder, Dr. Noonien Soong.
Although he delayed using it for over a year, the chip when finally
installed in 2371 caused a near-overload until Data began learning
the complexities of the new world just opened. Humor was a concept
that largely eluded him until that point, although relationships
- both positive and negative - were fostered via what Data described
as a familiarity of repetition.
UPDATE: SD 50900 review cycle:
Re: emotions chip of subject Data:
Data continue to familiarize himself with the flood of potential
the chip opened up, but always until strict supervision to avoid
further overloads. Today, two years after installation, he tends
to keep it running during normal operations but maintains internal
control over the timing should it prove troubling or distracting.
The chip proved an Achilles heel during Data's capture by the
Borg Queen, when she literally tempted him with sensations of
flesh and blood he had never experienced despite his growing worldliness.
Even so, the emotional data overload was not enough to overrule
his ethics program. Data was the fifth and next-to-last model
created by Soong and his then-wife Juliana on the Omicron Theta
science colony, activated on Feb. 2, 2338 when found by members
of a U.S.S. Tripoli away team after the Crystalline Entity had
drained the life force from the 411-member colony. Not until 2370
did he realize he had a childhood-like developmental memory from
an existence before that date, wiped by Soong and replaced by
the colonists' memories and logs as they faced their doom by the
Entity. In later years, Data discovered his remarried "mother"
and just as quickly realized Soong had made her an android, transferring
her consciousness shortly before she died; the revelation, which
he opted not to reveal to her, was one of two Data experienced
in programs left by Soong, the other being a dreaming routine
accidentally accessed in 2369. Dr. Ira Graves, Soong's mentor
and a legend in his own right, asked the android to call him "grandfather"
during a time before Graves' short-lived hijacking of Data's body
for his own consciousness in 2365.
Data has said his post-activation months were rough, but the crew
who found him inspired him to join Starfleet and, after being
deemed sentient, he was accepted to Starfleet Academy in 2341
- with Cmdr. Bruce Maddox of the Daystrom Institute casting the
only nay vote in the decision of his examination board. Data found
the entrance exams elementary but in his freshman year discovered
his biggest problems to be those of social interaction, such as
practical jokes and the Sadie Hawkins Dance. After a curriculum
which included advanced training in auxiliary vessels, he graduated
four years later with honors in probability mechanics and exobiology.
Following graduation he spent three more as an ensign and 10-12
more in the lieutenant grades. One of his postings was to the
U.S.S. Trieste, where the missions included an unstable wormhole.
Even with his career, Data's rights as an intelligent being rather
than Starfleet property were challenged and barely won in 2365
when Maddox wished to disassemble him for replication without
first having mastered the Soong's positronic process. Data and
Maddox eventually kept up correspondence to further Maddox's research.
Data only discovered in 2364 that he was immediately preceded
by a "brother," Lore, built with an inferior ethics program and
originally disassembled before Data's own creation. The Starfleet
android encountered his "sibling" three times in all: once upon
his reassembly when first revisiting Omicron Theta in 2364, again
when Soong was killed by Lore on Terlina III in 2368 during his
theft of the emotions chip meant for Data; and again in late 2369,
while commanding a faction of renegade Borg marauders released
from the Collective. Lore had coerced Data by suppressing his
ethics program, but he was overcome and finally disassembled,
the emotions chip going to Data at last. Combining his interest
in procreation with advanced positronic studies in 2366, Data
himself created a short-lived daughter christened Lal whose ownership
had again been contested by Starfleet and Admiral Haftel. The
emotional overload she was exposed to in the struggle presaged
Data's five years later, but her unintended emotional ability
could not be processed adequately and she "died" despite the best
efforts of Data and Haftel.
Aside from a romantic encounter with the late Tasha Yar under
effects of the Tsiolkovsky virus in 2364, and a crush directed
at him by Tau Cygnan colonist Ard'rian MacKenzie, he later tried
dating Lt. (j.g.) Jenna D'Sora. A small hologram of Yar is among
his closest possessions, which also include a book of Shakespeare
sonnets from Picard, the proximity detector of Turkana IV from
Yar's sister Ishara, and props from his Holodeck adventures.
After all Data's years in Starfleet following activation, Geordi
LaForge was the first to become a friend and accept him with respect
as an equal - apparently not until they met aboard the U.S.S.
Enterprise; he later planned LaForge's memorial service when the
chief engineer and Ro were presumed dead during an encounter with
the Romulans in 2368. Having introduced Miles O'Brien and Keiko
Ishikawa, Data served as her bridal escort during their wedding
and danced a step he'd learned from Dr. Crusher. A fascination
with Old Earth detective fiction led Data to a common hobby shared
with LaForge of role-playing Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson on
the Holodeck; he has read all the Holmes books. That interest
evolved into legitimate theatre as well as music, where he has
studied the violin, guitar, oboe and flute and plays in shipboard
performances. Skill dances such as tap are easier to master than
those with subtle variables such as ballroom, but he has done
so. Data also tried his hand at various styles of painting, but
realized that his knowledge of previous styles overrode any personality
he could put into the art. He also plays poker, knows blackjack
and learned Stratagema well enough to tie gamesmaster Sirna Kolrami
- but he once lost a tri-dimensional chess game to this officer.
Professional Assessment:
Report of Starfleet Command Review Board
Due to his programming and superhuman abilities, Data is by definition
an exemplary officer, but those same abilities have also been
proven an Achilles heel of sorts - as when he was overcome by
his "brother" Lore, or the homing signal once used by his creator
Soong, among other instances on record. The recent Borg invasion
and his capture and hoped-for assimilation as a potential ally
is yet another. Unfortunately, as the only android in the service,
the natural disinclination to attribute command abilities and
respect to an artificial being - as well as the long-undetermined
issue of his self-determination rights - hampered Data's command
advancement and led to service in operations division only. Despite
his long career he was not placed even in acting command until
assuming the con of the U.S.S. Sutherland during the blockade
of Romulan aid to the Duras Klingon faction in 2367-68. Data also
devised the first known defense to the Picard Maneuver in 2364,
nine years after it was first used. He carries Alpha-1 computer
clearance and Priority 3 security clearance.
Bio-engineering Review:
Joint Report of
CMO Beverly Crusher, M.D.
Chief Engineer Geordi LaForge
Data, who weighs 100 kg., carries a concealed master on/off switch
centered just below his right shoulder blade. This switch is known
only to the senior staff of the Enterprise: commander, first officer,
chief engineer, chief medical officer and ship's counselor. As
designed he is programmed not to lie or deceive, recalls everything
he's ever been exposed to, cannot use verbal contractions, and
has super-human strength, dexterity, voice duplication, self-diagnostics,
and "fully functional" male sexual abilities without the emotional
attraction. Though he approximates fellow humanoid sleeping patterns
and workshifts, he of course needs no actual rest and often takes
the helm during the "night watch."
Experiments into his direct input into or remote control of ship's
systems have been uneven, but his unique abilities have been invaluable
in securing the safety of ship and crew in numerous crises and
far outweigh, in our opinion, any potential weakness they present.
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