- 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
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.
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 [see: "First Contact"] , 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 [see: "The Next Phase"]. 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.
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.
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.