V'Ger
V'Ger is a powerful machine that features in Star Trek: The Motion Picture.
Contents |
History
V'Ger was a vast machine that was inhabited by an artificial intelligence which explored the universe. Its origins were traced to the NASA Voyager 6 probe that had been sent into space in the 20th century. The probes mission was to explore distant galaxies and gather information that was to be transmitted back to Earth. During tis journey, it fell into the maw of a black hole where it lost contact with Earth. It was believed that Voyager 6 was lost forever but in reality it had been transported across space. The probe later crashed on a world inhabited by a race of sentient machines. These beings mistook the probe for a kindred spirit and proceeded to repair it. The crash had damaged the dedication plaque with the letters O, Y, A and the number 6 being scrapped off. The remaining letters on the plaque thus spelt out the words V'Ger. As a result of the repairs, the probe gained an artificial intelligence and its form was transformed into a large space ship. In this state, V'Ger sought the completion of its mission namely gathering knowledge. Thus, it resumed its objective in gathering the entire universe's knowledge. This journey took centuries where it encountered countless worlds as it fulfilled its goal. However, in time, V'Ger became curious of its own origins and sought the completion of its mission. Thus, it set its course back towards Earth with the aim of reconnecting to its creators.
In this new, more powerful form, V'Ger would "collect" information by using its weapons to break down physical matter, both living and nonliving, into pure energy for data storage. In this fashion it destroyed three Klingon warships that attacked it as well as the Starfleet outpost Epsilon 9. After these violent acts were made known to Earth, the United Federation of Planets dispatched the Enterprise to intercept and investigate V'Ger (simply known as a gigantic cloud at the time). V'Ger mistook the Enterprise for another living machine and send an energy probe which absorbed and duplicated the Deltan navigator Lieutenant Ilia.
Through the android copy of Ilia, V'Ger made its intentions known to Admiral Kirk: it sought its "Creator" and its function in life beyond simply data gathering. As explained by Spock, V'Ger, for all its raw power and intelligence, was childlike. It was afraid and sought to know its origins and whether it had a purpose beyond its original programming. Dealing with V'Ger was difficult, as it did not see humans and other biological lifeforms as "true lifeforms." In fact, it believed its Creator to be a machine, as well.
Arriving at Earth centuries after the original Voyager 6 had been sent forth, V'Ger attempted to transmit all of its information via radio, but because NASA no longer existed it received no answer. It attempted to kill all of the biological life on Earth because it believed they had somehow suppressed its machine Creator, and took some convincing from Kirk to make V'Ger realize humans, not machines, had designed and built it.
Kirk attempted to dissuade V'Ger but V'Ger would only call off the extinction of all biological lifeforms if the Creator appeared in person. Guided by the Ilia android, Kirk, Spock, Dr. McCoy and Commander Decker were taken into the inner sanctum of the V'Ger ship where they met V'Ger itself. The ancient, battered Voyager 6 probe sat wired into everything, awaiting the arrival of the three humans and the Vulcan. After discovering the true identity of V'Ger, Spock realized V'Ger, being a machine, was unable to make the human logical leap beyond its programming to determine its own destiny. It would need to physically merge with a human to accomplish this.
Decker volunteered for this and he, and the Ilia android, combined with V'Ger's data stream. Combining with a human allowed V'Ger to become a new lifeform, apparently a being of pure energy, as the living ship and the cloud subsequently vanished leaving the Enterprise alone in Earth's orbit.
Overview
After its reconstruction, the probe gained a massive living mechanical body around its original form. This body was many miles in length with it being armed with powerful weapons and its form was concealed behind a gigantic luminescent blue cloud.
Notes
- V'Ger appeared as the primary antagonist of the first movie of the franchise namely Star Trek: The Motion Picture.
In other media
Video games
Novels
Appearances
- Star Trek: The Motion Picture:
External Link
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