The Paragon Project
Introduced by Lieutenant Commander Roxy Dalton

Introduction

“Hello. I am Paragon.” - Paragon's first words upon activation.

There are many great minds in the Federation, and yet, for all our competence, we were unable to create an android that had the capacity to live up to the legend of Lieutenant Commander Data, who was, without doubt, one of the most fascinating figures in Starfleet.

But we did not stop trying.

On stardate a group of ambitious scientists and engineers sought to fulfil the dream of creating an android of the same calibre, and once Starfleet endorsed such a venture, The Paragon Project was born.

Representatives from Advanced Technologies, the Engineering Corps, Research and Development, Science, and even Starfleet Medical joined a team, led by Captain Alex Lorien, that would set in motion the research that would lead to the creation of a truly remarkable entity.

There were failures, and I shall not list them here, but rather than dishearten the intrepid team, it spurned them on.

On stardate , The Paragon Project reached its goal, though not the conclusion of its journey, and unveiled that which might very well be the start of something extraordinary in the field of modern science.

Paragon.

Technical Data

“Your fascination with my brain is fascinating.” - Paragon's words to Lieutenant Jamie Hirst during routine diagnostics.

Paragon's brain and body uses bioneural circuitry, as well as positronic technology. This was used to add some limitations to his processing speeds and capabilities. The Paragon Project did not want to simply create a walking super computer.

Paragon has a positronic brain and can process up to 25 trillion calculations per second, which is 5 trillion more calculations than the approximate ability of the average human brain. It has a storage capacity of 40 trillion gigabytes of memory. This is vastly superior to the human brain, and yet with his rate of calculating being much slower than previous androids we know of, we feel that this was a fair decision. We did not want to put a limit on how much he could understand. He has been programmed purely for heuristic learning, and not data storage like a normal computer system.

Paragon has been programmed with basic personality sub-routines, order to establish a basic personality which he will develop depending on his experiences.

The same is true with his knowledge. Paragon has had the same education as would an 21 year old male, with the added benefits of Starfleet science training and degrees. Paragon has the capacity to learn quickly, but we have ensured that his processing of knowledge is linked to his personality matrix, meaning that Paragon will spend time trying to understand the knowledge he is receiving, rather than just store it as would a computer. We believe this gives Paragon a great depth, and an edge over traditional computers.

Paragon's body was designed to mimic a human body as much as was possible with an android, though mainly in appearance. His skin is composed of bioplast sheeting, which has been specifically designed to age. His hair is synthetic human hair, and acts in much the same manner, though is unable to grow. His eyes will blink randomly, with the purpose of cleaning any dust from the external lenses. They are dark brown in colour.

Paragon's skin has been given random characteristics, such as freckles and occasional blemishes. These are purely cosmetic and do not have any bearing on his physiology.

His skeletal structure is made up of several metals. It does not have the extreme strength of most robots, in order to give him an even greater degree of realism. Paragon's body will be able to handle greater stress than the average human, but not by much.

Personality

“I do not think I like this.” - Paragon's opinion of being in a boat.

Paragon was designed with limitations to be limitless.

While tempting to install all the knowledge of the universe within him, The Paragon Project finally decided that they would give Paragon the knowledge of a 21 year old male. The major problem with this was deciding how much knowledge and experience a 21 year old male would have.

We would not create memories for him, as that would be counter-productive to our aim, but we could, in an essence, give him certain personality sub-routines that would let him act as would a young man. However, those sub-routines were minimal. The point of The Paragon Project was to create an android with the ability for personal growth and development, so we would allow him to gain experience through experience. Each interaction would be new to him, and allow him to stretch his understanding and personality.

After much deliberation, discussion, and even arguments, it was decided that initially, Paragon would enter Starfleet as a science officer, and so he was given the knowledge of the Starfleet science courses. We must stress that this decision was to enable him to join a ship as a productive member of the crew, and he should be supported if he should decide that he would prefer a different discipline.

Statement of Psychological Review.
Counsellor Darrin Axari, Lieutenant, Starfleet Medical.

“The first time I met Paragon, he was sitting in my office waiting for me to arrive. When I entered, he rose from his seat, shook my hand and greeted me politely with 'Hello. I am Paragon, and you are Counsellor Darrin Axari'. It was the beginning of a great fondness I have for him.

“When I talk to Paragon, I do not automatically think 'android' or 'robot' or any other such term. I rather think 'young' or even 'innocent'. He reminds me of a well mannered child, and I mean him this in a positive way. One would think that, with him being an artificial intelligence, that he would be stoic and, well, robotic. But Paragon is neither. He may talk in a manner that puts me in mind of Vulcans (straight to the point, and often a little dispassionate) but it is underlined with a gentle enthusiasm to learn, an interest in the world around him, and a desire to please. He is an endearing character.

“During our first session, Paragon's life experience consisted of two months in a laboratory and there was little we could talk about. Asking certain questions confused him, as he had no idea how to answer them. I had to limit my analysis to questions of social interactions that he had experienced with The Paragon Project team, and was delighted to find that he had opinions, however small.

“At first his opinions were mainly descriptive. He described Ensign Arkth as 'blue' (he is Andorian) and Doctor Adrian as 'partial to water', but even at this early stage he showed some growth in his view of others. The first indication of this was when he described Lieutenant Commander Kribb: 'He appears to know many jokes, though many of them I do not understand. He often misplaces his PaDDs, and exhibits great exasperation with himself for doing so. It makes me smile.'

“As the sessions continued, Paragon grew more and more interesting a subject. He has many opinions and clear likes and dislikes, though often has difficulty explaining why he feels the way he does. His personality evolves daily, but also slowly. He has developed attachments to certain members of the team, such as Lieutenant Hirst and Doctor Adrian, which I think may cause him some distress when he is finally placed upon a ship away from them.

“Paragon is a remarkable young man, and I will watch his career with interest. I also intend to remain his friend, for so he called me.”

Ethics

The ethics of creating a self-aware android are complex and plentiful. We are regulated by Starfleet and the Federation Charter and are in full compliance with the guidelines of both of these.

The Team

Captain Alex Lorien, Starfleet Medical, Counselling.
Project leader
Lieutenant Jamie Hirst, Engineering Corps.
Lieutenant Commander Maran Kribb, Research and Development.
Doctor Caroline Hest, Lieutenant, Starfleet Medical.
Lieutenant (j.g.) Jendal Tellimor, Science.
Ensign Arkth, Advanced Technologies.
Ensign Dana Calladine, Engineering Corps.
Ensign Bol'An Amph, Advanced Technologies.
Doctor Mark Adrian, Science.

The Words of Paragon

“You ate that cake very quickly. Is that a custom of your people? Or was it too hot?” - Paragon to Ensign Bol'An Amph, during a dinner party.

“You hair is typically pleasing.” - Paragon's giving opinion on Ensign Calladine's new hairstyle.

“Black.” - Paragon's description of Black Holes.

“Today we used a holodeck simulation of a 21st Century Zoo. I saw an elephant. I am led to believe that it was quite exciting.” - Paragon's first day out.

“There is certainly a lot of it.” - Paragon's response to his first view of an ocean.

“I appear to have inadvertently terminated the life of an insect by stepping on it. My apologies.” - During a fishing trip on the holodeck, Paragon encountered a cockroach.

“I do not like this incessant motion, and look forward to its cessation.” Paragon's response to a boat and the wind.

“Yes, my eyes are pleasing to me. I hope you do not think me arrogant or narcissistic” - Paragon's words to Captain Lorien when asked what he thought of the design.

“Jamie hid all of Doctor Adrian's PaDDs as a practical joke. The resulting chaos was highly amusing to me.” Paragon found many of Jamie's practical jokes amusing.

“I think tact may prevent me from expressing my opinion of your singing, Doctor. My apologies.” - Paragon expressing sensitivity.

“Telepathy is very interesting. I imagine it would be like me plugging myself into another android.” - Paragon's thoughts on telepathy.

“I understand that there is only one of me. It is a strange feeling, which I assume would be loneliness, I suppose. But if I am successful in my existence, there may well be more of me. Of us.” - Paragon's thoughts on his 'kind'.

“The Soul? It is a highly unlikely concept. I can see why one would crave a soul, but a healthy one seems to be difficult to maintain.” - Paragon's words during a philosophy lesson.

“If he is your God because he created you, then The Paragon Project must be my God.”
“But God also created those who worked on the team, so that makes him your God too.”
“What name do you have for the creator of God?”
“There was no creator of God. He has always been. If anyone created God, it was himself.”
“That is highly unlikely, Father.”
- Paragon's conversation with a holographic character in a church simulation.

“Doctor Adrian told me my surname was 'Project'? Is that true?” - Paragon being duped by Doctor Adrian's idea of 'funny'.