Expert: Justin Case - 10/16/2009

Question
QUESTION: In "Datalore," Worf follows Lore into a turbolift. Lore immediately yells, "Emergency close!" The turbolift doors shut, Worf raises his phaser, and Lore knocks it away.

Lore then tells Worf to show his "warrior fierceness." Worf proceeds to hit Lore, but of course Lore beats Worf up, knocking him out.

How would the following respond in the same situation, if Lore knocked the phaser from their hands, and asked them to show their "(race) fierceness?"

A) Odo
B) Spock
C) Hirogen
D) 8472
E) Traveler
F) Borg Queen
G) Data
H) Gorn
I) Taurean
J) Riker
K) Holo Doc
L) Apollo
M) Romulan
N) Cardassian
O) Admiral Quinn
P) Quark
Q) Kirk
R) Gary Mitchell
S) Picard

ANSWER: Hi John -

A) Odo - I doubt Odo would be too worried about taking on Lore.  Given his ability to gain and shunt mass there are any number of ways he could subdue the android (grow into a giant blob and pin Lore against the bulkhead, shrink to the size of a virus and infiltrate the android's systems etc.).

B) Spock - Spock wouldn't be goaded into fighting but my guess is, as smart as he is, he wouldn't have entered the turbolift in the first place without a back-up plan. Maybe he'd magnetize the bulkheads, run an 'inverse tachyon pulse' through the floor, I don't know but I'd be surprised if Lore actually was able to completely subdue the Vulcan hybrid.

C) Hirogen - I'd imagine a Hirogen would begin mixing it up with Lore like Worf did, probably with a very similar set of results.

D) 8472 - With the exception of maybe one episode, 8472 showed no hesitation about engaging in violence, particularly if threatened.  I'd imagine one of them would gladly 'get into it' with Lore.

E) Traveler - My guess is he'd pull himself out of time rather than subject his body to a beating.

F) Borg Queen - Wow, she's hard to gage!  My guess is she wouldn't sit there and allow herself to be beaten.  I'd imagine she would try and engage in a dialogue first, but wouldn't be completely adverse to some fighting if it was necessary.

G) Data - Like Spock, I'd be surprised if Data couldn't pretty easily come up with a contingency plan.  He knows the ship many times better than Lore.  If the two did start a fight, they are pretty evenly matched and my guess is the turbolift would suffer the most damage.

H) Gorn - A Gorn in that situation would gladly engage in a fight.  My guess is that (like Worf claimed) the Gorn would have hidden weapons on his person (knives etc.) that he could use.

I) Taurean - A Taurean would be glad to show Lore the 'fierceness' of his people.

J) Riker - My guess is he'd get his bootie kicked just like Worf did.

K) Doc - The easiest thing to do would be for him to reduce his physical form to simple light, meaning Lore couldn't touch him, and then wait for security to figure out what happened while Lore punches right through him.

L) Apollo - I doubt he'd react with much good humor and might begin using his abilities to try and control the android's behavior.

M) Romulan - No doubt one of them would be happy to display his people's fierceness.

N) Cardassian - In that type of situation a Cardassian would try and outsmart Lore first, but wouldn't be above getting into a fight if necessary.

O) Quinn - He'd definitely get into it with Lore.

P) Quark - Ahhhh Quark, ever the consummate coward.  He'd definitely try and talk his way out of the situation with a quip like "My family is not known for fierceness, in fact I'm the biggest coward of the entire group!" Or something like that.

Q) Kirk - He'd be more than happy to engage in a fight with a physically superior android and, in true Kirk fashion, somehow he'd end up winning at the cost of yet another Starfleet uniform shirt.  He'd then emerge from the turbolift after delivering at least two chops to Lore's neck and one maneuver wherein he jumped up in the air and kicked both his feet to the android's torso.
At that point the turbolift doors would open, Kirk would emerge with blood trickling from the right corner of his mouth and he'd smirk before winking at the pretty 'yeoman of the week.'

R) Mitchell - Given his telekinetic abilities I'd imagine he could hold Lore frozen in a standing position until the turbolift was fixed.

S) Picard - He'd attempt to reason with Lore and avoid fisticuffs, but if it came to that, he'd probably get pasted like Worf did.

Thanks!

D. -

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Why would the Romulan, Gorn, Taurean, etc., willingly fight Lore? They'd have no chance.

Lore could break their necks in an instant.

Pride?

ANSWER: Hi John -

Gorn and Taurean's don't give up EVER.  They would rather go down fighting, get their neck broke, than submit to anyone or anything.

Romulans are so arrogant (yep pride) that one of them would think they could outsmart the android.

D-

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: You said a while back that, except for Q (assumed), nobody could restore a dead person, if their soul had left their body.

In "Mortal Coil," Neelix's life is restored with nanoprobes after he was dead for over 18 hours.

Does this imply that Talaxians don't have an afterlife, or what?

Also, are energy beings considered "biological beings?"

Answer
Hi John -

My opinion would be that Neelix wasn't actually dead, probably barely clinging to life with vital signs that were so low they couldn't be registered with the Voyager's medical equipment.

Once the soul/energy/chi/life force, whatever you want to call it has left, its gone and bringing it 'back' would require a knowledge of 'magical' forces like Dr. Strange possesses.

I would say that, as sentient individuals the Talaxians probably do have a soul/life force/chakra/essence, whatever it is that makes them a distinct individual energy source within this plane of existence, so, when their physical body dies something happens to that energy whether it reincarnates, evolves, goes to Talaxian Purgatory, who knows?

Energy beings could be, in some sense, considered 'pure soul.'  No, they are not necessarily biological beings because they don't meet the requirements to be considered biological beings (take in sustenance, composed of organized protoplasm etc.) but they are distinct beings whose energy is unique throughout the universe.

I don't want to get to philosophical since I'm not an expert in that (though we do have a few on the site), but those are my thoughts, does that make sense?

Thanks!

Deran