View source for Data (STO)

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==STO Timeline==
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Data was an [[Soong-type Androids|android]] created by the renowned [[cyberneticist]] [[doctor|Dr.]] [[Soong, Noonian (STO)|Noonian Soong]] on a [[United Federation of Planets (STO)|Federation]] colony at [[Alpha Omicron system|Alpha Omicron]] in the [[2330s (STO)|2330s]]. He was deactivated and left on the surface when the colony was attacked by the [[Crystalline Entity (STO)|Crystalline Entity]], only to be reactivated some time later by the crew of the [[U.S.S. Tripoli NCC-19386 (STO)|U.S.S. ''Tripoli'' NCC-19386]], which was investigating the colony’s disappearance.<ref name="TNG114"/>

Following their example, Data joined [[Starfleet (STO)|Starfleet]],<ref name="TNG177"/> but his application to [[Starfleet Academy (STO)|Starfleet Academy]] was challenged by [[Maddox, Bruce (STO)|Bruce Maddox]], on the grounds that he was not a sentient being.<ref name="TNG135"/> Data claimed to have graduated with the "class of 78,"<ref name="TNG101"/> though it was unclear what he meant by that, as he graduated from the Academy in [[2340 (STO)|2340]].<ref name="TNG201"/> By [[2363 (STO)|2363]], Data had served two years as an [[Starfleet Ensign|ensign]], eight years in the [[Starfleet Lieutenant|lieutenant]] grades, and thirteen years as a [[Starfleet Lieutenant Commander|lieutenant commander]].<ref name="TNG114"/>

In [[2363 (STO)|2363]], Data was posted as the [[Operations Officer]] aboard the [[U.S.S. Enterprise NCC-1701-D (STO)|U.S.S. ''Enterprise'' NCC-1701-D]] under [[Starfleet Captain|Captain]] [[Picard, Jean-Luc (STO)|Jean-Luc Picard]], and also served as Picard's second officer. Even at this point in his career, many officers believed his rank and position to be honorary. He still had great difficulty with humanoid customs and social skills, though his desire to be more [[Humans (STO)|Human]] was still as strong as ever, leading [[Starfleet Commander|Commander]] [[Riker, William (STO)|William Riker]] to playfully call him [[Pinnochio]].<ref name="TNG101"/>

Though he was an android, his systems mimicked humanoid physiology closely enough that he was even affected by a variant of [[polywater intoxication]], and Data remarked to Captain Picard on this similarity that “[w]e are more alike than unalike, Captain. &hellip; If you prick me, do I not&hellip; leak?” While under the influence of the virus, Data became intimately involved with Lieutenant [[Yar, Natasha (STO)|Tasha Yar]],<ref name="TNG103"/> an experience that remained special to him for many years afterward.<ref name="TNG135"/>

Also that year, the ''Enterprise'' returned to Alpha Omicron, where they discovered Data’s "brother" [[Lore (STO)|Lore]], another android created by Dr. Soong. Lore turned out to be psychotically unstable, and revealed that he was in communication with the Crystalline Entity, which he had led to Alpha Omicron prior to being disassembled by Soong. After he was reassembled by an unsuspecting ''Enterprise'' crew, Lore attempted to feed them to the Crystalline Entity as well, but was stopped by Data, who [[transporter|beamed]] him into space.<ref name="TNG114"/>

Although Data sacrificed himself to save the [[U.S.S. Enterprise NCC-1701-E (STO)|U.S.S. ''Enterprise'' NCC-1701-E]] in [[2379 (STO)|2379]], he copied his memory engrams into his "brother," [[B4 (STO)|B4]] beforehand.<ref name="ST10"/> In time, Data's transferred memory engrams were able to assert themselves within B4's body, and eventually coalesced into a duplicate of Data’s consciousness at the time of the engram transfer aboard the ''Enterprise'' prior to his body's destruction. Unfortunately, B4's body was unable to handle two separate consciousnesses &mdash; Data and B4 &mdash; despite the best efforts of a team of specialists at the [[Daystrom Institute (STO)|Daystrom Institute]], led by [[La Forge, Geordi (STO)|Geordi La Forge]]. Despite his apparent lack of sophisticated mental capability, B4 understood the dilemma he and Data faced, should they continue to share a body. Before anyone could fully comprehend what was happening, B4 had erased himself from the body's positronic neural network, leaving it solely to Data.<ref name="STONeeds"/> Data soon returned to Starfleet, and before long was picked by the retiring Jean-Luc Picard to succeed him as captain of the ''Enterprise''-E, a position he held until the ship disappeared in [[2408 (STO)|2408]].<ref name="STO"/>

{{References}}
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<ref name="TNG101">{{RefTNG101}}</ref>
<ref name="TNG103">{{RefTNG103}}</ref>
<ref name="TNG114">{{RefTNG114}}</ref>
<ref name="TNG135">{{RefTNG135}}</ref>
<ref name="TNG177">{{RefTNG177}}</ref>
<ref name="TNG201">{{RefTNG201}}</ref>
<ref name="ST10">{{RefST10}}</ref>
<ref name="STO">{{RefSTO}}</ref>
<ref name="STONeeds">{{RefSTONeeds}}</ref>
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