Before

A question to those people that run a campaign set after the events shown in Star Trek - Nemesis:

What do you think about this whole B 4 thing in Nemesis.

In your corner of the Star Trek Universe, will B 4 "turn" into anything like Data due to the datadownload seen in Nemesis? Or will he be a whole different character. Due to the fact that the new Trek movie is supposed to be (yet another sci-fi) prequel, we won't see any development on screen anytime (soon).

So what's your idea?

And what stats would you give him?

Well, my game is set post-Nemesis, but very shortly after. I haven't really investigated what may become of B4. While it is possible that he will develop, I doubt that he will become as advanced as Data, since his neural net just couldn't handle the amount of information contained in the download. I think it is likely that he will become something else entirerly.

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[i] While it is possible that he will develop, I doubt that he will become as advanced as Data, since his neural net just couldn't handle the amount of information contained in the download. I think it is likely that he will become something else entirerly. [/B]

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I'm not sure. I think you can see a certain kind of development in the movie itself. The voice is getting more and more like Data's and the ending with B4 whistling the melody...

I remember in the audio commentary the director says that there was more photage, cut due to time reasons.

Perhaps there will be one day a "director's cut" version where we will see more...

Or perhaps I am just clinging to the idea as to not having to give up a great character like Data entirely...

I won't get into the moral ramifactions of this option, but Starfleet still has Lore in a box someplace. They could do a full memory purge, then copy Data's download from B4 to Lore's more advanced neural net and in theory, you'd have Data again.

I dunno about that. If the positronic brain is faithful to Asimov's view of it, it "grows" on itself so its complexity exceeds the coginitive capacities of its creator. So a complete download of the positronic matrix seems unlikely to me. I think B4 only has a cursory copy of Data's personality, so I'd say he'll become something else entirely.

I guess, just like Thomas Riker's synapses are slightly different from William Riker's because of different life experiences, I agree that any "Disaster Recovery" service they manage to contrive would not create a 100% exact duplicate of Data.

However, the return of Data is going to revolve around what the writer chooses to have happen. I'm certain there are endless technical or TREKnical arguments that could go around forever and an eon, but the answer boils down to: Do they want Data to return or not? If the answer is yes, then they will make the tech conform to fit the plot they want regardless of Asimov, Bradbury, Clarke, Hawking, or anything that even smells of logic or precedent.

In my campaign I don't want Data to be lost permanently. I don't want to change things we have seen on screen, but what happens after Nemesis still is somewhat unwritten, isn't it.

Aside from the possibility of using Lore ("Out-of-the-box-Data") or B 4 (Growing-Up-Data) I thougt about some plot twist about a certain Romulan Commander Sela, a cloaked Warbird in the battlezone and an abduction.

In my thoughts about the aftermath of Nemesis Sela plays an important role as a new powerful figure in the empire.

Do you have any other ideas as how to bring Data back in a Star Trek conform way?

Lal had a memory imprint of Data's brain, and yet she was not.. data.. Data was more than just his memories, he was also his software, and I don't know if the 'software' was transfered over. In the context of a soong type android, like all 24th century technology the modern concept of 'software' being seperate from 'hardware' is somewhat more fuzzy; In todays age more advanced computers actually function as a virtual processor, running simulated 'hardware', so it's not inconcievable that there is no such distinction in the future.

It could simply be that B4's brain was exactly as Data's was, but they didn't succeed at the software side. Much as with Lal the software is linked to the hardware, and so they couldn't actully upgrade him without damaging the hardware. Howeve the technology Soong later invented for Neural mapping, which he used on juliana Tainor DID work spectacularly well, so if they created anything with even slightly that ammount of sophistication, then perhaps B4 could work...

it's entirelly possible, since Starfleet has a whole blueprint of Data, they could technically build a new body and download his memories back from B4 (who stil has them even if his higher brain can't use them).. So I think it is possible it's just a case of WHY and WHEN.

Personally...I think that Data, much like Spock, should die and stay dead. (Not that I don't like the guys, but death should be a bit more final than it has been, so far, in Star Trek....but I suspect I'm in a minority there....)

Notwithstanding that, I tend to agree that B4 seems to be a bit of a child, and despite having Data's memories will not, cannot develop like Data. It took Data decades to progress to the point he reached in Nemesis. There is no reason to assume that B4 could ever become "Data". His experiences would be different, so his personality would develop differently.