M-5 Multitronic Computer System (A.I.)

"This unit must survive."

– M-5, 2268 ("The Ultimate Computer") The M-5 multitronic Computer System or the M-5 computer was a highly advanced Artificial Intelligence prototype system created by Doctor Richard Daystrom during the mid-23rd century. It utilized very sophisticated technology, probably similar to the Human neural network, and much more sophisticated than the duotronic computer commonly in use at the time. According to Dr. Daystrom, the computer could think and reason like a Human. He had used his own memory engrams as a model for the computer. Models M-1 through M-4 were not entirely successful. (Unfortunately, Dr. Daystrom was quite insane when he imprinted his mind upon the computer circuitry.)

M-5 was installed on board the USS Enterprise in 2268 as a test of its capabilities. It was due to command and control the ship during several battle simulations, where up to four other starships would attack the Enterprise. Manned with only a skeleton crew of twenty, the ship was completely run by the computer.

The unit was located in main engineering, and tapped directly into the ship's main power grid. When requiring more power, it would shut down unnecessary systems, including life support on decks without crewmembers.

During battle drills, the computer's self-preservation instinct became dominant, resulting in the destruction of the robot ship Woden and the deaths of several hundred Starfleet officers when it destroyed the USS Excalibur and severely damaged the USS Lexington.

The senior crew attempted to cut off the computer from the ship's controls, but M-5 rerouted command functions through new data lines, and kept sending false signals through the original ones. The computer could also generate a force field around itself, effectively preventing anyone from coming near it.

Captain James T. Kirk made the computer self-destruct by asking it if it was right to kill another being. M-5 said that it was a crime against the laws of Man and God, and, believing that such a crime was punishable by death, deactivated itself. (TOS: "The Ultimate Computer")

24th Century
In 2369, the shadow organization called Section 31 stole a prototype copy of the M-5 from isolation storage on Pluto (Memory Alpha.) This was in actuality the M-4 unit, with a copy of the M-5's programming. Section 31 installed the unit onto a hijacked Defiant-class starship, the Adamant, and sent it back in time with the mission of exterminating the Cardassian Race on Cardassia Prime, a century before they could join the Dominion in the Dominion War against the Federation. Section 31 filled Adamant's corridors with a biogenic weapon, especially deadly to Cardassians. The Starship Twilight was sent back in time to prevent this disaster. Attacking from directly above, the M-5 in command, Adamant fired direct hits, shattering the Twilight's primary shield, and destroying the transparent aluminum dome of her bridge. The captain and most of the senior officers aboard were sucked out into space and killed instantly; Dr. Jaryd Harker, CMO, a Lieutenant Commander and Line Officer, was left in command of both Twilight and the mission. Also alive was Chief Engineer Richard "Ricky" Drake; both were SI agents, and only survived because they were below decks. With the aid of Captain James T. Kirk and the Crew of the original USS Enterprise NCC-1701, Harker completed the mission, destroyed the Adamant, and returned to the 24th Century. There, Admiral Nyota Uhura, director of Starfleet Intelligence, promoted Harker to full commander, had him undergo a "fast track" starship command training, and gave him command of USS Twilight. Uhura also gave Harker carte blanche in suggestions for the Twilight's refit, so he had her refit as a Medical Research Vessel. Twilight's main current assignment, after planetary surveys and seeking cures for diseases, is to counterintelligence against biogenic and metagenic weapons.