BX-12
Race/sex: Android male
Rank: None
Physical attributes:
– 6’1, athletic build
– Composed of artificial bone, muscle, and tissue (not complete)
Age: 0
Place of Birth: U.S.S. Dragonfly
Bio: BX-12 is a collaborative project between Lieutenant Commander LeCroy and Dr. Min. But rather than using clunky mechanical parts of current design, nearly all aspects of human physiology are mimicked. BX-12 is therefore is made up of an entirely synthetic musculoskeletal system, composed of complex polymers that can respond to neuroelectrical stimuli. His muscles are arranged in a manner that is nearly identical to that of a human. His ‘brain’ is a collective mass of a hundred billion synthetic neurons, arranged in a way to mimic a real human brain. Abilities are “transcribed” using a real human as a template, and mimicking the neural patterns for that ability.
BX-12 was originally started as an ambitious new research initiative at the Daystrom Institute in an attempt to continue the work of Dr. Noonian Soong. BX-12 is the twelfth effort under this design. At the moment, BX-12 is not yet complete: his musculoskeletal system has not fully been installed, and not all of his organs and tissues have been put in place. As LeCroy puts it, BX-12 is not just some academic exercise; his muscles are nearly three times as strong as a normal human, and his bones are much harder. LeCroy has also bestowed him exceptional mathematical abilities.
Author’s notes: I think Star Trek needs another android, but not one exactly like Data. Since ‘android’ implies a mechanical device that resembles a human, I explored that in the most literal way. But it is true that scientists and engineers today are exploring the idea of ‘artificial muscles,’ and we are already seeing some very real and bizarre applications.
I took it a step further by having BX-12’s brain mimic that of a human’s as well. I find it extremely interesting that even in regards to artificial intelligence, scientists are looking to biology for inspiration (I’ll save for another post), and I think as we move toward the future, the lines that separate the two will blur. So again, I explored the idea literally by making the android’s brain essentially a human’s, made entirely of synthetic neurons.
I really disliked the idea of B4 in Nemesis, because it was essentially a cheap story device to try and bring Data back ‘just in case we want to.’ This was extremely obvious (Dear writers: don’t think we forgot about Star Trek II) and I think really took away from Data’s emotional death scene. So I said screw it, in my universe, I said that B4 never took off the ground. Maybe I’m alone on this, but I prefer it that way.
