Editing Gorn (section)

=='''Project Avatar'''==
For many years, the Gorn had been experimenting with and developing Positronic modules on par with that of the Soong-type androids. However there was one problem. The positronic brains were immense. Far larger than what could be used in a humanoid body. Before, the brains were powered by optitronic data circuits, but after capturing a Romulan Warbird experimenting with bio-neural circuitry, the project reached a new level.

Though size was not reduced by any noticeable margins, the processing power proved to be ten-fold greater than that of the previous optritronic circuitry. The artificial intelligence showed emotional response, creativity, and the ability to recognize and develop loyalties to individuals. In addition, they were able to devise unorthodox military tactics and continually learn and adapt to stimulus.

After the loss of all the Gorn lives, it was determined to bring Project Avatar into being. A single vessel was chosen, the refit USS Lexington. Her entire Duotronic interface system was gutted and replaced with bio-neural circuitry, then a highly advanced Gorn computer core was installed. Finally, the fetal Artificial Intelligence was implanted and brought to life. Many Gorn in the government protested to this project, noting the M-5 computer incident the Federation dealt with when trying this very same thing over a century before, an engagement that Lexington herself was involved in and was nearly destroyed. Nevertheless, the King saw merit in Project Avatar and ordered it to proceed.
All ships systems were tied into the computer core, granting the AI command and control should her crew be incapacitated. Since it was determined that a rogue AI in control of a starship could be deadly, many ethical subroutines were created and integrated into the AI, giving her a sense of patriotism and loyalty to her crew and the Hegemony.

Upon activation, Lexington's artificial intelligence, which immediately assumed the identity of the vessel, began to question where it was and who it was. The Gorn, seeing no reason to lie to the new AI, granted her access to all information concerning the state of the Hegemony and Project Avatar. Many were stunned, even those that had been against the project, when Lexington began to mourn for those lost and show the same desperation as her organic counterparts to defend the Hegemony from the potential invasion. No one expected this level of self awareness from an AI system. Her ability to feel sorrow and guilt quieted the naysayers.

Dr. Serixs Ssarumon, now a civilian working in the Gorn Navy and prior to his enrollment at Starfleet Academy, remained close to this project. He and Lexington developed a true friendship and she helped him cope with the loss of his family at Sobek. He helped her develop the traits she would need to survive in the Hegemony, including emotional control and careful analysis of information before action.

Lexington's personality developed quickly under Ssarumon's guidance. She showed a skill at both diplomacy and combat. With practice, she was becoming skilled at use of her weapons and with showing creative thinking.

The King and government were pleased because with the AI in place, Lexington could be efficiently run with a crew of less than 100 instead of the original 430 needed to operate a Constitution Class vessel. The additional crew space could be devoted to extra labs, countermeasures, troop barracks, or weapon placements.

Overall it was determined that Project Avatar was a success with only minor quirks. Lexington, for reasons unknown, developed an almost over-protective nature to her crew and became highly aggressive when the crew was threatened. These are not traits the Gorn Hegemony would see as a problem and the project was given final green light.

==='''Problems'''===
The next vessel fitted for Project Avatar was an old Klingon D-7, the IKS Gr'oth. Like Lexington, Gr'oth showed all the positive personality traits and quirks common to the Project Avatar vessels, however a tragic event threw the vessel's AI into a severe downward spiral.

While on patrol near the Federation border, Gr'oth and her crew encountered overwhelming pirate activity. Using a weapon banned by interstellar law, a Thalaron Generator, the priates attacked the Gr'oth. The crew were all killed in one fell swoop as they were dosed with Thalaron radiation. Much to her merit, the Gr'oth drove off the pirates on her own, but her warp system was severely damaged, leaving her at sublight speed only. When she finally managed to limp back to the nearest Gorn base, she was suffering from severe emotional distress. Wracked with guilt because she could not defend her crew against the weapon, she fell into severe depression. During repair operations, she transported the maintenance crew to the starbase and left under her own power and without authorization. She jumped to warp before she could be pursued and made haste to a G-type star on an apparent suicide run. All attempts to talk her out of this course of action failed and she refused to respond to command codes. The only message she sent back to the Gorn ships pursuing her was a simple, but sorrowful "Forgive me". The Gorn could only watch in horror as she slammed herself into the corona of the star and was destroyed.

This event led to a recall of the Lexington and new command overrides put into place to prevent this action from occurring again. The new system allows the crew to override the AI and remove control ability from it in the event of instabilities.

The Gorn have begun to outfit a limited number of other vessels with Project Avatar AI systems, but at this time, they feel Lexington needs further testing to ensure all the problems are worked out. This is testing they can ill afford, as both the time and manpower are simply not available.

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The text is an amalgam of work by James Dock & Donald Jones, as well as Bijhan Al-Attack, with lessor contributions and editting by Daniel Greene.
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[[Category:Species]] [[Category: Gorn Hegemony]]